The Gift That Keeps on Giving Even When You Beg It to Stop
MOM, IT’S TIME FOR SCHOOL!
‘Knock, knock’
Love Tap stirred slightly in the warm, cozy covers of her soft blue bed blankets. She felt the day’s first rays of sunlight warm her from the window just to the side of her bed. She nuzzled her light blue pillow slightly as she gently returned from dreamland, her sons call of “Moooom! It’s time for schoool…” from behind the bedroom door gently rousing her from her slumber.
Still half-asleep, she heard the bedroom door open quietly, followed by the gentle sounds of her son’s hooves tapping against the hardwood floor and then the throw rug. This was quickly followed by a slight dipping sensation as her son climbed onto her bed, standing on the side that was occupied by her husband when Love Tap was lucky enough to have her entire family home. Her son stood there briefly, no doubt patiently waiting for her to awaken and—
“MOOOOOOM! MOOOOOOOOOOM! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! MOM, IT’S TIME FOR SCHOOL!”
Love Tap’s bloodshot eye shot open as her son screamed at her from on top of her bed. She was quickly ripped from dreamland as if some massive, predatory bird had swooped down and snatched her up then unceremoniously dropped her unto the hard, unforgiving ground of reality. Some semblance of coherence returned to her in a rush, her thoughts practically thrown into her brain like items hastily grabbed and tossed into a saddlebag as if one was desperately trying to save items from a house that was burning down.
“MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!”
As her vile loin-spawn continued to give his lungs a workout, screaming at her as if attempting to rouse her from the sleep of death itself, Love Tap silently wondered what she had ever done to deserve such hellish punishment.
A young, tan filly with a long, hazel-colored mane tied at the end in a red ribbon poked her head up over the foot of a purple bedspread. Her head and ears cast a soft shadow over the bed and the two ponies who occupied it, the faintest glows of light eking in from behind the lavender drapes behind her. The two adult ponies gently snored away, seemingly completely oblivious to the filly’s presence.
“MOOOOOM! DAAAAAAAD!” The filly screamed at the top of her lungs. “IT’S TIME FOR SCHOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoL!”
A cottoncolored mare with a long, baby-blue mane kept her eyes closed as she mumbled out, “Your daughter is awake.”
A dark-brown stallion with a fiery-red mane likewise kept his eyes shut as he mumbled back, “Before sunrise, she’s your daughter.”
“MOoOoOoOoM! DAaAaAaAaAaAaD!”
“MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!”
In that moment, Love Tap felt she would trade anything. Anything, no matter how dear to her or irreplaceable for some peace and quiet and an opportunity to sleep for however long as she desired. She didn’t care what dark entity she had to make a pact with, she just wanted some more rest.
“MoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoM!”
Love Tap suddenly turned, staring at her son with her wide-open bloodshot eyes. Her mouth a simple, flat line. This was an expression that her eldest son had long ago recognized as a sign that he needed to give his mother some space, however her youngest had not picked up on such subtle nuances and could not be deterred by a simple look.
Love Tap briefly looked over her brown-coated son. His fiery-brown mane shot out from between his ears and under his red, orange, and yellow beanie with a green propeller that spun despite the complete absence of any breeze. His tan saddle bags were full, the directional pad shaped strap closed over them tightly.
“YES, Button, sweetie…” Love Tap said, forcing out each word through clenched teeth as she slowly pushed herself up. “Mommy heard you the first time… And all the subsequent times after that.”
“Oh! Okay!” Button Mash said cheerfully as he jumped from the bed and landed onto the blue rug with a tan rectangular outline in the center. Button looked off into space as he* began speaking, almost dictating to himself. “I mean… it seemed like it was getting late so I thought to myself, ‘Self, Mom isn’t up yet, and if you leave without lunch or saying goodbye, she’s going to be so worried and probably show up to school in the middle of the day with your lunch!’” Button turned to face his mother. “And I didn’t want to force you to make a trip for me! You already work so hard and I didn’t want you to have to make an extra trip!”
Love Tap sighed and allowed a small smile to come to her face as she dwelt upon the irony. Several years ago, most her mornings were spent fighting with her eldest son to get him to go to school. She had prayed to Celestia, the powers that be, or anyone or anything that may be listening that her other son wouldn’t fight her tooth and hoof every day to go to school. Little did she know that whomever or whatever was listening had a sense of humor.
“Alright sweetie,” Love Tap said warmly as she threw the covers off of her and leapt off of the bed. “Thank you for thinking of me, let me go make you lunch.”
“Yay!” Button said triumphantly as he lifted his forelegs and waved them about.
The two ponies made their way out of the purple room, down the hall with its beige-painted walls, and down the stairs onto a blue carpet. They then made their way to the kitchen which was also painted beige.
