Potential Future
Sugar was glad she had to leave the moon as Princess Luna began to lower it. Traveling from the moon to the Crystal Empire always took on average forty-five minutes. At least most of the descend involved simple gliding. But thanks to great timing, Sugar would be able to shave off fifteen minutes.
The morning twilight was always a delight to see, especially when descending from the moon. It was the perfect amount of light for Sugar to enjoy the beautiful wisps of the “Northern Lights” as the crystal ponies call them. However, her first experience with the natural phenomenon involved the thestral alerting Princess Cadence about a frightening magical presence.
“Maybe Mineral is right,” Sugar thought aloud as she spiraled toward the Crystal Empire. “I do need to study about Equestria.” Her nose and lips scrunched, upset that she may have to take a history class to not be so dumb about the present world.
The idea of being placed in a classroom left Sugar Crush as she saw Mineral Water standing at the entrance of the Chocolate Palace. His presence made her heart flutter, and she dove to get to him sooner.
Mineral was quick to react to her movement and stepped toward the building. However, Sugar knew trying to scoop him into the early morning sky would be an impossible task. He would simply blink away in a magical poof.
Instead, she landed several feet away from the stallion with a gentle touch on the ground. “Good morning,” Sugar smiled as she was quickly overtaken by the urge to hug the stallion.
“Good morning,” Mineral nodded. “Are you ready for an early morning breakfast?”
“Mmhmm!” Sugar was extremely flattered when Mineral came the day before to the Chocolate Palace and asked if she wanted to grab a bite in the morning before they both got their day started. She wanted to believe it was another date, but a date most likely involved them both getting dressed for a wonderful occasion. Besides, Mineral suggested a place that served “over-easy eggs” and “hashbrowns,” but gave no name to the restaurant. It was an obvious way for Mineral to expose her to the many foods that she had not been able to try.
“So where are we going?” Sugar asked, her stomach empty, waiting for a tasty breakfast.
Instead of answering the question, Mineral pointed at the Chocolate Palace’s windows. “Before we go, I need you to do me a favor.”
The lights inside the shop were already on as per usual; Raspberry was prepping for the stores opening. Sugar glanced inside the building before returning her attention to Mineral. “What is it?”
The stallion bit his lip, “I think I left one of my clipboards here when I asked you to come eat breakfast with me.”
Sugar Crush was certain that Mineral Water did not bring anything along with him the day prior. Or did he? “Are you sure?” Sugar asked, trying to recall the time he came through the doors. “I didn’t see you carry anything yesterday.”
“I just want to be sure I didn’t leave it here.” Mineral didn’t budge from his position and continued to hold his arm to the store. “If you look for me, I’ll get you an order of… pancakes.”
A free plate of pancakes was always nice. But the offer created a strange air. “I’ll go check.” The thestral walked to the door, keeping her eyes on the stallion. Something was up, but Sugar didn’t know what to expect. “You’re up to something.”
“N-no I’m not!” The extreme response from Mineral did not convince Sugar in the slightest.
“Oh. I get it.” A few mischievous laughs escaped the mare as she opened the door to the Chocolate Palace. “I see what you are trying to do.”
“Is-” The stallion sagged his head. “Is it that obvious…?”
Sugar took a few steps into the store before noticing the strange and unexpected behavior. “I was… expecting you to get me to turn around so you can hug me and make the score four to zero.”
Mineral’s ears perked up along with his head. “Uh, y-yeah! That’s it!” His short outburst of joy was quickly replaced with a flustered stare. “You see, I…” Sugar was not sure what to expect. The stallion briskly walked past the mare and asked aloud, “Do you like maple syrup?”
Before Sugar Crush could react appropriately, Morganite, Nightshade, Raspberry, her mom, dad and a mare she didn’t know all popped out from behind the counter. “SUPRIIIIIIIIIIIISE!”
***
It came as a surprise to Morganite when Mineral Water came to her office just two days after they had met. He arrived with a simple request: to discuss an upcoming event. Morganite was certain he was referring to the Crystal Fayre that lingered in the near future. But that was not the case when among the first words he mentioned was Sugar Crush.
Mineral propped himself with a straight spine as he sat in his chair across from Morganite’s desk. He looked around to see the shiny, light-lime green walls covered with various posters and pictures of lands and countries. Behind Morganite were several shelves bolted into the wall with snow globes evenly aligned with one another.
