“Rainbow Dash, I gotta tell you something,” Scootaloo’s head popped through the kitchen door. Rainbow Dash looked up from the sandwich she had been making and smiled.
“Sure squirt, what is it?”
Scootaloo’s previously worried expression changed to a small smile as she trotted on into the room. The place was a mess, as always. But then, what would you expect when the house was inhabited by a pony who was lazy in just about every aspect of life other than sports and her girlfriend who literally sneezed glitter wherever she went? A stack of dirty dishes decorated the sink while the counters were littered with old receipts, shopping lists, washed cups which hadn’t been put away yet, random piles of confetti and a singular tortilla chip. Rainbow Dash was stationed behind the slightly less chaotic table, stacking more cheese onto a sandwich that looked to be already a foot high.
“You look hungry,” Scootaloo remarked, tilting her head towards the monstrosity.
“Heh, you have no idea,” said Rainbow Dash, “You wouldn’t believe the routine we had today. Spitfire’s finally lost it. She expects us to have learned the double loop dive and cloud crawl by next week’s show plus all the other stuff she’s piled on us!”
“That does sound hard,” replied Scootaloo.
“You could say that again,” Rainbow Dash ranted on, “And if that wasn’t enough, my uniform tore right when I was doing the third triples box barrel roll, and the tailor-guy said he won’t have it fixed til next Monday. I mean, I could get Rarity to do it, but I heard she’s drowning in orders since her showcase and-” Rainbow Dash stopped abruptly as she noticed Scootaloo staring at her and she smiled apologetically, “Sorry. You wanted to tell me something, right?”
“Oh, it’s nothing really,” said Scootaloo, the hours of preparing herself forgotten as the nerves began to properly set in, “Forget about it.”
Rainbow Dash frowned and walked over to Scootaloo.
“You know you can tell me anything, righ?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” said Scootaloo, “The thing is I’ve just..I wasn’t sure about if I was just making it up, but then I admitted to myself how I was feeling and then after deciding some more and arguing with myself I felt finally ready to tell everypony else, but now I’m just backtracking and…”
“Woah, woah, woah,” said Rainbow Dash, “Slow down Scoots. What is it you’re actually talking about.”
“I’m bi,” said Scootaloo, then snapped her mouth shut, shocked out of her own rambling.
Rainbow Dash was silent for a while, then whooped loudly, picking Scootaloo up and flying her upwards into a spin. Scootaloo yelped in surprise, then also joined in Rainbow Dash’s cheers as they both collapsed back onto the ground in laughter.
“That’s really awesome Scootaloo,” said Rainbow Dash once she had regained her breath, “How long have you known?”
“I dunno,” said Scootaloo, who had broken into a wide grin, “I questioned for a long time. I kept telling myself I was just making any feelings I had for girls up and I was terrified I was just looking for attention. But then I just admitted to myself that I liked fillies as well as colts, and now I think I’m happy with the label.”
“In that case, welcome to the Gay Agenda™,” winked Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo snorted.
“Thanks.”
“So, if you don’t mind me asking,” said Rainbow Dash, “Why were you so nervous telling me. I mean-” she did an elaborate hoof movement gesturing towards herself, evidently signifying how gay she was. Scootaloo stopped to consider this for a moment.
“I dunno,” she finally replied, “I guess I’ve never really said it out loud unprompted before. It makes it more real, and that can be kinda scary.”
“Yeah, makes sense,” said Rainbow Dash, “So I’m the first to know?
Scootaloo nodded, “Outside of my aunts, but then they’ve guessed it for ages.”
“Sweet,” grinned Rainbow Dash. It was well known that Scootaloo lived with her Aunt Holiday and Aunt Lofty, who were married, easy-going and the sweetest ponies imaginable. Rainbow Dash flew over to the table and continued making her sandwich as she talked to her friend. “Well, I’m really happy you’ve found yourself Scoots!”
“Yeah, me too,” said Scootaloo.
“The hard part of admitting to yourself is over,” winked Rainbow Dash as she put the finishing touches on her sandwich.
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo, but he voice wavered.
