Rain nodded at Zipp soaring through the air with her. "Still blows my mind that pegasi aren't doing weather magic anymore."

Zipp laughed loudly at that with delight at Rain's odd mannerisms. "What! Haha! You talk like such an old pony! It's so cute! We don't do magic."

"I used to." Rain flapped closer just to dart away. "Besides the obvious. We fly. That's magic right there. But there's more we can do." She flew right up to a little fluffy cloud. "Like this." She landed on it and sat on its soft surface. "You're going to tell me this isn't magic?"

Zipp dropped down onto the cloud next to Rain with a laugh. "Okay, this is weird." She poked at the cloud. "How are you making this? I didn't think clouds were solid!" She bounced up and down on the cloud and back off of it. "Well, this is super cool! I don't know if I could just land on a cloud and have it hold me like that."

Rain Shower folded her arms. "You just did it. I didn't make the cloud solid, we're just pegasi. Clouds are exactly as solid as we want them to be when we reach out and touch them. If some earth pony, somehow, tried to sit on this very cloud." She pointed to the one she was perched on. "They would just fall right through."

Zipp touched her hoof to her face. "So, what was the big secret about it then? You know, I'm gonna say it, I love your style, I'm loving this cloud sitting."

Rain burst into merry giggles at that. "There's more to it than sitting on clouds, as fun as that can be." She pushed back into the air, leaving the cloud to its business. "There's pushing them, encouraging and discouraging them. It's all about managing the weather." She came up on the cloud from the side, pushing it with a soft huff.

Zipp let out a noise of delight at the sight of Rain playing around with the cloud like this and dove down into the cloud to circle it. "This is awesome! Seriously! So, what's the secret? How do you do that?"

Rain drifted away from the cloud and waved at it. "Well, why don't you give it a try? You're a pegasus. I know you can do it. You just didn't think to try. Now you've seen it. Do it."

Zipp dived straight into the cloud and pushed at it like she was wrestling with it, like a big, fluffy sponge in the sky just for her. "Okay! Push! Pushing! Wow! I can't believe it's working!" Slowly at first, she was nudging the cloud through the sky. "How do I do it faster?"

Rain flew right next to Zipp, watching her progress. "How do you fly faster? Same answer. Once you have a good grip on the cloud, it'll go as fast as you do."

"So, fast!" Zipp laughed loudly and the cloud took off like a rocket through the sky with a twist and a turn, taking them back to over the suburban area where she let it settle down in a quiet spot in the sky over some farmland.

Rain whistled softly. "Wow, great aiming. This is a perfect spot to go right into the next lesson. I feel like part of you really does want to learn this without even knowing it. Ready?"

"Ready!" Zipp held up her hoof. "Bring it on!"

"Don't ask me how it works, because I'm not sure myself, but, clouds gather moisture." Rain circled around the cloud above Zipp, moving in to whisper in her ear. "And we can make them give it up. We are bringers of sun and rain." She threw her arms wide, hooves shaking. "Pegasi are masters of weather."

She dropped down on the cloud and bounced up and down on it. The cloud darkened swiftly and before long, it opened up into a torrential downpour of rain and thunder that quickly vanished along with that tiny cloud, all spent in that tremendous, but brief, display. "You can come on a cloud more gently if you want a sprinkle." Rain giggled softly. "I was just making a show of it. As you can see, clouds kinda are rain. If you make them rain too much, no more cloud."

Zipp spluttered out a cry of surprise at this torrent of rain that hit her like an avalanche and soaked her completely through and then vanished again just as swiftly as it had appeared from nowhere. "Mind. Blown." She clopped her hooves to either side of her head. "That was amazing! Is that all you did? Did you use any magic at all?"

Rain watched Zipp spin in place as she tried to dry herself off again with a smile on her face at this experience with having a little magical show. "Now, lucky us, there are always, usually, more clouds." She pointed to the ocean. "You guys are right by a whole ocean! I doubt you're running out of clouds any time soon."

Zipp perked up at that idea from Rain about having access to an ocean and an endless supply of clouds for her to play around with to do this sort of magic with her. "That's perfect!" She zipped through the air excitedly. "Okay! Let's get this started! Lesson three, I guess?"

Rain glided alongside Zipp on her back with a lazy look on her face. "Well! Today we learned about cloud solidness for pegasi. We learned about pushing clouds around, kinda related to the first one, and about shaking rain out of them. Hm. This one isn't a specific trick." She twirled to have her back to the sun properly. "But that's how a pegasus can chase away bad weather when you need to. Clouds all stormy? Push the clouds away, or even give them a sharp kick and bust them right on the spot."

Zipp watched Rain at work, chasing clouds around with hooves and wings alike like they were slow-moving objects she could just rearrange in the sky by moving them around enough. "That is really cool!" She threw a hoof up. "Wow, I've been teaching ponies to fly, but leaving out all this cool stuff! I'm going to have to rethink a few lesson plans." She kept up with Rain even as she tapped at her chin with thoughts of class.

"Pegasi are an old and proud bunch! You can be proud of that." Rain went right up to a cloud and took a bite out of it to swallow a chunk of the water inside of it with a giggle. "And it's fun!" She pulled the cloud down to hop up atop it. "Every tribe has a wonderful set of things, but only pegasi, and extremely rare unicorns, can curl up on one and let the sky be our bed." She flopped down onto the cloud with a content sigh.

