Let us start at the beginning. I was born in the town of Trottingham; with my mother, father and my two sisters. First off, my father went to support the troops in canterlot, that was when I was five. My eldest sister stayed at the house until she was 23 (I was 4); she moved to fillydelphia to become a brilliant artist. She had painted masterpieces that brought me to tears, luckily she left some of them at our dungy, old house to add some flavor. Two years later, my second oldest sister left at 18, she moved to Canterlot where she attended Hoovard Medical school to get her PhD. She stayed in Canterlot, of course, to achieve her lifelong dream of becoming a surgeon. My mother and I had been getting letters from here and there from them all. But after a few years we were getting less and less, until we were left with nothing at all but the petty checks from father. We were never really a close family anyway.
So then it was just me and my mother. Father was never liked in Canterlot, he never made it past guarding the royal doors during the tea parties, no matter how hard he tried. He died from the worst possible death for a soldier a few years later: drowning in the large brewer of the tea cellar. and with both of my sisters forgetting us all together to live their lives in luxury, we were stuck with mother working her flank off laundering clothes. And to say this is pitiful, but her cutiemark is a hamper of clothes... you heard it right, the mother of a world-renowned doctor and a thriving artist folds clothes for a living. I'd find it comical if it wasn't so sad.
4 years later
Working with my mother is the highlight of my day. Not having (more like not wanting) any friends and not liking to go outside doesn't give a colt many options. Every day was pretty much the same thing: go to school, come home, help mother launder what little clothes that we could, (keep in mind, very few ponies wear clothes regularly.) eat dinner, and repeat in the morning.
For some reason, my mother doesn't enjoy me sitting in the house all day, which she works past the horseshoe to keep clean. So, some days she sends me out of the house and makes me do whatever a filly does on a usual day; something I will never know about. Those days I walk around the market, usually going inside the most empty shop possible and look around; gazing at the useless knick-knacks in the novelty store, sneaking peeks of the daily news at the magazine stand, and frequently sneaking passed the the bullies from school. All that every day, and it continued that way for a month or two.
After the avoiding the malt shop for the hundredth time, trying to ignore the hunger that always seem to find me near the restaurants and ice cream stands, I took an alleyway to one of the shops that didn't get much business. Sadly they were all closed on this Sunday, which was never a problem because my mother always needed extra help on these days. But today she has taken her first day off. When I say "day off" I mean she didn't have any customers. The market was bustling, I needed a quiet, secluded room fast; I have never been a place with this many people. I looked forward and there was a group of people, to my left there were even more people, to my left was a short stretch of land where the stores ended. At the end stood the giant library. I have never been there due to the large rumors of it being a "waste of time" and "boring". The other fillies' opinions were usually the opposite of mine, so it shouldn't stop me now. Besides, I don't have much of a choice.
I hustled towards the large wooden doors and pushed them forward, coming with a large piercing creak of the hinges. I walked into a huge hall with a marble floor and a books in every crevasse. I walked towards a large desk that held an old unicorn with a white beard, which was respectively long for his age. I did my best to avoid him, but he stopped me. " lookin' for somethin', boy?" He said with a slow, relaxed voice; I shook my head. "Have ya been here before, boy?" I shook my head again. "Hmm, well ya can't leave here without readin' somthin', let's go pickya a good'un." He led me to the children's section, filled with tables and chairs that were perfect for my size, just like school. He grabbed me a book named "the jumping mare of calaveras county" he handed it to me and went off to his podium to continue reading.
I have never read outside of school, partly because my mother was too busy to read. All I've ever read were history books; how Equestria came to be, the griffin wars, and all the other boring stuff that happened back then. What I read in school put me off of books, but I was tempted by colorful, bright images on the cover of this one, I had a feeling it would be different. And besides, it was short.
As I sat there, I noticed the sweet silence that the room held. besides the old man turning the pages of his book and his occasional coughing; it was just me, my heartbeat, and the voice of the mare narrating her adventures in my head. Never in my life has it been this quiet. The second floor of Berk's novelty was the most secluded spot I have ever been, and even on the slowest of days I could still hear conversations slipping through the cracks of the floor and windows. Even in my own home, I could hear from outside the screaming of the neighbors, and the laughter of the other children as they played their goofy games. I was never interested in games they played; swinging hoops around, and racing never interested me.
