Friendship is Shining: Boasts and Brag

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Plan In Motion

At the wave of Fluttershy's hoof, Pinkie Pie motioned toward the musicians. The three gave a nod and started to play. A gentle music began to fill the air of Ponyville. Many ponies stopped what they were doing to listen, including a young purple filly who had been looking for her brother and a young dragon that was accompanying her. Curiously, Twilight and Spike began to follow the gentle melody, reaching the town square.

With the music playing, Shining Armor dropped the shield that was holding the Ursa Minor in place. The roaring stopped as the music reached the creature's ears. It seemed to relax, a smile passing across it's face. After the shield dropped, Shining Armor used his magic to lift the large bear-like creature. His rose colored aura was joined by a pale blue one as Rarity unfurled the large piece of fabric, wrapping the Ursa in it.

Once the Ursa Minor was properly swathed, Shining Armor put the top back on top of the water tank that now held milk and floated it into the bear's grip. The creature took a hold of the bottle, bringing it to its mouth and suckling from the tip.

With that done and musicians continuing to play, Fluttershy took flight. Flying up to the creature, she moved to float just above its head. The creature looked up at the pegasus, but did nothing else for a moment. Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy began to sing "Hush now, quiet now." The gentle lyrical voice of the pegasus blended with the steady rhythmic music of the instruments to create a calm, soothing song.

The lullaby floated through the air, the gentle song filling the town square. Soon, the Ursa Major was fast asleep, as were a large number of ponies that had been around witnessing the entire event. Spike and Twilight were both yawning and wobbling, but managing to stay awake. The two stumbled out of the way as the Ursa floated toward them, followed by Fluttershy, Rarity, and Shining Armor. The three ponies went with the creature as it was floated back to The Everfree Forest. The ponies stopped at the edge of the woods as the Ursa was returned to its cave.

As soon as it was finished, the magic from Shining Armor's horn vanished, and the stallion collapsed. He laid on the ground, rubbing at his head and groaning.

"You alright sugar cube?" Applejack asked as she walked up to where the others now stood.

"My head is killing me," he answered as he moved to sit up. "Never tried to use more than one spell at a time, or more than one target either."

"That was incredible," Twilight shouted as she ran up. "Did you see that? My brother was able to levitate an entire Ursa Major! That has to prove that Shining is the most powerful unicorn in Ponyville."

"That wasn't an Ursa Major," Shining repeated. "That was a baby, an Ursa Minor."

"That was a baby?" Spike asked, his eyes going wide. "Well, what does an Ursa Major look like then?"

"You don't want to know." He turned to look up. "Thanks for your help Fluttershy. I figured if anyone knew what to do, it would be you."

Fluttershy landed, and blushed, but did not say anything.

"Well, well, well," Sunset Shimmer said as she moved toward the group. "I must say I am surprised. You aren't as pathetically weak as I thought." She looked around at the others. "Still, you had to rely on your..." she snorted, "friends to help you. Oh well. Another time." Turning, she started to walk away.

"Where do ya think y'er goin'?" Applejack asked, moving to step in front Shimmer.

"Excuse me?" The unicorn mare raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, glaring at the orange earth pony in front of her.

"You ain't going anywhere," Applejack continued, narrowing her own gaze. "Least not til you pay for what you done?"

Sunset Shimmer snorted and rolled her eyes.

"And what, exactly, did I do hayseed?"

"Well," Applejack shifted, looking toward the others, "You were goin' ta kill it, weren't ya?"

"Oh no," Shimmer said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes, "I was going to destroy a massive monster that was attacking the town. Oh!" Her eyes went wide as she brought a hoof to her mouth. "Except, I never attacked the thing. You six stopped it."

"Yeah?" Rainbow Dash snapped as she flew into Sunset Shimmer's face. "Well... " She looked around a moment, then poked a hoof at Sunset Shimmer. "It's your fault that the thing came into Ponyville in the first place."

"I merely told a story about vanquishing an Ursa Major," Sunset Shimmer said, raising her nose in the air. "I cannot be held accountable if a couple of fans decide to try and find one to see it for real. Those two," she pointed at the sleeping forms of Snips and Snails, " are the ones you want. Not me."

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy all looked back and forth between each other.

"Face it," Sunset Shimmer said with a grin, "as much as you hate it, you can't do anything about it." With that, she stepped around Applejack and continued on her way.

"Ah normally don't say this," Applejack said as she watched the flaming yellow unicorn walk away, "but I hate that mare. It really sticks in my saddle that she's right."

"At least she's leaving," Shining Armor responded as he moved to stand up.

"Darling," Rarity spoke up, "what about the young colts who caused this?"

"I think that's going to have to be discussed between the mayor and their parents," the stallion answered. "We should probably take them to the mayor so they could..." Shining Armor stopped talking as he turned to look the way that Sunset Shimmer had gone.

"Shiny?" Twilight asked. "Is something wrong?"

"How did she know my name?"

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Put two and two together Shining Armor, and you'll realize that Sunset is the very mare you talked to earlier that morning.

And I'd send a message to the princess anyway if I were you. Sunset Shimmer is clearly insane if she is willing to destroy life with no regard for it. Who knows what she'll try next? You have to stop her before somepony gets hurt, or worse.

[Burnasius]

Sunset Shimmer... she is clearly obsessed with power, still...
Send a letter man, she's aiming for power and the next best thing would be the Elements.
Also, Shining, why suspect her knowing your name when your friends were talking to you and at least ONE Shining Armor was stated.

[enigmaMystere]

What, they couldn't hold her on charges of assault? She did strike Rainbow with a lightning bolt.