//------------------------------//
// Pinkie's Plan 
// Story: Pinkie's Surprise Quest 
// by Shaded Changeling 
//------------------------------//

	Surprise rose slowly the next day. He wanted to just stay in bed all day, but Celestia’s Sun wasn’t going to let him. So what happened was he spent a good thirty minutes just laying in bed, thinking about the fact his Hive was gone, and that these feelings would never leave him. Eventually, he got up, dragging his hooves along the ground with his head hung.
As he walked down the stairs, he let out a sigh before walking up to a nearby table and sitting down, not bothering to transform as he did so, placing his head on the table. It didn’t take long for Mr. Cake to walk over to him. “Surprise?”
“Morning…” Surprise said, not bothering to lift his head.
“What’s the matter? You haven’t been quite yourself for a few days. Is there anything we could do? We both hate to see you like this.”
Surprise sighed. “Only if you could make me do the impossible…”
“Surprise…”
“Sorry… I’m just…” Surprise said. “I’m not feeling very good… I don’t know if it could possibly get any better…”
“Well, Pinkie got up bright and early, well, early for her, said she needed to get some things together for a special… I don’t even know what it is, she wouldn’t tell us.”
“So why are you telling me?” Surprise asked.
“Well, oddly enough, she gave us this list of things she wants you to get.” Mr. Cake pulled out a piece of paper, a number of supplies scribbled on it in crayon. “She said it would help if you could get these for her.”
Surprise lit up his horn and grabbed the list, floating it down to his eye level. “A map of Equestria, a notebook, seven different colored pens and markers, several apples, small bags of flour and sugar, and… The Party Cannon?” Surprise looked at the last one in confusion. “Doesn’t Pinkie always have that with her?”
Mr. Cake rubbed his chin. “I think she left it downstairs.”
Surprise sighed. “I guess I can be some use…” He said, pushing himself up and walking towards the door. As he left, he walked around the building to the basement door, pulling it open, he walked down to the basement and began looking around the storage area. It had bags of sugar and flour everywhere around it, just in case they ever ran out of supplies, Surprise walked around the small maze-like placements until he found a small stand with a sticky note attached to it.
Surprise walked up to the note and took it off the stand.
	Dear Me,
I decided to move the Party Cannon to my room because Mr. and Mrs. Cake wanted to use the basement for storage and they didn’t want to have any more incidents like that one time. That was a lot of sugar. So instead I moved the Mark 4 to the Party Room with the others.
Love,
Pinkie Pie.
Surprise read through the letter and then let out a sigh. He walked back out of the basement, and instead of walking up the stairs, decided to fly up instead. He opened his bright yellow wings, flapping them rapidly as he was lifted off the ground, flying up towards the open window and pushing it open enough for him to enter easily. He hovered into the room and closed his wings, walking over to the closet on the other side of the room.
Opening up the closet, he saw a bunch of Pinkie’s old memorabilia for Party making, a few hats, Madame Leflour, Mister Turnip, Rocky, in the back of the closet was the Party Cannon, a blue metallic cannon with large pink wheels. Surprise reached in and grabbed the cannon, pulling it out of the closet, making sure that the rest of the objects weren’t disturbed.
Surprise looked at the list, releasing a sigh. “Where do I find these again?” Surprise put the Party Cannon on the ground, planning to come back for it later once he had the rest of the stuff.
Surprise looked down at the list. Where should I go first? Surprise rubbed his chin before deciding to go to Quills & Sofas to pick up some paper and pens. Should they change their name? They have a lot more than Quills & Sofas…
Surprise walked over to his bedside table, opening the drawer and taking out a small bag of bits, the golden pieces clinking within as he placed the bag in his leg, sealing it within with a wisp of yellow flame. That same yellow flame soon covered him as he put on his disguise, walking back over to the window and closing it before grabbing his saddlebags and walking back down the stairs. Noticing that Sugar Cube Corner had gained a few customers. Surprise simply walked past them and out onto the street.
As Surprise walked through the streets, he tried to make it seem like he was fine, still happy, not wanting to talk with anypony about it. He didn’t even know if they would understand, not that he held it against them, he just wasn’t sure if they could help. So he went through his normal routine of saying hello to everypony, giving them a smile and a wave.
When he got to ‘Quills and Sofas’ he took a deep breath and pulled open the door. Seeing the owner of the store behind a counter nearby. “Good morning, Mr. Quill.”
Mr. Quill looked up at Surprise. “Oh, morning, Surprise. How can I help you today?”
“Well, Pinkie told me to look for writing supplies and a map. Do you happen to have them around here?”
Quill rubbed his chin. “Yes, I believe we have them around. It should be in the back of the store.”
