"Psst! Shining! Don't make so much noise!" a certain filly, called Twilight Sparkle by some, murmured, certain to be on the edge of audibility.
"I'm not the one making noise here, you are!" Shining Armour hissed back, urging his sister to sneak through the corridor faster. He was right, of course. While she was silent by young fillies' standards, she still made enough noise to wake the dead, not to mention two parents who were only pretending to be asleep.
Once the two sets of hoofsteps had distanced themselves far enough from the door, Star Sparkle sighed and said, "It's that time of the year again, isn't it? I feel older each time- wait."
Crescent Sparkle, her sky blue husband, chuckled and sensibly kissed her as if he was hoping to suck the age out of her like poison from a wound. "They'll probably whip out something to surprise us. They've learnt from last year, I'm sure of it. I'll go and watch over the two, you just stay here and enjoy. It is your day after all."
Star had to admit, simply hearing his deep voice always calmed her down, especially when it told her to do what she desired anyway. As soon as he had left the bed, she turned to best utilise all of the pre-warmed blanket and murred after him, "I'll be happy if the house stays where it is this time," before dozing off into the peaceful slumber of a mare awoken around three hours early.
Cloaked under a plain stealth spell, Crescent made his way downstairs in actual silence. At first, his search for the foals proved fruitless. Once he'd reached the living room however, the two apocalypses on legs made themselves heard again, and he had to wonder why he hadn't figured to check in the kitchen in the first place. He crept up to the leaned door, listening for the best moment of entry.
"Come on, come on!" Twilight cheered. Ponies often mistook her attitude for rushing, but any who knew her would quickly realise it was simply a way to express her boundless energy.
"We would already be on it if you hadn't held up on the toilet," Shining grumbled back, his voice carrying only the tiniest fragment of malice.
"But I had to!" she moaned to defend her decision. Even if Shining had held anything against her, she had a way of melting even the most fortified of hearts through immeasurable amounts of adorableness.
In fact, she was so efficient with it that Crescent simply had to end the hiding game and join them right then and there. He wouldn't be able to muster a strong enough spell to hide himself on the tiled floor, as opposed to carpet, much less being in the same room as them, anyway. As he pushed through the door, he asked, "You two got anything in mind?" as if he didn't perfectly know already.
"Don't you know what day it is, Daddy?" Twilight piped with wide eyes. How could her own daddy not remember such an important date?
"I seem to have forgotten. Why don't you tell me?" he said while settling down at the kitchen table. They could manage themselves between the immaculately white cupboards and utensils, it was time for them to prove that. It was well that Star was still asleep, he thought. There was no telling how she'd react to the kitchen's state after the two were finished with it.
"It's Mommy's special day!" she happily explained. That filly had potential to be an amazing teacher, he thought. While they'd have to wait for her cutie mark for confirmation, the only thing that surpassed her eagerness to share her knowledge was that to gain more. Perhaps she was right to wish for studentship at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Not that anypony had ever doubted her abilities, of course. She'd probably end up teaching her own instructors two weeks after arriving, what with the small library in her room that she had already memorised, as well as the big one next street where she was currently in the same process.
Meanwhile, Shining discreetly rolled his eyes while rummaging through the closets. "Yeah, and we figured we'd bring her breakfast into bed. Without Twiley doing magic, this time."
"But she said I gotta practice!" She turned towards Crescent seemingly expecting assistance. He had no will to intervene, however. The two of them were seemingly unable to fight over anything, so he just had to wait and let the situation solve itself, if there even was one.
"Fine, you can make the coffee. Guess even you can't blow up the water," Shining said, though he betrayed himself moments later by stepping an unusually large distance away despite using magic to operate the frying pan.
Crescent couldn't blame him. Twilight would never intentionally hurt anything, true, but only if everything went as she had planned. Often, it seemed that she simply had too much power within her for her young body to handle. Leaving the two to prove their beginning maturity, Crescent's mind wandered. She was too good to end a teacher. She'd have to be more. Perhaps a professorate at Canterlot College. Or even a place in Princess Celestia's lead magic research team. As head researcher, of course.
A sudden bang tore him back into reality. She had in fact managed to detonate the water jug and was now facing its boiling hot contents flying towards her. Before he could as much as lift a hoof in response though, she was safely enveloped in an orb of ruby energy. As the water harmlessly splashed off of Shining Armour's signature spell, there was something on her face that not many fillies her age would show in such a situation, a smile. She didn't scream or cry in shock and fear, but instead showed her genuine amazement at the magic on display.
Without anypony speaking a word, Crescent fetched cleaning equipment to remove water and awkwardness equally. Nopony would admit it to visitors, but - mostly harmless - accidents were so common with Twilight that none of them asked if she was alright after yet another bang, instead waiting for her to scream for help. It saved everyone a lot of running and worrying where it was unnecessary.
Fortunately enough, the remaining work ran without a hitch, perhaps because the males had agreed to not let Twilight use magic for that much longer. It had taken much encouragement and calming speech to keep her happy, but at long last, the three of them stood in front of the bedroom door ready to enter. An almost excessively filled tablet floated besides them, supported only by the aquamarine glow of his magic.
"They say it's your birthday... we're gonna have a good time... I'm glad it's your birthday... happy birthday to you," Twilight sang to herself, actually nearly silent for once. She had such a sweet voice, too. It seemed like a waste to bring her into studying, but that clearly was her wish and, besides, there were few career paths which combined singing and magic. Not to mention that there existed even less such paths which Crescent would allow his prized daughter to follow.
"Working on a new song, honey?" he asked. In all likelihood, Star wouldn't mind if the delivery would be postponed a little, especially not if the extra time went into Twilight.
"Yeah. Not really done yet," she replied with lowered eyes as if that was any problem, "but I'm working on it!" She then looked back up, revealing the joy that had never left her heart.
"Make sure you show it to Mommy when it's finished. I'm sure she'd love to hear it."
She nodded her tiny head. "Will do."
At long last, he knocked needlessly, announced himself, "Little surprise incoming," and lead the foals inside. There she was, graceful as ever, even when she was hastily trying to conceal that she'd been merrily asleep seconds ago.
"Happy b-day!" Twilight cheered, pushing past the others and leaping onto the dual bed. While she was busy claiming her share of cuddly love from Star, the rest of the family, as well as their breakfast, entered with slightly more dignity, though Crescent couldn't tell which way would be preferable. Ultimately, it'd have to come down to how adorable you could be when flung across Star's neck.
Obviously, things weren't going to stay as they were, Crescent wasn't that dumb. Time would rob them of occasions like those as it forced the little ones to found their own lives, with their own family. However, in that very moment, none of it mattered. They would always carry such moments in their hearts, regardless of what happened or where they'd end up. When the time for it finally came, they would be able to watch their offspring grow, find challenges, and overcome them. Shining Armour would ensure safety to those of greatest importance. Twilight would seek out and solve mysteries about magic that had baffled ponies for centuries since. All in due time. For now, the only thing of importance was that their family stood together, be it against catastrophes or to join each other in a lying breakfast.
