//------------------------------// // Intermission: A Thousand Little Love Stories. Part 2 // Story: Me and My Daughters // by ArcaneDust //------------------------------// Celestia wasn’t used to leaving the castle with such frequency, but Canterlot was such a new and thriving city, she couldn’t help but explore. The mountain served as a beautiful change of scenery compared to the dull Everfree citadel; the surroundings of the forest’s thick foliage made it resemble a haunted town more than a proper capital.  By every means Canterlot was an exciting town; everyday inhabitants from all around Equestria arrived to help each other build beautiful houses and shops, and it seemed to grow a little more each day. Already, it was becoming a city fit for royalty. Canterlot Castle was another story altogether. While it was certainly a feat of architecture by itself, as not many ponies would take on the challenge to build a castle hanging from a mountain, it still lacked the charisma of a proper palace; as beautiful as marble and gold looked, they would never be a fit replacement for the more gothic style of stone and… silver…  She really needed to take her mind off… her. It wasn’t healthy to wallow in sadness and self-loathing. Luna might have been gone, but Equestria wasn’t, and her little ponies still needed her. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed to move on. Perhaps that was the reason she moved the capital to the once small, unknown settlement that would become Canterlot.  The move wasn’t exactly planned. The weeks following her and Nightmare Moon’s debacle, Celestia couldn’t stop crying—she didn’t sleep, didn’t eat. How could she? Her own sister, her oldest friend, was lost, corrupted, trapped in the moon for a thousand years. Some days she couldn’t even raise the moon, forcing her ponies to the dangers of a completely void night, no moon and no stars to watch over them. It wasn’t until the dawn of the first month since the tragedy that she showed her face once again in the court. With her filthy coat and disheveled mane, nobody dared to say a word, not even the haughty nobles who had cheered the moment Luna left Equestria.  Everything seemed so different for her then; the same gardens she used to cherish were now gray and devoid of life, and her little ponies that she once had seen so pure and kind were brutal things, spoiled and uncaring. She couldn’t remember how many noble houses she disbanded that day; it was all very fuzzy in her memory, but she recalled clearly that it was the day she decided to move from the Everfree. She just wanted to get away from all the pain that came with those familiar walls. And she finally found solace—after months of looking for a suitable place to call home—in a tiny village on top of a mountain, which would later evolve into the utopia known as Canterlot. She didn’t know if it was the scenery or the ponies living there that had convinced her to stay, but there she was, walking around the would-be capital disguised as a simple commoner to prevent causing a ruckus. “‘Ey! You ‘dere! Ya wanna order somethin’, or ya jus’ gonna stare at de glass?” The rough accent of a stallion caught her off guard, as her wandering eyes whipped up to meet his gaze.  Celestia cringed at the shopkeeper; the cakes she’d been eyeing looked really good, but she had already spent a couple of hours roaming about the city, and her absence was sure to cause panic in the castle. “Um, I’m running late, I don’t think I can—”  “Nonsense, everybody has time for dessert. Take your pick, everything’s delicious,” the stallion said, gently pushing Celestia’s disguised form inside the store. Pointing to a gold-maned pegasus in the back, he shouted, “‘Ey Surprise! Serve dis mare somethin’ to eat, the house special if ya will!”  Some business strategy, pushing your customers into your store, Celestia mused, getting used to the uncommon sights within. This particular bakery was completely different from the stores back in the Everfree; multiple tables allowed its customers to sit inside the store while serving them whatever plates they desired, like a tavern, but without the alcohol.  What a wonderful innovation! Celestia thought to herself as she watched various ponies dressed in similar attire—workers she assumed—go to and fro between tables, carrying food the assorted customers devoured with gusto immediately upon delivery.  Absorbed in her wonder, Celestia didn’t notice the arrival of the same pegasus from earlier, carrying a plate with a single small, rounded pastry. “A house special, just for you, Miss…”  “Skies, Sunny Skies,” Celestia supplied, curiously staring at the confection the bubbly mare served her. “Erm… what is this?”  