They didn’t have to wait long for the caravan to appear. It wasn’t all that loud, though Moriah found herself impressed by the resourcefulness she saw even at a distance. Most of the vehicles appeared to be military. As they drew closer, she was able to count a total of four vehicles: one cloth-covered personnel carrier, one covered military cargo truck, one fuel tanker, and one civilian semi towing what looked to be a daisy-chain of three different trailers. What the hell kind of engine was in that thing?
Sky, with somewhat reckless friendliness, made her way to the center of the road and plopped herself down there, so that the caravan would be forced to notice them and to stop. When she had spoken with the caravan’s “leader” last night, she had told him they would meet them on their way into Alexandria. She hadn’t hinted they might do it in a small, hobby aircraft. She expected to be both amused and smugly satisfied by the expressions she saw.
She wasn’t disappointed. Ponies stared openly as the vehicles approached, though ponies were not the only creatures she saw. The cargo truck brought up the front, and at the wheel… she had no words to describe this creature, had never seen anything like it.
Sky did though, and she exclaimed, “Oooh, a diamond dog! I was reading about those the other day.”
“Those biceps are insane,” Moriah whispered, as he parked the truck. Air brakes screamed in her ears as the caravan lumbered to a hault. “He must not skip arm day.”
Sky nudged her slightly. “That’s not nice… Actually, they use their forepaws to dig burrows, so they get much stronger than their legs. The book said other things about them, but I kinda only skimmed after the first page.”
Moriah didn’t get to reply, because at that moment the door opened and the “diamond dog” hopped out.
Holy crap was he tall. He probably would’ve been at a height with her before the Event, thickly muscled and covered with dark grey fur. His “paws” clearly had opposable thumbs, though they looked closer even than a great ape’s. Like massive bludgeons more than paws. What sort of damage would it do if he decided to hurt them? He probably could’ve snapped her little ultralight if he wanted.
He wore military fatigues, though his strange body deformed them with knees that bent the wrong way and a tail that shouldn’t have been there. He also had a black tee-shirt, with military identifiers Moriah couldn’t read.
“You folks must be from Alexandria.” His voice was gravely and strangely deep, his expression wary. Moriah noted a holster prominently on his belt, holding a large pistol. It looked like something had been done to the trigger, but she didn't want him to see her staring at it. “I guess this means we’re going the right way.” Several faces poked out from the back of the cloth-walled personnel carrier, but nobody actually stepped out to talk. Evidently they trusted their leader to handle the situation. Whatever.
Moriah moved close enough to reach him. Then, with a supreme effort of balance, she rolled back onto her hind legs and offered him her hoof to shake. “Moriah Strickland.” He looked surprised, but took her hoof and shook it firmly. It didn’t hurt, though she was sure it would’ve if she still had hands. That was a hell of a grip! “You’re Mr. Abrams?” She couldn’t hold the gesture longer than his “handshake” and fell immediately back onto her hooves when it was done.
The “diamond dog” looked a little uncomfortable with the name, but he nodded anyway. “I suppose I’ll have to get used to ‘mr.’ sooner or later.” Pause. “We’re going the right way then, I take it. No obstructions on the road? Though I suppose you might not have noticed if you flew all the way here…”
“Nothing serious,” she replied, taking another look at their vehicles. “Nothing that would slow down a convoy like yours. Minor debris. If you’d come up from the south instead, it would’ve been clear. But we haven’t traveled north that often past the neighboring towns. We’ll get around to it eventually.”
He nodded, directing his attention to Sky, who was at that moment poking her head past Moriah while simultaneously trying to remain unseen behind her. In the second at least, she did not succeed. “Are you Alex Haggard then?”
Sky blushed, shaking her head. Her mane cascaded down in front of one of her eyes, and she made no effort to free it. “N-No, Mr. Abrams. I’m just… nopony…” She retreated a pace, staring suddenly at the ground.
“That’s Cloudy Skies,” Moriah explained. She had to fight not to roll her eyes while she said it, but she managed. “Alex was called away. She should be back by tomorrow. She’ll miss our celebration tonight I’m afraid… but she’s still eager to meet your group. She’s put me in charge while she’s away.”
“Ahh.” He glanced over his shoulder, frowning just slightly. “How long to Alexandria from here?”
