//------------------------------//
// 52 - Okaerinasai 
// Story: New Endings, Old Starts 
// by David Silver 
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"Here we are, nice and safe." Sandbar lowered to the ground, allowing Comforting to slip to the ground. "Thanks for helping out. Sorry if it was... a lot." Sandbar rubbed his leg, earning a confused look from Comforting. "We're not used to dealing with foals, truth told. Not that there's anything wrong with being one of those. You're pretty dang cool for a foal, so you feel better, okay?"

"I'm not hurt," she insisted with a little whine she didn't intend in her voice. "I wanted to help even more... But everyone's okay now, so I'm glad for that." They met, hoof to hoof, and she waved as he wandered back into town. "And... home." She willed a grip on the knob and, miracles be praised, her amber magic appeared to obey her, getting a good grip on the knob and turning it as she wished it.

"Who's there?" asked a voice from inside, a startled female that came closer quickly. "Comf--It is you!" She burst free of the opening door and grabbed Comforting close. "I was worried when I got home and you weren't here. Are you alright?"

"Welcome home," Comforting squeaked with a big smile. "It's good to see you too. I'm alright, promise." She didn't turn down a chance for some hugs with her mother. However the rest of the day went, that was a good part of it. "I was with the other students, saving the day!"

Fluttershy inclined her head. "Were you? We spent the last few days not saving the day." She sighed softly, but a little smile was there. "It seems to have worked itself out. Twilight said all the magic's back, and that was quite the sparkly... whatever it was."

The memory of the burst of magic returned to Comforting. "Could you see it? The colors?"

"Hm? Oh my, yes. Very... everything." She swirled her hooves in the air, trying to encompass the magic of the moment with mixed success. "You saw it too?"

Comforting bounced free of Fluttershy's lap. "Yes! It was wonderful! That's what I see." She tapped at the side of her head. "Less... everything, but that's what I see." Tears stung at her eyes and she wasn't even sure why. Oh... Oh! "Wow... It's so nice to know someone else saw what I see, even for a moment..."

Fluttershy considered that a quiet moment. "You see that all the time?"

Comforting pointed up to her horn as she made it glow. "I see the color of my magic right now. Whenever a unicorn is doing magic, their horn glows. When a magic item is doing magic, it glows. Magic items glow even when not, but it's very faint."

Fluttershy extended a wing to point at it. "What about this?"

Comforting peered at the wing, but it was a wing. A lovely wing, belonging to her mother, but still, a wing. "I don't see a glow..."

Fluttershy folded the wing on her back. "But it has magic. Tirek proved that. If you can see all magic..."

"Then I should be able to see that," echoed Comforting, getting the idea her mother was presenting. "You have a good point. I'll have to try when a pegasus is actually flying, so I know what it looks like."

"Maybe tomorrow I can fly us to school." She was studying Comforting in an intense but gentle way in an odd blend. "So you know of Tirek then?"

"O-oh! Yes." Comforting reached up. "Tall, centaur, mean?"

"That's him. I wasn't sure." Fluttershy set a hoof on her child. "For now, let's retire for the day. Did you eat yet? I was about to make something."

"Yay!" Comforting headed inside to enjoy dinner.





The next day, Comforting rode to school on her mother's back, as promised. She didn't pay as much attention to the sights as she normally did, instead watching Fluttershy's wings as they gently flapped to carry them forward. What magic did they have? Pegasi had magic. It could be taken away, and they'd crash. They had to have magic.

But they weren't glowing brightly when they flew around. How did that work? For that matter, earth ponies didn't glow when they bucked a bunch of apples out of a tree in a clear display of magic. They didn't glow when they talked to animals, which would probably bother Fluttershy a lot. They didn't glow any of the time, except when doing unicorn magic. What made unicorn magic different?!

She slid down to the ground in a half-hop that ended with the clip-clop of her hooves on the bridge that led to the school proper. "Thanks for the ride." She traded waves with her mother. They both had things to do, and would only get to see each other during her class.

It struck her that it was odd. In a human school, a teacher would never be allowed to instruct their own child. Conflicts of interest would be way too high, both for and against the child, depending on the situation, for that to be acceptable. But ponies were not humans, and this was just accepted. Her mother was one of her teachers, and what was the big deal in that?

On one hand, er, hoof, Comforting felt an urge to bring that up. Even if she adored her mother very very much and enjoyed the class, even Fluttershy could make mistakes that'd get them both in an awkward place. It might be better, objectively, if a different teacher handled that class, for her.

But another force, the other hoof, wailed at the very idea. Losing a chance to be around Fluttershy? No! What are you even thinking?! Being with mom is great and she's perfect and beyond reproach! Not only allowing, but asking for someone to make that happen? Madness, utter and complete madness and she doesn't want that and... Something wet splashed on one of her hooves.

Dang child bodies. She had worked herself into a cry without anything there to actually upset her other than her own thoughts. She colored in embarrassment. Silly young body and it's silly immature thoughts! But it was the body she had... She had to work with it.

