A crumpled wad of paper bounced off Comforting's head. She twisted around to see where it came from. There was Gallus, looking at her intently. He directed two fingers at his own eyes, then at her.
She was being watched? She turned back to the teacher giving their sermon as she used her magic to unfurl the paper. It had writing on it, as she had predicted.
You owe me. Lunch, out back.
--G
Comforting considered the words. Surely it couldn't be all that bad? She took her lunch with her out of the school and looped all the way around towards the--
There was Gallus, waiting impatiently. "Well, you got to poke me where it hurts. Time to fess up. And you promised it would be worth it, so let's hear it."
"I did promise that." Comforting lowered her glowing bag to the ground and popped it open. "Want to share?"
Gallus shrugged. "Sure whatever, get talking."
"To tell you any of these requires... I tell you something else. Something I've kept as a secret." Comforting sank to her haunches. "The teachers know, and my mom knows..."
"But I don't know." He raised a brow slowly. "Sounding mysterious... Go on."
Comforting set both her hooves on her chest even as a snack floated in range for her to chomp. "You remember how Yona called me an 'old soul'?"
Gallus nodded. "Yea?" He didn't see how that related by the look on his face.
"She was right. I've lived before. I'm a filly, but also an adult." She skewed an ear back. "Please don't get upset."
"I would say you're making it up... But you don't make that kind of thing up. IF you did, it'd be really obvious and you'd be stuttering probably." He smirked at the thought of it. "Can you prove it?"
"Can I? I've already been telling you things a filly really doesn't need to know, or should know. Do you think my mom's been whispering secrets about banking to me?" Comforing met his eyes in a dare. "Really?"
"You..." He clicked his tongue. "That isn't a specifically 'adult' thing. Just because a filly reads a book doesn't make them not a filly. Tell me something only an adult would know."
Something only an adult would know... A lot of those blanks were human specific. Something only an adult pony would know? "I can tell you about the pasts of any of the teachers. I would be way too young to know that, right?"
He leaned forward, tail curling. "Yeah? Fine. Fluttershy's out. She probably tells you all kinds of stories." He rubbed at his chin. "Tell us about... Twilight. She doesn't talk about her past very much. So where's she from? Go on, tell me all about a Canterlot unicorn."
"Born of Twilight Velvet and Night Light, Twilight Sparkle is the sister of Shining Armor, who is married to Cadance. He didn't tell her they were a thing, let alone getting married. That got her real mad, but she still went to the wedding and saved her from Chrysalis, yay!" Comforting wiggled her hooves like clenched fists. "She met Pinkie first, but who doesn't?"
"And then?" He rolled a hand slowly. "Which pony next?"
"Uh... I lose track... Applejack welcomed her to the whole apple family at once. Rarity made Spike go ga ga. Rainbow got her all wet and knocked out a bunch of clouds in ten seconds flat." Comforting sliced the air evenly from left to right. "Believe me now?"
"Alright...let's say I trust you. So what's the sore spot? Was it that? Kinda creepy, but not really painful."
"Not that. That's just a secret... Which you'll keep I hope... Alright... So..." How to even explain it...? Comforting took a slow breath and began, "A life ago, when I was born, the doctor proclaimed 'It's a boy!', but I wasn't a boy. I was just as much a girl as I am right now."
Gallus inclined his head slowly. "How did the doc mess that up? It's, uh... kinda obvious which is which. Did he lose his glasses or somethin'?"
"No... It wasn't even his fault. I looked like a boy, so he said boy... Can't even be mad at him for that... But I was what I was, and that made a lot of trouble." She worked her hooves fitfully together. "My father would take me to 'boy' events, hoping I'd fit in and start acting more boy-y. The other 'chicks' at the time saw me as a huge nerd of a boy that had no..." She sank in place. "It wasn't fun..."
Gallus patted her shoulder awkwardly. "And now we're in the sore spot."
"Yep," she miserably confirmed with a faint smile. "Even when I was an adult and could finally make the outside fit the inside, they wouldn't even let me use the right bathroom at work for years. Literal years."
Gallus returned to confusion. "What's the right bathroom?"
Comforting snorted at that, a choked little laugh. "There are stallion bathrooms and mare bathrooms in public places, right?"
"Yeah, sure... oh." It clicked. "But... You just said you got it fixed. So you were a girl, in and out... Why... would they send you to the stallion's room?"
"It wasn't Equestria." Comforting flashed a soft smile. "I bet Celestia would have fixed it, if she were there, and she knew. She wasn't either, so..."
"Well that's dumb." He kicked a rock for the high crime of existing. "Huh... That's really far out there... So..." He wobbled a hand slowly. "That means you were a guy at some point, right?" That got him a glare. "Sorry, just curious... So, hey... Does that mean I get to do that too? I'll be a little chick again some day?"
