//------------------------------//
// 28 - Incoming Hug 
// Story: New Endings, Old Starts 
// by David Silver 
//------------------------------//

Comforting made her way through the city in a hurry. She was early. There was about no chance of her being late, but she couldn't help but propel herself in a spirited trot. Maybe she'd see the pony?!

The bridge leading to the school was quiet. It was quite early, and no students were on it. The ground was cool beneath her and the air thick with the gentle humidity of the starting day. "Hello?" There was no reason for them, whoever they were, to answer her. She saw nothing and heard maybe a little more in the form of early morning birds chirping their songs.

"Not that fast..." It was perhaps a bit overmuch to imagine it would come on her that quickly. She trotted out onto the bridge that separated the school from the rest of the town. The water flowed gently under it and she looked into it, smiling at the gentle lapping sound of the flowing water. "Hm..." She never took time to just enjoy it. Comforting settled down and decided that relaxing and doing just that was the course of action.

School wouldn't open for some time, and that was a lovely spot. She reached down and tried to bat at the water, but it was too far. She gave up and sat up properly, just listening to it instead. "This really is built nicely..." It was all so pleasant to be around. Ponies did things so nicely! She took a moment to be thankful for exactly where she was.

Something was coming closer on clopping hooves. Comforting looked up to see a middle-aged pony walking along at a sedate pace. He wore overalls that looked suited for heavy work. "Mornin'." And he had seen her. "Just gonna clean up." He was walking right onto the bridge as if she wasn't there, just straight across. "Somepony's gotta do it."

Comforting rose and turned towards the pony. "Are you... a custodian?"

"That's a fancier word than most ponies in this town use." He smiled a bit lopsidedly at her. "Most call me a janitor, if they call me anything'. You need somethin'?"

Comforting tapped her hooves together gently. "You come to this school a lot?"

"Every day." The earth pony nodded at her, his pale blue mane ruffling in the motion. "And I should get on with it." He began moving past her.

Comforting hopped to her hooves and started following him without being asked. He went right up to the gate of the school and casually slid a big key into place as he whistled. It was as it clunked into place that he noticed. "School ain't opened yet." He was looking at her. "Go on. Still got 'bout an hour before then."

She grinned large enough to squeak in the effort. "It's a great school, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." He glanced away and back. "Which is why I gotta keep it clean, little filly, so the students can use it."

"Students come in a lot of sizes." She tapped herself gently. "I'm a student."

"Huh." He turned back to the gate, pushing it open with his snout. "Look, if you wanna see me clean things, no rule against it. It ain't all that interestin', promise." And in he went at his casual pace.

"I'm already interested." Comforting danced past the gate and turned around, closing it with a clang of metal on metal. "Don't want anyone else wandering in."

"That'd be terrible." He eyed the filly that had already wandered in ahead of time. "You never cleaned before or somethin'?" He made his way slowly down the hallway towards a closet. "Yer parents asked once or twice, didn't they?"

"They sure did!" Comforting could remember cleaning up for Fluttershy and doing her part to help. "They gave me a hug instead of money though... That's... adulting."

"Yeah." He brought his head out of the closet with a mop in his teeth. "You know more about adulting than most foals your size." He wetly splatted the mop down and began cleaning diligently. "Full of surprises."

"Adulting is a lot of work." Comforting sighed gently, but she was smiling. "But making friends is still a part of adulting."

"Says who?" He hiked a brow as he worked. "I come in, do my work, get paid... Nopony wants to hear 'bout an adult learnin' how to make friends."

"It's never too late." She found a spot to sit near him as he worked. "You seem like a nice person already."

"Then you ain't looked close enough yet." He dunked the mop into a bucket and wished it around before resuming his pushes. "Ponies confuse me! Don't get them, not even a little bit..."

Comforting considered in a silent angling of her head. "They sure do a lot of things, and never explain why."

"'xactly." He grumped as he worked down the hallway in his cleaning. "And they always expect you to know! They get angry when you don't!"

"If only there was a place that taught these things." Her eyes wandered over the school that was exactly made for that. "Where they teach how to get along and understand things."

"That's for foals!" He said that a bit loudly and colored. "Sorry... Nothin' wrong with bein' a foal." He reached for her and patted her on the head gently. "Bet yer gettin' good grades too."

She was! She saw no reason to rub that in. "It isn't just for foals. There are adults here too." She began following him as he resumed his cleaning trek. "What about them?"

"They're younger, way younger." He grunted as he looked at a locker. "Figures." He got to cleaning a big mess someone had splattered on a few lockers together. "The oldest pony ah ever saw was at least half my age. The teachers would laugh, the students would laugh, and everycreature would think anypony my age is just... No. Ain't doin' it." He dipped his mop in his bucket, freshening it up for another salvo of cleaning. "This place isn't built for me, other than cleanin' it up. That's my part, and I'm proud of it."

"You're doing a great job." She remained on him, watching. "But it doesn't have to be that."