“About two hours. Lots of little small towns along the way. The highway goes right through it though, so you can’t miss it. Just follow the signs for ‘Paris.’ We’ve painted over the ones in town itself, so you should know when you’re there. Take your first right onto Main Street and follow it until you see the courthouse. If you beat us back there, our ponies should be waiting for you there. I was thinking we would worry about the intricacies of housing and stuff when Alex gets back.” Mainly because she had forgotten to ask what Alex had planned when the HPI came for her. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. Somehow Abrams struck her as the sort of man who didn’t tolerate the slightest sign of weakness or incompetence.
“Alright, ma’am. We’ll meet you there. Safe flight.” He didn’t wait for her to answer, just turned around and loped back into the truck. Soon the caravan was passing them, Sky waving timidly and Moriah just standing to watch. She tried to count the ponies, but couldn’t get a good look into the back of the truck.
She would say this for the caravan: they sure knew what they were doing. Had she expected different? Maybe a little. Most people would’ve been helpless at the end of the world. She would’ve been, if it hadn’t been for Alex and her group. She could admit that freely now. Was Abrams that same sort of force for these ponies? She looked forward to finding out, even if having so many newcomers to the settlement made her nervous. They had put so much time and energy into Alexandria. If they lost it all again, after what happened in Los Angeles… she wasn’t sure if she would be able to cope.
The flight back was unremarkable, except in that she learned Sky could shout for nearly two hours straight without losing her voice. For all she had been nervous during the meeting, she seemed extremely excited. Moriah tried to share her enthusiasm, though privately she had already started forming contingencies. What would they do if the new ponies tried to take over? What would they do if Abrams decided the Equestrian books really belonged to him, and that his group would take them for themselves? If the library became a disputed asset, it was likely to remain that way for all of time. Would the Equestrian princesses be happy if their books were used as pieces in violent political chess?
Moriah didn’t care. She would give those “princesses” the bird with both hands to their faces. If she… had hands. Too bad she wouldn’t get the chance. She found herself tuning Sky out for much of the flight, turning over envy in her gut. Maybe if she had been with Alex, she would’ve gotten to go to Equestria too. Even if she couldn’t give the princesses a piece of her mind, it seemed reasonable to her they would at least be able to find the time to fix certain mistakes the spell had made. She couldn’t have her humanity back, but that would’ve been fair, right?
Every time she woke up beside Joseph in bed, every time she had to use the bathroom, and every twenty-one days, she found herself wondering why Alex hadn’t asked Equestria’s ruling monarchy to fix her body. They had the power, didn’t they? But in all the memory Moriah had seen, Alex hadn’t bothered to even try.
She didn’t understand, fixing the transformation would’ve been her very first request. Had Alex even asked during the secret, second meeting when she had met with all four princesses, instead of just the one called “Luna?” To her never-ending frustration, Alex wouldn’t say. She wouldn’t talk about that second meeting at all, in fact, except to explain that she had formally been entrusted with the guardianship of the books and some made-up title of ambassador for a civilization that might not even be within speaking distance again for thousands of years.
As it turned out, they beat the caravan back into town after all. Moriah pushed the ultralight as fast as she dared, while the caravan kept to about 55 miles per hour the entire way in. It meant she could be there to greet them again when they arrived, along with all the other ponies of the colony. She didn’t even have to cajole Joseph to get him away from his computers. She felt much better with him beside her as the big trucks made their way towards the courthouse, though she couldn’t say if it was his large form or the might of his magic she knew he had. He alone wore a weapon, since he alone could hope to draw and fire it with speed or accuracy. Besides, it didn’t seem to make sense to greet new friends armed to the teeth.
Beside Joseph sat Sky, much to Moriah’s unease. Was it instinct that made her get so upset so quickly whenever she saw another mare around Joseph, or was she just that needy and disgusting by nature? The Equestrian books hadn’t said anything about it, but she hadn’t read many that weren’t about unicorn magic. Huan sat beside Sky, as though he had appointed himself her guardian while Alex was away. Moriah supposed he might’ve, the dog was far too smart for his own good.
