Where did Pinkie run off to? Surely, she’s somewhere in the store. I’ll just look around... hey, help! She grabbed me and several seconds later, we’re... somewhere. “Oh my gosh, I have so many questions about you!” Pinkie said. And here we go.
“Like?”
“When did you find out you were transgender? How have other ponies treated you over it? Who are you interested in? Can you...” Hoof in mouth time. Motormouth? Check.
“Whoa Pinkie, one question at a time. In fact, I do have a question. How the hell do you know I’m transgender? I didn’t tell you yet.”
“Because you just told me.” She replied with a grin.
“What the hell?! Then why would you ask?”
“Just a hunch.”
“You gotta give me better than that.”
“My Pinkie Sense kicked in. You and Illusion seemed so similar and then I thought about it a lot and then I decided to follow you to Fluttershy’s house and then I heard you two talking and I even heard Discord at one point although he was in a different dimension.”
“You were spying on me?! Don’t you realize how bad that sounds?! I know personal space and privacy with you is questionable, but damn.”
“I’m sorry.” She looked a bit sad by this, but at least she hasn’t changed into Pinkamena. “You seemed so unhappy and I wanted to help. I know Fluttershy is doing her best, but I want to help as well.”
“I was going to tell you when I felt like it, but whatever, the cat’s out of the bag. Maybe I should have made a Pinkie Promise. So, where are we? I see a bunch of party supplies. Is it like a Pinkie Cave? Did I really just put those two words together?”
“It’s my secret basement where I keep all my party supplies at.”
“I thought you used hammerspace for that.”
“Even I have limits, believe it or.” I almost don’t. Right, I just mentioned hammerspace and she didn’t act like that was unusual. Should I risk still talking to her about my... condition that isn’t being transgender? Oh, who am I kidding? She’ll probably just figure that out on her own as well. Sometimes I wonder if she’s the second smartest pony among the Mane Six.
“Back to your questions, I found out during my teenage years that I wanted to be a mare. Pony reactions to me have been... all over the place. Once I’m speaking to the rest of your closest friends, I’ll do a show and tell using my illusion magic. My sexuality? I like mares, go figure. It’s something about lesbianism not being that uncommon due to a lot more mares than stallions existing. But come on, what lesbian is going for me? I barely pass as a mare and I don’t have the equipment that they like.”
“We should have a coming out party. ‘I’m a Mare’ party.”
“No Pinkie, no! I know you’re all overjoyed and all about this, but I’m still trying to work up the courage to talk to Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack about this. This party won’t be just all of Ponyville finding out, but instead all of Equestria will know. Wait, who am I kidding? I’m not important enough to be a pony that every pony should know. Not like I’ll suddenly become a celebrity, a life that for sure isn’t for me.”
“I don’t want to see you unhappy being Mirage.” She then put a dress on me. It’s a blue dress with gold layers on it. Looks very professionally made. Might as well put this dress on now since Pinkie also seems eager to see. The back makes it look like my flank is quite round. I blush. “Where did this dress come from?”
“Rarity made it for you. So, I picked it up from her.” Rarity, you’re so good at this. Of course, I should know that, but witnessing it first hoof is another story.
“How did... you know what? Never mind.” So, I can talk to you reader, yet I’m still caught off guard by Pinkie. And by talk to you, I mean just the text you see before you. I’m not speaking out loud to you so nopony else should notice. “Do you by any chance know any transgender ponies? I’m not asking who specifically since they probably want to keep that a secret.”
“I know ponies from all over Equestria, and other creatures too,” she put on a thinking cap. “Maybe a couple I’ve met were transgender,” she said as she held up a bell.
“You must be the most popular non-alicorn pony in all of Equestra. Such ashamed you hardly know any other transgender ponies or creatures! Even if I try to start my own group, who else is going to join? Just allies? I want to meet other transgender ponies aside from the ones I’ve dealt with in my past.
“Also, I don’t want go outside in this dress when my clearly very stallion mouth is visible. That’s why I wear the face veil.”
“I want to help you get more comfortable.”
“Not like this! They won’t see me as a mare, they’ll see me as a stallion in a dress. At least as Illusion, I hide my body enough to be able to pass off as a different pony entirely. And even then, I don’t speak as Illusion because of my very masculine voice.”
“There’s masculine sounding mares.”
“Outliners, probably. But even Rainbow Dash and Applejack, despite being tomcolts, are feminine sounding. And on that note, I swear a good voice actor could sound like both of them. Now if only I could voice act to the point it’s not voice acting. Illusion finally overcomes her mutism and speaks in a lovely mare voice. One can dream.”