After getting use to the enchanting placidity, I regained focus on my story.
Having such peace, I delved deep into book. Imaging every single detail as if it were happening right in front of me. I could hear the mare's song she sang to the birds, I could feel her love for the animals. How she lept through the clouds tending to every sick creature and caring for even the smallest of animals that you and I would see as pests, and I understood why she saw beauty in them. The book was so fascinating that I read it a second time. And after that second time I went to the old man at the desk and asked for another book. He gave me two and sent me home after the sun set. I layed in bed, and began to hope my mother would send me outside tomorrow.
For the past few months I've been going to the library whenever mother sent me outside. She had noticed my enthusiasm, but never asked questions; she was just glad that I wanted to leave the house. Peter, the old man behind the desk, had been gradually giving me more challenging books. I just now started my first chapter book, "The Sacred Tree", which is about a colt who finds a tree that grants him wishes; I found it in nonfiction.
I always thought about creating stories of my own. I once had a dream about me meeting a griffin, and how she flew me through the clouds and dropped me; But for some reason I was caught by the clouds; even though I was still an earth pony. This dream had stuck in my mind and would became a recurring dream. It bugged me so much to the point that I wrote it down... and it was fun! As if every word i wrote put me back in that dream, I could see my wingless body defying the laws of physics, dancing on the clouds every time I read it back to myself. So, I wrote some more... and more. I wrote all night until I fell asleep. When I woke up I had six separate stories and some intangible scribbles at the end that became more intangible as it went down the paper, probably the result of sleep deprivation. After organizing my stories of valiant heroes and previous dreams, I bought more ink and parchment and wrote stories every moment I had the chance.
12 years later
After mother died, I had no where to go. I barely passed school and all I had left to my name was the old house, and what was left of my mother's life savings. I realized this place had nothing left for me and I needed to find somewhere more secluded; quieter.
Carrying on with my mother's business was all that I could really do. I never had the chance to finish my book, the noise from the city was too overbearing for me to write. After I had saved enough money, and bought my typewriter, I planned to move to the cheapest, most secluded place that I could afford to go. Of course, this place couldn't be too far away, I still had to think about the train fares.
I planned out the route and found that the optimal choice was a small cottage in a small town called ponyville. I packed my suitcase (again, just a typewriter and some money.), contacted the new owners of my old house to assure them of my leave, and I prepared to wake up early... if I could get my earplugs on right! I always wanted to live in a small town, everyone is sleep at night.
I awoke at the rooster caw. Well, I would like to think I did; some late night party goers woke me up about an hour earlier. Oh well, it gave me a chance to proof read some of my stories, and have an unrushed breakfast.
Because I live fairly close to the train station (another reason the house was so cheap.) it was a quick walk, and I arrived ten minutes early for the train. I payed my ticket and sat in the first empty bench I could find. After a few more minutes, a young mare sat next to me. Only being a slight annoyance, I scooted in the opposite direction without her noticing. A few more minutes past, by this time three more ponies had sat on the same bench as me. A few more minutes past, and the whole benched was filled. I tried to endure the noise and shuffling around of my fellow benchmates a few minutes longer until the train arrived. It was three minutes after its scheduled arrival that I snapped; I immediately jumped up from my seat and shuffled towards the ticket stand, where I stood by for the remainder of the wait.
Since I was standing up, I was the first on the train. I decided to move to the caboose. I wanted to see Trottingham one last time, especially the old library where I spent most of my last few years; plus, no one ever goes to the outside of the caboose, they want to have a comfortable and soothing ride.
