I'm Not a Mare

Chapters

1. The Promotion
Black Coffee
A Visit From Twilight
Truth Hurts
Help!

1. The Promotion

Of the many pubs spread throughout Canterlot, the Rusty Horseshoe was especially lively that night. Shining Armor and his squad were celebrating his recent promotion to captain of the Royal Guard. He was in such a great mood that he was buying rounds for everypony. He knew that it would hurt his bit bag, but it was a celebration and everypony desired not to remember that night. He was not left out, for his squad sent hard cider after hard cider his way.

The few bell towers around town began to ring the time. It was midnight and Shining wasn't sure if he was going to be able to make it back to his place. He hadn't had that much to drink since his twenty-first birthday. Shining lucked out, however. One of the rookies had decided to not drink that night to keep an eye out for anypony needing help getting home after.

“You're such a good pony, Flash.” Shining said, alcohol slurring his speech slightly as he leaned on Flash. Flash just nodded his head as he walked his commander back home. As Shining started to sway from side to side as they walked, Flash put one of his wings around Shining to keep him from falling over. The walk normally wouldn't have been so long, but his captain insisted on stopping every few feet to talk to every plant or sign they passed, mistaking them for ponies.

“Commander, can you please stop asking that tree to join you in bed later?” Shining paused in his one sided discussion with a tree, turning to give Flash a lopsided grin.

“You can join in too if you like. We can turn this party into a threesome.” Shining gave Flash a sultry look. Flash just sighed as he pulled Shining away from the tree. Shining tried to get free, so he could go back to the tree, mistaking it for a hot nursemare. He was starting to get a little bummed out with Flash Sentry’s soberness.

“Sir, I hope you know that it was a tree that you were hitting on,” Flash stated bluntly, causing Shining to stop and blink, looking between Flash and the tree a few times.

“Are you sure?” Flash nodded.

“Dang it! I thought I was going to get lucky tonight! Maybe if we stop by a pub before you drop me off, it’ll give me a better chance.” Shining gave him a grin and put a hoof around him. “Come on, Flashy. I know you will have a great time at the pub and, who knows, you may even get lucky yourself.”

Flash didn't know what to do. It was still his commander's big night. One or two drinks wouldn't hurt, and he should still be okay to get his commander back home if he was careful. Shining smiled, pulling Flash down a the road that he knew by heart, to pub that he thought was the best in the whole city.

The pub was a little hole in the wall. Inside, the place had a low key feel. One could hide here for a few hours before going home to their wife or husband with no one the wiser. However, it also had a feel that you could meet with a single pony and have a few nice drinks. Flash thought that he should keep this place in mind for another day, when he had time off and could really enjoy a few drinks, without worrying about his new boss getting any more plastered than he already was.

“Hey, Shiny. What brings you here at this hour? And who is the lightweight ya brought?” The bar mare smiled, waving them over to the bar. Her mane was light brown with hints of gray, but her coat was still a fire red and her cutie mark was of two mugs with nice heads of foam on their tops.

Having sobered up a bit since his encounter with the tree, Shining guided Flash over with him, smiling as he took a seat. “Hey, Maggie. Just thought I would stop by and finish off my little celebration here and get this guy to loosen up a bit. And I don’t know if little Flash here and is a lightweight or not. Haven’t seen him drink yet.” Shining slapped a hoof to Flash’s back, a bit harder than expected, causing Flash to throw his hooves to the bar to successfully avoid falling off the stool.

“So, your name is Flash, huh? Must be new to the guards. I always take a little pride in knowing all the guards.” Maggie leaned forward, smiling a smile that always seemed to make stallions of any age weak in the knees.

“Y-yes, ma’am. I just joined last week,” Flash stuttered, slightly flustered from just looking at her smile.

“Let me guess. You been given that promotion that you been working hard for and this young stallion chose to be the nice guy and take your sorry, drunk flank home?” She gave Shining a knowing look that left both stallions’ jaws hanging. The only thing came to his mind was to nod.

“Maggie, how did you know?” Shining asked as Maggie just chuckled, turning around to fill two mugs with the golden drinks the the ponies had come for.

“Shiny, you should know that a mare never tells her secrets.” Slamming the two mugs in front of the shocked stallions. “Drink up, boys. It’s on me. Shiny, you earned it, and, newbie, you are going to need it.” She grinned as both stallions downed their drinks.

Flash sighed as he licked the last few remaining drops of alcohol stuck on his muzzle. Shining was grinning again like a fool. Flash blinked and looked over to Maggie in hopes that she may be kind enough to shine some light on what was going on.

Maggie just smiled warmly at him, dropping two more mugs in front of them. “Don’t worry about him; he always grins like that when he has some of my personal brew.” Flash nodded, gladly taking a drink from his new mug.

“I can’t really blame him," Flash sighed. "This stuff is really good.” She beamed as she leaned on the bar top.

“You really mean it?” Maggie asked. Flash nodded, finishing off his mug as Shining downed his, nodding alongside him. “Well, thank you, boys. The drinks are on me, so drink your fill.” Shining cheered, Flash nodding beside him as Maggie smiled, turning to refill the mugs.

This went on for a few rounds, each one starting to take its toll on Flash. After he finished what he thought was his fifth round of drinks, he decided to call it quits. “I’m sorry, Magg... I think that I’ve had enough and…” Flash paused, pointing towards Shining, now passed out on the bartop. “I think the commander had one too many.”

