10 - To Be a Mare
"Like this." Luna adjusted Blue's seated stance with little nudges of her hooves. "Fortunately for you, a proper pony of either gender isn't so dissimilar." She smiled gently, getting them just how she wanted it. "There you are. How does that feel?"
"Not that different," agreed Blue. "But different. This will require practice." She chuckled softly. "As most things do. I am grateful, aunt, for taking the time to show me these things, as if I were but a foal."
"Are you not, in this one way?" Luna inclined her head. "A grown pony you may be, but you are clueless here. If it makes you feel better, I am still a foal myself in ways, this strange new world I have arrived in continues to astound me." She placed a hoof on her chest. "I confess, your letter itself was a bright spot of the day."
"I did try to write it properly, to match the gravity of what I was requesting, Aunt." She inclined her head faintly and stood up. "How is my standing?"
"Mmm." She reached, gently sliding one hoof to the left, another forward a little. "You almost had it perfect already. Now, I hear you've found a new title, or were the maids whispering nonsense?"
"Indeed I have!" gushed Blue, a smile erupting. "Thank you for bringing it up. I've located my proper title. You stand before Baroness Blue Belle." She inclined her head. "Of Glistening Glade." Her ears skewed. "I really should check in with them. Poor wretches, forced to live without a bit of royal guidance for so long. My parents' unconscionable dereliction of duty cannot be allowed to stand."
Luna looked pleased at the announcement. "A pleasure to meet you, again, Baroness. Glistening Glade... That is a name that takes me back." She frowned with thought. "An old place, quite old. Why, I remember it dimly from before the... incident. They had something... what was it...? A food, a clothing, mmm, I remember they had something all their own, but cannot place my hoof on the memory."
"Something to keep in mind." She inclined her head at her aunt. "I was thinking to visit. I should, at least, appraise the state of my demesne."
"You have now made me feel fortunate." Luna circled around Blue on the way across her room. "It would be quite a challenge for me to leave my holdings, for they are just as far away as a step to the side."
"Step to the side?" Blue arched a brow at the idea. "You've lost me." She also took a step to the side, but was no closer to the dream world that Luna walked in.
"Passing from one world to the next." Luna ran a hoof over a dark mirror. "When you do it, without a magic mirror involved, you feel like you are stepping to the side, rather than forward. One small step, and there you are. It's dreadfully more complicated than that, but the feeling is there."
"I will have to take you at your word," admitted Blue, having no real idea what it felt like to move between worlds. "From my vantage, there is no movement from waking to dreaming. I simply am in one, or the other, and can fall between them without noticing if I'm not careful." A bright smile appeared on her face. "In this, I bow to your expertise. It is your right."
"And you have yours." Luna looked over her shoulder at her niece. "This reminds me." She was tapping at the mirror before her. "I would like to give you a gift. One of these will let us talk from across the castle whenever we wish."
Baroness Blue Belle's ears pricked curiously. "Verily? What modern marvels our wizards have come up with." She trotted up to admire the mirror. "It doesn't reflect me." It didn't reflect anything, perfectly black as it was. "How does it work?"
"You face it directly." She shuffled a bit to the left to put herself dead on with it. "Then speak the name of the pony you wish to address. If they are there, they will know and can accept the call, then you can speak as if they were on the other side of the mirror, instead of across the castle, or the world." She inclined her head faintly. "I use it at times, and would use it with you, if I can get you one?"
"I see no harm in that," allowed Blue Belle, struggling to think of how an easy way to talk with Luna would be bad. "You are most kind to bring it to my attention."
Luna's mind spun, guilt gnawing a little. "Mayhaps you should get a friend or two to get one, to speak to more than just me," she offered with a smile that was a little forced.
"Oh, how marvelous an idea!" Blue clopped her hooves together. "Phones are workable devices, but being able to see Fancy Pants and Fleur Dis Lee would be delightful! Aunt, you are a spring of good advice so deep I feel guilty keeping you all to myself."
