Walking down the streets of Canterlot with her friend, Moonlight felt naked. Granted, she wasn’t wearing anything, but the absence of her armor was still noticeable and brought a slight chill to her fur. This was probably a symptom of always being decked out in full gear whenever she went out. She felt a little self-conscious, wondering if other pedestrians were looking at her. That, in turn, made her question if she had anything worth looking at. She knew these were silly thoughts, but they refused to be shaken easily. Eventually she felt there was no choice but to break the silence. “Was there anything in particular you wanted to do?”

“No ideas?”

Moonlight shrugged. “I can’t say I’ve ever been much of a socialite. Usually I relied on friends and family to get my butt out and about. Otherwise I’d just stay in and either read or train.”

“Those could be fun.”

“Yes, but I was hoping we could try something a little more… more.”

“More what?”

“I don’t know, but it definitely isn’t any boring homebody stuff. You’re Surprise,” Moonlight said as though it were some profound revelation. “I figured I could just follow your lead and fun would eventually find us.”

“Hmm. True,” Surprise affirmed. “Fun does like to stalk me. I’d get a restraining order, but I’m worried that might escalate things.”

Moonlight chuckled. “See. That right there is what I’m hoping for. Something spontaneous to get me out of my shell.”

“So, you’re just using me to have a good time?”

Moonlight eyed Surprise warily, uncertain if this was some kind of joke or not. “Um, kind of?”

“Okay. Cool. Let us away to the fun!” The pegasus shot out her fist in cheer and bolted forward. “Onwards!”

Moonlight grinned, easily keeping pace with her fuller figured friend. “Yeah! Onwards! Where, exactly?”

“To the library!”

Moonlight tripped a little, but quickly caught back up. “The library? Really?”

“Mmh hmm.”

“Uh, okay,” Moonlight allowed, deciding to follow through and trust in Surprise’s lead.

At the library, Surprise immediately headed for the foal section. It was distinguished from the rest of the isles with relatively shorter shelves, bright colored pictures on the walls, and a large quantity of beanbags. In speaking to the assistant librarian, they learned that the pony who had volunteered to do the reading for story time had canceled last minute. The rest of the library staff were all either too busy with other errands or had been rejected by the foals on previous occasions for ‘sounding weird.’ And just letting one of the foals’ parents do the reading was out of the question, on account of prior incidents where said parents got a little… competitive.

“We’ll do it,” Surprise volunteered.

“We?”

“Yeah. Reading to foals is fun. Plus you’re a writer, so this is kind of like practice.”

Moonlight smiled flatly. “Okay, I’m not protesting, because I do want to give this a chance, but I just want you to know there’s a big difference between reading and writing something new.”

Surprise nodded. “Good point. You read, and I’ll act out the parts.”

“What?”

“Come on.” Surprise grabbed Moonlight by the wrist and practically dragged her to the reading spot. “Don’t keep the foals waiting!”

Moonlight was dragged along through the aisles of short shelves before her naked butt was promptly planted on one of the bean bags resting against the wall. The sign above read ‘Story Corner’ and the area in front was filled with smaller seating cushions. Each cushion had a foal. Each foal – of whatever tribe, color, or sex – was staring intently up at her. Behind them were a few adults – the foals’ parents – who eyed the orange mare warily. Moonlight was starting to feel self-conscious again.

“Hey there, kiddoes!” Surprise greeted exuberantly as she cartwheeled up to Moonlight. She then jumped in the air, performed a few flips, and landed beside the orange mare. Contact with the floor caused her body to bounce and jiggle in all the right places. Her legs were spread out wide. One hand was on her hip while the other stretched out to make a heroic V. She even turned her head slightly to wink at the audience. “My name’s Surprise. And this is Moonlight.”

“Hi, Surprise and Moonlight,” the foals greeted back, giggling and cheering at the pegasus’ antics.