Adrian and Riley sat a little apart from everybody else. Adrian still had a splint on one wing, though the other wing was free by his side. Beside him sat Riley, wearing far more clothes than Moriah had ever seen on her. It looked as though she was trying to conceal just how freakish and frightening she looked, with a pair of long pants rolled up by her hooves and a sweatshirt that must be baking her. Even her wings were covered, and the hood was high over her head, with only a slight peak suggesting there was even a horn inside.
“Good thinking, kid,” she called, looking past her to Oliver. Getting him to agree to leave the kitchen even for a few minutes had been a fight, though it had been one she eventually won. Take that, Alex, she could be a leader too! “All right, everyone. Let’s be nice and friendly. We want the people who don’t stay to talk about how great visiting was.” Alex’s words, but that didn’t mean Moriah couldn’t own them. “We’re gonna keep our cool, meet our first wave of immigrants. Let’s make sure they want to stay.”
Heh. I don't suppose Abrams has as adaptable a given name as "Alex"?
Moriah, can't you be any clear at what you mean by "fix the body"? I do have an idea of what it is, but it's just a guess, not even sure if an educated one...
Heh, Abrams probably has dog tags.
Ah, we have our first armed being of the group. Time to see if chekov comes calling.
That drawing makes him look like Lt. Surge. I like it.
Silly Moriah, his knees do bend the right way. The parts you're looking at are technically his ankles.
Hmm... gender-bent from female to male post-Event?
I seem to recall some discussion about Moriah formerly being a male before the Event. I wonder if that's the mistake she's referring to, or her likely preference to be a pegasus instead of a unicorn. Or both.
Well... do I spot a leadership triangle?
Moriah seems to take to the role naturally and also with smug pleasure.
Abrams seems to be a leader by default. Will that hunk of military muscle accept a teenage pony as leader? Did the spell mess stuff up again in the case of 'mr.' dog?
What mess will Alex get to return to?
okay, I get that gender swapping is a big fetish with some people. but I do gotta argue that it makes no sense for the spell to be buggering with people like that.
Why would there even be a "choose gender" setting in the spell? It should have defaulted to whatever gender it found. It makes sense for the spell to pick the closest pony race or other species closest to their personality--- but humanity was going to be suffering epic levels of trauma as it was; having them wake up with their JUNK swapped around is just one unnecessary trauma too many. And like it or not, and regardless of the "Tumblrina" blithering about sexuality/gender/noncisnormawhatever, you are what you're born with, and with the exception of a handful of mentally ill people like Bruce Jenner, your psyche and personal self-image are going to default to what you found in your underpants every morning of your life. The spell should have kept genders the same anyway.
Oh, a woman-to-male rule 63 and a military (ex) woman?
Now that's a rare combo. Good on you.
Hope we get to see more of him.
I'm forced to revise my theory on Moriah. Previously, I believed her to have been a trans woman before the Event, whose pony form reflected her gender identity, but now it's pretty clear she considers her female body a huge mistake. Not to mention she sounded like she'd much prefer to be a pegasus than a unicorn, if she absolutely has to be a pony.
I wonder what Moriah would have preferred to transform into? A pegasus perhaps? I wonder if she's noticed that, with a little effort, she still has wings, just no weather magic.
I wonder if all those immigrants will take orders. Abrams strikes me the sort who will be too focussed on survival and settlement to cause too many problems but that may not be the case for all of his (her?) followers. Moriah is right to be somewhat cautious. That said, reasonable caution (which may be driven partly by a Hippoid herd instinct to fear intruders in your grazing area) should never turn into pointless paranoia.
6263322
I can't speak for Starscribe but I've got a feeling that the transformation spell turned everyone into something that best reflected their natures and goals and this included gender. This may be one of those fan universes where Equestria has a strong gender bar for certain roles and natures (with leaders being female more often than not in pony society).
That aside, I do get the impression that the spell was thrown together in a hurry and probably one or two debugging runs may have led to modifications if there had been the time to carry out such an alpha- and beta-test program.
6263234
I get the impression that Moriah was, if not born male, then at least a sufferer of gender dysphoria (i.e. is/was transsexual to at least some degree). What points me to this rather than Moriah being born outright male (as a human), was part of Chapter 23 of the first story "“Am I female?” she asked. We told her yes. She just went quiet, and we didn’t press her."
