Hitch considered the irate little rabbit. "Okay, so, calm down. Izzy says you want something, and your big kitty friend isn't around to make trouble." He rubbed at his cheek, one ear to the side. "And you aren't making trouble, I think?"

Twitch spat in response to that accusation with a low hiss of outrage before pointing back towards Allura's hideout even as he gesticulated in the direction that Izzy had found him in as he stared up at Hitch with an expression of righteous anger.

Hitch nodded slowly. "Okay, you got in a fight with Allura. Sorry to hear." He did not sound very sorry to hear that. "Also, she's that way? That's, uh, not good?"

Twitch rolled his eyes grandly at that and grabbed at Hitch's snout. He yammered wildly at the stallion.

Hitch gently pushed him back. "Okay, okay, I'm listening. You need my help?" He focused on Twitch. "Or am I missing something?"

Twitch grumbled as he let out an annoyed sigh at that question before dragging a paw down his face and hopping off into a small wooded area to search for something for a moment before returning with some paper and a pen. With a firm click of it deploying, he began to scribble eagerly on the paper.

Hitch kept his hooves off of it. "Okay, drawing now? Gotcha." He shifted in place awkwardly as he watched Twitch work intently. "You sure aren't like other rabbits."

Twitch glared at him as if that was an insult of some kind. With a triumphant flourish, he held up his completed drawing that showed a rough sketch of Comforting's long form. He pointed at it excitedly, then at himself.

"You're going to be that?" Hitch shook his head in confusion. "Is that an expression thing?" He furrowed his brow, pondering the question for a moment before shaking his head. "Wait, no." He listened to Twitch's irate squeaks and groans. "You want to find that!" He snapped his hooves together in realization as he shook his head at that request before pointing in the direction of the library. "And you thought I could help? I'm flattered, but if you're going after Comforting..."

He stood up and pointed towards the library. "That's where she's usually at. I hear she's in charge of the second floor these days. She's moving up in the world! Literally."

Twitch bounced in place happily at that news as he grinned widely before bolting off in that direction as fast as his legs could carry him.

"I'd say goodbye, but I doubt you're gonna care!" Hitch shook his head and looked back to Izzy. "Well, that's one mystery completed."

Izzy grinned at him with a cheerful laugh before nodding at him. "Good! Cause I have another, this one for my frie—" She shook herself off as she gave herself a firm shake. "I know you got this." She began giving him the details of her caper.

Comforting led a class through the wonders of virtual reality, which had ponies stumbling around the room with goggles on. As usual, she was graceful, hopping and dancing around them as she helped them adjust their equipment with nary a miss.

Twitch was hidden in the back of the room, sitting patiently as he waited for his opportunity to present himself to Comforting without alerting any of the others that might be in the room with them. His ears were perked up as he focused intently on the occupants of the room as he contemplated what his next move was going to be as he observed them intently as they fumbled around like idiots as they tried to navigate strange worlds he couldn't see.

One stallion thrust a hoof up. "I found it!" Everypony there looked over with gasps and Ooos at the news.

Comforting applauded. "I knew you all could do it. As you can see, virtual reality doesn't have to be something to keep you all apart. Group games are very fun, and sometimes even educational. Step into another world, with a friend! Or somepony new that could become a friend, that's nice too."

The class murmured at that announcement with excited smiles on their faces as they began speaking among themselves as they took off their headsets with happy expressions on their faces even as they tittered loudly in anticipation of putting the equipment away for the next set of ponies that wanted to try out the equipment.

With the class dissipating, Twitch detected his opportunity. He dashed at Comforting in a streak, just to find she wasn't there. He gawked at the space she had been. Then he looked up. Comforting had zipped straight up to the ceiling where she sat calmly as she peered down at him with a questioning expression on her face. "Twitch? Is that you?"

Twitch squeaked in surprise, but it turned into a smile quickly. He waved at Comforting excitedly.

"Who's an eager bunny today?" Comforting floated down to the floor, then sat to be closer to Twitch's level. "What brings you by, little angry friend?"

He couldn't help it. He flung himself at Comforting's chest and hugged her tightly, resting his chin against her shoulder as he sighed contentedly at the warmth of being close to her.

Comforting hugged him gently and rocked him left and right for a quiet moment. "Mmm, you know, my mom had a rabbit. He was a little sour pot sometimes too. But, under it all, he cared. Are you like that? I bet you are."

