The Crystal Empire was beautiful especially when it was nighttime. This night was different as there were more ponies walking along the streets of the Crystal Empire. It was the sixteenth birthday celebration for Princess Flutterby Lily, the daughter of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor. The crystal ponies were excited as the daughter of their ruler has reached another age. The party took place inside a ballroom of the Crystal Empire. A princess's birthday party would have been made up of nobles, dignitaries, or other royals who shared the same class as the princesses. The guests, however, were just made up of Flutterby Lily's closest friends and family members. One thing that was unexpected was Screwball's new boyfriend, Mothball, who happens to be changeling prince. When news got out about the second defeat of Queen Chrysalis, Shining Armor did his best not to keep watch of Mothball. Luckily for Shining Armor, Cadence was by his side to assure him that everything is fine. Speaking of Mothball, he was standing besides his girlfriend Screwball while she was talking to Flutterby Lily.
"I can't believe you were able to push back an entire army of changelings in one swoop!" Flutterby Lily said in surprise.
"Well, I didn't do it alone." Screwball smirked as she wrapped a hoof around Mothball's, causing him to blush. "I was able to defeat the Queen with the help of my boyfriend here."
"I-I just did what I had to do to help." Mothball said as he rubbed his neck in embarrassment. Before Mothball continued, Discord suddenly appeared with a ruler between Screwball and Mothball.
"Twelve inches please!" Discord hollered as he gave Mothball a menacing glare.
"Dad!" Screwball whined as her dad's instincts got on her nerve.
"Now Honey," Fluttershy said to her husband. "let the kids enjoy themselves. They wouldn't go that far at such a young age, right?" Fluttershy asked with a glance at Screwball to get confirmation.
"Yes, mom." Screwball said with a pretend smile to avoid conflict with her mom.
"See Discord," Fluttershy assured. "nothing to worry about." Discord grumbled as he and Fluttershy went back to the adults. That left the teens in an awkward silence.
"So anyway," Thunder Dash said to break the ice. "you should've seen the magic coming from Screwball and Mothball when they kissed."
"Yeah," Apple Blossom chimed in. "it was both romantic and powerful at the same time!"
"It kind of reminds us of when your parents used their magic to defeat Queen Chrysalis." Lightning Dash said.
"That's the power of love for ya." Flutterby Lily said. "My mom keeps telling me that a bond with a loved one is what makes magic more powerful than it is with only one creature."
"Maybe someday you'll experience the magic of love with your special somepony." Cinnamon Sticks said as he and Dinky held each other's hooves. For some reason, Cinnamon's words saddened Flutterby a bit.
"Yeah, I'm not quite sure I'll get it soon." Flutterby said with a weak smile.
"What about that stallion you met at the gala?" Screwball asked she remembered Flutterby was dancing with a unicorn stallion during that time.
"Yeah, he wasn't the right one for me as well." Flutterby admitted. There was another awkward silence among the group.
"At least you're single again!" Apple Blossom said in attempt to cheer Flutterby up. "That means you will be able to find the right pony who will make you happy!" For some reason, Flutterby felt worse from what her friend said.
"I'm gonna go get some punch." Flutterby said as she quickly flew away from her friends. Cadence couldn't help but overhear Flutterby's chat with her friends and saw Flutterby flying to the punch bowl. Cadence slowly approached Flutterby while she used her magic to add more punch into a cup.
"Hey Sweetie," Cadence said.
"Oh, hey Mom." Flutterby said as she took a sip from her cup.
"Is everything alright?" Cadence asked.
"It's fine, Mom." Flutterby replied. "My friends were just talking about relationship stuff." Cadence instantly knew what her daughter was going on about.
"You know, Lily." Cadence said as she placed a hoof on her daughter's shoulder. "There is nothing wrong with not finding your special somepony yet. I mean, I too had a lot dates with stallions who ended up becoming my exes."
"It's fine, Mom." Flutterby said with a smile. "I'll be heading to the restroom now." Flutterby then made her way down the hall. A few hours passed before it was time for the birthday cake.
"Has anypony seen Lily?" Shining Armor asked. "It's almost time for her to blow out the candles!" Some of Flutterby's friends looked at each other with confusion.
"Maybe she went to her room or the restroom again." Dinky suggested.
"I'll go check her room." Cadence said as she flew out of the ballroom.
