Shining Armor has lived a long and happy life alongside his wife Cadance. Though they never managed to have another child, they've held the Crystal Empire strong against many enemies, helping to spread friendship all across the world.
But merely being married to an Alicorn Princess has not protected him from the ravages of time. Where many others would have to say farewell to their immortal children and relatives, something else is waiting for Shining Armor.
His younger sister, ruler of Equestria, is unwilling to say goodbye, and has perfected a spell that will allow him to stay with his family. He has little time to decide: accept the spell, or say goodbye to his family forever. It isn't really much of a choice.
Cover by Zutcha, editing by da star bois Two Bit and Sparktail.
A warning for potentially sensitive readers: this is a story about cute role-reversals. Though it includes Gleaming Shield and physical transformation, it has neither the scope nor the wordcount to deal with the more sensitive topics of personal identity and dysphoria. Things I could not treat with the respect they deserved were left out of the story completely.
If you're looking for a more substantial take on transition and transgender subjects, I suggest one of my other stories, Homebrew.
And so begins the co-reign of Gleaming Shield.
Hour of Twilight has lent an unsettling air to this more advanced Canterlot...
And that isn't helping.
I am not even remotely surprised. Sunset's probably devised a magically enhanced CelestAI or similar entity in the human world with Sci-Twi at this point.
(Mind you, I am somewhat surprised Shining doesn't know what a lich is. Someone introduced Spike to Ogres & Oubliettes, after all.)
And so begins what's sure to be a strange acclimation process for Shining. And that's saying nothing of the public reaction. I doubt he'll be the only one raising questions of fairness. Heck, Twilight has at least five other candidates of her own who may have opinions on the matter. This one's sure to be interesting. Looking forward to more.
This gives me Friendship is Optimal vibes.
I've noticed that magitech crystals are common in your fanfics. I like the idea of advancements in magic.
Do you want Message in a Bottle? Because this is how you get Message in a Bottle.
Dude, come on that’s just not cool. Turning Shining into female? Never been a fan of these kinds of stories. I understand if you have some sort of fetish for these kinds of things and that’s cool because this is fantasy and all, but still just my imo. I’d rather rot than ever even come close to thinking about changing sex
10440636
i dont get that refrence. can you elaborate?
Interesting.
10440665
It's a reference to another one of Starscribe's stories, Message in a Bottle.
10440680
thx
I'm really looking forward to this. I like non-clop Gleaming Shield stories a lot.
Leo the Bold? Is this in continuity with MLA?
You had my curiosity, now you have my attention.
Great job on this introduction, I'll be following this story.
Thank you.
so now another one to add to my favourites good job
All these new Gleaming stories are making me very happy. I am ready for this ride!
10440887
Eh. I don't value my biological parts very highly. I find immortality a lot more compelling.
To each their own though.
"We're going to make you immortal by turning your ass into an alicorn...an assicorn, if you will."
Surprised that Twilight didn't get Sunset in on it and do it in half the time. It's not like she'd turn down the benefits.
I'm sorry to be one of those... but what is with these fics where someone gets their gender changed just to serve a gimmick for the story's plot line?
Now, I have nothing against Transgenders, but what you're doing here... it feels like blackmail! To have someone make a choice between dying or making such a fundamental change to their being to continue to be with their family? Yes, I would want to be with my family for as long as I could, but having to sacrifice a part of my being and my identity, it isn't fair. It may seem like a no-contest sort of decision from a certain perspective but in the long run, it most certainly is not. Sure, you could learn to live with the choice you've made (or die with it), but changing yourself just to spare yourself or your loved ones the pain of death isn't selfless.