At this point Rainbow Dash had taken a bite, her jaw stretching to snapping point to fit the entire height into her mouth. She noticed the waver just as she had started chewing, and didn’t wait to swallow before replying.
“Sho wha ess ish uh?”
“What?”
Rainbow Dash swallowed then tried again.
“So, what else is up?”
“Nothing much,” said Scootaloo. Dash raised an eyebrow Applejack-style.
“Is something wrong?” she prompted. Scootaloo sighed.
“I was...I was just wondering if you could give me some advice,” she said.
“Of course.”
Scootaloo let out a long breath
“You’re the first person I told, right? And it was scary and I was nervous but now that it’s out I suddenly feel great, y’know? Like I’ve just ran a race and won.”
“Heheh, yeah, I’ll bet,” grinned Rainbow.
“Thing is, you’re like a sister to me. And that makes it extra scary, sure, but you’re also gay so I knew you’d be chill,” Scootaloo explained, “But my friends...I’ve never really talked about any of this with them before. I don’t know how they’d react. Heck, what if they stop wanting to hang out with me cos I’ve made things awkward?”
Rainbow Dash hmmmed, gulped down the rest of her sandwich, then walked over to Scootaloo.
“Right squirt, so you wanna come out to your friends?”
Scootaloo nodded.
“And you’re sure you’re ready? I mean, no rush obviously.”
“Yeah, I kind of wanna let them know,” said Scootaloo, “Or if I chicken out then at least I’ll have a plan for next time.”
“Say no more,” Rainbow Dash winked and sped off up the stairs. Scootaloo blinked twice and just stood there staring blankly after her. It was only a few more seconds until Rainbow Dash whizzed back into her previous spot in the kitchen, carrying a scruffy looking book in her mouth. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow quizzically as Dash trotted over to the table and set it down.. Rainbow Dash took a seat behind the table and beckoned Scootaloo to come sit down with her. The filly did so, sneaking a glance at the book’s cover as she pulled out the stool.
“‘100 Ways to Come Out’?” she read aloud. The cover was obviously handmade, and looked to be a redecoration of a scrapbook cover rather than something that used to be a blank slate. Rainbow-coloured paper bumped over the original cover where it had been not-too-expertly stuck, and the words were spelt out with glittery foam letters that were unevenly stuck onto the rainbow paper.
“You bet,” said Rainbow Dash, “My parents made that for me when I came out to them.”
The blue pegasus suddenly assumed a different posture and scrunched her nose up in a funny expression.
“‘Oh Rainbow, it’s so wonderful to know you’re proud of who you are, you’re going to be the champion of the gays!’” she mimicked what Scootaloo assumed to be her own mom’s voice. Scootaloo laughed.
“‘We made you this thing in case you’re ever scared of telling your little friends Dash’,” Rainbow Dash said in a much lower, raspier imitation of her father, “‘I know we’re not exactly qualified to give you this advice, but my best friend’s brother’s girlfriend’s cousin is gay, so we have some experience’.”
The little orange pegasus wheezed as her friend finally dropped the act and opened the book. The inside was no better than the outside, decorated in crude ‘diagrams’ made of crayon and loopy handwriting which was hard to read without squinting. Still, it was a pretty cute effort.
“This is actually pretty cool of them,” said Scootaloo, “For them to make this for you, I mean.”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Rainbow Dash, “But some of these are kinda ridiculous.”
She flipped through the book, glancing at each page briefly before moving on to the next. Some glitter fluttered down onto the kitchen floor, though Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to mind and she knew her girlfriend definitely wouldn’t mind. It wasn’t long before she reached the part that she was looking for and jabbed the page with her hoof accusingly.
“There,” she said exasperatedly and began reading, “‘Go up to your friends and say I’m a yasss queen’...‘tell them your rainbow mane is more than just a random mane colour’...who would do this stuff?!”
“The mane thing is kinda funny,” commented Scootaloo.
“Yeah, yeah, maybe,” said Rainbow Dash, “Anyways, these are some of the bad pages but there’s some pretty cool and even funny stuff in here too. Pranks, puns, really creative ways to come out if you don’t wanna just go ahead and say it.”
