Walking a Tightrope - A Surprise Days Story

Walking a Tightrope

The author's preferred edition

A "Surprise Days" Story

by NoGiantRobots1983

Chapter One

Surprise Finds a Son

~Let's Begin!~

Where am I?  I think... that... that red thing.  Is that a building?  Must... make...

His vision, blurry.  His hooves, weak and wobbly.  He barely had enough strength to take the few more plodding steps to the indistinct red blob in front of him.  He could only hope that it was a building.  In a moment of delirium, he wished that hot, bright thing in the sky would go away.  Everything was too bright, and it was hurting his eyes.  Something moved.  It could've been a pony-eating predator for all he knew, but he was beyond caring.  "Help me!"  He cried out, and it seemed like his cry was a pitiful little squeak.  His hearing must be bad...

He felt an impact on his side, and the world went dark.  When the light returned, he saw figures standing all around him.  He heard voices, then the darkness took him again.

When the light came back, his senses returned with it.  The colt now realized that impact he had felt was from collapsing on his side, and it still hurt.  But he could see clearly now, could see the purple unicorn standing over him, apparently using some magic.  There was a tan-furred, blonde Earth pony next to her, and this pony put some food in front of him.  Upon sight of the apple, the colt was suddenly intensely aware of an emptiness in his stomach, and began to eat.  He noticed that the more he ate, the less magic that purple unicorn used, and the stronger he felt.  At around ten apples, he felt like he could eat no more.

"P'shew!"  The purple unicorn wiped her brow.  "That was scary, but I'm happy to report a successful operation!"

The colt glanced up at her, and then looked all around him.  He realized now that he was surrounded by ponies, all watching him with strange, wide eyes and small pupils.  It made it look like they were scared, but they couldn't be scared of him, could they?

The tan pony asked, "Ya'll feelin' good, sugarcube?"

The colt blinked at her.  "Are you speaking to me?"

"Of course!"

"I think you've mistaken me for somepony else.  My name is Tightrope, not Sugarcube."

Why were they laughing?  Tightrope felt a strange feeling throughout his body... a weak feeling, a sinking in his spine and in his stomach.  A sudden desire to... shrink?  To disappear?

The tan pony said, "Well, little feller, glad yer all right.  You had us all worried for awhile."

Then the purple pony said, "She's right.  If I hadn't given you some of my life force, you'd be a goner!"

"Why?  What has happened?"

Once more the tan pony spoke, "Why, you stumbled out of them woods there!  You were all wibblin' and wobblin' like you were sick or somethin'!  You scared Miss Cheerilee here somethin' bad--" she indicated another purple pony who Tightrope had seen but not particularly noticed before, "--and she came and got Twilight and mahself, and we nursed ya'll back to health!"

Tightrope came to his hooves.  "Then I am in your debt.  What would you have me do?"

The purple unicorn and the tan earth pony glanced at each other, and then the purple unicorn asked, "What do you mean?"

"You've done me a service.  Therefore I must do something for you in exchange."

"Aw shucks, yung'un!"  The tan pony chuckled, "You don't owe us anything!"

Tightrope was about to object, but then the purple unicorn cut him off.

"We really ought to take you home, first thing."

Tightrope didn't even realize the sharp intake of breath was his own.  "Oh, no no no!  Not yet!  I can't go home yet!  My mother would be so angry if I told her I was in debt!"

Applejack took a moment to size up the little guy who was addressing her.  She figured he must be around the same age as Apple Bloom.  He had tan fur with white spots, which was a pattern Applejack had only seen in one other pony, and that one had been a transplant from Manehattan.  That, and how formal this "Tightrope" feller sounded, led her to believe he must also be from some big-name fancy neighborhood.  However, Applejack drew a blank when considering his mane and tail, which were lime-green, but had this strange way of looking like they had pink around the edges.

And she needed help convincing him to just let the matter be.

"Give us a minute," Applejack told the little guy, and motioned for Twilight to follow her around the side of the schoolhouse.  Once there, Applejack asked, "What do ya think?"

"He's probably just too embarrassed to thank us.  You know how boys his age are."

