Twilight Sparkle happily closed her textbook on the basics of teleportation magic. Normally, she would have been inclined to keep reading; she would have even enjoyed it, relishing in every single word and phrase that passed her eager eyes. Today, however, was a different story. She always looked forward to this day. It was the one day of the year that she always looked forward to, no matter how bad things were, and the one day where she would actually take a break from her studies to enjoy herself. Today was Twilight Sparkle’s birthday.
Every year, princess Celestia would give Twilight a reprieve from her duties as a student of Canterlot, and as the princess’ pupil. ‘It’s only fair after all, you’ve earned it and everypony deserves to celebrate their birthday,’ Celestia would say every time, and each time, Twilight would obey. Normally, she would have countered Celestia, saying that she had some sort of assignment to finish or spell to perfect, but this one day was hers, and she wanted it. It was the only time of the year that she was guaranteed to see her family now.
Ever since she had moved to Canterlot to participate in Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she’d seen her family less and less. This was normal of course. Her parents had responsibilities to take care of, and her brother’s royal guard status meant that even though he was close, he was still so far away. Today was the day that they would get to spend together, though not all at the same time.
As Twilight placed her book on the nightstand beside her queen sized bed; it was pretty big for the filly, but it was the smallest size that they had available in the castle. As she placed her book down, she happened to look across the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large present with lavender wrapping paper, and a neatly tied pink bow to match Twilight’s own colors. She knew that this was her mother’s present.
Her mother always showed up later than the rest of her family, as she had a hard time getting around lately. She was getting older in age, and wasn’t as spry or peppy as Twilight’s father was. Still, Twilight knew that her mother always gave the best gifts to her every birthday. Sure, Shining and her father would give her great things, but her mother’s gift always meant the most to her. She would never open it until it was exactly the right time, but she always looked forward to it at the end of the day.
Twilight snapped to attention as she heard a knocking on the door to her room. She trotted excitedly over to the door and fumbled with her hooves on the knob. She continued to fumble with the knob until a field of blue magic surrounded it, opening the door to reveal her brother’s smiling face. Twilight quickly shuffled out of the way as Shining Armor walked through the doorway, carrying a large present covered in blue wrapping paper, with a green ribbon adorning it.
“You know Twily, you are a unicorn. We sent you here to do learn how to do magic, not to fumble on the door with your hooves!” Twilight huffed indignantly before her brother picked her up, ruffling her mane with his foreleg. Her pseudo anger was quickly replaced with giggles and laughter as he began to tickle her, poking her mercilessly. “So, how’ve you been, Twily? I’ve heard that you’ve been getting a lot better lately? Is that true?” He smiled with pride at that statement, knowing that his little sister was already accomplishing so much.
“Shiny! I sure have been! Just the other day, they taught us how do basic teleportation. It was kind of hard, but I managed to do it. I did it the fastest in the class too! The professor gave me a gold star for my ‘excellent work’.” Twilight giggled, causing her brother to smile even wider. “So, how have you been Shining? I haven’t seen you walking around the castle for a while. Is everything alright?” Her face was suddenly filled with concern as her mind turned to thoughts of national security.
“Twilight,” Shining Armor chuckled, patting her gently on the head. “Everything’s fine, okay? We’ve just been doing a lot of renovation around the old castle ground lately, so we’ve had increased patrols around that area to make sure that everything stays secure. It’s mostly just keeping homeless ponies from accidentally wandering into the site and falling into some of the newly dug holes. Oh, by the way, here’s your present Twilight!”
Shining floated the rather large present over to his sister and placed it in front of her. She eyed it with an intense curiosity; normally her brother didn’t get her such large presents. What could be inside? Was it some sort of new book? Perhaps it was that book on the quantum mechanics of levitation and elemental mastery that she’d been asking for. Excited, she moved towards the present, ready to tear it to pieces.
“Go ahead. Open it.” Shining Armor smiled as she began to tear into the wrapping paper, revealing a rather large looking cardboard box.
“This is the kind of box that the books always come in!” Twilight squealed excitedly. As she opened the box, she looked inside, her eyes shining with passion. Inside was the rather large book that she had asked for. It was an ornate looking book with a light blue cover, almost as big as she was herself. She huffed and strained with her magic, trying to lift it from the box before her brother assisted her with his own magic. She sighed. Even with all of her skill, she was still unable to lift objects bigger than herself.
“Don’t worry about it, Twilight. You’ll get better with time. Oh, almost forgot! I got you this too!” From around the corner, outside of her room’s still open door, a pack of parchment paper, quills, and a small diary floated into the room. “I got you some school supplies, and a diary to keep your thoughts in. I thought you could use it, since we don’t all get to see you that often. Dad and I are usually pretty busy, so now you have somepony to talk to even when we aren’t here.”
Twilight ran up to her older brother and gave him the biggest hug that her stubby little legs could. She clung to his fetlocks, smiling and shouting ‘thank you’ over and over again. Shining smiled, glad that he was able to bring some happiness to his sister on her special day.
“Alright, Twilight. Unfortunately, I have to go for now. Royal guard duties call,” he said sadly. “Dad should come by a little bit later in the afternoon, but he’ll definitely be here this time. We made sure that he didn’t have anything to do today. Expect him to be by in an hour or two.” As he turned to leave, he saw the large lavender present sitting on her chair. “Twilight? What’s this present? Who’s it from?”
“Oh, that one’s from mom! She got it for me the other day. She won’t be able to make it until later though,” Twilight said, pouting a bit. Shining Armor walked over to her and kissed her on the head before giving her a hug. Twilight hugged him back and smiled before he got up to leave.
