> Pinkie's Suprise
>  by vincent5000x
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight all stared at their pink friend in complete and utter shock. None of them could believe the things they were seeing and hearing.

“I-I’m sorry dear, but could you perhaps repeat that? I believe I didn’t hear you correctly,” Rarity asked, finding her voice first. 

“I don’t want to decorate too much,” Pinkie Pie repeated; her gaze still locked on the front door of the bakery. “And no, I don’t want anypony else here.”

“But I thought you said this was going to be a ‘Pinkie Party’!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she began to hover slightly off the ground. “If half the town isn’t here, then what kind of party is this?!”

“A nice… calm… simple welcoming party,” Pinkie Pie replied without turning to face her friends. “Besides, I never said it was a ‘Pinkie Party’.”

Once again, everypony stood dumbstruck at what Pinkie Pie had just said. For the entire day, their friend had been acting strangely. Throughout the morning, Pinkie had almost dragged herself to each of her friends’ houses, only to hesitantly ask them to come to a party at Sugar Cube Corner.

If that hadn’t worried everypony, what they saw when they arrived at the bakery did.  There was not one single decoration. The walls were bare of anything but the normal knickknacks that usually hung. The ceiling was barren of any balloons and while the tables did have trays of food and a large bowl of punch, they were barren and clean.

But the one thing that really scared all of them, Rainbow Dash most of all, was the food. While there was plenty of sweeties and treats, the majority of it all held very healthy snacks. Most of which, Twilight noticed as they first arrived, were actually very good for the heart.

“Twilight! Do one of those scanny things on her!” Rainbow Dash said as she nearly dragged Twilight towards Pinkie by the horn.

“Rainbow Dash, stop pulling my horn!” Twilight replied as she flared her wings in agitation. 

“But… but… something is wrong!” Rainbow replied as she released Twilights horn and looked back at Pinkie Pie in worry.

“Just calm down, Rainbow,” Twilight calmly responded as she made her way over to Pinkie. Up close, Twilight couldn’t help but become concerned as she noticed just how bad her friend was shaking. Her once bright pink coat had palled slightly and Twilight was sure that her bouncy hair had lost some of its bounciness.

“Pinkie, are you okay?” Twilight asked as she calmly placed a hoof on her friends shoulder. “You haven’t really explained what’s going on and we’re all scared.”

“I’m sorry everypony,” Pinkie Pie said as she slumped forwards slightly. “I know I haven’t really said much, but… I really needed you guys here for this.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Fluttershy asked from her position behind Applejack.

“I promise I’ll explain, but I just… I just…” Pinkie Pie began to reply, only to tail off as she began to shake more violently. “She’s here…”

“Who’s he…” Twilight began only to stop as the shops front door opened.

“Watch your step now sweetie,” Cup Cake’s voice rang softly as she walked into the shop.

“Yes ma’am,” an even softer young voice replied. Everypony watched as Cup Cake walked into the shop followed by Carrot Cake and then a small Pegasus filly.

Everypony couldn’t help but stare at the young filly. She was a little smaller than the crusaders and had a, slightly dulled, pure white coat and a strait, bright yellow mane and tail. As she slowly followed the two older ponies in, the filly kept her head down as she seemed to stare at the floor. Nopony said anything until the three new arrivers stopped right in front of Pinkie Pie.

“Would you like me to put your bag upstairs?” Carrot Cake asked as he began to reach for the saddlebags the filly was warring. But just before he could take them and add them to the ones he wore, the filly shied away.

“No, I’m fine,” the filly responded, still keeping her head down.

“O…Okay,” Carrot Cake stuttered as he pulled away. “Well, I’ll just put these upstairs and check on the twins,” he continued as he made his way towards the stares. He paused only to give Pinkie Pie a reassuring smile and nod.

“Well everypony,” Cup Cake said as she drew everyponies attention.  “I’d like to introduce you to… Surprise!”

Everypony watched as Cup Cake put on an obviously forced smile. Even with the introduction, Surprise kept her eyes hidden in her mane and locked on the ground.

“Why, hello there darling,” Rarity began. 

“Hi Surprise,” Fluttershy almost whispered.

“Sup,” Rainbow Dash greeted.

“Welcome to Ponyville, Surprise,” Applejack welcomed with a tip of her hat.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Surprise,” Twilight said with a smile. After Twilights greeting, Surprise seemed to shift a bit, revealing a big purple eye hidden behind her mane.

“He… hello… Surprise…” Pinkie Pie began to stutter, only to fall short as the filly burst into action.

“It’s the Elements of Harmony...” Surprise said breathlessly, a sense of wonder in her voice.

“Oh, we haven’t been that since we returned the elements to the Tree of Harmony,” Twilight said with a blush.

“Pri… Princess Twilight?!” Surprise sputtered, her gaze locking on the alicorn. Before anypony could stop her, Surprise rushed in front of Twilight and bowed politely, her wings fluttering slightly. 

“Oh, there’s no need for…” Twilight began, only for it to fall flat as the filly popped up and rushed over to her four friends on the other side of the room.

“And your Applejack, the Element of Honesty,” Surprise chimed as she rushed up towards the farmer.

“Aw, well shucks, it aint…”

“And you’re Rainbow Dash, the only pony to ever perform a Sonic Rainboom!” Surprise interrupted Applejack as she turned her attention towards the athlete.

“Well it’s always nice to meet a fa…”

“And you’re Miss Rarity! I’ve seen your designs all over!” Surprise interrupted once again. “And you’re Fluttershy! Is it true that you actually got Discord to be a good guy?”

“And here I thought nopony knew who we were,” Rarity commented as she smiled at Surprise’s energy.

“Uh… Sup… Surprise, you should really c-calm dow…” Pinkie Pie began, only to fall silent as Surprise glared at the pink pony with a hateful stare.

“Nopony was talking to you!” Surprise snapped.

“Well, that want very nice,” Twilight commented, a slight scowl on her face.

For a moment, Surprise seemed conflicted. It was obvious that she wanted to say something, but was probably trying to figure out a better way to respond to the princesses’ comment.

“It’s ok Twilight,” Pinkie Pie quickly said as she slowly got up and moved towards one of the tables. Picking up a platter full of healthy snacks, she carefully carried it over towards Surprise.

“I… I made these for you. Their supposed to be good for your heart… at least, that’s what the book said… and Twilight,” Pinkie Pie began to mutter as she held the platter down far enough for Surprise to see its contents.

At first it seemed that Surprise was just going to ignore the food. Then, a small gurgle echoed from the filly’s stomach. With a reluctant grunt, Surprise took one of the snacks and slowly began eating it.

“Anypony else really confused right now?” Rainbow Dash asked her friends quietly enough that only they could hear her.

“About as confused as finding a apple barrel full of pears on the farm,” Applejack quietly replied.

“Should we say something?” Fluttershy asked, her overly soft voice mixing perfectly with the hushed conversation.

“Why don’t we just ask Mrs. Cake?” Rarity questioned as she looked back at the mare. The entire time, Cup Cake had not moved from her spot, her forced smile still on her face as she kept her eyes locked on Pinkie and Surprise. 

“Then what are we waitin for?” Applejack said as she led the others towards the baker. Leaving Pinkie, Twilight, and Surprise by the tables as the filly continued to munch on snacks in silence.

Even as the group made their way over, Mrs. Cake didn’t budge an inch or shift her gaze. 

“Excuse us, Mrs. Cake?” Rarity began, trying to catch the older mares’ attention. After a few moments, Mrs. Cake’s attention finally shifted towards the four mares.

“Oh, I’m sorry dear, what can I help you with?” Mrs. Cake asked with slight hesitation.

“We were all just wondering what was going on with Pinkie Pie and the filly?” Rainbow Dash asked, stealing a quick glance back at the others. Twilight was now explaining something to Surprise, while Pinkie Pie just sat nearby with a slightly defeated look. “She’s been acting weird all day.”

“Oh I’m sorry everypony, but Pinkie asked me not to say anything,” Mrs. Cake replied glumly before continuing back to what she had been doing.

“Well, that didn’t help?” Rainbow Dash sighed, not caring that Mrs. Cake was right next to her.

“We could always try asking Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy said, taking a step back towards the others.

“But she hasn’t made any sense all day,” Rainbow Dash complained as the rest of them followed Fluttershy.

“…which in turn helps the cardiovascular system,” Twilight seemed to finish as her other friends walked over. 

“Wow,” Surprise said, only one eye still visible through her hair. “I’m talking to a princess.”

“You haven’t heard a single word I’ve said, have you?” Twilight asked with a sigh and a slight chuckle.

“I’m talking with a princess,” Surprise repeated, a sense of wonder in her voice.

“I thought so,” Twilight said with a slight smirk.

“I’d hate to interrupt,” Rarity said, catching everyponies attention before she turned to look at Pinkie Pie. “But are you ok dear? You’ve been acting strangely all day, and we’re all very worried.”

“I’m sorry girls, it’s just…” Pinkie Pie quietly began to reply, only to stop as she received another glare from Surprise. 

“Pinkie, we’re your friends, you can talk to us,” Twilight said as she turned her attention to her friend.

“I will, I promise,” Pinkie Pie assured her friends. “I just have to get some things done first.”

“Pinkie, are you sure you’re alright,” Applejack asked, pushing her hat up a bit.

“Yeah, are you okay?” Surprise snapped rudely, although nopony seemed to notice.

“I’m fine everypony, I swear.” Pinkie Pie said, obviously only halfheartedly.

“Then why won’t you talk to use Pinkie? There’s obviously something wrong. You haven’t even told us who Surprise is,” Twilight almost pleaded.

“She’s… she’s…” Pinkie Pie tried to begin, her head slumped down as her hair flatten slightly. Before anypony knew it, several tears hit the floor.

“Pinkie dear, whatever’s the matter?” Rarity quickly asked as she and her friends pulled the mare into a hug.

“I can’t believe you!” Surprise shouted, drawing everyponies attention.

“Surprise, I’m sorry, I just…” Pinkie Pie tried to begin as she pushed her friends away.

“No!” Surprise shouted, causing everypony to jump slightly. Before anypony could stop her, Surprise rushed off and up the nearby stares, disappearing into the upper levels of the bakery.

“Surprise!” Pinkie Pie called after the filly, rushing off to follow her. But just before she could reach the stairs, Mrs. Cake stepped in the way, blocking her path.

“It’s ok Pinkie; I’ll go talk to her, okay?” Cup Cake offered.

For a few moments, Pinkie Pie stared at Cup Cake as she seemed to debate as to what to do. After a few moments, she gave a final nod.

“Okay sweetie,” Cup Cake said with a reassuring smile before she made her way up the stairs. Pinkie silently watched as the baker disappeared up the stairs, leaving her alone with her friends.

“Pinkie…” Twilight said as she calmly made her way over to her friend.

“I’m sorry I wasted your time everypony,” Pinkie Pie glumly replied as she turned to face her friends, wiping away any leftover tears she had.

“Pinkie Pie, please tell us what’s wrong,” Fluttershy asked softly as she wrapped her friend in a hug once again.

“I can’t everypony, not yet,” Pinky responded with a sigh. “I’m sorry, but the party’s over.”

“But Pinkie, something is obviously wrong,” Twilight tried to reply. “If you would just talk to us, then maybe…”

“I will Twilight, but not right now, I ‘Pinkie Promise’,” Pinkie Pie said as she silently went through the gestures.

“Okay,” Twilight said with some hesitation. “But you know you can talk to us, right?”

“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie sighed.

“Well, I guess I better go back to the farm then,” Applejack said reluctantly.

“You mind if I tag along AJ? I wanna check on Scoots,” Rainbow Dash asked. With a nod of her head, AJ lead the way as she and Rainbow Dash left. Soon, Rarity and Fluttershy left as well, both deciding to head to the spa.

“You know where to find me if you need to talk, right?” Twilight asked before leaving.

“I know Twi…” Pinkie Pie sighed once again, quickly glancing at the stares.

“Okay, well I better get back to the…”

“Wait!” Pinkie Pie suddenly snapped drawing Twilights attention.  “Just wait one moment please,” Pinkie Pie pleaded before she rushed back into the kitchen.

“Pinkie, what is it…” Twilight began to ask before Pinkie Pie rushed back out, a stack of papers in her mouth.

“I know I haven’t said anything,” Pinkie Pie began, placing the papers down on a nearby table. “But I really need your help with something.”

“Anything Pinkie!” Twilight said as she rushed up next to her friend.

“I need you to sign something for me,” Pinkie Pie asked, almost reluctantly. “But promise you won’t think differently of me, please?”

“Pinkie, I will never think differently of you, we’re friends and that’s not going to change,” Twilight replied as she gave her friend a reassuring hug.

“Thanks Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said with a small smile, moving to allow Twilight to see the papers. Moving to get a better look, Twilight began skimming through the first few pages.

“Aww, Pinkie, this is nothing to be sad about,” Twilight said with a smile, still looking at the pages. “I think this is really nice of you.”

“Keep going…” Pinkie Pie sighed. With a nod, Twilight continued, but after a few more pages, her smile turned into a saddened frown.

“Oh, the poor filly,” Twilight said as a lone tear slid down her face. 

“Keep going…” Pinkie Pie chocked out as a tear fell down her face as well. Steeling herself, Twilight continued to the last set of pages. As she read, her frown changed as her eyes widened in shock.

“P-Pinkie?” Twilight stuttered as she looked at her friend. With that, Pinkie broke down, her mane and tail completely flattening as tears poured from her eyes.

Carefully, Twilight pulled her friend into the softest, warmest, most caring hug she could give as she signed the papers with her magic.

“It’s okay Pinkie, its okay,” Twilight softly cooed, brushing a hoof down the back of Pinkie’s mane. So many questions were flashing through her mind, but she dint ask a single one as her friend continued to cry into her chest. All the while, asking for forgiveness.

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Sweetie,” Cup Cake called softly through the twin’s closet door. “Please come out.”

“No!” Surprise shouted back. “I don’t want to be here, I never did! I just want to go home!”

“Sweetie, I am so sorry, but you know that you can’t,” Cup Cake continued, a small tear running down her cheek. 

“I don’t care!” Surprise snapped as her sniffles could be heard. For a few minutes, nothing was said as Surprise continued to cry.

“Cup Cake, maybe I could…” Carrot Cake began, only to fall silent as a shriek could be heard from the closet.

“Help, it’s going to eat me!” Surprise called as she burst out of the closet and hid behind Cup Cake. The backer gave Surprise one quick concerned look before she looked into the closet. A few moments latter, she couldn’t help but chuckle.

“There’s no need to worry sweet heart, its only Gummy,” the older mare chuckled as she pulled out the little green alligator. 

“It’s a alligator and it wants to eat me!” Surprise shouted in fear.

“It’s okay,” Carrot Cake said as he walked over to the filly and his wife, their foals on his back. “Gummy’s Pinkies pet alligator, plus,” Carrot cake continues while Gummy suddenly jumped up and latched himself to Cup Cakes mane, gumming it like he commonly did to Pinkie Pie’s, “he doesn’t have any teeth.”

“But he was staring at me,” Surprise stuttered as Gummy released Cup Cake’s mane and landed on the ground, his eyes staring at nothing.

“He… uh, he does that,” Cup Cake said with a forced smile. “We’re not really sure why, but he just does.”

For a few moments, Surprise continued to stare at Gummy. For a split second, the alligator’s eyes seemed to focus on Surprise before they went back to their neutral position. 

“He’s weird,” Surprise mumbled, looking at the older mare.

“Yes, well…” Cup Cake began, only to fall silent. It was obvious to Surprise that the older mare wanted to say something else, but decided against it with a quick shake of her head. 

“Would you like a tour of the house?” Carrot cake asked as the foals on his back gurgled their own responses.

“Okay,” Surprise mumbled with a nod.


*	*	*


“Okay, next time, we use the industrial strength rubber bands and not the ones we use for school,” Apple Bloom grumbled as her and her friends entered their clubhouse.

“But we were so close!’ Scootaloo grumbled, her small wings flared in agitation. “If they had just held for a few more seconds…”

“If it had lasted a few more seconds, you still wouldn’t have made it to Rainbow Dash’s house,” Sweetie Belle groaned, rubbing the side of her head with a hoof. “And why was I the counter weight again?”

“Because I was making sure everything was in position,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Well, can the next thing we do be my idea, because Rarity just got this new fabric that…”

“Now I’m stopping y’all right there and say that would be a bad idea,” Applejack’s voice chuckled from the clubhouse door.

“Hey sis,” Apple Bloom greeted as she rushed over and gave her sister a hug. “Where did you go earlier?”

“A new pony came to town and Pinkie Pie…”

“Threw the worst party ever!” Rainbow Dash interrupted as she flew in from a nearby window. 

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she rushed up to her idol, receiving her regular mane ruffle.