Luna's smile relaxed at the praise. "It is a pleasure, Niece mine. Now, we are late in the day, and I do appreciate you coming while I am fresh, but are you not becoming tired?"
"Perish the thought," dismissed the new mare. "I am eager to learn more. Please, continue to teach me the errors I am making." Blue looked her over. "Oh, unless that was a gentle hint that you have other business to tend to. I don't make to keep you away from them."
"Thank you for considering me." She placed a hoof on her niece's chest. "But we can continue a bit longer. Let us review what is appropriate, and not, to speak with a fellow mare. What a stallion feels at liberty to say, and what should not be spoken of, is quite different from a mare. There are things we discuss that a stallion would flee in a wild gallop if they knew, and other things, we would turn beet red at the idea of discussing that two rowdy stallions would speak without hesitation." She tapped Blue on the head. "We will need to bring you from one to the other, so shall we begin?"
"With pleasure." Blue dipped her head. "I am ready to learn."
A few hours later, tired, Blue flopped onto her bed. Warmth was the first hint that another was there. Fire smirked viciously at her tired student. "You know, taking two classes at once can be quite tiring."
"But proceed I will."
Fire did not argue it. Let them get haggard and tired. They might do something foolish, and that could be fun to see... "Goodnight, Baroness."
"Good night, Fire Paradox." She yawned widely and flopped over, their horn glowing to draw up the covers sleepily. "It... occurs. Where do you sleep?"
"Right here," she said as if it should have been obvious. "We've been sleeping together for quite a while now. You didn't notice?"
"The impropriety," she complained groggily, sleep tugging at them. "Can't you stay in the servants' quarters?"
"They don't want me," she stated confidently. Only special, foolish, ponies were eager to spend time with impish mares. "Besides, I am your servant, not the castle's, so I will stay here, with you."
"Mmmf," she replied. Perhaps she agreed, or not. Either way, she fell asleep with soft snores a moment later, ending the conversation.
She heard hoofsteps coming closer and frowned. That was just rude... Oh, but a chance for fun. With a rush of heat, she was Blue Belle, still a stallion as she was. She trotted over to the door and cracked it open just before the pony approaching it could have a chance to open it.
Outside was a stallion, not one Fire recognized. "Yes?" she asked with Blue's voice.
"O-oh! Lady Blue Belle, a pleasure. Um." He ran a hoof along an opposing leg. "I, uh, wanted to talk with you."
Now, to another pony, he just seemed nervous, but harmless. Fire Paradox's eyes saw more. They were nervous, but also roused, interested. They liked Blue Belle? Fire smiled, detecting so much mischief that could be done. "I was hoping you'd come," she whispered with Belle's voice, emerging from the room.
"O-oh, you were?" squeaked the noble stallion, backing up to make room. "Um... That was brave of you, coming out like that. I know a lot... of ponies... wouldn't have."
Fire raised a brow at the stallion, looking them over. Though she didn't know, it was one of the first that had greeted Belle when she came out at the party. "A pony of royal blood must comport themselves properly," she announced with thick pride, laying it on there. "If I make a decision, I must stand by it."
"So... you... really are a mare then?" He tilted his head left and right, but the pony before him was clearly a stallion, physically.
"Of course." The imp smirked softly, leaning towards the helpless fool. "Are you hoping for proof? What an unladylike request you place on me."
The stallion's cheeks went a deep red instantly. "Oh! Um, no... but..." He worked his hooves along the stones, looking all the more nervous. "If you... wanted... for a companion? I... happen to enjoy ponies with your build."
He was gay. He was very gay. Fire could put that together swiftly. He was gay, and he liked Blue just as they were, a stallion, physically. A bottom, she imagined he hoped for. "How... tawdry." She smirked with Blue's lips. "We barely know one another."
"I know!" he squeaked, somehow managing to be more red in the face. "But, uh... I'm just... putting it out there."
