Tempo trotted along the road towards a specific shop. It wasn't a very busy one. As it turned, ponies didn't need to buy bits of metal that hadn't already been fashioned into specific things very often. In fact, they had precious little need for those metals at all. It was a curious thing. Equestria used steel in their houses and nails, in their wagons and nails, in their jewelry and knives. But a pony had about no use for a random hunk of metal unless they were a craftspony themselves.

Tempo paused to consider. She would have to be one of those craftsponies. She pushed through the crystal door into the room. "Hello."

The pudgy stallion sitting behind the counter adjusted his glasses, his mustache bouncing. "Hello, how can I help you today?" He waited expectantly, clearly eager to be helpful.

Tempo closed with that counter. "I hope you are aware, but I am Tempo." She turned left and right. "I am constructed of metal. I tell you this because I want to fashion another of me." She held up her hooves a foot or so apart. "This long. The colors will be different. Two of them. Can you assist with this?"

The clerk smiled brightly. "Ah, to have family of your own is a noble desire, indeed." He took out a tape measure and measured her hoof-to-hoof. "Yes, I have enough steel for you to do this."

Tempo smiled with building warmth. "Excellent. Can you determine how much metal I'd require?"

"That depends." He ran a hoof along his own moustache. "How good are you at working metal?" He could see Tempo's uncertainty. "Then I should give extra, so you can make some mistakes. Of course, you can always come back. I'll be here."

Tempo tapped her hooves together, impatient to begin. "It is best to get started as soon as possible."

"Not until I get your measurements." The clerk vanished into the back a moment before returning with a wheeled scale. "Please step onto this. Are you made entirely of metal?"

"No." Tempo stepped up onto the scale, making a number appear over her. A weight? The idea of monitoring her weight was beyond her. It wasn't like she could overeat, or under, for that matter. She weighed as much as she weighed, and that was that. "I know some of me is clay. I estimate 98% by volume is steel. The remaining 2% is clay, glass, and other trace minerals." Mentioning it prompted her eyes to blink with a soft tink of her lids colliding.

The clerk stood up on his hind legs to look over the scale's measurements. "That will be a considerable amount of metal, so I do suggest taking the extra." He watched her a moment before bowing gently. "Fortunately, you don't plan to make another your sized, so it shouldn't be too bad. You said two?"

Tempo smiled at that thought. "I can't imagine having just one, but two would be good as well." She shifted about nervously. "Have you had a family?"

The clerk walked around to check his ledger, making notes with a quill held in his mouth. "I have a lovely husband. We have talked about adopting, but haven't yet." He hummed thoughtfully. "Perhaps we will, though. As you say, the desire to be a parent is quite strong, and it is time for us to think of it."

Tempo hesitated a moment. "Can two ponies of the same gender make a family?"

The clerk dropped his ledger in his laughter. "Of course! Any two ponies." He glanced away and back. "Sometimes more than two, though I hear that's especially tricky. The more emotions you press together, the more likely something will go wrong. Still, if two ponies share love, that is all that is required." He grabbed his ledger in his mouth and set it on the counter. "In the old days, even that was optional."

Tempo smiled, lifting her chin high. "It feels right, like a secret I wasn't supposed to know." She leaned over the counter. "Thank you for telling me. How much will all this be?"

The clerk tapped at the ledger. "One hundred and four bits, per. Two hundred and eight for the total. Add in thirty more and I'll give you a little lesson on shaping metal if you like."

Tempo leaned over the counter. "May I examine your metal?" She watched as he took some bars of iron and put them in front of her. She lifted one with her magic and examined it. It was, ultimately, a hunk of metal. She lacked the expertise to say much about it except for the fact that some of the metals had different colors. She reached for some brass and bronze. "Can I have some of these too? for different colors and accents."

The clerk scooted over some more of the mixed metals, and a few stacks of leather as well. "Do you need this too?" He held up a small tray of gemstones, casting light in all colors across the room.

Tempo applauded gently at the gems. "Very nice, but they feel too shiny for a newborn. Let them grow into it, and it can be part of their final body, if they wish. I leave that for them to decide." She inclined her head. "It will be their body then. This first one is mine. Let's keep it simple."

The clerk smiled. "I love it when ponies are so careful about what they'll make." He pushed the materials towards Tempo. "First we measure them out, and then I will give you a bit of instruction on how to work the metal. If you have further questions, feel free to ask, but don't forget to have fun."

Tempo paid close attention and worked with the clerk, who proved they were quite the smith. She returned to the palace with some new skills herself, and a self-satisfied smile to go with it.

