Snailsquirm poked his head into Counselor Trixie's office. "Um, could I like, speak with you, The Great and Powerful Trixie?" he said meekly.

Trixie stood up from her desk. "Oh, hi Snails. I'm at work, so you can just call me Trixie. Or if you must, Counselor Trixie," said The Great and Powerful Trixie. "But, just to be clear, you passed your Friendship Qualifier in elementary school. You may be twelve years old but you already have an eff-ee-dee, so you can only audit courses here, which means I'm not technically your Counselor."

"Oh. But, you still have the hat on," said Snails, pointing at her hat with a hoof. "You know, the one you use when you perform stage magic as The Great and Powerful Trixie."

Trixie rolled her eyes, not only to glance up at the brim of her hat but also for the sake of doing it. "The hat stays on, Snails."

"Huh. Yeah, Starlight Glimmer mentioned that once," said Snails.

Snails seemed confused by Trixie's Great and Powerful Eye Twitch. But to be fair, Snails always seemed a little confused.

"Yeah, I'm not unpacking that wagon in front of a foal," said Trixie. She sighed as she sat down on a cushion in her office. "So, what can I—just Trixie—possibly help you with that couldn't wait until after hours?"

"Well, um..." whispered Snails, as he stared at the floor and started to explain himself.

After listening to Snails for roughly twelve seconds, Trixie cantered to her office door, immediately flipped the sign from "Come In" to "On Break", and shut and locked it. Then she returned to her seat.

"Go on, dear," she said gently.

---

"It's your turn to get the door," mumbled Trixie.

Starlight Glimmer grumbled, rolled out of bed, and teleported directly to the enormous front door of the Castle of Friendship. She was still smoothing her mane with telekinesis when she opened it.

"It's six-thirty in the bu... oh. Hello, Mare Script. Sorry, we try to sleep in on Saturdays," said Starlight, punctuating the second sentence with a yawn.

Mayor Mare seemed surprised. "Just curious, how did you..."

"Hmm? Oh, Pinkie told me. She has a comprehensive dossier on every sapient being she's ever met, and a lot of the semi-sapient animals as well," said Starlight. "Sorry Mayor, the name was a slip-up. I'm still a little disoriented. So, what's up? Monster attack?"

"No... though possibly yes, in a manner of speaking," said the Mayor. "If you wouldn't mind coming with me to Ponyville Elementary, I—"

One bright flash later, both mares stood outside the main door to the schoolhouse. Mayor Mare's knees buckled and she held her hoof over her mouth, wincing.

"Oops. Sorry, should have warned you," said Starlight. "But I figured it was urgent."

The mayor recovered quickly. "Ugh. I don't think warning would have helped much. I'm envious of our primitive ancestors—"

"No emesis reflex, right. But they also would die from a broken leg or hoof, so I think we have the better side of that," said Starlight. "Are you going to explain?"

"Cheerilee will, I'm just the messenger. I have to remain politically neutral, you see," said the Mayor. "Good luck."

"Great. One of those friendship problems," said Starlight, facehoofing. "Why couldn't it be a monster attack? They're so much simpler. I hate being the new Twilight Sparkle, she's so much better at this sh—"

"Starlight Glimmer? The walls are like paper," came Cheerilee's voice from inside.

Starlight winced, put on a forced smile, and opened the door.

Already inside were four ponies. Young Diamond Tiara yawned and frowned with an expression of boredom on her face. Her father, Filthy Rich, stared at the floor and fidgeted with his hooves. Cheerilee's jaw was tensed, but she kept her professional demeanor, an ability that Starlight was quite certain involved some heretofore unidentified form of magic. She'd known Cheerilee for a full year now, and had not once seen her lose her temper or even show the tiniest bit of anger in her face.

Today, Starlight was even more impressed by Cheerilee's iron-willed diplomacy. Spoiled Rich, Diamond's mother, had a face so apoplectic that Starlight suspected an eyebite spell she'd secretly been working on could make that mare's glare burn hot enough to ignite solid magnesium.

"So... what seems to be the issue?" asked Starlight, her muzzle doing its best impression of a smile as she took a seat in an uncomfortably small chair.

Cheerilee opened her mouth, but Spoiled was quicker. Also, louder.

"My Diamond has to complete against a colt on the hoofball team. A colt!"

Starlight sighed. "Oh boy. Trans issue?" she asked Cheerilee.

"Essentially," said Cheerilee. "Shelly Spice plays unicorn on the school hoofball team."

