"Fluffy, minty-green alicorn with an impressive array of exotic feathers in her mane and tail wearing a somewhat simple tan trench coat and a collar." Amber narrowed her eyes at this sight of this creature suddenly walking into her class and tipping her fedora at the unicorns. "You are either trouble, or Comfs playing a trick on me, which is like trouble, but less alarming."

The green alicorn flapped her wings. "I can't just be a miracle descending on your class?"

Amber pointed at the impossibility. "No. We're a little busy going over the basics of the Ru symbol and its purpose in spells involving it."

"Innocent and unaware. Hm." The alicorn adjusted her collar with a hoof. "With focus so broad, it's no wonder you don't recognize it, Miss Amber. Some day, somepony will bring you this." She dropped a rainbow necklace into Amber's hoof.

Amber peered at the necklace and up at the large pony that brought it. "Comforting, if this is a joke, please wait until after class. I know you're excitable, but—"

The alicorn took off her fedora with one hoof, tapping the other against it idly in clear thought about what was happening between herself and Amber. "Ah, right." With a giggle, she held out her hoof for Amber to shake. "Sorry about that. I've been around ponies a lot longer than I've been an alicorn, and habits die hard."

Amber touched her hoof to the alicorn's. "Maybe it's me being rude. Let's rewind. Who are you and why are you here? A library is an odd place for an alicorn to suddenly appear."

She blushed softly, catching Amber off guard. "Ah, I wanted to get my story heard properly, and you're a reliable pony for that, aren't you? Comforting trusts you."

WinterSweet raised a hoof sharply. "Teacher! Is she magical?"

Amber nodded slowly at that question from one of her students. "Yeah." She focused on the necklace for a moment before turning back to the pony that had yet to reveal her name to anypony else and giving it a few swings back and forth in front of her own face. "Rainbow magic, apparently." She tucked the necklace away. "But also a unicorn. All alicorns are also unicorns."

WinterSweet reached out with one hoof while giggling excitedly at what was happening between Amber and the strange pony she had never seen before that was certainly not in any of her classes either. "So I can ask about the wings too?"

The alicorn spread her wings. "I was born with these. I was a pegasus first, and earned the horn later."

WinterSweet glanced about the room, studying the others with curiosity on her face before raising her hoof again to ask another question from the stranger before them all. "Was it fun being an alicorn?"

"Was? I still am an alicorn." She dropped down to be closer to WinterSweet's level. "But, yes. I like being an alicorn. Do you like being a unicorn?"

WinterSweet touched her hoof to her chest and gasped with surprise at this new idea about being an alicorn. "M-me? I like unicorns! Does it feel different?"

"I couldn't say. I was never just a unicorn. Pegasus, then alicorn. It's different than being a pegasus, I can say that." She mussed up WinterSweet's mane. "You're a curious little pony."

Amber sighed softly at this interference from the larger-than-average unicorn in the form of an alicorn to be in her classroom during a session of learning more about magic. "Cute, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We're kind of in the middle of something here."

The alicorn tensed and spun around. "Oh no! I'm sorry!" She moved for the door with a swish of her purple-green tail. "You can call me Rain—" The door slammed shut behind her without warning, sealing itself tightly before anypony could open it again to investigate this new strange pony that had crashed into their class like this.

Amber shook her head at that surprise from the stranger. "Now, as we were going over." She got things flowing back to magic, as she had scheduled for the time.

Comforting appeared before Rain Shower. "She kicked you out?"

Rain blinked, blushing at Comforting suddenly appearing before her after she had been shown the door by Amber rather abruptly and rudely in her opinion. "Oh! Hey, Comfy! What brings you to Maretime Bay?"

Comforting pat Rain's head, taller than the alicorn easily. "I live here. This is my library. Didn't I mention that?"

Rain moved back from Comforting's hand, tapping her hoof to the floor in thought at what she had just learned about the town and this library. "Wait, the library?" She looked back at the door she had been shown earlier by Amber with mild embarrassment and confusion in her eyes about this new discovery that she hadn't realized before. "This is a library?"

