Oh… Um… Well… See…

…

Oh!

One semester in college I studied abnormal psychology.

Then… Uh…

Hmm…

Oh right!

There was a student in one of the classes I’ve substituted in a few times. She had Schizophrenia. Once you’ve seen that, you don’t mistake it ever again.

You could watch her expression and tell when the voices were starting to get to her. Then she’d either laugh, call out a little with some harmless disregarding comments, or start screaming and swearing like I haven’t heard since I was running around the alleyways of Canterlot. And you could never tell which was going to happen.

She got violent a few times, but never struck anyone. Just things like slamming and kicking doors. Eventually she was relocated to a different school in a different Sped program. I don’t know where.

Edit: Sped stands for Special Education.

Repost because I’m not a clever pony.

Or maybe I am drunk. Whatever.

Maybe, maybe not.

Seems to me your society has a lot more freedoms than ours. Plus, our taxes are pretty steep and all but necessitate having a job.

See, Equestria isn’t taxed on income like your society. We’re taxed on possession. The more you own, it’s assumed the more you make, and thus the more you owe. If you’re out of work, this will quickly eat away at everything you have left.

Both of our worlds still have intolerance toward race. Only ours also has intolerance towards other sapient species. These aren’t just people that look different or come from different backgrounds, they fundamentally are different. Paws instead of hooves, beaks instead of muzzles.

Both of our worlds have a problem with underage relationships, only ours in spades. Ponies don’t like to talk about it, but there are far too many that think it’s okay for a child and an adult, or two children to be in a romantic relationship. Some even go so far as to think it’s “cute.”

Even a Utopia has it’s share of problems. And all of that is ignoring the situation between us and the griffons.

That’s the general opinion. And to be quite honest, after being tossed around in a giant washing machine for two hours, even if he did fix my broken leg, it’s my opinion as well.

But try to look at this from another perspective. Discord isn’t stupid. If he realized when he was released that failure to abide by mortal rules would result in the reinstatement of his previous punishment, do you really think he would have done what he did? He thought he was invincible!

And exactly what did he do? At its most base level, were his actions any different than Trixie’s or Gilda’s? Or what any given bully does? Do they deserve to be imprisoned in a chunk of rock for over a thousand years?

The only thing that made him a threat worthy of such a punishment were his powers, not his actions. If you actually think about it for more than a few seconds, you might just pity him. He’s just a childish creature with too much power to grow up.

I… What?

I’ve got a few questions like this before and I never know what to do with them. This isn’t some D&D tabletop campaign. This is my life. This is, more or less, how I really act in the world I really live in.

I’m roommates with Bon-Bon; we live in her home. Tootsie, her niece, stays with us Sunday night through Friday morning and lives with her parents on the weekends. Sweetie Belle moved in some time ago, with her parent’s permission of course. My boyfriend is a chemical glue-making bear named Krastos. I call him Boscov.

I spent a lot of my time growing up in the darker side of Canterlot. I had to do a lot of things I’m not proud of to survive. Things are better there than they used to be.

Celestia raises the sun to the east and sets it to the west. Birds fly, fish swim. I don’t know what else to tell you.

This isn’t fantasy. I live in the real world. Sometimes things might seem darker than they should be, but my experiences have left me a little jaded about life. I don’t necessarily take things at face value like everypony else does.

…

…

Meta powers says “It’s realistically gray,” whatever that’s supposed to mean.

However wrong his actions, Discord has no way of atoning for them while caged in rock. And he’s still conscious in there. Can you imagine how horrifying that existence must be?

Princess Celestia has to make some difficult decisions, both in the past and present. You think a utopian society is just built and maintained on sunshine and rainbows?

As for me? Well, if my past actions indicate anything, it’s not my heroism. If anything it’s closer to the opposite direction.

I got segregation out of that.

Not a fan, but sometimes it’s necessary. In public school foals are segregated by species at some point to learn about their specific racial differences.

Unicorn about magic.

Pegasus about flying.

Earth ponies about nature, and advanced physical education.

In college, you can take classes on the other subjects as a humanities credit. Kind of weird if you’re a Unicorn or a Pegasus getting a humanities credit for P.E.

Yes, I’ve had intercourse with Boscov. I don’t really feel like answering that second part.

Most of the time it wasn’t really my decision. It was just part of an agreement that would also involve stealing, all so I wouldn’t be killed or sold into slavery.

Or worse.

Stuck-up whistle-blowers… They were just as hazardous as the vile creatures I had to work for.

Bless their little hearts. And I do mean little.

Have I mentioned that I don’t care for the rich?

Oh… Cels… That wasn’t even a very big deal.

Far from the more terrifying experiences of my life, that was just a school-yard tussle. Some fillies didn’t appreciate my attitude and took it upon themselves to try and “correct” me.

They beat the crud out of me and during the fight I fell on my saddlebag where my lyre was. That was all there was too it.

Of course, they were also the ones I was trying to get revenge on when I accidentally pranked Twilight with Poison Joak. Never got them back after that prank misfired.

Thank you for the gift! I have a carry case for my lyre already, but I’ve never had one with a place for picks too!

It really isn’t. I don’t care what anypony thinks. But the reason I don’t post much about Tootsie isn’t because I don’t love her too. It’s because I’m not really allowed to interact with her. She’s a sweet filly and I wish I could spend more time with her. But Tootsie’s Mom sees me as some kind of drain on society; incapable of getting a real job. Whether that’s true or not, she doesn’t want me messing up Tootsie’s life too.

I just thought maybe, since we were all celebrating together, she’s see that I’m just a normal mare like anypony else. I don’t know which I’m upset about more. The fact that she always referred to Boscov as “Mister Bear” or that she made some comment implying that I’m only dating Boscov because he’s successful. Nevermind that she kept “accidentally” miscounting things and forgetting he was there.

It’s just frustrating…

And whether we get along or not is irrelevant. As long as you’re with Rarity, you’re a part of Sweetie Belle’s family and deserve the same level of respect I give to them.

There is no meaning to life.

There are no consequences for our actions beyond this plane. No reason to care about what happens to our world after we pass, or about the feelings of anyone around us at all.

But that’s what gives us a reason to be kind and considerate ponies. There’s no reason to gain incredible wealth or power when it serves no purpose once we’re gone. All the money in Equestria might give you a few extra years to your name, but that will never compare to decades of friendship and caring that you can give and receive.

We strive to make the world a better place for those that follow for absolutely no reason whatsoever. We’ll never see the fruits of our labors, or the smiles our actions bring. But even in a world where there is no right and wrong, it’s just the right thing to do.

Relatively. That is to say, I went to a regular school like a normal foal.

I didn’t do very well in anything other than math up until high school, though. Didn’t have time to study or do homework half the time.

Not all problems are meant to have a solution.

I guess maybe that’s what I would’ve liked to have known.