“See you later, Twily. Happy birthday. Don’t stay up too late.” With that, he left the room.
Twilight looked at the new gifts she’d received from her older brother. That had been about four hours ago, and the sun was beginning to set in the sky. It was somewhere in the late afternoon, she knew that much. Her father still hadn’t shown up yet to wish her a happy birthday. She wondered for a moment if he was going to miss it like he had last year. No, Shining Armor had said that he’d be coming today. Maybe he’d gotten lost on the castle grounds, and was now trying to find his way to her?
She sighed, looking longingly at her door. At least Shining Armor had been able to visit and keep her company for a little while. She would have liked it if her father could have found some way to show up, but things rarely ever worked out that way when you worked in the Equestrian government. Law enforcement was a never ending job after all…
Absentmindedly, she pawed at one of the quills that her brother had given her. It was at least a way to entertain herself until her father arrived. She would have read the new book she’d received, but Celestia forbade her from reading books on her birthday. She was afraid that Twilight would spend all of her time reading instead of celebrating. Now here she was, waiting for her father to show up.
A knock at her door surprised her, causing her to kick the quill across the room as she jumped up. Instead of fumbling like a kindergartener, Twilight calmly reached out with her magic, grasping the door handle firmly and opening it. The smile that she been adorning moments prior was replaced with a disappointed frown. There at her doorway stood the mail carrier.
“Hello Mr. Postage… I assume you have my dad’s present for me?” she asked sadly.
He simply nodded his head and placed it outside of her door, giving her a sympathetic look. Oh well… Maybe he’ll show up next time. He’s pretty busy after all. At least he remembered and got me something… Twilight shuffled over to the small present, picking it up in her magic. Attached to the front of the package was a card addressed to her. She opened it, reading it with undivided attention, scrutinizing every word.
Hey, Twilight, honey. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to your birthday again this year. Some things came up with work. We’ve got even more meetings and regulations that we have to go over now. I promise that I’ll come out sometime next week… I really wish that I could be there with you, honey, but I have responsibilities to take care of. I promise that I’ll make it up to you next time.
Love,
Orion Sparkle
Twilight sighed, her insides churning and her face scrunched into a harsh frown. She couldn’t blame her father for not being able to make it again. He did have work after all, just as Shining had the guard and she had her studies. She grasped the plain box that the letter had been attached to and opened it, only somewhat interested in her disappointment to see what lay inside.
Inside was the latest Daring Do novel. She smiled, knowing that even though her father couldn’t be with her, that he knew exactly what she liked and wanted to read. It made her a little more happy than she had been before, and the anxiety of waiting had been put to rest. She took her other gifts and put them on her bed stand next to her textbook. There was only one more gift left to open.
She looked over to the large lavender present that had been sitting on her chair for the entire day. What time is it now? I think it’s still too early… She should be here a little bit later… Twilight looked over to the clock by her bedside, seeing that it was only six-thirty in the evening. Not for another two hours now.
Twilight bounced up and down eagerly. It was only a few more minutes until she could open the present left to her by her mother. Then she would be able to say that she’d had the best day ever. This gift always meant so much to her… As the clock struck eight-thirty, Twilight jumped up, completely ecstatic and rushed over to her present. Her mother would be here soon.
She began to rip into the box without a care for the wrapping paper of the box itself. She tore through the box and felt her heart leap through the air as she pulled it out. It was a little patchy doll. It was slightly beat up, but she didn’t care. Twilight’s mother always knew exactly what to get her to make her feel okay again.
Twilight held the gift close, and looked at her mother. She was old looking, a lot more so than Twilight had remembered. Her mouth was stiff and chapped, hard to the touch, but she still managed to give Twilight a small smile. Her lips curled upwards at the edges as Twilight hugged her. “Thank you mommy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Her mother’s old skin sagged slightly with age, but Twilight still held her as tightly as she could, almost as if she was afraid that she might lose her if she dared to let go.
“I love you mommy,” Twilight said through tears of joy, hugging her doll close. “Mr. Smartypants is my best friend… And so are you!” she giggled. She stroked the mane of Mr. Smartypants. It wasn’t apparent from far away, but Smartypants’ mane was made up of actual equine hair, and his eyelashes made from hair that had once belonged to another. Twilight felt her doll’s mane and caressed it, feeling its coarse hairs against her hooves. She whispered sweet ‘thank you’s from the bottom of her heart as she held it close.
“I love you so much, mommy… Thank you… Thank you…”
She kissed the doll lightly on the snout. There was that familiar feeling once again. There was that feeling of completeness, of wholeness. She was reunited with her mother at last, and it brought to her a joy that even Celestia’s sun couldn’t match. She climbed into her queen sized bed, holding the doll close and smiling so wide that you’d swear her face might fall off.
“Oh no, what time is it?” Twilight asked. “It’s almost nine-thirty! That’s way past my bedtime! The princess might get mad at me if I stay up past my curfew. Tommorow’s a school night after all.” Twilight climbed up onto her bed and tucked herself into her covers. “Will you stay with me for the night, mommy?” Twilight’s mother nodded, as she no longer had the ability to say no. She’d lost it long ago.
“Oh, thank you so much! Here, let me turn out the lights!”
With that, Twilight turned off the lights and dreamed sweet dreams of the mother she once had. She dreamed sweet dreams of the mother she held in her arms. Twilight’s birthday had been the best day in her life ever since that fateful day had occurred. Every year, she sent herself the same present, at the exact same time as she had received all those years ago. Every year, she went to sleep with a smile upon her face and sweet dreams in her mind. Every year, she gave herself her mother.