“One more won’t hurt my favorite newbie,” Maggie insisted with a purr, as she placed one last mug in front of Flash, gave him her winning smile. Flash’s brain couldn't take a stand against her hypnotic smile, so he downed this mug, quickly feeling like he was about to fall out of his seat.

“Thanks for the last drink, Maggie. I will just take…” Flash paused, trying to recall the name of the pony passed out next to him, “Commander back home.” He said, lightly giving Shining a push to wake him, though not with the result he expected. Shining woke with a start, flailing his hooves as he fell back, landing on the floor.

Flash rushed to help Shining back to his hooves and found him staring with what some call bedroom eyes. Flash, now with a foggy mind, didn’t notice nor would he have cared. He did find Shining kind of good looking, but that was beside the point; he had to get the commander back to his place.

He waved bye to Maggie as he and Shining walked side by side out the door. Shining was so glad that Flash was there and not just because Flash was keeping him from falling over. He may have been a new guy to the guards, but he had a good head on his shoulders, and not a bad looking head neither.

The next half hour was spent walking, occasionally pausing to regain their balance as they went. Soon, they found themselves inside the castle, wandering down the halls of rooms to find the one that belonged to Shining. Their quest came to sudden stop when they both walked right into the flank of Princess Celestia.

“Oh, hello, Captain Armor. I didn’t think that you would be out this late. And hello there, Flash Sentry. I hope you are doing well with the guard.” Celestia gave them both the warm smile she gave to all her subjects. Shining and Flash looked at each other and giggled for a bit.

“You want to know something, Flash?” Shining asked as he slurred a few words.

“What’s that boss man?”

“Mares have it easy around here,” Shining said as he throw a hoof over Flash’s shoulders. “All they have to do is flutter their eyelashes or show a little flank and that would make any stallion do anything they asked them to do.”

Celestia took a long look at the two drunken stallions before her and let out a long sigh. She had been ruling this kingdom for a long time and dealing with drunk stallions was nothing new. After the first few hundred times, she was starting to enjoy watching drunken stallions make fools of themselves in front of her.

She was even starting to giggle with them as they tried to imitate being mares. They were batting their eyelashes at each other and sometimes at her. When they started to stumble around each other in an attempt to shake their flanks at each, she couldn’t take it any more and burst out laughing at the two.

Once she calmed down, it was time to do something about these two. Over the years she had learned about how truthful a drunk pony could be. And, so she decided to allow these two a chance to learn a lesson about life from the other horseshoe.

“Thank you for the wonderful show, my little ponies. But, I think it is time for all of us to be in bed.” Celestia gave them a warm, motherly smile this time. They both smiled back at her as each of them started to yawn. “Let me help you two get to bed, safely.”

They both said their thanks as Celestia’s horn started to glow and both stallions were bathed in white light. Once the light faded, both Shining and Flash were fast asleep on the floor. There was one pony Celestia could call upon to help her teach this type of lesson.

“Discord, I need to have a word with you.” She didn’t have to wait long. There was a quick flash and floating in front of her was the draconequus still in his PJ’s. He let out a yawn as he pulled off both his eyes and rubbed them on his PJ’s before placing them back on his face.

“Yes, what is it? I hope you know I was having a lovely dream about it snowing ice cream. And, it was getting to the best part where it would change over to hail sprinkles.” He gave his lips a nice lick.

“I’m being nice right now, Discord. I let part of you out of your stone prison, because I have need of your skills.”

“Oh, I know this, Celestia.” He pulled a leash that suddenly appeared around his neck. “I can still feel your leash. So, may I ask what they are for?” He jabbed a thumb at Shining and Flash.

“They are here for a lesson that I need your help teaching.”

“A lesson you say. I think I may be more than happy to help. As long as it causes a little chaos along the way. So, what can I do to help?” Discord grinned, happy at the chance to cause some mayhem.

“I need you to change their lives around. Can you make it so they were born mares and not stallions, but let them keep their memories of being stallions?” Celestia asked in hope that it could be done.

“Can I do it? You can bet that little pretty sun on your butt that I can. Do you want them to also have memories of being mares?” He put his hands together and started to pop his knuckles.

“Nope, they just need their memories of being stallions.”

“I like how you think there, Celestia. I never knew you had such a fun side hidden from me.” She gave him a smile as he snapped his fingers and smiled at his handy work. Celestia gave them a look over with a grin, as she teleported them to Shining’s room for a nice rest before the real fun started.

“There is a lot you don’t know about me, Discord. Who knows? I might let you out again for that date you promised me all those years ago.” Celestia gave him a playful wink, Discord’s cheeks flushing a bright shade of red.

“I think I might have left the shower running in my stone prison. Gotta go.” He faded away, Celestia left giggling as she made her way back to her room.

The rays of the morning light seemed to be conspiring against Shining, as they insisted on shining in his face. He tried to roll over to get away from the evil rays of the sun, but found that something blocked him, another pony lying in his way. Still feeling the effects of his “little” drinking the night before, his body was slow to wake. The scent coming from the mane of the pony next to him made him think of sweet apples, hinting at a mare laying beside him.

