I Know You Well Because I Am You
Prince Shining Armour tossed and turned in the bed he shared with his wife at the heart of the Crystal Empire. Normally, he slept like a baby. Maybe it was stress, or maybe it was because it was an unusually cold night. The reason ultimately didn't matter.
"Trouble sleeping?" he heard a voice ask in a comforting tone. It took Shining a moment to realize it wasn't his wife's voice, but his own. He turned to face the source of the other voice, and found himself looking another Shining Armour in the eyes.
"So it's not just me," the other Shining said, but it did little to alleviate Shining's shock at what he was seeing.
"Who-What are you doing in my bed?" Shining inquired in a shocked tone.
"Where else would I be this time of night? It's my bed too," Shining's double answered, as if the question was inherently absurd.
Shining still wasn't convinced. "No, it's my bed, that I share with my wife, not you, whoever you are. Where is Cadance, anyway?" he asked.
"Our bed. Our wife. It's like you don't know yourself when you see you. And don't worry about Cadance. Tonight it's just you, and you," the other Shining explained, leaning back towards the first.
"I can do that without some weird clone of myself, but I haven't had to in almost a decade," Shining retorted, though he was starting to calm down around ... he didn't know what to call his double, apart from his own name.
"I think I'm better than a pair of hooves," the double added, managing to elicit a smile from Shining.
"I suppose I can't argue with that, Shiny, but I'm still not interested," Shining countered.
"Come now, Shining. Cadance will never know your desires the way you do. That's where I have the advantage," Shiny offered. "I know what you want better than anyone because it's what I want too."
Shining had to pause a moment. Shiny's reasoning was airtight, assuming they really were the same pony. He relaxed his guarded posture, and beckoned Shiny closer.
"That's more like it. It's nothing to feel weird about. Every pony has thought about this sort of thing at some point," Shiny said reassuringly, leaning in to kiss Shining. While Shining Armour normally had no interest in other stallions, or mares other than Cadance, he was certainly open to this.
As Shining Armour locked lips with his double, he failed to notice that both of their bodies had begun to shift and slim down. He was simply lost in a state of narcissistic pleasure. In addition to the kiss, he could feel his ears be scratched by magic, and he used his own horn to return the gesture.
Shiny started to descend to descend on Shining, kissing and caressing every inch of him as he went down. Shining reacted with several moans of pleasure, each one at a slightly higher pitch than the last.
I don't remember my nipples being so sensitive. Other me is good. I suppose that means I'm good too. Shining thought, failing to think about how his penis should have gotten in the way, but it didn't. Before he could think about it, he felt ... he didn't know what he felt, but it felt good.
What is that feeling? I've never felt anything like it. Shining looked down at Shiny and almost couldn't comprehend what he was seeing: his penis was gone, evidently replaced with a vagina, and Shiny had his tongue firmly entrenched in it.
"Stop, stop!" Shining commanded, using his hind legs to push Shiny off by the shoulders. He immediately noticed his voice had gone from a tenor to a soprano, and that Shiny appeared to have completely turned into a mare, so he had to assume had been transformed as well.
"I thought you were enjoying that," Shiny pointed out. Even in their transformed state, their voices were identical.
"Not when I found out what it was!" Shining insisted. He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate as he fully realized what had happened.
"But you were enjoying it," Shiny suggested in an attempt to calm Shining down.
"I ... suppose I was," Shining started to relax. Shiny seemed to be right, even if it did take him by surprise.
Shiny approached Shining again, putting a hoof to his cheek and whispering, "It's okay, Gleaming. I know you've always wanted this. You don't have to deny it, especially not to me,"
"What did you call me?" Shining asked, somewhat confused by the name Shiny just used. It seemed to have come out of nowhere.
"Gleaming Shield. That's what you really want to be called, isn't it?" Shiny, or Gleaming asked. Shining could hear a little voice at the back of his mind, telling him to say yes. He realized this voice had been nudging him along this whole time, making him more open to Shiny's suggestions, whatever they happened to be. Now that he was aware, he was finally able to reject it.