"I hear ya.  So, what ought we to do?"

"Why not humor him?  Find some easy task he could do to 'pay off' his debt."

Applejack smiled at the suggestion.

Tightrope had watched the two mares walk around the side of the building, and waited patiently for their return.  When they came back, that purple unicorn said, "All right.  Applejack and I will find something for you to do.  In the meantime..." the unicorn looked at the Earth pony, as if expecting a prompt of some sort.  She only received a questioning glance in exchange, and then told Tightrope, "...You'll be sticking with me."

Tightrope felt a smile form on his face.  He nodded with dignity, and said, "It is agreed, then!"

He thought he detected a low chuckle from the unicorn, but tried not to think about it.  A debt was a debt, and his would soon be payed in full!

Elsewhere in Ponyville, another mystery was walking on four legs, with an even bigger mystery close behind, a folded pair of pants draped over his shoulder.  Ponies took a second out to stare at the hairless ape thing that Surprise claimed was her pet.  Ponyville was no stranger to unusual companions, after all a baby dragon took up residence here, but the ponies at least had heard of dragons.  What in creation was a human?  Supposedly they came from a distant land that was on the other side of a rift, and the thought alone made him seem like an exotic fairy-tale creature.

This particular human also looked mysterious.  He was tall--Big Macintosh had once stood on his hind legs for the sake of comparison and the human out-heighted him by slightly less than a foot--and he had a black mane, the bangs of which effectively rendered the human's eyes invisible.  This had led to rumors that the human was blind (although this had been proven false) or else that his eyes were jewels or something.  The human was skinny, leading many to guess he didn't eat very much.  The human also always wore clothing, which changed on a daily basis but always seemed travel-worn.  His name was Raydence.

Raydence tried not to notice he was being stared at, but even so, it bothered him.  Even though he tried to sound casual, this was what lead him to say, "You know, I could always patch it up myself.  We'd save money that way."

"You know what else would save us some money?"  Surprise shot back with a tone of authority, "You learning to kill your food before trying to cook it!"

"It was just laying there, still as a statue.  How was I supposed to know it was still alive?"

"If it was dead, something else would've been eating it!"

"Right, right..." Raydence sighed, and glanced sideways.  Although, due to how his mane covered his eyes, to onlookers it would look as though he just turned his head slightly.

"Did it work?"  Surprise asked in a whisper.

"Yep," Raydence confirmed, glad to see that the townsponies were no longer paying attention and had returned to their daily business.  It was funny, that:  it seemed like Raydence was only interesting and exotic until he and Surprise started arguing about something.  Once that happened, he was no longer something special.  And he liked it like that.

All of the sudden Raydence staggered in his tracks, and when he stopped moving it was to find that a pink pony had taken occupancy in his arms, and had placed her own hooves over his shoulders.

"Regular as clockwork," Raydence mumbled, and not unappreciatively.

"Hiya Radey-Wadey!"  Pinkie Pie greeted.  "Is Surprise being a big meaniehead again?"

"She's being a small meaniehead today."  Raydence joked.  Surprise turned around and sat watching, an amused smirk across her face.

Pinkie gave a smirk all her own.  "You know, you could always dump her and come live with me."

"You make it sound like she's my girlfriend or something," Raydence said back, scratching behind Pinkie's left ear.  "What'd she ever do to you anyway?"

It was a question he'd been meaning to ask for a while.  Almost as soon as the two had met, Pinkie and Surprise got off on the wrong foot... or hoof, whatever the case may be.  Raydence thought back to the day Pinkie had thrown them both a welcoming party, and remembered that she hadn't seemed particularly enthused.  At the time, he hadn't thought much of it.  He didn't really know Pinkie back then, and this was just after an adventure, so he had seen her demeanor as a result of being worn out.  But the more Surprise and Pinkie saw of each other, the more it became clear that there was something Pinkie just didn't like about Surprise.

