"Twilight? Teacher?!" The door was open. The door was always open to Twilight's castle. Smolder pushed it shut behind herself, still unlocked. "Anyone?"
Clip-clops came from around the corner as Starlight came into view. "Something wrong, Smolder? Your counselor's here to help!"
Smolder flashed a bright smile. "Hey!" Her voice was tinged with insincerity. "Not exactly the pony I was hunting for."
Starlight listed a little to the side. "Ow. Well, who are you looking for, Twilight? Why not wait until tomorrow?" Surely school would reopen, giving more chances to see the headmare.
"It's about Spike." Smolder gestured behind herself. "They're going through some... stuff... and they're counting on me to hash it out with Twilight."
Starlight leaned forward with obvious interest. "I know Twilight pretty well. Tell me and maybe I can help."
"Well..." Smolder kicked lightly at the ground. "Alright, well... you see, he... has decided he prefers being a she." She pointed up just above her head. "And her name is Spine, and she has a magic crown that I'm like 80% sure is part of the process."
Starlight slowly inclined her head. "Oh... Oh! Oh..."
"Yeah, kinda freaky, right?" Smolder threw up a hand, though her arm didn't move, hooked by her other hand so it just swiveled. "I don't--"
"--I've seen this."
"Pardon?" Smolder hiked a brow at Starlight. "You have?"
"Ah-huh, for sure." Starlight looked into the middle distance. "Party Favor, quite a stallion, but wasn't always that way... I remember when he came to me about it! 'If all ponies are equal, why can't I be what I want? Are mares and stallions not equal?!' And, let me say, I was really stumped at first."
Smolder returned with a glass of water. "I bet."
"Hey, were you listening?" Starlight glared at the dragon. "Anyway, I helped him. And now Spike's... gone the other way..." She shrugged softly. "Didn't see it coming, but what's the harm?"
"The harm is that she has a sister, and that sister is very protective, and has really strong ideas of right and wrong and this, in her eyes, falls in the wrong camp and I don't want Spine to... She's right behind me, isn't she?" Smolder peered over her shoulder to see Twilight, a quill in her magic, hanging limply. "Hey, teach."
"He took the--"
"--She," interrupted Starlight with an innocent smile.
Twilight's brows fell in a severe frown. "Their mind may be being influenced by the artifact on their head. How do I take anything they say with it on at face value?"
Starlight inclined her head. "Don't mean to propose wild ideas, but if this is what she wants to be, first accept that it's a possiblity, then approach her, like a big sister, which you are, and let them explore it, even if it means taking the crown off a moment, respectfully."
Twilight squinted at her once-student. "When did you become a font of advice?"
"I learned from the best," Starlight sang out with a smug expression. "Smolder, I think I got this."
"I think you do." Her shoulders lifted. "Huh, goes to show I shoulda tried you in the first place."
"What are counselors for?" Starlight rolled her eyes dramatically. "Now where is... Spine was it? That's a cute name."
"It's not cute!" Twilight clopped a hoof on the ground before flopping to her haunches. "This is... almost certainly the thing on their head."
"But it might not be." Starlight shrugged softly. "And even if it is, they will remember if you were on their side, or if you just shouted at them a lot."
The door closed behind Twilight, Smolder making good her escape. "Oops." Starlight nodded at the closed door. "There goes our best lead on where they're hiding."
Spine knocked lightly on the door. "Come in," sang a familiar voice from beyond it.
She cleared her throat and dusted herself, making sure her skirt was in place, not that she was absolutely sure what a skirt out of place looked like. "You got this," she whispered to herself before throwing the door open. "Rarity!"
"Creature I don't know!" she shot back, matching the smile. "Hello there, Darling. What can I do for you today?"
Spine blinked and burst into a fit of giggles. "It's me, Spine." She hiked a thumb at herself. "Little dragon, helps you with fashion... basically all the time?"
"Spike?" Rarity inclined her head. "You're trying to pull one over on me. This isn't the first time a dragon came claiming to be involved with Spike who turned out to be--"
"--No, really! Ask me something only Spike would know," she flailed her hands in the air, nervous grin worn.
"A test?" Rarity pushed a pin into the dress she was working on. "You're either quite the confident dragon..." She was quiet a moment, sewing silently. "Very well. What first attracted you towards me?"
Spine lit up a bright red. "Oh, um..." Her eyes went to Rarity's curly mane. "It's still pretty amazing."
"What would that be?" Her lips curled into a bit of a smirk, watching Spine out of the corner of her vision. "Be specific, or I'll have to assume you're making things up."
"Your mane!" Spine squeaked out, slapping her hands over her face at almost the same instant as if to keep the words from escaping, but failing. "The way your mane... It's... I really like it."
"My mane is fabulous, there can be little doubt." Rarity set her sewing supplies aside and turned to Spine. "But that doesn't even start to explain how my Spikey-Wikey became a..." Her eyes darted up and down Spine. "I'm no expert on dragons, but you appear, and sound, like a mare. Am I wrong?"
"Um, nope?" She inclined her head a bit, leading into a full body swirl. "I'm a girl, and my name's Spine. Nice to meet you, again. I'm still me, promise!"
