Rainbow touched down outside the Boutique and opened the door. Ahead, Rarity was busy sorting out her business stuff.
"Hey, babe, I'm home."
"Rainbow," Rarity said, "Tempo's said she spent time with somepony today."
"Awesome!" Rainbow bounced over. "Who is it? It's not that Opal kid, is it? I don't think she'd be a good fit for Tempo."
"She says his name is Dapple Coat."
Tilting her head, Rainbow asked, "Who?"
"My thoughts exactly. I've never heard of any foal by that name." Rarity shoved some paperwork around. "And I really must untangle this mess so I can't ask her about her new friend. If this Dapple Coat turns out to be a bad influence, it'd be even worse than no friend at all!"
Rainbow saluted. "Got you loud and clear, babe. I'll talk to her."
After planting a kiss on her cheek, Rarity said, "Thank you so much. Also I'd like it if you made dinner tonight."
"Sure, sure." Rainbow laughed. "Hope you want salad, though."
She turned and walked up the stairs. Checking at the door to Tempo's room, she saw her daughter busy with her homework. Rainbow couldn't help but smile at the irony.
"Hey, kid," she said, letting herself in, "can you take a break?"
"Rainbow!" Tempo hopped off the chair and gave her mother a hug. "How was your practice?"
"Ow. Real intense. Kinda sore." She pried Tempo off of her. "Rarity tells me you made a friend today."
"A friend?" Tempo thought for a moment. "I guess he's my friend." She looked up at Rainbow. "But you and Mom weren't there, so I don't know if it counts."
"What? It totally counts! His name's Dapple Coat, right?" Manifesting all the subtlety she could, Rainbow asked, "Soooo, how old is he?"
"I dunno," Tempo said. "He looked about as old as the ponies you and Mom made me meet."
"Cool, cool. That's good." She spun her hoof in a circle. "Is he uh, a pegasus, a unicorn, an earth pony, a griffin, a hippogriff... a kirin? Is there another kirin family in town I don't know about?"
Tempo giggled. "He's a pegasus."
Rainbow lay on the ground. "So what's he like?"
"Well..." Tempo settled down under her wing. "He likes to paint, like, paintings. But only of little stuff. He's pretty quiet, but I kinda like that. I looked at him a few times."
Rainbow didn't quite understand what she meant. "A few times? I mean, what's he look like?"
"Oh." Tempo's eyes roamed the room. "I don't think he'd want me to say how he looks. He's a nice pony and I don't want to make him mad at me."
"Yeah. Don't want to make your new friend mad. He does want to be your friend, right?"
Tempo paused. "I don't know. I've never had a friend before. He said I was nice."
Rainbow stood up and rubbed Tempo's mane. "Then it sounds like you do have a friend now. But it's up to you to make it work, all right? Friendship can be hard sometimes, but it's always worth the effort."
Squirming out from under her mother's hoof, Tempo said, "You sound like Aunt Twilight."
"Ha! Well, she knows a lot about that kind of thing." She headed towards the door. "Your schoolwork's worth the effort too, so finish that up. Dinner's on me tonight."
Rainbow closed the door and made her way down the stairs. "Well," she told Rarity when she reached the floor, "I got a little more info out of her. He's a pegasus her age who likes to paint. And I'm about sixty percent sure he isn't imaginary."
"Having physical friends is always a bonus. Though I checked every list Twilight gave us and I cannot for the life of me find any colt named Dapple Coat in town." Rarity turned to Rainbow. "Where ever did she find this pony?"
Walking up next to her, Rainbow said, "You know what? I think I know how to find out."
---
The next day, Rainbow stood at the door to the sizable house. She recalled it being built a couple years ago, but had no idea who lived in it. It looked expensive, in any case.
She looked over. "This is the place, right?"
"Yup." Tempo nodded at her side.
Rainbow spotted a chain and handle hanging next to the door and gave it a tug. On the other side of the door, a series of bells chimed.
Before too long, Rainbow saw a shape move on the other side of the frosted glass window and the door opened. A dark purple pegasus stallion with a brown mane opened the door. Tempo shifted a little closer to her mother.
"Good afternoon," the stallion said, "can I help you?"
"Hey," Rainbow answered, "this might sound a little weird, but does a colt named Dapple Coat live here?"
"As a matter of fact, he does. But why do you ask? I can't imagine he's gotten into any trouble." He laughed.
"Nah, my kid Tempo Reprise here met him yesterday and I figured I'd tag along, you know?" Rainbow smiled.
The stallion leaned down to match Tempo's height, prompting her to back up a step. "Tempo Reprise! So you're the filly my little Dap won't stop talking about!" He stood up. "Come in, come in!"
After they entered, he closed the door behind them. "I'm Rafter Span."
"Rainbow?" Tempo trotted in front of her. "Can I go see Dapple? I mean, talk to him?"
Rainbow rubbed Tempo's mane. "If it's all right with his dad, go right ahead."
Motioning up the stairs with a wing, Rafter said, "He's in his room."
"Okay. He's going to paint my eye today!"