“Sorry that your regular reader couldn’t make it, but don’t worry. The dashing Moonlight-” Her body was as animated as her words. She bent down on one knee as the other stretched out behind her. One hand partially covered her face while the other also stretched out behind her, making a *whoosh* for added dramatic flare. “-and the daring Surprise-” Her posing shifted almost instantaneously. Now standing upright, she hunched over a little and flexed her arms beneath her chest, deepening her voice while showing off a surprising level of muscle definition. “-have emerged from the shadows-” She spun on her tippy hoof like a ballerina a couple times before coming to an abrupt halt and turning her back on the audience. She bent over, far enough that her head could probably have touched her knees, with her arms stretched out wide with her open palms shaking like jazz hands. Her tail was moved to the side, but not lifted, because that would have been inappropriate. This gave her audience an unobstructed view of her beaming face. “-to save story time!”

Moonlight marveled at Surprise’s animated gesturing. Demonstrating so many poses in such rapid succession, and all without appearing winded, was just like something out of the cheesier comics she’d read back when she was little. No wonder several foals asked if Surprise was a ‘really for real’ super hero.

Surprise shushed them loud enough that everypony in the foals’ section could probably hear. “Not so loud. I must protect my secret identity.”

“But you’re not wearing a mask,” a foal pointed out.

“I’m hiding in plain sight,” Surprise explained in a stage whisper. “No pony expects a super hero to do her super heroing without a mask. It’s the ultimate disguise.”

The foals whispered between themselves and seemed to accept this reasoning.

Moonlight was in awe of the white mare’s expert handling of so many youngsters. She made a note to ask her about her friend’s secret at a later time.

Surprise gestured and a librarian who had been watching from the side stepped forward. She looked just as awed as Moonlight and the parents, but handed over the evening’s book. “For tonight, we’ll be reading ‘Hop Along the Frog,’” she introduced, making sure to show everypony the cover. “I used to love this book when I was little.”

“Me too,” a foal piped up.

“You were little?” another inquired incredulously.

Surprise just nodded patiently to each of them. “I remember it like it was yesterday. Which is why for tonight, your reader will be my assistant, Moonlight!”

Moonlight’s blood ran cold. She’d been so caught up with Surprise animated actions that she’d completely forgotten the plan that she – come to think of it – hadn’t actually agreed to. She opened her mouth to say as much. The foals clearly loved Surprise more, and she obviously knew what she was doing. Aside from helping take care of her young siblings, Moonlight barely knew anything about foals or how to keep them entertained.

This wasn’t a retreat, though. Moonlight wasn’t backing out because of cowardice. That was the last thing she’d ever do. This was simply a case where, as the ranking officer, she was making the decision for a strategic withdrawal before the operation went FUBAR.

“Here you go,” Surprise said happily and handed Moonlight the book.

The operation just went FUBAR.

“Come on, Moony!” Surprise cheered, anchoring her orange friend back in reality. “Didn’t you read this one when you were little, too?”

Did I? Moonlight questioned. What books had she read when she was little? Had she ever been as little as the little ponies looking so expectantly up at her? What even was reading? Wait… yes. Yes! “Yes! I did!” She’d indeed read this book before. It was all coming back to her.

Surprise, for the first time since entering the library, looked just a little bit serious. She whispered quietly enough that their audience couldn’t hear. “You up for this?”

That question would have been a lot more appreciated if it had come, say, ten minutes earlier. However, Moonlight was certain that Surprise wasn’t the manipulative type. She just got a little carried away with her ideas. Besides that, she’d already given Surprise full permission to get her out of her comfort zone. Reading to foals certainly fit that criterion. She mouthed ‘we’ll talk later,’ to which Surprise nodded fervently. But for now, they had an audience to entertain.

Like most books for especially young foals, this one was about 90% illustration with mostly one line sentences in big lettering at the top or to one side. Moonlight began. “Hop Along was a little frog in a little pond.” Her narration began slowly and carefully. She flipped the book around to show her audience the green frog with brown spots sitting alone on a lily pad in the middle of a pond. The foals awed at the stylistic illustration and Moonlight felt just a little pleased with herself for enthralling her audience so quickly.

“Ribbit, ribbit,” Surprise ribbited. She crouched down to all fours, knees bent in prime hopping position and cheeks puffed out between croaks. She looked very froggish, and the foals giggled as she made little hops around her partner and co-conspirator.

“Hop Along had a house made of reeds,” Moonlight continued. She flipped to the next page and showed the illustration of the inside of the reed house. “Hop Along had furniture made of mud and sticks.” She gestured to the different items around the little domicile, digging deep and recalling her own experiences with readers. “See that. He’s got a little chair.”

