Chapter Text
Twilight was tapping her hoof against the crystal floor of her crystal palace, chewing on her lip as she tends to do when she's focused on a book like she is right now. She hadn't seen Pinkie yet, even though Pinkie was right in front of her and she'd know that Pinkie was there if she just took a moment to look up.
Pinkie bit back a giggle, Twilight was adorable.
"Twilight!" she chirped, jumped up to put her forehooves on Twilight's desk.
The alicorn let out a sharp yelp and leaned precariously backwards, her wings outstretched in a desperate but futile attempt to keep herself balanced.
Pinkie snickered, "What're you doing on the floor, silly?"
Twilight huffed, "Hello Pinkie." she said, maybe a bit annoyed but Pinkie was pretty sure she was just being silly, because she's a very silly pony.
Twilight stood wordlessly, brushing some dust off her chest and fluttering her now folded wings to resituate the feathers.
Pinkie looked down at the book Twilight had been so entranced with, she squinted trying to read it upside down, but it slammed shut with a burst of magenta before she could make anything out.
"What was that?" Pinkie asked.
"A book, Pinkie."
Pinkie giggled, she couldn't help herself, "Yeah but what kind of book?"
Twilight paused, stopping what she was doing, only momentarily. What she seemed to be doing was putting the book, very impractically, at the bottom of the pile of books.
"A modern linguistics book." she said carefully, maybe reorganizing the books that weren't stacked on her desk, maybe just shuffling books for the sake of it, Pinkie couldn't tell.
"What's a linguistic?"
"Linguistics is the study of language and how it grows and changes."
"Ooh." Pinkie said, tilting her head. There was something Twilight wasn't telling her.
Pinkie wasn't the best at being able to tell exactly what was going on with other ponies, she could never tell when she was bothering someone until she pushed them over the edge enough to snap, which obviously made her feel horrible. That's why she kept such extensive lists of everypony she has ever and might ever throw a party for, labeling them with their likes and dislikes so she could know exactly what to do.
But she almost never picked up on it in the moment, which means something really fishy had to be going on right now, but she had no idea what! It was very frustrating.
Her body shuddered violently, catching her breath in her throat for a moment.
Oh. Well, that settles that. If the shudder was about whatever's going on with Twi, then Pinkie has literally no way of guessing!
Twilight looked mildly alarmed, "Is something going to fall on me?"
Pinkie snorted, "No, silly! That's twitchy tail!"
"And what's full-body shaking?"
"Shuddering's the doozy! Remember?"
It dawned on Twilight's face but Pinkie wasn't expecting the… Fear?
"Something you never expected to happen will happen." She mumbled.
But it was just a surprise. Surprises didn't have to be bad, they could be really good! Pinkie shifted, the air almost felt heavy with Twilight's solemn fear.
"What's wrong, Twi?"
She shook her head, paused, and then shook it again, "It's nothing, I just- It's nothing."
"I mean, if you say so. But it sure doesn't look like nothing." Pinkie tapped her hoof on her chin, "Does it have to do with the linguistic?"
"...Yes, Pinkie."
Pinkie hummed a long drawn out moment, "Are you… scared of Ponish?"
Twilight choked out a laugh, "Scared of- Pinkie why would I be scared of Ponish?"
Pinkie shrugged, secretly proud of startling the laughter out of her, "Were you reading 'bout some other language then?"
She rolled her eyes, undoubtedly fond, "No, Pinkie, it was Ponish."
"So…?"
Twilight sighed, sitting at the desk.
She opened her mouth and then closed it again.
"Do you know what pronouns are?"
Pinkie blinked, was she- er, Twilight - scared of pronouns?
"Uh huh, you, I, we, he, she, it-"
"A yes will suffice, Pinkie." Twilight said. Maybe she was scared of pronouns!
Pinkie bit her lips to not giggle at the other's light irritation.
Twilight ran a hoof over the edge of the desk in a fidgety way, looking anywhere but Pinkie, "Have you heard of ponies using different pronouns?"
"Of course."
"Like. Not he, her, or they?"
"Twilight, what's going on?" She asked as softly as she could and yet Twilight suddenly looked like she was going to cry.
Pinkie was moving in an instant. Instinctively, she was at the other side of the desk, wrapping her arms around her friend and pulling her close.
