Sunday
Flurry Heart bounced in her first-class seat, shifting her eyes back and forth between the 737's port-side window and the small flatscreen playing The Empire Strikes Back. Shining Armor sat in the seat next to her, earbuds in, scowling at his new iPhone and levitating a stylus.
The flight attendant leaned over Shining Armor and waved at Flurry. The foal levitated her headphones up. "Yes, Ms. Susan?" Flurry said.
"We'll be landing in Orlando soon," the woman said, placing a warm cookie wrapped in a napkin on Flurry's tray table. "Do you need a last drink?"
"But... but we can't land!" Flurry said, and pointed a tiny hoof at the screen. "Darth Vader hasn't even frozed Han Solo yet!"
Cadance and Twilight, across the aisle, looked up from their diplomatic briefing books to her, then went back to their work.
Susan smiled at Flurry. "The Atlanta-Orlando run isn't really long enough to watch a whole movie, I'm afraid. You could finish your movie on the flight back."
Sunburst, seated behind Flurry, hopped up and put his forehooves on Flurry's seatback, leaning into the conversation. "You've seen this movie five hundred times, Flurry. I think you'll be okay."
Flurry harrumphed her forelegs over her chest, glared out the window, and clapped her headphones back over her ears. "Two hundred and fourteen times. Not five hundred." She unwrapped the cookie and crunched down on it.
Shining Armor flicked his ears and frowned at his texts. "Trixie, so help me..."
"She likes this movie?" Susan asked.
Sunburst reached to ruffle Flurry's mane. "Her favorite."
"I would have expected Return of the Jedi. More Princess Leia."
"Why does everybody think Leia's my favorite?" Flurry grumbled. "Just cuz Imma princess?"
"Well, who is your favorite?" Susan asked.
Flurry looked at Susan and pulled her headphones off again. "The Emperor. Duh."
Susan frowned in confusion. "Really? Why?"
With a huge grin: "Cuz Imma gonna be the Empress someday!"
After exiting the jet and visiting the potty, they waited for the train that would carry them from the arrival hall to the main terminal. Flurry's family and a unicorn family stood in a protective circle, Flurry standing on Sunburst's withers and a unicorn foal standing on her mom's withers in the center of the circle, a large crowd of humans crushing in around them.
"I'm Snow Day," said the filly, eye-to-eye with Flurry. "How come your horns aren't corked?"
Flurry frowned. All four of the unicorn family, even the infant in a carrier on his dad's chest, had corks on their horns.
"Hey, yeah. Auntie Twilight, how come they've got corked horns? Even the baby?"
Sunburst looked at the other family. The dad, a rather large stallion, smiled at Flurry and waved a hoof.
"Oh, yes, right, well, you see, Flurry," Sunburst said, pushing his glasses up his nose, "humans consider horns a weapon."
"That's silly," Snow Day said, and her ears wilted.
"They have to be corked to pass through airport security."
"Our horns aren't corked," Flurry said, rubbing a hoof on hers.
"We're travelling on diplomatic passports," Sunburst said. "Since we're on Royal business."
"No fair!" said Snow Day.
Flurry's ears stood straight up. "Yeah, no fair! Mommy said we ain't supposed to get special treatment just cuz we're royal, or cuz we're alicorns, or cuz we're adorable."
Cadance chuckled. "Don't say 'ain't.' Yes, I did say we shouldn't accept special treatment. This is a bit of an odd case, however—"
"Daddy calls me 'Princess'," said Snow Day.
"We gotta cork our horns!" Flurry gasped. "It's only fair."
Snow Day nodded, and a spark popped out from under her cork. "Yeah! Hey, what's your name?"
"Flurry Heart! Hey, we're both winter names! Mommy, we've got to cork our horns," Flurry said with a wingbeat. "It's no fair notherwise!"
"Oh, that's not nec—" Snow Day's mom began, but just then the train arrived. The crowd flowed onto it. Sunburst sidled up to the window, and Flurry pressed her nose against the glass. Snow Day's mom did the same, Snow's nose pressed against the glass so close to Flurry's that their cheeks touched. Their tails and bottoms swished in unison as the foals stared at the palm trees and parked jets while the train zoomed down its short track to the main terminal.
Cadance and Snow Day's mom grinned at each other. Instant friends, the unicorn mouthed silently. Cadance nodded happily and tucked a loose strand of mane behind her ear. Shining Armor groaned at his phone, and began tapping another angry text with his stylus.
As they left the train, Flurry burst into the air and landed in the boughs of a palm tree. "Daddy! Daddy! That store!"
Shining popped his earbuds out and lowered his phone and stylus. "Huh?"
"That store's got bottles. We need corks... we need... uh... five corks." She looked at Flash Sentry, who grinned at her and ruffled his feathers. "Yeah. Five. Can you buy five drinks? Pleeeeease?"
"Flurry," Sunburst said. "The exit from the secure area is right there. Your new friend—"
"Her name is Snow Day," she said, flitting down to stand next to Snow, on her mom's back. The foals hoofbumped.
"—will be able to remove her cork in less than two hundred feet," Sunburst finished.
"But it's not fair!" Flurry moaned, and dropped to the tile floor, flipped onto her back, and spasmed her legs, looking up at Shining and Sunburst. Cadance and Twilight looked at each other and giggled.
Shining rolled his eyes and walked into the duty-free shop. Flurry flipped over to her hooves.
Shining came back out two minutes later.
"Daddy!" Flurry scolded, seeing he was empty-hooved.
"They wouldn't sell me any bottles. They couldn't tell if I was twenty-one or not from the Equestrian birthdate on my passport."
As the bus slowed and stopped, Cadance poked Flurry in the ribs, and the little alicorn startled awake with a flash of sparks from her horn.
"This is our hotel, Flurry."
"Awww, Mommy, I fell asleep?"
Cadance smiled. "You needed it."
"I asked Daddy to keep me awake so I could look out the window."
Shining, across the bus's aisle, facehoofed and spoke into his phone. "Starlight, so help me, when I put you and Trixie in charge—"
"He's been on the phone to home," Cadance said as she stood.
Flurry frowned.
They exited the air-conditioned bus, Flurry riding on Cadance's withers, and the horrific Florida humidity made Flurry gasp and flare her wings. "What's that smell?"
"Swamps," Twilight replied. "This entire area is ecologically fascinating! We should have brought Fluttershy to interview the alligators and egrets for us..."
Everypony looked at her.
Twilight looked at her hooves. "Maybe next time."
A woman in a navy-blue suit walked up to them. "The... uh... Crystal family?"
Shining glanced up from his phone. "Is that what we went with?"
"I guess so?" Cadance replied.
"You are the Crystal family, then?" asked the human.
"I thought we were going with the Armor family?" Shining said with a frown. Then, he said at his phone, "No, not you, Trixie."
"I assume that six ponies..." said the human.
Sunburst looked at her. "Ponies don't really have family names, the way your reservation systems assume."
"But you are...?"
"Yes," said Sunburst.
She smiled. "My name is Elena, and I'm your personal concierge while you're here!"
"Momma," Flurry said, poking Cadance in the back of the head. "They're givin' us the Very Important Pony treatment. I dunna like it."
Elena bent down, eye-to-eye with her on Cadance's back, and grinned. "Princess Flurry Heart, I presume? I'm looking forward to making sure you have a great week!"
Flurry ducked her head under a wing. "Just Flurry! Pleeeeeeease."
"I've got three suites for you," Elena said, standing back up. "If you let me scan your lanyards...?"
The ponies all wore lanyards around their necks, bearing smartwatch-sized rubberized disks. Elena programmed Cadance, Flurry, and Shining's lanyards to open the door to room 307; Sunburst's to room 309, next door; and Twilight and Flash Sentry's to room 308, across the hallway.
"How come Mr. Flash and Aunt Twilight gots t'share a room?" Flurry asked.
Elena suddenly found an excuse to turn her back and check her phone. Twilight and Flash looked at each other, jaws clamped, Twilight blushing.
"These rooms are expensive," Cadance explained. "If they bunk together, we save the Empire quite a few bits."
