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?”
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What a very calm and informational chapter! I think this is a great chapter for the readers that still may not understand trans* issues, now... Whatever happened to that EEE pony?
2487803
Funny you should ask
Monday will be interesting
Yes, you say in the notes that being a hero is a weight she's not happy carrying. And going back to the beginning, when I had the discussion about civic responsibility vs. personal liberty, the character of Rose's personality (I feel) is such that she cannot refuse to help those in need. It is because of this that she will soon become a public influence, much to EEE's pleasure and Rose's chagrin. At least, that's what I think about the subject.
eeyup...
2488150
I'm not going to say if you're right or wrong, because I want to avoid spoilers.
Instead I'll say I'm always happy when you comment and ask, what would you do in her shoes? er... horseshoes?
2488168
Oh I get guilt tripped too easily. At the beginning of the story, EEE probably would have been able to pressure me to try to give speeches to different organizations already. And that's the problem, you see. You have the intentional activist who has no problem getting in people's faces. You have the unintentional activist, who is essentially the archetypal hero(ine), whose individual actions effect change, and then you have those who probably get used as tools by the intentional activist.
I'll try to stop guessing what your characters do, by the way. I don't want to upset. But your story is so good. You are able to tell this story through so many chapters on a topic while not even getting preachy. This story teaches things and it doesn't sound like it being just a mouthpiece for you. My stories tend to be more like writing exercises.
2488204
Aww, thank you!
You can keep guessing if you want, you're not offending me at all. I just feel bad because I want to answer and make comments but I don't want to give stuff away. You bring up good points though, and I wish we could have these conversations.
In any case, I'm happy you're enjoying the story
Yknow something's telling me that eee dude might try to grab on to summer instead...
regardless, I am still greatly enjoying this.
I do hate you. You're a terrible author. You're a terrible person. You're just terrible.
Just kidding. The fact that you told me not to hate you meant that it needed to be said. I don't like Cheerilee. Idk why. She's always bugged me. I like that you made her annoy me here WAY less than she does in the show.
Yeah, I have a feeling that the EEE dude is going to start using Summer in leau of Rose eventually refusing. Perhaps one of the colts (or fillies, you know the ones I'm talking about) gang up on her on Monday?
This is going to get interesting real fast.
2489072
I sure hope the EEE pony (Dusk, was it) doesn't do that. I think he might be low, but he doesn't seem quite low enough to do that.
Rose definitely wants to make a difference and she definitely is, but she doesn't want to be a public figure and just wants to do stuff in private. I hope the the EEE pony sees that eventually and lays off a bit.
I see that Rose is making Ponyville a safe haven for transponies. I wonder how many more will move there. Kind of reminds me of how in the human world, queer migration is most definitely a thing. At a very minimum, we think very carefully about where we move to.
I wonder how many parents are going to be real jerks. While there seems to be some acceptance of Rose, or at least just merely tolerating her; ponies could start getting a bit more up in arms once there are two transponies. One, they can tokenize and think is just a rare perversity. More than one, and they realize its not so rare and then freak out. Also, a complicating factor is that Summer Breeze is a foal. While many ponies may look the other way with Rose because she is an adult, they may react much more harshly (especially to Summer's parents and Cherilee) about a foal being allowed to live as who they are.
As far as the worries about going down the Mary Sue road, legitimate worries. A difficult road to navigate indeed, but not impossible.
2491740
There's being low, and then there is being desperate for good publicity. It can be hard to discern the difference, but I believe the EEE pony just wants to do the right thing. Unfirtunately, he could hurt others in his ambition.
2492785
Good point. You know the old saying, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
2491740
2492785
You two have no idea how great it feels to come home from work and see people getting into discussions over my story.
Thank you for the pick me up
Also, know that if I could buy you (and everyone else that comments and cares about the story) a cake, I would.
2493246
Which Cake? I would be up for Mrs. Anyone else want Mr. ?
Perfect is so freakin cute! And I agree with ElkinFencer. This is a nice depiction of Cheerilee. I hope more teachers will be like her in real life.
2493253
Hands and hooves off mah toy yo'.
Hey everyone!
My editor (2493273) decided to grace us with her presense.
(So far it's been once per two Arcs)
Say hi.
2493277
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5mfxiFPWv1qfewofo1_1280.png
2493291
Jerk :). Watch it or I'll post spoilers!
Pshaw we don't hatecha. Honestly I don't think rose feels much like a mary sue. She still deals with difficult problems which makes sense. To me her being a mary sue would be everyone adores her and has no issue whatsoever. That's clearly not the case.
This line especially makes me feel Rose is still hanging onto some heavy biases.
Personally (And I know this is mostly irrelevant to the story, but I needed to say it.) I don't like the wording of that sentence "I find students grow up being more accepting if there are no defined barriers for them to hide behind." I think that it's somewhat dangerous to just be "accepting" of everything. Sure, it's a good thing to accept people who have personal elements they cannot control that are non-harmful to others, but it's another thing to always accept things. It's can be as black and white as accepting murder, or as grey as accepting abortion; I just don't like the idea of be raised to accept people indiscriminately. Really though, it's just the word choice I dislike, as I don't get the connotation. Mabye "tolerance" would have been better?
"Someone commented about the Mary Sueness of Rose in these recent chapters"
Honestly, Rose doesn't strike me as much of a Mary Sue. You've done a pretty good job at interweaving her into the existing story without seeming to turn it into an Evening Rose Appreciation Society, so to speak. The best example of that is how you slipped her into the changeling invasion. Nothing seen in the show would have to be changed in any way, which is not something I can say about a large portion of other fanfics out there. Granted, the writing was slightly preachy/lecturey in a few places toward the beginning (first couple arcs) but that's not uncommon with this subject matter - it's often something personal, and some experiences can be hard for even an experienced writer to look at objectively.
The fact that other ponies look at Rose the way they do after the things she's been through, especially with a lot of it as public knowledge, shouldn't be seen as signs of a Mary Sue - just a character who's been through a lot and come out more or less on top, and made an impression on those who know about it in the process.
Rose might get everypony to see her as an actual mare soon
Such a cursed fate,
left by those sworn to protect,
never to stray.
It is a far better bond here,
tied across the entirety of this town.
We shall read on.
*Claps* Miss Cheerilee congratulations on doing the ally thing right.
"you are a hero" *winces* it's not heroism it's survival and helping your brothers and sisters.
Okay, the part where how gender is explained to Rose... feels iffy? You say that you learned this from developmental psych classes, but it doesn't quite read like it. Most of the trans people I know came out later in life, and from my experience being put through the medical side of things, for some people, their dysphoria doesn't really become apparent for what it really is around adolescence and anything before that was... fairly normal. This kind of information in the story conflicts with Rose's own experiences. She is a full-grown adult who is only just starting her social transition, and the information you included here doesn't account for the fact that folks who transition as adults exist too.
It says a lot about Rose's life that this sentence had me thinking: "Oh no, who broke in and rifled through her stuff?"
Because with all the assaults, attempts on her life, kidnappings and incarcerations, I was kinda expecting more to follow.
Oh right, Pinkie broke into her house in the very first Arc, nevermind.
Most of the town accepted her, there was that guy who tried to viciously beat her to death with his bare hooves... and the two guys who assaulted you in that alley, so safety concerns are definitely valid.
Also, forgot how badass Cheerilee was in this story, it's nice to see.