//------------------------------//
// Derek's Gift 
// Story: The Quest For Iscanter 
// by eternalsquire 
//------------------------------//

Three months later, the first sight of Miyuki's day upon waking, was that of both her parents together sitting on the floor before her.

"MOMMY!  YOU'RE BACK!", the child shrieked in joy.  Her mother opened her arms out to her daughter.  Miyuki leapt out of bed and ran into them.   "Oh, Miykui", her mother said, while crying happy tears, "I'm so glad to be back too."

The EDF Missouri returned the night before, just in time for its captain to make port to Moonbase.  Nova then took a shuttle to their apartment in Big Island, which centuries ago had been known as Japan.   Nova finally arrived at the apartment about 02:00 hours local time, late, but not too late for a husband who was wildly ecstatic to see her return provide her with a proper welcome.

Said husband quickly turned the mother-daughter hug into a mother-daughter-father hug, the grownups sandwhiching thier little girl in between.  Derek reached over Miyuki's head and gave his wife a quick kiss.

Miyuki squirmed out of the embrace and sat on her bedroom floor, opposite them.  "I'm six today!", she said, proudly.

"We know it", her father grinned back at her.  He nodded at his wife.  Derek and Nova sang the Happy Birthday song to her.

"We have a gift for you, Little One.", Derek said.  "I understand you like My Little Pony, is that right?"

"Abso-posi-tively-lutely, Daddy!", his little girl chirped.

"What if I were to tell you", her father said, "that we have a new episode of My Little Pony, and you'd be the very first one to ever see it?"

"It might not be perfect.", her mother said.  "You'd have to tell us if we're a little bit off somewhere.  After you see it, and any necessary changes suggested by you, the rest of the children in all the entire Milky Way would get to see it too."

"Whoa....", Miyuki said in an undertone of complete astonishment, both eyes and mouth wide and round from the awesome responsibility now being placed upon her shoulders.

"So after breakfast", Nova said, "We'll watch it together.  It's a two hour special."

"That's almost the best present I could ever have in the whole entire world.", Miyuki said.

"What could be better?", her father asked.

"You and Mommy both together here on my birthday, silly.", Miyuki stated.

"Aww....", her parents said.    More embraces and more tears and more kisses were exchanged before breakfast.  After they ate, they all sat down on cushions in front of the holoscreen in the living room.

And so started a new episode of My Little Pony...