"I'll go check the bathroom!" Screwball said as she used her magic to teleport there. After a few minutes, Cadence and Screwball returned with disappointed expressions.
"Lily wasn't in her room." Cadence said.
"Lily wasn't in the restroom." Screwball said. Upon hearing this, Shining started to panic a bit as his daughter was not in those locations.
"What do you mean she isn't there!?" Shining said as he hurried to the ballroom door. "I got to inform the guards and start a search party!" Before Shining got closer to the door, Cadence teleported in front of it to stop her husband.
"Now Honey," Cadence said as she tried to calm Shining down. "let's not get the royal guards involved with a problem that could be small. Maybe Flutterby went somewhere to clear her thoughts." Cadence then turned to the rest of the party members. "We should split up to cover more ground. If anypony asked you what you're doing, tell them that we're playing a party game." All of the friends and family members nodded in agreement before they went their separate ways.
Above the Crystal Empire, a small yellow airship was flying across the night sky. A teenage, earth pony stallion with light green manes and a blue coat was at the helm of the boat as he steered the ship to wherever he wanted. He also wore a long, dark blue overcoat to indicate that he was the captain of the ship. Seafoam was a sailor pony who just finished making a shipment delivery to the Crystal Empire. Since he didn't have work until tomorrow, he decided to take his ship, the Floating Duckling, for a relaxing ride across the empire. As Seafoam flew his airship above the shining city, he couldn't help but admire the glowing lights coming from the crystal buildings. An hour passed before Seafoam decided to stop the airship to enjoy the view of the empire and the night sky. He made his way down the main area until he heard some crying. Seafoam was alarmed as there was someone else on the Floating Duckling. He didn't have any crew members and he has been sailing on his own for a long time. Cautiously, Seafoam reached inside his overcoat to pull out a small saber. He always carried a sword around in case if raiders come and try to take his shipments, supplies, or his entire ship. Seafoam got closer to the source of the crying until he spotted a dark figure sitting at the front of the airship. Before Seafoam moved any further, he was strategizing on what to do. First option would be to just greet this newcomer but Seafoam didn't know if the newcomer was friendly or not. Another option would be to threaten the newcomer while holding the sword but Seafoam thought it would scare the newcomer and he or she would get the wrong idea. Seafoam decided to risk it and go with the first option. He put the sword back inside his overcoat and walked closer until he was at a distance where he could be heard from the newcomer. Seafoam cleared his throat before he spoke.
"Excuse me." Seafoam said. The dark figure got startled and fired a light blue beam from his or her horn. The blast hit Seafoam and he flew out of his airship. Seafoam panicked as he plundered down to the sky without a parachute. Falling to the sea was one thing a sailor is used to, but falling from the sky is deadly; especially for an earth pony. Before Seafoam fell down any further, he was suddenly stopped in midair while covered in light blue aura.
'Unicorn magic?' Seafoam thought as he tried to remain calm from the falling. He was then levitated upwards towards his airship. Once he was placed to the floor, he collapsed while breathing heavily. The dark figure approached Seafoam with a bright light glowing from his or her horn. Seafoam looked up to the light to see that the dark figure was a pink mare with dark and light blue manes. Her faced show panic and distraught probably because she almost killed a pony.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" The mare said with concern. "I didn't know you were approaching me since I thought the captain would remain at the steering!" While the mare talked, Seafoam continued to breath heavily while he processed what happened.
"Are you alright, sir?" The mare asked. Seafoam was able to catch his breath before he took a deep breath.
"I'm fine," Seafoam replied. "Besides from the panic of falling to my doom, I think I'm alright." The mare sighed in relief. Seafoam was able to get a better look at the mare and noticed that not only she had a horn but also pegasus wings as well.
"Are you an alicorn?" Seafoam asked curiously. The mare hesitated before she sighed again.
"Yes, I am." The mare said as she bowed to Seafoam. "I'm Princess Flutterby Lily, it's nice to meet you." Seafoam was a bit surprised to have an alicorn princess on his boat. He cleared his throat once again to make a proper introduction.
"I'm Seafoam, Captain of the Floating Duckling." Seafoam replied. All of a sudden, Flutterby chuckled which caught Seafoam off guard for a bit.
