Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Today seemed like it was just like any other day of training at the Cloudsdale flight school. There were a lot of pegasi doing aerial laps around the perimeter of the airborne race track while others were stretching out their wings and limbs on the clouds in preparation as they waited for their flight training.

One particular pegasi was going through his rather unfortunate yet expected routine as he was being mercilessly picked on by the same group of bullies that always did this to him.

“...Can…can you stop…p…please…” A butter yellow pegasus squeaks out in hopes that this would somehow stop the torment.

“Can we stop doing what?” A light brown pegasus with dark brown bangs covering his eyes asks in a mocking tone. “Come on Butterscotch, If you want to let us know something you have to use your words!”

“...Stop…stop…picking on…m…me…please…” Butterscotch responds as he cowers in fear while attempting to hide what was currently happening to him behind his pink bangs. Maybe if he couldn’t see his tormentors he could pretend that they weren’t there.

“Oh, that’s what you were trying to say!” A dark brown pegasus with white hair loudly states. “Nah! This is too much fun for me!”

Butterscotch crumples to the ground, tries to cover his eyes with his hooves, and begins to cry.

“Oh, it looks like we made the baby cry!. What a wuss!”

“You know we probably wouldn’t be doing this if you just learned how to fly already! We are doing you a favor after all! We are just encouraging you to fly in our own special way!”

“Maybe he just needs some more encouragement! Let’s see what happens when we push him off the clouds!”

“Hey!” A new voice yells out which gains the attention of both Butterscotch and the bullies. The voice in question belonged to a blue pegasus with rainbow colored hair. “Knock it off!”

“Oh! It looks like we got a hero!” One of the bullies says while tapping his partner in crime on the shoulder.

“Yeah! A short hero!” The other bully says while trying to stifle a laugh. “What are you gonna do pipsqueak?”

“Shut up!” The blue pegasus shouted back as she flew towards one of the bullies and bucked him directly in the face with her front right hoof.

“Hey! That hurt!” The now bruised bully yells out. “You’ll pay for that!”

“Make me!” The blue pegasus retorts with a scowl.

The other bully charges forwards and the blue pegasus dodges and kicks him in the right flank.

“Let’s get outta here!” The other bully yells to his accomplice.

“This isn’t over!” They say as they finally trot off in defeat.

“I’d like to see you try!” The blue pegasus says as she gets the last word.

Now that the bullies were taken care of, the blue pegasus turns to check on the pony she just saved.

“...You…you…saved me?” Butterscotch says with genuine confusion.

“Of course!” The blue pegasus says with a smile. “The name’s Rainbow Dash by the way! What’s your name?”

“...Um…my…my name is…B…Butterscotch…” The shy yellow pegasus eventually gathers the courage to say.

“Hi there Butterscotch! It’s nice to meet you!” Rainbow Dash says with an outstretched hoof which Butterscotch hesitantly accepts as he is helped onto his hooves.

“...Th…Thanks for that…How can I repay you?”

“You don’t need to pay me back!” Rainbow Dash says with a wave of her hoof. “That’s just what friends do!”

“...W…were friends?” Butterscotch says with a mixture of both excitement and confusion.

“Sure!” Rainbow Dash quickly responds. “You seem nice!”

“...Thank you…”

“You don’t need to thank me for everything, you know?”

“...Sorry…”

“You don’t need to apologize for everything either.”

Butterscotch was about to apologize again, but stopped when he realized what he was about to say.

“What were those ponies’ problems anyways?” Rainbow says as she glares off in the direction that the bullies scurried off to.

“...They…they were picking on me…b…because I am a pegasus… and I don’t know…how to…fly…” Butterscotch says with embarrassment as he tries not to look Rainbow in the eyes.

“Wait, you can’t fly?” Rainbow says as she cocks her head to the side.

Butterscotch shakes her head no.

“That’s fine! No shame in that!” Rainbow says with a shrug.

“...Really?” Butterscotch asks excitedly.

“Really!” Rainbow enthusiastically responds.

“...Oh…Okay!” Butterscotch was never told that this was something that he shouldn’t have been ashamed of. He was almost to the point where he just considered that as fact, but apparently that didn’t have to be the case and that made him really, really happy.

“With that being said I could teach you how to fly if you want me to, but I’ll only do it if you really want me to learn. I don’t want to push it on you like those bullies were doing.”

“...I…I think I’d like that…on one condition…”

“On what condition?”

“...I’ll do it…if we do things at my pace…”

Rainbow places a hoof on her chin as she thinks this over for a moment.

“Yeah! That works for me!”

“...Thank you…”

Rainbow thinks to remind him about what he said about being overly apologetic earlier, but lets it slide this time.

“Don’t mention it.”

“...So…what exactly…do friends…like…do together?” Butterscotch genuinely asks. “...I’ve never had a friend before…”

“There aren’t any rules for it or anything like that if that's what you’re wondering. All it means to be friends is to enjoy each other's company.”

“...Oh…good to know…” Butterscotch says with a bit of embarrassment.

“Just don’t overthink it!” Rainbow says as she ruffles Butterscotch’s mane.

This causes Butterscotch to blush a little, but he tries to ignore this.

“...So…you wanna watch me fly a few laps?” Rainbow asks her new friend. “Watching me fly might help you learn the mechanics of flight a bit better. Who knows. You might be a visual learner.”

“...I think that I’d like that…” Butterscotch says as the two pegasi make their way over to the flight track.

Chapter Text

After that fateful day Rainbow Dash and Butterscotch quickly became best friends and were nigh inseparable from one another.

Rainbow Dash would do her flight training and Butterscotch would watch her. This was for the purposes of Butterscotch wanting to eventually learn how to fly himself of course and not for any other reason. Things went on like this for some time and for a while Butterscotch was fine with this.

That is until eventually Butterscotch got tired of just being a passive observer and thought it was time for him to put what Rainbow Dash had shown him to the test and learn how to fly.

Of course he wasn’t expecting to learn how to do the Sonic Rainboom in an afternoon or something crazy like that.

His goal was just to stay off the clouds and in the air for more than ten seconds. No more, no less.

Once that goal was achieved then he could set up the next goal, but only after the first goal was accomplished. He was learning so it was important to take things step by step.

“Okay! Do it just like I showed you!” Rainbow said with enthusiasm as Butterscotch went through the flight mechanics that she had shown him in his head and step by step.

Butterscotch closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and starts to flap his wings.

Eventually Butterscotch felt like he entered some sort of flow state and barely had to think about flapping his wings at all.

“Hey Butterscotch!”

Butterscotch slipped out of his trance and opened his eyes to see what Rainbow Dash had to say.

“You’re doing it! You’re flying!”

Butterscotch looks down and sees the clouds he had never left hoof from before a couple feet below himself.

“...I…I’m flying! I’m really flying!” Butterscotch says excitedly.

…Maybe he was a bit too excited because as soon as he realized that he was flying he almost immediately fell back down onto the clouds below him…

“...Ow…” Butterscotch says as he rubs his now sore shoulder with a hoof.

“You did it Butterscotch! You flew!” Rainbow Dash says as she picks him up off the grounds and into the air.

Rainbow then pulled him in for a hug, spun around in a circle, and then let him back down onto the clouds, but only did the last part when Butterscotch tapped her on the shoulder.

“...How long was I up there for?” Butterscotch asks.

“I believe that it was about seven seconds or so.”

“...Oh…it felt much longer than that…” Butterscotch says despondently.

“Sure, but that was still a great first try! Keep your chin up and your thought positive Butterscotch! You’ll get there eventually!”

“...Yeah…you’re probably right…”

“Of course I’m right! I’m always right!” Rainbow boasts. “Anyway, that was good practice for today! If you keep this up then soon enough you’ll get to the point where you’ll only have to go back down to the clouds when you actually want to! It’ll just take some more time and some more training.”

“...Hey, Rainbow Dash?”

“What’s up?”

“...How…long do you think it’ll take for me to fly as good as you?” Butterscotch says with his eyes down towards the clouds below him.

“It’ll take as long as it takes. No need to rush things.” Rainbow puts a hoof onto Butterscotch’s shoulder. “Just remember, baby steps.”

“...Baby steps…” Butterscotch repeats like a student trying to commit something to memory.

As the days went by and Butterscotch’s training continued he got better and better at flying until he did eventually get to the point where he was no longer randomly crashing into the clouds below him.

It had also been quite a while since the bullies had picked on Butterscotch. Whether this was because of Butterscotch’s improved flying abilities or the simple fact that Rainbow Dash was there to protect him was unclear. To Butterscotch it honestly mattered less as to why they stopped picking on him and was just happy that the bullying had stopped.

Eventually Butterscotch was able to actually join the rest of the class during their routine training. He wasn’t in the faster group with Rainbow Dash of course. To be perfectly honest he was probably still the slowest flyer in the entire class, but as time went on that mattered less and less to Butterscotch. He was taking things at his own pace.

With that being said there was something that did start bothering Butterscotch, but he didn’t exactly know what the problem was or have the words to describe it.

For a while he thought that his problem was him being unable to fly and that if he were to learn how to fly that this feeling would go away and that all of his problems would be solved along with it.

That isn’t what ended up happening though.

As he solved his other problems this one only became more and more apparent.

The reason he was even aware of this problem in the first place was that sometimes when he watched Rainbow Dash fly he would have this weird feeling at the back of his mind.

Of course at first he thought he was jealous of her flying ability, but it wasn’t that.

Next he thought that he might have been in love with her (which wasn’t necessarily not the case, but Butterscotch wasn’t trying to think about that right now). After he gave this some thought he was able to narrow out that option as well.

Eventually he came up with yet another potential answer to what was giving him this weird and seemingly unexplainable feeling.

The more he thought about it the more it confused him though. Based on all of the things that he had been told throughout his entire life he knew that mares and stallions were different and that this was apparently an immutable fact (or at least it seemed like that was the case with how often everypony reminded him of these things).

The reason he was thinking about all of these things was because of the answer he came up with to the question that haunted his mind.

The question? Why did he feel weird whenever he stared at Rainbow Dash?

