//------------------------------// // 54 - Fashion Trends // Story: New Endings, Old Starts // by David Silver //------------------------------// Another day, Comforting trotted down the road with a smile. She was in no special hurry, but her little form had two speeds when not matching someone else's walk half the time, standing still, or jogging about spiritedly. She had forgotten what it was like to be so small and energetic. It was... nice actually, to bounce about and there would be no consequences for it. Her small form had no aches or pains, unless she actually hurt herself in some ways. She was fresh off the factory belt! Introspection was put on hold when she came upon Bon Bon. It wasn't that Bon Bon was an unusual pony. Nice, and a purveyor of sweets that weren't baked or frozen. But that wasn't it either. "Good morning," she called to the sweet mare. "Hm? Oh, good morning... Comforting isn't it?" She had a hoof out in an offer. Comforting accepted the offer, getting headpats. When asked for, contact wasn't so bad. "It is a good morning, actually. I'm about to try a new flavor!" Comforting perked up. "Of candy?" "Exactly." Bon Bon nodded with all due seriousness. "A little sweet, a little sour, but 100% banana. I just got a shipment in and can't wait to try it." Comforting considered how much she wanted to try that. "I hope that goes well. What's that?" She pointed to the thing dangling around Bon Bon's neck. It had a picture of Twilight, but also other little charms that jangled and clinked with her movements. Bon Bon recoiled as if she had forgotten she was wearing it. "Oh, this thing? Lyra got it for me and she has a matching one." She colored faintly. "She wanted us to be a matching pair, that silly mare. That'll give ponies ideas, I swear..." Comforting lifted an ear. "Is that a bad thing?" Bon Bon sank to her haunches. "It's not a true thing! We're just friends." Comforting flashed a bright smile. "Friends can't be matching pairs?" Bon Bon frowned with new thoughts. "Hm, you have a point there... Now I feel silly, getting wisdom dropped on me by a little filly." She gently mussed Comforting's head. "Thanks, kiddo." Comforting was all smiles. She helped, and Bon Bon was wearing proof that other things were progressing. "Silly question, but have you seen anyone else wearing one of those?" Bon Bon curled a hoof to her chin. "Hm. I want to say I saw Berry Punch with one. Why?" Three! Three verified sales. Progress! "I bet yours isn't the same as hers." "Nope." Bon Bon pawed at her dangling charms with a refreshed jingle. "Lyra picked them out, a unique blend. Feels a bit silly to have Twilight there though. I mean, wearing a local pony around? It's a bit much?" Comforting burst into little giggles. "I bet she'd blush, but she'd be happy if she saw it." "You think so?" Bon Bon tapped at the floating picture of Twilight. "It's not a bad picture of her, but part of me's wondering... why? I like her, as a nice pony, sure, but I'm not like a fan, and she's not my plus one." She resumed blushing at that idea. "Which this kinda implies, doesn't it?" "She's a local princess." Comforting pointed to the great crystal tower that was Twilight's. "Isn't that enough of a reason to show at least a little admiration? She's saved the town how many times?" "Enough for it to be a regular event." Bon Bon's eyes half closed. "You have a real good point there. Maybe I'm just overthinking this, a habit of mine... Hey, I gotta go try those bananas. Great fruit, don't last for long. They'll be less picky once they're candied!" With candied determination, Bon Bon excused herself in a walk back towards her shop. "Try one later," she called, already down the street. Comforting waved at the adult on a mission. "Good luck." She continued her wandering, looking for more signs of those keychains. They were far from everywhere. But she did find a few, including Berry Punch. "Love it." Berry nodded at the filly. "It jingle-jangles." She shook in place, causing her charms and keyring to rustle energetically. "And, don't tell anypony, but when you're... enjoying a few drinks, the way they move gets even better." She waggled her brows. "Not that you should drink what I drink, just saying. What are you, not even ten years old?" Comforting could put together what kind of drink Berry Punch was implying. "Not interested." She didn't need to put that in her perfectly functional little body. Why ruin a good thing? "You got that from Gallus, right?" She was pointing at the charms as she asked. "Actually..." Berry inclined her head. "Gallus sold me the band and a few to start, but he pointed me to his fellow bird friend. Silverstream? She had a bunch more beads to go jingle jingle!" Comforting perked at that. The others were involved? "That's nice of them... Keep up the look." Comforting met the hoof of Berry in a clop and continued her wandering, looking for something else. She spotted Silver before Gallus. Silverstream was perched on a bridge, looking happy, though happy was her default emotion, so that only said so much. Comforting jogged up to her in a light trot. "Hey there, Silverstream!" "Hiya!" Silver waved eagerly. "It's a really nice day out," she gushed as if that were an especially noteworthy thing. It was nice enough, Comforting could agree with, but... "What makes it extra good?" "You don't understand." Silverstream hopped down from her perch. "When you're as far down in the water as I came from, the 'weather' is pretty stable. There aren't sunny days or rainy days or any kinda days really. So it's so nice to have nice days! And not nice days. And all kinda days!" She threw her hands up at an angle. "It's all so amazing. Today's