The pegasus, Surprise, giggled at her question. “That’s the house special, silly. It looks simple, but it’s the best dish Mister Lockwood’s ever thought up.” Celestia nodded absently while reminding herself that this was exactly the reason why she went out on these ‘adventures’ in the city. Her fight with Luna and subsequent depression had distanced her from her subjects. She wanted to reconnect; she wanted to forget the past.  And if forgetting the past means eating this greasy atrocity of a pastry, then I won’t hesitate to do it, the alicorn in disguise thought, levitating the tart to her mouth before taking a tiny bite.  Oh… Then a slightly larger one. Oh, Sweet Alicorns above! This is delicious! Followed by devouring what was left of the confection in a single bite.  By the olden gods… That was, something else… “I take it you liked it?” Surprise asked, unmoved by Celestia’s embarrassing display. “Everyone’s like that the first time they taste them. Though you’re one of the few that’s cried.” Celestia smiled sheepishly, wiping away the lone tear of awe that had escaped her usually stoic facade. “What was that?” she asked, licking the corners of her mouth clean. “That, Your Highness, was a doughnut,” Surprise said, picking up the discarded plate. “You want more, right? One is never enough.”  Celestia giggled at the pegasus’s straightforwardness; she felt ready to buy the entire store. If only she could get the chefs in the castle to prepare her this— “Wait, did you just call me ‘Your Highness’?”   Surprise stopped dead in her tracks. Dropping the plate she was carrying under her wing, she hastily returned to the table and bowed in an awkward position at the befuddled alicorn’s hooves. “I’m sorry, Princess! I was never good with formalities—I didn’t mean to be impolite please don’t punish me! I just got to Canterlittle last month and—” Noticing the patrons staring at them with various degrees of disapproval and confusion alike, Celestia used her magic to clamp Surprise’s muzzle shut while simultaneously setting the pegasus down in the chair in front of her. “Surprise, listen to me. I’m going to release my magic, and I want you to keep quiet while I explain everything. Can you do that for me?” Celestia whispered, trying to keep a straight face while the clientele silently judged them. “Mhm.” “Good.”  Releasing her hold on Surprise’s snout, Celestia stared thoughtfully at the mare as she theatrically gasped for breath. “First off, how do you know it’s me?”  “Well… I thought it was obvious, erm… Your Highness,” Surprise said, startling Celestia for the second time in a row.  Celestia cringed, waving her hoof dismissively. “Do not… don’t call me that in public, please. I’m in disguise. And how is this obvious? No one should be able to see through my illusion.” “I didn’t ‘see through’ anything. It’s your eyes; they’re a dead giveaway,” Surprise explained, smiling slightly in a comforting way. “My eyes…?” Celestia said, the noise in the background growing seemingly quieter as she stared at the strange pegasus. Who did she think she was? Talking like this to a Princess. Celestia didn’t usually use her title for her own gain, but when she did, she expected respect from her little ponies, not a nosey mare blabbing about what her eyes should or shouldn’t look like. “What is the matter with my eyes?” she asked, more forcefully.  Surprise’s smile diminished slightly, turning into a sympathetic grin, as if she were explaining a terrible disease to a sick foal. “Your eyes are old, really old. As if you’re always thinking of something sad… like death. And you stare through ponies like they aren’t even there, as if they were nothing… I noticed, when Mister Lockwood was speaking with you.” At once, Celestia’s anger evaporated. She couldn’t understand what the odd pony was talking about, but it still filled her with a peculiar sense of unease. Did her eyes look like that for everyone? Could she still care for her ponies with tragedy always lurking in her mind? Did her little ponies still mean anything to her?  “What…? What do you—” “SURPRISE!” someone screamed from the kitchen. “I don’t pay ya to bother me clients, either ya come back to de kitchen or I’ll fire ya!”  “Sorry,” Surprise apologized to Celestia as she walked towards the kitchen with her ears lowered in submission. “I’m really sorry, Mister ‘wood. Won’t happen again. I’ll just go—” “Wait!” Celestia said, putting herself between Surprise and the irate earth pony. “Mister, er, Lockwood. Can I borrow Surprise here for a moment? I need to talk to her about something of utmost importance.”  “‘Utmost importance,’ eh? Not in a thousand years. ‘Dis mare right here might be one’a de best bakers I’ve got, but she’s as lazy as dey come. Always botherin’ me clients with ‘er silly songs, eating half of what she bakes and—” “I’ll buy everything!” the disguised alicorn yelled suddenly, startling most of the customers from their conversations. “Everything?” Lockwood asked uncertainly, looking as if his heart had stopped beating. “Absolutely everything,” Celestia repeated, determined. The old stallion glanced back and forth between the two mares and the kitchen, and when it looked as if his neck might break from the repetitive motions, he stopped suddenly, grinning like a foal who had just received the most fantastic gift for Hearth’s Warming Eve.  “Make yourself comfortable, Surprise!” Mister Lockwood said, pulling over a chair and forcefully sitting the pegasus mare down. “Don’t forget to entertain our guest!” he called out, retreating into his kitchen, all the while skipping like a little colt.  Celestia blinked at the energetic display, not expecting something like that from the elderly baker. She also was trying to come up with a way to explain the sudden bill of over five hundred bits in various pastries. It was a comparatively a small fee, taking into account the sheer size of the Equestrian reserves, but it would still raise some eyebrows in crown’s treasury. Perhaps a charity banquet? …For myself? None of that mattered at the moment, though. Now she could finally do some serious talking with this strange mare. “So,” Celestia started, turning around to face Surprise, “now that that is taken care of, what did you mean by—” “Are you really going to buy everything? That’s… that’s so nice of you!” Surprise interrupted her with a delighted squee.  “B-but of course. I wouldn’t ever dream of lying to one of my subjects,” Celestia replied, slightly confused by the pegasus’s sudden change of subject. “That’s great! You know, Mister Lockwood moved here from Stalliongrad almost a year ago. His wife died there, and he wanted to make her dream come true, so he built this bakery from scratch. He told me he spent all of his savings here!” Surprise stated with a wistful sigh, her eyes adopting an almost romantic gleam. “Ponies don’t come as often as we’d like, and wheat is getting a bit too expensive, not to mention paying all of his employees, but this will surely help him—us, out. He is a really nice pony—a little rough around the edges, but he has a heart of gold.” Celestia couldn’t help but smile at the adoration present in Surprise’s story. She made it sound like Celestia was hearing a fairy tale; there was just so much emotion in her voice, certainly a wonderful display. “You seem to care a lot about him,” she said simply, her smile instantly broadening with Surprise’s childish nod. “Of course! I care about all the ponies here!” The pegasus pointed to a gangly looking stallion near the entrance taking the order of an elderly mare and her grandsons. “Look, Pizzaz over there, he always wanted to be an actor and he isn’t giving up. He always greets everyone with a huge smile as if he were presenting in front of a crowd! And Little Wing, she’s in the kitchen, has a beautiful voice. When we cook together she always sings the most amazing songs!”  Then she turned to a burly brown earth pony cleaning the tables with an annoyed frown. “And that’s Dante. He’s always complaining about his job and acting all grumpy-frumpy, but really he’s just a big softie. He loves puppies, and I love making him laugh!” she said, laughing before adding in a hushed whisper, “But you didn’t hear that from me.”  Celestia could almost feel the fire of friendship radiating from this mare. Her innocence, her excitement, the subtle gleam in her eyes whenever she mentioned a name. “Wow, Surprise, that’s… beautiful. I’ve never heard anyone talk about their friends with such… passion, with such energy. It’s simply heartwarming. What—” She paused, mulling over her words. She wanted to once again feel like Surprise felt. She wanted to see the goodness in her ponies’ hearts again. “Just what is your secret?”  “Secret? It’s my special talent, silly!” Surprise said, pointing to the image of a rolling pin and a circular piece of dough sitting contently on her flank.  “I thought your cutie mark was for baking? What does it really mean?” Celestia asked, before catching herself. “Is it alright if I ask that? I wouldn’t want to overstep.” Surprise shook her head dismissively with a soothing smile. “It’s not a problem, really.” She took a deep breath, resting her head on her hooves. “It was a looong time ago… Well, not really. I was just a filly, maybe ten, eleven years old, and I was by the fields helping mother with the harvest—”  “You’re a farmer, then?” Celestia interrupted.  “The best kind of farmer: A rock farmer!” Surprise replied, her excitement befuddling the alicorn. “Don’t you mean a… miner?”  “Nope, a rock farmer! But we’re getting off topic here! Hush now and let me explain! Now where was I? Oh right, helping mother in the fields! “So, since I’m a pegasus, I’m not strong enough to farm the whole day like my brothers do, but I can carry what we harvest and take it to the farmhouse; it takes me a while, though. “Mother looked… odd that day. She seemed dimmer than usual, and her smile wasn’t as bright as it should’ve been. When we got to the barn, she told me to go back to the house, on my own. Since father and my brothers were still working the fields, I thought she was going to ask me to help her with dinner, so off I went like the good filly I was. “But somewhere along the road, I just had the most unsettling feeling. My wings were flapping like crazy, my muzzle was itching, and my tail was twitching non-stop! It was the strangest case of heebie-jeebies I’d ever had! Something was telling me to go back to my mother and I did! “What I found… wasn’t pretty.” Celestia bit her lip, anticipating the answer to her question. “Was your mother… dead?” “What?! Oh no, dear Celestia no! Erm… Is it okay if I say that ‘dear Celestia’ thing? Seeing that you kinda are Celestia and—”  “It’s okay. Now, you were saying?” “Oh, right. No, she wasn’t dead; my mother was leaving us. She had packed up her things and was planning to leave that same night while my father worked. When I saw her there, she started to cry. She hadn’t planned to see me like that. I didn’t know what to do, so we talked. Well, more exactly, she talked and I listened.  “She told me everything—how she felt about my father, about us, about the farm… she was tired, Princess, tired of the same stale life. Don’t get me wrong, she loved my father, and she loved us, but sometimes you just feel you can’t continue anymore. “After a while she stopped talking and we just stood quiet for a while. I really didn’t know what to do then, but I needed to cheer her up somehow. And suddenly, I had an idea. Well, it was the only thing I knew how to do at the time, and it sounded silly even for a filly my age, but I did it nonetheless. We went to the kitchen and I baked her a cake. “It wasn’t anything big, just a simple mass of cooked dough. It probably tasted like nothing, but it made my mother smile, and not just any smile, a real, truthful smile. She hugged me tightly and thanked me for what I’d done. I had never felt so happy in my entire life; I had helped my mother! And with something I didn’t even fully understand!” Surprise pointed to her flank, her eyes glinting with unshed tears of joy. “Then I saw this, and I understood that my talent wasn’t rock farming. I had the talent to help ponies find their happiness, and that’s something I’ve been doing ever since! Well, that and baking scrumptious cakes, but I think those two are related.” Celestia just continued staring at the excited mare. She felt something wet running down her cheeks; she hadn’t noticed, but she had been crying through Surprise’s story. She’d heard plenty of cutie mark stories; most of them were about impressive acts of bravery or massive displays of power, but something as simple and pure as this? There were only a select few occasions where she’d listened to a story quite like that one. “I-I… Surprise, that—” She felt a pulse of magic and turned her head upwards. It can’t be that late, can it? The sun called her again, and she couldn’t ignore its call; it was time for sunset.  Celestia turned back to the pegasus with a strained smile, hurriedly cleaning up her cheek with the back of her hoof. “Surprise, listen. I need to go, night is coming soon. But could I ask you a favor?” Surprise nodded and Celestia continued without pause, “I know it’s not even finished yet, but could you come to the palace tomorrow? It’s silly… but I need your help.” “Of course I’ll go, but… If I may ask, what do you need me for, Your Highness?” “I need you to…” Celestia swallowed, not believing the words she was about to utter. “I need you to make me happy again.” In an instant, Surprise’s carefree smile was replaced by a determined frown, and with a firm nod of her head she said, “I won’t let you down!” Moving towards the exit, Celestia paused as she remembered something quite important. She turned around with an insecure grin. “And bring all the pastries I bought today. I wouldn’t want to disappoint Mister Lockwood,” she said, leaving the store in a hurried pace. “…All of them?”  