In fact, Pinkie's own friends had been worried about this.  According to them, Pinkie had never antagonized anyone.  She was such a loving pony!  And Raydence could believe it, because if Pinkie had nothing but disapproval for the pegasus, she seemed to have an abundance of affection for said pegasus' pet!  At first, it had been little more than the occasional tickle or mane-scruffle, like she would do to a dog or a cute kitty cat, but more recently Pinkie's behavior had taken on decidedly romantic undertones which Radey-Wadey wasn't sure he likey-wikeyed.

Pinkie glanced down at Surprise, saw that amused smirk.  Her own face returned disapproval, and then she brought her focus back to Raydence.  Pinkie totally ignored Ray's question and instead asked, "So, whatcha doin'?"

"We were on our way to Carousel Boutique," Raydence explained.  "I messed up catching a snake for breakfast and it ripped a hole in my jeans.  See?"  Raydence indicated the pair that he had sloshed over his shoulder.

Pinkie saw the hole, and in her mind she immediately imagined the scenario which would lead to a rip like that.  With a gasp, she asked, "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Of course not," Surprise replied almost mockingly, "If he was, we'd be going to the doctor and not a clothing store."

Pinkie Pie stuck her tongue out at Surprise, and then turned her attention solely to Raydence.  "Got any plans for tonight?"

"Just the same plan I have every night."

"Which is?"

"Try to take over the world."

Pinkie Pie blinked twice, and then things finally registered for her and she giggled.  "Oh Radey, you're so silly!"

Just as suddenly as she entered Raydence's arms, she hopped out of them and landed on all fours.  Then she said, "Well, if you're free tonight, I'm throwing a 'first week of Summer Vacation' party at Sugarcube Corner."

Surprise asked, "Didn't you throw a party last week?"

"Yes, but that was an anniversary gift for the Cakes!"

Surprise turned a disbelieving glance on Pinkie, "And everypony was invited?"

"That's the way they like it!"

"Hmmmm," Surprise's eyes bore into Pinkie, looking for any sign of a deception, but she found none.  "Well, we might be able to make it."  Once again Surprise hesitated.  Pinkie stared at her silently, clearly searching for an argument.

Raydence chose to cut that short.  Kneeling beside Surprise and stroking the pegasus' mane, he said, "Surprise is getting on in years, I can't leave her alone."

Pinkie glanced up at him, a rumble in her throat expressed her displeasure, but she could find nothing to argue with.  So she sighed, and said, "I never said she wasn't invited."  Immediately she perked up, as if the temporary annoyance had never existed, and she spoke with a chirpy-chirp-chirp, "The party is at eight o'clock tonight!  Be there or be square!"  Then she bounced away, going la la la...

Human and owner watched the pink one bounce off for a moment, and then Raydence mumbed, "Be there or be square... ponies still say that?"

"Raydence," Surprise said in a low voice, and of a markedly different tone from before.  It was the tone more than anything that caught Raydence's attention, and he knelt down next to Surprise.  Then she told him, "I don't mind being petted, but don't treat me like an invalid."

"Ah!  I forgot, sorry."

"This time, I'll forgive you."  Surprise glanced up at the sky real quick, and then began walking towards Rarity's boutique again, human following close behind.

Thinking about it, Raydence realized he had a question.  "So, why doesn't she like you?  Got any idea?"

Surprise paused in mid-step.  "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not really."

Surprise smirked.  "Try to put yourself in her horseshoes.  A man and a woman who travel together despite seeming to argue all the time."

"... I'm drawing a blank."

Surprise sighed with amusement.  "At first glance, we might seem a lot like Archie and Veronica."

"But Archie and Veronica don't--" And then, realization hit him with the full force of a brick.  "Oh.  Oh no."

"Oh yes!"  Surprise giggled, and then began moving again.  "Come on, we better get to Rarity's."

Raydence reeled from the realization for a moment longer, and then realized Surprise was leaving him behind, and hastened to catch up.  The human managed to do so just as Surprise opened the door to Carousel Boutique, and stepped in behind her, just in time to see another pony coming out.

Rainbow Dash had her head turned away, calling back to Rarity, "Sure!  I'll be there!"  That was why she accidentally knocked against Raydence.  She turned and was about to apologize when she saw who it was.

"Hey," Raydence knelt down, "You didn't hurt yourself, did ya?"