a real nice one, just the right kind of warm with just enough wind to take the edge off without being all... too windy, you know?" The realities of deep sea weather was not something Comforting thought of often. "Huh... Good!" It was a nice day, just as Silver had noticed. The sun was warm on her back, and the wind was just right, not too strong or just not there. "You joined up with Gallus?" "Hm?" "For making keyrings?" "Oh, no." She waved that right out of the air like a stray fly. "I like making charms and he said he'd pay me if I made some for ponies that had his keyrings." That was a roundabout answer. "The ponies don't pay you?" Silver raised a taloned finger. "That's the funny thing. If they have a specific charm, I'm supposed to just give them, which is fine by me. I'm not really all that big on bits. Got the magic charm? You get a hand, or hoof, full of my charms! And ponies wear them! It's so great! Have you seen them?" Comforting clapped in applause. "I saw a few ponies wearing them, and they seem to like them. Good job. Did Gallus say what he was trying to do?" "Not really..." Silverstream looked pensive, rubbing her beak softly. "Gallus really likes thinking about bits. I bet it has something to do with that, but that's my guess." Comforting considered that. She was on the inside. Gallus trusted her enough to share his plans and discuss them, but with Silver, she was only told the bare minimum. "Oh! So if a pony doesn't have the special charm, then...?" "Then I'm supposed to ask for a few bits." She held up all four fingers. "And I get to keep one of them." She lowered all but one finger in demonstration. "The other three go to Gallus. Wonder what he's gonna do with them..." That was a fine question that Comforting found herself wondering along with her hippogriff friend. "Do you have to pay for the parts?" Surely charm materials didn't just... appear. What was she, a unicorn?! "Oh, no no no." Silverstream shook her head violently. "When I run low, I tell Gallus and he gives me a whole new bag of the beads to shape. It's so fun carving them." She clapped with naked joy. "And then ponies get to wear them! Hey, are you going to get some?" "Where are yours?" Comforting could see Silver had no amulet of charms and/or keyring. "Oh!" she blurted as if quite suddenly surprised. "How silly of me, selling charms and stuff and not wearing any. I'll ask Gallus if I can have a cord. Then I can decorate it up." Comforting clopped once. "Good idea. Can I see your charms?" "Sure!" Silver rummaged in her pockets and soon produced quite a pile for Comforting to see. Comforting willed the bits away from each other, forming a straight line of different charms. "Aw." They were the Student Six, rendered in clear charm plastic. There were also other famous ponies, like Celestia and Mayor Mare there in the pile. "They are adorable! Do you have Twilight and her friends?" "Working on that." Silver raised a finger to her beak in a secretive shh. "I'll let you know as soon as I have them." A thought arrived. "You want one of your mother, don't you? That's so cute! I'd love an Ocean Flow charm... But I'd be about the only one... Making those would be kinda selfish." She looked a bit down at the idea, her wishes denied. "Do you have a picture?" Silver perked. "Tons!" She slapped down a pile of pictures that'd like be better in a wallet, if she had one. "Why?" "One more question, do you have a charm bead that isn't shaped yet, and can I have it, as a subquestion?" Comforting smiled in what she hoped was a kind way. "That's two questions," accused Silverstream, but she burst into giggles a moment afterwards. "But yeah, not many." A bag with a tiny handful of raw beads within. "Why?" She dug one out and put it in front of Comforting anyway. Comforting lit her horn as she spread out the pictures, looking from one to the next. She hovered the bead in her sight. "I am a transmuter, and I am going to transmute!" She held up her hooves on either side of the bead. "I know this spell..." And she shaped and molded the plastic, horn brilliantly shining above her as she moved her hooves slowly, willing the shape she wanted to come into being. On the positive, she did shape it. On the negative, it wasn't as fine a work as the ones Silverstream had done. But that also didn't matter. Silverstream grabbed up the roughly shaped form of her mom's head. "Aw! Thanks! You are the best." She twirled in place, as if dancing with the charm. "As soon as I get a band, this is gonna be the first charm on it! Um, one thing." Comforting perked an ear at Silver. "One thing?" "You gotta tell Gallus you used one of his beads. This wasn't my idea, you were there!" Comforting barked out a single laugh at that. "Alright, deal. If he's really mad, I'll pay for the bead. Your smile's worth it." "You are too nice." Silverstream grabbed Comforting up in a fierce hug, as brief as it was intense. "Oops! Sorry. I got so excited, I forgot to ask first." Comforting wagged her ears with surprise. "Thank you... for realizing." That was about the first time she was grabbed but then apologized to, without her saying anything. "That's thoughtful of you." Sure, just not grabbing her would be even more thoughtful, but second best? "Your charms are really well made! I can't match them." "Yet." Silver clapped giddily. "I've seen you. If you wanted to, you could practice way more than me and get way better too! It's up to you if you catch up and run past me or not. I'll probably get distracted by something." Comforting inclined her head. "You are full of smart thoughts I wouldn't have guessed." She circled in place and started to walk. "Gonna find Gallus. See you later!"