Flurrysitting 101

Chapters

Prologue
Rule 1: Don't Lose Your Foal
Rule 2: Don't Tell Anypony
Rule 3: Don't Get Distracted
Rule 4: Don't Travel Abroad

Prologue

Shining Armor bit his lip. “Wait. Y-you want me to do it alone?” he asked with a certain shakiness in his voice.

“It'll only be for a few hours, Shiny,” Princess Cadance replied, handing the sleeping foal to her husband as she put a book inside her backpack. “It's just that Princess Celestia has requested my presence in Canterlot for a meeting today, and I have to attend. We’re going to be discussing extremely important topics that could impact the future of Equestria. I don't know how long it's going to take, and I do not want to miss it.”

“But I can't watch her alone,” Shining Armor protested, nervously scratching his head. “You know how much of a handful she can be sometimes. She's named Flurry Heart for a reason, remember?”

"How could I forget?" Cadance chuckled. "But that was then, and this was now. Sunburst helped curb her powers. She's as harmless as any newborn foal now. You can handle her alone.”

"No, I can't. You don't understand," he insisted, frowning at his daughter. "How am I supposed to do something like this when I wasn't even able to keep track of her in an empty library?"

“Shining, what's wrong?" Cadance asked, pausing her packing. "Normally, you're always so willing to help care for Flurry Heart. Why are you suddenly so reluctant?" She paused for a moment, and stared directly into her husband's eyes. "Are you afraid of her?”

Shining Armor sighed, then sat down on the purple couch that lay in the center of his and Cadance’s living room. “It's not her I'm afraid of,” he admitted, giving his daughter a little hug. “It’s how she's going to see me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve never really been alone with Flurry Heart before, Cadance. This'll be the first time. She'll start getting her first impressions of who I am. I don't wanna screw it up and have her see me as a bad or uninteresting father.”

Cadance smiled, then sat down next to her husband. “You'll be fine,” she assured, giving Shining Armor a small kiss on the cheek. “You're not a bad father, Shiny. You're a great stallion, and I'm sure Flurry will see that. As long as you take good care of her and keep her entertained, I know you'll do great.”

The stallion sighed, then nodded his head. “Yeah, you're probably right,” he said, carefully placing Flurry Heart into her large, white crib. “I guess I can handle it.”

“Great!” Cadance exclaimed, giving her husband a large hug and another kiss. “You'll do just fine, Shiny. Just remember that Flurry Heart’s mealtime is at two o'clock, and that she has be in bed by five o'clock. Otherwise, she'll refuse to go to sleep. Got all of that?”

Shining Armor nodded his head. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“I don’t think so. But if you need any help, you can always ask Sunburst. He’s usually available at this time of day.” When she was done speaking, Cadance looked at the clock in the center of the room, then sighed. “Gotta run. I’d love to stay longer, honey, but it’s 11:15 and I really have to get going if I want to make it to Canterlot on time.”

“I understand. Have a good trip, Cadance. I love you!”

“I love you too, Shiny. Remember: you can do this. Have fun, and be careful, okay?”

“I'll do my best.”

The two shared their goodbyes and one last kiss before Princess Cadance flew out of the nearest window and headed toward the train station, leaving Shining Armor alone with the couple’s sleeping daughter.

Cadance is right, he thought to himself as he stared down at his child. I'm not a bad father. I've helped save Equestria loads of times now. Taking care of my own baby for a few hours should be no problem…

…right?

Rule 1: Don't Lose Your Foal

“No, Flurry Heart! Please don’t touch that! That’s really expensive! Hey! Put down that spear! Oh no! Please, Flurry! Be calm!”

It was one o’clock in the afternoon, and Flurry Heart had decided to stretch out her wings by flying all throughout the castle. Her father, Shining Armor, was following her as best as he could, but it wasn’t easy. Despite being only a baby, Flurry Heart was already a master at using her wings. She was also very curious, meaning that every object in the area was at risk of being touched or picked up by her, no matter how dangerous it was.

This led to Flurry Heart flying around the castle with a pointy spear in her hooves.

“Flurry Heart, please calm down!” Shining Armor called to his daughter as the two entered one of the castle’s many narrow hallways. “I don’t want you hurting yourself or anypony else!”

Giggling, Flurry Heart ignored her father and instead flew straight toward a large group of royal guards, aiming the spear directly at their faces. In surprise, the guards jumped out of her way, causing them to crash into the walls, fall on top of each other, and inadvertently block Shining Armor off from catching his daughter.

“Oh no!” Shining Armor gasped as he stared at the pile of guards blocking the hallway. “Guards, I need you to move now! Please! Cadance will kill me if I don’t catch Flurry Heart!”

“Sir, I think you need to get a handle on that foal of yours,” one of the guards said to Shining Armor as he slowly attempted to regain his footing. “This is the third time this week she's almost killed us!”

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that,” the Prince replied, nervously stomping his hooves on the ground. “She does that sometimes. I promise I‘ll make it up to you when I catch her.”

“That’s what you said the last time this happened.”

“It's still true,” Shining panted, itching to get back to catching his daughter. “I wouldn't lie to you guys, right?”

The guards rolled their eyes and moaned, grumbling about how they “signed up to save Equestria, not be on baby duty.” Even with their annoyance, though, the group of stallions followed orders and made their way back onto their hooves, allowing Shining Armor to finally get past them and proceed through the hallway.

“Thanks, guys!” Shining Armor shouted over his shoulder as he dashed away from the group. “I promise, once this is over, Flurry Heart won't attack you ever again!”

“Yeah, right,” one of the guards whispered to his fellow co-workers, as he watched the prince slowly faded into the distance.

“Ah-ha! I found you!”

There Flurry Heart was, sitting on her parents’ bed, still clutching onto the spear she had picked up nearly ten minutes ago. Shining Armor had finally found her, and, much to his relief, she was perfectly okay and hadn’t hurt herself in any fashion. Everything around her seemed to be in perfect condition as well.

Everything, except for Shining Armor and Princess Cadance’s bed.

The bed had become a wreck. The mattress was riddled with small holes, as if it had been continuously stabbed by a spear (which was probably the case), the blankets covered the entire floor, and the pillows had exploded into a giant mess of feathers and fabric.

Shining Armor gasped at the sight of it.

“Aww, no, Flurry! What did you do?” he moaned as he found out that the holes were approximately the same size as his hooves. “This room is a mess! How am I going to explain this to your mother?”

Expecting a response, Shining looked at his little daughter, who simply just giggled and rolled onto her side.

“You’re lucky you’re so adorable,” Shining Armor said, smiling as he used his magic to remove the spear from Flurry’s hooves and put it back where it belonged. “I’m just glad you’re okay. You could’ve really gotten hurt back there, Flurry. I’m going to make sure you don’t get into any more trouble, okay?”

Flurry Heart shook her head and spread out her wings, preparing to continue her flight around the castle. Shining, however, had other plans. Climbing onto his bed, he grabbed his daughter and put her into a tight hug, rendering her attempts to escape useless.

“Let’s relax a little, okay, Flurry?” Shining Armor said to his foal, stifling a yawn. “Your good old father here is feeling really exhausted after chasing you for so long. He just wants to take a little break before getting back to it, alright?”

Flurry Heart just shook her head again. Shining Armor was starting to believe that that was going to be her default response to everything.

“I know you want to fly, but I’m really tired. Just let me rest and shut my eyes for a minute, okay? Then we can have some more fun together.”

Predictably, Flurry Heart shook her head once more, so Shining Armor just sighed and kissed her on the forehead.

“I love you, my little Flurry Heart. I’ll only be out for a second. Promise.”

With that, Shining Armor laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, still clutching Flurry Heart in his hooves.

Finally, some time to rest, he thought to himself, beginning to fall asleep. Remember, though, Shining, only for a minute now.

Only for a minute...

Shining Armor woke up to silence.

This was something very unusual for him. Being the father of an extremely hyperactive foal, there was always something being picked up by his ears, whether it was screaming, crying, laughter, or a combination of all three. This was the first time he had heard silence in weeks, and suddenly hearing it again made him feel very uncomfortable.

As he slowly got up and stretched out his legs, Shining looked around at his bedroom. As he had expected, everything was exactly just it had been before he had closed his eyes: a complete mess.