Blueblood met her with a gentle embrace. "My love, you look especially successful today. What happened?"

Tempo rubbed her head against his shoulder. "The blacksmith taught me much. I will need your help soon, when it comes time to craft the internal pieces." She moved towards her bed and sat down on it. A hatch in her side popped open, spilling the bars out onto the floor that she had purchased, leather and lighter goods flopping out a moment later. "It is good to not carry that."

Blueblood approached and hoofed a hunk of bronze. "Does this go inside our foals?"

"Some of it does." Tempo tilted her head. "Can you assist me?" She clapped her metal hooves. "I have learned how to shape it basically. We will fashion our foals, together." She paused, a new thought leaping up. "Will they be fillies, or colts? One of either?"

Blueblood put a forehoof on his own chest. "Does it matter to you? My family tends towards the male. Yours has no preference. But if it is two little boys or two little girls, I think that will be wonderful as well."

Tempo tapped at Blueblood. "You are thinking organically. This is not a matter of chance. If it was, I would be satisfied with what destiny decides." She sat up. "This is a matter of choice."

Blueblood ouched his nose to her cheek. "Is it? You said we will call a spirit. Do we get to pick if it is a colt spirit or a filly spirit?"

"No." Tempo chuckled gently. "But if we form the doll just right, perhaps we can give them the option to choose." She considered a moment. "Perhaps all newborns have that choice, and most simply accept the body they're given." She hummed with thought. "Husband, you are quite clever, and correct. We should fashion our foals so they can make their own choice, later, when they fashion their own shells, or at least begin instructing us what adjustments they want."

Blueblood squinted an eye. "Are you going to let them use magic?" He reached up and took her cheeks in his hooves. "Love, you can do it. You already have the tools."

Tempo inclined her head. "Of course. They will be the children of two unicorns." She pointed at herself, then Blueblood. "Why would they not have horns? How they use them is another thing, which only they can answer. Maybe a lot. Maybe a little. That is their decision."

Blueblood gazed fondly at her. "And I will respect their choices, and you will too. We shall all love each other and everything will be beautiful." He stood up and gave Tempo a bow. "But, today, we should begin our work. You should ask Sister Cadance if she has a little smithy for us to work with."

Tempo jumped to her hooves and put a forehoof on his chest. "On it. And my first lesson is to fold the metal. Come!" She pulled him along by the front legs, rushing from the room with him awkwardly draped over her. Her enthusiasm didn't leave much room for his escape.

It was only when they reached the courtroom that she let him slide to his own hooves. She hurried around him, butting her head against his side gently before leading the way in. "Princess Cadance! I require a little forge. Or a big one, I'm not picky."

Cadance smiled gently at her sister. "Princess? You're being formal today. We are both a princess, sister dear. Titles are not required between us. I can see you're excited." She pointed downwards. "Look in the basement, and ask the guards. They will direct you there. You can use it as long as you wish, save when the royal smith requires it."

Tempo wiggled on the spot with eagerness. "Thank you!" She slipped past Cadance with a mischievous grin.

Cadance leaned towards Blueblood. "She is truly excited. How much did this cost?"

Blueblood looked to the side nervously. "Honestly? I haven't the foggiest." He shook his head slowly. "But she paid it out of pocket, so she must have saved on her own. I suppose it is a matter of pride that she had enough for the task. Now, I'd hardly be doing my job as husband if I left her alone to this task."

Cadance inclined her head. "Oh? Most stallions leave mares quite alone in the task of building their children. How fortunate for you two that it can be done cooperatively." She touched Blueblood's nose. "May the light of love guide you both."

"Thank you, Sister." He turned from Cadance to race after Tempo. He almost tripped on her when he found her waiting at the foot of the stairs. "Why have you stopped here?"

Tempo pointed ahead of her into the considerable room that was the forging area. "I did not realize we had so much to work with. I feel foalish now." But that was it, the spell was broken and Tempo trotted into the work area with a big smile. "I am ready to begin! Beloved, will you work with me?"

Blueblood walked in beside her with an equally bright smile. "Oh, most certainly, love. What should we do first?" He pulled up some bits of metal and a toolbox. "I am, I confess, not used to such tasks, but what husband is for their first child? I will help however I can."

Tempo began feeding fuel into the great furnace that'd heat the metal of their work. "Follow me. I just learned, and I will teach. We will work together, and our foals will be made."

Author's Note

Not often both parents get to put their hooves together to fashion their offspring, side to side.

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