Chapter 3

Twilight woke up well rested and yawned, surprisingly taking no adverse reaction to to his own obviously masculine voice. He felt as if he had completely accepted the events that had happened only yesterday and was ready to live the rest of his life as a stallion.

However the world had a way of reminding ponies, in the cruelest way possible, that even the most adaptable ponies would have trouble accepting such a major change in their body, mind and self-image in less than 24 hours (and no sane pony would consider somepony who had sent an entire town into anarchy and chaos because she was 'tardy' very adaptable). For as Twilight kicked off his bed sheets ...

... the realization of how wrong he was hit him hard as he came head-to-head with one proud new part making itself known to the world.

To say the least he was shocked. His mind ground to a halt as it was struck home, with an unnecessary amount of force, that he was a stallion in function and not just in token, that he was stricken with those bodily functions that Rarity had oft used in her, rather unladylike, jokes (although never needing to experience oestrus again was a rather large consolation (even considering the heat suppression spells Twilight knew)). He felt himself descending into a state of panic when, out of the blue, he was blindsided that, as he was observing his new part, he felt a sudden – and very, very, very alien – swell of pride, in the centre of his chest, that he was significantly larger than the average. And hence his panic was consumed by a great confusion.

Fifteen minutes and one unnecessarily cold shower later Twilight had finally cleared his mind from the conflicting thoughts that had been spawned from his rather enlightening wake-up. He was standing in front of his bathroom mirror and – for the first time since his transformation – thoroughly examining his body. The changes were massive: he stood a whole head taller than she had as a mare and had a much thicker, more muscular build (not quite Big Mac but still far from Caramel); his wings looked like they had almost doubled their surface area; his horn had increased in both length and breadth; his muzzle had become elongated and angular; his eyes became smaller. All in all he now looked very similar to Shining Armour (albeit a taller purple Shining Armour with wings), which was not surprising considering the common heritage.

Twilight trotted out of his washroom and into the hall, his hooves making a sharp clacking sound on the stone floor. He then proceeded to glide down the staircase to the kitchen, or rather he tried to. Unfortunately he had not accounted for his increased wingspan and clipped his wings on the walls. Unable to right himself in the confined airspace and loosing all his lift; he bounced down the sharp stone steps and landed in a crumpled mess of limbs. Luckily it would take much, much more than a couple stairs to seriously harm an adult alicorn

“Hey, Umbra, look what the cat dragged in”

“Shut it, Shadow”

Dame Dark Shadow and Dame Black Umbra were made Twilight's personal guard shortly after some petty noble found some obscure law saying that a royal alicorn must have their own royal guard. Celestia, Luna and even Cadence had all offered to loan Twilight some of their guards but Twilight refused. She rather chose to transfer the twin mares from the Twilight House guard. Shadow and Umbra were the twin daughters of the elder brother of Nightlight, Twilight's father. Unfortunately they were orphaned when they were foals and were practically adopted by Twilight house (family is utmost importance to the Twilights) and were taught magic from an early age.

The shadow twins were a natural choice for Twilight's royal guard, they were proficient in the abjuration and evocation schools as well capable with most weapons and with several years in the house guard they would know what they were doing. In addition the family connection and familiarity would improve trust and loyalty. Malfourtunately Twilight had conveniently forgotten exactly how lazy, immature and undisciplined the two could be and had regretted the choice ever since.

“Why princess, I figure there is something different about you this morning” Shadow commented with a cheeky smile (Most ponies would have been surprised to see that their cousin (not to mention princess) had turned themselves into a stallion. However most ponies had not been raised alongside a filly Twilight Sparkle) as Twilight lifted himself off the ground “and whatever it is, I like it”

“I believe the word you are looking for is Prince, you dunce” Umbra statistically quipped at her sister

To an unfamiliar eye the twins looked almost identical to each other with the only difference being their coats being slightly different shades (Shadow being a similar shade to Luna while Umbra had a slightly more grey tinge), their cutie marks (Shadow a black six pointed star and Umbra a black circle) and the way they style their black manes (Shadows was rather unkempt while Umbra kept hers in a short ponytail).

“Well, Prince Twilight you are looking mighty fine today” Shadow said with a coquettish grin.

“Two things Shadow, two things” Twilight gave the mare a intense glare “One, I have been a stallion for all of sixteen hours and two, I am your cousin”

“Neither of those are good reasons why I can't call a stud a stud”

Twilight rolled his eyes and changed the subject while making towards the kitchen “I don't remember seeing either of you yesterday; where were you?”

“We saw something suspicious in the billiards room and spent the night guarding it”

“So you spent the day playing pool.” Twilight sighed “I could have used your help last night”

“What? And end up with a snake in the grass?” Twilight grimaced at the metaphor “Buck no.”

“The spell only affected me, Spike didn't change at all.”

“Just because your puppy didn't become a bitch, doesn't mean I would have stayed a mare”

Twilight was not sure whether it was a legitimate delusion or a joke taken way to far, but Shadow seemed to think that Spike was a dog, much to the ire of Spike and annoyance of Twilight.

“Shadow you do realize that Spike is a dragon?”

“That's what they all say”

Twilight entered the kitchen to find that Spike had already fixed breakfast.

“Hey Twilight, feeling better today?” the young drake greeted him

“Yeah, much better ... I think.”

There was a short, and slightly awkward, pause as Spike brought out food for the three ponies.

Spike was the first to break the silence, “So when will you tell the girls?”

“Sorry? I wasn't listening” Twilight said sheepishly

“I asked when you are going to tell the other Elements of Harmony?”

“About what?”

Spike gave Twilight a deadpan stare “Really?”

“Oh ...” Twilight chuckled ashamedly before speaking again “... I don't really know how to break it to them”

“Don't worry, they're your friends, they will accept you regardless of your voice or face or body ...”

“Or what hides between your legs” Shadow received piercing glares from Twilight, Umbra and Spike “What? I'm just trying to help”

“What I am trying to say is that they are your friends and nothing, not even Discord, could change that”

“Thank you Spike”

Surprisingly Umbra was the next to speak up “While we are on the subject of telling your friends, Twilight, I will put in that the sooner you tell them, the better.”

“I hate to say this, but I agree with my sister; after all, you might not want to wait until we go into season. That would lead to ... um ... interesting situations (although, on the bright side, that would mean I would not have to rely on your mother's books quite as much)”

Oestrus! Twilight had forgotten – in the recent events – that the spring heat was estimated to be approaching in roughly two weeks time (and it was not unheard of for a mare to be a week, or even two, early). To make it worse, Twilight's friends had always relied on her to use her heat suppression charm on them when it got uncomfortable for them to work. Luckily oestrus is not as bad as it is often made out to be; mares don't suffer an overwhelming urge to mate, but rather feel hot and bothered (a very distracting predicament for somepony trying to get any kind of work done). Of course there are pheromones, but as long as you stay in open air and give a wide berth to ponies of the opposite gender, the urge to mate does not surpass an annoyance.

Nevertheless, it was asking for trouble to not tell his friends about his predicament before oestrus starts and every day increases the chance that one of them enters it. It was then that Twilight decided that that he was going to tell his friends (except for Rainbow Dash who happened to away to Cloudsdale to attend a mandatory meeting for all weather captains in Equestria) about his transformation today.

“I'll do it today”

“Tell them today?” Spike asked

“Yes, they deserve to know, and as much as I loath to say this, Shadow is right. Every day I delay is one day closer to oestrus, and if I delay, something could happen that could threaten our friendships”

And with that Twilight's mind was set on what he had to do.