//------------------------------// // Surprise! // Story: My Dearest Students // by BubuJones //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Surprise! “Tia, why are you doing this?” Luna asked sincerely. Celestia gave her a bewildered look. “Whatever do you mean?” “I’m talking about all this!” she gestured to the paintings. “Why do you keep doing this to yourself? Reminding yourself of these heartbreaking memories that would be better left in the past…” Celestia had not clearly thought of the exact reason as to why she had been retelling these stories. The times she had returned to this room, she hadn’t done it to recall the past, to remember all that she preferred to keep hidden, locked away in the darkest depths of her mind. She would come to pay her respects, to mourn loved ones, and leave as quickly as the moment of silence lingered. It never felt like a pleasure for Celestia to remember what she had lost. “I-I don’t know,” Celestia finally said. “I have never had the chance to share these stores with anypony before; the good and the bad. I’ve kept them hidden selfishly to myself for many years… but now that you have returned, I can finally let it out. I can show my true feelings to somepony that can truly understand, the pony I have always held most dear to my heart.” She affectionately nuzzled Luna. “You were absent for a thousand years... Many things happened to not only Equestria, but to me as well. You have a right to know what happened in that time. And perhaps the most important things in my life during that time were these ponies. Because of them, I was able to get though all the troubles I faced when you were no longer there. I missed you so much, but now you’re back.” Celestia smiled, almost sadly. Tears began to swell for both sisters. “I missed you too, Tia.” Happy tears finally let loose. “But- but are you sure you want to go on? I mean… it must still be difficult for you.” “It’s alright… I want to continue, for both of us.” Luna nodded silently before returning her gaze back to the wall. After the Doctor was another picture of black and white; a second pegasus filly. Her coat was pure white, similar to Celestia’s first student, Starlight. Her mane and tale were a wild tangle of seemingly unkempt and disheveled golden curls. Shiny paper strips, streamers, and balloons surrounded her, kept suspended in the photograph. She stood on her hind legs, forelegs spread far in relished happiness of her surroundings. Perhaps the most joyous smile Luna had ever witnessed adorned her face. “And this pony is?” Luna asked. “That is, Surprise. Perhaps the most outgoing pony I have ever grown so close to. The joy and happiness that would accompany her everywhere she went was astounding. She always knew the right things to say to bring a smile on anypony’s face. She sought joy and comfort in whatever situation she faced; no matter how sad or scary it seemed… It was because of her I was able to recover from my dreaded depression after losing the Doctor,” she concluded, still holding complete serenity. “You were close to the Doctor, right, Tia?” “Yes… I could have even considered him a son. But I could say the same for all of my other students as well. But, I just about raised him from a little foal. It was difficult to bring the fruitless searches to an end, even more difficult to overcome the mourning. Once again nopony was there, nopony but, Surprise.” ~*~*~*~ The eve of the Summer Sun Celebration, Celestia watched from her chamber balcony as the ponies scrambled to finish all the preparations. She had decided to hold the celebration in Canterlot, mainly due to the fact that she was in no mood to travel. It definitely wasn’t difficult for Celestia to get anywhere in Equestria, but if she had the opportunity not to, she took it. Once again she had returned to the state of rarely leaving the castle, ignoring mundane or trivial requests that could easily be accomplished without her presence. She lowered the sun before exhaling loudly and returning to lie upon her bed. The loud noises of music, parties, and celebration crept through the window and filled her room. Nopony in Equestria would sleep that night; the excuse of the summer sun celebration was too good to pass up. Only Celestia would bother to rest, she had done this for practically a million years; there was nothing for her to celebrate that night. Celestia walked onto the stage, the stars still sparkling high above with the moon now reaching the skyline. The pony cheers roared, then gradually fell silent as Celestia raised a hoof and gave a mock smile she was all too well accustom to. She fully spread her majestic wings, flapping them slowly