6263153
I could give you a list of reasons if you like. Although given the ">.>", I can't tell if you're serious about that statement or not.
6263393 there's also the fight she got with Alex that ended in the flare, but it's nothing concrete.
I get the distinct feeling that Abrams used to be female. Also, for some reason, Abrams makes me think of Abraham from The Walking Dead.
6263393
Hmmm... gender dysphoria is something I had not considered. It is a possibility.
And one of the weirdest questions I have been to afraid to ask gets answered. Ponies in this universe have periods instead of heats.
Oh and to everyone who is wondering about if Moriah was male before the event, remember that Alex specifically talks about how Moriah complained about the change she and Alex went through all the time while Alex tried to ignore it. It's in the memory crystal chapters while Alex is talking to Luna.
Hmm and first Diamond Dog, cool.
6261471 New info, the leader of the newcomers is a diamond dog, huge compared to ponies.
... and the fact the place is named Alexandria (even if against Alex's wishes)
6263295
As far as romance goes: I don't see why not. Every now-Equestrian used to be a human after all so it wouldn't be that many issues against it (for example, "s/he may be a freak, but I'm a freak too").
I'm not really interested in seeing the fic switching its focus to romance, though.
6263476 Indeed! Now if there's a geeky overweight pony who needs to get to Cheyenne Mountain to save the world, that might be a bit much.
6263387 That spell was botched on so many levels that it's lucky it even worked at all, starting with it leaving way too few people on earth in it's wake. Sunset almost despaired a that.
They had three years to make the most massive spell ever devised. Thousands of unicorns (basically programmers completely unfamiliar with earth’s OS), tight deadline, little to no time for debugging, no way to test it beforehand, no way to ensure that all all of the creators actually were unicorns, no way to ensure none of its creators didn't include some things of 'personal interest' buried deep in the spell matrix... still it saved billions of lives. Maybe often not in a very desirable way, but still.
I just love the concept of the whole thing. Especially for its many flaws.
Indeed, Moriah has issues.
And indeed, she is jealous as we've all thought.
Like the introductions of the new species, from Diamond Dogs to Changelings, I wonder when the more extravagant ones like dragons pop up... hmm, when I think about it, the only ones that would be 'FUCK NO! DRAGONS!' would be eighty years old, because then they would be decently big enough to give more of a shock factor.
Moriah is also having lots of issues with Alex, it's always been a likely issue people would not like a single person deciding the future of a group, let alone the future of splintering species.
Here's the to the future then...
6263333
For what it's worth, I did it in TCS because I see the pony world as being definitely more matriarchial than the patriarchial society that humankind has/had. The simple fact of the matter (in my headcanon) is that the pony world is mainly led by females, so the spell pigeon-holed those who were 'destined' for leadership roles into mares.
Are Diamond dogs carnivorous? If they are, Cloudy is gonna be real sad
6263244
No, stahp. Stop that right now.
I laughed way too hard at that
Hmm... So now we got a genderswap of the opposite way too... Well, that is a rarity
And now I'm curious about what the HPI and Alex are doing
Let's hope that the coming confrontations are minor
Moriah really is pretty competent at this leadership stuff.
Interesting that she doesn't express any strong feelings about Riley, either here or when Cloudy was calling her "the freaky bugpony". Alex was planning to talk to everyone about what Riley being a changeling meant, and obviously Cloudy is as freaked out as ever, but Moriah seems to have adjusted somewhat.
I wonder if understanding more about her helped in Moriah's case? Even if the information itself was unsettling, not knowing can be worse sometimes.
Well, I haven't been commenting for a while because I haven't felt as if I had anything new to add that hadn't already been said. But here goes.
I'm a little surprised to see Moriah is the one Alex choose to be leader in her stead. But then, when I look at everypony else...
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. In most stories, this is where things fall apart. Will yours be different? Moriah is wise to be forming contingencies at this stage.
I do hope we go back and see what Alex is doing with the HPI soon. The HPI are really interesting to me and we haven't been given any satisfying details on what their facilities/people are like yet.
Welp.
Wait, is she referring to periods? Do horses/ponies even get those?
I'm not an expert, and I don't feel like googling that, but I thought horses had estrus seasons, and wouldn't get periods outside of that. Of course, Equestrian biology could be different, but it seems odd.
