Solaris sat on his throne, going over a few important documents involving the world summit later on this year. It was a pain to be forced to go to make sure no sparks of war would be set for either kingdom throughout the world, but he understood why so nothing like what happened with Lucifer would ever happen again. He let out an irritated huff, thinking back on all the stories of how much trouble Equestria had gone through in both several thousand years upon its founding, and even several decades ago involving his mother and aunts, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and everyone else in today's time. It was insane just how much racism there used to be when the three pony tribes lived separately, and despite changes in today's society, there were still issues involving such a confidential topic when it came to other sentient species throughout the world. Some ponies might have warmed up to the changelings now free to travel about without pretending to be another pony, though it was still troublesome for those who had once been tormented by them.

While stewing in his thoughts, Trill wound up falling asleep in her own throne, snoring loudly as some of those documents Solaris had read were draped over her head. And sitting on the floor in front of the couple was Emerald, tapping on the floor in boredom. It was a weekend, just a couple weeks past Hearts and Hooves Day, and Emerald wanted to learn more at school, and maybe run into Virtuo again. She kept the flower he gave her healthy thanks to Twilight guiding her on taking care of it properly, cherishing it like it was the most important possession in her room. But, he and his parents were down in Ponyville visiting Gemstone, so she couldn't be around her crush at all.

Emerald let out a bored groan, falling on her belly and pushed herself around on the floor with her hind legs. Solaris's ears twitched when he heard the squeaking sound of her body sliding along the clean floors of the throne room, glancing away from his work to stare at his bored daughter acting odd.

"Honey, stop doing that," Solaris chided. "You're going to get the floors dirty. And your going to hurt yourself."

"But I'm booooored!" Emerald whined.

"Why don't you go play in your room?" Solaris asked.

"I don't wanna," the filly grumbled. "Can't you play with me, daddy?"

"Daddy's gotta read through all of this, and I have a lot more things to do. Why don't you play with mommy?" Hearing his wife snoring, Solaris rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Can't even be subtle while getting a couple extra hours of sleep..."

Solaris blew out a stream of fire, aiming it right at the changeling's flank, though only to startle her, not burn her. The sudden heat made Trill yelp, now awake as she leapt out of her chair, then fell out and crashed in a heap.

"Evacuate the castle!" she shouted. "Fire! And it hit my flank! I'm burning!"

"Trill, you're not on fire," Solaris said, Emerald being entertained as she stifled her giggles from watching her mother flail about.

Trill stopped and sat up, looking at the harmless scorch mark on her rump, then turned to leer at the grinning alicorn. "You know, out of all the crazy things I like when we're in bed, getting burnt is not on that long list."

"Wow, I'm actually quite shocked," Solaris sarcastically said. "Something that doesn't turn you on is getting burnt by something not by a candle."

"Why does mommy like getting burnt by a candle, daddy?" Emerald asked curiously. "Isn't fire hot?"

"I'll tell you when you're older, sweetie," Trill said.

"No! Never!" Solaris quickly protested. "Don't promise telling her something like that!"

"She's gonna do something crazy eventually," Trill reasoned, not helping the father as he glared at her. "Hey, you made a changeling for a friend, then marefriend, now wife when everypony back then frowned upon us after my mom's invasion of your aunt and uncle's wedding. If that isn't crazy, then you're in denial, hon."

"That's because I was never told about changelings, or what they did to Aunt Cadence and Uncle Shining," Solaris stated. "That's not being crazy; I was uneducated about most things about Equestria that was outside of the books I read as a kid."

"Well, then let's see if Emerald thinks you're crazy. What do you think, Em?" Trill asked their daughter. "Is daddy all cuckoo in the head and overreacting?"

"Mmmmm...Yes!" Emerald said with a giggle.

Solaris let out a groan at his little filly's attempt to get under his skin. "Great. You're molding her into yourself. It's the end of the world."

