Assigned Mare: Starlight Glimmer


                                            You appear in a dry desert field seemingly in the middle of no where.

                                            "Where the hell am I?"

                                            You are dizzy and disheveled from your teleportative experience, but manage to get your bearings.

                                            You take in your surroundings and find that this land is not so barren after all, spying a set of houses not to far from your current standing.

                                            There were groups of what looked like small horses trotting about in the distance, and the blinding sun, made it difficult to tell what was going on.

                                            "Am I in the old west or something?"

                                            "The last thing I remember was falling asleep on my bed at home."

                                            "Could this be a dream?"

                                            You've never had a lucid dream in your life and it was even rare for you to remember your dreams at all.

                                            Regardless, you had made up your mind to make your way to the small town on the horizon.

                                            You trudged across the dry plains until you came across the edge of the town.

                                            The nearest structure being a house set apart from the rest of the town, which seemed to be just two rows of houses set parallel to each other with a street between them.

                                            At one end was a road that looked to be coming down from an elevated plateau and on the other where you stood sat a house, alike to, but separate from all the others.

                                            The little apparitions that dotted your field of view during the trek became all too clear once near the town.

                                            You were correct in your analysis of the little pastel horses being just that. Didn't make it any less shocking upon your realization, however.

                                            It had finally dawned on you just exactly where you were.

                                            "Welcome to Our Town!" yelled a pink unicorn near the house on the end of the street.

                                            She had a commanding voice and her mane was done up in an odd way, almost symmetrical with two purple and green-blue striped strands on either side of her horn.

                                            "Uh, hello!" you managed to blurt out.

                                            "Where exactly am I?"

                                            "You're in Our Town of course! I am Starlight Glimmer pleased to meet you!"

                                            "Hey there, I'm Anon" you managed to state, still taking in your surroundings.

                                            "Where are you from if I may ask?" the mare inquired.

                                            "Well, relative to here I don't really know. Earth I guess?"

                                            "Earth? I'm afraid I've never heard of it." She said cocking her head.

                                            "So what's with this little town here." You asked.

                                            "I am SO glad you asked!" She cheered.

                                            "We are a group of ponies that have decided to band together in the name of equality, we have willingly surrendered our cutie marks in order to live in a society free from competition, hostility, and strife."

                                            "And judging by the fact that you aren't a pony yourself. I think it would be safe to assume you do not have a cutie mark at all?" She said while eyeing you over.

                                            "Well I guess not, what is a cutie mark anyway?" -A

                                            "Why its a symbol of a pony's lot it life, however it is not decided by you but is arbitrarily given."

                                            "One pony could get a cutie mark in snowboarding while another gets one in baking and it ordains your future, your destiny, with little in the way to change it." -SG

                                            "Wow that's pretty intense." -A

                                            "It is, and that's why we've decided to give up on our cutie marks." She says glancing at the equal sign on her flank.

                                            "We are all truly equal without our marks." She said with a wide grin.

                                            "Anyway, I was hoping to find a way out of here back home." -A

                                            "Well you could stay here with us, most of the village is already packed but I have plenty of room in my house for a guest." She says nudging toward the house in the middle at the end of the road.

                                            "Oh really? That would be pretty great, I don't want to impose or anything."

                                            "On no its fine, I'm sure we can find some things for you to help out with while you stay." She says with a smile.

                                            "And no need to worry about food or anything, we all share the work here. All that we ask is you do your part as well."

                                            "Well if there's anything I can do to help just ask." -A

                                            "I'll be sure to keep that it mind." She says with a smile.

                                            As you are carrying on your conversation with the mauve unicorn you notice the inhabitants of the village begin to take notice of your presence.

                                            Various unicorn, earth ponies, and pegasi were walking around with oddly wide grins and they slowly began to form a crowd near you and Starlight.

                                            One of them comes up to Starlight and quietly asks her something. You can't make out what they are saying and just as you are leaning into the conversation Starlight turns to you and suddenly makes a grand introduction.

