Toots sat down for breakfast, and his wife across from him. That was unusual, if only because she hadn't been there a moment before. "Just finished?"

"Good morning." She reached across the table and went in for a quick smooch on the nose. "I found a place for them to be and cause trouble. I hope I don't regret it. It sounds like it's only a matter of time before you and I will be living with another chaos spirit."

Toots blinked at that, setting down the utensils he'd just picked up. "Should I be worried? A lot? A little?"

"A little." She held up two fingers close together. "I brought them to the griffons, who haven't had a chaos spirit in forever. It'll be good for them! But the griffons will get here eventually, so we'll probably run into those three eventually. Still, for now, everycreature's happy about it." She looked down at Toots' food. "What are you eating? Looks delicious."

Toots looked down at his meal. "I made eggs with some sides. It's simple enough." He took his fork back up. "I was hoping you'd show up."

"Promises are promises." She took up her own, using her fingers instead of oddly capable hooves as Toots was doing. "It's good to be home. Allow me to be thankful for what I have." She reached across to touch his hoof with her hand. "I do have a lot."

He blushed. "You're sweet." His ears folded back. "I have a lot too."

She winked at him, mouth already full as she enjoyed breakfast.

"I had a question."

Comforting paused in her moment of gluttony. "That sounds like a new question. What's on your mind, my dear stallion?"

"I don't know much about chaos spirits." He looked up at his wife, a pony with limbs that weren't pony limbs and a torso that was clearly equine, though not quite a match for his own form. "But, can I ask a favor?"

Comforting clasped her hands together. "You've waited this long before asking for one, I'll at least hear it. Did you want a new rocking hairdo? A new car? Shapely mares to hang off either arm?" She shook her head. "Not that last one, I would get jealous."

"No, no." He smiled, shaking his head. "I wouldn't want that. It's a gift I'm hoping you can help me with, nothing more."

Comforting shrugged. "Alright, I'll consider it. But first you have to say what it is. Stop keeping me in suspense, lovely pony."

Toots chuckled softly at that, looking down at his meal. "Comforting, you've known Sunny for a long time, and you have a lot of magic. Do you think you could help her with her magic lessons?"

Comforting blinked with obvious surprise. "She is a dear and, well, sunny pony. But she only spends a small itty bitty part of her time as a unicorn. Does she even want to learn more unicorn magic than she needs to help her friends, which she seems to be doing pretty well on her own?"

Toots bowed his head. "She works hard. I think she would like to learn more, and she can do more for the ponies and other races. If she can do more, maybe she'll feel happier and prouder of her skills?"

Comforting leaned in over the table. "This is all your idea, I can feel it." She reached across to ruffle his mane. "A lovely idea, but, hear me out, I'm going to just ask her first before assuming it's what she wants. She's a dear, but she also keeps herself very busy. Insisting on lessons sounds like a fast way to make her frazzled."

Toots nodded, looking up. "That's fair. Thank you."

"It's nothing." She waved a hand. "I'll ask her about it, I promise. I'm curious to hear how she feels. Maybe she'd love the idea." She tapped her fingers together. "But, if she does, I still wouldn't give it to her."

Toots paused. "What? Why not?"

"Because she has two friends that'd love to do it." She threw up her hands, two holographic images appearing, one of Misty and the other of Amber. "And I wouldn't steal the chance from them. Besides, I love seeing my students be teachers." She smiled at the images, then waved her hand to make them vanish. "I'll ask, I will. But, if she says yes, I'm passing the task and the joy of teaching along. It'll be better for her to learn from fellow ponies, instead of a well-meaning chaos spirit. Speaking of that, I should check on my time-displaced pegasus buddy. I wonder how Rain Shower's doing."

Toots looked up, curious. "Rain Shower? Wait, is this the same one who's showing pegasi how to control the weather? That's amazing, by the way. I didn't know they could do that! I guess they didn't either."

Comforting nodded. "It is pretty cool! I'm glad she's getting along, I'll check in later. But first, breakfast. Delicious." She reached to touch his hoof. "And thanks."

Toots slid to his hooves, just to come around and hug her for a change of pace. "Always a pleasure. Thanks for hearing out my little, uh, request. It wasn't that big."

"Barely anything at all." She ruffled his mane. "Doesn't even count as your 'one'."

***

Sunny had taken a few hours off from work, a light day of duty, and decided to go shopping. She was making her way down a lane in Maretime Bay, lined with shops on either side. "It's time I treat myself for a change. How about..." Her eyes wandered left and right before settling on a display of sparkling jewels. "A little something to wear."

She took a step and bumped into a large furry form that hadn't been there a moment before. "Sorry." She backed up and could see who it was. "Comforting?"

Comforting smiled at Sunny. "Heya there, Sunny. Going shopping?"

Sunny smiled at the chaos spirit. "Yeah! I've been thinking about getting a few new things." She put a hoof to her chin. "But I can't seem to find what's right for me."

Comforting held out her hand and let a bit of jewelry appear, dangling from her finger. It was a necklace with an apple at the end. "Try this one, for the fun of it. I didn't come here for fashion advice, but since you're asking."

Sunny laughed. "It looks nice!" She put it over herself, then set it back in place. "I think it's a good start. I was thinking of a bit of bling for my mane or tail.

Comforting hiked a thumb at where to actually buy that pendant as the one she made vanished. "We got plenty of that around here. I wanted to ask something though. You're a unicorn, for a bit at a time. Have you ever thought about learning unicorn magic, like Misty's doing?"