His groggy and hungover mind failed to notice the new void between his back legs as he tried to remember the mare he seems to have gotten lucky with the previous night. He thought that he must have gotten lucky last night and had a mare join him to bed last night. Giving up, he decided to just cuddle against her with a smile, her mane feeling nice and soft. A soft murr comes from the mare beside him as she wiggled back against him.

“Thank you, Miss, for cuddling with me this morning.” came the low, sweet voice of the mare beside him.

“I think that should be my line, Miss,” Shining whispered into her ear, trying to act sweet.

“I don’t wish to be rude at such an early hour, but I’m the stallion here,” said the mare, rolling over to look him in the eyes. Recognition hit him like a brick as he caught sight of the eyes of the mare next to him.

“Flash, is that you?” Shining stammered, the mare just nodding in response.

“Captain Armor?” Flash asked in reply, Shining only able to nod before both of them were jumping out of the bed, faster than a recruit running late on their first day of training. They raced to the big mirror that every room had. What Shining Armor saw before him was a very lovely mare with the same coloration and marking as him, down to the cutie mark on her flank. Every time he moved, the mare would mimic his movements with perfect precision. Shining started to give his body a pat down and felt like he was about to pass out when he discovered the lack of the one thing that made him a stallion, now replaced with the parts that made a mare a mare.

As he glanced over, he notices Flash doing the same thing, though, not faring as well as he had. Flash had fainted and Shining couldn’t leave his friend laying there on the ground. So using his magic, he placed Flash back on the bed, taking a seat in front of the mirror, trying to figure out what could have possibly happened the night before.

“I’m not a mare...” He, or rather she, murmured in a voice not her own.

Author's Note

I would like to thank Espeon_in_the_Morning for helping me edit this chapter. They did a great job and even made some parts better.

Update: I need to thank my friend Matt and also Dashie_Rising for their help in fixing this chapter.

Another Update: I want to thank Mudpony for their help in finding areas that need some TLC.

More Update: I now want to thank Princess Glitzy for their help in doing some more editing to this story.

Black Coffee

Shining Armor could not bring herself to look away from the mirror. What looked back was not the same that looked back any other time. Before was a tall good looking stallion with a short and messy two tone blue mane and a set of baby blue eyes. Now a white mare with a slightly longer two tone blue mane and the same set of baby blue eyes. She looked back over at the bed where Flash was and let out a sigh.

“What I am going to do? Think Shining. What did your training teach you?” She closed her eyes and tried to think of what needed to be done. There wasn’t a section on waking up as the opposite gender in the field guide, but there was a little section on if you are in any situation with unknown variables. And it said to get intel before you plan your next move.

Today was their last day before she or Flash needed to report back to duty. So while Flash was out cold for awhile, Shining would head out and get some food for them to eat and maybe see what she can learn what has happened to them. But before she could leave, a shower was needed. Even if she was now a mare, she still smelled like a brewery from last night’s events.

It would seem her and Flash weren’t the only things that had changed overnight. The bathroom had changed as well. It wasn’t the light blue she remembered it to be, but it was a light pink and there were a few more items Shining was not familiar with. She pushed all that to the side in her mind and started to get the shower ready. Then a few gears in her head started to turn and she came to a halt. She had only been with a mare a long time ago, and she just kissed her.

Thirty minutes later, Shining walked out of the bathroom with a faint blush that still glowed. That was the fastest shower any mare has ever taken. She looked at the bed and Flash had made herself comfortable and had started to snore loudly. A purple magical glow came over the covers and moved to cover the sleeping mare. Flash mumbled something that sounded like a thank you.

It wasn’t till she made it near the stairs that she met any pony. It just so happened that this pony was Princesses Celestia. She gave her usual warm smile and walked next to Shining.

“Good morning, Gleaming Shield. I hope you slept well last night. From what I have heard, you and your unit had a good amount of fun at the pubs.” Celestia’s voice was cheerful. Shining looked back down the hill she came from to see the new pony that the princess was talking, but she found that there were no other ponies in the hallway.

“Oh, well you know how ponies can get after a few.” The smaller mare stayed in step with the taller as they made their way down to the ground level. Celestia let out a chuckle and nodded her head.

“I know very well. Let’s just say, not many ponies were sober after Luna and I became princesses,” Celestia looked away for a second with a dreamy look in her eyes. Gleaming coughed and Celestia looked back with a slight blush under her white coat. Once they made it to the ground level, Celestia started to make her way to the throne room. “Oh, before I forget. You might want to pick Twinkle Scout a black coffee. Trust me, she may not like it at first. But it will help with most of the hangover.”

With that Gleaming was left standing there trying to wrap her mind on what had just happened. “Did I just get advice on dealing with a hangover from the Princess of Equestria?” She didn’t feel wasted anymore and started to make her way to get something to eat and drink for her and Twinkle. Then it hit her. “My name is Gleaming Shield!? What kind of name is that?”

A bunch of ponies stopped and looked at her little outburst. Gleaming felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She mumbled an apology and rushed out of the castle to a nearby cafe that was a hit with soldiers. The cafe was just a little hole in the wall place near the castle.

“Morning, Gleaming. The usual?” The mare behind the counter gave her a smile as Gleaming just gave a slow nod. She had no clue if her usual as a mare was the same as it was when she was a stallion. The mare turned around and started to fill the order, and it wasn’t long before there were two little bags and two coffee cups. “I put something together for Twinkle. I heared that you and her did a little extra last night.”