How am I ever going to explain this to Cadance? he thought to himself, sighing. I can clean up all these blankets and pillows, but what am I supposed to do about the bed? Flurry Heart’s made such a mess.

Then, Shining Armor noticed that the bedroom wasn’t exactly as he had left it. Amongst the tiny, white feathers from the pillows, there was a new addition to the mess: a large, light pink feather that almost looked like it belonged to—

“FLURRY HEART!”

Immediately, Shining Armor looked down at his hooves, only to find out that, while he was asleep, the worst possible thing had happened to him.

Flurry Heart had vanished. And the spear had gone with her.

“Oh no-no-no-no-no! Flurry?!” Shining Armor shouted as he frantically jumped out of bed. “Flurry?! Flurry Heart, are you there?! Please, make noises if you can hear me!”

Shining froze and listened for any baby noises. He was once again met with silence.

Alright, don’t panic, he thought to himself as he began scanning the entire room for his daughter. Flurry Heart’s has to be in here. I was only out for a minute. She couldn’t have gotten very far. I bet she just shook her head like she always does instead of making sound. There’s no way she could’ve escaped, right?

Cadance is not going to be happy about this.

“Good afternoon, Shining Armor,” a voice suddenly said, catching the prince off guard. He quickly turned around to see who it was, only to find Flash Sentry “How are you doing today?”

“Not that great,” Shining admitted, lifting up the entire bed with his magic. Much to his disappointment, Flurry Heart was not under it. “I think I’ve made a big mistake.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Flash replied, taking off his shiny gold helmet. “If it makes you feel any better, I really like what you’ve done with the room.”

Shining Armor groaned. “Is something wrong, Flash?”

“Well, that depends on your definition of wrong,” Flash began, scratching his head. “You see, the guards here are getting a little tired of almost, you know, getting killed by your baby, so they’re making a plan to quit unless something gets done about—”

“Look, Flash, I’m really busy at the moment. Could you please handle that for me?”

“Um, sure, I guess I can try," Flash said, nodding his head. “I don’t how successful I’ll be, since I’m just another royal guard like them, but I can try.”

Flash then started to walk back through the door, leaving the prince alone in his search for the missing foal. However, right as he was about to exit the room, he turned back around, only to see Shining Armor lifting up a blanket with his magic.

“Um, you really don’t look that busy, Shining,” Flash Sentry admitted, walking back over toward the prince. “C’mon, you can clean up this room later. This is really important. If you don't do this, you could lose your entire team of crystal guards!”

“I've got much bigger problems to deal with right now," Shining Armor sighed, lifting up another one of the blankets.

Flash thought over those words for a moment, then nodded his head. “Oh, I get it,” he said, walking over to a pillow and looking under it. “You’re not cleaning up. You’re looking for something. What is it? Can I help?”

“Shouldn't you be guarding the castle's entrance right now?"

"Nah. There's four other guards already there. I'm sure they can handle it without me."

"Alright, then, Flash. You can help."

When he heard this, Flash’s face immediately lit up. “Thank you so much, Shining!” he exclaimed as he immediately ran over to another pillow on the ground. “You do not know how boring being a royal guard can be sometimes. Actually, scratch that, you probably do. I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to do something for hours. Again, thank you so much, Shining Armor. I promise, I won’t let you down.”

“I certainly hope not,” Shining Armor replied, looking out into the hallway.

“That am I supposed to be looking for here?” Flash Sentry asked, turning over the last pillow in the room. “Um, a wedding ring? A book? A tooth? C’mon, Shining Armor, give me something.”

Shining Armor opened his mouth to reply, but was once again interrupted by Flash, who began looking inside the drawers of Cadance’s dresser.

“Hey, Shining? Where’s your daughter? Aren’t you supposed to be watching her today while Cadance is at the— Ohhh.” Flash walked over to the unicorn and stared him in the eyes. “You lost her, didn’t you?”

“I lost her.”

“This is awful,” Shining Armor moaned, pacing around his bedroom. “It’s everything I’ve been fearing. I’m a horrible father.”

“Nah, that’s not true,” Flash replied. “I’m sure every parent loses their foal at some point during their lives.”

“You don’t understand. I wanted Flurry Heart to start getting to know me as a good and fun father she could always depend on. But after this, she’s going to grow up seeing me as bad and incompetent!”

Shining Armor, with tears in his eyes, sighed and sat down on his bed, feeling completely defeated. Flash just frowned.

“She's only going to see you like that if you don’t find her,” he said, patting the unicorn on the back. “Sure, you may have messed up, but you do have a chance to make things right now.”

Shining Armor blankly stared at Flash for a second, then nodded. “You’re right,” he agreed, getting up off of the bed. “I can’t just sit around moping. I need to find her and redeem myself!”

“That’s the spirit!” Flash said, jumping up into the air. “So, how are we going to do this?”

“Well, Cadance said that if I ever needed help, I should to go Sunburst, so that’s what I’m going to do. Hopefully, he’ll be able to join in the search for Flurry Heart.”

Upon hearing this, Flash Sentry’s eyes immediately lit up. “Ooh! If you’re gonna be out getting Sunburst, you’re going to need somepony back to stay here and keep searching for Flurry Heart in case she’s still in the castle. I’m that pony.”

“Alright,” Shining Armor said cautiously, staring at the pegasus. “You’ve got to promise me you won't tell anypony what's going on, though.”

"Anypony? Not even the Crystal Guards?”

“Not even the Crystal Guards.”

“Not even the Elements of Harmony?”

“Not even the Elements of Harmony.”

“Not even Princess Twilight?”

“Especially not Princess Twilight.”

“Alright, alright, I got it,” Flash sighed, scratching his mane. “I won't tell anypony about the missing baby alicorn. But don’t blame me if they find out themselves..”

“Thank you so much, Flash,” Shining Armor said, starting to walk out of the room. “If you find her, please send somepony to get me as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir.”

With that, Shining Armor dashed out of the castle and entered the city, ready to find Sunburst and retrieve his daughter.

Here goes nothing, he thought to himself.

Rule 2: Don't Tell Anypony

To whomever it may concern,

I am currently out having lunch at the Crystal Café. I will try to be back as soon as I possibly can. If you need me, please be patient and wait until my return.

—Sunburst

Shining Armor’s mouth dropped open.

The Crystal Café?! he thought to himself, looking over the note on the stallion’s door multiple times to make sure he had read it right. He had. I ran all the way from the castle to to find him, and then he’s not even here?! No! What am I supposed to do now?

As Shining Armor climbed back down the stairs leading to Sunburst's house, he thought over his options. I need Sunburst’s help now. If I stay here and wait for him to come home, I will certainly be able to get his help. The problem with that is I have no idea when he’s coming back here. It could be hours, for all I know. If I go to the Crystal Café, though, I can find him and get his help immediately. However, there’s a chance he might’ve written this note a long time ago and has left the Café already, meaning going there would be pointless. Hmm...

Shining Armor scratched his head as he tried to pick a path to follow. After a few seconds, he finally made up his mind.

Let’s do this.

The Crystal Café was one of the most popular eateries in the Crystal Empire. While it was, for the most part, a brightly-colored standard fast food restaurant, the fact that Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor ate there almost everyday made the café a hot attraction for both the tourists and the Crystal Empire’s own residents. Whether they were looking for a good meal or a glance of royalty, the Crystal Café was the place to go.

When Shining Armor entered the restaurant, he found it nearly filled to the brim with ponies of all different sizes, shapes, and colors. Because there were only ten tables in the entire building, only about a dozen ponies got the luxury of sitting down, while all the others were forced to stand and wait. It was aggravating for some, but the possibility of seeing royalty keep them coming back for more.

On that particular day, due to the crowd, barely anypony noticed Shining Armor enter the building. To him, this was a relief, as he didn’t have the time to be smothered by adoring fans asking for his autograph. He just wanted to find Sunburst and be gone.

Unfortunately, Sunburst was nowhere to be seen.

Shining Armor scanned the sea of heads for the unicorn's unique manecut, but to no avail. Sunburst didn't appear to be in the restaurant at all.

Oh no, Shining thought to himself. First, Flurry Heart, and now Sunburst? Where is everypony going today?

