Two Weeks Later (Week 2)

“Ohhh, yessssss…” Gleaming lay pinned on her back, legs wrapped around Eros in a lover’s embrace. “Eros! ErosErosErosErosErosErOSEROSEROOOOOOS!”

Gleaming and Eros typically liked to have a morning quickie to start the day. However, that morning quickie the last two weeks had extended into at least an hour of frenzied fucking. Gleaming’s heat had been petering out though, thankfully, so today was going to be her first day back running the Guard.

Eros continued to thrust into Gleaming at a steady pace. “Gonna… g-gonna need to…” He grunted as she gave him a particularly strong squeeze. “G-Get ready soon. You don’t wanna be late…”

Gleaming shivered and arched her neck. “Just… just keep going a little longer yet… Please…”

Eros kissed her, his tongue darting in and mingling with hers. She moaned into his mouth as their hips met with wet slaps that pushed her deeper into the bed. They made out fiercely while their hooves ran through their sweaty manes, making out and pushing back and forth for nearly a minute. Finally, Eros pulled back and resumed his task of rutting her silly.

“Things are gonna.... be picking up now,” he panted. “Gotta resume some routine… Will be easier now… than later…”

Gleaming held him tighter. “Y-You’ve got this... all planned out… haven’t yooOOOOUUUUYESYESYESHARDERHARDERHARDER!”

Realizing he’d found her g-spot, Eros abandoned all pretense and hammered her for all he was worth. Gleaming’s girly cries filled the room, and before long her walls were spasming around him once more. Eros grunted shortly after as he coated her tunnel with long ropes of thick seed.

He stayed inside her a little longer after that, hugging her close and rubbing her belly. Gleaming hummed at the renewed warmth inside her, then touched her horn to Eros’ and touched their foreheads. “I still can’t believe it. I just really, really can’t… this is all so nuts...!”

Eros kissed her again. “Still scared?”

Gleaming nuzzled him. “Not as much as before. Just nervous now.”

Eros smiled. “If you need anything at all, just tell me. I’ll do whatever I can.”

“I know.” Gleaming looked past him and up at the ceiling. “I just hope that everypony else is as understanding.”

Eros chuckled. “C’mon. I’ve gotta turn back into a mare, and we both need to get cleaned up. Let’s go.”

Gleaming whined. “But that requires movemennnnnnnt…”

“We can fuck one more time in the shower if we hurry.”

“...I’ll get the towels.”

Sweat formed on Gleaming’s brow. She tried very hard to ignore the clock on the wall as she paced back and forth in her office. She was in a new set of crystal armor custom made for her smaller frame (also with adjustable straps), but the damn thing was nowhere near as comfortable as her old set. She sighed and looked at herself in the mirror for any missed task of hygiene.

No such luck. Her coat was like new fallen snow, with neatly-trimmed fetlocks and a tightly braided mane and tail that glistened with a healthy sheen. Her periwinkle armor was spotless, the fine etchings and runes flashing back at her with glints of magic. Her styled sabatons had been resized for her, immaculate and free of any scuffs. The magenta star of House Sparkle was displayed proudly on her chest clasp, and her horn was expertly filed to a delicate point.

“Guhhhhhhhh.” Gleaming looked away. “This is gonna suck. This is really, really gonna suck...”

She’d soon be in front of greenhorn troops, holding back a cringe as they tried not to draw attention to the fact that she was now a chick. Maybe she should just cast an illusion spell so that she looked like a stallion again. Save everyone all the damn trouble.

“Ergh. No, dammit.” Gleaming hung her head. “Cady already made the announcement! Shit…”

She paced back and forth for a few more minutes. A part of her knew that this was just going to be like ripping off a band-aid, but that didn’t mean she was looking forward to it.

“Gotta set the right example,” she muttered. “Yeah… newbies aren’t gonna respect me for shit otherwise! If I’m nervous and tripping all over myself, they will be too. Gotta let ‘em know that I’m still me.”

She threw around a few ideas, each with pros and cons. These were military ponies; they’d jump on any sign of weakness. A strong start was required to let them know that she was in charge. That she was worthy of respect.

