Father Mare

by Spark of Inspiration


Surprise!

The first thing Soarin felt as his eyes fluttered open was somepony's forelegs wrapped around his body from behind. When the hot breaths on his neck registered, he felt panic well up in the back of his mind.

Then reason took over, and when he craned his neck around to look at the pony behind him, he was greeted by Spitfire's familiar flaming yellow and orange mane. Assuming she was asleep, he sighed in earnest relief and tried to slip out of her embrace. After a few minutes of wriggling and squirming, he was able to clamber onto all his legs and head for the bathroom of the hotel room they'd chosen until everything could be returned to normal.

With bleary eyes, Soarin stared at himself in the mirror. Something seemed to be off, but there was nothing that jumped out at him enough to be blatantly obvious to his half-awake thought process.

Thoroughly satisfied with his daily check-over, he started on his preparations. With two deft flicks of his wings, he had a manebrush and a bar of soap safely in the grip of his primaries. Luckily, before he could put either of them in his mouth, he realized what he was holding and switched them for a proper toothbrush and the foaming paste that were still on the sink.

As the paste foamed and bubbled, cleaning the stains from the particularly sticky apple pie he'd eaten the latter half of yesterday, his eyes drifted up to the mirror. For the second time that morning, Soarin tried to figure out what seemed so off about his appearance. Sure, his mane was a bit more feathered than he usually wanted it to be, but that shouldn't have been anything unusual.

Just as he scanned over his muzzle and nose, something clicked. Even the general shape of his face seemed too curved and smooth for some reason. Along with that, his eyelashes had grown.

"Ugh..."

The high-pitched tone of his voice sealed what he already knew. "Great... When are they getting on that?"

As Soarin spat out the foam and turned to leave, he caught sight of his slightly larger flanks and sighed. "Even as a mare I can't get rid of these..."

Despite how much he may have disliked his new proportions, Spitfire was probably up and wondering where he was. With a slightly less positive outlook on the day, Soarin slipped back into the main section of their room and tried to snuggle up against Spitfire the same way he'd woken up with her.

"Hey there," she greeted, making Soarin jump a little as she tightened her grip around his midsection. "I was wondering when you'd come back."

"Look, Spitty, I really don't feel like anything this morning."

Spitfire, using her new muscular body, flipped Soarin over easily and pinned him down to the bed. She brought her face down to his and whispered, "Don't think I can't see how stressed you are. I know what you're going through."

"But shouldn't we start getting ready?"

Though the look on her face betrayed her real thoughts, a frustrated glance at the clock revealed that they had less than twenty minutes to reach the training grounds that morning. "I guess we should. But don't think you're getting out of this so easily."

More relieved than the last time he tried to resist against his captain, Soarin practically jumped out of bed and ran over to the closet to grab his fedora from the hook on the other side of the door. Even though it didn't look quite right with his current female features, it was one of the few things he hadn't ditched when the entire team had found themselves gender-swapped. Many die-hard fans would recognize him based on the hat alone.

Then again, considering that paparazzi had yet to be banned from reporting on the results of the spell on celebrities, it might have warranted a degree of naturality.

Eventually, Spitfire nudged him in his shoulder and reminded him, "Even I didn't take this long to pick what I was wearing when I was a mare- especially over a hat."

With her point in mind - and an overly drawn out groan - Soarin flipped the fedora onto his head, shut the closet door, and followed Spitfire out into the hallway. Any doubts about his appearance soon disappeared as the two of them passed another couple on the stairs where the mare was wearing a business suit.

Nopody batted a surprised eye at either of them, to the surprise of both of them. Though everypony within the limits of Canterlot had been switched, there were still a few other couples that believed themselves better than others.

By the time they'd made it about three shops down the street, they heard a young filly's voice. "Hey! Mister Wonderbolt!"

The two of them spun around at the same moment. To make matters even stranger, the young pegasus filly ran up to them with a wide smile on her face- one that quickly turned into a confused examination. She looked up at Soarin and asked, "Aren't you Soarin?"

For a second, he almost considered messing with their confused fan, but he quickly decided against it. He put on the manliest tone he could with his altered body and answered, "I am. Who's asking?"

The filly's smile returned even larger than before as she recognized the pony behind the mare she was seeing now. "Oh my gosh, it's you! I'm your biggest fan!" Though the line she used was extremely cliche, Soarin rolled with it and smiled back at her. She didn't know there was a grown mare in Ponyville that had almost all of their memorabilia and merchandise from their various shows.

