While there was still a lot Coco didn’t know about the touring scene, what she did know was that time passed quickly as you moved from city to city. She still took the time to enjoy all of them with her daughter, sure, but the journey was starting to wear on everypony, even her. By the time the ponies of Silver Phoenix made their way to Vanhoover, nopony was really sure if any of them could perform as usual.
It’d been a week, and as much as she enjoyed the experience, Coco was already starting to miss her family back home. They’d gathered to her shortly after she adopted Babs, sure, but she considered them hers all the same. Bambi, Babs’ older half-sister and the pony who’d stayed with the filly longer than anypony, was off on some sort of breaking investigative assignment for the Manehattan Times, something so secret she couldn’t even tell anypony else about it. Cameo, Babs’ biological mother and one of Coco’s closest friends, had a jewelry shop to run in her hometown, so getting her away from it was next to impossible. Coco had so many roots in Manehattan that she even found herself missing Valencia, the one pony in town she’d probably had the most complicated relationship with. On the one hoof, she’d gone against her family to help Coco on several occasions, but on the other, being Mosely’s twin sister didn’t do her any favors.
Somehow or another, letters still found their way to the tour bus, and Coco supposed she could at least be grateful for that. It would be another long drive to the next city, but with the wind in her mane, with ponies she cared about, and with the latest correspondence from Cameo, she figured it’d go quickly enough. The letter didn’t bring much new information--mainly that Valencia had finally managed to free herself of the Orange life and her new flower shop had just opened--but it was still a relief to see. Coco stared at it a few times, imagining the ponies mentioned in it speaking before her eyes, before Babs finally poked her leg and brought her back to Equestria.
“What day is it again?” the younger pony asked, as if the thought had just occurred to her. “It’s kinda hard to keep track when you don’t have to write it on all your papers.”
Coco chuckled slightly, remembering back to her days at school and how each new sunrise had been like a milestone then.
“They say that’s how you can tell if you’re having a good trip,” she said. “If you can’t remember the date, then that just means your mind’s on other things. It means there aren’t any deadlines, and you can just relax. If the vacation’s really good, you might not even remember if it’s a Tuesday or a Sunday.”
The filly gazed at her in awe, taking in everything Coco just said, before giving her mother a confused look. Too late, Coco realized that she’d barely even answered the question at all.
“Oh, right, almost forgot. It’s the 10th. Why do you ask?”
She half-expected some sort of snarky reply from Babs or some question about why she couldn’t ask what day it was without something important happening. Then the two could have a good laugh about it and move onto the next topic. But instead, Babs’ face contorted into a knowing smile, the unmistakable sign of a Cutie Mark Crusader up to their usual tricks.
From the few times Coco had seen that expression in Ponyville, she really wasn’t sure if the bus could handle such shenanigans right now.
“You do remember what happens on the 11th, don’t you?”
The second she realized what was going on, she practically kicked herself. In the midst of this whole trip, plus the drama of the past few months, she’d entirely forgotten just how close it was. She’d underestimated the fact that even if Babs wasn’t her biological daughter, she still would’ve known enough about Coco to know exactly what happened on the 11th.
Granted, the mare still hadn’t gotten around to telling her daughter just how old she was, but the fact that Coco had managed to forget her own birthday was embarrassing in and of itself.
Then again, she hadn’t really made a big deal out of it since she herself was a filly. Suri’s operation wasn’t really the kind of workplace that would go out of its way to wish its employees a happy birthday. And on top of that, in the back of her head, she had to have known she would be on tour with Silver Phoenix this time, so she couldn’t have any big celebration.
Still, from the look on Babs’ face, Coco had a feeling things would pan out far differently than she had expected. By the time she was really able to process the situation, her filly had already run all the way down the double-decker bus, and even though Coco couldn’t hear her, she had a sinking feeling Babs was already telling Scene. And as the head of the play and her coltfriend, there was no way he wouldn’t pull out all the stops once he knew.
Before she could tell either of them that they didn’t have to put on a big song and dance about it, they were already planning every last detail. After all, expecting anypony on Bridleway not to put on a show about anything, much less an overexcited filly and a kooky director, was a tall order.
As she finally conceded to this fact and as the tour rolled on, all Coco could do was hope the bus would be in one piece by the time all this was over with.
****
Surprisingly enough, as everypony moved onward to their newest hotel, nopony made a single mention of what was about to take place. The conversations ponies made with Coco were suspiciously innocent, devoid of any sort of celebration. In fact, most of the ponies she talked to couldn’t stop talking about how nice Vanhoover was this time of year.
