New Endings, Old Starts

by David Silver

89 - Study Hard

The next day, dressed in school uniform she had started in, Comforting skipped alongside Sunset. They were going to school! She was curious what it'd be like, from the viewpoint of an actual student. But would she? She was still, at that moment, a guest of Sunset.

Who took her to the principal's office to start. "We should check in. She let us have yesterday." Assuming the next, she didn't do. "Hey." She waved at the secretary. "Celestia in?"

"Let's see." They pressed the button. "Sunset Shimmer is back, with that young girl."

The reply was quick, but also a different voice, "Send her in."

"Sounds like the Vice Principal is in." They waved forward to their shared office. "Go ahead."

Sunset huhed. "Alright." She reached for Comforting's hand and got it, drawing the small one forward. "Luna's cool. They both are, really. Not quite their, uh, pony selves, but what is?"

Inside, there was no Celestia, but there was a Luna, behind the other desk that had been empty the day before. "Good morning. Celestia had mentioned this situation." She pointed to the seats in front of her desk. "We've gone over the test results."

Right! The test! Comforting climbed up into a free chair. "How'd I do?"

Luna took out a slender folder and set it on the desk. "Quite well... Especially for someone of your apparent age... Not perfect, but competent." She cracked a little smile. "Being a competency examination, that is acceptable. However... I was also told of your... unique origin."

Comforting tensed. When did that come up?! "Ma'am?"

"Unless you intend to move here permanently, which hasn't happened yet..." She didn't know Sunset came from the same place. "I can't enroll you as a student. You will leave." She brought down a finger. "But that only precludes permanent attendance. You can be assigned as a foreign student."

Comforting's worry evaporated. "Foreign student! Yep, that's me." She hiked a thumb at herself. "Parlez Vous Francais?"

Luna was not amused at the sudden French clip. "A foreign student is permitted up to 12 months. That they will leave is a given, not an unusual circumstance."

Sunset brought her hands together. "Great! So, she's in then?"

"Not quite." Luna fixed Comforting in an even stare. "We need to set a few... rules. These are specific to you. We understand students from... your country are accustomed to some things, but we need to clarify that any 'magic' is entirely forbidden at school." Her brows came down with a sigh. "Trixie excepted, this is true of all the students, and her tricks are relatively harmless... and often ineffective."

And not actually magic. So far Comforting knew? Stage craft was something else. "Right. We're here to learn."

Luna smiled at that. "Good. Exactly the case. Now, you are, talented or not, a very small student. You survived yesterday with minimal incidents, but this remains true. We will do our part to make your stay comfortable and productive, but will you meet us halfway?"

"Yes! I am ready." Comforting was perhaps a bit more excited than one needed to be for school. "Will I still be in Sunset's classes?"

"No." Such flat denial. "Allowing you to attend the school at all is quite the leap, but placing you at her advanced year? Unthinkable." She drew out a fresh paper and slid it across towards Comforting. "This is your schedule, assuming you accept it. Admittedly, the other option is Sunset taking you to wherever you currently reside. Non-students have little place here."

Comforting took it for a look. At a guess, it was like she was a freshman? Sunset wasn't that... So they wouldn't share any classes. Drat... "Well... Alright." She wouldn't see any of the girls. They were all in later grades, inching closer to graduation. Dang... "Time to make some new friends..."

Sunset patted her little ward gently. "We can still, oh, what period do you have lunch?"

You checked. "Fourth."

"Great!" Sunset smiled brightly. "We can at least talk there. And I'll grab you after and before school."

Yes, they still had out of school time... Oh well, she was there to be a student, not play games... "Alright... Alright." She folded the paper and stucked it away. "Let's get started."

Luna's stoic expression broke into a true smile. "I had worried you would object more... It's just as well. Good! Sunset, can you see her to her first class? I imagine she hasn't memorized the lay of the land yet. Both of you, have a wonderful day."

"C'mon." Sunset guided Comforting out. "Later!" She waved at Luna on the way out. "Hope you can get along with the freshmen. I don't really brush elbows with them nearly as much..."

New people. Maybe they'd be super fun. Maybe they'd even be human versions of ponies she already knew! Of course, that'd just provide a hint of their nature. They'd be new people, overall. Humans, not ponies. "This could be fun."

