The Former Student

As the train pulled away from the station, the six mares settled into their cubicle seats, setting their bags on the table that separated them.
They began the trip in silence, watching the scenery pass them by through the window as they pulled away from Ponyville and began making their way through many fields, mountain gaps, and many other amazing views.

After the first 3 stops, the mares began digging into their snacks. There were sandwiches, apples, and candy. Along with water, of course.
Then, Twilight spoke up, catching the others slightly off guard as her voice cut through the silence between them.

“Sooo.. What do you girls think the map wants of us?” Twilight asked, looking between her friends. A moment of silence passed before they began theorizing about it.

“Maybe there’s a GIANT beast, that is stalking the town! Taking ponies away 1 by 1 to enslave them for their army! And we have to stop them before the town is taken, and they begin their quest to take over Equestria!” Rainbow Dash called out, throwing a few air punches over the table, and flapping her wing excitedly.

The mares all giggled slightly at Rainbow Dash’s enthusiasm for a bit of action.
“Well, if it comes to that, we’ll be able to handle it.” Twilight quickly followed up.

“Um… But, what if it isn't that..? I really hope not…” Fluttershy spoke up, and Rarity quickly agreed with her.
“I agree darling…What if the map has simply summoned us for a big friendship problem? The map has called us for those types of problems before. Chances are this problem has simply got out of control, and it needs all 6 of us to calm things down.”

Applejack and Pinkie Pie quickly nodded in agreement, their mouths too full of food to speak up, and Rainbow Dash sat in her seat, crossing her front hooves over her chest.
“I still hope there’s at least SOME action.” She speaks up, and the mares simply start chuckling again.

As the mares continued their journey, they continued to chat, not only about the destination they were going to but also about future plans, anything they planned to do once they returned home, as well as sharing simple stories about each other that they may not have known.

Slowly but surely, the train began to get more and more empty. As more stops arrived, more ponies got off of the train, with fewer ponies getting on to take their place. And by the time they arrived at their stop, the sun was almost completely set, and they were the only ones getting off.

The only one that got off alongside them was a singular unicorn. He had a cloak on, with the hood up and covering most of his face. He had a large bag on each side of his body, that hung heavy with what looked like food. His muddy green coat looked rather dull in colour and his mane and tail were darker green, as Applejack watched him pass, she saw that the unicorn's cutie mark was an equal sign.

“Ya’ll think that’s one of the ponies that live here?” Applejack spoke up, catching the attention of the mares who also watched the unicorn pass by. He had got out of a carriage that was further behind them, so he was out of earshot of them.

“Well, there’s no harm in asking.” Fluttershy responded, and she made her way over to the Unicorn, with Applejack walking alongside her.
Once they were within earshot, they called out to the unicorn.
“Excuse me? Sir?” Fluttershy called out, the unicorn stopping in his tracks and he looked over at the mares.

He had a soft smile on his face and muddy brown eyes. His mane, which was previously obscured by the hood of his cloak, had bangs that stopped just above his eyes, and he greeted the pair in a fairly cheerful tone.

“Oh! Hello there, you 2!” He responded, before looking past Flutershy and seeing the others slowly making their way over. He then quickly corrects himself. “Oh, I say! 6 of you! What brings you all to our little corner of Equestria?”

“Well, that answers our question.” Applejack pipes up with a chuckle “We were gonna ask ya, if ya lived here.”

The unicorn returned the chuckle with one of his own before speaking once again. “Yes yes, I do live here, I’m just returning from a trip, speaking of which, I should get these supplies somewhere.”

‘Supplies?’ Twilight thought to herself ‘Why would a village name shopping, supplies like that?’

“Can you take us to your village? We were told to come here for a certain… I guess quest, is the best way to put it.” Rarity finally spoke up.
The unicorn quickly nodded in understanding and began to lead the mares toward the village. As they made their way away from the station and toward the town, which was easily visible in the distance, they all looked at each other, trying to mentally understand what was going on.

Rarity was hanging back from the group with Twilight, and she spoke up in a hushed tone.
“Twilight… Havent you noticed that, that fellow looks a bit… grey?” Rarity asked, her expression puzzled as she tried to find the words to describe what she was seeing.

Twilight nodded in agreement.
“He does. But that could simply be how he was born, let's not judge him for how he looks. We don't want a repeat of what happened when we met Zecora.”

Rarity nodded in agreement as they continued following the unicorn to the town.
As they drew close, they got a good look at the town itself.

It was very humble-looking. It was a set of 2 rows of 10 buildings, that faced each other. With a carved-out path going down the middle, with an additional house at the end that looked down the path. The houses didnt have much colour to them. All of them were made of plain, beige clay bricks, with wood beam supports.
They all had the same tile roofing with a draining pipe along each roof's edge. The only things that stuck out to them, were hanging signs to indicate which buildings were facilities, and which were resident buildings.

There was a bakery, a library, a schoolhouse, and a tavern.
“So... Can you tell us more about the town?” Twilight asked, causing the unicorn to stop, turning to the 6 mares.

“Well.” He began.
“This town is a rather simple one. We do what we can to create harmony and equality between everyone who chooses to live here. For anyone who is visiting, such as all of you, we give a basic rundown of the town’s rules. That way you can avoid trouble with our leader.”

“I see.” Twilight responded, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. Oh by the way! We never got your name!” As Twilight said this, she went along and introduced the others to the unicorn.

“Oh! Right! My mistake. My name’s Lime-Cake. I'm one of the bakers in this town.”
The unicorn explained while pointing toward the bakery. As they walked deeper into the town, the mares noticed other residents who were walking around the town.

There were mares, stallions, fillies, and colts. But it made the mares feel really uneasy. Every pony looked the same, their fur and mane colours looked dull as if they had some kind of grayed-out look to them, and all of their cutie marks looked the same. They all had an equal sign on their flanks, even the children. But the citizens didnt seem too phased by the situations, with all of them having wide, toothy grins on their faces.

Pinkie leaned into Twilight, her voice low. “I don't know why… But something feels off, their smiles don't look genuine.”

“You know what..? I see what you mean.” Twilight agreed, but before they could continue their conversation, they saw another mare walking toward them, a unicorn. She looked a lot different from the others.

For one, her mane, tail, and fur colours were all bright and vivid. Her fur was a bright, fiery orange colour, which seemed to almost glow in the sun’s slowly setting light. Her dark brown hooves kicked up small clouds of dust as she walked, much like the other residents.

Her bright red and yellow, mane and tail were also styled differently from the rest of the crowd. She had bangs that hung over her eyebrows, with 2 braids that framed her face, laying against her shoulders.
She also has some straight hair hanging behind her braids, which blew softly in the wind. Her tail was styled the same as her mane. 2 braids with the rest of her tail hanging in the middle. But she too, had an equal sign on her flank.

“Ah! You must be the guests that have been causing such a ruckus around town, they’re all so excited to have you here! I'm Sunset Shimmer, and I'm the one who runs things around here.”
As the unicorn introduced herself, Twilight, Pinkie, and the others looked at each other with a rather confused look shared across their faces.
Twilight walked forward, holding her hoof out for a handshake…