"That is what this airship is called?" Flutterby said in disbelief. Seafoam shouldn't be surprised as he often gets laughed at for calling his airship a ridiculous name.
"Yeah, you probably think it's a stupid name for a airship. But it means a lot to me!" Seafoam defended.
"Oh no," Flutterby nodded. "I actually think it's a funny name." Flutterby then frowned.
"Well, sorry for intruding on your ship." Flutterby said with a bow. "I'll be off of your hair now." Before Flutterby spread her wings to fly, Seafoam called out:
"Wait!" Flutterby stopped.
"Why were you crying?" Seafoam asked. Flutterby bit her lip as she tried to make up an excuse.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Flutterby denied.
"I went to you because I heard you crying." Seafoam pointed out. "Is it a topic too touchy for you to talk about? If so, then I can respect that and you can be on your way." Flutterby had no idea what to do. She wished that she could talk to somepony outside of her family and friends but she didn't know much about this Seafoam character. Then again, Seafoam was concerned about her being upset so that was one sign of a good pony.
"Can you promise me that you won't let this out to others?" Flutterby pleaded. Seafoam pulled out his saber to hold it upside down and placed a hoof on his chest as he was about to make a pledge.
"I, Captain Seafoam of the Floating Duckling, hereby listen to what you have to say and not say a word to anybody! If so, then by the wits of Sparrow Claw I will replace all my hooves with peglegs as a punishment!" Flutterby just looked at Seafoam with a raised brow for what she just saw.
"It's an oath for pirates and sailors." Seafoam blushed as he placed the saber back into his overcoat and sat down with Flutterby. She smiled as she accepted the oath and took a deep breath.
"For most of my life, I had a not-so-good love life." Flutterby began. "I dated stallions my age and most of them ended up being elite snobs or ponies who wanted to marry into royalty." Seafoam continued to listen to the princess.
"Another thing is that some of my friends helped stopped a changeling invasion while I was at the Crystal Empire just like the generic princess everypony see me as." Flutterby's eyes showed some anger. "What's worse is that most of my friends paired up with each other as couples and that-" Tears poured down Flutterby's cheeks. "makes...me...jealous!" Flutterby broke down crying with her hooves to her face. Seafoam carefully placed a hoof on Flutterby's shoulder to show that he understands. He carefully pulled out a blue handkerchief from his overcoat and offered it to Flutterby.
"Thanks," Flutterby sniffed before she blew on Seafoam's handkerchief. She wiped off her tears before she continued. "So, that's what been going on with my life." Seafoam stayed silent as he processed what he heard.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Seafoam said. "It's good to know that you're talking to me. It allows me to know that you're more than just a princess. You're a pony just like me."
"Thanks," Flutterby said as she blew her nose once again.
"All I can say is that you can be anypony you want to be, not somepony you were born as." Seafoam replied. "I mean take me for example."
"What do you mean?" Flutterby asked.
"When I was a foal," Seafoam began. "I wasn't happy with working at my family's farm. Sure I did the work for my family, but I still wasn't satisfied with staying there. It was because I had this one dream that I wanted to come true." Seafoam stopped and looked around the airship.
"Can YOU promise me to keep what I'm about to say a secret?" Seafoam asked.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Flutterby sang while made some gestures. That left Seafoam confused.
"It's just my way of keeping a promise." Flutterby explained. It was Seafoam's turn to take a deep breath before he began to spoke.
"I really wanted to become a pirate." Seafoam admitted. There was a long silence between the two ponies.
"What?" Flutterby said.
"It's true," Seafoam replied. "Pirates were so cool to me because they get to go on adventures and they carry around swords to fight with." Flutterby scoffed in surprise as she realized it was all making sense. Seafoam carried around a sword, wore some red earrings, and sailed on a ship. He was trying to live like a pirate. The realization made Flutterby laugh out loud which Seafoam expected.
"Yeah, that was the same reaction my peers gave me when I mentioned that." Seafoam lowered his head as he felt the depression kicking in.
"I-I'm not laughing because it's ridiculous," Flutterby said as she wiped a tear. "I'm laughing because it makes sense that you're fulfilling your dream in your own way. Plus, my friends and I often play pirates and they would love to meet a modern-day pirate such as you."
"You think so?" Seafoam said.
"Definitely!" Flutterby replied. Seafoam laughed in relief.