Spitfire stepped in at the last second and whispered in her coltfriend's ear. "We have about ten minutes. Let's get this over with."

As much as Soarin didn't want to end a conversation with such an eager filly that seemed to love the Wonderbolts more than anything else, practice was still more important. But he wasn't going to just leave her hanging- that would just be plain rude, and he'd been raised better than that.

"Tell you what," he whispered, bringing his head down by hers, "if you go home right now and tell your parents that I offered, I can get you a discount on tickets to our next show."

Her surprised gasp was enough to show that she loved the idea. Sure enough, she darted off in a blur, as fast as her wings could take her. Soarin couldn't help but chuckle at what he knew was the makings of another super-fan.

"Come on, mister generous," Spitfire chimed, teasing her new coltfriend the way only she could, "What happened to getting to practice?"

"You know I can't just ignore fans."

As usual, even when they'd reached the edge of Canterlot, Spitfire was still going at it. "So how many fans do you offer that to per day, hmm? It has to be at least twenty."

Soarin groaned and rebutted, "You know I try to keep it down to two."

"Down to two?" At that remark, Spitfire broke down in raucous laughter. "Most of us barely use one of ours over the course of a year, and you're giving two per show?"

"Yeah, laugh it up. I should be the public face of the Wonderbolts at this rate."

As the two of them took off in tandem, Spitfire scoffed loudly. "But they want to see someone with bright colors and a windswept mane..." she trailed off, adding a dramatic flick of her mane in mid-flight. "They want the captain!"

By the time she looked up, Soarin had taken a sizable lead, and called back to her, "You mean the captain that shows up later than her second-in-command?" As he finished, Soarin turned around and sped up once he realized the main gate of the training grounds was already open.

"Oh no you don't..." Spitfire muttered, slowly increasing her wing speed. "Nobody taunts me and gets away with it."
With a sudden burst of speed, Spitfire shot forward, easily passing her second-in-command and landing softly at the gate. "What was that you were saying?"

While his face betrayed his shock, Soarin tried to put on a show of stony professionalism. "I guess it was pretty impressive, though I still could have beaten you."

"Sure, I bet y-"

The two of them ground to a halt as a mare in royal guard uniform stepped up to them. She regarded them both with a blank gaze, and instructed them, "All Canterlot residents are to report to the courtyard of Canterlot Castle. Please don't dally."

Soarin was the first to speak. "Does this mean-"

"I don't know, but I hope so. I can't wait to get back to normal."

============

As expected, the courtyard was packed full of all sorts of ponies, most of them dressed in suits or some sort of clothing. Considering it was already densely packed, Soarin led them over next to a white mare in a tuxedo with three crowns for a cutie mark.

She only turned around when Spitfire appeared, and that was when Soarin recognized her as Fancypants. "I say, that was a stellar performance last week, Captain."

"Thanks," Spitfire replied plainly, "Now let's hope the rookies can get just as good..."

"Hey, you know two-"

"I'm certain they'll be just as impressive as their leader eventually," Fancypants interrupted, cutting Soarin off in mid-comment.

"And as my second-in-command here was saying," Spitfire stated, giving Soarin a warning glance from the corner of her eye, "we do have two of them we'll incorporate as soon as possible."

Before Soarin had to face the wrath of his captain, Princess Celestia and her sister appeared on the stage set up against the wall of the castle. "Beloved subjects!" Luna began, using what everypony in Canterlot had grown to accept as the Royal Canterlot Voice, "A cure has been found for this strange occurrence!"

Princess Celestia's horn lit as she chose to magically amplify her voice instead. "Yes, everypony, a cure has been found. However, we must ask that you stay as still as possible while the spell is cast."

As if her voice had carried a spell with it, all movement seemed to stop as the crowd froze. A snapping sound came out of nowhere, and the spell at the tip of Princess Luna's horn swelled out into a massive bubble that began to spread over everypony in attendance.

When the wall of magic passed over the citizens in front of them, it covered each of them and lifted them into the air with glowing tentacles of pure magic. By the time it reached the back of the crowd, some of the ponies at the front had already been converted back to their normal selves. Confident in the results of the spell, Soarin and Spitfire readily let the spell shock them as it passed over and lifted them into the air.

While more and more ponies were dropped to the ground in front of them, the tendrils of magic whirled and cascaded around them like an ocean of magical energy. Then the slight buzz of the aura covering them was covered up by a shocked gasp.