"Oh!" Flurry said. "Sunburst should bunk with them, too, then."
"I snore," Sunburst said quickly.
From the hotel lobby to their room was a rather long walk. Elena chatted with Cadance and Twilight, giving them the details about the week's diplomatic conference at the adjoining convention center. Flurry flew ahead, looking out the windows and investigating the hotel. She kept her nose high, sampling the rich mixture of smells of a human vacation resort: food, both fresh and stale; sunscreen; sweat; chlorine; cleaning solutions and laundry detergent. Sounds filled the hotel, and Flurry tried to sort them out: air conditioners, televisions, washers and driers, showers and sinks. Earth was much louder than Equestria, with all the electrical appliances. The carpet's artificial fibers felt weird under her hooves.
Flurry teleported ahead and scanned her lanyard to unlock the hotel room's door. After everypony dropped their carry-on bags in their rooms, Cadance kissed Shining and Flurry.
"Off I go," Cadance said with a frown. "Twilight and I need to check in at the convention center, see-and-be-seen. We're meeting the German and French ambassadors for dinner and drinks tonight to discuss that university faculty exchange program. You all can find your own dinner?"
Shining, glaring at his phone as it buzzed with another text from the Empire, muttered, "Can do."
Flurry levitated the curtains open and looked out across the hotel's grounds. "Swimming pool!" She flew a loop-de-loop, banging her hooves on the ceiling. "Daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy swimming pool!"
Cadance chuckled. "You two and Sunburst have fun. I'll be back in time to tuck you into bed. Behave for Daddy."
"Daddy, swimming pool!"
Sunburst, Shining, and Flurry headed to the swimming pool. Palm trees and rose bushes surrounded it. Waterslides towered to one side and fountains sprayed skyward from a tiled concrete island in the center of the pool.
Flurry's jaw dropped open and her wings flared as she looked around. Staring upward at the fountains' spray, pistoning her hooves up and down, flaring her wings and thrashing her tail, she declared: "Oh... oh Daddy! This is so cool!"
Shining sat on a pony-sized deck chair. Sunburst draped his cape over the next chair and pulled a bottle of sunscreen and a pair of inflatable Power Ponies water wings from his saddle bags.
"No no no!" Flurry said. "No, Sunnyburst—I don't need floaties! I passed my swim test at summer camp! And pegasus magic makes me naturally buoyant! And Power Ponies aren't cool."
Sunburst levitated the floaties over his own forelegs. "Your uncle Spike likes Power Ponies."
"Oh! They're your floaties? Okay, Daddy, you swimming? Swim with me please, Daddy!"
Shining curled up on the deckchair and levitated his phone up. "I'll take pictures!"
"Sunburst can take pictures," Flurry said. "Sunburst, take a picture of me and Daddy and text it to Mommy with hearts and smiley faces!"
"Hey, yeah! Great idea." Shining grinned and stood up. His phone rang. He dropped back to his belly on the deck chair and answered it: "Starlight, so help me, when I left you in charge of the Empire—"
Flurry's face fell and wings drooped. She turned her back on Shining, looking at the pool.
Sunburst said, "Let's swim, Flurry. Do you want to do the waterslides?"
Flurry trotted to the shallow stairs at the edge of the pool and dropped her front hooves into the water. She stomped once or twice, smiling as she splashed her own underside. Two children waded up, a boy and a girl. They were soaking wet and smelled of chlorine and sunscreen.
"Hi! I'm Flurry!"
"Hunter!" said the boy.
"Emily," the girl said.
"Hunter? Like, killing animals?" Flurry asked, her ears drooping.
Hunter shook his head. "Nah, it's just a name. Did you just get here? We got here yesterday."
"Yeah, just now. Hey, cool swimsuit," Flurry said, pointing at Emily's Moana bathing suit. Then she looked at Hunter. "Darth Vader!"
"He's so cool," Hunter agreed. With as basso a voice as a six year old could achieve: "You don't know the power—"
"—of the Dark Side!" Hunter and Flurry finished in unison, then both dissolved into giggles.
Emily rolled her eyes.
Sunburst walked up and smeared a glob of sunscreen onto Flurry's nose, then onto the insides of her ears and her horn.
"Embarrassing me..." Flurry whispered.
Flurry looked at Hunter, then at Emily, then at the two dozen or so other humans in the pool. With a frown, she looked at herself and Sunburst. "Why don't we have swimsuits, Sunnyburst?"
Hunter pointed at Sunburst. "Ha! Ha! He has floaties."
"We don't need swimsuits, pony-dipping is allowed."
"But I want one! They're so cool. Could I have a swimsuit, Sunburst? Please? Please?"
Sunburst looked at Emily's one-piece. "That would never fit on a pony."
Flurry pointed at Hunter. "Boy trunks would fit me, let's see if the gift shop has Kylo Ren!" She looked at Emily and Hunter. "We'll be right back!"
"Bye!" both kids called.
Sunburst waved to get Shining's attention, then pointed at the main hotel building. Shining waved and nodded, continuing to argue into his phone: "Starlight, you tell me right now why Trixie is asking about fire extinguisher recharges."
After a forlorn look at her daddy, Flurry flapped inside, Sunburst hurrying to keep pace, the floaties on his forelegs squeaking against each other with every step. She reached the bottom of the escalator bank and flew up, leaving Sunburst behind as he rode the escalator. The hotel's interior atrium towered eight or twelve stories above them, airily lit.
Sunburst trotted quickly to that gift shop and found Flurry hovering over a rack of swim trunks, rummaging them. "Flurry, you need to stay close to me. I'm worried about the Florida Man."
"Oh! Sorry, Sunburst. I'll teleport him until he's Wyoming Man. Here, Kylo Ren!" She brandished a pair of swim trunks.
Frowning, Sunburst said, "We'll need to cut a tail-hole."
She dropped the swim trunks over his eyes, the hanger catching on his horn, and teleported herself ten feet to a rack of T-shirts. "Oh! The Emperor! We can cut wing holes, too! What swimsuit will you wear, Sunnyburst?"
"Let's check out and see if we can borrow some scissors." Sunburst grabbed a few snacks and juice boxes, anticipating that Flurry would get hangry soon.
Then, Sunburst thought about the little alicorn's furnace-like metabolism, and grabbed an entire shelf of snacks, a twelve-pack of juice boxes, and a banana. He hopped up on the stepstool opposite the cash register and looked over the counter. The clerk rang up their order, and Sunburst's eyes widened at the price. "Three dollars for one banana?"
"The happiest place on Earth," she said with a shrug.
"I... left my wallet by the pool."
She scanned his lanyard. "Charges to the room."
"May I borrow your scissors?"
She cocked an eyebrow at Sunburst, but handed them over, handle-first. He levitated them up and cut tail- and wing-holes in Flurry's new clothes before returning the scissors.
"Neat," the clerk said. "We get lots of ponies and a few 'griffs, even a deer family once, but I've never seen unicorndexterity up close."
"Ya should see my Auntie Rarity," Flurry said with a flick of her wings. "She's an artist, daaaarling."
Flurry struggled into the swim trunks and T-shirt, poking her wings and tail through the new holes. She twirled in front of a mirror. "So cool! Thanks, Sunburst! Best vacation ever!"
"Today's still the first day," he said, and mussed her mane with a hoof. "Hopefully it'll get even better."
Flurry sipped a juice box and ate the banana as they returned to the swimming pool. She leaped into the pool and doggy-paddled up to Hunter and Emily. "I got Kylo Ren and the Emperor!"
Sunburst waded in. The two-foot section of the pool brought the water to his withers. He didn't consider himself a strong swimmer, Power Pony floaties or not, so he went no deeper. He glanced over his shoulder—Shining Armor was still arguing with Starlight or Trixie over his phone.
There was also one pegasus and three human lifeguards. The pegasus's ears trembled and her feathers ruffled nervously as she stared at Flurry.
Flurry leaped into the air, flapped five feet up, water cascading from her wings, and cannonballed into the water. Hunter and Emily squealed and laughed, covering their faces as the splash inundated them. The other nine children in the hotel's pool joined the group as Flurry did it again.