“Thank you, Muffin. I’m sure she will be glad to have something good from your cafe.” Gleaming thanked her and placed the bits on the counter before she turned around to head back and see if Twinkle was awake yet.

Gleaming walked into the room to find the bed was empty and heard the shower in the background. A voice could be heard singing from the bathroom. She placed the food and drink on a little table before she moved close to the bathroom to better listen to the singing. It had been the most beautiful voice she ever heard.

After a few minutes the door opened and Twinkle walked out with a towel wrapped around her main. She looked over to see Gleaming on the floor with her eyes closed. “Shining, how long have you been listening?” A blush started to form on Twinkle’s cheek.

“Long enough to know that you have a really beautiful voice, but come on and let’s go enjoy our drinks before they get cold.” Gleaming jumped up and lead Twinkle to the place where she left the food and drinks. Once they both got seated, they opened the bags to find blueberry muffins in each. Gleaming almost fell out of her seat at the sight of Twinkle’s face once she took a drink of coffee.

“Oh that was bad. Why did you get me black coffee for?” Twinkle grabbed her muffin and started take large bites to try to rid her mouth of the bitter taste of the coffee. Gleaming just tried get back in her seat while she held her sides.

“Celestia told me that black coffee would help with a hangover and Muffin said the same thing. Oh, before I forget. I found out we have new names as mares.” She took a drink of her hot cocoa. It seem that her stallion and mare self both enjoy hot cocoa. Twinkle dropped the muffin on the table and was halfway across the table.

“It seems that my name is Gleaming Shield,” Gleaming took another drink before she let Twinkle know her new name. “And you they call, Twinkle Scout.” Twinkle sat back down and had a look of confusion on her face. Then she busted out laughing.

“What kind of name is Twinkle Scout? Flare Warden sounds better,” Both mares looked at each other before they both started to laugh. Once both of them caught their breath, Twinkle was the first one to talk. “So did the Princess of Equestria really tell you that black coffee would help with a hangover?”

“I was as shocked as you are about it. I didn’t think she was ever a party mare.” The muffin near Gleaming rose and she took a bite out of it and sighed happily. Muffin knew her way around the kitchen. Twinkle took another drink and tried not to make another face, but she didn’t do a very good job at it.

“Blah, I think she may have missed the mark on this one. The only thing it’s doing is making me miss the hangover,” Both mares bursted out laughing and enjoyed the rest of the muffins. After they finished their muffins and drinks. Something dawned on Twinkle. “What are we going to do now? We have to report in tomorrow.” Gleaming dropped her muffin and facehoofed hard enough where Twinkle thought she felt it. The white mare just said one thing.

“Buck me.”

Author's Note

I want to thank Izanagi for helping me edit this chapter.

I want to thank SirRage for the name Flare Warden that they used in their story Teatime on Hearts And Hooves Day. You really should check out their work.

A Visit From Twilight

Gleaming Shield and Twinkle Scout had been trying to think for hours what they could do, calling in sick to win time would be a bad idea because they would need to visit a doctor, and none of the new mares thought they could fake it well enough. Not to mention the designated doctor for the Royal Army was a stallion, and that would make things too awkward for them.

And it’s not like they could just disappear, or run away, that would be stupid and complicate things.

Worse, everypony but them seemed to think they had always been females, at least if Princess Celestia and other ponies were any indication. Gleaming Shield had the sneaking suspicion that the only pony able to pull off this "prank" was Princess Celestia herself. While unable to cast them himself, Shining Armor had learned that spells to change a pony age’s and even gender existed, but to do any of those on the two of them and convince everypony they had always been like that was a level of power only an alicorn could do, or at least a very powerful unicorn with a legendary artifact that boosted its magic power. That, or getting a lot of unicorns to pool their magic together, like they had to do in ancient times to raise the sun and the moon.

It was also quite suspicious that the first pony she had talked to when she went out was Princess Celestia herself, and she had been the one to to tell them what their female names were. She decided to not share her suspicions with Scout.

'Damn... I did not notice it at first, but we really are getting used to being females too easily, does this include mind magic too? Or is part of the spell?' Gleaming… NO! Shining Armor groaned in frustration, then both of them heard a knock on the door.

Shining sighed and got up to see who could be at the door. She looked out the little peep hole but didn’t see anypony outside. She opened the door and was knocked to the ground by a purple blur.

“Big sister best friend forever!” came the voice that Shining knew all too well. She looked down at her chest to see her little sister, Twilight, jumping up and down. “I can’t believe my big sister is now the captain of all the guards. This is so cool.” Twilight kept jumping up and down, until a light pink glow surrounded Twilight and lifted her off Shining. Twilight’s little legs kicked around before she glared down at Shining. “Not fair, Gleaming. You know your magic is better than mine.”

Shining smiled and lifted Twilight higher so that she could get back on her hooves. “I don’t think I asked to be knocked over by my little sis this morning.” As she lowered Twilight back down to the ground, she thought about the fact that even if she was now a mare, at least she still had her little sister, and that comforted her. “Don’t you have morning lessons with Princess Celestia?”

