My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Storm of Friendship

by SuperPinkBrony12

Back on the Beach

Seven heads poked their way up from under the water and the bodies to which they were attached quickly made their way to the nearby shore.

"Is everyone alright?" Shining asked as he observed the water logged state of his friends. All of them nodded one by one, which allowed the prince to breath a sigh of relief.

But the peace didn't last long, tempers were flaring up and it took little time for accusations to start flying through the air. "What the heck were you thinking?!" Soarin scowled. "After all these years, after all those talks about being the better stallion, you go and swipe another kingdom's most valuable object when you think they're not looking?!"

Shining could only hang his head. "I know it sounds stupid and reckless, but I saw no other options. I never meant to steal the Pearl of Transformation, I only wanted to study it."

"It doesn't matter! You still lied to us!" Big Macintosh growled and stomped a hoof down. "We trusted you! And yet you regarded us as only bein' good for a distraction to suit your own needs! Is that really that we are to you?!"

"Ya don't even trust us to do our thing, do you?!" Braeburn added. "If you'd just left well enough alone, everythin' would've worked out just fine! We'd won over Queen Novo, she was goin' to help us! But now you've made it so that we came all this way out here for nothin'!"

The prince replied. "How was I know to my distraction would work out better than intended?! Maybe you haven't noticed, but we're not exactly in Equestria anymore. We can't be doing all the things we normally would do in these situations and expect everything to work out just fine!" Then he added. "You saw what happened with Capper and the pirates, trusting others only got us into trouble and put them in the crossfire!"

"They knew the risks when they agreed to help us, Shining!" Soarin retorted. "Perhaps they're not as ideal as we are but friends are still friends!"

Fancy Pants was quick to add. "And since when was being outside Equestria an excuse to abandon our better nature? So what if we're not in our native homeland, that's no excuse for us to be as cruel and wicked as others! Is your judgement really that clouded by the fact that Tempest is hunting you down?! It's not all about you, you know!"

"Maybe it isn't, but the fact remains that as long as I'm with anyone they're in danger!" The alicorn remarked. "Tempest won't stop until I'm firmly in her clutches. And even if she does give up the Storm King will surely come to finish the job."

"So what, you're just going to throw away your own life as if it means NOTHING?!" Soarin bitterly protested to the prince. "You honestly think that lowly of yourself?!"

But Shining merely shook his head and defensively he remarked. "It doesn't matter what I think or want. All that matters is that others don't suffer anymore because of me. I blew our only chance to gain a powerful ally, it's only fair that I atone for it."

Spike, who had remained silent for the entire argument, finally found the courage to speak up. "But... but... what about everypony who fled to Ponyville?! And what about all those still in captivity in Canterlot?! If you turn yourself in, how do you think they will react?"

"Twily and Starlight will be motivated to keep fighting, and so will others," Shining declared. "You're not going to change my mind, Spike. My decision has been made. Without Novo and without any other allies, I see no other options. We have no one left to turn to, and it's all because of me."

Fancy Pants stepped forward, his eyes narrowed in frustration. "I can't believe you, Shining Armor! Your own life means so little to you?! I thought you were beyond such pettiness!" Then he glared at the prince and told him. "If you're really intent on throwing your life away like this... you're... you're gonna have to go through me! I refuse to just sit back and let you do this!" He proceeded to light up his horn.

With a sigh, Shining reluctantly did the same. It was hardly a contest, Fancy Pants never stood a chance. In a matter of seconds the fashion stallion was overpowered and defeated. Thunderlane and Big Macintosh helped him to his hooves as the shock knocked him down.

"Fancy Pants... why'd you make me have to do that?" The prince protested with tears in his eyes. "You know I hate striking at a friend," Then he threw up a hoof and declared. "All of you go, now! And no matter what happens, don't come back for me! This is goodbye!"

"What?! But Shining..." Thunderlane began with a gasp.

"...But nothing! I told you to leave!" Shining bellowed even as tears started to trickle down his face. "So leave, now! That's an order!"

Fancy Pants was the first one to speak up. "Fine, be that way!" And then he said to the others. "Come on, you heard him. No point in hanging around here. Let the prince do what he thinks is right. Personally, I think he's being selfish and short-sighted but I suppose it's not my place to judge."

One by one all of the stallions left, but Spike refused to do the same. "Shining, please," The little dragon pleaded. "Think about what you're doing. Think of everyone you'll hurt."

But by now Shining's tears were flowing without stop and loud sobs could be heard coming from him. "I've already hurt a lot of innocent creatures, including my friends. This is the only way I can ensure I'll never hurt anyone again." And he rushed off to another part of the beach to be alone with his thoughts.

Spike followed from a distance, unwilling to abandon the stallion who he considered an adopted uncle. Separated from Twilight, Shining Armor was the closest thing the little dragon had to family.

---

But when Spike drew close to a ledge on which the downtrodden prince sat, looking lonely and longingly at his own reflection in the water below, he saw a sight that almost stopped his heart!

Tempest, Grubber, and an entire army of Storm Guards were rapidly approaching. Their sights fixated on the vulnerable and isolated alicorn. He was about to shout a warning, when one of the Storm Guards grabbed him and threw a paw over his mouth to silence him.

Tempest, meanwhile, was surprised to find her target in such an emotionally vulnerable state of appearance. "What's this?" She curiously inquired. "I expected you to put up much more of a fight then this, prince."

"What difference does it make?" Shining replied, not even turning around to face the approaching broken horned unicorn. "I'm alone and unprotected. This is what you wanted, right? Go ahead and capture me, I'm yours."

"Don't do it, Tempest!" Grubber protested. "This has gotta be some sort of trap! He wants you to think he's alone!"

Tempest only shook her head. "If he really planned to ambush me his friends would've done something by now. It looks like the Prince of Friendship doesn't have any friends to left his name," She coldly taunted. "Okay, boys, bring down the cage!"

The prince held still as a giant metal cage was dropped from the airship and surrounded him, preventing him from moving, teleporting, or doing much of anything except shake the iron bars of his prison.

"This was easier than I thought." Tempest thought with triumph, as she, Grubber, and the Storm Guards quickly rushed to get aboard the zeppelin and head back to Canterlot with the prince in tow.

Helpless, Spike could only watch as the zeppelin took off with Shining onboard, still stuck in his cage. This couldn't be how it all ended!

Author's Note:

Pretty much everyone agrees that the argument on the beach was handled poorly and done solely to further the plot by getting Twilight isolated and alone so she could be captured. Her arguments quickly devolve from her friends not taking things seriously to how it's all about her and that she's the one Tempest ones. And when Pinkie accuses her of not trusting her friends, she infamously declares that she'd be better off without friends.

So while I kept the arguing itself, I tweaked the arguments to suit the characters and prompt a much greater call out for Shining trying to steal the pearl. Basically, Shining is hit with the realization that his own short sightedness and lack of willingness to trust his friends is what has gotten them to this point. And so he decides that to fix his mistakes he must turn himself over to Tempest.

I also wanted to give Spike a bigger role in the argument and the ensuing aftermath, beyond just him witnessing the capture and thus escaping to warn the others. I've had the head-canon for years that Twilight is Spike's mother in a sense, and since in this universe Spike is her adopted son that would make Shining Armor (her old brother) Spike's adopted uncle.

Now, tomorrow there's going to be another chapter focusing on another group of characters. And then on Saturday we'll get back to the main focus.

Comments

[Comickook]

Excellent work on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places in this chapter. Yeah, I LOVE the tweaks to the argument AND Shining's surrender. I'll most certainly be looking forward to more of this.