Alright, time for a flashback! Sure, I’ll end up having to repeat this stuff later, like say to the rest of the Mane Six, but I’ll just say I explained it the next time it does come up. So here I am, years ago, in Manehattan. I’m still living pretty deep stealth, aka not being out to most ponies. This is before my magical word writing or even my outfit, but I’m very much attempting to still be Illusion. I found a flyer for a meeting with a group of misfits. Wouldn’t this have been dangerous? Couldn’t any pony have come across this and probably do bad things? Well, when I got there, I met a mare. She’s a dark blue earth pony with a black mane and tail. Her cutie mark is that of a blueberry.
“What brings you here?” She asked me.
“I’m a stallion, but I want to be a mare.”
“That’s... interesting. You can call me Sweet Taste. I’ve got make up to pretty you up. Just lemme have a chance.”
“Really? Sweet! I wonder what I’ll look like.” I let her have a go at putting make up on me. After waiting for a while, she fully applied the makeup to my face. I’m not exactly noticing much of a difference. My stallion shaped mouth is still there. And this meeting is still just me and her.
“I also got a big dress that should fit you.” It’s a light blue dress with some ribbons. I put it on and I’m a pretty princess pony. Sweet looks really happy to see it as well. “I... have a secret of my own as well,” she gets ready to confess.
“Well, mine is already out there, so what’s your secret?”
“You’re hot! I have dreamed of a mare with something extra to entertain myself with.”
“Wait, what?”
“You’re into mares, right?”
“Yeah. Which I guess makes me a lesbian, but then I also have to be a mare for that and... never mind.”
“Come on filly, you got this! Take me!”
“I rather not.”
“Didn’t you said you’re into mares? Am I not mare enough for you?”
“That’s not the issue. I’m just really deeply ashamed of my penis.”
“Don’t be, you’ll love it after I’m done with it!”
“That’s not how this works.”
“How do you know? Did you try it?”
“No, but...”
“No buts! You’re going to love this! Please keep the penis regardless however much of a mare you become.”
“That’s not what I want to do. I want to get rid of it. I want to have a vagina.”
“So overrated. You’re a very rare pony.”
“Just stop it! I’m not having sex with you, okay?!”
“How come you! Why do you keep denying this moment we’ll both enjoy?!”
“We’re mere seconds away from rape, so back the fuck off. I’m not here to fulfill your sexual fantasies.”
“And what, go toward other ponies? You think most of them will accept you like this? I actually see you for what you are.”
“As seemingly nothing more than a mare with a dick.”
“Most ponies will think you’re a freak! Is that how you want to go out?!”
“No, but I also don’t want to be here anymore or at the very least, not trying to make out with you. Don’t try to stop me or I’ll use my telekinesis on you.” And just like that, I leave while she looks dumbfounded. And that was the last time I tried that specific little meeting of misfits. I’ve been scared to try more since.
Pinkie pulled me into a big hug. “She had no business acting that way! You’re here now, where you’re a whole pony, regardless of your preferences or funny bits.”
“I sure consider the D not fun bits, well, my own anyway. It’s not like other stallions are listening and thinking I’m telling them their stallionhood is bad. You know what? I’ve been saying a lot of disclaimers in my speeches. It’s really tiring after a while. But it’s what you do so somepony doesn’t get offended for whatever reason. Perhaps Princess Celestia is a bit too soft on ponies. If Twilight really is taking over, perhaps she’ll encourage ponies to be a bit more assertive. And I don’t mean the kind that Fluttershy was at one point, no thanks. But there’s a middle ground between doormat and asshole.”
“You’ll find your place here Illusion and if you don’t, I’ll make a place for you. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. I might not understand this very much, but I’ll make it my mission to understand.”
“I can’t thank you enough, although I have to wonder, why go through all of this effort for one random ass pony? You must so many ponies and creatures in that School of Friendship alone, of which I’m not even in yet. I show up, you throw me a party when I lied by omission to every pony there, not that you knew till know, and my problem is so weird.”
“I doubt you’re alone with this. Detective Pinkie will get to the bottom of this.”
“So, before I go off to sleep for the night, I want to talk to Twilight about this. But then again she’s a princess in the middle of this town with a castle unlike any other building around Ponyville. And she’s arguably the most powerful pony in all of Equestria. If real life had a main character, she would be it.”
“We’ll go talk to her. She’s super smart and probably knows what this transgender thing is and if not, she knows other super smart ponies who also know other super smart ponies who must know.”
“But what if she doesn’t understand me? Or worse, what if she’s judgmental about it?”
“Relax, Twilight is not like that. But me being there will be an aura of happiness that will make her even less likely to have a bad reaction to you.”