Shining was still arguing into his phone. Frowning, Sunburst levitated his phone over from the deck chair and recorded a video of Flurry playing with the humans, knowing Cadance and Twilight would want to see.
A blond woman in a light colored two-piece swimsuit waded up to Sunburst. "I'm Diane. Is she yours?"
"I'm Sunburst. I'm the... well, call it the 'Royal Babysitter' in English. Her dad is on the phone. Emergency back home."
"'Royal?' And how do ponies use phones?"
"Generally via prepaid plans. Which is yours?"
"Emily and Hunter," Diane said.
"Ah! I appreciate that they made friends with Flurry so fast."
"They're good kids. How old is... she? I'm sorry, but with ponies, I have no idea."
"She," Sunburst said. "Eight."
Diane nodded. "They've never seen a foal before. Such a great age! I'm glad they're treating her just like—"
"Waterslide!" Emily shouted.
"Waterslide!" Flurry agreed.
"Waterslide!" all the kids chanted.
"Oh Celestia help us..." Sunburst muttered.
Flurry smirked at Sunburst.
"Eh?" asked Diane.
"Flurry attracts disasters," Sunburst said. "I live in terror of finding out what her cutie mark will be."
"That sounds so much like English," Diane said, "and yet..."
A narrow stairway led to the waterslide. Sunburst frowned and nervously slapped his tail against the water as Flurry hopped up it, the child-sized steps just a little long for her to navigate at a walk. Hunter, Emily, and several other children rode the slide, splashing into the pool, and then it was Flurry's turn.
"Sunburst! Hey, Sunburst! Lookit me!" She flared her wings.
"I see you!"
"Take a video for Mommy!"
"Just like my kids," Diane said with a smile.
"Kids and foals are more the same than different."
Sunburst set the phone to record slow-motion video. That's how they were able to determine, later, exactly what went so wrong.
The pegasus lifeguard took off her sunglasses and hunched her shoulders, ears wilting. (As it turned out, she was a crystal pegasus, and had beenat Flurry's crystalling eight years before. She'd requested this week for vacation upon having seen the VIP list, but alas, no other ponies could cover the resort's pool.)
Flurry tucked her wings tight to the sides of her t-shirt, dropped to the seat of her new swim trunks, and pushed off, accelerating. The slide took her left, around a sharp corner, back to the right, she was accelerating nicely, Sunburst tracking her with the camera, Flurry with a huge smile as she shouted in joy, her wings flared slightly, around another corner and then the final drop towards the pool—
—just as she slid down the last stretch, towards the water, an enormous Florida dragonfly crossed her path at right-angles, going right into her open mouth and down her throat.
Her light-yellow shield spell popped instinctively into place as her forehooves reached straight up to her mouth, pawing at her tongue, her eyes widening and ears going erect.
Flurry's shield spell hit the pool at full speed, the shield still growing in diameter as it hit, displacing water like a small meteorite impacting at transonic speed. Just as the mini-tsunami formed and began its spread across the pool, Flurry teleported, landing in Shining's lap, knocking him over and knocking his phone from his aura.
Flurry hacked, coughing and gagging on the giant dragonfly. Her teleport left a huge empty region for the displaced water to return to, and the splash as it rebounded back threw a column of water straight up, higher than the waterslide, higher than the spraying fountains.
Sunburst turned his head and clenched his phone under his chin in his aura, hoping to keep it dry, as the massive splash hit him and knocked his glasses off, the wave tugging at his floaties.
Shining popped a shield spell of his own over himself and Flurry, but everyone and everypony else on the pool deck found themselves soaked and stinking of chlorine.
The pegasus lifeguard shook the water out of her wings and put her sunglasses back on. Her black mane and white coat dripped.
The water pattered down like a sudden rainstorm. Diane wiped her face and wrung water from her hair. Sunburst opened his eyes and blinked, vision blurry, as a pair of swim trunks and a t-shirt floated past him.
"Awwww!" Flurry called, once the last drops of water fell and Shining dropped his spell. "I teleported out of my clothes."
Monday
"Monorail!" Flurry chanted, standing on Sunburst's withers while he stood in line for their breakfast. "Monorail! Monorail! Today, we ride the monorail!"
Shining and Cadance were already seated, munching on yogurt, granola, and scrambled eggs. The ponies all looked up and clenched their ears flat to their heads as Monorail Red pulled out of the hotel's lobby and continued its run. The earth mare cooking at the short order station said, "You get used to it."
"Get used to what?" asked her partner, a tall man.
"The monorail sounds like hooves on a chalkboard."
"We're gonna ride the monorail today!" Flurry said. "To Epcot! 'Cuz daddy says there's no teleportation landing area for me to just take us. And because I wanna ride the monorail."
The earth mare's eyes widened. She flipped Flurry's pancakes on the griddle. "She can teleport? How old is she?"
"I'm eight!"
"My mom went to the Magic School," the chef said. "She didn't teleport until she was nineteen. And she still can't haul passengers."
"Imma going to the magic school in two months! I'm a little nervous, since it's sleep-away school..." Flurry frowned and ruffled her feathers. "This vacation is sorta to celebrate and have some family time before I gots t'go to Canterlot..."
Sunburst found one of the extra-extra-extra-large drink tumblers, a half-gallon, and filled it with orange juice. "Flurry? Stay hydrated today. The weather will be unlike anything you've seen before in your life."
Flurry looked at the griddle. "Oh, bacon. Ya know Sunburst, that time with the pizza—"
"No."
"But I'll get hangry later. You know I will."
"No."
The earth mare plated Flurry's order and the human handed the plate to Sunburst.
"Well," Flurry said, looking at the stack of a dozen whole grain, strawberry, chocolate chip, and pecan pancakes, "that'll get me to snacktime, I guess. Maybe." Her stomach growled.
Sunburst grabbed himself an omelette and coffee.
"She's so cuuuuuute!" the cashier said, scratching Flurry's ears. "Who's your favorite Princess? Cinderella?"
"Mommy."
"...uh."
Flurry tore into the stack of pancakes and drank most of the orange juice. Cadance, after finishing her own alicorn-sized breakfast, polished off the half a pancake Flurry had left behind.
Twilight and Flash hustled up. "Late, late, sorry we're late," Twilight said. "Alarm didn't go off. So hard to set human clocks!"
Flurry cocked her head. "Mr. Flash, Auntie Twilight? You two are damp. It's almost like you both took a shower togeth—"
Sunburst levitated Flurry up onto his withers. Flurry yelped in surprise. "We don't want to miss our monorail to Epcot! Flash, Princess, Princess, have a good conference. We'll text you pictures! Shining?"
Shining winked at his little sister and followed Sunburst and Flurry to the monorail station.
There were about eighty humans in line ahead of them. Two security guards checked bags and purses before allowing them through the metal detector to the monorail station.
"Awww, we're gonna be late, Sunnyburst."
Elena, the concierge who had checked them in the afternoon before, walked up. "Good morning! Prince Shining, Mr. Sunburst. How are you this morning, little Princess?"
"I dunna like to be 'princess' here. We're on vacation."
"We call all our young guests 'princess.'"
"Yeah," Flurry said, "but I still dunna like it since it's liberal—"
"Literal," Sunburst said.
"—literal. I'm good, though, how are you, Ms. Elena?"
"Great! If you'd care to come with me, we can bypass this line?" Elena said.
"Daddy, Sunburst, noooooo! They're doing the Very Important Pony treatment again."
"We really want to be sure you have a good time," Elena said.
Flurry flared her wings, raised her horn haughtily, plopped down to her bottom, crossed her forelegs, and lit a bright yellow shield spell over herself. "We ain't cutting in line. We'll wait."
Elena's jaw dropped.
"You'll get hungry," Sunburst said.
"We don't got a ride reservation until after nine o'clock," Flurry said. "We'll be fine."
"I'm so hunnnnnngry," Flurry griped, flapping at Sunburst's shoulder and holding her belly with her forehooves.