“What do you mean she threw the worst party ever? Pinkie Pie’s parties are the best.” Sweetie Belle asked, a slightly concerned look on her face.

“She only invited the five of us, and even then, there were no decorations, no music, and worst of all,” Rainbow Dash paused for dramatic effect. “There were healthy snacks.”

All three fillies gasped in horror at what they just heard. Suddenly, they began bombarding the older mares with questions, each concerned for their pink friend.

“Now just calm down now,” Applejack said, settling the fillies down. “I’m happy to see that y’all are worried for a friend, but there’s a different reason I came here.”

“We promise to clean it up!” Apple Bloom began to say. “We just wanted to grab something from the clubhouse and…”

“I don’t even want to know…” Applejack grumbled, interrupting her sister. “What I was hoping was that you three wouldn’t mind spending time with this new filly. We don’t know why she’s here, but by how things looked, it’s going to be for some time and she could rightly use a friend or two, or three.”

“Of course sis, we’d be glad to,” Apple Bloom replied for the group with a smile. “What’s her name?”

“Surprise,” Rainbow Dash replied. “White, Pegasus, no cutie mark, probably a little younger then you three,” Rainbow Dash listed off.

“Okay, come on crusaders, let’s go give her a Cutie Mark Crusaders welcome,” Apple Bloom proclaimed as she and her friends rushed back out of the clubhouse, grabbing their capes in the process.

“Well, we just doomed the town once again,” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“The moment Pinkie Pie cried, the town was doomed,” Applejack relied. “I just hope she’s okay.”

“Hey, with friends like us, there’s nothing to worry about,” Rainbow Dash replied as she made her way to the door as well. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check on some paperwork.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you then,” Applejack chuckled as she bumped her side against her friend. With that, the two walked back outside, Rainbow Dash taking to the sky and Applejack out into the fields.


*	*	*


“And this is where you’ll be staying,” Cup Cake said as they walked into, what had to be, Pinkie Pie’s room.

Surprise couldn’t help but stare in amazement at the room. It was the largest room in the house, easily bigger than the bakery itself. Balloons were hung everywhere and most of the furniture also featured balloons as well. On one side of the room, Surprise could see a a large table, on the other, a staircase that lead to an overhead balcony and large window.

Across from where they stood were two beds and a large wardrobe. One bed was obviously Pinkie Pie’s by the design of the bed frame. The other bed was a few feet away from it and looked like one that was pulled out for guests.

“This one’s mine, isn’t it?” Surprise asked as she walked up to the guest bed.

“Actually sweetie, Pinkie Pie was going to stay in that one while you stayed in hers. Just until we get you one of your own,” Cup Cake said as she led Surprise to the better bed.

“I’d rather stay in the other one…” Surprise grumbled as she moved back over towards the guest bed.

“Excuse me,” Twilight's voice came from the room’s door. Like earlier, Surprise quickly rushed over and bowed her head.
“I already told you,” Twilight continued with a small smile. “There’s no need to do that, okay?”

“Yes, Princess Twilight,” Surprise replied, a small smile on her face as well.

“And just call me, Twilight, okay?” Twilight asked.

“Okay, Twilight,” Surprise chirped, blushing slightly.

“So what do you need Twilight,” Carrot Cake asked.

“I was hoping to speak to Surprise for a second if you don’t mind,” Twilight said as she made her way farther into the room.

“Okay dear,” Cup Cake said as she lead her husband and foals out of the room.

“What did you want to talk about, Pri… Twilight?” Surprise asked with a bit of hesitation.

“I just wanted to see how you’re doing,” Twilight began as she levitated the filly onto the guest bed, taking a seat next to her in the process. “I found out what happened, and just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“I… I…” Surprise tried to say, only to stop as she began to sniffle. “I really miss them.”

“I know you do,” Twilight said as she pulled the filly into a hug, letting her cry in her chest for a few minutes. “But Pinkie’s still here, so…”

“No!” Surprise snapped, pulling away from the hug. “I don’t care about her; I rather would have stayed with my grandparents!”

“But, you know…”

“Like I said, I don’t care,” Surprise interrupted as she hopped off the bed. “I don’t even know anypony here.”

“Well, would you like to?” Twilight asked, causing Surprise to look back at her. “There are actually three fillies downstairs that really want to meet you.”

“I guess,” Surprise said after a few moments.

“Okay then, just follow me,” Twilight said as she lead Surprise back down into the shop.

Just as Twilight said, three fillies sat calmly at one of the tables, each drinking a milkshake.

“Why can’t we just go up there? We already promised to not surprise her,” Scootaloo grumbled into her drink.

“Because Twilight asked us not too,” Apple Bloom stated matter-of-factly.

“Hi girls,” Twilight greeted as she walked over to the table, Surprise hiding behind her.

“Hi Twilight, is that her?” Sweetie Belle asked as she glanced back at Surprise.

“Hello,” Surprise squeaked, moving out from behind Twilight.

“Hi!” the three greeted as they rushed over to properly introduce themselves. Surprise had to look up slightly to look at each filly properly.

“I’m Apple Bloom, this is Scootaloo, and that’s Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said, introducing herself and her friends.

“I’m Surprise,” Surprise quietly said, looking back down at the ground.

“It’s nice to meet you Surprise,” all three said at once. Looking back up, Surprise couldn’t help but notice the strange cape each one of them had.

“What are those?” Surprise asked as she pointed at the capes.

“You mean these?” Apple Bloom asked as she turned, allowing a better view of the cape and its emblem. Surprise nodded, but couldn’t help but cringe as the three fillies began to smile.

“These mean that we’re part of the Cutie Mare Crusaders,” Sweetie Belle said proudly.

“On a quest to find out what our special talents are!’ Scootaloo continued

“We do all kinds of things,” Apple Bloom began before she started listing off all the things they usually did.

“And you still haven’t found your cutie marks?” Surprise interrupted after a few minutes.

“Not yet,” Apple Bloom sighed.

“But we will!” Scootaloo said confidently.

“So, do you wanna join?” Sweetie Belle asked, pulling another cape out of nowhere.

“Join what?” Surprise asked, suddenly feeling a little intimidated.

“The crusaders,” Apple Bloom chirped with a smile.

“I don’t think I can,” Surprise began to reply. “I’m only five and…”

“So,” Scootaloo interrupted. “You can be like, the youngest pony ever to get their cutie mark.”

“Actually Scootaloo,” Twilight said, reminding the fillies that she was there. “The youngest pony to get their cutie mark was two years, four months, and three days old.”

“And we always do really fun stuff,” Apple Bloom continued, revealing that none of them had actually listened to what Twilight had said.

“I don’t know, I mean…” Surprise began.

“How about a trial run then?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah, you can follow us around and we’ll show you the kind of things we do,” Scootaloo added, all three crusaders smiling in excitement.

“I’m sorry, but I just…” Surprise began to reply, her gaze going back to the ground. 

“You should go Surprise,” Twilight chirped with a smile. “I’ll make sure everypony knows where you are, okay?”

Looking up at Twilight and then the saddlebags she still had on, Surprise agreed with a simple nod.

“Yay!” the three crusaders shouted before they dragged Surprise out the shop’s door and down the street.

“Thanks Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said as she made her way out of the kitchen.

“Just give her some time Pinkie,” Twilight said as she followed her friend out of the shop. “Once she gets settled in, it should get a little easier.”

“I sure hope so Twilight,” Pinkie Pie sighed as she quickly began to trot down the street the fillies disappeared.


*	*	*


“Okay, so we still have a few hours until dinner, what should we do?” Scootaloo asked as the group continued down the street.

“We could always show her the club house,” Sweetie Belle stated.

“How about we…” Apple Bloom began, only to be interrupted by Surprise.

“Actually, can you just show me around town?” Surprise asked a little timidly. “Mr. Cake and Mrs. Cake told me about a few places on the way to the bakery, but I kinda wanna see the rest of the town.”

“Okay Surprise,” Apple Bloom said with a smile.

“But where to start?” Sweetie Belle pondered.

“I have the perfect idea,” Scootaloo proclaimed, turning her attention to Surprise. “Surprise, have you ever seen a dragon before?”

“… No,” Surprise shuttered, becoming a little afraid. She had heard plenty of stories about dragons attacking travelers and how they would eat misbehaving little fillies and colts.

“Then it’s time we introduced you to, Spike!” Sweetie Belle replied with a confident grin. Taking the lead, she led the group of fillies towards the town library. None of them, noticing the small pink blur that continued to follow them from a safe distance.

“Ok,” Apple Bloom began as the library came into sight. “Now, this is Golden Oaks Library.”

“Its also where Twilight and Spike live,” Scootaloo added as they closed in.

“Why would a princess live in a library?” Surprise asked as they stood outside the front door. “Aren’t princesses supposed to live in big castles?”

“Nah, Twilight is way cooler than that,” Scootaloo replied.

“Yeah, she was actually born and raised in Canterlot, but decided to stay here after the coordination,” Apple Bloom continued, knocking on the door.

“Where are you from Surprise?” Sweetie Belle asked while they waited.

“A small city to the south of Manehatten,” Surprise said hesitantly. “It was really nice, until…”

“How many times do I have to tell everypony,” a voice interrupted as the library doors opened, revealing a small purple and green dragon. “It’s a public library, you can just walk in.”

“We're sorry Spike,” the three crusaders said together, but the smiles on their faces meant they didn’t really mean it.

“We just wanted to introduce somepony to you,” Apple Bloom said, moving aside so Spike could see Surprise.

“Hi there Surprise, I’m Spike,” the dragon said as he held out a claw. But instead of shaking it, Surprise stared at it through her hair as if it were about to attack.

“A…are you r-really a dragon?” Surprise stuttered, taking a chance to look at Spike.

“Of course I’m a dragon,” Spike said with a smile. “But I understand your hesitation. Most ponies act like that when they see me.”

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Spike,” Surprise said as she hesitantly shook Spike’s claw.

“So your new in town huh?” Spike asked, Surprise simply nodding. “So, where are you staying?”

“Sugar Cube Corner,” Surprise replied with a slight scowl.

“Oh, so you’re related to the Cakes then?” Spike asked. At first Surprise hesitated before she finally nodded.

“So that’s why you’re staying there,” Sweetie Belle said as if it answered one of her own questions.

“What about your parents?” Spike asked, the others looked towards Surprise as they expected her to answer quickly. But after a few moments, the only response they got was a few tears.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Spike tried to begin.

“No… it’s okay,” Surprise quietly interjected, drying her eye’s with a hoof. “Nopony really knows, so it’s not your fault.”

“You wanna talk about it?” Apple Bloom asked as she got closer to the smaller filly. 

“No,” Surprise mumbled with a shake of her head. “Can we just go back to showing me around town?”

“Okay,” Apple Bloom replied hesitantly, looking towards her friends for confirmation. After a moment of silent debate, both nodded as well.

“Well then, let’s go,” Apple Bloom stuttered as she led her friends away from the library, each of them saying farewell to Spike.

The rest of the tour went by in relative silence. The only time any of them spoke was when one wanted to tell Surprise about a shop, building, or introduce her to somepony. By the time the tour was over, the sun had set and most places had already closed.

“Oh no!” Sweetie Belle said as she looked up at the town clock. “I was supposed to be back at Rarity’s thirty minutes ago!”

“Applejacks going to kill me,” Apple Bloom began to worry. “Come on Surprise, we have to get you back fast!”

Quickly, the three crusaders began to run towards the bakery, not noticing at first that Surprise wasn’t running nearly as fast as they were.

“Come on Surprise, we gotta hurry!” Scootaloo called back after a few streets.

“I can’t!” Surprise called back, already panting heavily. Stopping where they were, the crusaders quickly made their way back to Surprise, concern on their faces.

“Surprise, what’s wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I… I have… under developed lungs… and a… weak heart,” Surprise wheezed, trying her best to catch her breath. “I need to… take my… medicine.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Apple Bloom asked, obviously worried.

“Surprise!?” a voice rang from a nearby bush. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie hopped out, a worried look on her face as she rushed up to the wheezing filly. “I knew I should have stopped you earlier. Are you okay? Do you have your medicine with you?”

“Pinkie Pie, have you been following us?” Apple Bloom asked, annoyed that they we’re followed, but happy to have a grown pony there to help.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to…” 

“To butt in where you’re not wanted!” Surprise interrupted, finally catching her breath. “Why are you even here?”

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Pinkie Pie said as she gave Surprise some space.

For a few moments, Surprise glared at Pinkie Pie like she had earlier that day. Pinkie tried to smile in return, hoping to put the filly’s heart at ease, but realized after a few minutes that it wasn’t helping as much as she hoped.

“I’m tired,” Surprise finally sighed, looking down at the ground.

“Do you want me to carry you back to the bakery?” Pinkie Pie asked as she bent down to let Surprise clime on. Reluctantly, the filly climbed on and settled herself on the older mares back.

“If you want, I can walk you girls home too,” Pinkie Pie offered the crusaders. With a simple, yet hesitant nod, the crusaders began to follow Pinkie Pie back to their homes, wishing each other a good night and promising to see them again the next day.

By the time, Pinkie Pie returned to the bakery, Surprise had fallen asleep and was snoring softly.

“How did it go?” Cup Cake asked as Pinkie Pie made her way into the kitchen. She had a hopeful look as she quickly pulled out two small plates of food.

“The crusaders gave her a tour of the town,” Pinkie Pie replied with a sigh. “But when it got late, they all tried to run home and Surprise... well, you can probably guess.”

“Well, at least she’s okay,” Cup Cake said as she walked over to wake Surprise up so she could eat. After a few failed attempts, Surprise finally opened her eyes.

“Where am I?” she asked in a tired voice.

“Your back home sweetie,” Cup Cake said softly, helping the filly off of Pinkie’s back and taking her saddlebags.

“This isn’t my home,” Surprise grumbled as she made her way over towards the food, her stomach growling in anticipation.

“Just give it some time,” Pinkie Pie began, smiling softly as she sat opposite Surprise to eat. “I know you’ll come to love it here in Ponyville.”

“I don’t care,” Surprise mumbled to herself as she slowly ate her food. After she was finished eating, she pulled a small white container out of her saddlebags. It was marked for each day, and inside where the pills she had to take.

After she was finished taking her pill’s Surprise left the kitchen to wash up before bed.

“I don’t know what to do Mrs. Cake,” Pinkie Pie began the moment she was sure, Surprise was out of earshot. “She barely trust’s me and all I want to do is help.”

“I know its hard Pinkie,” Cup Cake began to reply, taking the dirty dishes to the sink to wash. “But she’s been through a very traumatic experience and if anypony can help her, it’s you.”

“I know Mrs. Cake,” Pinkie Pie sighed as she slowly made her way out of the kitchen. By the time Pinkie made it upstairs, Surprise had already finished getting ready for bed.

As Pinkie entered her room, she couldn’t help but become slightly disappointed as she found Surprise asleep in the guest bed instead of her bed.

“Hey Gummy,” Pinkie greeted the alligator standing on the foot of the guest bed. “Making sure Surprise is okay?”

As if in reply, Gummy blinked and wagged his tail once before continuing his silent vidgle.

“Yep, this is her,” Pinkie Pie said as she carefully pulled the filly out of the guest bed and placed her in the other bed. “Now don’t give me that look Mr!” Pinkie Pie snapped at the silent alligator.

Gummy merely blinked in response.

“I know, I know…” Pinkie Pie sighed as she finished tucking Surprise in. Once again, Gummy blinked, causing Pinkie to smile.

Picking Gummy up, Pinkie placed him next to Surprise in the bed. After a moment, Gummy’s eye’s closed and his own soft snores were added to the filly’s.

“Thanks Gummy, I knew I could count on you,” Pinkie Pie said before she got into the guest bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Surprise couldn’t help but smile as the early morning light slowly woke her from her dreamless sleep. It had been the first night in well over a week where she hadn’t woken up continually, plagued by nightmares. It also helped her as she realized she hadn’t even wet the bed.

But as she opened her eyes, Surprise heart sank. Her still partially asleep mind quickly began to fill with worry at the unfamiliar surroundings. The room’s bright and cheerful colors only seemed to confuse and worry her more.

Only when she looked back at the frame of the bed she was in, did Surprise remember what happened the other day. Surprise couldn’t help but scowl as she stared at the balloon shaped engravings. Only to quickly shift to confusion.

“Didn’t I fall asleep in the other bed?” Surprise questioned as she began to get out of the large pink bed. But a sudden movement next to the filly, caused her to stumble the rest of the way off.

A few moments later, a small green head with big purple eyes made its way out from under the blankets, blinking once as he stared at Surprise.

“Don’t do that!” Surprise huffed.

Gummy just stared back blankly at Surprise, not moving a single inch.