After the first hour (which was the first of the three hour long trip.), I was overcome by the beauteous fields and farmlands of the passing lands. I passed by the astounding rolling hills of fillydelphia which went on for miles. My daze was soon interrupted by the small creaking of a door, a few seconds of distant chatter, and the accentuating sound of a door clicking into place. What stood in front of me was a yellow mare, baring a pink mane and tail. "Oh, h-hello. I hope I'm not bothering you, I just wanted to get some fresh air." She said with a shy voice. Of course I was annoyed by her presence, but I was becoming rather bored. I engaged small talk to pass the time. "U-uh, no, not at all. I was just enjoying the view. So... Where are you going?" I said as calmly as possible, I wasn't very good at small talk; heck, I'm not good at any type of conversation! "Oh, I'm just heading back to Ponyville, I was visiting Trottingham for the butterfly migration. We had to leave early because, my friend, Rainbow Dash was feeling homesick." She said meekly. "You live in Ponyville?" I asked. "Oh, yes. I've lived there most of my life. Is that where you're going?" I was never one for making friends, but I wanted to know if I was getting what I payed for firsthand. "Uh, yeah. I'm actually moving there. What is it like?" I asked. "Ponyville? Oh, there's so much to it. Everything about it is beautiful. The Apple family's never-ending acres of apple trees, Rarity's Carousel Boutique where the most gorgeous dresses are made, Twilight's library, and the cutest animals you would eve-" out of my excitement, I cut her off. "Did you say library?!?!" I exclaimed. I could tell by the shocked expression on her face that I not only scared her, but I dejected her by interrupting her story. It was obvious that she misunderstood my outburst of joy as rude and intimidating. "Y-y-yyes... Twilight owns the only library at ponyville. I-I'm sorry, I better check on Rainbow Dash. She's probably hungry." She cowered and I'd shoot school as she moved to the door, now afraid of me. I should have known not to spook someone as fragile as her. The door was moving to a close as I caught it. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." I said, hoping to hold on to the string of this acquaintance. "F-f-fluttershy." She whimpered. "By the way, I'm sorry I-" CA-DUNK, The latch of the door fell into place.
The rest of the train ride was uncomfortable. I haven't even made it to Ponyville yet and I've already upset one of its residents. Talking was never easy for me; whenever I try to hold a conversation it would always end with repetitive awkward pauses or the other person never talking to me ever again. I thought I had a chance at befriending this mare, I thought it would have been easier because she was probably as shy as me, if not more; but I somehow figured out a way to ruin it. I avoided the countless others that walked through that door, I'd like to let them know I'm a social outcast rather than make any more neighbors think I'm a lunatic.
The train arrived at the station at 3:15; 15 minutes later than its scheduled arrival, later than its arrival at Trottingham. I waited for the car to be fully empty, I picked up my suitcase and stepped outside. Of course, I couldn't enjoy any of the scenery, I was stuck behind the dozens of ponies commuting in front of me on the tiniest train station in Equestria. I scurried and sidestepped until I made it to the dirt path, where I made my way to the only thing I was thinking of ever since my new friend (she'll forgive me eventually.) Mentioned it.
Apparently, no one bothered to mark this library, so after half an hour of wandering, I decided to stop by a shop and ask for directions, I normally wouldn't do this but I literally had no idea where I was; there are no signs or street names. I guess, living in a small town, you could find your way blind after a while. I decided to go into the first building I could find that was obviously a place of business.
I slipped through one of the purple doors, which triggered a small bell that acted as an on switch for what I imagined to be the owner. She popped up from her sewing machine and gazed at me. She squealed "Oh, a tourist!", sprang up from her chair and raced over to me. "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, can I help you?" She asked so quickly that it took me a moment to comprehend the words she had thrown at me. "Hi, I am-" she cut me off. "In a serious need of a makeover! Come, we'll work on your wardrobe." She yanked me away from the entrance and took me to a pedestal where she began to measure me. I was shocked, I began to think about how much money I owed just for being in here, I had to do something before she drove me to bankruptcy. "Look, I'm sorry, but whatever you're about to do, I probably can't afford it." After saying this, she immediately giggled. "Oh, dear, don't worry about that, everyone who visits gets 20% off their first purchase. Anyway, what color do you want your tie to be?" I was growing tired of this charade. "Ma'am, I just moved here from Trottingham. I'd like to question your welcoming methods, but I just came in for directions. Can you please just point me in the direction of this town's library?" The mare's pale face went from a pure white to a bright red. She stood for a moment to recover from her embarrassment. "...oh, I guess I was mistaken. Just head down the road to the left and you'll see it. By the way, sorry for the mixup, I just got a little excited; you looked like you were eager to buy something..." She said. "If you decide to stop by again, your next purchase is half off!" She threw at me. As I reached for the door, it swung open in my direction, squishing me between the wall and the door to the point my body turned paper thin. I could hear a child's voice as the pitter-patter of claws running into the building.
