Chapter 1: A Disturbing Discovery
Author's Note
I know this first part is short, but I thought it could work well enough as an introduction to post up here so that it doesn't end up sitting in my saved files never to be seen again. The way I see it, if I have this posted somewhere, I can give myself more incentive to work on it some more, and sooner.
Chapter 1: A Disturbing Discovery
Since childhood, Twilight Sparkle’s days and nights were dedicated to diligently studying magic and anything that could relate to it. A social life didn’t matter to her because the joy she found in every new discovery, great or small, was more than satisfactory to her. There was only one thing- or rather; one pony- that could turn her attention away for more than a few minutes, and that was her older brother.
Shining armor was really the only friend she had, next to her dragon assistant Spike of course, and she was okay with that. They supported each other with their endeavors, gave each other a shoulder to cry on when needed, shared their concerns or secrets and laughed any negativity away together.
The frequency of these moments diminished as they got older and their responsibilities were augmented. Still, they found time to keep seeing each other on a fairly regular basis, and sent letters in-between those times; even with Shining Armor rising through the ranks of the Royal Guard and Twilight being the personal student of Princess Celestia.
One day, an unfamiliar feeling came over Twilight. Although she was already a few years into young-adulthood it was only now that she started seeing certain things in a different light. The few times that her eyes were away from a book or sheet of parchment, they would sometimes linger on nearby stallions. Usually she would stare at the royal guards. Before it had been their stern, stoic faces that would catch her eye; now she gazed lower and in a wider perspective. The shape of their muscular forms, accentuated by their armor, was not just appealing in an empirical sense, but genuine physical attraction. She’d quickly look away and blushed when she realized what she was doing, and was a little afraid that a few of them might have caught her looking at them.
She did her best to push it aside, and was successful… for about three days. She tried working in a more secluded area of the library or in her personal quarters and closing her eyes momentarily or making sure she placed a book at the right angle to momentarily block out any guards she might pass, and it seemed to help a little, but she greatly underestimated the power of hormones. Certain words or phrases would cause her thoughts to picture the guards, and her desire to look at the real thing again would increase over time.
She wanted to try and find some way of making these feelings disappear, but any magical solution she could think of didn’t seem safe. Normally she would have just asked her teacher but such a thing as this felt too embarrassing to mention, especially to the Princess.
One pony she hoped could help was Shining Armor, whom she hadn’t seen in five months. He had been away on an excursion to aid Saddle Arabia with a sudden plight of desert beasts that had been running rampant and attacking traveling ponies. In his last letter to her he had written that the problem had been resolved and that he would be returning home soon and wanted to meet with her again as soon as he got home. Twilight was overjoyed by this, relieved to know that he was unharmed and that she would finally be able to have somepony she trusted to confide her feelings with again.
The appointed day couldn’t come soon enough, but once it did she waited anxiously at the train station. Soldiers and officers filed out of the train, and she waited as patiently as possible until she saw the blue tinted mane of her brother in the last group. Resisting the urge to run full gallop at him like she would as a filly, she made her way towards him, only to stop dead in her tracks once he came into full view.
For some reason, it seemed to her that he had a radiant aura about him. Seeing him in his officer uniform made him not only look dignified and commanding, but attractive. Despite all the times she had stared and silently marveled at the other guards’ bodies, Shining Armor’s seemed to rival them all. One moment she felt like swooning, but the next she felt like she would puke. There is no way I could be attracted to my brother she thought to herself beratingly.
Shining Armor didn’t seem to notice her stunned expression as he walked over to her and gave her a firm hug. “Missed you Twiley! You have no idea how stressful it was out there. But thinking of you and Mom and Dad kept me going!” He hugged her tighter.
Twilight quickly composed herself as she hugged him back, “Me too B.B.B.F.F.! I had heard reports that were given to Princess Celestia, but I couldn’t imagine you going against giant cobras and fire salamanders.” She caught his natural scent, and her breath caught as a new wave of confusing feelings bowled into her.
“It’s all taken care of now though,” he pulled away from her and smiled, “and I can rest easy now that I’m finally home, and not have to worry about sand in my mane anymore either.” He chuckled and Twilight joined him, despite her sudden shock.
They made their way the café they had been going to together for years, Shining Armor rattling off about his time spent in the desert the whole way and for part of the time they were there. Twilight half-listened, contemplating whether it was still a good idea to tell him about her own predicament in the last couple months. It seemed like such an inappropriate subject now that she was having the same feelings for her brother as she did with the rest of the guards; albeit a little more intensely with him than with any other.
Shining Armor paused in the middle of a quick anecdote about one of the less experienced cadets that had been on the expedition when he finally noticed his sister’s occasional pensiveness. “Something bothering you Twilight? You’ve hardly spoken since I got off the train.”
Twilight shook herself out of her latest ‘visualization’. “Well… kind of. I’m just not sure if it’s worth addressing though.”
Shining Armor just scoffed, “Hasn’t stopped us before has it? Lay it on me sis, I’m all ears!”
Twilight blushed, and she stared at her tea cup for a moment before taking a deep breath and deciding to go for it, but excluding certain details. She couldn’t help but stammer at first, “W-well… you see. I’ve been experiencing some weird -um- I guess you could say… hormonal imbalances.” She said the last two words in a whisper barely audible to Shining Armor.
Shining Armor raised an eyebrow with a confused look on his face, then after a few seconds in thought he chuckled. “Finally got yourself a crush Twiley?” he said in a sort of teasing manner as he grinned impishly.
Twilight herself was confused for a moment, and when it sunk in a moment later. Her front hooves shot up defensively and she shook her head wildly. “No, no, no, no, no! I mean, not anypony specific- I mean… wait-“
“Calm down sis, there’s no need to worry. It’s perfectly natural for a mare your age to be ogling stallions-”
“I don’t ogle!”
“Okay, fine, you gaze at them adoringly then?”
“Shiny!”
“Just teasing Twiley,” he managed to say through a fit of laughter.
Twilight just frowned at him and felt her face grow hot.
“Seriously though,” he said as he regained his composure, “I doubt you’re the only mare in this city going through this right now. It’s understandable that you’re hesitant to talk about it. I remember how nervous I was when I first tried to ask out one of the pretty fillies in school. You could say that was the first time I fled from the battlefield crying.” He chuckled as he reminisced, and Twilight couldn’t help but crack a smile. “You don’t have to give any more details right now if you don’t want to. You can tell me more in your own time. And I promise not to tell Dad,” he added as he crossed his heart. “I’m not sure how he’d take to the idea of his studious little princess being distracted by boys.”
She kept blushing but lightly giggled at the thought of her father fainting from shock at the idea.
“Well,” she said quietly after a few moments of silence, “I will say this. There is one stallion I kind of started to fall for recently… and he is part of the Royal Guard.”
“Oh? Is he a new recruit or has he been in service for a while?”
“He’s been serving for a few years at least.”
“Is he handsome?”
“… Very! And- from what I’ve seen, very kind too.”
“Sounds like a winner. Do I know him?”
“I would hope so,” she giggled slightly.
“But you’re not going to tell me yet?”
“… No. Not until I figure out how to confront him about my feelings at least.”
“Well, best advice I can give is just to be honest with yourself and with him. And, if you ever do decide to talk to him, don’t be afraid to plunge right in and tell him exactly how you feel. Most of us guys are pretty clueless unless it’s all spelled out for us.” He chuckled again.
You have no idea Shiny. I wish I could spell it out for you right now!