"Good morning." Ocellus was walking into the school, slowing at Comforting's side. "Oh, are you alright? Maybe you should take the day off."

Comforting wiped her face with her right arm. "I'm alright! I was just thinking about my old home." She waved kinda sorta in the direction of Earth. That had no direction, but she tried. "Nice to see you, Ocellus." She hopped up to her full, if still small, height. "We haven't compared notes recently."

"What sort of notes?" Ocellus looked at Comforting with obvious curiosity, and it hit her. "Oh, our shapeshifting?"

"Yeah!" Comforting's eyes swirled with new colors, the only shapeshifting she had. "I'd love to learn more about yours. You know all about mine."

Ocellus giggled softly. "You're funny. You get upset at some things I don't get, but also don't get upset about other things ponies get upset at a lot... You sure you want to see that?"

"Why wouldn't I? Can you become anything?" She threw her hooves wide. "As big as Yona? As small as a bunny?"

Ocellus polished her hoof on her chitinous scale. "Sure can! Living or not doesn't matter either. It took a lot of practice. We're not born knowing how to do that anymore than you were born knowing how to do magic."

Comforting colored in memory of her magic learning, still a project in progress in some ways. "That makes sense... But, yes, I'd love to see. You're still you, even if you're really big or really small or cute or ugly or anything." She worked her hooves frantically from theoretical thing to the next. "And I bet you'd be just as cute and wonderful."

Ocellus giggled nervously. "I'm cute?"

Comforting realized she may have misspoke. Still... "Yes. You are an adorable changeling that I am happy to be friends with."

"Aw!" Ocellus half turned away, fighting her own blush. "That's really nice of you." She suddenly turned back at Comforting. "But also a little odd."

Comforting blinked at her insectoid friend. "Why is that odd? You're cute, I repeat. I will call it out." She waved at a pony walking past. "She's cute! Look at her!"

Ocellus's blush grew worse rapidly as the pony looked at her with some confusion and wandered past. "Stop that! I... Thank you, I appreciate it, really... But you're a pony. As much as we can be, and are, friends, you're a... you know, mammal. I'm not." She pointed at her eyes. "These are alien." She raised her tail, pointing at it. "That isn't a pony tail, and these aren't pony ears." She pointed at those. "I'm different."

"Yeah..." Comforting couldn't rightly argue that. "Very different... and cute. And I adore all of your parts, even the parts that become other parts when you decide they should, which is still something I want to see more of."

Ocellus clapped her cheeks with her hooves. "This is a lot! You're a little young, um... I'm not sure we can be a couple."

Comforting crashed to her haunches. "I didn't mean that!" she squeaked out, her cheeks rivalling Ocellus in their shade.  "Not that there's a thing wrong with you, but I meant platonically. As a friend, you're great, and I'd like to learn more about you."

"Oh." Ocellus perked an ear, quiet growing. "Is that all? I feel silly now. See you in class." She threw an arm over Comforting, hugging them firmly with that one leg before trotting off like nothing had happened of note.

Comforting was left behind, dizzy and colored from the encounter. "That was not--"

"Hey." Gallus was moving past her towards the school. "Better get a move on or you'll be late, teacher's pet."

"Teacher's foal," corrected Comforting with a huff, racing after him. It was class time. "There's a difference."

The school day began properly, but earlier thoughts refused to leave her. When Magic is Friendship class ended, she lurked around to get Twilight's attention. "Teacher, are you busy?"

Twilight perked up at Comforting's presence. "What's on your mind? I hear you worked with the others to save the school... and everything else. Thank you for helping."

Comforting colored faintly. "I didn't help that much... I wanted to ask, is it alright that Fluttershy is my mom, but also my teacher?" She nervously danced in place. "To be clear, I am super alright with it! I love her, as a mom, and a teacher. She's super fantastic!"

Twilight nodded. "Two good reasons to not worry about it, but since you brought it up, we did consider that when you first joined." Her horn glowed as she pulled down a list of all the teachers. "But we all teach very different classes. Who would replace her? Rarity's generosity is like kindness, but they are different.  You've met all the teachers that work here. What teacher would be qualified to teach what Fluttershy does?"

Comforting considered all the teachers on that display. Rainbow Dash? Ha, as if. Applejack? No... no... Nice mare, but kindness was not her thing, nor did she have that much knowledge of critters aside of which cause trouble on her farm or not. Rarity? She was not a critter fan, and her kindness was very different, as Twilight had mentioned... Twilight herself was also not a critter person. "Huh... I see."

"I thought you would." Twilight pulled down with her magic and let the display flip back up into the ceiling. "So, with only one teacher qualified to handle her classes, you were put in her class. There wasn't much of a choice there. I'm glad to hear you aren't regretting it. If you were, we'd find another way. Your education and growth is very important to me, to us. I want that to be clear." She patted Comforting gently. "Your teachers say you're doing quite well, by the way."

Comforting danced in place with a smile. "Yay!" Getting good grades felt good, human or pony. She was winning at school!