6263521
I'd love to see some side-stories taking place centuries down the line. A time when society has been rebuilt, most of the population are born Equestrian, and there are facilities in place for integrating the occasional appearance of 'Old Worlders'.
Imagine a bus of people appearing, and all the people are freaked out and confused. Then a group of ponies gets there and makes contact with them. "You ponies are new, right? Confused? Don't worry, we'll help explain everything." And so they are brought to the shining city of Alexandria, and meet Princess Alex, and are taught how to use their new bodies.
Would be cool. But of course, we need to wait for the conclusion of this story before knowing how society will look a few centuries down the line.
You'd think Moriah would've commented (even to herself) on someone else who'd obviously gone through a gender change, seeing as how she doesn't seem aware Alex did the same.
6263671 I don't know about Diamond Dogs, but plain terrestrial dogs actually can go meatless, though it takes some very careful food choices to make up for the lack of meat. Cats, on the other hand, must have meat (they cannot synthesize taurine), which is why in my headcanon griffins are obligate carnivores (at the very least, piscivores).
6264394
Technically possible she interpreted it as a soldier reacting to being called "Mr." instead of by rank. Honestly, it would be the more sensible explanation if you're not primed to think any little thing like that is about a gender-flip.
Pretty sure everyone knows about Alex though. In the most recent interlude she says "we’re both freaks now, though me more because I opened my big dumb mouth and less something I had no control over." - if that's not about regretting telling everyone she used to be a guy, I don't know what else it could be.
6263377 I wonder if they dont have diamond dogs are more the hyena style of leadership in a way or design.
6264702
...Well, given the mortality rate for first time mothers with that genital design I sincerely hope not for the poor person's sake, one way or the other.
6263671 I dunno if the show cannon shows them as lithovores or not. If so, that might be a big issue given mineral scarcity.
6264720 more the societal than physical, because of how bad it really it for being something akin to 95-99% mortality rate. Heck, i wish more folks had read digger for ed's story of he is and she is.
A diamond dog!
Been hoping for that since it was mentioned as being in the book as a transformation target. The apparent military service might just come in very handy, too. Apparently some organizational knowledge too, either by him or someone in the caravan considering its general state. I'm gonna guess that this group started on a military base and surrounding community.
Hahaha. Karma, I'm sure.
6263229
Hey, it works as a last name! He's military after all!
6263244
He does!
6263269
I'm fairly certain that is what Moriah was talking about, however it is very possible that Abrams was talking about something else.
6263295
Interspecies relations? I'm sure they will be (they already are already and there's only one sapient species X.x) but it's out of scope for what I want to write about regardless.
6263303
Not a fun mess, that's for sure! Maybe a hot mess...
6263322
I don't think Abrams used to be anything but male. I think Abrams used to be a high-ranking military person of some kind, and he's upset by people not calling him by his rank.
6263333
Yeah, what I just said. Originally there was only going to be one in the story, but then there were two because I wanted a foil for Alex. Three is more than I need.
6263377
Oh, I think we will! Person like this seems like the sort of guy that's hard to make leave once you get him around.
6263384
Yeah, I think Moriah's got all kinds of problems in the "body" department, if what we're reading is true. Her and Alex both.
6263387
You are absolutely right that the spell had huge problems. It was a desperate gambit, one where even extremely important things like "gender" couldn't be verified so long as the transformation worked. Granted, I still expect the vast minority will suffer glitches like that.
6263476
It's also the name of a real person currently acting in an extremely important military role.
6263502
[youtube=C0DvOUUzlNw]
6263514
That's the big thing, really. I'm not intending to write a romance fic. For some of these characters romance is important, but it's only a small part of the slice of reality that is, so we're going to see it along with many other important things. It will not ever become a focus.
6263525
Dragons do exist, but they're incredibly rare. I find it unlikely the main characters of the story will ever encounter one. There might only be two on the whole planet (so far). AT least they live long enough they can afford to wait for more of their numbers to arrive.
6263698
Yeah, no way I'm changing it. Most grammar "mistakes" in dialogue are intentional, because many people speak in ways that are not grammatically correct.
6263744
It's possible. She does seem far less driven by instinct than Cloudy Skies is. Her resistance might very well be because Cloudy gives into it so much. She wants to be different, be stronger, ect.
