Dysphoria, Arc 4: Summer Breeze

Chapters

1. When Destiny Knocks
2. The Filly from Baltimare
3. Play Date
5. The Unwelcome Visitor
6. The Best Laid Plans
7. The Trial
8. To Be a Hero
4. In the Name of Education
9. Epilogue?

1. When Destiny Knocks

Dysphoria

Story by: thedarkprep

Arc 4: Summer Breeze

1. When Destiny Knocks

The quill is only stronger than the cannon under certain circumstances. It is true that a written work has far more impact than a single weapon could ever hope to achieve. For example, a well-written speech has quelled conflicts and forged alliances more efficiently than the fear of war. Similarly, cautionary poems written from the War of Discord still resonate amongst readers new and old, keeping its message of Harmony just as sharp and clear as it always was, whereas the blades of steel have dulled. It is also important to remember that, while the impact of poems lies in the abstract ideas of empathy, understanding, logos, and ethos, rather than in their physical scope, the impact of such is no less powerful than a well-aimed projectile in the heat of battle. This is not something to be debated. The quandary is found in the necessary mindset needed to wield the weapon of literal craft.

Not unlike any conventional weapon, this one requires a certain acquired skill, practice, aim, and concentration, and whereas a cannon without focus will wreak the same havoc each time it is fired, a weapon of the mind will have no effect should it miss its mark or should it be prepared without focus. As such, while normally a notebook and a quill equaled a well-managed battalion when used by Evening Rose, today they would have been hard-pressed to contend against well-aimed sneeze.

Rose had been trying to write something new ever since her return from Canterlot but, as the day began to draw to a close, she could only continue to stare at the mocking parchment before her.

It was free from ink again.

The biggest concern was that she did not really know what the problem was and, as a writer, she considered this to be more than a passing inconvenience. She had considered that she might be fighting a losing battle against writer’s block, but the more she thought about it, the less that explanation fit.

For starters, she was not lacking ideas of things to write about. Ever since her return and her new acceptance of who she was, she had begun interacting with life in a whole new way. A surge of optimism colored her everyday chores as she hung out with friends, chatted with acquaintances, and overall enjoyed a tranquility her life had up to then lacked. This new perspective would then lend itself to many ideas for poems and stories about appreciating what one has and how even the simplest of passing interactions held importance if one knew where to look.

Rose also still had her notebooks, filled with stories and writings from a more turbulent time on which she could reflect, expand, and create. Her fears, thoughts, and struggles were bare for her to examine, with the benefit of hindsight and lessons learnt in the interim time, in order to write new pieces that placed her past in context, giving it the reverence and understanding it deserved.

The stories and ideas were there, but every time she lowered her quill she found herself distracted. Her thoughts would scurry through the room, lacking guidance or form, dissipating into the air. New ideas would then appear to take their place, only to disappear just as swiftly. Rose had tried many things to give her writing direction, but all of them had failed much in the same fashion, with Rose putting down her quill and stepping away from her desk under the orange rays of the setting sun.

And yet, Rose could not be very angry with herself; after all, she had other things on her mind.

Walking up to her side drawer, Rose picked up and studied a newspaper article she had become very familiar with over the past few months. It was a bit worn and faded from constantly being placed in different locations only to be taken out of storage to be re-examined and re-read. Despite this, the large bold lettering on the front page was still very much readable.

Scandal in the Rhyme Family!

This was a reputable newspaper, not a magazine or tabloid, meaning they had the obligation to give a balanced account of national news on a variety of topics which baffled Rose, as the editor had still seen fit to dedicate the majority of the newspaper to her and her alone.

In their defense, they were not the only newspaper to do so. Many newspapers recounting Rose’s story had been circulating the town of Ponyville recently (and Canterlot, if Octavia’s letters were to be believed). Rose had seen many different editions by different publishers using different sources on her morning walk last week alone. However, Rose had decided that she only needed to keep the copy she already had.

For one thing, it was the first national article reporting on her that had reached Ponyville. It was also the most detailed.

Within its pages, the newspaper contained copies of official paperwork, eyewitness reports, interviews, and commentators reporting on her move to Ponyville, her winter hospitalization, and even some of her involvement in the changeling invasion (although thankfully the more intimate and dangerous details were still undiscovered). The newspaper also reported on the press conference that sparked everything that would follow.

“I always did wonder how they were going to explain my disappearance this time around,” Rose muttered to herself. “I just didn’t imagine they’d go with the truth.”

In the months following the invasion, changelings were all that was on everypony’s mind. Between the panicked reports of alleged changeling sightings, the implementation of changeling-identification procedures, and the general gossip from the event, no one had paid any mind to the second disappearance of Slant Rhyme, an event that had dominated the news coverage with reports and speculations until shortly before the invasion began. However, this would not last and questions eventually began to be asked as normalcy once again re-established itself in the city of Canterlot.

In response, Rich Rhyme held a press conference to explain the events that had transpired since the previous summer. He started said press conference with a resounding statement that caused each reporter and citizen alike to turn their heads and gasp.

“Slant Rhyme is now living as the mare Evening Rose.”

In his speech, Rich defined what a transpony was, explaining the concept of gender identity for the benefit of those who would find such a term foreign. He explained that the previous year Slant confessed to being trans, that an argument ensued, and that his son ran away. He went on to mention that Slant began living as Evening Rose in the small town of Ponyville, which was something unknown to them at the time. With that lack of knowledge, Rich explained how he had sent teams to search for Slant, only to find a changeling impersonating his son. Much like had been the case in other noble families, the impersonator had been impossible to detect and therefore was accepted back, but ill. After months of waiting, the impostor acted well enough to re-integrate into society. A short time after that, the invasion began. Rich went on to tell how Evening Rose had re-appeared, apparently having learnt of the fake Slant, and how she had battled against the impostor for her family’s safety, returning to Ponyville afterwards.

The information given out to the press had of course been amended. Rich failed to mention the condition his argument with Slant had left him in, nor did he mention that upon saving their lives, Rich had gone on to decry Evening Rose for showing up as a mare. Even the events regarding the changeling integrating into the family could be called into question, since it still didn’t explain how they forgave the fake Slant or that when looking for Slant they were looking for a corpse. However, all things considered, this speech had been far more honest and direct than Rose would have thought possible from her dad, especially the last part of the conference which Rose had taken the liberty to highlight.

“While we disapprove of Rose’s choices and lifestyle, we do realize that she is grown up enough to make her own decisions without our approval. Also, while we morally oppose to what she’s become, the Rhymes hold family with such importance that we are willing to tolerate and support our daughter. This concludes the press conference. We will not be answering questions and I do ask that you please respect my privacy and that of my family, here in Canterlot or elsewhere.”

Rose figured that Rich had thought for a very long time on this closing statement in order to find the stance that would hurt his image the least. She was of course not surprised that he had taken a stance with such a lack of commitment; after all, it was safe. What surprised her was that there were safer routes to take. He could have easily just stated that he disapproved of her and her choices and that he would prefer not to talk more on the subject. However, he had stated that he would tolerate and accept her for the sake of family.

As soon as she read it she recognized that he had not been lying, but merely redirecting. She knew that they were now showing support not for her sake, but for the sake of Perfect Rhyme. After all, they had lost a son already; they would not want to lose another. And yet, despite the ulterior motive, Rose found this to be an acceptable compromise. She was no longer hung up in what they thought of her, and this meant that they were not going to try to keep her from her younger brother. In all, she found the whole thing humorous. What happened next she found less humorous.

Much like what she had anticipated when she first arrived in Ponyville, details about her when shared with the public garnered national attention. The Rhyme family was after all one of the most known ancient noble families in Canterlot, and the topic of transponies, as opposed to the topic of same sex couples, was one that was still new and eye-catching to the general public. A story combining both would then easily be a story all of Equestria would want to read, and every reporter would want to write.

This meant that not long after the press conference, reporters from every national newspaper had scoured records, booked interviews, and had come to Ponyville in order to find every piece of information they could find about Rose, after which they wrote as much of what they found into newspapers for the general public to read.

Thanks to their efforts, newspapers in Ponyville (and she had to assume everywhere else) now had her life story and the most important and stressful events of her life for others to scrutinize, which had come as a shock to her in the form of Derpy delivering both the newspaper and a letter from Octavia explaining what had happened.

This would be followed by another unfortunate side effect from the press conference, which caused Rose to sometimes lay awake at night wondering if her parents had planned this on purpose.

Following the events in Canterlot, Rose had gotten used to the information that she was trans being common knowledge. The attention brought on by Granite’s attack and the gossiping that transpired after her hospitalization were now viewed by her as minor inconveniences, whereas before they had caused her to shun the world in anguish. Canterlot had put a lot of things in perspective, and she now realized that she was strong enough to walk down the market square ignoring the stares and whispers without so much of a sideway glance and still have a good day. She figured that the same lesson would apply to the attention she knew she would be getting now. The problem was that the attention she had dealt with up to that point was nowhere near as much as the attention she was receiving now that she was confirmed as a member of the Rhyme family.

To their credit, the girls had done everything in their power to dissuade this attention, or to at least distract Rose from it. For example, Vinyl and Octavia had taken to hanging out with her more, with Octavia taking more trips down the mountain and Vinyl inviting Rose to clubs were there were too many ponies for them to pay attention to her. Rarity had done her part by quelling gossip about Rose whenever it appeared, while spreading gossip of other kinds to occupy the attention of those present. Rainbow Dash had also taken to quelling gossip and rumors, although she did so through less diplomatic means while Applejack escorted Rose from whatever scene Rainbow was about to make. Bon Bon, Lyra, Fluttershy, Derpy, and Twilight had all taken to inviting Rose to hang out in secluded areas or at their homes, away from prying eyes. Pinkie Pie had gone so far as to make copies of herself which rampaged through the town, although that may have had nothing to do with changing the public’s topic of conversation.

Still, there were too many gazing eyes and too much muttering whenever she left her home for her to ignore, despite their efforts.

Strangely enough, it was not the actual staring that bothered her, nor the fact that these strangers were smiling at her when she could see them, and muttering when she could not. The real problem was in the things they talked about.

Her exile from Canterlot, being assaulted by Granite, and the moment she almost took a life were all things she wanted to move past and forget, but she could not do so when such memories surrounded her in the whispers carried by the wind.

However, despite constantly being reminded of her darkest moments, Rose found that she had the strength to walk through the sea of whispers with a smile on her face and her head held high. After all, things could always be much worse. For example, as intrusive as the reporters and the general public had been, they had at least all had the common decency to leave her alone.

Knock, knock, knock.

Rose’s attention was pulled from her thoughts and towards the doorway to her room. She uttered a soft curse under her breath as she put a gray cardigan over her white shirt and headed downstairs.

She furiously hoped that it was one of her friends but she doubted it, in part because none had told her they were coming, and in part because of the last thought she had before she heard someone knock. As she reached the door she took a deep breath before opening it, finding a blue pony with square glasses and a yellow mane at her doorstep.

“Ms. Evening Rose I presume?”

Rose eyed him.

At first she had feared he was a reporter, the first to dare ask her for an interview, but as she studied him she could see this was not the case.

For starters, he was not carrying anything to write with, no paper, no notebook, no quills. In fact, he carried no bag or anything. It was just him. There was also an air about him, a grandeur and confidence that most columnists lacked. This pony thought himself important, surely too important to work for a newspaper.

“That’s me,” she responded, “May I help you?”

He smiled widely.

“Indeed you may, my dear. My name is Dusk. May I come in?”

Rose eyed him suspiciously, but nodded.

The two walked inside, Dusk taking a chair while Rose sat on the couch. She turned to look at her purple bag, which was positioned right next to her. Inside the bag she knew was Octavia’s blade, which she wanted nearby until she knew she could trust him.

“So Mr. Dusk, what can I help you with?”

“Well, I’d like you to join me and my group in a little project we have going.”

He said nothing else, which left Rose asking herself a lot of questions, but she motioned for him to continue instead of voicing them.

“I am the president of the Equestrian Equality Envoy. Our headquarters are based in Manehattan, where I happen to live, but we have members and offices in each major city throughout Equestria. Our goal is to induce changes in laws and society regarding our LGBT brothers and sisters through political presence, information campaigns, protests, and, if need be, direct confrontation.”

Rose stared at him in confusion.

“Groups like that exist?” she asked, “And there are protests and ponies fighting laws over ponies like me? I don’t understand, I know that it’s frowned upon by society, but aside from that, what is there to change?”

Dusk allowed himself a small laugh.

“I figured you would think that. You’ve only lived in Canterlot and Ponyville, right?” he asked.

Rose nodded.

“Well, that doesn’t really give you a good perspective of the whole field. You see, in both those places it is very uncommon to hear of LGBT ponies, Canterlot because of the social stigmas and Ponyville because of its small population,” he said, “Granted, I do believe there are a few same sex couples in this town, unless my sources were mistaken, but as you’ve seen, this town is very accepting.”

“So you’re saying that this is an exception and not the rule?” Rose asked.

“Precisely! For example, in cities like Cloudsdale or Los Pegasus there are movements were some have tried to change laws to identify and treat those who prefer the same sex as criminals,” he said. He then paused and thought for a second. “Actually, I should say ‘there were movements.’ That battle has been going on for a while now and I think it’s safe to say that thanks to my group, and a few others, it has been mostly won. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a place in Equestria where a two-mare couple would be openly hassled in public anymore.”

“If you’re doing so well, then why do you need me?” Rose asked.

His smile faltered for a second.

“Well, while we have made amazing strides towards LGB rights, we have yet to make any real headway with transgender rights. In fact, most are claiming that we’ve abandoned that fight. They call it the silent T phenomenon or something like that,” he answered resentfully.

“Well, have you?”

Rose regretted asking that question almost immediately as Dusk’s smile disappeared completely, replaced by an angry scowl. Despite this, she kept her gaze steady, unwilling to show her discomfort.

“We had for a while,” he responded bitterly. “It’s not something I’m proud of, but it was a difficult fight to win and there were more easily accessible victories. As a whole package, the LGBT community was very hard to argue for, but as more ponies became comfortable with same-sex couples, there were opportunities where major gains could be made-“

“At the expense of transgender ponies,” Rose finished for him.

He stared at her tersely but then nodded.

“As I said, I’m not proud of it, but we did what we had to at the time.”

“So what’s changed?” Rose asked. “If you thought that battle was too difficult before, what’s different now?”

Dusk’s smile returned, although it resembled more of a smirk.

“Now we have you,” he said.

Rose sat in silence, so he continued.

“From what I’ve read, you’ve made quite the impression, Ms. Rose. You are a member from one of the oldest and most prestigious pony families, who ran away to live a quiet life in Ponyville because you lacked acceptance in Canterlot,” he said. “Not only that, but you were nearly slaughtered for being transgender, and yet you made your way back to fight the copy of yourself to protect your disapproving family barely after recovering from your hospitalization.”

He looked at her as his smile continued to widen.

“You’ve made quite a name for yourself, one we can use.”

“’One we can use’. What does that mean?” asked Rose.

Dusk’s voice softened the way it often does when one is explaining a concept to a child.

“My dear Rose, it means you’re a hero,” he said barely above a whisper. “You’re the image of what a transpony can be, a symbol of hope behind which to rally. With you as the image of our cause, we can win this fight and make real gains towards securing rights for those who are transgender.”

Rose wanted to share in his enthusiasm, but found herself unable. She could see him trying to manipulate her through his condescending talk and false praise. He saw her as a tool, and she resented being thought of as such.

“I’m no hero, Dusk.”

His smile did not waver.

“Not yet, but with a bit of guidance you will be,” he assured her. “All you would have to do is read speeches my team would write in advance, make appearances, pose for photos, that sort of thing.”

Rose could feel herself getting angry.

“No, you’re not getting it,” she responded. “I’m not a hero, I’m not an activist, and I cannot help you.”

Dusk’s composure faltered.

“What do you mean you can’t help me?” he said, raising his voice. “Do you realize how many ponies you’re turning your back on? It’s your responsibility as a role model-“

“What makes me a role model?” she practically yelled. “My fame? Having the misfortune of being trans? I’m no longer ashamed of it but it’s still not something I chose to be. I didn’t want to be trans, I didn’t want to be exiled from Canterlot, and I didn’t want to be hospitalized. These things you’re saying make me the perfect figurehead are all things I did not want.”

“Sometimes we choose our greatness and sometimes it is thrust upon us,” he said desperately. “You have to see how this is your responsibility! Your duty!”

“No I don’t Mr. Dusk,” Rose responded. “Do you not realize how much I’ve suffered? Been judged? Been hurt?” Tears began to well up in her eyes as she spoke.

“And now you’re telling me that you want me to go spearhead a movement in places that are more hostile towards me than any place I’ve been before?” she asked. “What gives you the right?”

He stared at her and Rose could see the anger growing in his eyes.

“Is that it? You’re afraid?”

“I’m not afraid Dusk,” she responded. “I’m just finally happy about my life for once. I finally have an ounce of normalcy after all this time. I want to enjoy it.”

“So it’s selfishness then,” he remarked. “What about all others like you? When do they get to ‘enjoy it’? Don’t you get that the world does not revolve around you?”

“That’s exactly it,” she yelled. “It doesn’t. I’m insignificant, small, and happy. You will find some other figurehead, someone happy to play the activist and to fulfill that ‘responsibility’ you keep talking about. It doesn’t have to me. It will not be me.”

Silence enveloped the house as Dusk and Rose glared at each other. Both were fuming with anger, but at the moment it was restrained. After a while, Dusk spoke.

“No, that’s not an acceptable answer,” he said getting up and heading to the door. “I will be in Ponyville until the end of summer tending to some details.”

Once he reached the door he turned around to glare at her.

“It is obvious that you need more time to think on this and to sort your priorities,” he said. “I will be staying at the hotel next to the Mayor’s office, room 213, until I leave, at which point I will expect a real answer.”

Rose glared back.

“It will be the same answer you already got.” Rose said.

“We’ll see about that,” he responded. “I’m not done with this yet.”

With that he walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Rose stared at the doorway for a long while, unable to dissipate or control her anger. She wondered if it was due to her lack of practice as of late, or if Dusk had just been particularly unbearable. However, such thoughts were pushed aside by more pressing sentiments.

“Who does he think he is, talking about responsibility and duty?” she thought to herself. “He pretty much admitted that he just wanted to use me for his campaign and I was supposed to be ok with that? What if I do not want to be used?”

She took a deep sigh.

“And he called me selfish,” she thought. “Is it selfish to want to enjoy the normalcy I have fought so hard for? Who is he to call me selfish after everything I suffered through to attain it?”

Rose got up to lock the door when she heard a knock from the other side. Her anger flared as she opened it.

“I already told you I’m not…”

Rose let her statement trail off as she realized that Dusk was not the one who had knocked. Instead there was a male earth pony with a dark brown coat and an auburn mane next to a female unicorn with a pink coat and a green mane carrying a saddle bag. They both looked distraught.

“We’re sorry, is this a bad time?” asked the unicorn.

Rose felt herself blush with embarrassment.

“No no, I’m sorry,” she said. “I thought you were somepony else.”

The two exchanged a worried glance before turning to her again.

“You are Evening Rose, right?” asked the earth pony.

“Yes, I am,” she responded. “Is something wrong?”

The two looked at each other again, before turning to look at the earth pony’s back leg. Wrapped around it Rose noticed for the first time a small filly with a light blue coat and a dim pink mane, whom the unicorn was nudging with her magic to the front.

Rose smiled as she saw her, but her smiled disappeared as she looked up, noticing her parent’s still distraught expression.

“We need your help.”

Author's Note

And so it begins once more.

As you can see, my writing style changed a lot between Arcs 3 and 4. I hope this is a good thing (since we have proper conversations now). Also, all the chapters this Arc will be long, at least compared to previous Arcs.

Thank you for still following the story, I can't wait to share the rest of it with you.

See you Friday!

Happy Reading,
-thedarkprep

2. The Filly from Baltimare

2. The Filly from Baltimare

The night shone with magnificence and splendor, unwatched over the city of Baltimare. The city itself was not a small one, rivaling Manehattan and Canterlot both in population and scope. However, it was an older city with traditional values and old customs. As such, while the other two cities developed an avid nightlife over the years, the streets of Baltimare were empty under the soft cover of moonlight accompanied only by the echoes of the tender breathing and snores that could be heard from each house. All of Baltimare was asleep, with one small exception.

Inside one of the houses there was a small filly that had yet to go sleep. She had originally been confined to her room, but now she stood staring at a door down the hall of her two-story home. Her ragged breath sounded gently through the house as she continued her vigil. Every so often she would lift her hoof to knock. However, hesitation would halt her, and she would bring her hoof down to her side before collapsing into a puddle of whimpers and tears. This process repeated a few times, and each time she would immediately try to calm down, for fear of waking anyone up. She would then try to gather her courage for another attempt.

The filly raised her hoof again, taking a deep breath, and instead of knocking she grabbed the handle and soundlessly opened the door.

The room that greeted her was dark and indiscernible, but she had enough experience within it to know where to go. As quietly as she could, she snuck to the foot of the bed, stopping once or twice after a particularly loud creak of the floorboards to regain her composure and listen for sounds of someone waking. Once she reached the foot of the bed, she stood, gathering her courage once more to do what she came to do.

She noted that it became harder to breathe the longer she waited, and a few more tears loosed themselves as the beating of her heart became louder and louder in her ears. Soon, she could feel herself shaking and twice she looked over at the open door, pushing herself to leave, or to speak, or to do anything. She found herself unable.

In the end, however, she managed to find her voice.

“Mommy? Daddy?”

Her heart stopped its restless beat as the figures before her began to stir. Still, it seemed that despite her voice sounding to her like the cracking of glass tearing through the night silence, it had been too quiet to properly awaken the sleeping beings. As such, she tried again.

“Mommy? Daddy? We need to talk.”

This time, the two adults on the bed stirred awake, gazing around the room for the source of the noise. The darkness concealed her though. The mother charged her magic, letting the glow from her horn illuminate the room with a lavender glow. With the help of the dim light, the parents looked for their daughter, letting a soft gasp escape their lips as they found her staring at them.

The filly’s mane was unkempt and she was shaking slightly, but that was not what had worried them, as she had probably just woken up and it was a cool night for summer. No, what worried them were the tear stains on her cheeks, reflecting the light from her mother’s horn.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” asked her father while her mother lifted the filly with her magic, placing her in between her two parents.

