For as long as she could remember, Fluttershy felt… off. She didn't know why, or what it was, or how to fix it. She did know she didn't like being looked at for too long, and her voice made things worse so she didn't talk much.
Her friends made her feel more at ease most of the time and that helped, but she didn't tell them. She didn't know what to tell them; That she didn't look right to herself when she looked in a mirror, that she felt like her skin was on wrong, or that sometimes very early in the morning before the birds had even woken up she would cry before starting her day just because the feeling of wrongness had become so overwhelming. They wouldn't understand. How could they? She didn't even understand. It didn't make any sense.
Luckily, Fluttershy knew someone well versed in nonsense and they would be meeting for tea soon.
Discord showed up in a puff of bubbles that popped into butterflies, and despite her melancholy Fluttershy did giggle at the display. The expression didn't last, however, and Discord knew all too well how to read ponies. He especially knew how to read Fluttershy.
"Well at least I'm good for one laugh. What's the matter?" Discord asked.
"I've just been thinking too much." Fluttershy shrugged, setting up her old tea set.
Discord snapped a claw and the tea set grew legs and started to put itself in order. He nudged Fluttershy toward the couch, which she hopped up on to sit. Discord sat with her, concern on his face.
"Is this a bad time?"
"No." Fluttershy answered dryly. "I actually wanted to talk to you about it but I'm… not sure what words I should use."
"Oh, feel free to be blunt." Discord encouraged. "I find that's the best way. Just blurt out whatever it is. Don't overthink, just say."
"Okay." Fluttershy agreed, taking a deep breath. She spoke quickly as she let it out. "I've been feeling gross and I think my body is wrong."
Discord's thick eyebrows raised, but aside from that he didn't respond. As seconds stretched on, Fluttershy grew more self conscious. She wondered if she should just change the subject and pretend she'd never said anything, but before she could try Discord finally spoke.
"You feel gross… in your body." Discord repeated, thinking it over as he directed the tea to pour itself sideways. "Alright, that's easy enough. What exactly is gross about it to you?"
"Everything?" Fluttershy answered, feeling like she'd put her hoof in her mouth.
"Well that narrows it down." Discord said simply.
If it were anypony else, Fluttershy would have taken that response as a sarcastic dismissal of her emotions, but from Discord she could tell it was sincere even if she couldn't follow his thought process.
"Let me give you a hypothetical: What if you were an animal instead of a pony? You love animals. Maybe you'd like to try out being one. Maybe a dog, or a bird, or a fish. Maybe even a spider. Could that be it?" Discord asked.
"That would be appealing." Fluttershy conceded, but the more she thought about it, the more flaws she found. "Maybe I could try that out every now and then for fun but I would miss being a pony. I think you're on the right track, though."
"Right track, wrong train. Gotcha." Discord hummed thoughtfully. "Okay so if your body is wrong but your species is right…" Discord took a teacup full of tea from the air where he'd had it rapidly spinning, took a sip, and then sent it back into it's demented orbit. "Do you mind if I make a somewhat extreme change? Nothing permanent, mind. Just an illusion."
"I appreciate you asking first." Fluttershy praised, knowing Discord needed to be assured when he was doing the right thing. "Go ahead, if you think it will help." She closed her eyes, waiting for whatever change would come.
Discord snapped, but Fluttershy didn't feel any different. Confused, Fluttershy opened her eyes. She looked at her hooves, still yellow. She flexed her wings, still there. She could see her mane was still pink, but shorter.
"Did you cut my mane?" Fluttershy asked, then squawked in surprise and put a hoof over her mouth when her voice came out deeper than she was used to. Not as deep as the poison joke made it, but still not her usual voice. She sounded like…
Discord only grinned and transformed himself into a long oval mirror. "What do you think?"
Fluttershy gasped. She still looked like herself but bigger. Her body was more squarish, less round. Her features were more angled. She looked like a stallion. Something clicked; The wrong feeling faded from her -- his -- mind. Tears formed in his eyes.
"What, did I get it wrong?" Discord asked, changing himself back to his normal form. "There's no need to cry. I can just change you ba-"
"Don't!" Fluttershy protested quickly, wiping his eyes with a hoof. "This is perfect."
"Glad I got it right." Discord beamed, then his face dropped. "It's only a glamour… I can make imitations of life and do with those as I like. Animals are also easy to change, but my magic doesn't really last on real and intelligent life."
"So this won't last?" Fluttershy frowned again.
"Not on its own but it should be good for a few days at least. I can always redo it." Discord explained further.
"Maybe that's for the best." Fluttershy sighed, melancholy creeping up on her again. "What would the girls say if they saw me like this? What even is this?"
"Apparently it's you." Discord said calmly. "You may be transgender."
"Transgender?"
"What did you think the T in LGBT stood for? When a person identifies themself as a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth, they're transgender. You aren't the only one feeling the way that you do." Discord explained further. "It's a whole spectrum. Your tea is getting cold." Discord leaned over to tap Fluttershy's untouched cup, heating it up again.
Fluttershy picked the cup up, drinking deeply as he processed all the new information. It was a lot. There was a name for what he was feeling. There were others. It was comforting to know now. "Can we keep this just between the two of us? I love my other friends but… I still don't think they would understand. I still don't quite understand."
Discord turned his mouth into a zipper and loudly zipped it closed before poofing back to his usual mouth.
A few weeks passed and with help from Discord, Fluttershy started to live as a mare outside of his home, and a stallion inside of it. Discord had made a pin for him that he could clip into a feather under his wing to appear and sound more masculine. They'd worked together to make Fluttershy look how he wanted, mostly just the same as the first time, although keeping Fluttershy's mane and tail as long as it always was.
Fluttershy was much more comfortable seeing himself as he should be in the mirror, though it was an adjustment for his animal friends. They learned quickly.
"Have you decided on a name for yourself?" Discord asked the next time they went on an outing.
Fluttershy looked like a mare since they were out in public, browsing the market.
"A name?" Fluttershy asked.
"Many ponies pick a new name when they discover their true identity." Discord answered, picking up a pear and grimacing at it. "Ugh, so plain." He put the pear back down, but set it to ignoring gravity and floated right back up.
"I hadn't thought about it." Fluttershy quickly caught the pear and put it back, holding it down until it stayed on the cart. "I suppose 'Fluttershy' is a bit marish…" He looked around the market, thoughtful. Most ponies were named after their colors, how they acted as foals, or sometimes objects. He considered other stallions he knew at the same time his eyes caught Discord picking up a bag of candy. “I like butterscotch.” He decided.
“Oh good. Have you tried putting it in chili? I’ll have to make some for you.” Discord grinned, tossing four bags of the candies into the pony’s saddlebag.
“I mean as a name. I like Butterscotch.” Fluttershy, now Butterscotch clarified, putting three of the bags back but keeping one.
“That’s adorable.” Discord chuckled.