“Quite the office place,” Mineral said, his gaze firmly planted on the Prance poster. “I can tell you get out often.”
“It’s what I do,” Morganite smiled at her wooden desk that bore a very dark brown shade, making the professional counter stand out in the lightly colored room. Being in her domain, Morganite rested her arms on the desk and hunched forward. Her grin became a similar reflection of Nightshade but was not enough to fully mimic her friend. “Now please ask me why you want to talk about Sugar Crush.”
Even though Mineral had dark-purple fur, his cheeks managed to flare with blush. “I hope you don’t banter me with teasing,” he warned with a flick of his ear. “Otherwise, I won’t invite you to what I am trying to plan.”
The threat didn’t upset Morganite; rather, it intrigued her to know what was going on in Mineral’s head. “I assume this ‘upcoming event’ you mentioned involves Sugar.”
“Yes.” Mineral rested a hoof on his shoulder and gave it a nervous rub. “So I have been thinking about Sugar’s successful bake sale, and how successful it was.”
Morganite leaned back into her chair’s backrest. “Are you planning on trying to convince her to allow her to have an interview with me?” It was a guess, but the prediction would help steer her conversation toward Mineral’s event.
“In a way,” Mineral admitted with no shame. “But that is more on the bottom of the priority list.” It did disappoint Morganite that her potential interview with Sugar was not a major factor for the stallion. The Mineral Milk Cookie would be a perfect entry for her section of Morganite’s Mission. There was a glimmer of hope for the mare that she would get her one-on-one talk, so Morganite waited patiently for the more valuable information that was written on Mineral’s “priority list.” Perhaps his plan would assist her in getting what she wanted.
“I want to plan a surprise party for Sugar because of her successful sale,” Mineral Water said. Morganite was not expecting such a proposition would be presented. Nonetheless, it made her smile.
“How sweet,” Morganite said with a squeak in her voice. “You really do care about her, don’t you?” Thanks to her talks with Nightshade, the duo were convinced Mineral and Sugar were in love. But she needed to be careful and avoid any more possible comments that may suggest that he really liked her.
“I do.” The stallion leaned forward, almost poking his nose into Morganite’s workspace. “And I need your help. If you help me, I will do what I can to get that interview with Sugar for you.” Without knocking over anything that sat propped up on her desk, Mineral Water reached out his arm. “I don’t guarantee success that your interview will happen, but I will try to sway my friend.”
Morganite lifted her hoof from the desk but didn’t quite reach out yet. “If you get Sugar to be interviewed, I will involve you in it as well. How does that sound?” Mineral make an even bigger effort to touch her hoof, a sign that he wanted to be a part of the story.
“Deal.”
The invisible pact was made, and Morganite scooped up Mineral’s hoof. Both ponies held a firm grip on each other as they shook hooves. “So,” Morganite began, “what do you need me to get?”
“Not what, but a who.”
Morganite rose a brow. “And who might that be?”
“Nightshade.”
***
Sugar Crush shrieked and darted at Mineral Water to hold him in a fit of shock. The stallion grabbed her in a blue aura, leaving a distance between them with just mere inches. “Even in a time of need, you still won’t let me hold you!” Sugar complained as she tried to swim to Mineral. With her complaint out of the way, the mare looked at the sudden explosion of ponies that came from behind the counter. “What’s going on?” she asked, her heart still pounding aggressively against her chest. “Mom, Dad, why are you both here?” Sugar pointed her nose at the light-purple crystal pony she knew nothing about. “And who are you?” Because of the veil around her, Mineral was free to approach her without any worry. She asked him the same question while trying to break the spell that kept her still, “What’s going on?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Nightshade responded as she and the others behind the counter started to follow her. “It’s a surprise party!”
“For what…?” Sugar squeaked, still unsure about her predicament.
She felt the aura dissipate, the will to her muscles regained. Mineral stepped toward the group that stood before Sugar and stopped at the front of the six ponies. “We are here because of one reason: you,” Mineral said with a wide smile. The light from the rising sun reflected off of one of the Crystal Empire’s buildings and illuminated the store. “And this surprise party is for you.”
“For m-me?” The thestral finally didn’t know the full extent of the surprise, and she was going to ask why they were gathered because of her. But the sheer joy she felt, and the intense fire of feeling special, overwhelmed Sugar Crush’s vulnerable heart and forced her to cry.
