Doug follows Starlight Glimmer’s gaze to his pants, and the purple hoof resting on them. His eyes return to hers, his mouth curling to a faint smile. “You know I don’t have a cutie mark, right?”
Starlight rolls her eyes, a heavy sigh as she frowns. “Gee, and here I was hoping you wanted me to inspect that for myself.”
“Did you want that to be my next suggestion?” Doug says with a smirk, though it slightly fades as Starlight gets a lascivious grin of her own. “Wait, you weren’t joking?”
“Mm, not at all. Let me just say that I’m remarkably happy that you’re open to that. Free love has always been a defining feature of Our Town.” Starlight demurely flicks her mane back as Doug goes still, his smile freezing in a tight line. “I envisioned Our Town to be a safe haven. A place where all ponies are welcome! Where they could come and live without the pressures that our cutie marks put on us every. Single. Day. A place where all would be equal. And, of course, you can’t be equal if you shackle yourself to one pony in particular! Or more than one, for a stallion.”
“And what does this have to do with me?” Doug asks, a bit of trepidation in his voice.
Starlight scowls briefly. “I’m getting there. Be quiet.” A flash of worry crosses her face as Doug flinches back. “I’m sorry, I don’t want you to shake in fear! It’s not like I’m trying to convert you or anything!" Her chipper smile returns, "I just worry that not everypony will be able to accept us for who we are.” Starlight’s hoof pets Doug’s leg a few times, slowly getting him to relax. “But, you see, everypony who has come to live in Our Town appreciates the carefree nature! Of not having to constantly worry about being judged, or criticized, or abandoned for not keeping up! A place for ponies to experience true friendship!”
“Ambitious, certainly. But if your success with Our Harmony shows anything, then it’s likely been going well.” Doug takes a bite of tarragon as a genuine smile breaks across Starlight’s face, her eyes sparkling with joy at his admiration.
“Well, I can’t take all the credit. It has been a group effort, after all.” Starlight squeezes Doug’s leg, her hoof slowly creeping up.
Doug pointedly looks down, Starlight’s movement ceasing. “So, what’s the issue you’re having?” Starlight glances at the door, double checking that it is locked. Doug asks, slightly more forcefully, “Why all the secrecy?”
Starlight sighs. “I suppose I should start at the beginning.”
Doug supplies, “God created them male and female?”
Starlight snorts. “Faust, but yes.” Doug waves his hand. “How much do you know about equine reproduction?”
“More than I ever figured I’d care to.” Doug shrugs, rocking his hand back and forth. “What aspect?”
“Thaumic development and maturation resulting from post-mark hormone changes, as well as adult regression to a prepubescent state.” Starlight studies Doug’s face; at his obvious lack of comprehension or reaction she continues, “In laypony’s terms, how a pony grows sexually after they gain a cutie mark.”
Doug’s confident smile falls. “Oh. Basically nothing. I thought you were talking about, you know, the making of more ponies.” He shifts awkwardly. “Two of my foals have gotten cutie marks, the middle two. But they are both earth ponies, so the overt application of their magic is a little more… nuanced? Hidden? We’ve noticed some changes, like they are stronger and growing faster than their older siblings. They go into heat.” He pauses for a second. “What was that second part? The regression thing? I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
Starlight pulls away from Doug, her cheery facade dropping as a certain hardness enters her voice. “What I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave this room. Understand?” Doug reluctantly nods. Starlight motions to her flank, the gray equal sign prominently displayed. “As you know, this wasn’t always my cutie mark.”
“Sure, you had that little swirly magic thing. What specialty?”
Starlight delays for a split second before she answers. “Laughter, secondary Kindness; technically Realism and Malevolence, since I excelled at dispelling magic and changing moods. But that’s neither here nor there, because we give up our special talents when we give up our cutie marks.”
“You… gave up your cutie mark?” Doug’s eyebrows crease, frowning as his hand strokes his chin. “How does that work?”
“You really don’t like letting me explain at my own speed, do you?” Starlight says with a smirk.
Doug shakes his head, laughing a little. “No, I do the same thing with Twilight. She ended up getting a spray bottle, like I’m a freaking cat.”
“Did it work?” Starlight grins as Doug shakes his head. “Long story short, I found a way to remove a pony’s cutie mark. Similar to what I did with the essences you had inside you, I can then store that pony’s cutie mark in a suitable vessel. Which, thanks to your friend Maud, I was able to find.” Starlight waves off Doug’s question before he can ask, “That isn’t the issue. Removing and storing the cutie marks has been working just fine. The problem has been, well, that ponies have certain desires. Needs.”
