Hey everypony! What's up!?

So Valentine's Day is coming up or as we call it Hearts and Hooves Day!

And I had this idea sitting around in my head for quite some time!

That's pretty much all there is to say, so I hope everypony enjoys this and lets get to it!

Chapter 1: Map Call

Today was the day before Hearts and Hooves Day in Equestria and everypony was getting ready for the day, setting up the holiday decorations in all the cities and towns across the land. And in Ponyville it was no different as the town was decorated in colorful red hearts. On the outskirts of town was a giant crystal castle, where the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle lived.

The princess was also getting ready for the day as she was going to spend Hearts and Hooves Day with her B.B.B.F.F. and best sister in law, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, who lived in the Crystal Empire. Also coming with her was Spike, her favorite dragon assistant and Starlight Glimmer, her student, who was excited to spend the day with her friend, Sunburst.

"Do we have everything packed Spike?" Twilight asked the dragon as Spike was holding onto a checklist.

"Yup, I think we have everything." Spike replied as he checked the bags and marked the list with checks.

"Oh boy, I have been looking froward to this for a long time now!" Twilight smiled brightly.

"You aren't the only one Twilight, I can't wait to see Sunburst." Starlight added, as she was besides Twilight with her saddle bag on her.

"Alright, lets get going." Twilight said as she began walking out of the throne room where they were gathered.

Only as soon as they were about to leave the throne room, a bright glowing light came from Twilight as she stopped and grasped. Her cutie mark was glowing, signaling another map adventure.

"Now!" Twilight complained. "But I planned this for so long!"

"Duty calls." Starlight said as the three in company turned around to look at the map, to where Twilight would be sent.

Twilight's cutie mark image circled around the map table twice, coming down until it stopped over the Crystal Empire, right above the crystal palace…

"What's going on in there?" Spike questioned.

"I don't know, but hey, at least the problem is right where we're going, what are the odds?" Twilight chuckled as she was thankful her day wasn't going to get ruined.

And so the trio, with their packed bags, went over to the train station, waiting for the next train to the crystal empire and when it came, the three got on and enjoyed the overnight journey to the edge of the frozen north where the empire was. As the empire came into view, the three stretched from the long journey as the train slowed down and came to a stop at the station. The trip getting off and made their way through the empire to the palace.

Of course, along the way they had to deal with crowds of crystal ponies, who, of course, adorned Spike, since he saved the empire twice. It took awhile but they eventually got through to the palace, where the a couple of guards helped the three disperse the crowds peacefully.

"Welcome, your highness." One of the guards said to Twilight as he bowed down.

"Thank you." Twilight replied. "Is Shining Armor and Princess Cadance inside?"

"No, they went out for a walk with their baby, they should be back pretty soon." The other guard answered.

"Oh, well I'll wait in the throne room." Twilight said back as the guards opened the palace doors to allow the three inside.

As the trio walked through the castle, Starlight expected to find Sunburst, who usually was in the palace during the day, since he was the Crystaller for the empire, but there was no sign of him.

When the three got to the throne room, Starlight went to one of the guards to ask about her friend.

"Excuse me sir, but where is Sunburst?" Starlight asked the guard.

"Oh I'm sorry, Sunburst is sick." The guard answered.

"Sick, with what?" Starlight was a bit worried.

"With the horsey hives." The guard answered back.

"What… What happened?" Starlight kept asking.

"Well…" The guard began.

A few days ago…

It was morning in the crystal empire and Sunburst, like he always does, arrived at the palace for another day, only today he wasn't himself… meaning he didn't look so well.

"Morning Sunburst." A familiar white stallion greeted the orange one.

"Oh morning Prince Shining Armor." Sunburst replied back in a sickly voice.

"Are you okay…" Shining Armor asked, although it was obvious question…

Sunburst had red spots all over his face and legs, one could also guess he had red spots all over him. There was the fact that Sunburst was sneezing and coughing and felt a little dizzy.

"Sunburst, you don't look so well, maybe you should not help take care of Flurry today…" Shining Armor advised. "Maybe you should go home and rest."

"I'm fine, really I am…" Sunburst replied as he sneezed and then fell down on the palace floor.

Shining Armor got a doctor and Sunburst was put on an ambulance cart and carried back to his house, where the doctor took a good look at Sunburst and found out he had the horsey hives. And as soon as Sunburst woke up, he was told as much.

Back to the present…

"So the princess and prince had to take care of the baby all the time, the doctor said that Sunburst just needs to rest for a few days and that no pony is to see him until he feels better." The guard finished.

"Well, that's sad, I hope he gets better." Starlight replied as she sighed.

Meanwhile Twilight, waiting for her family members, was asking the guards in the throne room if they were having any friendship problems, which none of them did. Twilight was beginning to question who exactly was having the problem, but soon enough her answer came as the royal couple returned from their walk with Flurry Heart.

Normally both Cadance and Shining Armor would have been excited to see Twilight and Twilight would do her "ladybugs" chant with Cadance and she would give her big brother a hug. Only as the royal couple walked into the throne room, before they even saw Twilight, Twilight noticed something strange about the two.

They were looking away from each other, both of them with irritated faces on as Cadance was using her magic to hold onto Flurry's carriage. The baby was, of course, happy as always, but her parents, not so much…

"Spike, I think I found the problem…" Twilight whispered to the dragon.

And there we go with a cliffhanger to start off!

Now, if you haven't already guessed it, since Sunburst is sick at home… Who's going to take care of Flurry? Why Starlight of course!