S.M.I.L.E. For The Camera!

by TheGuineaPig45

Chapter Seven: "Your Face!"

Stallionz V had been set up in Strawberry Fields’s apartment, which was located on the floor above the bar, in order to “rehearse” and prepare for their “concert.” The mare had offered to supply them with free meals for the rest of the day, and volunteered to stave off the “rabid fans,” should they come back.

While Shining Armor was glad to have brief sanctuary from his kidnappers, alongside shelter and food, he was wary of the idea of performing for the town, especially because it was almost certain to go awry, given that they had nothing prepared and only ten hours until they were supposed to go on. Still, he had promised Flam that they would give this plan a try, and he trusted his roommate. If the mustached stallion thought this was their best shot of getting back to Canterlot, Shining Armor was willing to take the chance.

Soarin was less willing.

“Guys, we need to get back home ASAP,” he whined, sitting on Strawberry’s couch. “I’m supposed to be appearing at a charity function for hospitalized fillies and colts tomorrow! Those children are counting on me, and I can’t let them down!”

“If all goes according to plan, you’ll make it,” Flam said, looking at himself in a mirror. “We’ll perform tonight, find out where Canterlot is, travel through the night, and be home by sunrise.” He paused. “Of course, all of that can only happen if we put on a good show.”

“Which we won’t,” Soarin sighed. “Need I remind you, we’re not a boy band!”

“Not with that attitude.”

“He’s really committed to this bad boy character,” Cheese whispered to Boomer, pulling several balloons out of his mane. “Makes me feel like I’m underperforming as the wild card.”

The pegasus guard laughed as Cheese sat on one of the balloons and floated up toward the ceiling. “Oh, believe me, you’re not.”

Flam leapt onto a table, facing the group. “Everypony, this is going to be a team effort! I need all of working hard if we want to dazzle our crowd and get back to Canterlot!” He grabbed the string of the balloon and pulled Cheese down. “Chedda Cheese, my fellow artiste, I need your help writing lyrics for our soon-to-be hit songs!”

Cheese saluted. “At your service, Flamboyant Starr!”

“If you need help,” Boomer offered, “I’ve got plenty of teenage angst stored in this rocking bod of mine. Fleeting romances, crazy parties, anger towards my parents…” The pegasus looked off into the distance, as if he was having a flashback. “My dad sat on my popsicle once. We never recovered.” He shuddered.

Flam shook his head. “I need your Bridleway skills in a different field. Could you choreograph?”

“Oh, I sure can!” Boomer performed an almost perfect pirouette, but accidentally knocked over a vase with his tail. He blushed. “I promise, it will be better than that.”

“Great. Soar-N and Shimmering Armor, you’re in charge of designing our iconic look.”

Soarin and Shining looked at each other. “Um, we don’t know anything about fashion,” the latter pointed out. “Remember, I got trapped in a hayburger costume last week.”

“Shiny, I believe in you,” Flam said. “The wedding clothes we’re wearing, while attractive, don’t match. All you have to do is find looks that go together, but also accentuate our individual personalities.”

“When in doubt, go leather,” Boomer added. “And pink. We’d look hot as Tartarus in pink.”

“And glitter!” Cheese exclaimed. “Everypony loves glitter! Oh! Maybe I left my party tank in my mane! I have to check!” He reached a hoof into his mane, and began rustling around.

Shining rolled his eyes and pulled Flam aside. “I know what you’re doing,” he sighed. “You’re putting Soarin and I together so that we’ll bond and you’ll win your forty bits.”

“What?!” Flam fake gasped. “How dare you insinuate that I, a good devotee of Celestia, could commit such an act?” Shining glared at him. “Okay, yeah, that was exactly my plan. But it wasn’t just for the bits! I love you, Shiny, and I want you to be happy. You’ve spent too much time bickering with Soarin, and I wholeheartedly believe you’d be better off as friends. Who knows? Maybe you’ll bond over your romantic feelings for Cadance.”

“Yes, Flam. I will bond with another pony because he is in love with my wife. That won’t bother me in the slightest.”

“Great!” the other unicorn replied, too preoccupied with Stallionz V to pick up on the prince’s obvious sarcasm. “Now go have some fun!”

Shining groaned. Grabbing Soarin’s tail, he pulled the pegasus away from the group and began descending the stairs to the bar. Boomer watched them leave, then chuckled to himself.

“You may have said Soarin gets all the mares, Shining Armor, but you’re getting all the stallions. The Heartthrob, indeed.”

---

Shining Armor and Soarin had found a small mom-and-pop general store toward the edge of town. Like Strawberry’s bar, it was old, wooden, and dusty, but the goods it was selling appeared to be relatively new.

Right next to the canned food section rested three racks of clothing. The clothes were covered in grime, as if they had been hanging on their hooks for months. Shining and Soarin gagged, but looked through them anyway for anything interesting.

The entire time, both two stallions refused to say a word to each other. They had walked from the bar to the store in silence. They had searched for the clothing section in silence. And now, as they looked through the hodge-podge of fabric, they still remained quiet.

