"Sorry I've been busy, but today I'm all yours." Starlight walked in step with Trixie, matching her stride as they made their way along. "So let's see that list."
"There is no list." Trixie hmmphed softly, turning up her nose. "Trixie already learned how to make the cake. It'll be ready in time for the party."
Starlight gradually came to a halt. "Wait, really?! But I thought... you wanted to do that together?" She waved a hoof between herself and Trixie.
"Comforting lent a hand. She has two of those, conveniently. It's a nice cake. You were too busy--" She didn't even get to finish, Starlight's anklet strobing and beeping urgently. "--too busy with your students."
Starlight laughed nervously. "It'll just be a moment. Be right back!" She popped out of existence.
Trixie huffed at the space that once held Starlight. "Are you sure this'll work?"
"It has to." Comforting stepped free of nothing with an unsure expression. "I hope. What's this party for?"
"The spring solstice. Don't you know about it?" She peered at Comforting oddly. "Hmmph, well... since you're helping Trixie, she can invite you. Warning! Maud is a bit odd, and her boyfriend isn't any better. So... be ready for that."
Comforting tapped her fingertips together with a big smile. "That sounds fun! Alright, but Starlight... We need to--"
Starlight reappeared with a pop. "Alright, so as I was... oh, hello Comforting." She hiked a brow. "Shouldn't you be at school?"
"I'm in the middle of a friendship exercise!" She even had an official Amity-given quest, but she didn't mention that part. "Twilight will be grading me when I finish. Welcome back! Will you be joining us for longer than a minute?"
Hearing that, Starlight's face fell and her shoulders slumped. "I'm doing my best. Look, at the very least... the school is closed for Solstice and most of the students are going home. That should give me some time."
Trixie approached with a scowl. "Very nice. You were supposed to help Trixie prepare for that solstice! What help have you been? None! That's how much help you've been!"
Starlight's anklet pinged for attention. "Nnng, one moment." She vanished with a magic pop.
Trixie turned on Comforting. "Trixie doesn't think this is working."
"We did get a nice cake out of it..."
Trixie eyed Comforting with a flat expression a moment, though a smile did return. "It does look like a nice cake. Trixie appreciates that part. But it should have been made with Starlight. You, while a nice enough creature, are not Starlight. Will she even take solstice off? She claims she will, but Trixie has her doubts."
"I don't want to replace her." Comforting looked to the deceptively calm school. "We both want Starlight rescued."
"She needs to rescue herself!" Trixie stomped towards the school. "And the only way Trixie will get any time to talk to her is going there."
Comforting's words died in her throat. Might it be helpful to allow Trixie to have a go? Deciding to take a seat, she waited patiently for Trixie to come back. Maybe with Starlight? No. When she came back, she was by herself. She wore a pleased expression and seemed to be happy. "How'd it go?"
Trixie went up to Comforting and poked her in the shoulder. "Trixie should have done that to start! She told Starlight how it was, and she listened! She even told one of her precious 'students' to go away and take care of their own problem. Ha! It was wonderful. She will be there for the solstice."
Comforting cringed at the mental image. "How did... the student take that?"
"She looked upset, of course." Trixie waved that away. "Whatever. See you tomorrow for the solstice!" She trotted away with a big smile on her face. "Trixie should have handled that herself in the first place."
On the plus side, Starlight was free. On the negative... "Poor thing." Comforting willed a window open and spread it with her hands. She could see her favorite water/pony being shooed away, crestfallen and sad. "You are now my project."
With a pop, Comforting stopped being there, and found herself in a forest. "What?"
"What?" Silverstream looked over her shoulder. "Oh, hey Comfie! When'd you get here?" She was still walking right along. "I was on the way to the castle."
"Which one?" Comforting darted in next to Silverstream. "You alright?"
"I'm better than alright!" Silverstream assumed a confident look. "Starlight was right. She's busy, and I need to handle some things on my own. So! I'm going to take care of my project before my siblings get here, and then everything will be fine!"
"Huh..." That was less distressed than Comforting had imagined by a few steps. "Sounds good. What's your project?"
"I'm studying a wild critter! I found this cockatrice, she's nice!" Silverstream rubbed her hands together with a smile of future fun. "I'm writing a report about her."
"A cockatrice?" Comforting searched her memory for those. "Don't those turn you into stone?"
"Only if they're upset, or scared." Silverstream emerged near where Amity stood in silent vigil, but she wasn't going to Amity. She was headed for the castle beyond, tall and stately. "I'm good friends with this one. She's not, um... a pet... but we have a thing going."
"You tamed one? Neat!" Comforting grabbed Silverstream in a one armed hug, getting one in return. "That's super cool. Taming a wild animal is not easy."
"It wasn't," sighed out Silver, shaking her head. "But I managed! If I can finish this project, then everything will be great."
"This is..." Comforting looked over the castle. "The, uh... two sister palace, right?"
