The Convoluted Life of Gleaming Shield

It was an easy enough affair checking out of the infirmary. Gleaming answered the nurses’ questions, let them take one last vital check, and signed the appropriate forms. The doctor gave her the paperwork she needed for her medical leave then directed her towards the doors.

She walked tenderly down the hall. If she moved too quickly, the bruise on her chest would twinge painfully. Not that she minded the leisurely pace; it gave her plenty of time to figure out her game plan.

No guard duty for the foreseeable future? she mused. That’s way too much free time. What am I supposed to do with myself now? I haven’t had consecutive days off in months. She sucked the inside of her cheek before sighing. “I guess I could always find something to do around the apartment. It probably needs a good cleaning.”

After a bit of consideration, Gleaming finally decided that her best bet was to go home and get her living space situated first. Once the apartment was clean, she’d have to see. It was late in the morning, so maybe some lunch would definitely be in order.

Turning the corner, she headed down the hall towards the double doors that separated the infirmary from the rest of the castle. She passed by a mirror hanging on the wall and noted that her pink fur was disheveled and matted. Maybe a shower too. By Celestia, if I have been here for three days, I’m probably a little ripe.

“Now, should I shower before or after I clean?” she asked herself. “I feel like showering first would be good, but I’ll probably get all sweaty again while I clean. Maybe if I—”

She froze as her mind finally processed what it had just seen. Slowly backtracking, she stared at her reflection. Her face stared back, just the same as she remembered it: two-tone blue mane, blue eyes, and white fur.

She peered at herself for a few more seconds before sighing and shaking her head. “I’m losing my mind,” she mumbled as she walked away. “I’m losing… my mind. Maybe a nap is in order first. Or maybe some coffee instead.” Reaching the double doors, she pushed both of them open and walked out of the infirmary.

As she left, her ear twitched. It was faint, practically inaudible, but Gleaming swore she could hear somepony giggling.

“You’ve got to be bucking kidding me,” Gleaming groaned.

Hanging half in, half out of her apartment, she glared down at her carpeting. She’d managed to squeeze most of herself through the window. It had been going well up until her flank decided to get stuck between the sash and the sill.

Not wanting to meet any unwanted callers at her door, she had opted to climb the fire escape instead. It was an alternative route to get into her apartment, though it was one that she rarely used. Today it had been difficult pulling herself up, what with her bruised chest, but once she was at her window, she thought she’d been in the clear.

Apparently not.

Swearing under her breath, Gleaming wiggled about, trying to nudge the window open further to allow her hips in. The wood was old and swollen though, and the sash refused to budge. Even magic couldn’t widen the gap.

“This is stupid!” Placing her forehooves against the wall, Gleaming heaved. The fat in her flanks smooshed against the outside of the window, and the frame creaked under the pressure. With each push, she grunted. “I am not. That. Fat!”

For a moment it seemed like the window would break first, but then Gleaming’s rump slipped through the gap with an audible pop. Letting out a yelp, she ended up upside down on the floor with her butt in the air.

“Note to self,” she groaned as she sat up. “Oil the window at some point.” Putting a hoof to her chest, she took a deep breath only to wince. “Ow. Okay, ow. That was a stupid idea. Ow, ow, ow.” After waiting for her bruise to stop hurting, she got carefully to her hooves and looked around. Her living room was just as she had left it.

Trashed.

Every available flat surface was covered in the empty boxes and crumpled up bags of various take-out establishments. Empty cups were stacked inside one another and left as small towers amongst the wreckage. The coffee table was lost beneath a mound of pizza boxes. The carpeting was almost completely hidden beneath a blanket of menus. The only piece of furniture that was somewhat free of clutter was the coach, and even that had several stained blankets over it.

Gleaming stared around the room as if seeing it for the first time.

“I live like this?” She winced as an… unique aroma hit her. “Dear Celestia. How did I let it get this bad?” As she glanced around the room, her eyes landed on a calendar pinned to the wall. The days were almost completely illegible due to all the pen markings present; red for work, purple for personal, and green for extra shifts. “Oh, right…” she mumbled as she stared at the mass of red and green. “No free time.”

Rubbing the back of her neck, she grimaced. “Right. I should probably take care of this first, before anything else. Um… let’s see if I remember where my cleaning supplies are.” A thought crossed her mind and she frowned. “Do I… even have cleaning supplies?

As it turned out, she didn’t have any cleaning supplies in her entire apartment, save for half a bottle of dish detergent. One quick trip down to the store remedied that.

“Right.” Setting the basket of cleaners down, Gleaming surveyed her living room. A purple floral bandana kept her mane out of her eyes, and she had a grubby apron on about her barrel. Taking in the mountains of take-out boxes, she grimaced. “I’ve got to learn how to cook.”

The first task was relatively easy. Picking up all the menus in her magic, she stuffed them into a garbage bag. Many of them were so faded that it was impossible to tell where they had originated from. The sheer number of papers was such that by the time there were no menus left, the garbage bag was full to bursting.

“There’s that done.” Tying of the bag, Gleaming breathed a sigh of relief before looking over her work. Her smile turned quickly into a confused frown. “Wait… was my carpet always this color?” She gave the cornflower blue color a critical look before shrugging.