"It is." Comforting put an arm over Rain, guiding her away from that door. "Which means they want it quiet, and orderly."

"But you're a chaos spirit." Rain went as Comforting guided. "I thought that wasn't really the sort of thing you enjoyed."

"Nope." Comforting pulled Rain closer with a hug around her midsection as she lead her deeper into the library and away from the classroom. "Not interested in the business side of it. That's what librarians are for. I like books. They're like music, only with words."

"Oh!" Rain peered into one of the rooms where shelves upon shelves of books were stored neatly inside of it. "I didn't know you liked reading so much. I have a book you could look at." She curled a wing to draw a book from herself.

Comforting waved it off. "Later. Right now, you're a guest. Want to walk around with me and my hubby? We were about to go on a lunch date."

"Sure!" She perked up and trotted alongside Comforting as they emerged from the library into the light of a bright day. "This town is so cute! And crowded!"

Comforting smirked softly at that observation from Rain. "That's ponies for you! These days, all kinds come here." She lead Rain to where Toots was waiting for them both outside of the library. "There you are." She darted over to hug her husband dearly. "Please excuse me, but I invited an old friend to come with us. You can boop me on the snoot if that bothers you at all."

Toots gave her a little tap with a hoof on the tip of her nose and smiled up at her and then at Rain when he spotted her behind Comforting. "And who's this?" He turned to look the alicorn over. "Wow, you're kind of pretty, and tall. And, uh." His eyes wandered between her horn and her wings. "I thought only Sunny did that."

Rain chuckled nervously at the attention she was receiving from Toots. "Yeah, I get that a lot! What can I say? I'm very special." She lifted her hoof for Toots to shake. "And you must be Mr. Hubby?"

Toots blushed softly at the idea that Comforting might have been sharing personal details about their relationship. "Toots. I'm Toots." He touched his hoof to Rain's, shaking lightly. "Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Rain Shower! That's my name, and I'm here to have lunch with you guys." She swept her hoof through the air before offering it to Comforting so they could start walking together with Toots too. "So let's go eat! What do you have around here?"

Comforting laughed at that. "We're spoiled for options. Want pizza? Pasta? Salad of a thousand varieties? Fish! This is a bay, we have fish. Soups, stews, seriously, whatever you want to eat, they probably have it in one store or another." She hugged her friends with one arm each. "Let's enjoy ourselves."

Toots hooked his arm into hers, leading her away from the library towards a little cafe where he was used to going to with Comforting for their lunch dates together. "Right this way." He spotted Rain trying to sneak up on them. "Do you always get this handsy with strangers?"

Rain smirked slyly at that suggestion from Toots. "It's just not fair!" She moved up on Toots, putting him between her and Comforting. "I thought Comforting was going solo, and here she is, with a husband. I want one of those!"

Toots twisted to look up at Rain and back at Comforting, reaching up to ruffle his own mane sheepishly at this new information from Rain. "Well, I mean..." He was tempted to try explaining how such things happened, but Rain seemed to be having too much fun for him to ruin it with an actual explanation about how marriage works and the usual traditions surrounding it. "If that's what you want."

Comforting got back around to patting Rain's mane playfully with her other hoof while hugging Toots at the same time too. "Easy does it, you're coming on a bit strong." She bumped against the alicorn gently. "Now, Toots is mine. You can't have him. I get all his delightfully chubby self."

Toots blushed at being called delightful by Comforting so readily. "I'm not even chubby anymore!"

Rain glared down at Toots' belly with suspicion in her eyes. "Liar!" She burst into giggles. "But Comforting is right about it being cute."

Comforting squeezed Toots around his waist firmly, making him blush even darker shades of pink. "I've told you before that it's great that you're enjoying yourself. I like you." She grinned broadly at him with joy in her eyes. "Now, lunch."

They headed inside, the waitstaff waving at them. They were regular sights there, at least two of them. Rain got a few curious looks, but nopony stopped them from taking a table and settling in. "Rain, what brought you by? I thought you were quite happy chilling out in limbo."