As he sighed, Shining Armor and stared at the crowd in front of him. Okay, even if Sunburst isn't here right now, I know for a fact that he was in here at some point today. Somepony had to have seen him come and go. All I have to do is to find that pony, ask them which direction Sunburst went, then get out of here as quickly as possible so I can find him. Should be easy, right?

Shining Armor was about to step into the large mass of ponies, but stopped right before making contact with the first one.

This plan isn’t going to work, he thought, backing up against the door. This crowd is huge. It’s going to take forever if I ask every single pony in here if they know where Sunburst is. I need to find one specific pony that will know, for certain, where Sunburst went.

Shining scanned the crowd once more, searching for anypony that might potentially know where Sunburst was. At first, nopony stood out to him. However, after a few seconds, he realized—

The cashier! She’s the perfect one for this! She’s gotta have been working for a few hours, at least. She’s got to have seen him!

He started to walk back into the crowd, but once again stopped before anything could happen. I can’t have anypony noticing me and distracting me from my mission, he thought, bumping into a nearby window. If I’m going to go into this crowd, I’m going to need a disguise. But where am I going to find one of those?

He looked at the window he had bumped into. Hanging on it were two long, pink curtains with yellow fringes and red stripes.

Good enough.

When nopony was looking, Shining Armor used his magic to remove the curtains from the window, then proceeded to wrap them around himself, making sure to cover his entire body, save for his eyes, muzzle, and horn.

There, he thought to himself. I'm ready.

When he reached the cashier, Shining Armor removed the curtain from his head and smiled at the mare in front of him.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Armor,” the cashier said, giving the stallion a large smile. “You look quite handsome today. Shall I get you your usual order?”

“Uh, not today,” Shining replied, his eyes darting around the room. He could feel a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead. “You see, I’m kind of in a predicament right now.”

“Oh dear,” the mare gasped. “Are you in trouble?”

“No, not at all. But somepony else is. Tell me: have you seen a yellow-orange stallion with glasses and a blue cape around here? I need to find him.”

The cashier thought it over for a moment, then nodded her head slowly. “You mean Sunburst? Yeah, I’ve seen him. He just left the café a few minutes ago. Why? Is he the one in trouble?”

“Don’t worry about that. Did you hear him say anything about where he was going before he left?”

“Uh, maybe? All I heard come out of his mouth were his order and the words 'Crystal Market’, if that helps you any.”

The market? Shining Armor thought, putting his face in his hooves. Seriously? I don’t have time search the entire market for him! I need to find Flurry Heart as soon as possible!

“Um, thank you for your time, ma’am,” Shining Armor said, wrapping the curtain back around his head. “I’ll be sure to tell you if I find him.”

“Well, I certainly hope you do!”

Looks like I won’t be getting Sunburst’s help after all, he thought to himself as he walked away from the cashier, his head hanging low. Great. If I can't find him, then the only pony who will be helping me is Flash. There’s no way I’ll find Flurry Heart if it's just him and me.

Just at that moment, Shining Armor looked up from the ground and saw an orange mare with a yellow mane and a light brown cowboy hat, eating a small hayburger.

Do I know that mare?

The closer he got to her, the more familiar she looked. It was almost as if he had seen her multiple times before...

“Wait…” Shining Armor said, tapping the mare on the back to get her attention. “Applejack? Is that you?”

The mare turned around. Surely enough, it was Applejack.

“Shining Armor!” Applejack exclaimed. “Well, howdy. Didn’t expect to see you here! What’s with the, uh, fancy get-up?”

“Oh, this thing?” Shining asked, looking down at the curtains. “It’s just a… I’ll explain later. What are you doing here in the Crystal Empire?”

“I’m just hanging out with Rainbow Dash. There’s an important Wonderbolt meeting here in the Empire she has to go to, and she invited me to come along with her so we could do some fun stuff together.”

“Ah, ok. Sounds pretty nice. Any chance she’s here with you then?”

“Nah. She’s off selling Wonderbolt merchandise at the market with right now. Why? Do ya need her?”

“Kind of,” Shining replied, glancing around at the ponies around the room. A few of them had begun to stare at him and snicker. “Look, how about we continue this conversation outside? I’m kinda trying to keep my presence here on the down low, and I think some ponies are beginning to notice me.”

Applejack looked at the clock. It was 1:20pm.

“Yeah, I’ve got some time before Rainbow gets off shift,” she said, eating the last few bites of her burger. “I can talk.”

“Great! Then let’s go!”

With that, Shining Armor and Applejack worked their way through the crowd and left the restaurant, forgetting to return the curtain.

“Are you kiddin’ me?! You lost your foal?!”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Shining Armor said, standing in the alleyway next to the Crystal Café. “She’s just flying around, carrying a spear, with she no way of knowing where she’s going and nopony to supervise her.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he cringed. “Oh, man, that really does sound bad, doesn’t it?”

“Uh, yeah,” Applejack replied, nodding her head. “You gave your baby a spear? What in the hay were you thinking?!”

“Hey, I didn't give it to her! She just took it! It’s like… her new favorite toy or something.”

“A spear is her favorite toy?” Applejack gasped. “Seriously? Shining, have you ever considered that your daughter might just be a serious threat to the community?”

“I have,” Shining Armor admitted. “But that’s not the point. I really need your help to find her, Applejack. She's my daughter, and I love her. I don't want her stuck alone in the world with nopony to help her. I want her safe.” He sighed. “Plus, Cadance will destroy me if I don't find her before she comes home.”

“Don't worry, Shining,” Applejack said, without hesitation. “I'm going to help you. I can’t just let a baby be out in the world on her own. I’ve gotta do somethin’ about that. Plus, even though you've made a mistake, you're still my friend. Friends help each other, right?”

“Oh, thank you so much!” Shining exclaimed, hugging the earth pony. “I promise, I will make it worth your while.”

“Ah, no need," Applejack replied. "My help costs nothin'. So, where are we gonna start lookin’ for this foal?”

“Um, the castle, I guess. Flash Sentry is already over there, looking for Flurry Heart. I figure we check in with him first and see if he's found her. If he hasn't, then we start looking around the city.”

“The entire city?” Applejack asked, confused. “That's going to take quite a while. Why don't you ask for more help so that we can cover more ground quicker?”

“The less ponies that know, the better,” Shining stated, turning away from Applejack. “I want to keep this as secret as possible. If I let too many ponies know, the story will spread. And if the story spreads to the general population, it's going to spread to my family. And if my family finds out, I'm a goner. Nopony will trust me, Cadance will divorce me, and Flurry Heart will be taken away from me forever!”

“Wow. That got intense fast.”

“And that's just assuming we even find her. If we don't, things could get a whole lot worse. Which is why we have to hurry and do this as soon as possible!”

Applejack sighed once more. “Alright then, let's get movin’. Flurry Heart needs us.”

The mare then proceeded to run out of the alley, heading in the direction of the castle. Shining, however, stayed behind a few seconds longer.

“We're going to find her,” Shining told himself as he took a deep breath. “We're going to find her.”

He wasn't really convinced.

When Applejack and Shining Armor returned to the castle, they found the royal guards all over the place.

While some of them were in their respective positions, others were in places Shining Armor would’ve never told them to go: on the ceiling, on the roof, under the couch, in his room. What was even stranger was the fact that all of them seemed to be searching for something. There were guards looking through windows, opening up kitchen cabinets, and even going through Princess Cadance’s closet. Not a single one was doing their actual job, however.

“Shining, why’re your guards actin’ like this?” Applejack asked, staring at the stallion up on the ceiling.

“I have absolutely no idea.”

As the two walked through the castle, they kept seeing guards acting weirdly. None of them greeted Shining Armor, looked at him, or frankly, even noticed that he was there at all.

“This is really weird,” Shining said to Applejack, his eyes darting around the room. “Look, I’m going to figure this out. You start looking for Flurry Heart without me.”

“Gotcha,” Applejack replied. “I used to foalsit little Apple Bloom all the time. This should be a breeze. Just come an’ find me when you’ve sorted this out, okay?”

“You got it.”

As Applejack ran in the opposite direction of Shining Armor, the stallion looked for somepony who could help him out. Most of the guards looked too busy, and Flash Sentry was nowhere in sight. There was one guard, though, who didn’t appear to be doing anything important, and that was the one in the downstairs bathroom. All he was doing was repeatedly tapping on a mirror with his spear.

Bingo.

