Anarchy in the Equestrian Nation

The sun was no longer high in the sky. Day Zero was drawing to a close, and Union Jack couldn't have been gloomier about the end of his orientation day. Sixth block was Positive Adolescent Decisions class, or PAD for short. It was run by Cheerilee, who used to be an elementary teacher. Union Jack thought for sure it would be some lame class about how drugs were bad and bullying is evil, but he was instantly proven wrong. The current lesson was on how to be more self sufficient, and he had been lucky enough to arrive on the day she started teaching it. He sat down in the only empty desk, which just so happened to be the one next to Black Bell, his new marefriend.

"Hey there handsome. You look sad. What's the problem?" she asked.

"I'm not happy the day is ending. Day Zero was fun. There wasn't any actual learning involved, just learning the ins and outs of the classrooms." He scowled.

"Union Jack, will you please come up to the front of the class? I'd like to introduce you to the class, though it seems you already know Black Bell and Vagabond." Cheerilee said.

His face instantly turned to an expression of sheer panic. "Uh, sure, Miss Cheerilee." He tried to keep his posture as he walked up to the front of the classroom. "Hi. My name is Union Jack. I come from the city of La Cienaga, which as some of you might know, means The Mire. I used to go to Fresh Start Alternative Academy, but my dad transferred me here for a second chance." He was interrupted by Cheerilee.

"Could you please take the gas mask off? I can't see your face, and I can barely hear you." This was it. The moment of truth. They'd see his face, and they would laugh at him, ridicule him for his ugly green eyes, his scarred muzzle, his chipped tooth. He levitated the mask off his face and gave a slight smile to the class.

They all just stared. No laughs, no jeers, no "What's wrong with his face?"s. Just silence, and the feeling of twelve pairs of eyes drilling into his hide. He continued his story. "My cutie mark, which you can observe is a Mareotov Cocktail, symbolizes my special skill, starting revolutions when they're needed." Cheerilee's face was twisted in horror. "Three years ago today, I did something I wasn't exactly proud of. I felt that La Cienaga's government was too corrupt, so I... I tried to burn down the city. Thankfully it didn't work. But I'm a different stallion now. I don't go around burning down buildings. I'm content to finish off my junior year with my new friends and a new life. And that's my story."

Cheerilee's face was back to her normal placid smile, and she asked "And what is the gas mask for?"

He smiled again and said "It's actually quite significant to me. It's the same gas mask my father used to wear to scare me into behaving when I was just a little colt, but it's painted over and the filters are removed. It kind of symbolizes my triumph over that fear."

"There sure is a lot of symbolism in your physical traits. I think that's a very entertaining story. Now, seeing as we just took up five minutes, let's get to work shall we?" Cheerilee replied.

Union Jack sat down in his seat again, listening to Cheerilee drone on about responsibility and hard work. He was listening, but at the same time he was looking at Black Bell. She was drawing Union Jack, but he looked different. More muscled, taller, his mane and coat a bit richer in color. Standing next to the idealized drawing of him was a smaller, sleeker mare, which he soon realized was Black Bell. He looked back at the drawing and realized that's how Black Bell saw her new coltfriend, as a muscular, handsome stallion. He smiled and sat through the rest of sixth block juggling his thoughts of Black Bell and class.

--An Hour Later--

Union Jack walked sluggishly to the gates after saying goodbye to the first people to ever truly accept him for who he was. He was reluctant to leave them behind, but he noticed one was missing as he turned to look one last time before he left for the day. As he turned back around to exit the gates, he saw a pair of beautiful magenta eyes looking into his. He soon realized they were his marefriend's, and he tried to back up a step to get some breathing room. She stopped him with a passionate kiss, and then said "Have a nice evening. I love you." He practically bounced all the way home, until the logic bomb hit. Today was good, but what about tomorrow? Tomorrow there would be less leeway given for Union Jack now that he'd been through Day Zero. Day One was undoubtedly when school stopped going easy on you. He replaced his worries with happy thoughts of Black Bell, and bounded home.