"Of course not," Rainbow Dash answered in an I can't believe you're asking me that tone of voice.

"Good!"  Raydence scruffled Dash's mane, a smile gracing his face.  "I'd hate to hurt the huggy pony."

"I am not a huggy pony!"  Dash swiped his hand away, and swished her tail when she saw the human chuckle.  She turned to Surprise, said, "Your pet has a real discipline problem, you know that?"

Surprise put on a face of mock despair.  "I tried taking away his squeakie toys, but that didn't help."

Dash hmphed, but then just barely half-smiled.  "Well, just remember, I'll buck him if he gets too grabby."

Raydence answered, "I'll do my best to survive."

Rainbow Dash pushed her hoof lightly against his face, not enough to hurt, but just to send him tumbling a little, and then she called back, "See ya, Rarity!"  And left the store.  Raydence recovered his balance and stood, chuckling a bit.

Rarity greeted her guests, "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Raydence needs his pants mended."  Surprise answered as the human took the ripped pair off his shoulders and put them on the floor.

"Oh dear," Rarity smirked.  "It seems like getting your clothes ripped is becoming a habit."

"Yep," Surprise looked aside and raised a hoof.  A window in space opened up and she pulled a Bit out of it, and swiftly tossed it over to Rarity, who missed it because she was too busy looking at that window in space.

Rarity came beside Surprise, and couldn't help glancing at this thing that appeared like a screen of some sort, divided into grids which showed all sorts of items, presumably things Surprise had collected over the years.

Surprise glanced her way, and asked, "What is it?"

"That's what I want to know!"

Surprise glanced at the window, and said, "It's just the inventory screen."

"I know that!"  Rarity answered.  "But I only got to see it that once, for a brief moment, and didn't have a chance to ask questions.  What is this thing?  How does it work?"

Surprise turned fully towards Rarity, sizing her up with a rather bewildered glance.  "Hold on.  Are you serious?  You've never seen any inventory screen before?"

"None at all!"

"Not even your own?"

"I don't have one!"

"How is that possible?"  Surprise asked in astonishment, and then she suggested, "Maybe you just don't know how to open it."

Rarity sat down, her attention fully on Surprise.  "Well, go on.  Explain it to me."

Surprise closed her inventory screen, and tried to think.  "I... would if I could.  But it's like asking me how to breath."

"Ummm," Raydence drew attention to himself. "I think I can help.  Look in the corner of your vision.  There should be an X there.  It's small, and nearly transparent.  It'll kind of blend in."

Rarity looked around her.  "I don't see it."

"Try blinking twice, really fast."

Rarity did so, and then scanned the far reaches of her field of vision again. "Still nothing."

"Just keep trying," Raydence assured her.  "It'll show up sooner or later.  Anyway, that's the beginner's method--the one I was taught when I first moved to Dream Valley.  More advanced users like Surprise can open it just by will alone."

Rarity lifted a hoof, which hung indecisively in the air for a minute before she pointed it at Surprise and asked, "Do you mean to say that everyone in Dream Valley has one of these things?"

"Yep-a-doodle," Surprise answered.

Rarity's hoof went back to the floor.  For a moment, all she could do was stare.  Then, when she regained the will to speak, she said, "You really should show this to Twilight Sparkle.  This is just the sort of thing she'd be interested in!"

"If you say so,"  Surprise indicated the dropped Bit, which Rarity now acknowledged, picked up and put on a counter.  "Anyway, we'll drop by at the usual time," Surprise waved, and then she and Raydence walked out the door.

Rarity waved as they left, but suddenly had a realization and started to run after them, but she stopped herself just short of the door.  She looked back, at the pants Raydence had left behind, and at the mannequin--or rather, ponnequin--beyond that.

The Ponnequin was dressed, neck to hind hoof, in a dazzling new dress.  It was white, with flowery frills, but every other frill was cinammon-brown, and the effect altogether gave the illusion of cinammon swiriling around a tasty, sugary bite.  I forgot to tell them I had a commission!  Rarity sighed, and glanced at the pants.  Oh, well.  This is a small rip.  I can have it fixed in a matter of seconds.