As much as the place was known for being a wintery destination on par with the Crystal Empire, Coco couldn’t help but wonder if that was some sort of messed-up code Scene had come up with.
That, and the fact that every time she asked somepony what was going on, they would either say some variant of “it’s lovely in Vanhoover” or “I hope I see a moose.” But, then again, she’d been around Scene long enough to know that the stallion had no sense of subtlety whatsoever. A few of her castmates had even offered to take Babs off her hooves for a bit so she could relax, an offer she appreciated but nevertheless refused.
After all, she’d already left enough of her family behind on this trip, and there was no way she wasn’t going to spend time with the most important pony in her life.
When the group reached Vanhoover, Coco quickly unpacked her things and headed towards the hot tub, ready to relax alongside her daughter. Thankfully, unlike some she’d heard about in the area, the hotel hot tub was indoors and away from the still-somewhat-chilly town air. She’d hoped this could be a chance to get a response out of Babs, but the filly remained surprisingly quiet about the whole affair. Or, at least, as quiet and subtle as an extremely excited foal could be about such things.
“It’s going to be big,” she finally said with a wink. “Or at least, as big as we could get on short notice. Not Canterlot Castle big, but still pretty big.”
If Babs said “big” one more time, Coco swore the filly would have exploded. Babs wasn’t the type of foal who got nervous about anything, which made her mother wonder if subtlety was something lost on her, too. The minute she noticed that Coco was thinking too hard, though, Babs immediately splashed the older mare in the face.
“Don’t think too hard about it. It’s not like we’re gonna take you indoor skydiving or anything.”
Admittedly, Coco had never considered that possibility, but Babs’ outright denial of it made her all the more suspicious. It must’ve shown on her face, though, because Babs quickly shook her head, accidentally splashing some more water on Coco in the process.
“Come on! There isn’t even a place for it here, even if you wanted to do it!”
“And you definitely know I wouldn’t want to,” Coco whispered with a chuckle, sprinkling a little bit of water on her companion in retribution. “I just appreciate that you’re going so far for this. You really didn’t have to.”
With a blush, she continued, “Most fillies don’t really celebrate their mom’s birthday, anyway.”
Babs rolled her eyes and waved her hoof to the side, this time taking care not to get any water on herself.
“I’m not like most fillies. And you’ve put on enough things for me with Nightmare Night and Hearth’s Warming. I figure I owe you one.”
As innocent as that statement was, Coco couldn’t help but wonder if Babs still felt guilty about everything. She hadn’t talked about the castle incident for days, and as much as that seemed like recovery, Coco also knew that the filly tended to keep things bottled up in her head. That, and the last time Babs felt like she owed her mother something, she’d spied on the Oranges and gotten herself foalnapped again in the process. Needless to say, that was never something either of them wanted to hear, even without thinking about that event.
But, even then, Coco still couldn’t bring herself to voice those concerns. Or, rather, she knew deep down that they were irrational and that this birthday would go off without a hitch.
She knew that, when Babs said that, she didn’t mean it in the way she used to. She meant it in a way that any filly would say to their mother, with guiltless appreciation.
“We owe each other a lot after everything,” Coco finally admitted. “But even if I’m not keeping score...I’d like to see what you two have planned.”
****
Perhaps the first sign that things were about to go very, very differently the next day was that the minute Coco had woken up, Babs had already started singing. That, and Scene had inexplicably gotten a key to her room.
“She’s awake,” the director whispered, so low that it barely even registered in Coco’s mind. “That’s your cue.”
Babs placed her hooves to the table in a rough approximation of the drum set she’d started playing in school and sang at the top of her lungs.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to y--”
At that point, Coco had noticed one of two things. One, that Babs was actually singing the sincere version of the song, rather than the silly one she often sang to her friends. And two, as she realized too late, there was no way Scene would let her finish the song without getting a word in.
“Cut!” he yelled, relishing the opportunity to use one of his directorial terms in real life. “We can’t use that one!”
A few seconds later, Babs’ face had moved away from the cabinet, and even though Coco couldn’t see it, she could imagine the confused stare on her face.
“Why the hay not?” she asked. “We practiced this!”
“Because I checked the trivia book in the hotel library today, and that song’s been copyrighted for almost a hundred years, and as much as I appreciate Coco, Silver Phoenix is not about to break its five-years-without-getting-sued streak over something like this.”
“Really?” Babs questioned, her voice laced with trademark Apple skepticism.
Scene ripped his saddlebag open, pulled out a book, and showed her the exact place he’d read that fact.
“No, no,” the filly muttered, facehoofing. “I can believe the copyright deal. But you’re tellin’ me nopony ever sued us about Mosely freakin’ Orange? And what, do you get a free sandwich if you go six years on Bridleway without getting sued?”