The answer? He was…jealous of her appearance…for some reason…

After flight camp was done for the day and as these thoughts were still almost all that he could think about he knew that he had to get to the bottom of this.

“...Hey mom…Hey dad…” Butterscotch greeted his parents as he entered the house and placed his saddle bag on some hooks near the door.

“...Hello dear…” Mrs. Shy responded as she turned her attention away from the food she was preparing and towards her child.

“...Hey there sport…” Mr. Shy said as he lowered his newspaper. “...How was flight school today?”

“...It was fine…my flying skills have actually been improving a lot recently…” Butterscotch said as he walked over to the couch across from the sofa where his dad was sitting and laid down. “...but there is something else that I wanted to talk to you two about…”

“...Okay…” Mr. Shy says as he folds his newspaper and places it onto the coffee table in front of him. “...What’s on your mind, son?”

“...I just wanted to ask…what would you two have named me…if I were…a mare?”

Even though the Shy family household was usually quite peaceful and silent (aside from when some of Zephyr’s more “creative” and noisy projects broke it) this silence was anything but peaceful.

It was a tense and awkward silence that nobody particularly wanted to be the first to break, but eventually someone had to be the one to do so.

…That being Mr. Shy…

“...Uh…why do you ask, son?” Mr. Shy responds with a more neutral tone than the more shy and reserved one he usually had.

Butterscotch takes a deep breath before steeling himself to give a response.

“...I ask that because…I have been having some thoughts lately…thoughts about…what it means to be a stallion…and what it means to be a mare…”

Mr and Mrs. Shy glance at each other as they both held expressions of disbelief.

“...Well…” Mrs. Shy says as she walks out of the kitchen and into the living room taking the conversation away from her husband. “...Those are both things that you are born as sweetie…Some ponies are born stallions while others are born mares…it’s as simple as that…”

“...If that’s the case…then why do I feel…jealous…when I stare at my mare friend…I mean…my friend who just happens to be a mare?”

“...I think that means that you are in love with her, son…” Mrs. Shy comes over to lay down next to her husband as he places a hand on her shoulder.

“...No, it’s not that…I already considered that and it wasn’t the answer I was looking for…I am…I think I’m jealous…of the fact that she is a mare…and that I’m not…”

Silence quickly fills the room yet again.

It is eventually broken my Mr. Shy yet again.

“...Is…” Mr. Shy says as he smells the air around him. “...Is that smoke?”

All three ponies turn towards the kitchen and realize that the stove had caught fire.

“...Oh dear…” Mrs. Shy said in a voice that seemed too calm for the situation that she was currently in. “...I forgot about the food…”

“...We…We will talk more about this later…” Mr. Shy says as he pats Butterscotch on the shoulder. “...Us grownups will take care of this…and it’s probably a good time for you to start on your homework for today, son…”

Mrs. Shy quickly grabs a fire extinguisher and puts out the flames before they do too much damage to the kitchen.

Butterscotch sighs and slowly walks up the stairs and into his room. He thinks about slamming the door closed for a second, but thinks better of it as he falls onto his bed, grabs a pillow, and wraps his arms around it with a hug as he begins to cry himself to sleep.

Chapter Text

Butterscotch arrived a little late to flight school the next day after a rough and mostly sleepless night. Even though he cleaned the tear streaks that stained his face before he left that morning he still had bags under his eyes.

“Hey Butterscotch!” Rainbow Dash greets him. “Woah, you don’t look too good. You okay?”

“...I’m…I’m fine…don’t worry about it…” Butterscotch meekly responds.

“...If you say so…” Rainbow Dash says with a shrug even though she was still a little worried. “You wanna join me for a few laps around the flight course? We’ll go at your pace.”

Butterscotch nods and they take off.

It was a strange feeling. What used to seem so daunting and scary was almost second nature to him now. It was kind of surreal, but in a good way.

They flew in relative silence for the first couple of laps, but eventually Butterscotch built up the courage to bring up what was on his mind.

“...Hey Dash?” Butterscotch finally manages to say.

“What’s up?” Rainbow responds nonchalantly.

“...This might seem like a weird thing for me to say…but just let me explain myself before you say anything…please…”

Rainbow nods and turns her attention towards her friend. She wasn’t particularly worried about not paying attention to where she was flying. She knew the course more than well enough to fly it blindfolded if she had to.

“...I…I think…that I am…” Butterscotch takes a deep breath before he steels his nerves enough to continue. “...I think I’m jealous of you…”

“...Is that it?” Rainbow responds with an exhale of relief. “Everypony’s jealous of my flying abilities. That’s not weird at all.”

“...That…that’s not what I mean…” Butterscotch continues as a small blush appears on his face. “...I think I am jealous…of your appearance…”

“...Oh!” Rainbow said as a blush appeared on her face as well. “...I…I’m flattered Butterscotch…but I am not currently looking for a romantic relationship…I just want to hone my flying skills for now…”

“That’s not what I meant either!” Butterscotch yells out as his blush intensifies. “...What I meant to say…is that I think that I am jealous of the fact…that you’re a mare…and that I’m not…”

Rainbow stares at her friend in a confused silence. She was trying to formulate some sort of response to comfort her friend, but was coming up blank. This is honestly the first time Rainbow Dash had ever heard of anypony being unhappy about their gender.

“...Rainbow…”

Even though Butterscotch just called out her name she didn’t hear it. She was suddenly too lost in thought.

“...Uh…Rainbow…”

‘I think I’ll ask my parents about this later. Maybe they’d know something about what Butterscotch was going through.’ Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

“Rainbow Dash!” Butterscotch yells out.

“What?” Rainbow was finally able to hear Butterscotch again, but it was too late…

…Because she just crashed into a pole muzzle first…

“...I was just trying to tell you to watch out for that pole…”

“…Ugh…thanks for the heads up, Butterscotch…” Rainbow responds with a hoof on her head as she tries to recenter herself.

“...I’m sorry for distracting you…” Butterscotch says as tears start to well up at the corners of his eyes. “...Just forget that I said anything…”

As Butterscotch starts sobbing he quickly flies down to the nearest cloud and trots off.

“Butterscotch, wait!” Rainbow yells out to her friend, but he wasn’t able to hear her.

Butterscotch wasn’t exactly sure where he was running towards, but he just knew that he had to run. He didn’t even know exactly what he was running away from either.

Was it his parents? Was it Rainbow Dash? Was it his own thoughts and feelings?

He didn’t have an answer for this. He just needed to run.

…He probably should have been running with his eyes open though…

…Because Butterscotch just ran off the side of the clouds and was plummeting all the way down towards the ground…

…When Butterscotch realized the situation that he was in he just started screaming…

…Even though he knew how to fly and could have easily gotten out of this situation he was frozen in fear…

…As the ground quickly approached he closed his eyes as his short life flashed before his eyes and braced for impact…

…

‘...Huh…’

…

‘...Shouldn’t I have hit the ground by now?’ Butterscotch thought to himself with a sense of both surprise and relief.

…He was eventually able to open his eyes again…

…and he was being carried by a swarm of butterflies…

The butterflies then gently placed Butterscotch onto the ground as he stared at both them and his surroundings in awe.

…He was so overcome with emotion that he almost burst out into song right on the spot…

…That didn’t actually end up happening, but he was really close to doing it though…

What he did do though is suddenly hear a lot of soft murmuring around himself.

After a brief investigation into his surroundings he soon realized that what he was hearing were all of the animals in the meadow and trees around him.

There were birds, bunnies, and squirrels along with the butterflies that rescued him of course.

He suddenly felt a strong breeze as he looked up into the sky to notice an interesting aerial phenomenon.

…It was a rainbow…but somehow in the shape of a giant ring…

‘Is that a sonic rainboom?’ Butterscotch thought to himself as he then noticed all of the animals cowering in the brush besides him.

“...Shh…it’s okay…” Butterscotch said as he approached a bush full of cowering bunnies who were somehow almost immediately soothed by the sound of his voice.

He then walked over to a hole in a tree that was full of cowering squirrels.

“You can come out.” He said as the squirrels became calm as well.

He then walks over to a pond full of frogs and sticks his head in.

“Everything’s okay.” He said as the frogs were also immediately calmed and hopped out of the water.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Butterscotch says to a group of ducks who were hiding in a cloud who then followed him back down to the ground.

Soon enough, Butterscotch was sitting on the grass surrounded by dozens of small and cute animals who seemed to be calmed by his presence.

He looked over to his side and noticed a small white bunny nuzzling him.

He then looked a little further back and noticed that he had a cutie mark.

It was of three pink and blue butterflies.

‘...Huh…I wonder when that happened?’ Butterscotch thought to himself as he enjoyed the serenity of the meadow.

Chapter Text

Butterscotch continued to wander around this strange new world. Well, a world that was new to him at least. He was always quite introverted so he didn’t really explore much beyond what was required of him.

He was constantly amazed by the things that he saw. Dense forests full that were teeming with diverse wildlife that he had never seen before, waterfalls that cascaded down into rivers that seemingly went on forever, and cliffs that gave him a great vantage point of some of the most breathtaking sights that he had ever seen.

After a while he decided that he didn’t really feel like returning to Cloudsdale. Not anytime soon at least. That is when he decided that he was going to start living on the ground from here on out.

With the help of the animals that he had befriended he began to build a shelter for himself. The architecture was modeled after the cottages that he would read about in books as a kid. He always found them charming and cozy and that was precisely the type of home he would like to live in.

After a lot of hard work and sweat he eventually made a structure that he was proud of.

Sure, it was a bit rough around the edges and would use a lot more work to really emulate the exact image that he had in his head, but this was more than good enough for now.

He then set up shelters for a lot of his animal friends as well even though most of them were more than capable of taking care of themselves. After all, he would have never been able to build his own house without their help so it was only fair of him to do so.

Over the next couple of years he lived a simple yet peaceful life.

With that being said, he hadn’t talked to any other ponies in a few years at this point. He thought that his animal friends were more than enough to keep him good company though.

After all, his animal friends would never yell at him or bully him. That was only a thing that other ponies would do.

…Well, that is what Butterscotch thought at the time at least…

As time went on one specific animal friend of his began to get increasingly demanding, impatient, and mean.