Tempo galloped upstairs.
Rainbow paused. "Does she mean her eyelid, or...?"
She heard Tempo knock on his door. "Dapple? It's me." A pause. "All right, I'll close my eyes." The door opened and closed.
"I'm Rainbow Dash, by the way," she told Rafter. "And that was Tempo."
Rafter walked towards another part of the house. "A pleasure to meet you both. Here, let's talk in the study."
Following him through the hallway, she marveled at how nice everything looked. "Quite the place you got here. It just you and the kid?"
"Ever since Swift Flank, my older colt, moved to New Cloudsdale last year."
They arrived in what Rainbow assumed was the study. Bookshelves lined three of the walls, with the fourth taken up by large cubbies stuffed with enormous scrolls. One of those scrolls was spread out on the large desk. On it, pencil lines made out the shape of a tall building.
Sitting on a plush-looking chair, Rafter motioned for Rainbow to sit on another. "Swift's finishing his performance flight school there. He hopes to apply for the Wonderbolts soon."
Rainbow sat down on the very comfy chair. With a smile, she said, "I'm a Wonderbolt myself, so I'll have to keep an eye out." Quickly, she followed up, "Though I'm not allowed to play favorites or anything." She looked around. "So what do you do to afford all this, if you don't mind?"
"Ah." Rafter motioned at the desk. "I'm an architect. Not to toot my own horn, but I like to think I'm one of the best. After the incident ten years ago, ponies like me were in incredibly high demand. Lemons into lemonade, you know. A lot of very rich businessponies needed some very expensive buildings in a very short amount of time. I easily made enough to retire, though I still take on the odd job here and there to keep myself busy."
"Ah, yeah." Rainbow coughed. "That was a rough time. Had the kid during that."
"Is it just you and her back home?"
Rainbow waved a wing. "Tempo's my only foal, but I live with my wife, Rarity, too. She was too busy with work to come by. Kind of a shame; she'd love this place."
Smiling, Rafter said, "Thank you. I designed it myself."
"So..." Rainbow rubbed her hoof against her side. "Not to uh, be a jerk, but... what's the deal with Dapple?"
Rafter looked down. "Dapple's a good, sweet colt. But he has a very rare coat pattern. His splotches bother him to a degree I can't understand. I tell him he looks great, but the poor colt just won't believe me."
He looked up again, gazing out a small window nearby. "Dapple won't stand in front of a camera, much less any ponies outside his family." He shifted his weight in his chair. "I have to homeschool him myself. Your daughter's the first other pony he's ever spent any real time with. And even then, he says she still has to look away for him to be comfortable."
He sat up. "But I'm really grateful. This is the happiest he's been in a long time."
"Oh no no." Rainbow waved her hoof. "Tempo's not good with ponies, either, so I'm super glad she found a friend. You have no idea. Even if she can't actually look at him. Not the weirdest thing I've seen."
Rainbow got to her hooves and stretched out. "But this is a big load off my mind. Nice talking to you."
"You both are welcome anytime. If you don't mind, I should get back to this." Rafter relocated to the desk.
Rainbow made her way up to Dapple's room. "Hey, Tempo, it's time to go home."
She opened the door. Inside, she got a full view of a splotchy brown colt with a short teal mane. Dapple's eyes locked on hers and he scrambled backwards, losing his balance.
Tempo ran up and slammed the door in Rainbow's face. "No looking!" she shouted from the other side.
Rainbow blinked. It was the first time her daughter had ever closed a door on her like that.
"Uh—"
"It's the rule! No looking!"
Glancing to the side, Rainbow said, "Right. Sorry. Tell him I'm sorry."
Hoofsteps approached the door before a soft voice answered, "It's okay. But please don't look again."
"I guess you're Dapple Coat. Hey, I'm Tempo's mom."
Dapple said, "I thought your mom was a unicorn."
Tempo's voice replied, "Mom is a unicorn. But this is Rainbow. She's my mom, but she's not Mom."
A second of silence. "I don't get it."
"Anyways," Rainbow said, "it's time to go home."
"Aww," Tempo whined, "but he just started painting. Can I stay here? Please?"
Rainbow wasn't sure where to look, considering it was just the door in front of her. "Well, if it's that important for your friendship... all right, but be home before sundown, okay?"
"Okay! Come on, Dapple, let's get back to painting."
"It was nice to talk to you, Miss Rainbow," he said.
"Dapple," Tempo said, "it's just 'Rainbow'." She trotted away from the door. "So I sit like this, right?"
"Uh-huh. Hold still and don't open your eyes yet." Dapple's hoofsteps walked away.
"All right, so Rainbow's my mom. And Mom's a unicorn... no, no, Rainbow's a pegasus..."
Rainbow turned away and headed down the stairs.
"Good luck explaining the difference between Aunt Fluttershy and Aunt Sweetie Belle, kid."
---
Rainbow was finishing up her late afternoon flight when she spotted Tempo walking home, a paper bag in her mouth.