Surprise quickly snatched up a chair from a nearby table that was too small for her, squatted down, and ribbited. The foals laughed, and she ribbited back with an oblivious froglike expression.

“And he’s got a little bed.”

Surprise threw together some unused sitting cushions into a makeshift bed and mimed sleeping. *Snore* “Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit.” *Snore* “Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit.”

Starting to feel just a tiny bit jealous of Surprise hogging all the attention, Moonlight decided to step up her game. “And what else does he have?” she asked, pointing around the picture. “What’s this?”

“A bed post!” the foals cheered.

“Library voices,” Moonlight chided gently. The foals just giggled while covering their mouths.

Squatting down, Surprise was wagging her finger at her audience and ribbited.

“And what’s this?” Moonlight asked. “Is this Hop Along’s kitchen?”

“No,” the foals chorused. They disharmoniously corrected that it was a book shelf and looked quite pleased with their demonstration of smartness.

Surprise, after somehow putting all of her props back without anypony noticing, grabbed a book and pretended to read. She was still squatting and still ribbiting.

Moonlight heard a few of the parents whispering how good these new readers were and sat up a little straighter. Nothing bolstered a performance like an immediate ego boost.

And so the story went with Moonlight guiding the foals through a day in the life of Hop Along. Hop Along met with his froggy, fishy, and beavery friends. They ate flies and wood together, which the foals found amusingly gross. They explored the Mysterious Log of Mysteries, a mysterious and foreboding log that no frog had ever explored. The foals were really on the edge of their seats for that one, and all let out sighs of relief when it turned out to be the home of nice old Mrs. Salamander, the salamander. She baked them pond cookies. When asked, Moonlight told the foals that they were made of mud and sticks, like everything else in the pond. And so on and so forth until Hop Along, exhausted from his busy day, returned home for a well-earned sleep.

When the cheering got too loud, Surprise urged the foals to ribbit instead. This was still loud, but less so than before, especially with the parents ribbiting along with them. When all had settled, the white and orange mares were thanked profusely by the foals and parents, earning hugs and handshakes respectively. The librarians looked especially pleased. After being informed that each of the foals had checked out a minimum of four books – mostly frog themed – the pair was asked to come back whenever they liked to do some more reading.

“That was… great!” Moonlight tittered as she and her friend departed.

“Was there ever any doubt?”

“Lots, actually. But it was so worth it.”

“Hehe. Yeah. I could tell you were really getting into it.”

“Look who’s talking,” Moonlight replied with a playful hip check. “That was some pretty slick dancing you did.”

“Aw, shucks.” Surprise waved bashfully.

“I mean it. I was laughing so hard it was honestly a little hard to keep reading.”

“But you persevered,” Surprise stated resolutely. “You tried something new, didn’t wuss out, and had a great time.”

Moonlight snorted brashly. “As if I’d ever wuss out.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Surprise allowed, although her tone suggested she wasn’t buying Moonlight’s posturing. “But you still had fun, right?”

Moonlight chuckled. “I think it helps when you’re audience is still counting with their fingers.”

“Don’t put yourself down like that. It’s not healthy,” Surprise chided. “Also incorrect. Lots of folks think all it takes to keep a foal entertained is some pretty colors and some dangling keys, but it’s lazy and dumb to treat foals like that. You gotta put in the effort to really get them engaged, which you did. You opened a dialogue with them and got them into the story. That’s the difference between reading to somepony and reading at them.”

Moonlight smiled and softly bumped hips with her larger friend. “Well, I said I wanted something fun and out of my comfort zone. Consider this mission accomplished.”

Surprise playfully saluted. “Yeah. Now it’s your turn.”

“… wat?”

“Your turn. I chose the last thing. Now you have to pick something fun for us to do.”

Moonlight considered protesting, of coming up with some kind of excuse, but reasoned any resistance would ultimately be futile. The trip spontaneous to the library was evidence enough that Surprise was not a mare to be underestimated. Once more she was put on the spot, only this time it wasn’t in front of an audience. A part of her wanted to get Surprise back for that, to set something up where she would be put on the spot and potentially humiliated, but that thought was short lived. Besides, being needlessly mean to a pony who seemed to have no ulterior motive other than making others happy was just cruel. Moonlight felt daunted by the mere idea of crafting a situation that would overwhelm Surprise while keeping control.