"That's the spirit." Sunset led her to a classroom and waved inside. "Your first period awaits." She pointed up to a number on the door. "And that's how you find classes. The number says what floor it's on, simple as that."

"Simple." Comforting advanced on into the room. "See you later."

Inside was a chaotic mess of new students still roaming about, talking, playing, and enjoying the time before the class began properly. She was one of them! Ah ha! She spotted some familiar looking ponies. They were not a unicorn, or a pegasus, but their mane, er, hairstyles were a giveaway. Oh, the glasses. "Silver Spoon?"

The other girl, away from the other three, looked up. "Hm? Do I, like, know you?"

Comforting scooted up to human Silver Spoon and sat next to her. "Hi there. Not yet." She offered a hand. "I'm Comforting Shade."

Silver Spoon seemed confused at the sudden cheerful approach. "Oh, hey." She hesitantly offered a hand back in a brief shake. "Welcome?"

"Glad to be here." Comforting realized, a bit late, she had come on strong. "Sorry about that. I just wanted to make a friend or two right away, and you look nice."

"Thanks." She smiled at her curious new friend(?). "But that's Diamond's spot. I'd get out of it before she shows up."

Comforting scrambled from her chair with a squeak. "Sorry!" She swerved around to sink on Silver's other side. "Don't want her upset."

"Do you, like, know her?" Silver looked Comforting over intently. "You're acting like you do."

"Heard of her?" That felt safe. "Seriously, nice to be here."

"Welcome to Algebra." Silver Spoon rolled her eyes mightilly. "Ugh... Are you any good at math?"

Comforting perked. "Like 2x = 6?"

Silver Spoon squinted at Comforting suspiciously. "Like that. So what's the answer?"

"Um... 3?" Comforting had made a simple problem, but looked worried at Silver Spoon's reaction to it.

"Sounds like someone won't be clueless." She raised a hand just in time for a hand to slap against it as a new girl sat. There was Diamond Tiara, human edition. "Hey, Diamond. We got a new friend." She laughed, pointing back at Comforting. "I didn't, like, ask for her, but here she is. At least she isn't an idiot."

"That's good." She leaned around Silver for a peek at Comforting. "Hey. Aren't you... young for this?" They were the youngest in the high school, but Comforting was smaller yet. "Not to offend or anything, but you look like you should be in grade school, junior high at the absolute max."

Silver colored dark. "Diamond! Maybe she has some kinda, like, growth thing. Maybe that's as big as she'll ever get!"

Comforting laughed tensely. "It's not like that... I'm exactly as big as I should be." Which was small. "I'll get bigger later, no rush."

"See?" Diamond looked comfortably confident in the fact that she wouldn't mess anything up. "Diamond Tiara." She thrust a hand right in front of Silver Spoon to reach Comforting.

Comforting accepted the hand in a shake. "Comforting Shade, nice to meet you."

"Charmed." Diamond reclaimed her hand. "The teacher's gonna love you. You have teacher's pet written all over you, and most of us hate this class. So smile, look interested, and take the pressure off the rest of us, alright?"

Comforting inclined her head faintly. "I'll do my--"

The teacher wandered in. It was human Cheerilee, smiling gently at them all. "Students, in your seats." Her eyes darted to Comforting. "We have a new student today. If you would come up?" She waved Comforting up to the front. "What's your name?"

Comforting feared for a girl her actual age. That could be a scary situation! But she did not have that fear. That class was full of pony humans she recognized. "I am Comforting Shade, a foreign exchange student. I'm looking forward to meeting you all." She curtsied to the clapping classroom. Nailed it! "Thank you for having me, Miss Cheerilee."

Cheerilee seemed surprised. "Oh, did one of the others tell you my name? How lovely, we can skip that then. Go on back to your seat." She gently shooed Comforting away and began her lesson on the mysteries of x and how to solve it. Such a vexing problem, that x, always getting lost.

Diamond thumped the back of her hand against Comforting's on the way out of class. "Huh, you're good at that. My tutor blows chunks, to put it bluntly. How are you at teaching, one on one."