"No! My name is Shining Armour, and I am a stallion. I've never wanted anything like this. I don't know who or what you are, but you are not me!" Shining screamed, pushing Gleaming away. Unfortunately, lashing out did little to reverse his transformed state.
"Oh well. It was worth a shot. I've done more than enough already," Gleaming's eyes flashed green for a moment, and then she revealed herself to actually be a Changeling, one Shining knew well.
"Chrysalis!" Shining wasn't sure whether he was surprised or not. He hadn't expected her to try something after so long, but he realized few of his other enemies would try something like this.
"Missed me?" Chrysalis asked coyly.
"Why-why would you do this?" Shining demanded, realizing the motive made little difference at this point.
"Revenge, boredom, to see what kind of spells I could cast over a residual psychic link. Take your pick, really," Chrysalis explained, maintaining a playful, if sadistic, tone. "You should feel honoured. I can't go around doing this sort of thing whenever I want. Takes a lot out of me."
"Residual psychic link?" Shining inquired. As if tonight wasn't strange enough.
"I wouldn't bother calling your guards if I were you. I'm not really here. In fact, this is all a dream. None of this is real. Well, some of it is," with that, Chrysalis charged up one last spell from her horn, enveloping the room in a blinding light.
Shining Armour awoke in a cold sweat and had to catch his breath. The dream felt so real, so intense. He looked to the side and saw Cadance fast asleep, right where she should have been.
"What did Chrysalis mean by some of it being-" He thought out loud, and upon hearing what should have been his voice, it sunk in: Chrysalis had somehow managed to transform him into a mare in both the dream and reality.
"No..." Shining wanted to scream, but instead found himself in a silent state of panic. It wasn't just his new body, but the thought of what else Chrysalis could do to him if she was capable of this.
How am I going to explain this? he thought, unable to come up with an answer. To make matters worse, he saw Cadance stirring, and his state of panic started to intensify.
"Shining? Are you feeling alr-" Cadance started to say, but upon opening her eyes, she was only able to make out a mare's outline in the dark. Believing the mare to be an intruder, she demanded,"Who-what are you doing in my bed?!"
Shining knew he probably looked different after his ordeal, but he didn't think he looked that different. "Cadance, don't you recognize me? It's me, Shining Armour. Your husband," he explained. For good measure, he cast a light spell to better show his face.
If nothing else, it was clear to Cadance that this mare's colouring matched her husband's, but she remained sceptical. For all she knew, this mare could be some insane stalker or something, but that wouldn't explain Shining's absence. There was no way anyone could get rid of him quietly. Still confused, she opted to give this mare the benefit of the doubt. Giving the mare another lookover, Cadance asked, "Shining? But, you're ... how?"
Taking a deep breath, Shining started, "I was dreaming, and Chrysalis was there. She did this to me in the dream, and it turned out to be real when I woke up." He made a point to carefully omit his dalliance with who he thought was himself, while remaining honest about the incident. Maybe it was his state of shock, but he could feel tears forming in his eyes after telling Cadance what happened.
"It's okay, Shining. I believe you," Cadance stated softly, wiping a tear from her husband's cheek. "Don't worry. We'll find a way to fix this."
Shining started to feel a little better about his predicament. "Thanks, dear. That means a lot," Shining said with a sigh of relief. He knew he was no closer to reversing the change, or preventing Chrysalis from doing something like this again, but he still felt better.
"In the meantime, you might be stuck like that for a while. Maybe I should help you get used to that new body of yours," Cadance suggested. Shining blushed at the thought. Chrysalis' attack fresh in his mind, he reminded himself that he could trust Cadance to not do anything he didn't want.
"Alright, but let's take it slowly. Okay?" Shining answered, nodding cautiously.
"Okay. Just tell me if you want me to stop."
Author's Note
I would like to thank TheWraithWriter, Redbook, and BleedingRaindrops for helping me flesh this out.