As Rarity touched the pants though, she could feel that they were worn.  Outside of the rip they didn't seem to be in any severe state of disrepair, but Rarity's sensitive hooves told her that they hadn't been washed in at least a day.  So she decided, for the sake of her clean hooves if nothing else, to run them through her own personal laundry basket first.  When she was done with that, she hung them out to dry.

It was then that she noticed Twilight Sparkle approaching.  Rarity's first impulse was to wave, and she began to raise her hoof but stopped in mid-motion as she realized her friend was accompanied by some little colt she had never seen before.  As the unicorn drew closer, Rarity asked, "And who is this?  A cousin, perhaps?"

"Not at all," Twilight answered, "This is Tightrope.  Applejack and I found him on the edge of Ponyville this morning.  He thinks he owes us a debt, so I've been travelling around looking for any odd jobs he could do."

"Oh?"  Rarity turned her head towards the colt, "What's this business about a debt?"

Tightrope sat, and his reply was stiff and formal.  He attempted to lack emotion, but he came off as a little too strong.  "The one called Applejack fed me when I was hungry, and this lady here cast some sort of healing spell on me when I was weak.  Therefore, I owe them."

Rarity cast a glance at Twilight, and said, "Come on inside and I'll get you both a spot of tea."

"I can't!"  the colt immediately denied.  "Then I'd be in debt for the tea!"

Rarity hesitated for a moment, unsure what to make of that.  At length she said, "Well, come inside, at least.  You won't be in debt for that!"

The colt did follow, but warily, as if he expected a trap to be sprung upon him.  Rarity asked, "Why were you collapsed and hungry at the edge of town, anyway?"

Tightrope glanced at Rarity, and then at Twilight.  Twilight then said, "You better start from the beginning," and Rarity realized Twilight had already heard the story.

Tightrope sat, and said, "It's like this, ma'am.  Two nights ago, lightning struck my mom's house.  The whole place caught fire!  I ran away, I tried to get help, but I got lost and I... wound up here."  Tightrope paused to take a breath.  It seemed as if just telling the story exasperated him, and Rarity imagined the events must've been quite traumatic to the little guy.  Suddenly he started again, "And when I was going through the forest, I couldn't find any food because a swarm of parasprites had just passed through.  So there was nothing to eat."

"Not even a blade of grass?"  Rarity asked.

Tightrope blinked as if the question surprised him.  "You can eat grass?"

"Of course!"

Tightrope tilted his head sideways, looking at her confusedly, and then he straightened and nodded.  "I'll have to remember that next time.  But that's okay!  Last night the sky was clear, and I found my location by following the constellation of the Great Bear!  Then I wasn't lost anymore!"

Rarity gave a faint smile, then asked, "And... how's your mother?"

The little fellah seemed to hesitate a moment, just barely, before he said, "Oh, I'm sure she's fine.  She's probably looking for me right now.  But I have to pay off my debt first!"

"Uh huh..." Rarity glanced at Twilight, nodded with her head.  Twilight nodded back.  "Excuse me, but I need to talk to Twilight outside.  Will you wait in here, please?"

"Affirmative!"

Rarity nodded, and the two mares stepped outside.

Twilight asked, "What's your impression?"

To which Rarity answered, "I don't know if you noticed, but he hesitated for just a fraction of a second when I asked him about his mother."

"I didn't notice that, but I have noticed that every time I talk about finding his mom he keeps bringing up his 'debt'."

"Well, you know what I think.  She's probably..." Rarity hummed a few bars of a funeral dirge.

Twilight sighed.  "I feel the same way.  It's just... I don't have any experience with kids, especially not... traumatized ones.  Oh, Rarity... what should I do?"

Rarity glanced through the glass doors of her own store, where Tightrope was sitting there, calm and diligent.  She answered, "I could take him off your hooves for awhile."

"Are you sure that's okay?  I don't want to impose--"

"Just tell me, is he sincere about his 'debt'?"

"He does little jobs if I ask him to."