"Okay, I don't know who that is, but—oh, wait. I think I do. Trixie told me," said Starlight.

"Your wife! Of course she's responsible for that poor colt's gender confusion," said Spoiled.

"I'm certain she isn't, and she always regrets her potential to influence other ponies with respect to trans issues, but I'm not biased—"

"Unbiased? You literally married a tranny!" shouted Spoiled.

Starlight immediately cast a spell to cover Spoiled's mouth with a magic barrier as the mare screamed through her nose. This unfortunately caused her already floppy nose from a botched plastic surgery to wiggle like an inflatable tube mare.

"Starlight, please, no," said Cheerilee. "She has... concerns we need to listen to."

"I agree her concerns may be valid, but I expect her to express herself without calling my wife a slur or insulting my objectivity," said Starlight.

"She certainly can," said Filthy Rich, looking back at his wife.

Starlight removed the force block. "Please choose your words wisely. As you no doubt heard me complaining outside, I'm no Twilight Sparkle."

"Pfft, you can say..." said Spoiled, pausing when Starlight's horn began to glow. "Fine. But you're obviously just going to take the boy's side."

"Do I need to be here?" asked Diamond.

"Of course. This concerns you," said Spoiled.

"To be honest, I don't see how," said Cheerilee. "I agree there are open questions on transgender foal participation in sports. But only a unicorn can take the unicorn spot on a team unless Diamond were to learn to use a magic focus, which is very challenging, and even then telekinesis has nothing to do with gender."

Starlight Glimmer nodded. "I agree in this case. If we were talking, say, horn-free and tribe-mixed basketball, you might have a point. But your daughter is clearly not being disadvantaged," she said, "Although, pretty much anypony would be disadvantaged against her since she won the Equestrian championship in that position at age eleven. Not even foal division, I mean she has literally beat down the best adult unicorn hoofball players in the world."

"I still don't understand how she's that good," said Cheerilee.

"I don't even play hoofball, Mom," said Diamond, slapping her face down on her student desk.

"But she's being exposed to this kind of mental illness! What if she 'decides' she's a colt next?" said Spoiled.

Diamond made a face. "Ew. No. Well... maybe if you don't raise my allowance."

"Diamond, don't even start with your mother," said Filthy. "Honey, I'm taking her home. You can continue this conversation without us."

"Thank Celestia," said Diamond, and the pair left.

"Well?" said Spoiled, the moment the door had shut again.

"Miz Rich—" began Starlight.

"Missus!"

"My apologies, Missus Rich. You have every right to control how people address you," said Starlight. Cheerilee briefly smirked, but Spoiled didn't seem to catch on. "Anyway, please just say 'the foal' from now on if you don't want to use her preferred gender or name. I want to listen to you, but I need us to discuss this in good faith."

"Fine," said Spoiled.

Cheerilee cleared her throat for attention and said, "This is a house of learning. I agree learning about complex issues pertaining to gender may not be age appropriate for the younger students, but all foals by now, if not all Equestrian children in general, are aware that transgender ponies—and trans people in general—exist. Does Diamond feel I'm using this student to ideologically posture to the class?"

"No, but you insist on them calling him by that name and using pronouns. Pronouns, ugh. I hate them."

"Literally two out of three words in that last sentence—" started Cheerilee.

"Cheerilee..." said Starlight.

"Right, not helpful. Okay. Starlight, do you have anything to add?" said Cheerilee.

"Yes. If Diamond doesn't want to use the student's name, or gender her as female, is there an alternative?" asked Starlight.

Cheerilee huffed. "Well... I suppose there could be. But no students, including your daughter, have complained."

"You're the instructor. Students feel compelled to do what you suggest they do," said Spoiled.

"That's a fair point," said Starlight. "Cheerilee?"

Cheerilee's lips pinched tightly together. "Okay. I'll talk to Shelly privately about it. We can come up with an option that preserves her dignity without requiring students to gender her one way or the other."

"You'll speak with the foal and his—the foal's parents, you mean," said Spoiled.

"I promise it will be handled," said Cheerilee, crisply hitting all the consonants.

Spoiled's eyes widened, then a scowl followed. "Wait just one moment. His parents don't even know, do they?" she said.

Cheerilee took a deep breath. "Shelly is afraid, Missus Rich. We haven't discussed fully how we're bringing her parents into this. You are not to tell them."

Starlight winced. "Oh, horsefeathers."

