They say that it’s how you’re born.
They say that there’s no way to change it.
I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I realized that I had to tell someone.
I had to tell somebody.
Because the way I was right now…
I just knew it was wrong.
Most ponies were born knowing who they were, what they were meant to do.
When a mare meets a stallion that she can love, it’s a special thing. But me...I’d never meet a special stallion. I knew that now.
Because I was…
“Hey, Rainbow,” Twilight said, bringing my attention back to the map. She put her hoof down, pointing to the location where my cutie mark was flashing, along with hers. “This is going to be so much fun, right? Are you excited? I’m excited.”
“Uh...yeah. I mean, definitely. Sure. I’m a hundred percent pumped for this,” I said in response, pounding my hooves together to demonstrate. I hesitated, looking around the room, then put my hooves down, leaning forward. “Guys, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Immediately I got five other pairs of eyes on me.
“What is it?” Applejack asked.
“I need to tell you…” I prepared myself. It was time. They had to know. They deserved to know. “I like mares.”
“That’s nice, darling,” Rarity spoke up. “We all like mares. We’re all friends, aren’t we?”
“No. I mean yes I mean…” I gathered myself up again. “I like mares. Like I want to kiss and hug them tightly to me…”
“Do you need a hug right now?” Fluttershy asked in a quiet voice.
“No! I...I’m a lesbian, guys.”
I looked around the room, expecting someone to say, well, something, but instead I got vacant stares.
“Rainbow, I think you mean to say thespian,” Twilight corrected. “I know it’s a little hard to say but-”
“I mean lesbian,” I reasserted. “I like mares. Therefore, I’m a lesbian.”
“Then we’re all lesbians, sugarcube,” Applejack said.
“No,” I said incredulously, looking at all of them and their vacant expressions. “Have none of you...ever heard of a lesbian before?”
Simultaneously, all of them shook their heads.
“Is it some kind of condition?” Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Yes! No! Not really, but it means I’m different from you.”
“Of course you’re different!” Pinkie Pie spoke up. “You’re Rainbow Dash!”
I facepalmed. “None of you seriously know what I’m talking about?”
“Maybe you should explain it to us,” Rarity said, leaning in a little closer.
I sighed. “Alright. So you know when a mare falls in love with a stallion? Like Mister and Misses Cake?”
“Yeah.”
“Of course.”
“Definitely.”
“Are you in love with someone?”
“I’m just using this as a basis,” I said. “So pretend the stallion is another mare, kissing the first mare like a stallion would. That’s a lesbian.”
“You want to be a stallion?”
“No!” I was growing more and more frustrated with this whole scenario. Were they joking? Were they serious? What was this? How could they not know what a lesbian was? It wasn’t like we were completely unheard of, right?
“I’m a lesbian. I love mares like a stallion would, but I’m not a stallion, nor do I want to be in any way shape or form, thank you very much. I like being a mare. I like being a mare with other mares. I like touching the soft, tender folds of a mare’s-”
“Okay,” Twilight said. “I think I finally understand. You like kissing mares. That’s fine.”
“Fine? Fine? That’s all you can say about this? You aren’t angry, grossed out, anything?”
“Why should we be?” Rarity asked.
“I’m a lesbian!” I shouted. “It’s a bad thing!”
“Should we be telling you not to be one?” Fluttershy asked, looking worried.
“YES! Maybe. Well, typically, you should be telling me that and I would respond something along the lines of “this is just how I was born” and… HOW ARE ALL OF YOU SO CALM?!”
“Well, it’s you, Rainbow. If you like mares, that’s fine,” Twilight said.
“No! It’s not fine! How is this the first time you’re even hearing about lesbians? Twilight! I expected better of you!” I stomped my hoof to illustrate my point.
“Sorry. I just haven’t ever heard that term before,” Twilight said apologetically, her eyes turning down with a guilty expression.
Way to go, Rainbow Crash, I mentally scolded myself. Now you made her upset.
“Twilight don’t feel bad,” I said changing my toone. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“O-okay,” she said.
I facepalmed again, this time at my own stupidity.
I took a deep, calming breath. “Okay, well, most of the time when a mare admits liking other mares, people think it’s a bad thing.”
“Is it a bad thing?” Applejack asked.
“Well it’s not normal,” I responded. “So maybe.”
“Well, you’re not a bad person, so it can’t be a bad thing,” Applejack said matter-of-factly.
“That’s not the point!” I said. “You guys should be mad, or something! I had no idea that none of you knew about lesbians!”
“Well what are we supposed to say in response to that?” Twilight asked. “It’s not a big deal. It isn’t like we don’t know what the sun is or anything like that.”
“What’s the sun?” Pinkie Pie asked, blinking her blue eyes wide.
It was Twilight’s turn to facepalm. “I hope you’re joking, Pinkie.”
I just gaped in surprise.