And so, the pegasus mare went to the castle the following day. And the day after that.  And the next day. And the next day. And the next day. And the next day…   …And the week after that. She kept coming and going every day until every last dessert was delivered. She had a job to do, and she wasn’t going to give up until it was complete.  Even if she had to do it one cake at a time. “Just smile, Sunny Skies! I’ve heard that smiling can lead you to being happier, and not the other way around!” Surprise giggled, prancing like a schoolfilly over Canterlot’s streets with a frowning unicorn in tow. “We’ve been at this the whole day, Surprise. My cheeks hurt, and I don’t know where you heard that nonsense,” Princess Celestia—or, at the moment, Sunny Skies—replied, massaging her sore muscles with a hoof. “What are we supposed to be doing anyway?” “We’re walking!” Surprise sang, her random pattern of bouncing never stopping.  Celestia barely held the urge to face-hoof. “I know we’re walking, Surprise, but why? And where are we going?” she huffed. Surprise turned around, fixing Celestia with a glare of mock seriousness. “We’ve been seeing each other for weeks, Celestia, and you’ve barely talked about yourself. I don’t just sing a random song and make everyone happy; that’s not how it works. I need to know about you—what you like, what you hate, stuff like that.” The alicorn sighed and slumped in place. Things already weren’t looking good. “I know, I know that I’ve been withholding information. It’s just… difficult for me, please understand that,” she said pleadingly, looking down. Surprise probably should just give up on me. Admittedly, it was a stupid request… ‘Make me happy.’ What was I thinking? Seemingly aware of Celestia’s internal conflict, Surprise pulled the disguised alicorn into a hug, patting the mare softly on her back. “I know it’s hard for you, but hey! That’s why we’re walking! Talking while taking a stroll down the street is much better than your stuffy bedroom or your boring gardens.” “Hey!” Celestia complained, pushing Surprise away, “I take offense at that! My room isn’t stuffy, and the gardens aren’t boring, they’re just…”  “Empty?” Surprise provided helpfully. Celestia glared in return. “Incomplete. Now…” She paused, trying to find the right words to continue. “What do you want to know?” “Let’s start with something simple; why don’t you tell me about your friends?” Surprise asked, repressing her desire to squee at Celestia’s step forward. It was just a matter of time now—time, and plenty of doughnuts. “My friends?” “Yes, your friends! You can’t tell me that in your ten-thousand years you haven’t had anyone to call your friend,” Surprise said, jokingly poking Celestia in her ribs. “Wait, what?! I’m not ten-thousand! I don’t look that old, do I?” Celestia exclaimed, pulling her mane down to her eye level, inspecting for any gray hairs that might appear.  “I was joking, Grandma, calm down. Now, what about your friends?”  That probably was the first time in Celestia’s massive lifespan that she’d ever been asked that question. Who were her real friends? There wasn’t any pony alive who she could bestow that title upon besides Surprise; her real friends were either dead, banished, or lost in the clutches of insanity, trapped in stone. “I’ve had friends, I know that. But that’s the key word—I’ve had friends. Time is not kind with friendships, I’m afraid.”  Surprise got closer to the nostalgic alicorn, nuzzling softly into the crook of her neck. “Hey, I’m your friend, aren’t I?  Celestia reciprocated the nuzzle and sighed. “That you are, Surprise, and I’m glad for that. I don’t know what I would be doing without you.” “Well, I suppose that question isn’t good enough,” Surprise said after a while, breaking the hug. “What about coltfriends… or marefriends for that matter? You’ve had those, haven’t you?”  “W-what?!” Celestia cried, her cheeks burning the telltale red of embarrassment. They were in the middle of the street, how could she be so crass about a subject like that? Impulsed by Celestia’s lack of response and steadily heating cheeks, Surprise spoke up again, “Oh Goddess! You haven’t! Are you serious? That’s so cute!” “Surprise! For my sake! Of course I’ve had of those.”  “Then why didn’t you say so, silly?” “It’s not something one speaks of out in the open, Surprise,” Celestia answered slowly, as if she were talking with a foal. “Why would you ask something like that?” “You were getting sad again, and I don’t like seeing you frown. Did you know frowning causes premature aging?”  