At one point Butterscotch considered Angel Bunny his best friend in the entire world, but it seemed like he cared more about using Butterscotch than anything else.

He even started getting violent and occasionally hit him for basic mistakes such as not having the exact right ingredients in his salad and being slightly late when it came to feeding him.

He was starting to become disillusioned with the ground and whatever magical feeling it originally gave him was now a pleasant yet distant memory.

At this point the bullies that used to pick on him at flight school seemed like a bad dream from a bygone era.

It seems like a new bully just decided to take their place.

Butterscotch never imagined he would think such a thing before, but he was beginning to hate Angel Bunny.

Even though he wasn’t nearly as timid as he was before he still wasn’t even close to brave enough to confront Angel about this.

If he was being honest he felt trapped and he desperately wished for a way to escape from this different yet new box that he was unwillingly placed inside of.

He thought that there wasn’t anything to do about his current situation aside from doing what he practically had always done.

Trying to pretend the problem wasn’t there so it would just go away by itself.

This never worked before and would most likely never work in the present or future either.

He knew something had to change, but he didn’t know how.

That was until one fateful day in which he got a knock on his cottage door.

…The first knock that he had ever gotten for as long as he lived here…

He was both anxious yet curious about the origin of the noise as he slowly yet surely made his way over to the door.

When he opened the door he fully expected a pony to be standing outside, but he didn’t end up seeing anything because nopony was there.

He did see a flyer on the back of his door though.

“...Huh…I wonder what this could be?” Butterscotch said as he picked up the flyer to read it.

It was an advertisement with a picture of a minotaur on it giving a thumbs up.

‘...Iron Will’s assertiveness seminar will turn any coward of a colt into a stud of a stallion! Satisfaction one hundred percent guaranteed! Full refund available for all who aren’t fully satisfied with their results…’

“...Hmm…” Butterscotch said as he gave the flyer some thought. “...That doesn’t sound like something that I would enjoy…”

He turned around and saw Angel Bunny angrily thumping a paw against the ground with a scowl on his face as he stood next to his empty food bowl.

“...But it might be something that I need…”

Butterscotch approached the location of the seminar as stated on the advertisement.

When he got there he immediately noticed a large crowd of ponies standing before a stage.

As he looked around he noticed that just about every single one of the ponies around him were bigger than he was. That wasn’t specifically because they were all big and muscular or anything like that though. It was mostly because of how small and weak Butterscotch was.

Even after all of his flight training back in the day he was still far and away the weakest flier in his entire class.

Another thing that he noticed as he looked around is that each and every one of the ponies around him was either a colt or a stallion. There was not a single mare or filly to be seen.

‘What a statistical improbability.’ Butterscotch thought to himself. ‘I am aware that these types of things probably appealed to stallions a lot more than they did to mares, but I didn’t know that it would be literally all stallions.’

He held up the poster for the seminar in his hoof and reread it. That is when he reread the part that said ‘will turn any coward of a colt into a stud of a stallion’.

Before he could come to any sort of further conclusion as to why this was the case as smoke machines began to fill the stage and as the curtains flew open to reveal a buff blue minotaur. The same buff blue minotaur who was on the poster for the seminar.

“MY NAME IS IRON WILL AND TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF YOUR NEW LIFE!”

Chapter Text

“I wanna hear you stomp if you’re tired of being a pushover!”

The audience burst into a combination of stomping and cheers.

“I wanna hear you stomp if you’re tired of being a doormat!”

The audience continues to stomp and cheer.

“Stomp if you wanna pay nothing for this seminar!”

The audience anticipated doing the same thing as before, but they mostly stopped as confused looks appeared on their faces.

“That's no joke, friends. Iron Will is so confident that you will be one hundred percent satisfied with Iron Will's assertiveness techniques, that if you are not one hundred percent satisfied, You. Pay. Nothing. But I pity the fool who doubts Iron Will's methods!”

Iron Will immediately points at a random pony near the front of the crowd.

“You don't doubt me, do you?”

“...Uh…No?” The pony responds sheepishly.

“...No…What? I couldn’t hear you!” Iron Will says as he cups his hand around his ear for emphasis.

“…No…No Sir!”

“Now that’s more like it!” Iron Will declares as he turns towards the rest of the crowd. “That, my friends, is your first lesson! Don’t be shy! Look ‘em in the eye!”

Iron Will strokes his goatee as he looks out at the crowd to search for a potential pony that he can use as an example to demonstrate the effectiveness of his methods.

“Now, to demonstrate that Iron Will's techniques will work for anypony, I'm gonna need a volunteer.”

‘He’ll do nicely.’ Iron Will thought to himself as he spotted a certain shy yellow pegasus.

“You! In the back row!” Iron Will shouts as he points directly at Butterscotch.

Butterscotch looked to each side of him before he realized that he was the pony that Iron Will was pointing at.

“...Who, me?” Butterscotch says with a dumbfounded expression.

“Yes you! Iron Will wants you on stage!”

Butterscotch looked for a path forward, but he couldn’t find a way through the crowd that didn’t involve pushing somepony else out of the way.

“...Uh…well…”

“Now!” Iron Will says as he stomps his hoof. “Iron Will wants you on stage now!”

Instead of plowing through the crowd like some sort of brute, Butterscotch decides to take the long way by going around the audience entirely and going up onto the stage from the side.

“...Um…I’m on stage now Mr. Will…” Butterscotch says as he looks down at his hooves.

Iron Will smacks his palm against his face.

“You were supposed to go through the crowd! You know, assert yourself!” Iron Will says as he gestures towards the audience. “That's kinda the whole point of this entire thing!”

“...That’s not very nice…”

“It’s not supposed to be nice! It’s a showcase to prove one's assertiveness!” Iron Will says as he flexes his arms while pointing towards Butterscotch.

“...This was a waste of time…” Butterscotch says as he attempts to walk off the stage.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Iron Will shouts as he quickly blocks Butterscotch’s path as he exhales smoke through his nostrils in a show of bravado and intimidation.

“...I’m trying to leave…”

“...Then leave…” Iron Will says as he crosses his arms while standing his ground.

“...I can’t…” Butterscotch says as tears begin to form at the corners of his eyes.

“Why is that?”

“...Because…you are…in my way…”

“Yes I am! What are you gonna do about it?” Iron Will taunts as he pokes Butterscotch in the muzzle.

Butterscotch sighs, takes a couple of steps back, and flies over Iron Will and off of the stage.

“...Uh…that…wasn’t supposed to happen…” Iron WIll says as he rubs the back of his neck.

Butterscotch walked over to the booth where he bought his ticket as a goat sheepishly returned his bits. Butterscotch then decided to walk back home.

“That’s what you call being assertive?” A random pony in the audience shouts out.

“...What was supposed to happen is that he was supposed to shove me out of the way…that would have led into my next assertiveness catchphrase…When somepony tries to block…show them that you rock…”

The crowd silently judged the minotaur for a moment until somepony decided to break the silence.

“Boo!”

After that the crowd began to erupt into a cacophony of jeers and insults.

“What a pushover!”

“That was lame!”

“I want a refund!”

The crowd disperses. Some of them immediately left while others began to argue with the goats at the ticket booths so that they could also get refunds.

“...Uh…Next town?” Iron Will looks at one of his goat assistants with a shrug.

Butterscotch returned back to his cottage and immediately went to lay down on the couch in the front room.

“...Ugh…That’s one way to waste a day…”

Like clockwork, Angel Bunny hops over to the couch and scowls at Butterscotch.

“...Not now Angel!” Butterscotch says with a particularly intense stare.

Angel is taken aback by this show of assertiveness and immediately backs off.

“...Huh…I can’t believe that worked…” Butterscotch says with a confused look on his face.

“...Maybe I have some sort of special ability that allows me to control animals if I glare at them hard enough…” Butterscotch says as he shakes his head when he realizes just how ridiculous that idea was. “...but what are the odds of that?”

Even though Butterscotch didn’t notice the difference at first, he eventually realized that Angel Bunny had immediately become more reasonable and respectful towards him after he glared at him before.

“...Well, I’m glad that I’m not afraid to exist in my own home anymore…” Butterscotch said as he layed in his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Butterscotch then let out a deep sigh.

“...I can’t believe that I am saying this, but I am getting bored of solitude…” Butterscotch says as he begins to feel a bit of ennui. “...Maybe getting some actual pony friends wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all…”

He then forces himself to get up and out of his bed.

“...Alright, let's go outside and make some friends today…”

Butterscotch does his morning routine and approaches the door of his cottage.

He takes a deep breath before steeling himself and opening the door.

He had heard about a town that was supposed to be near his cottage, but he had never decided to actually go into the town until now.

He also heard a few things about the town. He heard that it was a rural town full of simple ponies. He also heard that it made most of its money through food sales and exports ranging from apples to hay burgers and a myriad of different baked goods.

With that being said, there was one thing he had heard that was far and away the biggest defining feature of the town.

Apparently, it had a reputation for being full of some of the most kind, considerate, and accepting ponies in all of Equestria.

Butterscotch eventually reached a sign that was posted a ways outside of the town.

The sign read “Welcome to Ponyville!”

Chapter Text

Before he decided to walk into town Butterscotch spent some time just staring at the sign posted a ways before the town’s entrance.

‘Welcome to Ponyville!’

‘I hope that I am actually welcome and that this isn’t just a kind yet meaningless platitude meant to make tourists feel good.’ Butterscotch thought before he took a deep breath and finally walked towards the town.

As he entered the town he looked around at the architecture of the buildings. They were mostly wooden buildings that would have been right at home during the medieval period of Euro-Gallup, but were noticeably more vibrant and colorful.

It didn’t take too long for him to run into another pony though.

This phrase is usually just metaphorical (even though it would still make sense in this scenario), but Butterscotch literally just ran into another pony.

The pony in question was an earth pony and had a bright pink coat and a slightly darker pink mane.

“...Uh…Hello?” Butterscotch asked the pink pony.

The pink pony doesn’t give a normal response. She instead just gasps for an uncomfortably long amount of time before running away.

