open Gender Conundrum

[Charcoal Embers 169]

@@ActFast231

"Hey, thanks for the help there. I appreciate it." Looking down the hallway Charcoal tries to think of a better way to get rid of the trip wires. "Obviously cutting them isn't going to be an option either, anyone else have any ideas?" He turns to see a pony still standing in the room with the two caged. From the hat Charcoal guesses it is Skitter from before. "Hey, Skitter right? Come down here and help us."

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@ActFast231,

 

"No! I mean... It's important." She sighed unhappily. "There isn't any other way is there?"

 

'Of course not, idiot.' Her mind chided. 'You can shut up!' She thought in response.

 

"Okay, Okay...Give me a second..."

 

Tearing off the more modern, replacement pieces (which actually made up the majority of the suit), Scribe was left standing looking extremely uncomfortable wearing only a couple of pieces: the front plate and the lower part of the helmet. Removing these with much more care, she placed them safely in a separate pile.

 

"Is that better? Please don't lose them... not those pieces."

[sunne 659]

@@Skitter Run, 

 

Sunset's panic attack had slowly run its course, and now she - er, he? - was whimpering softly and still quivering, tucked into a tight ball. 

Get up, Sunset. They already think you're a freak. Seeing your scars won't change that. They've probably all seen the others.

Thinking this, and getting suddenly poked by some pony, made him slowly get up and turn around, still holding his hoof to his face. 

Only when he realized it was Skitter Run did he relax a bit. At least somepony who knew her - er, him - was here, rather than some pony who didn't. 

"U-umm... I wasn't, um, s-sleeping..." he admitted, blushing. He didn't tell Skitter exactly what he had been doing.

 

Firecracker woke up and sat upright immediately.

"What happened?" she asked aloud, and suddenly realized that her usually high-pitched voice was much deeper and... sounded male?

She looked around. Two other ponies were with her. One of them looked like the pony she had freaked out earlier at the airport, except he was a stallion.

"Ummmmm.... What's going on? Why do I sound like a guy?"

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

"I will come back for these. Trust me, I know the feeling. If I lost my fedora or coat, I would be devastated. But your life is far more valuable than your armor. Now, let's get you out of there." Max wrapped her forelegs around her waist, and lifted. It took some effort, but soon they were both up to the surface.

 

"Now for the armor." She flew down, and picked up the pile with the vital pieces. It was heavy, and Max was barely able to get it out of the hole. She got up, and dropped the armor down gently, before collapsing into a panting mess.

 

"A-alright. Let me rest for a sec. I'll get the rest soon." She said between huffs.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@ActFast231,

 

"Thanks... don't worry about the rest, I can buy more. These are antique though - family heirloom. And they've saved my life more times than I can remember." The unicorn said as she fixed the pieces back into place with a relieved smile. "The rest is mostly just to stop idiots asking why I'm wearing a broken suit of armor all the time."

 

 

And now, Scribe looks exactly like my Avatar... except probably with a dusty smear across her snout where she face-planted earlier.

 

[Drago Ryder 641]

Tempest had an idea and landed on the ground. "I think I might be able to get through." He said. The cyan pegesus then slowly trotted forward, testing the ground in front of him with each step. He got hit with a few darts along the way, but he could remove them later.

[ActFast231 432]

@, 

 

"I don't think my outfit ever saved my life before, but if I recall correctly, it saved my grandpa's life. Apparently somepony tried to shoot him, but luckily the bullet hit the button on the jacket instead." Max recalled, pointing out the dented button 3 buttons from the top.

 

"This coat and fedora have been in my family since the founding of Equestria. So naturally, it's built to last." She said proudly, before looking down the hall, seeing a pegasus colt get nailed with a few darts.

 

"Holy crap that looks painful." She said with a wince.

[Drago Ryder 641]

Tempest reached the other side and glanced at the others. "I think I tripped most of the traps." He said. The cyan pegesus then coughed slightly. His throat felt raspy and his mind was fading into darkness.

 

Ivy noticed and galloped to Tempest, avoiding the traps. She then began to remove the darts and heal him.

[Frosty V 309]

@Missingo

Frost watched as Tempest was hit with the darts. "No need to show off you crazy mare!" she said having seen the pain Tempest could withhold from there recent adventures together.

 

She shook her head and turned her gaze to Ivy. "You know your cute as a stallion." she said not sure if that was the right way to put it. Just thinking about it made her brain hurt.

[Skitter Run 44]

@Mint Drops

"Hey there. Everything is alright don't worry I'll get you to safety"

She said with a smile.

"Hey sleepyhead, good to see you up and at em you missed alot ill fill you in on the way but first thing is first. You are a stallion now."

She said to firecracker then prepared for an outburst.

@charcoal embers

"Ok one sec I just woke the two up we be there shortly."

Then Skitter Run began searching the other bags nearby and found a piece off cloth and gave it to Sunset

"here you go You seem to like to hide your face even though i don't know why, I think your face looks great "

[Drago Ryder 641]

Ivy blushed slightly and glanced at Frost. "Thanks. You don't look to bad yourself." She said.

 

Tempest shrugged and stood up. He then glanced at Frost. "I hope your only joking." She said. The cyan pegesus felt slightly jealous, but he knew Frost was only joking,

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@ActFast231,

 

Tapping the plate proudly, Scribe beamed. "Luna Rebellion, one thousand year old. Shame I managed to lose most of it. Found it under our barn just before I left home about... two years ago?" He followed the Pegasus pony's gaze. "Ouch, thats got to hurt..."