The filly stayed silent for a while and then began to take deep breaths. After a bit of this, and much to her parent’s concern, she began to cry.

“I’m a colt,” she sobbed. “It’s like that mare we were talking about, I’m like that too. I always have been, and now you two are going to hate me and say mean things about me like everypony else!”

The two parents stared at each other with wide eyes as the filly between them wept. Their brains struggled to connect all the pieces and worry began to slip into their minds. However, a particularly loud cry from their daughter snapped both adults from their thoughts. Despite the confusion caused by this outburst, they had something more immediate to attend to.

“No no, shhhhh,” said the mother softly. “It’s ok baby, don’t cry.”

“Yea honey, it’s ok,” said the father. “We’re not going to hate you and we’re not going to say anything mean, ok? We love you.”

Their daughter stopped weeping for a moment.

“You mean it?” she asked.

“Yes we mean it,” said the mother. “We love you very much and we’re going to figure this out ok? So please don’t cry.”

“Right now you need to sleep,” said the father, hugging his daughter close. “But in the morning we’re going to talk about this and everything’s going to be ok. I promise.”

The filly sniffled a little before muttering, “Ok.”

The room became more peaceful as the filly’s whimpers became soft breathing, which then became snoring. All the while, her parents held her close, drying her tears and whispering soft words of comfort to the sleeping filly. Soon the room was peaceful, dark, and quiet, at least until the mother charged her magic again.

Under the soft glow, the two parents examined their daughter, making sure she was asleep before leaving the bed and then the room. They proceeded to head down the stairs in absolute silence, each taking a seat in the living room.

“Oh Timber, what are we going to do?” asked the mom.

Timber looked at her with a worried gaze, thinking hard before answering.

“I don’t know ok?” he responded. “Look, it’s probably just a phase. Fillies are very impressionable at this age and between that newspaper article and all those questions she asked us…” he let his sentence drift off.

“Look, it will probably pass,” he finished.

The mother continued to sob in her seat.

“You don’t think we did something wrong, did we?” she asked. “Telling her about transponies and answering her questions? Did we cause this? Did I?”

“No no,” said Timber sternly as the unicorn began to cry. “Spring, look at me.”

It took a while but the mare complied, tears still filling her gaze.

“You are a great mother,” Timber said. “We did nothing wrong. She was going to have questions after all the town has been saying. We would’ve been wrong not to answer them. Besides, it’s probably just a phase.”

This seemed to calm her down.

“You think so?” she whispered.

He sat next to her, holding her close.

“Yeah,” he responded. “Look, let’s not jump to conclusions. Tomorrow we’ll talk to her, ask her questions, and see how she feels. She might just be confused, in which case we’ll help her figure things out.”

“But what if she isn’t confused, Timber?” asked Spring. “What if it isn’t a phase? What if this is who she is? What then?”

Timber stayed silent for a long time, thinking of his answer.

“Then we’ll help her with that too,” he said. “No matter what happens, it’ll be ok.”

The two stayed in their embrace for a while, each calming down from the shock and taking in comfort from the other. After some time had passed, Timber spoke again.

“We should go back and get some rest,” he said. “I have a feeling tomorrow-“

“AHHH!”

Both Timber and Spring got up from the couch, running up the stairs and towards the source of the screaming and crying that was ringing throughout the household.

Entering their room, they turned on the lights. It was then that they found their filly sobbing uncontrollably into the middle of the bed. They both rushed to her.

“What’s wrong?” asked Spring.

The filly tried to regain her breath enough to answer, but found it difficult through her tears. Eventually she managed to respond.

“I… I woke up, and you weren’t there,” she said through stifled sobs. “And I thought… I thought you left me be- because I’m a transpony…”

She then began weeping again, with both her parents trying desperately to calm her.

“No no honey,” Timber said, “We were downstairs talking about tomorrow. We would never leave you.”

“Yeah,” added Spring, “We’ll always love you with all our hearts, whether you are our little filly or our little colt. We’ll always be with you.”

Both parents began to relax as they felt their daughter calm down.

“You promise?” she whispered.

“We promise.”

“Wow,” said Rose, “So what did you do then?”

Rose was now sitting on a chair in her living room while Timber and Spring occupied the couch, their daughter sitting bashfully in between them.

After being invited in, the parents mentioned that they needed Rose’s advice and began to recount the story of their filly coming out to them as transgender. Both parents had taken turns in telling the story with Rose listening intently as they shared the annectdote, and the filly the story regarded sat in silence. Spring attempted to answer Rose’s question, but choked up at the memory they had just recounted, leaving Timber to continue the story.

“Well, over the next few weeks we talked to our daughter about how she felt,” Timber explained. “We asked her how long things had been going on, how she knew, things like that. At the same time we started going to the library and doing research on the topic to find some way of knowing if this was something permanent or temporary. The research did not really amount to anything; there aren’t a lot of books about this out there and those we found were less than promising, but the talk…”

He turned to look at his daughter with a pensive glance before turning back to Rose to finish his thought.

“We found that we did not really need the research,” he said. “Talking to her, and the things she told us… We’re sure this is real. We cried a lot during those days, and a lot of the talks were painful. I don’t think either of us got much sleep during that time, but we at least knew that our daughter was not confused and that what she felt was one hundred percent real. Once we knew for sure, we made all the necessary arrangements and came here.”

Rose thought for a minute, processing the conversation in her mind.

“Why come all the way out here though?” she asked. “Baltimare is not exactly close. Did you three come all this way just to ask for my advice?”

“Well, yes and no,” said Spring, smiling awkwardly as she wiped the last of her tears away. “Here, let me explain.”

Spring dug into her saddlebag pulling a newspaper out, which she proceeded to give to Rose. Rose did not have to read the article to know what it was about, as it was the same one she had become rather familiar with in the passing months.

“This is what started everything,” said Spring. “When this article came out, it was all the ponies of Baltimare would talk about. It was also where our daughter heard about you and why she started asking questions, questions which she became more interested in, and the more we answered the more she asked. Once we found out that she was really transgender, and that it was going to be difficult to find the proper information on our own, we figured the best thing to do was to talk to somepony that knew what this was like.”

“We just want to make sure we do everything we can to support our daughter,” Timber said. “But this is all new to us and we don’t know what we need to do to ensure she’s happy and safe. We don’t know what our options are, and what we do know, we don’t know how to go about doing.”

“You are also the only transpony we have heard about publicly,” added Spring. “And after reading your story… we just thought you could help.”

Rose nodded, deep in thought.

“And the other reason?” she asked.

“Sorry?” asked Timber.

“Well, you said that asking me advice wasn’t the only reason you came here,” she explained. “I asked you if it was and you said ‘yes and no’ right? So why else?”

“Oh right,” said Spring. “You see, when news of… of you came out in Baltimare, they weren’t necessarily well received.”

She stared at Rose awkwardly as if expecting a reprimand, causing Rose to giggle.

“It’s ok Ms. Spring,” said Rose. “I’m a big mare; I can take it.”

Spring gave a weak smile.

“Right, of course,” she said. “Well, Baltimare is an old city with a lot of old values. When news of you broke out, the majority of the population said a lot of very vile things about you and ponies like you.”

She took a deep breath, remembering the gossip around town.

“Some talked about what they would do if they found you in public, others called you a bunch of things, most of which were unkind,” she said shuddering. “It’s the worst I’ve seen of the town and it made me really uncomfortable when my daughter started to notice all the hatred, even before she came out.”

Spring turned to look at her daughter while Timber took up the explanation.

“Regardless of whether or not you could help us, we knew we needed to get our daughter out of there,” he explained. “We want her to be able to have a happy and safe life regardless of who she ends up being, and she couldn’t have that there.”

Timber then pointed to the newspaper that was now resting on a table in front of him.

“Despite the… the incident, we read that you were doing well here in Ponyville and that everyone had been very accepting, so we actually moved here this week,” he said. “We still have a few more things to do like enroll our daughter in school, and we still need to finalize our government job transfers from Baltimare to here, but we thought now would be a good time to come and see you.”

Rose could not help but smile. Although she wanted to remain passive, Rose could not help but be impressed at the lengths they had already gone through to support their daughter.

“Will you please help us?” asked Spring tentatively.

Rose closed her eyes as she gathered her thoughts.

On the one hoof, Rose preferred not get involved. For starters, she did not want the responsibility of making choices and giving advice that would no doubt impact the life of this filly. Yes, she had life experience, but that was all it was; she would not delude herself to think that just because she knew what would have worked for her, that she could give out the best advice for somepony else. Then there was the fact that she meant what she told Dusk, and while giving advice was not like playing the activist that Dusk wanted, it still involved a certain level of responsibility and commitment that she did not know she wanted to indulge.

“It would mean taking ownership of my being trans,” she thought to herself. “Owning it and using it rather than just accepting it. I’m not sure if I’m ready for that.”

However, this was a very different scenario from what Dusk had asked for. Rose realized that Timber and Spring were not two ponies asking her to take up the fight for a cause. They did not want to exploit her, nor were they asking her for a sacrifice. They were two parents that were desperately trying to make sure their daughter was healthy and happy. They were scared, they had no experience with this, and they were not sure they would be able to do things right, but they were still trying and they had no one but herself to turn to.

Rose opened her eyes and looked at the filly sitting between her parents.

“She already has the support of her parents, has moved to an accepting town, and from the sounds of it she’s more aware and sure of who she is than I had been even last year,” Rose thought to herself. “She has a chance to lead a life far easier than the one I had to go through. Who am I to deny her help in making that happen?”

Rose took a deep breath before addressing the parents.

“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be,” she said. “But I’m willing and able to help in any way I can.”

Smiles spread across the faces of the parents as they processed the news, forcing a smile to appear on Rose’s face as well.

“I made the right choice,” she thought to herself.

“Thank you so much Ms. Rose,” Spring said tearfully. “You don’t know how much this means to us.”

“It’s quite alright,” said Rose. “I’m just happy I can help.”

“So, what do you think we should do first?” asked Timber.

Rose thought for a moment before answering.

“Well first things first, you should probably finish getting settled in Ponyville. You’re not going anywhere and neither am I, so there’s no point in rushing things,” she explained. “Make sure everything is accounted for, sign up your daughter to the school and the such. Actually, you might want to let the school know about what’s going on so they can begin preparing for it before the school year starts. Oh! And you should also go talk to Twilight Sparkle. She’s the town librarian. She mentioned around a year ago that she found some books on the subject of transponies. She did also mention that there had only been two at the time but, knowing her, she probably ordered more when she found so few available. Even if she didn’t, two books are better than no books.”

Timber and Spring nodded in agreement.

“As for me helping personally,” Rose said, pausing to think. “I think I’d like to talk to your daughter, maybe around this time next week? I want to ask her questions and see what she thinks about things and what she wants to happen. It’ll help me make sure I’m giving the proper advice. Does that sound ok with you?”

Rose directed that question as the filly, who after a moment gave a nervous nod.

“Thank you Ms. Rose for agreeing to help,” said Timber as he got up from the couch. “You don’t know how much this means to us.”

“It’s quite alright,” said Rose, shaking his hoof. “And you can just call me Rose.”

She walked her visitors to the door, opening it for them and waving as they left. However, as they were walking away Rose remembered something.

“Hey, wait a second,” she called after them, causing them to turn around.

“I just realized that we’ve been talking about your daughter this whole time but I still don’t know her name.”

Both parents looked down at their daughter with expecting eyes.

“Well, go on,” said Spring softly. “Introduce yourself.”

The filly looked at her parents nervously before shuffling and turning to look towards Rose. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and tense.

“Hi Miss- I mean, hi Rose,” she said. “I’m Summer Breeze.”

Author's Note

Two out of the three story pieces are now set and we're only on the second chapter.
Are you excited? Cause I am!

One note on pronouns and stuff. Transgender is an umbrella term that covers a wide variety of gender identities (rather than just mtf and ftm, such as 3rd gender and the such). Because of that, I'm refraining from changing pronouns on Summer until after her talk with Rose, at which point we'll be sure of what the proper way of addressing her is.

Yes, as the author I am aware of where she fits in, but we'll make that journey together shall we?

See you Monday,
-thedarkprep

3. Play Date

3. Play Date

It was a late afternoon in the market square as the last of the vendors packed up for the day. A few ponies still walked through the square under the setting sun, but those who did were quiet and few and far in between. As such, it was not at all hard to hear the laughter coming from one of the houses overlooking the square.

Rose had invited Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy earlier that day to talk about the interview she would be giving Summer Breeze later that week, as well as to bounce ideas off of them in terms of advice that she could give Summer’s parents. All of the girls had given great suggestions and listened intently as Rose spoke. They were all also extremely excited to meet the new ponies as well, with Applejack and Rarity promising to talk to their siblings about being friends with Summer. In fact, the only pony who did not seem happy about the news was Pinkie, who had begrudgingly agreed to postpone the welcome party until they had gotten settled and until Rose had had an ample chance to warn them.

With the more pressing issue tended to, the conversation had now shifted to the girls telling of their recent visit to the Wonderbolts Academy, which they had just returned from and where Rainbow Dash currently resided. This conversation was done in the company of Derpy, who had arrived at Rose’s place about halfway through the afternoon and had accepted the invitation to stay.

“I can’t believe she did that!” remarked Derpy. “Even when she was a filly being a Wonderbolt is all she’s ever cared about. I can’t believe that she told off Spitfire!”

“That’s what I thought too,” said Twilight. “I was about to tell her to go back, apologize, and beg for re-entry into the academy; but as it turns out I didn’t have to.”

“Oh?” asked Rose.

“Yeah,” said Twilight. “Spitfire came right up to us, yelling ‘How dare you storm out of my office without giving me a chance to respond?!’ She not only said that Rainbow was still an academy member, but that she was being promoted to a leading position on top of that while firing that Lightning Dust pegasus.”

“Serves her right,” added Rarity. “I may not approve of Rainbow’s risk-taking but at least she has the decency to ensure that her risks only endanger herself.”

“So she got to stay?” asked Derpy.

“Do ya see her here?” asked Applejack.

“Oh, right,” muttered Derpy, smiling sheepishly.

“You’re forgetting the most important part of all!”

“What is it, Pinkie?”

“After she did some laps, Rainbow opened her care package!” said Pinkie while grinning.

“Um... right,” said Twilight. “And then Rainbow received and opened her care package.”

“Oh, good,” commented Rose. “You hadn’t mentioned it so I was worried that she hadn’t gotten it and that Rainbow had forgotten all of you. Don’t scare me like that, Twilight!”

“I know, right!?” exclaimed Pinkie, to the giggles of those assembled.

“Um, girls, I don’t want to interrupt, but I have to go soon to tend to my animals,” muttered Fluttershy.

Twilight looked at the clock.

“Yes, I think it’s about time we all left,” commented Twilight. “As fun as this has been, it is getting to be fairly late.”

The rest muttered in agreement, grabbing their things before heading out the door. One by one they all said their goodbyes, thanking Rose for the pleasant evening with promises to meet again soon. In the end the only two left in the house were Rose and Derpy.

“This was a lot of fun, Rose,” said Derpy.

“It was,” said Rose. “I would’ve invited you to it but I have the lunch thing with Lyra, Bon Bon, and you next week and I don’t like taking up too much of anyone’s time.”

“That’s ok,” said Derpy. “If you had I would have probably said no. I was working all day and only just got done when I knocked on your door.”

“Well I’m glad you did, Derpy,” said Rose. “It was a lot of fun having you here.”

“I can’t wait to the lunch next week,” Derpy said as she prepared to leave. Then she stopped, pulling a letter from her saddlebag.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” she said, handing the letter to Rose. “Here you go!”

“Oh, what is it?” asked Rose.

“Your mail silly,” Derpy said. “It’s the reason I came here. It was my last delivery of the day, but then you invited me to stay and it was a lot of fun and I didn’t want to ruin the mood, so I figured I’d give it to you before I left.”

Rose stared at her with a confused look.

“Why would giving me my mail ruin the mood?” she asked.

“Oh, well I’m not sure that it would, I didn’t open it or anything,” said Derpy. “But the letter is from Canterlot, so…”

“Oh,” exclaimed Rose, reading the return address. It had been sent from the Rhyme estate.

“Well, yeah,” Rose thought to herself. “This certainly has the capacity to ruin someone’s day.”

She then turned to look at Derpy.

“Well thank you for delivering my mail,” said Rose. “See you next week, ok?”

“Ok,” affirmed Derpy. She waved goodbye and left Rose’s home, closing the door behind her. Rose looked at the envelope for a while, making her way to her couch.

Rose had received a lot of letters from Canterlot in the past months. Octavia, for example, made it a point to write at least once a week with extra letters to account for special events or circumstances (like warning Rose about the article). She even had gotten a few letters from the Rhyme estate, courtesy of her brother Perfect. However, he had yet to work on his penmanship, which meant one could identify his letters from his messy hoofwriting on the envelope alone. This was not sent by him.

“Well,” she muttered. “Let’s see what’s up.”

To: Sla Evening Rose

I know we haven’t talked since your last “visit” in Canterlot. Let it suffice to say that a lot of things have changed in that time, following my press conference which I’m sure you’ve read about due to the coverage it received. You used to mention that your dark robe kept you out of the public eye, and if that’s true then I would suggest keeping it with you at all times. On a more personal note, changes have happened in our household as well as a result of your actions, and while we still do not approve of your choices, your mother and I have agreed that it is important to establish a channel of communication with you since we are still family, even if only from sharing a bloodline. In any case, this is not what the focus this letter is about.

Your mother and I have business in Vanhoover this weekend. Usually we would simply employ a foalsitter for your brother or take him with us on our trip, both of which are possible options. However, we remember you extending your hospitality to him last time you were here, and your mother and I have agreed that it would be best for him to spend the weekend with you in Ponyville, if you find the idea agreeable that is.

I know it is short notice and we do not know what kind of plans you may already have. As such, we have not mentioned this possibility to him yet, to avoid getting his hopes up before we have your answer.

If you are able to take him he will be on the second train to Ponyville two days from now. If not, then we will simply hire someone to look after him or take him with us at our convenience. In either case, a response would be appreciated sooner rather than later. A simple yes or no should suffice.

-Rich Rhyme

Rose stared at the letter in confusion, re-reading it as she made her way upstairs to her work desk, questions flooding her mind.

Her dad had mentioned the importance of family in his press release, as Rose had read, and had mentioned that despite his disapproval they were attempting to keep the family together. However, she had been sure that had just been a scripted response for the press and an accommodation made for Perfect’s sake. And yet, here he was, writing about how both him and Ilene wanted to establish a channel of communication with her. Rose didn’t know what to make of it.

“Changes in the household indeed,” Rose muttered to herself as she reached the desk.

Regardless of her confusion, there was something that needed her immediate attention. Her parents wanted her brother to stay with her for the weekend. While they had talked through letters, she had not seen her brother since the invasion, a fact that she really wanted to rectify. If he came this weekend, he would be arriving a day before her meeting with Summer Breeze, and would be leaving afterwards, but Rose was sure she could make this work. What she needed to do now was respond before her parents could change their minds.

Grabbing a piece of parchment and her quill, she wrote a short letter for an overnight delivery.

To: Rich Rhyme

Yes

-Evening Rose

Rose found that waiting at the train station for her brother was a lot different than waiting for Octavia.

When waiting for the latter, Rose felt a certain calm and collectiveness bordering on boredom. For starters, Vinyl would always be there to help pass the time and to talk to. Then there was the fact that Octavia’s visits brought on a certain excitement despite the fact that they had become more commonplace in the last months. As for the former, all Rose felt now was anxiety.

She had refused to indulge the thought before, since she had just been shocked about Perfect’s coming visit, but this would be the first time Perfect would really spend time with Evening Rose. In all the letters they had exchanged back and forth, not once was the topic of Rose’s identity as a mare discussed. Their conversations had instead been based on the more mundane topics of the daily goings on of a regular life. They had talked about Perfect’s schoolwork, Rose’s weather team work, and about their friends, but had never discussed Rose being transgender or the fallout between Rose and her family.

She knew that the topics would undoubtedly come up in her brother’s three day stay, and while she knew that he had already proved very mature and accepting, she was still nervous at the prospect of discussing things with him.

“Give yourself some credit,” she told herself. “It’s not like you’re just nervous, you’re outright afraid that he’ll reject you once he’s spent time with you. Maybe you’re not who he remembers at all.”

Rose took a deep breath.

“And I’m talking to myself,” she muttered. “Perfect.”

Her attention was pulled to the tracks as the second train from Canterlot arrived, and her fear and nervousness only grew as the doors opened and the ponies traveling on the train started filing out.

“Hey! Over here!”

Rose barely had the chance to discern the direction of the yell before she found herself tackled to the ground by her younger brother.

Perfect Rhyme hugged his sister tightly as ponies passing by walked around the two, chancing a curious or disapproving stare. Rose normally would feel embarrassed after drawing so much attention to herself. She would also normally feel panicked at the fact that her favorite blazer was now getting crumpled against the train station floor. However, as she held on to Perfect, she could not find it in herself to care about much of anything but the hug she was receiving, and just like that her fears were gone.

“I really missed you sis!” Perfect said.

“I missed you too Perfect,” she responded. “But don’t you think we should stop being in everyone’s way?”

Perfect looked around as if just noticing the multitude of ponies going to and from the trains.

“Oh yeah,” he said, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry.”

The two got up, dusting themselves off. They then split up the luggage, with Perfect following behind Rose as they made their way into town.

Before long they arrived at Rose’s home.

“We’re here.”

“Wow,” exclaimed Perfect. “This is your house?”

“Yep,” said Rose, “Here, let me get it open.”

Rose unlocked the door, letting Perfect in. She then carried the luggage, placing it in the living room.

“Well, for the next few days this is your home,” said Rose. “The master bedroom is upstairs, which is where you’ll be staying. I’ll be staying here in the living room. The bathroom is upstairs and to the left, and the kitchen is here in the back.”

Perfect, who had been looking at the mirror next to the stairs, turned around looking confused for a moment.

“You’re staying in the living room?” he asked. “Why don’t I just stay in the guest bedroom and you keep your room?”

“Um... well, I don’t actually have a guest room,” said Rose.

Perfect looked at her for a moment before what she had just said clicked in his head. Then he began talking in a hurried voice.