                                            "Everyone! I want to introduce you to the newest member of Our Town! Anon!"

                                            You calmly put on a smile and wave to the ponies gathered around you as a barrage of "welcomes!" and hoof clapping rings out.

                                            "He'll be staying with me as my assistant."

                                            The clapping continues until Glimmer motions for you to follow her inside to her home. You make your way through the short doorframe while the crowd disperses and end up in the first floor of her humble abode.

                                            "So what exactly do you want me to do?" You ask.

                                            "Oh we'll get to that in a moment. Allow me to show you around first."

                                            Glimmer then proceeds to show you around her home, the building being made from an assortment of rocks like some structure out of medieval times with thin windows that looked like prison windows or arrow slits.

                                            The first room on the ground floor was moderately sized, a nice welcoming area with a bookshelf, some chairs, tables and a few decorations.

                                            "Here's my office." said Starlight abruptly. Casually pointing to a door beside a stairwell.

                                            She oddly just kind of ignored it and continued up the stairway, looking behind to make sure you were following.

                                            She's still wearing a smile, but this one is more subdued, less strained and you felt more honest than the one she was putting on outside and much more so than the other ponies. You give her a smile back and she turns and continues up the stairs.

                                            "And here are the bedrooms!" she says with a twinge of flair as you reach the top of the stairs.

                                            You see a small hallway with 4 separate doors, nestled along them is a sort of cubby you make out to be a kitchen with a window behind the sink.

                                            "There's four of them?" you ask.

                                            "Oh no no, these two are the bedrooms" she says while opening two doors beside each other.

                                            "The one on the far end is mine." She says swaying the door with her magic to emphasize which she was referring too.

                                            "And this one will be yours." She says swaying the next door over.

                                            "What about the other two?" You inquire.

                                            "Oh, this one is the restroom." She says opening the next door.

                                            "And this one is just a storage closet." She says with a sputter and smirk, like she found it kind of funny for some reason.

                                            She then proceeds to close every door but the one to your bedroom and walks on into it while you follow behind.

                                            "Its not much but I'm sure you could spruce it up and make it like home."

                                            Its a simple room alright, there's a single bed with a white pillow and light blue sheets. The bedframe is a sort of metal that looks painted over mint green. There's a single window wide enough for you to fit through. You found it odd the windows were so much larger on the second floor but then again your entire predicament was odd.

                                            It was getting fairly late at this point and though you weren't hungry you were fairly tired from trudging in the hot sun.

                                            You let out an exhausted sigh and all the while Starlight was eyeing you over to gauge your reactions she took notice.

                                            "You getting tired? I can't blame you after being lost in the barrens for all that time."

                                            "I'll just be going, you can get snug in your new surroundings. I have some errands to run, if you need me I should either be in my office or bedroom if you need me later tonight that is."

                                            Her tone had taken a more casual bent when you left the sight of the other ponies so her friendly words really soothed you.

                                            "Yeah I think I'll do that." You say with an exhausted tone.

                                            "Ah and there are books in the welcoming room if you need any entertainment, and likewise there is food in the kitchen you are welcome to use the restroom if need be." She said before closing the door with her magic behind her.

                                            You waste no time in taking off your shoes and laying on the bed.

                                            The sun was setting through the window and the last thoughts you remember having were if any of this was even real.


                                            You awake the next day to Starlight knocking on your door. Your eyes burst open and before you even have a chance to question your surroundings you groggingly make your way to the door and open it.

                                            "Yeah?" You ask while trying to calibrate your senses.

                                            "Oh good you're awake!" she said with excitement.

                                            "Anyway I was wanting to ask you some- well a lot of questions."

                                            "Sure ask away." You say

                                            "Actually I was hoping you would join me in my office for some Q & A, I've maid some vegetable stew for you as well."

                                            "I noticed you hadn't really eaten anything so we can just talk while you get some food in you."

