Sweetie Belle Learns Rarity Is Trans

by cookiefonster

1. A Discovery

“Ugh, why did we have to agree to clean Miss Cheerilee’s house today?” said Scootaloo, who had just helped Apple Bloom carry a huge couch outside. “It’s so hot and humid, and I think I feel a few bugs in my wings.”

Apple Bloom wiped some sweat off her forehead. “I don’t like it either, but we do owe our teacher something after somepony blasted a hole in our classroom’s wall with her scooter. You should be thankful me and Sweetie Belle offered to help.”

“But we could’ve agreed to do something easier, like write a sentence a hundred times on paper. Besides, it’s not like we’re going to get our cutie marks in house cleaning. We already have them, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” said Apple Bloom, glancing at the tricolored shield that adorned her flank. “Sometimes it’s easy to forget, isn’t it. But it’s still nice to help!”

“I guess so.” Scootaloo went back inside to grab the next piece of furniture, then crashed into a box that Sweetie Belle was lifting with her magic.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” said Sweetie Belle, annoyed her magic spell was interrupted. “You don’t want to make another hole in—hey, wait.” Sweetie Belle flipped through the papers that had spilled out of the box, and she saw a photo that made her eyes go wide. “What is THAT?” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo dropped what they were doing and walked to her.

“Uh... a picture with Miss Cheerilee as a filly, and some other random ponies, labeled Ponyville Foals’ Acting Club?” Apple Bloom said. “Not sure how you don’t recognize her. She looks pretty much the same today.”

“No, no, I didn’t mean that. I meant the pony on the right.” Sweetie Belle pointed her hoof to a white colt with bright blue eyes, a trim-cut purple mane, and no cutie mark. He was sitting on the right edge of the group picture, waving a hoof with a forced smile. “This was the same acting club where Rarity said she earned her cutie mark.”

“He looks kind of like... a boy version of Rarity,” said Scootaloo.

“Do you think, um...” Sweetie Belle darted her eyes around, making sure nopony else was within an ear’s shot. “Do you think Rarity might be... transgender?” she whispered.

“What? That’s ridiculous, Sweetie Belle. She’s obviously always been a mare,” said Apple Bloom. “The colt on the right was probably your long-lost cousin or something.”

“Oh, oh!” Scootaloo shouted. “Maybe he’s a changeling pretending to be a boy version of Rarity? Or a spy from an alternate timeline?”

“Or maybe Rarity played the role of a boy in the acting club?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Girls, don’t be ridiculous,” said Sweetie Belle. “I know my sister. She would never even think of purporting herself as a stallion, even for a simple act. And besides, think about it. Scootaloo, didn’t you meet Rainbow Dash’s parents a few weeks ago?”

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo. “They were awesome!”

“And when did you meet your long-lost grandpa, Apple Bloom?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Three days ago. Why do you ask?”

“Maybe now, it’s my turn to learn something new about my family. You know how our big sisters have all these weird coincidences about their lives and always were fated to become friends?”

“Like when they earned their cutie marks all on the same day?” said Apple Bloom.

“Exactly! Maybe the three of us are fated for crazy coincidences too. And besides, I wouldn’t think any less of Rarity for being transgender. She’s still the coolest big sister I could ever ask for. There’s one problem, though... how would I get her to admit it?”

“Press her hard and threaten to take away everything she loves until she admits the truth?” suggested Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “You’ve been hanging around Rainbow Dash too much, haven’t you.”

Scootaloo scratched her mane with her hoof. “I learn from the best.”

“I’m sure she has some pictures of her as a filly that would clear everything up, like we do at Sweet Apple Acres,” said Apple Bloom. “You could just ask her for one of those!”

“I appreciate your ideas, but...” Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin with her hoof, thinking of what to say. “This is Rarity we’re talking about. She never told me much about her childhood, other than how she got her cutie mark. And she probably doesn’t think I’m old enough to know! I think I will have to present the evidence directly.”

“What evidence?” asked Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle pointed to the acting club picture.

“Well, I still don’t think Rarity is...” Before Apple Bloom could argue further, she saw Sweetie Belle running out the door, disappearing into the shadows.

“So, are we supposed to do the rest ourselves?” asked Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom sighed. “I guess so. But look on the bright side! At least this beats washing a hundred pigs at the barn. Besides, I’m sure Sweetie Belle will be back soon enough.”

---

“Hi, Rarity!”

Rarity gasped and nearly dropped her needles, recovering them with magic at the last second. “Sweetie Belle! What are you doing here?!”

“Well, you didn’t hear me knocking on the door or asking you to let me in, and since you’re my sister, I figured it’d be OK if I walked right in to show you something.”

Rarity adjusted the glasses she liked to wear while sewing. “Oh, yes, yes, of course. I’m very sorry. I was just so concentrated on stitching together the perfect dress for Sapphire Shores’ next concert in Ponyville, and I... well, I suppose I didn’t hear any noises around me.”

“Oh... I’m sorry, Rarity.” Sweetie Belle took a few steps back and hung her head low with a droopy frown. “I wanted to show you something, but I guess I can wait until after the concert.”