Twilight shuddered, not in a Twilight Sense way, but just in a pony crying way.
No tears had actually leaked out yet, Twilight was breathing in a very deliberate way, "Im- I'm sorry, I'm being stupid."
"Your not." Pinkie said, "Whatever it is, you're the smartest pony I know, you're not being stupid."
Twilight's eyes squeezed shut, "I don't think I'm a mare."
Pinkie's jaw dropped, so that's what the shuddering was about.
"I know, it's stupid-"
"It's not, Twilight don't be silly, it's not stupid at all." she urged.
"There are- I never questioned it. I never. I had my magic and I had my book and those mattered and I didn't so I never questioned me."
"Twi, you've always mattered."
Twilight shook their head, burying their face in Pinkie's neck, "It's not that, it's- I'm not saying it in a self pity way, I mean I was never interested in anything outside of magic, friends or otherwise. And now I am. And the book…"
Pinkie squinted at the side of the book that was placed at the bottom of the pile, 'The Language of Identity’ was scrawled across the side of the book.
"What did it say?"
"...That some creatures use different pronouns, sometimes even nouns as pronouns. Which- It's just silly "
"Silly isn't bad "
"Stupid."
"Hey."
"It's idiotic that I even- I can't. I-"
"Twilight, I know ponies who use other pronouns, it's not idiotic or stupid or even really that silly!"
"You do?" Twilight asked with a careful note of hope.
"Yuh uh. Hooffulls! Maud even used to use rock/rocks when she was a foal."
"Exactly." Twilight bit out, "A foal."
"Her age doesn't make how she felt any different." Pinkie said, "And I know others! Last I heard, Party Favor was using quirkself pronouns along with he/him, and when I went to the last Yickslurbertfest, I found out that Noam Yak started using ze/hir."
"That's different, the- ze's? a yak."
"How is it different?"
"I know it’s not. it's just." their whole face scrunched up for a moment, "I don't know. And that's the problem."
Pinkie chewed her lip, "You said you don't think you're a mare, so do you think that they or he would fit?"
And that look was clearly dread, "I. Maybe? I don't-"
"It's okay if not, Twi."
Twilight's ears folded, "I'm sorry."
"You haven't done anything wrong, silly" Pinkie said, "Do you know which pronouns you think might work?"
Twilight shrugged, "They made me question, I don't know if they'll work."
"Welp! We'll never know if we don't try. Scientific theory! Variables!"
Twilight let out a puff of air that was almost a laugh, "This is hardly a scientifically accurate experiment."
"But it is an experiment. If you want it to be, that is. But I do need something to call you, I don't mind using your name over and over!"
Twilight smiled at her softly, "It's- They we're um, star/stars?" she said weakly.
"Oh. My. Goodness! Twilight, those ones are so perfect! Oh I-"
"Pinkie, I don't know if they worked yet." Twilight laughed, which was an unintentional win if Pinkie had ever seen one.
"Oh, yes, right right." She nodded, "You there! Book-pile. This is my friend, Twilight! Star's one of my bestest friends in all of Equestria and beyond. Star is so cool, star probably read every single book in you at least twice!" By the time she was done lecturing the pile of books, Twilight was shaking in her arms laughing, and maybe crying.
"Thank you," Twilight said, "I- Yes. Those, those are right." Star babbled into Pinkie's chest, stars horn resting on the crook between Pinkie's shoulder and neck.
Pinkie held star while star cried. One hoof on the back of stars head and the other on stars back in between stars wings. Pinkie cradled star in her arms without a care about the wet spots growing on her coat.
Soon Twilight cried it all out, resting stars drained weight against her, stars breath still shaky and uneven.
"What do I do now?" Stars throat was raspy and somewhere in Pinkie's mind she pinned up a little reminder to get star water.
"Um. You can tell everypony or you can wait. You can start with the girls, if you want."
"...I probably should." star said, "I kind of want to forget about it and never address it again."
Pinkie frowned, "I don't think that's a good idea." She said.
Twilight laughed, "Probably not." Star closed stars eyes, "I guess I know what topic I'm broaching over tomorrow's pancakes."
Pinkie gasped, "Oh! Oh! I'll make them star themed! I even have star sprinkles."
Twilight nuzzled stars face against Pinkie, "Thank you. For everything."
Pinkie just held star tighter.