“That sounds perfect!” Scootaloo exclaimed, reaching for the book and flipping some pages. She began to read the massive list of different ways to come out within the book, including, but not limited to, writing it on your forehead for people to notice, sending balloons to someone covered in the words ‘I’m a big lesbian’, baking a rainbow cake, mailing someone a gecko wearing a tiny shirt that says ‘I’m a gay-cko’ and giving someone a bowl of ramen at the bottom of which is written ‘I’m as straight as a noodle. The suggestions sounded funny, sure, and some of them quite creative, but there was something about them that didn’t feel right to Scootaloo, something about the extravagance of it all made her nervous as she read about flashy ways to tell someone your sexuality. Why couldn’t things just be simple?
She was in the middle of reading a rather lengthy description of a coming out dance when the door came flying open and a certain pink pony bounced her way in.
“I’m hooome Dashie!” Pinkie Pie sang, hopping over to her girlfriend and giving her a kiss on the cheek. Rainbow Dash laughed and put her arm around the pink pony.
“Heya Pinks, what’s new?”
“Nothing much, except the Cakes are going berserk over orders for the Wonderbolts show next week. Ponyville hasn’t hosted one in forever and apparently all the inns are booked out. And booked out inns means booked out restaurants, and booked out restaurants means way more orders for the Cakes, cos everyone knows that Sugarcube Corner cakes are the best in Ponyville- NO! The best in all of Equestria! And the restaurants and inns want in on the action, hahaha, get it?! ‘In’! Cos they’re inns! Anyways, they’re all ordering baked goods, and the Cakes themselves need to prepare for waaay more customers coming in, so the place is a warzone, I mean not literally, but-”
“Woah, woah, woah, chill Pinkie,” said Rainbow Dash, rubbing Pinkie Pie’s shoulder with the hoof she had put around her neck in an effort to calm the pony, “I got only about half of that.”
“Oh, right,” Pinkie laughed sheepishly, nuzzling Rainbow Dash before bouncing out of her embrace and up to Scootaloo.
“Heya Scoots! What are you doing here?”
“Oh!” said Scootaloo, shutting the book and turning around to face the pink pony. Her heart was beating that one bit too fast, and she could feel panic begin to set in even though she knew Pinkie was a safe person to find out. “Nothing much, just...reading...I...bi…”
Pinkie nodded knowingly.
“What’s for lunch?” she said and speeded over to the cupboards, snatching a bag of crisps and chewing them slowly, allowing Scootaloo to calm her nerves.
“Scoots just needed my help with something,” Rainbow Dash explained.
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo. A moment passed. “Hey Pinkie?”
“Yep?”
“I’m bi.”
“Awesome!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, discarding her bag of crisps with a flourish and rushing over to give Scootaloo a big hug. Scootaloo wheezed as she was hugged with the force of a large python, but smiled all the same.
“Ok, ok, let me breathe!”
“Ooops, sorry!” Pinkie disentangled herself and stepped back, allowing Scootaloo time to catch her breath. She was smiling from ear to ear, and Scootaloo couldn’t help but smile back despite her own heavy breathing.
“No worries,” she said between breaths.
“Scootaloo here was looking for advice on coming out to her friends,” Rainbow Dash explained to Pinkie. The pink pony nodded, deep in thought.
“Your family are ok with it, right?” she asked Scootaloo, her voice tinged slightly with worry.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo replied, “Or at least, my aunts are. My parents don’t know yet.”
“Ah, ok,” said Pinkie, “Well, if you ask me, telling your friends should go a lot better than your family, since you know yourself what kinds of people you make friends with. A friend should be accepting of you no matter what.”
“Or they’re just not worth it!” Rainbow Dash chimed in.
“Absolutely,” said Pinkie, though there was a ghost of worry on her face. Scootaloo wondered if she’d had trouble coming out to someone in the past, though decided not to dwell on it too much.
“So what do you suppose I do?” she asked the two of them.
“Well, you could keep looking through this book-” Rainbow Dash held up the ‘100 Ways to Come Out’ book with her hoof. Pinkie squealed.
