Go straight: we should just chill-out in our study, it's been a long day (44%).

The FLURRY HEART METER has increased by 1

Currently the meter is at 4 / 10 !

A scotch sounded good right about now.

Shining trotted down the corridor to his study. It was the one place in the Crystal Empire that he insisted no crystals should be visible. The small room was covered in dark oak panelling and heavy curtains. Bookshelves covered the walls, filled with musty tomes that had been personally selected by the chief librarian of the Empire. He’d never been a huge fan of reading, but when you have your own personal curator refining the selection available to you, it became pretty easy to pick any book from his archive and know that it would result in a good read.

Equally inviting was the thick armchair and footstool - one of the few masculine pieces of furniture that he’d managed to get into the castle. Even better was that fact that it was perched in front of a roaring fireplace - the snapping crackle of burning wood would always be a great source of relaxation for Shining, be it a homely hearth or a military campfire.

This would be a great place to kick back and relax, and take his mind off of the events of the day behind… and the challenges of the days ahead.

But before that - the booze.

Shining lifted the glass top of the nearby ornate decanter, pouring out a generous amount of the golden whiskey.. A local vintage that he always quite enjoyed. It went down like fire, burning the back of his throat with flavor and filling his gut with warmth.

“Ah, it’s good to be home.” He announced to himself, before settling back onto his recliner.

But the licking red tongues of flame couldn’t occupy his mind for long. His thoughts quickly returned to his daughter - she’d been so quick to leave the dinner table, and the way her eyes had avoided him almost purposefully. She really just didn’t want to spend time with him.

Flurry Heart was a puzzle. And puzzles didn’t just solve themselves.

‘I wonder if the issue isn’t how to make her my little-filly again, but why she’s acting out now…’ Shining mused. In his mind, things were always simple - cause and effect. Ponies don’t just change for wishy-washy reasons: they are changed by events and ponies around them. ‘What if she’s in trouble? What if somepony is making her act up this way!?’

Shining’s hoof clenched around the glass tumbler, making it flex dangerously under his strength. If somepony was bullying his little girl… or something was attacking her emotions… some sort of creature or villain… there would be absolute Tartarus for them to pay.

He was a protective dad.

The problem was, he had so little intelligence to act upon. Not the mental kind - Shining was no dull bulb - but the strategic kind. If this were a training exercise, Captain Shining Armor would have the leader of the Scout Division’s balls on his war-table for the lack of information on his enemy… he’d probably personally lead a recon-

That’s it!

Reconnaissance!

If he could find out what Flurry’s day to day was like, maybe he could find some clue as to what was making her act like some emotional teenager, instead of the beloved little filly he remembered. At the very least, it could probably give him some clues as to what her interests were.

The last thing that Shining remembered her being a fan of was that old animated cartoon, My Little Human. He’d actually seen a plushie of one of the main characters at the Crystal Empire train stop… he almost bought the thing as a little gift for Flurry, but he’d quickly stopped himself: she’d probably outgrown the children’s show, just like she’d outgrown so many other things. He might be a bit of a doting father, but he wasn’t about to walk straight into that landmine.

He sighed, sinking down into the leather of the chair.

The truth of the matter was: he really didn’t know much about who his daughter had grown up to be.

That thought made him feel awful. Just what the hay had he been doing these past ten years? Just how had time slipped away from him so easily!?

Shaking his head, he jumped to his hooves. Whenever he felt uneasy, Shining always had to start moving his hooves, start making progress, attempt to fix things. ‘If you’re going through hell, keep going.’ Shining remembered. It was the saying of one of his legendary instructors.

He strode over to the bookshelves, avoiding those sections cordoned off for him, turning instead to the larger area which Cadence used to store many of her own literature.

‘Maybe there’s something in here that could tell me about teenagers and getting their love back?’ He traced his hoof along the spines, most of which were romance novels and more… sultry paperbacks. He’d heard them referred to as clopfics around the barracks.

Most of the titles seemed to have a common... theme.

“A Family Affair.”

“Oh Daddy!”

“The Son is Shining.”

“Oh Brother!”

‘Wow Cadence, I’m not one to judge but… an incest-fetish? I guess it makes sense, she never really had siblings or parents, it isn’t as squicky for her.’ Shining clicked his tongue while shaking his head. All the books had the same author too… Duchess Tempo?

He was just about to crack one of the books open, when a particular book caught his eye. It was much older, with a thick leatherlike-binding, its title was in Old Ponish, something that Shining had learned back at the academy.

“How to make ponies love - spells, potions, and bewitchments.”

‘Maybe… maybe this could help?’ Shining pulled the heavy text out. It reminded him of something that he’d find in his sister’s massive library in Ponyville… or in the forbidden spells section of the Royal Canterlot Archives.

He brought the thing over to the ornate oak desk, tucked away in a corner of the study - it was always replete with quills, parchment and ink… perfect for making a quick study of a tome like this.

Before he could set the book down, he stopped: the desk was already occupied with some parchment and quills… and what seemed to be a pink-colored personal journal. From the little scraps and discarded pieces of paper, it seemed that somepony had been using his stationery and desk to trying to copy something out of their own journal for what seemed like a school paper, if the headings at the top of the scraps were any clue.

Something clicked in Shining’s head as he realized what he was looking at.

This was Flurry Heart’s personal journal! Her diary!

She’d left it out here - where anypony could read it… her most private thoughts and feelings!

This was perfect!

Shining dropped the ancient spell-tome on the desk with a loud thud, eager to snatch up his daughter’s diary and find out just what went on in that head of hers.

But as his hoof touched the pink journal he paused. Was this a good idea? Wouldn’t this be betraying Flurry Heart’s trust? If she found out… (and mares always seemed to find out)... he might not be risking losing just her affection… but also her trust.

Was it worth it?

1) Read Flurry's journal. Do it in an intelligent way: making sure to take it to a secluded corner of the castle where there would be no chance of getting caught in the act - then return it to the desk before morning. Flurry would be none the wiser and Shining would have all of the intelligence he needs to tackle this problem!

2) Leave the journal where it is. Study the love-spell book instead. Maybe there's some arcane spellcraft or potion that he could formulate that would ease things with Flurry, make her a little more receptive... If Cadence had the book in her bookshelf out in the open, there was no way it could be dangerous, right?

3) Take the journal to Flurry Heart. She's probably worried that she's misplaced it, maybe even thinking that she's lost it. Surely Shining can be convincing enough to her that he didn't open it and is returning it unseen right? In any case - his strategy should be formulated around gathering information about Flurry passively, like a good army scout or Infiltrator - find out what her life is like!

Author's Note

STRAW POLL HERE!

Vote for your choice! Once we hit 75 votes I'll write the next chapter!

Dang you guys are fast!

It was a breakneck race between the study and going to Cadence. Both of those were the good choices. Going to Flurry right off the bat had a lot of risks of the conversation going sour and lowering the Flurry Heart score.

So we're up to the next choice now, and things are starting to get real.

Are you going to make the right choice? Think hard - it may not be obvious!

As always, commented suggestions are also welcome and can end up becoming a new choice / outcome if good enough!