They passed a tall metal pole, nine feet high, with an orange ball at the top. A sign read: Pegasus and 'Griff altitude limit. By law, Walt Disney World is a no-fly zone.
Flurry read the sign. "It doesn't say anything about alicorns..."
"Flurry," Sunburst said.
She tucked her wings and dropped to her hooves, now walking. "Joking, joking."
Shining frowned at another text from the Empire. "Remind me to never leave Starlight in charge again."
As they entered the park proper, Flurry's jaw dropped open and her wings and tail drooped as she looked up, up, up at the towering silver geodesic dome that dominated Epcot. Her eyes widened and the glinting morning sunlight lit up her face. "Ohhh... oh daddy... it's beautiful!"
"Starlight, what?" Shining shouted as he answered his phone.
Flurry glanced at him, her face falling and wings tucking tight to her flanks.
"Breakfast burritos, Flurry?" Sunburst asked, pointing at a snack bar.
Flurry levitated her small camera out of her shoulder bag, shot a picture of the massive dome, and put the camera away. She closed her eyes, raised her nose to the wind, and pointed a hoof. "I smell the food festival. Let's save room for that."
Sunburst gave her two cereal bars from his bag and they trotted quickly to the Finding Nemo ride, where they had a reserved slot. As they approached the building, Snow Day—the filly from the airport—galloped up and shoulder-checked Flurry Heart. Flurry squealed and the two fillies hugged.
Snow Day waved a hoof at the oversized rock formation that supported several large statues of seagulls. "Finding Nemo's my favorite movie and there's a whole building of Finding Nemo and Flurry it's so cool how are you how's your hotel how was your breakfast this is so cool!"
"It—" Flurry Heart began, just when the seagull statues began shouting Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!
Flurry gasped and her horn snapped out a spell, which blasted off one of the seagull's heads, slagged plastic and metal flying everywhere. She teleported, landing behind Sunburst, then lit her shield spell.
Lowering his phone, Shining Armor looked at her, with her trembling tail, clenched wings, and limp ears, then he looked at the statues, including the smoking one.
"Flurry," Shining asked, "Did they scare you?"
She nodded, dropped her shield, and hopped up on her rear legs to hug Sunburst around the chest. Sunburst patted her mane with a hoof. "Surprised me," Flurry said. "Not scared. Princesses don't get scared."
Flames rose from the decapitated seagull statue's neck.
Mine! Mine! Mine! the speakers continued to call.
Shining looked at Flurry, hugging Sunburst for reassurance, and opened his mouth to say—
—his phone rang again.
After his phone call with Starlight, they boarded the ride. As the small car carried them through the underwater scenes, Flurry kept poking Sunburst in the shoulder and pointing to the displays and whispering her excitement. "See! Lookit that! That's so cool, Sunburst!"
Shining Armor watched them and glowered.
"You hungry, Flurry?" Sunburst asked.
"Starving!"
Shining and Sunburst smiled at each other. "Well," Shining said. "Good! This is the International Food and Wine Festival. First up...uh... Canada."
The Epcot park was centered on a small lake, and a path wound around the lake's perimeter. A series of different nations were represented, and food stalls with bite-sized examples of each nation's most cliched cuisine were available. Flurry snacked on odd gravy-covered potato slices in Canada and fish-and-chips in the United Kingdom; Shining and Sunburst got pints, reasoning that their stomachs were still on Crystal Empire time, where it was late afternoon, not mid-morning. Twilight had cast a spell on their passports, translating the birthdates into human nomenclature, so there was no trouble with the age check, this time.
In France, they ordered creme brulee. Sunburst and Shining each took one bite of the rich dessert and gave theirs to Flurry, who licked all three bowls clean.
"Oh!" She said, prancing in a circle in front of the small kiosk. "Escargot! 'Escargot croissant with garlic and parsley!' Can I try escargot?"
Both stallions levitated up their phones and used styluses to tap the strange word into Google.
"Yes," Shining Armor said. "No!" Sunburst shouted, simultaneously.
Flurry looked at Sunburst and pursed her lips. "Awwww, no fun."
Shining blinked, then shrugged as Flurry trotted toward the next country.
Morocco had spicy hummus fries topped with seasonings and shaved vegetables. Shining and Sunburst each ate two helpings of that. They continued around the lake, stopping at each country. Flurry tried cannoli in Italy and sashimi tuna in Hawaii. In Germany, the stallions ate pretzel rolls.
"Still hungry, Princess?" Shining Armor asked.
"Don't call me that, please, Daddy."
"I call you that at home."
"It's fine in private." She jumped with a single wing flap and looked at Shining's phone. "Oh! We're just on time for our next ride!"
Shining frowned and flicked his ears. "I wish I hadn't eaten so much."
"Cuz you get motion sick, Daddy?"
"I do not! I do not get motion sick! Lies! Lies and slander."
"Daddy, seriously? Auntie Twilight showed me the pictures of the zeppelin vacation when I was a baby. You were as green as Gummy in every picture."
"Was not!"
"We've all seen the pictures, Shining," Sunburst said. "They're in Twilight's office at her school."
Shining pulled out his phone and glared at the map as they crossed the park to their reserved time at the Mission: SPACE ride.
The humid heat didn't seem to bother Shining, perhaps because of his experience in the military. ("I did bootcamp at Fort Somnambula," he had once explained, "and Special Forces training in Hayseed Swamp.") Sunburst and Flurry, however, took every opportunity to pass under water-misters and cool off.
Looking at his phone, Shining said, "There's a 'more-intense' and 'less-intense' version of this next ride. We should do the less-intense version."
Flurry flicked her ears. "Awww, I wanted the one with gee-forces and stuff. Can't we do the spinning centrifuge one, please?"
"No," Shining said. "I'll get motion sick."
Flurry said with a smirk, "I thought you didn't get motion sick?"
"Well, let's do the no-gee-forces version."
Flurry scowled, then smiled. "Okay, no problem."
"What are you smirking about?" Shining asked.
"Imma not smirking, Daddy."
"Flurry." Sunburst said.
"I'm not smirking!" She teleported ahead to the ride's entrance, forcing the stallions to trot to catch up.
Flurry was half an inch taller than the minimum quadruped size, so they entered the line and scanned their lanyards.
A sign at a fork directed them to two different sides of the ride: The less intense to the right, and the more intense to the left.
They went right.
Once they were past the sign, Flurry dropped her spell, and the sign returned to its original—and opposite—form.
"You're smirking again," Sunburst said as they waited in a crowd of humans for their turn.
"Am n—"
"Pardon me," said a tall woman. The three ponies looked up at her.
"Hi!" Flurry said with a flap of her wings.
"Hi!" She replied. "We're five, and I noticed you're three—could our son ride with you, since the ride capsules each seat four?"
Flurry cocked her head. A man and a woman, a boy, perhaps nine or ten, and two slightly younger girls who seemed to be twins. "My name's Flurry! We'd love to ride with you."
"Josh," said the boy. All five of the humans wore white T-shirts emblazoned LaFollette Family Reunion 2021.
"Sure thing," Sunburst said.
"What grade are you in?" Josh asked.
"Second!" Flurry gushed, hopping up and down. "But I get to go to the Magic School in Canterlot starting next year! What about you?"
"Fourth—"
"Oh! We're up," Sunburst called with a wave of his hoof. Large doors hissed open and employees directed each group of four into a gimbal-mounted ride capsule. Inside the capsule were four seats, arranged across, each with a shoulder bar and complex control panel. Flurry slid all the way to the far right side, then Sunburst, Shining, and Joshua on the far left.
"Pilot!" Joshua said. "Awesome!" Flurry was in the navigator slot, Sunburst engineer, and Shining commander.
A park employee put booster seats under Flurry and Sunburst's bums and locked the bars down over their shoulders.
"I can't reach the controls," Flurry said, waving her forehooves.
"Levitate," said the employee.
"What do pegasi and earth ponies do?"
He shrugged.
The doors shut, the capsule rotated so that they faced upward, against gravity. The screens in front of them lit up, showing the view from a rocket tethered to a launch gantry.
