Amber and Comforting stood before a flight of stairs. A ribbon barred the way upwards, bright red and bowed, but ultimately flimsy. Its only job was to be cut, and Amber wielded the comically large scissors to make that happen.

Amber held up a hoof. "I, Amber Skyray, hereby officially open this floor to the public." With that, she cut the ribbon.

Her magic flowed into the blades and sheared the flimsy fabric. It fluttered away, leaving the stairs accessible.

Amber set down the scissors and approached the stairs, climbing slowly, a step at a time. Behind her, curious library goers followed her up into the new floor. "This will be where ponies can not only train their talents, but." She swept a hoof over the bookcases, far less dense than the other floors. "We gathered every book we could find, or write in our community, about it!"

She turned to address the ponies behind her. "There is a place for books donated by you! And, if you wish, any book you write. Write about the magic of ponies, and it will have a home here for others to learn more about themselves." She took a bow and gestured out at the floor. "Welcome to the Talent Training Terrace."

One eager filly came forward. "What kinds of talents can we learn here?"

Amber laughed, "All of them! Or at least I'll try my hardest. Come, I'll show you." She gestured for the filly to follow along and she took her hoof up to a desk set near the entrance. The filly was an earth pony, so she led on towards that section, thick with flowers, small trees, and other flora.

"Every tribe of pony will be covered, from earth to pegasi to unicorns. We want ponies to be the best they can be, and sometimes you need to know more than what's in your heart." She gestured around, "Sometimes you need a friend, a teacher, or a book to really flourish." She held up a book with an apple on it.

Comforting snatched the book away with a smile, hovering over Amber. "One might learn the basics on their own, but with friends, teachers, and a helping hoof, you can dig deeper than that. We'll have classes, schedule at the entrance. No cost, unless you see one beside the class."

A young colt raised a hoof. "Are there requirements to join?"

Amber nodded. "Yes, you have to want to be better. You must have a desire to improve yourself. That's all." She reached up to adjust her glasses. "Like the library itself, we're here for the community, the city. We're here for each and every one of you."

The crowd broke into applause, the floor flooded with eager young ponies and adults alike. They all went exploring, looking into the shelves to see what they had to offer.

Comforting flipped through a book. "I'm impressed. You managed to find more books than I expected. It seems ponies are eager to write about their returned magic, and that's, well, swell." She threw up the book, it vanishing back to where it belonged on a shelf. "How do you like your gift?"

Amber blinked at that before it clicked. "Oh, the floor? Thank you for it. I'm still not sure how you did it, but you did and I'm happy to have it!"

Comforting tapped her chest. "I'm magic. I do magic things that don't make sense. And, well, you deserve this." She gestured around. "It wouldn't exist without you. You're the one already hosting magic lessons, it's just grown a bit larger than a few rooms on the first floor would hold. Your students and teachers should have a better time where they can stretch."

Amber laughed, "I will, and they will. I promise, I will use it to its fullest extent. You're right, it's what I wanted to help ponies be the best they could be." She clapped, imagining what would happen vividly in her mind. "It'll be great having more space to play with during magic class with those eager foals."

She paused, thinking of that. "I've seen adults learning about flying and plant magic, but not learning unicorn magic. Why is that?"

Comforting chuckled at that. "You're used to being a unicorn, but earth and pegasi never saw their own magic." She pointed at the wings on a nearby pegasi. "Flying? That's attractive to everypony of any age. Unicorn magic is, maybe, something you really should learn younger. Or, maybe, we're not reaching out the right way to appeal to older students. Hm." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Could be either."

Amber looked down at herself. "Maybe. It could be different ways of advertising, or maybe adults don't feel like they have time to learn it." She snapped a hoof. "I'll have to think on that, maybe come up with a solution. Regardless, it won't be a huge issue. We have plenty of students, just that they tend towards the younger."

Comforting patted Amber lightly. "I trust in you to do your best. Now, I really should check in on a friend if that's alright."

Amber smiled and nodded. "Go right ahead, enjoy yourself. You've helped plenty today, more than enough. I think I can take care of everything."

Comforting grinned at Amber and took to the air. She grabbed the edge of the paper and pulled herself to the next page. She came to a rest just in front of Rain Shower's beachside house. "Hm, this really is a nice place. I shouldn't have waited so long to see it."

Rain stepped out of her house with a towel slung over her shoulder. "Hello, Comforting. Nice to see you." She gave a casual wave, smiling. She took to the sky, heading out across a stretch of sand towards the water. "I'm about to hit the waves, if you'd like to join me."

Comforting was already at her side, which helped to hear the fleeing pegasi's words. "My, you're eager to get to the water today. What has you in such a good, or at least wet, mood?"

Rain laughed at that. "It's just a lovely day to go out for some surfing, I guess. Come on." As they neared the shore, her board appeared beside her, and she dropped onto the waves.

Comforting stayed up, floating over the water. "Glad to see you're doing alright, but surfing? That's a new hobby. Not complaining, good to see you enjoying yourself."

Rain gave a playful wink before paddling out further from shore. Comforting followed until Rain stopped and peered around. She found what she was hoping to find and climbed up to sit on her board. Comforting came up beside her, and Rain whispered, "This is where the best waves appear."

Comforting leaned in. "You seem so eager to ride them. What's gotten into you?"

