4 – Calling in Backup
Chapter Four
Calling in Backup
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There was a time for questions, and there was a time for answers. It was great knowing that no matter what she decided on, Scootaloo was supported, but being allowed to ask the question was only a comfort for so long.
In Scootaloo’s case, that amounted to about a day.
She’d stayed up all night trying to figure it out on her own, but that hadn’t gotten her anywhere. But that wasn’t a problem; if she couldn’t figure it out on her own, she knew just who to turn to!
“What’s this all about?” Sweetie Belle asked once the Cutie Mark Crusaders were all assembled in their clubhouse. She let out a yawn. “And why’d you have to get us so early?”
“Aww, it ain’t that early,” Apple Bloom said with a grin. “You just sleep in late.”
“I don’t sleep in that late!” Sweetie Belle defended. “Scootaloo’s usually the one who sleeps all morning.”
Apple Bloom folded her forelegs and wore a smug grin. “And even Scoots is up this time, so it must not be that late.”
“Sorry, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said. “I know it’s kind of early, but this is important to me.”
They both stopped bickering to turn to Scootaloo instead. “What’s going on?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Scootaloo pawed at the floor. “It’s… kinda weird.”
Apple Bloom walked over to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Scootaloo, we’ve known you practically our whole lives. We know how weird ya are.”
“Yeah, whatever it is you know we’ve got your back!” Sweetie Belle said.
It was kind of strange, but Scootaloo didn’t doubt that for a second. She was a little worried that they might not understand, but she wasn’t even slightly concerned they wouldn’t support her. She thought ponies in her position were supposed to be scared, but all she felt was kind of awkward.
She took a deep breath. “Well, the thing is… You know how there’s a whole other world with doubles of us and everything?”
“You mean the place where Sunset’s from, right?” Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo nodded. “Well, Rainbow Dash found something out about the other Scootaloo there.”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at each other. “What is it?” Sweetie asked.
“The thing is… he’s not a mare at all. He’s a transstallion.”
“Huh,” Apple Bloom said. “Neat.”
“Neat?” Scootaloo asked. She wasn’t sure how her friends would respond, but ‘neat’ had never crossed her mind.
Apple Bloom shrugged. “Well, yeah. It’s kind of cool to know there’s a few differences in the world like that. So she’s a transstallion and you’re not, it’s just interesting.”
“But the thing is –”
“He’s a transstallion,” Sweetie Belle corrected.
“I always forget which is which,” Apple Bloom said. “So that means he was born a girl and wants to be a boy, right?”
“He doesn’t just want to be a boy, he is a boy,” Scootaloo said. She hadn’t meant to get derailed, but this was important for her friends to understand. “He was born with a girl’s body, but that doesn’t make him a girl.”
“Sure, I guess.” Apple Bloom shrugged again.
‘I guess’ wasn’t really the answer to that Scootaloo was hoping for, but she knew this was new to Apple Bloom. She was open-minded, but her family never talked about things like this until Twilight and Fluttershy started dating. Even then they only knew about gay ponies, so she couldn’t blame her for not knowing better.
“Scootaloo…” Sweetie Belle said. She looked like she was taking this much more seriously than Apple Bloom was. “You didn’t get us together to tell us about something different with the other Scootaloo, did you?”
It seemed that Sweetie got it, but Apple Bloom didn’t. “Oh yeah, is something else going on?”
Scootaloo looked down. “I… I don’t know yet.”
“Oh. Well, that’s okay.” Sweetie Belle was quick to go to Scootaloo’s side. “We’ll help you figure it out!”
“Figure what out?” Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo looked up at her. “I think… maybe I’m the same as the other Scootaloo.”
“What?” Apple Bloom screwed her face up in confusion. “But you’re not a transstallion, you’re a mare.”
“Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle said softly. “That’s up to Scootaloo to decide.”
“Wait…” Apple Bloom blinked. “You don’t really feel like a stallion, do you?”
“Er… maybe?” Scootaloo shook her head. “I hadn’t really thought much of it until Rainbow told me about the other Scootaloo, but since then it hasn’t left my head.”
“Oh…” Apple Bloom looked down for a moment, then shook her head and smiled. “Well… Sweetie Belle’s right! We don’t care if you’re a boy or a girl!”