"Why isn't my husband changed yet?" a frantic mare asked, pointing to the other mare next to her, still inside his magical cocoon. While nothing would be odd about that, the bubble had long since moved past him, and there was just a pillar of magic circling around him without the tendrils.

For the second time that day, Soarin found himself panicking as two more mares pointed out that their significant others were unaffected by the spell. To his relief, he soon saw the tendrils retracting into the pool of magic beneath him.

He then began to panic again when the magical shell surrounding him didn't recede.

When Spitfire fell to the ground, a look of fear passed over her face. "Soarin," she asked him, concern resounding in her tone. "What's going on?"

Though he knew he couldn't reply, Soarin tried to say, "I have no idea." The feeling of helplessness only served to make the feeling in the bottom of his gut well up. For a second, he even thought he would throw up.

Luckily, he was able to repress that feeling in time to avoid emptying the contents of his stomach - mostly a few plates of pasta and some slices of a delicious apple pie - directly on his captain. The side effect of that, unfortunately, was having to clench every muscle in his body, leaving him in an undesirable position.

When the magic aura surrounding him dissipated, he found himself looking up into Spitfire's face, and a gut full of contents ready to be ejected. With the speed of a manticore chasing prey, Soarin threw himself away from her just as he started to retch.

"Soarin, what the hay is happening here?"

Princess Celestia parted the crowd and answered her question, "That's precisely what we're wondering... What was so special about them?"

Soarin simply laid still next to a pile of his own vomit, not even lifting a hoof when Celestia came up to him. "So what do you think could have caused this?"

"I... I don't k-," he managed, before retching took over again as he felt something else coming up.

Without any remarks or awkward glances, Celestia ordered two of her - now male - guards to lift him and carry him inside. The third took up a position next to Spitfire, as if to hold her back if she tried to follow them. While she hadn't been thinking of following them before, the thought began to cross her mind.

After all, she had just relieved her tension-causing feelings with him, and he had admitted to being infatuated with her. But if the Princess was trying to keep her from following, it would most likely be best not to go against her will.

In the end, Spitfire simply sighed and watched as her new coltfriend and long-time partner was carried through the colossal doors of Canterlot Castle along with the other stallions that had failed to return to normal.

"Cheer up, Miss Fire," Fancypants suggested, "I'm sure they'll be fine. There must be a probable reason for this little scenario."

"Are you coming with us?" the guard next to her asked, nudging her forward with his wing. A bit more relieved now that she could go in with them, Spitfire eagerly followed the group inside, a worried smile on her face.

============

By the time the group had reached the third set of doors down the main hallway, Soarin finally felt like he could follow them the rest of the way there on his own without any adverse side effects. In a few quick movements, the guards carefully set him down and took up a position just behind them.

Another seven doors down, Celestia turned around to face the crowd following her. "While most of our suspicions are vastly unfounded, we must perform every test possible to make sure they can't be true." With a flick of her magic, the doors on their right opened, and she gave them one last piece of advice. "Try to go along with what the doctors will do. They've been given orders to restrain any unruly patients."

With that weighing heavily in mind, the seven mare-stallions entered the eerily white doctor's office that had been opened up for them. A pair of double doors farther down the wall opened, revealing a pale blue stallion with a golden mane and wiry glasses. He examined them with a curious expression and asked, "So what happened with the spell?"

A mare that Soarin recognized as the female version of Jet Set stepped forward and answered, "We didn't return to normal, and we would very much like to know why." From the upper-class tone to his voice, it was almost blatantly obvious that he thought himself better than the rest of them.

"Very well, miss. Since you're so eager, step up to the table."

Soarin and two others had to disguise their snickering at the doctor's joke before anypony noticed them. The doctor, meanwhile, smiled warmly as Jet Set clambered up onto the table. "Now let's take a look, okay ma'am?"

"Will you please stop calling me that?" Jet asked with his typical rude tone. "I am a stallion, and I wish to be addressed as such."

"Well you're not now, and since that's the case, I feel like being proper. Surely you would know about that..."

Almost all the mare-stallions in attendance were laughing outwardly by the time Jet Set yelled, "I won't take any more of this!" Turning to face the doctor in the eye, he continued, "I refuse to accept any more of this rubbish! Good day, sir." With that, he hopped down from the table and tried to walk away.

The rest of the group parted as he stormed out between them. The doctor tsk'd quietly and returned his attention to the remaining six mares standing before him. "So does anyone else have problems with me?"

A chorus of no's resounded from the group, and Soarin stepped up next. "Let's just figure out what's wrong, okay?"