“Oh, that’s fine!” he stammered. “It’s still a really cool place. It’s really cozy and stuff.”

Rose giggled.

“It seems like he was more receptive to the ‘be polite’ lessons than I was,” she thought to herself.

“It’s ok, Perfect,” she assured him. “I know it’s not much, but it’s mine and I like it ok. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, it does,” he said. Rose was still not convinced.

“Then what’s wrong?”

Perfect looked around for a second, but eventually sighed and then talked.

“Well, it’s just… Why stay here when you could go back?” he asked. “This place is cool and all, and the town seems nice, but you could be back home, so why stay?”

Rose took a deep breath. While the question did not catch her unawares, she was still hesitant to discuss it. Still, she knew better than to try to avoid it.

“Did Mom and Dad tell you why I left, Perfect?” she asked.

Perfect thought for a moment.

“Yeah,” he answered. “You came out to them, they got upset, there was an argument, and then you ran away.”

“Figures that they wouldn’t tell him everything,” she thought to herself. “Well, it’s probably for the best that he doesn’t know. He still has to live with them.”

“Yeah.” Rose said. “There was an argument and I realized that I could not be myself around Mom and Dad anymore. I needed my space and Canterlot was not my home anymore.”

“But they’ve changed!” Perfect said. “They regret what they said and they want you back.”

He paused.

“Or at least, I think they do.”

Rose pulled up to her brother, giving him a tight hug. She hated seeing him upset, but she knew there was more than going on than she should really explain at the moment.

“I’m sorry, Perfect,” she said. “But I’m not sure that they do want me back, and even if they did, I have a life here. I have friends, and a job, and this house. This is where I belong.”

Perfect looked sad but nodded.

“Yeah, I guess I understand.”

Rose gave him a smile.

“Look, how about you get settled upstairs, and then I’ll introduce you to my friends,” she said. “One of them works in a bakery and the other in a sweets shop, and I may just have a few extra bits I don’t need lying around.”

Perfect perked up at the suggestion.

“Sounds good to me!”

The rest of the evening was spent going to the houses or workplaces of all of Rose’s friends. Perfect seemed genuinely excited to meet each of them, and each of them in kind seemed happy at meeting the little brother they had heard so much about. Perfect also seemed to enjoy the variety of locations the town had to offer, commenting how much he liked Sweet Apple Acres, Sugarcube Corner, the Carousel Boutique, the library, and Fluttershy’s cottage. Rose could not blame him; after all, everything in Canterlot tended to look the same. Compared to that, Perfect might as well have visited seven different cities that day, all in the company of entertaining ponies and, of course, his big sister.

Soon it got dark and they headed back to Rose’s home.

“I see why you like this town now,” Perfect commented as he got ready for bed.

“So you didn’t before?” Rose asked. “Does that mean you lied?”

Perfect’s eyes widened.

“No!” he said, “Well, yes, I did. But I mean it now, and this was only my first day here! I can’t wait till tomorrow!”

Rose stifled a giggle.

“Well, we’ll meet tomorrow when it gets here, ok?”

“Ok sis,” Perfect said, giving her a hug. “Have a good night.”

“You too, Perfect.”

Rose watched as Perfect went up the stairs before settling on the couch.

“Well it seems like nothing’s changed,” Rose thought to herself. “For all my fears that things would be different, he still sees me as his older sibling and he still idolizes the ground I walk on.”

As she covered herself with her covers, images of all of Rose’s mistakes quickly flashed through her mind.

“Yeah, I might need to do something about that,” she murmured before drifting off to sleep.

Rose and Perfect sat in perfect concentration on opposite sides of the living room table, sending glares at each other every few minutes.

“B3.”

“No!” exclaimed Perfect. “There is no way you’re doing this. You have to be cheating somehow!”

“So I take it that was a hit?” asked Rose, flashing a smirk at her brother. Perfect in turned mumbled something under his breath before nodding. Rose giggled.

It had been a pleasant morning for Rose and Perfect that day. After a slow start from sleeping in, the two got ready for the day and went out for breakfast. Perfect then accompanied Rose on her errands around town. Afterwards, they went to Twilight’s library to check out a few books for Perfect before heading back home, where they had spent the last few hours reading, talking, and playing games. Currently, the two were engaged in a very intense game of Battlecloud and, as Rose remembered, Perfect could be a very sore loser.

“That’s fine” exclaimed Perfect. “You know where one of my last pieces is but you haven’t destroyed it yet. I can still win this if I-“

A knock on the door halted his train of thought, and both of them turned to stare at the doorway.

“I’ll get it,” said Rose as she got up to answer it, finding Pinkie Pie on the other side.

“Hi Rose! Is Perfect ready? I have the most super awesome day planned for him. It involves sugar, and candy, and frosting! Unless you don’t approve of any of that like the dentist, in which case I’ll probably still give it to him anyway but then I’ll be forced to keep a secret from you and that wouldn’t be much fun at all.”

Pinkie stopped for a second as she thought through the problem.

“Actually, strike that, it would still be fun.”

Rose smiled.

“It’s ok Pinkie, Perfect can have treats every once in a while,” Rose said. “And he’s almost ready, let’s go inside.”

Rose turned to see her brother shuffling back into his seat.

“It’s my move right?” he asked.

“No, Perfect,” Rose said, narrowing her eyes. “Pinkie is here so you should get your stuff together.”

“Aw, but I was ready to show you that you’re not as clever as you think!” he protested.

“Fine,” said Rose. “Call it.”

“F5.” Perfect said smugly.

“Miss.”

Perfect got up from the chair in indignation.

“No way! I just saw…” he let the sentence trail off while Rose raised her eyebrow at him.

“Right,” he said, “I’ll go grab my things.”

With that, he headed upstairs. Rose watched him go before turning to look at Pinkie.

“Thank you so much for looking after him today while I ask Summer Breeze questions,” she said.

“No problem!” said Pinkie, “I already proved that I’m great at foalsitting foals, so now I’m going to prove that I can foalsit for older colts and fillies, and then I’ll see if I can foalsit adults, and I’ll be known as the greatest foalsitter ever!”

Rose stared at her for a minute.

“I’m sure you’ll do great,” Rose said. “And when you start foalsitting adults, I would recommend starting with Rarity. I’m sure she would love it.”

“Hmm, Rainbow Dash said the same thing,” said Pinkie.

“I’m sure she did,” Rose said, suppressing a grin.

“I’m ready to go,” said Perfect, rushing down the stairs.

“Yay! Well come on then!” said Pinkie, “We have a day of cupcakes and muffins ahead of us!”

Rose waved them off as they left her home. She then went inside, closing the door behind her, and began to clean the house in preparation for the upcoming visit.

She had not really planned anything in regards to how to approach this interview but, thanks to the girls, she had come up with some general advice to give the parents should she come up with nothing more catered to the specific needs of Summer Breeze. As such, she sat down on the couch and waited. After a few minutes there was a knock on the door.

“Well hello there,” said Rose, greeting her guests after opening the door. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Thank you for taking the time to help us,” said Timber, shaking Rose’s hoof. Timber, Spring, and Summer all followed Rose to the living room after closing the door behind themselves.

“So, how long do you think this interview will take?” asked Spring.

Rose looked at her uncertainly, but answered nonetheless.

“I can’t imagine it would take more than a few hours,” said Rose.

“Oh,” said Spring. “Well, if that’s the case, would it be alright if Timber and I went to do a couple of errands while you two talk?”

“You’re not staying?” asked Rose.

“Well, we can if you think we’re needed,” said Timber. “But on the walk here we decided that it might be best to let you two talk by yourselves. Summer might feel more comfortable talking about things without us in the room and we don’t want to be in the way.”

Rose thought for a moment.

“Well, it’s not what I expected,” she said. “But if it’s alright with you then I don’t have a problem with it.”

“Great, we’ll be back in a few,” Spring said. The two then walked back to the door, waving goodbye to Summer as they left.

Rose watched them leave, turning her gaze to the filly in front of her once the door had closed. Summer was standing awkwardly with her saddlebag tilting her to one side, staring at Rose with wide eyes.

Despite not showing it, Rose certainly felt as awkward as the filly looked, unsure of how to start the conversation. In the end, she decided to start by trying to dissuade the tension.

“Hey there Summer,” she began. “That bag looks heavy. Would you like to sit down on the couch and put it next to you so you don’t have to carry it?”

Summer nodded, heading to couch and placing the bag next to herself. Rose, in turn, sat on a chair in front of the couch to be able to talk to Summer face-to-face.

“Ok, no sense in postponing this,” Rose said. “Is it ok if we begin?”

Summer waited for a second but then nodded.

“Well, first things first. What would you like me to call you?”

The filly looked at Rose with confusion.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “My name’s Summer Breeze. What else would you call me?”

“Oh, well,” Rose stammered, “Well, your parents told me that you’re trans and so I figured that you might have a name that you wanted to be called that reflected who you are better.”

The filly gave this some consideration.

“No,” she said. “I am trans, but I like my name. My parents gave it to me and I think it’s important. I don’t have to change it, do I?”

Rose stared at the filly for a while without answering. She had made it a point to not get any specific information from the parents in order to be able to look at Summer Breeze with an unbiased mind. As such, she expected to be surprised at some of her answers. What she did not expect was to be surprised after the very first one. Still, the filly had asked her a question so she could not afford to be lost in thought for long.

“Err, no,” Rose answered. “I don’t think you have to. If you’re happy with your name then you should keep it.”

Summer relaxed and smiled at the answer.

“Well, at least she’s talking and relaxing now,” thought Rose.

“Well, how about you tell me how you found this out about yourself?” asked Rose.

Summer looked at her for a moment before turning to dig into her saddlebag. From within it she pulled the same newspaper that her mother had shown Rose the previous week. Rose eyed it again before turning to look at Summer.

“This is an article about me,” Rose commented. “I’m guessing this has something to do with it?”

Summer nodded.

“Want to tell me about it?”

The both sat in silence for a while before Summer took a deep breath and spoke.

“I don’t know when it started,” she began. “But the day that article came out is the day I noticed it. A lot of what it said, especially about your foalhood, well, it’s what I feel all the time.”

Rose nodded, motioning for her to continue.

“I have friends, and I fit in with them alright, but I always felt different,” she continued. “I would always feel like I was broken, and I would get angry. I would get jealous over dumb things. Like, I would get a prize for doing just as well as a colt in my class even though I knew he deserved it more. I got it because I’m a filly and we’re not supposed to be as strong, and I got jealous that they expected more from him. I felt like they were babying me.”

Tears started to form in her eyes, but Rose said nothing for fear of interrupting her story.

“And my body doesn’t feel right,” she said. “Everypony tells me that it’ll be better when I grow up, get curves, and grow my mane, but I don’t want those things. I... I don’t know how I want to look but it’s not that. And I like my mane short.”

Summer began sobbing on the sofa, prompting Rose to sit beside her, placing a wing around her in an attempt to comfort her.

“Shhh, its alright,” said Rose, “Please don’t cry. I know it’s painful but what you’re telling me is helping me a lot. I just need you to be brave for a bit longer, ok?”

Summer seemed to fight back the tears but she was not making much headway in cheering up. Rose thought fast for a quick change of topic, at least until her feelings were in check.

“Hey, how about you tell me what else is in the bag?”

This seemed to pause Summer’s pain, if only out of pure confusion.

“In my bag?” she asked.

“Yeah,” said Rose. “When you pulled out your newspaper I saw that there was something else in there. You don’t have to show me what it is if you don’t want to, but-“

“No no, that’s ok!” said Summer. She quickly turned to her bag, pulling a Princess Celestia doll and a Princess Luna doll from within it. When she turned back to look at Rose, she was smiling.

“This is my Princess Celestia doll,” Summer said. “She’s the first one I got and I’ve had her for a very long time. This other one though is my Princess Luna doll. Don’t tell Celestia but I like both of them equally. I always take them with me to places and I like playing with them when I’m feeling upset. I know that I’m getting to be too old to play with dolls, but it makes me smile when I do. Oh, and I’m getting a Princess Cadence doll soon too! Once they start making them that is.”

“You like to play with dolls?” Rose asked.

She hadn’t meant to ask that question, it was a thought and nothing more. However, it had escaped through her lips and now she could do nothing more than to await an answer.

“Yeah,” Summer said, looking confused at the question, “Why?”

“Oh, nothing,” said Rose, “It’s just, since you told me you wanted to be a colt I just didn’t expect you to want to do things fillies do like play with dolls.”

Summer’s eyes went wide with fear.

“Can colts not play with dolls?” she asked in a terrified tone, “I’m sorry, I’m already messing up being trans aren’t I? Look, I love my dolls and playing with them but I’ll give them up if I have to. I have to be a colt, I have to fix this.”

Rose was shocked by the outburst.

“You idiot,” Rose thought to herself, “Just because you hated all colt-related things does not mean she’s going to work the same way. You can’t just assume that her situation is like yours.”

She would have continued scolding herself, but she had a mistake to rectify.

“It’s ok,” Rose said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. There’s no right way or wrong way to be trans, Summer, just like there’s no right way or wrong way to be a colt or a filly. You can play with your dolls and still be a colt. A lot of colts play with dolls just like a lot of fillies play sports. This is all about what you want, ok?”

Summer nodded slowly, calming herself down. Rose, on the other hoof, was sitting with wide eyes as her mind came to the realization that she had yet to consider asking what was probably the most prudent question to ask.

“Hey Summer,” she began, “What exactly do you want?”

Summer looked at her inquiringly, but said nothing so Rose continued.

“I mean, I know you want to be a colt, but what does that mean to you? What do you want to happen?”

Summer thought for a few minutes before answering, which was fine by Rose. She did not want to rush Summer with such an important question.

“I want to be treated like a colt,” she began. “I want the same expectations, and I want to be grouped with them. It’s where I’m comfortable being. I want to wear colt clothing, no dresses or skirts… and I want to…”

Summer faltered for a minute as she looked for the words to say.

“I’m not sure if it makes sense, but every time I get called a filly, or “she”, or a beauty, or anything like that… it hurts. I don’t know why, but it does. When we got talked to about growing up and how I was going to be a beautiful mare… it scared me. I started crying in class and I didn’t know why. I love my mommy and all, but when I think of who I’m going to be, she’s not somepony I think of. I think of my dad, or Shining Armor, but never any mares. And because I’m a… a filly… it hurts when I think that, because I always think that I’m broken. I shouldn’t want that but I do… If I’m a colt, then when I grow up I can be the… the stallion I want to be. That’s what I want the most, for the pain to stop and to feel like I’m right and normal. I’m sorry… I’m probably not making any sense.”

Rose could only stare as similar feelings echoed through her mind. Memories, forgotten and repressed, resurfaced. Rose wanted to say she herself had been felt the same things, that she had struggled with the same emotions and that she understood exactly where Summer Breeze was coming from. In the end she simply said:

“It makes perfect sense, and I’m going to help you get what you want.”

Summer could only smile as he wiped the tears from his eyes. He quickly noticed something in Roses eyes though.

“I’m sorry Miss Rose,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Rose could not help but giggle.

“It’s ok, Summer,” Rose said, “It’s my own fault. Anyway, how about you wait down here while I go get something to write with, and then you and I can keep talking and come up with suggestions to make sure you get treated like you want?”

Summer nodded and soon Rose was back with the necessary equipment. The two continued to talk, with Rose writing down suggestions for Summer’s parents in duplicate (so she could keep a copy). This continued until there was a knock on the door.

“Well, your parents are here so start packing up your things,” Rose said as she went to open the door. When she did open it, however, she found Pinkie and brother talking excitedly, both of whom stopped when they noticed Rose starting at them.

“Ooh Rose, we had the most perfect time!” said Pinkie. “Tell her, Perfect.”

“Yeah!” Perfect said. “There was confetti, and ice cream, and cake!”

Rose could not hold back a laugh.

“Ok ok, come on in,” she said. “You can tell me all about it in a bit.”

As the three stepped inside, Summer came rushing towards the door.

“Mom! Dad! I had the…” he stopped talking as he noticed who actually had walked through the door.

“Oh right,” Rose said. “Perfect, I’d like you to meet a new friend. His name is Summer Breeze. Summer, this is my brother Perfect Rhyme.”

Perfect looked confused.

“Wait, ‘his name?’ But she’s…” he said, letting that sentence trail off as realization dawned on his face. After a second of hesitation, his face sported his usual smile. “Well, nice to meet you Summer!”

Summer, to his credit, took the whole scene rather well.

“Nice to meet you too,” he said. “Hey, want to play until my parents get here?”

“Sounds Perfect.”

Rose rolled her eyes at her brother’s favorite pun, but said nothing as the two started talking and hanging out in the living room.

“So did everything go ok?” Pinkie asked.

“Yes,” Rose said. “I got all the information I needed and I have a list of suggestions now. Best of all, I did it without doing any damage.”

“What are those?” Perfect asked pointing at the slightly open bag on the couch.

“Oh… well,” Summer stammered. “They’re my dolls.”

Summer hesitantly took out his dolls for Perfect to look at, and Rose could not help but cringe at the change in his demeanor regarding his favorite toys.

“Well... Almost any damage,” muttered Rose.

Perfect looked at the dolls curiously.

“Ok,” he said. “Do you want to be Luna or Celestia?”

Summer looked shocked.

“You mean you don’t find me having dolls weird?” he asked.

“I do a bit,” Perfect admitted, “But I’ve always been called weird for liking to read and write so… I don’t know, I don’t see weird as bad I guess. In any case, these dolls are awesome! I’ll probably get some when I get back to Canterlot and then I’ll be weird too!”

Rose could tell that whole thing had been an act for Summer’s benefit, but the colt in question did not and instead smiled the biggest smile of the night.

After deciding on which pony would play with each doll, the two played together while Pinkie and Rose talked nearby. It was not long at all before Timber and Spring knocked on the door.

“We’re not interrupting anything, are we?” asked Spring.

“Not at all,” said Rose. “Just my brother playing with your son.”

A second of confusion flashed across the parents’ faces, but understanding soon followed.

“So I take it things went well?” asked Timber.

“Yep,” said Rose, handing them a list written on a piece of parchment. “These are all the things your son wants you to do to feel more comfortable. You’ll notice my extra notes and thoughts on the back, but that’s just my interpretation of things. The list on the front are the things that he specifically said he wants from life and how you can help make it happen. With everything else, I would suggest asking him for his thoughts, but I’m always here if you need extra help.”

The two read over the list a few times before turning to look at Rose.

“We don’t know how to ever repay you,” said Spring.

“Just make sure your son is happy,” said Rose. “And we can call it even.”

“Mom, Dad,” Summer said. “I made a new friend. Can I stay and hang out?”

“Not right now,” said Timber. “We have to get you home. You still haven’t had dinner. But maybe tomorrow?”

Timber and Summer looked at Rose with questioning eyes. She in turn looked at Perfect who nodded.

“Yes,” Rose said. “Perfect needs to be on the third to last train to Canterlot, but there’s still plenty of time for you two to play before then. Just stop by tomorrow, ok?”

Summer nodded, turning to face Perfect.

“See you tomorrow, Perfect!” he said.

“See you tomorrow.”

Author's Note

Well, as you can see this story is kind of a mix of Arcs 2 and 3 with a more episodic nature but still progressing on a single narrative (and make no mistake, I'm building towards something). I like it better this way and hopefully you're enjoying it as well.

So what do you all think of Summer now that you've gotten to know him more?

I must say that scenes with him and Perfect are fun to write.

Feedback is always appreciated, because I like talking to you all.
-thedarkprep

5. The Unwelcome Visitor

5. The Unwelcome Visitor

Very few ponies knew that Evening Rose suffered from acute paranoia.

It was not that she was particularly good at hiding it: a lot of ponies did take note of how hard it was for her to trust new ponies, how she shied away from crowds, and how she always seemed to be very concerned with being aware of her surroundings. However, most tended to discard these signs as character traits rather than recognizing them as the symptoms of a mental illness, causing most to refer to her as paranoid only in a joking manner, unaware of how right they truly were.

Then there was the fact that her paranoia had not been necessarily helped by recent events. In fact, things such as being attacked by her father, being attacked by Granite, discovering the changeling invasion, and the current interest in her life, had caused an exponential growth to her condition, heightening it to a level she had not suffered from since before she graduated from school. And yet, regardless of this, she still managed to keep her condition mostly in check, with the exception of the occasional attack of paranoia, like the one she was having at that moment.

“It’s ok, Rose,” she muttered to herself. “You’re just buying some vegetables and going right back home, you have nothing to be afraid of.”

Rose continued walking through the Market Square under the stifling glares of the surrounding crowd, or at least that was how it seemed to her. Thankfully, Rose was extremely self-aware and was able to recognize the signs of her paranoia as soon as she saw them. After all, there was no reason she could think of as to why this many ponies would be glaring at her with evident disdain.

Out of curiosity, Rose chanced a glance at a nearby group of ponies.

“Yeah, still glaring,” she muttered to herself. “Wow, I haven’t had one this bad since that week I was avoiding Octavia back in school.”

Rose then went back to using a trick she had developed over the years, in which she walked with her head held high, focusing on a very specific point ahead of her in order to avoid all eye contact while also ignoring anything that might be in her peripheral vision. Using this method she managed to do the majority of her shopping, but the method did not cover everything.

“Here’s your change,” the mare at the lettuce stand said.

“Thank you. Have a good day,” Rose responded.

“Wow, she really sounded mad,” Rose thought as she walked away. “I’m really beginning to lose it. I should hurry home.”

Rose began walking quickly, reaching her doorstep without incident. She let out a sigh of relief as she began looking for her key, happy to have avoided all contact with everypony else, when she heard his voice.

“Not even a hello? I must say I expected better, Ms. Rose.”

Rose shuddered at hearing the voice, turning her head to look at the pony she already knew was there.

Leaning against her house, to the left of her doorway, was a blue earth pony with a blonde mane. Rose let out a sigh of exasperation.

“Oh, Dusk! To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked, pausing as if to think for a minute. “No, not pleasure, that other word… misfortune, right, that one!”

Dusk merely chuckled.

“I guess that’s the best I’ll get in terms of a greeting,” he said. “Although seriously, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you did not notice me lounging by your door until I spoke.”

“No, I saw you; I was just hoping that if I didn’t acknowledge you I wouldn’t have to deal with you,” Rose responded sharply. “Now, out with it. What do you want?”