at first, rising into the sky; her horn glowed golden with tamed fury. Ponies watched in silenced awe as the sun rose to leave only a silhouette of Celestia's frame suspended in the air. Celestia landed softly on all four hooves as ponies let out another cheer. She sat on her haunches and watched as everypony continued the celebration; dancing, laughing, having the time of their lives. How happy and unburdened they must feel, she thought to herself. Even though she wasn't in the highest spirits, it didn't mean she should deny happiness from every other pony. She preferred her ponies to be happy nevertheless. It was customary for the princess to stay and enjoy the festivities, so she did. She let her mind wander deep in thought as the celebration continued. She was in her own world when something suddenly snapped her back to reality. “Hi, princess!” came a shout from too near her face. Celestia instantly retracted, slightly raising a foreleg in defensive instinct. She settled when she saw a cheery pegasus, hovering at eye level, her bright golden hair bounced up and down on its own accord and nearly touching with Celestia’s snout. “Sorry, princess,” she giggled, “I’ve just been so worked up over this amazing party! Isn’t it great? Huh, huh, huh?” she continued to pester at too quick a pace, invading Celestia’s personal space ever more. Celestia just blinked in return, not knowing what to say. Ponies weren’t usually allowed to get so close to the princess out in public. Several of the royal guards scrambled in confusion to try to intercept the invading pony; to no avail. She flew circles around Celestia and the guards, laughing uncontrollably as the guards demanded her to come down. “Oh!” She halted in mid air, everypony else came to a standstill as well. “I’ve got something for you, princess!” She dashed off, returning seconds later. “I made this one just for you, to make you feel better,” she said, presented a cake to Celestia. A picture of her face was crudely drawn in colorful icing. She must have run out of white icing as Celestia was instead colored in a bright pink. Nevertheless it made her smile. A guard once again commanded the joyful pegasus pony to land. She looked down, giving him a questioning look. “I just wanted to give this cake to the princess,” she retorted, balancing the cake in one hoof and gesturing to the princess with the other. The cake began to wobble; she continued to argue with the guard. She swung her hooves back and forth in protest with seemingly no concern for the pastry until it was no longer balancing on her hoof. Everypony froze as they watched the cake soar. It hit with a smack, right atop Celestia’s head. Her horn now covered in pink frosting held the cake in place before it slid to the floor in pieces. Everypony was silent, the crowd of ponies began to take notice of the spectacle as well, watching and murmuring to each other, unsure of what had just occurred or what was about to. All that was audible were the uncontrolled laughs and snorts emanating from the pegasus filly, rolling around on the stage and holding her sides tightly. “Princess!” cried the guards in near unison. A few rushed to her aid while the rest circled the still snickering pony on the floor. She finally stopped and nervously glanced around as the guards stood tall and intimidating around her. “Ha, ha… sorry?” she said, nervously. The guards were about to detain her before they heard another pony laugh. They turned to see Celestia, giggling, still covered in frosting. She wiped much of it away from her face with a foreleg and continued to laugh. Everypony was unsure at what they were supposed to be doing. Many in the crowed joined, albeit a tad nervously. The guards were just confused. “That was quite delicious,” Celestia finally said as her amusement subsided. “Thank you, my little pony.” “My pleasure, princess, I knew you were gonna love it! Oh no! It’s all over the floor though… and your face,” she said sadly. “Oh, I know! I’ll make it up to you! See you later princess!” The guards just watched her speed off to become lost within the crowd. The festivities began to dwindle together with the fading sunlight. The music fell silent and the crowd began to disburse to their respected houses for some much needed rest. Celestia had decided to stay throughout until the end to see everypony off, ignoring her cheerless mood asking for an early departure. She at last took her leave as all that was left were a few lingering ponies and the after party mess that would have to be dealt with in the morning. The moon had already been set in its rightful place for the time, allowing the whole of Equestria to silently fall