Friendship is Shining: The Gala

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Back in Ponyville

Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Shining Armor walked through Ponyville as they headed toward Sugarcube Corner, with Shining Armor carrying a sleeping Spike on his back as he went.. As the gingerbread style building came into view, Pinkie Pie grinned as she started bouncing again. Soon the pink pony was ahead of the other as she got excited about seeing her home once again.

"Pinkie Pie, darling," Rarity suddenly said, "why don't you go on ahead? I'm sure the Cakes would be glad to see you. Besides, I would like to say something to Shining Armor quickly."

"Okey-dokey-lokey," Pinkie Pie said before bouncing away and heading into Sugarcube Corner. Shining Armor watched her go before turning to look at Rarity curiously.

Rarity took a step toward Shining Armor, then moved to his side. Reaching out a hoof, she stroked the sleeping young dragon's scaly head gently.

"He's a sweet little thing," she said. "I believe he will grow up to be a true gentlecolt when he grows up and will treat whomever he is with as a proper lady." She smiled at Shining Armor. "Just like his big brother."

Rarity moved closer and gave the stallion a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for trying to look out for me." She gave him a smile and turned around. "Perhaps next time, we'll get the opportunity to enjoy a dance together." The mare gave a wink to the stallion from over her shoulder. With a flick of her head, she turned away and walked off, heading toward Carousel Boutique.

Shining Armor stood there, watching her go. One hoof reached up, rubbing the cheek she had kissed. It felt warm. The hint of her scent still lingered in his nose. Had that really happened? He shifted to look back and make sure Spike was still asleep. Shining Armor had no interest in dealing with a jealous dragon.

After Rarity was out of sight, Shining Armor gave a shake of his head and continued toward Sugarcube Corner.

"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!"

"Pinkie," Shining said, "you just saw me outside less than a minute ago. We walked up from the train station together."

"I know, Shiny-hiney," Pinkie Pie replied with a grin.

"SHINY!" a voice shouted from upstairs. Shining tensed his body as his horn lit up with magic.

A purple streak came rocketing down the stairways before slamming into the stallion. The impact knocked him off his hooves, falling backwards. Where the Shining Armor had been standing, a purple dragon now floated in mid-air, surrounded by a rose colored magical aura.

"How was the gala?" Twilight asked, tail wagging excitedly. "Do you get to spend time with the princess? Did Fluttershy get to meet the animals? Did Rarity get to meet her prince? I bet it was a night you'll never forget, wasn't it."

"Well..." Shining Armor grinned, "you got the last part right." He hugged his sister and tousled her mane. "It was a night we will never forget. I'll tell you about the rest of it when we get home."

"Okay." the young filly then noticed Spike. "Hey, what happened to him?"

"Spike didn't get any sleep last night." Shining answered.

Twilight moved off her brother and over toward the dragon.

"Why not?"

"Too many doughnuts." Shining stood up and brushed himself off. "First he was hyperactive from the sugar rush. Then he ended up suffering a stomach ache because of it. I don't think he fell asleep until we were on the train back for Ponyville."

"Aww," Twilight said sympathetically.

"What about you?" Shining asked. "Did you have a good time?"

"Oh, yeah." She turned back to her brother, grinning widely. "It was great. We had a lot of fun. It was the best night ever!" She paused. "Well.... so far." Her grin grew wider. "I bet it will be even better if we can get all The Cutie Mark Crusaders to have one big sleepover."

Shining contemplated the possibility. If all six of the Crusaders were going to have a sleepover together, it would probably be a good idea to have some assistance for whichever pony had the misfortune of hosting and chaperoning the whole thing.

Putting the thought aside for the time being, Shining Armor turned his attention to Mrs. Cake, who was coming down the stairs. Following behind her were the Cake twins.

"Thank you for letting Twiley stay over," he called out. "Hope that she wasn't too much trouble."

"No more than your average filly," Mrs. Cake replied. "The worst that happened was she and Pumpkin tried to give Pound a make-over." She looked at her daughter from the corner of her eye. "Although I'm not too sure the idea was Twilight's."

"Pinkie!" Pumpkin shouted as if she happened to suddenly notice the pink pony was back and in no way caught her mother's implication. The filly darted past her mother and over to the counter. "So glad to see you're home. Did you have fun at the party?"

"No," Pinkie said. "The Gala was bor-ring!" She then perked up. "Buuuut, we went to this really super-awesome doughnut shop after. So how would you like to help me try some of the ideas for new ideas I got from Pony Joe?"

"It's..." Pumpkin shifted, looking at the pink pony nervously. "It's not going to be like when you tried to make those brussels sprout and caramel muffins you tried to make, is it?"

"Nah, nothing like that."

"Okay then," the filly agreed with a nod.

"Come on, Twiley," Shining said, settling Spike onto his back once again.

Twilight nodded and followed after her brother. The two of them headed for the door. Shining stepped through when Twilight suddenly stopped.

"Oh," she called out. "I almost forgot something. One second."

Before Shining could even ask what she was talking about, Twilight turned and ran back inside. She charged up to Pound Cake, kissed him on the cheek, then ran back toward the door and outside to rejoin her brother.

"Okay," she said as she kept going, trying to keep her brother from seeing the bright red on her face.

Having not seen what happened inside, Shining Armor watched his sister curiously for a moment before continuing his way on with her toward the library.

Inside, Mrs. Cake was watching her son curiously after seeing Twilight kiss him. The young colt's ears were dropped back and eyes were wide. His mouth hung slightly open, and his cream colored face was burning a bright red.

"Wha-" Pound croaked out. "Wha... wha..."

Mrs. Cake brought a hoof to her mouth, stifling the giggle. It seemed that a certain filly had a little crush on her son. And if his reaction was indication, he might have had one on her as well.

"Pounds got a filly-friend!" Pumpkin called out with a laugh.

"What?!" Pound squeaked out, turning toward his sister as his face grew a deeper shade of crimson. "No I don't. I... she...we.. Mind your own business!"

Pumpkin continued to laugh, getting a grin from Pinkie Pie. Mrs. Cake reached down to give her son a gentle pat on the shoulder, fighting the urge to let out a giggle of her own.

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Kids these days.

[HB_DS2013]

4348908 I know. Is there a name for PoundXTwilight? It's the AU equivalent of SweetieMash.

[Hopeful_Ink_Hoof]

4349096
How about "Polight?"

[SageBrony07]

Nice chapter. I loved this story. Best of luck with Discord.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

4350123 I wonder what he'll do to break Shining Armor, seeing as Shining is quite capeable of thinking his way out of tough situations.

[Burnasius]

It's so hard to find out which mare has their eyes set on Shining.
As for the Twilight Pound Au pair up. Cuteness levels rising.

[Disguy1000]

4351208 I'll place my bets on Rainbow Dash.

[Burnasius]

Here's an idea, for the Season 2 make Eris as the villain.

[Lighting Flicker]

4351604 Rarity still has her eyes on him she will go down with a fight, but still he has FIVE female friends and no male friends. (I consider Spike more of a little brother.)

[Disguy1000]

4360985 Nah Rarity just had the, oh he was nice and imma go blablablabla after obvious disappointment...for all we know he might end up hooking up with....um....dunno really author continue plz, dun make me use my whip plz.

[sakuralovelight]

i really like this story seriescan't wait for the sequel of Friendship is Shining series

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

"Then he ended up suffering a stomach ache because of it. I don't think he fell asleep until we were on the train back for Ponyville."

I grew up in the country. One of the big differences between pigs & people is that pigs won't eat themselves sick more than once. They are capable of learning