“...Well, that was interesting…” Butterscotch said in a confused tone as he began to take a self guided tour around the town.

Most of the places in the town were to be expected (a school, a general store, a town hall), but the town did have a few unique locations. There was a library that was built into a giant tree, a store that seemed to only sell quills and sofas for some reason, and a place that peeked Butterscotch’s interest in particular which was a clothing store that was modeled after an amusement park carousel.

Butterscotch took a deep breath before knocking on the front door of the building.

“Be there in a second, darling!” A pony says with a strong Trans-Atlantic accent.

After hearing about a minute or so of shuffling noises from inside the shop the door finally opens while being accompanied by the sound of a small bell.

“What can I do for you, sir?” A white unicorn with a curly purple mane asks. She was also wearing glasses and had what seemed to be a cloth measuring tape around her neck.

“...Oh…Hi…Um…” Butterscotch stutters out as he purposely avoids the gaze of the porcelain white unicorn. “...I was just…wondering if I could…browse your shop…”

“You most certainly can, darling. The name’s Rarity by the way. Might I ask yours?” The unicorn introduces herself as she throws a hoof over Butterscotch’s shoulder while leading him into the boutique.

“...Uh…my name is…Butterscotch…” The yellow pegasus shyly squeaks out.

“What a fabulous name! Fitting too as you do resemble the color of butter.”

“...I…um…thanks…” Butterscotch says as he is led towards a clothing rack.

“I do apologize for the relatively small selection. The vast majority of my customers are mares, but I still try my best to make sure everypony feels fabulous so I do try to keep some options for stallions as well.”

The rack was mostly full of dress shirts and suit jackets of various patterns, colors, and sizes. There was also a small display of accessories off to the side of it which mostly consisted of top hats and bow ties.

“Of course if none of these options are to your liking I could always make a new ensemble for you.” Rarity uses her magic to grab her measuring tape from around her neck and begins to use it to take Butterscotch’s measurements.

“...Oh…that’s alright…” Butterscotch says as he does his best to try and ignore how close Rarity was to him at the moment. “...I was just planning on browsing today…I don’t have enough bits to buy something from you even if I wanted to…”

“Well, it would still be good to have your measurements written down…you know…just in case…” Rarity says as she uses her magic to float a small journal and a pen to her location and begins to jot something down.

“...Just in case…what?” Butterscotch responds with his head cocked to the side in confusion.

“In the case that you might eventually want to buy a custom made outfit from me. With that being said, even if you never end up buying anything from me it would still be good information for me to have. You know what they say. It’s better to have something you don’t need than to need something you don’t have.” Rarity says as she continues to alternate between taking Butterscotch’s measurements and writing them down. “...and…Done!”

“...Well…thank you Rarity…” Butterscotch says as he heads towards the door. “...It was nice meeting you…”

“...Leaving so soon?” Rarity asks as she follows a few steps behind him.

“...Yeah…this was nice, but I have some other things I planned on doing today…” Butterscotch says as he is holding the door of the shop half open. “...I’ll definitely come back soon enough though…”

Rarity sighs in slight disappointment.

“...Well, it was nice to meet your acquaintance as well, Butterscotch. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.”

Butterscotch gives Rarity a small wave and leaves the boutique.

Butterscotch wasn’t lying when he said he enjoyed meeting Rarity, but if he was being honest he did find her to be a bit much.

As he continues to wander the town he eventually finds a sign that points down a path.

‘Sweet Apple Acres’ the sign read with an arrow that points down a dirt road.

Butterscotch follows this path until he reaches a farmhouse that was surrounded by hundreds of apple trees.

“Howdy!” Greets the voice of a currently unseen pony with a Southern accent.

Butterscotch turns around to see the pony that said voice belongs to. She was an orange earth pony with a blonde mane that was tied back into a ponytail. With that being said the first thing that Butterscotch noticed was the large brown cowboy (cowgirl?) hat she was wearing. She was currently carrying a large basket full of apples on her back.

“...Um…Hi…”

“I’m just gonna go put these down in the barn. I wasn’t expectin’ company today, but with a family as large as ours random visits like this aren’t a surprise. I was just about done with work for the day anyways.”

“...Oh no…” Butterscotch says as he frantically waves his front hooves. “...I’m not related to you…at least…I don’t think I am…”

“Ah! Must be a customer then!” Applejack says as she puts the basket of apples down onto the floor of the barn right next to a few dozen near identical baskets. “What can I do fer ya?”

“...I actually…wasn’t here for any particular reason…” Butterscotch says as he glances out towards the apple orchard. “...Those are some pretty trees…”

“Thank you kindly, sir!” Applejack says as she tips her hat. “These trees are my family’s pride and joy. I’ve been taking care of them for just about my entire life.”

“...Sounds like a lot of work…”

“It ain’t nothing. I’m more than used to any problem that this farm could throw at me.”

Butterscotch nods and turns his head back towards the trees.

“...Nature sure is beautiful…”

“That it is.” Applejack replies as she trots towards Butterscotch to join him.

The two ponies stand in silence to admire the natural beauty of the orchard.

Applejack takes a deep breath before breaking the silence.

“Well, I should probably go tell my brother that it is just about lunch time.” Applejack trots out into the orchard to search for him before turning around to look toward Butterscotch “By the way, would you like ta join us for lunch? Us Apples always have an extra seat.”

“...Yes…I’d like that…”

With that, Butterscotch joined the Apple family for lunch. As he enjoyed a variety of apple themed food he was introduced to the three other Apples. An energetic younger sister with yellow coat and red mane who dominated the conversation throughout the entirety of the meal, a quiet and reserved older brother with a red coat and an orange mane who barely spoke a word the entire time Butterscotch was there, and an elder matriarch with a green coat and grey mane tied back into a bun who alternated between telling stories from her youth and falling asleep.

After Butterscotch was full he decided to take his leave. He waved towards the Apples as he walked back towards Ponyville to continue his tour of the town.

As Butterscotch re-entered the town he was quickly approached by the pink pony that he ran into earlier.

"Hello again! I am so so so very excited to meet you!" The pink pony shouted with excitement. "I have something that I want to show you! Don't ask about it though, because it's a surprise! Well, is it really a surprise if I'm telling you about it right now? I'm not sure, but if you follow me I'll lead you to it!"

“...Um…who are you?” Butterscotch says as he takes a couple of steps backwards. He almost immediately felt overwhelmed by how fast and loud she was speaking.

"Silly me! I forgot to introduce myself! My name's Pinkie Pie! That's my name because I am pink and I love pie! Well, that's how I assume my parents came up with it anyway! Also, while it is true that I love pie, I also love cakes and cookies and basically every other dessert that exists so I am not sure why they chose to name me after pie specifically! I don't mind it though because I do love pie!"

“...Oh…My name is…Butterscotch…” He replies as he begins to acclimate to the energy of this conversation.

“I know!” Pinkie Pie instantly responds.

“...How?” He says as he cocks his head to the side in genuine confusion.

"I talked with Rarity earlier and she was telling me about this yellow pegasus with a pink mane she met and I said "No way, I just met a yellow pegasus with a pink mane for the first time today too" and then we talked about you for a while! She told me that your name was Butterscotch sometime during that conversation!"

“...Um…okay…I guess that makes sense...”

“We're here!” Pinkie Pie exclaims.

“...Where are we exactly?” Butterscotch asks. This was his first time visiting Ponyville after all. It makes sense that he hasn't memorized the entire town yet.

“At your surprise, silly!” Pinkie Pie says as she leads Butterscotch inside of the tree library that he saw earlier in the day.

Butterscotch follows Pinkie Pie into the tree and looks up.

He saw a banner that read ‘WELCOME TO PONYVILLE BUTTERSCOTCH!’ spelt with big block letters, colored with the entirety of the rainbow, and covered in glitter.

“SURPRISE!” Pinkie Pie shouts.

“...What is this? Butterscotch says as he stands there in confusion.

"It's your welcome to Ponyville party! I throw a welcome to Ponyville party for every new pony that comes to Ponyville!"

“...Why?” Butterscotch asks. He genuinely doesn't understand why someone would do something like this for him. Ponies were never this nice to him before.

“Because I wanted to welcome you to Ponyville!” Pinkie Pie says with a beaming smile. “Everypony deserves a welcoming party!”

Butterscotch feels his cheek.

‘Wait, why am I crying?’ Butterscotch thought to himself.

Butterscotch never felt this welcomed anywhere in his entire life. He was either bullied or ignored through most of his adolescence and he spent most of his teenage years in solitude. It was just a bizarre feeling to be treated with such kindness. It was a welcome one though.

“...Thank you…” Butterscotch says as tears of joy begin to stream down his cheeks. “...Thank you so much…”

“...Don’t mention it…” Pinkie Pie responds with a more reserved voice as she wraps a hoof around Butterscotch’s shoulders and leans her head against his. “...This is just what friends do…”

After Butterscotch lets out the rest of his emotions he allows himself to enjoy the party. Even though he usually doesn’t like loud noises or large crowds, he’ll make an exception if only for today.

Chapter Text

Butterscotch’s decision to force himself to go to Ponyville in order to make some friends earlier that day was far more successful than he ever could have imagined it to be. He now had three ponies that he thinks that he might just consider friends.

‘Is it too quick for me to consider them my friends already?’ Butterscotch thought to himself as he layed in his bed. ‘What is the difference between a friend and an acquaintance? Is it the amount of time you’ve known them or is it more about the quality of the time that you’ve spent together. Maybe I am overthinking this.’

The party that Pinkie Pie threw him was…a lot, but he would be lying if he said that he didn’t have fun. Rarity and Applejack were actually there too and he got to know all three of his new ‘friends’ a little more.

Even though he was absolutely exhausted this is probably the most fun Butterscotch has had in years.

The most fun that he’s had since…Rainbow Dash…

Thinking about Rainbow Dash usually made Butterscotch feel weird and this time was no different.

How was he supposed to know that he would fall off the clouds and never see her again?

If he’d known that he probably would have done something different.

…Or that’s what he’d like to think at least…

Whatever the case may be, he would really like to talk to her again.