“I thought you said you were all about free love,” Doug remarks.
Starlight rolls her eyes. “Attempting has not been the issue. Conception has.” She sighs heavily. “We’ve been trying, as a community, to have foals for four years, ever since Our Town got off the ground, and not a single one. As far as we can tell everything is working. Heats are being quenched, but the eggs are not being fertilized.” Starlight’s voice catches for a brief moment. “The only fillies we have are ones that came with their dams. And nopony has reported any of the signs or feelings that come if there is a miscarriage.”
“Hmm,” Doug hums to himself.
Starlight’s hard demeanor shatters, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t know what to do, Doug! I want Our Town to be a community of friends, living like Faust intended in love and happiness and Harmony! But we can’t do that if we’re going to die out in a generation! Nopony wants to live a life with no future! There is talk about regaining their cutie marks, purely for procreation! But even the brief time they regain their talents could tear them apart! I can’t let that happen to them! The utopia I’m trying so hard to make is being shattered by this, and I don’t know how to fix it!”
Tears flow freely now, Starlight peering up at Doug. He beckons with his hands, the unicorn leaping into his arms. She sobs as Doug’s hand strokes her head, keeping her horn from impaling his neck. “So, a different situation than the Princesses have,” Doug says, stroking Starlight’s back as she buries her face in his jacket.
“Princesses?” Starlight says, shaking her head and rubbing her tears away. “I would prefer not involving them, if at all possible."
Doug shakes his head, wiping the wet spot on his jacket. “No, with the Princesses, I meant... Actually, I don’t know how much I can say.” Starlight looks up at Doug with confusion in her eyes. “I’ve been... helping the Princesses research how alicorn magic mixes with non-alicorn magic, for conception purposes. Maybe they could help you with a similar method of research?”
“It's a thought. But let’s table that for now,” Starlight says, lightly pushing away from Doug. “A last resort, if you will, since I’m not sure how… receptive they will be. Though having the consent of a Princess would certainly do a lot for spreading our message of true Harmony!”
“Sure,” Doug says after a second. “But as long as you’re all consenting adults I doubt they’ll have a problem.” Starlight shrugs, unconvinced. “I mean, you aren’t using mind control magic on them or something, right?”
“O-of course not! Besides, if I gave up my talent for magic when I gave up my cutie mark, then how would I do that?” Starlight chuckles nervously. “And even then, us unicorns try to use our magic as little as possible, to not set us apart from earth ponies and pegasi.”
“So that’s why you are using your hooves for everything? Makes sense. Can pegasi still fly without their cutie mark?” Doug rubs his chin, “I imagine they can. Since foals can.”
Starlight nods. “Maybe you should come to Our Town, to get a better feel for what life is like without a cutie mark!” Starlight grins at first, rolling her eyes as Doug mimes unzipping his pants. “Oh. Right. Well, you’re always welcome to visit! Or stay!”
“I’ll think about it,” Doug says diplomatically. “So, back to the issue. How do you know everything is working? Do you have, I don’t know, medical equipment? Honesty specialists who can observe the process?”
“Well, the mares still go into heat. The stallions still perform normally. We haven’t contracted any outside Honesty specialists to look into it.” Starlight slumps down again. “It isn’t a problem for most ponies, so specialists are rare and expensive, and bits are pretty thin as it is.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice about how that is,” Doug says with a grimace. “Hard enough to stretch things to come out here.” He glances back up at Starlight. “Have you, or anypony else, tried with somepony who has their cutie mark?”
Starlight freezes for a second. She then shakes her head. “No. To my knowledge, nopony with their cutie mark has tried with somepony from Our Town. But, again, I don't want to need outside assistance to fix this. I want to find a way so that Our Town can remain a self-sufficient utopia.”
“And you want me to be the first to try with one of you?” Doug sighs at Starlight’s nod, her smile slowly widening. “I guess. I can’t imagine anypony in the herd objecting, especially if you help out the Crusaders.”
“Oh, so you’ll help!” Starlight brightens, leaping up to nuzzle Doug, a quick kiss at the end. “You don’t know how happy that will make us!”
“Just as happy as everypony else?” Doug ventures.
Starlight rolls her eyes, slapping Doug’s back with a hoof. “Come on, you. Let’s go meet our prospective partners, hmm?”
