The Difference in Equality

As I sit in one of the desks in the only classroom of the only schoolhouse in this village, I feel proud of myself for drawing that picture last night. Not only have I represented my parents in a good way, I have shown that this village cannot stop me from showing my inner colors. Paul notices me staring into the clear board with a smile on my face and chuckles. Paul is my closest friend in this village. He fully understands my issues that I have with this village. It's like he's different himself.

"Wh-what are you staring at?" he says with a laugh.

"Nothing," I reply.

Paul laughs again and says, "Why are you so happy?" says Paul.

"Nothing," I repeat obliviously. Even if I was paying any attention to him, I couldn't tell him about the drawing. We were told to inform the village authorities about anything that seems beyond village-normal. I can't trust anyone. Not even my closest friend. At this point, the only ponies I can trust are my parents.
Ms. A comes in the classroom with the rest of the class. I must have been early again. When everyone is seated we shortly stand to say the pledge of equality. This village has a pledge of equality because they are proud to force other ponies into acting the same in a small village in which no one can leave. Equestria was meant to be a place of harmony, not communism.

Honor our little town
I pledge equality to thee; village
One place, under Celestia
All of us the same.

Paul begins to look bothered by the fact that I barely talked to him. Instead of pursuing the conversation, he stops talking to me. After that, Ms.A talks about the lesson. Paul rests head on the desk and covers his head with his hooves in frustration. "Man, this lesson is so hard. This is so raging," He says. Paul usually never pays attention to the teacher. That just goes to show how much these ponies care about our education.

After school, I walk back home with a village-normal smile on my face to fit in. That's the best I can do. I lift a hoof to open the door to my house, but then I hear voices from behind the houses. That's strange because nopony went behind the houses for as long as I can remember. I don't think that it's against the rules, but it's still strange. The voices belong to a mare and a stallion. I walk in between the houses to listen in on this conversation that is taking place behind the houses. That must be because it is important.

"The search has already been done overnight," Says the mare. "You would've known that if you were awake when it happened like you were supposed to." The mare scoffs and the mare's choice of words seemed to have triggered a scowl in the stallion's face.

"It was two in the morning!" The stallion exclaims. The mare keeps a straight face, however.

"There's always an excuse with you, y'know that?" says the mare. "It's always something with you. Every one of your tiny little mistakes has a stupid explanation to cover it up." The mare scowls as well. This is unusual. I thought that this village was supposed to prevent arguments.

"I don't even know how you got hired, Sand Hill." says the mare.

"I got hired because I caught a pony who looked like she was doing something that required a talent!" retorted Sand Hill. He says the word "talent" in a hushed tone as if he was saying an offensive swear.

"I was the only one who caught a pony's object that represented a talent in the search!" Says the mare. "That's far beyond what you can do, and we're supposed to be equal."

When she says this, Sand Hill starts looking nervous. "How dare you!" he says in an offended tone. "I am no different than anyone else, for your information! I don't know how you can falsely accuse me of being different." He scoffs. The mare rolls her eyes. "Anyways, what was the object?" The mare chuckles.

"It was some kid's drawing," she says.

I begin to sweat from head to hoof and my heart rate picks up at a fast pace. I quickly back away and run towards the door. I quickly open the door and get inside, slamming the door behind me. My parents look at me with a concerned expression on their faces. "What's wrong, Nick?" says my mother.

"N-nothing at all," I lie. "I gotta go now. See ya!" I quickly run towards the room and up the stairs, leaping to the door of my room and hastily opening it. Heart beating even faster now, I run into the room and lower my head. I look under my bed and see that the drawing is gone.

As if I wasn't in enough of a panic before, my panic gets even worse. I yank the drawers from the cabinet with so much force that it nearly falls off. My drawing isn't there, either. Where has my drawing gone? Was it found in the search that the ponies mentioned? I quickly turn around and run down the stairs to ask my parents about my drawing.

"What are you talking about?" says my mother. She suddenly gasps in realization. "You made a picture? What were you thinking? Only Celestia knows what they'll do to you!" My father puts his newspaper down and looks at my mother.

"What's wrong, Sketch?" says my father.