“You’re really weird…” Surprise said, looking around the room for her saddlebags. Seeing them next to the guest bed, the filly quickly checked to make sure everything she needed was still in them before she slipped them onto her back.

Once she was finished with that, Surprise made her way out of the room and into the bathroom. Pushing a small stool up to the sink, Surprise looked herself over in the mirror. As expected, her hair still lay flat and lifeless, covering a good portion of her face.

Her coat was still slightly dirty from walking the unfamiliar dirt streets the day before. She contemplated taking a bath, but decided to take one later.

Looking down at the sink, Surprise was caught slightly off guard as she found a new, unopened toothbrush and a tube of foal toothpaste that was supposed to taste like cotton candy. Not caring that she hadn’t even eaten yet, Surprise went ahead and cleaned her face and brushed her teeth.

Once she was finished, Surprised noticed Gummy standing just outside the bathroom door, staring blankly.

“Like I said, you’re really weird,” Surprise reiterated, staring at Gummy with a confused look. Like always, Gummy just stared back blankly as the filly made her way out of the room and down the stairs.

Even though it was still really early, the bakery already held a multitude of ponies. All of them either eating their recent purchase at a table, or waiting in line to be served. The only exception being Mr. and Mrs. Cake, who were busy taking and filling orders.

“Good morning, Surprise,” Cup Cake smiled as she placed several Jammie Dodgers in a paper bag and handed it to a brown coated stallion. “Breakfast is waiting for you in the kitchen if you’re hungry.”

“Thank you,” Surprise replied as she wormed her way through the crowed. Ponies quickly moved to allow the filly through, giving their own ‘good morning’ in the process.

Once she entered the kitchen, all the sounds from the other room quickly began to dim down. On one side of the room, Surprise could see Pumpkin and Pound Cake throwing more food at each other than they actually ate from their highchairs. On the other side, Pinkie Pie worked diligently as she removed and replaced trays of sweets from ovens, decorated several kinds of cakes and hummed a catchy tune; all at once.

“Good morning, Surprise!” Pinkie Pie chirped with one of her signature smiles. Putting down several trays she had stacked on her back, Pinkie rushed over to the filly. “Are you hungry?”

For a few moments, Surprise couldn’t help but feel slightly confused and concerned as the pink mare in front of her seemed to bounce with a energy that hadn’t been there the day before.

“I guess…” Surprise stuttered. She couldn’t help but think that the older mare was up to something. But if she had to admit it, Pinkie Pie’s smile did make her fell a little better.

“Just give me one sec,” Pinkie Pie replied with an energetic smile. While Pinkie rushed back to the other side of the room, Surprise hopped into a nearby chair, settling herself at the table.

Doing the impossible, Pinkie not only went back to doing what she had bee, but also preparing Surprise’s breakfast. After a few minutes, Pinkie placed a large plate in front of the filly. Instantly, Surprise recognized her favorite breakfast.

Blueberry pancakes with a light toping of strawberry syrup took up most of the plate. On one side sat two pieces of cinnamon sugar toast, on the other was a single boiled egg. Pinkie Pie also set down a cup of orange and a small morning salad.

“If you need anything else, don’t be afraid to ask,” pinkie Pie said before returning to her baking.

“She’s up to something, I know it,” Surprise quietly mumbled to herself. Steeling herself, the filly took her first bite and instantly drew back. It wasn’t that she thought it tasted bad, infact, she thought the opposite. 

Surprise quickly returned to eating her food as she savored everything. She had already finished eating most of it when she finally decided to look up.

Gummy stood right in front of her, a small bowl filled with a strange red substance sat in front of him.

“What’s that?” Surprise asked, pointing a hoof at the bowl.

“Gummy’s food,” Pinkie Pie simple stated from the other side of the room.

“But what is it?” Surprise asked once more, becoming slightly annoyed.

“Its Gummy’s food you silly filly, what else would it be?” Pinkie Pie giggled, closing the last stove.

“Never mind,” Surprise grumbled, returning to her food. Soon enough, she and the twins were finished and Pinkie Pie began to clean up.

“So,” Pinkie began, wiping the twins clean with a cloth. “Do you wanna come with me today while I run some errands?”

It took Surprise a moment to realize that she was being talked to, mostly because she was taking her morning pills. But when she did, she couldn’t help but scowl slightly at the idea.

“Why should I?!” Surprise snapped, only to regret it after. She was beginning to think that she was being too mean.

“Well, I have to go to the hospital and set up a few appointments, stop by the pharmacy and make sure they carry your prescriptions, drop a box of goodies  off at the Hooves house, and…”

“Pass,” Surprise interrupted. The prospect of going anywhere with Pinkie Pie was the last thing on Surprise’s to do list, let alone to all those boring places.

“Oh,” Pinkie Pie sighed, sounding slightly disappointed. “Well, its Sunday, so if you want, you can go play with the crusaders.

“So you can follow us around again? No thanks,” Surprise huffed.

“I’m sorry I did that, Surprise; but I just wanted to make sure nothing bad happened,” Pinkie apologized. “But I promise to not do it without you permission again. You just have to promise me one teensy little thing.”

“And what’s that?” Surprised huffed, already dreading what was going to be said.

“You gotta take Gummy with you,” Pinkie Pie replied, holding the alligator in her hooves while smiling hopefully.

“What?!” Surprise snapped. She already thought he was weird and couldn’t help but think that it would only get worse.

“Because he wants to spend time with you,” Pinkie Pie giggled, holding Gummy out towards ths filly. He blinked once before Pinkie continued. “See, he likes you!”

Surprise decided to consider it for a moment, almost instantly relizing that she’d rather take the alligator instead of Pinkie Pie. But the one thing that really caused her to hesitate, was that she didn’t even know if Pinkie Pie would keep her promise.

“How do I even know if you’ll keep your promise?” Surprise asked.

“I ‘Pinkie Promise’,” Pinkie replied before going through the motions.

“How is that any different from a normal promise?” Surprise questioned, confused even more.

“Because nopony breaks a ‘Pinkie Promise’,” Pinkie Pie replied, her expression turning serious. “Breaking a ‘Pinkie Promise’ is the first way to lose a friend.”

“So is that what I am to you?” Surprise mumbled so quietly, only she could hear it. Looking back up, Surprise watched as Pinkie Pie continued to hold Gummy towards her, a giant smile plastered on her face.

“Fine…” Surprise finally relented. “But if I find out you lied and…”

“I won’t, I promise,” Pinkie Pie interrupted, releasing Gummy from her grip.

The moment the alligator hit the ground, he hopped up and rushed towards Surprise. Before she could stop him, Gummy lunched himself at the filly’s left saddlebag, climbing in.

“Hey!” Surprise yelled, hopping out of her seat. She was mad that Gummy had decided to just hop into her bag of his own accord, but was slightly relived that he had chosen the one that didn’t hold anything important.

A moment later, Gummy’s head popped out from under the bags flap.

“Oh, come on!” Surprise whined, hoping that Gummy would move somewhere else. But he just continued to stare blankly from his position.

“Sorry, he usually likes to ride in something,” Pinkie Pie said as she took the Twins’ out of their highchairs and placing them on her back. “Come on, I’ll walk you to Applejack’s. The crusaders should be there already.”

“Fine…” Surprise groaned, following Pinkie Pie out of the kitchen.


*	*	*


“… and this is the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse,” Apple Bloom proclaimed as she and Surprise walked up the wooden ramp.

“Wow…” Surprise gawked as she looked at the clubhouse. Even though it was obvious that the small clubhouse had seen better days, it still looked really cool to her. She couldn’t wait to see the inside.

“There you guys are,” Scootaloo’s voice came as the clubhouse’s front door opened, revealing the orange filly. “We’ve been waiting forever!”

“We’ve only been waiting for five minutes,” Sweetie Belle interjected, coming into view. Surprise barely held back her giggle as she noticed what the unicorn was wearing.

She had a bright orange life jacket on. She also wore water wings on her front two legs and a swimming cape held most of her mane, allowing only her horn and lower back portion of mane free.

“But it’s felt like forever!” Scootaloo complained, making her way back into the clubhouse, the others following close behind.

The inside was even better then Surprise suspected. All kinds of posters hung on the walls, from motivational, to hoof drawn maps of the town. On one side of the room a large chest and table sat. On the other, there was a bookcase, a smaller table, and a pile of random supplies. There was even a large podium placed in one of the corners.

“Cool, huh?” Scootaloo asked with a confident grin. Surprise could only nod as she continued to look around the room.

“Hey, you brought Gummy!” Sweetie Belle just about cheered, pulling the alligator out of Surprise’s bag.

“Yeah, Pinkie Pie promised not to follow us if I brought him with me,” Surprise sighed, still not fully believing Pinkie’s promise.

“You got her to ‘Pinkie Promise’, right?” Scootaloo asked as she quickly glanced around the room.

“Well, yeah, but I don’t see how…”

“Good!” Scootaloo interrupted with a smile, “because we don’t need anypony worrying about what we’re doing this morning.”

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” Surprise almost stuttered as she looked towards the other two crusaders. She also noticed Gummy gurgle, but nopony else seemed to.

“No need to worry, Surprise,” Apple Bloom replied as she walked over to the large chest and opening it, “we aint doin nothing dangerous.”

Surprises watched as Apple Bloom continued to pull out three life jackets and a small toolbox.

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said as she returned Gummy to the saddlebag. “We’re going sailing!”

“There’s a small river in the west fields that Applejack said we could play in,” Apple Bloom continued, giving Surprise and Scootaloo life jackets. 

“Why?” Surprise asked as she slipped the jacket on under her bags.

“Because we’re going to be pirates!” Scootaloo proclaimed, slipping a eye patch over her right eye.

“Cool,” Surprise replied in wonder.

“Yep,” the crusaders replied together.

“Is everypony ready?” Apple Bloom asked, receiving a confirming nod from the other fillies. “Then lets go!”


“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER PIRATES, YAY!”



*	*	*


“I’ll be sure to have ample stock of those prescriptions, Pinkie,” the pharmaceutical pony told Pinkie with a smile.

“Oh, thank you so much!” Pinkie Pie replied with an even greater smile. With incredible speed, Pinkie placed a cupcake on the counter and rushed out the pharmacies front door.

“Why hello, Pinkie Pie,” a familiar voice called once Pinkie was outside.

“Good morning, Rarity,” Pinkie Pie replied, turning to face her friend. “Whatcha doin?”

“Just a bit of a morning walk to streach my legs,” Rarity replied with a flick of her mane as she walked up beside her friend. “But I must say,I am ever so happy to see you as your spry and energetic self once again. You had all of us dreadfully worried with how you were acting yesterday.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Pinkie Pie replied with a chuckle while leading Rarity down a nearby street. “I had a lot of things on my mind and I let it mess with me too much.”

“May I ask what those things were?” Rarity asked, trying to keep up with Pinkie Pie, who had started bouncing.

“Oh, a little bit of this, that, and cake,” Pinkie Pie replied with a giggle.

“Okay…” Rarity trailed off, obviously still concerned for her pink friend. “What about, Surprise? She is enjoying Ponyville, is she not?”

“I think she is,” Pinkie Pie said as the two walked up to a small house. “She hasn’t really talked to me, but she is with the crusader’s.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rarity asked, remembering just the kind of trouble her sister and her friends usually got into.

“It’s ok, Gummy’s watching her,” Pinkie Pie replied, knocking on the house's front door.

“Okay then…” Rarity said with some hesitation. She was a little skeptical on Pinkie’s choice, but had learned a long time ago to never bother questioning her.

Just then, the houses front door opened as two unicorns stepped out. One was a small periwinkle filly with a yellow mane and tail. The other was a young mare with a pink coat and purple mane and tail.

“Hi Dinky, hi Sparkler, I got a delivery your mom ordered this morning,” Pinkie Pie said as she magically pulled a large box out of her mane.

“Yay!” the young filly cheered as her sister took the box in her magic.

“Thank you Miss Pie,” Sparkler simple replied, turning a walking back into the house.

“Allons-y!” Dinky called as she rushed back into the house as well, the door closing behind her.

“I will never understand that family,” Rarity shrugged as she and Pinkie made their way back to the street.

“I think they’re a nice family,” Pinkie Pie replied. “I mean, Derpy just about raises them both on her own.”

“Well, if the rumors I’ve heard are true,” Rarity began, leading the two of them towards her boutique. “The Doctor has been making frequent trips the jewelry store.”

“Does that mean what I think it means?” Pinkie Pie asked, barely containing her excitement.

“Let’s just wait until we’re sure this time. We don’t want a repeat of last time, now do we?” Rarity replied with a small smile. 

“I told them I was sorry,” Pinkie Pie said with a smile. “Besides, they forgave me after he did ask.”

“Well, I guess that’s ok,” Rarity sighed with a chuckle. Soon, the two stood outside Rarity’s store.

“So what do you have planned for today, Rarity?” Pinkie Pie asked as she followed Rarity into the shop.

“I have a few orders I have to fill,” Rarity replied, flipping her ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’. “Why, did you need help with something?”

“No, I was just wondering,” Pinkie Pie said as she began a staring contest with one of the manikins. After a few minutes, Rarity couldn’t help but become concerned.

“Pinkie dear, are you sure there isn’t anything I could help you with?” Rarity asked as she worked.

“I’m sure,” Pinkie Pie said as she pulled her gaze from the manikin. “Anyways, I gotta head back to work, so have a good day.”

“Okay, Pinkie dear,” Rarity replied a little hesitantly. “But if you need somepony to talk to, I’m always willing to talk.”

“I know,” Pinkie Pie chuckled, making her way towards the shop’s front door. “Bye, Rarity!”

Rarity watched as Pinkie Pie left, keeping an eye on her through the window. Even she knew something was wrong with her pink friend.

“Maybe I should talk to Twilight about it the next chance I get,” Rarity quietly told herself, trying to continue her work. But even then, she couldn’t as her own concerns with her friend prevented her from continuing. With a reluctant sigh, Rarity closed the shop once again and wandered back down the street towards the library.
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Put him in the guard house till he gets sober, 
put him in the guard house till he gets sober, 
put him the guard house till he gets sober, 
early in the morning,” Scootaloo sang her verse; her voice jagged and scratchy.

“What shall we do with a drunken sailor, what shall we do with a drunken sailor, what shall we do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning,” the other three fillies sang in reply.

Surprise and the crusaders couldn’t help but laugh as they finished their first shanty. They didn’t understand what most of it meant, but enjoyed singing it anyways.

“Let’s sing the next one!” Apple Bloom called from her post over the apple sheet mast.

“Wait, I wanna be Navigator now!” Sweetie Belle yelled back from the front of their makeshift ship, placing her slingshot down in front of her. “There’s nothing to shoot and I’m getting bored!”

“Then I wanna be the Quartermaster,” Apple Bloom replied.

“No way!” Scootaloo began from her position next to the wheel and Surprise. “I like being the Quartermaster!”

“Only because you get to tell us what to do,” Sweetie Belle scolded.

“I only tell you what the Captain tells me to tell you,” Scootaloo replied matter-of-factly.

“But we don’t have a Captain,” Surprise interjected.

“Oh,” Scootaloo mumbled. After a few moments of thought, she finally nodded in agreement. “Surprise, you go take over the cannon.”

“You mean the sling shot?” Surprise asked as she moved aside, letting Scootaloo take the wheel.

“It’s a pirate ship, so it’s a cannon. I’ll be Helmsmare now,” Scootaloo replied. “Just make sure no other pirates try to flank us.”

“But the shore is only two feet away on each side, how are they going to flank us?” Sweetie Belle questioned after finally reaching the roost.

“Sky pirates, duh!” Scootaloo replied with a smug grin.

“Y’all think Applejack will be mad that we used my bed sheet for our mast?” Apple Bloom asked out of nowhere.

“I don’t know,” Scootaloo shrugged, randomly turning the wheel. “Surprise, lead us in our next adventurous shanty, arrr!”

“Okay,” Surprise said before she began her rehearsed part.

“Oh the times were hard and wages low,
Leave her, Johnny, leave her
And the grub was bad and the gales did blow,
And it’s time for us to leave her!”

Skipping the carouse, Scootaloo sang the next verse.

“I thought I heard the old man say,
Leave her, Johnny, leave her
You can go ashore and take your pay,
And it’s time for us to leave her!”

Sweetie Belle sang the next verse, her voice being too soft for a shanty.

“Oh her stern was foul and the voyage was long
Leave her, Johnny, leave her
The winds was bad and the gales was strong
And it’s time for us to leave her!”

Finally, it was Apple Bloom’s turn. Before she began, she made sure to clear her throat several times.

“And we’ll leave her tight and we’ll… Gah!” Apple Bloom was interrupted mid line as the ship hit something, causing all four fillies to almost fall over board.

“Land ho!” Sweetie Belle called several moments later.