“Well, it has been a while since we last talked and before you know it, the rest of the summer season will be gone as well,” he said, “As such, I came to see if you’d maybe come to see reason.”

Rose clenched her jaw in anger.

“I did see reason, as a matter of fact,” she responded. “I saw it the day you knocked at my door. My stance has not changed, Dusk. I am not going to be your icon, I will not let your group use me for your campaign, and I will not play the activist.”

Dusk let out an amused snort.

“Oh come now, Ms. Rose, we both know that last one is not true,” he said, widening his smirk. “From what I hear, you’re content with playing the personal savior of a transcolt here in town, am I right?”

“That’s different Dusk,” she replied. “He’s just a colt that needed my help, whose parents needed my help in dealing with this.”

“It’s no different at all,” Dusk said. “They all need help and he’s far from the only colt or filly out there that needs support or guidance. What? You think that it’s different, somehow more noble, just because you’re personally advising his parents rather than giving a speech to thousands? In one public appearance in front of the right ponies, you could do more help than your ‘trans parenting tips’ ever could.”

Rose’s anger was rising again but she tried to keep it under control.

“You don’t understand, this is different,” she said. “They’re not asking to use me, they’re not asking me to sacrifice anything for them. They just needed extra support. They needed advice, not someone to fight for them.”

“Oh, so they’re not asking you to sacrifice anything?” he asked mockingly. “So we’re still stuck on that selfishness. Well for your information, they ARE using you. They’re using your advice, your life experience, and they’re asking you to sacrifice your time. Yes, they’re minor things, but not much different from what we ask. As for the fighting, they haven’t asked you to fight for them yet, but they will, Ms. Rose. They will indeed.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought it out,” he replied. “They haven’t met any real resistance yet, but they will and when they do, you can bet that you’ll be the first one they come to ask help from. Whatever the problem is, you’re now involved. We’ve both seen what this world can do; do you honestly expect that they will go unchallenged? And when they do meet resistance, are you going to turn them away? Do you really have it in you to look at them and say ‘sorry but I did not sign up for this?’ No, you will fight. So why make a fuzz about the fight that actually matters?”

“You act like it’s a certain thing!” she yelled at him, letting her anger get the best of her. “This town is very accepting. They’ve accepted me; they will have no problem with Summer.”

Dusk rolled his eyes.

“They accepted you, a grown mare who can make her own choices,” he said. “But a transcolt is a different thing. Ponies, especially those with kids, don’t respect that kind of choice as well as you think. You’d know this if you had some real experience, the kind you can only get traveling Equestria fighting for those who need you, but as you are, you’re ignorant and unprepared. And so I ask again, will you have the strength to turn your back on this Summer the way you’re turning your back on every other trans colt, filly, mare, and stallion in Equestria?”

“If it comes to that, then I will stay and fight,” Rose responded coldly. “I will defend my friends, which includes Summer and his family. I will fight for them, but you, Dusk, you’re no friend of mine, and I refuse to fight for you.”

Dusk gave a deep sigh.

“This isn’t about me, Ms. Rose,” he said. “This is about all the ponies out there in need of your help, and as important as I think I might be, a hatred of me is not reason enough to abandon them.”

He continued to talk as he began walking away.

“In any case, that’s still not a good enough answer. You have until the first day of fall to come up with a better one, and know that we will talk again before then. I’m not done trying to make you see reason. Until then, you know where to find me.”

Rose watched him for a second before noticing a small cardboard box left where he had been standing.

“Hey, you forgot something!” she called to him.

Dusk turned to look at her.

“No, if you open it and read the name on the envelopes, you’ll find that the contents of that box are in fact yours.”

Rose stared in confusion.

“They’re letters?” she asked. “Why are you giving them to me? Who are they from? And what do they say?”

“I don’t know who specifically wrote them or what they say; after all, that would involve opening and reading your mail, which would be extremely impolite,” Dusk responded. “As to why, I figured you might want to hear from those you’re leaving behind.”

With that, Dusk began walking away, turning to look at Rose one last time before leaving.

“Oh, and it wasn’t in your head,” he said. “They were all glaring at you.”

This shocked Rose into silence, and she could only watch as he walked away, staying at her doorstep for minutes after his form had disappeared from view.

Eventually she regained her senses, after which she opened the door, bringing in her groceries and the mysterious box. Rose then made it a point to take as long as possible putting her groceries away, but even then she could only drag that chore out for a few minutes. Before long she turned her attention back to the box.

“Well, let’s see what’s in here,” she said, taking the lid off of the box.

True to what Dusk had mentioned, the box contained a large number of letters, all addressed to Evening Rose. However, despite his remarks, Rose could not help but be surprised.

For starters, she was surprised that anypony had actually taken the time to write to her outside of her family and friends. She was also surprised that apparently a lot of ponies had taken said time.

Being as careful as she could, Rose took out the letters, placing them in stacks on the kitchen table.

“There must be over a hundred of them,” Rose thought to herself as she finished getting them out of the box. “Only one way of knowing what they say.”

Rose picked and opened the first envelope, taking out the letter within. After placing the envelope to the side, she began to read.

“I will murder him,” Rose muttered to herself, sighing as she lay down on the couch. Behind the couch, one could still see the 213 letters that rested on the kitchen table, while 213 ripped envelopes littered the floor.

Rose had been expecting the letters to contain a wide variety of things. For starters, she had immediately assumed that the letters would be requests for aid or help. She had expected to read tantalizing tales of the hardships transponies were suffering all throughout Equestria. She had expected the letters to have suggestions as to how she could help, or detailed requests of what the ponies needed, all of which would try to lead her to join the Equestrian Equality Envoy. Finally, she had suspected that the letters would not actually be the heartfelt wishes of transponies Equestria-wide, but rather the writings of a few paid Triple-E members under Dusk’s employ.

What she did get, however, was completely unexpected.

The first thing that struck her was that none of the letters were pleas for help. None of them detailed the horrible conditions of the writer’s life, nor did any of them carry any somber or pressing undertones. Instead, each and every letter had the same cheerful and heartfelt message.

“Thank you.”

Each letter was different in the content, but they thanked Rose for what she had done to improve their lives. A filly in Vanhoover had written to thank her for giving her the strength to come out to her accepting family while a stallion in Los Pegasus thanked her for being an inspiration and for showing him that “life is tough, but if you can survive the bad parts, you can find happiness.” A mare in Cloudsdale wrote to Rose thanking her on behalf of her son, who could now receive the help he needed thanks to the conversations that had started after the Rhyme press conference.

Rose did not feel like she had done anything worth of praise, but two hundred letters sat on her kitchen table, all thanking her for existing and for the impact her existence had already made in their lives.

Rose could tell that these letters were genuine. They were the true sentiments of ponies across Equestria and they were in no way part of Dusk’s plot to have her join his cause. He had not put anypony up to this, nor had he falsified the letters. All he had done was deliver them. And yet, this complete show of honesty, both in the letters and in his lack of involvement, had proven more effective towards his ends than any action he could have undertaken would have been. After all, for the first time, Rose now found herself flooded in doubts.

“Why couldn’t you have just tried to blackmail me or something?” Rose asked the empty house. “At least I wouldn’t be conflicted over that!”

Rose hated to admit it, but Dusk had proven his point. These ponies were not asking her to be a hero; to them she already was one. They were also not asking her to be an activist or to fight for them, after all not one had mentioned their struggles in their letters, but failing to help would now feel no less shameful than it would be for her to turn her back on them. They all had insecurities, and fears, and problems. They all looked up to her. She inspired some of them to stand up for themselves. These were not exclusive facts: she had already helped them. Dusk had mentioned that she was in an odd position to impact the whole of Equestria, but it seemed like she had done so already.

She thought of Summer and his family.

“I had a part to play in that too,” she thought to herself.

Her newspaper article had sparked the conversation in Baltimare, a conversation that led Summer to ask questions, questions that led to answers and realizations Rose had not found until later in life. And now Summer had the chance to live his whole life properly, without the struggles Rose had encountered.

For the first time in a long while, Rose felt the weight of the responsibility she carried. The same Dusk had argued she had to carry out.

“Can I really just say no?” she asked herself. “They aren’t asking me to do more than I’ve done, nopony is aside from Dusk. I could just go about enjoying my life and nopony would have the right to tell me I’m failing my responsibilities. I do have the right to enjoy peace; nopony would think any less of me…”

She took a deep breath.

“But would I think less of me?”

And so Rose laid there, contemplating her role in life.

In the end she decided that she was still not going to help Dusk and she was still going to live the life she had struggled so much to attain. In essence, nothing had changed, with the exception that she now hated herself for her choices. For the first time through the entire conflict with Dusk, she felt selfish.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Rose sat up, startled by the knocking at her door. After a short second of hesitation, she got up to answer it, thankful for a distraction from her melancholy thoughts. She stopped in front of the mirror, fixing her mane, before placing a hoof on the doorknob and opening the door.

Waiting at her doorstep, Rose found a white unicorn with a black mane and tail. He was wearing black horn-rimmed glasses and a grey vest. His cutie mark was an ink blot.

“Hello, my name is Dr. Stage Theory,” he said. “You must be Ms. Evening Rose. May I come in?”

Whatever relief Rose had felt at the distraction from her thoughts quickly evaporated as soon as she heard the unicorn speak. There was something cold and authoritative about his voice that put her on edge.

“He’s not somepony I can trust,” she thought to herself. “Something is wrong.”

Still, she nodded, stepping aside to let him in. The unicorn walked through the living room slowly, analyzing his surroundings, before sitting on of the chairs. He then waited until Rose sat down on the couch.

“So, Dr. Theory,” she said. “What can I help you with?”

The unicorn stared at Rose for a long moment before he answered.

“It has recently been brought to my attention that you have been advising the parents of a ‘Summer Breeze’ in regards to dealing with her Dissociative Identity Disorder,” he said. “And I have come as both a professional psychologist and a concerned citizen to issue a cease and desist order on behalf of both the psychiatric profession and of Ponyville.”

“Excuse me?” Rose asked.

“I am a professional psychologist with a doctorate in developmental psychology,” he explained. “And I have learnt that you are advising the parents of a foal suffering from ‘DID’ without any type of expertise in any relevant field, with the exception of your own life experience which is tangential at best. Not only that, but you have advised for them to indulge a very serious condition instead of seeking a treatment, which is not only dangerous, but outright irresponsible. I’m afraid that if you do not desist from doing so I will be forced to take action against you and the involved family.”

Rose slowly narrowed her eyes.

“First of all, I have never heard of giving advice to be something somepony could take action against,” she said. “And shouldn’t you be discussing this with them rather than trying to intimidate me?”

Dr. Theory straightened his glasses.

“I have already consulted with the family,” he explained, “but they seemed outright opposed to my suggestions and professional opinions on the matter. Not only were they unwilling to listen to me, but they were happy enough to inform me that they would rather follow your directive in indulging the foal despite the risks, which is hazardous to the point of being negligent. As a professional, I will do what I have to do, but I figured that as the main cause of this commotion, I should pay you a visit to warn you against getting involved.”

“You want him to go back in the closet, don’t you?” Rose asked.

Dr. Theory seemed to be taken aback by the question, but answered it nonetheless.

“I want Summer Breeze to attend therapy sessions in order to find the root of her “DID,” after which there should be adjustments made in her life in order to correct her behavior and mentality. She can be a normal filly, but not if we encourage this abnormality with praise and accommodations.”

“He’s not abnormal, Dr. Theory,” Rose said. “He’s a young colt who needs support. He knows full well who he is. The ‘therapy’ you are suggesting would only serve to instill shame and self-loathing into his mind.”

“For her to feel shame, her illness would have to be something that she feels she’s responsible for, which we will assure her she isn’t,” Dr. Theory responded. “After all, she’s only now trying to live as a colt thanks to irresponsible parenting and bad advice. As for her knowing who she is: you’re really willing to trust a foal to know what’s best for her? It’s illogical to expect her to be able to make such choices, and therefore it is up to the parents, or in this case the state since the parents are clearly uncooperative, to provide proper guidance and aid in the form of reformative therapy.”

“He is not too young,” Rose exclaimed. “Gender Identity is one of the first things that foals are aware of, which is cemented at around age four.”

Dr. Theory rolled his eyes.

“Yes, thank you for the lesson on developmental psychology 101,” he said mockingly. “But I find it convenient that you left out the social learning theory from your claim. Here, let me refresh your memory if you haven’t heard it in a while. The theory states that foals learn from their environment through observation, a theory proven through various studies in Vanhoover. If a foal sees something, they learn to mimic it, following examples. This proves that foals are highly impressionable. As such, I find it dubious to believe in the claims of a filly believing herself to be transgender after the media storm sparked by you at around the same time.”

Rose could only stare in anger.

“You think I caused this,” she said.

“No, Ms. Rose, I know you caused this,” he said. “From start to finish this has been the mess you made. You did not do it without aid; the foal’s parents are to blame as well, but they were scared and ignorant. Their only crime was asking advice from the wrong pony and then sticking by said advice and disregarding experts in the field. Normally this would also be your mess to clean up, but I do not feel comfortable giving you the chance to mess up this filly’s life any more so than you have already done. Therefore, I will fix things. My being here is simply to warn you against interfering.”

“Well then, I guess we’re going to have a problem,” Rose said glaring at him. “Because I’m not going to just sit around while you destroy the life of a young colt who is by all accounts healthy and happy.”

Dr. Theory seemed unfazed by the outburst.

“Then we do have a problem indeed,” he said. “I must admit I’m not altogether surprised, though. I just wished that you would help make the process less arduous. However, you will find that I am not always as pleasant to deal with, especially when the life of a foal is on the line.”

“Is that supposed to scare me, Doctor?” Rose sneered. “Because let me be clear. So far I’ve been very tolerant. You have come into my home, disrespected me and a family I rather care about, and now you have the gall to threaten me? I’m not sure there’s much more I can take before I take action of my own.”

Dr. Theory let out an amused snort.

“And what action would that be Ms. Rose?” he asked. “Call up your parents and play on their influence? Try to press charges against the one on the lawful side of this debate? I hope it wasn’t just kicking me out, because I was just leaving.”

Dr. Theory got up from the chair, walking towards the door. However, he turned around to look at Rose before leaving.

“Also, I am not issuing idle threats,” he said. “Everything I warned you about will happen. I have already filed a petition to separate Summer Breeze from her parents due negligence and the possible harmful upbringing that may damage the foal’s psyche. I have also already filed to have you exiled from Ponyville due to being a possible risk, both to impressionable foals and to ignorant parents, as you have already demonstrated you can be. You should also be aware that I did not find this case on my own, but was instead contacted by concerned parents from the filly’s school, meaning that should either or both of my filed petitions fail, I still have leverage to deny Summer from being misgendered under the eyes of the law, including her standing in school.”

Dr. Theory opened the door and stepped outside, uttering a final sentence before closing the door.

“You will not ruin this foal’s life any longer, Ms. Rose. I shall make sure of that.”

Rose continued to glare at the door long after Dr. Theory had left, unable to calm down or restrain her anger. In silence she replayed the conversation over and over in her head, trying to come to terms with what had happened. Failing to do that, she instead began to focus on making a plan with which to stand up to the unicorn. Having identified every possible course of action, which of her friends she would need to contact, and every other detail of the plan, she then headed towards her bed in attempt to get some sleep to prepare for the long day that awaited her once the sun rose.

However, as she walked up the stairs, a segment from a different conversation played in her mind.

“They haven’t met any real resistance yet, but they will, and when they do, you can bet that you’ll be the first one they come to ask help from. Whatever the problem is, you’re now involved. We’ve both seen what this world can do; do you honestly expect that they will go unchallenged? And when they do meet resistance, are you going to turn them away? Do you really have it in you to look at them and say ‘sorry but I did not sign up for this?’”

Rose smirked.

“I told Dusk that I was ready to fight for Summer and his family,” she thought to herself. “But I didn’t expect that it would feel so satisfying to do so.”

Author's Note

And the final piece is set (I bet you all forgot about the other pony on the cover picture). Now to watch things fall as they will.

As a side note, I'm having way too much fun writing Dusk. Would you believe that originally he wasn't even in the story?
I'm glad I rewrote it.

EXTRA NOTE: I need you all to go to my blog and read up on Project Universe. It's really important and something I've been planning out and working on for a while. If it works, it could be the best thing I've ever done, so please at least read it, even if you're not interested in participating.

6. The Best Laid Plans

6. The Best Laid Plans

Rose had to admit that through most of her life, she had hardly been a shining example of a team player.

Due to her family’s status, Rose had often been expected to take an active role as a leader throughout school. Many a professor had struggled to create projects centering on group work in order to flesh out some form of cooperation from the pegasus, only to find her opting to tackle the assignments by herself. The professors would then try to coax, encourage, and threaten Rose into working with others, but they all found that they could not really force her into group activities since she kept handing in quality work. In the end everypony became accustomed to the fact that Rose worked best when left to her own devices.

Rose could have blamed this particular quirk to her paranoia. After all, teamwork relies on a certain level of trust that she would not just give to others. In the few times she had been forced to cooperate, she would find herself checking up on her teammates every step of the way, often redoing their tasks in order for them to meet her standards. And yet, she knew this was not the case. Her paranoia, after all, was not to the level where she could not collaborate with others. The honest truth was that she did not want to work with others on assignments, even if she was allowed to direct, since she had no interest in a leadership position. That was not to say, however, that just because she did not have any interest in leading, that she did not enjoy the times in which she did get to lead.

Standing in front of Rose were eleven ponies. Each of them was staring at her expectantly, surrounded by the books of Twilight’s library. They each knew the basic situation they were facing, and they were all willing to help in any way that they were able. As such, they stood at attention, waiting for any order or request with which they could begin to work. Despite the severity of the situation, Rose could not suppress a smile.

“First of all, I would like to thank you all for taking the time to come see me,” Rose said, addressing the ponies. “I knew I could count on your help but it does not mean I value it any less. Now, to the matter at hoof. Twilight told me she filled you all in on what’s going on when she asked you to meet us here, but I’m going to go ahead and explain things so we’re all on the same page.”

The eleven ponies nodded.

“Yesterday I was visited by a psychologist by the name of Dr. Theory. He, acting on behalf of some concerned parents around Ponyville, is taking action against Summer, his parents, and myself, due to us encouraging him to live as a colt. Taking action in this case means going to the mayor’s office and filing various petitions asking for me to be removed from the town, for Summer to be separated from his parents, and for Summer to be forcibly recognized as a filly or mare in a legal and public standpoint. He also went as far as to threaten me in order to keep me from interfering, but standing by while he ruins a young colt’s life is not something that I believe is an option at this point.”

She paused to make sure everyone was still with her, smiling at the nods of agreement.

“I don’t fully know what Dr. Theory has already done, nor do I know how his actions have been received,” Rose explained, “Twilight will be filling me in on the details after this meeting is done. However, regardless of what happens, there are a few things we can do to undermine him and any opposition that might threaten Summer and his family. This is where you all come in.”

Rose took a deep breath as she made eye contact with those present.

“Twilight and I will fight through legal channels. We will do research, have meetings with the mayor, and if need be attend at trial in order to fight Dr. Theory and his claims. However, a legal victory will only get us so far. If we are to ensure this does not happen in Ponyville again, we are going to need public support, which up to recently I did not realize we lacked,” Rose said. “As such, we are going to have an event at the end of the week, an Information Campaign. On the surface it will just be an event to educate the town on trans-related matters, an awareness rally of sorts. However, it will also provide the perfect opportunity to directly respond to certain claims and fears that concerned ponies may have. If we address them now, then Dr. Theory will lose his support when he needs it most. This means that this event will be just as important as any legal battles Twilight and I undertake, and for it to work I am going to need everypony’s help.”

Every pony in the library nodded in agreement.

“In this list,” Rose said, gesturing to a notebook she was holding. “I have already assigned the necessary tasks to the ponies I feel can accomplish them best. After I give you your assignment you are free to leave for the day.”

Rose looked at the list.

“Cheerilee,” she said, turning to look at the teacher. “We will probably need your help the most. As a prominent teacher in Ponyville you are a central figure in this. You have interacted with the foals, with their parents, and one of Dr. Theory’s petitions is specifically designated to keeping you from standing up for Summer as you have already done. Your experience and opinions are therefore invaluable. Not only that, but your knowledge of developmental psychology and teaching will help us a lot with not only making our case, but helping us present it. If you would please go over with Twilight to the back, she will begin to tell you exactly what we have in mind and how you can help. I will join you two after I finish giving out instructions.”

Cheerilee nodded, walking over to Twilight. The two then headed to the back of the library where they could talk without disturbing the others. Rose waited for a minute before addressing the remaining ponies.

“Next, Fluttershy,” Rose said, with the shy pegasus shaking slightly at the mention of her name. “This event is going to be very stressful and taxing for all of us, and Dr. Theory’s actions will be even more so. However, as hard as it will be for us, it will be nothing compared to what Summer and his family have to go through. I talked to them today before heading here, and they are already a bit shaken up by Dr. Theory’s threats. I have assured them that they will be ok, and they did seem a bit calmer by the time I left, but I know that they will need an extraordinary amount of support and kindness to get them through what’s to come. Can I count on you to make sure they’re ok over the next week?”

Fluttershy blinked a few times before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Rose, in turn, waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts and come up with a response. She knew to expect Fluttershy to be a bit hesitant to get involved, and so Rose prepared in her mind a list of encouraging words to try to get her to agree. However, when Fluttershy finally opened her eyes, it was neither fear nor self-consciousness that could be found there, but determination.

“I will do my best Rose,” Fluttershy said. “I can’t promise that I can make sure they’re ok, but nopony should have to suffer through what they’re going through, and I promise to try my best to help them.”

Rose smiled.

“That’s all I can ask for,” she said, ripping a corner from the page in her notebook she was looking at. “This is their address. Feel free to stop by at your convenience. They’re not expecting you per se, but I did tell them that I would probably have a friend come and check on them, to which they said that my friends are welcome any time.”

Fluttershy timidly took the paper before saying goodbye and walking out of the library. Rose turned back to her list.

“Vinyl, Lyra, and Pinkie,” she said, at which point the three ponies stopped whispering amongst themselves and turned to face her.