"Hey, Rarity, do you need help with anything? I'd be happy to do some chores for you!" The child's voice eagerly asked. "As a matter of fact, Spike, I just finished Twilight's dress for next month's Gala. Do you mind taking it to her?" They continued to conversate, completely ignoring me, as I attempted to squeeze myself from the inch-wide crevasse. I popped out and expanded into my original shape. "Sure thing, Rarity. I'll get it to her right away." I walked out the door to be sure enough followed by the child, which turned out to be a baby dragon, that was holding a dress that was twice his size.
For the past half-mile or so, I was still stuck walking next to the dragon. "Hey, I've never seen you here before. Are you new here?" I've never seen a dragon before, only read of them in countless storybooks. I wasn't afraid of him, but in the back of my mind I saw him as an enemy, as what his race is in most stories. "Well... yes. I just moved here today, actually. I'm just heading to the library to ease my mind." The dragon's eyes widened. "The library? Well, That's where I live. Along with Twilight, of course. That's who this dress is for." I guess this was quite a coincidence; both of us leaving the same place to go to the same place, it was pretty neat to think about it happening in real life instead of expecting it to happen in a story.
We walked for a few more moments until he stopped. "Here we are, Golden Oak Library!" We both stared at what appeared to be some kind of tree house. "Y-you're kidding... right?" I said confusedly gawking at what I always imagined the wizard's house in 'The King's Rule' would look like. "Come on, I'll show you some of my favorite books. We headed inside of the strange building; and to my surprise, I found exactly what I have been looking for. Bookshelves that reached the ceiling, every spine pointing out in alphabetic order, candles down to their final use from late night reading, and floors so clean I could sleep on them. (I probably will.) It was paradise.
I grabbed the first book I could find and sat down, lifting the heavy typewriter I've been lugging in my suitcase on the far left of the table, lit a single candle with the spare matchbox sitting inside the crescent of its holder, and I sat back with a deep sigh to empty my mind. I sat back like this for a few minutes, but only long enough until the baby dragon started to question my stillness. "Uh, sir? Are you asleep?" I chuckled, I never was relaxed to the point someone thought I was asleep. Even back at Trottingham's library, I was always expecting some kind of interruption. "No, I'm just enjoying the quietness." The child lit up. "Finally, Someone understands! All Twilight knows is how to disrupt my peace. You have no idea how many times she's woken me up in the middle of the night because there's some city that's been unearthed after a thousand years, or something like that." I opened my eyes and sat up from my chair, I had heard about the Crystal Empire, I didn't know it was these ponies that saved it! This Twilight must be a hero around here if she had anything to do with that city.
After letting my mind settle, which was imagining the heroine that would walk through the door any second, I decided to get back to writing one of my stories.
"...Nothing feels real anymore. I swear I heard some kind of noise coming from my room, a kind of beeping sound... I'm not saying someone is watching me, I'm just saying that, if they are, they're doing a poor job of hiding it. Sometimes I feel that the scene of trees and sky in front of me is some kind of backdrop, as if this whole town is fake. Hell, I know all of this sounds insane; I feel like one of those ponies that put apple husks on their horns so 'the space people don't use their magic against them'. I'm not one for conspiracies, but this whole situat-"
my writing was halted by the sound of a voice of the closing of a door, followed by the tiny footsteps of the dragon rushing down the stairs while he yelled "Twilight!".
"Twilight! You're home from the barn raising! Rarity finished your dress for the Gala. I laid it across your bed so it wouldn't wrinkle, like how Rarity taught me." Twilight looked as happy to see the dragon as he did her. "Good boy, Spike." She giggled, rubbing his head with her hoof. I buried my face into a nearby book, poking my eyes over it to sneak a view at the mare. I knew she would see me eventually, I was the only pony in here. I just wanted to take a peek at the living legend that was just feet away from me. But then, she saw me.