“Aww… I didn’t even get to finish my verse,” Apple Bloom sighed after regaining her bearings; the disappointment in her voice being clearly obvious to the others.

“You can start it next time,” Scootaloo groaned as she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.

“All ashore that’s going ashore!” Sweetie belle called as she rushed off the makeshift ship first. A few moments later, all four fillies stood on the muddy shore, each wondering where they had ended up.

“Where do you think we are?” Scootaloo asked as the four of them looked at the mass of muddy ponds and trees in front of them.

“I think we’re near the swamp,” Apple Bloom, pulling her hoofs out of some mud.

“I think we should get back on the ship,” Sweetie Belle replied as the fur turned back around.

All four fillies’ hearts began to sink as they watched the makeshift ship drift away, slowly sinking in the process.

“Now what?” Surprise asked as she became more and more worried.

“We’ll just follow the river back,” Scootaloo replied with a confident grin.

“We gotta be careful though,” Apple Bloom said as the four of them began to walk. “Applejack says that a lot of these rivers just curve back around and what not.”

“Oh…” Scootaloo mumbled as they walked up to a fork in the river. “So which one do we take?”

“Let’s take this one,” Apple Bloom said, leading the group down the closest river. But before the group could get far, Gummy jumped out of Surprise’s bag and swam over to the other side of the river; stopping once he made it to shore.

“Gummy, what are you doing?!” Surprise called, stopping in her tracks.

“What’s he doin?” Apple Bloom asked as the other three looked over at the alligator in confusion.

“Should we go get him?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Maybe he’s trying to tell us something,” Scootaloo said as she looked around. Soon enough, she noticed a point in the river shallow enough for them all to cross. “Come on, let’s go get him.”

After a few minutes and some wet manes, all four fillies made it to the other side of the river. But just as they were about to grab Gummy, he rushed off, following alongside the river.

“I guess he wants us to follow him,” Apple Bloom guessed, following the small alligator.

For a few minutes, the fillies followed Gummy in silence. Several times’ they had to cross the river at shallow points, only to follow a different river.

“So, Surprise?” Sweetie Belle said, breaking the silence first and catching the youngest filly’s attention. “How do you like Ponyville so far?”

“It’s okay,” Surprise mumbled, frowning as she walked. “I’d rather be back home though…”

“And where’s that?” Scootaloo asked.

“Manehattan,” Surprise replied. 

“What happened?” Apple Bloom asked. Instantly, Surprise stopped where she was, her eye’s closing as she began to fight back tears.

“There was an accident…” Surprise began to sob. Before she could stop herself, she felt her own mental wall break as she collapsed to the ground in tears. Like she had so many times already, Surprise cried into her foreleg’s, barely noticing as the crusaders tried to comfort her.

“We’re sorry Surprise, we didn’t mean to make you sad,” Sweetie Bell began to apologize.

“I know,” Surprise chocked out. A few minutes later, Surprises tears subsided as she stood back up, wiping her face with a hoof. “I’m sorry everypony, I didn’t mean to cry.”

“It’s okay, Surprise,” Apple Bloom assured, pulling Surprise into a warm hug. “Sometimes ponies cry, and there aint nothing wrong with that.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said, joining the hug. “Sometimes, crying helps a lot more then somepony would think.”

For several minutes, the two crusaders continued to hug Surprise. Each hoping to ease their new friends pain. Soon enough, even Scootaloo joined in the hug.

“Thanks everypony,” Surprise said as the fillies ended the hug. Even she had to admit that she felt a little better.

“Come on,” Apple Bloom said, walking a few steps down the river. “We should get back to the farm before my sister starts to worry.”

“Okay,” the others replied. Gummy, who had waited silently and motionless just a few feet away, continued to lead the group back up the river.


*	*	*


“And I can’t help but worry about her Twilight,” Rarity finished.

“Rarity…” Twilight sighed. “I know you’re worried, and you have plenty of reason to be. But I promised Pinkie that I wouldn’t tell anypony until she was ready.”

“So then you know what’s wrong?!” Rarity just about yelled, causing Twilight to jump back slightly.

“Well, yes… but—“

“Twilight, you have to tell me what it is!” Rarity just about begged. “Even if you ‘Pinkie Promised’.”

“Rarity…” Twilight tried to begin, only to fall silent to Rarity’s firm gaze.

“Twilight, I will not leave here until you tell me something, understood?” Rarity huffed, flicking her mane in defiance.

“… Okay,” Twilight relented. “I don’t know the whole story, but I guess Surprise’s parents died in a fire.”

“Oh the poor dear,” Rarity replied, taken aback by what she had heard.

“Yes, by what I read, there was a electrical fire in the middle of the night and only, Surprise made it out,” Twilight continued.

“Oh, no wonder Pinkie Pie was so sad,” Rarity wailed. “She must be so worried about that little filly.”

“Yes, she is,” Twilight replied with a sigh. “Pinkie Pie said that she won’t talk to anypony about what happened.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Rarity asked out of concern.

“I’m not sure,” Twilight replied, levitating a nearby book closer to them.  “I’ve read a few books, but the best we can do, since we're not professionals, is to show, Surprise that there are ponies that care for her.”

“Yes Twilight, I suppose your right,” Rarity agreed with a nod. “Is there anything else.”

“There is…” Twilight began with some hesitation. 

“Well, what is it?” Rarity inquired.

“I’m sorry Rarity,” Twilight replied, not even flinching at Rarity’s harsh gaze. “But this is something, Pinkie Pie needs to tell everypony on her own.”

“Okay, Twilight,” Rarity sighed, getting up to leave. “Thank you for at least helping me to understand what’s wrong with our friend.”

“Just promise me, you won’t go telling everypony about Surprise,” Twilight pleaded. “She doesn’t need everypony acting strangely towards her.”

“Oh, Twilight,” Rarity giggled as she headed out the library door. 

“She’s going to tell the whole town, isn’t she?” Spike asked from the kitchen door.

“Most likely,” Twilight sighed, her head dropping. “I really hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in the flank.”


*	*	*


“So did you have a nice day today, sweetie?” Cup Cake asked Surprise as the family ate dinner.

“It was fun,” Surprise said with a light smile. “We made a ship and sailed down a river on the farm, singing these things called shanties.”
“Well that sounds fun, right Pinkie?” Carrot Cake said, drawing Pinkie Pie into the conversation.

“Yep,” Pinkie Pie replied with a smile.

“So what happened then?” Cup Cake asked.

“Well, we got kinda lost,” Surprise admitted. “But, Gummy lead us all back to, Apple Bloom’s house where we had lunched and played games for the rest of the day.”

“Yay, Gummy!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she pulled said alligator out of nowhere and proceeded to toss him up and down a few times.

“So what are you going to do tomorrow?” Cup Cake asked.

“Well, I was hoping to spend the day with the Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo again,” Surprise replied with a hopeful smile.

“I’m sorry, Surprise,” Pinkie Pie began. “But they have school tomorrow, so they won’t be able to play until well after lunch.”

“Oh…” Surprise sighed, disappointment clear on her face.

“But we can hang out if you want!” Pinkie Pie quickly began. “We can play games, and I can show you the best spots in town to hide things, or we can even go prank somepony. How does that sound?”

“No thanks,” Surprise sighed, slowly picking at her food.

“Oh, okay…” Pinkie Pie replied, a clear look of disappointment on her face.

“You could spend the day helping us in the shop if you want,” Carrot Cake offered.

“No thank you,” Surprise replied before turning her attention to Cup Cake. “Can’t I just go to school to?”

“Uh,” Cup Cake began, clearly caught off guard. “I’m sorry sweetie, but you can’t start school until next year.”

“But how come?” Surprise asked.

“Because the school years almost over, and you only just turned five,” Pinkie Pie replied. “I’m sorry, but we can still do stuff tomorrow.”

“Whatever,” Surprise huffed. With that, the room fell to near silence as the only sounds came from the twins; who had begun to throw food at each other once again.

“I got it!” Pinkie Pie suddenly snapped, causing everypony to jump slightly. Before anypony could stop her, Pinkie Pie rushed out of a nearby window and out into the street.

“Does she do stuff like that often?” Surprise asked. 

“Yep,” Cup Cake and Carrot Cake replied; both twins nodding in agreement as well.


*	*	*


“Okay,” Rainbow Dash said as she looked up at the poster she had just hung. It was a special Wonderbolt collectible, signed by over half the team.

The entire room, Rainbow Dash was in had similar posters hung all around her. There was also a cloud desk with a few action figures and a cloud bed with a Wonderbolt sleeping set on one side of the room. On the other side was a bookcase that held a copy of every Daring Do book up to date and a small dresser.

“I hope this is enough…” Rainbow Dash sighed as she gazed around the room. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory of the room once being a oversized storage closet. “I still cant believe I’m actually doing this.”

“Rainbow Dash!” a loud and energetic voice called.

“Wha… Pinkie Pie?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, completely caught off guard as the pink mare floated up through the floor, carried by several balloons tied to her back.

“Good, you’re still here,” Pinkie Pie smiled at her friend. “I need to ask you something.”

“Pinkie, how many times do I have to tell you not to float up through my floor!” Rainbow Dash nearly yelled. “It softens the cloud and if its not tough enough, the inspector could hit me for it!”

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie Pie replied as she slowly spun. “But I have to ask you something.”

“Ug… what is it, Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I know you don’t have work tomorrow, so I was wondering if, Surprise could spend the morning with you?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Uh, well I guess I could,” Rainbow stuttered, not sure where the question had come from. “But, why ask me?”

“Well, you’re both pegasi, and I know, Surprise would like it,” Pinkie Pie began to reply. “So, will you do it?”

“Fine, fine,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Just come find me in the morning or something, okay?”

“Oh, thank you so much!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she pulled Rainbow Dash into a hug. “I know she’s just going to love it!”

“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash sighed as she pulled out of the hug. “Now is that it, or is there something else you wanna talk about?”

“Not really,” Pinkie pie said as she took a good look around the room. “Wow, is this going to be Scoot’s new room?”

“Yep, last inspection is in a few days,” Rainbow Dash replied with a smile. “Then, all I need is final signature or two and it’s all as good as done.”

“That is so awesome! I can’t wait to throw you two a party!” Pinkie Pie cheered.

“Thanks Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, glad to see her friend so excited. “Well, I’m gonna hit the hay, if you know what I mean.”

“Wait,” Pinkie Pie called before Rainbow Dash could leave the room.

“What, want me to fly you back home or something?” Rainbow Dash asked with a chuckle.

“No, I was just wondering if you could help me get a cloud bed for, Surprise,” Pinkie Pie replied as she inspected the bed with her eyes.

“It’ll cost a bit, but I think I know a guy,” Rainbow Dash replied with a wave of her hoof. “Now If you’ll excuse me, this pony needs her shut eye.”

“Okay, good night Dashie,” Pinkie Pie said, popping one of her balloons. Slowly, she began to sink under the clouds, disappearing from sight.

“I don’t even know why I bother scolding her anymore,” Rainbow Dash facehoofed, hoping the spot in the floor hadn’t weakened too much, if at all.


*	*	*


“I don’t feel very comfortable with you watching me bathe,” Surprise told the small alligator standing on the nearby sink. Ever since she had happed into the bubbly water, Gummy had been watching her with his unblinking eyes. It wasn’t that she really cared, she just didn't want him randomly jumping in for no reason.

“You alright in there sweetie?” Cup Cake asked through the bathroom door.

“Gummy won’t stop staring at me!” Surprise yelled back, chucking a hoof full of bubbles at the alligator.

“Yeah… he does that,” Cup Cake audibly sighed. “Just try to ignore him.”

“But I can’t!” Surprise replied.

“Oh, Gummy!” Pinkie’s voice suddenly called. Almost instantly, the little alligator hopped off the sink and headed out of the slowly opening door. A few second later, Pinkie Pie made her way in, a green tail disappearing into her mane.

“What do you want?” Surprise asked as she hid behind a mound of bubbles.

“I just thought you’d like to know that I found something for you to do tomorrow,” Pinkie Pie replied with a smile.

“I already said I didn’t want to do anything with you,” Surprise grumbled.

“Then it’s a good thing I asked my awesome friend, Rainbow Dash if she wanted to hang out with you,” Pinkie Pie said with a teasing grin.

“Really?” Surprise chirped, her head popping out of the bubbles.

“Yep,” Pinkie Pie nodded. “She said she would, but if you happen to change your mind, we could—“

“Cool!” Surprise interrupted, squealing in delight, not noticing Pinkie’s look of disappointment.

“Yeah, well,” Pinkie Pie began stuttering. “Once breakfast is over, we’ll go find her and then you two can spend the morning together, okay?”

“This is going to be so cool!” Surprise squealed in delight.

“Miss Cake also made some snacks if you’re hungry,” Pinkie Pie continued, trying to catch Surprises attention.

“Maybe she’ll show me a Sonic Rainboom,” Surprised mussed, forgetting all about the other mare in the room. With a reluctant sigh, Pinkie Pie left and headed back down into the shop.

With the lights off and the bakery closed, nopony noticed as Pinkie Pie slowly made her way behind the counter, hiding herself from view. After a few minutes of silence, she reached into her mane and pulled out the small alligator.

Gummy simply blinked as Pinkie Pie hugged him tightly against her body, a few tears dripping onto his head.

> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Pinkie?” Cup Cake’s voice softly called, rousing the young mare from her sleep. “Sweetie, its time to wake up.”	

“Not the cupcakes!” Pinkie Pie yelped, quickly jumping to her hooves. Taking a moment to look at her surroundings, Pinkie quickly settled down as she realized that she was behind one of the counters in the bakery.

“Did you sleep here all night?” Cup Cake asked, with a slightly concerned look.

“I guess,” Pinkie replied with a sheepish grin and chuckle.

“Why would you do that?” Carrot Cake asked as he came into view, the twins on his back.

“I guess I just wanted a midnight snack?” Pinkie Pie replied, still smiling sheepishly. It was at this point that Pinkie finally noticed that Gummy was gone and not in her hooves like he had been the night before. “Has anypony seen, Gummy?”

“I think I saw him wandering around upstairs,” Carrot Cake said as he made his way into the kitchen.

“Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie chirped, making her way to the stairs, leaving Cup Cake to open the bakery. It didn't take long for Pinkie Pie to find Gummy as he watched Surprise slowly trudge toward the bathroom.

“Good morning, Surprise, did you sleep well?” Pinkie asked while she walked up to the filly. Surprise simply stared down at the ground silently.

“Are you okay?” Pinkie Pie asked, trying to catch Surprises attention.

“Yeah…” Surprise grumbled. Reaching the bathroom, Pinkie Pie stood outside the doorway while Surprise repeated her morning steps from the other day. 

“Is there anything special that you want for breakfast?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Can I have pancakes again?” Surprise asked back, a hopeful look in her eye.

“Of course!” Pinkie Pie replied with a joyous smile.


*	*	*


“I got it, I got it,” Rainbow Dash replied with a agitated sigh. “Don’t take her too high, don’t let her over exert herself, don’t push her off a cloud, blah blah blah. I got this, Pinkie Pie, don’t worry.”

“Okay…” Pinkie Pie replied, just about staring Rainbow Dash down in her stern gaze. After a moment, Pinkie Pie looked down at the filly standing next to her. “You know, it’s not too late to change your mind. I was just thinking we could—“

“No,” Surprise replied without a second thought. Before anything else was said, Surprise rushed forward and began to bombard Rainbow Dash with questions.

“Okay then,” Pinkie Pie sighed as she turned to leave. “If anypony needs me, I'll be... around.”

For a few moments, Pinkie Pie waited for a reply. But because of Surprises constant questions, neither pony heard her. So, hanging her head, Pinkie Pie slowly trudged away.

“So, Pinkie, you never did…” Rainbow Dash began when she finally had a chance to speak. But when she looked up, Pinkie Pie was already gone. “Where'd she go?”

“Where did who go?” Surprise asked, drawing Rainbow Dash’s attention again.

“Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash stated. “I wanted to ask what she was doing today.”

“I don’t know,” Surprise shrugged as she began to smile in excitement. “Can we fly now?”

“Uh… sure,” Rainbow Dash replied as she leaned down far enough for Surprise to clime on her back. “What do you wanna do first?”

“Can you teach me how to do a Sonic Rainboom?” Surprise asked as she wrapped her front hooves around the older mare’s neck.

“Trust me kid, it’s a lot more complicated than you think,” Rainbow Dash replied, taking to the skies. Flying upwards, Rainbow Dash leveled herself out just over the highest house top. 

“Aww,” Surprise sighed as Rainbow Dash continued to fly over several houses. Surprise couldn’t help but smile as she carefully looked down at the ponies in the streets below.