Her mother, Sugar Cane, a white mare with an emerald-green mane done in a braid, broke from the crowd and claimed her daughter with one arm. Sugar Crush knew her mother could handle a good squeeze, and the daughter hugged Cane with a tight grip. “I’m very proud of you,” Cane said as she couldn’t keep in her own tears. “I am very, very proud of you.”
“As am I,” her father, Carnation, followed up and went beside Sugar Crush. His dark-gray body almost appeared to be a manifested shadow because of his fur. And the typical darkened turquoise mane most thestrals were accustomed to having added to his intimidating visual. But Sugar knew her dad was as gentle as a firefly’s wings when it came to his daughters.
Lastly, Nightshade, the last blood member of her family, came to Sugar Crush, and gave no jab, no snide comment, and no annoying sister look. Nightshade only smiled and hugged her sister. “Thank you for being a good sister,” she said. “It’s thanks to you I made a good friend.”
A nasty gurgle of mucus bubbled in Sugar’s nose as she sniffed. “Who? Morganite?”
“Yes.”
Sugar had to look past her mother’s white neck to see the pink mare glittering beside Mineral and Raspberry. The light-purple crystal pony still made the thestral wonder about her. “Who are you?”
Mineral Water gestured to the mare and said, “This is my mother, Spring Water. Since this is a surprise party, I wanted to-”
It took very little effort to free herself from the family of thestrals as Sugar charged forward. “You’re Mineral’s mom?! You look so beautiful, just like mine!”
Spring smiled at her son. “You were right; she is a lively one.”
“Ashamed I didn’t name her Sugar Rush,” Cane giggled. Everypony laughed at the silly joke while Sugar’s tail flicked at Mineral because of how close he was, and to let out a small amount of frustration onto him.
Spring reached out her hoof to the energetic thestral. “I want to thank you for making my son happy. Thanks to you, you managed to get him out of his house on a regular basis.”
“Mom…” Mineral grumbled. Sugar smirked at her friend as an embarrassing spotlight shined on him as well. As Sugar and Spring shook hooves, that light quickly flicked back onto Sugar in no time.
Even though there was much to ask Spring Water, Sugar needed to direct her attention to her boss, Raspberry. “I assume you want to tell me something nice like everypony else.”
“I do,” Raspberry nodded with a bright smile. She flaked away from the body of four and walked over to the cookies on display. “You see, we are all here to congratulate you for your incredibly successful sale. That is the primary reason for this surprise.”
Sugar did not move from her spot as she watched Raspberry walk alone. “Did you plan this party?”
“I did not.” Raspberry tilted her head at Mineral. “He did.”
The revelation made Sugar Crush’s stomach explode with a million butterflies fluttering about. “You did this for me?”
“Yeah,” Mineral replied, his voice at half a whisper. He cleared his throat and spoke more loudly, “I wanted to do this because I…” The stallion looked at the shiny floor for a moment. “...I am glad to have you as a friend. Really, I am.”
It took a lot of energy for Sugar to restrain herself from making a leap of faith at Mineral in hopes he would catch her in front of everypony. And she knew her dad would have a few words with Mineral if he let her fall to the ground. Instead of making a potentially uncomfortable scene for her friend, Sugar walked up to Mineral and had to stand on her tippy-hooves to place her forehead on his. A hot flare of heat rose in their cheeks, more so for Sugar. “Thank you, Mini,” she whispered. “This means the moon to me.”
A round of “aww’s” bounced off of the Chocolate Palace’s walls, though Sugar didn’t hear her Carnation moan with happiness. Mineral leaned forward and applied a little pressure to Sugar’s noggin, allowing her to no longer reach so far. “You’re welcome.”
An overwhelming pang of happiness made the thestral tense up. He was so close to her, so warm, and so handsome. She wanted to let him know he meant more than the moon to her. Sugar wanted to kiss him. But she wasn’t sure if she could let Mineral know that she lo-
“There is another reason why this surprise is extra special!” Carnation spoke aloud, causing Mineral to jolt back a few paces. Sugar flinched as well before she saw her father standing over her. There was no warning or sound to Carnation’s approach, which forced Sugar to be very upset with him.
“That wasn’t very nice, Daddy...”