“Twilight, Cheerilee, and I are going to take care of the information part of the event and I have plans for combating the fears and claims of Dr. Theory and the more transphobic members of the community have been making,” Rose explained. “But in order for this to work, this has to be an event that everypony goes to, whether they’re already for our cause or not.”

Rose paused for a second, looking for a way to phrase her thoughts.

“It will be good if those who don’t hate me, Summer, or his parents show up, because they will learn things. However, that’s not the point of this,” she said. “The point is to convince those who stand against us that they have no reason to do so. I don’t see those ponies coming to an event on something they disagree with though, and that’s where you three come in.”

Rose gestured at them.

“You three are some of the most liked, most well known, most charismatic ponies I know,” Rose said. “Each of you has tons of friends and each of you knows how to put an event together. What I need you three to do is to work together and to create an event that everypony in Ponyville will want to attend, regardless of their stance on this. We will have information pamphlets to distribute, and we will need a stage on which we can have public speakers, which must be a part of the event. The event also needs to reflect what we’re fighting for and make a statement. However, outside of those restrictions, you three can do whatever you want. I trust your judgment. This means that music, entertainment, promotion, and everything else is up to you three. You don’t even have to run it by me, just please remember that this is for Summer and that he and his family are depending on us to make a strong case for them.”

The three ponies saluted at Rose.

“This is going to be so much fun!” said Lyra grinning.

“I will make the party to end all parties!” exclaimed Pinkie.

Vinyl smiled and allowed herself a small chuckle.

“I hope you realize what you’re doing by letting us three work together on this,” she said, looking at Rose. “We cannot be held responsible for what our combined level of awesome can do.”

Rose giggled.

“I am fully aware,” she said. “And we’ll deal with any cataclysms resulting from your party when we get there. You have six days. Make me proud.”

The three saluted again before walking out of the library.

“I’ll be at Sugarcube Corner if you need me, ok?” Lyra said, looking at one of the ponies still in the library.

“That’s fine,” Bon Bon said. “I’ll head over there once I get my assignment.”

Lyra waved before leaving, closing the door behind her. Rose in turn looked at the remaining ponies.

“Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Derpy,” Rose said, turning her attention to each one as she spoke. “How do you four feel about this whole thing?”

The four ponies looked confused at the question.

“I’m sorry,” said Derpy. “I don’t think I get what you’re asking.”

Rose smiled.

“Then I’ll have to do a better job explaining,” she said.

Rose then took a deep breath as she gathered her thoughts.

“Each of you has a filly that will be in Summer’s class,” Rose explained. “For Applejack and Rarity it is a sister, for Rainbow Dash it is an adopted sister, and for you, Derpy, it is your daughter. I want to know: what do you each feel about a transcolt being in the classroom?”

The four ponies looked at each other, unsure of who was supposed to start. Eventually Applejack took the lead.

“Well, I don’t have a problem with it,” said Applejack. “Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve been nothing but a trustworthy and dependable friend. You being trans ain’t got nothing to do with your character, and I don’t think Summer being trans will have anything to do with his either.”

“I must agree with Applejack,” Rarity said. “I would have to be mad in order to have a problem with it. Watching over Sweetie Bell as often as I have has shown me that there is nothing more important than ensuring her happiness. Summer’s parents should be commended for encouraging their son, not reprimanded. If anyone needs an example of how proper a citizen a trans individual can be, all they need to do is look at you. I personally think Sweetie Bell will be better for having a chance to interact with someone like Summer.”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow. “This is like that Zecora thing all over. You’re our friend, so you know that I don’t have a problem with Scootaloo being in the class, but even if we weren’t, there’s nothing wrong with being around ponies that are different than you! Zecora proved that; the buffalo proved that; even Pinkie proves that!”

“And you, Derpy?” Rose asked.

Derpy thought hard for a minute before answering.

“I’m trying to look at this objectively,” Derpy said. “Looking at what I would think if you and I weren’t friends. But even if I had never met you, I can’t imagine teaching my filly that there are certain ponies that it is ok to shun. Dinky has been taught that she should give everypony a chance, and even if I disagreed with Summer’s parents, I would be setting a bad example by making an exception.”

Rose nodded.

“So none of you have a problem with your daughters or sisters hanging out with Summer?” Rose asked. “Not afraid that they might be too impressionable, or might not understand or anything?”

Applejack laughed.

“Sugarcube, if Applebloom hasn’t been affected by her ‘impressionable nature’ by now, I doubt she’s going to from hanging out with Summer,” she said. “That filly still talks about you like you were the best thing to happen to the farm.”

“I was actually already talking to Dinky about being friends with Summer once the school year started,” Derpy added. “I figured he might need some friends and Dinky was excited at the idea.”

“Same here,” Rarity said. “Sweetie Bell is simply ecstatic at the idea of another Crusader! If I hear correctly, the three of them recently amended their constitution to include colts in preparation, did they not?”

“They did,” answered Rainbow Dash. “Scootaloo has been talking about how this could be the push the club needs to increase membership and some other stuff. I’m not really sure what she said after that, but she seemed happy.”

“And should they have any questions,” added Rarity. “We are always here to answer them as any responsible sibling or parent should do.”

The other three ponies nodded in agreement.

“Good. Well, here’s your assignment then,” Rose said. “The first part was simply to encourage your respective fillies to try to become friends with Summer. Even if we get everything sorted out before the school year starts, I have a feeling he’ll need support, which, with being new, might be hard to come by. I’m glad to know that Summer already has four prospective good friends he can depend on. Now for the second part.”

Rose took a deep breath.

“I want you four, and possibly your fillies, to be speakers at the event.”

A silence followed her statement as the four ponies made sense of what she said.

“Pardon Rose, but it sounded like you just said that you want us to be speakers at your event,” Applejack said. “I know, ridiculous, right? But I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one that heard it, so… could you run that by us again?”

The rest of the ponies nodded.

“I want you four, and possibly your fillies, to be speakers at the event.”

The four looked at each other.

“Oh my, you’re serious, aren’t you?” asked Rarity.

“Yes,” Rose responded. However, the other four continued to stare at her.

“Look, Twilight and I will be speaking as well, but we really need your perspective on this. We need your voices on that stage.”

“Why?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I can give information about transponies and Twilight can give information from the perspective of a friend, but you can give the perspective of guardians,” Rose said. “Part of the problem is that parents of foals from that class are against Summer being allowed as a colt. Your perspective as fellow parents and guardians matters a lot more than mine to them. If a change in perspective is going to happen, it will be because of your words, not mine.”

The four stood in silence taking in the statement. Slowly each of them seemed to come to terms with what was being asked of them.

“What do you need us to do?” asked Derpy with a determined look in her eyes.

“I want you to talk to your fillies, and based on what they say and based on what you feel, I want you to write a speech about your take on this whole thing.” Rose explained. “It should be something heartfelt and genuine, and it should be your thoughts and emotions. When I spoke about the ‘addressing the fears and concerns of the public’ objective, it is you who I had in mind. The entire plan revolves around giving you time on stage, so make it count.”

The four ponies stood in silence for a minute, unsure of what to say.

“Very well,” said Rarity, taking the lead. “I guess I should go talk to Sweetie Bell now; after all, we would do best to get started on this as soon as possible, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah,” Rose said. “And once again, thank you.”

The four ponies nodded as they left the library.

Rose then took a deep breath and turned to look at the final volunteer.

“So, what do you need me to do?” asked Bon Bon.

Rose was silent for a minute before speaking.

“Bon Bon, what do you make of this whole thing?”

Bon Bon shrugged her shoulders.

“Pretty much the same thing they said,” Bon Bon responded. “You’re a very good friend of mine and I don’t think discriminating against somepony who is trans is right.”

“And what about Summer?”

“I’ll admit that I did think he was a bit young,” said Bon Bon. “But that’s no reason to try to rip him from his family, no reason to banish you from Ponyville, and certainly not a good enough reason to single him out through legal trials and petitions.”

Rose nodded, a smile forming on her lips.

“Great,” Rose said. “I’m glad to hear that. As for your assignment, I want you to be a speaker as well.”

This took Bon Bon aback.

“Why me?” she asked. “The others I could understand because they have fillies to look out for, but I don’t. My perspective is just that of a friend.”

Rose shook her head.

“No Bon Bon,” she said. “your perspective is actually the most important out of all them, and it is very unique from every other one in our group of friends.”

Bon Bon stared with confusion in her eyes.

“Right now you’re talking about how it is wrong to discriminate against somepony who is trans, and how ponies should be more accepting; but you did not always think like that, did you?”

Bon Bon’s eyes widened for a second before closing them. Rose continued.

“The rest of our friends accepted me with almost no incident, but you outright hated the idea of me at first,” Rose explained. “This doesn’t make you a bad pony, it just means that you had to know me first to quell some of your concerns. You weren’t hateful, but you didn’t accept me with open hooves. This makes you different, and it makes you important.”

Rose took a deep breath before continuing.

“I don’t like gambling Summer’s wellbeing and the possible success of the event on this point, but I have a feeling that a lot of the disapproving parents are just like you were,” Rose said. “I don’t think they’re spiteful or transphobic, just scared. This is something new to them and they don’t understand it. You can speak for them, reach them in a way none of our friends could or I could, because you’ve been there before. You’ve had doubts about this trans thing, and you gave me a chance, and you learnt things, and now it’s not even an issue you think about. I want you to share your experience, Bon Bon, so that others may learn from it.”

Bon Bon stood in silence as she thought over the proposal. After a minute she nodded.

“I’ll do it Rose,” she said. “I’ll make sure that others don’t make the mistakes I almost made.”

“Thank you Bon Bon,” Rose responded. “Thank you so much.”

The two exchanged a hug before Bon Bon said her goodbyes and left to find Lyra at Sugarcube Corner. Rose walked her out, closing the door once Bon Bon had started walking away from the library.

Rose then walked to the back of the library where Twilight and Cheerilee were engaged in a whispered conversation. The two stopped when they noticed the new pony join them.

“Does everyone have their assignments already?” asked Twilight.

“They do now,” said Rose. “How go things over here?”

“I just finished filling in Cheerilee on what the plan is, what you assigned each volunteer, and on what we need to be prepared for,” Twilight said. “Speaking of, there have been new developments you might want to know about.”

“Oh, news already?” asked Rose. “Do tell.”

Twilight levitated a notebook over to herself, flipping through pages before resting on a specific one.

“The first thing you should know is that the petitions filed by Dr. Theory to have you exiled from the town under charges of being dangerous to impressionable foals and to separate Summer from his family due to negligence have both been denied an audience by the mayor’s office. However, his third petition, the one urging for ponies to be forcibly legally recognized by their gender in government and public institutions, has been granted a hearing for his requested date of one week from now,” said Twilight. “That means that one week from today the mayor and two of her aides will hear Dr. Theory and his side of things, as well as any opposition to his claims, in order to judge whether or not the claim is legitimate enough to warrant a trial. Should we fail to make a good enough case against him, then the trail would take place the next day; but if we can undermine him at the audience, then the whole issue will be thrown out without having to go to a trial.”

“Good thing we’re focusing our efforts on that then,” Rose said. “Any word from Princess Celestia?”

“Oh right!” said Twilight, levitating a scroll towards herself. “I almost forgot: she sent this in earlier today. It’s not good news though.”

Twilight gave the scroll to Rose who began to read it in silence. Meanwhile, Twilight continued to talk.

“She essentially said that she cannot use her influence to help us with this, nor can she just institute rules without the consent of the populous. Despite being a monarch she prefers to leave this kind of lawmaking and social issue to the cities and towns to decide. That’s not to say that she’s willing to let them do whatever they want; apparently she discreetly sabotages any attempts to have members of the LGBT community treated like criminals, but she cannot outright force ponies to be accepting. She does wish us luck, though. She says she’s behind us in spirit, especially after the changeling incident. I’m not exactly sure what she means, but yeah…”

Rose finished reading the letter.

“I’m sure she meant the press conference my parents made due to my appearance during the attack,” Rose said, a little too quickly. “In any case, it’s a shame she can’t help us, but at least it’s good to know that she wouldn’t allow extreme persecution to become a legal practice.”

“So what do we do now?” asked Cheerilee.

Rose thought for a moment.

“Well, first things first: we should probably go tell Summer and his family what’s going on,” Rose said. “I’m sure Spring and Timber will love to hear that they’re no longer in danger of losing their son, and they should probably be made aware of our plan. After that we should each go back home. We will begin doing research and preparing both our arguments and the pamphlets tomorrow. In six days we speak at the Information Event, and the day after that, we fight.”

Twilight and Cheerilee nodded and the three mares left the library, each hoofstep heavy under the weight of the task ahead.

Out of all the ways to wake up, being awoken by a pounding at the door was not one of Rose’s favorites.

Rose had been having a very vivid dream when the pounding started. Each knock reverberated through the house and in her skull as she tried to muffle the impact with pillows and covers, all to no avail. Rose then turned to look at her clock, noticing that she still had a while before she needed to be awake, after which she covered her head with her covers trying to recapture the dream. It was to no avail; her dream was too far out of reach and sleep was nowhere to be found. Still, she figured she at least had the right to refuse to answer the door.

“Wake up, sleepyhead!”

Rose turned around in a panic to find Rainbow Dash standing in her room next to the open window.

“They would send you, wouldn’t they…” asked Rose rather irritably.

“Yeah, Twilight had a feeling you weren’t going to open the door so she sent me to look for you,” Rainbow responded. “She wants you there really early – something about not resting on your laurels or something like that. Now get up!”

Rainbow began flapping her wings, using the wind to pull the bed covers off of Rose.

“Fine, fine! I’m up!” yelled Rose in a panic, much to Rainbow’s amusement.

“Go wait downstairs while I get ready, ok?” said Rose.

“Ok,” responded Rainbow as she sped out of the room.

Rose’s gaze followed the cyan blur for a second before she allowed a deep sigh to escape her lips.

“This is going to be a long day.”

After a quick shower and a hurried breakfast, the two ponies began to make their way down to the town hall, with Rainbow Dash soaring in the sky, doing tricks and maneuvers while keeping Rose’s pace.

Rose in turn stared jealously at the carefree pegasus above her. She had expected to be in a good mood today, full of confidence and energy after the successful Information Campaign the day before. True to their word, Vinyl, Lyra, and Pinkie had created an event nopony would resist. The music was loud, the ambience was inviting, and everypony was there. On top of that, all the speeches had been well received and all the pamphlets had been taken up. By the end of the event, Rose could not help but notice that nopony was glaring at her anymore; the public was on their side. And yet, try as she may, all she could feel that morning was worry.

She knew it was irrational to worry at this point. After all, getting the public on their side had only been one of the many accomplishments the group had managed that week. Another one lay in the great amount of research that Cheerilee, Twilight, and Rose had done. True, there wasn’t much concrete data, but the combined knowledge base of both Twilight and Cheerilee had made that an easy obstacle to overcome.

Rose glanced at her saddlebag, which she knew contained the combined efforts of the past week.

“So why am I scared?” she thought to herself.

Before she had the time to think through that thought, however, the two ponies had arrived at the Town Hall. Taking a deep breath, Rose opened the door.

There were far fewer ponies than Rose had expected to see, which brought her a bit of comfort. The spectator area was pretty much empty except for her friends and a few extra ponies. At the front Rose could see the mayor sitting next to two ponies she did not recognize. Off to the side, Rose could see a press area, occupied by a single newspaper writer.

In the middle of the room, there were two tables separated by an aisle. At one table sat Twilight Sparkle, who was waving her over. On the other table sat Dr. Theory, who was leveling Rose with a cold glare.

Rose waved goodbye to Rainbow Dash before making her way to sit next to Twilight. The two then whispered amongst themselves, reviewing their talking points and predicting Dr. Theory’s claims.

Time passed with only a few extra ponies arriving before the mayor called the session to order.

“As the mayor of Ponyville, it is my duty to call this audience to session,” said the mayor. “We shall now hear a declaration on why we should consider the proposition to establish and enforce a law stating that in regards to government and public services, the citizens of Ponyville should be classified by their birth gender. Dr. Theory, you have the floor.”

Dr. Theory nodded, getting up from behind the desk and walking to stand in front of the mayor.

“As the kind mayor just said, my name is Dr. Theory, and I am a specialist in developmental psychology. The law I am proposing is a simple and rudimentary law that should in no way disrupt the everyday workings of the citizens of Ponyville, but will ensure that order and safety prevail nonetheless. From birth every foal in Equestria is classified as either a male or a female. This is something that is not contested and it is a basic regulation system that is commonplace in our everyday lives. Restrooms are separated by gender, as are prisons, as are clothing sections, and as are plenty of other things. When getting a job the question of which gender one is is often asked, the same question that is asked when obtaining a license or joining the guard. The fact that there is an inherent difference between those who are male and female, and the use of gender as a distinguishing factor, is so engrained that no one thinks of it anymore. What I’m proposing is that we take the system which we have all known all our lives, the system that runs our government offices, and our schools, and Equestria, and that we make it officially binding. Now, you may ask yourself, ‘if it is such a stable system, why should we enforce or protect it?’ Well, because for the first time in ages, that system is being challenged.”

Dr. Theory took a pause, turning to look at Rose as he continued.

“Some will tell you that the system is flawed. It is not. They will tell you the lines between genders are blurry. They are not. And they will tell you that one should be allowed to live one’s life as the gender one chooses. Again, I say, one should not. Now, that is not to say that we should force conformity upon those who disagree. A grown mare, like my opposition for example, can make her own choices and live her life as she wishes. However, we have a responsibility as public servants, both as citizens and as officials, to enforce the basic rules of ponykind, even if only for the sake of keeping our system running. The government is part of the public sphere, and it should enforce the laws of nature in dealing with the populous. Should a trans stallion be arrested, we would be doing that pony a disservice by putting him in a prison with his chosen gender. It would be dangerous and irresponsible. We would also be doing a disservice to the public, lest we forget that prisons are gender-segregated for a reason.”

He turned to look at the mayor again.

“You may also ask, why now? What makes this so urgent? My response to that is simple: times are changing fast, forcing us to deal with situations that a few years ago we would have believed unthinkable. Things that everypony took for granted now have to be enforced, and it has to be quick because this change threatens to corrupt the foundations of this town and all others like it. Right now, there is a filly in this town that thinks she is a colt due to a condition from which she suffers. This belief has been praised and nurtured by her parents, who were misadvised by someone who agrees with them. And now the school system, a government-owned public service, is threatening to further the damage by complying with this idea of tolerance over treatment. Our duty should make it so that we do not allow this wrong to continue under government employ. As such, this petition must be passed.”

Dr. Theory returned to his desk while the mayor wrote down a few notes. She then turned to look at Rose.

“Do you have a response?”

“Yes I do, madam,” Rose said, stepping up from behind her desk to stand where Dr. Theory had been standing minutes before. After taking a deep breath, she began.

“Dr. Theory is right in suggesting that the world is changing, and that change is coming fast. New ideas come by every day, and new developments change the scope of the land and the culture of its society. These changes, however, are not something to be feared. They are to be welcomed. In recent years we have seen the development of mixing amongst the populous; we have also seen a rise in same-sex relationships, new diplomatic avenues with foreign powers, and the rise of harmony and of a diarchy. These are things that struck the populous as new, and yet the world is better for them. Granted, that is a subjective view, but we can at least agree that nopony is currently trying to stop progress in those fields from happening. This is no different.

Gender has been used as a dividing system for categorizing ponies since birth, but that does not mean it is a flawless system, nor the right one. I am not here to argue that we should abolish or modify the gender system, as much as I would want to; rather, I am arguing that if this system is as ironclad as Dr. Theory would have us believe, it should be allowed to stand by itself rather than having it be written into law. If it stands, then things will continue as they are. If it falls, it will allow for a different system, one more comprehensive to the needs of the changing world, to take over.

The last point I want to contest is the one where Dr. Theory assures us that it is the government’s civic responsibility to intervene in cases such as the one of Summer Breeze, to which he alluded. He mentioned that the foal is in danger due to being allowed to live in his identified gender. However, this is nothing but hearsay and speculation. While Dissociative Identity Disorder is classified as a disorder with various extreme symptoms, there is not enough research done on transponies or the disorder in general to add weight to the statements. If Summer were in fact in danger, proven danger, then yes, it would be the government’s job, as a public service, to intervene. However, since the panic-riddled speech of Dr. Theory lacks any substance, approving his petition would be presumptuous at best, reprehensible at worst.”

The mayor nodded as Rose went back to her table.

“Do you have a response to that, Dr. Theory?”

“Yes I do Madam Mayor,” Dr. Theory said, pulling out some files but remaining behind his desk.

“My opposition mentioned that she would agree with my proposal if it had backing in regards to the dangers such a disorder poses for the foal. Is this correct?” he asked Rose.

“No,” replied Rose coldly. “What I said was that if you actually had backing then the idea would be worth exploring in an actual trial. I would still disagree with your proposal, but it would be worth looking at, and it is certainly not worth it right now.”

“Oh, right,” said Dr. Theory, barely concealing a grin. “Well, in that case all I have to do is provide some substance, right? As such, I would like to bring up the Reformative Therapy Study of Vanhoover. This study proves that the condition now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder is in fact a very dangerous condition which causes self-hatred, self-mutilation, depression, and thoughts of suicide. The disease, where tolerated, resulted in 40% of candidates being unable to adapt to a regular life and suffering from depression and other afflictions for the rest of their lives. However, of those who underwent reformative therapy, only 10% had continued problems into adulthood. A 30% difference is no small figure, and while 40% may seem like a small percentile, it is still far too high for me to feel comfortable risking the wellbeing of a young filly.”

Rose could only stare in shock, causing Twilight to intervene.

“That’s impossible,” Twilight said. “We did research and there has been no such study done on transgender individuals.”

Dr. Theory chuckled.

“You are quite right, Ms. Sparkle,” he said. “But they were not known as that back then, nor was DID a disorder recognized by the field. These were studies done on patients thought to be suffering from multiple personality disorder or homosexuality. However, the study was very detailed and a trained professional can look over the patient notes in the study and properly diagnose them. The results still apply, even if the affliction was misnamed.”

One of the aides whispered something to the mayor, who in turn addressed Twilight and Rose.

“Have you a counter argument?”

Rose and Twilight looked at each other with fear in their eyes before turning to address the mayor.

“No, Madam Mayor,” Rose said, her voice cracking. “We do not.”

The mayor made a note on her paper.