Still, Fire Paradox felt confident. That stallion would not do well with Blue, who planned to become entirely a mare. "And what would you do, if I wasn't built this way?" she challenged. "If I were just as much a mare on the outside as I claim to be on the inside." She poked him with a dull thump. "Would you still be interested?"
The stallion glanced away, nervousness only swelling. "W-what? I mean... you can't do... that?" The doubt was so thick. He didn't know what could or could not be done.
"But if I did..." taunted Fire, adoring the look of awkwardness on the stallion's face. "Soft curves, smaller than you, I imagine." As Blue Belle's male form, she was taller than the would-be suitor, but as a mare... "With a softer voice. You know how mares are. All of that."
He shrank back. That wasn't what he wanted, really. "You're fine just as you are," he whimpered out. "You're... beautiful."
Fire's smile turned a little malicious, but that edge faded. "Aw, that's really sweet... But I've made up my mind. I am going to become a mare. No swinging bits." She swayed left and right, letting those parts move about. "Just a mare, the way I want it. Is that what you want to get involved with?"
He danced from hoof to hoof. To his credit, in her eyes, he hadn't angrilly shouted at her. He looked more confused than furious.
"Look." She placed a hoof on his shoulder. "I'm tired. Go, get some sleep yourself, it's late. I'm going to forget we even spoke tonight." She smiled at him with her bright stallion teeth. "That isn't a shut down." She could see him coming to that conclusion. "Try again, when I'm awake. A do-over... How does that sound?"
"Oh, uh... alright." He glanced away and back. "You really do look fine just the way you are."
"Flatterer...." Fire turned away, flicking his face with her tail on the way. "Forgetting." And she vanished back inside, having left a mine for her unwitting student to trip over at some future point. Oh, what trouble that could cause.
"Your Highness." The maid dipped her head low before Celestia. "I apologize for, um, bothering you."
"It is my job to make time for all of my little ponies," assured Celestia with a gentle smile. "Is something wrong in the palace?" Her eyes wandered, as if it was something she could spot. "Please, speak freely."
"Oh, no." She shook her head firmly. "The palace is in good condition, I am happy to report." She turned and pointed out into the hallway beyond the room they were in. "It was your nephew."
Celestia's face fell. "Did he make trouble for somepony?" Hopefully, she quickly thought, it would not be somepony especially important, like a foreign agent of some kind. Blueblood knew how to be in her way at times...
"Not... precisely. He was in the third library on the West side." She gestured towards the named wing. "But he wasn't alone."
"Who was he with then?" Confusion built, waiting for the other horseshoe to drop on what was going on.
"A very strange mare." The maid sat and raised her forehooves to getsture a bit vaguely. "She looked like a pony, but her tail was long and furless, with a strange shape at the end, like a little shovel? I never saw her before, and I didn't recognize the tribe. No earth pony, or pegasus, or unicorn was this, I felt sure."
Celestia opened her mouth to reply, but the maid cut her off, "Or gem pony, of course. They didn't sparkle that way."
"I see." What manner of pony was that? "Did they seem... to be getting along?" If it was a foreign force, she needed to know more.
"They seemed to know each other, Your Highness." The maid dipped her head at Celestia. "She seemed irritated to have me there, and I was dismissed by them both." She raised a hoof to her chest. "I keep thinking about it, and I thought you'd know what to do."
"And I do appreciate that." She patted the maid gently on her withers. "Go on and get back to things. I'll take care of this."
With responsibility officially passed, the maid looked quite relieved, trotting from the room with her head held up high and a head full of satisfaction at having done her part. "Of course. If you need anything at all?"
"I will alert you," assured Celestia gently, and soon was alone to consider what was going on. "Hm." Going to question him was an option, but not one likely to yield good answers. The blood between them was... murky at best. She stepped out into the hallways, tapping at her chin softly. "Ah, of course."
There was a pony they both knew and respected. Someone Blueblood saw eye to eye. Another stallion. He did seem to get along with those more easily. She snorted softly. Was he... Did he swing that way? That would, in part, explain some things. She shook the idea away. "I'm getting distracted." The preferences of her nephew did not matter for what was at hoof.