Both mare and filly laughed after teasing the alicorn, surprising him as they approached him and, with Emerald flapping her wings to reach him, kissed him on both cheeks. "You know we love you, Solly," Trill said.

"Yeah! Love you, daddy!" Emerald said as she nuzzled her head against his shoulder.

Solaris chuckled, wrapping his hooves around the two best ponies in his life in a group hug. "I love you two, too."

He gave his wife and daughter a kiss on their cheeks in return, their horns sparking from the love he showed them. As his reading was interrupted while having a moment with his family, one of the unicorn guards walked into the throne room with a map, some more documents, and a letter in his magical aura.

"I hope I'm not interrupting a family moment, Your Highness," the soldier said, greeting the royal family with a salute.

"Yes! Very important family stuff!" Emerald said.

"It's fine," Solaris assured, patting Emerald's head while she continued snuggling up to him. "Is there something important that needs my attention?"

"Yes. I am sure you have been aware of these strange missing ponies cases that have been happening for the last couple decades." Solaris took the documents the guard offered to him.

Looking them over, they were actually report cases of some ponies throughout Equestria who have mysteriously disappeared and haven't returned. "These have been happening even during Lucifer's reign, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness, as much as I'd like to repress those fifteen years." The stallion let out a shudder, despising the terror and fear he and his own family had experienced in that time. "Oddly enough, these cases aren't even considered kidnappings since the last known locations of these missing ponies had no signs of a struggle, drugged food or drinks, nothing." He then opened up the map, which had a wide circle around a section of wasteland in the kingdom. "We've asked the train conductors and wait staff on the express if they've seen any of these ponies, and they witnessed most of them disembark at the end of the line in this general area."

"There's an unfinished railroad that doesn't connect to another station?" Trill questioned.

"Most of the terrain in that region is mostly a wasteland: no plantlife or animals living there would make it a suitable living place for anypony," Solaris explained. "But why would the missing ponies disembark at the end of the line in some place that barren?"

"...We changelings live in a craggy mountain in a barren wasteland," Trill reminded the alicorn with a blank stare. "But there's a railroad that connects to it, WITH ponies setting up trade there for both our kingdoms."

"Yes, but there are several canyons in this area," the guard said. "We don't want to build a railroad on sensitive terrain that could crumble under the weight of a heavy locomotive. And with no civilization marked in the area, the conductors have no clue where those ponies go to."

"And nopony's explored this section of Equestria since there's no reason to explore it..." Solaris skimmed through the ponies photos, most of them being young adults or ponies who lived by themselves as the missing victims, or if they were considered victims if they willingly left of their own accord. "I doubt these ponies have sent letters to their families or any friends they may have had who were concerned about their safety."

"There were a few, actually," the guard corrected. "Their letters were vague, saying they were fine while living out wherever they've been. There wasn't even a return address, so we couldn't locate where they were sending the letters...Speaking of, there was one of those unknown letters addressed to you, Your Highness."

He then handed the prince the last item he had on him, which was the letter in question. Solaris looked over the envelope, finding no return address like the stallion explained, though the odd thing of note was a blackish-gray equal sign on the top-left corner of the envelope.

"What's with the equal sign?" Solaris asked.

"We don't know," the guard said. "That was on the other letters, too. Maybe it's some kind of calling card from the actual sender, or an odd stamp."

Completely clueless, Solaris carefully opened up the envelope to see what the sender wanted to give him. Emerald and Trill leaned closer to see as he unfolded the letter and read it aloud.