“Sure,” Doug says, getting up. “If you’re interested, Rarity is an Honesty Specialist; she knows a lot of the spells the Princesses used. Twilight’s pretty smart about this kind of stuff, too, but I don’t know how many other ponies you want helping out with this. And then the problem becomes how do you extend this to the other ponies. Since I don’t think you want the plan to be having me stud every mare in town.”
“That’s correct,” Starlight says, unlocking the door but leaving it closed. She levitates the five piles of tarragon she laid out before. “I want everypony in Our Town, stallion and mare, to be able to fulfill their desires. And none of the spells I’ve tried have given me any insight, so I’m not sure how much help bringing in others will be.” She opens the door, walking the short distance to the other trailer.
“Spells you’ve tried?” Doug asks as Starlight throws open the door, the five members of Our Harmony glancing up from their music to stare openly at the human behind her. Each pony has a dark gray equals sign for a cutie mark and a slightly grayish tint to their coats. Each mane is done very similarly, two short tufts on each side of the forehead and braided or short cropped down the back.
“Hello, everypony!” Starlight beams as waves a hoof behind her. “Let’s all welcome our new friend, Doug!”
“Hello, Doug!” the five ponies chorus, their voices perfectly in tune with each other.
“It’s pretty swell to meet you!” a tan earth pony says as he walks forward, though his voice is a little flat. He raises a hoof as he swishes his white tipped orange mane out of his eyes, easily the longest of the group. “Name’s-”
“Feather Bangs!” Doug says, excitedly bumping a fist to his hoof.
“Scored it in one,” Feather Bangs coolly says, flicking his mane to the others. “Then you probably already know Night Glider,” midnight blue pegasus mare with a white and gray mane, “Party Favor,” light blue unicorn stallion with a dark blue, curly mane, “Sugar Belle,” pink unicorn mare with a purple mane, “and Swoon Song,” a brownish pink earth pony mare with dark brown mane. Each pony tips their head as they are called, offering a hoof.
“Nice to meet each of you,” Doug says, trading a hoof bump with each pony.
“We don’t get a lot of visitors back here,” says Night Glider, a hint of interest in her voice. “Were you looking to score with one of us?”
“Um,” Doug says, glancing to Starlight Glimmer.
“Actually, that’s exactly why Doug is here!” Starlight Glimmer smiles wide. Disturbingly wide. Like each of the ponies in the room is now doing. Her voice drops just a hair, a bit of apprehension in her voice. “But not just yet. You see, Doug isn’t exactly like us, so he might not like each of us equally in that way, like we all do. And because he might not like each of us in that way-”
“Hey,” Doug interrupts, “that, uh, that won’t be a problem.”
“Oh, that’s so wonderful to hear!” Starlight Glimmer exclaims, her smile perking right back up. “Now, I know you still live in Ponyville, which is such a long ways away from Our Town. We would hate to impose, and make you travel such a long way on our accord! So, the next time one of the mares here is in heat, then-”
“You’re here to help with that?! Ooh, pick me!” Sugar Belle rushes up, spinning around and flicking her tail to the side. Her grin fades, her tail slowly moving back to cover herself as she quietly says, “Oh. I’d have to be in heat, wouldn’t I?”
“It’s okay, Sugar Belle,” Starlight consoles, offering her a small smile. Night Glider and Swoon Song also race up, eagerly grinning at Doug. “It seems that everypony shares your enthusiasm, to help get this problem behind all of us! It’s amazing what happens when we all work together as equals!”
“It sure is!” chorus the other five ponies.
“Well, Doug, you can see how enthusiastic and willing we all are!” Starlight Glimmer grins wide, motioning to the other three mares. Who are each grinning just as wide. “Just pick one of the mares in the room!”
“Any mare?” Doug says, Starlight nodding. “And no feelings will be hurt that they weren’t the pony picked?”
“Nope!” chorus the Night Glider, Swoon Song, and Sugar Belle. “We’re all equals here!”
“That’s right!” Starlight Glimmer adds.
Doug considers for a moment, his hand stroking his chin. Each mare is beaming back at him, Night Glider has the best coat, looking luxuriously soft. Sugar Belle has the most beautiful eyes of the three, a deep magenta that reminds him of Rainbow Dash. Swoon Song has the best mane, a deep brown he can’t stop wanting to run his fingers through. How can he pick just one?
He deliberates for another few seconds. “Okay, then,” Doug says. “I pick…”