Fire sipped from the carbonated sweet mixture in the tall cup before her, a curly straw poking free that made that task easier. "So, Doctor huh?"
"Yep." He inclined his head at her, considering her. "Pinkie mentioned you were hoping to make a friend."
"I want to make a little more than that." But she bit back saying more than that. She had to seduce, dang it, and scaring them away would hardly do that. "So what do you like to do, when you're not fixing ponies?"
"Read." He leaned forward with a little smile. "I enjoy learning about curious things."
Fire quirked a brow. "What kind of 'curious' things?" A book nerd was not what she had in mind...
"For example..." He tipped the wine glass he held in his magic. "The reflection of a pony can often reveal their true nature."
Fire started at that. Eyes darting, she didn't see any mirrors pointed at herself. "What?"
He chuckled softly, reaching up to fiddle with those glasses, magic bringing over a cloth to rub at one of the lenses. "Your reaction is more telling, my dear."
She colored at that, caught. "What did Pinkie tell you?!"
"Enough." He nibbled on his burger, glasses perching on his nose. "Enough to make me curious."
Fire Paradox perked at that. Curious stallions could be the best variety. "Alright then, cards on the table." She set her hooves there instead of any card. "I am exactly the mare your mom warned you to stay away from. Want to be a naughty little boy?"
"I am a grown stallion," he said with confidence and a little nod. "And proper stallions want to know a little more about their mares, hm? Now, tell me..." He floated up a bit of food to slurp up, eyes on her. "What sort of music do you like?"
Fire felt her heat rise. Part of her was annoyed he was brushing off her specific question. Another... was intrigued. She wanted to know more, so she answered, and the dinner continued.
"Why am I here again?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Rarity is playing host to a few important ponies, one of whom I want to talk to."
"Yeah, cool, but you don't need me to do that." Rainbow pointed at herself before waving at Rarity's shop just in front of them. "You don't need all of us!"
The others were there, all but Rarity. Applejack tipped her hat. "She ain't wrong there. What do ya got in mind that needs all of us to say howdy?"
Twilight set a hoof on her chest. "He..." She trailed off into a frown. "She! She has only met us individually, and some of us hardly even that. We made... a questionable impression at the Gala. I want to reintroduce ourselves as a group."
Fluttershy blinked with owlish eyes. "Who is that?"
Pinkie bounced in place with a big grin. "Is it a secret?"
Twilight cocked a brow at Pinkie. "No? S--"
"--Baroness Blue Belle and Fancy Pants," sang out Pinkie, glad to get out what had been deemed not a secret in need of keeping. "And their friend, Fire Paradox." She leaned in suddenly. "Watch out for that one, she likes smooches, but stallions only, so we're probably safe."
Fluttershy began to blush vividly. "Oh... dear..."
Applejack chuckled softly. "Well, as Pinkie done said, we're not stallions none, so we're safe from a smoochie mare. Best keep her away from Big Mac or feelin's like to be hurt."
Rainbow snickered suddenly, only to be elbowed by Applejack. "Hey! You know what I mean."
"Ah know exactly what you mean." Applejack glared at Rainbow witheringly. "This ain't the time or the place."
Twilight let out a slow breath. "I have no idea what any of you mean right now. Are we ready to go and say hello? While they are not an acting princess, they are a relation to Celestia. It would be better to make friends."
Rainbow grumbled, tail giving an agitated swing. "Sure. Ready as I'm gonna be."
Pinkie hadn't stopped bouncing. "Ready!"
Fluttershy hid behind her mane. "Are they... mean? Noble ponies can be very... difficult."
Applejack nodded at Fluttershy. "She ain't wrong. They can be a right pain. What are we walkin' into?"
Twilight shook her head. "Calm down, everypony. They're just a pony. We'll go in and say hello. Nothing more complicated than that."
Rainbow snickered with renewed amusement. "Ladies, we just got told by Twilight to relax. That's when you know you're stressed out about nothing."
A round of laughter rippled through them even as Twilight went red. "Hey!" Still, they had calmed and she turned her attention back on Rarity's shop. "Let's go then." She approached, horn glowing as she knocked lightly. "Rarity, are you in?"
"Is that you, Twilight?" came her muffled reply from within. "Do come in."
