//------------------------------// // CV1: Amber Fossil // Story: Odd's Oubliette: Otherwise Obsolete Oddities // by Odd_Sarge //------------------------------// The front door shut with a click. “Ryan, look at what I found at today’s dig!” “It looks like… a rock?” The pony’s energized excitement dropped quickly into an annoyed scrunch. “Ryan, I… for Celestia’s sake, this is crystalline rose quartz! It just looks like any old rock to you because you don’t pay attention to anything I tell you!” “That’s because you’re too cute to take seriously!” I slipped my hand between her ear and scalp and scratched away. “I’m not the geologist, Amby, you are!” Amber Fossil huffed as she shied away from me. “Take me seriously! Please! This is a really awesome discovery, Ryan!” I gave an exaggerated sigh but smiled all the same. “Alright, alright, come up here Amber.” I didn’t give her a chance to avoid my hands as I lifted her up and onto my lap. She blushed softly as one hand went to work on her neck and the other plucked her precious rock from her golden hooves. “Q-quit it!” The angry nuisance pushed my hand away. “No scritches!” I just laughed as I handed her the rock hammer from the coffee table.  Amber shifted a little in my lap as she found a better position to work on the living room ‘work table.’ “This is dumb, Ryan,” Amber muttered as she picked away at the stone to reveal the treasure inside. “Why don’t we just get a new work table to put in my room?” “Because working in the living room keeps us close together, silly.” I kept my hands resting on her shoulders, not wanting to disrupt her work. “And I especially don’t want you working away on your stockpile at two in the morning like you did when the workbench was in your room.” Amber turned around and hissed. “It was easier to access my minerals!” As she returned to the stone she continued on, “and I totally did not work on my stones at two in the morning… it was more like midnight.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s exactly why I was happy for you to break the workbench after so long.” “It was nice,” the unicorn pouted. “So was my mini fridge… until you stole it from my room.” Amber Fossil smiled sheepishly. “That’s really nice.” “You little punk,” I growled, squeezing her shoulders. “I’m going to go get that back one way—” Crack! “Wow...” Amber leant back into my chest as she lifted the geode up in her magic. “Look at this, Ryan. Isn’t it beautiful?” I rested my chin in her orange mane and sank in. “It’s lovely, Amber…” The pink quartz within the geode reflected the apartment’s glossy lighting far more amazingly than it should have. As Amber gently rotated the mineral, the crystalline properties of the stone went into effect, minute patterns of shining crystal playing softly across Amber Fossil’s fluffy golden chest. Her crimson eyes reflected in the stone, an accentuation to the beauty of the monumental find. I carefully wrapped my hands around Amber and squeezed her.  The pony sank back into me, a tired smile playing a cross her lips as she focused on the mineral. “This is the purest sample I’ve ever excavated from the Canterlot area…” For all the listening I had supposedly left undone, I knew enough to recognize the fact that not many ponies had such a fine piece of crystalline pink quartz… not like this piece… not like this at all. An immense wave of pride washed over me. I was so proud of the little mare… here she was, reaching new heights in every waking moment of her life, while I was practically a house sitter. But I didn’t mind our situation. I was happy to see my friend achieving so many goals within her life’s passion, and she was happy that I was there for her all the way.