It was morning, Dusk woke up early. They snuck out of their room and peered into Dawn's, only to find her awake already. They pressed their hoof to their mouth. "Shh, we can surprise dad with breakfast."

Dawn perked up and trotted out into the hallway, silently agreeing to the idea. Without even meeting eyes, Spruce hurried out to join them.

They headed out to the kitchen, sneaking along like tiny shadows until they reached their destination. Dusk glanced at the others, pressing a hoof to his lips to signal silence before moving to get out some pans and bowls. The trio of foals soon began the process of making breakfast, not a single word spoken between them.

The first parent to reach the room was Maple, caught mid-yawn as she wandered into the room. "What in tarnation?" She looked between one foal to the next, amazed at them even being awake, let alone so busily doing, um, something?

"Shh." Dawn pressed a hoof to her mouth. "We're making breakfast!"

Dusk plated some scrambled eggs and took a few steps towards Maple. "We'll have it all ready soon."

Maple sank to her haunches. "Making breakfast, 'course." She put a hoof to her head. "Just surprised. What good little ponies y'all are."

Winter walked into the room with Summer not far behind him. Winter blinked slowly, processing what he was seeing. "Breakfast?" He approached his foals, giving each a quick hug. "I'm so proud of you three."

Spruce got out a few pitchers, letting out a soft breath. "Good morning!" He filled one pitcher with apple juice, setting it down on the table. The others he put back, realizing he had, perhaps, gotten too many. "Breakfast is ready!"

Summer watched as her foals arranged the food neatly on the table. "Gosh, this is nice! Thanks for makin' breakfast, hon." She gently kissed each of them before moving to sit down at the table. "What brought all this on? It ain't none of our birthdays last ah checked."

Dusk got into their seat and glanced at their clay pony. "No reason." They picked up Misty and placed her on the table next to them. "We wanted to make sure dad was happy."

Winter sank into his seat, looking freshly stunned. "Me? Did I do something special?"

Dawn pointed at Winter. "You're our dad, and you've been working extra hard for us to be happy. We decided we should put in some to make you happy too."

Maple lifted her head, pressing her cheek to Winter's neck. "See, I told ya it'd all work out." She gestured at the children. "They jus' want ya to be happy."

Winter sniffled with a smile. "You were peeking at me yesterday. I thought I did something wrong." He tried some of the eggs. They weren't super great, but that they were edible at all, and made by his foals, made them taste so much better. "Just my lovely foals scheming how to brighten my day. Thank you. This means so much."

Spruce smiled eagerly. "And Mrs. Gray said we can make the town even better. We want to do that together." He trotted around the table, offering hugs to his parents. "With you!"

Maple grabbed her son up and squeezed him until she got a squeak. "Didn't think we could love you any harder, but ya went and managed it!" She released him to the ground. "Y'all such gems!"

Summer took Dawn into her arms, hugging her with a loving squeeze. "How's that, hon? Still have a breath left in ya?"

Dawn did squeak when squeezed, but not with much force. "You don't hug as hard as Maple." She stuck out her tongue and giggled as she slipped away to get a seat of her own.

Spruce trotted over to Winter, climbing up onto his father's lap and sitting down there. "Love you, dad." He stretched his legs out and leaned into Winter's soft chest. "Nap time."

Winter didn't have it in him to complain, not one little bit. He hooked one arm around Spruce as he ate with his magic. "We have such a wonderful family." He sways his tail with building joy. "I'm happy to be a part of it."

Summer finished up her food, licking her lips at the flavor. "Maybe tomorrow we can all make breakfast?"

Dusk snickered softly. "Don't ask for too much, or else they'll just do it themselves again."

Dawn clapped her little hooves. "Show us. I'd like to learn how to make it like you make it."

Maple rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. "I think it's a great idea. Maybe we can cook together as a family."

Spruce snuggled in closer. "Mmm, that sounds nice."

Dusk toyed with their hooves a bit, making their clay pony dance. "Y'all know it was all my idea."

Winter reached over to ruffle the top of Dusk's head. "A very nice idea, but credit goes to everypony that came together to make the idea happen. I'm very happy with you all. You've all grown up so much already."

Maple blinked her eyes at Winter. "They have, haven't they? Our foals aren't foals anymore." She turned her head as Summer rose up and began collecting dishes. "Well, not little foals, at least." She smiled at Dawn. "Grown foals, an' ah couldn't be prouder."

Spruce laughed softly, snuggling into Winter's fluffy chest. "And we're still foals." He looked around at his parents, happiness radiating off of him. "We'll always be your foals."

Winter froze at that thought. "Always." He hugged Winter close with a happy almost purr. "Always."

Dusk gave Misty a pat on the head. "But you don't need to worry about us." They offered their clay pony to Winter. "We'll grow up and be responsible adults."

Summer walked up to the table, lifting her nose in the air before placing a quick kiss on Dusk's head. "Who will still be our foals. Even if we're all wrinkly old ponies, you'll be our foals."

Spruce began to chuckle, finding that quite funny. He broke into giggles, unable to stop himself. "That'd be so funny! Seeing mom with lots of wrinkles and laughing!"

Maple leaned over and kissed Summer's cheek. "You'd still be pretty, ah know it."

Dusk rubbed their cheek where Summer had kissed them. "And we'll take care of you when you're old and have gray coats."

Maple put her hoof on her chest. "My goodness, Dawn, ya think they'll make me go gray?"

Winter finished up his plate, sending it to the sink with hid magic. "It'll be my pleasure to take care of you until then." He sighed happily. "What a nice way to start the day." Hugging Spruce gently, snuggling, he made the first move of wanting to stand. "But I do have to get to work."

Spruce had barely managed to keep himself from falling asleep while in Winter's arms. He grumbled unhappily. "Dad..." He wrapped his forelegs around Winter's neck, trying to hold on.

Winter nestled against his snuggly son. "I'd rather stay with you too." He kissed Spruce's cheek. "But I do have to go."

Spruce pouted at that. "Oh." He moved off of Winter, much to his own dismay. "That's not fair." He glanced over at Dusk and Dawn. "They can play with their toys."

Winter laughed at that as he stood up. "I'm not your toy, as much as you enjoy playing with me."

Maple giggled at the scene, enjoying it. "They're foals, give 'em time." She raised her head with a light smile. "Now, we all gotta get ta work."

Summer scooped Spruce up in her arms. "An' our clever little foals gotta get themselves to school." She kissed his forehead gently. "Such sweet things ya are."

Dusk followed Summer's lead and picked up Dawn. "Come on, we got to be good ponies, don't we?"

Dawn wriggled wildly. "You're not a mom or a dad! You don't get to pick me up like that."

Winter had moved out of the way as they got the foals going. "Yes, we've got jobs. They need to get to school." He gave each of his foals a gentle hug before leading the way outside.

The whole family got into motions, but each looked pretty happy about their place in the group. Winter waved goodbye as he went to work, Dusk, Sprice and Dawn went to school, and Summer and Maple were off to work.

The whole family had things to do, but they remained close together, at least on the inside. It would be the start of the next phase of their life, one of many more to follow it, but one they felt ready to trot towards as a family.

Author's Note

As I wrote this, it felt like... the end. Not the end of the world, but the end of this specific story of this particular family. They made it through this tough phase of transitions, and are now a joyful group of ponies and kirin. Your thoughts?

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