“Alright, I’ll find them.” Surprise said, walking away from the counter and heading towards the back of the store. He walked past a variety of sofas, some small and made for two ponies, others designed to hold up to four ponies on them. After passing that, he saw the beds and other housing materials. This had been where the Cakes had gotten Surprise his bed, after a few days of sleeping on a rug, a very big difference from the rocks he slept on a lot of his life.
Past the beds, Surprise walked into the Writing section, where a large number of various Quills were placed, each separated based on the bird or creature they came from. Beyond that, there were many different sized notebooks and notepads, all of which was sorted into the number of subjects and sizes. Surprise walked over to the notebooks, looking through them to find a nice warm pink notebook, placing it inside his saddlebag, walking over to a number of maps.
The maps were a variety of areas around Equestria, holding the Vanhoover, Stalliongrad, and Canterlot areas separately. He continued to look through the maps until he found a detailed map of the various cities around the country.
When he found a good map, he walked over to the supplies, and looked through the packs of pencils and markers, finding a lot of basic blacks and grays. He dug around in the packs, slowly finding his way to the more colored varieties. Picking out a couple small packs of ten colored pencils and ten markers. Having gathered what he needed, Surprise worked his way back through the stores, noticing a few of the ponies testing out beds and couches.
When he got back to Quill, he took out the supplies from his bag and placed them on the counter. “How much for all of this?”
Quill looked over the supplies, raising an eyebrow. “What is Pinkie planning to do with these? I can understand the markers, but she came in yesterday to get a notebook, and why a map?”
Surprise shrugged. “I’m not really sure. She didn’t tell any of us… So how much?”
Quill looked over the items again. “That’ll be fifteen bits.”
Surprise raised his leg as it was covered in a yellow flame and the bag fell out of it, landing with a small clink. Surprise opened up the bag and dumped out fifteen of the golden coins. “That should be it.”
Quill counted out the coins quickly, nodding. “Thank you for your purchase, I hope to see you again.”
Surprise nodded and picked up the supplies, putting them into his saddlebag before walking out of the store. He looked around for a moment, getting his bearings before looking down at the list. While he knew that the Cakes had plenty of flour and sugar, but they needed that for their own business, plus, Surprise had learned that if Pinkie wanted bags of Flour and sugar, she didn’t mean from the Cakes.
Surprise turned down the street and began heading towards the store. It was an uneventful walk, more of the same happened, waving and saying hello. But as he passed the town square, one pony flew down to him.
“Hey, Surprise!” Surprise looked over to see the gray Pegasus fly down next to him. “How have you been?”
“Hi, Tornado. I’ve been… Good… How’s your day been?” Surprise replied.
Tornado Dust pointed up at the clouds. “Pretty normal, just clearing some of the clouds.” Tornado sighed before looking directly at Surprise. “You planning a trip or something?”
“Pinkie asked me to get these. I don’t know what they are for.” Surprise replied.
Tornado Dust nodded. “So, I heard you were feeling a little Hivesick.”
Surprise tensed up. “Y-you did? W-well I uh…”
Tornado Dust was covered in a burst of green fire and replaced with a Changeling with dark blue eyes and a dark blue backplate. “Relax, I’m not going to tell you it’s hopeless or anything. I’m just here to tell you that it’s all right to feel that way. Just let others know, all right? Keeping it in isn’t going to help any.”
Surprise sighed. “Is that all?”
Darkblaze shook his head. “Not exactly. I wanted to wish you luck in finding them. Oh, and a little tip, if you go to any of the bigger cities in your little adventure or whatever all that is for, just keep your disguise on, be a bit safer…”
“Why would I need to?” Surprise asked.
“Ehh… Some ponies are still less than hospitable to us, just to be safe, try to avoid it and…”
“Hey Buggy!” Morning Dew said, flying down to Darkblaze. The lime green Pegasus eyed Darkblaze without any conviction, more like she was trying to get him to follow her. “You aren’t done yet. We still have all these Clouds to clear.”
Darkblaze sighed as a green flame covered him. “Well, see ya around, Surprise. Hope you find them.” Tornado Dust waved as he shot into the sky and began flying around, breaking the clouds apart.
Surprise waved back and then focused on getting to the store. While not the biggest store he had ever seen, it served its purpose, selling food and items that couldn’t be grown. As Ponyville was still mainly an Earth pony settlement, a lot of the foods were grown locally. However sugar and flour couldn’t be grown in this climate, no matter how much Earth pony growth magic was shoved into the ground. More specifically the sugar though…
Surprise walked into the store, quickly found the isle he was looking for and found the spot where the two bags were located. The isle itself held a number of various sizes of sugar and flour bags, Surprise pulled out the list to make sure that there wasn’t an exact measurement on the list. Surprise sighed as he looked over the sizes of bags, he quickly dismissed the large sack and the smallest size. After a couple minutes of contemplation, he grabbed the medium sized bag, of flour and sugar, which took up one side of his saddlebags by themselves. After purchasing the bags and walking out of the store. Surprise only had one last thing he needed.
