Sunlight filtered in through the curtains of Tempo Reprise's bedroom, slowly rousing the filly from sleep. Her eyes opened and she stretched under her sheets. Tempo rolled out of bed, four little hooves landing on the floor. After shaking herself out and sorting out the mane around her horn, she took the time to stretch again.
Her ears perked up as she remembered something very important. It was her tenth birthday! Tempo Reprise was officially a Big Pony! She trotted straight past her figurines and out into the hallway.
Just before Tempo reached the stairs leading down, voices echoed up them.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Ssh! She's still asleep!"
They were her mothers' voices. Tempo lay amongst the dust bunnies by the wall, rotating her ears to listen.
She heard Rainbow say, "Twilight, it's her birthday! You want me to leave, no, to abandon my daughter, my flesh and blood, on her birthday? Rarity, talk some sense into her."
"Rainbow," Mom replied, "As loath as I am to say it, Twilight is right."
"I'm sorry," Aunt Twilight added, "Princess Luna's vision was clear. The Nightgrasp is going to attack Trottingham tonight. It'll take all day to get there, so we need to leave now. Even as it is, we won't be there until evening."
"But—" Rainbow paused. "Why does it have to be today?"
A whiff of dust drifted past Tempo's nose. She tried her best to quietly blow it away.
"I know." Mom's voice took on that soft tone that Tempo usually only heard directed at herself. "I'm upset, too. But there's nothing we can do. It's like every other time the Nightgrasp's attacked. The Elements of Harmony are the only way we know to stop him."
"I'm sorry," Aunt Twilight added. "Every moment we wait puts more ponies in danger. Pinkie's already getting the Cakes to babysit, so Tempo won't be alone all day."
Tempo was losing her battle against the dust.
"But whatever are we going to tell her?"
"I don't know, Rarity," Rainbow said, "but I do know that the moment we turn him into stone again, I am getting a hammer and a chisel and breaking off his—"
Tempo sneezed.
"Tempo?" Mom asked.
Walking down the carpeted stairs, Tempo looked to see Mom and Rainbow in the Carousel Boutique, along with Aunt Twilight.
"Good morning, Tempo," Mom said. "Happy birthday! You're a ten year old filly today," she added as Tempo reached them.
"It's Big Pony now," Tempo corrected.
"Yeah, babe," Rainbow said. "You heard the Big Pony." She ruffled the mane behind Tempo's horn. "You sure are bigger than you used to be, kid."
"Yup! But..." She looked at Aunt Twilight. "What was all that about a night monster?"
"Oh." Aunt Twilight kneeled down and looked Tempo in the eyes. "I'm very sorry, but a lot of ponies are in danger in Trottingham. Your parents, the others, and I have to go stop the bad guy."
Tempo tilted her head. "Can I come?"
"NO!" Mom's shout made Tempo jump. Mom cleared her throat before continuing, "What I mean to say is that it's very important that you stay home. We'll be just fine, I promise."
Rainbow smiled. "We've beaten this guy lots of times. Way too many times. It's nothing. But uh, you really can't be there. Important hero stuff, big fight, you know."
"But what about—"
"Tempo!" Auntie Pinkie bounced through the front doorway. "Oh wait, I did that wrong! Let me try it again!"
Auntie Pinkie hurried outside again, then walked through the doorway. "Tempo! It's your birthday! But it's also Save Trottingham day. I didn't have a party ready for that. But I do have... ta-da!"
Behind Auntie Pinkie, Pound and Pumpkin rounded the doorway. Neither of them looked happy to be there.
Aunt Applejack entered behind them. "I got everything squared away the best I could back at the farm, so I'm ready to leave when y'all are." Aunt Fluttershy's face appeared around the doorway.
Tempo backed up, eyes darting between all the ponies in the room. She was feeling less like a Big Pony by the second.
Mom turned to the two thirteen year olds. "I was going to cook today, but there's still leftovers in the refrigerator. Her presents are in my room, and your mother's making the cake. We should be home tomorrow around noon. If there's an emergency, take her to your parents. And naturally I'm paying you both extra for the trouble."