"'To His Royal Highness, Princes Solaris of Equestria, we would like to invite you to our quaint little village of Our Town: a town of ponies who are considered equal among their peers and by far the friendliest town in Equestria.'" Solaris raised a brow at that claim. Ponyville was clearly the friendliest town with the diverse populace, along with it being home to the late Elements of Harmony, the six mares who had saved the world several times over before their demise against or during Lucifer's rule. He continued reading, swallowing the painful memories of the past upon being reminded of the loss of his family. "'Though our humble village isn't marked on any maps, we would love ponies all around to see just how great Our Town is. There is no fighting, no arguing, no friendships being broken by inequality. We would be honored to show you and your family how wonderful it is to live in a town with true friendship, equal understanding, and peace that has last since it was first built many years ago. Hope to see you very soon! Starlight Glimmer.'" Beside the writer's signature was the same equal sign that was on the envelope, and underneath was the exact coordinates of the mentioned town. "A small town utopia? And..." Looking at the map, he was surprised to see that it was located in the radius of the marked location where the missing ponies were last seen, and not too far from where the end of that line was. "It's...out in that wasteland?"

"What? Where?" Solaris showed the guard the written coordinates as he pinpointed them on the map. "...It's over the canyon a couple miles away from the end of the line."

"Did none of you guys even bother searching around the place for these missing ponies?" Trill asked.

"As curious as we were, the disappearing ponies weren't as frequent back then," the guard explained. "That and trying to recover from the mess Lucifer left behind derailed investigations several times. Our top priority after Prince Solaris's coronation was restoring the city, any other cities and towns hit by his wrath and the brats in the Shadow Knights, and compensating for every single pony who suffered during those fifteen painful years, especially to the families of the Elements of Harmony when we heard about their deaths." Solaris winced, his ears drooping at the mention of his aunts. Trill and Emerald sensed his sorrow, the mare glared at the stallion, making him cringe as he forgot how sensitive his ruler was about his past. "Oh. S-Sorry."

"It's fine," Solaris uttered, feeling Emerald cuddle closer to him to help him feel better. It did work, to the hybrid filly's joy when his sadness went away a little bit, distracting his thoughts by focusing on the missing ponies and this mysterious invite from Starlight Glimmer. He had a gut feeling that these missing ponies must have settled in this town the host asking for his presence is in charge of, though whether or not they were being held against their will was beyond them and couldn't warrant any authorities to investigate unless there was any suspicion. "...Maybe we should take a look at...'Our Town', see how friendly of a place it is."

"You really want us to go?" Trill questioned skeptically. "And to a place this Starlight Glimmer calls 'Out Town'? What kind of name is that for a village? That's not a name, that's...like a big object a five-year-old tries to keep for themselves selfishly and shouts, 'Mine!'"

"I don't do that," Emerald muttered, puffing her cheeks as she pouted. "I share."

"Spoiled five-year-olds," Trill corrected, rubbing the filly's head. "You aren't that spoiled...at least until you're a teen and go on shopping sprees."

"Your Highness, are you sure you wish to accept this invitation?" the guard asked with concern. "By yourselves?"

"Not exactly," Solaris said, folding the letter while handing back the lists of missing ponies back to the stallion. "Get the chariot ready and bring a few more pegasus guards to help escort us. I don't know if there's something going on, but I want to be cautious. I'm not letting any harm come to my wife and child if Starlight Glimmer expects the royal family to arrive and the village turns out to be hostile."

"Yes, Your Highness." The guard bowed and obeyed his prince's orders, making his leave to gather the castle's elite pegasus guards to escort the royal family.

"You want to bring Emerald with us?" Trill asked. "And you think there might be some kind of trap?"

"I'm going to give Starlight's town the benefit of the doubt," Solaris said. "If push comes to shove, I'll protect you two, and the Royal Guard will be on watch around the canyons for anything suspicious that we can't see. Besides, the last time we ever brought Emmy elsewhere outside of Canterlot was in Ponyville when she was only a baby."

"Can't we at least drop her off at one of your relatives' in Ponyville?" Trill asked.

"Unfortunately, the others are going to be busy: the Apples are busy with their harvest, Cherry's helping the Cake Twins at Sugarcube Corner, Butterscotch is in the middle of watching over some exotic pets for the next week, Prism's studying with Aunt Scootaloo to be a recruit for the Wonderbolts,-" Emerald's ears perked up as she grinned, getting a chance to be with Virtuo again if she was left with her Aunt Gemstone. "-and Gem's spending quality time with Aunt Sweetie Belle, Button, and Virtuo. So, no, Emmy, you can't join them since it's family quality time for them."