In the midst of this melancholic feeling, Butterscotch eventually drifted off to sleep.

Butterscotch suddenly opens his eyes.

‘Huh.” He thinks to himself. ‘This isn’t my cottage.’

He gets up and off the bed that wasn’t where he fell asleep last night and begins to analyze his surroundings.

He soon realizes that this was his childhood bedroom.

‘What am I doing here? I haven’t been in this room in years?’

That was his nightstand with the broken middle drawer. That was his desk that was covered in half read fiction novels and sketch books filled with crude crayon drawings of stick figure ponies in dresses and random forest animals. That was his closet full of the clothes that he only wore when he absolutely had to.

Everything was just where he last remembered leaving them.

Eventually he wanders over towards his full body mirror and looks at it.

Mirrors were usually weird in dreams. They usually don’t follow the same logic here as they do in reality. What they show are sometimes semi-accurate depictions of the self with some small distortions while other times they show you something that is distinctly not you. Whether that be one of your friends or family members, a stranger, a character from a story, a monster, or simply just absolute nonsense seems like they are chosen at absolute random.

All that your dreams do is pull things from your own memory and make crude recreations of them anyway.

That is not what Butterscotch saw when he looked into the mirror though.

…He saw a pony that looked fairly similar to himself with some minor differences…

…His hair was longer, he was slightly shorter, slightly thinner, and…

…and distinctly more feminine…

…It was as if he was looking into a mirror from an alternate reality in which he was born a mare…

…Her muzzle was smaller, her eyelashes were more pronounced…

…and she had a smile that was probably bigger than any he had ever given in his entire life…

Butterscotch was suddenly flooded with a feeling of jealousy.

‘Why don’t I look like that? Why is that not me?’

Butterscotch suddenly started crying in the dream.

He also suddenly woke up from the dream in a cold sweat.

He touched his cheek and noticed that there were tears streaming down his cheeks.

“...Huh…” Butterscotch says to himself. He wasn’t aware that you could cry in your dreams.

He got up, turned the light in his room on, and trotted over to his mirror.

What he saw was exactly what he expected to see.

He still had his stockier frame, his thicker limbs, and his more pronounced jawline.

Butterscotch teared up again at the sight of this.

He grabs one of his extra blankets and places it over the mirror so he couldn’t see into it anymore.

Butterscotch then lies back down on his bed and tries to go back to sleep, but sleep doesn’t come. His mind was too busy for that.

A thought suddenly appears in Butterscotch’s mind that shakes him to his core.

‘I want to be a mare.’

They were aware that they thought around this idea before, but this exact thought never popped into their head before. Maybe they were subconsciously afraid to even consider it. Maybe the idea was just too esoteric to them when they were younger.

‘I’ll try to research this at the library tomorrow. If there were a place I’d be able to find more information about this it would be there.’

They laid in their bed awake until Celestia raised the sun in the morning.

Butterscotch got out of bed, went through their morning routine, and began their walk to the Ponyville library.

They had actually arrived at the library before it opened that morning and decided to wait for it to open so that they could be the first pony inside for the day…aside from the librarian of course…

Butterscotch skimmed through books full of diagrams of pony anatomy, encyclopedias of medical terminology, and even a few books that cataloged mental disorders.

They couldn’t find exactly what they were looking for though.

…So Butterscotch did something that they had never done before…

They decided to ask the librarian a question!

“...Um…Hello…” Butterscotch breaks the ice as they attempt to hide behind their mane.

“Welcome to the library.” An older grey mare with reading glasses greets them. “Did you have a question?”

“...Yes…I…I was just wondering…if…you…had any books about…gender…”

A small yet knowing smile appears on the librarian’s face.

The librarian walks over to a shelf, uses her magic to pick up the book, and brings it back towards her desk.

“I think this book is what you’re looking for.”

Butterscotch picks up the book and looks at its cover.

‘Gender Dysphoria: An Introduction To Transgender Ponies.’

“...I…um…thank you…” Butterscotch sheepishly says as they walk towards one of the empty tables at the library and begin to read it.

Before they knew it Butterscotch read the entire book from cover to cover.

They rubbed their eyes and looked outside.

“...Huh…It’s getting dark already?”

“I assume you enjoyed the book?” The librarian asked as she approached Butterscotch.

“...Um…yes…it was very…informative…”

“I am glad that you liked it.” The librarian says with a smile.

“...May I check this book out…” Butterscotch asks as they place the book on the librarian’s desk.

“Yes you may.” The librarian responds as she opens the book, stamps the return card, and hands it back.

Butterscotch places the book into their saddle bag and prepares to walk back to their cottage.

…That is until Butterscotch sees a flyer hanging outside of a building they were walking past…

…and then stared at it for the next couple of minutes straight…

‘Ponyville Drag Night!’ The flyer read.

Chapter Text

Butterscotch was still transfixed by this flyer.

“Hey there, Butterscotch!” A familiar and friendly voice calls out. “It’s nice to see you again!”

Butterscotch turns to see Pinkie Pie trotting towards them.

“...Oh…Hello Pinkie Pie…Thank you for the party yesterday…”

“Don’t mention it! I’m just happy that I was able to make you happy!”

Butterscotch nods and looks back at the flyer again. Pinkie follows Butterscotch’s gaze to see what they were looking at.

“Hey Butterscotch, are you interested in going to the Ponyville drag show?” Pinkie Pie excitedly asks.

“...Um…Yeah…I was actually kind of interested in going to it…” Butterscotch says with a slight blush on their face.

“I’m happy to hear that! I am actually one of the ponies that helps with organizing that show! I could even get you a free ticket if you want!”

“...I think that I’d like that…” Butterscotch says with a small smile.

“Awesome!” Pinkie Pie exclaims. “I can’t wait to see you there! I also can’t wait for the show itself even though it is a couple of weeks away and we are going to have to do quite a lot more waiting until it actually happens. Still, it’s going to be so much fun!”

“...Thank you Pinkie Pie…” Butterscotch says in response. “...I can’t wait to see the show either…”

Since it was getting late, Butterscotch decided to call it a day and head back home.

After reading that book and talking with Pinkie Pie they feel so much better than they did the night before. Instead of just worrying without knowing exactly what they were worrying about they now have an idea of what is going on with them and a friend that they know would support them.

Butterscotch walks back into their room and takes a look at the mirror again.

“You know what? Now that I kind of understand what I’m going through, staring in the mirror doesn’t feel nearly as bad as before.” Butterscotch talks to themself while analyzing their reflection.

“I mean, I have quite a bit that I want to work on, but at least I have a goal to work towards now.”

Butterscotch closes their eyes and takes a deep breath. They think that they are finally ready to accept this.

“I am a transgender mare.” Butterscotch says into the mirror.

‘...That…felt…weird…” Butterscotch thought to herself. ‘...It didn’t feel bad to say…just kind of different I guess…I’ll probably get used to it…’

“...Whew…since I was finally able to admit that to myself…maybe I should start thinking of a new name…”

The currently nameless mare thinks to herself for a little while.

“...I don’t think I entirely hate Butterscotch, but I definitely don’t want that to be my name anymore. Do I want my name to be completely different though?”

“...Maybe I’ll do something that rhymes with my old name…what rhymes with butter…” She lists her options to herself out loud. “…Cutter…gutter…mutter…no…none of those work…”

She then looks back in the mirror and takes a glance down towards her cutie mark.

“...Butterfly…no…that doesn't exactly work…but it’s not a bad place to start either…I don’t think I want something that starts with butter anyways…” She thinks that she is on to something. “...Maybe something that sounds like butterfly…”

“...Clutterfly…Flutterfly…Flutterbye…” She felt like the name was on the tip of her tongue now.

‘...Oh…I think that could work…’ She thinks to herself as a name idea pops into her head.

“...What about…Fluttershy? It rhymes with butterfly and matches my personality…”

A warm and fuzzy feeling flowing throughout her entire body.

“...Woah…” She says as she spends a moment just taking this all in. “...Yeah…Yeah, I think that’s it!”

She walks over to her mirror.

“...Hello…my name is Fluttershy…”

Fluttershy has now made it a routine to head into Ponyville at least a couple days a week. She now also spends quite a lot of time with her three new friends.

She and Rarity regularly discuss clothing and fashion along with going to the Ponyville spa together sometimes.

She and Applejack spend time talking about animals and how to care for them and frequently joins the rest of her family for meals. She even brings her own food to share with them on occasion.

She and Pinkie Pie baked sweets together (even though it was mostly Pinkie Pie showing her how to bake since she didn’t have a lot of baking experience before she met her), she attended some more of Pinkie Pie’s parties that she threw for other ponies, and Pinkie has been inviting her to other random events around town almost every other day.

Fluttershy didn’t mind this at all though. She was just really happy that she had friends that wanted to spend time with her.

The only thing is that she still hasn’t told any of them about her identity and new name yet. She knew that Pinkie Pie would understand and that Rarity would probably also be fine with it, but wasn’t exactly sure about how Applejack would respond.

In her research about her identity she came across quite a few instances of ponies hating other ponies for being transgender. She didn’t really understand why this was the case, but oftentimes the reason for hate is a lack of understanding anyways so even if there was a reason it most likely wasn’t going to be a reason worth listening to.

Still, she hoped that her friends would react well if she came out to them. They probably will, but the fear is always there regardless of rationality.

So, Fluttershy decided to invite her friends over to a tea party and come out to them while they were there.

The day that Fluttershy set up for the tea party came rather quickly and she was getting her cottage prepared for the occasion.

As Fluttershy was setting the table Angel Bunny hopped over and started scowling at her and thumping his foot.

“Please be good today, Angel. I need this to go well.”

Angel crosses his arms.

“How about we make a deal? I’ll give you an extra carrot if you don’t bother me or my friends during the party?”

Angel holds out his paw.

Fluttershy glares at Angel, but quickly sighs and gives in.

“Here you go.”

After quickly swiping the carrot from Fluttershy, Angel happily hops away.

“...At least this is still an improvement over how he acted before…” Fluttershy says as she hears a knock on the door. “...Oh…they’re here…”

Fluttershy quickly flies over to the door, takes a deep breath, and then opens the door to greet her friends.