"So by proxy, you're telling me if my child had an important medical, mental, or whatever you want to call it, condition, you might choose keep it a secret from me?" said Spoiled Rich. "You really are a piece of work, Cheerilee. I'm going to tell them right now."

"What? No! Starlight, you have to do something," said Cheerilee.

"You wouldn't dare," said Spoiled. "I know my rights."

"I... can't stop her, Cheerilee. And to be honest... I'm not sure I totally disagree with her this time," said Starlight Glimmer, sighing.

"W-what?" Cheerilee looked at Starlight with a degree of shock the older mage would have expected only if she'd just murdered a puppy in front of her.

"I share your concerns, Cheerilee, but there are limits to what we can—or should—withhold from the parents," said Starlight.

"I, I can't believe this," said Cheerilee. "You have no idea the depth of harm this will cause her, Starlight... I expected more of you."

Starlight closed her eyes. "I know exactly how much harm this will cause. That's why I hate having to do it. But even if you disagree with the ethical call, there are two utilitarian reasons that give us no choice. First, you can't hide this forever. Word will get out in a town as small as Ponyville," said Starlight, reopening her eyes. "And the second reason should be obvious. We can't stop parents like Diamond's mother from sharing information. This is happening in a public school, in a public space."

Starlight turned to Spoiled Rich. "But I do have one small request. Let me be the one to break the news to the parents."

"Oh? When? How long will you allow this charade to go on?" said Spoiled Rich. "I'm not about to keep the parents in the dark when the next school week begins. They deserve to know."

"I'll do it today," said Starlight. "But I want you to agree to let me tell them. Keep it under wraps, just for today. That's all I ask."

"It's more than either of you deserve, but I will. You had better be a mare of your word, Starlight Glimmer. The word of a Rich is worth its weight in gold," said Spoiled. She collected her things and walked out the door, head held high.

A few moments of silence followed, then Starlight joked, "I considered telling her words don't weigh anything because they're abstractions without mass—"

She stopped short when she looked over at Cheerilee. Compared to Spoiled, the daggers in the schoolteacher's eyes would have been sufficient to ignite aluminum... or maybe even zinc.

"Starlight Glimmer. How could you?" hissed Cheerilee, giving a surprising amount of energy into a voice hardly above a whisper.

"What? What did you expect me to do, Cheerilee? I couldn't stop her! Do you think I want to be the one to tell Snails—sorry, I mean—Shelly's parents? At least it's not Spoiled Rich doing it. You can imagine how that would go."

"You gave up too quickly! You don't understand how traditionalist his parents are. He, I mean she, is going to suffer from this," said Cheerilee. "But my larger concern is your opinion that the parents should be told, without any consideration for what could happen to the student! Do you think as a schoolteacher I should be ratting on my students when they confide something in me specifically because they are afraid of their parents? How would we find out about foal abuse if foals can't trust me?"

Starlight sighed. "No, I don't think we should automatically tell parents everything a foal tells us in confidence. But before they share with you, I'd assume you tell them that you're a mandatory reporter for abuse so they're aware FPS will end up giving them a visit."

"No. Not for foals at this age level, anyway. I probably would for high school students, but in grade school it would only prevent us from learning about active abuse," said Cheerilee. "And I'm not going to warn children they can't safely come to me with questions about gender."

"I don't think you should. The only problem I see is transitioning her in the classroom without parental notification, and that's what you should have warned Shelly about. Did you actually expect this wouldn't get out?"

"Starlight, you said you agreed with her on parental notification in general. I can dial some of this back if that was an exaggeration to convince her to listen..." said Cheerilee.

Starlight shook her head. "I do agree with at least part of what she said. Even if you could miraculously get away with it, it isn't right to make a major change in a child's life and keep it secret from her parents," she said. "You don't control how Shelly is raised, and you shouldn't."

"She is going to suffer," said Cheerilee. "You don't know what her parents are like."

"We can't know exactly what will happen. She might be treated with respect. They might come around once they realize their foal desperately wants to transition," said Starlight. "And even though I think it's unlikely, there's still a chance she isn't trans."

"All of those are possible, but unlikely. That leaves a very high probability of a foal dealing with a real mental illness, like PTSD or major depression. What if she takes her own life? Would you even feel responsible?" asked Cheerilee.

Starlight paled. "Of course I would feel that way, even though I would probably still believe I did the right thing. But the risk of suicide would still be present if she were hiding it from her parents like she is now. If you managed to keep it secret and she... did that, I doubt you would feel responsible."