"Awwww," Emerald whined, her ears drooping as she hit her head against her daddy's side, hiding her disappointed pout.

"You'll see him around school," Solaris reminded Emerald. Patting the filly's head, he stood up from his throne, stretching out his legs after spending the last couple hours reading. "Come on, you two. Let's get ready to go. I think we need a bit of fresh air."

"We're not going to get enough on a chariot ride?" Trill questioned with a smirk.

"Ha ha. Hilarious," Solaris commented sarcastically. "What I meant was that you two were completely bored, so I suggested moving around a bit, outside, before we ride off to this 'peaceful' village."

"At least it's a bit better than sitting on a throne all day looking at boring political stuff," Trill uttered.

Once preparations were ready, Solaris set off in his chariot with Trill and Emerald, carried by two pegasus guards while four more flew along with them in pairs of two on both sides. The stallions driving the chariot studied the map and location of Starlight's town, flying over the land to the wasteland where it was marked. During the ride, Emerald peered over the edge and watched in fascination as flew over Canterlot, a few forests, and a town or two. This was higher than she had ever flown on her own, her wings still developing despite how much she flew as a baby.

After a long flight, they finally reached the wasteland where the reported ponies that went missing were said to have last been seen as they landed beside the end of the train tracks. "Well, this feels a lot like home," Trill commented. "All we need now is the civilization of ponies by the tracks and the mountain that's hollowed into a massive colony, and it'll be perfect."

Solaris looked over the map, the village not too far as they had to cross the nearby canyon before them. "It should be up that way. Be let's be careful, gentlecolts."

The guards nodded silently, surrounding the royal family as they walked up the hill. At the top, they saw a bridge that led across the canyon, surprisingly kept in good condition as they made their way across one by one. Emerald stayed close to her parents, avoiding looking down until they made it across safely. After another small climb, the group stood at the top of the hill and found the village they were looking for. Down below, they could see ponies walking around down the very long stretch of road sandwiched between two rows of houses, where they stretched on by about thirty houses per row. What was odd was how similar all the buildings were, both in structure, the amount of windows, the paint for the walls and roofs, not a single difference between them. There was another house at the far end that stood on its own, facing down the singular street of buildings that seemed to make a giant equal sign if they got a bird's-eye view.

"Pretty big for a village," one of the guards muttered.

Another pulled out a pair of binoculars, looking down at the ponies going about their daily lives. "Nothing really suspicious about them...aside from the big, disturbing grins on their faces. There's no way these ponies can be this happy living out here." While continuing spying on the ponies he could see, his eyes widened at something far more odd than the creepy smiles on their faces. "Prince Solaris, I think you need to see this."

Solairs took the binoculars and held them up to his eyes to see what his guard was talking about. He cringed at the overly happy expressions on everypony down below, but as he glanced at each one, he could see exactly what concerned him. Every single pony in that town, whether they were male or female, young or old, or even a pegasus, unicorn, or earth pony, all of them seemed to have the same exact cutie mark: a black-gray equal sign similar to the stamp that was on his letter from Starlight Glimmer. What was worse was that all the males had the same short, clean manecut, and the mares either had their manes down a certain way, braided into pigtails, or tied in a bun.

"Ok...this is definitely strange," Solaris commented. "Why in Equestria does everyone have the same cutie mark? That's not genetically possible."

"Can I look, daddy?" Emerald asked curiously. Solaris gave his daughter the binoculars, the little filly grabbing it with her hooves as she looked down at the town. One thing she noticed that her daddy or their guard saw was how dull everyone's coats seemed to be. They looked so cheerful, but their colorful varieties of fur colors were grayed and lifeless. "Why are they so happy?"