into peaceful slumber after a party of such a grand magnitude. Celestia felt as the only conscious being in all of Canterlot, aside from the mostly stoic guards that would occasionally let loose a yawn. Celestia walked down the empty, regal hallways towards her chambers; the sounds of clopping hooves on marble floors echoed loudly as the only audible source. But she would often pause and listen, as she had grown an eerie feeling of another present even though she was obviously alone. She would look up, down, and around corners of empty hallways to spot nothing but the occasional inactive guard. Her mind had just been playing tricks on her, she thought as she cantered on. As she walked, she thought back to the party and in particular, the pony that had practically embarrassed her in front the whole of Canterlot. The scent of icing was still pungent and she could still feel a few clumps of the pastry stuck in her hair, but she still giggled to herself at the though. It wasn’t often when a cake was thrown on your head, she mused. “Surprise!” came a shout from directly in front of Celestia, forcing her to stagger back and fall on her haunches. Her heart skipped a beat from the sudden startling that seemed to come out of nowhere. “Oops, sorry, guess I over did that surprise a bit,” said the same white coated, golden haired pegasus filly from before. She hovered closely with a smile from ear to ear. Celestia was baffled at the presence of the filly and even more so with how she was able to sneak up on her so effortlessly. “Wha- why are you- how did you even get in here?” Celestia managed to utter. The filly laughed again before she spoke. “I just sneaked past your guards, not very hard where they’re half asleep. And plus, I just had to come and give you this!” she said, presenting a still steaming hot apple pie. Celestia withdrew a bit at the expectation of another such incident as before. “I had originally gone all the way back to Cloudsdale to make another special cake just for you!” she continued, “But I kinda dropped that one too… So I found this pie!” she said triumphantly, presenting the pie high in the air with a foreleg. “Where did you get that pie?” was the first thing Celestia thought to ask for some unknown reason. “Window sill,” she answered simply. Celestia didn’t bother to comprehend that, slowly accepting the pie in her magical grasp. “Thank you, once again, my little pony. And before you go, what is your name?” “I’ve already told you my name, silly,” she snickered. Celestia gave her a bewildered look. “And I’m not about to go anywhere anytime soon.” “I-I’m sorry, what was your name again? And what do you mean about… not about to go…?” she asked warily. “My name is Surprise, of course! And I mean I’m not going anywhere until you’re happy and dandy instead of sad and mopey.” “But I was happy. What would make you think I’m in such a dire state?” “Well, duh! It was pretty obvious during my party earlier, princess. Nopony that comes to my parties would be so bleh like you were! So the only reason would be that you’re sad or troubled or something. So I’m here to fix that! Starting with pie! Sweets always bring smiles.” she said at a pace Celestia could barley follow. “So you arranged that party? It was quite lovely.” “Of course it was. It was a Surprise party! Well not really a surprise party but a party… by me… surprise… you get what I’m saying.” Celestia let out a little laugh. Surprise gave her a satisfied grin. “You see, princess, I’m good at what I do!” she said, flying happily around Celestia before landing and sitting before the regal mare. She then gave her an off putting, serious look, making the situation a bit more uncomfortable that it already was for Celestia. “If you wouldn’t mind, princess,” she said in a tone similar to her expression, “But may I ask, why are you so sad? And don’t deny it. I can sense it when ponies are sad…” She gave Celestia a close inspection, looking from top to bottom with a single bulging eye. This pony just wouldn’t let up, Celestia thought. She was mentally and physically cornered as the only way to escape this pony was to tell her the truth. She didn’t want to; it didn’t seem right to confess to a pony she knows nothing but a name of. But at the same time she felt what she had all those years ago with Starlight, the concern and comfort offered by another pony. Surprise was willing to help, and by no means was Celestia in the right to reject it. Celestia finally allowed her defenses to crumble as she exhaled unceremoniously. “Did you know of the Doctor by any chance?” Celestia asked softly. “Nope,” was her swift reply, sitting on her haunches before Celestia. “N-no? But