“...Hello…welcome in…” Fluttershy says as she holds the door open so her friends can enter her home.

“Hi Butterscotch!” Pinkie says as she bounces through the doorway. “Wow! What an awesome looking house! It’s so you!”

“It’s a pleasure to see you, darling!” Rarity says as she trots in and stops to look at some of Fluttershy’s decorations. “And I agree! This place is lovely! It has a sort of rustic charm to it.”

“Howdy!” Applejack says as she tips her hat to Fluttershy before she also takes a moment to admire the decor. “What a mighty fine place you got here.”

“...Thanks…You are all so kind…” Fluttershy says as she closes the door. “...Can I get you all something to drink?”

“Strawberry lemonade!”

“A cup of Earl Grey would be divine.”

“Ya got cider?”

“...Coming right up…” Fluttershy responds as she prepares their drinks. She’ll admit that she did buy some of these drinks specifically because she went out of her way to learn what kind of drinks her friends liked and wanted to make sure that she had them. Aside from it just being a nice thing to do and part of being a good host, she also just wanted to make sure that this tea party goes as well as it possibly can.

After Fluttershy served their drinks (along with making herself a cup of green tea) and brought over the food she prepared (which included diagonally cut daisy sandwiches, a fruit tray (mostly apples), and chocolate chip cookies) the ponies all sat down on the couch and chairs that surrounded the table.

“...So…” Fluttershy says as she starts some obligatory small talk. “...How have you all been doing?”

Pinkie Pie mostly talked about some of the parties she hosted over the last couple of days (some of which Fluttershy attended) and Applejack brought up some of the recent issues that have been popping up at her farm (animals were eating some of her crops, the barn doors needed to be fixed, and Applebloom along with her two other friends (apparently they called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders) ruined one of their wagons in another unsuccessful attempt in obtaining their cutie marks).

Rarity dominated most of the conversation though. She talked about how excited she was to work with some ponies that were high up in Equestria’s fashion world and she talked about some of the new outfit ideas she had (most of which involved gemstones), but mostly she was talking about some of the recent gossip that has been making it rounds in Ponyville.

After about an hour or so of pleasant conversation Fluttershy thought it was just about as good of a time as it could be for her to say what was on her mind.

“...Is everypony enjoying themselves?” Fluttershy says in an attempt to naturally lead into what she wants to say.

“Yes! This has been a great party!”

“It has been absolutely delightful!”

“You really know how to make a pony feel like they're at home.”

“...I’m glad that you are all enjoying yourselves…but…” Fluttershy steels herself for what she was about to say. “...there is actually another reason why I invited all of you here…”

The three other ponies suddenly become uncharacteristically silent as they wait to hear what Fluttershy is going to say.

“...I just wanted to tell all of you something…about myself…”

Silence returns to the room as Fluttershy builds up her courage to say what she was about to say.

“...What is it darling?” Rarity says with a sympathetic tone even though she was incredibly interested in what Fluttershy was about to say. “...You know you can tell us anything…Nopony is going to judge you here…”

Pinkie Pie and Applejack both nod in agreement.

‘Well, here goes nothing.’ Fluttershy thinks to herself before ripping the bandaid off.

“...I just wanted to let you all know…that I’m…transgender…” Fluttershy suddenly feels as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, but now a new and distinctly different weight has been placed onto her shoulders instead as she waits for her friends’ reactions. “...I am a transgender mare…”

After a brief moment of silence (which felt like an eternity to Fluttershy) Pinkie Pie is the first of the three to speak.

She quickly jumps over to Fluttershy to give her a hug. Rarity and Applejack follow to give her a hug soon after.

“I am so so so happy for you!”

Rarity is the next to speak up.

“I am so glad to hear that darling! There were so many outfits that I wanted you to try on, but I didn’t think that you would’ve wanted to wear them because of how feminine they were. With that being said, I am now going to have to try on each and every one of those outfits so mark a day in your schedule for that.”

Then there was Applejack.

“Aw shucks! Is that all? Family is family no matter what. This don’t change nothin’ between us.”

Fluttershy started feeling herself tear up again.

“...Thank you…thank you all so much…” Fluttershy says as her tears continue to flow. “...I was so happy to finally have friends…and I was so scared about losing you all…”

“I am happy that you trusted us enough to tell us this!” Pinkie Pie responds as tears start to form at the corners of her eyes as well.

The three of them continue to hug Fluttershy until she eventually stops crying.

“...So…did ya have a new name you wanted to try out?” Applejack asks.

“...Yes…I would like it if you all called me…Fluttershy…”

“I love it! I love it! I love it!” Pinkie Pie exclaims as she hugs Fluttershy even tighter. “Fluttershy! What a great name!”

“It suits you perfectly darling.”

Applejack sits there for a moment with her hoof on her chin.

“...I get it!” Applejack yells out. “It rhymes with butterfly and you're shy! That makes perfect sense!”

Eventually the group hug disbands and all of the ponies return to where they were sitting before.

“...Oh! Is that why you were wanting to go to the drag show?” Pinkie Pie asks.

“...Um…Yes…” Fluttershy says with a light blush. “...I just thought that it would be a good excuse to…dress more feminine…”

“You know clothes aren’t gendered and that anypony can wear anything?” Rarity responds. “I’ve been working in fashion long enough to see almost every type of pony of every gender wear every type of outfit.”

“...Yeah…I knew that…but…I was just kind of scared…and I thought it would be easier to wear something like that in a place where it would be more…socially acceptable to do so…”

“I get it, but Ponyville is an incredibly accepting place! Nopony would care about what you wear outside! Just wear what feels like you!” Pinkie Pie says with a soft smile on her face.

“...That’s what I’ve heard…I’m glad to know that this town's reputation is accurate…”

“Of course it is! Everypony in Ponyville is my friend and I wouldn’t be friends with somepony who isn’t accepting of LGBT ponies!”

“...Have…have ponies left Ponyville because of you?” Fluttershy asked with a concerned tone.

“...No…Of course not!” Pinkie says as she immediately becomes incredibly interested in the ceiling as she begins to whistle.

“Hey Fluttershy?” Applejack asks.

“...Yes?”

“Do you wanna be a part of the drag show?”

“...Maybe…”

“I am just askin’ because I think it would be a good way to help you become comfortable with yourself. Big Mac performs there all the time and I’ve never seen him more confident and outgoing than when he’s on that stage!” Applejack says as she places a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“...Is Big Mac trans too?” Fluttershy asks.

“...No…not as far as he’s told me at least…He just likes to crossdress from time to time.”

“...I…I’ll think about it…” Fluttershy says. She had a lot of things to process right now and whether she wants to be a part of the show or not would probably depend on what she is feeling at the moment. “...Okay…now that that’s out of the way…let’s get back to the tea party…”

The other three ponies nod and continue their conversation. They do talk about Fluttershy and her coming out for a little longer, but the conversation eventually pivots back to some more gossip that Rarity has heard.

Fluttershy just lets herself relax and be in the moment. Her friends accept her and she couldn't be happier.

Chapter Text

As sunlight poured in through her window Fluttershy woke up, got up from her bed, and started going through the motions of her morning routine.

Even though she recently realized that she was a girl her morning routine wasn’t that different than it usually was.

She still took a shower, brushed her teeth, and took care of her animals as usual. She also already had decently long hair before her realization and already took steps to learn how to care for it before. The only major difference now was that she started using some basic makeup, but only did so if she wasn’t planning on leaving her cottage that day. She was still afraid of doing anything too drastic to her appearance outside of her home.

That being said, alongside her small amount of makeup she also actually started her own wardrobe. Even though she did have some clothes from before back in Cloudsdale she only ever wore them if she had to go to some sort of party or event. While it’s true most ponies didn’t usually wear clothes it was still more common to see a mare wearing something over a stallion. Because of this she only had a small amount of clothing from before anyway.

Her current wardrobe mostly consists of things that she got from Rarity. A few blouses, a few skirts, a couple of dresses, and a couple of hair bows.

It wasn’t a lot of clothing, but they were hers.

She never really had to pack makeup (or even clothes) with her because it had never really been relevant to her before this point, but she wanted to be prepared because that night would finally be the night that she was waiting for over the last couple of weeks.

Fluttershy was going to the Ponyville drag show that night.

When the time came for her to leave she placed her saddlebag across her back, took a deep breath, and headed out the door of her cottage as she made her way to Ponyville.

As she made her way into the venue she was almost immediately blindsided by a certain hyperactive pink pony.

“AAAHH! Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie yelled out as she bear hugged her friend. “I am so glad that you were able to make it!”

“...Hey Pinkie…I am glad I was able to make it too…” Fluttershy says with a blush and a small smile on her face. “...I’ve actually been looking forward to this night for weeks, even though I have also been dreading this night for weeks…”

“That’s understandable!” Pinkie says as she releases Fluttershy from the hug. “Even though I haven’t really experienced it myself I have seen a lot of other ponies with stage fright. It might be a bit scary at first, but as you put yourself out there more it will get easier.”

“Howdy y’all!”

“What a pleasure it is to see you girls here!”

The ponies turn as Applejack and Rarity approach to greet Fluttershy as they each also give her a hug.

“So, are you going on stage tonight?” Rarity asks as she releases Fluttershy from the hug that she was giving her. “If you don’t want to, that's completely fine, but I do think it should do wonders for your confidence in the long run.”

“...I…I’ll think about it…” Fluttershy says as she glances back at her saddlebags.

“No pressure if you don’t wanna, Sugarcube.” Applejack says as she places her hoof over Fluttershy’s shoulders. “If ya do want to though, I could get Orchard Blossom to guide you through the process.”

“Big Mac’s performing tonight?” Rarity asks.

“Eeyup!” Applejack responds with a nod. “I almost always come here to support him.”

“...That's quite thoughtful of you…” Fluttershy says with a small blush. “...You are a good sister…”

“Oh, shucks!” Applejack says with a blush as she tries to cover her face up with the brim of her hat. “It ain’t that big of a deal!”

The girl's conversation is cut short by the sound of a microphone being turned on.