"Look... thanks, but shoo." He pushed her, heavy hoof easily making her slide on the smooth floor of the hallway. "They'd never let me join anywho, so get on and do somethin' more productive than talkin' with some old cleaner like he means somethin' at all."

She let him get along with his business instead of chasing him further. She was an adult, at least on the inside. That she had reached the end of where she could reach in that moment felt self-evident. Still, she had met a pony that needed her, and learned things and chatted. A success!





"Pardon?" Twilight hiked a brow. "I expected a more... magic-related question, if we're being honest."

"I hope we are." Comforting clopped her hooves smartly. "What is the top age a pony can be and still get in the school?"

Twilight shook her head. "I never even considered that... The highest age we have currently is about twenty four. What brings this up? Are you considering an age-advancing spell? That is far beyond you! Do not attempt that!"

"No!" she giggled out. "I'll age at one second every single second, and that's fast enough." She inclined her head. "What if an older pony wanted to join?"

Twilight rolled a hoof. "They'd need to apply, like anycreature else. Most foals have their forms filled for them by their caretakers, but an adult pony would do it themselves, obviously. There would be... challenges. They'd be in classes filled with creatures far younger than they are." Twilight began to dance from hoof to hoof. "It could prove difficult without a peer network to--"

"--I'm managing." Comforting pointed at herself. "I'm the youngest filly here, and I'm friends with a bunch of teenagers."

"You are." Twilight smiled at her student. "You are a special case. You'll admit that, won't you?"

"Yeah..." Not every student had her perspective, or could be expected to... "But..."

"But... If an older student wanted to join and passed the test..." She shrugged gently. "I would have no reason to deny them so long as they followed the rules, I have no reason to deny them." She suddenly smiled. "I doubt Grandma Smith wants to join the school, however."

Comforting burst into light giggles at the image conjured. "She has plenty to learn."

"Perhaps, but she wouldn't want to." Twilight leaned in at Comforting. "She is very happy just where she is, and having us telling her to change would only make her upset. She'd need to come to us, ready to learn, not the other way around." She inclined her head the other way. "Now... with a foal, if the parent sends them, we have dealt with bad matches before. I would not do that for an adult. They're grown enough to make their own decisions."

"Sure, yes... But if a grown pony wanted to be here, you'd let them in?" Comforting leaned forward with her biggest smile. "Right?"

"Theoretically..." Twilight didn't sound as sure about that as Comforting would have liked. "Now about your magic! How is your spell coming along?"

Comforting covered Twilight in a dazzling collection of every flower that her imagination could come with, not focusing on any particular type of flower. "Very good." Twilight pointed to the desk Comforting was seated in. "Now cover that in nothing but orange daisies."

Even as the glow started, Twilight cut in suddenly. "And no purple ones!" That most of them were purple had her smiling. "It is very easy to be distracted. Learning how to avoid that is a key part of using magic outside of very controlled environments, which are hard to find and not practical to depend on."

"Unfair..." Comforting crossed her arms. "I'll get better!" Learning magic had more steps to it than she'd have liked, but she was far from prepared to give up on it. "How do I practice that?"

"With a friend." Twilight turned away from Comforting. "I know you have some. Ask them to surprise you when you least expect it. Only practice can improve this." She turned back about and set a hoof on Comforting's desk. "You are doing great! Don't misunderstand me. Especially for your age and time spent learning. You are doing quite well, but you're not there yet. When you can reliably work through distractions, we can start on your next spell."

Comforting's eyes widened with a loud gasp. "I'm ready!"

"I had a feeling you would be." She got some chalk in her magic and began drawing diagrams of startled unicorns. "If it helps, I can still be surprised. We are alive in the end, so that comes with the territory. The goal is the minimize the effect, not to stop it entirely."

"Let's see you do the flower spell." Comforting looked a little too impish.

"Very well..." A little smile came. "Any particular kind of flower?"

Comforting brushed the blue daisies off her desk. "How about some big yellow ones? You know the kind."

"I do know the kind." Her horn's glow changed subtly with the work of magic. Comforting felt proud for spotting the difference.

She hadn't figured out exactly which letters looked like what yet, but progress! "Spike flower."

The flowers came out looking mostly right, except one that had the head of her assistant giving a wink. "I saw that coming." She patted the one unusual flower. "Behold."

"Did you do that on purpose?" Comforting peered at the unusual specimen. "Or just keep the surprise to a minimum."

"A great question!" Twilight sprang up to two hooves with a grand circle of one of her forehooves. "Being a trained wizard means a little of both. This becomes all the more important in situations where a pony could get hurt." She waved at the flowers. "Nothing will be lost if all the flowers ended up like our Spike flower, but if I'm in the middle of teleporting somepony..."

Comforting cringed at the possibilities. "Yeah..."

"Exactly." Twilight came down to all fours with a clop. "Work on it, and take your time. You are far ahead of schedule already, so there's no shame in that."