how? Everypony knew of my student… his grand journeys, his magnificent inventions, his disappearance…” she said sadly, pausing for a second before continuing. “It has yet past a year since I gave up the search…” Surprise’s face twisted in deep thought before some sort of realization snapped her back. “Oh… I remember now,” she said softly, the smile still absent from her face. “But only because you reminded me. His loss hurt everypony in Equestria, but we had to move on. The more ponies thought of him, the more it hurt. I understand the relationship you held, princess; how close you were to the Doctor. But you can’t allow this to weigh you down forever. You shouldn’t forget him either, but instead accept it. He’s gone physically, but he’ll forever be with you… here,” she concluded, pressing her hoof gently over Celestia’s heart. Celestia was speechless in how this pony could pass such words, and how she herself didn’t realize them before. What Surprise said was true. She thought she had learned this lesson already with Luna and Starlight, but it seems she allowed sorrow to cloud those thoughts once again. Blind her from what was important, from all the good. She indeed had to accept this, it was the only way she could escape this state of dread and depression. Celestia felt foolish for having this reminded to her once again. But that feeling was overcome by gratitude. She owed it to Surprise for clearing her mind from what wasn’t important, and revealing what truly was. A slow smile began to grow on her face, quickly mirrored by one from Surprise. “Thank you, Surprise… You have just made me realize what I should have long ago.” “No problemo, princess! It’s my job to make sure everypony is happy and-” She was interrupted by a passing guard noticing the obvious presence of a pony that shouldn’t be so close to the princess. “Hey! You’re not supposed to be here!” hollered the guard as he ran directly towards them, others joined, drawn by the commotion. “Uh-oh… Gotta fly, princess! Nice talking to you! Bye!” she said hurriedly yet happily, unfazed by the ever approaching wave of guards. She flew up gingerly then readied her body to blast off. She pushed off of thin air, a single foreleg held outwards, wings pumping furiously. “Wait!” cried Celestia before the filly flew off. She paused in mid air, seemingly defying gravity for a few seconds before returning to Celestia. “What’s up?” she said as if she wasn’t being chased by guards. “Why leave so soon? I could use somepony to talk to,” she said with a light smile. “It’s alright everypony. Surprise is my guest,” she directed to the guards that had just arrived. They wearily looked at each other and up at the cheery pegasus filly before they began to depart to their respected posts. “Oh, hey you guys! Next time, don’t fall asleep while on the job!” she shouted, causing them to hurriedly get out of site in fear of any sort of reproach. Surprise laughed, as did Celestia at the sight of the scurrying guards. “So you really want me to stay, princess?” Celestia didn’t answer at first, letting the excitement build within the energetic filly. “Yes,” she said with a smile. “Yay! A sleepover at the castle! This is gonna be so much fun!” ~*~*~*~ “Surprise had brought the kind of joy I had once shared with you, so long ago. She would tell jokes, sing songs, throw parties with near catastrophic results. She never failed once at bringing a smile to my face. It was an absolute joy whenever she was around.” “And what sort of student was this pony?” Luna questioned. Celestia had to think for a second before she replied. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t really consider her a student… The relationship I shared with these ponies always grew into something closer. Student would become more of a second thought. They were my friends and perhaps even my family. It would occur at times when I grew so close to a pony, that the student phase wasn’t even necessary. Surprise was always there to lift my spirits. That was a good enough reason to keep her close.” ~*~*~*~ Celestia walked languidly up the steps of the highest tower in the castle. Even if it did hold dire memories of her student of many years ago, it was still perhaps the most peaceful place she could think of. She walked out into the moonlit balcony. The nighttime breeze felt nice and cool against her coat, the silence only broken by the occasional gentle gust from the altitude. The stars twinkled high above at the sides of the moon; the moon that for years held the distinct and unmistakable silhouette. “I’m sorry, Luna.” Celestia had found herself saying that often to the lonesome moon. The prison her