“Hello citizens of Ponyville!” a familiar voice calls out.

Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity look to their sides to see that Pinkie Pie was no longer next to them before they look back up at the stage and see that she was the one who was currently making announcements on stage.

“As you all probably already know my name’s Pinkie Pie and I will be your hostess this evening! We have quite the lineup of performers so I’ll try to be brief so we can get the show started soon! Do we have any new ponies in the crowd tonight?”

A cheer can be heard from the crowd as Fluttershy and a few other ponies raise their hooves.

“Are you sure? I’m fairly certain I’ve seen you here before, Cranky!” Pinkie says as she walks up to the old Donkey and nudges him on the shoulder.

Cranky blushes as he attempts to hide under his blonde toupee as Matilda tries to stifle a laugh.

“I’m just kidding! I hope you two enjoy the show!” Pinkie says as she trots back up onto the stage. “Before we get things started I should probably also give an introduction to our musical accompaniment! Put your hooves together for Octavia Melody and DJ Pon3!”

The spotlight pans over to the two musicians as Octavia waves at the audience while Vinyl gives a small nod.

The spotlight then pans back over to Pinkie.

“Alright! Without further ado! Let’s get this show started and invite our first performer to the stage! Mares, stallions, and everypony in between! Put your hooves together for the lovely Orchard Blossom!”

Pinkie quickly makes her way off the stage as the curtains open.

A red pony with tall blonde hair and a white and blue dress slowly trots out onto the stage and immediately begins to sing.

“Tumble out of bed and I stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition, and yawn and stretch and try to come to life!”

Applejack immediately begins to cheer.

“Jump in the shower and the blood start pumpin’, out on the street, the traffic starts jumpin’, with folks like me on the job from nine to five!”

The pony continues to sing the Apple Dolly hit as she slowly trots around the stage.

Eventually the song comes to an end and Orchard Blossom takes a bow. The crowd goes wild with stomps and cheers.

Orchard leaves through stage right and crosses paths with Pinkie as she makes her way to the center of the stage.

“Let’s give one more round of applause for Orchard Blossom!” Pinkie announces followed by more cheers and stomps. “Up next we have yet another returning performer who is sure to give us a show stopping performance with her magical charm! Give it up for the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

As Pinkie leaves the stage again a fog machine covers the stage as the curtain opens to reveal a blue unicorn in sparkling light blue spandex facing away from the audience.

Unlike Orchard Blossom who sang their entire song with their own voice, this is only a partial karaoke version of a song that still has some of the original chorus vocals included.

(It’s a kind of magic, It’s a kind of magic, a kind of magic!)

Right on cue Trixie finally turns around to face the crowd as she starts to sing the Pony Mercury classic.

“One dream, one soul, one prize, one goal, one golden glance of what should be!” (It’s a kind of magic)

Trixie stops to give the crowd a seductive wink before continuing her performance.

“One shaft of light that shows the way, no mortal mare can win this day, (It’s a kind of magic) The bell that rings inside your mind, is challenging the doors of time!” (It’s a kind of magic)

Trixie now slowly saunters towards the audience.

“The waiting seems eternity, the day with dawn of sanity!”

She trots towards Fluttershy and puts her hoof on her chin as she continues to sing.

“Is this a kind of magic?” (It’s a kind of magic)

Trixie then trots away as she continues to sing and entertain the rest of the crowd, but Fluttershy just sits there with a massive blush on her face.

Eventually Trixie's performance comes to an end and she gives the audience a bow before she also leaves the stage as Pinkie continues her hosting duties.

“Yet another great performance! Give it up for Trixie one more time!” Pinkie announces as she is yet again followed by more cheers from the audience. “I think it’s about time we take an intermission so if you need to get some more snacks, refill your drinks, or if you just need to get up and stretch your legs for a while then now is the time! The show will continue in about fifteen minutes!”

Pinkie then leaves the stage as ponies begin to get up from their seats.

“So, what do you think of the show so far?” Rarity asks as Fluttershy continues to sit there as she was practically frozen from Trixie’s performance.

Eventually Rarity tries to wave a hoof in front of her face to no avail.

“I guess she’s speechless?” Applejack says with a shrug.

“What are you three talking about?” Pinkie asks as the other three jump at her sudden appearance.

“We were trying to get Fluttershy’s attention, but it seems like you already solved that problem for us.” Rarity responds as she turns her attention back towards Fluttershy.

“Thoughts on the show?” Rarity rephrases her question as she is finally able to get Fluttershy’s attention.

“...That…was…incredible…” Is all Fluttershy is able to say with a noticeable and massive blush still on her face.

“...So…have you thought about whether or not you wanna be a part of the show tonight?” Applejack asks.

“...I…I think that I do…I think I actually might want to try to be part of the show…if that’s okay…” Fluttershy eventually is able to say.

“Then follow and I’ll get ya set up with Orchard backstage.” Applejack says as she uses her hoof to point towards a door on the side of the stage.

“...Okay…” Fluttershy says as she gets up, puts her saddlebags back on, and follows Applejack.

As Fluttershy walks through the door she realizes that she just entered a backstage dressing room.

There were a couple of other ponies back here. Of course there was Trixie who seemed to be changing from one outfit to another along with Octavia and Vinyl who were just chatting as Octavia tuned her violin. Eventually they do see Orchard Blossom who was already changed into another outfit.

“It’s simply delightful to see you here Applejack! I’m glad you could make it!” Orchard says as she gives Applejack a hug.

“I wouldn’t miss this for anything! You killed it out there!”

“As I usually do!” Orchard says with a chuckle.

“So, I was actually wonderin’ if you could show Fluttershy the ropes. She’s interested in doing a performance tonight and I was hopin’ that you’d be able to help her out a bit.”

“I’d be delighted, sugarcube!” Orchard says before turning her attention towards Fluttershy. “So, do you have any experience with drag?”

“...Uh…no…” Fluttershy says as she shakes her head. “...But…I want to give it a shot…”

“That’s alright dear!” Orchard says as she throws a hoof over Fluttershy’s shoulders and walks her towards an empty seat in front of an Applewood mirror. “I can show you how to do your makeup and then we’ll make an outfit for you!”

Orchard teaches Fluttershy about the proper orders and ways to apply various makeups as she does her makeup along the way.

Eventually, Fluttershy’s makeup is fully applied and Orchard turns her towards the mirror.

“So, what do you think?” Orchard asks while excitedly waiting for Fluttershy’s response.

Fluttershy just sits there and stares at herself in the mirror for a while stunned by what she’s seeing.

“...So…do you like it?” Orchard asks when Fluttershy doesn’t give a timely response.

“...I…I think that…” Fluttershy tries to articulate an answer as a tear falls from her eye and begins to stream down her cheek. “...I…I…”

Fluttershy quickly breaks into a full on sob as she lays her head against the counter.

“Oh dear, You’re smudgin’ your makeup!” Orchard says as she grabs a tissue and wipes the tears from Fluttershy’s face. “Are you alright?”

“...I…I…I love it!” Fluttershy says as she starts to cry again.

Chapter Text

After Fluttershy stopped crying she was eventually able to put herself together and her and Orchard Blossom continued to get ready for her performance.

Both her makeup and outfit ended up being rather simple with her makeup consisting of blue lipstick, black mascara, green eyeshadow, and some blush. As for her outfit she wore a flowy grass green dress with blue highlights along with a few blue, yellow, and white flowers pinned to it. Some of these flowers were also placed in her hair.

“So, do you feel ready to go out there?” Orchard asks as she straightens out the blue butterfly shaped bow around Fluttershy’s neck.

“...Not necessarily, but I still want to do this anyway…” Fluttershy says as she tries to steady her nerves.

“That’s great!” Orchard says as she gives Fluttershy a hug. “Also, I don’t want to rush you or anything like that, but you're on in ten minutes!”

“...I suppose I’m ready as I’ll ever be…” As she takes some deep breaths to calm herself.

The next ten minutes felt like they both somehow felt like they zipped by and felt like an eternity at the exact same time, but eventually they did pass and it was time for Fluttershy to go out on stage.

It’s a good thing that Fluttershy already knew how to sing (even though her voice might not have been as light as she wanted it to be, but that was something that she could work on later) and she had a song in mind that she felt described what she was currently going through perfectly.

All she had to do was go out on stage and actually sing it, which was easier said than done, but she refused to back out now.

“For our final performance of the night we actually have a pony doing her stage debut!” Pinkie Pie enthusiastically announces. “Just to let you know she’s a little shy so it would be great for you all to give her a little extra encouragement while she’s on stage! Put your hooves together for my beautiful and kind friend, the one and only, Fluttershy!”

Pinkie vacates the stage as the curtains open up the last time for the night.

Fluttershy looks out into the crowd and feels her nerves start to get the better of her for a moment, but when she finds where Applejack and Rarity are sitting in the audience she is able to ground herself a bit. After taking one last deep breath to prepare herself, she walks out onto the stage.

She raises the microphone that she was holding with one of her wings up to her mouth as Octavia and Vinyl begin to play.

“I know that you wanted me to stay, but I can’t ignore the crazy visions of me far away. And I heard there was a special place where colts and mares can all be queens every single day.”

Up to this point Fluttershy’s eyes have practically been glued shut, but she forces herself to open her eyes as she looks out onto the crowd. Even though it was one of the last things that she would’ve expected, she starts to see some ponies cheer for her.

“I’m having wicked dreams of leaving family and I hear Ponyville, I swear it’s calling me, I wanna make my mama proud, it’s gonna cause a scene, she sees her baby girl, I know she's gonna scream!”

Fluttershy takes a deep breath as she feels tears start to pool at the corners of her eyes.

“God! What have you done! You’re a pink pony girl and you dance at the club! Oh mama, I’m just having fun on stage with my friends, it’s where I belong!”

Right on cue as the Chappell Rein song approaches its chorus the crowd start to join in and sing along. At this point tears are beginning to stream down her cheeks as she is overcome with a wave of emotions. They were tears of joy though. She was just so happy that she was out here dressed up like this with a crowd of people who appreciated her for being who she really was.