Scootaloo smiled at her friends. “Thank you both.”
“So we just gotta figure out if you like being a boy or a girl better,” Sweetie Belle said. “What makes you think you might be a stallion anyway?”
“I don’t know. I guess… I’ve never really been happy doing, you know, girly things.”
Apple Bloom nodded. “Ya always did hate getting dressed up when we’ve gone to the Gala and stuff.”
“Do…” Scootaloo shook her head and pursed her lips. “Do either of you… ever feel like you don’t fit in as a mare? Or, like… wonder if you’d be better as a stallion?”
“I like getting all girly,” Sweetie Belle said. No surprise there, she may not be as passionate about it as her sister, but Sweetie had taken an interest in fashion like her.
Apple Bloom would probably be a better indication, but she just shrugged. “I’m, you know, not exactly the most dainty of mares. But I’ve never really felt like I wasn’t a mare.”
Scootaloo nodded slowly. She had always kind of thought about being a stallion for as long as she could remember. Not exactly longing, but like a constant ‘what if’ thought that had bounced around her head for years, a little voice saying it’d maybe be kind of cool. She had just always assumed that was normal, something everyone thought about.
There was no way to just look at the evidence and answer something like this with logic, Scootaloo knew that. But if there were, then all signs would point to ‘stallion’.
“Hey, no need to look like that,” Sweetie Belle said. She hugged Scootaloo and spoke with her trademark upbeat attitude. “You always have us. We’re not just your friends, we’re best friends. We’re practically sisters after all this time. And we don’t care whether you’re our sister or our brother, we love you all the same!”
“Yeah!” Apple Bloom said, joining in on the hug. “And we’ll help you figure this out! Are y’all thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That the Cutie Mark Crusaders have one more crusade to do?” Sweetie Belle said with a wide grin. “All we need to do is try doing some stallion things together and see how you like it!”
That was exactly what Scootaloo needed. She always tried everything with her CMC sisters, and it meant more than words could say that they were willing to explore this with her too.
“Alright,” Scootaloo said with a grin to match Sweetie Belle’s. “Where do we start?”
“Okay, he’s going out,” Apple Bloom said as Big Mac walked out into the apple orchard. “Let’s go!”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed her into the farmhouse, where she led them to her brother’s bedroom. In all the years that they had known each other, Scootaloo could count the times she’d had reason to enter it on her hooves.
She took note of it this time though. This wasn’t just a stallion’s bedroom, this was like, the stallion’s bedroom. Big Mac was the perfect country gentlecolt, and he could probably buck a tree in half if he wanted.
And yet, his bedroom was surprisingly boring. Spike’s bedroom always looked like what she expected a guy’s bedroom to look like. A bit of a mess, posters of cool stuff like comic book characters, probably in need of some air freshener. Big Mac’s, on the other hoof, was neat and tidy in every way, with a few pictures of his family and Sugar Belle for decorations.
“Equestria to Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle said, snapping her back to her senses. “We doing this?”
“Oh, yeah.” Scootaloo shook her head. “I mean, of course we are!”
Apple Bloom was already rifling through Big Mac’s closet. “Well, he doesn’t have much… But he’s got this suit he wears on dates with Sugar Belle!”
She held it out for the others to see. It looked a little big for Scootaloo.
“It’s perfect!” Sweetie Belle said.
“Let’s bring it to my room, just in case he comes back,” Apple Bloom suggested. The others nodded in agreement.
Apple Bloom carried the suit as they went from Big Mac’s room to her room. After years of slumber parties, this was much more familiar to the other Crusaders, even if they usually met in their clubhouse.
She laid the suit down on her bed, and Scootaloo walked up to it tentatively. “I don’t know, girls.”
“Come on, we already got it!” Apple Bloom said as she shut the door behind them. “Can’t hurt to try it on.”
“I guess you’re right.” Scootaloo had never liked wearing clothes, and she wasn’t really sure this would be any different. But, well, there wasn’t any harm in trying…
She slipped on the white undershirt, which Sweetie Belle helped her button with magic. Buttons were new to her, since the dresses Rarity made never had them.
It fit about as well as anyone could expect. Scootaloo was a bit above average size for a mare, but Big Mac was, well, big. The shirt hung loosely on Scootaloo, and she wasn’t sure how the jacket was supposed to fit over it.