"Oh, who's this, Spike?" I was far enough away and so deep into my book she couldn't tell if I even noticed she was in the room. "Hello there, have we met?" She asked nicely. "Oh, uh, no." I put my book on the table and turned around. "I'm new to Ponyville... I just moved here today." I said nervously. "Oh, well then welcome!" She said with a wide grin. "Has everything come to you liking?" She asked. "Well, I haven't been around the town much, but everything is as I imagined." I answered honestly. "That's swell. May I ask what you're doing with that typewriter?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, still smiling. "Oh, that? I-I'm writing a story." Her eyes lit up. "A story? What kind of story?" She asked intently. "It's about a stallion fighting his own mind." She looked intrigued. "That's sounds really interesting, do you write professionally? She asked eagerly. Due to the fact that she lives in a library, I could safely infer that she would not only respect a famous writer, but go insane if she knew one was writing in her own home. But... I kept to the truth. "No, I, um, never actually submitted any of my work. I have thought about it, but I could never even afford to make the trip to the publisher's in Canterlot." Twilight had lost the smile she had sitting on her face for what I imagined to be her whole life, and turned into a surprised, and also saddened look on her face. "I'm sorry, where did you live before you moved here?" She asked, attempting to be nonchalant. "In Trottingham, northeast from here." She looked unsatisfied with the answer. "Yeah,do you have any family back there?" Of course, the answer was burned into my mind. "No... After my mother died a few years ago, I have had nothing left. Besides my two sisters, but I have a feeling I'll never hear from them for as long as I live." I didn't mean for it to sound so pitiful, but it was the truth. I didn't know any other way to tell it.
I could tell that she had sympathy for me. Knowing that I was alone and poor, probably barely paying to be in a small place like Ponyville. We talked for a few hours, about our favorite books, favorite authors, and just a little bit about my writings. After a while the sun set, and I set up to go home. "By the way, I didn't catch your name." My name... The only reason I remembered it through all these years was through the legal documents, and the titles of my books. I haven't heard since my mother died... It actually took me a split second to think of it. "Uh... Poulton! It's Poulton." My mother wasn't the best at naming, but she made up for it in originality. "Poulton. Got it." She said as she waved goodbye. I made my way to my new home.
There were no others on the street, no pony in sight, as a matter of fact. I'm not sure how long it's been dark; all I'm sure about is the sun set long before Twilight and I finished our chat. I knew it had to be at least halfway to morning, my constant yawning assured me of that assumption. I stepped up to my new cottage and slipped the key out of the envelop that the real estate mailed to me, then opened the door to find a complete husk concealed by cobwebs and dust. I never had a real bed, my nights were usually spent in a cot, which is portable enough to fit in my suitcase. It's not that I couldn't afford a bed, I'm not that poor anymore. I just got used to a cot after so many years of having one bed in a house of five ponies. Anyway, I dragged myself to the bedroom, brushed away a portion of the dust on the floor with the cot, threw it down, and passed out.
When I awoke, I poked my eyes open toward the single window that sat on the right side of the room. The sun stood in the highest point in the sky, marking it as the middle of the day. I rolled over onto my back to find an excited pink mare standing over me. "You're new here, aren't you!?" She yelled, loud enough to bring dust down from the rafters. I would have screamed for help if half of me wasn't asleep and the other half scared to death. "A new resident! Wait..." She turned around. "If he's new, that means I don't know him. If I don't know him, that means he hasn't had a welcome party yet. If he hasn't had a welcome party yet, that means I have to throw him one. But it needs to be a surprise." She looked over at me, hiding my face behind the sheet of the cot. She shot towards me, stopping just a few inches away from my face. She whispered "You didn't hear anything!", then jumped out the bedroom window; moving so fast every inch of dirt in front of her was kicked up, as if the wonderbolts were do a show in my room. Luckily the window was open, or she would've left broken glass along with everything else that stirred from the sonic boom she created. I recuperated from what I thought was some kind of home invasion, then I headed out for a quick waker-upper.
Shamrock Café was my first choice. I chose the closest outside seat, mainly because it was cool outside and everyone was eating inside. The waiter approached me. "Can I get you anything, Sir?" After sleeping a night in a room full of dust, my throat was completely dry; it was extremely uncomfortable for me to talk. "Coffee. Black." I said hoarsely. "Right away, Sir." He trotted off with my menu. I looked up to barely see a blue blur shoot past the top of the café, shaking the tables and making my heart jump. It shot by again, going back the way it came. I looked all around but found nothing. The morning drowsiness was taking my, I started to rub my eyes, but before I took my hoof away from my face, I heard a large crash extremely close to me. I looked up to find an empty space where my table used to be. I looked over and saw a long furrow, leading off to a bluish Pegasus entangled with the table she crashed into. "Darn it! If I do something like that at the Gala, I'll be laughingstock." She looked over to me, whose jaw scraped the ground and eyelids disappeared. "Sorry, guy. I was just training." I've never seen anything that fast in my life, I was so stunned by her performance I didn't have much to say. "Wow." I mustered. "Yeah, I get that a lot. So, you new here, or what? I've never seen you before."