“If you really wanna know more about it, you could always ask, Scoots,” Rainbow Dash called back as she flew a little higher. “I guess she did a whole report on it for a class project. Miss Cheerilee told me about it and, I gotta say, I was impressed.”

“Why?” Surprise asked as Rainbow Dash began to fly lower, the local park in sight. “Did Scootaloo do a good job?”

“About as good as any seven year old filly with an attention span to match my own could,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, settling next to a small flower patch. “But it was still pretty good.”

“Oh,” Surprise chirped as Rainbow Dash bent over, causing the filly to slide off. Once she was back on the ground, Surprise turned to look back at Rainbow Dash, slightly confused. “What are we doing here?”

“I thought I’d show you some of my tricks,” Rainbow Dash replied with a slightly smug grin. 

“Okay!” Surprise cheered, clapping her front hooves together.

Flying up into the sky, Rainbow Dash made sure she was easily visible to the small filly and vise versa. Without a second more wasted, Rainbow Dash began her normal routine of tricks. Her body curled and spun easily through the air, a beautiful rainbow colored contrail following her almost every move.

After almost a half an hour of continues tricks, a small group had joined Surprise, watching as Rainbow Dash did her stunts. Each one clapping as Rainbow Dash shifted from one move to another without the slightest hesitation.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash stopped midair, a confident grin on her face as she looked down at the small crowd of ponies watching her. With nothing but a nod, Rainbow Dash rocketed up into the sky, flying higher then she had throughout her performance.

Surprise watched as the rainbow mare shrunk to the size of a small speck in the sky. Before it even happened, Surprise knew what was coming Her heart began to beat faster as Rainbow Dash quickly began to plummet back towards the ground, her wings forcing her to go faster and faster.

It happened in an instant; the explosion of rainbow colors washing over the crowd several moments before the wind and sound did. Surprise couldn’t help but star in awe as Rainbow Dash flew too fast for her to see, a constant rainbow contrail following behind her.

For a split moment, Surprise forgot all about the problems that had been plaguing her life for the past few weeks. The pain of loss and being thrust into something she never wanted being overshadowed by the pure beauty in the sight before her.

Then, almost as instantly as it had started, it was over. The colors were gone and the wind had settled as Rainbow Dash skidded to a stop just a few feet away from the small crowd.

“Yeah, I’m awesome!” Rainbow Dash stated confidently, brushing one of her hooves against her chest. Walking past the small crowd, Rainbow Dash made her way towards Surprise, absorbing the usual praise she would receive after performing for the town as the ponies went back to what they had been doing. “So, what did you think, Surprise?”

It was only then that Surprise realized that she hadn’t been breathing, her lungs begging for air before she could even open her mouth to do so.  “That was… Amazing!” the filly wheezed, trying to catch her breath and settle her rapidly beating heart before it got too bad.

“Whoa, calm down kid,” Rainbow Dash replied as she looked at Surprise with concern. “Breath with me now, in through the nose, out through the mouth,” Rainbow Dash continued, leading the filly in the breathing exercise. Soon enough, Surprises heart had settled and her breathing was back to normal.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, but that was just so… so…” Surprise began to reply; only to fall silent as Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“It’s okay kid, at least you didn’t faint like, Scootaloo did,” Rainbow Dash replied with a slight shake of her head and a chuckle.

“But that was still really cool!” Surprise chirped, bouncing slightly on all four of her hooves, her wings fluttering in excitement. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but chuckle at the filly’s reaction, remembering how mush similar Scootaloo usually acted, and oddly enough, it reminded her of Pinkie Pie too.

“Yeah, I know,” Rainbow Dash replied. “How about we—“

“Oh, there you two are!” Rarity’s voice rang, catching Rainbow Dash and Surprise’s attention.


*	*	*


Pinkie Pie stopped momentarily to watch the rainbow colored shockwave slowly fade away. She couldn’t help but smile as the memory of the day she got her cutie mark quickly resurfaced. But like the rainbow shockwave, it soon faded back to whatever part of her brain it had come from.

With a heavy sigh, Pinkie Pie continued up to the front door of the town library, barely stopping as she pushed open the door and walk in.

“At least somepony realizes that this is a ‘public’ library,” Spike voiced, looking down from the ladder he was on.

“Hi, Pinkie Pie,“ Twilight greeted as she made her way around the library’s center display. “How are you today?”

“Just super de duper,” Pinkie pie replied with a halfhearted smile. 

“It sure doesn’t sound that way,” Twilight commented while leading Pinkie Pie to a side of the room. “Is something the matter?”
“Well…” Pinkie began; sighing heavily as she quickly glanced up at Spike.

“Oh… uh, Spike, could you give us a moment?”

Shrugging, Spike climbed down the ladder and rushed up the room’s stairs, disappearing in to one of the upper levels. Once Twilight was sure that the young dragon wasn’t listening, she turned back to her friend with a concerned look. 

“What’s wrong, Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked. For a few moments, Pinkie Pie remained silent while she stared at the ground, debating whether or not it was worth even talking to Twilight about her worry and concerns.

“I kinda wanted to spend the day with, Surprise,” Pinkie Pie finally responded as she looked up at Twilight. “But she didn’t seem to like the idea.”

“So where is she now?” Twilight asked.

“Rainbow Dash is watching her until the crusaders get out of school. I dont know if they heard me, but i told them I'd be at the bakery,” Pinkie Pie glumly replied. “Then after that, I’m sure, Surprise will want to spend the rest of the day with the crusaders.”

“Pinkie… I know how this seems, but—“

“But what, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie interrupted with a pleading look. “I know she doesn’t like me, but I hoped she would at least talk to me.”

“She’s been through a lot, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said as she placed a reassuring hoof on her friend. “Losing the ponies you care the most for and being placed somewhere you know nothing about can really effect somepony; especially with a filly her age.”

“I know that, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie replied, her mane beginning to sag slightly. “But… what do I do?”

“Just be there for her,” Twilight simply replied. “I know things between you aren’t that good, but if you at least show her that you're there for her, Surprise will come around.”

“I hope your right , Twilight,” Pinkie Pie sighed, falling silent once again.

“There is one thing you should know though,” Twilight began with a sheepish smile.

“And what’s that?” Pinkie Pie asked, smiling slightly.

“Rarity knows about, Surprise’s parents,” Twilight lightly chuckled, still smiling sheepishly.

“What?!” Pinkie Pie responded with a look of shock and horror. “How did she find out?!”

“I may have told her,” Twilight continued, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “She came by yesterday, worried about you. So I told her it was because of what happened to, Surprise’s parents.”

“Oh…” Pinkie pie replied as her ears folded down. “So you didn’t tell her about…”

“No, I told her that there was something else, but that it was something you would have to tell her herself,” Twilight said. “I’m actually surprised that she didn’t go see you right after that.”

“I’m glad she didn’t,” Pinkie Pie said a groan. “I know I said I would tell everypony, but…”

“It’s okay, Pinkie Pie, I understand why you don’t want to say anything yet,” Twilight replied with a caring smile. 

“Thanks, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said as she pulled her friend into a tight hug.

“No problem, Pinkie,” Twilight said as they pulled apart from the hug. “Is there anything else you wanna talk about?”

“Not really,” Pinkie Pie replied in her normal, happy tone. “You mind if I hang out here for a while though, I kinda took today off in hope that, Surprise did want to hang out.”

“Not at all, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight replied with a smile.


*	*	*


“Rainbow Dash really went to the spa?!” Scootaloo almost shouted in horror as she slammed her hooves down on the clubhouse table. "No way, you have to be lying."

“Well, she kind of just sat to the side with this weird look on her face,” Surprise replied as she looked down at the piece of paper in front of Sweetie Belle. She wished the crusaders would finish their homework faster so they could play instead of talking.

“Yeah, Rainbow Dash doesn’t really like the spa,” Apple Bloom chuckled. “We sorta found out she has a problem with ponies touching her hooves.”

“But I can’t believe she went there though,” Scootaloo grumbled. “The place is just so… girly.”

“She said she wasn’t going to at first, but then, Rarity whispered something to her and she thought it would be a good idea,” Surprise replied as she slouched down slightly. “It was actually really weird.”

“Well, duh,” Scootaloo replied. “What did, Rarity even say to get her to go in the first place?”

“I don’t know,” Surprise replied. “All I know is that, Rainbow Dash started acting different towards me after, and I didn’t really like it.”
“I… I think, I know what she said,” Sweetie Belle chimed in meekly.

“What?” the three others asked in return, equal looked of wonder and confusion on their faces.

Instead of responding, Sweetie Belle simply looked towards Surprise with a slight frown. It wasn’t until several minutes later that she finally found her voice.

“She probably told her about what happened to your parents, Surprise,” Sweetie Belle chirped. Almost instantly, a deafening silence filled the clubhouse.

“But, how did… I haven’t… I mean,” Surprise began to stutter.

“I guess, Twilight told her,” Sweetie Belle replied. “She asked me last night if I knew anything about it.”

“But how does, Princess Twilight know?” Surprise chocked as she began to sob. She couldn’t help but feel betrayed by such an important pony. “She didn’t even ask me.”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean to make you upset,” Apple Bloom began. “She probably just thought that, Rarity might be able to help.”

“I guess that’s okay,” Surprise lightly sobbed. “I mean, she is a princess.”

“Yeah, and she only wants the best for you,” Scootaloo added. ”That’s what princesses do.”

“I still don’t like it though,” Surprise replied as she dried her eyes.

“Do you wanna talk about what it?” Apple Bloom asked.

“No,” Surprise sighed. “Can we just do something fun now?”

“Uh, sure,” Apple Bloom replied, a caring expression on her face. “But you gotta promise to at least talk to us about it, okay?”

“I don’t know…” Surprise glumly said, clearly not liking the idea. She hadn’t talked to anypony about what had happened and the thought of doing so scared her.

“Please, Surprise,” Sweetie Belle pleaded, giving her best puppy dog eye's to the filly.

“Okay…” Surprise hesitantly replied. “But can it wait for a little while?”

“Okay…” all three crusaders sighed.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
“Yes!” Rainbow Dash shouted joyously as she flew into Sugar Cube Corner, a smile on her face and a small stack of papers in her front hooves. “I passed!”

“Passed what, Miss Dash?” Carrot Cake asked from behind the register. 

“The final inspection!” Rainbow Dash replied, flying past several waiting customers. 

“That’s great, Miss Dash, but I do have custo—“

“Where’s, Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash interrupted as she flew over the counter. Without even waiting for a reply, Rainbow Dash made her way towards the kitchen. “I need her to start getting, Scoot's welcome home party set up.” 

“Wait!” Cup Cake quickly said as she rushed out of the kitchen, blocking Rainbow Dash’s path. She had a slightly worried look in her eye and seemed to be shaking. “There’s no need going back there, sweetie. Just tell me what you need and I’ll make sure, Pinkie Pie gets it done.”

“Uh… okay, I was hoping she would help set up a party,” Rainbow Dash began as she tried to get around the plump mare. “You know, the thing, Pinkie Pie loves to do.”

“Yepyepyep,” Cup Cake replied with a wave of her hoof. “Party, cake, cupcakes… she’ll have everything done and in your house before you even know it.”

“Okay, but I kind of wanted to talk to her about something,” Rainbow Dash continued, once again trying to get past the older mare.

“Oh, I’m sure she already knows what it is you want,” Cup Cake replied with a forced chuckle.

“Okay…” Rainbow Dash replied, backing up slightly.

“All right then,” Cup Cake sighed, letting herself slouch in relief. But in doing so, Rainbow Dash saw her chance and launched herself past the older mare into the kitchen.

“Rainbow Dash!” Cup Cake called mere moments before the rainbow mare collided with something large and soft.

“What in the name of…” Rainbow Dash began as she pulled herself out of a large cake and looked around. “Why is there a cake in front of the door?”

Instantly, her question was answered as Rainbow Dash looked around at the countless baked goods spread around the kitchen. While the majority of the floor was lined with several rows of severely large cakes, the counters held a vast assortment of everything else the bakery held.

“Are you guy’s getting ready for a sale or something?” Rainbow Dash asked as Cup Cake slowly made her way back into the kitchen.

“If things keep going this way, we will be…” Cup Cake said as she wiped some frosting off of Rainbow Dash with a nearby rag. “Pinkie Pie’s been… baking.”

“Wait, Pinkie Pie’s in there?!” Rainbow Dash questioned as she looked back at the baked city. She couldn’t see her friend, but she could hear the clanging of dishes, as well as a set of giggling.

“As well as the foals,” Cup Cake sighed before lifting herself up slightly. She tried herself to look past the mountains of cake, only to slump back down. “I really hope they aren’t eating the cakes…”

“Why is she baking all this stuff?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew up to the kitchen ceiling. She could see her pink friend moving back and forth by the stoves.  Pound and Pumpkin sat nearby, watching Pinkie Pie as she worked.

“Oh, when you have the urge to bake, you have to bake,” Cup Cake replied with a forced smile and nervous chuckle. 

“Okay…” Rainbow Dash said as she carefully made her way over towards Pinkie Pie. As she got closer, it became easier for her to notice that something was wrong.

Usually when Pinkie Pie baked, she would hum or sing a light happy tune. But this time, she remained almost perfectly silent. She also had the uncanny ability to bake several dishes at once, yet as Rainbow Dash watched, she only worked with one dish at a time.

Her coat was dull and dirty, and she looked as if she hadn’t slept for several days. Evan as Rainbow Dash carefully made her way to a clearing; she noticed the worried, almost scared looks the twins had every time they looked at Pinkie Pie.

“Uh, Pinkie Pie, are you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked as she stood next to the twins.

Pinkie Pie’s appearance changed immediately as she looked over at Rainbow Dash. Her colors brightened and the dark circles under her eyes immediately disappeared as she flashed her friend a giant smile. “Oh, hi Rainbow Dash, did you come to buy a cake?”

“Uh, kinda…” Rainbow Dash began, only to quickly trail off. Even though she had come to the bakery in high spirits and a smile; she was beginning to worry that something was wrong and Pinkie Pie was hiding it.

“Oh… so how did the inspection go?”

“Wha…” Rainbow Dash mumbled as she was pulled out o her thoughts by a grinning and hopeful looking mare. “Oh, It went good. I passed and—“

“Hooray!” Pinkie Pie interrupted with a flash of fanfare and streamers. “Oh, I gotta start getting the party ready!”

“Uh, Pinkie?”

“I think I’ll skip the piñata,” Pinkie Pie said to herself as she pulled a notepad and pencil out of her mane, ignoring Rainbow Dash in the process.

“Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash began once again. But like before, Pinkie Pie ignored her friend as she mad a list of what she was going to do.

“Now, do you want the party here at the bakery or somewhere else?” Pinkie Pie asked a few minutes later, finally giving Rainbow Dash her attention.

“Well, I was thinking about having it at my house…” Rainbow Dash began, only to wave it off with a hoof and a worry filled stare. “But, Pinkie, are you okay? You were acting pretty weird a second ago.”

“Me, distracted?!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she placed a hoof to her chest and pointed her snout up like a noble. “Why, Dashie, I never get destra— Oh look, cake!”

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but face hoof at Pinkie Pie’s short attention span. “Pinkie,” she began once again, watching as her friend shoved half a cake into her mouth. “Seriously, are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie replied as she liked some frosting off the tip of her nose. “Now, about the party; how do you feel about foil balloons? Their something new I’ve been thinking of using and…”

“You know what, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash interrupted as she flew a few feet off the ground. “Why don’t you surprise me?”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but shudder as Pinkie Pie, just barley, held her excitement with a giant smile. But before she could be wrapped up any farther, Rainbow scooped up the twins and flew back to the kitchen entrance, her papers in her mouth.

Stopping only to pass the twins off to their waiting mother, Rainbow Dash rocketed out of the bakery, concern for her friend guiding her as she took to the sky.


*	*	*


“How about these?” Apple Bloom asked as she pointed to a small stack of books.

“Na, those can stay,” Scootaloo replied while she shoved another figurine into her, already over packed, saddlebags. “Besides, I never read them and never will.”

“Then that should be everything,” Sweetie Belle said as she and Surprise placed the last poster in the only box. “I really thought you had more stuff?”

“I do, it’s just already at, Rainbow Da... I mean my house!” Scootaloo replied excitedly. Everypony couldn’t help but smile at just how happy and excited Scootaloo was.

“Now just remember,” a light brown mare began, catching Scootaloo’s attention.  “Just because you won’t be with us anymore, don’t be afraid to visit us every now and then, okay?”

“I won’t, Miss Care,” Scootaloo replied as she gave the older mare a small hug.

“Now aint that somethin’,” Applejack chuckled from the doorway. Immediately, Scootaloo separated herself from the mare, blushing in embarrassment. 

“I was j-just saying g-goodbye,” Scootaloo stuttered.