“Apples.” Surprise read. “That’s not too hard to get. I’ll just ask Applejack. She is usually selling at the market at this time, right?” He asked himself, he paused to wait for a reply before sighing. “Who am I talking to…”
Surprise began heading towards the marketplace, luckily it wasn’t very far from the store itself. Applejack’s Apple cart was set up away from most of the others, usually just outside of the town hall, sure enough, that was where it was today as well.
Surprise walked up to the old wooden cart, the orange Earth pony mare waving at him. “Mornin’, Surprise.” Applejack said with her southern drawl. “Yah lookin’ to get some apples?”
Surprise nodded. “Yup, I’m just picking up some things for Pinkie.” Surprise pulled out his bit bag, “How much today?”
“Well, it’s only a couple a bits. How many yah need?”
“Pinkie says she needs seven of them.” Surprise replied.
Applejack nodded and beginning to pick up a few apples and placing them into bags. “So, I heard yah went with Pinkie to her family home.”
Surprise nodded.
“I heard they’re really different thank the folk we got up here. What was that like?”
“Oh… You know… A little stressful, but nothing too bad. It was mostly me worrying…”
Applejack nodded. “So, word is that a couple a Changelings are thinkin’ bout movin’ to Appleloosa.”
“Really?”
“Yup, a few a them wanted to see what life’s like out there I suppose. It ain’t the most interesting place, but they’ll be welcomed with open hooves. Might even earn a place there. Won’t that be somethin’?”
“Yeah…” Surprise released a small sigh, taking out the bits he needed. “So, have you seen Pinkie at all today?”
Applejack rubbed her chin. “Huh… Now that yah mention it… No. I haven’t seen her all day. Which is kinda strange fer her.” Applejack handed the bag over to Surprise, who placed the fourteen bits on the small counter, which was nothing but a plank sticking off of the cart. Surprise grabbed the bag and placed it into his saddlebag before turning away from Applejack.
“Thank you, AJ. I’ll see you around.” Surprise said giving a wave.
“Yah take care for yerself.” Applejack replied, returning to wave.
“Yeah… I’ll do that.” Surprise replied, releasing a sigh. “Hopefully…” Surprise began walking back towards Sugar Cube Corner. Walking through the marketplace, looking around to see the various venders selling tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, cherries, lettuce, pretty much anything that can be grown. He stopped a few times to look at the wares, but moved on quickly.
He walked quietly around the sweet shop, walking back up the stairs without making a sound. He let out a sigh as he reached the landing, removing his disguise. He took out the list, levitating it in front of him. “Now what?”
Surprise looked over the message, it was just a list, there were no instructions for what to do once he got everything together. Surprise sighed as he took off his saddlebags, putting them against the cannon. Walking over to the bed and laying down.
He reached over to try and grab the crystal he kept on his bed stand, but was met with open air. Surprise frowned as his hoof worked its way around the small lamp, after making a few cycles, Surprise’s eyes widened. “Where is it?”
He got off the bed and began to pull the drawers on the table, frantically throwing whatever was in there across the floor, looking for the small crystal, it wasn’t much, but that crystal had been with him for almost his entire travels, slowly growing as he fidgeted with it, a keepsake from his travels. He continued to search until he heard a very low cross between a growl and clicking.
He turned around to see Gummy holding the crystal in his toothless mouth; he stared blankly in the general direction of Surprise, a small paper underneath him. Surprise let out a deep sigh and walked over to Gummy, taking the gem out of his mouth and putting it inside a drawer before picking up the gator and levitating the note up for him to see.
	Hi Surprise!
Sorry if I caused you to run around for a few minutes in panic, but I had to think of some way to get you to find this note. Sorry again.
Anyway, I need you to bring those supplies to the train station. I can’t tell you why. It’s a seeeeeeeecret.
~Pinkie Pie.
Surprise let out a sigh of relief. He knew Gummy wouldn’t have swallowed the gem, it was too big for him, and even if he did decide to, Surprise wasn’t sure how long it would take to do so. He picked up Gummy and placed the Gator on top of the small bed they had for him and then grabbed the supplies, and tied the Party Cannon around his waist.
He walked down the stairs, Cannon in tow, and walked towards the door. “Surprise?” Mr. Cake said, looking at the supplies. “Where are you going?”
“Pinkie asked me to bring these to the Train Station. I’m just going to head there to give her everything.”