"Maybe..." She couldn't know. "Where I came from, there were a lot of people that believed that. Reincarnation they called it, cycling through lives big and small. From tiny mites to huge whales, until you go it 'right' and escaped."
"Woah." Gallus crouched beside her. "Doesn't you existing kinda prove that right?"
"Sorta! Proves it's possible, once." Comforting began to smile easily. Chatting about that was way easier than other things. "But will I cycle again, or is this it? I didn't even cycle in the same world!"
"Come again?" Shoot, she had managed to not mention that part. "What world were you from?"
"Lunch will end before I finish that story," she deflected with a nervous laugh. "Now you have a sore spot of mine. That's a fair trade."
Gallus nodded hesitantly. "Y-yeah... That's fair, I guess... Huh, we both had a rough start, didn't we?"
Comforting curled a hoof at herself as she twirled. "It's hard to say that these days. I got a doever and Fluttershy as my mom. That makes me really happy... But yeah... There was that first time... We weren't starving, and I had a mom and dad, even if... I get we're not the same."
His hand came down on her head from behind. "I get it too. Give me some credit." He nudged her back towards class, pushing her along by the back. "But you're going to tell me more about that world of yours, eventually. You can't just leave me hanging."
"I sure can." She stuck out her tongue at him defiantly. "I've managed to not tell anypony else much, even my mom, so good luck!"
"Challenge accepted." They re-entered the school, both smiling. They had traded sores, and were closer in the end for it.
Twilight set down a new book in front of Comforting. "I hear you've gained complete mastery over the enhancement spell."
"Y-yes!" Comforting nodded quickly. "You said I can't learn new spells, but I practiced the ones I knew already."
"To satisfying ends, if the reports are correct?"
Comforting pointed up at her horn. "I know when I'm getting tired, and I know how hard I can push the spell, and when it's easy to keep up."
"Fantastic progress." Twilight clapped once with a big smile. "And you've been doing well in school, and don't think I didn't notice you applying lessons of friendship."
Comforting flushed a dark red instantly. "What do you mean?!"
Twilight gestured with a hoof at Comforting and something else. "You and Gallus. Quite a challenge. He's hard to get close to, and you two seem to be good friends now."
"I... did my best, ma'am." Comforting shrank a bit with uncertainty. "That's good... right?"
"Very good." She ruffled Comforting's mane. "I'm complimenting you, and offering a treat. You've handled all your affairs admirably, from top to bottom. I'm quite excited and proud." Twilight ran a hoof over the book she had placed before Comforting. "Which is why this is here."
Comforting's eyes widened in a sparkle. "A new spell?!"
"A new spell," agreed Twilight with a smile. "You can pick any spell from the first third of the book. Go on." As if she needed to say that, with Comforting already flipping through the book rapidly. "The spells in that section should be manageable. The enhancement spell is in there, but you already know that clearly. This is a book of alterations, to lean into your specialty. 'Perriwhistle's Guide to Change,' it's called. A very useful tome for other transmuters out there. Now, Perriwhistle was a famous pony. Not Starswirl the Bearded, but..."
She trailed off, seeing Comforting was quite engrossed with the book and not paying her words any mind. "I know that feeling... Do you see one you're interested in?"
"All of them?!" That got her to pay attention. "Any one of them?" She willed the book to flip back to the front where the table of contents hid. "I am so thankful! You are the best, Professor Sparkle!"
Twilight colored faintly. It was still nice to be called that. "If it helps, think if you want to focus on living or nonliving things. Both are quite useful and complicated in different ways. Most transmuters pick one to specialize in. You've made good progress with the enhancement spell, so perhaps?"
"No," cut off Comforting with sudden firmness. "I don't mind changing little things, but I'm not a doctor..."
"Aren't you." Twilight's horn glowed as she conjured a big pointing arrow directing at Comforting's rump.
Comforting looked back at it, at the heart being hugged that had been mistaken for bandages before. "Shoot..."
"It's a big choice, and not one you even have to make today. I was just trying to narrow the choices a little." Twilight brought her hooves closer together. "None of the spells there should be beyond you."
She just had to pick one to start reading and expand her arcane knowledge! They were all such exciting choices. "I can't just... borrow the book, huh?"
Twilight smirked at that idea. "You'd vanish, never coming out into the light of day until you had them all memorized. Fluttershy would never forgive me. For her sake, and mine, let's keep it to one spell, hm? You've done such a good job balancing things so far, let's keep that up."
"Right... One." She ran a hoof down the list of spells, wracking her brain on which to pick. "I'll go with..."