Rain let out a slow breath. "I don't want to go back to sleep." She waved a hoof over the sprawling city. "It's too alive! I want to see everything. I want to meet ponies!"

"There's time for that." Comforting stroked Rain's neck. "You have time to find your place in this world."

"Yeah!" Rain turned away from Comforting with determination on her face. "That's exactly what I want!" She scanned the buildings around them in search of the tallest one. Many buildings were smaller, but they grew larger towards the center of town, creeping upwards to the sky. "Ponies have really come so far. I want to be part of it." She flapped her wings restlessly.

Comforting kissed Rain's cheek and hugged her tightly from behind with one arm over her shoulder. "So let's start looking for one for you."

Rain went quiet a moment and fell into step alongside Comforting as they wandered down the sidewalk of the main street of Maretime Bay. "I think it's time for a reset." She tossed her mane. "No more princess. They have enough of those." She laughed gently. "They had enough before, maybe too many. I don't need to be one of those to enjoy this."

Comforting slipped an arm over Rain's shoulders to walk alongside her with a friendly grin on her face at this new found resolution from Rain to not be an alicorn or a princess. "Good choice. I couldn't imagine what I'd do if you showed up in the papers after declaring yourself a princess or something crazy like that."

Rain went red in the face at the suggestion from Comforting about what she might do if she had been tempted to do something like become a princess for real. "No no no! These ponies don't need that." She stepped back from Comforting. "Alright, do it." She bowed her head. "Take all the extra bits away."

"Are you sure?" Comforting ran a finger along Rain's sharp horn. "I don't want to see you being all sad."

"Oh, I will be." She smiled, eyes still closed. "But life's like that. I'll get a bit pouty, but it'll be worth it."

Comforting put her hands together. "Oh dear, you make me so proud." She wrapped up Rain in a hug and nuzzled her affectionately with the same care she might have given to one of her closest friends. With a soft pop of a noise, almost too comical for the weight of it, she gently detached the horn. Air rushed out of Rain, causing her to deflate to the size of a normal pony.

Rain staggered backwards with her hooves at her head where her horn used to be and winced with a groan of pain at the feeling of its loss. She felt it acutely now in the center of her forehead and pressed a hoof to it gently to try to soothe the soreness there. It wasn't like it actually hurt, but the fact that it was missing was a pain she didn't fully realize the sharpness of ahead of time. "I asked for it."

She sank to her haunches, flapping her wings. "Just a pegasus." She cocked an ear at Comforting. "Think I can make it as just a pegasus?"

"Of course!" Comforting ruffled Rain's mane fondly. "I can't speak for everypony else, but I'll cheer you on all the way."

Rain stared up at the taller spirit. "Where should I start? I want to just, mmm, do everything at once."

"Well, that's how I ended up helping ponies work things out with their powers." Comforting shrugged mildly. "One hoof after another." She flapped her own wings for emphasis. "Oh! Actually, since you have some experiencing princessing, you could lend a hoof to our existing alicorn. She could use some help with that."

"Princess Sunny is still learning to be an alicorn?" Rain stood up on her hind hooves with a gasp. "I'd love to help! She's at that castle looking place, right?" She pointed to the Brighthouse. "It's really pretty. I never thought of a castle with such a big light at the top. Love it."

Comforting broke into laughter at that and calmed herself after a moment of just laughing happily. "Sorry, I forgot about that! Yes, there's one more pony for you to meet! She's close with Sunny too."

Rain shook her head slowly at Comforting's unusual way of dealing with meeting new ponies apparently. "Right, sounds great!" She put her hooves together. "Lead the way!" She hopped up to her hooves and the two started towards the Brighthouse.

They were getting far fewer looks as they went. It was just Comforting, who was still a draw, and a random pegasus. That was enough normalcy to keep it from turning into a staring contest anymore.

When they reached the Brighthouse, Rain hopped up and down excitedly, wings fluttering as she moved them. "Oh wow! It's a lot prettier from up close!"

Comforting slowed by the door of the place. "There are a lot of ponies who live here, together. They're a team." She leaned in. "They're the mane ponies of the age."

Rain gasped sharply at that. "Really?! Wow. You trust me with the mane ponies? Thank you."

Comforting pat her head with a smirk on her face. "They're very sweet ponies, but also incredibly kind." She pushed the door open and trotted inside with Rain right behind her and a bounce in her step at this newfound excitement at getting to meet these ponies that were the 'mane' ponies of the era.

Izzy leaned out from around a corner. "Hello!" She only then noticed who was coming in. "Hey, Comfiekins! Who's that new pony?"

"I'm Rain Shower!" She curtsied properly and took Izzy's hoof to kiss it with a friendly smile on her face. "I heard there were ponies to meet."

Izzy blushed softly even as she burst into laughter and patted her head. "What a gentlepony!" She grabbed Rain's hoof to return the kiss and give it a little shake too. "Well, if you want to meet ponies, let's start with me!" She pointed at herself. "Izzy Moonbow. Arts, crafts, and smiles." She hopped in place. "I got all three covered! Oh, also a unicorn, but you can see that."

Rain glanced up at the rainbow swirl of color around Izzy's head. "How did you get such beautiful hair?"

Izzy twirled a hoof in her mane with a smile growing on her face at Rain's compliment on her hair. "Aw, aren't you a charmer, just coming in here and throwing that at a mare." She threw an arm over Rain's neck, drawing her closer. "I like you. So, what's your thing?"

"Hm?" Rain lifted her hoof hesitantly at that question from Izzy about what her thing was in terms of her skills and talents she could bring to the group if she joined up with them. "Well, um. Way back when, I used to help with the weather?"