Moving on to more plausible thoughts, Moonlight considered, and immediately dismissed the idea of anything athletic. They already went to the gym all the time, so doing anything similar felt too much like violating her earlier desire of being less of a home body. The whole point was to step out of her shell, but that was so much easier when somepony else was helping to find places outside the shell that felt safe. She thought and she thought, struggling to come up with an activity that might satisfy her arbitrary and self-imposed criteria, and then she saw it.

“How about that?”

Surprise turned to look in the direction Moonlight was pointing. There was a line of ponies stretching well down the sidewalk and into a building. The ponies looked rather unclean, many were wearing rags, and Surprise could practically smell them from here. They huddled together, their expressions sullen, but many were putting on what the white mare instantly recognized as brave faces for the sake of their friends and family. The sign above read ‘Fair’s Hope’. Surprise blinked a few times as she processed the great tragedy of what she was looking at.

“Want to volunteer for a-?”

“Yes!” Surprise cut her friend off, grabbed her by the wrist, and began a determined march to the building.

Moonlight smiled, glad that her friend was so eager, but wasn’t all that surprised. Even so, this had been her idea, so she quickly pulled the larger mare back to take the lead herself. Surprise gave no protest. They went up to the pony standing at the entrance with his arms folded. He was big for a unicorn, with intimidating sunglasses, bulging biceps, and a weightlifting cutie mark. The bouncer – for there was nothing else he could be called – turned to face the approaching mares, his eyes unseen and his expression hard as stone.

“Excuse me,” Moonlight greeted politely, completely unfazed by the stallion’s demeanor. Even with his eyes unseen, she could tell by his other features that she was being sized up as a potential threat. “Where do we go to volunteer?”

The big stallion stared back at the mares, silent as if in deep thought. He contemplated the mares a good few more seconds before jerking his fist up. Neither mare flinched. He pointed with his thumb and said, “Side door around back.” His voice was gruff and gravely. “Ask for Fair Shake. She’ll give you something to do.”

“Thank you,” Moonlight said with a polite nod.

Surprise skipped up to the big stallion, well within his personal space. He tensed defensively, but the smaller mare gave no notice. “You’re a good guy,” she said before lifting herself up and planting a kiss on his cheek.

Moonlight tensed, ready for the bouncer to do as bouncers do, but he didn’t. He just kept standing there, looking as stern and indifferent as ever. Surprise concluded her kiss and playfully hopped away, smiling appreciatively to the stallion. He gave her a small, almost imperceptible nod before turning away. Then the mares left.

“What was that for?” Moonlight demanded once they were out of earshot.

“What was what for?”

“Why’d you kiss him like that?”

“I don’t know. How should I have kissed him?”

“Why’d you do it at all?”

“‘Cause he’s doing a nice thing,” Surprise answered plainly. “Seems like he’s earned that much.”

“What if he thought you were attacking?” Moonlight insisted. “He’d have been in the right if he defended himself.”

“It’s fine. I could tell that he could tell we weren’t there to cause any trouble.”

Moonlight pursed her lips, uncertain if she was emotionally prepared to glimpse into Surprise’s way of knowing. “That was still reckless.”

“But it was the right thing to do.”

“… I guess so,” Moonlight said with a chuckle, accepting her defeat.

Around the corner and down the alley was another door. It opened up to a kind of lobby with ponies running around and shouting like a swarm of tardy bees. “I need this.” “Get that.” “Who’s here?” “How long will that take?” At the center of it all was a gray earth mare in a green jacket with a bell and a pot of bits on her flanks.

Moonlight raised her hand and attempted to speak over the organized chaos. “Excuse me. We’re looking for Fair Shake.”

“Well, you found her,” the gray mare answered distractedly while speaking to another pony. “If she’s not here now, then we’ll just call her absent. That’s not going to be good for her parole,” she grumbled as the other pony nodded and disappeared into another room. “Yes, you two,” she barked. “Here to volunteer?”

Moonlight straightened up and saluted. Surprise followed her lead as they both acknowledged, “Sir, yes sir!”