“Hey you!” Shining Armor called out to the unsuspecting guard, causing him to jump up in surprise. “What are you doing?!”

“Uh, um, d-definitely not messing with your mirror, sir,” the guard lied, hiding the spear behind his back. Shining Armor rolled his eyes.

“No, I mean, why are all of the guards acting so strangely right now?”

“Oh, that,” the guard said, scratching his head. “Um, we’re just searching for Flurry Heart, like you told us to. Hey, are we getting paid overtime for this? Because I really don’t want to be—”

“Hold on,” Shining interrupted, confused by the guard’s words. “I never told you to look for Flurry Heart. In fact, I don’t recall giving any of you orders at all!”

“Oh, well, Flash Sentry told us that you had,” the guard said, shrugging. “Now, about that overtime—”

“Wait. Flash Sentry?!” Shining exclaimed. “Oh no. Um, thank you for your help, guard! I really appreciate it.”

With that, the prince ran away from the guard, leaving him alone in the bathroom with his spear. Right before he went up the staircase, however, Shining Armor heard one, last sentence:

“I still want that overtime!"

“Aha! I found you!”

Shining Armor had just walked onto one of the castle’s balconies, where he found Flash Sentry, flying along the side of the castle.

“Oh, hey, Shining!” Flash exclaimed, waving to the prince. “Welcome back! How was your trip?”

“Not that great,” the unicorn sighed as Flash landed next to him. “I went all the way to the Crystal Café, but I still couldn’t find Sunburst. Looks like we’re just gonna have to do this without his help.”

“Aww. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I really like your new look.”

“New look? What are you talking about?” Shining Armor asked, confused. He looked down at his body, only to find the curtain was still there. “What…? Why am I still wearing this?!”

“Probably because it looks great.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Shining said, ripping the curtains off his body and throwing them off the side of the balcony. “There. Now, Flash, I have something I really need to talk to you about.”

“Okay, sure. What is it!”

“The royal guards! Flash, why are they searching for Flurry Heart? I explicitly told you not to tell them what was going on!”

“I know, but I figured that, the more ponies we have on board, the higher chance we have at finding Flurry Heart!” Flash said, looking at the prince.

“Sure, but if too many ponies find out she’s missing, rumors will spread. And that’s only going to lead to trouble. You really shouldn’t have told them!”

“And I didn’t,” Flash corrected, shaking his head. “No, I just told them that you were playing a game of hide-and-seek with Flurry Heart and needed a little extra help. They have no idea she’s gone.”

“Oh, really? Wait, how’d you get the guards to play hide-and-seek, of all things? They can be pretty hard to work with, you know.”

“They weren't that difficult. I just told them you’d give them all a day off if they could find her. That got them searching in seconds.”

“Wow, that’s actually really smart,” Shining admitted. “Although I wish you hadn’t made a promise as big as that one. A day without royal guards could be tough. But, thank you anyway, Flash.”

“No problem. Although, this next part you won’t be so happy to hear. We’ve been searching all throughout the castle for a while now, and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion that she’s not here.”

“WHAT?” Shining gasped, beginning to hyperventilate. He could feel his heart racing in his chest. “My worst fears are coming true. She’s escaped into the city! I was not ready for this! Oh no-no-no-no-no!!”

“Hey, it’ll be okay, Shining,” Flash said, trying to calm the prince down. “Nothing’s changed. We’re still going to find her. The only difference now is that we’ll have to conduct our search in the city. Nothing’s stopping us from doing that, right?”

Just at that moment, a guard ran onto the balcony. He was panting and covered with sweat.

“Shining, we need to get you inside this castle immediately!” he yelled, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“What? Why?” Shining asked, after taking a deep breath.

“Because we’re putting the castle on lockdown!”

Upon hearing this, Shining Armor and Flash Sentry’s mouths dropped open.

“WHAT?!”

Rule 3: Don't Get Distracted

Shining Armor and Flash Sentry walked through the castle in silence.

Every window and door they passed was locked. All the lights were turned off. The balconies were blocked by wooden bars. The roof was unaccessible. Even the door to Shining Armor’s own bedroom, which could only be accessed from inside the castle, was blocked off. It worried Flash immensely.

“This is kind of scary,” he whispered to Shining, staring at the three royal guards behind them. “Have we ever been in lockdown before?”

“Not as far as I know,” the prince replied, taking a deep breath. “Whatever’s causing this must be bad.”

“Like Sombra bad?”

“Eh, not necessarily. Just bad enough to force everypony to stay indoors. Lockdowns are usually put in place just to make sure everypony goes inside their homes to stay away from whatever danger lies on the streets.”

“Oh, so, it could be something small, like a zombie pony?”

“Yes, but I hope it’s not one of those,” Shining Armor opined, shuddering with fear. “I’m just really worried about Flurry Heart right now. She doesn’t know what a ‘lockdown’ is. If somepony tells her that she has to get inside, she’ll probably just shake her head and stay right where the danger is.” He sighed. “She could be in a lot of trouble right now.”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Flash said, putting his hoof on the unicorn’s back. “It’ll all work out. Once the lockdown is over, we can continue our search, alright?”

“Okay,” Shining sighed, scratching his mane. “I just hope we won’t be too late.”

With that, the group continued walking ahead, not saying a word until they reached their destination.

When the two finally reached the main foyer, they found a small crowd of townsponies surrounded by three or four Royal Guards. There was also a guard stationed at every possible exit, each holding a sharp spear in their hooves.

“There,” one guard said to another, bringing Shining and Flash to the rest of ponies. “That's all of them.”

“Affirmative,” the second guard replied. “Now we wait.”

Shining Armor stared at the royal guards, waiting for them to tell him what was happening, but no words came out of their mouths. Instead, Shining heard a familiar voice coming from behind him.

“Oh, there you are!” Applejack exclaimed, running over to the two stallions. “What the hay is goin’ on in here? The guards are actin’ even weirder than before!”

“We’re on lockdown, apparently,” Flash Sentry replied, waving at Applejack. “Although we don’t really know why.”

“I can tell you,” one of the townsponies offered, biting her lip. “There's a lunatic running around the streets! I saw them myself. They had a cloak, and a spear, and they nearly attacked me! Luckily, the royal guards saw the situation and pulled me and a few others inside before anything could happen. Everypony else was told to run into the nearest building. It's insanity!”

“There’s no real need to worry, though,” a stallion added, walking over to the others. “I overheard some ponies saying that the Wonderbolts are going to stop whoever’s behind this!”

“Is that true, guards?” Shining asked, turning to the pair of royal guards in front of the main entrance. They both nodded their heads.

“They were in the Crystal Arena when we first started the lockdown,” the first guard replied. “I told them to go inside, but they offered to help take down the threat themselves. They’re so brave.”

“Yeah,” the second guard agreed, scratching his mane. “But, since the ‘Bolts are taking down the threat, we’re going to be stuck here for quite a long time. Now might be a good time to think about that overtime, sir.”

Shining rolled his eyes, then went back to Applejack and Flash Sentry, who seemed to be chatting with the group of Crystal Ponies.

“It really looks like we’re sittin’ ducks,” Applejack sighed, sitting down on the floor. “The two of us spoke to a bunch of the ponies in here, and all of ‘em said the same thing: ‘wait until the Wonderbolts deal with it.’”

“But we don’t have the time to wait!” Shining Armor exclaimed, his breathing becoming heavy. He felt like he was going to run out of air sooner or later. “We need to get out of here and save Flurry Heart! Look, she doesn’t know what a ‘lockdown’ is! If somepony tells her to go inside, she’s just going to shake her head! And if she does that, the dangerous pony is going to get to her! I really don’t want that to happen!”

“None of us do,” Applejack said. “But what are we supposed to do about it? In case you didn’t notice, we’re kinda locked up in here, and I doubt the guards are gonna let you out, no matter how nicely you ask. You’re too important to the Empire. They’re not going to willingly let you walk into potentially dangerous situations.”

“Well, they’re going to have to,” Shining stated, walking over to the stallions blocking by main entrance. “Guards, I would like to leave the outside of the castle right now, please.”

The guards, clearly having overheard a portion of the prince’s conversation with Applejack, immediately just shook their heads and pushed Shining Armor back into the crowd without any sort of hesitation.