6263964
Assuming Alex even chose Moriah. It might've been a vote or something, we just don't know.
6264005
This is indeed something I hope to write about eventually, though that will end up being a subject for the third story down the line and not this one, since this one will end a year after the Event happened.
6264583
You're exactly right about he rank thing! I think people might be a little too expecting of the TG here. Not saying it's not possible, but I think that's what he's referring to.
6264912
Hopefully not too long (It's probably in the library), though how long it will take Riley to figure out how to do it is another matter entirely. It took cloudy skies months to figure out how to fly, after all, and even then not very well.
6265195
*scratches head* You're not saying that your Abrams is the real Abrams, are you?
Edit:
Meh, I wouldn't call it a glitch in most cases. Chances are that there genuinely are people out there who are a better "fit" to a different gender than they were as human.
6265195 true, that is a possibility with Abrams. However, first Alex was confirmed as gender-swapped and now it's been hinted at for Moriah. Even if it's only Alex, it's still indicative that it has occurred elsewhere with others, and it's just something the Princesses would NOT include in the spell, and probably even struggle to exclude--- they would have to be aware that being gender-flipped on top of everything else would just be insult to injury.
6265205 Yes, but the number of transgenders IRL is vanishingly small. The entire GLBTQ community has been confirmed at less than three percent of the population as a whole....so transgendered people would be a tiny sliver even of that. And anyone who was naturally a "better fit" as another gender or who already thought of themselves as being "trapped in the wrong body" as they put it, would not be upset about the genderswitching.
6264721 that IS one of the questions. But, even if the Diamond Dogs are lithovores (and not just shiny-obsessed).... it's also implied that gemstones can be grown. Pinkie's rock farm, Spike cultivating a Fire Ruby for his birthday.....plus the high prevalence of gemstones and crystals in Equestria, seems to hint at it. And then there's the fact that crystals and gemstones are typically associated in fantasy with magic.....Heck, IRL we can "grow" rubies, sapphires, and diamonds in laboratory conditions (rubies and sapphires are actually crystallized aluminum, and can be mass produced with ease with the right tools.) not exactly a wild presumption that a high-magic environment might lead to gemstones forming.
I'm going to wonder, how do the people who were suffering from debilitating conditions end up after they return. Someone missing a leg might have an unusual outlook on getting 3 more.
6266003 There is a ton of commercially made diamond used for cutting, drilling, and other aspects, due to its structure and composition. If the magic saturation is strong enough here to have them grown. You have a good basis for more persistent non-barter currency too, given how coins and pills are going to be rather quick to vanish to the elements. If nothing else, you might get a nice bit of magic repository for helping with things like enchanting.
How much arrives from this, who knows, but its still nice to consider.
6265979 Yep, confirmed three percent, which usually means double or more than that in reality - you can only confirm something when you have a way of telling/checking, and that includes someone actually telling you in this case. Anyway, three percent would currently mean 21000000 people worldwide.
Now considering that the spell selected for people who adapt to being a pony most easily and therefore an incredible switch to deal with, I'd imagine that the early returnees would have a disproportionally large slice of these people by default, without the spell actually being engineered to do that. The high proportion of genderswitches then probably comes down to all of the above plus a decimal being placed wrongly in the spell matrix and the Equestrian gender ratio being skewed towards female in the first place. No idea how the target species actually works, no debugging.
Just my little headcanon for this story.
6266074 As far as I know, it's canon that they also get a brand new body (not psyche, except for new instincts). I've yet to see a side story with that one, but that would definitely be interesting! Maybe 'ability to adapt' includes 'possible happiness about a fully functional body?' could add a few percent to the conversion ration.
40.media.tumblr.com/e55044e5cbc18433fc4688b26b4c9786/tumblr_nsai4jiUaY1rsmidfo1_540.png
The picture doesn't match the description. Please fix that.
Is this Cloudy Skies or Fluttershy??? Cause she's acting a lot like Fluttershy.
I feel so sad fro Riley. She didn't do anything to deserve the situation she's been thrown into. If only it were possible for her to watch this video. Then she might be able to find some hope.
6266192 actually, the Equestrian gender ratio is pretty much normal.
