Amber Starts, Comforting Endings

by David Silver

33 - Sweet Possibilities

Izzy stretched out with a thunderous yawn as she opened her eyes. That wasn't her bed, or her couch, or even the floor of most rooms she could remember. She sat up and looked around at the bright colors of the fantastical realm she had found herself in. Across from her, a bunny made of an actual gumdrop was sniffing around. She wondered if she could eat it or not, even as her eyes lingered on the tempting treat for longer than she'd like to admit.

She caught sight of Hitch asleep nearby and nudged him with a hoof. "Hey, hey."

Hitch's eyes snapped open and he launched to his feet, whirling around in panic. "Where are we? Where are the other? Are you alright?" He caught up with himself, calming down a little. "Is that candy alive?"

Izzy peeked back at the bunny and leaned closer to inspect it, poking it gently with a hoof to test its stability as it let out a faint squeak. "I think it is? Wait, what?" She spun on a heel and trotted over to a bush that seemed to be moving slightly even though no wind blew through the area at all.

Springing free of it was a licorice beast. It roared ferociously and pounced at Izzy, but its soft gummy teeth were quite ineffective. Izzy knocked it back and considered fighting it off, but Aloe rushed forward and caught the creature with a warm embrace.

Aloe squeezed it tightly as she patted its head gently. "Bad chocolate fudge! Bad!" She waved a hoof reprimandingly at the beast, sending it scurrying back into the sugared bushes. She turned to the others with a smile. "Welcome to Candied Hills!" She bowed gracefully to them all, ears flopping downwards as she did so. "This is my home."

Hitch examined the candied critters of all shapes and sizes that rustled and moved about in the bushes and trees of the area. He approached one and gently tickled it under the chin with a hoof. "No one ever told me there was a place like this here."

Izzy was chasing one of the things down with her hoof, trying to catch it for some reason that only she knew as it dodged her at every turn. "Candy animals!"

Aloe smiled gently at her guests. "Isn't it wonderful? You can see why the fillies decided to live here."

Zipp soared in from above. "There you are!" She dove down at Hitch, landing in front of him. "Pipp and Sunny are, oh." She noticed Aloe there. "Hey, maybe you know. Why are we here? This is very not normal."

Aloe waved with a cheery smile. "You're visiting! It's lovely to see so many ponies here." She giggled with a friendly tone to her voice as she danced around them all with her music playing cheerily in the background as the Candy Animals hopped about all around them. "This is a safe place, where little foals can just enjoy themselves without a worry in the world."

Sunny poked her head out from the bush nearby, startling Zipp who jumped into the air with a scream of surprise at her appearance. Sunny rubbed her head with a sheepish smile. "Hey! You found her, great!" She popped free of the bush with Pipp in tow who was poking around inside it still with an impish grin.

"Seriously, check. This. Out." She was clicking her phone's camera busily at the splendors of the candied world. "Pity there's basically no cell reception wherever this is. I'm gonna have to wait to upload all of this, but they're gonna love it when I do!"

Aloe waved a hoof at Pipp. "Stop that. This isn't a place for noisy contraptions. This is where foals can relax and play, with each other." She paused a moment before adding, "In person."

Pipp recoiled. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Aloe poked Pipp gently on the nose. "Wander, explore, enjoy some candy. Who needs cell phones when you have all this wonder!"

Sunny's mouth watered at the thought of all that tasty candy before her eyes. "Well, we can't stay long, but if we're going to be here, I could try one bite?" She hesitated as she heard hoofsteps behind her and turned to find the rest of their group following after her. "Glad we're all together." She nodded at each of them in turn. "Aloe, since we have you, and you seem to know what's going on; Where are the fillies?"

Aloe beamed at that question. "They are playing hide-and-seek! I'd say they're really good at it too."

Hitch scratched at his cheek. "Where are they playing?" He turned slowly in place. "All I see are tons of candy critters."

Aloe smiled a somewhat suspect smile. "That is what lives here. Aren't they cute?" She took Izzy's hoof in hers and danced in place with her as she hummed a merry little tune along with her music that drifted from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

Hitch tried to get her attention again. "Why can't I understand them?"

Aloe slowed with a confused look. "They're critters. Ponies don't normally 'understand' critters. You're silly."

"I'm Hitch," he corrected. "And I can understand critters, but not these. Why?"

Aloe's song took a sudden hard left as she began singing about friendship and caring about critters in the forest as she leapt about playfully with Izzy who seemed to be having a grand time as they boogied to the new tune that had sprung from nowhere, even as Hitch stared at Aloe expectantly for an answer to his question that still went unanswered as she happily played with Izzy while ignoring Hitch entirely.

Sunny smacked Hitch gently with her hoof to get his attention. "I don't think we're getting many answers out of her. Also, since when did Izzy have one of those?" She inclined her head towards Izzy, her back end specifically. Her tail looked more like a long twirled candy rather than the hair a pony was expected to have back there.

Izzy skipped over to the others and waved at them happily. "Look at my tail!" She flicked it back and forth, showing off its unusual texture and coloration. "Do you think it's sweet?"

Zipp grabbed Izzy by her new tail. "Sweet, yeah, literally. She pulled out a microscope to examine it. "Izzy, you're turning into a candied horse. Don't you think you should be a little more upset by that?"

Izzy blinked slowly and took her tail back from Zipp with a light huff. "I kinda like it? I mean, it's fun and cute, why be sad?"