“Well...” Gleaming raised a hoof to her chin. “Like Dad always said, ‘there’s no kill quite like overkill.’ May as well go for broke.”

Gleaming stood still and closed her eyes. She centered herself and steadied her breathing, focusing on the gentle rise and fall of her chest. She concentrated harder and delved deeper into herself, calling upon the vast wellspring of power that everypony in her family was blessed with.

The air shimmered as the room’s temperature rose...

Inside the Crystal Stadium, a group of freshly-inducted unicorn recruits of the Crystal Guard stood in a disorganized clump. They were shifting uncomfortably in their new suits of armor, some exchanging nervous glances, others chatting casually amongst themselves. They weren’t exactly sure what they were supposed to be doing at the moment, but they did know that they were going to meet the Prince—er, Princess today. Supposedly she was going to be personally overseeing their next leg of training, but nopony had said what that entailed.

Said Princess was now fifteen minutes late with no kind of update. The troops were starting to murmur and crack jokes, the latest being that she was preparing a speech on what it’s like to lose your d—

WUMPH

The recruits were all knocked off their hooves by a blast of sizzling wind that reeked of discharged mana. Almost immediately they scrambled to re-orient, the afterimage of a blinding magenta bolt etched into their retinas. They thought they were ready for anything, but when the spots in their eyes cleared and they saw what’d caused the shockwave…

It was a pony, yet all they could see of it was its silhouette thanks to the scintillating waves of energy. It’s mane and tail were blue flames that gave off sweltering heat and crackled with power. If one squinted hard enough you could make out the being’s eyes; incandescent and sparking with white contrails of magic. A silver circlet set with a heart-shaped sapphire was crowned atop its head.

The recruits stood agape. Nopony moved, or said a single word. The Stadium had gone from cool and airy to like an oven.

“AT ATTENTION, RECRUITS!” Gleaming boomed.

She may as well have cracked a whip. Some of them yelped, some them even fell over again. It took several seconds before they’d re-formed into a straight line, waiting with nervous, twitching eyes.

Gleaming dialed it back just enough so that she could approach without causing burns. Her mane and tail went back to normal, but she still gave off heat like a furnace. She allowed them to see her altered form in full so she could gauge their reactions.

Widened eyes. A few sets of parted lips. A few of blinked several times, but not much more than that. It seemed that her little shock and awe tactic had softened the blow.

“Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room.” Gleaming let a little bit of power creep into her words, just enough so they were laced with a faint echo. “You all know why I look this way, and you all know what’s going to happen to me in the coming year. For the purposes of your training, that is irrelevant. All you need to worry about is the regimen I set before you. Is that clear?”

“YES, GENERAL!” the soldiers said at once.

Gleaming walked down the line of newbies. She knew most of them probably respected her regardless of what she looked like, but she also knew that one bad apple could spoil the bunch.

Speaking of bad apples, a mare in the middle of the line was glaring straight ahead, jaw clenched, lips pursed like she was sucking on a lemon.

Gleaming stopped in front her. “Is there a problem, recruit?”

The mare didn’t meet her eyes. “Was that really necessary?”

The silence that followed was so thick you could’ve cut it with a knife.

“What’s your name?” Gleaming asked.

“...Emeraldine, ma’am.”

Gleaming almost flinched at ‘ma’am’, but kept it together. “Would you rather I show up like a little blushing, stammering filly, Emeraldine? Should I be sniveling and whining about how terrible and traumatic it is not being a stallion, sniffling and sobbing in front of you all like a little bitch?”

Gleaming tapped into her magic a bit more, just enough to give her eyes a dangerous glint. The sky above them flickered as a colossal magenta dome formed around the entirety of the Crystal Stadium.

“Or would you rather I demonstrate that I’m still the same pony?”

Emeraldine gulped. She grit her teeth harder, but stood her ground nonetheless. “I-I know that you are, General. You don’t need to prove yourself.”

“I don’t, eh?” said Gleaming. “I wasn’t aware that you spoke for everypony. If that’s the case, why don’t you give everyone a reminder of just who I am, hmm? ALL that I am, as much as you can think of.”