Next came the tabletops.

The end tables were simple. Due to their small size, they couldn’t hold much debris. Hence, all she had to do was scrape the pile of trash into the awaiting garbage bag. A quick wipe down with a wet cloth and a spritz of wood polish and they were good to go.

Moving over to the coffee table, she lifted the lid of the top pizza box. “Ope!” A family of five mice—two adults and three little ones—was inside, picking at the stale leftover pizza crusts that were present.

Upon having their picnic disturbed, the adult male shook its paw at her, squeaking angrily.

“Oh, sorry.” Gleaming closed the box. She paused, hoof on the lid, and frowned. “Wait a minute…” Lifting the top again, she glared at the mice. “Hold up. You know the rules and so do I.”

The male went from annoyed to sheepish.

“Come on. Cough it up,” Gleaming said, holding out a hoof. A moment later several bits clinked into her outstretched hoof. “Thank you for your contribution.”

The adult female squeaked at her.

Gleaming rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. I’ll try and make sure to remember to order some garlic bread next time."

Another squeak.

“And some fries.”

More squeaking.

“Don’t push your luck,” Gleaming grunted, her eyes narrowing. “One cookie pizza. No more.” As a chorus of happy squeaking filled the air, she closed the box lid. Tossing the bits about her hoof for a moment, she put them away for later. Carefully, she picked up the top box and moved it aside, making sure not to disturb the occupants.

With that, she proceeded to purge the coffee table of its load.

Gleaming opened the fridge and stared into the eldritch abyss.

The abyss stared back.

Slowly, Gleaming closed the fridge.

“...deal with that later.”

“Okay, you can do this,” Gleaming muttered, her horn glowing. Leaning over the guardrail for the fire escape, she eyed her target a few stories below. Sticking out her tongue, she closed an eye and tried to line up the shot.

“Ope!”

THUNK

“One down.” Horn still glowing, she hefted the second extremely full garbage bag into the air and took aim again.

“Hup!”

THUNK

“Okay. Just one more.” Adjusting the bag back and forth, she let it drop, only to hiss. “Oh shit.”

SPLAT

The yowling of a cat echoed up through the alley.

“Mr. Whiskers! I’m sorry!”

Dual-wielding cans of air freshener, Gleaming trotted around the room, spraying liberally. A heavy mist of cinnamon trailed behind her, slowly dispersing through the stale air. She swirled and twirled, humming softly to herself as she danced around the room, spraying as she went.

After completing a full circuit, she stopped beside the old, worn-out couch. Eyeing it curiously, Gleaming leaned forward and took a tentative sniff.

She immediately recoiled, nose scrunched and eyes watering.

She unloaded both canisters into the upholstery until they were empty.

Wiping the sweat from her muzzle, Gleaming looked around at her work. There were still a couple of things left to do; the carpet was still a little stained in places and the walls were in need of a fresh coat of paint. Overall though, it was a huge improvement over how the living room used to look. She had forgotten how much room she actually had to work with.

“It’s so spacious in here,” she mused, standing in the middle of the room. Strangely, she felt oddly proud of herself. It might have been something as simple as cleaning a single room, but now that it was complete, she felt unusually satisfied with her work.

She had actually accomplished something.

Taking a look at the clock, Gleaming hummed thoughtfully. I think that’ll do for today. I can get started on the other rooms tomorrow. Her apartment didn’t have that many rooms. Just the living room, the kitchen-dining room combo, a bathroom, and two bedrooms (one of which was just storage). She’d be able to tackle the remaining floors later.

She tucked the basket of cleaning supplies into the corner before making her way to the bathroom. After all the cleaning, she was sweaty and covered in a good layer of dust and grime.

A shower was needed.

Slipping into the bathroom, she removed her bandana and apron. She tossed them into the sink before turning her attention to the shower. After fumbling with the knobs for a moment, she stood back and waited for the water to heat up.

As she waited, she took the time to study her reflection in the mirror.

The face that stared back at her was one that she was very familiar with. Her right eye still had the violet speckles through the iris, there was still a scar running across her left nostril from where she had fallen on a fence post as a foal, and she was still missing a small notch of flesh out of the right corner of her mouth where she bitten through her lip during a hoof fight with another mare at school.

The only difference she could see was the fact her mane was getting rather long, almost to about her shoulders, and that there were dark bags under her eyes.

“Four years and you still look like shit,” she muttered to her reflection.

Her reflection glared at her silently.

She stayed that way until steam started to fill the room. Sighing, she started to turn towards the shower but stopped upon catching sight of something weird in the mirror. There appeared to be a pink glow coming from beneath her barrel. “What the…?”

Placing her forehooves on the counter, she pushed herself up, trying to find the source. It didn’t take long to find it. Across her lower abdomen, standing out proudly against her off-white coat, a weird symbol glowed with a pink light.

Gleaming brushed a hoof over the weird mark, only to discover it wasn’t coming from her fur, but the skin underneath. “What the buck?” She stared at the rune for a moment before hopping off the counter and making her way into the shower.

It was clearly magical in nature, and magic wasn’t her forte. That was fine though. She might not know what the buck was going on, but she definitely knew a certain somepony who would.