"Is it?" Silverstream shrugged with ignorance. "It's where I meet her. Oh, her name's Edith. She is just the best. Edith!" She whistled sharply and clucked her tongue, soon drawing out a curious cockatrice. Rather than anyone being petrified, they crashed together with hugs and nuzzles in clear shared fondness. "Edith! Meet my friend." She waved at Comforting. "Her name is Comforting and she's super nice."
Edith clucked in greeting, which was as much of a greeting as one could expect.
Comforting reached out a hand and held it there until Edith closed the distance and gentle petting could begin. "What a lovely murder hen you are," she giggled out. "Nice to meet you. So, how long will this take, do you think?"
"Hmmm...." Silver tapped at her beak. "A few days?"
"Alright." Comforting floated back away from Edith. "When's your family showing up?"
"A day." It was at that moment Silverstream realized her mistake. "Oh..."
Comforting hadn't even been trying to do that! "Someone needs to tell them you're here then, right?"
Silverstream clapped her hands on her face. "And pick them up from the station, and get them comfortable, and..."
Comforting put a hand on the hyperventilating friend. "You have a Comforting friend right here. I can pick them up."
"Would you?!" She grabbed Comforting up in a fierce hug. "You are just the best!" She dug out a new slip of paper. "Here's where they're coming and when. I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget." And yet, she had forgotten. "Did I mention you're the best?!"
Comforting read over the place and time. "I'll be there, promise." With her hand raised, she jabbed at the things that only she could see, setting an alarm to let her know when she needed to arrive. Having an interface like that was incredibly convenient in certain situations. "Alright! Now, your friend." She looked to Edith, who was watching them just as curiously. "Need any help with that, or just for me to get out of the way?"
"You're already doing enough." Silver put out an arm and Edith landed on it without other prompting. "I can handle this. Oh! Don't wander around the forest right now. There are other cockatrices, and I can only promise Edith is super nice."
"Huh, good advice." She fired a thumbs up and scrambled from the room, leaving Silverstream to her work. "Amity!" She hurried across the clearing, free of the castle, towards her friend. "Nice to see you."
Not-Comforting, the spirit Amity, stepped free. "It is nice to see you."
They met in a gentle hug. "I'm doing my best, promise."
"I can see that. Starlight is not an easy pony to redirect. I have tried before..." Amity considered in a moment of quiet thought. "It is that very nature that made me use her as a tool before. She was good at that."
"She got a map quest?" gasped out Comforting. "It worked out?"
"It worked out." Amity nodded gently. "One agent against another. Celestia was served well in the end."
"Celestia?!" Comforting almost hopped back in surprise. "What did she need?!"
"She and her sister had many unresolved things... There may be more work ahead of them." Amity focused, bringing her vision directly on Comforting. "But today we worry about Starlight. I can feel you making changes. Were you not here, it would have gone differently, but I can't tell how. I can't say if it's better or worse... But I know you are trying your absolute best. You are a friend."
Comforting grabbed her little filly self and spun her around in a fond hug. "I am! I promise... I think I just stopped a bad thing from happening."
"Did you?" Amity slid to the ground easily. "I was not watching you when you came here. I thought I should be ready, in case you visited. I was correct." She inclined her head at Comforting. "Here you are."
"Here I am." Comforting considered a moment. "Silverstream, silly girl, forgot her family's coming after all that effort being ready for them! I swear, if her head wasn't attached, she really would leave it behind. On the other hand." She waved that other hand at the castle. "She made friends with a cockatrice! Edith is her name and she's very sweet."
"I had not been monitoring her. That sounds delightful. The power of friendship spread ever further, to think even a cockatrice could become entangled." She paused a moment. "I have caught even me in its snare. Friendship is a terribly potent force. It is good it is being used for good causes."
"Friendship is Magic," sang out Comforting, a rainbow bursting into being over her head for just a moment. "Same friendship got me here, trying to fix the whole Starlight thing. Alright, I just have to pick up Silverstream's family from the station." She tapped and brought up the appointment, sending it onwards to Amity. "Here."
Amity's vision shifted faintly as she reacted to the incoming message in her own way. She did not reach to click things, it just... happened. "I see. That is on the border of Equestria. Travel safely. Oh. What about your solstice party?"
Comforting slapped a hand over her face. "The party! Now... Before we panic." She slapped one hand against the other. "I am a chaos spirit. I have a few options most don't have. For one, I could be in both places at the same time, and who'll stop me."
"You will." Amity leaned forward. "You'll get dizzy if you do that for long. You were getting a headache when you did it with Diamond and her mother."
"Ugh..." Having two cameras on at once was disorienting. "Trixie's been abandoned so much recently... But Silverstream's family needs a helping hand!" And there she was, having promised to help both, at the same time. "Dang it, I went and got myself in exactly the same problem Starlight's in! And I don't even have a job!"
"Only the ones you accepted on yourself." Amity touched her nose to Comforting's cheek, rearing up to do it. "Be calm and think about it. You will find an answer. I have faith in you, Friend Comforting."
"Right..." She had to not be a silly pony and lose her wits in a panic. "I can do this!"