“I just thought we could move onto the bigger announcement,” Carnation said while he kept his stare pinned on Mineral Water. It was obvious the father was intimidating the poor crystal pony in front of his daughter, even though Carnation tried to shift the conversation. Mineral’s mother, however, did not appreciate her son being intimidated.
Thankfully, Cane came Carnation’s side and bumped into him. “Don’t scare him,” she said, mimicking the same expression Spring was conveying. “He did go out of his way for Sugar. The least you can do is thank him.”
The two mothers nodded at each other, a silent pact was made between them. Carnation was quick to defuse his assertion and backed away. “Thanks for doing this,” was all he said, but it did satisfy Sugar to see her dad back off. He was always a little too protective of his little Sugar Grain and Harmless Flower.
Even though he was out of sight, Sugar still remembered what Carnation had said. “What is the bigger announcement?” she asked.
“Well!” Raspberry exclaimed with a stamp of her hoof, drawing everypony’s eyes to herself. “As I said before, this surprise party is mostly because we want to celebrate your successful bake sale. When Mineral Water came to me with the idea to throw you this event, we talked.”
Sugar’s eyes bounced off of Mineral and Raspberry. “About what?”
With a simple point of her hoof, Raspberry gestured to the display case. “This.”
The employer stood at the center of the see-through glass to an empty row with nothing on the grated shelves. “I… don’t see anything,” Sugar spoke with a crease in her brow. She looked at Mineral’s stature, trying to find the answer on his face.
“Go take a closer look,” Mineral said. “There is definitely something there.” Sugar winced even more, curious about the unseen item, or present, or whatever that may be on the shelves. Everypony made way for Sugar and allowed her to walk over to Raspberry.
Sugar Crush looked up the empty row. Nothing.
Then she looked all the way down. And at the very bottom, written on a black plack in white letters, were the words, “Sugar Crush’s shelf.”
Sugar gasped, sucking up as much air as her lungs could. “Is this…?”
“Your own shelf,” Raspberry beamed. The gray thestral magnetically clung herself to her boss in a tight hug. Sugar thought she was done with dispensing tears but was quickly proven wrong. “I know how much you have wanted your own personal shelf ever since you came to work with me. And ever since your Mineral Milk Cookie sale, I cannot tell you how many ponies have come in to request a batch.”
A wave of worry shivered Sugar to the bone. She removed herself from Raspberry and looked at the glass. Her reflection looked back with slumped wings and folded ears. “But I told you before that I didn’t want to make any more. The work I did that day was so much work. Too much work!”
The Chocolate Palace’s Empress’ smile weakened but managed to continue its hold. “Sugar, have you forgotten what being a baker is like?” Sugar blinked a few times, not sure how to answer the question. “In this line of work, there is stress. And worry. And lots of taxing labor.” Nothing Raspberry was saying made Sugar feel any better, and instead dissolved whatever positivity she was feeling earlier. But the employer followed up the comment with an even wider grin. “There are also many great things bakers like us do: we invent wonderful and tasty sweets.” A red face entered the display window’s reflection beside Sugar’s. “Have you ever had a hard day at work, and after you were done, you wanted to give yourself a reward?”
“Yeah,” Sugar simply answered.
“Then why don’t you let your very unique cookie be there for that pony who needs it after their hard day of work.” It was a convincing proverb, and Sugar knew she liked to make ponies happy. But the passionate Raspberry was not finished. “And make more than just your Mineral Milk Cookie. Don’t be held back by just one day of busy work. Make and bake. Don’t be scared of the big bad world because of criticism or the insane traffic of business. We are artists! Show not just us, but the entire land of Equestria what Sugar Crush you can do!”
The uplifting words clad Sugar with positivity and deflected most of the worry that clouded her mind from before. “Maybe you-” She shook her head. “No. You are right, Raspberry. I do want to show others what I can do. I just… need some help while I achieve my dream.”
Raspberry gestured to everypony that stood in the Chocolate Palace. “We are all willing to help you with that. One way or another, you are the reason why we are all standing here. And with this gift,” the Empress said, gesturing to Sugar’s personal shelf, “we will help you fill every space that I gave you. All you need to do is take that extra step forward. Okay?”
