Sweetie Belle could hardly keep still as she followed her sister and Applejack into the Crystal Mountains, Rarity promising to let Sweetie and Apple Bloom in on a big secret. How could Sweetie not be excited? It was a BIG SECRET! And Rarity was trusting Sweetie Belle with it! Sweetie swore if Apple Bloom wasn’t there holding her hand, she would’ve been literally bouncing off the walls into space.
“So what d’ya think the big secret is?” Apple Bloom whispered loudly to Sweetie as they trailed behind their sisters.
“Dunno,” Sweetie whispered even louder, “but I hope it’s a super powerful magic sword!”
“You already have a cool sword though!” Apple Bloom said confusedly.
“You can never have enough swords!” Sweetie said matter-of-factly, stating the absolute truth.
“Sweethearts, please,” Rarity laughed softly and rolled her eyes. “I told you not to get your hopes up too high, our little outing here is simply because I want you to meet my friends.”
“Especially Twilight Sparkle, right Rarity?” Sweetie said with a mischievous grin.
“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity chuckled haughtily, “don’t underestimate my love for dear Fluttershy.”
“Okay, but you didn’t spend months and months pining after Fluttershy, now did you?” Sweetie asked teasingly, trying to get a funny flustered reaction out of Rarity.
“Perhaps not,” Rarity said, holding her hand over her heart and running her fingers over that new necklace of hers, “but I love her all the same. She is very special to me, and I can safely say that knowing her has changed my life in an enormous and beautiful way.”
“Wow Rarity,” Apple Bloom chimed in, “that’s kinda gay.”
Sweetie and Apple Bloom giggled at that, but Rarity only responded with a lighthearted chuckle.
“You’re right,” Rarity said with a soft smile, “it’s very gay.”
Wasn’t much longer until Sweetie and her party were standing at the foot of the mountains, a little bit outside the city limits of the Crystal Empire.
Waiting for them were two tall, lanky ponies; a purple unicorn, and a yellow pegasus, and while Sweetie had been all teasing and excitement before, she couldn’t deny that she suddenly felt really nervous about meeting the legendary Twilight Sparkle, who Rarity had spent months gushing about in her letters to home.
“Twilight Sparkle!” Sweetie shouted, rushing over to Twilight and leaving her sister in the dust; the only way to deal with nervousness was to jump in with both feet!
“Sweetie Belle!” Twilight said cheerfully, waving politely before Sweetie threw herself into Twilight and wrapped her arms around the tall pony’s waist. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“You too!” Sweetie said excitedly, and then turned to the pegasus. “And you too, Fluttershy!”
“Yes, hello, thank you,” Fluttershy said bashfully, waving awkwardly.
“Yeah, it’s a pleasure to meet y’all both,” Apple Bloom chimed in, “so anyway where’s that secret at?”
“Yeah! I wanna know the secret!” Sweetie turned away from Twilight and toward Rarity, pumping her fists.
“Wow, these kids sure don’t mess around, huh?” Twilight said flatly, Rarity and Fluttershy both giggling and Applejack just playfully rolling her eyes.
“I respect their honesty,” Fluttershy said, chuckling into her hand.
“Yes, well,” Rarity added, “you know how kids can be.”
“Well I think they got a point,” Applejack shrugged. “Let’s skip the pleasantries and just get to what we came here for.”
“Alright, that’s fine with me,” Twilight nodded, and Sweetie Belle’s stomach erupted into a swarm of butterflies. She was grinning ear to ear, her fists clenched in front of her. Apple Bloom looked just as excited, her eyes shimmering with anticipation.
“I’m ready when you are, dear,” Fluttershy said and gave Twilight a kiss on the cheek.
“Okay,” Twilight kissed Fluttershy back.
“Gaaaay!” Apple Bloom groaned.
“Yes, very,” Fluttershy giggled, and Twilight just laughed and gave her another kiss.
“Let’s do this,” Twilight said firmly.
“Stand back, girls,” Rarity added, her tone cold as iron, but her grip gentle as she pulled Sweetie away from Twilight and Fluttershy, Applejack doing the same with Apple Bloom. What was going on here? Whatever it was, Sweetie couldn’t wait to see it.
