MLP Season 3 Finale: The Mane 6 experience the same emotional plight as transgender people.

Lately, I've been very busy with my own life and haven't had much time to write and enjoy my daily gender nonconformity, but this was something that hit me and I felt I had to share with the public. The following writing is not meant to be used to say that the episode was about transgender people. More, its just me using the episode as a vehicle to explain transgender feelings.

The season 3 finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic tells a story that on the outside is simple to most people to understand, but can be dug into deeper to help others understand gender dysphoria. Each of the 'Mane 6' Ponies have a cutie mark, a physical manifestation on their body that describes their station and role in life. Their "Destiny" is described by their cutie mark. They can't change these things on their own, its something deeply ingrained in them. 

There is Fluttershy, marked with butterflies, shes good with animals. 

There is Rainbow Dash, marked with a cloud and rainbow lightning bolt, she is good with weather management and super fast flight.

There is Rarity, a series of flawless gems, shes good with fashion and the 'pretty things', makes gowns and jewelry.

There is Applejack, a series of apples, shes a farmer and grows and harvests apples to feed the town. 

There is Pinkie Pie, a series of balloons, shes the party-er and the one who brings a smile to peoples faces when they are sad. 

Then finally there is Twilight Sparkle, a series of stars, shes the magic user that brings the others together and 'Makes it all complete'. 

Sadly, due to events that Twilight Sparkle was unaware of, she casts a magic spell that changes the cutie marks of these characters around. 

Rainbow Dash's destiny is now Rarity's. 

Fluttershy's destiny is now Rainbow Dash's. 

Pinkie Pie's destiny is now Fluttershy's.

Applejack's destiny is now Pinkie Pie's.

Rarity's destiny is now Applejack's.

Essentially the spell "Retcons" their entire past until they think they've been living with the, technically new to them, cutie mark for life. It also causes a bit of a time paradox where one day everything is fine and normal, and the next entire farms are dead.

These characters worlds are flipped upside down, they no longer feel comfortable in their own skin, or the tasks set upon them. They are forced into the skin of someone they don't feel comfortable being. 

Fluttershy has no idea how to tell jokes and liven the mood, helping friends get out of deep depression with silliness. 

Rarity has no idea how to make the weather cooperate, and manages to make the weather pretty, but inconvenient.

Pinkie Pie can't grow apples and the farm is withering.

Applejack can't make dresses, everything ends up looking like a torn up burlap sack.

Rainbow dash can't get the animals to calm down and everything in the animal sanctuary is in chaos. .  

In their words they are being forced to do 'What my cutie mark is telling me.' Because of their distress they are depressed, do not feel normal, and possibly even hate themselves and want to just run away. In some cases even though they are trying to do what their cutie mark says, their true destiny is overlapping. This is especially apparent with Rarity and Applejack.

Rarity takes the weather and tries to make it pretty, but this doesn't let it function in a way thats positive for the land, or the people.

Applejack tries to make dresses, but they look like they are recycled burlap sacks used to carry apples and other farm found materials stitched together. In no way would they be considered fashionable to the extent that Rarity's exquisite dresses are.


The best image I've found explaining the emotions of each character is the above fanart. This mixup and the stress and dysphoria of not being in the right destiny are so heavily impacting the characters that they are crying even as they try and do what their cutie mark says.

Twilight Sparkle, being the only person not affected by this spell, realizes the mistake she made and attempts to remedy the situation. To do so, she takes her friends to each other and shows them their true destiny. they take over the role they are comfortable in and the spell is reversed freeing them back to their natural state of being and then breaking the spell back to basics, re-writing it, and using the new spell to fix the time paradox and return everything back to normal.

The bonus side effect of this is that now Twilight Sparkle has been given a new station in life herself. But it is a positive change enhancing her current one.

So lets take this whole premise and use it as a vehicle to explain the transgender experience. 

Someone is born male or female, given a cutie mark (hormones/genitals) that shows them as being male or female and having a maleor female destiny. They try their best to fit into this destiny, going about their day to day lives as best they can, but for some reason they just feel wrong. Like this destiny is not for them, they try their best at doing things that their cutie mark tells them they should. But they just can't seem to get it right and they get picked on, and the towns people get upset at them over their failures. 

Depressed they maybe try and leave (suicide) or maybe just hide in a corner of the world by themselves trying their best to do what they keep being told by their cutie mark they should do. They can't help that is how they were born. 

Then a magic using unicorn (doctors/science) comes and tells them its obvious that they are not comfortable with their cutie mark, and that they have a spell (hormones/surgery) that can fix their cutie mark. After some hesitation they accept and let the spells magic take effect. They become the opposite gender, their cutiemark is changed, their destiny is changed, and suddenly they are happy, they are exactly how they always felt they should have been. The depression is gone. 

Here is where the story deviates, We're not little ponies in a TV show, we're human beings. Our emotions go deeper to the cord than some cartoons could ever explain. While I don't feel like any of the Mane 6 would have thought of suicide as a remedy for the distress of their life, many trans people do. The ones who manage to change their destiny are much happier, even if others try and say they are "breaking" their destiny to be happy, they are happy. That is what matters.

I hope this explanation helps those of you who have trouble understanding the transgender experience. If you haven't watched that episode, watch it, If you have seen it, please re-watch it after reading this and think about the plight those characters go through in their life when they are told their destiny is something that they themselves are not something they are comfortable with. 

Maybe you'll understand why we are who and what we are, and even support us in changing our cutie marks.