So she put out the word. Soon, she sat across from Fancy Pants. "Thank you for taking the time. I'm certain you had other things to do."
"For you, madame, I make the time." He buffed his chest with a hoof, nodding with self-satisfaction. "Now, do tell me how I can make your day a bit easier. We're still on for next Wednesday, are we not?"
"Everything is moving properly," she assured with a little smile. Fancy Pants was so good at helping keep things organized, especially proper things for royal ponies. She thanked destiny for delivering her such a good stallion to have around. "It's not about that. It's about Blueblood, my nephew?"
Fancy blinked with surprise. "Oh, uh, Your Highness, have you not been informed? Blueblood is gone."
Gone? "Pardon?"
"In his place stands Baroness Blue Belle, your niece," continued Fancy, explaining what he had meant. "She had made quite the announcement. Did word of it not reach you? I feel partially at fault for not checking on it. Of all ponies, you certainly need to be informed of such things."
"Baroness?" She recoiled with confusion. "She?"
"Oh dear, you weren't told at all," sighed out Fancy. "Blueblood, the former, has decided, with quite some conviction, that they are, and were, a mare." He raised a brow. "A fanciful thought, I admit, at first, I thought, but she seems quite sure of it, and I do not mean to leave a friend stranded in such a trying time." He inclined his head. "Aside that, they have been taking steps to realize their goals."
"You are... a true friend." That was not in question. Fancy had always served as a delightful pony to all others, so far as she'd seen. "But I admit confusion. 'realize their goals', you say? Kindly clarify that?"
"She's become a wizard, and quite a talented one at that." Fancy brought his hooves together. "I'm quite impressed. They have a tutor, I hear, working her quite firmly."
"Have you, by chance, met this tutor?" Ah ha, there was something, hopefully related.
"A mare, if I recall... But aside that, no, I haven't had the pleasure." He sat up with a soft smile. "Clearly effective. You perhaps should consider them for your school."
"Perhaps." Celestia held much more doubt to that. "Teaching a grown pony is not the same skill as a foal. Still, a talented teacher of adults can be just as precious." If she had any idea who this elusive teacher was... Some teacher of magic from an unknown tribe of ponies. There were few ways she could think of it where that was a good thing. "Have they... acted oddly, since they started this?"
"Well, yes," admitted Fancy. "But I would imagine I would also act a mite strangely were I to redefine myself at such a core level." He raised a hoof to his chest. "Poor chap." He caught himself, ears falling with shame. "That isn't the right word to use with a mare, pardon me."
"Chappess," murmured Celestia, still absorbing what had happened. "Tell me... Do you think this is genuine? Is it... sincere?"
"Had I thought it not, Madame, I would have called her out on it." Fancy set his hooves down. "I do not abide with my associates presenting a lie, to themselves or others."
So he truly thought he was more of a she? "I... see..." This required consideration... but still... "Have you ever seen her? The tutor, I mean?"
"I have not." He inclined his head at her. "Did you have need of her? Blue Belle should be able to put you in contact with her, I should imagine."
He wasn't wrong, and yet, that would be giving away a lot of what she knew and could warn that strange mare before she had a chance to study things properly. "Thank you, of course. You've been a pleasure. Now, this year, I was thinking of being a little nonconventional on the choice of music."
The conversation slid back to planning the public function that was coming up. She buried thoughts of Blueblood under a mountain of other affairs, trusting Fancy Pants would give it no further thought by the time they were done.
"Oui?" Fleur inclined her head at the curious new mirror that hung in their living room. "Qu'est-ce?"
"Fleur!" Blue's face appeared with a bright smile. "Oh, it works. How marvelous!" She was clapping her hooves excitedly.