Recognizing that this action was genuine and not in mockery, Fair smiled appreciatively. “Alright then. Some military discipline might be exactly what we need right now. Soup line’s covered and the kitchen’s already full.” She glanced at both mares’ cutie marks. “I’ve already got Able at the door to ward off trouble makers. What can you do?”

“Need anything picked up?” Moonlight asked. “I can’t teleport, but I’m a fast runner.”

“I can sew,” Surprise added. “But I think what those ponies really need is-”

“Sewing is fine,” Fair cut in hurriedly and pointed down the hall. “Two doors to the left is where we keep donated blankets. You’ll be working with Stitch to make sure they’re all decent before sending them to laundry. And you.” With one hand pointed at Moonlight, Fair used her other to fish through her jacket’s inner pockets for a slip of paper, which she proceeded to scribble on. “You and Scamper here,” she gestured to a lanky earth pony, “take this invoice to this address. Know where it is?”

Moonlight read the hastily written directions and nodded.

“Then what are you waiting for? Get your ass in gear, soldier!”

Moonlight’s inner boot camp trainee kicked in and she flew out the door in a flash, with the stallion hot on her hooves. Surprise, assuming the order to have been directed at the both of them, hurried down the hall.

“You’re new here,” Scamper said as he jogged alongside Moonlight. He had dark brown fur with a gust of wind on his bare flank. “Name’s Scamper.” He extended his hand.

Smiling, Moonlight accepted the gesture with a hearty shake. “Moonlight Shield, and yes. Just sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing, you know.”

“Not really. Pretty unusual for somepony to see a bunch of homeless ponies and not just ignore or throw money at them.”

Moonlight grimaced at the harsh truth. “Well, I’ve found myself in a lot of unusual circumstances lately, so I figured I’d just keep up the trend.”

Scamper grinned. “Sounds fun.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“So, you’re a guard, right?” asked Scamper as the pair of them effortlessly maneuvered through the pedestrians.

“What gave me away?”

“Don’t know. Probably the saluting thing. I didn’t laugh, so it was pretty convincing.”

Moonlight chuckled. “Just so we’re clear, you’re here to keep an eye on me, right?”

Scamper nodded and took another look at the invoice. “Depending on how much you can lift, looks like a two pony job anyway, but yeah. It’s just kitchen supplies, so you wouldn’t exactly make much hocking it, but we gotta be wary of new faces. You understand.”

“I do. So what about you?”

“Me? Nothing much to tell. I’m actually a courier by trade. Ponies get me to deliver packages they don’t trust the postal service to handle.”

Moonlight’s ears stood at attention. “Doesn’t exactly sound legal.”

“It’s not illegal either,” Scamper retorted smugly.

Moonlight decided not to pursue the issue. As shady as the job sounded, Scamper was right that there weren’t actually any laws against what he did. Besides, given that the guy was volunteering at a homeless shelter, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Fair enough. So what brought you to that place, anyway?”

“Part of my parole. Guards caught me with some, shall we say, less than honorably acquired merchandise.”

“You mean stolen.”

“Hey, I didn’t ask. Don’t get paid if you ask. Anyway, they slapped me with community service in lieu of jail time.”

Moonlight regarded the stallion more carefully. If this was part of a court order, then Fair would most certainly have been informed as the shelter’s apparent boss. She trusted a convicted thief with package delivery? Was this out of desperation or a lapse of judgement? Or maybe there was more to the story. “How much time is left for your sentence?”

“Eh. About three years ago.”

Moonlight blinked. “Three years? Did you-”

“Get caught again? Nope,” Scamper bragged. “Guards know my face, so I gotta be more careful.”

Moonlight did not care for his word choice. It had implications. “Then…?”

“It just feels good to help folks, you know,” he answered plainly. “I never had much growing up, but at least I was able to take care of myself. Lots of folks ain’t that lucky.”

Moved, Moonlight smiled fondly at the young stallion. It warmed her heart to hear such a genuine story of redemption. While her inner skeptic warned her not to be so trusting, it would be too easy to challenge this claim once they got back to the shelter. And given that he knew that she was a guard, it seemed unlikely that he’d try anything with her around. The truth seemed like the simplest explanation.