“No, no, it’s fine! The concert isn’t for another week anyway. I just wanted to get a head start. Now what is it you wanted to show me, darling?”

Sweetie Belle gulped. She lifted a folded picture out of her saddlebag and slowly unfolded it, then presented it to Rarity’s face. “It’s... this picture I found.”

Rarity ran her eyes across the image, mumbling a few names to herself, then shrieked. “SWEETIE BELLE! Where did you find THIS?!”

“I was cleaning Miss Cheerilee’s house with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, and I found a picture from that club you used to go to. I was just wondering if you knew who the colt on the right was?”

“Oh, him? That was... um... that’s our cousin named... Emerald Gleam! I think you met him once, but you must have been too young to remember him. He, uh... he moved to Manehattan when you were four years old.” Rarity chuckled awkwardly and bit her hoof.

Sweetie Belle sighed. “You aren’t fooling anypony more than ‘Cousin Orchard Blossom’ did.”

“Alright, alright, you got me. I was just... I happened to have my mane cut, so I could play the role of a dashing stallion on stage, when the picture was taken. There weren’t any colts willing to take the part, so I, uh... filled in?” Rarity grinned sheepishly and blinked her eyes.

“Are you sure, Rarity? That doesn’t seem like something you would do.”

“Well, you see, I...” Rarity stammered a little more, then held a hoof up to her head while closing her eyes. “Alright, FINE! I’m a transgender mare, Sweetie Belle! I was born as a colt, but I changed myself. Because I didn’t LIKE the body I was born into! Because I wanted to be a DASHING and FANCIFUL girl for as long as I could remember, so I had to do everything by MYSELF. And look where this led me! I thought at least my youngest family member could know me as a true mare, but even you had to learn otherwise. Please don’t hate me for this. Please!!!” Rarity pulled a huge couch out of thin air, then plopped her body on it and started crying.

Sweetie Belle felt a loud THUMP in her chest. As supportive as she was of ponies being their true selves, she couldn’t deny this was a lot to take in. “Why would I hate you for that, Rarity? Also... why did you never tell me?”

“Well... I always thought you...” Rarity took a long, deep breath, then sighed. “Sweetie Belle, it feels so delightful to be simply seen as a mare, without any caveats or complications. I don’t normally tell others I’m transgender, unless I truly trust them not to deride me for it.”

“Are you saying... you don’t trust me?”

Rarity winced. “No, no! It’s not that! I just, well, um... I thought you were too young to understand all this,” she said, tapping her hooves together. “But now that you learned it, I suppose there’s no turning back. You are my dearest sister after all.”

“Well, since we’re both here... could you tell me the story of how this—” Sweetie Belle pointed at the colt on Cheerilee’s photo “—became this?” Sweetie Belle pointed at her big sister, whose mane was looking especially smooth today.

“You... you want to hear the full story?”

Sweetie Belle nodded and smiled. “Yes!”

“Well... alright, then. I trust you’re old enough by now. Here’s the story of how I realized I was a mare.”

Comments

[YetAnotherTweenEdgelord]

Is discovering old photos a common thing in trans fics? I mean, I did this in mine, but I avoided getting inspiration from other stories.

[Charlie_K]

Why is it almost exclusively M2F when a story like this comes up?

Is it asking too much to have a change of pace and see some F2M pop up once in a while?

[cookiefonster]

11378614
I understand where you're coming from, but I think this is hard to avoid in a show with such a bias towards female characters. Plus, it's not very nice to comment on a fic just to complain about what it isn't.

[fluttershywillneverdie]

you manage to keep a nice balance between being carefully empathetic and retaining the light-hearted tone of the show. it's not easy to tread, even for a trans person writing about their own experiences. and i like the positive direction it's taking. looking forward to what's next!

[cookiefonster]

11379169
Glad to hear it! That's pretty much what I was aiming to do, and I'll be sure to continue it when I'm in the right mood.

[Animak]

i like the idea, but feels like going from 0 to 60 too fast here

[Bicyclette]

“Ugh, why did we have to agree to clean Miss Cheerilee’s house today?” said Scootaloo, who had just helped Apple Bloom carry a huge couch outside. “It’s so hot and humid, and I think I feel a few bugs in my wings.”

oof, not the best sign for how Cheerilee’s life is going if her house is bug-infested

“But we could’ve agreed to do something easier, like write a sentence a hundred times on paper. Besides, it’s not like we’re going to get our cutie marks in house cleaning. We already have them, remember?”

so true, now that they have their cutie marks there is no reason for them to do anything

“Press her hard and threaten to take away everything she loves until she admits the truth?” suggested Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “You’ve been hanging around Rainbow Dash too much, haven’t you.”

glad Sweetie Belle is more sensible than Rainbow Dash here. though granted, not too high of a bar

“Oh, him? That was... um... that’s our cousin named... Emerald Gleam! I think you met him once, but you must have been too young to remember him. He, uh... he moved to Manehattan when you were four years old.” Rarity chuckled awkwardly and bit her hoof.

aww, Rarity really had no contingency for this at all!

Rarity pulled a huge couch out of thin air, then plopped her body on it and started crying.

what Rarity meltdown would be complete without this?