"Fair enough,"  Rarity nodded, and came back inside, Twilight close behind.  To Tightrope, she said, "Twilight explained all about your debt to me.  Well, you're in luck.  It just so happens I have a few things I need taken care of.  Little odd jobs around the house, to keep me from being distracted while I finish my latest commission."

Twilight perked up in shock, "You have a commission?"

"Why, yes, dear!"  Rarity pointed with her hoof towards the Ponnequin, "That is my latest invention, the Cinammon-Sugar-Swirl dress!  I just recieved an order for twelve more of the same design, to be shipped to Canterlot!  Oh!"  Rarity was so ecstatic that she almost swooned.  Then she recovered herself, "But that means I can't do absolutely anything else for the rest of the day.  Not unless there were two of me."

"Excuse me!"  Tightrope nudged up against Rarity, and glanced at the dress.  "If you want, I can help you make them."

Rarity smiled, "I appreciate the offer, but can you sew?"

"I can!  My mom taught me how!  Just let me make one!"

Once more Rarity and Twilight glanced at each other, then Rarity said, "All right.  I've got enough fabric to make an extra in case something goes wrong.  The materials are over there and the design sheet is right there."

Tightrope followed the direction Rarity pointed, which led into her personal sewing room where she did all her sewing-related work and probably a few other things not related to sewing.  Tightrope quickly found the materials, and got to work.

Rarity whispered, "I've got a second set of materials upstairs, so I better start as well.  Just keep an eye on him and call him off when he's made too many mistakes."

Twilight nodded, and Rarity left to finish another Cinammon-Sugar-Swirl dress.  Forty-five minutes later, she came back down and was a little surprised to see Twilight hadn't moved, but was even more surprised to see Tightrope had finished one dress and was working on a second!  More amazing still, the dress Tightrope made was absolutely perfect, at least insofar as it was virtually indistinguishable from Rarity's!  The unicorn of fashion was almost in a trance as she watched the kid work, threading with his hooves and mouth as if it was the easiest thing in the world, his needlepoints all almost as precise as a machine!

Twilight's jaw had already dropped, and Rarity couldn't help but whistle.  "Excellent work, Tightrope!  Nicely done!  I never would've believed it if..."  Rarity allowed that sentence to wither away, for it was clear the little guy was too focused on his work.  "Only five left to go, dear," she informed him.

The only response she got was a brief nod.  The lad would not break his focus.

Rarity skipped on over to Twilight, and whispered as to not distract the little guy, "This is great!  Between the two of us we should have my quota filled with time to spare!  Oh, thank you so much, Twilight!  Now, I have one last favor to ask of you.  Follow me, please."

"Sure!"  Twilight followed Rarity out into the main hall, where the fashion female handed the magical bookwork a couple of bits.

"Come back later, with some bought-out food.  I'm sure all three of us will be hungry by then!"

"It's a promise!"  Twilight smiled.  She and Rarity exchanged a brief hug, and Twilight left the premises, merrily looking forward to a few hours from now.

A gust of wind blew, finally bringing sound to what had become a quiet little house.

In fact, the little place Raydence and Surprise occupied, a rental on the edge of Ponyville, featured only the bare minimum of what was required to be called a "house."  The main body of it was a den and a kitchen, which were really just one long room divided only by a counter.  Towards the back of the kitchen were doorways leading to two more rooms, but both were basically closets.  Rather spacey closets, but still closets.

Raydence was laying on a sofa near the front door, looking almost like he was asleep facing it.  It was only a slight turn of his head that revealed he was watching Surprise, who was sitting on her rump and staring at a wall.  It almost seemed like she might be looking out the window, but her head wasn't angled the right way for that, unless she were looking out the corner of her eyes.

Then a window in space opened, and Raydence could see that Surprise was going through her inventory screen.  Just a moment after opening it, Surprise began pulling objects out and placing them on the floor.

"Looking for something?"  Raydence asked.

"No, I'm clearing it out," she answered while placing bibs and bobs on the floor.  "You should clear yours too."

"Why?  We having a yard sale?"

"No--well, maybe.  It would help pay the rent this month."  Surprise gave a brief sigh, "Actually, I'm emptying it because there are no Can Openers here."