“Ooooooh, is that the extra adorable manual your mom and dad wrote you?”
“Yeah,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Aaaah, it’s so cute!” Pinkie squeaked, snatching the book and flipping some pages, “‘Bake a cake writing I’m gay on the top in rainbow icing’, ‘send a messenger pigeon with the news’, ‘blindfold them and take them to a Pride Parade’...and look! Here’s a picture of you at the back!”
Pinkie held up the back page where a photo of a very young Rainbow Dash was stuck, with glittery lettering above the photo reading ‘Good luck Rainbow! We hope you’re proud, because we’re proud of you, champion.’
“Awww,” said Scootaloo while Rainbow Dash grumbled.
“So what do you think, Scootaloo?” said Pinkie Pie. Scootaloo pondered that for a second.
She wasn’t sure she really knew what she thought. And the more she thought about it, the harder it became to decide how to come out. There was such a wide range of extravagant things she could do, and creative ways she could come up with to break the news to her friends. And yet, there was also that horrible feeling of doubt and dread, the nervousness that comes with telling someone who you really are. She didn’t know how they’d react. Even though she always knew her friends would have her back, there was still this lingering anxiety that they would shun her or try to make a big deal of it.
And to be honest, Scootaloo didn’t really want it to be a big deal. Of course being true to yourself is a cause of celebration, but the orange pegasus really didn’t want that much to change. If anything, she’d rather her friends accept her and move on, and she’d rather be treated as anyone else be they gay, straight, bi, pan or whatever. Scootaloo thought back to the feelings before and after she’d told Rainbow Dash. She’d just said it. No flashing lights, no fireworks, and yet, that felt right.
Scootaloo took a deep breath and said-
“I’m gonna just tell them.”
“What?” said Rainbow Dash.
“Tell them, I’m gonna just tell them,” said Scootaloo, “I don’t want it to be a big deal. I’d love for them to react positively like you guys did, but I don’t want it to be some big spectacle. I’m just gonna tell them straight from the heart.”
Pinkie and Rainbow glanced at each other, then back to Scootaloo. Then they smiled. And their smiles made Scootaloo smile, until all the previous worries she’d had rumbling about her stomach changed to just a small bubble in an island of ease.
“So, no more book?” asked Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo shook her head.
“I mean, we can look at it for sure, it’s pretty funny, but I wanna do this my way,” said Scootaloo.
“And we’ve got your back for it!” said Pinkie, pulling the other two into a hug.
This was suddenly interrupted by a brief knock on the door. Rainbow Dash pulled away and answered it, revealing Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle on the doorstep.
“Hi there! Is Scootaloo here?” asked Apple Bloom as Rainbow Dash let them both in, “We’ve been looking for her all day and...here you are!”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran up to Scootaloo as the pegasus waved at them.
“Hi guys, what’s up?” said Scootaloo.
“Nothing much,” said Sweetie Belle, “Rarity is stressing about the orders from the showcase so the boutique is off limits, but Apple Bloom said we can go make brownies at the farm.”
“That sounds awesome! Count me in!” said Scootaloo. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle made to leave. Before Scootaloo followed them however, she turned and gave Dash one last hug.
“Thanks for the help Rainbow Dash,” she whispered.
“No worries,” Rainbow whispered back, “You gonna tell them today?”
Scootaloo shrugged.
“Maybe, maybe not. Whenever feels right. And I think it’ll feel a lot righter with a stomach full of brownies.”
Rainbow Dash laughed and let Scootaloo go.
“Well, goodbye Squirt!” she called as the pegasus ran out the door with her friends.
“Bye Rainbow Dash!”
The door swung shut and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash glanced at each other.
“You think she’ll be ok?” asked Pinkie.
“Yeah,” replied Dash, “I think she’s gonna be totally fine.”
Author's Note
Hi everyone, thanks so much for reading! This was written for the Pride and Positivity event, which is donating to charities supporting BLM and the LGBT+ community with each story so please check out the link! I have to admit, I rushed this a little to get within the deadline, so I might go back to edit some stuff later on. Hope y'all enjoyed though and happy (late) Pride month!