The future did intimidate Sugar Crush. It looked dark and scary. But the support everypony was giving her made the thestral see the future just a little. Their light helped Sugar peer into a potential future. A future with a much more confident Sugar Crush with her own little store. And with that store, she would have her mom, dad, Morganite, and Nightshade’s support, along with Mineral Water being her hopeful special somepony.
And maybe a little foal to add to the perfect future Sugar envisioned. But the foal had to be a filly with little bat wings named Vanilla Bud; Mineral would have no say in the name. Then it would be everything she wanted.
“Okay,” Sugar answered Raspberry’s question. She looked at everypony who stood before her. “Thank you, everypony. Thank you for being here for me.”
Mineral stepped forward with a smile only meant for her. “And thank you for being there that day we met. I wouldn’t be here without you, Sugar.” The stallion was very slow on his approach, but Mineral continued his pursuit. Leaving himself wide open for a hug, he took his forelimb and held Sugar close. “Thank you.”
Mineral’s torso shivered as it pressed against her. She knew hugs made him uncomfortable, but he was the one initiating it. Sugar didn’t understand his motives if he felt one way but did exactly what he didn’t like. Perhaps it was a sign. A signal that told Sugar that he wanted to be close to her.
Rather than claiming an easy hug, Sugar rubbed her cheek on Mineral’s head. Her challenge was set the day they became friends. She didn’t want to give him a hug when he expected it. Because when it does come to fruition, Sugar’s embrace would be special; or spontaneous; whichever happened first.
“Your welcome,” she whispered into Mineral’s purple ear. Both ponies parted from one another, no longer bound by their moment. Sugar then eyed her friend with curiosity. “There’s just one thing I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
A loud roar bubbled inside Sugar’s belly. “Does this surprise party involve breakfast?”
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This sure was a jubilant chapter. My favorite parts were during the surprise party when we're introduced to Sugar Crush's parents and when she briefly envisioned her future with Mineral Water.
8685144 looks up jubilant
I am glad it did make you happy. I did want at least one chapter that was filled to the brim with joy and not have something sad within it.
8685166
Thank goodness.
A wonderful mood change! And quite daring for mineral to do something like that!
1.) First "You're welcome:" Ohh, danke...
Second: "Your welcome:" ACH!! YOU WERE DOING SO WELL!!! HOW COULD YOU MISS AND DO THIS TO ME?!?!?!
2.) Sugar and Mineral need to take their lips, purse them together, and let one of their pursed lips come in contact with the other's.
it seems that everything is going well.
I can only expect that the next chapter is going to be full of tears and sadness.
8686440 It seems that I tend to have chapters that sway left and right on the emotional level.
This was a very nice chapter. I’m glad Sugar is getting her own shelf! She’s earned it.
8685778 I'm trying my best! Don't hurt me! D:
But I do hope they kiss eventually.
8691367
8691812 But I didn't ruin the colander D:
I think this sentence might flow better if the two highlighted words were to switch places.
Another lovely chapter that gave me a mild case D'awww. I really hope Vanilla bud gets to become a part of their reality. That would be rather nice. Also on a side note, I fully expect there to be a chapter with Carnation having a "polite" chat with Mineral. Maybe sugar might walk into it near the end of it? Just some food for thought.
Really wish you'd stop having them obsess over the random cookie. It makes Sugar Crush look like a Mary Sue. "Oh, you made a nice cookie recipe, one time? Well, out of aaall the things I could write about that are actually relevant, let me instead write a glorified ad for your single baked good!"
It's not that she's writing about Sugar (or the Chocolate Palace) that bothers me. It's the obsession she (and everyone else) shows towards the gimmicky, one-off new baked good. Why not have her write a profile on the interactions of two formerly-banished peoples? At least that could seem interesting to the average reader and help cut back on some social-prejudices, and it would be relevant to the story as a whole.
Just my opinion. The rest of the interactions we see of her also make her seem like a Mary Sue, but at least those are mainly with her family and her desperate-for-help friend, so it kind of makes sense.
I'm really having a hard time with Sugar and other thestrals 'living on the moon' here. She's able to reach the Empire in three quarters of an hour, which is either putting the moon insanely close to the planet they inhabit or that Sugar and her fellows move at the speed of light from moon to Empire each day.
Please try to explain this, if it can clear any confusion, when you have time. Thank you.
Pinkie Pie approves of the surprise party.
8908121
Magic, simple as that.
9834745
I do not accept that as answer.
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