Izzy inclined her head. "The weather?"

Rain looked to Comforting for help.

Comforting raised a hand at that. "Rain's from a long time ago, before magic was lost. Pegasi used to be in charge of the weather, and she helped."

"Wow! A real weather pony!" Izzy tugged Rain along down the hall with her and excitement in her eyes at this news about Rain being from before magic was lost from Equestria. "I gotta show you my collection!"

Comforting smiled at the two retreating forms. "One old friend, handled." She slapped her hands together with a chuckle. "You'll make some great friends."

Rain beamed at the display of art and crafts, especially crafts, all made by Izzy herself. "Oh wow! It's incredible!" She crouched to look at the patterning on a scarf hanging from the wall, hooves behind her back and wings tucked tight to her body so they wouldn't brush anything. "You made all of this?! You are amazing. I just, uh." She shifted in place shyly. "I made soap."

Izzy grabbed Rain's hoof without warning and tugged her along again to lead her down the hall to where Sunny worked with her friends. "Come on! Let's introduce you to everypony else!" She shoved the door open and marched in to bring Rain to the attention of the group of ponies there. "Look who I found!"

Hitch looked at the new pony curiously. "Hello? I don't think I saw you before. New to town?"

Izzy puffed out her chest proudly with a smile on her face at having found Rain for herself. "Found a new friend!" She yanked Rain closer for a little hug. "She says she helped with the weather!"

Rain waved a hoof timidly. "Hi. Oh!" Her eyes locked on Sunny. "You're the alicorn, right?" Though she couldn't see any wings, or a horn. "I think?"

Sunny blushed darkly and let out a nervous laugh at the sudden and unexpected attention from this new pony she had never seen before about her being an alicorn. "It's no big deal." She hopped down from the couch to her hooves. "I just like helping ponies, and when I really need it, or feel it, yeah, I 'go alicorn' for just as long as the moment." She coughed into a hoof. "But I'm just Sunny, and it's nice to meet you."

Zipp gazed up at Rain from her seat on the couch and wiggled a hoof up over the top of it at her lazily. "Hey." She reclined back into the cushions with a yawn. "Name's Zipp. Need an investigator, or, recently, a flying coach, I'm here."

Pipp peered around from behind Zipp on the couch with curiosity in her eyes at Rain after that introduction from her sister. "Oh, are we doing names? Hi!" She stuck her hoof out and wagged it up and down like Zipp had done before, though much more energetically and already drawing out her phone. "Selfie!" She zipped over to Rain, grabbed her around the midsection and mashed up close for the perfect snapshot. "Always nice to meet a fellow flapper."

Rain tapped on the photo on Pipp's phone after it was taken of them both and grinned. "That's great! You two are amazing!"

"You haven't even seen us fly!" Pipp laughed with delight and went in for a tight hug around Rain's neck from behind. "I can feel we're gonna get along." She tucked her phone away. "I'm an influencer. You know what that is, of course." But Rain's expression left doubt. "You don't?! What kinda pegasus doesn't know that! Are you alright?"

"Sorry." Rain went for Pipp's hoof, shaking it delicately with a sheepish look on her face. "Tell me about it?"

"Well, since you insist." Pipp burst into giggles, all too happy to launch into a musical number about what social media influencers were.

"Dash away my hours, Nail polish and dresses galore." Pipp showed off her dazzling hooves.

"I tweet and I post, And oh! My followers adore—" She flipped through her feed of her many fans gushing at her about various things.

"Such magic in my words, It's like a dance on the internet—" Pipp did a dance, hovering in the air as she did it, a huge smile on her face.

"I dance for my viewers, And they keep coming back for more." She zipped in, nose to nose with Rain. "So yeah! That's an influencer. Get it?"

"And that's not all she does." Zipp pulled Pipp back by the tail of her mane. "She's an optimist too, and a princess."

Rain recoiled in surprise. "Princess?" She looked Pipp over suspiciously. Wings, check. Horn, no. "Princess?"

Zipp laughed, gesturing between Pipp and herself. "We're sisters, and daughters of Queen Haven, so, yeah, princesses. I'm not big on the title, but miss Show-Off here loves it."

"Lean into it." Pipp shoved her sister with a laugh. "It's great being a princess!"

"Right, so princesses." Rain looked around the room nervously.

"Nothing like old-school royalty." Hitch laughed softly at Rain's nerves showing through so clearly and making her jump with a little flutter of her wings. "You're okay, you're with friends here. Oh, and this is my son, Sparky." He gestured to the baby dragon next to him on the couch.

"A baby dragon! He's so tiny!" Rain hovered closer, studying the little creature with wide eyes at how much he looked like she imagined dragons would look if she ever got to meet one. "What a cute widdle baby! I never saw an actual baby dragon before."

Sparky peeked up at Rain with wide eyes at this new pony appearing in front of him all of a sudden to stare at him with such intensity in her gaze that he wanted to squirm out of sight to hide from her.

"Aw, sorry." Rain let him hide though, turning away, just to be pounced. The moment she looked away, Sparky jumped on her and the two began to wrestle with giggles on both sides.

Sparky straddled her, tossing his fists up and down in the air while keeping her pinned.

"Oooh! You got me!" Rain flopped down, letting him pin her in place with his claws that felt more like feathery kitten claws than anything capable of hurting her. "Oh no, what a fierce little dragon."

Sparky squealed excitedly and leapt off of Rain to scamper over to his dad who welcomed him into his lap with a warm smile on his face at the sight of his son being so playful. "Looks like you two get along just fine. Welcome to the brighthouse, Rain Shower was it?"

Author's Note

That felt like a nice meeting all around. Welcome to a new generation, Rain!

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