 

Some of the others were talking about... were they flirting? They were the wrong gender, were they mad?

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Max looked puzzled at first, but then noticed what she was seeing and hearing. She simply shrugged.

 

"Believe it or not, this isn't the first time this has happened. I knew two ponies who were in love, but they swapped genders thanks to my mistake. And they stayed like that. In fact, I think they may have...done things in that form." Max looked off to the side.

 

"Then again I turned into a dragon and did  the same things, but that's another story." She muttered to himself. 

 

"My point being is that it just doesn't make a difference for some ponies. When you change, your sexuality adjusts to accommodate the new gender. If you liked mares as a colt, you'll like colts as a mare. If you liked the same sex, you will continue to like the same sex in a new gender. At least, that's what I've observed."

[sunne 659]

@@Skitter Run, 

firecracker's head tilted as the mare turned and spoke to him.

"What?! How'd that happen? Is that even POSSIBLE?"

 

Sunset 's ears flattened  and he blushed profusely from the compliment but he offered the mare a timid smile to thank her. He didn't trust himself to speak, so he took the cloth and figured out a way to keep it on his face.

"U-um... it's a long story..." he squeaked out, averting his eyes -or, well, eye, as it seemed; his other eye was covered by the cloth - and shuffliing his orange hooves..

One that I don't want to share...

[Boleman500 9]

Steel watched the stallion take lots of the darts "Ouch" *she said as she flinched. "I have an idea, why didn't we just use magic to trip the wires?" She asked wondering why nopony had thought of it yet "It would be easier then getting hit with darts that could hurt you badly

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@ActFast231,

 

"Ugh... My head hurts from trying to figure out how to keep my mane out of my face, don't go confusing me with all that..." She grinned. "I don't have any trouble believing you at all. Seems like things like this happen to me annoyingly often. Maybe not things exactly like this but... well, you get the picture."

 

Scribe looked around anxiously.

 

"It just seems... A bit of an inappropriate time to by thinking about... that. You know, spears, darts, pitfalls and gas..."

[Snowy Storm 57]

Icy walked with the group, things were so off to her. She would have loved to just have a normal trip.

"So where does the part where we get to have a normal trip and not be treated like criminal"

She walked along side the others. Still it seemed that these ponies have an idea of what they were doing so Icy was following.

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Again, Max shrugged.

 

"Ponies find love in the strangest of places. I don't mind it, but I also believe that getting out of here alive and finding a way to change our genders back to normal takes precedence. Of course...some ponies...may not WANT to change back. The case I saw, the couple in question to this day are still gender swapped. It may be an active choice or the change trying to make itself more permanent, but either way, there is a chance that some of us will stay like this."

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@ActFast231,

 

"I hope not, I mean..." She actually didn't know how to finish that sentence. "Well, I just want to be me again, you know?"

 

There was that voice again: something clicked in Scribes head.

 

@@Snowy Storm,

 

 

"Icy... Icy Night?" She asked, turning towards the still-complaining stallion, mentally facehoofing. Of course, they were all in the same situation, but she would have preferred not to have actually known anypony here, however distantly.

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Max nodded in understanding, before the mare addressed another pony. She spoke up, deciding to share her own experience.

 

"Once before, I had a personal experience with transformation, and losing myself in it. The way you get out of it is to grab a thought. It can be a job, a passion, a pony, something important in your life that would be adversely and negatively impacted by the change. Make that your motive for changing back, and never lose it. That should do the trick." Max thought about her parents, and how the community she so deeply rooted herself into, and how they would all react to him being a mare.

 

"By the way, I never caught your name."

[Snowy Storm 57]

@,  

He heard his name.

"How do you know my name?" That fact startled him. As far as she knew she didn't tell anypony her name yet.

He walked closer to the mare. Then she saw the cutie mark.

"Scribe?" He walked over to him... her. Then she thought about how annoying she must have sounded to him.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@ActFast231,

 

"Oh yeah! Of course, my bad." Scribe held out a hoof politely. "Scribe Shield, at your service. Or just Scribe. Pleasure to meet you, uhm...?"

 

@@Snowy Storm,

 

"So it is you! I thought I recognized your..."

 

 'complaining?' His mind tried to interject unhelpfully. 'Shut up!' He thought angrily back.

 

"... voice!" He finished his intended sentence.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Cinderscribe

[Skitter Run 44]

@ Mint drops

"No problems" 

She smiled at sunset and grabbed her hoof 

"come on we gotta meet up with the others"

then he looked at firecracker

"come follow I'm sure that the ponys over there can explain it better then me "

He then started to walk over to the other ponys.

[Snowy Storm 57]

"So Scribe. how is it to be a female?"

He looked around.

"any tips on how to be a male?"

He looked around the others It seemed like some were leading the other ahead. She wondered if they knew where they were going. This place was scaring her. She lowed her voice to a whisper next to Scribe

"I know I am complaining a lot, but If I wasn't complaining I would be scared and useless. So If I complain a lot it's to keep myself calm"                                                                              

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@Snowy Storm,

 

"Uh... Don't refer to mares as 'refined' because it offends them?" She suggested jokingly before lowering her own voice.

 

"It's going to be fine, we're still us... just... different." She said. "Just, stay calm, okay? We'll figure this out and get back to normal in no time, promise."