“Aint nothing wrong with that, sugarcube,” Applejack said as she walked into the small room. “Ya'll got everythin’?”

“Yep!” Scootaloo chirped as she rushed over to her saddlebags. But try as she might, the bags were too heavy for Scootaloo to carry.

“I’ll get these for ya, Scoots,” Applejack chuckled as she easily lifted them in her mouth. Soon enough, Applejack and the crusaders were back outside, loading everything into a small cart that the farmer had brought from the farm.

“All right now y’all, load up,” Applejack directed as she hooked herself up to the front of the cart.

“Remember to finish all your meals and listen to, Rainbow Dash, okay?” Miss care said as she watched the fillies hop into the cart.

“I will, Miss Care,” Scootaloo replied mere moments before Applejack began to pull the cart away. A few minutes later, the cart pulled out to a lush open field where a cloud mansion floated several stories up in the air.

A large group of ponies stood just under the house. All of them wore giant smiles as Applejack and the fillies made their way up. The only pony missing was an energetic pink mare.

“You ready to head home?” Rainbow Dash asked the small orange pegasus, putting emphasis on the word ‘home’.

Scootaloo could only nod as she hopped out of the cart, her wings buzzing and her eyes beginning to water slightly.

“Alright everypony,” Twilight said as she lit her horn. “Remember that even though you will be able to walk on the clouds, don’t try to push it.”

Everypony nodded as all the non-pegasi were bathed in Twilight’s violet magic. Then, before anything could be said, there was a bright flash as the princess teleported everypony just outside the cloud mansion's front door.

“Shesh, Twilight, give a pony some warning next time will ya?” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she scooped up Scootaloo and tossed her onto her back.

“Heh, Sorry,” Twilight replied with a sheepish smile. 

“Uhg, come on!” Scootaloo groaned from Rainbow Dash’s back. “I wanna see my new room!”

“You will squirt, we just gotta do something first,” Rainbow Dash chuckled while she slowly began to open the cloud homes front door.

“What’s that?” Scootaloo asked, momentarily caught of guard.

“Party!” Pinkie Pie’s voice screamed in excitement as her pink hooves shot out of the house and pulled both Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash inside in a flash.

“Hey, don’t start without us,” the other two crusaders called, quickly rushing into the house as well. Everypony else followed soon after, Surprise grumbling to herself as she walked in last.

Rainbow Dash’s entire front room was decorated to celebrate the adoption. Even though the room was more than big enough to fit everypony, extra cloud chairs and a large table had been added to one side of the room. The rest was filled with an assortment of balloons, streamers, and a few games.

On the table was a large assortment of treats, a small pile of presents, and a five layer, rainbow colored cake. Everypony couldn’t help but stare at it. Each layer was a different color, yet a steady stream of dark pink frosting covered the edges. On top, two small edible figurines stood, one of Rainbow Dash and one of Scootaloo.

“Wow, Pinkie, this is awesome!” Rainbow Dash said as she looked at the cake. 

“Wait until you taste it!” Pinkie Pie replied with a big grin. “Not only is each layer a different flavor, but the layers have layers inside that are a assortment of different flavors.”

“Oh, I have got to try this!” Rainbow Dahs proclaimed as she made her way up to the cake. Once she had a large piece on a plate, she could see the inner layers. Not only were they a mixture of different flavored cake, but some were also different types of jellies.

But instead of taking a bite, Rainbow Dash handed the plate to Scootaloo with a smile. “Why don’t you take the first bite, Squirt.”

With that, the party started and everypony began to enjoy the festivities. Game’s were played, food was eaten, and everypony had fun.

Well, almost everypony.

Even though Pinkie Pie tried several times, Surprise wouldn't do anything with her and all her friends could see it.


*	*	*


“Hey squirt,” Rainbow Dash said two hours later, catching Scootaloo's attention. “Why don’t you go show the other crusaders, and Surprise, you’re new room. It’s the last door down the hall, to the right. Its right across from my room.”

“Okay, but aren’t you coming?” Scootaloo asked as she lead the other fillies towards the hallway.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes, I just wanna do something first,” Rainbow Dash replied as she flashed a quick glance and nod towards Twilight.

“Okay, come on everypony,” Scootaloo called as she rushed off with the other fillies.

“Oh, wait for me!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she began to hop towards the hall. But just before she could make it through the doorway, a thin violet shield covered it, causing Pinkie to bounce off of it.

“Hey!” Pinkie grumbled as she tried to force her way through. “What gives Mr. Doorway?”

“Pinkie Pie, dear,” Rarity’s voice calmly called. Turning to face her friends, Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but become worried by the way they looked at her. Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack all looked at her with concern, while Twilight looked worried.

“Wh-whats up everypony?” Pinkie Pie stuttered.

“Its time you told us what you’ve been keeping secret from us dear,” Rarity sternly said.

“Secret, what secret?” Pinkie Pie asked as she slowly made her way for the kitchen entrance. But once again, it was blocked off by a thin layer of violet magic.

“Pinkie, you have to tell them,” Twilight calmly said as her horn slightly glowed.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie replied with a forced chuckle, once again moving towards another exit. Only to once again be blocked off by Twilight’s magic.

“Yes you do!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew in closer. But before she could continue, she was pulled back by Rarity’s magic.

“Rainbow Dash, you promised to be calm about this,” Rarity said as she forced the Pegasus to sit next to her.

“Please, Pinkie… we’re all just worried because you’ve been acting really weird,” Fluttershy said calmly.

“And it all has to do with, Surprise,” Applejack added. “Every time you two are around each other, you look like somepony refused to go to one of your party’s and she looks like she’d rather face a manticore.”

“Well… you know,” Pinkie Pie stuttered as she made her way towards a closet. But before she could open it, it too was covered with a thin layer of magic. “Surprise lost her parents, and its really sad and…”

“Pinkie Pie,” Twilight cut in. “You have to tell them the truth.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie chuckled as her bright color began to fade slightly. 

“Pinkie, if you don’t tell them, I will,” Twilight said with a heavy sigh.

“You wouldn’t… you promised,” Pinkie Pie said as she looked towards the princess, her hair flattening slightly.

“I promised to not say anything if you did,” Twilight replied. “You ‘Pinkie Promised’ to tell everypony, and you still haven’t. Rainbow Dash told me about what happened today and and all your doing right now is hurting yourself.”

“But, I can’t,” Pinkie Pie openly began to sob. 

“Pinkie, please,” Fluttershy began. “We’re all just so worried about you.”

“The pony you should be worried about is, Surprise!” Pinkie Pie Snapped back. "She lost her parents!" Almost instantly, Pinkie regretted saying that as Fluttershy jumped and hid behind Applejack.

“Pinkie, what the hay has gotten into you!?” Applejack questioned, glaring at Pinkie Pie with concern and confusion.

“Pinkie, we just want to help,” Rarity said as she tried to get closer to her friend. But before she could get too close, a strange growl came from Pinkie Pie’s slowly deflating mane.

“What in the name of… Ah!” Rarity began, only to shriek as a green blob shot out of Pinkie’s mane and attached itself to her face.

“Rarity!” Everypony shouted as the unicorn pried off the object with her magic, revealing it to be a squirming, Gummy.

“What the hay is wrong with him?” Applejack asked as Rarity released the squirming alligator. The moment her hit the ground, Gummy took a position between Pinkie Pie and everypony else, growling at the others.

“I’m sorry everypony,” Pinkie Pie said as she scooped up Gummy, hugging him tightly against her.  By this point, her hair had completely flattened and her bright pink color had faded. She wasn't smiling, and everypony could see her shaking slightly. “He’s just trying to protect me…”

“Pinkie Pie, please tell us,” Fluttershy asked as she moved from behind Applejack and went to comfort her friend.

“I did something really really stupid…” Pinkie Pie sobbed as tears began to hit the top of Gummy’s head.

“Pinkie Pie, you've done a lot of things,” Rainbow Dash said, moving closer, “and while they may be… questionable; their defiantly not stupid.”

Pinkie Pie simply looked back at her friend, tears filling her eyes, as she chocked out her next words.

“Even putting your own filly up for adoption?”
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Wow, Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle said as she looked around the room. “All this stuff is yours?”

“Yeah, isn’t it awesome!” Scootaloo replied as she looked at the signed Wonderbolt poster. She couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Rainbow Dash had hung that up in her room.

“It’s okay,” Apple Bloom said as she inspected the bed sheets. “Put some apples in here, and it’ll be perfect.”

“That’s your answer for everything,” Scootaloo grumbled as she laid down in her new cloud bed. “Man, this is so soft,” she happily cooed.

“Dog pile!” Sweetie Bell called as the other fillies launched towards the bed, piling on top of Scootaloo before she could react.

“Your right, Scoot’s, this thing is soft,” Apple Bloom said as she rolled of the pile.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo chuckled. “It’s one of the privileges of being a pegasi. I only wish I had one of these back at the foster house.”

“Why not?” Sweetie Belle asked, pressing her hoof as far into the cloud as she could.

“There’s a bunch of things you have to do so the bed doesn’t float away, a whole lot more if a non-pegasi wants to use it,” Scootaloo replied as she hopped off the bed.

“I wish I had a cloud bed,” Surprise sighed as she rolled around a bit. 

“Why don’t you just ask the Cake’s?” Apple Bloom questioned, rolling of the bed.

“Why would I asked them for a bed?” Surprise asked.

“Well, they are the ones taking care of you right?” Sweetie Belle asked. “So why wouldn’t you?”

“They’re not the ones taking care of me, Pinkie Pie is,” Surprise replied with a frown. “I mean, they are taking care of me; but, Pinkie Pie’s the one that is in charge of taking care of me… not that she cares though.”

“Well of course, Pinkie Pie cares, Surprise,” Apple Bloom replied. “Why, she’s always there when a friends in trouble.”

“Oh right, friends,” Surprise replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm, “because at this point, that’s apparently all we can be.”

“That didn’t sound very nice,” Sweetie Belle commented. “Why don’t you like, Pinkie Pie?”

“Yeah, every time she’s mentioned or around, you always seem so…” Scootaloo began, trailing off.

“Mad,” Apple Bloom finished.

“Yeah, so?” Surprise grumbled not really liking where the conversation was going. 

“So why are you so mad at her?” Apple Bloom asked. “Does it have anythin to do with what happened to your parents?”

“Can we please not talk about that?” Surprise asked as she hopped off the bed and went to the corner of the room. “Today’s supposed to be, Scootaloo’s day.”

“Yeah, and I wanna know what’s wrong,” Scootaloo replied sternly. “We’re friends, Surprise, and friends help friends overcome their problems.” 


*	*	*


“Oh, that’s a good one, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash openly laughed. “But seriously, you’re a great pony and friend.”

“Um, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight began, only to fall silent as Rarity began to speak.

“Really, Pinkie, I know you’ve been stressed because of, Surprises situation,” Rarity sighed with a shack of her head. “But that’s going a bit far for one of your jokes, don’t you think?”

“Joke?” Pinkie Pie chocked out.

“Um, I don't think she's joking,” Fluttershy quietly said. “I mean, Pinkie Pie seems really upset.”

“Because it is tr…” Twilight tried to say, only to be interrupted by Applejack.

“Now that’s a bit too far fer one of your pranks, Pinkie Pie,” Applejack sighed. “That is something you don’t joke—“

“Who said I was joking!” Pinkie Pie yelled. 

“Pinkie, it’s just…” Rainbow Dash began, only to fall silent as Pinkie Pie glared at her.

“So, you really have a filly?” Fluttershy asked, walking closer to Pinkie Pie.

“Yes,” Pinkie almost whispered in reply, squeezing Gummy a little more tightly.

“Butbutbutbtu…” Rainbow Dash began to stutter as she sat down on the ground.

“Then who…” Rarity began only to stop as a look of shocked realization crossed her face.  “No… it couldn’t be, could it?”

Pinkie Pie simply nodded in reply as Fluttershy began to hug her.

“But that can’t be righ,” Applejack stuttered, her eyes glazing over slightly. “Pinkie, your one of the best ponies I know, why would you put a filly, your own blood, up fer adoption?”

Pinkie Pie didn’t respond as she continued to cry.

“Now look here, Pinkie,” Applejack began sternly. “We’re yer friends, and you kept a secret like this from us? I think we rightly deserve an answer.”

“I… I…” Pinkie Pie began to stutter.

“It’s okay, Pinkie dear,” Rarity cut in, giving a warm smile. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have too.”

“I made a mistake,” Pinkie Pie quietly said.

“Pinkie, if you want, we can wait until tomorrow,” Twilight said caringly.

“I was stupid and didn’t listen to my parents,” Pinkie Pie continued, not hearing what anypony was saying.

“Pinkie, are you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked, noticing the blank look on Pinkie Pie’s face.

“If I could just go back, I’d—“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Fluttershy quickly, and rather loudly, interrupted, looking straight into Pinkie Pie’s eyes. “I know your upset, and in a very delicate situation right now, but I won’t let you even think of something like that.”

“Pinkie, why don’t you head home for the night,” Rarity commented as she walked up to her pink friend. “I’ll watch, Surprise tonight, okay?”

“But…” Pinkie Pie tried to reply, looking up at her friend as her expression turned to horror. “I didn’t… I mean… I’d never…”

“Pinkie Pie, It’s okay,” Twilight replied, trying to calm her friend. “Just take the night to calm down.”

“Okay…” Pinkie Pie quietly replied as she got to her hooves, still holding Gummy to her chest with one. “I’m sorry for ruining Scoot’s party,” Pinkie Pie blankly told her rainbow colored friend.

“Pinkie, you didn’t ruin the party, you actual put together a really good one,” Rainbow Dash sighed as she got up and floated over to her friend. “Now, would you like some company on your way home?”

“Yes please,” Pinkie Pie quietly replied, walking out the front door with her friend following close behind.

The moment they were gone, everypony else continued to stare at the door as a defining silence filled the room.

“I can’t believe… that Pinkie Pie… our Pinkie Pie, has a filly,” Applejack began.

“It’s true though,” Twilight sighed. “I signed the papers for her.”

“There shouldn’t even be no papers,” Applejack scoffed, rubbing her temples in agitation. “I’m sorry if ah sound a little cruel here, but somethin like this just aint right in my book.”

“Applejack, we all know how you feel about family, or ‘kin’ as you usually put it,” Rarity began with a sigh, her horn lighting as a nearby cup floated over towards her. “But I’m sure there’s a logical reason why she did it.”

“Do you know what it is, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“No, I didn’t see anything in the papers, and Pinkie Pie wouldn’t tell me,” Twilight sighed. “But I really didn’t see that kind of reaction coming, especially from her.”

“Well, it had better be a good one,” Applejack sighed. After a few moments, she sighed once again. “I’m sorry, ah didn’t mean to sound so rude.”

“Like Rarity said, we understand,” Twilight replied. “Its really hard to imagine her doing something like this.”

“I think we should wait and listen to what she has to say before we come to any conclusions,” Fluttershy added.

“And you are quite right, Fluttershy,” Rarity agreed with a nod. 


*	*	*


“Come one, Surprise,” Apple Bloom said as she pulled her friend into a hug. “I know exactly how you feel.”

“Really?” Surprise asked in a doubtful tone.

“Yeah…” Apple Bloom replied a little hesitantly. “My parents died when I was still a foal. The only reason I even know what they look like is because of family pictures.”

“And my parents gave me up,” Scootaloo sighed with a frown.

“And I barely see mine anymore,” Sweetie Belle added. “They’re always going somewhere and leaving me behind with, Rarity.”

“Really?” Surprise asked, mildly surprised by what her friends said. She knew that she hadn’t seen any either Apple Bloom’s and Sweetie Belle’s parents, but simply thought they were always busy working; and she had thought Scootaloo had lost her parents like she had.

“Yeah…” Apple Bloom replied with a heavy sigh as her eyes started to water slightly. “There was a farmin accident and my ma and pa… well, they didn’t make it.”

“All I remember was my mom walking me into a building and leaving me there,” Scootaloo sniffled. “She never came back and didn’t even say goodbye.”

“I’m sorry,” Surprise sniffled. She didn’t mean to make her friends cry, and all it did was make her feel bad.

“It’s okay,” Sweetie Belle replied with a small caring smile. “Things aren’t all that bad; Rarity actually does a lot for me and even if she isn’t always paying attention, she does at least listen to me.”

“And I got the chance to meet all of my friends, and Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said with her own smile. 

“And I still have my brother, sister, and Granny Smith,” Apple Bloom smiled. “What we’re trying to say, Surprise, is that we understand what it’s like to lose ponies that you love and who loved you.”

“But there are still ponies that care for you and want to see you happy,” Sweetie Belle added.

“Yeah, like Pinkie Pie,” Scootaloo said. “She really cares for you and just wants you to be happy.”