"So anyway," Seafoam continued. "it sounds like your friends had one heck of an adventure when they fought against the changelings. But that was THEIR adventure. You can still make your own whenever that happens. As for your love life, I say it was those stallions' loss for not getting to know you more." Flutterby face looked intrigued.
"You seem like a cool pony despite being a princess." Flutterby giggled which caught Seafoam by surprise.
"What?" Seafoam asked.
"No stallion has every called me 'cool' before." Flutterby replied.
"Oh!" Seafoam said as he realized that.
"Let's see," Flutterby said as she counted on her hooves. "you stayed with me when I was distressed, made me laugh, and called me cool." Flutterby then turned to Seafoam.
"You must be really special for doing those three things." Flutterby complimented. Seafoam blushed and laughed sheepishly.
"You know, that's what friends are for." Seafoam replied. Flutterby scoffed in surprise once again.
"Now you're calling me a friend? You are so bold, Seafoam." Flutterby teased. Seafoam stuttered from his choice of words.
"I just thought-" Flutterby giggled.
"I'm kidding." Flutterby answered. "But still, allow me to reward you for your efforts." Seafoam froze as Flutterby gave him a peak on the cheek. Seafoam didn't move an inch as he blushed more due to the fact he just got kissed by a princess. All of a sudden, a spot light shined on Seafoam and Flutterby.
"I found her!" Discord said as he arrived in a giant purple and pink airship with Discord's head attached to the front like a figurehead. When Discord's ship stopped right next to the Floating Duckling, Shining Armor jumped onto Seafoam's ship and made his way to his daughter.
"Flutterby! Are you alright!" Shining said as he gave his daughter a hug.
"I'm fine, Dad." Flutterby replied as she carefully removed herself from her dad's hug.
"We've been looking all over the Crystal Empire for you!" Shining then noticed Seafoam standing next to Flutterby.
"Who is this?" Shining asked while giving Seafoam a glare. Sweat poured down from Seafoam as he was face to face with a prince/former royal guard captain.
"This is Seafoam," Flutterby replied. "he was just hanging out with me while I cleared my thoughts." Shining studied Seafoam to see any bad traits. Shining huffed as he didn't suspect a thing about the sailor pony.
"Anyway, we should probably head back to the party to let everypony know you're alright." Shining said.
"Okay," Flutterby replied as she walked towards Seafoam.
"Sorry I have to leave." Flutterby apologized.
"It's no problem." Seafoam said. "I got to head back to the docks and call it a night too."
"I hope we're see each other again. Before I go, here is a farewell present from me." Flutterby said as she gave another peak on Seafoam's cheek. Seafoam smiled as he placed a hoof on his kissed cheek. When Flutterby flew passed her dad, Shining pointed a hoof at his eyes and then pointed back to Seafoam, indicating that he was watching Seafoam. Seafoam gulped as Shining went back to Discord's ship and it flew back to the crystal castle. Once Discord's ship was out of Seafoam's sight, he walked towards the helm to drive his ship.
'What a night.' Seafoam said in his thoughts.
Flutterby, Shining, and Discord returned to the ballroom where everypony gathered to welcome her back. Flutterby's teenage friends approached her with guilty expressions.
"Lily, we're sorry if we made you feel left out for not having a special somepony." Apple Blossom said.
"Yeah, it can be really lonely for not having a special somepony yet." Dinky added.
"Thanks everyone." Flutterby said before she noticed Screwball was staring very closely at her.
"Um, Screwball?" Flutterby said. Screwball stepped back with a smirk on her face.
"So who's the boy?" Flutterby's eyes went wide.
"What?"
"I have multiple senses and I could tell that you met somepony, specifically a boy." Flutterby blushed as she was caught. Most of the mares squealed and gathered around Flutterby and asked her questions about Seafoam.
"All I could say is that he is a good friend." Flutterby replied. The mares groaned for not getting juicy details, but they were glad that Flutterby is back.
The party was over and the ballroom was cleaned up. Flutterby laid in her bed as she recalled what happened earlier from the night. She thought about what Seafoam said and she came up with something that might help herself.
'I hope we're see each other again.' Flutterby remembered before she left Seafoam.
'Maybe it will be sooner than he thinks.' Flutterby thought while smiling. She finally fell asleep from such a memorable night.