“Down at the pink pony club! I’m gonna keep on dancing at the pink pony club! I’m gonna keep on dancing down in West Applewood! I’m gonna keep on dancing at the pink pony club! Pink pony club!”

At this point Fluttershy is so caught up in her emotional release that after a while she doesn’t even realize that the audience is there anymore. She just feels so happy to be able to do something like this after all of this time.

Eventually the song comes to an end and Fluttershy opens her eyes and looks out onto the crowd again.

She didn’t notice it at the moment, but she soon realized how exhausted she felt after singing her heart out like that and wasn’t aware that she could sweat so much from doing so.

She notices that the first ponies that started to clap were Applejack and Rarity who were also cheering so loudly that they were probably going to lose their voices over the next couple of days.

After that the rest of the crowd joined in on the cheer. This is the most positive reaction to anything that she has ever done in her entire life. Even though she was somewhat aware of the cheers while she was singing she just took a moment to actually absorb this information.

‘...Wow…that was…actually really fun!” Fluttershy thought to herself. “...and incredibly cathartic!”

As Fluttershy snapped back to reality she gave the crowd a small wave.

The curtains close and Fluttershy is backstage again.

“Let’s give one more round of applause for Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie says as she finishes off her hosting duties for the night.

Fluttershy wandered back to the dressing room and took a seat at the Applewood mirror she was sitting in front of just a few minutes before.

“Wow! You were incredible out there!” Orchard says as she puts a hoof around Fluttershy’s shoulders and gives her a hug. “Are you sure that this is the first time you’ve done this?”

“...Yeah…this is definitely the first time I’ve done something like this…”

“Let me get that for you!” Orchard says as she uses a tissue to wipe some tears and smeared makeup from Fluttershy’s face.

“...Oh…thank you…I didn’t even notice that I was tearing up out there…” Fluttershy says with a small blush.

“...So…how do ya feel now?”

“...I…I feel great actually…surprisingly enough…”

“What’s so surprising about it?” Orchard asks as she takes the seat next to Fluttershy.

“...It’s just that I was so stressed about doing this, but then I just went out there and did it…and now it’s over and I don’t have to worry about going out there for the first time anymore…”

“Eeyup! That’s kind of how doing things works! The more you do something the more used to doing that thing you become! It sounds so simple when I say it like this, but it’s true!”

Their conversation is quickly interrupted as Fluttershy is tackled by a pink blur.

“Oh MY GOD! You were so good out there!” Pinkie says as she gives Fluttershy yet another great big hug. “I didn’t know you had such a lovely voice!”

“...Oh…thank you Pinkie…I’ve actually been singing for quite a while…I just don’t do it in front of other ponies that often…”

“I think that you should grace other ponies with your voice more often!” Rarity chimes in. “Actually, me and Orchard are both members of a local acapella group! We call ourselves The Pony Tones! You should join us sometime!”

“...I’ll…I’ll think about it…” Fluttershy says with a small grin on her face. “...Even though I thought that this was a great experience…I think I might want to take a little break before I do something like this again…I honestly did have a lot of fun being here tonight, but I am also a bit exhausted…”

“That’s understandable.” Applejack follows. “Just take things at your own pace. There’s no need to rush. It’s great to stop and smell the roses every once in a while anyway.”

Fluttershy and her friends continue to chat as they help clean up and close the club for the night.

As Fluttershy is about to go home she hears a familiarly raspy voice that stops her in her tracks.

“...Butterscotch? Is that you?”

Fluttershy turns around to see her childhood best friend right in front of her. Of all the things that she expected to happen that night, seeing Rainbow Dash again wasn’t one of them.

Chapter Text

For what seemed like forever (but actually only about 30 seconds or so) Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash just awkwardly stood there while waiting for the other to say something.

Eventually Fluttershy broke the silence.

“...Oh…hey there Rainbow…” Fluttershy almost whispers. “...Long time no see…”

Rainbow Dash almost immediately began to tear up as she wrapped her arms around Fluttershy.

“I am so glad that you’re okay!” Rainbow manages to say through her tears. “...They looked everywhere for months to try and find you! I thought you were dead!”

“...Well…as you can see…I’m still here…” Fluttershy says as she taps Rainbow Dash on the shoulder. “...I appreciate the hug and all, but It’s kind of hard for me to breathe right now…”

“Sorry!” Rainbow says as she lets Fluttershy out of the grip of her bear hug. “I was just so excited to see you again!”

“...So…What brings you to Ponyville?” Fluttershy asks.

“I actually finished flight school a couple weeks ago, so now that I don’t have anything tying me down to Cloudsdale anymore I thought I’d spend some time traveling.”

“...Oh…” Fluttershy despondently says as it dawns on her just how long she’s been away from Cloudsdale. “...I didn’t realize I was away for that long…”

…

…There’s that awkward silence again…

…

“...Can I ask you something?” Rainbow says with a sigh as she looks down at the ground.

“...Go right ahead…”

“...Why did you leave?” Rainbow asks with a solemn expression on her face.

“...Um…well…you see…I technically didn’t leave on purpose…” Fluttershy says with a blush on her face as she rubs the back of her neck. “...I just fell off of the clouds and I wasn’t a strong enough flyer to get back up there…”

…

“...Why didn’t you tell anypony where you were? You could’ve sent a letter or something…”

“...I…um…” Fluttershy stammers as she tries to come up with an adequate response to what was a perfectly reasonable question in this situation, but isn’t able to come up with an answer.

“...We were all so worried about you…” Rainbow says as she starts to tear up again, but what was previously a look of sadness was now being replaced by one of anger. “When you first went missing I was barely able to sleep for weeks…and you were fine the whole time?”

“...I’m sorry…” Fluttershy says in a whisper.

“I was so fucking scared that something bad happened to you! I genuinely thought that you have been dead for years! I went to your fucking funeral! After all this time all you have to say for yourself is ‘I’m sorry’?!” Rainbow Dash seethes as she slowly walks towards Fluttershy until she is looking directly down at her.

…

…Rainbow Dash’s anger quickly subsided when she realized that Fluttershy was visibly shaking as tears started to pool at the corners of her eyes…

…Rainbow closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down…

“...Butterscotch…” Rainbow dash says as she takes a couple of steps back to give her friend some space. “...I didn’t mean…look…I was just worried is all…”

…Now it was Fluttershy’s turn to cry…

“...I’m so sorry Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy says as she weeps. “...I missed you so much…I don’t have any excuses for what I did to you…”

“...Hey…” Rainbow says as she wraps Fluttershy in another hug, but a more gentle one this time. “...It’s okay Butterscotch…”

“No, it’s not okay!” Fluttershy says as she lays her head on Rainbow Dash’s chest as she continues to weep. “It was wrong of me to not let you guys know that I was okay! I should’ve tried to reach out!”

“...Yeah…you probably should have, but at least I know you’re okay now…” Rainbow Dash says with a sigh of relief and a weight off of her shoulders. “Good Celestia, I’m glad that you’re okay…”

They both try to stay in this moment for as long as they can. After all this time it felt so good for them to be in each other’s company again.

When Fluttershy is eventually done crying she wipes her tears and stands back up on her hooves.

“...So…since it’s late and you probably don’t have a place to stay, do you want to spend the night at my cottage?”

“...Yeah…I think that sounds awesome…” Rainbow Dash says with a yawn.

Rainbow Dash would usually prefer to fly to wherever she needed to go, but she was glad to take the scenic route on the ground with Fluttershy.

“...So…Butterscotch…”

‘Even though we just got our emotional reconciliation out of the way I might as well get this out of the way too.’ Fluttershy thought to herself as she started to get annoyed by hearing her deadname again.

“...Oh…about that…I actually go by Fluttershy now…just to let you know…” Fluttershy says as she looks down at the path in front of her.

“...But isn’t that a more feminine…Oh…” Rainbow Dash says as she quickly puts the puzzle pieces together in her mind. “...Oh…”

“...So…yeah…” Fluttershy eventually says after she mentally prepared herself for the coming conversation. “...If it wasn’t already obvious from the makeup or the clothing…I recently realized that I am a trans mare…”

“...You know what…I feel like something like this should have been a surprise to me, but after thinking about it for a split second that actually makes a lot of sense…”

“...And…and you’re okay with it?” Fluttershy looks over at Rainbow Dash with hopeful eyes.

“Yeah! I’m more than okay with it! Whatever makes you happy…Butter…I mean…Flutter…what was it again?” Rainbow says with an embarrassed blush on her face.

“Fluttershy.”

“Yes! Fluttershy! That was it!” Rainbow Dash exclaims.

“...Yep…That’s my name…” Fluttershy says with a small blush.

“...Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy...” Rainbow Dash repeats to herself.

“...What…what are you doing?” Fluttershy asks as she cocks her head to the side.

“Just trying to memorize my best friend's name! Don’t mind me.”

“...Oh…that’s…that’s actually really sweet of you…”

“...Well…you know me…I just put 120% effort into everything I do…” Rainbow Dash says with a small blush.

The two mares eventually reach Fluttershy’s cottage.

As they enter the house Fluttershy almost immediately yawns.

Rainbow Dash just looks around to try and take everything in. She glances around at all of the different wooden signs and carvings, the numerous flower pots and hanging plant baskets, and a whole bunch of animal beds with a menagerie’s worth of different small woodland animals laying in them.

‘This house suits her perfectly’. Rainbow Dash thinks to herself.

“...So…You can have my bed if you want…You’re my guest after all…I can just sleep on the couch for the night…”

“...No…I’m alright with taking the couch…”

“...Well, if you’re sure…” Fluttershy says with a stretch as she makes her way over to the stairs. “...Bathroom’s down the hall to the left and the kitchen’s right in front of you…If you need anything else don’t be afraid to ask me…”

“...I think I’ll be alright, thanks…” Rainbow says as she also yawns and starts to make her way over to the couch.

“...It’s good to see you again…” Fluttershy says she makes her way up the stairs to her room.

“...Yeah…I’m glad to see that you’re okay…” Rainbow says as she flops down onto the couch.

“...Goodnight…” Fluttershy says before she enters her room for the night.

“...Night…” Rainbow says as she falls asleep.