"I was, but some ponies wanted me to do something for them." She smiled politely at the waiter that approached, accepting a menu from him. "What's good?"

The waiter pointed at various items on the menu as he explained to Rain what the specials were that day for her to try and choose from for her lunch meal.

Comforting tapped the waiter's hoof after he finished his recommendation, a friendly smile on her face at him . "We'll get a moment to decide? Thanks." She winked at the stallion before he went off to deal with other tables around the cafe that also needed some of his service that day. "You have to be firm or they'll wait until you make your order." She tapped at her menu. "I do know what I want though."

Rain stared at the menu while swaying back and forth in her chair absentmindedly. "Too many choices!"

Comforting cackled softly at that response from Rain and tapped her hoof on the menu gently. "Just pick one and then get the others next time." She glanced at Toots who had set his menu down already. "Getting the usual?"

"I know what I like." He smiled at Comforting. "You, to start."

"Aw." Comforting ruffled his mane. "Rain, one thing. I don't mean to be a downer, but life's changed, a lot. Are you ready to take it on?"

Rain stared at her menu more and just closed it with a sigh. "Maybe not. It's nice in limbo. I have food whenever I want it and a comfy couch to sleep on when I get tired." She sat back, tapping her hooves slowly. "But a little part of me wants to get back in the action, you know?"

"I do know." Comforting went in for a little nuzzle. "But you're a bit... a lot... of everything right now. Maybe you should try going back to basics?"

Rain huffed gently. "You're even bigger and stranger than I am! Why do you get to just be you and I can't?"

"You want to be a regular pegasus?" Comforting gasped softly at that idea from Rain and ran a hoof over her back gently. "How long have you been thinking about that?"

Rain blinked. "That's not what I said, or meant. Comfs! You're being mean." She crossed her arms. "Why do you get to be all big and special and I can't be?"

"Okay." Comforting poked at Rain's horn. "Now I get it."

Toots looked at Comforting and back at Rain in silence at what was going on between them that he wasn't quite sure how to get involved in. He decided to keep silent and let Comforting do her thing with her friend instead of interfering in the matters of friendship with other spirits like this.

"I've always been me, no matter what size I've been." Comforting inclined her head. "Also, chaos spirit. It's my job to rattle ponies a bit. Being big and strange looking? Actually part of the job. You, on the other hand, er, hoof, are not one of those."

Rain slumped her shoulders. "But I don't want to just go back to being a plain old pegasus! What if they don't accept me now? I'm all soft!" She leaned on Comforting with a huff.

Comforting rubbed her friend's side gently. "Don't say that. I know a few pegasi, and they're pretty open-minded sorts these days. They'll absolutely love you, I promise."

Rain grunted at that reassurance from Comforting about her chances of finding friends among the pegasi now that she had returned to Equestria. "But I like being an alicorn too."

Comforting tickled at Rain's side. "You'll have a harder time getting friends as one of those. Ponies don't expect alicorns except one specific pony. And she isn't even a princess, can you believe that? She sells shakes, at a small booth. It's adorable compared to the old princesses."

Rain snapped out of her funk from Comforting's teasing and giggled loudly at what she was hearing from Comforting about what was happening with the alicorn that sold shakes at a booth instead of being a princess in Canterlot. "She has an entire castle though!"

Comforting chuckled at that and turned back to their waiter that had come back around with his notepad at the ready to take their orders now that they had all had a chance to look at the menus and make their choices for their lunches today. She gave her order, let Toots have his turn, and kept talking with Rain, "Canterlot's castle is long gone, as are princess alicorns. If you were hoping for that, no luck."

Rain took a deep breath and glanced at the waiter when it was her turn to order from the menu with the most eager smile she could manage at him and then turned back to Comforting with her expression dropping into a disappointed frown. "Really? Aw." She sank in her seat. "Maybe I was in limbo too long." She grumbled softly a moment. "Maybe going back to a pegasus isn't a terrible idea."

"Whatever you want to do, I'll be here for you." Comforting's hand gently settled on Rain's head. "Even if you want to stick around. I'm enjoying your company already."

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