“Hey, Rainbow,” Rarity said. “If it’s as bad as you say, then why don’t you just stop being it?”
Finally. There was something I could finally say in response to that.
“It’s how I was born,” I said. “There’s no choice in it. You either accept me or you don’t.”
“Fine, then I accept you,” she said.
Wrong answer! I can’t believe this!
My coming out was in short, ruined by the ignorance of my friends. It was too much. Much too much.
“I’m going to tell all of Ponyville!” I decided, flying up out of my seat.
“But our mission-” Twilight said.
“It can wait! I’m coming out if it’s the last thing I do!” I zoomed out of the room, desperate for some space between me and my friends. They just didn’t understand. Of course they didn’t. They didn’t know what a lesbian was. But surely someone had to!
I pushed open the doors to Twilight’s castle and collided right into Starlight Glimmer, the two of us tumbling over each other, all the way down the steps.
“Ow!” I said finally when we reached the bottom.
“Ugh…” she moaned, sitting up. “Rainbow, why are you in such a hurry? What’s going on?”
“I’m a lesbian!” I declared.
“Don’t you mean thespian?” she asked. “I know you have a tendency to mispronounce words but-”
I was desperate at this point. And I didn’t want to have that same conversation all over again. In response to her words, I leaned forward, catching her lips against mine, sticking my tongue into her mouth.
“Mm,” she made a sound of surprise, or maybe alarm.
Good, I thought. She’ll get the picture and get repulsed and…. Wait… is she kissing me back?
Our tongues intertwined as she leaned forward, deepening the kiss, causing me to shiver in confusion. Starlight was kissing me.
Oh my god, Starlight was kissing me.
Starlight was kissing me?
But she wasn’t a lesbian, right? She didn’t even know what that word was!
I broke it off after a minute, my heart racing in my chest.
“Well, that was...fun,” Starlight said. “Any other earth shattering confessions you need to make?”
I only had one profound thought in my head.
Run.
And that’s exactly what I did.
I sprinted away from Starlight, racing at a full gallop.
No. No. No. That didn’t make sense. Why would she kiss me?
Maybe she’s a lesbian too.
Why had I kissed her? What the heck was I doing?
Had I really liked it?
Of course I had. She was Starlight freaking Glimmer. She was gorgeous. But I had never thought of her that way cause she was straight and now…
Wait a minute. My town confession. I had to get a sane reaction out of somepony. It was important.
I raced to the bakery, flying in with a loud bang. If anyone was sane, it’d be the Cakes, right?
“Oh, hello, Rainbow Dash,” Mrs. Cake said. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“I’m a lesbian!” I blurted.
“That’s nice, dear. Is there a cupcake or something you want or… oh dear, she’s gone.”
No no no no no. Wrong reaction!
I raced over to the Mayor’s house, flying in. “I’m a LESBIAN!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
“I’m sorry, what?” the mayor asked, looking up.
Nope.
I raced to the Spa. “I’m a lesbian! Not a thespian! I’m a lesbian! I like mares and-!”
“Do you want to wait in line?” one of the spa ponies asked.
My heart was pounding in my chest as I looked around at the ponies.
“Tell me you know what a lesbian is!” I said, grabbing Berry Punch by her shoulders, drawing her close. “Tell me!”
“Um…” was her only response.
“Someone tell me they know what a lesbian is!” I cried.
“Rainbow, are you okay?” I heard a voice from behind me.
I glanced over to see Starlight standing in the doorway, gazing at me with concern.
My wings deflated and I landed on the ground.
“Why doesn’t anyone know what a lesbian is?” I asked in a whining tone of voice.
“Rainbow,” Starlight said in a soft voice, coming over and sitting next to me. “If it’s a big deal to you, then it’s a big deal to us. We’re your friends. But just because you’re a thespian-”
“Lesbian,” I corrected.
“Just because you’re a lesbian. It doesn’t change who you are to us,” Starlight said, giving me a soft smile. “Do you understand that? We love you for who you are. Not what you are. And I…” she blushed, looking into my eyes. “I kinda liked kissing you earlier.”
I paused. “You weren’t disgusted?”
She shook her head. “Of course not. I mean, I like stallions, of course, but I… I also like mares.”
“Romantically?”
“Of course. What other way did you think I meant?” Starlight asked, tilting her head to the side. She stood up. “Come on. Twilight is waiting for you.”
I paused and then stood up.
Yes. That’s right. Twilight was waiting in the library and…
I glanced at the faces around me.
So maybe my coming out wasn’t as spectacular and explodey as I had wanted it to be, but no one seemed to mind that I liked mares. Wasn’t that more important?
They say that it’s how you are born, that there’s no way to change it.
I wasn’t sure that was true.
But I’d told someone about it, and they hadn’t seemed… worried at all.
So maybe it wasn’t wrong, what I was, what I felt.
Maybe it was just… me.
And Starlight’s withers were looking mighty fine right about now.