Sunburst jumped with surprise, sloshing the water in her tub. She hadn't expected that sharp knocking. "Who is it?"
"Wow," came a familiar, if muffled, voice. "Is that really you, Sun?"
Sunburst clambered up out of the tub, her magic grabbing some towels to rub herself dry. "S-star?!"
The door swung open, glowing with Starlight's magic. "One and the... wow..." She got a chance to see Sunburst fully, still damp. "Wow... Wow! Seriously... Wow." Starlight entered and bumped the door shut behind her. "Look at you."
Sunburst shrank back, unsure how to feel, or how they were feeling with or without prompting. "Um, hi?"
"Hey yourself." Starlight closed the distance and orbited Sunburst to get a full look. Her magic casually flipped Sunburst's tail on the way. "Yep... mare. All mare. Every angle, mare. I heard you had a bit of an 'accident' and came at a gallop to offer a hoof."
Sunburst tucked her tail in tight after the flip, colored darkly across her face. "All mare," she squeaked out. "Like you."
"Not like me." Starlight rolled her eyes. "I was born a mare. You became one. That isn't me coming down on you, but I've had moons of experience with the mare thing. You haven't even had one, but you're an adult. There's gonna be differences, Sun."
"Y-yeah... I can't exactly argue that...." She stood up and turned in place. "So... how do I look?"
Starlight let out a sharp whistle. "Girl! If I was hunting, I'd tackle you right now."
Sunburst blinked rapidly, reaching up to adjust her glasses. "R-really? Are you just saying that?"
Starlight smirked at her transormed friend. "I try not to 'just say' things. You're part of the pretty mare club. We meet on the weekends. Bring a dessert."
Sunburst laughed at the invitation. "You're joking."
"I am." Starlight bumped sidelong into Sunburst. "Seriously, you're alright with this? No flack. I'll love my Sunburst mare just like I loved my Sunburst stallion. But I want to hear it from you. How are you feeling?"
Sunburst's ears folded down as she considered Starlight's earnest query. How was she feeling? Her oldest friend deserved an honest response.
"Honestly? Still quite bewildered...and overwhelmed at times," she acknowledged. "My body seems very pleased with these changes, but my brain is struggling to catch up."
She gestured at her sleeker physique, flushing slightly. "I can scarcely walk down the street without attracting shocked gazes or...appreciative ones. But everypony who knows me has accepted the new look, at least."
Starlight nodded. "It's a lot to handle. But hey, might be fun to experience being the pretty girl every colt crushes on for awhile!" Her smile faded to concern. "...This isn't permanent though, right Sunny? Please say Twilight's got a reversal spell or something in the works."
Sunburst bit her lip. They hadn't discovered a means to undo Flurry Heart's wayward wish yet. And with each passing day, part of her wondered if that was for the best...
But Starlight deserved the full truth. Steeling herself, Sunburst met her friend's sympathetic gaze. "It seems reversing this will be...complicated magic. But we have our best minds on it." She prayed that would be enough...
Starlight cocked a brow. "I'm sure they're working on it, but what do you want? Let's pretend I can fix it." Her horn glowed with potential. "Just a little zap, back to stallion. You want it?"
Sunburst tensed with the blunt question. "Well, um..."
"Too late." Starlight brushed past Sunburst. "Your delay says everything. You're liking it, at least enough to want to see more. That's alright. You goofball!" She swatted at Sunburst. "Stop being shy about it. You want to try the mare thing? You already have a hoof in it, lean into it."
"W-what would that entail, exactly?" Sunburst rubbed along her neck. "Trying perfume?"
Starlight regarded Sunburst with a playful gleam in her eyes. "Oh it entails way more than perfume, girl! We're gonna have some real fun helping you embrace your feminine side."
She began eagerly rummaging through Sunburst's closet, levitating out anything dimly feminine. "First, we meet Rarity for a makeover - I'm thinking flowing locks, maybe some highlights..."
Sunburst's eyes widened as items went flying. "Goodness, I don't know about all that!"
Starlight paused, an array of scarves and dresses floating around her. "You're right, my bad. I got overeager playing dress up." Her expression softened. "This is your gender journey Sunny. We'll take it at your pace. But the offer stands - I'm here whenever you want to explore the mare mysteries."
She nuzzled against Sunburst's cheek affectionately. "However it shakes out, you'll always be my best friend."
Sunburst hugged her tight, tension easing. With Starlight lighting her way, this unfamiliar path suddenly seemed less intimidating. Maybe a few careful first steps wouldn't hurt...
"Well I did think that lilac scarf was rather fetching," she murmured, smiling shyly. "Would you show me how best to style it?"
Starlight grinned, eyes shining. "It would be my pleasure!"
She levitated out the scarf and wrapped it around Sunburst's neck, arranging it just so. "Hang it like... this. There we are, putting a good hoof forward."
Sunburst turned to consider herself in a mirror. "Neat..."
"It's more than 'neat', Sun." She slid in at Sunburst's side. "Look, some stallions get it, but about 80% of mares do. Showing off is fun."
"Showing off to other ponies?"
"Sure." Starlight shrugged at that. "But it doesn't have to be. Showing off just to yourself counts, and it's fun, and it feels good." She waved at Sunburst's reflection. "Look at yourself, clean, with a slick scarf... How do you feel?"
"I feel..." She turned left and right, eyes locked on the mirror. "I feel good..."
"And you aren't showing off to anypony but yourself." Starlight snorted gently. "The only pony that really matters. You do this for you. If you weren't feeling it, then you just don't do it."