Shining Armor then decided to stop fighting off the new name, it would be unwise to slip in front of her smart little sister. And it might be even be dangerous if the two of them had actually replaced female versions of themselves in a parallel universe, who knew reading comic books would be useful one day?

Once Twilight’s hooves touched the ground, she was rushing over to Gleaming’s side. “I asked the Princess last night if I could visit you this morning and she said I could. So I came to see my BSBFF.” Twilight’s face was beaming as she started to jump up and down in place again. Gleaming sighed again and placed a hoof on Twilight’s head.

“Thanks, Twily. I’m always happy to see you.” Gleaming smiled down at Twilight. The young filly looked up with a sly look on her face.

“So where is your marefriend?” Twilight drew out the bit and Gleaming could feel the blood rush to her face. Gleaming looked everywhere but at Twilight. That only fueled the giggling of the little filly.

Scout jumped into the bathroom when Twilight had knocked Gleaming over, but was now poking her head out to see Gleaming slowly turning pink while a little filly was trying to jump up and down under her hoof. She could not stop herself from letting a giggle out and both Gleaming and Twilight turn to look right at the pegasus mare. There was a loud meep and the bathroom door was slammed shut.

“She is a weird one,” Twilight said matter-of-factly. Gleaming just nodded her head as she placed her hoof back on the ground. “I don’t see why you are even dating her.”

Gleaming felt the blood rush to her face once again before she jump back away waving her hooves in the air.

“Wha...what, I don’t know what you are talking about, Twily.” Gleaming’s heart was racing a thousand miles an hour. Twilight just sighed trotted over to the bathroom door and knocked a few times. 'But… but… I am supposed to be dating Cadance!"

“Come on out, Twinkle. I don’t see why you have to hide in the bathroom.” Twilight tapped a hoof on the bathroom door. Twilight’s older sister just watched as she tried to get the blood to flow through her body, not just her face. As the blood slowly started to flow to the rest of her body, she couldn’t help but giggle at her little sister. Twilight was the smartest little filly in the whole world, but right now she still had the bluntness of a filly her age.

“I’m not coming out,” Said the muffled voice of Twinkle through the door. This… this was too much… not only had she woken up as a mare, but apparently she and the new captain were dating? That had to break some regulation! Then Twinkle Scout remembered that both of them were mares now and that the rules only said anything about… mares dating stallions if both of them were in the Royal Guard, it didn't said anything about mares dating mares.

Twilight took a step back from the door and glared as her little horn started to glow. The handle started to jiggle and shake as it was coated in a pink glow. Twilight let out a grunt as she tried to open the door. The glow around the door handle grew brighter before the door flew open, Twinkle was not far behind it as she was still holding on to the handle on the other side.

“You don’t have to hide every time I catch you two.” Twilight had a tone of a true librarian. Twinkle was about to say something, but was cut off by the sudden hug from the young filly. The only thing that came out of Twinkle was a gasp and later followed by a sigh as Twilight give her a little nuzzle. “Cause if you hide, I can't hug you.” Gleaming giggled at the two, only to have her little sister glare at her.

“Twilight I think you may need to loosen up your hug, she seems to have stopped breathing.” Gleaming pointed a hoof at the two, as Twinkle went from tan, to a light shade of blue. Twilight looked back to Twinkle and meeped as she let go of the poor mare. The pegasus gasped as air filled her lungs.

Twinkle Scout gave Twilight a warm smile as the younger mare looked down at the floor with little tears rolling down her snout. Nopony in their right mind would stay mad at a little filly tearing up, and looking so sad. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.” Twinkle placed a hoof under Twilight’s chin and slowly got her to see the warm smile. Twilight give a few little sniffles before she used a forehoof to rub away the tears on her face.

“T… Thank you, Twinkle.” Twilight uttered, her voice barely above a whisper. Part of 'Twinkle’s' mind was screaming at her about how she should be a stallion and not a mare, but she just pushed it to the side, as even as a stallion she would be unable to resist such an adorable filly, so she just ruffled part of Twilight’s mane and told her it was okay for a little filly to make mistakes. Twilight mumbled something about not being a little filly anymore and waved her hooves in the air to fight the attacking hoof of Twinkle.

Gleaming Shield walked over next to Twilight and give her a warm smile as well. “Twilight, can you step out in the hall for a bit while I have a word with Twinkle?” Twilight grumbled and walked toward the door.

“I guess, but don’t take too long. You told Mom that you would spend your day off with me.” Twilight giggled as Gleaming let out a groan before the door shut behind the filly. Gleaming waited for a bit before turning to face Twinkle.

"Listen up, soldier, this is important!" Gleaming Shield said. "From now on, until we find what in Tartarus is going on, you will respond to the name Twinkle Scout and I will be Gleaming Shield, do you understand?"

"Sir, yes Sir! I mean, Ma'am, Yes Ma'am!" The pegasus did not like the idea, but at least it made things less confusing, as she had been calling herself two names since she heard what her female name was supposed to be.

Then the newly named Twinkle Scout approached the unicorn mare slowly, while moving her hips in a sensual way. "So… you like to pull rank, I think I like that. But right now we are out of service, what if I get to be the one to be the Captain, huh?"

Gleaming Shield face blushed red. 'Think about Cadance, think about Cadance, think on Cadance!'

