• Published 20th Sep 2022
  • 353 Views, 9 Comments

Raising Tempo - Void Chicken



Once upon a time, Tempo Reprise saved the world. At least that's what her mom Rainbow says.

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Considerations

Tempo Reprise couldn't sleep. The events of the day replayed over and over in her head. Mom and Rainbow said they weren't mad but they looked like they were mad. Tempo had screwed up, but didn't understand how or even when.

She heard voices through her slightly-opened door. One of them she recognized as Aunt Fluttershy. Tempo couldn't help but wonder what she was doing here. Slowly, quietly, she climbed out of bed and gently opened the door. Step by careful step, she made her way to the top of the stairs and listened in.

"How long has she been able to do that?" Aunt Fluttershy asked.

"According to her," Mom answered, "about a month and a half."

Silence.

Rainbow spoke up. "Look, the Nightgrasp. He was a stallion who never made any friends, right? Then, I dunno, he went crazy, whipped up a vat of something weird, dove in, and turned into what he is now, right?" A teacup clinked.

"That's what Twilight said," Aunt Fluttershy answered.

"I believe Rainbow's point," Mom said, "is that there are some abilities that ponies simply... are not meant to have. The Nightgrasp is our current example, but we've dealt with such ponies many times. Including when I... ah... was taken by the Inspiration Manifestation. The ability to shape the world to my will was simply too much to resist."

"I should have seen this coming," Rainbow said.

Mom answered, "Dearie, however could you have predicted that our child could stop time?"

"I got jerked around through time. Which means she got jerked around through time. Of course the Roundhill would have had an influence." Rainbow sighed. "You know what this means, right? Time didn't slow or stop for me. I went back."

More silence.

"You think," Aunt Fluttershy said, "that someday, Tempo might be able to go back in time?"

Tempo froze. She had never considered the possibility.

"And what if she can?" Rainbow asked. "Let's face it: Tempo has no friends and an unnatural power."

"I would not have put it so bluntly," Mom said, "but Rainbow has a point. On top of that, we did miss her tenth birthday."

Rainbow added, "And she thinks we're angry with her." A thump. "And I told Equestria, and her, that she's the world's savior."

Another few seconds of silence.

"How does Tempo feel about all this?"

Tempo had no idea how to feel.

Rainbow answered, "I don't think she understands. I don't think I understand."

Mom added, "She was very quiet at dinner. I can't blame her."

Aunt Fluttershy paused, then said, "Has she ever tried to make friends?"

"Not that I know of," Rainbow said. "She's always been really shy. A lot like, well, you know."

Mom hummed, then said, "I see what you're getting at. Celestia knows friendship certainly solves a lot of problems. If we can find Tempo a good friend or two, then perhaps things will work out for the best."

Tempo tried to imagine meeting a strange pony her age. She figured they would make fun of her. Or they'd be jealous of her for Mom and Rainbow being her mothers. Tempo had a hard time just keeping herself together in the classroom full of foals, even off in the corner.

She shuddered. Meeting foals needed her to be brave, and Tempo was not as brave as Mom or Rainbow.

Tempo realized that she had missed part of the conversation below.

"Thank you so much for coming over," Mom said. "I feel much better now."

"Yeah," Rainbow added, "we got more of a plan than we did an hour ago."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," Aunt Fluttershy answered. "Let me know how things go."

Tempo heard a hoofstep on the bottom stair. Taking her cue to leave, she hurried back into her bedroom and shuffled her way under her covers. She followed up with her best impression of a sleeping filly.

"Thought I closed this," Rainbow muttered at her door, pushing it until only a sliver of light shone in.

---

"Tempo."

Tempo rolled over.

"Psst. Tempo."

Her eyes slowly opened. Rainbow was at her bedside in the dark.

"Sssh."

The sun had almost risen outside. Tempo rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Huh?"

"Rarity doesn't know we know, so stay quiet," Rainbow whispered.

Sitting up, Tempo asked, "Know what?"

Rainbow slowly pulled the covers off the bed. "Come on." She motioned her head towards the door.

"Is something going on?" Tempo staggered towards the door after Rainbow.

"Uh-huh. That's why we gotta move real quiet." Rainbow stuck her head out into the hallway and looked both ways. "Coast is clear, let's move."

"But... what's happening?"

Rainbow turned back around. She looked left and right, then placed her hoof on Tempo's lips.

"You didn't hear it from me, but... it's Pancake Day."

Tempo perked up immediately.

Rainbow moved to the door. "Ssh. Follow my lead and play it cool. She won't suspect a thing."

With a nod and careful footsteps, Tempo followed Rainbow out into the hall and down the stairs.

Rainbow sat down at the table. "Hey, babe, what's for breakfast?"

Tempo sat down at the table. "Hey, Mom, what's for breakfast?"

Mom looked at Rainbow.

Mom looked at Tempo.

Mom looked at the stack of fresh pancakes directly in front of the pair.

Like a switch had been flipped, Mom's expression brightened. "Why, we're having pancakes!" She levitated two onto each plate.

Rainbow gasped. "I had no idea! Kid, did you know we're having pancakes?"

"Nope!" Tempo shook her head.

After slathering her pancakes in syrup, Rainbow cut a large chunk off and shoved it in her mouth. Tempo poured a little on her own, then cut off a more filly-appropriate piece.

It was halfway to her mouth when the thought struck her: just the night before, Mom and Rainbow sounded so different. The two mares with her eating pancakes were bright and happy, not worried. She could scarcely believe they were the same ponies.