"I can't believe this. You, of all people..." growled Cheerilee.

"Why? Because I married one?" barked Starlight, immediately regretting it. "Ugh. I... I didn't mean that how it sounded. But it sounds like you're suggesting—"

"I'm suggesting that you and your wife both know how much something like this can hurt a young foal! I'd thought that would have given you more empathy," said Cheerilee. "I guess I was wrong."

Starlight Glimmer stood up. "Fine, go on and make believe that I don't care about Shelly if that's what it takes you to come to terms with what was inevitably going to happen eventually," she said. "Telling them now is the best possible outcome for the well-intentioned but short-sighted decision you made."

Then Cheerilee stood up as well. "You know, I agree with you and Spoiled Rich on one point, myself. You aren't the right pony to handle this. Go back to sleep. I'm contacting the Princess with an emergency summons. We have all day to tell them, so there's still time for somepony to come up with a better option."

Starlight groaned. Then her horn glowed and a magic scroll appeared in the air alongside a quill and an ink well, all three held in her telekinesis. "Okay then. What would you like it to say?"

---

Cheerilee sat in Applejack's throne as Starlight paced back and forth in the castle's Map Room.

"Do you normally sit in Twilight's throne?" asked Cheerilee. "That isn't a jab, I'm just curious."

"No. None of these thrones are for me, so I don't ever sit in them. Sometimes Trixie sits there, mainly to be passive-aggressive," said Starlight. "Applejack wouldn't mind you taking her throne, but you know AJ."

Cheerilee narrowed her eyes. "You know... I need to grab something from the castle library," she said. "Be right back."

"Sure. Don't take too long. She messaged she'd be here within the hour, and I don't want to waste time," said Starlight.

After ten minutes had passed, Starlight considered going to fetch the teacher, but the door to the foyer opened again.

"Did you find anything relevant?" asked Starlight as Cheerilee entered the room.

"You might say that," she said, as an irate-looking Trixie followed her.

"Buck it, Cheerilee. You are a complete... no, no. I am not going to say it. I want to, but I am going to preserve the last shred of dignity I am willing to afford you today," said Starlight.

"I'd rather have heard it from you, Glim, and I'm sure you would have told me, but this is a meeting I should be at," said Trixie.

"Trans representation is important for something like this," said Cheerilee.

"That too, but the main reason is that Shelly confided in me first. This is as much my fault as it is Cheerilee's," said Trixie.

"I agree it makes sense to have you here, and I'm sorry I didn't think to, Trixie. But this is absolutely not your fault. Unless you also promised Shelly that she could transition at school without her parents eventually finding out," said Starlight. "You're blaming yourself for being a role model and thinking that's why her egg cracked."

"A little, yes. I'm a showpony. Everypony out there either wants to be me... or do me. Usually both," she asserted with a smile.

"Oh, please," said Cheerilee, rolling her eyes.

"Fine, I know it isn't actually true. But I act like it's true, and people notice my confidence. It's part of why I perform: to show ponies that I'm not limited by being trans," she said. "Now Starlight... I really want to know exactly how much of what Cheerilee told me is accurate."

With perfectly terrible timing, a portal opened up at the East end of the room. Through the shimmering portal stepped Princess Twilight Sparkle, and then it closed behind her.

"Sorry for the delay. I came as soon as I heard," said Twilight, nude and unadorned. "Oh hay Trixie, glad you could join us. Who wants to go first?"

Starlight sighed. "Cheerilee allowed Snails to transition to Shelly Spice at school, without notifying her parents first. Another parent threatened to tell them, but I was able to talk her down, provided I tell them myself today."

"Which parent, out of curiosity?" said Twilight, sitting down in her throne. "I'm not taking anything off the table while we brainstorm."

"Spoiled Rich," said Cheerilee and Starlight in unison, with roughly equal measures of distaste in their voices.

"Okay, that's pretty bad given her stubbornness, and rather unsurprising that she'd cause a fit with no personal stake in the outcome. But if it comes down to it, she's easily bribable," said Twilight.

"Twilight, you don't honestly think we can hide this from his—I mean her parents for the next two and a half years?" asked Starlight. "Much less the entirety of high school where she might not be afforded the same discretion?"