Love Tap and Button trotted past a small round, wooden, pink colored table. Button stood patiently as Love Tap continued to walk past a large, white fridge that was sectioned off into a top and bottom portion. Love Tap stopped in front of a wooden counter and looked down at a cupboard, she leaned her neck down and grabbed a small knob with her teeth. She opened the cupboard and took out a bag covered loaf of pre-sliced bread, setting it on the counter. She followed this by opening a drawer next to the counter with her mouth then pulling out a smooth, rectangular wooden plank that she sat on the counter. She closed the drawer with a forehoof then opened the package of bread and pulled out two slices, placing them neatly on the board.
“Now, what kind of sandwich would you like?” Love Tap asked.
“Can I have a daisy sandwich, mom?” Button asked.
“Of course, sweetie,” Love Tap answered sweetly. She trotted over to the fridge and hooked the edge of her hoof under the handle, opening the fridge. She quickly scanned a shelf and placed her head in the fridge. She her head out, a white plate covered in flowers and some leaves held in her teeth. She closed the fridge door, then set the plate on the counter gently. She began moving some of the content from the plate and onto the bread with her teeth.
“Actually, you know what mom?” Button said.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Can I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?”
Love Tap frowned and looked at practically already made sandwich and frowned. “Of… of course, sweetie…” she answered in a slightly unsure tone. Guess I know what I’m having for breakfast…
Love Tap trotted back over to the cupboard and retrieved a jar full of a thick, brown substance with her forehooves. She set it on the counter and placed her teeth over the metal lid. She held the lid in place as she rotated the jar under it with her hooves. Once it was open she gently set the lid on the counter.
The jar of peanut butter open, she returned to the fridge and retrieved a slightly round jar full of a red substance. A label that sported a couple of cherries was on the front. Love Tap repeated the process of putting her mouth over the lid and rotating the jar to open the container.
Both peanut butter and jelly jars open, Love Tap opened yet another drawer, the topmost drawer in front of her. She leaned her head in and pulled it up, a dull metal knife in her mouth, held downwards by the handle. She slid the sandwich she had been working on to the side then fetched two more slices of bread, placing the slices neatly in the center of her board.
Her bread in place, Love Tap dipped the knife into the peanut butter then pulled it out. She tilted her head back and opened her teeth slightly allowing the knife to fall into a horizontal position then clamped her teeth on it once more. She then leaned her head down towards the bread and began to spread the thick, brown material over a slice.
Peanut butter applied, Love Tap quickly jerked her head and let go of the knife. The knife flew briefly then landed inside a metal sink, clattering on contact. Love Tap then retrieved another dull knife from the drawer and repeated the process of dipping knife, adjusting knife, and spreading substance on the slice of bread. Once this was done, Love Tap once again jerked her head and allowed the knife to sail over into the sink.
Love Tap looked down at the slices of bread with a small amount of pride, each slice covered evenly with either peanut butter or jelly.
“WAIT!” Button cried.
Love Tap’s eye twitched as she pondered how often foals simply go ‘missing’ after wandering into the Everfree forest. “Ya…yes, sweetie?”
“I think I want lettuce and tomato!”
“You think, or you know?” Love Tap practically growled out.
“I’m eighty… no, ninety percent sure I want a lettuce and tomato sandwich.”
Love Tap simply scowled at the beige wall in front of her before she once again moved the practically complete sandwich aside and grabbed two more slices of bread. She then opened the fridge. She followed this up by opening a drawer at the bottom and then took out a head of lettuce in both forehooves, gently setting it on the counter, and repeated the act, this time fetching a large, red tomato.
Holding the lettuce in both forehooves, she grabbed the edge of a leaf with her teeth and pulled it from the head. She then placed the leaf on one of the slices of bread, then repeated the act of tearing a leaf and adding it to the sandwich. She then looked at the tomato, then her nearly full workspace. Sighing, she slid the bread to the side, allowing the two almost-already made sandwiches to fall off onto the counter.
Love Tap placed the tomato on the plank then placed her head back into the open drawer, coming back up with a sharp knife held horizontally by the handle in her teeth. Gently holding the tomato between her forehooves, she leaned her head down and began to cut slices into the tomato. She sliced until she had made it from one end to the other. Finished, she trotted over to the sink and dropped the knife into it with the others. She then picked up the tomato slices and spread them over the lettuce covered slice.
“Actually, you know what mom?”
“What?” Love Tap asked through clenched teeth, her voice coming out like a repressed scream.
“That’s perfect!” Button said with a smile as he pointed a forehoof at the leafy daisy sandwich Love Tap had first made.