The centrifuge began to spin, gee-forces building, and their rocket launched.
"Wait!" Shining Armor said. "I thought this was the easy ride—"
Flurry trotted from the ride area, her light-yellow shield spell glowing around her and covered with unmentionable material.
She levitated her booster seat back to the employee.
Joshua's family looked at her suspiciously.
The employee sniffed and looked at the mess decorating her shield spell. "Did someone get sick?"
"I'll be in the gift shop," she said. "I need some space stuff."
Tuesday
Shining Armor awoke with an ooooof as a foal landed on his belly, knocking all his wind out.
"Daddy!" Flurry flapped her wings and jumped, then landed on his solar plexus again. "Daddy daddy daddy! Happy birthday, daddy!"
Cadance rolled over and cracked an eye open. Shining lit his horn, illuminating the hotel room, and glanced at the clock: 6:05 am.
"She let you sleep in," Cadance mumbled, and gave Shining's ear a little nibble. "Happy birthday, love."
Flurry teleported across the room and trotted back, levitating a tray. "Daddy! I bringed you coffee and muffins! And I sneaked a birthday candle from home in my bag!"
The tray held steaming cups—two coffees, one hot cocoa—and three warm coffee-cake muffins, one of which had a single candle in it. Flurry zapped the candle with her horn, lighting it.
Cadance sat up in the bed and held a hoof to her chest. "You thought of that all by yourself?"
Flurry blushed, and looked at the floor as she levitated the tray onto the foot of the bed. "Well... it was Sunnyburst's idea... but the candle I thought of all by myself."
Shining grabbed her in his forelegs and pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you! I appreciate it so much!"
"Welcome," Flurry mumbled into Shining's chest as she hugged him back.
Cadance looked at the tray and the steaming drinks. "Where did these come from?"
"I teleported to the Starbucks in the hotel lobby."
"Where did you get the money?" Shining asked.
Flurry bit her lip and blushed, "Well, it was Sunburst's idea, but he wasn't awake yet, so..."
"I kiiiinda wanted to do Star Wars land today..." Flurry mused as they walked down Main Street USA, in the shadow of Cinderella's Castle.
"It's your dad's birthday," Sunburst said. "I think we can do the park he wanted to do today, Star Wars tomorrow."
Flurry looked at Shining Armor, who was angrily texting, his attention focused on the phone. Shining muttered, "Spike why aren't you keeping those two in line I was hoping you'd be the responsible adult if I have to go back to the Empire so help me Luna—"
"Yeah, Dad's having a great time, Sunburst."
Two employees walked up to them. "Happy Birthday, Prince Armor."
He glanced up from his phone. "Thank you. How'd you know it was my birthday?"
"Your picture was in this morning's VIP alert."
Shining facehoofed. Flurry's face paled.
"Oh! Gift shop!" Sunburst said. "I promised my mom I would get us matching sweatshirts. Flurry, would you like to help me?"
"Yeah, Auntie Stellar is cool."
Shining plopped down on a bench and called Starlight.
At the back of the gift shop, Sunburst looked at the embroidery-machine operator. "I need something to fit me, and something to fit a smallish-sized mare."
The human teenager looked at him. "Uh, you need to pick the shirts from the rack."
Flurry's eyes narrowed and she frowned. "Sunburst? Imma go buy a snack."
"Make a healthy choice," he said, rifling through the pony-sized shirts on the rack. "These are all pegasus cut!"
"So?" the clerk said.
Staring at the clerk, Sunburst's jaw dropped open, and he pushed his glasses up his nose.
Flurry slinked off, low to the ground, dodging humans' footsteps. Yuck, human feet smelled! Hooves were much more sanitary.
She'd seen a flash of creamy whitish-pink and needed to investigate. She climbed onto a shelf of large plushies and wriggled through to the other side, her head protruding from between two large Mickey Mouses. She looked down, into a stroller holding a human toddler.
Flurry frowned.
The toddler's father grabbed her by the shoulders and picked her up. "Hey! Why is Disney selling Flurry Heart plushies?"
"I'm not a plushie, I'm Flurry Heart!"
"Gaaahhhhh!" He dropped her.
She flared her wings and landed softly next to the stroller. She pointed at the Flurry Heart plushie the toddler was chewing on. "That's an unlicensed use of my likeness. You owe me royalties."
"Daddy!" the toddler said. "Pony! Pony! Pony! Peeze?"
The father looked from Flurry to the plushie and back. "Hey! You are Flurry Heart. Can I have your autograph?"
Flurry looked more closely at the plushie and facehoofed. "That Flurry has a diaper. I haven't worn diapers in years. So embarrassing."
"Aren't you already royalty?" said the mother as she walked up.
The toddler giggled, and patted Flurry's head. She closed her eyes and purred as his grubby hands scratched her left ear.
"What kind of royalties do you want?" asked the father.
"I'm hungry," Flurry said.
Sipping a bottle of orange juice and munching on a granola bar, Flurry trotted back to Sunburst just as the clerk bagged up a pair of matching sweatshirts, emblazoned with 'Sunburst' and 'Steller' in the Equestrian alphabet.
"They spelled your mom's name wrong," Flurry said.
"It'll drive her crazy," Sunburst said. "She needs to lighten up. Orange juice and a granola bar? That is a healthy choice."
"It's my royalty," she said.
"I don't think that's the right usage of that word."
The three ponies walked across the park. "Oh!" Sunburst said. "'It's a Small World.' This ride is famous, and there's no line."
Shining frowned. "If there's no line, it makes me wonder if there's a reason."
Ten minutes later, they emerged from the ride, faces pale and knees shaking.
"That's the most annoying song I've heard in my life," Shining said, "and I know Pinkie Pie."
Sunburst squinched his eyes shut and rubbed his ears. "Make it stop make it stop make it stop!"
Flurry lit her horn. "Memory wipe spell?"
"Yes, please!" both stallions shouted.
She squinted her eyes and tucked her ears tight to her head as her light-yellow aura surrounded all three of their skulls. With a snap like a distant thunderbolt, the aura faded, and they all blinked in the bright sunlight.
They looked around.
"Oh!" Sunburst said. "'It's a Small World.' This ride is famous, and there's no line."
Shining frowned. "If there's no line, it makes me wonder if there's a reason."
In the Tomorrowland section of the park, Sunburst and Flurry rode the Space Mountain roller coaster. Shining waited in the gift shop, knowing the ride would make him motion sick.
Flurry pranced out of the ride, in between two human children. Shining recognized them as Hunter and Emily, from the swimming pool. Sunburst and Diane, the children's mother, walked just behind the three.
"That was so cool!" Hunter gushed, "with the lights and space men in space suits!"
"And whoosh!" Flurry said, flapping straight up to the ceiling, "then zoom!" and she tucked her wings and landed back between them.
Emily veered off and looked at some Tomorrowland merch. Flurry and Hunter walked up to Shining, and shining dropped his phone into its pouch.
"Daddy! That was great! Spaaaaace!" Flurry leaped and landed on his back, hugging around his neck. "I'm still sorry about the whole space ride thing yesterday."
Shining blanched. "Well, please don't do it again."
They grabbed a few souvenirs and checked out. Flurry squinted, ruffled up her feathers, grunted, and teleported the bagged items to their room.
"You know we have free delivery to your hotel?" the clerk asked.
"Yes," replied Flurry.
"Who needs to potty?" Diane asked.
"Me me me me me me!" all three of the littles said, Flurry bouncing up and down.
Dinane looked at Sunburst. "I'll take Flurry and Emily to the ladies' room, if you take Hunter to the men's room."
"Sure."
A few minutes later, Sunburst and Shining sat on a bench while Hunter jumped up and down in puddles underneath a cool-water mister just outside the restrooms.
Diane, Emily, and Flurry walked up to them. Emily and Flurry joined Hunter under the water mist, Flurry spreading her wings wide to soak up as much mist as possible.
Diane's face was pale and she trembled.
"What's wrong?" Sunburst asked.
Diane just shook her head and stared at Flurry.