Tempo's rump hit the wall. She took deep breaths to steady herself.
Auntie Pinkie's gaze landed on Tempo for just a second before she turned to the room. "Over capacity!" she shouted. "Everypony out!"
Mom and Rainbow looked at Tempo. "Oh crud," Rainbow said. "Tempo, I—hey!"
Auntie Pinkie's head pushed against Rainbow's rear. "I said... everypony out!"
"But it's my house—stop that!" Rainbow continued to protest as Auntie Pinkie forcibly escorted every pony in the room towards the door. "Tempo," Rainbow said just before getting forced out the door, "I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"Do what the Cakes say, Tempo," Mom added. "I love you. Pinkie Pie, I am fully capable of walking myself out—" The door closing cut her off
Tempo was alone in the room for about five seconds before the front door opened and the Cakes tumbled in. "You two stay!" Auntie Pinkie ordered before closing the door again.
Taking a moment to catch her breath, Tempo watched Pound shake his wings out and Pumpkin dust herself off.
Pound made his way over and held his hoof a few inches away from Tempo's shoulder. "Typical Pinkie. Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Tempo said between breaths. "I'm all right."
"That's good. Happy birthday, by the way." Pound smiled at him.
"Thanks."
"Happy birthday. What's there to eat?" Pumpkin asked from across the room.
---
Tempo set her spoon down in the bowl. The last of the Oat-O's drifted out of the way, the soggy grains floating atop the milk. Neither Mom nor Rainbow checked to see if she'd eaten it all or asked if she was still hungry.
Mumbling her thanks to Pound, she stood up and made her way back into the Boutique. There were a few blue-ish streamers dangling from the corners, matching her coat. A large banner stretched across the back wall, reading "HAPPY TENTH BIRTHDAY" in orange letters. A folding table had been set up along another wall. It had been draped in a dark purple cloth with an orange stripe to match Tempo's mane. Pumpkin Cake levitated the last of the wrapped presents to a small pile.
They were sparse decorations for a simple party, just how Tempo liked it. All that was missing was Auntie Pinkie standing quietly in the corner.
And Tempo's mothers.
She sat down and stared at the floor. It was meticulously clean, just how Mom liked it. Tempo sniffled.
"You're taking this pretty well, all things considered." Pound sat down next to her right flank.
Tempo looked up. "I am?"
Pumpkin sat at her left. "Absolutely. Every time Pinkie leaves, Li'l Cheese is inconsolable. And his father is still home to take care of him. 'Mommy no!', 'Mommy no!' over and over." She shook her head. "Not that he's any happier when 'Papa' has to go."
After a moment's thought, Tempo said, "Auntie Pinkie didn't seem that upset, though. I wonder if... if she doesn't care."
Both of the Cakes broke out laughing. Pound wiped away a tear. "Are you kidding?!" Pumpkin said. "She's the worst about it! 'My baby' this and 'my baby' that. At least she usually manages to settle down after. But I bet when she gets back you won't be able to get him out of her hooves for the rest of the week."
"He'll be starting preschool this fall," Pound added. "That's going to be awkward. Maybe that's why she has another foal on the way."
Tempo paused. "So you think Mom and Rainbow miss me that much?"
"Absolutely!" Pumpkin said, standing up. She moved in front of Tempo. "I bet they're crying all the way to Trottingham." She dramatically walked backwards in circles, the back of her hoof against her horn. "My baby! My baby!"
Pound suppressed a giggle, then took off and flew a few feet above Pumpkin. "My only precious child, left all alone! This is the most un-awesome thing ever!"
He landed, draping himself across Pumpkin, who strained under the unexpected weight.
"Feel any better?" he asked.
"Yeah."
She didn't.