Emeraldine hesitated a few seconds, but then, she took a deep breath and said loudly, “Y-You are Shining Armor, Prince of the Crystal Empire, Leader of the Crystal Guard, Brother to Princess Twilight Sparkle and Firstborn of House Sparkle. Hero of Equestria, Defender of the Realm, and husband of Princess Cadance.”

Gleaming let her power ebb away. The stadium-sized shield faded as she stepped closer and spoke quietly. “All correct, my little pony. Do I need to explain myself any further?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then will you—” Gleaming stepped back and raised her voice. “—ALL of you, follow my instructions to the letter?!”

“YES, MA’AM!” came the response.

“Will you use the spells I teach you ONLY to serve and protect?!”

“YES, MA’AM!”

“Will you defend the Crystal Empire to your dying breaths, and make any blithering, scum-sucking MORONS dumb enough to attack our home regret the day they were born?!”

“YES, MA’AM!” the recruits thundered.

“DAMN RIGHT, YOU WILL!” Gleaming stomped her hoof with a burst of flame. “You are the sons and daughters of the Empire! You are its swords and shields! You are all that stands between your loved ones and certain doom! With the tools I’m about to give you, you WILL have the strength to defend our land and lady! ARE! WE! CLEAR?!”

“YES, MA’AM!”

Gleaming hid her smirk. She could see it in their eyes now—the spark that she was looking for. She could work with this.

“I’m going to be educating all of you on the finer points of large-scale barrier spells.” Gleaming pointed down the field with a slice of her hoof. “Not as large as I just made, but by the time we’re done, you’ll be able to envelop a two-story building in an alpha-class forcefield. The more adept of you will likely be able to protect larger targets, but that’s the baseline to pass my course. We’ll start by…”

That Night-

“How’d it go, Honey?” Cadance asked as Gleaming walked into their castle apartment. “Did you have any troubles?”

Gleaming didn’t reply. She simply smiled, gave Cadance a kiss, then brushed past with a swish of her tail. She made for her armor rack to take off her gear.

Cadance hesitated. “Uh… Shiny?”

“Mmmhh…” Gleaming cracked her neck and stretched out like a cat. “I thought you were gonna call me Gleaming while I was like this—oh, Celestia, that’s better—new barding’s stiff as all Tartarus! S’gonna take at least a week to break in…”

Cadance came over and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, come on. How’d it go?”

“Huh?” Gleaming looked over. “Oh, right. It wasn’t as bad as I thought! I just put up a strong front and rolled with the punches. They’ll be in good shape before long.”

Cadance cocked her head. “It was that easy?”

Gleaming put her circlet on a shelf. “Well, I wouldn’t say easy. I just took care things before they got out of hoof.” She shrugged. “Most ponies hold us in pretty high regard, Cady. They don’t really care what we do with our personal lives.”

“Huh! Would you look at that,” Cadance said with a lilt. “It’s almost like I was telling you that the entire time! What’re the chances?”

Gleaming rolled her eyes. “I just had some nerves, that’s all.”

Cadance nuzzled her. “Nerves aren’t good for the foal. Try to stay calm for their sake, hmm?”

Gleaming laughed. “I think it’s a little early to be worrying about that.”

Cadance’s tone grew serious. “A lot of birth defects and disorders originate from things the mother did in the first few months of pregnancy, hun. You need to be more careful.”

Gleaming mulled that over. She exhaled out her nose, then leaned over to rest her chin atop Cadance’s withers. “I think I should probably read up on this.”

Cadance nodded. “How about we read up on it together after dinner? That sound good?”

“Mmm.” Gleaming looked past her to out the far window, admiring the skyline and the setting sun. “What’re we having?”

“Seafood alfredo with parsnips and cranberry jelly,” said Cadance. “Sound good?”

Gleaming brightened. “Wow, that sounds—”

And just like that, her stomach did a violent somersault. She gagged as her throat tingled in the worst kind of way, followed by a numbness creeping into her jaw.

“Oh, god...!” Gleaming bolted for the bathroom and slammed the door. A few seconds later, Cadance heard the muffled sounds of vomiting.

“Yeesh. So morning sickness really can happen at any time of the day.” Cadance pursed her lips. “I’ll have to talk to Twilight about those nausea suppression spells...”