"I have no idea, Emmy, but if Aunt Pinkie were here, I don't think she would want to be anywhere near this place," he said. "Those smiles just seem...forced."

"Should we go down and investigate?" the first guard asked.

"No," Solaris said. "If they see guards acting suspicious, they'll probably end up panicking, and we don't want that to happen. Sergeant Steele Wing, you and the others stay out of sight and keep lookout over the town while my family and I search for Starlight Glimmer and take a look around. If anything suspicious happens or something happens to us, storm in and apprehend them."

"Yes, Your Highness," the sergeant immediately said, he and his troop saluting to their prince on command.

After giving the soldiers their orders, Solaris began making his way down the path, Emerald and Trill following in tow once the filly gave back the binoculars to the guards. As soon as they arrived at the entrance to the village, they were spotted by a few ponies as they turned to give them awkward, toothy smiles as they welcomed them.

"Welcome!" a mare said.

"Welcome!" said a stallion.

More and more ponies "welcomed" them with the same happy expressions and tones, making Emerald stay closer to her daddy nervously. They even passed by a group of foals around Emerald's age or a bit older than her, and it was strange to see ponies their age bearing those equal sign cutie marks. Solaris didn't know if it was possible for a foal so young to earn a cutie mark at their age, but getting the same one like everyone else flew up red flags. A pony's cutie mark defines them as unique, with different talents, personalities, what makes them stand out among their peers. But with everyone looking alike and with the same equal sign cutie mark, this village felt more like a cult than a peaceful town.

They soon came across a couple stallions who approached them, one a white earth pony while the other was a blue unicorn, their fur slightly grayed like the rest of the population. "Welcome!" the earth pony greeted. "Pardon my forwardness, but are you an alicorn?"

"Yes, I am," Solaris said. "I'm Princes Solaris. This is my wife, Trill, and our daughter, Emerald Sparkle."

"Wow. Married to a changeling?" the unicorn stallion asked, seeming a bit too curious as he approached Trill, making her back away as he got a bit too close to her personal space. "We don't get any changeling visitors in Our Town."

"Gee, I wonder why," Trill grumbled. The unicorn tried to touch her hooves, but the changeling growled, grabbing his hoof and shoving it hard against his chest. "Hey, back off, buddy. You can look, but don't touch...On second thought, look at something else besides me." Without losing his smile, he was about to look at Emerald, only for him to yelp when she forcefully grabbed his muzzle, forcing his eyes to look back at her. "Or our daughter."

"Ok," the unicorn said nervously as his grin faltered slightly from the furious gaze of the mother.

"Well, it is nice to meet you, Prince Solaris, Princess Trill, and Princess Emerald Sparkle," the earth pony said. "I'm Double Diamond, and this is Party Favor. Starlight Glimmer has been expecting your arrival, Your Highness."

"Since she did invite us, I had a feeling she was," Solaris responded, gently placing a hoof on Trill's shoulder, warning her to relax a bit before she pummeled Party Favor. "Is she present at the moment?"

"She's in her cottage. We'll take you to her." Both Double Diamond and Party Favor turned in sync and lead the family down the road.

On their way, they ran into a pale magenta teenage unicorn colt who ran up to greet them, his hair supposedly a dark shade of purple with a blue streak running down the middle if it weren't for the dulled out shades of his coat and mane while it was styled just like every other stallions. "Welcome!"

"Ok, we already got the welcoming committee a few yards back," Trill complained. "Everypony quit welcoming us!"

"Trill, don't," Solaris warned.

"This is Dusk Shine, Starlight's son," Double Diamond introduced.

"Is that really Prince Solaris!?" Dusk asked. "My mother will be so excited to see you, and I hope you accept Our Town and see how friendly it is!"

"Uhh...right," Solaris muttered. "...Is this the purpose of my visit?"

"And how do you know about him?" Trill asked as well.

