Twilight pulled the tray of freshly-baked coconut cookies out of the oven and levitated them over onto the counter. She inhaled the sweet, coconutty smell and smiled. For a bookworm, she was turning out to be quite the cook! Although, her current new occupation may have had something to do with that. Her ears pricked up at the sound of teeny-tiny hooves clopping on the tiled floor of the kitchen.
"Can I have a cookie now, mummy?" the little filly asked, looking pleadingly at her mother with her teal eyes widened in her best puppy-eyes face.
"Not yet, Evie, I just got them out of the oven," Twilight giggled, raising a hoof to gently ruffle her daughter's purple-streaked blue mane.
"Aw, but muuuum," the foal pouted. "They smell so good! And Auntie Pinkie always does."
"No buts, Evening Star. Your Auntie Pinkie can only eat cookies fresh out of the oven because she's... not exactly the most normal of ponies," Twilight explained. How would one even begin to describe Pinkie's physics-defying antics? Twilight could barely understand it herself.
As soon as Twilight's eyes glazed over, signalling that she was deep in thought, Evening Star took her chance and buzzed her tiny wings in an attempt to get up onto the counter. Her magic wasn't yet developed enough to try levitating a feather, never mind a cookie. As soon as her front hooves reached the counter, Evening folded her wings and struggled up onto the counter. Her prize was in sight and she took a step forward, reaching a hoof out to snatch one of the delicious cookies...
And a purple wing blocked her from touching the treats. Evening whined and pouted at her mother, though she settled somewhat when Twilight pulled her daughter towards her with a wing and deposited her onto her back.
"Come on, Evening, I'll just read you a story while the cookies cool," Twilight promised her. Evie grinned at the prospect of her mother telling her a story.
"Can you tell me one of your own ones this time?" she begged, the cookies forgotten as they made their way through to Twilight's own personal library.
"I suppose so," Twilight agreed, nodding. She pushed open the double doors of her library with her magic and both mother and daughter inhaled the scent of books with equal amounts of admiration.
Twilight made her way over to the comfortable pile of cushions in the middle of the room where she always read stories to her daughter. Evening hopped off her back and settled into the plushness, snuggling up to her mother's side at the same time. Twilight smiled and hooked a wing over her, just as her mentor had once done many years ago when she herself was a foal.
"What story do you want to hear?" Twilight asked, mentally running through the list of stories in her head. She'd told Evening the story of her mother's rescue from the clutches of the nightmare forces too many times to count, and the one of her mother's first nightmare night even more times.
"Tell me about how you became a princess," Evening decided, nuzzling the purple wing draped over her.
"I haven't told that one in a while," Twilight giggled. "Good thing it's a short one, too, because your mama should be back from raising the moon sometime soon." Evening brightened at the prospect of seeing her mama, bouncing in her seat.
"Well, you'd better tell it quick, then," Evening demanded. "The cookies won't take that long to cool and if we don't eat them, mama or Aunty Lestia will."
"Alright," Twilight smiled gently. "It all started when your Aunty Celestia sent me a book and a letter..."
Luna arrived back from her nightly tasks about halfway through the story but, not wanting to disrupt Twilight's tale, stayed hidden in the many shadows of the library. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of her wife and daughter enjoying a story, one that she herself had lived through.
"And that, my dear Evening, is how I became a princess," Twilight finished, a proud smile gracing her lips.
"A classic tale," Luna commented as she finally made her presence known. Twilight, of course, had known that she was there since she'd arrived. She knew her wife's habits far too well.
"Mama!" Evening squealed, jumping to her hooves and darting over to hug her mother's foreleg.
"Evening," Luna replied, embracing her daughter with her other foreleg and nuzzling her soft mane. "Mama missed you."
"I missed you too, mama," Evening agreed. "Mummy was just telling me about how she became a princess. How did you become a princess?"
"I was born one, like you," Luna replied simply. "Now, is that cookies I smell?"
"Yes," Evening grinned brightly, having forgotten about them during Twilight's tale. "Mummy baked them and then she told me a story so I couldn't have any."
"It was wise of her to do so. A burnt tongue is not a pleasant experience, no matter how sweet the cookie," Luna counselled her, and Twilight nodded sagely. "They should be cool enough to eat now, though."
Luna left the room with Twilight at her side and Evening Star bouncing along in their wake. Every few bounces, her wings would flutter, though she never truly took flight.
Once in the kitchen, Twilight levitated three cookies off the tray and handed one each to her wife and daughter before taking the third for herself.
"Your cooking skills continue to improve," Luna complimented her wife after the first bite. "There must be some truth to the old saying 'bare-hoofed and pregnant in the kitchen'." Twilight's cheeks coloured a rosy red at the compliment.
"I wasn't much good at first," Twilight reminded her. "And besides, I only started cooking because Pinkie taught me how to look after foals. I guess she must've rubbed off on me."
Evening suddenly gasped, drawing both their attention. The tiny filly held a cookie in one hoof, a cookie with a bite taken out of it.
"What is it?" Twilight worried. "Did I put something bad in them? Did they turn out wrong?"
"Mama, did you eat the moon?" Evening squealed instead, causing Twilight to exhale heavily with relief. Luna looked out the window and, sure enough, her moon was shaped as a crescent.
"No, Evening," she chuckled. "My moon only looks like that tonight because I put it in another position. Although, I did try the moon once. It didn't taste anything near as good as these cookies." To illustrate her point, she levitated another cookie off the tray and over to her mouth.
"It's just an old pony's tale, that's all, sweetie," Twilight assured her. "There are a lot of those about your mama eating things."
"Funny, my sister eats more than I and she doesn't get any of those stories about eating things," Luna remarked. Evening giggled at her mother's joke and Luna chuckled along with her. Twilight joined in the laughter and the three of them stood in the kitchen, joking and eating cookies, until finally Evening yawned widely and cut off their family bonding. Twilight took her to bed while Luna remained, munching on a cookie while looking up at her moon.