(MLO) Learning by the Books Pt 1

>Today was the day you always woke up extra early
>Even before Spike got up, you were awake
>Because today was your mommys birthday
>But what made it so special, was that you two shared that same date of birth
>So it was yours too, but you never really felt that you deserved the special treatment on that day
>After all, your mommy was not only a bearer of an Element of Harmony, but a princess too!
>That's right, you're the child of Princess Celestia's favoured student, now heir, Twilight Sparkle
>Your mommy worked every day, all day, researching magic in the royal libraries of Canterlot and trying to find solutions to Equestria's problems
>It was the duty of a princess, after all
>So you got up early to make the day extra special for her, since it was the one day that Celestia forced her to take off
>Even with orders directly from her former teacher, Twilight still read books almost all day
>To be fair, you had taken after your mother far more than your father, whomever that was
>When Twilight had retired from adventuring with her friends, she had settled down in the Ponyville library
>Discord had been converted to their side, Chrysalis hadn't been seen in over a decade, and Sombra was well gone
>So your mother had decided to try the one thing she had denied to herself until now
>Love
>Unfortunately, every stallion she had tried to date had only gone out with her one or two times
>Twilight didn't exactly know when to stop talking, so when one stallion had asked her if she knew about Princess Luna's guards, she had talked non-stop for an hour on the subject
>Well, until the stallion had walked out on her at the fanciest restaurant in the town, of course
>The owner of the restaurant, whom had seen the boorish display had given her the meal for free, banned the stallion from the premises and spread the word of his actions around
>Now it was the issue of males fearing to go out on a date with her, lest they too become laughingstocks
>So your mother took things into her own hooves
>On a trip to Canterlot, while she was in heat, she visited an insemination clinic where she had them impregnate her
>Nine months later, much to the surprise of Twilight (the normal foal gestation period was ten months after all!) you were born
>She had been at her birthday celebration in Canterlot, a festivity held by the princesses of day and night themselves in her honour
>She had gone into labour at the beginning of the party and had given birth just as the moon was ousting the sun in the sky
>A beautiful, unicorn foal
>Under the influence of the medicine they had given her to stem excess bleeding and for pain, she had named you "Anonymous"
>As she had remarked to the doctors in her delirious state "After his father"
>She'd always had a dry humour, that young princess
>Twilight had stayed in Canterlot, living with her parents in their home on 481 Nebula Avenue
>It was just above one of her only friends from before she had moved to Ponyville, a headstrong filly named Moondancer
>Of course, she had moved away years ago, and no new tennants had taken up residence
>But she had moved in with her parents again because, for all of her preparation and reading on the subject, motherhood was very different than she had thought it would be
>Her parents were ecstatic to be spending more time with their daughter, though not quite as ecstatic about the sleeping schedule a newborn foal brought with it
>Twilight raised you in the house she had grown up in and, when she was finally ready, moved to a set of chambers in the castle
>The Celestial sisters had welcomed her with open arms back to their home and had promised her whatever she needed
>As it turned out, all she needed was food, water, and access to books
>Of course, she had got all that in abundance
>You were a sheltered colt
>Twilight had always worried about your safety, or where you were, or what you were doing
>You always blew her off about it, saying it was getting in your way
>But deep down, you felt warmly towards the fact that she loved you enough that it distracted her from working on her numerous projects
>But sometimes she went a little overboard on the parenting thing
>Like one time, she had caught you in the "adult only" section of the library
>You had been curious what there was down here, so when your mother was distracted you had trotted into it and started taking books off the shelves
>You had become engrossed in one of the texts, and though you didn't understand vast quantities of it, the illustrations were enough to show numerous ponies in lots of different positions
>But they all had one thing in common, their private parts were always coupled
>Your mother had come looking for you, and when she saw the book you were reading, she sent you to your room
>She had said she'd come up with a punishment later, she didn't know what to do with you yet
>To stave off her anger, you had started cleaning the house
>Unfortunately, when you had tried to use your underdeveloped magical potential to lift some plates into the sink, they had fallen and broke
>Twilight came home within two minutes of the incident, saying something about a parenting text dating back before the Lunar Rebellion
>Said book had dropped to the floor when she saw you in the middle of a pile of broken, good plate
>She had taken you into the living room with magic, bent you over her knee and had spanked your flank until her arm got tired
>It wasn't much, given her lack of physical fitness, but you still hadn't been able to sit down for the rest of the day
>And she had sent you to bed without dinner
>But that was a long time ago, and you had grown up since then
>Today you made her breakfast, along with Spike's, and your own
>Your magic had come a long way, so you were able to make near perfect pancakes
>Spike came down the stairs, he was an early riser too, though for different reasons
>As his body had changed and grown, his sleep cycle had become erratic
>So often, he was up with the dawn
>He was surprised by your early rise, but he soon realized why
>And the gem encrusted pancakes he certainly hadn't questioned
>Soon he had to leave the house for, as he said, a date with a certain seamstress that had recently made it big in Canterlot
>So it was just going to be you and your mommy alone all day
>It sounded just perfect to you
>So with a plate of piping hot pancakes and warmed syrup in your mystic grasp, you made your way to your mothers bedroom
>You had taken the liberty of unplugging her alarm clock so she didn't wake up before you had
>Placing the plate down on the bedside table, you climbed into bed and nuzzled her neck in an attempt to gently wake her
>Slowly, she opened her eyes to find out what was going on
>She saw your smiling face looking up at you and gave you a tired grin back
>"Goodmorning, son. What are you doing up before your mommy?"