Zipp shared a look with Sunny and shrugged back at Izzy with a baffled look on her face. "Izzy, if you become a candy pony, then you can never work with your tools again. You'll never unicycle again!" She flew over and grabbed Izzy's shoulders as she stared deeply into her eyes. "Are you sure this is okay?"

Izzy dipped her head. "Zipp, I like candy! How bad could it be?"

Pipp held up her phone, just to let it sag a moment. "But I won't get any reception in here." Just like that, the allure of the place faded from her eyes. "Pass."

Sunny grabbed Izzy, hugging her close. "I won't lose you, Izzy. Get it together. I think I found the fillies, and I'll need all our helps to put this right."

Izzy hugged Sunny back with a guilty grin on her face as she turned to her friends with a cheerful wave. "Sorry! Didn't mean to cause a fuss." She looked around again, seeing the candy creatures but still not seeing any fillies yet. "Where are they?"

Sunny put Izzy down and led them all away from Aloe who was continuing her dance even without anyone to join her as she spun about like a ballerina. "I'm pretty sure the candy critters are the fillies! We have to turn them back, and get them out of here!"

Hitch tapped at his cheek. "Maybe the other way around. If we get them away from here, they'll turn back into fillies again." He scanned the environment around him, spying an empty tree stump of all things in the middle of the sugary wonderland. He jogged over to it and brushed some of the dust off the top of it to reveal a horn half-buried in the wood of it, petrified into stone.

Misty joined Hitch, looking curiously at the horn he'd found. "This whole place makes me, um, nervous. It feels like there's some kinda magic going on!"

Hitch twirled on Misty. "Can you make it stop? You're our most magical unicorn."

Misty laughed nervously. "I don't know how. I'm still learning!" Still, she lit her horn and stared intently at the rock one embedded in the stump. "I'll do my best, promise."

Aloe bounced over with a giggle. "What are you doing?" She patted Hitch on the back as she beamed at them all. "Don't you want to come and play?"

---

Comforting peeked from corner to corner, often without traveling the actual distance between them. "Not here. Not here, hm." She popped up just behind Amber. "Have you seen Misty?"

Amber jumped mildly. "Comfs, don't do that." She swatted at her chaotic friend. "Misty? She didn't come today." Amber looked to another librarian who shook his head. "Nope. Why, need her?"

Comforting blushed faintly as she fidgeted in place with her hands cupped before her. "I, uh. Need all of you, for something very special." She bounced on her toes with excitement as she grinned from ear to ear. "I think you're ready."

Amber leaned in, voice dropping to a whisper, "Does this involve magic?"

"Of course!" Comforting demonstrated as she placed a velvet box down on a nearby table, snapping her fingers to produce a shower of sparkles. "I can't be stopped!"

Amber peered a the box with intense curiosity. "But she isn't here. Could you tell me and I can pass it on?"

Comforting prodded her eager student in the side. "That curious?" She snatched the box back. "Well, fine then!" She pressed the box against Amber's side. "Go on, open it."

Amber clasped it gingerly in her hooves as she carefully opened it to reveal the glorious ring within, studded with a sparkling jewel. "Is this?"

Comforting wiggled gleefully as she put her hands to her cheeks with excitement. "It is! Toots and I are getting married!" She tugged Amber into a hug and spun around with her even as Amber barely managed to hold onto the box.

Amber hugged in laughing return. "Congratulations! But, uh, what's this have to do with magic?"

"Magic, friendship, love, all about the same thing." Comforting shrugged with a little huff. "I'll want you there, if you're up for it. It'd hardly be a wedding without my mane gal pal." She brushed some imaginary dust off of Amber's shoulders. "Besides, I might need your help with something else too."

Amber bounced in place eagerly as she brandished her magic to take out a little notebook and pen from her pockets. "Another adventure? What is it? What do you need? What should I bring? When is it?"

Comforting ruffled the top of Amber's head, mussing her mane. "A wedding. You can count that as an adventure." She hummed gently. "My last one was. From the start all the way through. You can be my head mare, a big responsibility for any wedding."

Amber wrote some notes down, having not lost her grip on that little book for more than a second or two even while being petted by Comforting. "Do you want me to pick a suit? I can't imagine you'd be that worried about getting one yourself." She stopped her writing for a moment. "Should I get flowers?"

Comforting gasped with delight. "Please." She pressed her hands to either of her own cheeks. "I only know about ancient ones. Make it all pretty with the modern ones, please. All sorts of lovely flowers. "Toots can handle his own suit." She paused. "I hope. I'll check with him."

Their conversation was interrupted by a pony looking for a book. With little giggles, they delayed wedding chat for later.

Author's Note:

What a sweet surprise. This chapter is giving me diabetes.

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Comments

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

I was right to have a bad feeling about them sniffing those flowers. Can Misty's magic get them out of there?

Wedding planning has started. Everything seems fine with that.

[redmar]

Those candy ponies are very suspicious I seriously doubt they even beleive they're doing something good.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

I definitely wasn't expecting that. Especially not the transformation aspect.

Looking forward to seeing how the candy quest is resolved, I wonder what force will be behind it. Though from Hitch and Misty's find, I'm guessing a disgruntled ghost unicorn.

Hopefully Comforting and Toots' wedding will go well and not be haunted, at least not by anypony malicious.

[David Silver]

11902513
Little foal candies is not ideal.

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

11902424
I am wondering the same thing. Their attitudes seem to be at least similar.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

11902699

True. It's a very unique problem, to say the least, and hopefully it won't be too difficult to solve.

[David Silver]

11904200
I do not. It pleases me to know my oracle powers are also effective in the comics at times.