Celestia rolled her eyes, shaking her head at Surprise’s silliness. “I’m starting to doubt the validity of your sources, silly mare. Still, you could have asked something different if you wanted to see me laugh.” The pegasus shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, maybe I’m just curious.” “Really? Your questions always have some inner meaning, Surprise. You can’t be just curious about…” She cleared her throat. “That particular subject.”  Surprise blushed, her coat doing little to hide her embarrassment. “Why? Is it weird?” She can’t be serious! “N-not really, it’s just… unusual.” Not that I would really mind…  They kept walking in silence for a couple of minutes. By Celestia’s reckoning and the number of ponies walking about their day, they should have been arriving at one of the various plazas of the city. Most of them were still unnamed, and lacked any sort of design or aesthetic. Not that the alicorn really cared about that; art was more her sister’s affinity… “Surprise? Where exactly are we going? I don’t think I’ve ever been to this part of Canterlot,” Celestia said. “You really don’t get out of your castle, do you?” Surprise tsked disapprovingly, her earlier indiscretion seemingly forgotten. “Keep that up and you might become one of those stuffy nobles you so love to complain about.” “Goddess forbid!” Celestia laughed airily. “You’ll see when we get there! C’mon, slowpoke, we’ll never make it before sundown if you keep that pace!” Surprise giggled, suddenly running away from the confused unicorn. “I am not a slowpoke, your blood is just made of sugar,” Celestia grumbled, chasing after her charge.  It was one of the few times Celestia had actually done something that required physical exertion, and she had to admit that perhaps she had to decrease her intake of Surprise’s doughnuts. Besides that fact, she also had to admit how little she actually knew about her city. She knew Canterlot was growing; ponies were arriving every day, and the requests for licences for new buildings were something common in her court. She knew that, she just hadn’t really seen it.  And boy, it wasn’t what she expected. Music. That was the first thing her brain registered, the soft and melodious notes of a violin cutting through the swarm of ponies roaming the square. There was a performer positioned in the exact center of the plaza, in front of a beautiful fountain with an unfinished statue sprinkling water to the mesmerized spectators of the impromptu display. The park itself was not as big as the ones positioned near the center of Canterlot, but its circular structure, with a multitude of dazzling white flowering trees, made it an imposing sight nonetheless.  She attempted to drink in every little aspect of the square. From the creativity in its design, to its marvelous yet incomplete architecture, to the ponies—colts and fillies laughing alongside their parents, and couples simply enjoying the music.  “How do you like it?” Surprise finally asked, pulling Celestia out of her daze. “I know it’s not the castle, but is—” “Surprise, stop!” Celestia yelled, closing Surprise’s mouth with her magic. “This is wonderful, the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen!”   The pegasus giggled, inadvertently laying a wing over Celestia’s back. “Really? Why’s that?”  “It reminds me… It looks like…” Celestia fumbled for words, trying to find the exact phrase that could describe her inner turmoil. “Did you ever visit the old capital, before… before the betrayal?” She hated the stupid name some stupid ponies had decided to call that… event. If there was ever any betrayal it was on Celestia’s part. Her sister—Luna had only been a victim of her pride and obliviousness. “The Everfree? No. I didn’t want to leave the farm that much. I only recently had the chance to, er, spread my wings?”  “Well, there was a garden just like this one back there. I think whoever designed this plaza used it as inspiration.” “You think so?” “It does look somewhat similar.” She paused for a second. “Well… just a little. The Everfree was, for one, darker. The thick canopy of the trees overhead made it rather eerie at night, while still being quite the beautiful spectacle during the hotter months.” Celestia sighed, smiling softly at the fond memories. “You should have seen the light of the summer sunset falling through the leaves. It was something else.” “It must have been; you usually don’t smile like that.” Celestia caught herself, covering her mouth with a hoof. “I don’t?” “Nope. Most of the time I don’t see you smile when you talk about the past. We must be making some progress.”  