Sunburst's smile grew warmer as Starlight's wisdom sank in. She had been so focused on what anypony else thought of her changed form. The possibility of indulging simply because she wanted to, with no other motive, was oddly freeing.
"You know, I never considered it that way," she mused. "As a studious sort, I'm rather unused to doing things purely for my own gratification." Sunburst leaned closer to her reflection, letting her longer locks tumble over her shoulders. There was an elegant charm to it all.
"No time like the present to start!" Starlight declared brightly. "What's something you've secretly wanted to experience but felt too reserved or proper to try before?"
Sunburst tapped her chin thoughtfully. Tea parties and makeovers held little allure. But the grace and poise of dance had always intrigued her from afar. Flowing fabrics, glittering lights, being whisked around a ballroom...
"Well there are waltzing classes held at the dance hall on weekends," she ventured hesitantly. Watching the dancers had been a simple pleasure during her solitary years.
Starlight's grin was all the encouragement she needed. "Then tonight, we're going dancing!" Her eyes softened fondly. "It's perfect Sunny."
Heart suddenly fluttering with anticipation, Sunburst had to agree. With a confident friend beside her, feminine explorations seemed far less intimidating. In truth, they were starting to feel wonderfully, indulgently exciting!
Starlight smooched Sunburst on the cheek. "See you tonight. Be ready!" She marched right out of Sunburst's house, looking quite certain about her plans for the evening.
Sunburst rubbed at her cheek, a new thought coming. She had been kissed by a mare, as a mare.
She was alright with that...
But she wasn't a mare that only wanted the company of other mares. Her cheeks warmed, thinking of how it felt, thinking about the forbidden fruit that was Shining Armor.
Was she just a depraved pony that loved anything that moved? She shuddered with hesitant fear. "Is that normal?" she asked herself, voice full of doubt.
She bit her lip, heart racing as she considered ponies like Shining Armor in new context. No, surely plenty of mares balanced interest in multiple partners over time. These feelings weren't some sinister loss of self, no matter how new and overwhelming.
Still, uncertainty plagued her, this emerging sense of self frighteningly unmoored. She longed to confide her worries in somepony safe and wise. But the words tangled in her throat at the thought, shame burning her cheeks.
With a sigh, Sunburst brushed aside anxious what-ifs for now. She focused on what she knew for certain - that her closest friend cared deeply, no matter her form.
Thinking of Starlight brought a smile to Sun's face. "It's good to have friends." She circled in place. "Okay, finishing this."
She put her effort into cleaning, making sure everything was put in its place. "This is the same thing..." It wasn't clean for anypony but herself. But who else counted for more to her? She was showing off, for herself. "Brilliant..."
She sighed with satisfaction, looking over her cleaned house. "Good." It wasn't good for anypony else, just her. But that was good enough.
Feeling confident, she stepped outside and headed down the street at a lively trot. That was when she could remember the looks. She was, to any given pony, a new pony, or a confusing thing happened to a pony they knew. Some of them seemed to recognize her as one, and others the other.
Their reactions ranged wildly from interest to confusion to a few looks of concern or disapproval. "Sun!" called out a sudden voice, a crystal mare trotting to intercept Sunburst. "What happened? I thought the crystaler was a stallion..." She looked Sunburst over curiously. "But you aren't."
"I'm not." Admitting it felt... odd, but powerful. "Hello. I'm still Sunburst." She turned in place. "A mare."
"Hello, Sunburst the mare." The crystal mare giggled at the introduction. "Nice to meet you, again. I'm Amber Laurel. I was at that crystaling. What a show that was. But I saw you then, and I see you now..." She cycled her hooves slowly. "So I can see the difference... You okay?"
Sunburst considered the mare. She had soft blue-purple fur for a coat with a bright orange-red for her mane and tail. "Oh, I think I remember you."
Amber snorted with a smile. "I wasn't the start of the show, like you. Seriously, you alright?"
"I think I am. Um, getting used to things..."
"I can imagine!" She threw a hoof at that. "That's quite a change. Was it a magic accident? Were you researching some ancient spell and accidentally cast it?"
Sunburst considered that. Was saying the truth the right thing? She hadn't been asked to keep it a secret... "You know Flurry, right?"
"Princess Cadance's daughter, of course." Amber nudged Sunburst with an elbow. "The other star of that crystaling. Of course I know her. What about her?"
Sunburst shuffled a hoof, weighing how much to share. But Amber gazed back earnestly, non-judgement shining in her eyes. Trust grew in Sunburst - this compassionate stranger had known her before the change too.
"Well...I was foalsitting Flurry when she worked some very inventive magic," Sunburst explained simply, letting the implications speak for themselves.
Amber blinked once then nodded in understanding. "Wild magic mishap from an impressionable little alicorn. Completely understandable!" She smiled kindly in a way that eased Sunburst's lingering tension. "Well, if we're being frank, you make quite a lovely mare, Sunburst."
Sunburst blushed, murmuring thanks. Amber laughed brightly. "Oh, I mean it sincerely! But I can also see this is still fresh and startling. If you ever want to talk it out or even just distract yourself with a pastry, let me know?"
She gestured over her shoulder. "My café's just around the corner - friends and quality conversations are always welcome!"
Sunburst's smile came easier, comforted by such gentle openness from a near stranger. Perhaps each small connection could buoy her up, step by step.
"I...may take you up on that offer soon," Sunburst replied, waving a warm farewell as they parted ways. Her pace felt lighter now. Even unexpected ripples could reveal kind hearts if you let them.