Raydence scratched his head.  "Do we even have canned food?"

"No, silly!  A Can Opener.  As in, a pony whose trained to open another pony's inventory screen."

"Oh, that!"  Raydence facepalmed himself with a slight smile.  "So, you're worried that our stuff might get stuck in magical subspace whatsits forever, am I right?"

Surprise unloaded a few more hooffulls, and then answered, "That, and I am considering a yard sale."

"Hmm," Raydence continued watching as she unloaded stuff, taking a glance at the items of her private little stockpile.  Some were quite mundane, such as an old rope, a pair of shades with a cracked lens, or a leather belt with a pistol holster (but no actual pistol).  Others were unique.  Among the pile was a red and white baseball cap with the words "Neo-Geo" written in the part above the bill.  It seemed to Ray that this had some significance that Surprise had overlooked at the moment, so he pocketed it in his own inventory for the time being.

Just then, a colorful box flopped to the floor, instantly catching Ray's attention.  The box was a clean, almost new-looking game of Electronic Battleship, and when Raydence opened it he quickly saw that it had been played, but probably not very often.  "Hey," he asked, drawing Surprise's attention, "When did we get this?"

Surprise's eyes lingered on the box for a moment, and it seemed to her pet that something had suddenly come over her.  Her eyes, which had been without expression before, seemed to become wetter, though not to the point of tears.

She grabbed the box, and looked it over.  "This..."  She hesitated a moment longer, and shook her head and began her sentence anew.  "This was back when I was going steady with Over Treetop.  You remember him, right?"

Raydence didn't have to think for very long.  "Oh yeah... That was what, ten years ago?  Just before we started travelling, in any case.  I want to be honest, I never liked him."

"You were jealous," Surprise chuckled.

"I was not!  He just... always seemed like a jerk."

Surprise chuckled once more, and then returned her thoughts to the board game.  "This game was something we bought... I guess about two months before our break-up.  We had talked, and we both thought that our kids would love it..."  Surprise dropped the box, and her eyes had become wetter.

"Surprise," Raydence attempted to reach out to her, but she walked away, and lept through the window next to the front door.  He followed, taking care not to trip over the baubles left lying around, and saw that she was walking away, "Hey, where ya going?"

"I'm gonna go see Rarity again.  Your pants should be done.  Don't follow me, okay?"

For a moment, Raydence thought of doing so anyway, but as he reached for the doorknob he remembered what Surprise had said earlier:  Don't treat me like an invalid.

And he smiled, and put his hands in his pockets as he stood straight.  She's got a point, I probably am being overprotective.  Besides, someone should really clean this up.  Taking a deep breath and rolling his sleeves up, Raydence began his appointed task.

Under the sky, now mid-afternoon and darkening towards the evening, Surprise stared upwards at the deep blue.  Her eyes watered for a moment longer, but the moment of melancholy passed, as she said to herself, Don't give up, Surprise.  In this world, anything is possible.  I believe in it!  Miracle Romance!  That thought restored a little bit of her smile, and she stared straight ahead, and took off towards her destination.  A sudden movement in the air attracted her attention and she briefly glanced up at three pegasi having a clandestine meeting.  Surprise decided to leave them be, and walk on, her mind running through memories of the days when she, too, used to fly high in the clouds.

Surprise took off at a gallop, and suddenly an earth pony stepped from a street right into her path.  Instead of stopping, Surprise leaped over the gent, and kept galloping for about five more steps, then she stopped, and tested her wings.

They wiggled a bit, but she could not force them to open.  She sighed, and said, "Ah well," to herself, and continued trotting on to Carousel Boutique.  It wasn't long before she was there.  The lights were on, the sign said "Open," so the pegasus invited herself in.

Upon crossing the threshold, something struck her senses.  Something to do with the atmosphere of the little store.  What was it?  Something about the lighting?  Maybe the smell of fresh bought-out food?  Perhaps it was the laughter and the animated discussion she heard coming from within?  All Surprise knew for certain was that those twelve similar-looking dresses weren't there earlier today.  Raydence's pants were hanging up on a rack, and a quick glance confirmed that they had been fixed.  But where was the proprieter of this estate?  Surprise followed the sound of the laughter.