"Thank you for working with me. Now if you'd get on the table?"

Like before, Soarin clambered up onto the table and adjusted himself with his wings before settling in. With a blast of magic, the doctor pulled a tray full of various instruments over from against the other wall. With another magical surge, he picked up a cotton swab from a bundle on the tray.

"Open wide," the doctor said as he swiped the cotton swab against the inside of Soarin's cheek. "I'll just need a sample for some testing later."

Next, he pulled out a stethoscope and held the end up to Soarin's chest. After listening for a bit, he usually moved on, except for the last time where he lingered a bit longer than usual. "Sorry, just thought something was off..."

The rest of the tests went by fairly quickly as the doctor took his pulse, measured his temperature and did a full body magical scan for sicknesses. However, the last test left him in wonder, which made everypony in the room worried.

"Hmm... very strange. Now the guards told me you were regurgitating outside, correct?"

It took a bit for Soarin to register that the doctor was talking to him, but he managed to answer, "It may just be magic sickness. I feel a bit weird right now..."

"Very well, mister Soarin, everything looks relatively normal. If you would wait outside please..."

"Thanks, doc."

Like before, the group parted to let him through to the hallway, where a very fast yellow and orange blur tackled him to the ground. After his vision righted, Soarin stared up into Spitfire's face for the second time that day.

"So what did he say? Is there a cure? What's happening?"

"Nothing, I don't know, and I also don't know that. Any more questions?"

Spitfire blushed and stepped off her new coltfriend, allowing him to get up. "Sorry, I've just been really worried about this since they hauled you off." There was a slight pause before she asked her second question, "And what was up with that mare that stormed off a little bit ago?"

"He couldn't pull his head out of his plot."

Spitfire nodded in realization, and backed up to give Soarin some room to breathe easier. Just as she was about to speak, another mare left the office and fell victim to an over-excited marefriend. Spitfire whispered, "Did I really look like that?"

"Yup."

"Even the giggling?"

"Well, not that, but everything else."

Once again, Spitfire's face turned a deep shade of red as she realized just how much she had embarrassed herself in front of the few ponies awaiting their significant others. A slight 'eep' escaped from her lips as she tried to hide herself behind Soarin before she could humiliate herself more.

"That doesn't help..."

"So you say," Spitfire reprimanded, "But at least this way they can't see me do stupid things."

"And now you're acting like a filly."

Though she wanted to resist his challenge, Spitfire couldn't take being referred to as a child. However, when she stepped out from behind him, Princess Celestia reappeared by the door.

"Hello, my faithful subjects. Has Doctor Cuff informed you of any of his findings?"

No's were the only response from the crowd as they replied unanimously. "Very well," Celestia said, turning her attention to the lab where one more mare was still being tested, "I'll check with him and see what we can deduce."

Minutes had passed by the time the last mare emerged from the office with Celestia and the doctor in tow, the Princess's expression had gone from hopeful to worried. Soarin gulped audibly as she addressed them, "Well, we've ruled out many things in our tests. None of you are magic-resistant, diseased, or sick in any way."

A more than anxious mare in the back interrupted her, "So what does that mean?"

Celestia cleared her throat and continued, "Since we've ruled out everything else, there is only one thing that the tests revealed. Mares and... gentle-colts, you're pregnant."

Multiple shocked gasps arose from the crowd as Celestia finished, "I know this sounds bad, but from our discoveries, after the process is over you will return to normal. Until that point, the doctors and staff here in Canterlot Castle will be presiding over your care and will help with any issues that may make themselves present."

"How did this happen though? We were only mares for three days!"

The doctor turned to the impudent mare-stallion that rudely interrupted the Princess for the second time and answered, "Well, ma'am, if you wish to re-learn what you did when you were a young filly, please turn to the royal educator."

"Doctor Cuff," Celestia reminded, "they're stressed. Please don't make a joke out of this."

"Very well, Princess."

"As it stands now, you are under the full observation of castle staff and royal guards to determine that part of the puzzle."

Spitfire leaned closer to Soarin's ear and whispered, "What happens now?"

"I don't know..." he whispered back to her, wondering just how one night together could have caused the scenario they were in now. "I guess we just have to deal with it." Though he tried to put on a strong face on the outside, the idea of motherhood and waiting to become normal again scared him more than anything else in the world.

"And so," Celestia stated, "I wish you the best of luck. Keep in mind that you'll always have dedicated staff that are willing to help here at the castle."