Still, they managed to get it on. It too went about as well as expected, and Scootaloo felt a bit like she was wearing a sheet.
“So how do ya feel?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I dunno…” Scootaloo said, looking down at the outfit. “This is just… weird.”
The door opened suddenly, with Applejack’s head appearing in the room. “AB, have you seen the good loppers? Some of the tree branches need cuttin’ and they ain’t put away in the shed.”
A worried look flashed across Apple Bloom’s face. “Uhh, no, I haven’t seen them, Applejack.”
Applejack sighed. “Consarnit, where did those things get off to?” She looked over and noticed Scootaloo. “And just what in tarnation are you wearin’?”
“Oh, that?” Apple Bloom asked. “It’s just…”
“It’s for a school play!” Scootaloo answered. “We’re in charge of costumes, and we were figuring out what the lead colt should wear.”
Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Hold on, are those Big Mac’s date duds?”
“Uhm…” Scootaloo looked to the others, but no one had a good answer to that.
Applejack sighed. “Put them back where ya found them, those ain’t for playin’ around in. Go see Rarity ‘bout gettin’ a new costume or somethin’.”
“Right, sorry.” Scootaloo pulled off the ill-fitting jacket.
Applejack walked away shaking her head, leaving them to put away the clothes on their own.
Apple Bloom sighed in relief. “That could’ve been bad.”
“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle agreed. “Good thing for us Scootaloo’s quick on his hooves!”
Scootaloo couldn’t help but grin. Not at the compliment, but at the way Sweetie Belle has worded it. On his hooves. It was the first time someone had used the word for her and she, well… she kind of liked it.
She took a look in Apple Bloom’s mirror before pulling off the undershirt, and she saw, well… she didn’t know what she saw. But she couldn’t deny that she kind of liked it all the same.
“Are you sure this will work?” Scootaloo asked.
“Of course it will!” Sweetie Belle assured her. “Remember Twilight herself helped me with my magic, and she can do this spell easily.”
“Twilight can also fight off giant monsters…” Scootaloo said uncertainly. They were gathered around back at the clubhouse, and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were exchanging worried looks.
“Relax, it’ll be fine!” Without giving them another chance to complain, Sweetie Belle pointed her horn at Scootaloo and it lit up a soft mint color.
There was a flash, and Scootaloo closed her eyes. She felt something happening to her, and then she felt different. She was afraid to open her eyes. The goal was to grow a mustache with a spell Twilight was known to use, but with Sweetie Belle casting it, Scootaloo just hoped she still had any hair at all.
Apple Bloom groaned. “What just happened?”
Wait, why was Apple Bloom groaning? Did Sweetie accidentally hit her too?
“I… I can fix it!” Sweetie Belle said.
“Fix what?” Scootaloo asked reluctantly.
She opened one eye and wasn’t sure what she was looking at. She opened both and started blinking. She looked at what she assumed were Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and burst out laughing.
They were both covered in thick black hair, which looked to be the same consistency as facial hair but which covered their whole bodies. One look at Scootaloo and they both did the same.
She felt herself and instead of soft coat fur, she was now covered in coarse black hair. It covered everywhere she could see, and no doubt also everywhere she couldn’t.
“Well, that didn’t work,” Apple Bloom deadpanned. She tried to pull at the coarse black hair covering her, but it was well and truly stuck on.
“And we’re banned from the barbershop…” Sweetie Belle continued.
“Again…” Scootaloo finished. They’d had to let Applejack cut their manes for months, and something told Scootaloo that showing up like this wasn’t going to change anyone’s mind.
“So… Zecora?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Zecora,” the others agreed in unison.
“This hasn’t been working,” Apple Bloom said as they walked away from Zecora’s hut.
“I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle said with an innocent smile. “I can’t remember the last time my coat was this silky smooth.”
“Not that!” Apple Bloom said. “Trying to do guy things! You know what the problem is, right?”
Scootaloo wasn’t sure there was a problem. Sure, things kept going wrong, but she was having a blast. Still, she humored Apple Bloom. “What’s that?”
“We aren’t guys!” Apple Bloom said, gesturing to herself and Sweetie Belle. “What do we know about doing guy things?”
