"Oh my. It seems somepony has worn herself out."

Shining and his parents turned to look. Fluttershy, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail, stood in the living room, looking down. Twilight was curled up on the rug in the middle of the floor. The filly's mouth hung slightly open and her eyes were closed. Her body rose and fell with the rhythm of her gentle breathing.

"Well it has been quite a busy day for her," Shining said moving to look down at her.

After leaving Sweet Apple Acres, Shining and his family had managed to catch sight of Rainbow Dash. It had taken some shouting and running, but they had managed to get the flying mare's attention. After introductions, and some asking from Twilight, the family of unicorns had followed the pegasus out to a field where she performed some stunts. While watching, they ate some of the lemon squares, offering some to Dash when she came in for a landing.

Next had been Carousal Boutique. It had been very exciting for Twilight and Shining's mother as well as Rarity. Rarity was excited to have another mare from Canterlot and to hear about fashion trends. Shining and Twilight's mother found the designs on display fascinating, as was the fact that Rarity collected the gemstones used herself. So much so, that the mother was going to come back tomorrow to have some outfits made.

Finally they had come to Fluttershy's cottage. It had taken some coaxing, but the pegasus had been convinced to come out and meet them. Once introduced, Fluttershy was willing to invite them in. It had been quite shocking to see so many animals living in the cottage.

"Thank you for your hospitatlity," the mother said, "but it seems we should get going back to the library."

"Just one minute," the father said. "Alright Angel, since we have to get going, how about we make it interesting? What do you say? All in?"

The rabbit looked up from the cards in front of him to the blue unicorn. Narrowing his eyes, Angel rubbed his chin a moment as he stared at his opponent. With a nod, he reached out and pushed a pile of carrots beside him into the center of the table.

"Ha!" Shining's father said as he shoved the carrots in front of him into the center as well. "Four ace!" He dropped the five cards, showing four aces and a five of spades.

Angel gave a smirk and set down his cards, revealing that they were all hearts in order from nine to king. The smirk grew wider as he crossed his front legs over chest. The father's eyes went wide as he looked at the rabbit's cards, then narrowed as he glared at his opponent.

"You're not a bunny," he growled, "you're a shark."

Angel grinned and hopped forward. He took a hold of the carrots and started pulling them over to him.

"Alright," the father said with a sigh. "Let's go."

"I'll carry Twilight," Shining offered. His horn glowed with the energy of his magic as he took a hold of the sleeping filly to set her onto his back. The young filly shifted, opening her eyes a moment. After a quick glance at her brother, she let herself settle down again and went back to sleep.

"It was nice meeting you, Fluttershy," Shining's mother said again.

"You too," Fluttershy said. "You can come again. Uhm... that is if you want to."

"I will," the father said. "That rabbit and I are going to need to have a re-match."

Angel grinned and waved at the unicorns. The older unicorn gave the rabbit one last glare before heading out the door. Fluttershy gave them one last wave before shutting the door. The three unicorns walked in silence until they were past the bridge and heading for Ponyville again.

"So," the mother said, "That's the Fluttershy that Twilight has told us all about? I can see why she wanted you to marry her."

"Not this again," Shining groaned.

"Personally," she continued, "I still think that Pinkie Pie would be a better choice. She knows how to cook and turns out she's experienced with foals."

"What about Rainbow Dash?" the father asked. "She's in very good shape and extremely energetic."

"Oh," the mare perked up with a grin, "what about Rarity? Such a sophisticated unicorn with aspirations would be a wonderful companion for Celestia's personal student. Perhaps I could get a sense of her interest in Shining tomorrow while discussing possible outfits."

"Okay," Shining said. "I think this joke has run its course."

"Alright, alright," she said with a chuckle. "We'll stop. In all seriousness, you seem to have some wonderful friends. It's nice to see that things are working out for you."

"Thank you."

The four of them continued back to the library. Three of them walking and one being carried as she slept. They made their way through Ponyville, watching the other ponies who passed them as they went. Several times there were comments about how cute it was to see the sleeping filly be carried. It made Shining Armor blush, but he otherwise just kept going on without acknowledging it. The group reached the library with the young stallion pushing the door open.

"Hey, guys," Spike started, but stopped when he was motioned to be quiet. "Sorry. So how'd it go?'

"It was fine," Shining whispered. "Everything okay here?"

"Yeah. Nothing really happened."

"That's good. Oh, we got you a snack." With his horn, he pulled out a small bag and handed it to the young dragon.

Spike opened the bag and looked inside, finding several opals. Grinning widely, he grabbed one and stuck it into his mouth, crunching down.

Shining Armor smiled as he watched the dragon eat excitedly. Moving past him, he headed for stairs and climbed up. Turning, he went into a bedroom different than his own. Carefully, he used his magic to lift the filly up. She opened her eyes as she was set back down on the bed.

"Are we home?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes.

"Yeah," Shining Armor answered, "we're home. You seem to have had a lot of fun."

"I did." Looking around, she found her doll and pulled it against her, nuzzling the belly. "I wish I could stay forever."

"Sweet dreams," Shining said before giving her a kiss on the cheek.