“You should really listen to that mare more,” the first guard told Shining Armor. “She really knows what she’s talking about.”

Shining Armor groaned and sat back down right next to Flash Sentry and Applejack, who just shook their heads.

“I tried to tell ya,” Applejack said with a sigh.

Fifteen minutes had passed, and everypony was still locked in the Crystal Castle’s main foyer. It had been a while since any of them had said a word, as with no word having come from the Wonderbolts about any progress, there wasn’t very much to talk about.

Besides silent, the room’s atmosphere was also very tense. With there being a threat lurking around the streets, everypony was on edge. Even the smallest sound, like the creaking of a door, would cause them all to jump, and they could practically hear their hearts beating in their chests.

Shining Armor looked at a nearby clock.

Two o’clock, he thought to himself as he sat, motionless, on the floor. Flurry Heart’s mealtime. Great. Now she’s going to be lost, in danger, and starving. What could be worse?

“Ugh, this silence is killing me,” Flash moaned, staring at the crystalline ceiling. “Can we please talk about something?”

“Like what?” Applejack asked. “As far as I can tell, there's really nothing to talk about.”

“That's not true. How about we tell each other stories to pass the time? I've got this really funny one about the time I accidentally thought a brick was a sandwich!”

All of the other royal guards groaned.

“He tells this story to us every single day,” one of them sighed. “It's torture.”

“That's not true!” Flash argued, getting up off the ground. “It's a great story. I'm sure everypony will love it. So, it all started when—"

Right at that moment, there was a knock on the main entrance, causing everypony to become dead silent. Not sure what to do, a guard unlocked the door, then opened it up to see who it there. Much to everypony's surprise, they saw six of the Wonderbolts standing outside: Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot, Rainbow Dash, Misty Fly, and Lightning Streak.

“Oh, thank goodness!” the guard exclaimed, jumping up into the air. “The Wonderbolts have saved us! Now we don't have to listen to that awful story!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Spitfire said, shaking her head. “We haven’t saved anypony just yet.”

“You haven’t?” Flash asked, confused. “Then, why are you in here and not out there?”

“Because we need help,” Rainbow admitted. “This one pony is totally crazy! There’s no patterns to their attacks at all! It’s like they’re waving their spear around town without any idea of what they’re doing!”

“And since the threat is so random, it’s hard to contain,” Soarin added. “Which is why we need help. Six of us ‘Bolts really isn’t enough to stop them.”

Flash gasped, then turned to Shining Armor and Applejack. “Guys, this is our chance,” he whispered, making sure nopony was listening to him. “If we volunteer to help stop this threat, we can get out of the castle and start looking for Flurry Heart!”

“True, but we’ll actually have to stop the threat if we do that,” Applejack pointed out. “We can’t just volunteer to help and then walk away entirely.”

“We’ll figure that out when we finally leave this,” Shining said. “For now, let’s just stick with Flash’s plan.”

With that, Shining Armor left his friends and walked over to Spitfire, who was conversing with a guard. “Don’t worry, Wonderbolts,” he proudly announced with a big smile. “Flash Sentry, Applejack, and I will gladly assist you in your mission to stop this threat. And guards, you won’t have to worry about us getting injured while we’re outside anymore. We’ll have the Wonderbolts to protect us now!”

Spitfire and the guard stared at each other while they thought over the unicorn’s words. Then, after a few seconds, the two simultaneously nodded their heads.

“Alright, you guys,” Spitfire began, signaling for Applejack and Flash to come over. “Thank you for volunteering to help us out. We really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” the three chorused.

“So here's the plan,” the golden pegasus continued, walking over to the rest of the Wonderbolts. “We split into three groups. Fleetfoot and Misty Fly, you take the right side of the Empire. Lightning and I will take the left. As for you, Rainbow and Soarin, I need you to watch over and protect the prince and his fellow volunteers. Search the center of the Empire, but stay near the castle.”

“Alright,” Rainbow replied. “Should be a piece of cake.”

“If you find and/or capture the threat, notify the others immediately. If none of us can do either of those things within the next hour, we meet back here. Everypony got it?”

Shining, Applejack, Flash, and all of the Wonderbolts all nodded their heads and muttered words of agreement before walking toward the door as one large group.

“Before you go,” one guard began, pulling Shining and Flash to the side, “I have a question.”

“What is it?” Flash Sentry asked.

“Where's Flurry Heart?”

Shining Armor felt his heart drop when he heard those three words. The one question he had hoped he would never have to answer had just been asked, and he had absolutely no clue how to respond.

“We never found her in hide-and-seek,” the guard continued, “and she's definitely not with the rest of us here for the lockdown. So… where is she?”

The prince couldn't form a proper answer. A part of him just wanted to shake his head, like Flurry Heart always did, but he realized that that probably wouldn't have been a very acceptable response.

Fortunately, Flash stepped into the conversation before Shining could embarrass himself.

“Uh, I found her,” he said, spreading out his wings. “Yeah, let's go with that. I totally found her. True story, she was inside a, um, jar! A small one, at that. I got her out of there and then took her to right to Sunburst. She should still be there right now.”

“Oh, good,” the guard replied, nodding his head. “Hey, since Flash is a royal guard, and he found Flurry Heart, does that mean we all get our promised day off?”

Shining cringed. He had completely forgotten about the deal Flash had made behind his back. With a sigh, he nodded, causing a wide smile to suddenly appear on the guard’s face.

“Thank you, sir,” he said, saluting the prince. Shining Armor saluted back, then, with Applejack and Flash by his side, walked over to the Wonderbolts.

“We're ready to go,” Applejack said to Spitfire. The pegasus simply just nodded.

Within seconds, the main doors opened again, and the three groups of ponies split up, each searching for the threat.

I hope you're out there, Flurry Heart, Shining Armor thought to himself as he left the castle. I really need you right now...

Shining Armor, Flash Sentry, and Applejack walked through the streets of the Crystal Empire, with Rainbow Dash and Soarin flying in the sky above them. All five of them were searching for somepony, whether it was the suspicious threat, or the missing alicorn foal.

“See anything?” Soarin asked to the group below him. They just shook their heads.

“This street is empty,” Flash sighed. “Just like the one before it. And the one before that one. And the one before that, and the one before that, and the one—”

“We get it,” Rainbow said, interrupting Flash. “Whoever they are, they're clearly not here.”

“So what do we do?”

“We go to the Crystal Café,” Shining Armor suggested. “It's a highly populated building, so it only makes sense for the threat to go over there.”

Plus, Flurry Heart is hungry, he thought to himself. She's going to go wherever she smells food, which means the Crystal Café.

"Sounds about right,” Soarin agreed, nodding his head. “You know, I'm down with that. That place has got some great pie. Do you think we could get some while we're over there?”

The group just rolled their eyes and smiled before heading toward the restaurant, leaving Soarin flying alone in the sky. He raised an eyebrow.

“Um… is that a yes?”

The group was only one block away from the Crystal Café, yet they hadn't found a single sign of the threat anywhere. They searched in every building, alleyway, and trash can, but couldn't find any sign of the threat or the foal. They just had to keep on searching, hoping for something that could help them.

After searching through a cluster of six trash cans, the group was ready to give up.

“I'm starting to think this is a lost cause,” Soarin sighed, kicking over one of the cans. “It's been like ten minutes, and nopony has found the threat yet. How the hay are they so elusive?”

“I don't know,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “I'm just glad that you guys were the volunteers, rather than some random ponies from the streets. Can you imagine how boring searching with them would've been?”

“I'm just glad that we’re gettin’ to spend our time together,” Applejack replied. “Well, sorta. I certainly wasn't expectin’ it to go like, um, this.”

“Guys, stay focused,” Shining Armor said. “We've got to keep searching for this threat. Soarin, what did they look like?”

The Wonderbolt cleared his throat. “Well, we couldn't see very much of them, since they were really fast and unpredictable. All we know is that they're a pinkish-white pegasus with abnormally small hooves, they've got a really brightly colored cloak on, and they're holding a really sharp and pointy spear.”

“Kind of like that pony over there,” Flash said, looking into a nearby alleyway. The group gasped, then immediately turned their heads. Sure enough, there was a pale, pink pegasus mare flying beside them, wearing a pink, red, and yellow cloak. There was a spear in her hooves, and she seemed to be laughing at Shining Armor.