“Very well then. We find based on the presented information that there is enough in the claim to warrant an actual trial. I expect both groups to meet tomorrow at the same time, ready to discuss the possible implementation of the proposed law. This hearing process is concluded.”

Rose was walking back home from Twilight’s library at night. She had opted to walk alone, rather than being accompanied by Vinyl or Pinkie, to try to calm her mind in silence. However, silence would not come. Instead, Rose found herself plagued by the echoes of her friend’s voices.

The defeat had been a hard one to take for Twilight and Rose both. They had been so sure that they were ready for the challenge that they could not help but to take the failure personally.

“It’s ok, Rose,” Timber had said. “You’re doing more than we could hope for already. I’m sure you’ll get him tomorrow, but if not, we’ll manage. Don’t feel like this is your fault.”

It was curious that Timber, Spring, and Summer had been so adamant about trying to cheer her up, considering that they were the ones in danger. Of course, they were not the only ones.

“Don’t worry, Rose, that creep just caught you off guard. I’m sure after we look at that report we’ll be able to find something,” Cheerilee had said.

Despite her best efforts to hide it, Cheerilee had been very scared. Even as she said it, she must have known that they would not be able to fight Dr. Theory’s study. They did not have the resources, or the time to do so. Cheerilee understood exactly how hopeless this fight was, but she felt the need to push Rose on.

“Maybe it’s easier for her to deal with the reality if I’m still standing,” Rose thought to herself.

Not everyone had been tactful of the situation, however.

“Wow, you guys got whooped!” said Rainbow Dash. “Don’t get me wrong, you did really well. I really thought you had him with your response the first time, but you two were totally outmatched, huh?”

Rainbow had received a dozen exasperated glares due to that comment, but Rose could not help but agree with her.

“We were completely outmatched,” she muttered to herself.

Rose’s house was now visible but she walked on by, unwilling to be home alone with her thoughts. Instead she continued walking into the town, stopping by the mayor’s office and the town hall.

“We were outmatched today,” she whispered. “And we’ll be outmatched tomorrow. And it will be Summer who suffers for my incompetence.”

Rose collapsed right there on the street out of pure grief. She had tried her best and failed. Everyone had counted on her but it had not been enough, and now there was nothing she could do.

Rose wiped her eyes with her hooves. When she stopped she found that she was not looking at the mayor’s office, but the building next to it. She immediately got up, feelings forgotten, as a thought sent her mind racing.

“It’s a long shot,” she thought. “But maybe…”

Without a further thought, Rose rushed into the building, arriving at the second floor.

“209… 211… 213!” she said, arriving at the proper door. She took a deep breath and knocked.

“Please be here, please be here, please be here…” she thought to herself.

Rose’s heart stopped as the doorknob began to move and the door swung open.

“Ah, Ms. Rose. Can’t say I was expecting you. Did you finally see reason?”

Author's Note

So this chapter was a big one.
I thought of splitting it into two chapters, but I felt like either half (before and after the information rally) wasn't complete enough on it's own. Also, I didn't write the information rally on purpose (can anyone say one-shot?)

Also, the stuff with Theory is actually a representation of how things used to be examined. One thing you should know about statistics is that they'll almost always say what you expect them to through the right filter. Remember that, it'll come up again.

In any case, what did you think? I'm actually rather nervous about how this one and the next one will be received, but the last few times I've been nervous, you have all loved the chapters in question, so.. there's that.

See you Monday.
-thedarkprep

7. The Trial

7. The Trial

“Wow,” Rose said. “…That’s a lot of paper.”

Dusk chuckled as he closed the door behind Rose, who was examining the layout of the hotel room. She stopped at the work desk, glancing over the notebooks, scrolls, and loose sheets of paper that covered its surface. A few stacks of envelopes were on the desk as well, as was a calendar and what appeared to be a binder, filled to the brim with more paper.

Rose took a step away from the desk, but stopped at the sound of paper being crushed.

Looking down, Rose noticed that just as much paper littered the floor as she had seen on the desk. Ripped envelopes, scrolls, and torn documents overlapped each other, rising in frequency and volume the lesser the distance to the trashcan, which was oddly empty.

Lastly, Rose noticed the bed, which was also covered in papers. However, these were stacked in ten small piles around what seemed to be a map of Equestria. Rose approached the map, which was covered in undecipherable notes and scribbles, completely unaware of the amused earth pony standing behind her.

“I know I haven’t cleaned in a while, but it’s not that impressive, is it?” asked Dusk with a sarcastic overtone.

His voice broke Rose free from her trance.

“What is all this?” asked Rose.

Dusk took a second to look around his own hotel room.

“Well, they are letters, memos, documents, reports, and notes either written by or addressed to me regarding the various projects the Equestrian Equality Envoy is currently undertaking, as well as plans for future projects and the progress on those,” Dusk explained, before breaking into a grin. “Or, as you so eloquently put it, ‘paper’.”

Rose narrowed her eyes but said nothing, instead glancing around the room again.

“It looks like you’ve been very busy, Dusk,” she said.

“You can’t be the leader of the Triple-E without keeping busy, Ms. Rose,” he said with a smile. “I told you I’m here until the end of summer working on a project, so I’m having all important mail and all important documents forwarded here so I can keep up-to-date on all workings of the group. Besides, the project I’m working on requires a lot of paperwork and planning, so most of what you see is what I’ve been doing while staying here.”

“Oh,” exclaimed Rose with mock surprise. “And here I thought you were only staying in Ponyville to stalk me.”

“Really, Ms. Rose?” he asked. “I’ll have you know that I could keep tabs on you perfectly fine from Canterlot or Manehattan. Besides, stalking you is what I do when I’m not working on my projects; you know, for fun.”

Rose raised an eyebrow in confusion, much to the earth pony’s amusement. However, he only laughed for a few seconds before his tone changed completely and his smile became less genuine.

“Well Ms. Rose, as pleasant as this is, I am fairly sure that you did not come all this way to admire my personal war against trees,” he said. “So why did you come here, and please answer with ‘I came to join the Triple-E’, if at all possible.”

Rose shook her head.

“I’m sorry Dusk, but that’s not the case,” she said. “I’ll admit that stunt with the letters instilled doubt in me, so good job on that, but I’m not here to join. I’m still not ok with your group or with being its emblem.”

The smile fell from Dusk’s face, if only for a moment.

“Well that’s unfortunate,” he said. “But then, why are you here?”

Rose took a deep breath before answering.

“Are you aware of what’s going on right now?”

“What? You mean with Summer and Dr. Theory?” he asked. “Yes. Here, give me a second.”

Dusk walked to his desk, looking at the papers on it for a second before collecting one of the notebooks on the top right corner. He then skimmed through a few of the pages before closing it and returning his attention to Rose.

“Ok so, if I paid attention correctly, a famous psychologist is in town trying to pass a law that would enforce gender identification, a law he wants to pass specifically so that Summer is not allowed to live as a transcolt despite his very accepting school teacher. As expected, you are at the forefront of this fight, playing the activist and guardian for Summer and his family,” he said with his voice projecting a smidgeon of smugness. “I must say, you’ve performed valiantly so far. That rally you and your friends pulled off in less than a week? It was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen, and I’ve organized a lot of rallies. I’m sure you have the town in your hooves by now. Too bad you couldn’t keep the momentum going today.”

Rose closed her eyes and let her head hang at the reminder of her failure. This worried Dusk who immediately began speaking in a more comforting tone.

“No no, don’t take it hard. You did great, really!” he said. “You’re just… you’re just outmatched. That counter argument would have worked on almost anypony but Dr. Theory has a lot of experience and vast resources of colleagues and studies. You’re doing all you can. There’s nothing to be ashamed of in that; you’re just out of your league on this one.”

Rose took a deep breath, causing Dusk to stammer.

“Oh, I’m probably not helping,” Dusk muttered. “Look, I don’t mean that he’s that much better than you when I say ‘you’re out of your league’. I simply mean that, well… he has done this a lot, and –“

“No, it’s ok.” Rose interrupted, turning to look at him. “You’re right. I know it, Twilight knows it, and even Cheerilee knows it, although she won’t admit it. We are completely outmatched. We don’t have enough contacts, information, research, or experience to be able to stand up to Dr. Theory, especially by tomorrow…”

Dusk made eye contact with the mare as she spoke, and he was surprised to find that there were not any signs of the defeat he had expected to find there.

“… but you do.”

Dusk seemed shocked by her statement, but allowed her to continue.

“You predicted this would happen, and you said that the reason I couldn’t see it was because I was ignorant and unprepared,” Rose said. “You have been proven right on both accounts. You’re not ignorant or unprepared though, are you? You have dealt with things like this before. You have traveled Equestria, and I’m willing to bet you would’ve seen that study coming, or at least would have known how to counter it. Am I right?”

“Perhaps,” answered Dusk.

“Not only that, but you have a whole organization on your side,” Rose continued. “An organization with information, research, and focus on precisely what we’re talking about. Dr. Theory is too far out of my league, but he’s not out of yours, is he?”

Dusk looked at the mare, thinking all the while. Eventually, he answered.

“No, he’s not.”

Rose smiled, anticipation building inside her.

“So you can help Summer, right?” Rose asked, not caring to disguise the desperation in her voice. “I’m asking you not for me, but for him. Please help him.”

Dusk remained impassive as he spoke.

“I will, but only in exchange for something.”

Rose stared wide-eyed at the statement, shock outweighing anger, but only barely.

“What do you mean in exchange for something?” she asked. “I know you and I don’t get along, but this a young transcolt’s life we’re talking about. What happened to all that talk of responsibility and duty? Don’t tell me you’re a hypocrite.”

Dusk brushed off the insult and continued in as even a tone as he could muster.

“I’m not a hypocrite; however, I have to always keep my eyes on the bigger picture,” he said. “Normally I would have gotten myself involved, free of charge, with everything my organization had at its disposal. However, you’re involved with this and this is your fight. You’re desperate, and as the leader of the Triple-E, this is not an opportunity I can afford to pass up. As such, I will grant you my help in exchange for you agreeing to the proposal I made you in regards to your involvement with my organization.”

Rose could not believe what she was hearing.

“You really want to have this conversation now?” Rose asked.

“Oh, I do, Ms. Rose,” Dusk responded, “I don’t like doing this; to me it feels like blackmail, but you have proven very problematic. Your involvement is necessary for our goals to succeed, and it will help countless in the long run. So as bad as it makes me feel to force your hoof, I can rest easier knowing that really, you forced mine.”

Rose glared at him and when she spoke, it was with barely-restrained anger staining her tone.

“What are your terms?”

“They’re simple. I’ll agree to take up the trial tomorrow in exchange for your cooperation,” he said. “You will go to the cities we tell you, make public appearances, recite speeches crafted for you, and essentially become a representative and affiliate of the Equestrian Equality Envoy.”

Rose thought through the terms, disagreeing with each one but being unable to refuse the help.

“And you’ll promise you’ll win?”

Dusk raised his eyebrow at the question.

“Oh, goodness no,” he responded. “I make no guarantees. You could’ve made such a condition before this whole thing started but now I’m coming onto a field that’s already started. I’m taking over for a player that’s already made moves against a very qualified opponent. I am merely going to do the best I can with what I’m given, give an honest effort to try to win this, nothing more. However, for me to offer my help, you have to agree to my terms whether I win or lose.”

Rose thought hard for any loophole that may be exploited or any other alternative, but in the end she found none.

“Fine,” she responded, giving a heavy sigh. “I agree to your terms. I’ll help you and your group in exchange for your help with Summer.”

A genuine smile flashed among Dusk’s face.

“Splendid!” he exclaimed. “Simply splendid. This will make things oh so much easier.”

“I’m sure,” Rose said bitterly. “So, what do we do now?”

Dusk thought for a second before responding, not once losing the smile on his face.

“Well, I have a few letters to write and a lot of reading to do,” he said. “But I think I can take care of everything before the trial tomorrow. As for you, I need you to go to Rarity’s and ask for the most formal thing she has in stock, my group will reimburse her for it. Trust me – it’s very important that you look your best tomorrow. After you’ve done that, I want you to go home and get as much rest as you can, then meet me at the town hall between 15 to 20 minutes before the trial starts, no earlier and certainly not later. Am I understood?”

Rose stared, unused to following orders, but nodded. She could see that Dusk was a pony who knew what he was doing, and she was not about to fight his leadership after what she had agreed on to ensure his involvement.

“Very well then, Ms. Rose,” he said. “If you don’t mind I’m going to have to ask you to leave now; I have a lot of work to do and would much rather not be disturbed. After all, miracles are not easy to produce.”

After what felt like a month of sleepless nights and stressful days, Rose was quite surprised to wake up rested and relaxed.

At first she dismissed it by thinking that she might still be dreaming, but after a few minutes she realized this was not the case. Cautiously she then sat up in her bed, studying her surroundings, finding the black and purple dress and matching waist jacket hanging from her closet. She eyed Rarity’s creation as memories from the previous night came back.

“I guess this is what it feels like to not have a family’s future resting on your shoulders,” Rose muttered to herself.

Rose had to admit that she was greatly relieved at having Dusk take over for her in the trial, but the relief was accompanied by a heaping serving of guilt. After all, Rose had been the one to stand up for Summer up to this point, and she could not help but feel that giving Dusk the lead was akin to passing off her problems to somepony else.

She also felt bad about the relief itself.

One family had asked her for help, and the stress of that weight had caused her sleepless nights. Dusk had mentioned how many ponies looked up to her and needed her help, and the thought of losing this peaceful moment scared her immensely.

“And yet Dusk is fine,” she thought to herself.

Dusk had agreed to take over the trial with a smile on his face. He had also said that the papers had to do with projects being carried out all over Equestria. So many ponies depended on him, and yet he smiled as if it was not a bother. Rose knew she was expected to be like him, and yet, she was not sure she could be.

“No,” she muttered to herself. “You did the right thing asking for help. It wasn’t that you couldn’t handle it, you just didn’t want to take a risk with Summer’s future.”

Even as she said it, her words felt hollow.

Rose remained in bed for a while, lost in thought before finally beginning to prepare for her day.

“Come on Rose, there’s no time to mope,” she muttered to herself. “You have a trial to attend.”

After taking a shower, Rose donned her new outfit and ate a light breakfast before heading out the door, unwilling to let her thoughts shift her focus. She may have given the reigns to Dusk, but she was still involved and the trial was not over, meaning that “distracted” was not something she could allow herself to be.

As she walked, Rose noticed that the streets were far too crowded for the time of day. Not only that, but there were a lot of ponies walking through the market square that she did not recognize, and that put her on edge. It also did not help that the crowd seemed to intensify the closer she got to the town hall.

“Oh no,” she thought. “Did something happen?”

Through great efforts Rose refrained from running, instead walking at a calm pace, towards the doors of the town hall. As she reached them, she noticed that there was a lot of noise coming from the other side. She then lifted a hoof up to the door handle, and opened the door.

To say that the inside of the town hall looked different than it did the previous day would be an understatement, as it was barely recognizable with the sheer magnitude of ponies that were settled inside.

Rose walked in, heading towards the front while marveling at the contrast in how claustrophobic the building felt whereas the emptiness had been outright oppressive the day before, stopping once or twice on her walk to watch ponies argue over a vacant seat or push their way forward for a better view.

“Over here!”

Rose’s ears perked up at hearing the voice calling to her, turning her attention to face Dusk, who was sitting at the appropriate table. She made her way over to him as quickly as she could, doing her best to ignore the glares that Dr. Theory was giving her from the next table over.

“You made it right in time,” Dusk said. “Ooh, and I like the outfit. It’ll do nicely.”

“Thank you,” Rose said. “Now, where’s Twilight? She should have been here by now.”

Dusk pointed at a space behind her. Turning around, Rose managed to spot Twilight and the rest of her friends, as well as Summer, Spring, and Timber.

“She was here when I showed up,” Dusk explained. “But there’s only room for two at this table and you’re more important to the effort than she is, no offense to her. So after I explained who I was, she respectfully went over to join her friends. Quite a good thing, too; if she hadn’t she probably wouldn’t have found a spot to sit at.”

“Yeah. Are these ponies really here for the trial?” Rose asked. “Nopony seemed that interested in this law yesterday except for those personally involved.”

“They’re not here for the trial, per se,” Dusk said. “They’re here to see a newsworthy event firsthoof, whatever it happens to be. Lesson one of public relations, Ms. Rose: where the media is, ponies will follow.”

Rose opened her mouth to ask what he meant when she was distracted by the sound of camera shutters. Turning to look to her left, she saw that the nearly empty press box from the previous day was now completely filled, with a few reporters and photographers sitting around the actual box due to the lack of room.

“Wow,” Rose exclaimed. “I didn’t think this trial would get that much coverage.”

“It wouldn’t have,” responded Dusk. “I told them to be here.”

“You did what?” Rose asked, staring at Dusk.

“I sent them an anonymous tip through letters telling them that the Triple-E was going to be involved in a trial today, assisting Evening Rose in Ponyville,” Dusk explained. “I knew that would be enough to entice editors to send reporters out here to cover the event. As to why I did it, which I suspect is your next question, it will have to wait. The trial is about to start.”

Dusk gestured at the front of the town hall where the mayor and two aides were taking their seats.

The room fell silent as the mayor began to speak.

“We are now ready to begin discussions in regards to the gender regulation petition that was approved for review yesterday. Now, Dr. Rhyme, if you please… um… yes? Mr…?”

The rooms attention slowly shifted from looking at the mayor to looking at the blue earth pony with a foreleg in the air.

“Dusk, Madam Mayor,” the pony said. “My name is Falling Dusk.”

“Ok,” the mayor said, making a note. “Well, Mr. Dusk, do you have a question?”

“Actually I do,” he responded. “You see, this is not actually a trial since nopony is being accused of anything. We are just discussing whether a law should be put in effect and why. As such, I was wondering if it would be alright if we made this a bit more informal, more like an actual discussion without the opening statements and the theatrics so we could just talk. I also happen to have some points to make that I would like to talk about which, I believe, could end this thing in record time.”

The look on the mayor’s face showed that this situation was not one she had previously dealt with. She conferred with her aides before turning to look at the psychologist.

“Dr. Theory, what do you think of this arrangement?”

“I believe it to be fine,” he responded. “Although I am curious, Mr. Dusk: who exactly are you, and why are you helping Ms. Rose?”

“Oh, you don’t know of me?” asked Dusk. “That’s a shame, but oh well. I’m the president of the Equestrian Equality Envoy, a rather large group tasked with spreading equality throughout Equestria. Ms. Rose approached me yesterday, asking for access to our findings on various studies and, after speaking to her at length, I asked her if I could come here to share my findings in order to help with this debate. Also, I happen to be a big fan of your work.”

Dr. Theory met Dusk’s smile with an uninterested stare.

“Well then, what is this research you want to share?”

“Oh, that, yes,” said Dusk while pulling papers out of a binder on the desk.

“Before I give this to you, however, there is something I want to make perfectly clear,” he said. “I agree with your position one hundred percent.”

Silence and surprise greeted his statement, especially from the rest of the ponies seated at the front, but he continued unabated.

“The safety of fillies and colts should always be the primary concern,” Dusk said. “Ensuring the future of the foals that will grow to replace us is far more important than any political agenda, grandstanding maneuver, or even our own moral plights. Regardless of how we personally feel about an action, a mindset, or in this case a system, we as adults have a responsibility to the new generations to endure injustice and to hold our tongues if it is really in their benefit. The data you presented from the reformation study presents ample evidence that a law like the one you proposed, if not the one you proposed, needs to exist, and I will in no way imply or state that you have come to the wrong conclusion or that I question your judgment. As I’ve said, I agree with your position given your findings.”

Murmurs coursed through the room, as whispered conversations and explanations for what was being said were exchanged. Rose turned to look at her friends, and found the group staring back with wide eyes and open mouths.

“I made a mistake,” thought Rose, turning to intervene, but she was cut off by a look from Dusk, who continued his speech.

“You’re a good pony, Dr. Theory, I really believe that. But you yourself admitted that there was insufficient evidence regarding transponies, and while your ability to find evidence in records long past is both ingenious and commendable, your findings are incomplete. My group and I have, however, done considerable research on the subject of transponies and Dissociate Identity Disorder, which I believe will help complete the picture.”

Dusk grabbed three packets of information from his binder, placing one on his own desk, giving one to the mayor, and giving the last one to Dr. Theory. He then returned to his own desk to continue talking.

“Those packets contain various reports and charts regarding different studies done by my organization,” he said. “Each of them is fully detailed and explained, and has been checked and filed with the Canterlot University staff to ensure their validity. If you feel like these reports are faulty, I am sure a quick check with their officials should suffice, but I assure you, everything represented here is genuine. Now, I would like you to turn to the first report.”

Dusk waited for Dr. Theory and the mayor to do so before continuing.

“The first report is simply a report on the effects of reformative therapy. You will find that the procedure was the same as the previous one, as it sought to replicate the original study. However, this one was done being mindful of the fact that transponies exist, as well as differences in upbringing and other environmental factors. In this study you will find vastly different results to the original. In fact, in every single one, reparative therapy performed extremely poorly in regards to the projected happiness of patients. That is with one exception. The study found that in circumstances of extreme disapproval and transphobic environments, transformative therapy was actually 30% more successful. This points us to conclude that it was the transphobic attitudes of the time period during which the original study took place that affected the results, not the therapy itself. Times are different now though, and we found that ‘indulgence’, as the original report referred to it, far surpassed the therapy by 60% in cases where acceptance was found and encouraged.”

“That may be the case,” said Dr. Theory. “But that is still an assumption. The original reformative therapy report cannot simply be discarded like that; if anything, this simply suggests that more research is needed. A law like the one I propose should still be put in effect until the further studies are done to prevent risk, and should a new study agree with yours, then the law could be arguably repealed.”

“Right you are,” said Dusk. “As I mentioned, I agree that the safety of the foals comes first, but-“

“Excuse me, Mr. Dusk, but could you please explain this report?” the mayor said pointing at her packet.

Dusk eyed it before answering.

“Oh, right, I was planning on getting to that next, Madam Mayor,” he said. “I would advise against skipping ahead, though; I promise I will cover everything in a succinct fashion. As for the report you mentioned, it is a study on the deaths of transgender youth and adults throughout Equestria.”