“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle said. “We need to find a stallion to ask for help from!”
“I don’t know…” It made sense, but telling someone new about this was a big step and she wasn’t sure she was ready to take that yet.
“You know, my brother has a guy’s night every week,” Apple Bloom said. “He must know about all kinds of guy stuff!”
“He’s perfect,” Sweetie Belle agreed.
“I… don’t think I’m ready to tell Big Mac yet,” Scootaloo said. He tried to be open-minded like his sisters, but Scootaloo wondered if this might be a little much for him.
“That’s not a problem. Who does Big Mac have his guy’s night with?” Sweetie Belle smiled at the others. “Spike! And you said he already knows, right?”
“Yeah, he does…” Scootaloo frowned. “But I don’t want to ask him either.
“Well, why not?” Apple Bloom asked. “He’s your coltfriend, he’d love to help you.”
“Maybe, but…” She sighed. “I think he’s a little weirded out by his marefriend maybe becoming his coltfriend. He said he wants to give it a chance, but I think he needs a little more time first.”
She was a little afraid that her friends would hold that against her coltfriend, but neither of them said anything about it. Sweetie Belle continued, “Well, if you don’t want to go to Big Mac or Spike, there’s one other person who goes to guy’s night we could talk to.”
Scootaloo quirked her head to the side. “You don’t mean…”
“Discord!” Sweetie Belle beamed.
“He is an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader,” Apple Bloom pointed out.
“I guess so,” Scootaloo said. “But, you know, he’s Discord. Do you really think he’d even take us seriously?”
“Oh, not at all,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile. “But that’s just it, it’s perfect if he doesn’t! He’ll just think it’s some silly pony thing and won’t ask questions.”
“Hang on, does any of us know where to find Discord?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I do,” Scootaloo admitted. “Well, maybe anyway. Spike told me he moved his pocket dimension into Fluttershy’s old cottage when she moved into Twilight’s castle. So he’s probably there.”
“And Fluttershy’s cottage is near here!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “See, it’s perfect. What do ya say, Scoots?”
Scootaloo still wasn’t sure about telling someone else, even if it was Discord and even if he was an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader. But she was having so much fun, and she didn’t want it to stop just because they were out of ideas.
“Alright, let’s do it.”
Zecora’s hut wasn’t far into the Everfree Forest, so it didn’t take long to get to Fluttershy’s cottage, which was right on the edge of it. Along the way, Scootaloo’s confidence grew. The idea of telling Discord was a little daunting, but it was also a little exciting. She was really doing this.
The outside of Fluttershy’s house looked the same as it ever did. The grass was still green, the windows were still glass, the bird feeders were still hanging from trees. No sign of chaos magic. Really, there was no sign that Fluttershy herself no longer lived there.
“You sure he lives here?” Apple Bloom asked. “Was kinda expecting the whole thing to be upside down or something.”
“Maybe he only decorated the inside?” Scootaloo pointed out. She craned her neck to look through a window, but all the furniture seemed to still be on the ground and the stairway still went up.
She shrugged and knocked on the door. Worst case scenario, no one answered.
“Who is it?” Discord’s voice called from inside the cottage.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders all looked at each other excitedly. “It’s us, the CMC,” Apple Bloom called. “Can we talk to you for a minute?”
Rather than open the door, Discord teleported outside of it. He was floating above them and wearing a scout uniform the likes of which the CMC themselves had certainly never worn. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite club! Need my help searching for your cutie marks again?”
“Aww, we found our cutie marks years ago,” Apple Bloom pointed out.
“Oh, are you sure about that?” Discord pointed away from them, towards what seemed to be Apple Bloom’s cutie mark hopping away. One look back at her flank revealed it was blank.
“Hey, get back here!” she said as she ran after it.
“Uh, you can fix that, right?” Scootaloo asked Discord.
“Well, I suppose I could maybe give it a try.” Discord snapped his fingers, but instead of the cutie mark returning, there was a puff of smoke around Discord and then he was in a fishing outfit complete with a pole. He cast the line out in the direction of the cutie mark, hooking into it.
“Ow! Hey, that hurts!” Apple Bloom said, rubbing the spot where her cutie mark used to be.