Sunny blinked in thought. "Magic? Well, I mean, I mostly turn into an alicorn to save the day in the moment, not really something I do casually, but I always thought that was all I could do. Not like Amber's been hiding things from me." She sat, looking properly pensive. "If I learned magic, I wouldn't be able to use it most of the time. It's not a secret that I spend a lot of time as an Earth Pony. I mean, I'm sure you can understand. I am one of those, after all." She turned as if to display her lack of wings and horn. She was a sturdy earth pony, and proud of that. "I appreciate the thought though!"

Comforting inclined her head, "Of course. But, if you wanted to, I bet Misty and Amber would be happy to teach you themselves." She waved her hand, making a hologram of her two students appear, both beaming. "They love giving magic lessons. Now, let's get you some of that bling you were hunting for." With that said, she started walking into the nearest boutique.

Sunny followed after, smiling at the thought of Misty and Amber giving lessons, and how adorable they were, even though Sunny wasn't really interested in becoming a student herself. Her thoughts drifted to the various glittering bits and bobs. "Oh!" She spotted the apple pendant Comforting had offered before. "Well, gonna have to get this. And a few others." She smiled, enjoying the rest of the day just shopping and chatting with Comforting.

"Since you came to check on me, let me do the same." She looked aside up at Comforting. "How are you doing? You were quite new to Maretime Bay when I first met you. Settled in nicely?"

Comforting rubbed her muzzle, her hand on her chin in a thoughtful expression. "Yeah, I'm happy." She hugged Sunny gently. "Thank you for asking."

Sunny hugged back. "Of course." She giggled softly. "You do enjoy giving those, hugs that is. It's one of your endearing qualities."

Comforting chuckled. "Well, I always was a hugger, just be sure I see you before you hug me. Unexpected hugs are, mmm, not my favorite." She tickled Sunny under her snout. "But now, in your mane, how about one of those?" She gestured at some crystalline charms. "How about the heart?"

"Aw, that's so cute!" She picked it out of the case and set it over her head. It was bright pink. "It goes nice with me!" She trotted up to the counter to actually buy it. "You have a good eye for this. I expected to spend an hour just looking around. Maybe we should go shopping more often."

Comforting bowed, "If you can stand a little chaos, I'll happily help. Just don't expect too much fashion sense, or consistent fashion sense." She snickered softly. "Just playing around, but yes, sure. I'd love to come along on other little jaunts." She floated along after Sunny. "Feeling properly blinged?"

Sunny giggled. "I think I am." She did a little spin in the center of town, showing off her new accessories. "Now I can be fashionable and ready to be a princess, whenever needed!"

Comforting clapped. "I like your enthusiasm. You're a wonderful addition to the royal court." She paused. "On second thought, you are the royal court these days."

Sunny glanced aside. "Yes, well, I don't exactly have company. Could you tell me about that? What it was like, back when there were other alicorns?" She clapped her hooves with sudden excitement. "Did you know them? Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash and Applejack?! Was Pinkie also a chaos spirit? The writing about her made me wonder at times."

Comforting held up her hands, gently pushing against the questions with her palms, slowing the barrage of questions to a trickle she could manage. "Haha. You sound almost like a filly. So full of questions, and not giving me a chance to think about them." She settled on a bench to do just that. "I did know them. They were wonderful ponies, all dear to my heart. They were dear to all of Equestria. But, I think, I think that I'm going to leave it there. You'll learn more in due time, I'm sure."

Sunny tilted her head. "Why not just tell me now?"

Comforting reached out, drawing Sunny closer. "For one, it's a little bit of a painful topic. One of them was my adopted mother, you see, and thinking of her makes me think of other things that just aren't around anymore. Time, it marches on, not caring about the little feelings of chaos spirits or ponies. It's like that. Tell you what, ask one, specific, question."

Sunny frowned at that, but she could see in Comforting's eyes she was telling the truth. "Okay, I'll ask one question. Um, um... Okay!" She settled on a question with heavy pondering. "Was Twilight Sparkle as good at magic as they said she was?"

Comforting chuckled. "Better! She was the best! The absolute greatest. Nopony else could match her for sheer power, except her best friend, Starlight Glimmer." She folded her arms, nodding. "Those two, always up to something, not always intentionally." She sighed at the memories of it. "But, yes. Twilight took great pride in her arcane knowledge, and always took joy in expanding it as she delved into the magic of friendship."

Sunny smiled, nodding to show she understood. "She sounds wonderful." She sighed, "And I suppose, I shouldn't ask anything else." She hugged Comforting again, letting her set her hoof down after she'd gotten a proper squeeze. "Thank you. Mmm, I have so many more questions, but I'll keep it to one for now." She danced from hoof to hoof. "You are a walking museum of historical facts, and I mean that in the best way possible."

"Thanks, I think." Comforting huffed a sigh and leaned back, stretching her arms to their limits. "I do miss them, I do miss everyone who came before, but it's not good to dwell. We live in the present, and it's a gift, that's why they call it that. I'm surrounded by lovely ponies that are so adorable and full of their own life. It feels like my life started over when I came here." She reached and poked Sunny in the side. "Meeting you, and Zipp, Hitch, Pipp, and the rest, you've all been such a blessing."

Sunny nuzzled into Comforting's neck. "I think I understand that." She only realized she had been picked up somewhere along the line, but went in for more hugs with Comforting rather than worry about it. "Maretime Bay, as a whole, has gained so many new friends, and it wasn't a small place to start. It's overwhelming, but only in the best ways."

Comforting nodded. "Agreed. It's not easy being me, but I love it anyway. And I love you, all of you. I hope you know that." She set Sunny back on her own hooves. "Now, glad to have helped you have a wonderful day. Do poke Misty or Amber if you want those magic lessons, alright?"

Sunny nodded, "Of course. I might take you up on that offer. I'll have to think about it first."

Comforting gave a two-finger salute and vanished with a snap.

Author's Note

Does Sunny really have the time, as a unicorn, to learn uni-magic?

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