A cold chill ran through the room and the murmuring was silenced leaving only the ruffling of pages as Dr. Theory skipped ahead to the second report.

“As it turns out,” Dusk said, “Being born transgender or suffering from gender dysphoria, or “DID” as the psychologists prefer to call it nowadays, is a very hazardous thing. The data was very hard to come by, and it involved a lot of interviews with family members, reading police reports, visiting towns, and a lot of digging through files… But what we ended up with is an accurate representation of the number of afflicted youth and adults in Equestria over the past 20 years, and a figure of their mortality.”

“Mr. Dusk,” Dr. Theory called out. “You are certain that this figure is correct?”

“I’m afraid so,” Dusk responded sadly. “One out of every two ponies diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder or who identify as transgender, which is to how I will refer to them from now on, die prematurely, that is, not of natural causes.”

The room went silent again with the exception of a loud gasp. Rose looked for the source before realizing that she had made that sound herself.

“I have a 50% chance of dying prematurely,” Rose thought. Images of the past year ran through her mind and she had to fight back tears as she realized that despite it all, she had been one of the lucky ones.

“The rest of that particular report details how we found the information and the causes of death, but I will spare you the details and say that a grand number of them were suicide,” Dusk explained. “The figures for the numbers of attempted suicides is outstanding and frankly too terrifying to consider. The number of actual suicides though, while still terrible, is a number more manageable.”

Dr. Theory looked up from his packet, looking shocked and disgusted.

“How can you argue against reformative therapy if this is the reality of the condition?”

“I was getting to that,” Dusk said darkly. “If you please, turn to the third report.”

Dr. Theory complied, his eyes widening.

“Mr. Dusk, is this what I think it is?” he asked.

“It is,” Dusk replied.

Dr. Theory began to read the report, muttering to himself and becoming slightly frantic while Dusk turned to explain the report to the mayor.

“When we found this particular statistic, we were outraged, and scared, and rather emotional,” Dusk said. “But we were also curious. We had just replicated the reformative therapy study, and we wanted to know what happened to those who were studied so many years ago. The information was not hard to come by; after all, all the ponies involved had been dead for years and all we had to do was find death records and newspaper articles. What we found was that of those that did not go through the therapy, while reporting harder lives and more mental problems, died of old age, with the exception of two who were murdered and three who died of unrelated medical complications. Those who went through the therapy, however, all died from suicide.”

Dusk turned to look at the doctor, his smile gone and his tone steely despite his calm demeanor.

“You wanted to know why I opposed this law, and here it is: this law poses a possibly fatal health risk to young fillies and colts, whereas acceptance and understanding might save them. I mentioned at the beginning of this that I was a big fan of your work and I mean it. I heard you speak in Manehattan once at one of your conferences, and while there you said that you would always put the well being of a foal over your own status, ideals, or pride. I believe that you meant what you said, and I want you to prove to me right now that you did not lie to the world that day. This is no longer about you versus Ms. Rose; I have just shown you the very real danger facing colts and fillies all throughout Equestria. Please stand down, Dr. Theory. There is no shame in being wrong, but pushing onwards knowing what you know now would be reprehensible.”

Dr. Theory kept his gaze moving, shifting between looking at Dusk, reading the report in front of him, and closing his eyes. Eventually, however, he turned to look at the mayor.

“He’s right,” he said, his voice cracking under stress. “Madam Mayor, I move to remove my petition. It would be a mistake to implement such a system, and it would be a crime for the government to enforce it.”

The room stayed silent as the mayor wrote a few notes down.

“Consider it done, but I feel as if not everything has been addressed,” she said. “Mr. Dusk, there is an extra report here. Would you care to explain it?”

“Yes, Madam Mayor,” he said. “The last report is actually a continuation of the mortality one, but it focuses on something else: the transpony murder rate. You see, while a huge amount of the premature deaths in the transpony population were due to suicide, another big section was due to murders. We found that on average, one out of every twelve transponies is murdered. This is another sad but true statistic and, while there is no easy way to solve this problem, I have included a petition at the end of the packet with an idea as to how to do so.”

“An anti-bullying law centering on transgender ponies?” the mayor asked, looking at the form.

“Yes,” Dusk responded, “Prejudice is very hard to fight, but I believe that by starting at the school level we might actually be able to help future generations be more accepting. Less prejudice would mean a decrease in murders, or at least that is my belief.”

“What is wrong with a normal anti-bullying law?” the mayor asked. “We currently have a bullying law in the works to address standard bullying. Why should we make a specific law about bullying based on gender identity?”

“It’s about appearances,” Dusk said. “General laws are good, but by specifying a particular group, we are making a statement. Foals are impressionable, as I’m sure Dr. Theory can attest, and by having the group explicitly protected, the foals will learn that accepting this particular group is not only good, but it is expected. As such, a proposal for a law that singles out every group that needs protection is favorable to one that simply states that bullying is not allowed.”

The mayor turned to talk to one of her aides before addressing the psychologist again.

“Dr. Theory, do you agree with the statements Mr. Dusk has made?”

“I do, Madam Mayor,” he responded.

“Very well,” the mayor responded before turning to look at Dusk. “We will look over this new petition and contact your office for further inquiries.”

Dusk nodded.

“Until then, this meeting is adjourned.”

A chorus of voices sounded out following the mayor’s dismissal, which barely concealed the sound of cameras going off. These voices included discussions on the day’s event by the members of the crowd and the cheers and congratulations exchanged by Rose and her friends. Dusk watched the pandemonium with a smile on his face, a smile he did not lose as he was approached by the famous psychologist.

“You did very well, Mr. Dusk,” he said, shaking Dusk’s hoof. “I am glad you were here to stop me from making a horrible mistake.”

“No problem at all, Dr. Theory,” Dusk responded. “It’s been an honor to meet you.”

“The honor was mine,” Dr. Theory said, then walked away to grant a reporter an interview.

Dusk watched the doctor talk to the reporter for a minute before walking out of the town hall, closely followed by Rose.

“Hey Dusk!” she called out. “You’re not staying? I didn’t even get the chance to thank you.”

“No, I’m afraid I can’t stay, Ms. Rose,” he said, turning around. “I have a lot of work to do. This little stunt means we’ll have made every newspaper in Equestria by tomorrow and the sooner I start capitalizing on it the better.”

Rose was dumbstruck by his comment.

“This was all a photo-op to you, wasn’t it?” she said, not bothering to cover her anger. “That’s why you contacted the reporters, and why you had me dress nice… A colt’s future was on the line but you were worried about making headlines so that your group could be seen with the famous Evening Rose! Is that it?”

Annoyance flashed across Dusk’s face.

“Let me tell you something, Ms. Rose. I told you from the beginning that I have to keep my eye on the bigger picture. That’s what I’m doing, that’s what I’ve always done, and that’s what I’ll always do!” he yelled at her. “Yes, we helped a colt today, but do you have any idea of how many colts are out there in his position? This ‘photo-op,’ as you called it, means that all across Equestria ponies will hear of this victory. Transponies will know that there’s hope to be had and that somepony is fighting for them, and winning. We set a precedent today that can be used in other courts, and now everypony will know about it. Not only that, but that anti-bullying law I just introduced is something that has been getting a lot of debate in other cities, and news of what happened here will put pressure on the other judges, mayors, and city officials. This is how change happens and if I can help thousands by posing for pictures and playing the media, then so be it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and make sure as much good comes from this victory as is possible, so I don’t have the time to sit here and justify every decision I make.”

Rose watched in silence as he began to walk away.

“Oh, and as for your agreement,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “I have to set up a few things, but after this victory and with you on board we should be ready to move on with the project soon. I’ll be in touch.”

Dusk walked away without a second glance, leaving Rose to sit in shame with her thoughts.

Author's Note

I said that I wanted this series to educate didn't I? Well, education is not always pretty. The 1 out of 2 statistic I quoted is actually a very real thing. I first saw it watching the CBC Newsworld documentary "The Third Sex," but it's come up at various events (such as Day of Remembrance). Right now there's a bit of controversy, in that people are arguing on whether or not that statistic is true. However, when I've heard it used it's been used to talk about suicide exclusively. As such, I can say with confidence that combining the two and adding other categories (since I say 1 in 2 dies prematurely, which includes accidental deaths and diseases), the statistic is accurate. In fact, it may even be too low a percentage, but I really don't want to think about that.

This terrified me when I found it out, and to be honest it terrifies me now. Just do me a favor and be careful out there ok?

Two notes I wanted to make:
1. Dusk was planning on getting involved anyway, and had been prepared to fight, even if Rose hadn't asked him. Which she will never find out about.
2. Dr. Theory goes off of data as objectively as possible. Therefore, I don't think he changed his mind too quickly.

See you all on Friday
-thedarkprep

8. To Be a Hero

8. To Be a Hero

Rose had been sitting on a park bench for the past three hours, reflecting on the experiences of the past month. Some would call what she was doing moping, but in the end she decided that “reflecting” had a much better ring to it. Besides, she was not just staring aimlessly into the distance as one moping would. Instead she found herself lost in thought, and she had plenty to think about.

Rose leaned back, casting her gaze to the sky. This position was an oddly comfortable one, and it was one that Rose found herself using every time she visited this park, starting from her first night outing in the town of Ponyville.

“It’s almost been a year now, hasn’t it?” Rose thought to herself. “Strange how quickly things change.”

Back then, Evening Rose existed only in her nightly outings. She owned nothing but one tattered dress and she had had no friends, no family, and had yet to find any acceptance from anypony, least of all herself. She had come to this bench to watch the moon and stars, confiding into the darkness the fears she felt, and the loneliness. Upon that sunrise she had met Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, and later that week her world would change.

“Now look at me,” Rose thought. “A prominent transgender figure, loved by her brother and her friends, accepted by the town of Ponyville, and an inspiration and a hero to transponies everywhere.”

“Well, no, not a hero,” she corrected herself. “I don’t deserve that title.”

A few days ago she might have been ok with calling herself that. True, she had originally fought against the concept, but the letters she had received and Cheerilee’s encouragement had made her realize how important she was to transponies like Summer. She had even begun to be ok with wielding the responsibility the title carried, ready to fight and defend those who needed her. She had been prepared to be a hero. But she was not; she knew that now.

Rose allowed her thoughts to drift back to the trial, cringing at her failures.

“I did the right thing in asking Dusk for help,” Rose thought bitterly. “Summer deserves a better protector.”

And there it was, the thought that had remained with her since the conversation with Dusk after the trial. Tears had begun to fall from her eyes as soon as he left, and they had rarely stopped since then.

“I would’ve lost Summer’s trial,” Rose muttered to herself. “I was rash and unprepared. Dusk won it so easily but I didn’t stand a chance, and I risked Summer’s future because of my selfishness… my stupidity.”

Rose had hated to admit it, but Dusk had from the beginning been the obvious choice to ask for help. From the moment that Dr. Theory had left her home, she should have gone to ask for his involvement, and yet, she had not even considered it. She had avoided him, insulted him, and ignored him, where she should have begged for his help from the beginning. He would not have lost the original hearing; he might have even been able to stop the petition from being filed. He should have been involved from the beginning, but it had taken a humiliating defeat for Rose to see that. It was unacceptable.

“If only I could see past myself and my own issues,” she thought.

Her last conversation with Dusk had shown her exactly how much of a tunnel vision she had had, and it made her feel like a foal. Yes, she had genuinely tried to help Summer, but her own problems with Dusk and the weight of the responsibility she carried had made her unable to see the options available to her. She had seen only one goal and one way to get there. This had almost cost them their victory.

Dusk, on the other hoof, always kept the bigger picture in mind. He had helped Summer as he said he would, but he had also managed to help hundreds, if not thousands, of others. He carried a responsibility to every LGBT pony in Equestria, and he managed it with ease. He kept everypony in mind and had rolled with every opportunity presented to him, as he had done with Summer’s trial, and as he had done with Rose.

“He’s the hero,” Rose mumbled. “I’m nopony.”

And yet, she was expected to play the hero. Soon she would be involved in whatever Dusk’s plan was, as the image of the fight for trans rights. Ponies would look up to her, ponies would thank her for her courage, and none of it would be deserved.

“If there’s any consolation,” Rose thought. “It’s that I’ll just be a figure head, an image that follows instructions and follows a script. At least I won’t have the chance to mess things up anymore.”

Rose began to sob into her hooves, unaware of the world surrounding her. After a while the tears stopped, leaving only her hurried breaths. Still, she failed to notice that she had acquired company.

“Miss Rose? Are you alright?”

The noise startled Rose, and she jerked her head around to face the speaker. To her surprise she found not one pony, but a group of four fillies and a colt staring at her with worry in their eyes.

“I’m sorry to startle you, Miss Rose,” Summer said, “It just looked like you were crying and we wanted to make sure you were ok.”

Rose looked at the group as the surrounding fillies nodded in agreement with Summer. She awkwardly wiped her tears before responding.

“I’m ok,” Rose said. “I’ll admit I may have been a bit emotional, but I swear I’m ok. Sorry to worry you. Now, what are you all doing? Hanging out?”

“Yep,” said Applebloom. “School just got out and we thought we could go back to the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse to go play.”

“They said that since we don’t have our cutie marks, Summer and I can join!” said Dinky with a smile.

“Only if you pass the test though,” said Scootaloo. “Don’t forget, you have to prove yourself before you can join the Crusaders.”

“Um… Scootaloo? We didn’t make Babs take any test… I don’t even think we have a test,” said Sweetie Bell.

“Shhh will you?” whispered Scootaloo. “We’ll come up with something when we get there.”

“Ooh, ok,” responded Sweetie Bell.

Rose watched the entire exchange with mild amusement, welcoming the distraction from her thoughts.

“So today was the first day of classes then?” asked Rose. “How did it go?”

“Oh, it went great!” said Dinky. “Miss Cheerilee introduced Summer, and then we did math, and then an art lesson, and then we played outside! Reading after that was a bit boring, but then we got out early because it’s the first day!”

“Hey, don’t knock reading,” Rose chided gently. “I happen to enjoy it. So did you make a lot of friends, Summer?”

“Oh yes! I got paired with Dinky for most of the class and then I got to play with Snips, Snails, and Pipsqueak when we played outside. It was a lot of fun, and now I’m hanging out with the Crusaders, so I have tons of friends.”

“That’s good,” said Rose before a thought entered her mind. “You didn’t get bullied, did you?”

“Um... I didn’t,” said Summer. “But Applebloom and Sweetie Bell did.”

“Yeah, but it was just Diamond Tiara,” said Applebloom. “That’s normal, but then Miss Cheerilee got really mad at her for bullying us and took her inside to get a talking-to. I’ve never seen her be so strict before.”

“Well now she’ll think twice before calling us ‘blank flanks’, wont she?” said Scootaloo.

“Yeah, I reckon,” said Applebloom.

“Good,” thought Rose. “It looks like bullying won’t be an issue as long as Cheerilee stays vigilant.”

“I’m glad you all enjoyed your first day,” said Rose addressing the whole group. “But it seems you lot have an induction to get to, so don’t let me stop you.”

“Yeah!” said Scootaloo. “C’mon, I’ll race you there!”

Scootaloo began running towards Sweet Apple Acres with the rest of the group chasing after her. Summer, however, stopped shortly after beginning her charge.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” he said, digging into his saddlebag. He pulled out a folded piece of paper which he gave to Rose.

“It’s what I made during the art lesson,” Summer said. “I’d explain what it is, but I really have to go if I want to catch them.”

With that, the colt began galloping towards the farm.

Rose stared as the colt disappeared before turning her attention to the paper, which she unfolded carefully. What she saw brought tears to her eyes.

In her hooves, Rose held a drawing. It was by no means a work of art, but it was fairly good for a colt of Summer’s age. On the one side Rose could identify Summer standing in between Timber and Spring. The two parents seemed to be placing their hooves around Summer in what Rose assumed was a hug. The background on this side of the picture had a sunny day with a clear blue sky. On the other side, however, were storm clouds and lighting strikes. This side contained a lot of ponies that Rose could not identify. In fact, the only pony she could identify was Dr. Theory, depicted as a scowling white unicorn with glasses and sharp teeth, standing in front of the group.

Standing in between the group and Summer’s family, was Rose.

Rose studied the drawn version of herself. She was drawn to be skinnier than she was in reality, and her mane was not the right shade of purple, but that was not what attracted her attention. What attracted her attention was the drawing’s face.

Rose found it remarkable that such a simple drawing could convey such emotions, but the Rose in the picture was not scared of the coming mob. She was defiant, confident, and strong, waiting with a smirk and with a stern glare for what was to come. This Rose said, “If you want to get to them you’ll have to get through me,” and showed no intention of moving.

“This is how he sees me,” thought Rose. “Even despite everything.”

Rose continued to stare at the drawing, once again unaware that somepony had joined her.

“It’s a good drawing,” the pony said. “Unless you drew it yourself, in which case it’s downright narcissistic.”

Rose was startled by the new voice, almost jumping out of her seat. It was through sheer effort that she managed to remain seated as she turned to face the newcomer.

“Oh, hello Dusk.”

The blue pony responded by widening his smirk.

“No shame in being startled, Ms. Rose,” he said. “I do have that effect on ponies. May I see the drawing?”

Rose passed the drawing over to him.

“Hm… I can’t place my hoof on who any of these ponies on the right are, though they do look familiar. Well, except for Dr. Theory of course, but really? Sharp teeth? I thought the fellow was rather reasonable once he was made aware of reality.”

“It was drawn by Summer,” Rose explained. “I agree that Dr. Theory seemed less hateful once you talked with him, but to Summer he’s just the pony that tried to take him away from his family.”

Dusk nodded in understanding.

“Well, that would explain it. Still, sharp teeth? He tried to take Summer away, not eat him. Oh well. Kids will be kids, right?”

“I’m surprised you’re not upset that you aren’t in the picture,” Rose commented.

Dusk looked over the drawing again as if checking for himself.

“You’re right, I’m not,” he muttered. “Oh well, I’m sure to Summer I played a minor role in the whole thing. Besides, this picture is obviously not about me, I can understand that.”

Rose nodded but said nothing, unsure of how to proceed.

“Anyway,” said Dusk. “As much as I love your new fan art, I actually came here to apologize.”

This caught Rose’s attention.

“Wait… you came here to apologize to me?” asked Rose.

Dusk rolled his eyes in return.

“Yes yes, I know, so unlike me, blah blah blah. Look, I realize that I was actually quite rude to you after the trial. I didn’t tell you what I was planning so it’s understandable for you to have had questions. Also, since you cared so much for Summer and his family, I also understand why me having other agendas might have upset you, especially if you thought that I didn’t give this one aspect of the events my full attention.”

Rose accepted the apology with a nod before responding.

“No need to apologize, Dusk,” she said. “I know you gave it your all, and I also know that you have a lot on your shoulders. You need to make sure every move you make is the most efficient and that you get the most out of it because so many ponies depend on you. I can’t hold that against you. I’m sorry I judged your methods; you were just doing what you thought was best.”

Dusk smiled at her.

“No apologies needed here either, Ms. Rose. All I ask is that in the future you ask me about actions you disagree with, rather than jumping to the worst possible conclusions. I believe that will save us both a lot of headaches as we work together,” Dusk said, handing her back the drawing.

Rose studied the drawing again, letting her mind wander.

“You are a hero you know?”

Rose was snapped from her thoughts by the sudden statement, giving her attention to the pony beside her.

“I know I make this all look easy and it may feel like it’s impossible to compare your achievements with mine at this point, but I have a lot of experience doing what I do, and I can say that I have yet to do what you seem to do naturally,” Dusk said. “I’m good at what I do, Rose, but I can’t inspire ponies the way you do. You got a few letters but that’s nothing compared to the number of letters we received back at headquarters from ponies wanting to reach you and not knowing where to send their mail. We have so many trans volunteers now who all said that they found the strength to be themselves because of you. You’re changing things in a way I cannot.”

“I wish I could believe that, Dusk,” Rose said sadly. “But I couldn’t even properly protect one transcolt. I’m no hero.”

“What do you mean?” asked Dusk. “Yeah, you’re brash, and you’re stubborn, and you have a habit of being downright insufferable… But you gave your all to defend a transcolt and his family whom you had just met. Despite being outmatched you gave your all in the fight to defend them! You even put your own reservations aside and agreed to work with me if it meant not risking their future. You are a hero, Rose: I see it, Summer sees it, and transponies all over Equestria see it too.”

Dusk finished by gesturing to the picture in Rose’s hooves, after which a silence enveloped the scene. After a few moments, Rose spoke.

“About working with you,” she said. “I have a request.”

Dusk looked surprised.

“A request? You’re sure it’s not a demand?” he asked.

“It is a demand,” Rose conceded. “But I’m trying to be polite.”

This caused Dusk to laugh.

“Very well,” he said. “What is your request?”

“When we go do whatever it is that your project entails, I want to write my own speeches and to respond to questions with my own answers,” she said. “You said these ponies look up to me, that they respect me, and that I give them hope. The least I can do is be genuine when I meet them or speak for them. The real me should help in their fight, not just your speech writers.”

Dusk considered this for a minute.

“Are you going to be teaming up with the Triple-E to honor your agreement?” he asked. “Or is it more than that now?”

Rose shook her head.

“It’s more than that now, Dusk,” she responded. “I do have a responsibility to these ponies, and it’s about time that I started fulfilling it.”

Dusk nodded in agreement.

“Then I would have it no other way,” he said. “Consider your request granted.”

The two shook hooves.

“I’m glad we had this talk,” Dusk said, getting up from the bench. He then pulled a folder from his saddlebag and placed it next to Rose.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Oh, it’s the important dates and information regarding the project I was telling you about,” he responded. “It tells you when to start packing, how much to pack, things like that. Most of it will be covered in the meeting at my hotel room two weeks from now. Speaking of which, do meet me at my hotel room two weeks from now. The specific time and day should be somewhere in that folder.”

Rose’s eyes widened.

“So soon?” she asked. “So does that mean all the preparations are ready? And the plan? What are we going to do?”

A smirk flashed through Dusk’s face.

“My dear Ms. Rose, we’re going to change the world.”

Author's Note

So Dusk got a lot more hate than I thought he was going to. That's good though, that means you care about the story and are passionate about it to the point of having an emotional reaction. It also helps that all the hate is being directed at Dusk and not me.