Sweetie Belle watched from an ostensibly ‘safe’ distance as Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other, squeezed each other’s hands for a sec, and then let them go. Sweetie was confused about what she was supposed to be watching…
And then both girls burst into flame.
Their bodies were ravaged with violet and teal flames, and Sweetie’s eyes widened in confusion in terror as the flames spread even further, covering the air around their bodies. Sweetie looked up at Rarity, who squeezed Sweetie’s hand and smiled softly down at her; there wasn’t any doubt or sadness in her face, so Sweetie trusted that everything was gonna be okay.
She watched as Twilight and Fluttershy’s flames grew even further, until something appeared from out of them; claws. Massive claws that slammed into the ground with enough force to shake the earth, with enormous galaxy-patterned wings flaring out from behind Twilight as the flames subsided, revealing not a unicorn, but an enormous living dragon, with Fluttershy’s transformation completed soon after, the slender yellow serpent rivalling Twilight in size.
Twilight and Fluttershy were dragons. Two massive dragons stood in front of Sweetie Belle, and Rarity and Applejack didn’t even flinch. This was the secret they wanted to share. Sweetie Belle’s breathing became heavy as panic flooded her.
“Hey,” Rarity said softly, gently guiding Sweetie’s gaze to hers instead of at the dragons, “everything’s going to be okay.”
“Th-they’re dragons,” Sweetie blanked on what else to say.
“Yes,” Rarity said casually. “And they’re also my dear friends. Their dragonic blood doesn’t change that at all.”
“Oh,” Sweetie nodded and looked back at the dragons, then looked over to Apple Bloom who looked to be getting this same exact pep talk from Applejack.
“Do you want to say hello?” Rarity asked. “They won’t hurt you, I promise.”
“Uh, gimme one sec?” Sweetie asked, and Rarity nodded.
“Of course,” she said softly.
Sweetie walked away from Rarity and the dragons, glancing over desperately at Apple Bloom and Applejack. Applejack said something to Apple Bloom, and then Bloom headed over to join Sweetie Belle in a little makeshift huddle or whatever.
“So what do we think?” Sweetie asked, her brain a complete mess of anxiety and confusion.
“Applejack says they’re good fellas,” Apple Bloom said and gave a little shrug. “Apples ain’t no liars.”
“What about Granny Smith?” Sweetie asked.
“Apparently, she don’t know any better,” Apple Bloom said. “Least that’s what Applejack says. She said dragons being good actually is a fiercely guarded secret, and not a lot of ponies are let in on it for some reason.”
“Why?” Sweetie asked. That sounded dumb.
“Dunno,” Apple Bloom shrugged. “Shit’s just complicated.”
“Ah,” Sweetie Belle sighed and hung her head. She didn’t know what to think.
“Hey,” Apple Bloom squeezed Sweetie’s hand, and Sweetie looked at her with a dour expression on her face, “y’know how the kids back home make fun of us for bein’ trans?”
“I do,” Sweetie grumbled. “It sucks.”
“Sure does!” Apple Bloom chuckled bitterly, a gesture Sweetie was intimately familiar with. “Way I see it, I don’t wanna hold a grudge ‘gainst anypony— anycreature? Anyone? Uh, I don’t wanna hold a grudge ‘gainst folks for stuff that ain’t in their control.”
Huh. Sweetie supposed that made some kinda sense. She looked over at the dragons again, and she saw Rarity talking to them, holding her hand against Twilight’s. Rarity looked so tiny, but the dragons were just smiling and laughing with her, just like any friends would do.
“They are kinda cool, huh?” Sweetie said, clinging to Apple Bloom’s hand for dear life.
“They are!” Apple Bloom nodded. “You wanna go introduce ourselves?”
“Y-yeah,” Sweetie nodded shakily. “Y-you first though.”
“Okay! I’ll take the lead on this one!” Apple Bloom pumped her fist and spoke with a confidence that was like soothing lotion on Sweetie’s frayed nerves, Sweetie following Apple Bloom with their hands still holding each other. “Howdy fellas!”