Fleur blinked, taking a step back. "Sensationnel!" she replied equally as excited. "Blue Belle? How delightful to see you, mon ami. Is this another spell you have added to your répertoire? I am green with envy." She was not actually green at all, smiling with her pretty mare's smile. "How talented you have proven to be."
"No, I cannot claim credit for this," Blue demurred, waving it away. "I purchased it. Auntie Luna suggested it, and I'm glad she did. How lovely this is." Her eyes wandered, taking in what was around and behind Fleur. It was really like there was a window between them instead of so much stone and air. "It is always nice to speak to you."
"Et vous aussi," she assured, inclining her head the other way. "Now, tell me, how can I help you, or is this, as they say, appel social?"
"My Prench is foalish at best," admitted Blue. "But I think it is mostly that? I wished to speak to you... It may be a strange thing, but I have taken Aunt Luna as a sort of... mother figure, a matron."
Fleur suddenly raised her hooves up to cradle her chin, her smile deepening. "And in me, you see a soeur aînée? How charming. Tres magnifique! You, mon petite soeur, I am listening with open ears and arms."
Blue darkened faintly, proving she could go red more easily than Fleur could handle going green. "You are too good to me. I need to get you something, to show."
"Absurdité," she half-sang, waving a hoof at the mirror between them. "You purchased this. Speaking of that, how do I call to others with it? Perhaps I will even call you. This is, you realise ta faute. You will have no peace from me, petite soeur."
That was a sweet torture, and Blue had to smile. Having a pony that cared about her felt... nice, and Fleur had so little demands of her. She just wanted to be... "Fleur?"
"Oui?"
"Is this really about Fancy?" Blue wobbled a hoof. "I mean, you don't know me much beside that."
"Non," she agreed. "But now, I do. I learn you, and what I learn, it does not make me run, so there must be something worth learning there." She leaned forward towards the mirror. "Petite soeur, you have brought joy to my brother, and now I wish to learn more about you. You have just... excus-ah." She put a hoof over her mouth, pausing a moment. "I want to learn you. Est-ce que ça va?"
"I have... no objection." Blue set her own hooves down. "Let us start with simple things. On a nice day, all obligations met, I enjoy soft music, a warm sky, and a good view, preferably with a cool drink at hoof and company to speak with."
"Oh, oui. That sounds très agréable." Her tongue curled in interesting ways, forming those foreign words. "I am, as they say, extravertie. Given me some ponies to be around, to listen to, to speak to, and I am made heureuse." Her smile brightened. "Perhaps, mmm, next time I have a thing, just us mares, I can invite you?"
Blue smiled at that. "That sounds... delightful..." But... She gestured at her still masculine form. "I'm... still working on that... Won't that bother them?"
Fleur frowned at that. "Ils sauront mieux," she spoke in a low threatening growl, unlike her usual self. "Any friend of mine who speaks ill of a guest of mine? Well, perhaps they were not a friend as I thought, hm? Now, I hear Fancy coming. Let me tend to brother mine, petite soeur. Au revoir!"
The mirror went black, leaving Blue Belle alone in her room. "That had gone... well." Getting that mirror was a good idea, like most Luna had to offer. Such a lovely aunt she had!
The mirror vibrating softly and began to glimmer from inside. An incoming call?! Was it Luna? Was Fleur calling back? The options were so many, but there was only one way to be sure. "Baroness Blue Belle," she announced, which caused the mirror to cease being black, revealing a room of crystal hues.
With a grinning princess right there in the middle, Cadance's wings spreading as her joy only seemed to increase on seeing Blue Belle in her own mirror. "Bluey! My favorite cousin!"
Blue Belle recoiled in shock. Of all the ponies that would have called her, how did it end up being her?!
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continues to astound
Belle
I know it's the official spelling but I still hate it.
chance
mite
10544914
Oh goodness, j'ai honte. All fixed, so people can read clearly, except maybe the Prench parts.
10544939
Chapters like this one are a part of why I have a quick translate addon in my browser.
"in continuing to astounding me"
"in continuing to astound me"?