"Again!" Flurry shouted as they exited the Pirates of the Carribean ride. "Again!"
"We've ridden it four times," Sunburst said.
"But daddy ain't ridden it once he's been on the phone!"
Shining sat in a corner, arguing over the phone with Trixie.
"It's time to head back to the hotel and get ready for dinner."
Flurry deflated. "I dun wanna do any fancy restaurant."
"It's your daddy's birthday, so you, your mom, your aunt, and your dad are going to have a family dinner. We'll be back tonight for trick-or-treating."
"But it's a fancy restaurant. I dunna like fancy."
"You sound like Rainbow Dash."
"I wish I was as awesome as Auntie Rainbow. What'll you and Mr. Flash do while we're at a family dinner?"
"I'm going to sit by the pool and read a book."
"That actually sounds pretty fun."
The three of them walked back to the hotel. Even in late October, Florida's mid-afternoon sun and humidity beat down on them. Shining, ex-soldier that he was, walked resolutely, but Flurry and Sunburst were covered in frothy sweat by the time they reached the hotel's air conditioning. Flurry's wingtips dragged on the ground.
Flash, Cadance, and Twilight were coming in another entrance just at the same time. "Pinions out of the dirt, Flurry," Flash said. "You'll wreck your flight characteristics."
In their hotel room, Cadance and Twilight worked on getting each other's manes pulled up. Shining ironed a civilian tunic to military precision. Flurry took a shower, soaping herself to remove the sweat and sunscreen from the day.
After her shower, she looked at herself in the mirror: sopping wet, her mane droopy and feathers disheveled. She really didn't like Mommy's quick-dry spell, and Mommy and Auntie Twilight were probably working on getting fancy dresses on, anyway...
A smile formed and she grinned at herself in the mirror.
A knock on the hotel room door surprised Shining, and he opened it. Flurry pranced in from the corridor.
"Hey!" he said. "I thought you were in the bathroom!"
Flurry's coat, wings, mane, and tail were all frizzed out straight, making her appear twice her usual size. Static electricity crackled up and down her body with every step.
Cadance's ears went straight up. "What happened to you?"
"You and Auntie Twilight are busy getting ready, so I went to the maids' laundry room down the hall and used their tumble drier." Flurry went to the mirror and smiled at herself. "I like it!"
After the fancy dinner, Cadance and Twilight went to a diplomatic cocktail event with the other ambassadors, and Shining, Sunburst, and Flurry returned to the Magic Kingdom, not too long before sundown.
"Nightmare Night!" Flurry chanted, "Nightmare Night!"
"It's called 'Halloween' here," Sunburst corrected. "And it's not technically for two more weeks."
"Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!" Flurry chanted. She wore a black cape and hood, a red plastic light saber over her back, and a Kylo Ren mask pushed up on top of her head, behind her horn. Sunburst had earlier cut wing holes in her cape, since it wasn't pegasus-cut.
The park was closed to the regular guests, and only those with special tickets for the Halloween event were allowed in. Elena appeared, wished Shining a happy birthday, and hustled them through a VIP entrance, beating the crowd.
Flurry started to say something indignant about the VIP treatment, but a yawn cut off her complaint. She stumbled over her hooves, and Sunburst caught her with a flash of magic.
"Tired, Flurry?"
"No!"
They rushed across the park to ride the Pirates of the Carribean again, and Flurry giggled at the live actors interspersed amongst the animatronics, a special treat for the Halloween party. Shining, at least, put his phone away and rode it with them.
"Want to see the parade, Flurry?" Sunburst asked, looking at his pocket watch as they exited the Pirates ride.
"Nah," she said. "Let's hit the Mad Tea Party. I heard DJ P0N-3 is spinning disks for it."
As they walked through Tomorrowland, towards the Tea Party ride, they encountered a group of four kids and one foal, squared off with each other, preparing to do battle with plastic light sabers.
One of the children was dressed in a Darth Vader costume and stood, one leg forward, brandishing his red lightsaber. The others, dressed in tan Jedi robes, made a semicircle around him.
"You don't know the power of the dark side!" said Darth Vader-kid.
"The Jedi Council will never give in!" one of the boys shouted back.
"Hey! That's Snow Day, from the airport!" Flurry took off at a gallop and lowered her Kylo Ren mask to cover her face, levitating her red plastic lightsaber ahead of her.
Flurry skidded to a stop next to the Darth Vader kid. "I've come, Grandfather!"
"Yes, the Dark Side grows stronger!" Darth Vader said. The three children and Snow Day spread their semicircle out a little farther. One of them jumped forward and took a slow swing with a lightsaber, making a whrrrrrm! noise with his mouth. Darth Vader blocked the blow and returned it.
Flurry leaped to her wings and hovered about head-high for the kids. "I have the high ground!"
"Hey no fair no wings that's cheating!" said a Mace Windu-costumed kid.
"It's not cheating! I was born with wings! I have the high ground!"
The kids glanced at Snow Day, who just shrugged a foreleg and twirled her toy lightsaber above her head. "I don't got wings. Don't look at me."
"We'll strike you down, villain!" The kids shifted their semicircle and held their plastic light sabers up.
Flurry's horn flashed, and her lightsaber began to hum and glow bright red.
Sunburst's magic snatched the lightsaber from her and Shining zapped it with a spell, quieting its hum and quenching its glow.
"Flurry!" Shining snapped. "We've discussed not casting bring-to-life on lightsabers."
She dropped to the ground and looked at her hooves. "I dunna know why you got so mad about that. You said you wanted the window in the throne room."
Shining and Sunburst glared.
Flurry frowned, then suddenly smirked.
"And no Force lightning," Sunburst said.
Two hours later, the humid Florida night pressed down on them and Flurry's snout, cheeks, and horn were smeared with chocolate after trick-or-treating at the various shops and attractions.
Putting his phone in its pouch, Shining said, "Are you tired, Honey?"
Trudging, eyes fixed on her forehooves so she didn't stumble, she simply nodded. With two flaps, she landed on Sunburst's withers, curled up, and closed her eyes.
Sunburst bent down and picked up her bag of candy, which contained enough chocolate to kill an Earth horse; luckily, Equestrian ponies could process the alkaloids. "Monorail?" Sunburst asked.
Shining looked at Flurry, already asleep and snoring lightly on Sunburst's back. "Yeah. Monorail."
They were in the far back of the park. The walk was long and the two stallions looked around, enjoying the sights and sounds of the humans and occasional pony, hippogriff, or griffon around them.
"Hey, Sunburst?" Shining said as they passed around Cinderella's Castle.
He pushed his glasses up his nose. "Yes?"
"You need me to take Flurry? Is she heavy?"
"No, I've got her."
Shining sniffed, and looked away for a second. He looked back at Sunburst. "Sunburst? I want to carry my daughter, please."
"Oh."
Working together, they gently levitated the sleeping foal onto Shining's withers. Flurry stirred, then nuzzled into the back of Shining's neck before falling back into a deep sleep. They walked in silence to the monorail, and rode it one stop to their hotel.
Wednesday
"Mommy Daddy Mommy Daddy Mommy Daddy!"
Shining Armor tensed up as he awoke, a split second before Flurry landed on his solar plexus. Cadance snorted awake next to him as Flurry hopped to land on her.
"Guess what guess what guess what you'll never guess what!" Flurry continued.
"We're going to the Star Wars land today and you're excited?" Shining said.
"No! Well, yes, but I lost a tooth!"
Cadance flicked on the room's lights. Shining gasped and squinched his eyes. Flurry stood on Cadance's belly, levitating a tooth and smiling with a bloody, gap-tooth grin.
"Oh! Oh goodness. Did you bleed in your bed?" Cadance asked.
Flurry's smile fell.
"It's okay, we'll leave the housekeepers a note and a tip," Shining said.
Cadance rubbed her sleepy face with her forehooves. "Let me go drain the magic from the bloodstains. Alicorn blood and tumble driers could be an explosive combination."
Flurry hopped from Cadance's belly to Shining's, but he wasn't ready this time. She knocked all his air out. He curled up and huffed.