“Alright, be careful with the Party Cannon, I’m not sure if it’s loaded.” Mr. Cake replied.
“I’ll be careful.” Surprise replied, making a mental note to not have any sudden movements, before he walked out of the building and stopped, pointing the cannon straight up to avoid hitting anypony with it.
He walked across town, a few ponies asking what he was doing, but most just shrugged it off and thought it had to do with Pinkie. As he walked up to the train station, he looked around, not seeing the Pink pony around him.
He moved over to a bench and sat down, reaching into his saddle and pulling out a smaller crystal, not the one he left in his drawer, but a smaller one that held the same purpose. He began to roll the crystal across his hooves and feeling the happiness inside it, but not taking any of it. He continued to fidget with the sphere until he heard the light whistle of the train.
“CHOO! CHOO!” Came from next to him, causing his grip to falter and the crystal to fumble in his hooves before he caught it in his wings, letting out a sigh, he looked over at the sound, seeing the wide smile of Pinkie next to him.
“I’m so glad you made it on time!” She said quickly. “I was worried that you wouldn’t get the letter in time or that you wouldn’t manage to get everything so I would have to go alone and start trying to help and that wouldn’t have been any fun.” She took a loud gasp. “But you are here and I got you a ticket!” She pulled out two identical tickets. “And you showed up just in time too!”
Surprise blinked as he looked at Pinkie. “What are you talking about, Pinkie?”
Pinkie hopped over to where the train was beginning to slow. “We’re going on a trip!”
“Where?”
“EVERYWHERE!” Pinkie shouted happily.
“Wh-what?” Surprise said.
“Well, when you said that you were missing your Hive, I thought ‘Hey! Surprise knows they are still in Equestria, just not where!’ So I started thinking about how I would manage to narrow it down by even a teeny tiny amount. Then I started thinking about how to get everywhere, then I thought of why it’s called Gouda if the cheese is neither good or an ‘a’ , and then the answer came to me: The TRAINS!”
The Train stopped as she spread her front hooves in announcement.
Surprise twitched. “E-Everywhere?”
“Well, not everywhere, we are going to start at Canterlot because I remembered that two of the Queens are there and I figured that it would be the best place to start since maybe Celestia has an idea of where they went.” Pinkie replied, the Party Canon next to her. “Now come on, we’ve got a city to see!”
Pinkie grabbed Surprise. “P-Pinkie it’s a-alright I can s-stay a…”
“I won’t hear of it,” Pinkie said. “We’re going to find your family, even if we need to travel ALL over Equestria.” She pulled Surprise into the train.
“A-are you sure this is a g-good idea, Pinkie?”
“It’s the only thing I can think of! I thought you would be happy to see your Hive again.”
“I-I am… B-but… Can we avoid the… Bigger cities…”
“Don’t worry, Surprise!” Pinkie said as she sat down on the bench. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”
	“Why do I feel scared…”
Surprise blinked. You’ve been rather quiet.
“I had nothing to say then. By the way, how far do you think she thought this through?”
I… Don’t know…
“Great… Hope our affairs are in order then.”
Surprise swallowed. “So… Pinkie… Do you really think we could find them?”
Pinkie nodded. “I bet we can. We’ve got all of Equestria to find them!” Pinkie said, pulling out the notebook, and opening it. “Do you think we should head ot Appleloosa after, or maybe Manehatten?”
“I’m not sure…” Surprise replied. He knew those towns well, lots of ponies were around there, lots of emotions to feed on. That was also one of the places where emotions were the most difficult to get to. “But if you think so… I’ll come.”
Pinkie hugged Surprise. “I’m glad to hear it, and I promise you we will find them, even if we have to go all the way to Yakyakistan.”
“I hope you know what you are getting us into…”
I’m pretty sure…
“Alright… But if this gets us killed, I swear I will haunt you.”
Like you do already?
“You know what I mean.”
Surprise looked back over at Pinkie as the Train began to pull from the station, she had turned the notebook to show a blank page with a giant heading of ‘CLUES” in big blue letters. “I’m going to keep track of everything!”
Surprise nodded. “So… Why did you want me to get the flour and sugar?”
“So that I could teach you to cook more Cupcakes! I don’t have my portable Cupcake Cooker, but I know that there is a store where I can buy more of the batteries for it. I just can’t wait to see your Hive, Surprise. Do you think they are all as friendly as you? I hope so!”
“I guess we’ll both find out…” Surprise said, leaning against the window, looking out at the plains that passed as the train picked up speed. I’m coming… I promise… I’ll find you… Surprise smiled at the idea. “Home…” He said under his breath. Watching the plains roll by as he thought about the idea of seeing the Hive. A smile crept across his face.