In any case, at this point it is no longer Dusk forcing Rose, but Rose agreeing in her own terms, and as such I conclude Arc 4. Yes, I know it was short but I got the character development I wanted to get done and I set up Summer Breeze to my satisfaction. As such, I hope you're ready for Arc 5: Equestria.

Thank you all so much for your continued interest in my story. You have no idea how much it means to me. It's now been 3 months since I started posting these stories twice at week (sometimes 3) and 4 months since I started writing. It's mind-boggling to me that you're all still with me. And I am eternally thankful for that.

Arc 5 and Epilogue? on Monday!

*hug*

-thedarkprep

4. In the Name of Education

4. In the Name of Education

“All Aboard!” yelled the conductor, as the smoke from the train rose slowly in the air. His call was barely audible over the talking of the crowds and the sounds of the engine, but his message was nevertheless understood as those closest to him began filing into the train, prompting those outside of the audible range of his voice to follow. Soon the station was empty save for two pegasi in the middle of a hug.

“Make sure to write when you get back, ok?” said Rose. “It was great having you spend the weekend.”

Rose tightened her hug.

“I will, sis,” responded Perfect. “And maybe next time you can come to Canterlot to visit! I promise you won’t have to fight a changeling this time.”

The hug ended and Rose took a short step back in order to get a good look at Perfect. Rose found it hard to look into his eyes, scared of disrupting his hopeful demeanor with what she knew she had to say.

“Look Perfect,” she began. “Me going back to Canterlot is not something that can happen again. Mom and Dad –“

“No!” Perfect interrupted. “Stop using them as an excuse. They do want to see you and they would welcome you if you came to visit, I know it.”

Rose wanted to argue this point and make Perfect see reason, but she did not have it in herself to do so. She could hear how Perfect’s voice cracked as he spoke, and how there was doubt mixed in with defiance in his eyes. He did not know if what he was saying was true, but he certainly wanted it to be. In the end, Rose conceded.

“I’ll make you a deal,” she said. “I’ll keep it in mind, and as long as you keep writing me letters I promise you that I will say hi to Mom and Dad next time I’m in Canterlot.”

“You promise?” asked Perfect as a huge smile appeared on his face, causing Rose to laugh.

“I promise,” she said. “Now, go get on the train before they leave without you.”

Rose watched as Perfect boarded the train and waved as the train sped off. She remained at the station, staring at the train as it faded to the distance in the direction of Canterlot. Soon the train disappeared from view and, after staring at the distant city of Canterlot for a few minutes, Rose made her way home.

Ponyville was very calm and quiet that day, with the majority of ponies choosing to remain inside in order to avoid the summer heat. Rose would have normally been bothered by the heat as well, urging her slow walk into a fast-paced gallop, but she was instead content with enjoying the silence while accompanied by the memories of the weekend.

Having Perfect stay over had done wonders for improving her mood, to the point that she was willing to write her parents a letter to thank them for asking her to foalsit him. She had not realized before how much she actually missed her younger sibling, as she would normally opt to push away thoughts of her family as soon as they emerged, but, in his short time in Ponyville, Perfect had really changed that.

Things such as eating ice-cream or going through a walk on the park became really emotional events for Rose as they begat memories of such events in Canterlot and, as much as she would miss her brother now that he was gone, she had fulfilled her plan to make the most of the weekend for old time’s sake, even if she had to share that time with Summer.

The pegasus giggled as she remembered the two colts running around the house in a frenzied game of tag. Perfect was a very sociable pony, but he had taken to Summer much faster than was normal for him. This was a rather fortunate coincidence since Summer, true to his word, had shown up ready to play rather early in the morning, leaving only minutes before Perfect was due to board the train. In turn, Perfect took the play date in stride, not once allowing for anything other than a smile to grace his face.

Rose arrived at the Market Square, making her way towards her house as she thought of the only real worry she had had in regards to Perfect meeting Summer.

“He really took the trans thing well,” Rose thought.

She had not really expected him to react negatively; after all, he had already accepted Rose as his sister. However, aside from that moment when they were introduced to each other, Perfect had not had a single problem or difficulty in dealing with Summer. It was very apparent that Perfect saw Summer as a colt and nothing else, which was more than Rose could say about some of her friends who happened to slip up in pronoun use every once in a while. Despite knowing how accepting and adaptable Perfect was, since he always seemed to just roll with things, Rose could not help but hope that this was not specific to him. With any luck, all in his generation would be as adaptable and transponies in the future would not have to worry about being judged for their identity.

“If only,” Rose muttered.

Rose took out a key from her saddlebag and began to unlock her door.

“I’m starting to miss him already,” Rose thought to herself. “But at least I get to go lay down and rela…”

Rose’s voice trailed off as the door opened, revealing the overturned furniture and scattered debris that had resulted from the morning’s play date.

“How could two colts make this much of a mess by themselves?” Rose asked herself, closing the door behind her.

After taking a deep breath, she set her bag next to the stairs and began to clean up her home, ideas of sleep and rest gone and forgotten.

Rose woke up with a jolt, unsure of certain details such as the current time or her location. As such, she surveyed her surroundings.

She was laying on her bed and underneath her covers. To the side she could see her jacket and saddlebag hanging from the coat rack. This seemed to suggest that going to sleep had been a choice she made, rather than an accident.

Next, she looked out the window, through which she could see the sun beginning to set. This meant that, as long as less than a day had passed, she had only been asleep a few hours.

“What had I been doing?” Rose asked herself. Suddenly, memories of her morning came back, filling in the gaps. “Oh, right.”

While Rose had originally planned to avoid sleeping until after she had cleaned up her house, she soon seemed to find that the chore was more than what she had originally imagined. After all, when she had made that decision, she had only seen the aftermath of the chaos that ensued in the living room and the extra all-purpose room. She had, for example, forgotten about the exploding milkshake incident or the indoor cloud incident, both of which had made cleaning the kitchen not only a priority, but a more arduous endeavor than Rose had been prepared to deal with.

After finishing with that, Rose had looked at the living room and decided that she would tackle that after getting some sleep. After all, it was not as if she was expecting any company in the next few days.

Having figured that out, there was still one more question to answer.

Rose had from a very young age proved to be a very heavy sleeper. If left to her own devices, she had at times slept through most of a day, in addition to the previous day’s night. As such, the idea of her sleep naturally being reduced to a short nap was not only unlikely, but it was near impossible. And yet, she had woken up after only a few hours of sleep.

“So what woke me up?” Rose asked herself.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Rose’s ears perked up at the sound and in a hurried fashion she grabbed her jacket and ran towards her bedroom door, wobbling in the process and barely avoiding the frame.

“One second!” Rose yelled as she began hurrying down the stairs.

Once she was on the first level of her house, she paused to look at her reflection, finding that her mane was a mess. She attempted to fix it with her hooves, but the improvements were minor.

“It’ll have to do,” Rose thought as she reached for the door.

Rose opened the door enough for her to pass through, coming to face to an earth pony with a cerise coat and a light rose mane.

“Um... hello,” said Rose, “Anything I can help you with?”

“Hi,” the pony said. “Miss Rose, I presume? May I please come in? There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Rose took a second to look behind herself and into the house. She could clearly see the still destroyed living room, as well as a few other things she had neglected to clean in favor of sleep, after which she turned with an embarrassed smile to face the pony in front of her.

She had wanted to say no due to the state of her home, but then Rose noticed the expression on the pony’s face.

Her eyes showed fear and stress, her demeanor was tired, and her voice had been very pleading. This pony needed help.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” said Rose, stepping out of the way and opening the door as wide as it would go.

The pony smiled and stepped inside, stopping at the sight of the living room.

“Yeah, excuse the mess,” Rose said apologetically as she closed the door behind herself. “My house hasn’t quite recovered from having to foalsit.”

“It’s ok,” the pony said, picking up one of the overturned chairs. “I have to deal with the Crusaders all the time.”

“Actually, it was my brother and a friend of his,” Rose said. “But the same principle applies I suppose.”

Rose sat on the couch in front of the pony.

“Well,” began the pony. “Thank you for agreeing to talk to me. First things first, my name is Cheerilee.”

She extended a hoof, which Rose in turn shook.

“Yes, I know. You’re the elementary school teacher,” Rose said. “I got your letter after the housewarming incident.”

“Housewarming incident?” asked Cheerilee, confused. “But those letters were for…”

She trailed off as a few things clicked into place in her mind.

“Oh, right,” she said. “How silly of me.”

Rose giggled.

“Anyway, what can I help you with?”

Rose stared as Cheerilee’s demeanor changed. Her smile and laughter was quickly changed into a silent frown accompanied by fidgeting and then a deep sigh. In all, the change took about a second.

“Well, I need your help and advice in regards to one of my new students,” she said.

Rose could see that whatever it was that Cheerilee wanted to discuss was something that was both painful and difficult for her to think about. Rose already knew which student she was talking about; after all Cheerilee had come to her for advice. As much as she wanted to help, though, she could not do so until Cheerilee explained everything. As such, she merely motioned for her to continue.

“There’s a pony that has recently moved in who happens to be transgender,” she continued. “Her parents came in to speak with the school officials and with myself two days ago, asking for their daughter to be accepted, treated, and classified as a colt. It is an understandable request and of course, it is something that I feel should be done in order for this new student to be able to be herself, but there are complications.”

“Such as?” asked Rose.

“Well, this is not something that we have ever dealt with before, and a lot of ponies are scared about what this could mean. Some are scared for the pony, some are scared for her future classmates, and a lot are scared for the school,” she said. “In the end, it was decided to not grant this request. The local government does not have the means or ability to acquire proper training for the staff, nor does the school want to make itself accountable to the other parents on the issue. They essentially wiped their hooves off the whole thing, deciding that inaction was the safest way to deal with this. They’re not entirely incorrect, but… I couldn’t just let that happen.”

“What did you do?” asked Rose.

Cheerilee looked at her and took a deep breath before responding.

“The school does not want to take a stance on this, and therefore they will not help,” she explained. “But they will not stand in my way. I told them that I want to do this, that I feel it is the right thing to do, and they said that I should ‘do whatever I believe is right.’ That means that I can go ahead and grant the parents’ request, but if I do so it will be a personal choice without the backing of the system. I now have to do my own research, train myself, and if something goes wrong I will be personally responsible and accountable, clearing the school from any possible fallout.”

“That was a very brave thing you did Cheerilee,” said Rose. “Or dumb. I’m not sure which yet.”

Cheerilee smiled at the obvious compliment.

“It was brave at the time,” said Cheerilee. “Dumb in retrospect. I don’t know the first thing about transgender ponies. I don’t know how to help my student, how to make things easier for her, how to explain her condition, or anything. This also means that if I mess something up, which it is looking like I will, I won’t have the knowledge to answer the questions of any parents. That’s why I’m here.”

She looked at the floor and her voice shook as she continued.

“I know that just because you’re trans yourself it does not meant you have to help everypony else who is like you,” she said. “And I know that I have no right to ask you to get involved in this. You don’t have to answer questions, or talk to me, or do anything. But- But I really want to help my student, Ms. Rose. She looked like she was so uncomfortable, and her parents looked so worried. I don’t want to let them down, so please…”

She turned to look at Rose.

“…Will you help me?”

Rose looked at Cheerilee, whose entire form was shaking.

Even as she was begging for help, there was a certain strength the teacher had that Rose could not help but admire. She was doing this to better the life of her student, despite the lack of support. Rose could tell that even if she said no, this teacher would go on and try to figure things out for herself, unable or unwilling to let her student suffer through school behind a mask.

“And she would probably succeed too,” thought Rose. “Good thing we won’t have to find out.”

“It’s ok, Cheerilee,” said Rose. “I will help you.”

Cheerilee stared at Rose for a second, processing what she had just heard. This was followed by an enormous smile and a few tears of happiness.

“Thank you so much, Ms. Rose! You have no idea how much this means to me. How much this will mean to my student and her parents,” she exclaimed, then composed herself. “Ok, so what should I know?”

“It’s no trouble at all, and you can just call me Rose,” the pegasus said. “Also, you should probably know that I already know about Summer Breeze. I’ve been advising Timber and Spring for a little while now.”

Cheerilee’s eyes widened at the mention of her student, but nodded.

“Great!” she said. “This means I’m not violating confidentiality. It’ll be a lot easier to talk now that I don’t have to worry about hiding her identity.”

“I’m sure it will,” said Rose. “As for what you should know regarding trans ponies… Actually! I have a notebook upstairs that I’ve been writing this very thing down in order to explain things to Timber and Spring. Why don’t I just go get that? It even has a list of things that I suggested they do to make Summer feel more comfortable. I’m sure some of those apply to school as well, so we don’t have to start from scratch!”

“Sounds great,” said Cheerilee. “I’ll wait here then while you get it.”

Rose rushed upstairs, grabbing a notebook from her saddlebag. She then headed downstairs as she skimmed through it, stopping at a page three fourths of the way in. Lastly, she landed on the couch, looking up at Cheerilee with a smile on her face.

“Ok, so what is a transpony?” asked Rose.

“A pony that dresses like the opposite gender, right?” responded Cheerilee, before nervously adding, “I’m sorry, that was probably an offensive way of putting it, wasn’t it? I didn’t mean it to be.”

Rose could not help but smile.

“It’s ok Cheerilee, I’m not offended. You’re here because you want to learn, I’m not going to hold anything you say against you,” Rose said. “And, you’re kind of right. You see, it’s not really about the clothes. Transponies want to be the different gender, or rather, they believe they already are, and they wear clothing that reflects that. It’s not a fashion preference, but an expression of their identity, so the world will see them how they see themselves.”

The teacher thought for a moment.

“So it has to do specifically with gender identity?” she asked.

“Yes, exactly,” Rose responded. “I know it may seem weird to think that somepony as young as Summer already has their gender identity set, but from our conversations I can vouch that this is the case, with Summer at least.”

Cheerilee nodded her head.

“Actually, it’s not as weird as you think,” she said to Rose. “Most colts and fillies are very aware of their gender identity from a very young age. Awareness begins in the first year of life and differences between genders become noticeable to them by their second year. By the time a foal is three years old, they can label themselves and they acquire a strong concept of self, and by the time they’re four, their gender identity is stable. That’s the common development of foals at least, and at that point they begin trying to learn different gender roles and seeing what works for them. Usually this means that we have to have lessons about it being ok to like different things and assuring parents that their filly being a tomboy is not a bad thing.”

“Oh, that makes a lot of sense then,” said Rose, “That’s when I remember first having problems adjusting to playing with others. I imagine that explains Summer’s discomfort as well.”

“Yes, but I’m still not sure about how a foal knows they are trans as opposed to just liking things that the other gender likes. For example, it’s not at all uncommon for there to be a few tomboys in my classroom, especially around that age, and yes, they become upset that the things they like aren’t always for fillies… but they still identify as fillies who want to do colt things,” Cheerilee said.

Rose thought for a moment.

“Hm… Well, I guess it has more to do with how one thinks of oneself, more so than what one does,” she responded. “One thing I noticed while talking to Summer is that, while I hated all colt-things at around that age, he actually still likes filly activities.”

“He?” asked Cheerilee.

“Yes,” said Rose. “He identifies as a colt; the first thing I suggested to his parents, and that I will suggest to you, is to use proper pronouns. It makes a lot of difference.”

“Oh, right,” said Cheerilee, blushing a bit. “I’m sorry, that makes sense. Anyway, please continue.”

“Well, what I was saying is that it’s not so much about what you like, but who you are,” Rose said. “Summer still loves playing with dolls, for example, so even though he identifies as a stallion, he can still be feminine. Actually, it’s probably a good thing that detail came up. I can imagine that being awkward in class if you introduce him as a colt but he still likes doing things for fillies.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem, actually,” said Cheerilee. “In my classroom I try to not divide the activities by gender, everyone does the same thing and everyone is allowed to play with whatever they want to and with whomever they want to. I find students grow up being more accepting if there are no defined barriers for them to hide behind.”

“Sounds like you have it all figured out,” Rose said. “You didn’t even need my help.”

“Oh, don’t say that,” said the teacher, “We’re just getting started right? You had that list of suggestions.”

“Well, yeah, but,” she paused while scanning the list. “A lot of it is pretty common sense stuff. Use the proper pronouns, don’t criticize his wardrobe choices, understand that just because he’s a colt that does not mean he does not want to do things fillies would do… the entire list is filled with things like that.”

Rose passed the list over to Cheerilee for her to read over while she continued talking.

“The most important pieces of advice are: 1. Remember that being trans does not define Summer. He is a colt, but he’s an individual with his own likes, dislikes, attitude, fears, hopes, and dreams. 2. Provide a nurturing environment for Summer. All Summer wants is to be recognized for the colt he knows he is, nothing more. As such, we should strive to be accepting and to help others be accepting of him as well. That means educating those who don’t know any better, protecting Summer from those who would bring him harm, and encouraging Summer in exploring this new life. 3. Be understanding. A lot of this is just as new to Summer as it is to you, and you should not forget that when dealing with him and any mistakes he might make. Last but not least, try. No one expects you to have all the answers, and you will make mistakes, but as long as you’re trying then you’ll do fine.”

Cheerilee looked up from the list of suggestions.

“You’re already doing that,” continued Rose. “It’s apparent in how you run your classroom, and how you chose to do right by Summer and his family. Even in coming to ask for my advice shows how much you care. You’ll do just fine.”

“Thank you Rose,” said Cheerilee, smiling. “I really hope you’re right.”

“I am,” said Rose.

The teacher looked at the list one last time, committing specific ideas to memory, before taking a deep breath.

“All that leaves then is for me to contact the parents of the rest of the class…” Cheerilee said, shuddering at the thought.

“Oh, you’re going to let them know what’s going on?” asked Rose.

Cheerilee nodded.

“I know I could probably not tell them. It’s not really any of their business,” she said. “There’s even a chance that they would never find out, but if they do I don’t want them or their foals making a scene in front of Summer or her, I mean, his family. I figure that if I tell them before school starts, those with problems can come to me and I can hopefully sort everything out without Summer or his family having to deal with any of it.”

“Do you really think that they’ll react badly?”

Cheerilee closed her eyes.

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I’m afraid that they will. I know it’s irrational – the whole town pretty much accepted you, right? And yet, I can’t help but worry about the safety of this new student and how a negative reaction could impact the other fillies and colts. We already have a bit of a bullying problem as is, and I just don’t want things to get worse.”

“I only hope that whoever my brother gets for a teacher this year is even half as good a teacher as you are,” Rose said, staring at Cheerilee with a smile on her face. “As for Summer, I think he could not be in better hooves. You’ll do great, and if something comes up, you can count on me to help. I’m in this for the long run.”

Cheerilee returned her smile.

“Thank you Rose,” she said. “That means a lot to me, especially coming from you.”

“Me?” asked Rose. “I’m nopony special.”

Cheerilee scoffed as she got up, heading towards the door.

“Ms. Rose!” she exclaimed. “You may not think so, and nopony is asking you to act like, feel like, or to be a hero, but make no mistake that you are one. To that little colt, to his parents, to those you inspired with your story, to them you’re a hero.”

Rose could only watch with an open mouth as Cheerilee reached the door.

“And you might be a bit of a hero to me too,” she said, “I feel a lot more calm than when I did coming in here, and I feel ready to stand up for my student, come whatever may. So thank you for that. I’ll see you around, ok?”

Cheerilee saw herself out, closing the door behind her and leaving Rose in her still partially destroyed living room. Rose for her part was doing her best to come up with a response of some sort, but it was proving to be a rather difficult endeavor. In the end, she managed to speak three solitary words.

“Me? A hero?”

Author's Note

If any of you have a kid who is trans, know that the advice that Rose gave is the best advice I can give you. No system is perfect, but it doesn't have to be. Just make sure to try.

Oh, and the information about developmental psychology in there is accurate (I loved my educational psychology classes).

This should be the last of the set up chapters. Who's ready for some conflict?

-thedarkprep

Extra note: Someone commented about the Mary Sueness of Rose in these recent chapters, with everyone in story commenting how important she is. I must admit this has me worried as well and this is something I am very much aware of.. Just know that, especially in this chapter, defining Rose as a hero is not to bolster her up, it's to add weight to the choices she makes, a weight she's not too happy carrying. I'm sorry to have put this in the author's notes rather than somehow weaving it into the narrative, but I didn't want to risk it being lost in transcription.

Please don't hate me?

9. Epilogue?

So that was Arc 4. What did you think?

As I'm sure you noticed, this Arc was a lot different than the previous one. For starters, it focuses more on trans issues. Also, it is more dialogue heavy and uses the narrator less (which was my goal for this Arc). Lastly, it has longer chapters.

Hopefully you enjoyed the new style since Arc 5 will be a continuation of it.

Oh, and speaking of that, Dysphoria, Arc 5: Equestria is now online, so I would go check it out.

This Arc will take place all throughout Equestria, and will be more character driven, which to me is always a good thing. I'll just go ahead and say that I'm very very excited about this Arc.

Arc 5 will consist of 10 chapters and it will follow the same release schedule, with new chapters every Monday and Friday at 6pm EST.

Oh, and a few notes I want to make.

A lot of people have asked about what's going to happen with Summer going to school. I also feel like it's important to note that Dusk has a history before coming into the story. Both these stories need to be explored and they are not the only ones. However, I am just one person. As such, I want as many of you as possible to get involved with the group I made Dysphoria, and to get involved with Project Universe.

Doing so will allow you to create your own story with your own perspective grounded in the Dysphoria Universe. I will also be looking for people to write Chronicles: Summer Breeze and Chronicles: Dusk among other characters.

More info in the group page.

As always, I cannot thank you enough for all the support you've given me as this story has progressed. I really cannot put into words what it is like to have you all still reading after this long, and what it's like getting to answer to your comments and hearing your feedback.

I thought my story was going to be ignored, and I've never been more glad to be wrong.

Well, at the risk of this being my shortest Epilogue? to date, I must say that I don't really have much else to comment on.

I love you all,
-thedarkprep

Author's Note

By the way, I've been working on Arc 5 and thus far (before editing) the word count is as follows:

Chapter 1: 4,150
Chapter 2: 8,103
Chapter 3: 5,498
Chapter 4: 6,816
Chapter 5: 7,985
Chapter 6: 10,659
Chapter 7: 6,000

That's probably going to change some after editing, but I can't imagine it'll change much. That's 49,223 words or 116 pages thus far with 3 more chapters to go.

yea...