The laughter led her to the kitchen, where immediately she was seen by Rarity, who waved to her and said, "Oh, Surprise!  I've fixed Raydence's pants for you."

"Yes, I saw, thank you."

"Come join us!"  Rarity waved Surprise to the table.  "You won't believe what happened!"

"You all seem to be enjoying yourselves," Surprise said as she came around to the other side of the table, and looked for a free chair.  She thought she saw one, but when she came around it turned out to be occupied by a little guy who seemed embarrassed to be seen, and thus was stooping to hide his presence.

"Oh?"  Surprise smiled, and the flavor of her voice had an added layer of sweetness to it, "And who might you be?"

The little guy straightened up, trying his best to look like a colt of dignity.  "I'm Tightrope, ma'am."

"Call me Surprise.  Where did you come from?  Why haven't I seen you before?"

"I come from Lavender Falls, ma--err, Surprise!  I just arrived here!"

Surprise lifted up her head and asked Rarity, "Is he your cousin or something?"

"Oh, nothing like that!"  Rarity answered.

Twilight took over, "Actually, Applejack and I rescued him this morning..." and Twilight proceeded to recount the story.  Rarity took over to summarize how Tightrope had helped her meet quota, and then Twilight finished, "... And so, we decided to have a little celebration!"

"Oh, and that's not all!"  Rarity proclaimed.  "My meal had the weekly free dinner giveaway!  Oh, today is my lucky day!"

Surprise chuckled, and then returned to the original subject, "And you're saying he sewed half those dresses for you?  That's pretty impressive."

"Yeah," Tightrope said nervously.  "My... mom taught me."

Twilight seemed to remember something, "Speaking of which, I sent a letter to the mayor of Lavender Falls.  They're to let me know when and if your mom turns up."  Surprise noticed that Twilight emphasized the if.

Tightrope seemed utterly nonplussed.  "Oh, she'll turn up.  My mom definitely survived the fire."

"I see," Twilight answered, with a cautious glance to the other two mares.  Then something else occured to her, and she said, "By the way, Rarity, I have an important assignment due tomorrow and Spike isn't really good with kids.  Would it be all right if Tightrope stayed with you tonight?"

Rarity's ears drooped a little, "Oh, I'm sorry, but... Sweetie Belle is due to arrive later tonight... I just don't have the space."

A sudden inspiration took over Surprise, an inspiration that came from she knew not where, but the more she lingered on it, the more it seemed just right.  Why was it right?  She had no idea, but she was willing to risk it.  "Well... Raydence is good with kids, and I have plenty of space... So, if Tightrope wouldn't mind..."

Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Isn't your house kind of small?"

"It won't be a problem," Surprise answered, wondering to herself how she could say that with a straight face.  Something just told her that she'd find a way.

Tightrope's ears drooped, and he seemed nervous.  He objected, "But... then I'll be in debt to you!"

"Uh-uh!"  Surprise giggled a little.  "Because I won't ask anything in return!"

"You promise?"

"Promise."

"Well... I suppose I could always sew another dress for Miss Rarity."

"Settled!"  Surprise declared, and for a reason she couldn't explain she wrapped her hooves around Tightrope and pulled him close, but controlled herself just short of squeezing him.  She began to wonder, why am I so eager?  What's come over me?

But Tightrope didn't struggle or squirm.  He looked at her, and he blinked his eyes twice.  Then he asked, "Ummm, Miss Surprise?"

"Mmm-hm?"

"What is the proper procedure in a case like this?"

Surprise looked down at him with a cocked eyebrow.  "Proper procedure?"

"I mean, am I supposed to hug you back?"

"Yes, silly!"

Tightrope nodded, and the barest lines of a smile formed across his face as he returned the hug, a feeling of warmth spreading through them both. As he wrapped his own forehooves around Surprise's neck, Surprise suddenly had a premonition, a vague feeling--one that was so silly it couldn't possibly come true--that this colt was about to become a big part of her life.

To be Continued...