dear sister was forced to reside in; alone. She watched intently as the moon fell, accompanied by its ever-present, motionless stars. She kept her eyes affixed to the west, ignoring the morning rays of the sun. She lingered at the top of the tower, basking in the warmth of her sun. She closed her eyes in serenity, breathing deeply and slowly. Time to return to my daily duties, she thought just before she opened her eyes to an unexpected site of a pair of violet eyeballs near inches from her own. “Hey!” Surprise cried. “Watcha’ doing?” She rolled playfully in midair. Celestia had already gotten quite accustom to Surprise’s random pop-ups. But there were still a few instances where she would be caught off guard; such as this time, staggering back a few steps but still holding firm footing to prevent her from falling onto her haunches. Celestia was quick to recover, as Surprise’s surprises were often pleasant. To see such a happy and playful being brought a smile to her face. “I could ask you the same question. What are you doing all the way up here?” Celestia asked. “Looking for you of course; why else would I come to the castle anyway? I searched all over! And when I saw the sun go up I figured you’d be at one of your, up-high, viewy thingies.” “I’m sure you could have asked anypony else in the castle if you were so eager to find me. I’m sure the guards would have helped.” “I don’t think many of the guards like me so much… since I’m always playing tricks on them… but that’s okay! We all have a good laugh. They still don’t let me roam the castle as much as I’d like though… Good thing I can turn invisible when they’re not looking! Ha-ha!” Celestia laughed at this all too common randomness. “I see. So why is it you came all the way up here to find me?” “Oh right! I was looking for you. Come on, princess, I’ve got something you gotta see!” She speeds off down the stairs before Celestia could even begin to ponder any questions. Celestia followed Surprise at a near trotting pace through the castle. She turned quickly around corners in seemingly uncoordinated fashions. The feeling of going around in circles was starting to become unmistakable. “Surprise, do you know where you’re going?” Celestia finally had to ask. “Of course princess, we’re almost there!” she said, all expected uncertainty was void from her happy voice. “Lead the way,” Celestia said in a similar tone. Minutes passed as every part of the castle seemed to be covered twice over. At last Surprise came to sudden stop. “Found it!” Surprise cheered. “What? But I thought you… Never mind. Where are we now?” “The kitchen!” It took a few seconds for Celestia to process that they were, in fact, in front of the kitchen doors. She face hoofed at the thought of all the time wasted to find such a general room. “You could have asked me to bring you to the kitchen,” Celestia said as Surprise pushed open the swinging doors to enter. “There was no time for that,” she replied simply. They walked into the empty kitchen; all the castle chefs had already finished serving breakfast and had departed onto their break. “I kept the stuff I made inside the cooler box thing in here. It tastes better cool,” she said, flying over to the cooler and pulled out a jug of a lightly gold colored and bubbly liquid. Celestia held a questioning look as she inspected the liquid presented to her. “Is this, apple cider?” she said, noticing the clear color resemblance the liquids shared. “Sort of,” she answered a bit unsure. “But I can say it’s made from apple. Just gave it a bit of a kick. I call it, Surprise’s Super Fun Party Apple Drink! Or S.S.F.P.A.D! That doesn’t sound good either… Let’s just stick to, hard apple cider for now,” she concluded, removing the cork from the jug which gave an audible pop sound. “Give it a taste!” she urged. Celestia received the drink, gently in her magical grasp. Gave it another close inspection, turning it slowly, watching the little air bubbles dance around before floating upwards to the top. She gave the top a quick sniff, the scent of crushed apples was present, but accompanied by another pungent, sharp aroma. It caused Celestia to retract slightly and grimace. “Are you sure this is safe to drink?” Celestia had to ask. “Of course, princess, it tastes great! I tested it out on myself and everything turned out fine! Well, aside than I can’t remember anything from that night and woke up with a head ache in a tree, everything went swimmingly!” she concluded in a haste. “What?” “Nothing… don’t worry its fine, its fine,” she continued to insist, reaching over to grab the jug and take a long and satisfying swig. “Come on, try it, try it, try it!” she said, thrusting