“Oh… okay, sweetie…” Love Tap said as she wiped bits of tomato from her face. Love Tap closed the daisy sandwich up and closed the drawer she had been fetching knifes out of. She then lowered her head and closed her teeth around the middle drawer’s knob again and opened it. This time she retrieved a simple brown sheet of paper from the drawer and began wrapping the sandwich. She took a few calming breaths as she wrapped the sandwich and reminded herself she’d soon be free to catch up on sleep…
…After she put the lettuce, jam, peanut butter, and bread away…
Love Tap gently grabbed the sandwich in her mouth and trotted over to her son. She opened one of his saddle bags and placed the sandwich inside, closing the saddle bag after it.
“There you go, sweetie,” Love Tap said in a gentle, but somewhat tired tone.
“Thanks, mom!” Button said. “Well, I’m off to school!” Button announced as he trotted out of the kitchen.
Love Tap poked her head out of the kitchen. “Have fun, sweetie!” she called.
“I will, mom!” Button said happily. He suddenly stopped mid-trot in the hallway.
Love Tap frowned. “What is it, sweetie?”
Button Mash turned and suddenly galloped up to Love Tap, flinging his arms around her neck. He hugged her tightly as he said, “I love you, mom.”
Love Tap felt a soothing, warm sensation come over her at her son’s words. Her body relaxed as he closed her eyes and smiled as she wrapped her own arms around him and gave him a squeeze. “I love you, too…”
The two ponies parted and smiled happily at each other.
“Alright sweetie,” Love Tap began, “you better get going. You don’t want to be late.”
Button nodded. “Right, mom!” He turned and galloped towards the door, quickly opening it and galloping out into the bright Ponyville day.
Love Tap frowned. “Button, sweetie! You forgot to close the door!”
Button simply galloped on, growing smaller and smaller as he ran into the distance.
Love Tap sighed and shook her head as she trotted down the blue, carpeted hall towards the door and shut it. As it closed, a sudden thought that she had forgotten something came over her. She found herself simply staring at the door as she wracked her brain. Button certainly seemed ready for school… and he only needed me to make lunch… so what—
Love Tap shook her head and smiled. Of course Button is ready for school, he’s always so good that way. Such a diligent, cheerful, energetic bundle of—
‘SLAM!’
“MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! I’M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!”
—pure evil that will not…cannotstop until he has sucked every lingering bit of life energy from me.
Love Tap slowly lowered her head and stared at the colt that had just screamed at her despite being barely a foot away. “What is it, sweetie?” she asked, managing a somewhat concerned tone despite the fact that one of her eyes had begun to twitch again. “What did you forget?”
“I forgot it was Saturday,” Button said simply as he trotted past his mother.
Love Tap’s eyes shot open wide as her ears flopped around her head. Oh…. that’swhat I forgot... Her eyelids began to drift downward as she felt fatigue and tiredness from a disturbed sleep take hold. She slowly raised one hoof in front of her and then another, willing her body towards the kitchen where cleanup awaited.
Love Tap trudged through the hallway to the kitchen. She stopped as she turned in and gasped.
Button stood on the floor with the jar of peanut butter in his hooves, he held the lid in his mouth and carefully screwed the jar back up into the lid, closing the jar. Finished, he looked up with a smile. “Hi, mom! I thought since you spent all that time making a sandwich and I don’t have school and all, I could help you clean up!”
Love Tap felt her lips spread out wide and upward slightly. “Thank you, Button. That was very thoughtful of you…”
“Hey, mom?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“When I’m done, can we play video games together?” Button asked.
Love Tap’s smile remained and she continued to look at Button, but her forehead tensed and wrinkled as she stared at him, silently screaming internally to herself as she looked at her son’s beaming, hopeful face. With a herculean effort, she opened her lips and practically sighed out, “Of course, sweetie…”
“Yay!” Button cried, once again raising up on his hind legs and waving his forelegs about.
Love Tap simply stared off into space as she walked up to the counter and began helping her son put things away.
Soon the mother-and-son pair had finished and were making their way back up the stairs. Button excitedly bounded up the steps while Love Tap trudged behind with a distant, tired expression.
Button paused as he reached the top of the stairs and turned. “Mom?”
“Yes, sweetie…?” Love Tap asked, her voice whisper quiet and distant.
“You’re the best mom ever!” Button Mash announced happily.
Love Tap stopped trotting up the stairs, craning her head up to see her son’s joyous expression on his face. Her smile returned and she began to ascend the stairs once more, picking her hooves up high and no longer trudging. “Thank you, sweetie,” Love Tap said as she trotted up to her son. “Mommy couldn’t have asked for a better foal than you.”
“Thanks mom!”
Love Tap placed an arm around Button and pulled him close to her, giving him a quick hug. She looked down at Button and gave him a slightly mischievous grin. “Race ya!”
“You’re on!” Button cried.
Mother and son quickly broke into a gallop, running down the hall and bolting into a room.
The End.