It's like denying a part of who you are and trying your hardest to prove otherwise, like a man who lives to prove himself a man by becoming some epitome of masculinity and raising a family... but in truth he is a woman in a man's body and all the efforts he strives to prove otherwise only causes him pain, misery, confusion, until finally he throws away everything he strove for to be the woman she knows she really is
I also read a fic not too long ago where the writer did something similar where a male child wound up in a female body and completely ignored the confusion and transition of the boy's fundamental change into a girl for the sake of moving the story forward. A lot of other readers commented on this and found the story lacking in this way
I say if a character is going to have their gender changed it should be for a reason that is right for the person themselves, not just to make someone else happy. Yes, this fic is about Shining Armor changing his gender to continue living with his family, but that sort of change isn't the kind you make for family, it's the kind you make for yourself
10441078
Life isn't fair.
10441095
No, it isn't. That's just what makes this concept and the circumstances surrounding it even more distasteful to me
10441078
I dare you to find a single husband, father and brother that truly loves his wife, daughter and sister and would make them watch him wither and die before getting rid of his dick.
Or, in a less conflicting tone, it's absolutely something you do for your loved ones when you're dying.
Yes, disphoria is real and serious, but it's not a young person establishing their sense of self and identity in a body they can't recognize as theirs, it's an adult - old man really, with all the mentioned wrinkles and retirement - that is much more than his gender, already used to a body that's not what he once was, for he already felt the weight of time, being offered the chance to be young again, to live beside his wife and daughter, for the price of something that he was already losing. When you're 80 (barring exceptional exceptions) your gender doesn't matter for shit, things simply don't work anymore and if what's between your legs is still so important for your identity then you have bigger problems.
To be fair the entire premise seems to be the conflict that will arise from that, how changing genders is not so simple, specially when it makes you young again. If it is ignored then I'd agree with you that it might be gratuitous, although I severely doubt it - it has never been ignored in Starscribe' stories before.
This is the funniest. God. Damn. Line. Like, literally left me giggling like a fool. Thank you.
This is getting a follow.
10441095
ah yes the most airtight argument ever conceived, it stands on its own against any argument
Like the story so far!
The comments here are a bit... heated... so word to the wise for anyone who sees this comment but maybe stay away from the comments for a bit and just enjoy the story?
No offense meant to the comments below or possibly above me! It just seems to me like there’s a little too much vitriol here in the comments for a nice story like this...
So this is one of those Universes where male alicorns are impossible because the plot demands it.
Not interested.
Great Faust, if an O&O player needs that explained, old age has taken a terrible toll.
A tricky concept. Zutcha has done a stellar job on the cover art here, as always. The idea of alicorns always being female is an obvious one on the face of it, but it's one I've surprisingly never seen done before. I wonder whether Shining will attempt to modify his new body to the extent he is able to, or if they will find that gender is more fluid for them than they'd always thought.
Hm. I'm not sure the second cutie mark is identical to the first one. Its center is hidden under a wing.
10441422
Given this world has actual magic maybe O&O is legally required to play down or exclude any of the more powerful Dark Magic beings lest they encourage an era of dorky necromancers and warlocks.
10441238
Twilight gets a call of there being an emergency at the School of Friendship. All the illusions powered by Starlight to make herself visually palatable to her student body have failed and now there’s a horde of screaming traumatised students tearing through Ponyville in their desperate attempt to escape Starlights grotesque form.
I can see where Shining Armor and the rest of his family would want to do this. However, I'm sure that Shining Armor will have some degree of dysphoria afterward and be find the new body uncomfortable unless they do some sort of mind magic to alter his sense of self. Still, if they do that, they change him into another person altogether from the one they know.
Also to note, contrary to popular belief, dysphoria levels can vary by person in people who are transgender (which is what they are making him- male mind in a biological female body. For some it is a constant cause of severe anxiety that can interfere with their ability to function or be happy at all. For others it is more a nagging sense of not being right that is regular, but leaves them still functional and able to still be happy many days (although periodic depression may happen)-- although this second one's dysphoria can get worse with time.
My thoughts are the ability to be young again might initially ease any dysphoria Shining Armor has, but interactions with others that see him as female (up to and including his own family) might quickly worsen it. I can imagine a scenario right away where Flurry Heart stops calling him Daddy since he seems to be a mare her age. That's a double emotional blow to his sense of self- to his identity as a male and his identity as Flurry's father.
