Sitting next to each other on the train, Shining Armor and Cadance watched their adorable little foal sleeping in her pram.
"Cady? Do you ever wonder what our little Flurry will be like, when she's older?"
Cadance smiled serenely. Smiling serenely was one of the most important princess skills, and she was VERY good at it.
"Sometimes," Cadance admitted. "I'm sure she'll be a good daughter. Or good enough, at least."
"Good ENOUGH?"
"Nopony's perfect. But I'm sure she'll be a credit to the Crystal Empire."
***
In a wrestling ring, teenage Flurry Heart charged at the much larger minotaur Iron Will. "RARRR!" she shouted.
Iron Will jumped out of the way. "Nice try, pipsqeak!" he said. "I've met turtles that were harder to dodge."
"You leave Tank out of this!" Flurry yelled. "Just for that, I'm going to tie you in TWO knots at the same time!" The young alicorn sprang into the air, using her wing assist to leap all the way across the ring at Iron and tackle him to the mat. Faster than the eye could see, she had him in a sleeper hold.
In one of the many tiers of seats above, Shining shouted, "Don't hurt him! We're running low on practice partners!"
Beside him, Cadance cheered. "You show him! Smash him for Tank! Rainbow will appreciate it!"
Shining yelled, "Rainbow isn't even here! And SHE wouldn't want you to run out of sparring partners either!" Shining stood up, hop-hop-hopped sideways into the aisle, and ran down to the ring. He checked Iron Will's vital signs. "Don't kill him, Flurry."
"Ok." Flurry let the enormous minotaur go. Then for good measure, she practiced artificial respiration and all the different CPR techniques on him.
When Iron Will woke up, he said with a slurred voice, "I thought the PRINCE was supposed to kiss the PRINCESS to wake her up."
By then, Cadance had joined her husband at ringside. "Flurry Heart is going to be different."
Iron Will asked, "But why? Isn't it enough to be a good alicorn princess?"
Anger flashed in Cadance's eyes. "Years ago, I thought Princess Celestia's magic could protect all of Equestria. But when Nightmare Moon tried to capture Auntie? Auntie Cee went down without a fight. And what about the wedding, when Chrysalis revealed she was impersonating me? Celestia tried to use her magic, but that nasty changeling queen's own magic was more than a match for Celestia's. And later, villains like Tirek sucked all the alicorn magic right up like it was nothing. And Cozy Glow was able to steal everycreature's magic just by being Tirek's pen pal! An eight year old foal!"
"Wow," Iron Will said. "Magic sucks."
"No kidding. That's why I'm determined that if magic fails my daughter, she'll have something else to fall back on."
"Just don't let her fall on ME again. I don't think I could take it."
Flurry Heart spoke up. "I've learned something important," she said. "So many times, some big, strong creature has held me tightly in his arms...his body so close to mine...touching and grabbing each other just about everywhere..."
Celestia blinked, but didn't interrupt. Although she looked like she really, really wanted to.
"Boys suck."
Shining said, "What, Flurry dear?"
"Boys suck. They're stupid weaklings."
"Well, honey...I suppose mares are fine too."
"I've wrestled mares too. They're not much good either. There's only one way that I think I could be happy."
Shining swallowed nervously, dreading the answer. "How? I mean..I HOPE..who?"
"The sister of one of Auntie Twilight's friends introduced me to somecreature nice." Flurry Heart reached out of the ring, into her athletic bag. She pulled out a small pebble and held it high. "Meet Prince Feldspar, the next Royal Consort of the Crystal Empire!"
***
Cadance's awareness returned to the non-fantastical train car in which she, Shining, and their little foal rode. The train was slowing down.
"Wow," Cadance said. "Is it just that being the Princess of Love tends to overpower things, or do my daydreams mean I'm really, really weird? Because I still think it's mostly a good plan."
Shining told his wife, "You're sweet, and caring, and...I know you love our daughter very much. Also, it's almost time to get off the train."