>You levitate the pancakes over to her along with the syrup
"Happy birthday, mommy!"
>She embraces you and giggles
>"I can't believe you remembered it, Anonymous. But that means...Ohmigosh I forgot about your birthday!"
>Her hug nearly crushes you as she tenses in sudden stress
>You hug her back and talk loudly, but calmly, over her neurotic ranting
"Mommy, it's okay. I remembered for both of us, see how many pancakes I made? Can't you relax even for one day?"
>She strokes your mane and her grip relaxes a but
>"You're too kind, Anonymous. A mommy should never forget her childs birthday though. That means I'm a bad mother!"
>She starts hyperventilating again, in fear of failing as a mother
"Mommy, the only thing you do is work too much. Can't you please take a day off, so we can spend time together like we did when I was little? That'd be the best birthday gift!"
>Your mother sighs and looks at the pile of books beside her bed
>Your lower lip starts to quiver, she's going to choose the books over you
>Then she does something that is completely apart from her usually neurotic self
>She shoves the stack of books over so that it collapses into a big heap beside the bed, then hugs you tighter than before
>"Of course we'll spend the day together, Anonymous! What kind of mother would I be to deny that to you?"
>Your eyes grow wide and you cheer into the soft coat of her chest
>"But first, let's finish off these pancakes, alright?"
>You nod and dig into them with the energy of youth, while your mother takes a more methodic pace
>But soon enough, you're both done and lay cuddling in the bed
>"So, Anonymous, what do you want to do for our big day together?"
>You ponder for a moment, then suddenly it dawns on you exactly what you want to do
"Can we go to the park?"
>She smiles that motherly smile of hers, the kind that lets you know that she'll do anything to make this day special for you
>"Of course. Go and get on your coat and we'll head down, alright?"
>It was the late fall, and your mother didn't want you to catch a chill in the cool, damp air of the stone city
>So you two, appropriately clothed, made your way down to the park near the main square of Canterlot
>You loved it because there was a playground with lots of foals to play with
>Your mommy liked it as a place to relax, a place where she could come and forget about all the worries of being a princess and just focus on being your mother
>It was both of your favourite place in the whole city
>But when you scampered about on the playground with the other colts and fillies, you looked over and saw a sad look on Twilight's face
>You shrugged it off and went back to playing a game that one of the colts had called "grounders"
>It was fun, but soon the sun was beginning to set and the other foals went home, and you trotted back over to your mommy
>She was staring at the ground, looking as though she were a thousand miles from the bench she sat on
>You didn't know what to do, so you crawled into her lap and nuzzled her neck
>Eventually, she snapped out of it and nuzzled you back, though she didn't speak of it
>So you two made your way home through the lamp lit streets of the capital of Equestria, you nuzzling at her hooves the whole way, and her trudging along tiredly
>But it wasn't just normal tiredness from a long day
>It was deeper than that, it was the weariness that came from working every single day, sleeping for hardly six hours a night
>So, your little colt mind devised a devilish scheme
>It was all for the best though
>After all, you did love your mommy