10441026
Sunset isn't a mare with a lot of patience, I'd argue that while she's more mature and experienced than say... Starlight, she's definitely just as impulsive as Starlight. Chances are she'd jump the gun too early and ruin everything.
Yay, new chapter!
Intresting
Competently written, as per usual. Now, that said, I do have a complaint, if you'd care to listen. There's a tendency in your stories to conflate sex and gender in the narration. Pronouns are personal, and not necessarily dependent on the state of the body. Unless Shining Armor immediately started preferring she/her pronouns at the moment of realization, the choice to use those pronouns feels very icky. Are there no trans ponies in Equestria? Is there something darker happening in the background that means the separation of sex and gender is hidden knowledge? The decision for Shining to hide the past would be needless in a world where ponies are accepted who they are.
I do hope this is addressed later in the story.
Interesting
Well...hard to worry and brood on dysphoria when you're fighting for your country's existence. How long has it been?
10441641
Considering all the magic it'd make more sense for there not being any trans people because either that doesn't happen to ponies or because they have permanent and complete transformations for that.
That wouldn't work on an Alicorn due to their need to be female.
On the past thing I think it's closer to what he said at the end, a new life deserves a new name. Maybe the trans ponies take a new name more in tune with their new form? Considering how on the nose their names tend to be it'd make a lot of sense.
Or maybe they're usually already named for their gender when born and that's part or the diagnosis. Magic and pony characteristics really add too mant factors to it.
10441641
Pronouns are just words. They're not even important words, they're shortcut words to ease conversation so we don't have to repeatedly specify the thing we're referring to. Pronouns aren't part of your personal identity unless you make the choice to obsess over them. You say you're worried about conflating gender and sex? Well, I'm tired of this conflation of pronouns with identity.
Who wouldn't give something up to save his family or children?
An unexpected direction but a welcome one!
A new life awaits. Shining might not like it at first but after a few centuries and her first identity will feel very alien to her.
Can't say this will be done with complete selflessness. And even if it will eventually be disseminated to the public, I can't imagine a world running smoothly with a nation full of immortals or its extreme, everyone. This is unknown territory.
This reminds me of the "Last Pony on Earth" stories. Alex's (An immortal) relationship with her mortal partner didn't last in the end and that was a normal decades long relationship. People change over time and when we're talking centuries, the magic isn't likely to last into forever.
10441669
Well, sure, that all makes a lot of sense except for one thing: Shining was, prior to the transformation, apparently happy being a stallion. I could definitely see the whole new name, new life thing being a thing for trans ponies—it is for humans a lot of the time. But there's been no indication that he is actually trans. Quite the opposite, actually. If he was, I don't see what purpose hiding this information would serve.
10441678
Pronouns are a part of identity. It's true that they are not you in the same way that your hair or your nails or your teeth aren't you, but they are important. To suggest otherwise is a bit uninformed. And to make the hair comparison once more, yes, some people don't really make a big deal out of them at all, and are fine with literally any pronouns—the comparison might be to someone who shaves their head. And yet others care about them an awful lot. I'm sure you know someone who obsesses over their hair. For most, it's a kind of middle ground. They aren't irked too much when someone calls them the wrong pronouns, but they still wouldn't be comfortable being repeatedly referred to by the wrong ones.
10441641
I think people who aren't obsessed about gender switch pronouns based on the sex they're presenting as, and Shining isn't comfortable in dresses but she wasn't trying to hide that she was a girl. "I'm a girl now so I'll use 'she'" seems like a normal response.
Transgender people and some vehemently cisgender people wouldn't do that, but the first category is really rare and the second category is probably a minority. Although there was at least one 'I'd rather die than switch' in the last set of comments so obviously not *that* rare.
I suspect that the name thing is more about trying not to reveal anything until she's had a chance to compare notes with Cadance and find out what the official story is.