Zipp dashed off as the class finished up. Her wings carried her around in a wide circle, so she could face her students again. "Alright! Another class down." She flew close to each pony, marking their performances off on a clipboard. "All excellent work today! Very well done." She dropped from the sky with a wide smile on her lips. "You've all improved, a lot! Couldn't be happier to have a students like you."

She paced back and forth before her class of young pegasi, making eye contact with each of them in turn as she discussed their performance during her lesson with them in their daily flight training class, "Pip, you did amazing." That had them flapping their wings with joy. "Sally, great swoops. You never lost control." Sally clapped her hooves with joy evident on her big smile. "Sparkle." Sparkle halted mid-cheer with an expectant expression on their face. "Remember to check below before you go diving. There could have been an airship."

Sparkle curled their wings in and bobbed their head.

Zipp snapped a crisp salute with a wing. "But, remember, you all did super great, and tomorrow's gonna be even better. Head on home and relax, or fly some more. I'm not your mom." The class laughed as they began to disperse. She began putting things away as they flew off one by one, but stopped at a light cough from behind.

Amber was there with a less ecstatic, but still warm smile. "Your class looked really happy with you. Thank you, for helping with this project. It's such a relief to know everypony is being taken care of."

"Hey! No problem!" Zipp flipped her hair back over her shoulder as she added proudly, "It's what I'm here for!" She patted Amber's shoulder. "Besides, we're doing good, showing ponies how to be all they can be. Also, I love flying, so more excuses to do that. Win-win!" She folded up her writing implements and slid them into her saddlebags. "The unicorns doing okay?"

"Great!" Amber had to tip her head back to meet Zipp's eyes, the Pegasus being a little taller than her. "It's so nice to see every pony reaching for that magic spark inside them."

Zipp rolled her eyes playfully. "That sounds so lame!" She cackled at Amber's small smile. "But in all seriousness, magic is neat." She grabbed her bags and took off with a running start. She was gone in a flash, darting out through the library with practiced precision.

Amber closed up the teaching rooms properly. With that settled, she trotted for the front desk. "How are the books doing?"

Comforting stuck out a paw and pointed to a place by the counter. The books had been piled neatly. "That's how many books were borrowed today. A lively day if I say so myself." The pile vanished, their purpose complete. "Zipp had a big smile on her face. Class went well? You weren't that nervous, for once."

Amber cringed, sputtering in shock at that bit of teasing from her tall friend. "I don't get nervous." She glared at the giggling friend that stood behind the counter in their lavender pony form and prodded Comfort. "Don't tease me. The class went well, for me and Zipp. I think Zipp's class might be graduating soon, in fact. They were flying up a storm the last I saw them."

Comforting sniffed. "The scent of new books is really great." She wiped at her nose with one paw, looking a bit comical in that moment as she made the movement. "They smell new, but different from each other." She put a hand over Amber's nose. "You've been distracted, but a new shipment came in. I already put them away for you." She gestured to some new additions.

Amber pressed her nose against Comforting's fuzzy palm, seeing so many new books around her library. "You are just the best." She nuzzled that hand, clearly alright with the contact. "How are things upstairs?"

"All nice and clean." Comforting gestured to the librarians quietly shuffling around them. "The new librarians are still settling in. I have a feeling you'll be welcoming some new faces in here soon enough. They're really excited to help out both up and downstairs. Still, not going to lie, I'll like having backup for the events I run. I don't want to run them all on my own! I'm only one chaos creature."

Amber hugged Comforting's other hand with her hooves. "Want me to help? I can help if you need it!"

"Thanks! But, no." Comforting leaned against Amber with a sigh. "You have plenty to do down here, on top of being the unicorn tutor. Both our timeslots are pretty busy." She leaned in. "But that doesn't mean I forgot about you." Coiling around Amber, Comforting began to gently pet them more like a beloved pet than a pony. "Misty's an interesting case. She has issues to work out. Maybe you could help her?"

Amber dipped into the pets and hug happily as she relaxed into it as she responded with a slight huff to her tone, "Well, maybe." She snuggled in deeper against Comforting's softer fuzzy hide as she allowed herself to enjoy this moment with her oldest friend that seemed to know all too well about what she was thinking about. "But we're still not a 'thing'. I'm accepting her just as she is, and that's a wonderful pony. If she wants to take a step forward, I'm with her, but I'm not shoving her."

Comforting kept brushing through Amber's hair as she hummed softly at the proclamation of Amber's firm support for Misty through thick and thin. "I know. You're a nice pony." She smooched Amber's horn. "A caring unicorn. You deserve this too, to be clear. You're putting your projects so far ahead of yourself, you have so little time for a little 'Amber' time."

