What is truly freedom?
A friend once told me that it is the state of one's being in which he can act, say, or think without restraint. Everypony is free at birth, but as soon as he or she develops rational thought they soon realize that life is anything but free.
You are born into the cold, icy world were food is just as scarce as clean air. The snow is black from the ashes falling from the tall, lingering smoke stacks that reach into the clouds. The sun is rarely seen, and when it is, its too faded by the pollution that fills the skies to be noticeable.
There are posters that clutter the streets and walls with pictures of our "gallant" government and words below it that are pointless to the illiterate ponies who use the posters for sleeping on, using them for cleaning purposes, or both. Dead ponies are seen daily due to malnutrition or accidents that happen in the factories, in which the factory throws the corpses into the street to make room for the new workers that will fill their spots.
And the government police stand at every corner waiting for somepony to make a mistake so they can arrest and execute them.
This is Stalliongrad, a nation of oppression, fear, and poverty.
I was unfortunate enough to be born in such a place. Like everypony I was born into poverty, with a mother who was a nurse and spent little time with me and a father who was sentenced to death for being a traitor to the Stalliongraden Empire. My mother was also taken away and I was sent to work into a factory so I could pay for food. Before my mother was arrested she put her hoof on my face and said to me "You, my dear son, will be the next light". They both were found guilty for conspiracy and were put to death at Crimson Plaza. I was forced to watch by the government so I would not make the same mistake.
My hatred for Stalliongrad grew everyday since my parents passing.
Then one day, I left.
But one simply doesn't just leave Stalliongrad as if they were on vacation. I had friends help me along the way, and after days of running away from the Black Hooves, the government agency that deals with traitors, espionage, conspiracy, etc., me and my comrades finally made it to the border of Stalliongrad and Equistria. We were smuggled in and then we split up to diminish our trail. We then all headed to different cities to make a living and to finally live the free life we all deserved.
-*--*-
I looked out the window at the lush open fields of grass and trees. I felt sick to my stomach from how foreign the land was from Stalliongrad. I continuously looked at the sun just to reassure myself that it was the real thing, and not a hallucination of what I thought it looked like.
I yawned loudly and stretch my arms as I looked at my briefcase on the floor. I pulled it up to my lap and unlocked it with the right number combination. Inside as long sleeve white dress shirt and black vest, an exact replica of the ones I am wearing right now, and a red tie.
On the top half of the briefcase was a little mirror, no larger than my hoof, and saw my reflection. I looked exhausted and worn out. I only slept five hours on the day long train ride, due to anxiety, nervousness, and curiosity of the beautiful countryside. My charcoal fur reminded me of my father's fur and my burgundy mane reminded me of my mother's.
Next to the mirror was a slot with my passport in it. I pulled it out just to reassure myself that no flaws were made when I bought the counterfeited passport. I glanced at it carefully. "Rivet Rust" I said quietly to myself. So that's the name I'm going by now. It has a nice ring to it. I looked below my name and saw race. Earth Pony it said in thick letters and that was what scared me. I rubbed my sides and felt down to feel the extra bones that are being compressed and the feathers were tickling my sides to were it caused some irritation.
If I was caught with a fake passport it could lead to the Black Hooves finding out about it if they had eyes and ears in Ponyville. From the intel I found on Ponyville, its a small town with simple ponies living there. That should help me keep a low profile from the Black Hooves.
I looked around the train cabin to see if anypony was looking at me. The only other ponies were an elderly mare who was asleep and a young colt with a propeller hat and his mother, or sister, who was quite gorgeous. I stopped staring at the mare and I twisted the mirror that revealed a lock. I pulled a key out of my chest pocket and unlocked it. It the caused the whole upper briefcase to fold down and revealed a hidden compartment. Inside the compartment was my revolver.
I bought it from a mare who worked at a firearms factory. She packaged the guns and she was suppose to send any surplus guns to storage. She was able to sneak one out. I paid her heavily for the weapon and I was able to find ammo from a colt who snuck them out in his food during lunch break. I had a total of 12 bullets and 5 of those bullets were chambered. The first chamber in the revolver was empty in case of misfire. I was trained how to use a gun when I was drafted, like everypony when they hit adulthood, to serve in the conflicts we had with the zebra nation, Zebrica.
I saw a pony walk I from the front door of the cart, and I quickly closed my briefcase and locked the hidden compartment. "Five minutes until we arrive to Ponyville." He then turned around and went through the door he entered through. I sighed heavily and laid my head back and took a short nap.
The nap was short lived and then I heard the loud whistle of the train. I looked out the window and saw the small quant town of Ponyville. "Cute" I said to myself as I looked at the happy and bright colors of the buildings and houses. I stepped off the train with my briefcase saddled on my back, held by a makeshift rope.
The station was fairly empty and was happy it was. It beat the horribly busy metros from back in Stalliongrad. I walked up to the window that had a yellow pony in a conductor suit behind it.
I nodded my head at him.
He smiled at me "Hello sir did you enjoy your ride here?"
I shuttered a little when I heard the happy tune in his voice, but nonetheless it was nice to hear. "Yes it was a pleasant ride."
I sat the briefcase down and grabbed the passport out of it and showed him.
He looked at it briefly and stamped it. "Everything seems in order. Enjoy your stay in Ponyville."
I took my passport back and smiled "Thank you. I'm sure I will."
And indeed I was. As I walked out of the station I was in total awe of the bright colors of the ponies and scenery. I knew I stood out from all the other ponies, from the clothes I wore and the expression on my face hat looked as if I had seen the afterlife.
I trotted down the street and saw all the buildings. I saw bakeries, flower shops, party supply vendors, food vendors, and a café. I don't even know what a café is but it looked happy and amazing.
I looked up in the sky and heard the noise of a pegasus flying overhead and a rainbow trailing behind them. The feeling was overwhelming and it filled my body with joy until I could no longer hold it in.
"This place is bloody FANTASTIC!!"I screamed with all my might and was so filled with emotion I felt like tearing up.
That's when I heard a voice.
"Uhm, Howdy there. You must be new in town?"