Rain looked back to see Comforting. "Nothing, I'm just happy living my life."

Comforting stared at Rain, looking her over. "Huh. Well, that is what you're here for." She zipped in for a hug, just in time for a wave to loom over them. "Oops!" She tried to pull away but was too late. Rain took off, Comforting clinging to her back as the board shot down a wall of water. "I think I'm too tall for this!" She yanked on the back of Rain's mane, trying to guide her towards the crest of the wave.

Rain Shower was too busy laughing as she rode the wave, her wings spread. "It's not too unlike flying in a storm, but you can do it whenever you want!" She leaned to either side, slicing through the water and gliding back out to open waters. "It's fun, but there's a trick to it."

Comforting let go, floating after Rain's surfboard. She smiled at the fast movements and control Rain was showing. "And I was worried about you. Clearly, just me being silly. Oh!" She flitted in closer. "How are your classes going? Are ponies picking up weather magic nicely?"

Rain sat back on her board. "It's hard. Pegasi are so used to flying they don't do the more intricate things. But, they're getting it. I think so, at least." She used her wings to propel herself towards the shore. "Some of them pick it right up! Like Zipp and her sister? They got it almost as quickly as I could explain it."

Comforting flew alongside, hands behind her back. "That's great to hear! I knew you could do it." She gave a thumbs-up. "You go girl. If you need help, of course, I'll lend you a hoof, hand, and wing, but you're doing so well! It's only natural that ponies pick it up slower than you do. You had years of practice before they were ever even born."

Rain laughed, "Yeah, true!" She touched down and took her board with her. "But I did everything before they were born, hardly fair." She held up the board in her wings and started back for her home at a casual trot. "This city though, it's like Manehatten, but it has its own energy, and I'm learning to love it more every day."

Comforting nodded, "It does have an energy. I feel it too. I'm glad to see you're adjusting so well." She paused. "I'm sorry again about the whole 'not asking' thing."

Rain threw a hoof at that. "Please. I'm very glad you yanked me out of that forever place. It was nice enough, but I wasn't really doing anything other than existing. Here, there's tons of things to do and see. It was an adjustment, but not one I'm at all sorry to have done."

Comforting gave a friendly rub on Rain's head. "Good to hear. Sometimes I do worry, but you are your own pony. I get it, and I'll be here for you if you ever need anything." She floated back and up. "I don't have too many friends from back then around, you know. You're a living link to that age." She smiled brightly. "And you're a lot like your mother. She was also a good friend of mine."

Rain's wings fluttered at that. "Oh?" She turned to look, "You knew mom?" She glanced away. "She, uh, you know, was gone before I could get to know her very well. Died when I was just a filly."

Comforting's ears drooped. "Yeah, she and your father were killed by the Storm King, a bad king, a conqueror. They were good ponies who died too soon. She loved you, very much." She sighed softly. Coming in, she delivered a hug that neither objected to. "But, I feel confident saying they'd both be proud of the life their daughter has, and continues, to live."

Rain sniffled, rubbing her face clean with a wing. "Th-thanks. Glad to hear that. I hope to continue to make them proud." She nodded. "That's my plan, anyway." She opened the front door with a hoof and placed her board right inside against the wall. "Oh! Have you seen the view I get from here? Come inside."

Comforting was already in. "I have, but I wouldn't say no to looking out another time."

***

Rain Shower opened the sliding glass door to a view of Maretime Bay, stretched out before them. There were great windows across that entire side of the house, allowing a commanding view of the entire beach front. "It's a magical view, inside or out here on the balcony. Good or bad weather, you can just soak in the sea. Magic, isn't it?"

"It is." Comforting breathed deep the sea air. "It really is." A flicker and her sunglasses were on. She leaned over the rail, gazing down at the beach below. "If you want to get back to riding the waves, I'll be happy to watch over you. I didn't mean to get in the way of what you were doing."

"Nah." She threw a hoof. "I just like to go out, catch one good wave, and come back. Just enough to be fun, but never get boring. Another advantage of a beach house, I can do that whenever I want. It's nice to live near the water. But, when the urge strikes, I'll be back out there." She threw a hoof out towards the water.

The two watched together for a time, just letting the world pass before them. Comforting put an arm over Rain Shower. "Well, even if you don't need any of my help, I'm glad I stopped by today. You're a sweet pony, Rain, and I don't mean to neglect you."

Rain looked up, chuckling. "I'm not a filly. I can take care of myself, but thanks for checking up on me." She paused. "So, how are you? You deserve as much to be checked in on."

Comforting laughed, "Fair enough. I'm fine, I'm fine. I've been helping get Amber's library going. She has a talent training floor, teaching magic. Mostly to fillies and foals, but I think she'll work that out." She snapped with a thought. "Speaking of, you have more space to show pegasi how to weather wrangle, if you want it."

Rain waved a hoof. "Nah, not yet at least. The beach is good, and I like the open air for now." She shrugged, "But, I might change my mind. Fortunately, Zipp's already got it down, and she loves teaching. If you give her the floor, she'll show off her skills. And I'm sure Pipp's waiting in the wings to sing us all a song about it."

Laughing at the idea of a song about weather magic, Comforting agreed. "She would do that, or show us what sort of prettying up tips work well with weather wrangling."

Author's Note

The weather appears to call for rain showers through the afternoon.

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