“Then why did she give me away?” Surprise asked with a sniffle. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Give you away?” Sweetie Belle questioned as she and her friends quickly became confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Pinkie Pie… she… she’s my mom,” Surprise stuttered with a shameful expression.

“Well, if she’s the one taking care of you now, I guess you could call her that,” Scootaloo shrugged.

“No, she’s really my mom,” Surprise heavily sighed. “She’s the pony that gave birth to me…”

“What!?” the other three shouted in shock.


*	*	*


“I’m sorry,” Pinkie Pie quietly mumbled as she slowly walked back to the bakery as Rainbow Dash followed close behind, a green alligator clamped to the top of her rainbow colored head.

“Pinkie, its okay,” Rainbow Dash repeated for the tenth time, having already given up on trying to remove Gummy from her head. “I’m the one that convinced everypony to talk to you about it so there’s no need to apologize. If anypony's sorry, its me.”

“I’m sorry,” Pinkie Pie mumbled again as the bakery came into view.

Sighing, Rainbow Dash remained silent this time as she followed Pinkie Pie into the bakery.  Since it was late, the shop was empty as Cup Cake worked to clean up the shop before turning in for the night.

“Why hello you two, how was the…” Cup Cake began to say until she saw the state Pinkie Pie was in. With a gasp, she quickly rushed over to the distraught mare. “Pinkie Pie, sweet heart, what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry,” Pinkie Pie mumbled without making eye contact. Turning to towards Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie simply held out one of her front hooves, which Gummy quickly hopped into after releasing Rainbow Dash’s head.

“Pinkie Pie, I’m sorry, okay?” Rainbow Dash began to plead as her friend headed for the stairs. She hated seeing Pinkie Pie like this and never intended for it in the first place. “We were just worried about you.”

Still, Pinkie Pie remained silent as she disappeared from sight into the upper levels of the shop. Rainbow Dash was about to follow when Cup Cake quickly blocked her path.

“What did you do?” she asked with an angry glare.

“We were worried,” Rainbow Dash began to reply, caught slightly off guard by the backers, rarely used, angry glare. “She told us about how she has a… filly and that she put her up for adoption.”

With a aggravated sigh, Cup Cake rubbed one of her temples with a hoof. “Look, I understand that you were all worried about her, but you should have discussed this with us.”

“We tried, but you kept ignoring us whenever we did. But I guess I kinda understand why now,” Rainbow Dash sighed as she looked at the stairs. “But why is Pinkie like this, what happened?"

“Give her a little while,” Cup Cake sighed, looking towards the staircase. “She’ll probably tell you tomorrow.”

“I hope so,” Rainbow Dash sighed as she turned to leave. But before she left, she was sure to call back to Cup Cake, informing her that Surprise would be staying at Rarity’s for the night.


*	*	*


“I can’t believe it...” Scootaloo blankly said as she slumped against the wall.

“I know!” Sweetie Belle blurted out, her mane a small hazarded zone.

“Pinkie Pie… a mother?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked at Surprise in surprise.

“I literally watched her appear out of a mailbox two days ago, and this is the thing you can’t believe?” Surprise wondered, becoming slightly agitated.

“Yeah… yeah, she does that all the time,” Scootaloo replied with a wave of her hoof, her eyes staring blankly into space. “How do you know she’s really your mom?”

“Because my grandpa said so,” Surprise grumbled as she crossed her hooves and crinkled her nose in a pout, “and he would never lie to me.”

“Wait, if he was your grandpa, does that mean he was, Pinkie Pie’s dad?” Sweetie Belle asked, becoming even more confused.

“No, he was my mom’s,” Surprise replied sternly. She was really beginning to regret even talking about it in the first place.

“Uh… I thought you just said that, Pinkie Pie was your mom?!” Scootaloo nearly shouted in agitation.

“Can we please stop talkin about this?” Apple Bloom pleaded while rubbing her temples. “I really don’t understand what’s goin on and my head is startin to hurt.”

“See, this is why I didn’t even want to talk to anypony about it,” Surprise said as she began to sob again. “Why does stuff like this always happen to me?”

“Surprise…” Apple Bloom began as she placed a hoof on the smaller filly’s shoulder.

“First, I’m given away, right as I’m born,” Surprise said as she openly cried. “Then, I find out that I can’t play and have fun with the other foals because of my heart and lungs; and even when I could, they always thought the things I could do were weird. Then, my parents died and I found out they weren’t even my parents to begin with.

“Why did this happen?!” Surprise shouted as tears poured from her eyes. “Did I do something wrong? Was I mean to somepony? Why… why can’t I have a normal life?!”

“Surprise, you aint done nothing wrong,” Apple Bloom said as she tried to console the younger filly.

Instead of responding, Surprise continued to cry; even as the other three fillies began to hug her, each trying to assure her that she hadn’t done anything wrong.

For several minutes, that’s how things went as Surprise continued to cry.

“Alright everypony, its about time to… oh my, is everypony alright?” Rarity asked as she stepped into the room and noticed to fillies.

“Rarity, Pinkie Pie is Surprise’s mom!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed first, rushing towards her sister.

“Uh, yes we already know that,” Rarity replied a little hesitantly. “Pinkie Pie… just told us.”

“Took her long enough,” Surprise grumbled as she stopped crying.

“Surprise, that’s not very…” Apple Bloom began.

“Well, it’s true,” Surprise interrupted, staring angrily at her friends and then at the older unicorn. “Not only did she give me away, but she didn’t even tell anypony about me. I bet you had to make her tell you didn’t you?”

“Uh, well, I would not go so far as to say that we made her tell us; as much as convinced her to explain to us what was going on,” Rarity replied with a forced smile. But as Surprise continued to glare, Rarity began to feel herself falter.

“How we found out aint the problem here,” Applejack said as she made her way around Rarity and into the room.  “The problem is that we shouldn't need to be told like this in the first place.”

“Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked as she stepped closer to her sister. Applejack looked slightly agitated and her mane was a slight mess. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine apple Bloom,” Applejack sighed heavily, rubbing a eye with a hoof. “Just a little… I don’t know, I just wanna get back to the farm and hit the hay.”

“Aww... do you have to go?” Scootaloo asked as she looked up towards the older mares.

“It’s a school night squirt,” Rainbow Dash replied as she flew in from a nearby window.

“Yes, and I believe we all need a good night’s sleep after tonight,” Rarity sighed as she looked down at her sister. “Come along Sweetie Belle, you as well Surprise.”

“Why me?” Surprise asked as she stood up and walked over towards the two unicorns.

“Well, I thought you’d enjoy a little sleepover,” Rarity chimed in with a smile.

“But you never let us have a sleep over on school nights,” Sweetie Belle whined. “Does that mean Apple Bloom and Scootaloo can come too?”

“Heh, sorry, but me and Scoots are spending our night right here,” Rainbow Dash chuckled as she lifted Scootaloo up and onto her back.

“Then can I go?” Apple Bloom asked Applejack.

“Sorry sis, not tonight,” Applejack simply replied.

“Aww man!’ Apple Bloom complained as she exited the room first, followed closely by her sister.

“Come along young ones, its about time we left as well,” Rarity said as she lead both Sweetie Belle and Surprise out of the room.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo called once the two of them were alone.

“Yeah, Scoots?” Rainbow Dash replied as she continued to stare at the door.

“Pinkie Pie’s a mom…” Scootaloo said, disbelief and shock in her voice.

“I know squirt,” Rainbow Dash sighed. “I know…”

> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“This is kind of boring…” Surprise grumbled as she hoofed over another small rool of cloth to Rarity.  

“Well, Sweetie Belle enjoys helping me with all the time,” Rarity replied with as she continued to work on one of her orders.

Surprise sighed heavily as she took a seat, watching as Rarity worked on a dress. After Sweetie Belle and her friends left for school, Surprise was stuck helping Rarity make dresses. 

“How much longer until school is over, I’m so bored,” Surprise complained as she flopped down on her back. 

“Just a few more hours dear, then you can spend the rest of the day destro… I mean, having fun throughout Ponyville,” Rarity replied, quickly catching herself before she said the wrong thing. “Besides its not that boring.”

“Yes it is,” Surprise grumbled, getting back on her hooves. “What we should do is…”

“Have a party,” Rarity replied instinctively, not fully realizing what she was saying and who she was talking to before it was too late.

“No!” Surprise snapped, clearly agitated by Rarity’s response. “I was going to say is that we should is go to the pond.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Rarity almost stuttered as she turned to look at Surprise with a worrisome expression. “I didn’t mean to make assumptions.”

“Its okay,” Surprise sighed as she trotted towards a set of manikins.  For several minutes she continued to stare at the manikins, sometimes imagining them wearing silly outfits or moving around and playing jokes on one another.

But all of it ended in a moment as a deafening screech and hiss echoed through the shop as a white and green blur tore past the manikins, knocking several over.

“Opalescence, whatever is the matter?!” Rarity yelled over the hissing, lighting her horn. A few moments later, the fashionista’s cat floated in front of her, hissing and flailing as it tried to detach a small green alligator from her back.

“Gummy?!” Both Surprise and Rarity exclaimed as the small alligator finally detached itself from Opalescence, rushing towards the young pegasus.

“What is… how did… You know what, I’m not even going to bother thinking about it,” Rarity sighed as she placed her cat back down on the ground and continued with her work.

“Why is Gummy here?” Surprise asked while staring down at the little green thing. Like normal, Gummy simple stared blankly at Surprise.

“Maybe he’s just here to see you,” Rarity replied as she floated a half-finished silk dress in front of herself. But even as she said this, a clear image of Gummy attaching himself to her face and the growl he made caused her to shiver slightly.

“I don’t know why, he’s really weird,” Surprise replied as she walked past gummy. As she walked closer towards Rarity, Gummy was sure to follow close behind. “How did Pinkie Pie even get him?”

“I… I think Fluttershy gave him to her,” Rarity replied, taking a moment to look at the small alligator. “I’m actually not all that sure.”

“Oh,” Surprise replied with a shrug as she sat back down. “So, when does school get out?”

“Two more hours dear,” Rarity replied, ignoring the loud groan that followed.


*	*	*


“So, how was the day with, Surprise?” Applejack asked her friend as they walked down the street.

“What one would expect,” Rarity replied. “The only weird thing that happened was that, Gummy showed up.”

“Really now,” Applejack inquired with a raised brow, “And you just let the little guy stay after clamping on your face last nigh’?”

Rarity just shrugged as she walked up to Sugar Cub Corners front door. “Its not like it was the first time he’s done it, and he was simply looking out for, Pinkie Pie’s wellbeing. I’m kind of jealous actually; Opalescence would never do that… at least, I don’t think she would.”

“There you two are,” Rainbow Dash’s voice suddenly cut in. “Hurry it up, we’ve been waiting for you two.”

“Ever so sorry dear, had to make sure the shop was all locked up before I could leave,” Rarity replied as she and Applejack walked inside, finding all but her pink friend inside waiting.

“Hello, Applejack, Rarity,” Cup Cake greeted the two new arrivels.

“Howdy Mrs. Cake, how’s, Pinkie been doin?” Applejack asked with concern.

“She’s actually doing a lot better then you’d think,” Cup Cake replied with a smile. But it fell quickly after. “But all that does is worry me more. I really wish I knew what that mare was thinking sometimes.”

“Don’t worry Mrs. Cake,” Twilight began, leading the way toward the upper levels. “We’ll talk to her and try our best to help, right girls?”

“Of course,” Rainbow Dash replied for everypony. “No way are we going to leave things the way they are now.”

“Alright then,” Cup Cake said with a smile and nod. “If you need anything don’t be afraid to ask.”

With final nods, everypony made their way up the stairs and towards Pinkie Pie’s loft. As they all got closer, each began to worry as the silence continued.

They half expected to hear Pinkie Pie working on some random contraption or party favor. They also expected to at least hear sniffling, but as they stood outside her room, silence was all that greeted them.

“Is she even here?” Fluttershy asked meekly. 

“Mrs. Cake said she hasn’t left all day,” Rainbow Dash replied as she firmly knocked on the door. Moments later, it opened onto a very unexpected sight.

“Oh good, you're all here,” Pinkie Pie chirped with a smile, her hair tied into a bun and a pair of black rim glasses sitting on her snout.

“Uh, Pinkie, why are you wearing glasses?” Twilight asked as they all filed into the room.

“Because, this is my serious face,” Pinkie Pie replied with a serious look.

“Yes it is, so why the glasses and bun?” Rainbow Dash asked with a blank stare.

“Well,” Pinkie Pie began, scratching under her chin. “Whenever my mom had to talk to ponies about something important, she would put her hair in a bun and wear glasses.”

“Oh, okay,” Twilight replied with a slightly confused look. But she quickly changed it to a more caring expression, hoping to calmly begin what she and her friends had come to do. “So, are you ready to talk yet?”

“Well duh!” Pinkie Pie replied, leading her friends to several chairs. “Like I said… Serious.”

“All right then,” Rarity said, taking a seat. “So why don’t we start off with, where it all began.”

“Well you see,” Pinkie began, standing in front of her friends, a long pointer popping out of her mane and landing in her outstretched hoof. “Before this universe was created, there was this concept that eve—“

“Not that beginning!” Rainbow Dash snapped looking slightly uncomfortable. “You know… how did you end up having a filly.”

“Ooh!” Pinkie Pie said with a wave of her hoof. "I can’t tell you that silly.”

“And why in Equestria can’t you?” Applejack asked.

“Because, Applejack,” Pinkie Pie began, moving in close to whisper. “It’s too adult for this story.”

A deafening silence filled the room as everypony tried to process what Pinkie Pie had just said.

“I’m gonna pretend I understood what you mean by that,” Applejack mumbled blandly. “So what can you tell us then?”

“That I did something stupid and ended up pregnant as the result,” Pinkie Pie replied with a smile, causing everypony to become slightly worried.

“So you’re not going to tell us how you ended up pregnant?” Rainbow Dash asked, becoming slightly agitated.

“Nope.”

“How about who, Surprise’s father is?” Twilight inquired, with a slightly hopeful look.

“Nada.”

“Pinkie, how are we supposed to help if we don’t even know what the problem is in the first place,” Twilight replied in a slight huff.

“Because that stuff isn’t the problem,” Pinkie Pie sighed, sagging slightly. “I-I just want, Surprise to like me.”

“Then how bout ya tell us why you gave your own filly up for adoption?”  Applejack asked a little stubbornly.

“Right!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she rushed over towards a small chest. Throwing it open, she quickly pulled out a small binder and a few loose papers. 

“What are these Pinkie?” Twilight asked as her friend gave her the items. 

“Well, those loose papers are some incident reports, and the binder is our farms safety precautions,” Pinkie pie sighed.

“Did somepony really have their leg crushed?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked over one of the papers. Each paper had a different incident on it and out of the eight that were there, six had all occurred within the same year.

“Wow, working on a rock farm sure is dangerous,” Fluttershy said as she looked over the binder.

“Imagine living on it,” Pinkie Pie huffed.

“Okay, so you put her up for adoption because… the farm was unsafe?” Rarity asked, placing a more detailed report down.

“Well, that’s one of the reasons,” Pinkie Pie replied as she pulled two more binders out of nowhere.

“Are those more incident reports?” Fluttershy asked timidly.

“No, no,” Pinkie Pie giggled. “These are photo albums.”

One was as traditional as you would expect; dark gray with the words ‘Rock Family’, embroidered on the front and packed to the brim with photos. The second one was white and covered in different colored balloons; it was also a lot smaller than the ‘Rock Family’ one.

Placing the more colorful binder down, Pinkie opened the ‘Rock Family’ album to a certain page, holding it out for her friends to see. “This is the, Rock family.”

The photo seemed to be over a decade old by how young most of the ponies were.There were seven different ponies in the photo. Six of which everypony recognized as Pinkie Pie’s sisters and parents. But the seventh was one they had never seen before.

“Who’s that, Pinkie?” Twilight asked as she pointed to the seventh pony. She looked about as old as Granny Smith but looked a lot like Pinkie Pie since both of them had pink fur and mane’s. But while Pinkie Pie had light pink fur and a dark pink mane and tail, the older mare had the opposite.

“That’s Granny Pie, silly,” Pinkie Pie giggled with a wave of her hoof. 

“Wait, so she’s real?” Rainbow Dash questioned, looking at the picture herself. “I just thought you were joking around.”

Pinkie Pie gasped as she took a small step back, Rainbow Dash’s comment sounding like an insult to her.

“I would never joke about, Granny Pie. After I got my cutie mark, she was the one who taught me all I know about parties,” Pinkie Pie replied in a slight huff.

“Sorry, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash apologized. “Its just that, you don’t have any pictures of her, so I kind of thought you were just being yourself whenever you talked about her.”