"No, and I don't think delaying notification further is a viable solution even in the short term, but it might buy us a week or two if absolutely necessary. But once again, right now we're just brainstorming," she replied. "I don't think it was a wise choice to do this without parental involvement, Cheerilee, but I understand your motivation."

"Look, none of you saw her when she came to me," said Cheerilee. "She was distraught. Desperate! If you had seen her, I daresay even Starlight would have agreed to let her transition. I had to do something."

"To be direct, that's what counseling is for, but obviously she can't do that without her parents knowing either, and unfortunately Ponyville is still too small to have a school of the size needed to justify a guidance counselor," said Twilight. "Are you sure her parents won't be able to accept her transition?"

"They are literally the only reason we needed permission slips for a dance—she wasn't allowed to attend at all. They don't believe colts and fillies should intermix, not even in the classroom. The only reason they don't homeschool her is they both work long hours," said Cheerilee.

"Yikes. That's substantially worse than even Pinkie's parents," said Twilight.

"Huh. That explains so much," said Cheerilee.

"Not really. Autism and ADHD aren't caused by parenting choices," said Twilight.

"I know, I know. It was a bad joke," said Cheerilee. "But my point should be clear. They will no doubt try the at-home version of reparative therapy on her, which is illegal for good reason."

"Sadly, although it's illegal for therapy practitioners, that doesn't apply to parents," said Trixie.

"I agree that would be very bad for Shelly, even if she ends up not being transgender," said Twilight. "Right now she needs a space where she can explore her feelings without judgment trying to force her into any particular gender. Feelings aren't under our direct control, and this is doubly true for children and even more true for gender concerns. She shouldn't be judged or shamed or treated as broken for how she feels. There's a lot we still don't understand about transgender expression, but the data are very clear that reparative therapy kills foals and children of other species as well, and it causes serious harm more often than it leads to a positive outcome."

"Thank you, Twilight. I'm so glad you decided to bring the science into this," said Cheerilee.

"Just to be clear, I don't disagree with any of what Twilight just said. We're on the same page," said Starlight.

Twilight furrowed her brow. "Okay... I'm sensing a friendship problem here. Is there something I don't know?"

"Apparently, Starlight thinks it would be unethical to allow Shelly to transition at school even if we were able to keep it a secret from her parents indefinitely," said Cheerilee.

"Well, I admit I appreciate that perspective. How this affects the parents should be part of the equation, even though they're obviously less important overall than the welfare of a foal," said Twilight. "I'm not saying I agree or disagree with her. I'm just saying a diversity of perspective will help us right now."

Trixie walked up to Starlight. "Is that true, Starlight?"

Starlight Glimmer closed her eyes for a long moment, then opened them. "I know what will almost certainly happen to her is very likely to harm her, even if she isn't trans. I'm not blind to that," she said. "But I don't think we can ethically make major life decisions for someone else's foal, unless it's egregious enough for them to lose custody."

"I see. I've heard enough," said Trixie, and she turned and walked away.

"Trixie, um, where are you going?" asked Starlight, very gingerly.

"To bed, so I can avoid you for the rest of the day. I need space to process this, so please... respect that," she said, her voice wavering.

Twilight grimaced until the door shut. "I'm sorry, Starlight."

"She'll... be okay eventually," said Starlight. "Shelly confided in her before anypony else, and I think she feels a little responsible, what with ponies who believe foals being trans is some kind of a social contagion or mass delusion."

"I think she just hates your guts for not standing against parents who are about to harm a foal," said Cheerilee.

"That... is probably the bigger reason," admitted Starlight.

"I understand how she feels, but that isn't fair to you. We can't remove foals from a home without a very, very solid reason. Taking somepony's foals away needs to be a last resort, because removing a foal from their parents also produces bad outcomes, and that's before we even begin to consider the rights of the parents," says Twilight. "For example, the data have been very clear for decades now that spanking leads to worse outcomes in foal behavior, but we don't remove a foal just because a parent chooses that disciplinary option."

"So then, Twilight, how many foals need to die from reparative therapy before that changes?" asked Cheerilee. "You're the Princess, in case you forgot. You could stop all of this with a single decree."

"I never forget my title, despite my best efforts," said Twilight. "Although, Cheerilee... do you understand the reasons why traditionalist ponies have such staunch opposition to progress?"

Cheerilee's muzzle scrunched. "Well... they're wrong, and they won't consider that they might be wrong. They usually have less empathy for ponies—people in general, rather—who are different from them. They have beliefs inconsistent with data, and nothing can change their mind. Not even a dead child. And I've seen that attitude in parents, I'm not even exaggerating."