She landed between her daughter and the front door. A glance to the western horizon confirmed the deadline. "I'd say about half an hour late, kid. Gotta learn to watch the clock."
Tempo set the bag down. "Sorry, Rainbow, it took a while to dry. But look! Dapple made me this!"
With the rustling of paper, Tempo pulled out a painting. Looking at it, Rainbow saw that the small canvas held a close-up of Tempo's left eye.
"Well, that's... something," Rainbow said. She looked closer. "Actually, lemme see that."
She took the canvas from Tempo, then held the painted eye up next to her daughter's real one. "Hey, that's pretty good! Your friend's got some talent." Putting it back in the bag, she said, "We gotta show this to Rarity, come on."
Tempo followed Rainbow inside, where Rarity was engrossed with a stack of papers.
"Hey Rarity," Rainbow said, "want to see what Dapple painted?"
"Mm," Rarity responded, "I'm sure it's very nice."
Rainbow thought for a second.
"Hey babe, I got Tempo's eye in a bag, check it out!"
"It's super gross!" Tempo added.
"I'm sure it is," Rarity said, not looking up.
Glancing between them, Rainbow said, "All right, how about we hang it on your wall. That way you can see your eye whenever you want. Rarity can see it too when she goes in your room, but she's pretty busy right now."
"It's okay that Mom's always busy," Tempo said with a smile. "I have lots of fun with you, Rainbow."
Rarity froze. Tempo looked over at her.
Rainbow opened her wing both to block Tempo's view and scoop her towards the stairs. "All right, kid, let's head upstairs and take care of that painting."
"But why did Mom—"
Pushing her daughter along, Rainbow said, "Upstairs, let's go." She glanced back at her wife as she escorted Tempo up.
---
Rainbow tilted the painting a smidge to the left.
"There!" Tempo said.
After landing, Rainbow took a step back. "Perfect. Now you'll always be watching for bad guys in your room."
Tempo looked up at the painting. She scratched her chin. "I should make him something."
Rainbow walked between her and her sculpting bench. "If he's making a painting of you, how about you make a sculpture of him?"
"Noooo," Tempo whined. "He doesn't like being looked at, and he doesn't want a sculpture that looks like him, either."
"Oh yeah, sorry." Rainbow glanced at the shelves full of little figurines. "Anypony else he'd want?"
"I know!" Tempo went to her desk, opened the art history book she'd gotten for her birthday, and flipped through the pages, stopping on a photo of a pegasus mare. "Here! Feather Brush, one of the big important painters from a long time ago. Dapple said he was a big fan of her work. I can make a sculpture of her!"
"Yeah, that sounds good. I'm sure he'd appreciate it."
Sitting down at her bench, Tempo looked over the Abyssinian clay.
Flashing one more smile towards her daughter, Rainbow walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. She slowly walked down the stairs to where Rarity was hunched over her work, unmoving.
Rainbow approached her wife. "Rarity?"
"You heard her!" Rarity stood bolt upright. "You're her favorite!"
"Calm down, Rarity, that's not what she said." Rainbow laid her wing across Rarity's back.
Gripping Rainbow's wing with her magic like it was a blanket, Rarity went on, "She said it herself. She has more fun with you than with me. When Sweetie Belle was born, Mom and Dad gave her so much attention that I thought should have been mine. I was so jealous of Sweetie Belle. And now fate has decreed that I must be jealous of you!"
Rainbow tried to ignore how much getting her feathers tugged on hurt. "It's not that bad, babe."
Rarity released the wing and turned to look Rainbow in the eyes. "Which of your parents is your favorite, Rainbow? If you had to choose: your mother or your father?"
"I... uh..." Rainbow shook her wing out.
"Exactly! You can't decide! I can't decide!"
Rainbow glanced up the stairs, half-expecting to see Tempo's face looking down them.
Rarity paced back and forth, trodding on the loose papers. "Tempo did decide. I've been trying so hard to salvage my business that I've lost my daughter. What a sick joke it is that she calls me Mom, when you're more of a mother to her than I'll ever be."
"Rarity..."
"That's what she'll tell her friend: You're her mother, and I'm just some strange mare that lives in her house with her papers. 'Oh yes', he'll say, 'you sure love your one and only mother.' Her friendship is such an important part of her development and I don't even know what he looks like!"
Rarity pressed her face against Rainbow's shoulder. Rainbow felt the moisture soaking into her fur.
"If it makes you feel any better, he likes it that way. I only got a glimpse myself."
"Tempo can take him on a trip through time! All over the history of Equestria, witnessing the greatest feats in pony history. But she'll have to stop time when she visits me to let her remember who I am. But not to worry, she'll let you come along. Maybe she'll alter history to make me unnecessary entirely!"
Rainbow blinked. "Rarity, babe, she's not going to do that."
Rarity looked up, her mascara running down her face. "How do you do it, Rainbow? How do you always know what to do, what to say to her?"
Smiling, Rainbow answered, "The secret is, I just make it up as I go along. Tempo loves us, both of us. That makes her easy to please." She looked up the stairs.
"Why don't you give it a shot?"