“That’s okay,” Pinkie Pie sighed. “That’s actually the only picture we could ever get her to take; something about losing your soul or whatnot.

“So this is your whole family?” Applejack asked.

“Well, no…” Pinkie Pie said as she scratched her chin. “My dad has a cousin, so there’s him.”

“And is that it?” Rarity asked.

“Well, there’s the Apple family too,” Pinkie Pie replied with a giant grin, only for it too fall a few moments later. “But I only recently found out about that.”

“Okay, so what does Granny Pie have to do with putting, Surprise up for adoption?” Twilight asked.

“Well, because of how dangerous the farm is, me and my sisters technically weren’t allowed on it until we were five,” Pinkie sighed. “So, we would be watched by Granny Pie until we were old enough in a small cabin away from the farm. After that, we would be put to work.”

“So your grandmother took care of you?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What about your mom?”

“Well, she was in charge of all the paperwork and business stuff on the farm, so she never really had much time to watch us,” Pinkie Pie shrugged. “It’s not like she wasn’t there, it’s just how it was.”

“Your parents actually had you work at such a dangerous place?” Fluttershy questioned. 

“It’s not that dangerous!” Pinkie Pie groaned. “Some ponies get hurt and suddenly important ponies start saying its an unsafe environment…”

“Wait, is that why you put, Surprise up for adopting?” Fluttershy asked.

“If that were the case, why didn’t you have Granny Pie watch her like she did you and your sisters?” Twilight asked.

“She… she passed away a year before the whole thing happened,” Pinkie Pie heavy sighed, but quickly changed it to a smile. “But it was still fun when she was around.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t meant t—“ Twilight began before Pinkie Pie interrupted her.

“Its okay, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie replied with a caring smile.

“So because she wasn’t around, no pony could watch your foal or you couldn’t because of… my head hurts,” Rainbow Dash mumbled as she started rubbing the sides of her head.

“Kind of,” Pinkie Pie mumbled.

“Pinkie, stop giving us these cockamamie excuses,” Applejack grumbled. “Just tell us why you would put your own blood up for adoption and allow somepony else to raise them.”

“Applejack!” everypony besides Pinkie Pie exclaimed in shock.

“I just want some strait answers is all,” Applejack replied. “Ah’m not trying to be mean or nothing, Ah just can’t wrap my head around this.”

“Because I couldn’t do it…” Pinkie Pie sighed as she took a seat.

“What do you mean by that?” Fluttershy asked.

“That I personally couldn’t handle it,” Pinkie Pie sighed as she sat on her flank. “I’m way to childish to be a mommy…”

“Pinkie, you're not…” Twilight began before she was cut off by Pinkie Pie.

“Yes I am…” Pinkie sighed. “I don’t know if any of you know this, but I don’t tend to act my age all the time.”

“Now, I wouldn’t say that…” Twilight replied nervously as she shared a glance with her friends.

“But its true!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, taking the photo album and flipping forward a few pages.

“See, this was a fancy dinner my mom took me to when I was twelve,” Pinkie Pie said as she showed a picture of herself surrounded by several serious looking ponies as she danced on top of a food table, her bland dress covered in jellies and other small colorful snacks. 

“You were twelve, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.

“I did the same thing for the next three years in a row…” Pinkie Pie grumbled, flipping through the binder, showing several like images. “I keep trying to act my age, but I can’t change who I am… and that’s why I couldn’t be a mommy.”

“But what about the rest of your family?” Rarity asked. “What did your sisters and parents have to say about it?”

“Inkie and Blinkie didn’t really understand what was going on, and Maud told me to do what was right,” Pinkie Pie sighed.

“And your parents?” Fluttershy asked.

“They pushed towards adoption,” Pinkie Pie sighed more heavily. “At first, they talked about figuring out a way for it to work, but in the end… well, she was adopted.”

Everypony sat in silence while they tried their best to understand what Pinkie Pie meant. 

“Nope!” Applejack suddenly snapped, getting to her hooves. “I am not going to accept that as an answer.”

“What?” Pinkie Pie inquired raising a brow. “But that is the actual answer, Applejack. I was too young and there was no way I could raise a filly, so I put her up for adoption and—“

“No!” Applejack interrupted. “Ah know you, Pinkie; ah know you so well, that ah know somepony like you would never ever, think of doin somthin like that without a real good reason, and frankly, none of those seem like it.”

“But… but, my parents… I mean…” Pinkie Pie began to stutter. Her own thoughts were getting jumbled up beyond what was normal and she was trying to focus.

“Do you regret having her?” Applejack asked, drawing gasped from her other friends.

“What?! No, I love her,” Pinkie Pie quickly responded as the bun in her mane began to undo itself.

“Then why Pinkie?” Applejack asked as she walked closer to her friend, a concerned look on her face. “Why did you do it?”

“Be-because…” Pinkie Pie began, facing the ground and allowing her glasses to fall to the ground. “E-every time I thought about her… I saw his face…”

“You mean, Surprise’s father?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes,” Pinkie Pie replied, her eyes still locked on the ground. “He hurt me and I was just so angry at him… I was afraid I would be angry at, Surprise too… So, I put her up for adoption a month before she was born.”

“Now I highly dou—“ Applejack began, falling silent as Pinkie Pie interrupted her with a stern glare.

“No, I hated him more than I have ever hated anything in my entire life!” Pinkie Pie snapped, a never before seen fury in her eyes. “and I didn’t want to feel that same anger towards, Surprise… that’s why I put her up for adoption. Is that a better answer, Applejack?!”

“Uh…” Applejack replied timidly, moving back slowly. “I just… wanted a straight answer.”

“It was all a strait answer,” Pinkie Pie scoffed, her expression softening slightly. “Everything else added to the decision… all I want now is for, Surprise to know that I love her.”

“Does she know that that’s the reason she was adopted?” Twilight asked, feeling that it was alright to talk again.

Pinkie Pie remained silent for a moment, deciding how best to answer before finally shrugging. “I don’t know, Twilight. I wish I did, but I just don’t know.”

> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


“So, did she say anything?” Scootaloo asked her unicorn friend.

“Not really,” Sweetie Belle sighed. “Once we got home, she got really quiet and went to bed.”

“I still can’t believe it though,” Scootaloo said as she looked over at Apple Bloom and Surprise. Apple Bloom was currently showing Surprise how to hogtie a pig, but it was obvious that the young pegasus wasn’t paying much attention. 

“Believe what?” Sweetie Belle asked, the confused look on her face confirming that she didn’t know what Scootaloo was talking about.

“That Surprise is Pinkie Pie’s daughter!” Scootaloo replied sternly. “I mean, this is Pinkie Pie we’re talking about! You know, the pony who acts more like a foal then we do!”

“Oh, yeah, that…” Sweetie Belle blushed with a sheepish smile. “It’s not that unbelievable, is it?”

“Of course it is!” Scootaloo exclaimed, flailing her hooves for emphasis. “I mean, she didn’t tell anypony, not even Rainbow Dash!”

“Maybe she had a good reason not to…” Sweetie Belle replied. 

“This isn’t something you keep secret!” Scootaloo replied rather harshly.

“That didn’t sound very nice,” Sweetie Belle said, her ears folding down.

“I didn’t mean for it to sound like that!” Scootaloo huffed as she dropped to her haunches and crossed her front hooves across her chest. “It just hits a little close to home is all…”

“What are you two talkin about?” Apple Bloom asked as she and Surprise made their way over. The two of them covered in, what everypony hoped to be, mud.

“Uh, well…” Sweetie Belle began to reply, her eyes looking at Surprise for a quick moment. “We were kind of talking about Pinkie Pie.”

“Why does everypony want to talk about her?” Surprised huffed, brushing some mud off of her coat with a hoof.

“It’s just really hard to belief in something like this,” Scootaloo replied, rubbing the back of her head. “I don’t think anypony ever expected, Pinkie Pie to be a mom.”

“She’s not my mom…” Surprise replied sternly.

“Surprise, I know you don’t like her that much, but she’s really not that bad,” Sweetie Belle said with a hopeful smile.

“Then how come, nopony knew I was her daughter?” Surprise began, raising an eyebrow. “Or how nopony knew she had a daughter to begin with?”

“Well, she had to have a reason,” Apple Bloom responded, her coat already mostly clean of mud. 

“I don’t care…” Surprise sighed as she took a seat. “I just want my mom and dad back.”

“Surprise,” Apple Bloom began with a sigh as she took a seat beside the younger filly. “I know ya really want them back, but I can tell you from personal experience, that it’s really not going to help.”

“I know…” Surprise sighed. “I just don’t want to be around her anymore.”

“Why not?” Scootaloo asked. “Does she smell funny?”

“No, she smells like candy,” Surprise grumbled, her nose scrunching up slightly. “I actually kind of like it.”

“Does she make you sleep in a whole different room or several rooms away?” Sweetie Belle asked from personal experience.

“Well no, she actually lets me sleep in her bed,” Surprise replied, brushing a hoof against the ground.

“Does she make you get up real early to do chores?” Apple Bloom asked.

“No, she always lets me sleep until I want and then makes me breakfast,” Surprise replied.

“Then how can you still be angry with her?” Scootaloo asked with a raised brow. 

“Because I just am…” Surprise replied as she crossed her front hooves and pouted. “I didn’t even know about her, and then suddenly I’m being taken away from my home to some random place I never even heard about.”

“But why can’t you at least give her a chance?” Apple Bloom asked. “My sister said that Pinkie was crying because all she wants for you is to be happy.”

“I didn’t want her to cry…” Surprise mumbled, caught slightly off guard by this knowledge. “I just… I just don’t like her.”

“But you haven’t even given her a chance yet,” Sweetie Belle said, moving closer. “Maybe if you did, you’d actually have a lot of fun.”

“But what if…” Surprise began, before falling into a uncomfortable silence.

“What if, what?” Scootaloo questioned, causing Surprise to look at her with a worried gaze.

“What if she tries to take their place?” Surprise asked. “I don’t want to forget about mom and dad, and I’m afraid that she wants me to.”

“I’m sure she would never do that,” Apple Bloom replied putting a comforting hoof around the younger filly. “Pinkie Pie just wants everypony to smile.”

“But…” Surprise began to mumble, her eyes locked on the ground.

“Come on, Surprise,” Scootaloo said as she moved closer to the filly. “Give her one chance and I know you’ll have fun!”

“But what if I don’t?” Surprise asked, looking up at the other fillies in worry. “What if, instead of having fun, all we do is sit around and do a whole bunch of boring grown up stuff?!”

Surprise barely had a chance to cover her ears before the older fillies burst out in laughter. Each one falling to the ground as they tried to breath in between their uncontrollable laughter.

“P-Pinkie pi-e, sit a-around?!”  Scootaloo wheezed through her laughter, clenching her side. “The l-last time she sat around, was when there w-were dozens of copies of her r-running through town.”

“J-just how much time have ya spent with her?” Apple Bloom asked, her laughter beginning to subside.

“Not much really…” Surprise replied sheepishly. “Any chance I get, I spend it with other ponies.”

“Then its decided!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, raising a hoof high into the air.

“Yep!” Scootaloo added.

“Without a doubt!” Apple Bloom proclaimed.

“What are you talking about?” Surprise asked as she watched the other three fillies take a deep breath.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DAY PLANERS, YAY!” the three older fillies yelled.

“Or whatever it is, we’re about to do,” Scootaloo added in a normal tone of voice, but still standing confidently.

“I got a bad feeling about this…” Surprise sighed, her body shaking slightly.


*	*	*


“Pinkie Pie, calm down!” Twilight sighed once again as she tried her best to follow her pink friend. “Everypony is looking, so just calm down.”

“But it was a doozy, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie said as she popped out of a mail box and grabbed hold of her friend. “A DOOZY!!!”

“Pinkie Pie, please!” Twilight snapped as she pulled away. “If we settle down and think, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure out where she is.”

“Right… right,” Pinkie Pie absent mindedly repeated, taking several deep breaths. “Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are checking around town, Applejack is at the farm and Rarity is checking the park.”

“Yes, and she should be with the crusaders, right?” Twilight asked as she tried to get Pinkie to stop hyperventilating. 

“THEY COULD BE ANYWHERE THEN!” Pinkie Pie wailed.

“Now, Pinkie, I’m sure they’re close,” Twilight began. “They wouldn’t go anywhere without asking first… I hope.”

Pinkie Pie simply nodded absently in reply while she headed for another mailbox, opening it and shoving her head inside, calling her daughter’s name loudly.

“Pinkie Pie, she’s not going to be in… eek!” Twilight began, stopping when she felt something small begin to climb onto her back.

“What’s wrong Twili… Gummy!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she pulled her head free from the mailbox and looked at her alicorn friend.

“Oh, thank Celestia,” Twilight sighed as she looked back at the blankly staring alligator currently standing in-between her wings. But before she could even question what the little alligator was doing on her back, it was whisked away by a pair of pink hooves.

“Where is she?!” Pinkie Pie demanded as she shook Gummy violently.

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight quickly interrupted, lighting her horn and taking the small alligator from Pinkie Pie’s hooves. 

“Rightrightright,” Pinkie Pie sighed heavily. “Sorry, got a itty bitty carried away there.”

“Yes, now then,” Twilight sighed as she released Gummy from her magic. Who proceeded to rush towards his owner and standing stock still.

“Where’s Surprise, Gummy?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Pinkie Pie, I don’t think he knows…” Twilight began, falling silent as Gummy began to quickly wobble off, Pinkie Pie following close behind. “Or maybe he does?”


*	*	*


“How are we supposed to know if he found her?” Surprise asked Apple Bloom, the two waiting in the small clearing outside the club house.

“I don’ know,” Apple Bloom shrugged, keeping her eyes on the path in front of them. “Usually, Pinkie Pie knows when somepony is lookin fer her.”

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Surprise asked timidly.

“Positive!” Apple Bloom chirped enthusiastically. “All ya gotta do is give her a chance and ah know y’all have a whole heap oh fun.”

“Okay…” Surprise replied with a tone of worry. A part of her did want to give Pinkie Pie a chance, but it was a lot smaller than the part that felt betrayed, lied to, and just generally disliked her.

“Here they come!” Scootaloo’s voice range from the tree house.

“Ya ready?” Apple Bloom asked Surprise.

“If I said no, could we do something else?” Surprise replied back with a hopeful grin.

“Nope!” Apple Bloom replied with a smile as Gummy came into view, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Applejack following close behind.

“See, aint nothing ta worry about,” Applejack said as they saw Surprise and Apple Bloom standing outside the clubhouse. “Aint nothing on fire, and she don’t look hurt.”

Pinkie Pie ignored Applejack as she rushed forward and picked up Surprise. She quickly began to bombard the young filly with questions as she looked for any injuries or signs of a problem.

“I’m fine!” Surprise grumbled when she finally got the chance, doing her best to escape Pinkie Pie’s hooves. “Can you please put me down now?”

“No!” Pinkie Pie snapped, pulling the filly into a tight hug. “I felt a doozy earlier, and I know it involves you, and I don’t want you to get hurt or scared, or hungry, or…”

“Pinkie Pie!” Applejack snapped, drawing her friend’s attention. “Ya aint really helping her, if she can’t even get a lick of air.”

“Oh, sorry!” Pinkie Pie apologized, releasing Surprise. The young filly immediately gasped for air as she shot an annoyed look at the large pink mare.

“Actually Pinkie Pie,” Apple Bloom chirped as she got in-between the two. “Surprise wanted to ask ya somthin.”

“Really?” Pinkie Pie asked with a giant smile, not noticing the sharp glare Surprise shot at Apple Bloom.

“Yes…” Surprise sighed. For a few moments, she debated whether or not to ask, still not enjoying or looking forward to what she and the crusaders had planned. But with a final sigh, she blurted it out.

“Wouldyouliketoplaywithmeandthecrusaders?”

“Uh… what?” Twilight asked, not really understanding what Surprise just said.

“She was wonderin if, Pinkie Pie wanted to play some games with us,” Apple Bloom interpreted with a smile.

“You hear that, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said with a smile as she looked towards her friend. But even as Twilight spoke to her, Pinkie Pie simply sat on the ground with a blank look on her face.

“Uh, Pinkie Pie, y’all alrigh sugarcube?” Applejack asked as she waved a hoof in front of Pinkie’s face, getting no response.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Surprise grumbled as she turned to leave. Not noticing Pinkie Pie begin to smile and shake violently.

“Oh, yesyesyesyesyesyesyes!!!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she rushed forward, scooping up Surprise and nuzzling her repeatedly. “I’d love to!”

“Hurray…” Surprise cheered back with fake enthusiasm. 

“So,” Pinkie Pie began, holding Surprise out to look her in the eye, the large smile still on her face. “Should I bring my trombone, or will one be supplied?”