“Plus it helps keep the guards off my back,” Scamper continued with a shit-eating-grin. “So that’s always a plus.”

**********

“You know, I’m pleasantly surprised.”

“About what?” Stitch asked. The yellow unicorn with a spool on her flank kept her head down and eyes on her work as she guided the needle and thread through the fabrics.

“These blankets aren’t all that bad.” Surprise held up the sheet of fabric to better examine the patch she’d just added. “Hardly any big holes, and most even look brand new.”

“Agreed,” Stitch replied distractedly. “Most of the time we’re used as a waste bin. Ponies give us what they’d otherwise throw away so they can have an excuse to feel good about themselves, but lately we’ve been getting some quality material. Here.” She levitated over a pile of sheets. “I checked and these are all in good condition. Take them over to laundry, will you.”

“Can do,” Surprise agreed cheerfully and took the pile in hand. Outside was as busy as ever with ponies running every which way and shouting about something or other. Lots of shortages by the sound of it, which made sense. Places like these relied primarily on charity, which wasn’t always the most dependable source of income, unfortunately. Topically, Surprise passed a room with a pony hunched over and typing away at a typewriter with an abacus to one side, no doubt performing the arduous task of balancing the budget for this place.

“Excuse me.”

“Yeah,” the budget mare answered distractedly. “What d’ya want?”

“I think you need this.”

Before the other mare could ask what ‘this’ was, Surprise had already materialized beside her. The budget mare looked a bit perturbed at having been interrupted in the middle of her work and was ready to chew out this very rude pegasus. However, she held her tongue at the sight of the white mare’s oddly disarming smile. She pulled back at first when the pegasus leaned down, but gave no resistance when a warm and friendly kiss was planted on her cheek.

“Thanks a lot,” Surprise said. “I can tell you’re working hard. And even if no pony says it, which they should, you’re really helping us out. Ponies like you are the unseen heroes who keep places like this afloat. Even if you don’t get to see the smiles of those you help, your number crunching makes sure they all have roofs over their heads and food in their bellies.”

The budget mare blinked her confusion before turning away with a blush. “Uh… thanks,” she mumbled.

“You deserve it,” Surprise replied chipperly, pivoted around on her hoof, and departed.

Afterwards, the budget mare straightened her back a little. She was mindful not to hunch over as much, and resumed her work with a renewed determination. Although she already knew how important her role was to this place, it was nice to receive some acknowledgement.

Surprise repeated this action for just about everypony she came across. For anypony who looked to have caught a bad case of the gloomies, she was there to offer a hug, a kiss, a kind word, but mostly a combination of the three if she could afford to. To the ponies who were in the biggest hurry, she’d just shout her gratitude for their hard work in helping make these lives better. And for the ponies caught idling and seemingly not taking their work too seriously, she had some extra special words.

“I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Uh, what?” answered one of the three contemptable teens leaning against the wall. With their excessive amount of piercings and skull-themed tattoos, they were the very picture of delinquency. Few who saw them could reach any conclusion other than they had all been assigned here as part of a court order, a penalty for some crime committed. It might even seem normal to respond to such callous shirking of responsibility with open disdain, to scold them, to answer their contempt with even more contempt. However, no pony had ever accused Surprise of being normal.

“It’s hard work keeping a place like this a float. I know it might not seem glamorous to wash clothes or clean the halls,” Surprise gestured to the cleaning materials sitting idle near the trio. “But it still counts. Ponies who might otherwise have to sleep in the streets get to know what it’s like to have nice and soft sheets and floors that aren’t dirtier than dirt roads. It’s those little moments of happiness that make all the bad stuff in life seem not so bad. And knowing this is being done for them by ponies acting out of the goodness of their hearts.” She sniffled happily. “That just makes it all the better, don’t you thing?”

The teens dropped their aggressive and dismissive posturing, lowering their eyes in guilt. The litany of snappy comebacks they’d been preparing for such a confrontation all died in their throats, never to see the light of day. Ultimately, they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything at all.

“Come’ere,” Surprise demanded. The three teens saw her coming, but didn’t react fast enough. She’d already enveloped them within her embrace and pulled them against her vast, soft, and comforting bosom. She squeezed hard, because that was how you were supposed to show you cared, and then let them drop. “Keep up the good work guys.” And she departed.

