Hope Flare woke up on a usual sunny day in the quaint little village he resided in, he thought on going back to sleep, and normally he would on weekends, but then he made out the faint shape blurred by him just waking up, and he saw a beautiful sky blue Pegasus mare, with an ink-black mane with small pinprinks of white, like stars in the night. Her smile grew when he focused on his mother.
"Happy birthday, sweetie"
Getting out of bed his mother had wrapped her fore-legs around him in a hug, which he lovingly returned. He then dashed to the kitchen to greet his father, baby brother and older sister. Quickly devouring his breakfast, his parents were in the living room waiting for him, and they didn't have to wait long.
"Happy birthday, buddy!" Hope's father, Swift Swoop, a light gray Pegasus stallion, with a long a frizzy chocolate brown mane, with a streak of blue, said to him as he pulled Hope into a hug.
"Thanks, Dad"
Amity, the sky blue Pegasus and Hope's mother, spoke up.
"Now, Honey, you how much we love you, and you know how short on bits we are, but your father and I scraped some money to get you something"
Hope knew that he and his family were poor little buggers, but they got by, and that never stopped them to believe and achieve, and the thought of them possibly going broke because of this gift, made him unsure. But he knew, from experience, that they would do anything to make their family members happy.
"What i-is it?" He asked, hoping that it isn't something that he couldn't repay for.
Swift, Hope's father, glanced at his older daughter, Moon Tide, the oldest of Hope and his baby brother, Summer Wind. He smiled and nodded lightly in Moon's direction. For a moment she had left the living room, and Amity noticed the look of confusion on Hope's face.
"Something we know you'll love!" Was the only thing she said.
Moon Tide returned moments later, with a large wooden object that Hope knew all too well, strapped to her side. She gave it to him with enthusiasm.
"Happy 6th birthday, ya twerp!" She said happily and sat next to her mother.
Hope stared, jaw agape, at the beautifully crafted and pristine looking acoustic guitar. He couldn't believe his eyes.
"This...this looks like the guitar from the store's front window..." said the stunned little colt.
"Yeah, that's because it is" Amity replied.
Hope was now staring at his mother, he was sure that he was going to hug her and pelt her with thank-you kisses. But he held back.
"Thank you.." he started. "but....I can't take this" he says.
"Whadaya saying, man, that's yours. You earned it" Swift said quickly.
"How? My school grades suck, it can't be 'cos of that"
"We know" Amity purred. "But that isn't your fault, blame your father for the bad grades--"
"Hey!" The stallion interrupted, feeling slightly hurt. "You know that me crashing into the school's principal was an accident!" The brown maned pegasus was calmed down with a kiss on the cheek by his wife.
"Moon Tide says that after one of her classes at school, she saw you
'rocking it out' with one of the school's guitars in your music class"
"It was awesome!" Moon noted aloud.
"It's yours, Hope, sweetie. We hope you like it" Hope's mother announced, smiling warmly.
He stared a little more at his family before carefully putting the instrument down onto the floor, and pulls all his loved ones in an everlasting embrace, tears brimming his eyes. He had loved music ever since he had played with his first toy xylophone when he was younger, and he always wanted a musical instrument of his own. Since he was borrowing school property, he had restricted time issues while in class.
"Thank you, I love you all to bits!" Hope sputtered, tears now streaming down his face.
"We love you too, Hope" His family all said in unity. And his 2 yr old brother joined in, squeaking happily as Summer Wind squeezed into the loving embrace.