“Hey!” the purple dragon said enthusiastically, baring a gleaming smile of sharp fangs and raising its hand.
“H-hello,” the yellow dragon said bashfully, lowering its head and taking a step back.
“So everythin’ Celestia’s always told us has been a lie, huh?” Apple Bloom asked, and even Sweetie was aghast at that kind of bluntness, but no one else seemed to be bothered.
“Yup,” Applejack nodded.
“Unfortunately, that’s exactly the case,” the purple dragon added and scratched its cheek.
“Yes,” the yellow dragon said softly.
“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity chimed in, her voice ice cold, “this is why I left the Slayers. What Celestia’s doing is wrong, and I couldn’t get her to see the truth.”
“O-oh,” Sweetie said, and then everything just kinda… slowed down and spun around her.
“So can y’all do any tricks?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Apple Bloom,” Applejack scolded, “they ain’t circus animals. Be polite now.”
“Oh, s-sorry,” Apple Bloom said bashfully.
“Yes, I appreciate your enthusiasm,” the purple dragon chuckled, and she sounded awkward, almost nervous, “but please treat us like you would any pony.”
Sweetie almost couldn’t believe what she was looking at. Apple Bloom, Applejack, and even Rarity— who Sweetie had looked up to for being a stone cold badass who wore a damn dragon fang that she pried outta a dragon’s mouth with her own two hands— standing around talking to these dragons in total comfort, like it just came naturally to ‘em.
It… kinda pissed Sweetie Belle off. That she had been lied to this whole time. How could Sweetie ignore what was right in front of her face? Rarity and Applejack weren’t liars, and Twilight and Fluttershy weren’t anything like the horror stories Sweetie had been told about dragons.
Which, BY THE WAY??? Sweetie Belle was just now realizing that a lot of those horror stories sure did have a recurring theme of ‘listen to adults and do what they tell you, or a boogeydragon will come and eat you for no reason’.
Hey.
What the fuck.
“Wow, I’m gonna kick Celestia’s ass!” Sweetie Belle shouted to no one in particular.
“I take it you’re coming around then, darling?” Rarity giggled.
“I’m so mad!” Sweetie said, kicking at the ground. “I’m SO MAD! What the hell! How could she just— RRRRRAAAARRRGGH!”
Sweetie Belle sat down and crossed her arms, puffing up her cheeks. She was so full of mad feelings now and she just didn’t know what to do with them. Rarity took a step toward her, but Twilight stopped her and walked over to Sweetie in her stead.
“Would you feel better,” Twilight said, “if you took a little flight on my back?”
Sweetie looked up and her eyes widened, smiling ear to ear.
“THAT SOUNDS AWESOME!!!” Sweetie cheered, standing up like a shot.
It was a lot to take in. Not just flying above the mountains on Twilight’s back, Rarity holding her steady while Applejack and Apple Bloom did the same with Fluttershy, but all the stuff Rarity said to her.
Especially about their parents.
“So I have to keep this a secret from everyone, huh?” Sweetie said dourly.
“I’m afraid so,” Rarity hummed. “The world is not a kind place, especially to dragons.”
“Okay,” Sweetie muttered. “How come we can’t just show mom and dad how cool Twilight and Fluttershy are?”
“The longer something is entrenched,” Rarity explained, “the harder it is for it to be removed. Keep in mind that when I first learned Twilight was a dragon, I nearly killed her in a fit of rage.”
“Which was very cool of you,” Twilight interjected, making Rarity blush and Sweetie laugh.
“You hush,” Rarity said flatly, Twilight chuckling to herself. “Imagine how our parents would react if they saw us befriending these dragons. You know how stubborn they can be.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Sweetie huffed and crossed her arms. “It’s still annoying though.”
“It is extremely aggravating, yes,” Rarity groaned. “But I need you to promise me you won’t tell a soul about this, especially our parents. And that no matter what they tell you, you hold onto this truth. Dragons are our friends, not our enemies.”
“I promise,” Sweetie said, her hand gently rubbing little circles on Twilight’s back. “No matter what happens, I’ll protect Twilight and Fluttershy.”