Juxtaposition

Two ponies in the hospital. A stallion and his wife, now several months pregnant. Excitement surrounds them as the doctor prepares to cast his revolutionary spell. Never before could ponies know the gender of their child before birth, thus meaning this doctor's creation - and subsequently his own - popularity exploded nearly overnight. All soon-to-be parents across Equestria requested his service, and over the course of several months thereafter, his spell gained a reputation for being faultlessly accurate.

"It's a girl!" announced the doctor, gazing into the mother's eyes. He watched as they filled with joy, and as the two parents embraced after the news was given.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!" cried the husband, tears visible in his eyes. "What do we owe you?"

"I'm sure you know by now that the only payment I need is your happiness."

The doctor then found himself nearly suffocated in the thankful hug from the husband, blushing from the admiration.

Time's passage inexorably continued, eventually bringing the young couple to the long-awaited day.

While the details of the delivery are trivial, it is what happened immediately thereafter that set the course for the lives of this family.

"Honey... it's... it's a boy?", muttered the husband, surprised but no less proud of his firstborn child.

"Ah..." breathed the mother, still catching her breath. "That's... wonderful."

Neither parent was upset with this development, but coincidentally, the same doctor who performed the aforementioned spell was the pony tasked with the delivery of this foal. Intrigued, he asked "Do you mind if I perform that spell again? This is, uh... the first time it's ever been wrong."

"Go right ahead, sir! And just so you know, we aren't upset in the slightest. We're just happy to have a beautiful baby," assured the father. So the doctor prepared his spell once again, at this point having performed it so many times that his own wife informed him that he sometimes cast it during his sleep. Instead of focusing the magic towards the mothers' womb, however, he focused directly on the newborn foal.

Seconds passed, and the two parents took no care to the doctor as they embraced the newborn foal.

"Um... I have some news. Um, not bad news, but, um, news," stammered the doctor, shattering the mood. Immediately, the parents' expressions began to dip into slight apprehension.

"I can say, um, as a trained medical professional, that, um." The doctor took a moment to exhale deeply, bracing himself for delivering the strange news.

"With absolute, irrefutable certainty, your child is biologically female in every possible way, with the exception of external genitalia."

Uncertainty turned to panic, panic to confusion, and confusion to fear. Within a single week, the parents had packed their belongings and set out to construct a farm in the distant fields. As the boards of this farm rose, the parents found themselves placated that their child would not need to face the judgment and dangers of the world so long as she stayed at the farm with them.

"We'll show her the world when she's older," the mother whispered. "When she can handle what's out there."

The parents quickly settled into farm life, and found themselves both skilled at and relaxed by the process of growing and harvesting crops. As their daughter grew, she enthusiastically helped them with the farm, but found herself most infatuated by exotic flowers she found in the surrounding fields. Her name was Aster, and she kept a garden of aster flowers just outside her window - by the suggestion from her mother, of course.

Tight-knit and loving, the family's bond was inseparable. Inevitably, the parents would need to travel back into civilization on rare occasion, be it for food, supplies, or medicine. Aster, however, had never traveled into the outside world. The most outside interaction she had was merely short introductions with visitors - primarily government agents sent to collect taxes, and in one instance, a stranded traveler. These encounters were never beyond an overnight stay, and the only ponies Aster could consider "friends" were her parents - though she lovingly tended the farms, day in and day out, entirely content with her life. She was not, however, without her questions.

Aster's parents had become rather skilled at avoiding anything relating to Aster's unusual condition, and particularly the technicalities of clothes. In Aster's family, clothes were expected to be worn both indoors and out. While this was not a strict rule, Aster saw no need to break expectation, so she always donned one of her mother's homemade dresses, each carefully measured to extend nearly to the ground.

As curious as she was, Aster's fantasies about the outside world were essentially nothing beyond fantasies. It never occurred to her that she would actually need to leave her peaceful farm home, and many of her parents' stories and warnings made her afraid of the dangers that loomed in the unknown. These fears would inevitably need to be confronted, as Aster would learn early into adulthood.

Her father had departed the previous day with the words "I'm just going to stock up on pumpkin seeds, since our last batch didn't produce enough". This left Aster with her mother, who seemed slower and less peppy than usual.

"Is something wrong, mother?" asked Aster, causing her mother to wince.

"I don't know, sweetie. I'm not feeling too well, y' see, and I don't think we have the medicine I need."

Aster grew concerned. "You'll be okay, right? If you just take it easy and rest, you'll get better, right?"

Her mother sighed, with a short pause before replying. "I'll live, but I think it'd be best if we got that medicine."

"But mom-" Aster said, "You can't go all the way out!"

"I know, honey."

Aster began to reply, but stopped. Her mother looked into her eyes, and Aster instantly knew what she had to do.

"I'll give you a list of directions," instructed the sickly mare. "They're actually quite straightforward if you keep an eye on the big landmarks. I want you to go out next morning, okay?"

Aster merely nodded, determination and responsibility firing up inside her.

And so the night passed, shortly making way for the morning. Aster confronted her mother, donned with a bag full of foods and miscellaneous supplies.

"I didn't want to do this, but I think you're past the age for this." her mother admitted. "Just... be back before the end of the week, okay?"

Aster confidently asserted that she would, and set out on her journey.

"Hey, Aster-" shouted Aster's mother, just before she crossed past the flowers in the front yard.

"Yes, mother?"

"I'm sorry, Aster. I shouldn't have kept you here all these years."

Aster didn't know how to respond, but merely gave her mother a forgiving smile.

"I'll have a lot to tell you when you get back, sweetie," promised the mother.

Aster nodded, and left. Her mother watched as she passed over the horizon, worrying that she might not have told Aster enough about the outside world before sending her off.

She'll be fine, she thought to herself. She's a smart girl, I'm sure she can get through any trouble that comes her way.