And so Twilight did come in, with the rest of the girls. "Rarity, nice to see you." Twilight nodded as her eyes wandered over the workshop. "I admit, I came to talk to your guests."
Rarity looked up from where she had been working her sewing machine. "I do appreciate your honesty. You've met Fancy Pants before, have you not?"
Twilight nodded firmly at that. "A nice stallion. And a long friend of yours, if I recall?"
"Very much so," half-sang Rarity as she abandoned her project for the moment. "A dear lad, truly. Well, he's gone and found a mare that won his heart." She let out a wistful sigh. "Good on him."
Rainbow drifted closer, hovering as she was. "Do I hear a little jealousy?"
"That's not polite," noted Rarity, nudging Rainbow away, hoof to hoof. "I'm very happy for them both, and thrilled to play a host for them. Why, his paramour has taken an interest in little Sweetie Belle."
Twilight inclined her head. "Huh, really? I mean, Sweetie's a great filly, but what drew them specifically... to her?"
"I thought the very same thing, darling," assured Rarity, clopping her hooves once together. "Turns out it started as a name thing."
Applejack suddenly perked. "Ah right, twern't her name Blue Belle, somethin' somethin' fancy?"
"Baroness Blue Belle." Rarity rolled her eyes softly. "They're hitting it off famously. Why, she's offered the dear magic lessons."
It was Twilight's turn to blink dumbly. "Magic lessons?!"
"Well, perhaps magic is a bit much." Rarity worked her hooves in a circle. "They're starting from the basics, getting her horn working properly. You know, grabbing a knitting needle from across the room." She did just that, horn glowing as the needle moved to float beside her smiling face. "It's cute, really."
Pinkie bobbed her head. "That sounds super nice. Why didn't you show her though? You're both unicorns."
Rarity went still a moment. "Pinkie, that is not a very fair question, dear."
Twilight moved partly between the two. "I feel certain Rarity did offer a hoof. Besides, normally your parents show you how to do that, not your big sister, though they are a valid pony for the job." She put a hoof behind her head. "And now I'm making it worse again."
Rarity applied a hoof to her forehead. "Darlings, really... I try to be a good sister. I've helped Sweetie exactly as much as she's... wanted. It's not my fault she doesn't respect me because I'm not a wizard!" Her voice became more shrill as she reached the end of that, her face reddened. She took slow breaths, trying to regain herself. "Pardon..."
Applejack removed her hat, a sign that things had gotten real. "Now don't be sayin' that. Sweetie looks up to you somethin' fierce. She loves you like nopony else."
Rainbow bobbed her head. "She totally respects you, Rares. Don't be like that."
Twilight inclined her head instead. "Blue is a wizard?" All the others looked at her. "What? I didn't know! There aren't many full-fledged wizards out there. I thought I knew them all. This is very surprising."
Rarity suddenly tossed the needle she had in her magic aside, embedding it in the wall with the force of her throw. "We're all lucky today then... Now, you didn't come to talk to this boring unicorn." She directed upwards with a flair. "The interesting ones are all upstairs."
Applejack swatted Rarity suddenly. "Now that's enough." She popped her hat back on her head. "Yer a right welcome part of our little squad, an' we ain't replacin' ya. Twilight brought us here 'cause we made a right behind of ahselves at the Gala and figured we could turn it right 'gain."
Fluttershy bobbed her head. "I'm very sorry if I made you feel bad, Rarity. If it helps, I look up to you a lot." A timid smile spread on her face. "The way you can navigate ponies the way you do, I'm quite jealous, if we're being honest. You do it so well, um, unlike me."
Pinkie leaned up against her classy friend. "I can throw a party for anypony, sure, but when it comes to a high class thing, well, you got me beat, not gonna lie."
Rarity snorted softly, but a smile was emerging. "You... Thank you." She took one more deep breath. "Do you want me to come along?"
Twilight started past Rarity. "We would be delighted. Let's go."
Rarity joined the flow of ponies headed towards the stairs. "You would be surprised. The old Blueblood is gone entirely." That brought the crowd to a stop. "Oh... Did you not know?"
Fluttershy looked up the stairs, not moving. "Blueblood, the stallion you were... um..."
