Anarchy in the Equestrian Nation

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

BEE- *click*

"Damn it. Seven AM."

And so began Day Zero of Union Jack's enrollment in Ponyville High. He considered it Day Zero because the first day didn't count as an official day of enrollment. It was just orientation. Still, he was nervous as hell. He was practically shaking as he stepped into the bathroom to take a shower. He slid the gas mask over the top of his head and laid it on the counter, taking a few seconds to admire the design his father had painted on.

He turned on the shower and stepped in, letting the hot water flow over his coat and wash the stagnated gel out of his mane. Oh, Celestia that smells awful. Why is that crap even in my mane? he thought as he scrubbed vigorously. Congealed pools of hair gel that had formed on his scalp slid off, landing on the shower floor, looking like bright blue puddles of mud. He scrunched up his snout and looked back up, concentrating on the bottle of shampoo on the small rack in the corner, attempting to lift it with magic. As he was still a young unicorn, his magic wasn't very potent, so it was quite an effort to lift it and pour some into his hooves. He rubbed it all through his mane and all over his scalp, the small flecks of dandruff speckled throughout his mohawk falling down like gross, oily snow. He did the same for his tail, and finally turned off the shower after washing his coat.

The bathroom was filled with steam that opened up his sinuses greatly, making it feel as though a very large weight had been lifted off of his face. He dried himself, slipped his gas mask on, and had opened the bathroom mirror's cabinet when he paused. He looked like a complete fool, with his mane tousled from scrubbing and a gas mask on.

That was sure to get him laughed at, and as a second cursory glance at the cabinet in the mirror revealed, he was out of hair gel. That alone eliminated his usual manestyle from the equation. His face turned to one of worry under the gas mask, and all he saw in the way of hair products was his father's pomade. No, no. That would just make his hair look greasy, and being pomade, it was sure to smell exactly like a Dumpster that had been sitting out in the sun. It was all that was available though, so he reluctantly opened the jar and tried not to inhale as best he could- OH SWEET LUNA WHAT IS THAT AMAZING SMELL. His train of thought had just been hijacked by the delicious aroma of the pomade. It smelled of pomegranates and green tea, two of his favorite things.

Hey, I may be a hooligan, but I have refined tastes. he thought as he contemplated the smell wafting up his nose for another couple of seconds. He started thinking about what he could do with his mane. He could slick it back, but that wouldn't be a very aesthetically pleasing option. Suddenly, it hit him. He could turn his mane into a nest of spikes. That would definitely look good with the mask, if nothing else. He took a small amount of pomade into his hoof and styled a small portion of his mane into a single spike. Hey, this looks pretty good, he mused, maybe some of the students will actually like it. When he was finished, he looked in the mirror again. A tangled mess of short spikes poked out of his head, standing straight out. It looked surprisingly good on him.

He finally stepped out of the bathroom to find it was only seven-thirty. School didn't start till eight-forty so he figured he was good. He stepped into the kitchen and found his dad sitting at the table with two mugs of coffee instead of the usual one. He levitated one over to Union Jack and smiled. "Big day, son. You'll need the caffeine." Union Jack levitated the mask off his head and onto the table, and took a sip of the coffee. "You remembered how I like it? Thanks, Dad." Vigilante grinned and said "Black and iced, same as me. Like father, like son, eh?" The two chuckled and clinked mugs, then took a long draught.

--An hour later--

Union Jack approached the gates of Ponyville High after about forty-five minutes of power-walking. The caffeine had sped up his walk by a good twenty or so minutes, so he was still good. He pushed open the gates and prepared to set his left front hoof in the courtyard. Three... Two... One... Impact. he thought grimly as he stepped into Ponyville High's courtyard for the first time. About thirty-five students were there, and none had noticed yet. He noticed the traditional groups, the jocks, the nerds, the preps, but what really caught his eye was the bunch of ponies that were mismatched.

A couple of punks here, a Goth there, a couple dressed in Victorian style clothing(Man, that pegasus stallion with the false wing looks cool. I'll make sure to talk to him. he thought), and what looked to be an otaku. They just made idle chatter, laughed, did the things friends did, despite their differences. To Union Jack that group looked like social paradise, a place where anypony who needed people to hang out with was accepted.

Since he still had ten minutes till first block, he decided to stick with them and learn a bit more about PHS. He calmly trotted up to them, adjusted his gas mask, and timidly said "Hello? Could any of you spare the time to help me around the school? I just enrolled here." They suddenly went silent and turned to him in unison. Union Jack's eyes widened in sheer terror as he anticipated the onslaught of insults.

Instead, the mare sitting at the farthest end of the table stood up and said "Yeah. I can do that." She walked over to Union Jack, smiling. "Day zero, huh? Well, me and the Outcasts will take care of you."

"Outcasts?" he asked.

"The students you were talking to. We're kind of misfits, ponies that don't belong anywhere else. None of the others would take us, so we decided to sort of unite. Can I see your schedule so I know what I'm working with?"

"Yeah, sure. Sure thing." he said nervously, hoofing her his schedule. "OK, first block is right around the corner, so you need to know what room it's in. Hey wait, you have the same schedule as me. Just follow me. First block is Physics, which is over there in room 106. Just follow me when it's time. For now, we still have eight minutes. I'd like you to come meet the rest of the Outcasts."

Under his gas mask, Union Jack grinned like a fool. He had found home away from home already.