He pressed himself deeper into her embrace even as he wiggled happily at that suggestion even as he basked in her warm embrace as he relished this simple intimacy that only Comforting could provide as he slipped away from his former life, at least for the time being.

Comforting touched the end her her snout between Twitch's ears. "Okay, now, tell me what's wrong. Something's wrong. Is it something I can help with?"

Twitch eased himself away from Comforting's arms with a deep breath as he focused on her face for a moment before pushing himself away from her so that he could dive into her bags and pull out his notepad from before so that he could offer it to her as he shrugged helplessly.

Comforting accepted the notepad. "I didn't need that." He tapped Twitch with the pad. "You are silly. One moment." She fished out her rabbit translation helmet and wriggled it over her head. "I was just explaining to those ponies how VR can bring us together. Let's put that to practice right now."

Twitch whined happily as he rolled his eyes playfully before flopping onto his back in front of Comforting so that he could show off his belly to her as he eyed her curiously even as he drummed his paws on his chest for a moment before hopping back up and jabbing a paw at her. Subtitles began to play under him as he performed his antics, explaining what he was trying to communicate. "I want somecreature that appreciates me! You give very nice hugs, and have a big comfy den. You are obviously a creature of great power. Can I be with you?"

Comforting shook her head with an amused giggle at that assertion. "You must be confused! I have no lair of any kind." She shrugged. "I am very happy you like my hugs. They are my specialty! But I don't think you want to live here." She waved around slowly. "This is a library, not my 'den'. I work here, not live here."

"If I sleep here, will you feed me and hug me?" Twitch smiled at her from where he was laying on the ground. "I could find treats!" He gestured around at the large number of patrons wandering around the second floor with interest in their eyes. "I bet they're carrying plenty."

Comforting gently wrapped her hands around Twitch, cutting off his escape. "No stealing from the guests. Thank you for offering, but I have plenty of treats without stealing any."

Twitch blinked with confusion. "You don't have to take?"

Comforting did not drop her grip. "Well, no, but it is still stealing." She stroked Twitch's fur gently, eliciting a happy purr from the small creature as she rocked him gently from side to side. "But I know what you mean, little one."

"You do?" Twitch stared up at Comforting from where he was trapped in her embrace with an expression of hope on his face even as he shivered gently at the prospect of what she might offer him as he relaxed into her grip. "I want to stay! Can I stay? I'll help!"

Comforting tapped Twitch's nose playfully. "Slow down, little one." She glanced over at the door to the VR room as a line began to form with eager ponies hoping to try out the virtual reality goggles. "The line's growing! Would you like to help me teach more ponies? It'll be fun!"

Twitch sighed and rolled his eyes before giving her a smirk as he nodded firmly before hopping out of her grasp as he landed lightly on his feet before glancing back at her expectantly. "I'll teach them!" Somehow, those words felt faintly menacing.

Comforting shook her head at Twitch gently. "Be nice. If you want to be my friend, you have to be their friend too. It's my job to show them wonderful things and help them have a great time." She floated into the air and zipped to the door. "Now who's ready to explore a new world!"

The ponies cheered as they tromped in, shoving their hooves into the spare goggles and helmets for comfort's sake before beginning to race for spots in the center of the room so that they could begin whatever adventure that they had signed up for with excited grins on their faces.

Twitch dived into the box of headsets and rooted about frantically for one that wasn't being used even as he shuffled through them one at a time before tugging out one that fit him and rushing over to a spot that was quickly being taken by another pony who looked at him with curiosity before shrugging with a mild laugh at his antics before slipping on their own.

Soon, the whole room, minus Comforting, had a headset on. "Now, welcome to Mathtopia!" With a shared swoosh of special effects, all the ponies, and Twitch, were thrown into the virtual world. "Here you'll have to work together to find and put together the right answers. Can you beat the last group?"

The world spun as ponies, and Twitch, were left to float in space as various equations popped up before their eyes. The ponies tried their hooves at answering them in vain, getting plenty of wrong answers even as they chatted happily with each other even as they guessed.

Twitch found a number at his feet and scampered over to show it to a pony. The pony grinned and pointed to an empty slot on the number. The moment Twitch dragged the number there, the right answer appeared before their eyes even as they shrieked with joy at that victory.

