3) it is too risky. you will not be able to use any of the information from the book without exposing yourself.

3, by far.
1 way too dangerous - remember Twiggles is Flurry's aunt and probably taught her some kind of alarm spell on the journal.

Flurry Heart looks like Maud in the cover image

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Derpibooru, search, artist:shoutingisfun , princess flurry heart

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I find Derpibooru confusing

Is this the one you were talking about?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/7/20/1205611.png

If not, then please PM me a link

it may just me being paranoid but I can't help but think this is all set up,
Flurries diary ending up in Shinings study right when he comes home before Flurries birthday, and even all those other books I can't help but think Cadence and/or Flurry are trying to send a subtle message to Shining that he is not exactly getting because of him being a Moron and all.

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Interesting theory! Who do you think is behind it all?

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Those unicorns can be pretty tricky. Maybe Shining could cast a detection spell?

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I think Shiny probably throws 1s.

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If I had to guess it would probably Cadence, she is The Princess of Love so she might be able to sense these things,
and as The Princess of Love, I suspect her to be sentimental and flurries birthday is the perfect timing for shining to have time off.
So she may be the reason that shining got put on "sabbatical" and she may have gotten Night Light to give Shining some hints for all we know.
And I don't exactly know Flurry in this story that much except that she is an average teenage filly and she liked a human show,
but the only other one who might come up with a plan who may have a motive might be Twilight sparkle but they have yet to show up and directly interact with the rest of the characters but maybe that is the point.

Wow, not even a day passed and clops delivered.
>that was fast< tag achieved.

So, let's see what we got...

1) Gambler's choice: high risk, even higher reward. Pretty sure Flurry would notice given the odds, at least eventually.
2) Prepare for war choice: Not sure what exactly can benefit Shining from this, given his daughter has two relative alicorns whose magic tutelage surpass his own (granted she's still a teenager and I might be thinking way too much into it), leaving with few powerful or deceitful tricks up his non-existent sleeves.
3) Play Safe: And even that might not benefit him much, surely he will mess up here and there in the conversation, could give him points but with no large term benefits, it's almost back to square one with a bit of boosted stats. And I also believe this is a set up and might get her annoyed instead.

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Awesome breakdown!

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Interesting!

Many threads may be running in the background!

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Lol, he did have a city-wide protection shield.

1. Seeing this succeed or fail would both be extremely entertaining

1

#2 leaves open the possibility for Flurry Heart to come into the study looking for the diary while Shining is studying the spellbook, which would be an interesting scenario. It would be advantageous for Shining to interact with Flurry with her going to him rather than him entering her territory.

I think that messing with Flurry's journal is too dangerous in any regard. Stealing it to read it is too likely to result in more trouble, and simply moving it may mess up whatever she'd been arranging.

Whereas #2 has many potential applications! Sure, we could maybe find something immediately useful for personal gain, but it might also give us some deeper insight into Cadance's schtick (wife-approved conversation topics!). And, if somepony has been messing with Flurry, mind alteration is going to be one of the most effective ways, so the best way for us to counter it would be to understand it ourselves! The book sounds like it might have some insights in this regard. It might be a long shot, but Superdad's newfound knowledge to the rescue? Hmmmmm...

Option (2) please!

*groan* If he could find out what Flurry’s day to day was like, maybe he could find some clue as to what was making her act like some emotional teenager, instead of the beloved little filly he remembered. At the very least, it could probably give him some clues as to what her interests were.
yes shining armor: she is an emotional teenager you moron -.-

all the stupid daddy landmines with a nuke warhead xD

"after voting" you guys really want to see him get smith'd down by flurry xD

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Shah!

Such a pleasure to have you comment on the story! I like your take on option 2, using it to not only get a powerful new skill, but also potentially to relate better with the waifu, too!

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There's definitely a big reward aspect to the greater risk of checking the diary.

You gotta forgive Shining, he doesn't realise that little fillies grow up!

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I like your idea of Flurry coming in, something I was also considering!

Well of course option 2! After all, who knows what could be in that spell book; it could be love spells, it could be "reveal your true desires AND thoughts" spells, it could even be tips and tricks for the BEST taco Tuesday ever! The possibilities are endless and, in this case, less is more!

As a side note, never use that shade of blue again, very hard to read.

