Twilight slowed to watch what was going on. A row of young unicorns was tossing up a small bouncy ball into the air and catching it on the way down to send it flying back up again, all with their horns. Their hooves were solidly planted on the ground and their heads bobbed with the motion as their respective ball bounced up and down, creating a wave of motion up and down the line back and forth in a steady rhythm.
"You're all doing so well," came the voice of their teacher, a smiling Comforting. "Let up on the strength and focus on nice and smooth." She was patting one colt on the shoulder. Snips?! Twilight blinked softly, not expecting that specific little unicorn to ever attend a horn class.
Twilight smiled at the scene, sitting and watching the young ponies practicing. But something wasn't right... Ah. "Comforting?"
Comforting perked up, spotting Twilight quickly. "Yes, teacher?"
"Where's your ball?" She waggled a hoof at the lack of the heavy metal ball she had left Comforting with. "Taking a break?"
"Yes. Practicing that while I teach is hard. It's helping! I'm getting a feel for when I really should just put it down." Comforting was watching the line of bouncing balls carefully. "Um... I became a teacher too, teacher."
"So I see." Twilight was smiling gently. "How did that come about?"
"I basically walked into it." Comforting caught one ball in her magic, patting the pony it belong to as she whispered gentle encouraging adjustments and let it return to their grip. "But the foals of the town wanted a horn tutor, and they saw I was doing it... and I think I was less scary."
"I would have helped..." Twilight fought off her pout. "I'm glad they found a tutor that fits their needs. Another foal may be just what was needed. Even 'cool' adults are still adults, after all."
"Exactly!" Comforting nodded firmly as she moved towards the center of the line. "You've all made so much progress! That's it for today. Keep practicing. Grab things, move things. Keep your hooves on the ground and pretend they aren't there for anything but moving you around." That she wasn't, technically, a foal she kept to herself. Why ruin a good thing?
Snips wandered up to Twilight. "You would've? I figured you were super busy..." He worried his hooves together. "You know, being a princess, and running that school, and..."
Twilight let out a nervous laugh. "You may have a point... Like teacher, like pupil. I may be reaching for more than I can handle. Would you like to show me what you've learned?"
"Gladly!" Snips stood up tall and proudly. With a glowing horn that Comforting could see, he grabbed not one but two things! One of the other foals had left their ball behind, which meant it was open to his snatching. He bounced the two balls up and down in counter motions to one another. It wasn't juggling, he didn't have that kind of skill. It was more like holding a ball in either hand and waving the hands up and down. But the two hands was his one horn, so it was a step up from that.
Twilight gave a polite little clap of her hooves at the display. "Quite a difference from the last time I saw you. You keep this up and you'll be quite skilled in no time."
"Aw, thanks." He put the borrowed ball back down but kept what was, one assumed, his ball. "I thought I was the only unicorn that needed more, um, practice."
Comforting perked her ears. "Oh, no no! There's a lot of little unicorns with little horns that need lots of practice!"
"But I didn't know that," corrected Snips with a sage nod. "Being in a whole class of 'em makes that really hard to miss."
"Where's your friend?" Twilight looked around. They were the only ones left of the class. "I thought Snails was with you... basically always."
"Not always," Snips huffed out. "He's already so good at this... Um, so he told me to come but he didn't..." He shuffled on the ground. "He only came the first time to get me to show up."
Comforting sank a little with a laugh. "Yeah... wow, Snails is so good at that. I can't teach him anything about that. Are you sure he doesn't want to try being a wizard?"
"Nah." Snips waved a hoof left and right. "I've asked before! He's happy with what he has, and he practices it a lot. A lot lot... But he doesn't want to do spells. I don't get it either. If I was that talented, I'd be casting spells all over!"
Twilight and Comforting shared a moment of horror, imagining Snips casting whatever spell he had in mind. The world would become less safe... Comforting smiled though. "Well, before you can even consider that, you have to get horn magic and glowing under control. You'll be using all your learn from both to do magic."
The older mare perked. "Speaking of that, how is Snails at glowing? I don't think I've seen much of that."
Snips looked ready to answer quickly, but hesitated. "Um... Huh..." He crossed his arm to bring his hoof to his chin, rubbing. "Huh... I'll have to ask him."
Comforting's eyes widened slightly. "Is that why?!" Great flexibility but a small pool, or limited access to that pool would make for a not-so-good wizard. But there were countless other reasons it could be... "Um, but you're doing really well, Snips. I'll see you for the next class, right?"
"Yes!" He tucked his ball into his pocket. "I thought this would be... way harder." He had a goofy bit of a grin. "Shoulda known better. Thanks for taking the, uh, time, teach!" And off he went, trotting spiritedly away.
Twilight watched him go a moment before looking back at her own student. "So, how is it, being a teacher?"