Another pony looked over in annoyance at them and their volume before waving at them for attention. The game was on, with Comforting cheering on each step they took towards answers.

The next answer had a wacky clue. A cloud passed before them with symbols etched into it. Ponies went along and answered each question on the cloud with similar vigour. Some ponies tackled math, some tackled letters and colors. Comforting clapped as they seemed to flow from one type of question to the other. Their cheerful collaboration was music to her ears. "You're all in this together. I'm so proud!"

The next riddle was a little harder, a bit of tricky logic. Ponies floated through the sky looking at symbols and drawing connections between them, just like they did in the real world with hoofball teams and such. Twitch tried to get their attention, but his squeaks and grumbles were not something they understood. He waved around a funny symbol he had found wildly.

Comforting paid attention and pointed at Twitch. "He's got something! He's over there!" All eyes went to Twitch, and so did hoofsteps through the clouds.

A pony's hoof found Twitch's symbol and put it in the right spot. The room exploded in celebration as the victory music began to play for them all.

One mare popped her headset off. "That was fun! The room wasn't big enough for me." She touched her hoof to her chin thoughtfully before nodding firmly at Comforting. "See ya later!" She walked off, likely to discuss what had just happened with her friends.

Similar thoughts came from others, discussing the time they had, but also leaving. Soon it was back to just Comforting and Twitch.

Comforting patted Twitch's long-eared head. "Had fun?"

Twitch wiggled happily at that as he peered up at Comforting from the ground as he leaned into her touch. "Yes!" He tapped on the side of her leg gently with a happy laugh. "Yes!"

Comforting tilted her head before settling down to lie beside him and hugging him. "Good job, helping! You're nice." She booped his nose. "Thank you for helping me! It's easier when we do it together."

Twitch nodded happily at that as he stretched out with a happy little hum of contentment even as he squeezed Comforting in a tight hug.

Comforting sat up, bringing Twitch with her. "Now, going to ask a question I bet you don't want me to ask, but you feel like you have something. Why did you come here? And don't just say me. You could have visited before, and you didn't. What made today special?"

Twitch groaned unhappily at that question. "Allura is angry." He gazed up at Comforting and stared deeply into her eyes. "She hurt me, so I left. For good." He huffed with a scowl. "Good riddance!"

Comforting pet gently over Twitch. "I'm sorry to hear you got into a fight. But running away the moment a friend acts out could be bad, or good." She hummed gently. "Depends on a lot of things. Want to tell me about you and her? What kind of friends you were. I'd love to hear about it."

Twitch shrank into himself at that question before curling up into Comforting's embrace. "She always needs things. It's my job to get those things." He glared off into the distance at nothing. "But I messed up, or not enough." He groaned unhappily at his own admission before continuing, "But I can't do that anymore."

"Hm." Comforting considered that with a chinrub. "Have you ever told her that you didn't want to do what she wanted you to do?"

"She's my friend!" Twitch pointed at himself with a sharp grunt of indignation. "I do what she wants! She gets all sad when I say no." He smacked his forehead against his knees repeatedly in frustration even as he squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of some further reprimand. But it didn't come. Instead, just more petting, and no words. He peeked up at Comforting with confusion, as if baffled by the lack.

"Friends should not do things they don't want to do for each other." Comforting waved at one of her aides who came to clean up the headgear. "Don't get me wrong, it can be nice to do things for friends! But they should be things you want to do. If you don't, well, then you should say that, and your friend, being a friend, should accept that." She tapped at her chest. "I had to teach a super close friend of mine that, way ages ago."

"Then what am I supposed to do?!" Twitch bounced to his feet and threw his paws up in the air with a look of hopelessness on his face even as he flung himself onto his back to stare up at the ceiling as he exhaled heavily in defeat.

"You already did it." She helped Twitch back onto his paws. "Eventually, you have to say no, and mean it. You have to make some space. If they're your friend, a real friend, they'll get it, and accept that you aren't always going to say yes."

Twitch hummed gently at that suggestion before wrapping himself up in his own arms as he looked up at Comforting seriously. "You think it will work?"

"Yup!" Comforting grinned at him before standing up and dusting herself off with a shake of her body. "And, if not, time to make some new friends. Looks like you made at least one more already." She hiked a thumb at herself. "I'm going to check out the floor, make sure no ponies could use my help. Wanna walk with me? Don't have to."

Author's Note

Some real lessons up in here I think.

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