At this point, Coco could tell Scene had never wanted to laugh more in his life. However, she could also tell that he was in his deadly serious mode, and there was no way he was going to go off track for something so frivolous.
“Yes and no. But let’s stick to the script, shall we? Alternate song, Oatstralian version, go!”
For a brief second, Coco thought things couldn’t get any weirder. The minute the two ponies opened their mouths, though, she was greeted with the strangest song that she’d never heard.
“Why were you born so beautiful? Why were you born at all? Because you had no say in it, no say in it at all…”
****
By the time she’d gotten ready for the next event of the day, Coco was already wondering why Oatstralia was the way it was. She’d never thought to question the spiders or the assorted strange wildlife, but somehow, their version of “Happy Birthday to You” had been enough to send her over the edge.
Scene had gotten quite the kick out of it, however. Every time Coco had tried to bring it up, he’d laughed like it was the best joke in the world.
“I’m no party pony,” he told her as they trotted off to their latest attraction with Babs, “but that song makes me want to be one. Nopony expects it to get that dark.”
“I sure didn’t,” Coco said with a twirl of her hair. “But I did appreciate the calling me beautiful part.”
She still wasn’t the best at flirting, but she could practically imagine a tally going off in her head as she said that. Flawless execution, Coco Pommel.
“And I, for one, am glad that you were born beautiful and born at all.”
Celebrity charm power-up, Scene Stealer.
“Anyway,” Babs interrupted, cutting into the romantic moment, “the classical Chineighese garden should be right around this way. We weren’t able to make reservations for a true garden party, but we can still look around and stuff.”
Sure enough, the three ponies barely had to trot ten blocks before plum trees and jasmine blooms came into their sight. An ornate pagoda gate greeted them, every bit as elegant as Canterlot Castle itself, but tucked into the smallest of spaces. A similar building stood nearby, presumably a visitor’s center of some sort.
To Coco’s surprise, neither of her two companions headed towards the benches or flowers, instead making their way towards the center of the gardens.
“We can see all of those later,” Scene suggested. “But this part was all Babs’ idea. She wanted to make sure you had time to see this.”
He quickly shielded her eyes, as if just now realizing that he needed to create a dramatic event, and trotted her towards the nearest gazebo. From there, she’d half-expected some huge gathering of ponies waiting for her, the least comfortable thing she could imagine.
But instead, there were simply dresses as far as the eye could see. Silken ensembles, more intricate than even Rarity was capable of, lay under delicate glasses with accessories every bit as ornate. A single sign had been nailed to the gazebo walls.
“Lunar Chineighese Fashions: A Walk Through Style and Time.”
Sure enough, similar outfits adorned the path nearest the gazebo, each in their own glass cases for ponies to admire. It seemed to stretch on for miles at a time, and when she looked at it, it almost seemed impossible. And yet here it was, very much real.
“These were supposed to have been destroyed when Nightmare Moon was banished,” she whispered, half to herself. “All my fashion books said they were, and here they are. Still intact after a thousand years.”
She’d never thought of herself as somepony who was particularly interested in history, and yet her spirit soared just seeing these pieces. Some of the earliest fashions of Equestrian civilization were right in front of her face, had been spared from the destruction the area had later faced. She couldn’t bring herself to look away from them, not even for a moment.
“I’d found out a few months ago that they were touring Equestria with these,” Scene spoke. “Just like us, in a way. Both of us were at a loss about what to do for your birthday, and we were almost about to just give you a party until Babs found out they were here.”
Just as Scene said this, Babs came back from another section with a carefully wrapped package.
“Since we spent so much time findin’ a place, I wasn’t able to buy you a present until just now,” she said. “It’s not super great, I guess, but it was what I was able to find.”
Inside the package was a single white lotus--fake, of course--with a clip at the top. After further examination, Coco realized that not only was there a small rhinestone in the center, but the clip was meant to hook onto another hairpiece. The one she’d worn for years, the one who’d come from the pony she’d looked up to more than anything.
And here was her daughter, giving her a tiny flower to hook onto it, so Coco could keep both ponies in her heart forever. Even if it was just something she’d found in a gift shop on the fly, Coco couldn’t think of anything that could possibly be better.
Everypony together, some standing beside her and some in her heart, all staring at some of the most lasting objects in Equestria. Hoping that they, too, could live on for many more years together. Unbreakable, even by forces of nature or magic itself.
As the sun rose in the sky on a brand new day, Coco embraced the two most important ponies of her life and continued on the gravely path.
She had been born beautiful, so that she could bring beauty and happiness to their lives.