"Um, okay. What do we do now?” Flash whispered to the rest of the group, who had froze. Only Rainbow Dash seemed to have heard Flash's question.

“We take them off the streets,” she replied, slowly flying over to the mare. Without making any noises or sudden movements, she grabbed onto the cloak and pulled it a little toward her. It revealed something nopony was expecting: a unicorn horn.

The group freaked out.

“What the heck?!”

“The threat is an alicorn?!”

“What is even happening?!”

Shining Armor’s heart was racing. Why was there an alicorn in front of him? Was there a new princess he had no idea about? And why were they attacking the Crystal ponies?

All of those questions were answered when Shining noticed a purple mane under the mare’s horn. He almost fainted.

“Wait a second… that's FLURRY HEART!” he exclaimed, jumping up into the air. A huge smile appeared on his face, and he felt tears forming in his eyes. “It's really her! She's the threat we've all been fearing!”

“Um, Shining, why would Flurry Heart have a spear and cloak?” Rainbow Dash asked, scratching her mane.

“Well, it's a long story. That spear belongs to the Crystal Guards. Flurry Heart picked it up earlier today, and, well, she wouldn't let go! As for that 'cloak’, it's the curtain from the Crystal Cafe! It must've landed on her when I threw it off of the balcony!”

“Plus, she's an alicorn,” Applejack pointed out. “That proves it plenty.”

“Hold on a second,” Rainbow interrupted, shaking her head. “I'm confused. You said that Flurry Heart was with Sunburst. How is she here? Why is she attacking the ponies?”

“And why did you have the Crystal Cafe's curtain?” Soarin added.

“That's another long story,” Shining sighed. “Look, I fell asleep, and Flurry Heart escaped. I didn't tell you because I don't want rumors to spread. As for the attacks, she's just a baby. She doesn't know that what she's doing is wrong. As long as she's having fun, she'll keep flying, even if she's accidentally injuring ponies.”

“Wait a sec. You're saying that a baby put the entire empire into a panic?” Soarin repeated in disbelief. “Really?”

“Eh, wouldn't be the first time,” Flash replied.

“So, what’s the plan?” Applejack asked, avoiding getting poked by the spear. “I mean, I doubt you want to turn Flurry Heart in as the big threat.”

“Yeah, I really don't,” Shining said. “But I don't exactly have a plan either. I'm just happy we found her. I was so worried. Thankfully, nothing's going to take you away from me again, Flurry Heart!”

Right at that moment, Spitfire, Lightning Streak, Misty Fly, and Fleetfoot flew right into the group, each carrying a large brown sack. In the blink of an eye, they pushed Shining Armor away from his daughter, threw her spear into the ground, and stuffed the foal into one of the bags.

“Threat contained,” Fleetfoot said, holding the bag over her shoulder.

“Great,” Spitfire replied, nodding her head. “You know what to do now, 'Bolts.”

With that, Fleetfoot, Misty Fly, and Lightning Streak flew away into the distance with the threat, completely oblivious to the fact that it was the prince's daughter.

Shining's heart dropped once again.

“Spitfire, what are you doing here?!” he asked, almost screaming.

“What, no ‘thank you?’” the Wonderbolt captain sighed, scratching her mane. “We came because we heard you guys screaming, and I'm glad we did. You looked like you had gotten yourselves into some serious trouble with the threat. But don't you worry now. The rest of us will take care of the threat from here. Soarin, Rainbow, make sure to take these three back to the castle and tell the Crystal guards the new situation.”

“Yes ma'am,” the two pegasi said in tandem.

Seconds later, Spitfire flew away with Fleetfoot and the others, leaving Shining Armor, Flash Sentry, and Applejack standing in the alleyway with their mouths dropped open. All of them were silent, and didn't make any motion.

Rainbow Dash sighed.

“Welp... we're doomed now, aren't we?”

Rule 4: Don't Travel Abroad

The Crystal Empire was finally going back to normal.

Given that the lockdown was over, the streets were slowly starting to fill up with ponies once again. Although many of them were still concerned about the threat’s presence, the fact that they could finally go outside again meant that there was a general feeling of relief amongst nearly everypony in the Empire.

Shining Armor was the exception.

He laid on his bed in the castle, covered in misshapen pillows and crumpled-up blankets. All of the lights in his room had been turned off, and all of the windows were closed. Shining Armor was completely alone in the darkness. Tears began falling down his face.

I’ve really messed things up this time, he thought to himself, clutching onto his covers. Flurry Heart’s trapped inside of a bag, defenseless, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Could things get any worse?

“Shining Armor? Are you in here?”

The voice belonged to Applejack, who, along with Flash Sentry, had just walked into the bedroom, looking for the prince. After fumbling around in the darkness for a few seconds, she managed to turn on the lights, only to reveal Shining Armor’s disheveled appearance.

The two ponies were speechless.

“Um, wow,” Flash said, his mouth hanging wide open. “I’ve known Shining Armor for a long time now, but I have never seen him act like this before. I-I don’t know what to say.”

“Neither do I,” Applejack admitted. “Rarity does this sorta thing pretty frequently, so you’d think I’d be used to it, but… I’m not. I guess it’s just odd seeing somepony else act this way, ya know?”

“So, what should we do, then?” Flash Sentry asked, pacing around the room. “I mean, we can’t just let him be like this! We’ve gotta help him!”

“And we will. Just leave this to me, alright?”

With that, Applejack walked over and sat down next to the prince. After a quick glance at her, Shining turned his head away, burying his muzzle in one of the pillows.

“Go away,” he muttered, waving his hoof at Applejack. The mare, however, stood her ground.

“No,” she bluntly replied, turning Shining Armor so that he was facing her again. “I’m not leaving until we talk about this. Look, I’ve known your sister for years, Shinin’, and if there’s one thing she’s taught me, it’s that you should tell somepony else about your problems. That way, they can help you get through them.”

Shining rolled his eyes. “No, you don’t understand. This isn’t some friendship problem. This is much more serious. Cadance trusted me, and I’m letting her down. I’m a bad father. Once this spreads, I’m going to lose everything. My wife, my child, my—”

“Stop right there,” Applejack interrupted, covering the unicorn’s mouth with her hoof. “Shining, why do you think you’re a bad father? All you did was make one mistake.”

“No!” Shining Armor snapped, suddenly jumping up out of his bed. “I have not just made ‘one mistake’ today, Applejack! I have made many! I lost Flurry Heart, missed the time to feed her, gave her a spear, and got her trapped inside of a bag! Just face it, you guys, I’m a failure!”

Right at that moment, Shining Armor began to uncontrollably sob, falling down onto the floor with his face in his hooves. Applejack and Flash Sentry, unsure of what to do, gently patted him on the back.

After a few minutes, Shining’s crying subsided, and he climbed back onto his bed, feeling defeated.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized, wiping a tear off his face. “I just feel really bad about what’s been going on. Today was supposed to be the day where Flurry Heart really got to know me for who I am. I really wanted to make a good impression, but… I botched it up. I lost her, and now going to hate me because of it.”

Upon hearing this, Applejack immediately shook her head. “That’s not true, Shining Armor!” she said, sitting down next to him. “Look, Flurry Heart is just a baby. The chances are she’s not even gonna remember this day. And if even she does, she’ll probably just remember having the time of her life! I mean, she got to fly around freely, play with a new, um, ‘toy’, meet some new ponies… Why, I bet she’s living every little foal’s dream right about now!”

“Yeah! She’s having an adventure! Who could ask for more than that?” Flash added.

“Flurry Heart isn’t gonna care if you make some mistakes around her,” the mare continued. “She doesn't need you to be perfect. She just needs to feel loved. And as long as you’re just tryin’ your best to keep her happy, she’s gonna love you, no matter what happens.”

“Applejack’s right,” Flash agreed, patting Shining Armor on the head. “You don’t need to be perfect; you just gotta be putting in effort and trying your best. So what if you make a mistake? As long as you go back and try to fix it, you’ll be fine.”

Shining Armor thought over his friends’ words for a moment, then bit his lip. “Do you really think I’m not a bad father?” he asked, his voice quiet and hoarse.