Add to all the facts pointed out in this video, the fact that all the cultural features we've seen in the show are of a monogamous society. yes, Equestria is full of heteronormative cisgendered scum. Try to cope with the horror.
Now back to the POINT.
1. The number of transgender people in existence-- even with the highly generous stats provided--- is incredibly small. Those who have actual, legitimate biological gender issues rather than just mental problems or culturally promoted delusions, even smaller. There is, in short, nothing there for the spell to fix on and say "this person would be more attuned to themselves if we took away/gave them a dick."
2. The spell has no reason to swap genders on the transposed, and multiple reasons to select AGAINST it (it could screw up the gender ratio of the population, it would exacerbate the already serious dymorphic trauma, it's a change totally unrelated to the purpose of the spell which is to give the person a body that will survive in a magical environment.... not to fulfill some SJW's fantasy of "smashing heteronormativism."
3. The MAKERS of the spell had no reason to include gender swapping in the spell, and multiple reasons to screen AGAINST it. Specifically, it could screw up the gender ratio of the population, it would exacerbate the already serious dymorphic trauma, it's a change unrelated to the purpose of the spell which is to give the person a body that will survive in a magical environment,--- and then there's the express desire to NOT have the universal connection open ten thousand years later to a few million angry ponies demanding their manhood/womanhood back and ready to lynch them if they can't fix it. There's also the risk that desperate gender-swapped unicorns would start trying dangerous, difficult and potentially lethal gender-changing spells to try and get back to "normal"... it's predictable that many unhappy and foolish ponies will try to turn themselves back to human despite the risk; as gender is a comparitively "minor" metamorphosis, far more ponies would take the plunge--- a hazard the princesses would be seriously motivated to avoid. You don't give people liable to be on the edge of a windowsill another reason to jump.
4.And then there's the clincher, one that I can't believe I forgot till just now: the fact that it's canonically supposed to be impossible to switch genders anyway. Recall that in "Magic Duel," Both Trixie and Twilight acknowledged that the age-changing spells were horribly difficult... but Twilight's (faked) gender-changing spell was downright impossible. Even backed up by the alicorn amulet, Trixie didn't dare attempt it. They've aged ponies, shrunk them, and transformed them into Breezies and back, transformed birds and frogs into oranges, mice into horses and apples into carriages, made them grow wings, bent the laws of time and space--- but changing a male into a female or vice versa was explicitly outside the capabilities of even an alicorn. It was not a matter of raw power but of basic ability. For whatever reason, it was impossible.
It's not going to be a "lucky accident," either. This desperate, newly designed, emergency survival spell is not going to be any place where they're going to be making any new breakthroughs in that particular area.... in fact they're going to be working VERY HARD to eliminate any x-factors that might produce any results outside its parameters. They're not even going to include the spell components for such a thing--- You're not going to go on Junkyard Challenge, start out trying to build a car out of Chevy parts, and end up with an aeroplane. And if you're making an experimental aeroplane, you don't go just slapping on unnecessary bits and bobs just to see what will happen.
So what happened with Alex? As I said, the number of people with legitimate biological gender issues is vanishingly small.... but they do exist. It's incredibly rare, but there are people who are, genetically, swinging a y chromosome but who developed as female.... and others who had a double-x but lived their entire lives anatomically male. It happens. "Alex" may have been one of these. The transmogrification spell, in giving everyone new bodies, probably defaulted to the genetic template of each subject as a baseline--- and corrected the deformity automatically; like digitally remastering an old recording, or reinstalling a program.
Of course this buggers the hundreds of other gender-swap fanfics all to hell.... Cry me a river.
6267018
I agree with everything you have said, except for your denial of homosexuality. You seem to consider it to be mostly a mental disease/ deficit, but that's only a bias based on your local time and culture, rather than based on facts. Facts brought forward by medical science and anthropology have shown it isn't.
"I hate being a unicorn. I wish I was a pegasus!"
"Okay Moriah, zam boom crash comment magic!"
"Wow it-- hey why are my wings just disfigured stumps??"
"You damaged them irreparably in the crash, remember?"
"..."
"Sure you don't want to be a unicorn?"
"I'm going to make your head explode with the power of my mind."
"But you're still a pegasus."
"I WILL FIND A WAY"