For as long as she can remember, Surprise's one wish has been to start a family. But she's a little old for that now, and having an infertile womb doesn't help matters either.

But then by chance, she meets a colt named Tightrope, whose home burned down in a fire and whose mother is presumed dead. Surprise jumps at the chance to take him in, but Tightrope is a strange kid with strange ideas about how the world works. Surprise has her work cut out for her showing the colt what life is all about.

As if that wasn't enough, Tightrope's biological mother turns out to be not quite dead after all…

This story marks a new beginning for my "Surprise Days" saga.

Special thanks to Luminary for beta-reading each chapter.

Canon note: This story takes place after Season One. For my purposes, "A Canterlot Wedding" is canon and has happened, but every other episode of Season Two and Three either hasn't happened yet, doesn't happen at all, or didn't play out quite the way we saw on TV. Most importantly: there is no Princess Twilight. She is, and always will be, a unicorn.

Tag note: "Human" because Surprise has a pet human. "Slice of Life" is true for the first couple of chapters but near the end there's a minor adventure element. "Alternate Universe" should be obvious.