---
Tempo sat alone in her room, hooves on her desk, head turned to look out the window. In front of her was an art history book left half-read. Outside, the sounds of springtime wafted in. She could hear leaves rustling in the wind and distant conversations. Some children were playing a game somewhere out of view. The sun beamed in from its place in the sky.
A small bird approached the little ledge outside the window. Tempo followed it with her eyes. The bird's wingbeats slowed, the vibrations of its feathers becoming ever more subdued. Time stretched out as its little talons reached for its perch.
All sound faded away. The bird hung, frozen in the air. Everything was absolutely still, and absolutely silent. The bird, the ponies outside, the children, the world itself, all was stopped. The only motion was Tempo Reprise, who let her head drop onto crossed hooves.
Like a film projector starting up, the world snapped into motion. The bird landed and looked around. The wind blew, ponies conversed, foals played. The bird took off, flapping its wings into the distance.
Tempo sighed. Doing that would only make the day longer.
She turned her head over to look at her sculpting bench. The little Daring Do figurine still needed her legs, and she had three ponies and a manticore in need of painting. Tempo could easily lose days on just one of those, but the desire simply eluded her.
The door to her room opened and Pound stuck his head through. "Pumpkin's getting your cake. Are you ready to open your presents?"
After pushing back from her desk, Tempo stood up. "Yeah, I'm kinda hungry."
She followed him downstairs to where the party had been set up. At the table, Pumpkin was levitating a modest cake out of its box. Looking closer, Tempo could see that it was the same pale blue as her coat, ringed with dark purple icing, accented by the same orange line that her own mane and tail had. On it was a large number 10.
Pumpkin put her hoof to her lips and illuminated her horn again. Ten candles rose out of the box and placed themselves on the cake. Her aura swept up her horn and concentrated itself into a tiny brilliant orange light at its tip. A wisp of smoke rose from the glow.
"Hey," Pound said. "Mom said you weren't allowed to learn that spell yet."
Pumpkin smiled, the spell still bright on her horn. "Did she? I must not have heard her. I guess that makes two of us who don't hear very well, Mister Tornado." She twirled on a hind hoof for effect, the smoke trailing behind her horn.
Pumpkin set the tip of her horn against one of the candles, which instantly lit. She went from candle to candle until all ten were burning. She raised her head, turned to Tempo, and blew her breath upwards as the spell went out.
With a smile, she said, "Don't learn that spell, Tempo."
Tempo made her horn sputter in response.
"Now make a wish," Pumpkin said.
"But don't tell anypony or it won't come true," Pound added.
Approaching the cake, Tempo made a wish with all her heart and blew out the candles.
It did not come true.
Pumpkin produced a knife. "And the birthday filly gets the first slice!"
"Big Pony," Tempo mumbled, too quietly for either Cake to hear.
Before long, Tempo Reprise had eaten three slices of cake, four scoops of neaponitan ice cream, and had drunk four glasses of punch. The Cakes had eight slices, a dozen scoops, and the entire rest of the punch bowl between them.
"Ready to open your presents?" Pumpkin asked, levitating a small wrapped box. Pound set down the magazine that he'd found under a couch cushion.
Tempo took the box in her hooves and ripped away the wrapping. It was a boxed set of paints, in an entire spectrum of somewhat muted colors. They'd be perfect for painting figurines of ponies. Tempo had been running low on her supply.
The next present was a book on advanced sculpting techniques, sure to teach any interested pony everything she might not have thought of when it came to fine detail. After that, a large block of clay, a very high quality supply imported directly from Abyssinia. Then another set of paint, this time in bright colors, ideal for outfits.
The last, and largest, present was a new oven. The MagiClay 2500 was among the best light duty ovens in the world. It boasted magically-enhanced insulation to keep the rest of the room cool, and could both cure clay and fire pottery, and even maintain its temperature to within two degrees on either setting.
Tempo had begged for that oven, and now it was in front of her. If things had been right, she would be jumping for joy. She would be hugging Mom and Rainbow and thanking them for all the presents she got.
"Do you like it?" Pound asked.
Tempo would have loved them, if things had been right.