Ignoring her, Discord fought to reel it in. It seemed to put in quite a fight, and which one was winning the tug-of-war went back and forth. “Well, don’t just stand there!” Discord said. “Grab it!”
Apple Bloom dove for her cutie mark, which continued to struggle. “How do I get it back on?”
Discord pulled out a roll of duct tape, although it wasn’t clear from where.
“No way!” Apple Bloom said. “That’ll pull all my fur out.”
“Oh, fine.” Discord snapped his fingers and Apple Bloom’s cutie mark went back where to her flank. “There, good as new.”
Apple Bloom glared at him, but Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle laughed. If there was one thing to be said about Discord, it was that there was never a dull moment with him.
“So what about you two? Fancy a game of chasing around the cutie marks?”
“Maybe another time,” Scootaloo said. “We actually came to ask you about something else today.”
“And what might that be? For a grand adventure through the multiverse? Time travel? The contents of Celestia’s private diary?” Discord held up a diary with Celestia’s cutie mark and the words ‘Hooves Off Luna!’ on it.
Scootaloo looked to Sweetie Belle who nodded encouragingly. She took a deep breath and said, “We just wanted to know what guys do.”
Discord frowned. “That’s it?”
“Yeah, it’s… it’s important to me,” Scootaloo said. She wondered how she could possibly convince him to tell them. She prepared herself to launch into yet another explanation of what was going on.
“Alright, fine.” Or maybe he’d just tell them without needing a reason. “Guys like doing things like aggressive sports –” he snapped and Sweetie Belle was wearing a hoofball uniform “– taking on nature –” another snap, and Scootaloo was in a mountain climbing outfit “– and, of course, cruising for ladies –” one more snap, and Apple Bloom was in a zoot suit.
“Is this really what guys like to do?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Spike doesn’t like any of those things,” Scootaloo pointed out with a shrug. “What about Big Mac?”
“Not really, except maybe the nature one,” Apple Bloom said. “He just loves going camping, but then again, so do me and Applejack.”
“Yeah, and Rainbow totally owns at hoofball,” Scootaloo added.
“And I don’t think flirting with girls is really what we want.” She looked at Scootaloo and quirked her head. “Er, is it?”
“Of course not! I have a coltfriend. Besides, I don’t even like girls like that.” She stopped and thought for a moment. “Wait, if I’m a stallion, does that mean I’m gay now?”
“Well then, this is a surprise,” Discord said as he stroked his goatee. He considered Scootaloo for a moment. “Well, it’s actually not that surprising. But still, if this was about you being a stallion, you should have just said. I could just turn you into a stallion, you know.”
“You can?” Scootaloo asked.
“Of course I can, I can do anything.” He lifted his fingers, primed to snap.
Scootaloo looked between Discord and the others. “I… I don’t know. The thing is that I’m not really sure what I want. I think I might want to be a stallion, but I’m not really sure.”
“Well, nothing better than experience, eh?” Discord said.
“Can you change him back afterwards if he doesn’t like it?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Hmph.” Discord frowned. “I suppose I could, though I hardly see the fun in it.”
There it was again. Change him back if he doesn’t like it. And it was even coming from Apple Bloom, whom Scootaloo had expected would need the most time to get used to this.
It made her happy. It made her want to do this. “As long as you can change me back, let’s do it.”
Discord grinned. “Alright then, fillies and gentlecolt, here we go!” He snapped his fingers, then everything changed.
Scootaloo felt her body being pulled in different directions. She imagined it must be how a balloon felt, being pulled every which way and growing ever bigger. When it finally stopped, she felt unsure on her hooves.
“Er, I don’t think that’s what Scootaloo had in mind,” Apple Bloom said.
Scootaloo rubbed her head, only to find she was wearing some kind of helmet. She moved her hoof to her chin, and found coarse stubble covering it. She felt around her face, and her snout seemed larger than it used to be. Then again, everything seemed larger than it used to be.
“It worked!” Scootaloo’s voice was very much not Scootaloo’s voice. It wasn’t even Scootaloo’s voice if she were a stallion. It was somepony else’s voice entirely, and that was the first thing that clued her in that Apple Bloom was right, and this was not what she had in mind.
The second was when she noticed the fur around her legs. In place of her bright orange fur, it was a dull brown.