"I... see?" She approached, her magic felt as she took hold of Spine's face and began to turn it left and right. "Spine, was it?" She chortled softly in her dainty way. "A lovely name for the purpose. You seem... larger?"
"I am!" She swatted at the magic and was able to back up a step. "Look at me." She gestured over herself. "I was hoping you could help me. I'm, uh, not an expert at girl stuff, but you? You totally are."
Rarity raised a hoof to titter into. "Well, I can't argue with that logic, darling. But there are few ponies, or dragons, that can keep up with me, and I feel there are a few things we should touch on before we even consider approaching that."
"Not to distract..." Spine worried her fingers among themselves. "You seem... alright with this. Everycreature else acted like it was this big... awkward... thing. You're not. I'm not complaining! But... why?"
"You are still my Spi--ney..." She paused, considering. "Shiney, yes. Shiny Spiny!" She looked quite proud of her work. "Though I must confess this puts you out of the running, dear. I'm on the market for a strapping stallion, which you are... decidedly not. No offense, dear. You're still a treasure of a friend." She nodded softly, seeming so confident in her logic. "That is quite a fashion statement, if I may add." Her eyes were on Spine's crown.
Spine's eyes darted up to it, only to fall back to Rarity. "Wait, you knew?"
"Darling, I would need to be blind not to." She rolled her eyes dramatically, her magic snatching a pin and poking it into the dress she had been working on. "But if you're a lady dragon, our stars are not meant to be in that fashion."
Spine's finger curled and uncurled as her tongue worked silently a moment. "That just... I have so many questions! Wait... Wait wait... I mean... I'm a girl. I already figured... Girls don't..."
Rarity got out a little aborted cough, looking over her shoulder at Spine. "You're still... settling in, dear, but allow me to dispel that myth. For every pony, there is another, if they wish. That may be a stallion or a mare, or something else entirely, and what they are makes little difference." Rarity resumed her alteration work. "Don't get me wrong, most stallions prefer mares, and most mares prefer stallions, but just because it's the most popular thing doesn't mean it's the only thing, dear." She fluttered her lashes at Spine. "Why, you may decide you prefer a lady's company. It just won't be me, I'm afraid, though I do hope for the absolute best for my Shiny Spiny."
After all that... she had been shot down. Part of her heart ached, but... It wasn't the end. It was confusing, not being as torn apart as she felt she should have been. "Thanks," she weakly got out, trying to sort herself. "So, uh... About being a girl?"
"You're already on the right track." Her magic flipped Spine's new skirt and tugged at her shirt. "Looking sharp! Oh, dear, if you let me finish this one." She pointed at the article she was already working on. "I'd love to make you something that really brings out your charms."
Spine's cheeks warmed, imagining all sorts of frilly things. "That sounds... kinda cool actually, but I more meant, you know... being girly."
"Spine, dear, a hint." She stuck the pin in quite pointedly. "'Girly' is just an idea guys came up with. A mare will behave in the manner they see fit." She flicked her mane. "Now, me? I go for high station. You'd be surprised how little that varies between mare and stallion, come to think." She raised a hoof to her chin for just a moment before it came down and she resumed her work. "You're a darling little dork, and I can't imagine that suddenly changed, nor should it. You're a perfectly lovely Spine just how you are."
"But you'd never--"
"--You're not me," she interrupted. "Nor will you try to walk the same circles I do. Don't try to be me, darling. There's barely room for one." Spine jumped as something touched her nose. Oh, it was Rarity, touching nose to nose. "I'm still your friend, don't forget that. Speaking of that, I do hope you'll still be available to help. I do favor your input, Spine dear."
"Y-yeah," she stammered out, heading for the door. "Take care, alright?" She didn't get far, thumping into another pony on the way out. "Sorr--" The words faltered, realizing who it was. She clutched for her crown in a panic and scurried away from Twilight.
"I'm sorry."
Spine blinked at her words. "Sorry for...?"
She gestured over Spine's form. "How I acted, to you, about... this..." She waved that hoof up and down. "I don't understand it, even a little... But you're still my... sibling, and I'm not ready to set that aside."
Spine's fingers trailed away from her crown. "So... I can keep it?"
"I want you to be sure you want to keep it." She inclined her head. "And if you decide you're happier like that... then I get to get used to it." She smiled awkwardly. "Just... work with me a little to be sure it's not a strange artifact warping your mind."
"I'm not evil," Spine grunted eyes half-closing in a flat expression.
"I never said you were." She raised a hoof to poke Spine in the belly. "But there's a lot of other things. I just want to be sure this is you, and not that crown talking. If this is what you want, then it's... my job, as a sister, to help you."
Spine glanced up at the crown. Twilight hadn't said to take it off, but the meaning was clear enough. "You promise you won't snatch it away and try to hide it again or just melt it in a fire or lock it in a vault?"
"You've been thinking about this," she laughed out, moving in beside Spine. "Tonight, I'll make dinner, and we can talk about this, like adults."
"Like adults, yeah..."
Spine had a decision to make, but it would be made.