3

Gonna have to go with door number 2 here.

2

Read the book on love hexing first, then read the diary if she hasn't come to get it somewhere in the middle of the night. Or don't read the diary, as it probably has a spell that fires when opened.

"Based on a true Derpibooru tag."

i'll go with number 1

I want to see if we can make it through the whole story without Shining Armor catching on, which means taking all of the paths that don't involve him directly learning more about Flurry Heart or having his thoughts pushed towards sex. 3 it is, then.

... The journal is a plant. Cadence and Flurry are in this together. Flurry wants Shining, and she's been 'ignoring him' to try and get him to be distanced from the thought of her as his little girl. Cadence is completely okay with this and has been assisting her. Shining is making his plans here, but the girls have been planning together and for much longer. I think, if we keep the three-question format, we might have 2 options that lead us in the direction the girls want him to go, and 1 that can screw the pooch. The journal being right there feels like he's supposed to read it and see something engineered specifically for him to read that would help make him more amenable to the idea and dicking down Flurry.

After all, his study has a shelf of books Cadence wrote about incest, clearly meant for him to find. Duchess Tempo, it's like she's trying to make it easy for him and he's still not picking up on it.

At any rate, seems to be the case to me.

2...
FOR SCIENCE!

3) For being a good father!(?).

2 for me

*Checks votes*
Incoming conversation:
"Here you go Sweetie. Be careful where you leave this, if I was more of a butt I might have read this."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Gotta be careful about butts. You know, your Mom has the best butt in the world."
"Dad."
"Oh don't worry, Flurry Burry, your butt's cute too."
"DAAAAAAD!"

Both the love book and the journal are plants. I'm unsure whether they were both placed by Cadance, or if Cadance and Flurry both want Shining to get the hint and get to Flurry's bed but have different ideas on how to get it done.

If I want Shining to avoid the bait, then I have to decide whether the answer is to read the journal or return it...

3.
If we can have Shining just act like a good parent then I've got a feeling that Flurry will force an event.

EDIT: I just realized that if option 3 is chosen, Shining should be on the lookout for writing supplies in her room. Her diary was left in his study. It was next to writing supplies so that suggests she needed to be there to write. BUT Cadence said that she was studying for a test AND she took her dinner to her room. She most likely has writing supplies there. If Shining has this... intelligence thing, he should at least ponder upon this.

He may be a moron and a little dim at times. But he is a good dad first and foremost can't really fault him for not catching on. Who in their right minds would see... Hmm incest books and think my family wants to bang me? but no he is a good Dad and he loves his family
I vote 3

3! Keep moving up and true, brother!

The problem with returning it and promising that you didn't read it is, based on how this kind of story works, she'll NEVER BELIEVE YOU.

Of course, neither of the other options could possibly work out based on how they're written either, so... Ehh.

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

“A Family Affair.”

“Oh Daddy!”

“The Son is Shining.”

“Oh Brother!”

You absolute scamp!

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Busted!

Cadence has very good taste.

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

I'm not the only one who finds drumfire clopfiction taxing.

The FLURRY HEART METER has increased by 1

Currently the meter is at 4 / 10 !

Does she get fucked in the ears if I make it to 10?

Even better was that fact that it was perched in front of a roaring fireplace

This looks really awkward and uncertain. Did you mean to say "even better was the fact?

Shining lifted the glass top of the nearby ornate decanter, pouring out a generous amount of the golden whiskey..

Delete period.

He was a protective dad.

Yeech! This is telly.

The last thing that Shining remembered her being a fan of was that old animated cartoon, My Little Human.

Who would want to watch a TV show about humans?

‘Wow Cadence, I’m not one to judge but… an incest-fetish? I guess it makes sense, she never really had siblings or parents, it isn’t as squicky for her.’

That makes sense I guess. I never had a sister and brother-sister is my preferred flavor of incest clop.

Shining clicked his tongue while shaking his head. All the books had the same author too… Duchess Tempo?

(Chuckles) So this isn't a self-insert for you then otherwise, the author would be named "Drum Fire".

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

‘Maybe… maybe this could help?’ Shining pulled the heavy text out.

He really, truly is a goddamn moron.

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

This was perfect!

Your narrator is batting a thousand, me boyo! You are fucking killing it right now!

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

READ IT READ IT READ IT