"Hey! Daddy Daddy! Do you think the Tooth Breezie comes to this dimension, or should I put it under my pillow when we get home?"
Shining looked at the clock. Four thirty a.m. He covered his eyes with a foreleg and sighed.
"Daddy, I'm so excited! Today we're doing the Jedi Training which is gonna be the best part of the vacation I've been looking forward to it for—"
Shining's phone rang.
Flurry humphed and teleported out.
Shining and Sunburst sipped coffee while Flurry drank orange juice from a bottle larger than her head. She unwrapped her seventh granola bar.
A crowd milled around at the entrance to Hollywood Studios—which contained the Star Wars-themed areas of the park—waiting for the park to open. Security had already inspected their bags, the sun was just poking over the horizon, and Sunburst wiped his forehead, already sweaty in the sultry humidity.
"I promised Spike I would bring him some souvenirs," Shining said.
Hunter, Emily, Snow Day, and Flurry Heart all stood in a circle, Snow levitating up a map of the park. A tiny griffon chick stood with them, her parents watching her closely.
"Okay!" Hunter declared, pointing a finger. "We're here—"
"Here," his sister corrected, pointing at the map.
A small arrow of Snow Day's magic pointed to another spot on the map. "And we go here to sign up."
"That's a long walk," said Snow Day's mom.
Sunburst looked around. Many kids, a few foals, and the single griffon chick were all waiting for the park to open, ready to rush to sign up for the Jedi Training event.
Flurry looked around.
"Uh-oh," Sunburst said.
Shining looked up from his phone. "Hmmmm?"
"Look at Flurry's face."
Shining looked at his daughter. "The missing tooth?"
"No, her expression."
"What expression?" Shining asked.
Sunburst pushed his glasses up his nose. "You don't recognize that face?"
"No?"
"It's Flurry's 'Imma solve a problem' face."
"And?" Shining said.
"Shining, do you really not understand what's about to happen?" Sunburst said.
Flurry flapped and landed on top of one of the nine-foot tall Pegasus and 'Griff altitude limit signs, and looked into the park. She dropped back down to the others. "We're good now," Flurry said. "I made eye contact."
"Oh dear—" Sunburst began.
Employees dropped the chains, opening the park. The kids and parents began to hustle toward the Jedi Training signup.
Flurry wrapped her wings around Snow Day, Hunter, Emily, and the tiny griffon.
"Oh hey Flurry no—" Shining said as he understood.
Snap! Flurry teleported away, with the others.
Diane screamed as her two children disappeared in a flash of light.
Snow Day's dad glared at Shining. The adult griffons squawked.
Sunburst took off at a gallop, spilling his coffee all over his cape.
Shining, Diane, and the other parents followed.
Flurry and the others were sitting on a bench when the adults showed up.
"We're all signed up for the nine o'clock!" Hunter announced. "We gotta be back here at eight-thirty!"
Emily raised her nose imperiously. "Flurry and Snow Day and Gilly didn't know how to write their names in English letters, so I helped them."
"Flurry!" Shining shouted. "You can't go around teleporting ponies!"
Flurry's smile fell. "But... but I got us to the line..."
"You scared the daylights out of Miss Diane. She didn't know what happened to Emily and Hunter."
Her face paled. Flurry looked at Diane. "I... I scared you? I'm sorry, I didn't realized that—"
Shining's phone rang.
Flurry's apology cut off and she glared at Shining.
Sunburst looked at Shining, who was turning away and arguing across the phone with Starlight again. "C'mon, Flurry, I see a Daring Do shop. Let's get your Uncle Spike and my mom some merch."
"This is not Daring Do," Flurry said, glaring at the Indiana Jones merchandise. "Miss Yearling should sue."
"Interdimensional lawsuits seldom work, Flurry," Sunburst said, looking at a messenger bag. He looked at the clerk. "Do you have any canvas messenger bags? My mom doesn't really like leather."
Flurry picked up a fedora, looked at it, and put it back down. "If they had ear holes, I would buy one for Auntie Dash."
Shining Armor put his phone back in his bag and walked into the shop. "Flurry, I'm still not happy with you."
Flurry stared at him and tapped a hoof.
"Well? Anything to say?" Shining said.
"I bet your phone rings again. Have you had even five straight minutes of vacation, Daddy?"
"Flurry, Starlight and Trixie are having trouble running the Empire for Mommy and I—"
Shining's phone rang.
Flurry turned her back on him and looked at a rack of T-shirts.
Flurry and Sunburst left the 'Star Tours' ride and found Shining sitting on a bench near the exit.
"How was it, Flurry?"
"Fun!" she said. "You woulda gotten sick, though, Daddy. The only part of the ride I didn't like is that the Empire didn't win."
Sunburst levitated out his pocket watch. "It's almost time for your Jedi training, Flurry."
She danced in place and squealed.
They crossed the courtyard and sat in the staging area. Employees handed out brown Jedi apprentice robes. Flurry helped Gilly, the tiny griffon chick, into her robe.
Star Wars music began to play as the workers lined them up, shortest to tallest. Flurry found herself behind Gilly and Snow Day, and in front of all the humans. She flicked her ears at that. Back home, she was as tall as a fifth grader, and towered over her second-grade class. Being short was weird!
They walked single-file to the Jedi temple, a raised stage made to look like sandstone, sealed double doors carved with runes at its back. "Line up on the blue dots!"
Flurry used a wing to steer Gilly onto a blue marking on the stage. The tiny 'griff tripped over the sleeve of her Jedi robe and Flurry levitated her back up.
Shining and Sunburst were in the first row, since they were so much shorter than the human parents. Flurry smiled and waved. They waved back.
"Daddy! Daddy! Take a video and text it to Mommy and Auntie Twilight with hearts and smiley faces!"
Shining started to raise his phone, then it rang and he held it to his ear. Sunburst raised his phone, taking the video for Cadance and Twilight.
Flurry scowled.
An actress dressed as a Jedi handed out plastic lightsabers to each of them. Flurry levitated hers up, reminding herself not to cast come-to-life on it.
"Saber up!" said the lead Jedi actor. "Sabers left! Sabers right!" The children practiced their blocks and parries. Flurry danced up and down, tail swishing and wings trying to lift underneath her robe. Her heart pounded, knowing what would be happening soon. This was so cool! This had to be better than any of the rides or other attractions. Real Jedi training!
"All apprentices to the side!" the actor called as the music shifted to the Imperial March, and smoke began to escape from the temple's doors at the back of the stage.
Flurry hopped across the stage, muttering "Yes yes yes yes yes this is gonna be so awesome!" Sweat dripped down her face and flanks, the Jedi robe sticking to her, but she smiled as wide as ever.
An actor in full Darth Vader costume, complete with lightsaber, emerged from the smoke as the temple doors opened, then another dressed as Kylo Ren. Sadly, there was no Emperor. Oh well.
"So cool!" Flurry said. Snow Day nodded her head and levitated her lightsaber in figure-eights. Gilly popped herself across the beak with her lightsaber and began to cry. Flurry hugged a foreleg over her while Darth Vader fenced with several of the human kids and with Snow Day.
"We must learn to face our fears!" said the Jedi actor. He held his lightsaber low, and one hand up. "Can we all work together to force them back into the temple!"
Snow Day and Flurry held up forehooves, Gilly her left talon, and the kids their hands. Flurry lit her horn—an illumination spell, nothing dangerous—just for fun, so she felt like she was really doing a Force push against the Kylo Ren actor.
Flurry knew it was all an act, just pretend. She wasn't a tiny little baby like Gilly or Hunter. But it was so fun! Like a game Auntie Pinkie would have come up with.
The Kylo Ren actor leaned towards the children, fighting their force push as he struggled toward them. It looked just like Uncle Cheese's mime-against-the-wind act, except Kylo Ren!
Flurry, grinning wide and whipping her tail, glanced toward Daddy and Sunburst. This was the best part of the whole vacation so far! She'd never had so much fun. It was just like being in one of the movies she loved so much!