Shining Armor was looking at a black, button-up silk shirt with ornate leaf designs. It was predominantly see-through, which the prince didn't quite understand, but he saw multiple outfits of a similar design and figured that they could work as a look for Stallionz V.

He pulled the shirt off the hanger, put it on, and then looked in the mirror. Part of him liked the adventurous look, but the other part of him yearned for something safer. He needed another opinion.

Shining’s eyes gravitated toward the Wonderbolt.

No, he thought to himself. Do not ask Soarin. If you ask Soarin his opinion, it opens the door to becoming friends. And I do not want to lose those forty bits. Also, he tried to steal your WIFE! Why would you even WANT his opinion?

Soarin noticed the prince staring at him, and nervously waved at him. “Um, hello? Is there something wrong?”

Shining Armor’s brain was still debating whether or not to get Soarin’s opinion on the outfit, meaning it was too busy to control over the next couple of words that came out of Shining’s mouth. Without really paying attention to what he was saying, the prince responded.

“Yeah. Your face!”

Soarin gasped, while Shining kept staring at him absentmindedly. After a couple of seconds, however, the unicorn realized what had just tumbled out of his mouth without his knowledge.

His entire face turned red.

No, no, NO! I didn't mean that! I was focusing on something else! ARGH! What do I do?! What do I DO?!

While Shining panicked, Soarin just frowned and turned away. The prince opened his mouth, but couldn’t form an appropriate apology, and simply resigned. Heaving a heavy sigh, he awkwardly went back to looking through the clothes.

The two stallions fell back into silence. Shining Armor ditched the silk shirt, instead taking Boomer’s suggestion and looking through the leather articles of clothing. He had found a particularly striking set of rainbow colored jackets, when suddenly--

“I don’t want to bang your wife,” Soarin blurted out.

Shining Armor nearly choked on his saliva. “Excuse me?”

“That’s why you’re mad at me, right?” the Wonderbolt continued. “Cause you think I’m going to have sex with Cadance while you’re separated?”

The prince was taken aback. His heart began racing, and his body grew faint. He grabbed onto the clothing rack, hoping it would keep him from falling over. “Ah-- Well-- Eh--”

“You don’t have to worry. At the wedding, Cadance and I were just harmlessly reminiscing about our time in high school, simply for old times sake. Nothing was going to come of it. Outside of maybe a kiss on the cheek, but I think the jury’s still out on that one.”

Shining Armor could hardly breathe. He was not expecting Soarin to be this direct. “I-- It’s-- Um--”

“I had no intention of ever threatening your marriage. Although, admittedly, I am worried about Cadance. You kidnapped Apple Bloom, threatened me with a knife, and behave in a very volatile manner. Frankly, I’m not your biggest fan, so I have no idea what she sees in you. Still, you make her happy, so I support her wholeheartedly.”

The prince could not process what was happening. “But--”

“Anyway, I just wanted to clear things up with you, and apologize for making you freak out. I know you probably still don't like me, and I don't particularly like you, so I understand that we're not going to be friends or anything. But, are we good, at least?”

Shining Armor, completely overwhelmed by Soarin’s accurate perception of his feelings, explanation, and apology, didn't know what to do. His mind was racing, thinking a million thoughts a minute. What is happening?! He opened his mouth, and--

“Your face!”

Embarrassed, the prince grabbed the leather jackets he had been eyeing and bolted out of the store, inadvertently knocking over the canned foods on his way out.

Soarin just stood there, confused.

“I guess on top of being a kidnapper, he’s a shoplifter now, too,” the pegasus sighed. “Great.”

He got down on the hooves and slowly started restacking the cans, one by one.

Comments

[TheGuineaPig45]

9995663
Eh, it just wasn't working the way I intended. Too soon after the previous one, I guess. I had an idea, but jumped in headfirst and couldn't really execute it as I had wanted.

[Mix-up]

well too bad this was discontinued, I thought it was interesting spin of a story with seeing all there characters somehow stuck with each other to work together.

[Redwolf777sg]

10009707
Well, when you find yourself in this situation. It's best to go back re-read the first story and rework and put down some notes and work out a plan for the main story plot. Just rewrite the whole thing from square one. Its also never hurt to find yourself an editor to review what you done so far and gain feedback what needs improvement. That is what being an author is all about. Just don't give up.

[TheGuineaPig45]

10325303
With time, I realized that the biggest flaw with this story was that I wasn't passionate enough about it. I LOVED writing Great Ideas, and I wanted to capitalize off of that feeling, but I couldn't. I rushed in headfirst, and over time, realized that I could not tell this story. Not that I didn't WANT to -- I did -- but it wasn't a story that I could connect with, if that makes sense. That's why I put more work into other stories, like Rainbow Dash, Please Report... Those were stories I was genuinely excited to write about, and that overall excitement just made the whole writing process that much smoother.
I really enjoy my own take on Shining Armor and Flam, but for now, I think Great Ideas is the place it needs to live. That's where it's strongest, and that's where I personally connect with it the most and can tell the best story with them.