the drink back at Celestia. “Alright, alright, I will…” Celestia said, finally giving in to Surprise’s pleads. The jug was magically lifted to her lips, hesitating a second before she gave it an elegant sip, followed by another more tasteful drink. The light, bubbly liquid burned in her throat and boiled in her stomach; the taste was like pure melted gold. It was magnificent. “This... this is absolutely delightful!” Celestia exclaimed, taking another enchanting taste. “How did you make this?” “Oh, well, during one of my wandering trips in your castle, I found some room with all kinds of weird thingies. I played around with some, broke others. Not many though; all that stuff was confusing. But I did improvise with one of them to create this stuff!” Celestia was quite certain this room she spoke of was in fact one of her last students study or experiment rooms. She hadn’t bothered to vacate the rooms yet; and now she was glad she hadn’t. Surprise had just stumbled upon some sort of grand concoction of flavors. They continued to greedily drink the bubbling liquid until not but a drop was left. They were sure that that amount should have been satisfying enough, but Celestia felt the urge for a bit more. And to her utter joy and pleasure, Surprise had already stockpiled jars of the so-called ‘hard cider’ to the brim of the cooler box. Surprise pulled out another jug and smiled ear to ear. Celestia returned that smile. The princess stumbled down the hallways with a twisted grin, together with a look of pleasure on her face; Surprise was tripping over her own hooves right at her side. They laughed loudly and tersely at seemingly nothing that would convey any sort of comedic form. Guards watched wearily as they passed by. Their confused faces only caused the ditzy pair to chortle some more. “Ha-ha-ha! Princess… princess… do you, do you see this guys face! It’s soooo fuuunnny!” Surprise stumbled to say, pointing at one of the confused guards in the hallway and laughing out loud. Celestia’s face became serious, looking down at the guard, uncomfortably close. The guard fearfully shrunk as the princess inched closer. A wicked grin slowly began to creep onto her face before she broke out into another exaggerated laugh. The guard couldn’t be more perplexed over the situation. He looked over to his partner who returned a sympathetic glance; as If to share the awkward moment. “This guy… this guy right here,” Surprise slurred, laying a foreleg over the guard’s neck and bringing him close. “You are one funny, funny guy I tell you what…” A hiccup escaped her throat. “S-S-Surprise… don’t bother the… uhh… the guy. He’s so embarrassed… he’s all red and stuff.” Celestia petted the guard on the head softly before turning to stagger away. “Wait for Meeee!” She flapped her wings to take off, only to fall on her face a few feet after takeoff. “Ouch… I’m… I’m okay! Goodbye Mr. Guy-Guard-Guy!” she said, cantering off after the princess. The guards were left to ponder and recover from what they had just witnessed. Together they continued down the halls, looking for anything and anypony to mock for their perplexed amusement. Their emotions would shift together with the passing hours of the day. They laughed, they cried, they moped, and they laughed some more. But it wasn’t long until all of Celestia’s duties began to catch up to her. “Princess, the meeting was scheduled for thirty minutes ago! What are you doing here?” cried one of her advisers in distress. Celestia peeked over one of the garden hedges and laughed before running off in the opposite direction. “Princess, wait! Where are you going?” “You can’t catch me, you can’t catch me,” she replied in a singsong voice, skipping away playfully. The advisor ran after her at full speed, battling to get ahead. At last he did; stopping the princess in her tracks and causing her to sit on her haunches and sway ever so slightly. “Please, Princess, we must get you to the meeting right-” “Shhhhhh! She’s going to find us!” Celestia practically yelled. “What? There’s no time for-” “Surprise!” Surprise yelled; popping out of a nearby shrubbery and causing the only pony with any sense of mind to yell and fall over in shock. Celestia and Surprise fell on their backs laughing and rolled around in delight. By the time her advisor recovered from the startling, he could only watch as the two white ponies ran off into the castle. Awake. Her body felt cool but her head painfully thumped. Celestia groaned, keeping her eyes shut tightly from the painful sunlight. Slowly pulling herself up, she felt the sloshing of water all around her; finally opening here eyes, it was indeed water. She was sitting