The third and final thing was when Discord snapped his fingers and a mirror appeared. “What do you think?”
Scootaloo was definitely staring at a stallion. It was, however, an entirely different stallion. A dark brown construction pony, complete with a hard hat, vest, and hammer and nails cutie mark. “Discord!”
“Don’t like it? Well, what about this?” He snapped his fingers again, and this time she was a beige stallion in a doctor’s coat. “Or this?” Another snap, and this time she was a fluffy grey unicorn with a messy brown mane.
“Not a different stallion,” Scootaloo said, surprising herself with the Trottingham accent that this pony apparently had. “Just me as a stallion.”
“Really? You came to me for something that simple?” Discord asked.
“Well, of course,” Scootaloo said, surprised by Discord’s surprise. “Who else could do something like that?”
“Very well.” With another snap of his fingers, Scootaloo was back to normal.
Too normal. “But I’m just me,” she said. “I thought you were going to make me a stallion.”
Discord just shrugged. “You ponies have such a rigid view of genders. If you want to be a stallion, then you look like a stallion to me.”
A beeping sound came from inside the cottage. “Oh, my cookies are done!”
“Can we have some cookies?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Discord laughed. “Oh, these cookies are for tea with Fluttershy.”
Apple Bloom cocked her head. “But she’s on her honeymoon.”
“And won’t they just be delighted when I pop in to surprise them. Tootles!” With one final snap of his fingers, Discord was gone.
Sweetie Belle sighed. “Another bust…”
Scootaloo barely heard her. She only had one thought going through her head. “You look like a stallion to me.”
But she couldn’t explain what she was feeling. It almost felt like the magic would leave if she did. So instead she just smiled and started walking back towards town. “Let’s go, girls.”
Everything worked just as well as everything else. Which was to say, everything was an amazing experience. Oh sure, nothing really went right. Every attempt at doing something like a guy blew up in their faces – the worst was working out with Bulk Biceps; Scootaloo was sure she’d be bruised for weeks.
But then… it didn’t really matter in the end. Not really. She was having so much fun, more fun than she could remember having in ages.
Since the Cutie Mark Crusaders finished their crusade, she realized. She loved their jobs of helping other ponies explore their cutie marks, and she wouldn’t give it up for the world. But there was something about exploring herself that had been so exciting, and today, she got to do that again for the first time in years.
“Sorry nothing’s worked out, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle said as they regrouped in their clubhouse. “Maybe we can try something tomorrow.”
“Or maybe tonight?” Apple Bloom said. “What do you two say about having a Cutie Mark Crusader slumber party?”
“That’s a great idea!” Sweetie Belle said.
“You want to with me even though I might be a stallion?” Scootaloo asked.
Apple Bloom laughed. “Mare or stallion, you’re still Scootaloo.”
She smiled. “Well then, that sounds cool to me!”
Sweetie Belle gasped. “And that gives me an idea for one more thing we can do! We can try having our own guy’s night!”
“Er, Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom furrowed her brow. “We’ve already went over that you and me ain’t guys.”
“Yeah, but we can still do the things your brother and his friends do when they have their guy’s nights.” Sweetie Belle looked at them uncertainly. “Er, assuming one of you knows what they do.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “They usually just play Oubliettes and Ogres. I’ve played with Spike before, and trust me, there’s nothing stallionish about that.”
“Ain’t that the game where you make a character and play as ‘em?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yup, that’s the one. It’s okay, pretty nerdy though.”
Apple Bloom grinned as if she had something in mind. “Well, what’s your character?”
“I play as a ranger. She’s a pegasus who –”
“He,” Apple Bloom said.
“What? But she’s not a stallion.”
“Well tonight, he is. I’ll borrow my brother’s things and we can all play, and then you can try playing as a stallion.”
Scootaloo smiled. It was a good idea. Maybe it was the first really good idea they’d had all day. It wasn’t her favorite game by any means, but just like she’d been interested in playing a character who could fly, playing a character who was a stallion was also kind of exciting.
Which might have been what helped something click into place. All day Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had been saying ‘he’ and ‘him’, and as little of a thing as it was, Scootaloo liked it. He liked it a lot.
“Hey, girls?” he asked. “Remember when you said it would be okay if I was your sister or your brother? Well… do you think it could maybe be… brother?”