"Uh… I guess I… overstepped my bounds… uh… my little sister is waiting for us outside!"

"What… what the heck did I just do?" Scout said, sounding scared and starting to cry. "I… I am a stallion dammit!" A few tears started roll down her cheeks. Gleaming Shield then went and gave her supposed marefriend a hug. "It’s okay, we will get over this… somehow."

"How… how you do it? How can you stand so calm and collected?" The pegasus let herself be hugged and cried some more.

"It’s… part of my training. If a Captain panics, so does his army. If it makes you feel better, inside I want to scream to the heavens and hope this is just some sort of hallucination."

Twinkle Scout face blushed deep red again, Gleaming was such a strong mare, and she made her feel safe, no wonder she… stupid brain, stop doing that!

“Ehem… I think we should do spend the day with my little sister. It might do us some good and we might learn something more about our new lives.” Gleaming Shield said, trying to hide her own blush. It might not be Cadance, but she was still a… well she was a mare but she was not made of stone!

Scout nodded and was content to just have her captain keep hugging her.

“Would you two wait till later before you get all mushy and touchy?” Came the voice of a filly that should have been in the hallway. A pillow from the bed was covered in a pink glow and was flung across the room, slamming into Twilight’s face. There was a groan and Twilight fell back in a dramatic fashion.

Gleaming and Twinkle looked between themselves and Twilight who was doing a great job at faking being dead, while still peeking out to see if the two older mares were still watching her. They both busted out laughing and soon Twilight rushed over to give Gleaming a hug. Gleaming fell back, as her little sister gave her a hug.

“Well, Twily, it seems like Twinkle and I are going to spend the day with you. So what would you like to do?” Gleaming smiled as Twilight’s eyes grew wide with joy.

“Can we go to the park?” Twilight shouted as she jumped up and down on Gleaming. She nodded with each grunt. Twilight jumped up and rushed to the door.

The adult unicorn mare smiled and the two adults walked to meet Twilight at the door. “Now remember, try to act as a mare, if you have no clue how, just copy me. I expended a lot of time stalk… err watching Cadance before we even had our first date.” Gleaming whispered into Twinkle Scout’s ears. Twinkle giggled and nodded.

“And the whole marefriend bit?” Twinkle said in a teasing tone despite herself.

“One step at a time.” Gleaming’s face was bright red. Once they got to Twilight, she looked up and giggled.

“Gleamy, are you feeling okay? Your face is all red.” Twilight was worried about her older sister, not really knowing why her face was turning red through her white coat.

“I’m okay, are you ready to go?” Gleaming was doing her best to get the blood from rushing to her face. Twilight nodded and trotted down the hallway as Gleaming and Twinkle closed the door and followed her.

It was so bizarre, to be outside in the park with her supposed marefriend that WASN'T Cadence, and everypony she knew acting as if was okay for her and Scout to be mares, like they had been born that way. At least her little sister helped Gleaming Shield to stop thinking about the problem too much. Then she saw Cadance… and her world came crashing down.

Cadance, the pink pony of her dreams.... she was… with a stallion. A stallion that was not her. It was… it was just too much.

"Gleaming!" The unicorn mare heard the worried cries of her little sister as she came crashing down, apparently she had tripped over a stupid rock.

"It’s okay." Gleaming said and stood up, she had mostly bruised her ego, and broken her heart.

"It’s not okay, you are bleeding!"

"I am? Uh… could you… could you take me to a nurse or doctor then?" It’s not like it really mattered, Cadance was dating somepony else.

Then the unicorn mare fainted.

Author's Note

I want to thank Pinklestia for co-writing this chapter with me and for pointing out that this chapter could be saved and use. And I want to thank Izanagi for once again help edit this story. Both of them worked so very hard and I don't think I can thank them enough for helping with this chapter.

Truth Hurts

Gleaming could hear voices, but they sounded muffled and she could only make out a few things like her name. The thing that she knew was there somepony touching her and before she saw who was touching her, she jumped out and was in attack position. After she looked up to see who had touched her, her heart felt like it had stopped. The pony in front of her was Cadence. The look on her face was one of kindness and love. Cadence loved everypony she met. There are many forms of love and she understood all of them. And the look of love that Gleaming got was one of a close friend.

“I see why you were made captain of the guards. Ready to defend at a second notice.” Cadance gave a giggle as she moved closer to Gleaming. Gleaming just dropped to the floor. A second ago she was ready to fight and now she couldn’t even hold up her own body. Cadence rushed over and kept her from hitting the floor.

“T-Thank you.” Gleaming could feel her face turn crimson. She couldn’t believe that she had gotten this close to her once again. The last time she got this close was the first time they meet. Cadence smiled and giggled a little more. She helped Gleaming get back onto her bed before she returned to her chair on the right hoof side of the bed. Gleaming tried looking at her but found it hard to look at her without memories of everything they had done so far. So she rested her eyes on the foot of the bed.

“So, is there anything you want to talk about?” Cadence sounded like a teen pony talking to one of her close friends and that was when it hit her, she was Cadence’s best friend. She knew that Cadence had a best friend, but she didn’t know how they talked when she wasn’t around. Gleaming blinked a few times when she noticed that Cadence had moved closer and had a look that sent a shudder down her spine. “Spill it.”