Comforting sagged with relief. Twilight already knew enough to speak freely. "I've been a teacher before."
"You have?" Twilight perked an ear. "Want to talk about it?"
"They weren't unicorns with horns they were learning." She reached up to her own little horn. "Reading, writing, arithmetic... More like Miss Cheerilee." Comforting pointed the way to the schoolhouse. "Which is another reason I didn't really want to go to that school."
"I see... And why you seemed to have a good grasp on those basics, even if others were lacking." Twilight seemed to grapple with the idea rather than judging. "And so you came to me, hoping to learn more about social studies."
"Yes!" Comforting bounced in place with a big smile. "And I've been enjoying it very much. Oh, did Gallus talk to you?"
"About what?"
Comforting did her best to pantomime in the air. "He's making key-chains, and he was thinking to put your picture on them for ponies. I reminded him to ask you. I was checking if he actually asked you."
"He did not... But I also haven't seen any new baubles with my face on it..." Clearly, she would start looking for just that happening. "Maybe he just hasn't acted on the idea?"
"Possible. If he hasn't started, he hasn't done anything wrong." Comforting nodded, content with the situation. "I just thought you'd want a say in anything with your picture on it."
"That would be ideal... but I also can't stop him."
Comforting started at that. "You can't?!"
"I'm a public figure." She pointed at herself. "Being a princess is the ultimate one of those. Ponies will draw me. Ponies will take pictures of me. Ponies will put those pictures on everything and I'm not entitled to tell them not to, unless that picture is... obscene or generally offensive, but that would be a complaint about an offensive picture, not 'you used my likeness.'"
Comforting shook her head slowly. That was a day for learning. "Huh! But if someone used my picture?"
"You could complain. You are not a public figure." She leaned in. "That may change in the future. You are very ambitious."
Comforting colored at the indirect praise. "Ah, well, thank you... I understand now. We had rules like that where I'm from too, but there were a lot of fine details. Asking still felt nice, especially since he could. You know him, he knows you. Also you two live in the same town, so why not?"
Twilight nodded at that. "Polite, and a good faith measure. Not required, but still nice. I would appreciate it." She tapped Comforting on the nose. "I'm happy to know you'd ask, even if you didn't have to."
Comforting pawed at her nose. "Of course. It's just polite... Besides, if you like it, you may speak well about it, and that'd mean more keyrings going to more ponies. Win win from all angles."
Twilight considered that. "You have a point." She rose to her hooves. "You say you were a teacher?"
"Yes!" Comforting circled around Twilight. "And now I am a student."
"But also a teacher," noted Twilight with a smile. She began walking, but there was a Comforting with her, keeping her company. "Your own circle closes even as you loop mine back around. Now, just to be clear, you are welcome to ask for help. Even if you were a teacher before, you are a foal right now. Being a teacher is no small responsibility."
"I've been trying to be better about that!" Comforting patted herself on the chest. "Once a week, we have an hour of a lesson, and then it's off for them to practice. I can afford an hour a week. That isn't so bad."
"That is good to hear." Visions of intensive study every day, vanished back to the nightmares it had come from. "And probably closer to the intensity that works for foals that young..." She trailed off with her steps for a brief time. "Except you."
"Except... hey!" Comforting stuck out her tongue, even if was true. Once a week would have left her very dissatisfied. "Also, the time I'm training them is time I'm not training myself, so built in break. But... I haven't tried that spell, since the accident."
Twilight patted Comforting on the middle of her back. "You shouldn't be scared. You've learned your limits, so it should be far safer now. Besides, I hear you were casting it just fine, if not for that little mistake."
Wait. "You heard about it?"
Twilight half-laughed at Comforting's confusion. "I am best friends with your mother, I remind. She told me about it."
Comforting colored darkly. She had forgotten to even think of asking Fluttershy to not tell the world about that mistake and its specifics. "Sweetie Belle was really happy."
"Matching brawn with Scootaloo? I should imagine." Twilight hiked a brow. "The two are not usually very evenly matched at all."
"She was while I was doing it... but it knocked me out."
"Speaking of that." Her hoof moved up to Comforting's horn. "How is your training going? Can you feel as you get tired now?"
"Yes!" She looked up at her horn, or tried. It was hard to get a direct stare at one's own horn. "That little ache tells you to stop, and I know what it feels like now, so no more passing out. Speaking of that... How bad could that get, if you just kept... going?"
"Well, in theory... When you get low on magic, the first thing that is likely to happen is a loss of consciousness, as you experienced. But if you managed to resist that, then real damage can start... Your body will begin using itself as fuel. That is part of why ancient ponies would suffer permanent damage raising and lowering the sun. They were eating themselves to fuel the magic."
Comforting cringed at the thought of using her own body to keep the magic going. "No thanks!"