“Sweetie, will you go out with me?” Rumble scuffed the door mat. “No, that sounds stupid. Maybe gruffer.” He cleared his throat. “Hey Sweetie, ‘sup?” He hung his head. Hoof, meet face. “That’s worse.”
“What’s worse than what?”
“Sweetie Belle!” He smiled at her beauty, framed by the doorway like artwork. “It’s me! Rumble!”
“I know, Rumble. We’ve gone to school together for years.”
Frozen, he kicked himself mentally. “I uh…”
Sweetie peered, leaning forward.
“Will you go out with me tomorrow?”
She jerked back, shocked. “Me?”
He nodded, smile faltering.
“You want to go out with me?”
His heart sank, drowning the smile with a sigh. He watched it drift to the inky depths. There it lay, never to surface again. Why did I bother? She’s out of my league. He urged himself to leave, but his hooves were stuck in the mire of the ocean depths.
“Nopony ever wants to go out with me.”
Looking up, Rumble scrunched his face, confused. “Why not? You’re so cute.” Stop staring at her. ”Err… funny… nice. You help ponies get their cutie marks. And you’re already working at the Friendship School with—”
“No, back up. You called me cute.”
“You have a great personality! I don’t just like you for how you look.”
“No, seriously. You think I’m cute?”
Rumble bobbed his head, smiling, “Yeah…”
Sweetie closed her eyes, breathing deeply as bliss spread across her face.
“Is that okay?”
She opened her eyes, and that smile filled his soul. She laughed, and he joined, not sure why. “Oh, Rumble.” She leaned forward and embraced him. “Thank you.” She stepped back into the doorway. “But I can’t.”
Smile, erased.
“I’m going to the pride parade tomorrow.”
“Uh… what about after?”
“My support group is celebrating down at Sugar Cube Corner afterwards.”
Rumble sighed. “Maybe…” The gears turned. He looked up. “Could I come with you to the parade?”
Incredulity raised her face and words. “Seriously?”
“Why not?”
A smile crept back onto her face, more sublime. “Yes. You can come with me.”
Rarity’s voice carried from inside. “Is that a customer?”
Sweetie turned, hollering back with her sweet, sing-song voice. “It’s just a friend.” She turned back. “I need to help Rarity sew a million things tonight. Meet me at the park at one? I’m hanging with Silver Spoon before the parade.”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “See you at one.”
Stepping back, she swung the door, but paused, biting her lip. Again, she darted forward to plant a quick hug before disappearing inside, leaving Rumble to his heart palpitations.
Walking away, he pumped a hoof in the air. “Yes!” A few steps on, he stopped. “What’s pride?”
———
Rumble stared out at the crowd in the park. Half of Ponyville must be here. Banners flapped in the breeze and ponies waved striped flags of various shades. Mayor Mare’s voice blasted through a bullhorn. Rumble couldn’t make out the words at this distance, but the crowd suddenly surged, moving towards the street. “Sweetie Belle!” he yelled aimlessly, still not seeing her. Cutting across at a perpendicular to motion of the crowd, he walked to the other side of the park, hollering.
Nothing.
With a trot and a leap, he took wing, climbing above the crowd as he scanned. There. Right at the corner where the crowd was compacting as they lined up to march. Circling above the rooftops and trees, Rumble searched for a nearby spot to land, but the crowd was too dense.
Landing in the emptying park, Rumble trotted back into the crowd until the density of ponies and waving flags forced him to slow. Bobbing his head as he stood on his tippy-hooves, he strained to catch another glimpse of Sweetie as the crowd slowly filed into a column.
“Hey, watch it,” said a tall mare.
He blinked, nonplussed.
“Foals.” She rolled her eyes, turning back to the parade. “So eager. You have your whole life to show us who you are, honey. Relax. Have fun.”
“I’m not a foal any more,” he muttered, fur bristling. He huffed, releasing his anger with his breath before turning back to search. Jumping up, he caught another glimpse: Sweetie laughing at something Silver Spoon said or did beside her, both wearing neckties of pink, white, and blue stripes.
With a target, he stepped forward, only to almost run into a tray of striped fabric bracelets suspended around the neck of younger filly.
“Need a bracelet, mister?” She waved one with rainbow colors towards him. “One bit.”
“Mister?” Rumble’s eyes drifted to the tray’s other bracelets. Reaching out, he took one with the same colors as Sweetie’s scarf. He slipped it on his wrist and dropped a coin in the tray. “Thanks, kid.”
Stepping around her, he didn’t hear the response. With the press and flow of the crowd, he made no headway, limited to the pace of the crowd. Pivoting, he locked on to the empty space behind.
He pushed against the crowd, breaking free and alighting once more into the sky. He sailed towards the front of the crowd, past Sweetie Belle—noting the ponies around her—past the head of the parade, and landed at the next intersection.
As the crowd approached, he waved, wristband visible for all as he watched the diverse ponies and myriad other species march by, some smiling and waving, others blowing kisses.
Then, she appeared.
“Sweetie!”
She turned. “Rumble, you made it!” She waved him over as she marched on, unable to stop in the crowd.
Rushing over, he joined the throng, standing beside Sweetie while Silver Spoon flanked her.
“We thought you wouldn’t make it. I should have had you meet me earlier. Sorry.”
“Hey, I’m here now.” He waved at the ponies in doorways and windows.
“Umm…” Sweetie, regaining Rumble’s attention, shared a glance with Silver. “Rumble, why are you wearing a trans flag?”
He looked at it. “This?” He shrugged. “A kid was selling them. Everypony else had one. I didn’t want to look out of place.”
“It’s just… you’re not trans, right?”
“Trans?”
“I thought you knew. Now I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.” She sighed, marching in silence as Rumble waited for an explanation. “A transgender person is a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth.”
“Huh?”
Sweetie bit her lip. “They thought I was a colt when I was born, but being a colt never felt right to me, like wearing a too-tight dress and constantly chafing, but I was the dress. I was uncomfortable in my own skin.”
“But you’re a fi… a mare.”
“Well yeah. Turns out I always was. My body just didn’t match who I am. You’ve always been a colt, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve always been a filly. Or I guess a mare now. We just didn’t realize it at first. Now, if you wanna leave, I promise I won’t cry. I just figured everypony at school knew.”
“Why would I leave?”
“Oh Celestia, this sun. Making my eyes water.” Sweetie wiped the moisture away. “No reason, Rumble. Anyway, that bracelet?”
He lifted it, comparing it to the stripes on her cheeks.
“It’s for people who are trans.”
“Oh.”
“Why don’t we let Silver hold it.” Sweetie accepted it from Rumble and passed it along. “If you want something to hold, I wouldn’t mind if you held my hoof.”
“You don’t mind?”
“No, you doofus. I’d love to hold your hoof.”
As they approached the next intersection, he reached out. Hoof in hoof, they stepped into the sun.