Celestia nodded. “I sure hope so.”  “So.” Surprise, as usual, changed the subject abruptly, disrupting Celestia’s train of thought. “Is this still the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen? Make up your mind, old lady!” “Surprise! Stop calling me old!” Celestia chided jokingly. “I think it’s beautiful for what it really represents.” “And what does it represent?” Celestia thought for a moment. What did it really mean? She knew for a fact that everything ponies did—or any creature, for that matter—had some sort of ulterior meaning. Sometimes that meaning was found closer to the surface, while with others you needed to dive deeper to discover what lay within.  Embarrassingly enough, this time she couldn’t come up with anything deep to answer with. “Something new, perhaps?” “‘Perhaps’? Don’t you know?” You’re going to be the end of me, I swear… “It could mean plenty of things, Surprise. What do you think?” “Hmm…” she mumbled, sticking out her tongue like a foal. “How about… you’ll only find beauty if you look for it?” “Really? Did you steal that phrase from a book?”   “Maybe! You’ll never know!” Celestia stifled a giggle with her hoof; Surprise’s antics were always welcome. “Did you take me all the way over here just for this? We should do this more often.” “Well… That was the first reason. You need to get out more! The other reason… well…” “Well…?” “I just think this place is… perfect for a date…” “Perfect for what?”  “Close your eyes!” “…What?” “Close your eyes! C’mon, don’t you trust me?” Surprise asked, her adorable pout and wide eyes puncturing through Celestia’s defenses.  “I… I do trust you, Surprise… it’s just—” “Just close your eyes, please?”  Celestia sighed, but did as she was asked. What has gotten into this mare? she thought, mentally rolling her eyes. To go from bubbly and oblivious in one moment to shy as a mouse the next… What could possibly be so—  Is she…  kissing me… ? Her eyes shot open, encountering the soft fuzz of Surprise’s ivory muzzle, a light blush adorning her features as her lips shyly caressed Celestia’s own.  She IS kissing me! A part of her mind scrambled to pull away from the other mare’s affection. However, that thought was promptly smashed and burned to ashes by the heat on her cheeks and the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.  Sooner than Celestia would’ve wanted, Surprise pulled away, her ears and eyes downwards, as if expecting the alicorn to lash out in anger. “Surprise…” the pegasus said weakly, looking everywhere but to Celestia’s face. “Surprise, I… What… Why…?” The dam burst open. “I’m sorry, Celestia! I know it was wrong, I shouldn’t have done that! It’s just that I think that you’re a wonderful mare and you’re so kind and beautiful, and smart and funny and it’s sad that you can’t see that because you’re always thinking about the past and I just hate seeing you like that every time because I love you and—” “You… you love me?” Celestia asked, her magic keeping Surprise’s mouth shut. She just couldn’t believe what she was hearing; how could Surprise love someone like her? With Celestia’s magic dissipating, Surprise took a deep breath, calming her beating heart. “I… do, Celestia. You’re the most wonderfulest pony I’ve ever met! You’re so kind and brave and strong. Beautiful, too! And… and I know everybody says that, you’re the princess, after all!” She sighed, wiping the tears that escaped her with a fetlock. “B-but, these months… I think I’ve seen the pony nobody else sees, and I don’t want to stay away from that pony! I… I love your laughter and your smile, your real smile, the one you hide in court. I love when we eat together, I love when we joke together, I… I just—mmph!”  A kiss gently interrupted the pegasus’s rant. Celestia didn’t need to hear anything else. Surprise had said and done more than enough, with certainty that had been the most pure and innocent confession she had ever heard. Slowly, the alicorn pulled away, while nuzzling the petrified mare’s neck.  “Thank you, Surprise, I… I love you, too.” “You… you do? For real?” Celestia chuckled, tears of happiness rolling down her cheeks. “For real. How could I not? You’ve taught me so much, Surprise… Thank you. Thank you…” Surprise pulled Celestia’s disguised form closer, relishing the fact that as a unicorn, she was the perfect size to cover up with her wings. “So, you liked my surprise?” the pegasus asked, her voice tinkling with joy. “I did, Surprise. I loved it,” Celestia said, relishing in the heat radiating from the pegasus. “Sooo…” “So?” Celestia retorted, barely managing to stifle her laughter. “Do you… want to eat something?”    “I… I’d love that.”