in one of the garden water fountains. She looked around in confusion, trying to make sense of everything. A loud splash behind her caught her attention. It was Surprise, which had apparently fallen from her resting spot on the second tier of the fountain. She immediately sat up, wet curly hair covering her face. “Ouch…” she said simply, ribbing her head. “What… where are we?” “It seems… we decided to take a dip in the fountain…” Celestia replied. “Ugh, why do I feel so terrible…?” “Maybe it’s payback for all that fun we had? I dunno…” “Seems like we had a grand time…” Celestia said almost sarcastically as she sluggishly stepped out of the fountain. “It’s late… I have to lower the sun… then, sleep…” “You and me both,” Surprise replied, dunking her head once more into the cool water. ~*~*~*~ Luna giggled and snorted at her sister’s story; imagining how a princess could have acted in such a manner. Wondering what other shenanigans Celestia probably got into that no one saw, or she couldn’t remember, or refrained from telling. “I can’t believe you did that,” Luna said, still snickering. “Yes, it was quite exciting. I never wanted to go through that again,” Celestia replied with a playful smile. “So this, apple drink, hard cider… still any around?” “Of course, Surprise made sure of that. There was no way to deny how extraordinary the drink was. Of course, hard cider is much more regulated these days. I can’t have it going around to everypony that asked for it. It’s sort of like a delicacy; maybe a bit less so.” “I see… hmmm maybe I’d like to try some of this cider,” Luna contemplated. “Maybe just a taste; ponies can really get out of hand with the stuff.” “I’m sure I’d do better than a certain pony I know,” she said mockingly and laughed softly. Celestia decided to ignore that. ~*~*~*~ “Princess, princess, princess! I got a great idea!” said Surprise, right as she barged into Celestia’s throne room. “Hello to you too, Surprise,” Celestia replied with joy. “I figured out what I could do with that super fun, hard cider!” Celestia became stone faced at the mention of the delectable yet vengeful drink. “Ha-ha, Surprise… I thought we agreed never to speak of that again?” Celestia said in a whisper. “I know, I know. Just that this idea is too good to pass up. I wanna be a business mare!” “What?” “I wanna go all around Equestria to sell my hard cider! Just think of all the fun I could spread! And you cannot, I repeat, you cannot deny how much fun we had with this cider.” “I know; I know…” Celestia admitted. “But, but you just can’t go around selling the stuff to everypony that asks for it. You must regulate it.” “Way ahead of you, I’ve got it all planned out. Only ponies after a certain age can make purchases and only during specific dates and times. Maybe a few other rules, but I’ll make sure it’s all under check.” “Hmmm, I see you’ve really put a lot of thought into this. That’s good. I wish you luck with this new business direction of yours, Surprise. I’m sorry to see you go. But I’m glad you’re pursuing something that will make you happy.” Surprise launched towards Celestia and brought her into a tight embrace. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, princess! I’m gonna miss you too.” She said, pulling away to reveal a sincere smile. “But there’s no need to worry. I’ll always come by and visit to make sure you’re happy. And maybe even for a few more rounds of my special cider eh?” she concluded jokingly. They both laughed happily together and enjoying each other’s presence; just like always. ~*~*~*~ “Surprise went off to become very successful with that business of hers. She traveled all around Equestria; still bringing smiles to everypony’s faces. Like she said, she would often return to Canterlot. She would throw grand parties when she visited. And every new party would outdo the last, until we no longer held parties.” “Did… did something happen?” Luna asked wearily. “No… Surprise settled down and had a nice family. She found a home back in Cloudsdale. She lived her life to its fullest. And when she did pass on, she did contently. She reminded me not to become sad over her loss. That she would be gone physically, but she will always be with me, together with everypony else that I hold dear. They will always be with me, in my heart.” A/N Now I just wanna say I in no way condone any sort of alcohol consumption. I don't drink the stuff and I personally don't like the stuff. It has already caused my family way too many problems. The only reason I used it in this chapter was because I thought it would be a fun idea. Sorry if I have offended anyone for whatever reason. Hopefully not. Thank you for reading!