"us review what is is appropriate"
"us review what is appropriate"?
"A few hours later, tired, Blue flopped onto his bed."
"A few hours later, tired, Blue flopped onto her bed."?
"The palace in good condition"
"The palace is in good condition"?
"how I can make you day a bit easier"
"how I can make your day a bit easier"?
"They have a tutor, I hear, working him quite firmly."
"They have a tutor, I hear, working her quite firmly."?
"Have you, by change, met this tutor?"
"Have you, by chance, met this tutor?"?
"her chin, her smile deeping."
"her chin, her smile deepening."?
edit:
Also, did you miss my comment on the previous chapter? It looks like "She sat on his haunches." is still there. Or am I indeed missing something?
10544955
One of the ises wandered off and hung out with a friend. Bad is, get back where you belong! All fixed.
Oh, yes! Gone!
It was such a tragic affair. The Pink Demon, some shears. The doctors had to remove the rest. No mare will ever be deeply satisfied again... such a pity.
Ah, Blue Belle and Cadance. Oil and water, even though the latter is only trying to work to the benefit of the former. I hope she realizes that...
Oh fuuuuuuuuck Fire's set in motion something potentially nasty.
Great work as usual, keep it up!
10544970
Oh, hah! :D
10545075
Fear not. Water is very good at keeping oil afloat!
I can say the french but i have no clue what it means if it aint though i doubt it was the case i could have read a string o foul language and never know
Btw lovin it
For the sake of hearing the spoken lines of the story in my head may I ask. Does Blue Belle speak with the same tone and inflection that Blue Blood did, or is she practicing on altering her annunciation and speech patterns to be more feminine?
Just a heads up but uh when they're talking about blue belles tutor you have fancy misgender her idk if its on purpose or not. and its not the chap thing
10545895
Sorry. Right now, she is speaking entirely the same way as Blueblood. They know their voice shifts when they 'go mare', and, in their view, would prefer their voice match their body even if their body isn't right (work in progress).
10546093
Hm? Made me look it up, but the one time chap was used, poor Fancy Pants admitted he messed up and apologized..
Edit: You said it's not the chap thing... but didn't tell me what it was. The suspense kills us.
10546325
Bottom of the landed nobles. Previously she was using Lady which does not mean landed and is polite for low tier nobles. She moved up one maybe two rungs depending on time period and country in medieval times.
10544970
I wonder if it's beginning of seasonal migration
10546108
I think Savant may be talking about this,
10547555
yess
Too bad we skipped that part...
Why am I suddenly hearing angry chrystal pony noises in the background?
Bluebelle: "What have I done?!"
Suddenly I hear this in the background:
This is a really fun story to follow. Watching these characters come together and help is so precious. I’m worried about Cadance though. Bluey... watch out.
Also, Fancy Pants is bae.
Hmm ... a palantír? In the reach of a treacherous form-shifting succubus? Whatever could go wrong with that?!
10883265
Look, she's consorting with demons in order to gain greater magical power, and that's never led anyone wrong before. I think you're worrying too much.
Or possibly we get a sequel trilogy where a plucky group of adventurers sets out on a mad quest to destroy the source of Queen Bluebelle's power and rid the land of Bluequestria from evil.
10883265
I adore the (entirely accurate) implication that Mairon/Sauron qualifies as a form-shifting succubus. I think he'd approve of the designation.
'"A fanciful thought, I admit, at first, I thought, but she seems quite sure of it, and I do not mean to leave a friend stranded in such a trying time."'
I've finally figured out why I like the tone of this story and this sort of line so much. It's because it sounds like how trans people were discussed in, like, the 1940s, where it was something strange and hard to understand, but ultimately something fascinating and wonderful that was an indication of how fast society was progressing, before our modern... controversies had time to develop. It was quite literally a more innocent time (in regards to this, at any rate).
To quote a delightful Tumblr post, "Do you see this gorgeous dame? Well, she used to be a man! Isn't that something? Anyway, back to the war."