Sunburst winked at her, still holding up his phone as he recorded.
Daddy was gone. She looked, then saw him, his bright white coat unmistakable, eighty or ninety feet away, sitting on a bench, staring at his phone and gesturing angrily.
Not even looking. He wasn't even looking.
Flurry's smile fell, her tail drooped, and the light spell emanating from her horn was just enough of a start, just enough of a pilot light, to grab her surge of crushing disappointment and bitter sadness and twist the emotions, grab the magical core that burned so bright within her, a powerful flash, magic surging, a crack like thunder and a blast of air—
—and the Kylo Ren actor flew thirty feet, clean off the stage, and landed with an ugly thud.
"My daughter,'' Shining said through gritted teeth, "is a pony. How hard can she be to find?"
The security supervisor muttered into his walkie-talkie, then held up his phone. "Animal Kingdom security has found a lost pony. Is this her?"
Shining looked at the picture on his phone. "That's Hayseed Turnip Truck. He's an earth pony. And a stallion. And an adult. And an idiot. How could you confuse him for my daughter?"
A text buzzed in on Elena's phone. She glanced at it and said, "Oh! Good. The actor is fine. His ribs aren't broken. Just bruised."
"Well, thank goodness for that," Shining said. "Where did that filly get to?"
"My people checked all three of your hotel rooms," said the security supervisor. "She's not there."
"She's probably getting hungry," Sunburst said. "Has her lanyard been used to charge any snacks or meals to the room?"
"Hey, yeah, that's a good—" Shining started, but then his phone rang. He answered it. "Starlight, what now?"
Sunburst's jaw dropped open, he pushed his glasses up his nose, and he stared at Shining. "Shining, I really think that we should be concentrating on Flurry."
With a pop! Flurry's invisibility spell collapsed. She was hovering just in front of Shining's nose and poked him in the snout with a hoof. "I go missing and your phone is still the most important thing to you?"
He tilted the phone away from his mouth and glared at her. "As soon as I finish this phone call, we're going to have a serious talk. You nearly hurt that actor. I've got a mind to drag you back to the airport and head straight home."
"It was an accident!" She flapped, landing on Sunburst's withers, and hugged him around his neck, nuzzling against his horn. "Miss Elena? Can you take me to the first aid place? I wanna'pologize."
Elena smiled and patted Flurry's head. "I think we can do that, yes."
Flurry hugged Sunburst tighter. "Daddy, can you come with me? I'm kinda embarrassed."
Shining dropped his phone and Sunburst's glasses fell off his face when Flurry called Sunburst daddy.
They sat on the bench, Sunburst in the middle. Flurry and Shining looked away, ignoring each other. Shining sipped coffee and Flurry licked an ice cream cone. The 11:00 Jedi Training went on across the courtyard. The Kylo Ren actor was back, having accepted Flurry's apology and a quick-healing spell.
Shining's phone rang. He snarled and his aura crushed the paper coffee cup, spilling steaming coffee onto the pavement. At the sound of the phone's ring, Flurry buried her face into her forehooves and sobbed. Her aura spluttered and her ice cream cone dropped to the ground.
Shining looked at her and answered the phone. "Trixie... Trixie... Trixie! Trixie, be quiet. Okay. Put Spike on... Yes, I'll wait."
Shining glanced at Flurry. Sunburst hugged her. Flurry buried her face into Sunburst's armpit and pulled his cape over her head.
"Spike? Put the phone on speaker so Trixie and Starlight can hear... Okay?... Spike, you're in charge. I need you to keep Trixie, Starlight, Trixie, the Empire, and especially Trixie in line, little brother. These phone calls are ruining my vacation and taking time away from my daughter. I trust you, little brother. Okay?... Trixie, you heard me... Thanks. No more phone calls. I'll check texts once per day. Spike is in charge. Bye-bye."
Shining flicked the phone to silent and dropped it in his shoulder bag. He walked around Sunburst and kneeled in front of Flurry, eye-to-eye.
She lowered her forehooves and looked at him, her eyes red and nose snotty. Somehow, she'd smeared snot on her horn. "Daddy? Daddy, I'm sorry I hurt the actor. It really was an accident, I saw that you... you... the Jedi Training was the most funnest thing I've done in my life and you weren't watching and you were on the phone and I was so sad, and I was so mad, and my magic, you know I can't... can't... can't... when I'm upset... I have so much magic and sometimes it just comes out and no matter how-how-how hard I try I just I just I just there's nothing I can do!"
Flurry leaned forward, burying her face into Shining's neck, and sobbed. Shining hugged her tight, his own liquid pride starting to flow. "Flurry, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should have been focused on being here, in the moment, with you."
Flurry bawled. Wind swirled around them, and the puddle of ice cream on the pavement boiled, turning into a sticky, caramelized mess.
Sunburst stood silently and slipped away, browsing a kiosk of Star Wars merchandise, glancing toward the other two from time to time. Shining moved to sit on the bench, and they whispered to each other, touching horns and hugging.
The Jedi Training event had needed the robe back, but Sunburst found a brown Jedi robe, pegasus-cut in Flurry's size, and bought it. He also grabbed a new ice cream from a freezer and two cups of coffee.
"Are you her... uncle?" asked the clerk as he rang up Sunburst's purchase.
"Just a friend of the family."
The clerk looked at Shining and Flurry, who were now giggling with each other. "You know? And I'm sorry if this is offensive... but you ponies are just like people."
Sunburst raised an eyebrow. "We consider ourselves to be people. Just not human."
"What I mean is, I see lots of kids have meltdowns. Two dozen a day. All kinds of parents. Screaming parents, pleading parents, spanking parents." He frowned at that one, his face momentarily red. "But the best parents are the ones who just hug their kids and talk to them. Kids have big emotions, and sometimes you just have to help them ride them out. That's what your friend did."
Sunburst nodded. "He's a good stallion."
The clerk handed over Sunburst's items and scanned Sunburst's lanyard, charging the hideously expensive order to his room.
Sunburst waited at the exit to the Slinky Dog roller coaster. Flurry, riding on Shining's withers, smiled and waved as they exited the ride. Shining looked a little green, but he was smiling, too.
"Sunburst? Thanks again for letting me have your reservation. The kiddie-coaster was just right for me."
Sunburst smiled, and hoofbumped Shining.
"Yeah, Sunnyburst! I'm glad we found a ride Daddy likes. Ride again, Daddy? The line isn't terrible."
He turned greener and shook his head. "No, thanks! Take Sunburst."
Flurry hopped to the ground and fluffed her Jedi robe. "No! Hey! Hey, guys! Instead of the rollercoaster, we can just make the next Storm Trooper parade."
Shining had never seen such a wide smile on her face.
Thursday
With the diplomatic meetings finished, all six ponies walked from their hotel to the Magic Kingdom in the light of the breaking dawn. Flurry trotted ahead, clad again in her Jedi robe. Cadance smeared sunscreen on her own nose, horn, and ears, then donned a floppy yellow sunhat.
"Mommy!" Flurry shouted over her shoulder. "Mommy, Auntie Twilight, Mister Flash! I can't wait to show you everything! Daddy and Sunnyburst and I had so much fun!"
Cadance looked at Shining Armor and grinned.
Flurry halted her walk and levitated out a map. "Hey, Daddy? Daddy Daddy!"
"Yes, Flurry?" Shining said.
"Here's a rollercoaster you might not get sick on." She pointed at the map with her horn. "'The Barnstormer.' Are you willing to try it with me?"
"Of course!" Shining said.
"Yay!" Flurry took to her wings and did a loop-de-loop above them.
Cadance, eyes wide, looked at Shining.
Twilight asked, "You? On a rollercoaster? Are you serious?"
Sunburst flicked his ears. "Shining rode one with her yesterday."
Shining blushed, and looked away from the others. "She'll only be eight once. I want to get as many of these memories as I can, even if it makes me a little green."
Cadance sighed happily, wrapped her tail around Shining's, and laid her head against his shoulder as they walked.
Author's Note
Hope you enjoyed! Constructive comments are always welcome.