Amber shifted awkwardly under those gentle strokes of Comforting's hand in her hair as she thought on what Comforting was telling her before asking curiously, "What's your advice?"

Comforting wiggled her hands and floated a few inches up. "I'm so glad you asked! I just think you need a special somecreature that will put you first and give you a hug without even being asked." She waggled tail in grand swipes. "Like me, but not married, and not a god."

Amber tossed her mane as she considered that proposition of having a 'special somepony'. She'd just brushed out her mane before class earlier, but there were always some stray strands in the way. "Yeah, sure." She stared up at Comforting. "Toots is lucky"

Comforting went a dark red, far faster and more complete than any not-chaos creature could manage. "The cheek!" She grabbed Amber's cheeks firmly. "Sorry, you can't have me, already promised to two already, and Toots isn't looking for a herd."

Amber blinked numbly. "Herd?" The confusion faded into a frown. "I'm not interested in polyamory. If I were to have a special somepony, I'd want just one, and for me to be their one and only. I'd never ask them to share them with others." She sighed heavily at the thought of getting turned down by Misty, who she just wanted for herself. "Though Misty doesn't even know that I want her to be my special somepony..."

Comforting burst into fresh giggles. "Good of you to admit it."

"Admit what?" It struck her a moment after that. "Oh." She sank to her haunches. "It's not like that! Like you said, she's in a delicate place. I'd just be taking advantage of her. She's still finding herself. I feel like I'd just be some creepy stalker if I made a move on her. She needs friends."

Comforting drummed her fingers on Amber's horn. "Ah, so she has an excuse to give you more hugs." She put a hand over Amber's mouth. "But it sounds like you're looking for an excuse to avoid your feelings for her. You say she's fragile, but how is she really doing? Does she act fragile? If she's just 'finding herself', that implies she's trying new things out and being more outgoing and free. Just what does she need more of in her life?"

Amber backed away, cheeks furiously burning. "Now you're making it sound like I'm some sort of bold adventure for her to take. Like I'm some tall mountain for her to try climbing just because I happen to be there. That's not romantic at all! No, that's actually kinda weird!"

Comforting scratched behind her ear. "That's weird? To think of someone so dear to you as being someone special? That the pony you think is special is a challenge worth working for, scaling despite the odds, the fear, and the uncertainty? That, hm, sounds pretty romantic to me."

Amber's ears drooped as she struggled to find the words to answer that declaration from Comforting and she mumbled, "But I'm not a mountain!"

"No, no you're not." Comforting swooped in, hugging Amber from all around. "You're a pony, a nice one, and just as fun to climb though. I should know, from practice."

Amber twisted around awkwardly within the hug before asking the burning question on her mind that wouldn't let her rest. "What does Toots think about all this?"

Comforting set her down and wagged a finger at Amber with an almost motherly chiding expression on her face. "That I hug you? That isn't a crime, and he knows I'll hug just about anycreature that looks like they could use one. He's still the only pony I have breakfast and dinner with, every single day."

Amber's nose scrunched up at that thought of Comforting giving others hugs even though she knew it shouldn't bother her, but there was just something about knowing Comforting had other ponies in her life she would hold close and snuggle against that made her chest hurt more than a little.

Comforting tapped Amber on that scrunched nose. "I mean this in the nicest way possible, but if you wanted to make a move on me, you should have been faster. Feel that? It could happen again. I vote you don't sit on your feelings about Misty, or she may just grow too quickly, and find somepony else. Time waits for nopony, especially when it's a matter of love."

Amber put a hoof to her chest. "I just... don't want to mess up and hurt her. That's all."

"I know, I know." Comforting came back in for another tight hug as if that could solve all the problems in the world. Maybe it couldn't, but it felt nice to be so close to a friend. "But messing up is part of life. Can't let that make you do nothing, because that's messing up too. Better to try and fail, I say. Then you can try again."

Amber gave up and just let Comforting hug her as much as they wanted. "Life doesn't have an undo button."

"No." Comforting nuzzled gently into Amber's side. "But you can learn. That's life. Try, learn, try better." She uncoiled from Amber. "I'll be here for you, if that helps. You have a friend, quite a few these days. Isn't that something? The famous Miss Amber has more friends than she knows what to do with!"

Amber laughed at that notion. "I'm not famous."

Comforting tousled Amber's mane soothingly. "Head librarian, I think every pony for a few neighborhoods around at least knows you. In a city like this? That's at least a little famous."

Author's Note

I loved the feels in this chaper.

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