“What do you mean? What do I have to spill?” Gleaming could feel her tail start to twitch. This only caused Cadence to move even closer.

“I know something is going on between you and Twinkle. I’ve seen you two at the park, not walking like you two always do.” She moved back to give Gleaming some room to breathe once more. Gleaming tried to remember how they had been walking through the park. She remembered that they had been walking like they would any other day. That was when it hit her, they had been walking like they would have been if they were both still stallions and not a couple or a couple who enjoy walking in the park together.

“I don’t know what you mean. How do we normally walk in the park?” Gleaming sighed mentally. Cadence did catch her off guard a bit but now was her chance to get some information about her and Twinkle’s relationship. She smiled a bit as she thought of this like one of the training drills they made her do. The task was simple, get information about target or targets without giving out any information yourself or letting them know that you didn’t have any useful information.

“Well for one, you two usually walk next to each other with the occasional pumps to show affection.” Cadence gave Gleaming a weird look from the smile that was still on Gleaming face. Gleaming shook her head and look back at Cadence.

“Well, Twilight was with us and we wanted to not weird her out.” Gleaming hoped that was a believable reason for things.

“That has never stopped you two before and Twilight told me before that she thought it was cute how you two would act. She now thinks you are sick or something.” Cadence had moved back to her seat and just looked at Gleaming with a look that just asks for the truth.

Gleaming wanted nothing more than to tell her the truth, but who wouldn’t sound crazy when they say that they were born a stallion and up till the other night was one. Only this morning waking up next to their best friend as a mare and then finding out that they are a couple. Also finding out that everyone thinks that they were always born a mare. She felt like she was nearing the breaking point hearing that this had caused Twilight to worry about her too.

“I wish I could tell you, Cadence. But I’m still trying to understand things myself here.” Gleaming just looked down and hope that Cadence would just let it slide, but she should have known better than to think that.

“Try me. Maybe I can help you. If something is going, I could help you.” Once again, Cadence had moved right on top of Gleaming.

“You promise not to laugh at me too much?” She looked at Cadence and smiled as she was given a quick, but understanding nod. With a deep breath, she started. “Well, I don’t remember much, but I and Twinkle woke up as opposite genders the morning after my party. My name was Shining Armor and Twinkle’s was Flash Sentry.” She stopped and waited to see how Cadence was taking this all in.

“So if I understand what you told me so far, is that you and Twinkle are really stallions. And that you woke up after your party as mares. Also due to the fact that both of you were drunk, you both don’t remember what happen after you left there?” Cadence eyed Gleaming a few times that Gleaming was started to feel a little uncomfortable in her body. But she just nodded her head.
“Yeah and it seems that only me and Twinkle remember being stallions. Everypony else thinks that we always have been mares and even that we are dating as well.” She was about to say a little more, but a hoof had stopped her from speaking anymore.

“Wait, not dating Twinkle?” Gleaming closed her eyes as Cadence had shouted. She mumbled something and nodded her head. Cadence closed her eyes as her horn started to glow. A warm and fuzzy feeling came over Gleaming and Cadence eyes shot open.

“Cadence, are you okay?” She had moved Candace’s hoof from her mouth and looked worried at her.

“No, I fear something is wrong. Love is something that is like time,” Cadence moved away from her seat and was pacing in front of the bed. The look on her face was something that Gleaming had never really seen on her face before. “But unlike time it usually comes to point of true love with one pony, but yours is different.”

“What do you mean? Doesn’t mine lead to my one true love?” Gleaming couldn’t believe that she was so pulled in that she was about halfway off the foot of the bed. Cadence hadn’t stopped pacing.

“You have two true loves. One leads to Twinkle and another pony, I can’t tell you who that other one is. Something is making it hard to see.” Cadence kept her head low as she was trying to think. With a loud thud, Gleaming had fallen to the floor.

“I know who the other one is.” Gleaming gown as she got back to her hooves. She looked up only to find that Cadence was now nose to nose with her.

“Who?” Cadence nose just pushed a little harder into Gleamings.

“You.” Gleaming pulled away and try to move away. Cadence just sat there with a lost look on her face. The silence that followed started to painful and so Gleaming started to move a hoof toward Cadence.

“Get away from me!” Cadence moved away from Gleaming hoof. Tears moved down her face and she turned away. Gleaming looked on with confusion and sadness. Had that last bit been enough to make Cadence believe her or think she was crazy.

Before she could say anything, Cadence stood up and bolted from the room leaving Gleaming on the floor with an outstretched hoof. She looked down at the floor and sighed. This wasn’t what she thought would happen, but it was darn close. After what felt like hours came a knock at the open door. A nurse walked in and took in what was before her with years of practice.

“I have a message for you Captain Shields from First Lieutenant Twinkle Scout. She needs you to report for duty as soon as you are well enough,” The nurse eyed Gleaming. “And it appears that you are. Once you are ready, please check out at the front desk.” With that, the nurse turned around and left the room.

“Duty?” Gleaming furrowed her brow and then her eyes shot open. She rushed out of the room and past the front desk. “I am late for bucking duty.” She yelled as the nurse from before shot up from the desk.

“They never bucking listen.”

Help!

Twinkle looked over the guards that stood in formation in front of her. Even with the changes that she and Gleaming had gone through. One thing was the same, guards follow the chain of command. With a slight nod of her head, the guard changed to a more relaxed position.