"Making a right fool of myself in front of, yes, that one." Rarity applied a hoof to her face. "The well dressed one, at the Gala?"
Applejack raised a hoof to her chin. "And that Fancy one was the one you were making a scene in fronta."
"Ugh." Rarity turned to her friends there on the stairs. "Is today 'kick Rarity while she's down' day and I missed the memo? You simply have to inform a mare of these things, darlings."
Twilight advanced to the next step. "Sorry, Rarity. We're here for the exact same reason. Let's put our mistakes behind us."
They all made it up to the second floor. From under one of the doors, light sparkled and jumped a moment before a celebratory woop came, Sweetie celebrating something out of sight. "I did it!"
"That you very much did," came Blue Belle's muffled reply. "Quite good."
Twilight inclined her head. "Well, found one of them."
Rainbow flew over without a delay, clopping a hoof on the door. "Hey, Sweetie, Blue, you two in there?"
A squeak came in reply. "Rainbow?" The door cracked open, allowing Sweetie to peek out. "Oh, hi. I didn't expect you to be here. What's up?"
Rainbow lowered towards the ground without actually landing. "We were hoping to talk to your new friend. Is she available?"
"She isn't my doorpony," assured a new voice, the door swinging open further with Blue's magic as she was revealed just behind Sweetie. "Ah, Miss Rarity, Princess Twilight." She nodded to each in turn, but she knew not the others... "Twilight's friends!" That much seemed certain.
Applejack chuckled. "Applejack." She tipped her hat properly. "Pleased to meetcha."
"Pinkie." She bounced in place. "We met before, remember? I'm helping your friend."
Blue's eyes widened faintly. "Ah, too right! How foalish of me to forget so swiftly. How is that going? Miss Paradox has been quiet of late, a good sign?"
Twilight twisted to aim her head at Pinkie. "You're helping Blue Belle?"
"Sure am." Pinkie nodded with certainty. "Hooking up her friend, Fire Paradox, with a date to get some smooches." She kissed the air a bit dramatically, hooves clasped with a loud giggle. "I think they're hitting it off. It's so sweet!"
Sweetie burst into her own giggles. "Wow, you're better than I am at that, for sure. All hail Pinkie, bringer of smiles."
Pinkie bowed properly. "Thank you, thank you. I'm just doing my part." She plopped to her haunches, giggling with building joy.
Fluttershy advanced through her friends. "I just, um, wanted to say sorry... I was... not myself, when we first met."
Blue inclined her head at Fluttershy, lost in thought a moment. "Oh yes! You were quite upset when you arrived, weren't you... I was... not much better, that night. I've already said my apologies to Miss Rarity, but I should also extend the same towards you all for such an unsightly scene."
Applejack sat up proudly. "Ah didn't make no messes to 'pologize for."
Blue smirked faintly. "You attended a fully catered venue with outside food you were trying to sell. Dear, I regret to inform you, but that is a bit of a faux pas."
Rainbow launched into a little chuckle, bumping against Applejack from the side. "He has you pegged there."
Twilight swatted Rainbow suddenly. "She."
Rainbow blinked, and it hit her. "Oh! Sorry! Wow, way to be a heel." She clopped a hoof on her head for but an instant. "Hey, sorry, really. A pony decides they're a mare or a stallion, whatever, that's their choice. You're not even the first I've run into."
That caught Blue by surprise. "Truly? You've met others?"
"They don't dress up as well as you do?" Rainbow tilted to the left and right, getting a better look at Blue. "Like, seriously, how? You look like a mare from here."
"Because I am a mare?" Blue raised a brow at Rainbow. "Why wouldn't I look like a mare?"
"I am batting 100 today," half-laughed Rainbow. "Whatever you're doing, it's working. Seriously, great job."
Sweetie sprang up on her hind legs to gesture at Blue. "I present Baroness Blue Belle, Master of Sire's Hollow and Bonafide Wizard! What makes a stallion a stallion? Nothing she couldn't fix." Sweetie sat with a big smile. "She cast the spell Twilight faked, for real."
Twilight's eyes grew wide. "You're joking." She raised her hooves to her cheeks, trembling along the way before she threw them out wide. "That's incredible! That spell is... beyond complicated. Especially in that direction. Do you understand how many ways you can go wrong when adding the magical channels a mare has to a stallion?! And you did it to yourself?!"