                                            "Ok, sounds great." you said with genuine enthusiasm.

                                            You were hungry and while vegetable stew didn't sound like the best dish it would fill up your rumbling tummy.

                                            You didn't bother putting on your shoes since you wouldn't be leaving the house and make your way behind Starlight to her office.

                                            On the way past the kitchen you see the various ingredients she used to make the stew as well as an empty bowl sitting in the sink.

                                            She must of had her portion while letting you sleep in. That was very sweet of her you thought.

                                            She grabs a hot bowl of food off of the counter and magically carries it behind her effortlessly into her office with you not far behind.

                                            The room wasn't that remarkable, a single large desk with some chairs and bookshelves full of books about.

                                            Starlight takes a seat while laying the bowl of food down opposite her and without prompting you take a seat.

                                            You kind of awkwardly stare at it for a moment before Starlight breaks the silence.

                                            "Go ahead! Dig in!" she says egging you on.

                                            You calmly take the spoon and take a bite, its pretty good actually. Pretty savory with some sweetness added from veggies like carrots.

                                            You notice Starlight staring at you with anticipation while you munch down.

                                            Thinking she wants some feedback you remark on how you expected it to be pretty hot considering how much steam it was giving off.

                                            She gives a warm grin and says "Oh yeah that! I used my magic to make sure it wouldn't hurt you while eating it. Made sure it was nice and hot before you started to eat."

                                            "Wow!" you thought. "Being Starlight's "assistant" has been pretty great so far."

                                            "That's very nice of you." You manage to blurt out between mouthfulls of cooked greens.

                                            "Oh its nothing really." She says with a smug grin.

                                            It wasn't long until you finished your meal.

                                            "That was pretty good, thanks for that. Now what questions did you want to ask me?"

                                            "I have a list actually." she said holding pride in her readiness. She used her magic to pull out a well and quill as well as some sheets of paper.

                                            She wetted the quill in the ink well and laid it on the paper ready to write.

                                            "So Anon, where are you from?"

                                            "Oh I'm not from here, this.... planet I guess you could call it." -A

                                            "Equestria." she corrects you with a smile.

                                            "Well anyway, my planet is called earth."

                                            "Uh hmm, and what would you call yourself a...?"

                                            "Human." You say pointedly.

                                            "Ah, and I would assume you can't fly or do magic or anything of the sort?" She says while scribbling on her paper.

                                            "Well, not without machines, flying that is. We don't even have magic back on earth, not "real" magic anyway. It exists as an abstract concept but doesn't have any bearing on the real world."

                                            "No magic at all?" She asks.

                                            "Nope" You reply.

                                            "Well I assume that you also don't have anything similar to a cutie mark do you?" She says looking you over, and if you did you clothing would have hidden it anyway.

                                            "Nope, nothing at all." you reply

                                            Her eyes lit up while a grin grew across her face.

                                            "Fascinating!" she exclaims.

                                            "Nothing at all predetermines your future? No talking trees or wise elders?"

                                            "No not at all." You say with a slight chuckle amused at the odd suggestions.

                                            "Oh that's just wonderful!" she said with a grin.

                                            "Why are you so interested in this topic if I may ask?" You prod.

                                            "Well, I know you lack a cutie mark and was interested in how your kind conducts themselves without such means as to determine one's destiny. Truth is there are other species here in Equestria that manage to get along fine without cutie marks, but you're new! I have never seen a human before or heard of one! And I am very studious so if anyone were to have heard of you it would have been me."

                                            "Oh cool then." You calmly reply, truth is you've been expecting something like this.

                                            Glimmer then begins to press the issue of how human society functions. Well the parts related to her interests at least. And you, to the best of your ability explain how things function and operate in your world. Glimmer takes her notes with gusto and before long a few hours have passed.

                                            However there is one stand out moment in this conversation.

                                            "You know this whole village based around equality and sharing reminds me of something." You say.