They met by chance.
A fleeting chance it was.
One, relishing in a life newly found, the other living happily in a life they’ve always known.
One, a Rose, trying her best to be her best, the other a Duke, comfortable in the life he currently led.
All it took was a single glance at school.
The Rose sat there in the cafeteria, a place where she usually didn’t sit. The Duke incidentally sat across. The two ate their food in silence. Then, the Duke looked up with piercing ocean eyes, trying to break up any silence like a king would in a meeting of lords. He asked a simple question.
“What’s your name?”
“Rose.” What else was Rose going to reply with? It was, after all, her name. Recently chosen, yes, but a name nonetheless.
“I thought the teachers—“
Rose looked up at the pony sitting across from her. Confident, happy in his position. Everything she wished she could be. This was the energy of somepony truly happy, or truly ignorant.
“It’s my name?” Perhaps, a little more forceful than necessary. Rose, however, was tired. The fact that ponies asked these questions frustrated her. She’d gotten them a million times.
Meanwhile, cogs turned in the Duke’s mind, preparing for a royal proclamation. They didn’t understand the idea yet, but they knew about the concept. However, such a forceful response often coaxed out a defense.
“Hey! I was just asking! The teachers call me Duke! That’s my name!” Again, more forceful than necessary? Perhaps, but sometimes even a rhetorical question asked for a good answer.
Rose realized her outburst, and went back to playing passively.
“Sorry, it’s just that Rose is my name, and the name the teachers call me isn’t. At least, not one I like to use.”
Duke, likewise, decided to cool off. “I’m still trying to understand that whole thing.”
“Me?”
“You know…”
Rose finished chewing her food. Swallowed it. Then, she set her gaze back on Duke, who was a little thrown-off, but otherwise, happy, smiling.
“You know I’m trans, right?”
“Yeah. It’s just. Religion hasn’t helped. I’m trying to get better!” Duke sat straight up, trying to defend what he’d just said, like any high-ranked noble would.
Rose knew that predicament too well herself. Fights with her parents regarding such an idea. The dividing line between mare and stallion, and all the other things that old practitioners of words of Celestia she likely never said believed in. Rose had taken her own path, and was given the freedom to do so. Others were not so lucky.
“Hey, an honest try is all you need. At least you are.”
Duke relived the tension in his limbs, and let himself slouch. Rose did likewise. The two looked at each other.
They both continued eating. The same food they’d eaten dozens of times. The lunch was routine, but these ponies were breaking theirs by deciding to talk with each other. Rose decided to break up the silence with the seeds of a conversation.
“You know, I wish you luck.”
“We’ll see.”
The two finished their food. The next day, Rose went back to her own little world. Rose and Duke never saw each other again.
Not for a year, at least, and certainly not ever the same as they met right then. As in most games of chance, the dice only roll a certain way once.
However, they never forgot each other completely.