Blue's ears flipped against her head, a bit overwhelmed by Twilight's response. "I just... wanted to be what I felt I was, so I made it so."
"So you just did it." Twilight let out a little delirious laugh, listing off the side as if she might collapse. "And permanently?! I... I'm not even sure I could manage that."
"Besides." Blue thumped the floor, sitting up. "I am still the same pony. I had the magic before. Are you saying mares are more magical than stallions? Star Swirl would be quite cross with you."
Twilight lit up in her cheeks. "I didn't mean to imply that. I'm speaking strictly internally." She waved a hoof at her body. "In order for a mare to properly incubate a potential foal of any tribe, they have to be prepared to create an ideal environment for all varieties of tribal magic. This does not give any given mare any particular abilities of the other tribes, but those channels are there, ready to support a foal. So while a mare is not... better, they are more complicated."
Rainbow nudged Twilight, easily knocking her over with a grunt. "Oh, so you used magic? That explains it," she allowed as if that somehow made it less impressive.
Which confused Blue. "Pardon? Is using magic a bad thing?"
Rainbow shrugged softly. "No, no. You got what you wanted. Just, you know, most ponies can't do that. They have to figure it out other ways." She crossed her neck with a hoof in a sharp left and right swipe. "Gotta dress the part, act the part, you know? They can't just... magic it."
Sweetie tilted her head. "Wow... That sounds kinda hard." She bounced up to her hooves. "I am perfectly satisfied being a filly." She nodded with certainty. "And a cutie mark crusader, which is a filly club." She crossed a hoof to her chin. "I mean, just kinda worked out that way. I suppose if a colt wanted to help ponies the way we do, I wouldn't be that upset. It would just take a little time to get used to it, I'll admit."
Rarity was upon her, hugging her little sister tight. "That's my girl! What a big heart you have, and an open mind. "
Sweetie wriggled free of Rarity's gasp with a giggle. "Cut that out!" She leveled a hoof at Blue. "Lucky for you, you're so good at magic."
Blue nodded a bit stiffly. "Lucky me..." She seem to consider quietly a moment, eyes on Rainbow Dash. "You seem to have some knowledge in this, perhaps you would care to share? I would know more of these other ponies."
"Trans?" asked Rainbow with a shrug.
"Is that what they call themselves? Oh, look at me, I feel shamefully ignorant right now." Blue huffed, throwing her shoulders with a fidget. "I am that, am I not? Trans?"
"You were a stallion, and now you're a mare." Rainbow nodded slowly. "Yep, you're trans. About as trans as any pony can get, really."
Applejack nudged against Rainbow. "Not to argue, but how do you know about this? Yer not... that, right? Pretty right sure ya ain't that."
Rainbow huffed, though it turned into a laugh partway through. "AJ, you'd know if I was." That got Applejack to start blushing. "But, look..." She tapped her hooves together. "A mare and a stallion, the mare was born a mare, the stallion was born a stallion, they get together, foals happen. That's the classic version, right? It's what everypony expects."
Fluttershy inclined her head with mounting confusion. "That is the normal state of... things, yes."
Rainbow reached out to boop her fellow pegasus on the nose. "But it's not the only way of things. Sometimes a mare likes a mare. Sometimes a stallion likes a stallion. Sometimes a stallion or a mare wants to be the other." She gestured wildly to encompass the different gender ideas she was throwing. "It happens. Shoot, sometimes a pony just wants to sit it out." She gave Twilight a pointed look.
Twilight joined the heated cheek group of the moment. "W-what? What do you mean? I'm a mare!"
Rainbow hiked a hoof towards Twilight. "Sure you are, but when's the last time you ever had a boyfriend, or a girlfriend. Ten bits on the answer being about never."
Twilight's blush only grew worse. "R-Rainbow! This is not the conversation to have in front of a filly." She reached to plug Sweetie's ears, but the filly danced away from such a thing. "Have some decency!"
Sweetie was giggling. "I know what those are. I tried to find a coltfriend for my teacher, remember?"
Twilight sagged a bit. "That did not end well."