Flash shook his head. “If you were a bad father, you wouldn’t have gone through all this effort to find your daughter,” he said. “Look, you’ve gotta stop doubting yourself like this. You know what you’re doing. I mean, you’ve helped save Equestria loads of times now! You can totally handle something like this. All you need is a little confidence in yourself.”

Once he heard this, the frown vanished off of Shining Armor’s face. He took a deep breath, wiped away the last of his tears, then got up off of his bed.

“You know what?” he said quietly, trotting over to Flash Sentry and Applejack. “You guys are right. I shouldn’t be lying in here, doubting myself. I should be out there, in the city, trying to get back my daughter.” Within seconds, Shining had put his friends into a large, warm hug.“Thank you, guys, for supporting me through this. I really appreciate it.”

“Hey, no problem,” Flash replied, smiling. “What are friends for?”

After they finished hugging, the three ponies smiled at each other and sat down on the ground.

“So, now that that’s all settled, what do we do, Shinin’ Armor?” Applejack asked, staring at a nearby clock. It was slightly past 3pm.

“We go look for Flurry Heart, just like before,” Shining replied, magically bringing his saddlebag toward him. “Only this time, we’ll be prepared for anything that comes our way.” He then put a baby bottle, a first-aid kit, some bits, and a piece of rope into his bag. “These things should be able to get us through everything that comes our way.”

“Eh, I’m not sure about that,” Applejack admitted, heading for the door, “but it’s certainly a start. So, where do we start lookin’ for Flurry?”

“Well, considering the Wonderbolts took her, maybe start with them?” Flash suggested. Shining nodded his head in agreement.

“Their set-up is in the Crystal Arena, which is, luckily, not too far from here,” he said, setting his bag on his back. “We should be able to get there and back within minutes.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

With that, the three began heading toward the Crystal Arena, each hoping that they would be able to find the missing foal in time.

We’ve got this, Shining Armor thought to himself as he ran. I know we do.

When Shining Armor, Applejack, and Flash Sentry arrived at the Crystal Arena, they found it completely empty. Aside from them, there was not a single pony in sight. No guards, no spectators, no citizens, and most importantly, no Wonderbolts.

“Um, where is everypony?” Flash Sentry asked, staring at the empty space. “I thought you said the Wonderbolts were gonna set up in here.”

“They were supposed to,” Shining Armor replied. “Trust me, I’m just as lost as you.”

Just at that moment, Rainbow Dash and Soarin flew into the arena. At first, they didn’t notice the other three ponies, but when they did, their faces lit up.

“Oh, there you are!” Rainbow exclaimed, running over to the group. “We’ve been looking all over the Empire for you! Where have you been?!”

“Um, long story,” Shining Armor said, blushing. “One that we really don’t have time for. Where’s Flurry Heart? And the rest of the Wonderbolts?”

“That’s why we needed to find you, your highness!” Soarin replied. “After Fleetfoot grabbed Flurry Heart, Spitfire held a quick Wonderbolt meeting to decide what to do with her. Of course, they had no clue it was Flurry, since nopony opened the bag, in fear of the threat escaping once again.”

“So what happened at the meeting?”

“Well, at first, we had decided that we should give the threat to you, since you’re royalty and would know what to do with her. However, since nopony could find you, Spitfire chose Plan B.”

“Which was?”

“Sending her to Canterlot so the princesses can deal with her.”

When he heard this, Shining Armor’s heart dropped. His lips began to quiver, and there were tears once again forming in his eyes. To Applejack and Flash, it seemed like he was going to break down again. However, much to their surprise, the unicorn prince just wiped his tears away and took a deep breath.

“Okay, so, let me get this straight,” Shining Armor said, scratching his head. “The Wonderbolts are currently in the process of sending the Empire’s threat to the princesses in Canterlot, completely oblivious to the fact that its my daughter?”

“Bingo,” Rainbow replied. “Fleetfoot and Spitfire started flying over there about fifteen minutes ago. They’re under strict orders to bring her directly to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

“Twilight and Cadance are over there as well,” Shining Armor added, tapping his hooves on the ground. “If they find out about this, I’m a goner. Twilight and Cadance will kill me, and then Celestia will give me this really stern look of disappointment that I just know I don’t want to deal with. Oh, gosh, this is bad.”

“Well, if we can get to Canterlot before Fleetfoot and Spitfire do, maybe we could stop them from confronting the princesses,” Applejack suggested. “Does that sound possible to you guys?”

“Totally!” Flash exclaimed, his ears perking up. “We can definitely pull—”

“Hold up,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “How are we supposed to get to Canterlot in time? Remember, the ‘Bolts already have a fifteen minute start. Even if there’s a train within the next five minutes, we still won’t be able to get there in time.”

“So, we teleport!” Flash suggested, moving toward the prince. “Shining Armor is a unicorn, remember? He can get us there in the blink of an eye!”

Shining Armor shook his head. “I dunno about that,” he admitted, biting his lip. “Teleportation was never exactly my strong point. I mean, last time I tried to do it, I ended up in Manehattan instead of my bedroom!”

As Shining Armor said this, Rainbow Dash started to laugh, causing the unicorn prince to frown. Applejack, noticing his sadness, sent a quick glare at Rainbow Dash, easily silencing the pegasus.

“Shining Armor, you’ll be fine,” Applejack said softly, patting the unicorn on the back. “Remember what we said in your bedroom: you just need a little confidence in yourself.”

Shining Armor sighed, then nodded his head. “You’re right,” he agreed. “I can do this. I just need to concentrate.”

After taking a deep breath, the unicorn’s horn began to glow pink. All five ponies simultaneously shut their eyes, each preparing for the spell to occur…

When they first opened their eyes, the only thing the group saw was the color blue. This came much to their surprise, as blue was not a very common color in Canterlot.

As they began to look around, they noticed other things: clouds, purple and yellow towers, and a few waterfalls. Once they looked down, however, they saw several ponies walking around a garden. The ponies, however, looked like they were as small as ants.

It was at that moment when the group realized where they were: on the top of the Canterlot Castle.

“Well, you didn’t teleport us into the wrong place, Shining Armor,” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Congratulations.”

“Yeah, you did it!” Flash Sentry exclaimed. “This is great! We’ve gotta be ahead of Spitfire and Fleetfoot now!”

“Don’t get too happy,” Soarin said, pointing at the sky. In the distance, there were two specks resembling pegasi flying towards Canterlot. “Knowing how fast those two fly, I know they’ll be here in five minutes, tops. If we wanna pull this off, we’ve gotta hurry.”

“But how are we supposed to get into the castle?” Shining Armor asked. “Remember, we’re kinda on the roof right now.”

“Us pegasi can carry you and Applejack through the windows,” Rainbow Dash offered. “That way, all five of us can get in at the same time.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me!” Flash said as he picked up Applejack. “You know, we’re getting really good at this. We should lose babies and sneak into places more often!”

“Yeah, no,” Shining Armor replied. With that, Rainbow Dash and Soarin picked him up, and the five flew through the nearest window into the castle.

Once they were inside, they inspected their surroundings. As far as they could see, there was not a single pony in the hallway. In the distance, they could faintly hear Celestia’s voice talking to the other princesses.

“Follow the sound of her voice,” Shining Armor whispered as the pegasi put him and Applejack onto the ground. “And make sure to be as quiet as possible. We don’t want any guards to see us, because then they’ll notify Cadance that I’m here, which is exactly what we don’t want.”

“So what exactly is the plan again?” Rainbow Dash asked as the group began tiptoeing toward the room Celestia was in. “Are we going to be luring the princesses away from ‘Bolts or the ‘Bolts away from the princesses?”

“And how are we supposed to take Flurry Heart from the Wonderbolts without giving ourselves away?” Applejack questioned.

“Don’t ask me,” Rainbow Dash replied. “You were the one who came up with the plan, AJ!”

“I came up with an idea, not a plan.”

“So we’ve come all this way without any idea what we’re doing?!”

“Oh dear. Maybe we’re not so good at this after all,” Flash sighed.

“Lower your voices, guys,” Shining said, silencing the group. “We don’t know where the guards are. If we’re not careful, one of them might see us!”

“Like those three right there?” Flash asked, pointing at something in the distance. When the others looked, they noticed that there were three guards at the end of the hallway, standing in front of a tall, pink door with a golden frame. As these guards were busy conversing with each other, they hadn’t noticed the group of ponies sneaking around the castle.