"Huh? Really?" Zipp approached cautiously and flopped down next to Rain with a bit of effort to get comfortable on the cloud enough to start dozing off in the middle of the day in the sky like this with a warm smile on her face.

The two drifted where the cloud felt like going, neither really putting in a vote, for sleep felt like a better option at that moment.

Zipp roused from her impromptu nap in the afternoon sunshine from a buzzing noise from her saddlebag. "Ugh." She sat up and dug into her bag to pull out her phone and looked at it blearily. "Oh! Gotta go!" She waved to Rain. "Thank you for the lessons!" She was gone in a flash, propelling back towards the city.

Rain Shower sat up with a smile. "Lesson complete." She wiped her hooves together with satisfaction on her face. "A weather pony is born. It's good to see one after so long."

She dropped off of the cloud with wings spread wide and angled just so to land gracefully in a field. Her hooves sank into the soil and she reached down to pull a tuft of grass from the ground to chew on thoughtfully. It was a basic bit of food, sure, but she just wanted something to chew on as she started the hike back towards the city. "Mental note, be a little more careful about snoozing on clouds. They have places to be too. Wow, we drifted a way."

When she finally arrived back in Maretime Bay proper, she ended up at the outskirts of the neighborhood by the shoreline. She glanced up at the sprawling houses lined up next to each other for sale, but not sold and paused there. Curiously, she went up to one of the little homes. "They look adorable." Houses looked different in that age compared to the one she had started in. "Ponies have it so good."

A commotion in the house drew her attention and she stared through a window to see what was happening inside of it while keeping out of sight of anyone looking outside. A unicorn stallion was shouting at a pegasus mare about how she couldn't move out if he didn't let her.

Rain shrank back with a squeak. Ponies got into arguments, clearly, even in that idyllic-seeming age. Butting into that domestic argument felt very wrong, so Rain crept away as quietly as she could.

A coughing noise drew her attention to another building nearby and she paused to look inside of it curiously only to find there was nothing in that one besides dust and emptiness and closed curtains covering every window of the place that blocked out even the slightest hint of light coming inside from outside.

"Looking for a home?"

Rain jumped with surprise, coming down facing a smiling earth pony stallion. "Oh, um, hi?"

The stallion tossed his head to motion towards the empty house. "It's been on the market for years. I was thinking of putting up some of my own ads for it to see if I could drum up some more interest in it from local ponies here in town that might want a new place to live. It's really a nice spot. Close to all the amenities, and in a good neighborhood too! If you're looking, I could show you around."

Rain blinked at this earth pony stallion. He sounded like a sales pony, but he wasn't saying much of anything about what he sold, except this house apparently. She tilted her head at him with curiosity. "I don't have many bits." She curled a hoof. "But I know a friend who does." Comforting leapt into her mind, wealthy chaos being she was. "Um, sure! Show me around, please. I'd love to see the inside."

The stallion let out a jolly laugh and nudged Rain towards the door. "Let's take a look then." He reached out and pulled the door open with a faint little squeak. "Come on in." He waved for her and went in himself. "It looks bigger on the inside."

Rain slipped inside of the building and glanced around curiously at the wide open floor plan and all the empty space it had in it for somepony to do what they wanted with it to turn it into a home that felt right for them. She followed him as he led her towards wide windows. "This whole side of the house is clear, and for good reason." He waved beyond the glass to the beach visible below. "You get a commanding view of the sea!"

"Wow." Rain crept up to the window to stare out at the beautiful sight of the water in front of her from inside of the house and drew a breath at the breeze blowing against the glass to reach her nose faintly with a salty smell of the water nearby. "I love it!" She could see the clouds forming and coming. "I never lived so close to the ocean before." And she felt like she was enjoying the idea of it. "It's wonderful."

"That's what I like to hear!" The stallion patted Rain's shoulder firmly with pride on his face at having gotten such a positive response from her to the house and it's stunning views. "We can talk about buying it later if you want, but you seem like a serious customer already prepared to jump on a good thing when you see it."

Rain gave him a little nod with a warm smile on her face. "Maybe so! I don't know where I'm going yet, so maybe it's time to just pick somewhere and call it home." She tapped at the floor as she went along, inspecting it as best she could. "Hm, I'd need to get some furniture."

"I know a good store or two." The stallion waved it away. "Not sponsored or related. I just have stopped by them a few times to get a few things. Good ponies. They'll get you all set up with what you're looking for."

Rain let out a pleased laugh at that. "That's perfect! I'll have to go and see them, thanks for the tip." She hugged him suddenly. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" She scurried back a step. "I didn't mean to, um, sorry."

The stallion was laughing, not looking upset. "I'll take a glad hug from a happy mare any day. Now, get that friend of yours to stop by and we can finish the paperwork properly. I'll keep a hoof on this house a few days while you get that sorted."

Rain rushed out of the house excitedly. "It's lovely!" She kicked her hooves at the air excitedly with her wings fluttering behind her. "I can't think, actually." She held up her hooves. "Right there, and right there. Yeah!" Her mind buzzed with where to put various bits of furnishings. "Oh, I'll be right back!" She took off in an excited buzz, leaving the stallion behind.

Author's Note

I am clapping for Rain Shower. A pony out of her usual time, but adapting so cheerfully about the whole thing.

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