"That's generally true, but it's also a little ironic," said Twilight, standing up and walking over to the schoolteacher. "Your beliefs are better informed by data, but the data aren't always crystal clear. We know reparative therapy is terrible in the general case, which is why it's illegal to present it as a qualified medical treatment."

"You don't honestly believe Shelly will be better off with what they're going to do to her, do you?" said Cheerilee, recoiling.

"No way. I don't believe that... but that's my opinion. Like everycreature else in Equestria, I think I know what's best for Shelly in this situation. Her parents think they know what's best, too. I think they're wrong, but she isn't my child," said Twilight.

"I fail to see any irony. Truth isn't split down the middle. Sometimes the truth is on one side or the other," said Cheerilee. "I would do anything to protect a foal from bullying and shaming."

"I'm sure you would, and I'm glad to hear that. I'm just trying to explain that one of the main reasons ponies reject sound science and our recommendations is that we often present ourselves like we know better than they do with certainty, even when it comes to how they raise their own children," said Twilight. "Progressives like you and I often don't stop to consider that we might get it wrong, at least some of the time. And to be clear, I don't think you're wrong about Shelly, not for a second. I'm all but certain this experience won't be good for her either in the short or long runs. But that doesn't change the fact that there's a small chance that I'm wrong."

"The data, Twilight!" said Cheerilee. "We aren't wrong, and we both know it. If this were something less exhaustively researched, like the existence of advantages for transgender participants in professional sports when they transitioned after becoming adults, you might have a point. But this isn't controversial from a data-driven perspective. Shelly needs support and neutrality, not... having the filly beaten out of her!"

Twilight nodded. "I agree we're right in the general case: the approach we suspect the parents will take is much more likely to harm than help the foal. That probability of harm has been soundly proven, and that's why I think treating Shelly that way would be unethical, and why I strongly disagree with how you think her parents will treat her. But I must allow for the fact that I might still be wrong for a particular child. You're assuming they're wrong about Shelly because you're certain they're wrong in general, and I agree they probably will make their decisions about her treatment for the wrong reasons. But even a stopped watch is right twice per day, and parents know their kids much better than we do, so I can't be certain of that. At the very least, they might be coincidentally right about what Shelly needs, and to be fair, we still don't know how they will react because we haven't even given them that chance."

"Cheerilee, imagine how you would feel if you found out someone was transitioning your foal without their knowledge," said Starlight.

"They wouldn't need to! I would treat my foal compassionately, without judgment, and without trying to convince them one way or the other," said Cheerilee.

Twilight sighed. "Okay, let's just move on."

---

Starlight opened the large doors leading into the castle, startled when she saw Trixie standing there. Her eyes were red, and she didn't even have her hat or cape on.

"Oh... Trixie," said Starlight, wincing.

"It's not because of you, Glim," she said. "So... how did it go?"

"Surprisingly, about as well as we could have hoped. Twilight insisted on coming, which helped. She got the parents to agree to counseling once she explained that a gender therapist isn't supposed to try to 'trans' their foal, just discuss feelings so the parents and foal can understand each other better," said Starlight.

Trixie breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the Stars."

"Are you, um..." whispered Starlight.

Trixie reared up and hugged her wife. "I'll be okay. I'm just... angry at the world," she said stepping back down. "I might still need some space for a while, but I'm okay right now. I really don't agree with you, but I don't envy what you had to do, and I know there wasn't a better option in this case. The parents mentioned me, I presume."

"Yeah, but it wasn't that bad. They blame society more than they blame you. They did correct me that you weren't my wife, but I don't think they consider you my husband either. So... don't plan on us having a pleasant social outing with them anytime soon," said Starlight. "We had a chance to talk to Shelly in private before breaking the news to her parents, and she seemed to understand we had no choice."

As the pair turned and began walking up the crystalline staircase together, Trixie said, "You know the worst part of all of this? Everypony is at each other's throats even though—with the possible exception of Spoiled Rotten—we all have the same goal: a healthy, happy foal who doesn't have to suffer needlessly. Why can't everypony just be okay with individual differences? Who even gives a horseshit if a boy wears a dress?"

"Many reasons, I'm afraid, but I don't have a solution," said Starlight Glimmer. "Ironically, I've learned that the hardest friendship problems are the ones where we all want the same end result. We just can't see eye-to-eye on how the hay to get there."