"Not exactly..." Sweetie did not look upset about it, a grin on her face. "Pinkie's way better at it." She gestured grandly at Pinkie. "Hey, can you help her out next?"
Pinkie blinked, suddenly in the middle of the conversation. "Well, for one, I am a mare." She tapped her hooves together. "And I'm pretty sure I want a stallion, yup. Mares are fun too, but a stallion, yep, with a foal, maybe a few? Like my parents." She nodded with building confidence, and not answering Sweetie's question. "Now about Cheerilee... I'll ask if she wants me to. That's the kind of thing you can get a pony real mad with if you just poke your nose in."
Sweetie flopped back. "I'm being told to slow down, by Pinkie Pie?"
Rainbow burst into laughter. "If it makes you feel better, we got told by Twilight to calm down before."
"Is today opposite day?!" Sweetie gaped at the strange turned of fate.
Blue cleared her throat. "While this all quite fascinating, if you came to apologize for the Grand Galloping Gala, I accept. We were all, shall we say, off our game. It was not a good example of any of us. Let us put it aside." She gestured as if putting a box down to her right. "How does all these... preferences relate to you, Miss Dash?"
Rainbow leaned in, brows falling. "I have to connect the dots? I'm not a standard case. As if I could be. I am Rainbow Danger Dash, and I fly to my own beat." She thumped herself on the chest with a cocky smirk. "So, no, I won't be doing the foal thing, like ever. As if I'd slow down. I got my mare right here."
Applejack was shaking her head wildly, but Rainbow Dash didn't see it, or didn't care and went right up to her, threw an arm over her neck and pulled her in for a big loud smooch on the cheek.
"Aw," was Sweetie, Fluttershy, and Pinkie's response, all giggling with accepting warmth.
Twilight sank to her haunches, dumbfounded.
Rarity rubbed at the side of her head. "I did not see that coming, though perhaps that is more of a failing on my part."
Blue nodded slowly. "Alright..." She coughed softly, not covering the gesture, perhaps a bit startled. "But how does... that relate?"
Rainbow released AJ. "Wow, you are a little clueless."
"I say!"
"I'll learn it to you." Rainbow sat on her haunches. "Since we're not the 'default', we ended up kinda sticking together. So we had more of a say, and more protection, from ponies that think normal is the only way." She wibbled a hoof. "So, as a LGBT-Too many other letters, I know and care about that kinda thing." She leveled the hoof at Blue. "You're actually kind of an extra odd case. Technically, you're trans, all trans. So trans that you've destroyed the question. You're not a 'maybe mare', you're all mare, all of it, all the way to the inside." She reached to poke Blue in the chest. "Not a bad thing, promise, just... not normal, and that isn't bad either!"
Blue's ears twitched softly, absorbing the idea, or what it meant really. "I would... like to meet such a pony. Maybe I could help them." She tapped her hooves together. "Not everyone had the chance to magic it, but if I could do it, for them... that would... that feels like something I should do."
"Just what I would expect." Fancy joined them suddenly, emerging from his room with nary a sound besides his words. "My dear, your heart seems to only grow by the day."
Blue's cheeks warmed quickly. "Is it wrong?"
"Perish the thought." He touched his nose to Blue's and the two were quiet a moment, rubbing gently against one another before he leaned back and sat on his haunches. "I would be quite proud to assist in whatever way I could. I'm no wizard, I confess, but there are other skills that could be put to work in such an endeavor."
Rarity suddenly nodded. "Oh, yes, most certainly dears. You'd want a proper venue, which Fancy Pants can line up. You'd want the proper ambiance. You'd want to make sure everything is just right, and I can think of scarcely anypony else that could do the job."
"Hey."
Rarity looked to Pinkie with an apologetic smile. "I take that back. Pinkie could also do a reasonable job of it, but I imagine you're going back to Canterlot, and Pinkie will not be there."
Pinkie stuck out her tongue a little. "I'll forgive that. I've got way too many parties to throw in Ponyville before I have a chance in Canterlot, barring the map sending me again." She giggled with unrestrained joy. "That was fun though."
Rainbow inclined her head. "Before you get too far into that, gonna warn you that some ponies are going to get mad if you tell them your way is the best way. Let ponies be what they are, just make the option, let the ponies who want it show up. If you get too pushy, you're part of the problem."