“Of course!” Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo a hug, followed by Apple Bloom.
“Thank you,” Scootaloo said. “Thank you both so much.”
“Hey, don’t sweat it,” Apple Bloom said. “I’m glad you’re figurin’ this out.”
“Even with all our bad ideas,” Sweetie Belle added.
Scootaloo laughed. “No, today was just what I needed to figure things out. Even if it would be nice to have somepony to talk to who knew what this was like.”
“Hmm… We don’t know anyone like that, but we know someone who might.” Apple Bloom looked between the others and grinned. “Princess Luna!”
“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle agreed. “Princess Luna is the wisest pony we’ve ever met! She knows all kinds of things, including all kinds of ponies. Maybe she has some advice.”
Each of them had met Princess Luna in their dreams, Scootaloo before either of the others. Then they had met her again, and again. She had become something of a staple while they were growing up. Nightmares were quelled by the Lunar Princess, who never failed to dispatch sage advice to the younger ponies.
So it made sense that she might know something that could help. “You don’t think she’s too busy though, do you?” Scootaloo asked.
“Aww, I’m sure she has time for a letter,” Apple Bloom said. “You know she always says we can reach out to her about anything.”
Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. But what do I say?”
Sweetie Belle was already fetching some paper and a quill. “Simple, just tell her about what you’re going through. We’ll help you if you get stuck.”
Scootaloo nodded. She took the quill and began to write.
‘Dear Princess Luna…’
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Not sure why, but I find it amusing that the best solution in WWB's Equestria to finding answers to your questioning sexuality/gender is just ask Luna. Well, not like she solves every problem, but she's experienced a lot and has a lot of advice.
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Luna knows all
Seriously though, I think turning to someone who knows about stuff is usually a good idea. For this particular story, the reason it's Luna is to be able to bridge what's going on with Scootaloo and what's going on with Amber.
Okay. Several things.
First, I LOVE the idea of Discord having his pocket dimension in Fluttershy's old cabin. It's funny to me for some reason.
Second, how old are the CMC in this? I had pictured them in their teens, but you keep using mare/stallion instead of colt/filly so I'm unsure.
Third, really good chapter as usual. Really looking forward to how this story continues.
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I hate writing Discord, but he can be pretty fun when he pops up. Glad you enjoyed the chapter, it’s my favorite from this story
I should have included their ages in the story itself I realize now... They’re sixteen, or at least Scootaloo and Spike are both sixteen (Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle might be either sixteen or seventeen, I’d have to check my notes but Scoots and Spike are the youngest of the four). So like, they’re old enough to be on the verge of “filly/colt” and “mare/stallion” but I opted for the later because A) teens always want to be seen as older so I figure that’s how they’d think of themselves, and B) I headcanon that Equestria gives autonomy to teens younger than we do because Pinkie and (in WWB) Fluttershy seemed to move to Ponyville rather young.
The V.E.S. was right when they said that O&O would lead to all sorts of moral failings such as devil worship, drugs, and transgenderism.
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Too true, O&O is a gateway to heathenism
Luna may be the princess of the night, but she's clearly the queen of queer knowledge too. Also, seeing AB and Sweetie work on accepting and standing up for Scoots on his moments of self-discovery has been fantastic!
Yo Discord said trans rights. I've been crying a little bit over this chapter, which is a first (other than the entirety of Playing House). I am LOVING this
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No one can convince me the Lord of Chaos believes in a ridgid gender binary!
Me: playing as a girl in basically every single game.
Yeah, Scoots has the right idea, that’s a quick way to discover your gender.
He liked it a lot.
“Hey, girls?” he asked. “Remember when you said it would be okay if I was your sister or your brother? Well… do you think it could maybe be… brother?”
...
Scootaloo nodded. She took the quill and began to write.
...
If scootaloo would be using male pronouns now, maybe should go back through and edit the ones afterwards? Or unless if it was just for that one paragraph before.
YEAH! Mention of best pony! YEAH
I'm pretty sure she's supposed to cancel Apple Bloom at this point c_c
okay, I now see where this is going and I'm rather excited to find out what Scoot decides on :)
why don't you just write crusading fics? XD
10/10 Discord, you need to write him more too!
ahh, there we are at last :)