“As I am sure all of you are wondering. Captain Shield is doing well and resting up after falling unconscious after taking a hit to her head,” Twinkle pointed a hoof to one of the guards. “Would this have happened if she had worn a helmet?” The guard blinked and looked around like he was just asked to tell what two plus two was.

“Humm… No, ma’am. The helmet enchantment would reduce the impact of anything to hit it.” He waited to see if that was what she had wanted him to say. She just smiled and nodded her head.

“Very good. That is correct. Of course, she would not be wearing her helmet when she is off duty. But no guard here should be doing any of the training without one on. I get it. You want to look cool for the people who come to watch. Safety should come first before looking cool.” The guard who had answered the question started to look a little sheepish. He had done a few practices without a helmet on when he saw a few cute mares had come to watch.

Twinkle didn’t care to call someone out, but wearing a helmet could mean life or death for a guard. And if they get in the habit of doing things without one on, things could end badly. With that out of the way, she ordered them to start warm-ups as she went to review the plans for the day that Gleaming had made. The office that was a little shack next to the training grounds.

The place was a mess. Somethings didn’t change from when they were stallions. It didn’t take her long to find the spot that the plans for today’s training where. What she found when she looked at the plan just made her jaw dropped a bit. On the paper for today’s plan was just one little note that read ‘Wing it’. She thought that she and Gleaming Shield had talked about the plan for the first day of training they would lead and here Gleaming just was just going to wing the first day.

Her mind raced as she tried to think of what to do and she looked around to see if could find an old plan or something to run them through. There was a knock on the door frame and Twinkle looked up to find one of the guards waiting at the door.

“Lieutenant Scout, we have finished our warm-ups.” He stood at the door and did this best to act like he didn’t see the messy state of the office. Twinkle rushed to the door and with a panicked look.

“I am going to need you to deliver a message for me to the hospital. I need you to tell them that I need Captain Shields back here as soon as she is able.” The guard gave a quick nod before he rushed off. Twinkle walked back to the desk and just wanted to throw every piece of paper on the floor. What was she going to do till Gleaming could get here? Then the thought hit her and she didn’t care for it. It was the one thing she didn’t want to make them do if they didn’t have to. Run laps till Gleaming makes it.

The rest of the guards stood at the ready again when they saw her move toward them. Twinkle took in a deep breath and stopped right in front of them.

“Okay everypony. Today we are going to start things off with a short run around the field help you get ready from having a few days off. Now get to running.” She shouted the last part as the guards started the run with a few grumbles. She could only hope that this would buy her some time until Gleaming got here.

Ten minutes had passed before the guard she had sent had come and had informed her that the messages were passed on. Now all she could do was hope that Gleaming was feeling better soon enough to make so they don’t spend the whole training session running.

Gleaming rushed through the streets of Canterlot as fast as she could. Her thoughts bounced from what Twinkle needed her back for and what just happened with Cadence. She didn’t notice the other ponies look of worry. The way to the training ground wasn’t that hard to navigate, but there were some objects that she had to move. Her magic flared up to push things out of the way the best she could, but she could only move a few at a time.

The gate to the training grounds past by and she looked around to find Twinkle. But she was nowhere to be seen and so she rushes off to the little office. When Gleaming had gotten to the office found Twinkle with papers surround her and a dispirited look on her face.

“Umm… Is everything okay here? Or should I come back a little later?” Gleaming walked a little closer but stopped when Twinkle looked up at her. She gasped and leapt over the papers on the ground and pinned her to the ground.

“You have made it.” She looked down at Gleaming with a smile and all Gleaming can do is giggle. Gleaming eyes grew wide as she realized that she had just giggled.

“So, what did you need me so quickly?” Twinkle moved off her and pointed a hoof at the papers that litter the floor. These papers were once stacked on the desk on the other side of the office. Twinkle had gone through each of them to find any kind of plan that she could use.

“I need your help in getting a bucking plan for training today. It seems that one was never done for today.” Gleaming looked a little lost and started to pick up the papers with her magic. She moved the one that she had written for today close to her and sighed.

“Wing-it? Did I write this while I was drunk or something? I mean we always did think on our hooves a lot.” The paper moved to the side to find Twinkle had an angry glare on her face.

“Do you have any idea how stress I have been for the past thirty minutes? I had to order them to run laps till I could think of something or till you get back.” Twinkle sighed and sat down. Gleaming turned around to look out at the training ground.

“You said that you had them running laps, right?” Gleaming had pulled her head back in to look at Twinkle.

“Yes, I am sure that I order them to run laps.” She got up and moved next to Gleaming and looked at the now-empty training ground. All the guards that were there when she had stepped into the office to find the training plan had now vanished.

“Well, it looks like they finished them,” Gleaming couldn’t help but smile at the other mare. She remembered when she was younger and still a stallion how she would try to leave training early without the commander noticing. Twinkle just fell back onto her flank and looked like she was about to start crying. Gleaming moved up to her and brushed the first few tears away. “Don’t worry. It looks like we get some extra free time.” Gleaming still worried about what happened with Cadence. But at this moment she had to worry about the other person who was hurting from current events.

Author's Note

I am sorry for such a short of a chapter and a late one at that. I hope everypony has enjoyed and ready for more here soon.