"Nick's drawn a picture and the ponies found it during the search!" she says in a panicked tone. After my dad's eyes widen, I shake my head.

"No, wait!" I say in objection. "I'm talking about someone else's drawing! I never drew a picture in my life!" Neither of my parents are convinced, however. My father gets up from the chair so quickly that it falls backwards. I'm in deep trouble now.

After being locked inside of my room, my parents leave the house to go to the guards. I walk up to my cabinet and turn around. Applying as much force to my hind legs as I can, I kick the cabinet. My kicking had no effect, however. I sit on the bed and look at the window on the other side of my small room because there is nothing else to do. In front of me, I see a desert landscape. This entire time I have been living in this small village in a desert far away from Ponyville. By the time my parents get back, it might be too late for me. Then I get an idea. What if the drawing they were talking about isn't mine and I just hid the drawing from myself? I'll have to check the Main House tonight past curfew. But there's one problem. Everyone who gets out at night past curfew gets thrown in the village prison. And nopony wants to go there.

Fortunately my parents have unlocked my door when they got back, but they did not say a word to me. I look out of my window and look at the eerie night time desert. My attention then shifts to the Main House that has lights visible in there. I slowly walk back to my door and quietly open the door. To avoid making any noise, I fly down the stairs instead of walking. I don't walk on the bottom floor, either. I have to be careful about this. I open the door and see a few guards walking about, but none of them are looking at me. I find going behind the houses to be a good idea, so that's exactly where I go. To my relief, there are no guards behind the houses. It's time to start for the Main House now.

As I slowly walk behind the houses, I glance at the gaps in between the houses to make sure there are no guards looking at me. My heart is beating at a rapid pace once again as I finally stop at the last house. The Main House is far away from the normal houses. As I look at the glowing lights of the Main House in the distance, I feel the cold wind rush through my coat sending a chill down my spine. There are no guards walking about in the area between the houses and the Main House. I look around the corner to look for any guards. So far the only guards are the ones in the village. If I run across here I won't be seen if I'm lucky. I just have to get there quietly. And I know exactly how to do just that.

I spread my wings and I bend down so I can kick off from the air. My heart may be racing and my mind might be telling me not to do this, but there's a tiny whisper in my head that's telling me to do it. I search my mind for the slightest bit of courage, and I end up successful. I kick off of the ground with a lot of force and rapidly flap my wings. The cold wind rushes through my face and gives me the taste of freedom. I have never done anything so exhilarating in my life. The excitement courses through my body as air rushes past my wings and makes me lift two feet into the air. That's a record. I have heard no voices from the guards behind me so I get the idea that they haven't seen me. I'm too fast for them. Looks like I have proven to be better than the rest.

I softly land to the side of the Main House after the exhilarating flight. To avoid being seen by guards, I leap behind the house. My eyes fix upon the empty and dark desert land in front of me. Every time I look outside my window at night, I fear that there are monsters out there. At least that's what I feared when I was young. The anxiety from back then came back now. I take a look around the corner and find no guards facing towards the Main House. I go back to the side of the Main House and look up. On the stone wall of the Main House there is a window with light visible through it. I flap my wings as fast as I can to try to get up to the window. My wings quickly get tired and I fall back onto the floor after going only two feet in the air. Looks like I have to go inside.

Noticing that the guards in the village have yet to pay attention to the Main House, I walk to the front door. I press my ear on it to listen for anyone that might be inside. The sound of approaching hoofsteps can be heard inside and before I could move, I feel a force pressing against my ear. Responding quickly, I hide behind the door as it opens. Four mares walk out of the open door, keeping their heads focused on the village. I peek around the door for anyone else, but the room seems free of ponies.

I walk in the room and notice that there are a few differences compared to the normal houses. The furniture is far more detailed and fit for a pony with a million bits. I look at a table on the right and I can't help but notice a weird rectangular shaped device with a knob and a antenna on it. That's the description my mother gave me of how this device called a radio is like. It plays different songs at the turn of a knob. The only song I ever heard is "In Our Town" when we greet a new villager. I wouldn't participate in the singing and marching, however. I would just stay in my room and wait it out. The villagers never had the luxury of having a radio.