"Yeah, apparently everyone has a sixth sense about the people who live here." I mocked. She stood up and sat the table up. "By the way, have you seen Pinkie Pie? Twilight told me she needed me."
"Is she the loud, pink one?" I thought that was a bit obvious, I've never met a bright pink pony before. "So you have met her. If you see her, can you tell her ill be in my napping tree? She'll know what it means. Oh, and if you're looking for a quiet place to take a load off, Sweet Apple Acres is amazing!" I thanked her and made my way back home to fetch my typewriter.
I decided to take the Pegasus's advice. I threw the typewriter on my back and ambled down to the farm she mentioned. It wasn't hard to find, looking out my window I could see the acres of apple trees that went on past the rolling hills as far as the eye can see. I picked up my typewriter and ambled down the shallow hill that ended where the acres started. I sat beneath the nearest tree and set up the typewriter in front of me. But before I started, I looked up and saw a branch that looked as if it was formed to be sat on; it grooved perfectly as if it grew wanting to be a couch. I threw the carrying saddle for my typewriter around my neck and I shimmied up the tree. After I made it to the branch, I threw myself upon it in a sweat. Being an earth pony doesn't really have any perks, besides knowing their limits. The blue mare probably had no problem slowly floating down onto her "nap tree"; but I digress, have my whole life to complain about my race, surrounded by omnipotent Unicorns and flying creatures. I emptied my mind and continued one of my stories.
...Archibald was known by many. Better yet, he was known by all. Not for what he did, but what he-
The tree I sat upon shook wildly multiple times until, before I could find the source of it, I was thrown off of it; landing me straight on my head. I inched my head over to find an orange earth pony kicking at the tree, which was spilling its contents onto the ground. I rolled onto my back, which will probably have severe problems for years to come. I rubbed the side of my head, wondering how I wasn't instantly killed by landing straight on my neck, and turned to scold the mare. "What was that for!?"
"Oh, ah'm mighty sorry. Ah didn't see ya there. But may ah ask what'ch y'all been doin' up there?" She stared at me as if I was insane. I may be a wordsmith, but coming up with things on the spot wasn't a specialty of mine. "Oh, I-Duh-uh...was...napping...?" I was on her property, I didn't want her to expect I was doing as trying to steal anything from her. “oh, well that’s fine. But ya might wanna warn me you’re gonna be on mah property next time.”
"I'll be sure to. I'll probably still have a mark on my head to remind me." I laughed nervously, followed by a moment of awkward silence. "Well, ah'll see ya 'round." She turned away with a fake smile and took her leave.
I decided to spend the rest of my day at the nearby lake, although before I even got home to change the ribbon for my typewriter, I received a letter from Twilight inviting me to another chat at her house. Obviously I couldn't pass up this offer, so I immediately changed my plans. (I just want to point out the obvious to my audience: I have read my share of OC based fanfics, and I understand that quite a few OCs fall in love with (at least) one of the main characters. Needless to say, my character is not attracted to Twilight at all, if anything he is attracted to her brain. He just enjoys conversing with another fellow reader. I hope you didn't take it the wrong way. Let's, uh... yeah, let's get back to the story.) I didn’t bother following the road, from the lake I made a beeline to the beauty of a library. I walked up to her house from the backyard. As I walked past the left window to the door, I glanced inside to notice the whole town was there! The recent ramblings of the pink mare started to make sense, but I don’t think I can handle being near that many people at the same time. I stood at the door, trying to pluck up the courage to walk inside but I couldn’t do it. I turned nonchalantly, trying not to make any noise nor draw attention, but not a second later did Twilight Sparkle appear down the road to see me at her door. “Oh, what a coincidence, I’m glad you could make it. Here, let’s go inside.”
“Actually, I just remembered I have to wake up early tomorrow.” I backed away slowly.
“Don’t be silly, we’ll just talk for a little while.” She nudged me into a room crowded with all the residents of the town, my stuttering only drowned out by the unified scream of “surprise”.