The teens stared awkwardly at each other for a time, uncertain of what to say. Remembering their supplies, they each went for a sponge, mop, and broom and got back to work. They tried complaining about how lame this place was as punishment, but their hearts just weren’t in it anymore, so other topics of discussion were chosen.

All of these detours meant that Surprise took a bit longer going back and forth from the laundry and sewing rooms. Thankfully Stitch just chalked it up to her still learning the layout of the place and so didn’t chastise her too much. However, Stitch did start looking up more often after Surprise marked each return to the sewing room with a friendly embrace.

***

Moonlight and Scamper picked up the packages and divided the load between themselves. Their speed on the return trip was slowed by the added weight, but not by much. When they returned, Fair was impressed at the good time they made and sent them out for another delivery.

“I think I’ve just been type casted,” Moonlight thought out loud.

“What’s that?”

“It’s where an actor gets associated with a certain kind of role and so can only find work in that role. It’s sort of like how Fair said she didn’t need anypony guarding the door after she saw my cutie mark. She didn’t need an extra guard, so now I’m stuck literally running errands,” she explained with a contented grin.

“Ah. Makes sense. I’ve always been pretty good at running, so I’m good with this.”

“I don’t mind, though. Physical activity feels good, and it’s for a good cause.” Sure I failed to avoid physical exertion, but who cares. This is still fine.

“Speaking of physical activity,” Scamper began leadingly.

Moonlight sighed. “Do I really have to say my work as a concubine is confidential?”

“Hey, you’re the one who brought it up,” Scamper replied defensively. “Can’t blame a guy for being curious, especially about something like that. I mean, that’s probably the biggest shared fantasy in the country; right up there with being super rich.”

Moonlight allowed herself a chuckle. “Maybe. Still, I can’t say anything.”

“What about that mare you came with? Surprise?”

“She’ll probably talk your head off, just not about the parts you’re hoping for.”

“Bummer. I was really hoping to know what Princess Celestia’s like up close.”

“Celestia?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Oh no. I know Celestia. I mean, I don’t know-know her, not as well as I used to, but…” Moonlight made a popping sound with her mouth as she worked to unjumble her thoughts. “I used to visit Celestia a lot when I was little, but I’m actually Luna’s concubine.”

“Princess Luna!?” Scamper exclaimed, gob smacked.

At Scamper’s tone of surprise, Moonlight braced herself to rebuke any sort of malicious rumor or rude statement he might utter.

“That’s even better! She’s easily the second prettiest Princess.”

“… Second?”

“Obviously Princess Cadence gets the gold on this one. I mean, she’s literally the Princess of Love. The game’s basically rigged in her favor.”

“We can agree to disagree,” Moonlight allowed cordially. “Although I haven’t really spent enough time with her to know what she’s like.”

“Do you know how lucky that jackass Shining Armor is for marrying her?”

“I can guess very lucky.”

“Sort of makes a guy worry. If all his luck is being put into marrying a goddess, what if the rest of his life tries to balance things out, you know?”

“I’m pretty sure life only punishes you for your ill deeds,” Moonlight countered. “If anything, Cadence is probably a reward for his exceptional service. Or maybe Shining’s the reward for all Cadence does?”

Scamper scoffed. “It’s probably the abs. Mares dig a stallion with abs.”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

**********

“Your friends sound lovely,” Stitch concluded after hearing Surprise’s tale. Since the fourth laundry run, the unicorn had opened up enough to start chatting more casually with the white pegasus. “You’re one lucky mare.”

“I don’t know about lucky, but I’m definitely privileged to have so many great ponies in my life,” replied Surprise as she labored to fix the holes in the fabrics.

“Well, I can at least say they’re just as privileged to have you in theirs.”

“Oh stop.”

“I wouldn’t go throwing around any false modesty when Fair is around. She prefers it when everypony gets exactly what they deserve, and the least you deserve is credit for giving us your time.”

“I’m just happy to help. That’s really all there is to it.”

Stitch, after studying the other mare’s expression, decided it wasn’t worth the fight. Surprise seemed genuine enough. She’d stepped out of the sewing room a few times to check on a few things, only to find the mood of the shelter had practically flipped. Ponies were still in as much of a hurry, but they seemed less tired. Something had brought the pep back in their step, and the unicorn had a sneaking suspicion she knew who the culprit was. “Well, I’m glad you decided to pay us a visit. Helping out a shelter isn’t normally a spontaneous kind of thing.”