But besides a radio, I have more important things to focus on. I take notice of a staircase and make my way upwards, looking at the posters of Starlight Glimmer and picture frames with an equal sign on it lined up on both of the walls. There's a door at the end of the hall which is already open, but no sign of Starlight. All I'm here for is a drawing of mine or someone else's drawing. Maybe the drawing the mare was talking about was another unfortunate pony's drawing and I'm safe. I slowly walk past the door and see a room as elegant at the first floor of the Main House. I take a glance at the bedside cabinet and I see a familiar unicorn. Starlight Glimmer.

She seems to be holding a piece of paper with her magic with a look of disappointment on her face. I focus my eyes on the paper and notice that it is my drawing. Thankfully, she's not facing me. Otherwise she would catch me snooping around in her house. I focus my eyes on the paper and it looks like it's a picture of three ponies on a grassy landscape. Crap. Starlight then magically crumbles my drawing and throws it aside. Despite the anger and hatred raging in my chest, I remain silent. Starlight sighs.

"Nick, I wish there was another way for you to learn," she says. I keep my mouth shut in case she's not talking to me.
There's going to be a punishment for me now. But what will it be? Hopefully not death, right? That won't be necessary. They wouldn't go too far as to kill me for drawing a picture. Maybe I'll just get a slap on the hoof or something. I turn around and slowly make my way down the stairs. I fly out the door and notice that the guards are still in the village. I fly to take the same route I came in the Main House. The flight back was just as fun as the flight in. I land behind the houses and make my way back to my house.

I walk through the gap between my house and another house and while I'm halfway in, I see a mare walking past. I come to a full halt to avoid the crunching sound of the sand and rocks underneath my hooves. The mare walks away, her gaze not fixed upon me. These guards are terrible. I just went to the Main House and back without being in eyesight. I silently open the door and enter my house, slowly closing the door behind me as I do so. But I still can't help my anxiety about my drawing being found. For once my non-village-normality has gotten me into trouble.

I go through my normal terrible morning routine. Once I have my saddlebag on, I'm walking out the door. I open the schoolhouse door and take a seat in the ugly village-normal classroom. Early again. At least Paul is with me. I'm still scared for my life, however. My punishment might be today. The mystery of what my punishment is is scaring me more than anything else in my life. My teacher walks in with the rest of the class and my classmates have a seat. After all of the chattering, we stand to say the pledge of equality. We open our mouths to say the words, but the door opens and a unicorn with a light blue coat and hair walks in along with a mare. The stallion's eyes are fixed on me and with deep voice, he says, "Yeah, tha-" He coughs and with a softer voice, he says, "Yeah, that's the one."
Everypony is looking at me now. I'm assuming that this is the pony who is going to take me to my punishment. When that thought arrives, my heart beat picks up at a faster rate. I don't want to be punished. He walks towards me and when he arrives at my desk, I see his horn glow and I am lifted into the air. The unicorn magically takes me outside and the door is shut behind me. Standing outside of my house, I can see my mother. She gasps and covers her mouth as tears roll down her eyes.

I open my mouth to yell for help, but no sound comes out. The magic seems to be keeping me from saying anything. A crowd of ponies stand in front of what I recognize as the village prison and in front of the crowd stands Starlight Glimmer. The crowd seems to be of everyone in the village. I know exactly what's going to happen now. The glow of magic around me disappears and I land on the floor in front of the crowd. I'm the center of attention in the village.

"Nick, you have chosen to betray us and what we stand for," says Starlight. She shakes her head and puts on the same disgusting frown on her face. She seems furious now. Sweat rolls down my head and it is soaking my underarms. A cold shiver of fear courses through my body as she looks down at me. "What has gotten into you?" Glad that the magic is gone, I use my retrieved ability to speak.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know!" I say. But she doesn't believe me. I have lived in this village for all of my twelve years of living, so she expects me to know the rules.

"Maybe some time in here will give you the right idea of who you're living with," she says. She magically opens the door of the village prison and two guards stand on each side of the door. Having no other choice, I walk in. When I'm inside of the prison, the door slams shut behind me leaving me inside of the prison.