“Hide,” Shining Armor quickly whispered. Without hesitation, the group ran behind a nearby curtain, each of their hearts racing. One of the guards looked at the curtain as if it had moved, but just shrugged it off and went back to talking with his friends.

“Okay, I really want to help to you out, your highness, but I really think that this has gone too far!” Soarin panicked, taking deep breaths. “I mean, we’re sneaking into a castle and hiding from royal guards!”

“Soarin, calm down,” Applejack quietly said, covering Soarin’s muzzle. She turned to Shining Armor. “So, what do we do now?”

“I don’t know,” Shining admitted. “Especially because I’m sure the princesses are behind that door.”

Just at that moment, Fleetfoot and Spitfire entered the hallway, still carrying the sack. Much to Shining Armor’s surprise, his daughter did not appear to be moving or crying. Instead, she was completely still and silent inside of her bag.

“We need to see the princess immediately,” Spitfire said to the guards. “As you can see, we have caught the Crystal Empire threat, and require her assistance in dealing with it.”

The guards nodded. “Right this way,” one of them said, opening the door for the Wonderbolts. Once they were inside, he immediately closed the door again, and went back to his previous position.

“Now we really have to hurry,” Applejack whispered. “How are we going to do this?”

“Well, I guess the first move would be to distract the guards,” Shining Armor suggested. “The question, though, is how we’re supposed to do that.”

The group silently took a moment to think about a plan. At first, nothing came to them. However, after a second, Rainbow Dash had a thought.

“Hey, wait a second,” the pegasus mare said, squinting at the guards. “I know those guys! Those are the same guards Rarity and I had to interrogate a few months ago. Trust me, Shining Armor, distracting them should be a piece of cake.” She chuckled for a few seconds, then shook her head. “Do any of you guys have any food?”

“Um, we’ve got a baby bottle,” Shining Armor replied, scratching his mane. “Somehow, I get the feeling that’s not what you’re looking for.”

“No, not really. I guess we’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.”

“What do you—”

Before Shining Armor could finish his sentence, Rainbow Dash jumped out from behind the curtain, causing the three royal guards to jump up in surprise.

“Hey, you!” she shouted, running toward the stallions. “Do you remember me?!”

As they opened their mouths to respond, Rainbow Dash snatched a spear from one of the guards and began to run away.

“You’ll never catch me!” she yelled, giving Shining Armor a quick wink. She then ran out of the hallway and into another section of the castle. As she had expected, all three of the guards began chasing her down.

“Get back here with that, Rainbow!” they yelled. As the three of them left the room, Shining Armor made one quick check to see if anypony was still there. Once he was sure they were alone, he gave a nod to his friends.

“Now’s our chance!” Shining Armor said, coming out from behind the curtain. “Come on, you guys!”

He then opened the door, which Flash Sentry and Applejack quickly ran through. Soarin, however, stayed in the hallway, with a look of uncertainty on his face.

“Are you coming or what?” Shining asked, looking both ways to make sure nopony was watching.

“No,” Soarin answered, shaking his head. “I’m going to go help out Rainbow Dash. You keep moving ahead!”

“Alright! Good luck!”

“Same to you!”

With that, Soarin ran off in the same direction Rainbow and the guards had, yelling, “I’ve got your back, Rainbow Dash!”

Let’s hope that your plan works, Shining Armor thought to himself as he watched Soarin slowly fade into the distance.

Once Shining Armor closed the door behind him, he took a moment to catch his breath. His heart was racing, and his face was covered in sweat. Even though he had had to face several fierce villains in the past, this was the most afraid Shining Armor had ever felt in his life.

As he took his brief pause, he looked around at the room that he had just entered. It was a small, empty corridor. Inside it, there was nothing but an unguarded door that Shining Armor knew the princesses were behind.

“Go hide before those curtains,” he said to Applejack and Flash Sentry. “I’m gonna try to listen to their conversation.”

Shining then proceeded to press his ear to the door, where he heard Princess Celestia speaking to the Wonderbolts.

“We’re very busy at the moment,” she said. “We know this threat is important, but we are presently in way a very tough negotiation situation that we must handle before we can do anything else.”

“How about you come to us at the party tonight?” Princess Luna asked. “I know it may not be the ideal place to show us a criminal, but by then, we should be able to handle whoever they are.”

“Alright,” Spitfire sighed. Shining could hear the sack rustling on Fleetfoot’s back. “What are we supposed to do with this pony until then?”

“Keep them close,” Princess Luna advised. “I would say to give them to the royal guards, but I do not trust them after the incident with Wind Rider. Spitfire, I’m trusting the threat with you. Just keep her in that sack and make sure she doesn’t escape.”

Luna said “she”, Shining Armor thought to himself. Does that mean she knows who it is?

“Okay. Thank you, your highness.”

With that, the door opened, and Spitfire and Fleetfoot walked out of the room, the latter still carrying the sack on her back. Luckily, neither of them noticed the group, since Shining Armor was behind the door, and Applejack and Flash Sentry had hidden behind curtains.

“That was close,” Applejack whispered.

“Oh, yeah,” Shining Armor agreed, joining Flash behind one of the curtains. “Did you two catch everything the princesses were saying? They’re very busy at the moment, so they're going to be dealing with the threat at a party tonight.“

“What party?“ Flash Sentry asked. “This is the first I'm hearing of any party.“

“I dunno. Maybe we should listen more and figu—"

Before he could finish, Shining Armor heard very familiar voice coming through the door that stopped him in his tracks. It was his wife, Princess Cadance.

“Spike, could you please send this letter directly to Shining Armor?“ she asked. Spike then presumably nodded his head, as in a few seconds, the group could hear the sound of fire coming out of his mouth. It wasn't long before a small, pink scroll materialized in the space above the group and lande directly on top of Shining Armor's head.

“You've got mail!" Flash Sentry exclaimed, reading the front of the scroll. “’From Princess Cadance’. What’s it say?“

Shining opened the letter and begin to read:

Beloved Shining Armor,

I apologize for notifying you so late about this, Shiny, but I'm going to be coming home a little later than I had expected. You see, we’ve gotten some very good work done today, and Princess Celestia wanted to celebrate our accomplishments by throwing us a fancy dinner party. Everypony in Canterlot is invited, and Celestia said that, because I am a princess, I have to attend. I wish that I could come home sooner, but showing up at events like this and supporting the Equestrian community is part of my royal duty.

I heard about the threat that came to the Crystal Empire. I'm really glad that you, Flurry Heart, and the rest of the townsponies are okay. It's always scary when things like this happen. Maybe we should increase security?

Speaking of Flurry Heart, I hope you've been taking good care of her! I know she can be a handful sometimes, but, like I told you earlier, you’re a great father and to caring for get on your own. remember, she needs to go to sleep by five. Otherwise, we'll have a very cranky baby on our hooves!

I know that you’ve got this covered. Remember: I believe in you, Shiny.

Lots of love,

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza

“They're having a party to celebrate their efforts,“ Shining Armor said, putting the letter in his saddlebag. “It seems like the entire city of Canterlot got invited.“

“Well, that’s a problem,” Flash Sentry said, reading the paper over Shining Armor’s shoulder. “We can’t steal Flurry Heart back from the Wonderbolts if she’s going to be at a party that every single pony in Canterlot’s going to be attending! We’d get found out in seconds!”

“So what do we do?“ Applejack asked, coming out from behind her curtain. “I mean, the princesses are going to open the bag at that party. If they do, they’re going to find out the truth, Shining Armor. This party is your last chance to get back Flurry Heart without anypony knowing.“

Shining Armor gulped. I'm not prepared for this, he thought to himself, looking at the clock. But I need to get into that party tonight and save my daughter... How am I going to do that?

Then, suddenly, it hit him.

“Guys, I have a plan,“ he said, running out of the hallway. “It's going to sound a little crazy, but I think it just might work.“

“Well, what is it?“ Flash Sentry asked.

“I'll tell you on the way. Do either of you know where Canterlot Carousel is?“ Applejack nodded her head, and Shining Armor smiled. “Good. Now lead the way.“

With that, Shining Armor, Flash Sentry, and Applejack ran off in the direction of Canterlot Carousel, avoiding contact with anypony they saw on the way.

Flurry Heart, Shining thought to himself as he ran. You're finally coming home.