“Well I like it. This place is so lively. I might just make this a regular thing. Maybe I can even get the others to join me.”

Stitch blinked. “By others, do you mean…?”

“My friends in the harem!”

“So, all of them?” Stitch asked warily, her mind racing with certain possibilities.

“Sure thing. Me, and Silver, and Moon, and-”

“The P-Princess?”

Surprise thought this over a moment and gave a shrug. “Sure. I don’t see why not.”

“R-really?”

“Well, she’d probably come in disguise, just to keep the tabloids off her butt. Or maybe she won’t. Ooooh! I’ll bet a Princess taking time to do charity might actually be good publicity! Or maybe not.” Surprise trailed off in thought. “I guess I’ll just have to tell her and see what she’s willing to do, but she’s definitely coming in disguise at least once.”

Stitch, uncertain of how to respond to the prospect of royalty gracing this establishment, just nodded. “Well, whatever their station, it’s not like we’re going to turn away an eager volunteer. And even if she isn’t coming as a Princess, her seeing what its like for the underclass will probably do plenty of good in the long run.”

“Exactly. Luna’s super nice. I’m sure you’ll love her.”

“Then… I guess I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

Given that they were walk-ins and didn’t go through the usual channels of volunteering, Moonlight and Surprise quickly lost track of time. Had they followed protocol, they’d have signed up for a specific time bracket. However, as things were, there was really no pony to inform them that it was time to go. Only the rumbling of Surprise’s tummy told them that they’d probably done enough for one evening. They said their goodbyes, were informed that they’d always be welcome if they ever had more free time, and decided that catching some fast food would be easier than heading all the way back to the castle.

“This was fun,” Moonlight said, chomping her burger.

“Which part?”

“All of it. This probably sounds bad, but I never pictured a homeless shelter could be so…” Moonlight trailed off, too embarrassed to finish the thought.

“Helping just feels good,” Surprise said as though it were obvious. “I really don’t get what’s so hard to understand about that.”

Moonlight chuckled and took a swig of her drink. “I don’t know, but you’re right. After tonight I feel… refreshed? I guess that’s the word.”

“Spiritually rejuvenated.”

“Okay, I like that better.” Moonlight took another bite and swallowed. “Is that your secret for staying so happy and cheerful all the time?”

“I’d hardly call it a secret,” Surprise said with a dismissive wave. “Although, I guess it’s not as common sense as it probably should be. But never mind that. Tonight we made a difference. We read to foals, sewed up blankets for the homeless-”

“-and made sure the shelter got all their supplies for the next week.”

“The whole week?”

Moonlight puffed out her chest in pride, allowing herself a well-deserved smug grin. “The whole week. Apparently I’m one of the few ponies that can actually keep up with their usual courier. Also, and I have my doubts, but apparently he ‘hardly had to slow down at all’ for me.” She scoffed. “Cocky little twerp.”

Surprise could tell there was no real animosity in Moonlight’s tone, which made her happy to think that her orange friend also made a new friend. “I said I’d tell the others about the shelter. Maybe we can make this a semi-regular thing. I’ll bet Luna’d be especially happy to see some direct results instead of just passing boring laws all night.”

“That’s actually a pretty good idea,” Moonlight praised. “And even if it’s not for her, there’s no harm in trying at least once.”

“So long as she stays out of the kitchen,” Surprise amended.

“Well that goes without saying.”

Huh. You know, it only just now occurs to me that all three of these chapters were story themed. Thomas and Silver make up a story, Luna and Honey find a story, and Moonlight and Surprise read a story. While not intended, I think it nicely ties things together.

My primary plan going into this chapter was to give Moonlight something to do so that her character can grow separately from Thomas. Lately I’ve been getting the feeling that their relationship is a bit codependent and just wanted to do something for myself and my audience to prove that they can operate separately.

Big thanks to my Patrons.
Tier 1: Nobody at this time
Tier 2: Nakey Jakey, Kane777123, and Jonathan Applewhaite
Tier 3: kent and Magetsu88