Tempo placed the pancake in her mouth and slowly chewed. It was as delicious as Mom's pancakes always were, but she barely noticed the sweet taste flowing across her tongue. Tempo often didn't know what to do, but Mom and Rainbow always did. They fought bad guys like the Nightgrasp. There was no way they could actually be afraid of anything.

"Tempo?" Mom's voice brought her back to reality. "Are you feeling all right? You've barely touched your breakfast."

"Mm?" Rainbow, mouth very full, looked over at her. With effort, she swallowed. "Something wrong with your pancakes? You want mine?"

Tempo looked up at her parents. "Oh, no, they're really good." She took another bite.

Mom and Rainbow looked at each other. "All right," Mom said, looking back at Tempo, "as long as everything's okay."

She pushed the thought from her mind. Mom and Rainbow were grownups, and grownups knew everything. It was just Tempo who didn't understand.

---

Tempo lay on the floor of her bedroom, idly paging through the book she'd gotten for her birthday. It was interesting, she supposed.

She heard the front door of the house open. Tempo glanced out the window. The sun was still high in the sky. Rainbow wasn't due to be back home for several more hours.

After a few minutes, Mom's voice from downstairs made Tempo jump.

"What do you mean we lost Filly's Fabrics?"

A pause.

"Why did they pull out of the contract? They're seventy percent of our supply!"

Tempo crept towards her door.

"And what happened at the Baltimare shop? What incident?"

Slowly, Tempo pulled open her door and made her way towards the top of the stairs. Below, she could see Mom and a blue earth pony grownup she hadn't seen before. Mom looked very, very mad and the other mare looked a little scared.

The mare read off of a piece of paper on the ground. "...and she said that it was her store and that her store would only accept proper, high-class ponies. And not griffins. Especially ones, who, quote, 'looked like he crawled out from under the pier and smelled even worse'." The stranger's ears hung low.

Mom took a very deep breath. "She said that... to whom, exactly?"

The stranger backed up a step. "According to the report, a board member for Filly's Fabrics. She called him a liar and threatened to summon the police." The mare swallowed. "Then he left."

Mom's eye twitched. "And then?"

The mare pulled some papers out of a nearby briefcase. "We have copies of letters sent back and forth."

With a flick of her horn, Mom yanked the paperwork out of the other pony's mouth and held it up to her face. "I see. Wait a moment, this was two weeks ago?"

Mom stomped her hoof very hard. Tempo shrunk back.

"I'm sorry, Miss Rarity, we only found out yesterday. Miss Stitch did her best to hide it from us."

With more hoof stomps, Mom advanced on the mare. "Well tell Miss Stitch that they are my stores, and if I ever see her try to sell so much as a bandana in one, then a princess had better be buying it, because only an alicorn will be able to stop what I will do to her." Mom's magic snatched up the briefcase and flung it to the other end of the room, the papers inside scattering across the shop.

The mare hurried outside, leaving Mom alone. Tempo inched her way downstairs. "Mom?"

Mom spun around. "What?"

Tempo stumbled backwards until she fell, ending up on her side. "I-I-I wanted to know if everything was okay."

"Everything is fine." She looked at Tempo the same way she looked at the mare. Tempo scooted away from her, still on her side.

Mom's face fell. Closing her eyes and turning her head away, she said, "Tempo, go back to your room."

"But—"

"I cannot deal with both this and you right now. Go to your room."

"O-okay, Mom." Tempo got to her feet and made her way to the stairs. Halfway up, she said, "I'm sorry."

Mom didn't reply.

---

Some time later, when the sun hung low to the horizon, Tempo heard the door slowly open behind her. "Hey kid," Rainbow said, "finish your homework yet?"

"Um," Tempo replied, "some of it." She hesitated. "I'll do the rest after dinner."

Hoofsteps walked up next to her. "Hey, you know the rule: no sculpting or painting until you're done with—oh. You haven't." A pause. "Everything okay?"

"Mom's really mad."

She felt Rainbow lay down next to her and lay a wing across her back. "I know. Somepony did something bad to her. I'd be really mad, too."

"Oh." Tempo looked away from Rainbow.

Rainbow shifted just a little. "I can tell when there's something on your mind. What is it?"

"Um." Tempo had listened in on them the night before. She knew, deep down, that was something she shouldn't have done, that was a bad thing to do. If she said it, she knew that Rainbow would be mad like Mom was.

"Tempo, come on." Rainbow nudged her side. "You know you can tell Rarity and me anything."

"Am I a bad pony?" The words tumbled out of Tempo's mouth.

Rainbow choked. "What?! Where did that come from?"

"Um. I... Um..." She frantically searched for an explanation that wouldn't make Rainbow mad like Mom was.

"Tempo, listen. You're a great pony. Just today Cheerilee told me that you're the quietest pony in the classroom. Maybe a little too—you know what, that's beside the point. Your grades are..." Rainbow paused. "They're better than mine were at your age. Or ever, really. You'd be a great friend for anypony you meet."

Scratching her chin, Rainbow said, "You remember your aunt Sweetie Belle and her friends, before they moved out of town?"

Tempo looked over. "They were bad ponies?"

"No, no. Well, usually not. But I've seen how some mean ponies treated them when they were about your age, and I can't see you acting like that. My point is"—Rainbow's wing held Tempo tight against her side—"You're a good pony, and I'm happy you are, all right?"

Standing up, Rainbow tapped Tempo's side with her wing. "Now go do your homework."