[Adult story embed hidden]

Summary: When I was just a filly found it rather silly... But Twilight's father didn't. When his daughter showed signs of withdrawing and avoiding friends, Night Light took the same action that was working so well with Shining Armor: he sent Twilight to join the Royal Guard.

Years later, Twilight has spent part of every day training in arms, armor, and typical stallion things. She carries herself like a stallion, she moves like a stallion, but it isn't until she has to go to Ponyville that it becomes a problem, but definitely not her problem!

This story was an idea floating around in my head. When someone suggested I write a story with Rule63 Twilight Sparkle, I told them I would do one better: a story without Rule63 Twilight Sparkle.

Initial thoughts: I myself have never understood the fasnication of "Rule 63" where you turn a character into the opposite gender. I can understand if it beneftis the story, but just doing it because you prefer Dusk Shine over Twilight is never something I cared for. If you like that, then go nuts, but I gotta give credit to Damaged for keeping Twilight a mare here. It gives this story a much more unique feel to it, that he was able to do all the tropes of the rule 63 without actually changing Twilight at all. I enjoyed this story, and while I admit there were parts of it that made me groan, this story is a solid read and one that I would recommend. 8/10.

Headpats:
Heart: What is the heart of this story?
"The heart of any story always makes me think of morals, or the lessons the story teaches us. So what did we learn? I believe Twilight learnt that sometimes your problems can't be solved with simple explanations, and sometimes you have to find a good middle ground so that your friends and you are able to get along. Twilight was able to find a solution only AFTER accepting that every pony would see her as a stallion and deciding she could live with it. It is a strong message about finding a unique way to handle the problem." 8/10.

Emotion: Emotions are what make you cry, what make you happy, what make you shudder and cringe. So how does this story handle emotions?
"The emotions in this story are quite well written, for the most part. I feel the romance needs to be talked about. It's by far the weakest part of the story. I feel like you could take out the romance and it wouldn't really change the end result of the story, it's also rushed. Pinkie Pie and Twilight meet and suddenly the two like each other? I know true love at first sight is a thing, but its just not that believable here, and I would've liked to see Pinkie and Twilight get to know each other, but that's not the focus of the story. The comedy is. and for the emotions the comedy provides, it was able to make me chuckle, but also make me groan with how over the top it can be at times, and I admit the joke still go on a bit too long that it made the reveal feel sorta pointless? It's not bad per say, there's just nothing really great or spectacular about it. "6/10

Action: Action! It is the thing you see in most fighting stories. It grabs your attention, and keeps you interested in what is going on with quick pacing and intensity. So how does this story handle action?
"Well to be honest, there isn't much here to comment on. It's a comedy, and it shows. Any action it would have is use purely for comedic effects, and all battles are never taken with the serious nature a more action paced story would have. However, I do wish we had gotten a scene where Twilight had first entered the guard and was shown to be struggling, even if this action isn't as intense as a fight scene, it would've shown how she went from cadet to guard, and something that I feel could have had an impact. But as it is, for what is here, it's nothing great, but it's also not bad. Just sorta a middle of the road area." 6/10.

Drama: What is drama? To me drama is what most people would associate as the most least interesting part of a story. It usually involves bickering or arguments, and it's very rarely written well. I can't deny that drama is hard to get right, so how does this story handle it?
"By completely avoiding it. There is a certain sense that drama could have been put into this piece to help it's heart shine more brightly, but the author was focused on his comedy, and there's really no need to water your story down in a bunch of unneeded things. Add the genres that matter. Don't just throw them in because you want a little bit of everything." 7/10.

Pacing: Pacing in a story is how fast a story goes from start to finish. Usually pacing is tricky, and it oftens ends up being too slow or too fast. There is a solid middle ground,
""which is where I believe this story falls. Granted, I disliked how fast the romance was built up. No there was no build up at all. Pinkie Pie and Twilight took to each other after their first day of meeting! I am a lover of romance so for the romance to be rushed, and just skimmed over makes me groan. Which is why I really think this might have been meant to be just a comedy. Sure Pinkie Pie could have still helped Twilight with getting the others to believe she was a guard, but did we really need romance here? I'd almost feel the story would be a lot more well paced and overall just as good if not better if the romance wasn't such a problem. 5/10

Answers: The question of the day is what did this story teach us?
" It taught me that answers aren't as simple as they might seem. Sure you think you might have the solution to your problem, but what if it doesn't work? Do you give up and accept reality as it is, or do you find another solution to your problems? This story addresses Twilight's obessed nature to find answers to her problem, that eventually leads to her accepting she can't change how others view her, but she can change how she is viewed in the eyes of others. It's a deep genuine message that I wholeheartedly agree with!" 8/10

Truth: The truth section is where I decide how the heart of this story relates to truth.
" And honestly, reveal in the end doesn't really lead to anything. Sure the joke was getting old, but by the time it's revealed I'm just let going "shrug" and not sure what to think. I don't really think that's the best thing to come out of this with, so going to deduct some points here." 4/10

Story: The story itself about Twilight Sparkle being a guard is a unique and interesting one, and one that I don't believe it often seen so I got to give credit to originality, I give credit that it ties into the canon of the show with only making slight alternatives like Twilight being a guard instead of just a bookworm. It also makes the journey fresh, and intriguing. 8/10

Headpat worthy:
Boop worthy: This story is boopable, it is a good story and I enjoyed it, but there's just a bit of issues that keep it from being headpat worthy. Like the romance being rushed, how certain aspects of the comedy weren't even addressed, and how the ponies of the town just seem dumb at times, and how it dragged on with a bit of repetitiveness. The story showed a strong case of how to do rule 63 properly without ever changing Twilight, and that makes it boopable.
Meh! worthy:
Cringe Level*

Final Score: 8+8+6+7+5+8+4+8=54/80
6.75/10

To the author: I liked this story! I really hope you continue to write awesome works, don't be afraid to ask me questions I promise I don't bite! And as always keep being awesome!

To the readers: Do you like the changes I've made to the review style?
*headpats*