"One on two," huffed Silver Spoon. "I'm invited too, right?"

Diamond curled an arm around her friend. "Of course you are, but only if she's up for it. She's... what.. 8? 10? Not sure her parents will even let her."

Silver frowned at their potential pint-sized tutor. "Just because you know math better doesn't make you better than us!" She was a proud and independant young woman, and some amount of pride had to be defended.

"Of course." Comforting did not rise to that bait. She reminded herself, repeatedly, that she had an unfair advantage and had to be extra nice to the people going through life the first time. She wasn't there to gloat. "I'd be happy to help."

"Great." Diamond clapped her hands together in a firm stoke. "But... are your parents alright with it?"

"Got a new friend?" Human Sweetie Belle had approached with a big smile. "Comfy, right?"

"Close, Comforting." Comforting offered a hand, quickly met in a friendly shake. "Sweetie Belle." She looked to the others accompanying her. "Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom."

"Woah." Scootaloo peered at the new kid. "Where'd you learn that?"

Silver Spoon shrugged. "Same place she learned how to do math, I bet."

That was... closed to the truth than not. Comforting didn't argue it. "Say, since I'm helping them, why not make it a whole class, if anyone else wants?"

Diamond puffed up at that. "Hey! This was my idea."

"A very good one, but if I'm teaching you, for money, that looks odd. If I'm just having a study class with my fellow students..." Comforting waved at the lot of them. "Then that's pretty normal."

Apple Bloom blinked softly. "What're we studyin'?" She had her bigger sister's country twang. "Math?"

Silver leaned in against Comforting. "Well... we know those three." She wiggled her fingers at the human crusaders. Were they crusaders? That felt suddenly unlikely. Then again... Pony humans had cutie marks. Sure, they covered them, but they had them, maybe...

"Comforting?" Sweetie noticed Comforting looking spaced out, mind a mile away. "You alright?"

Diamond suddenly smiled. "Actually... You may have a point, also, we don't know what you know or don't know. Maybe you'll need our help for a class or three."

This bore out to be the case. Social Studies may as well have been about martian fern development for how little Comforting grasped it. It was just close enough to Earth history to seem familiar but all colored subtely off to make all her knowledge more of a hinderance than a help. She finished the class miserably slumped over her desk, groaning in defeat.

Silver leaned in over Comforting's desk, standing after class. "Wow, Diamond called that."

"I usually do," Diamond sang, looking quite vindicated. "So we have a deal. You help us, we help you. Fair's fair."

Comforting raised a hand, the rest of her slumped. "Fair's fair."

They shook on it, a deal formed.

Comments

[redmar]

It's good that Comforting managed to make some friedns in her class.

[AdventuringHobbit]

I'm still waiting for someone to ask for her parents' names, and the inevitable answer of Fluttershy causing people to freak out.

[Theresa]

I hope that something besides everyday stuff happens soon. Sunset having a normal life is nice for a break in the action but her going through pony life while being an ex human was more exciting because there was something new from a human standpoint around each corner but this is pretty normal for us so something happing would be great.

[TheLocalCannon]

11469556
To be honest, I would skip that whole scene.

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

Hopefully Comforting won't have to first unlearn Earth history in order to learn EQG history. An exchange of tutoring seems like a good idea.

Comforting is making new friends everywhere she goes. That shouldn't be a surprise though.

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

11469714
As long as it's not too exciting.

[Theresa]

11469763
Just something slightly out of the norm would be exciting enough for me.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

Luna worked very well in her role of getting Comforting "in the right spot" and explaining how things will be going for a while.

It's interesting to see Comforting meeting the human versions of Silver Spoon, Diamond and Tiara, and the CMC, while trying to avoid mentioning alternate dimensions, and while wondering if the human CMC actually go crusading.

It should be interesting to see how Comforting tutoring her fellow students goes.

Speaking of education related things, Comforting's sudden French at the beginning and the narration's "Such a vexing problem, that x, always getting lost" were quite cute.

Looking forward to more.

[David Silver]

11469988
It may not be a one way street there. One rarely knows all they think they know.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

11470061

Wise words.

[Poparakelis]

They shook on it, a deal formed.

Friends in all worlds