"My mother can explain better than I can," Dusk said. The teen joined Party Favor and Double Diamond lead the royal family down the road to his and his mother's home. Apparently, they were heading toward the singular house at the other end of town, the one that stood out among all the other houses lined up along the street. Solaris, Trill, and Emerald ignored the other ponies greeting them until they finally reached the door, Dusk Shine walking inside as he approached a doorway on the other end of the room. "Mother! We have visitors!"

The interior design of the cottage seemed bland, just a usual house with nothing all that special. There were some pictures of that same equal sign they've seen on the ponies' flanks, which unnerved Solaris and Trill as they expected Starlight Glimmer to be obsessed with them. Double Diamond and Party Favor stood by a wall of the room, standing at attention as if they were Starlight's personal guards, still wearing their disturbing grins. They anxiously awaited for their host as the door Dusk stood beside opened, revealing the pony who invited the alicorn and his family.

"Welcome!" Starlight greeted, her appearance contrasting with all the other mares outside. Her coat and mane were a lot brighter than the others, her fur a pinkish hue with her hair purple with a blue streak running down the middle. Solaris could see some resemblance between the unicorn mare and her son, mostly with their hair if it wasn't due to how dull Starlight's son's colors were. "Prince Solaris, such an honor to have you visit Our Town! I'm Starlight Glimmer, and this is my son, Dusk Shine."

"Yeah, we met him on the way here," Solaris said. "You have an...interesting town. Nothing I've ever seen before."

"He likes it already, mother," Dusk said excitedly, already assuming the prince was going to praise about the village.

"I think my husband means that this is a town no sane pony would want to create," Trill stated.

Dusk's grin faltered, taking offense to the changeling's comment. Starlight wasn't fazed, patting her son's shoulder to calm him.

"I know it doesn't seem normal at first glance, but new ponies who are willing to stay can see just how wonderful Our Town is," Starlight said. "Here, we're all friends, and we all given a chance to have true friendships: no fighting, no hatred, no differences between anypony."

"I doubt that," Trill muttered, Solaris quickly nudging her side to get her to shut up as he let out a nervous chuckle.

"Oh, Trill. You're such a card," he said. "She's got quite a humorous side to her." Solaris cleared his throat awkwardly, seeing how the others weren't laughing. "Well, terrible jokes aside, I am sort of curious about how your town works. For example, why does everyone have the same cutie mark?"

"Ooh! Can I answer, mother!?" Dusk asked. Starlight nodded, making the teen hop excitedly as he gave his response to the prince's question. "The reason why we have the same cutie mark is because cutie marks cause relationships to tear ponies apart. With different talents, ponies would argue about how their talents are better than their friends, which leads into fighting, and ends up with those friends becoming enemies. Since we all don't have our talents, we don't have to worry about flaunting them and show up everypony, causing pain and hatred that could lead them friendless forever and ever."

After hearing Dusk's little lecture, Solaris and Trill were completely dumbfounded with shock. The couple looked at each other, their faces both expressing bafflement at the ridiculous claim, then looked back at the proud unicorn matriarch and her son. Emerald was also a bit confused, looking down at her own blank flank, wondering if she could get a cutie mark with her mixed blood.

"...Umm...Come again?" Solaris asked, hoping to clarify what they were processing.

"We gave up our cutie marks so we don't hurt others feelings with what talents we used to have, or ourselves if we feel a bit too special," Starlight summarized. "Since I first founded this village, our community was pretty small, but I convinced those who were curious about joining just how great it feels to have such a burdening weight lifted off their shoulders so they didn't have to hurt their friends or families with the skills they had that could only make them jealous. Every once in a while, I would go out to find others who are willing to join, and most of them stay and become another member of our now expanding town of true friendship."

"You would 'find' other members?" Trill questioned. "As in kidnapping them?"

"No!" Starlight gasped in shock. "Why, I would never force somepony to stay against their will. That would be wrong and give the wrong message to what Our Town is like. What brought such a heinous idea up, Your Highness?"

"There have been some missing pony reports for the last couple decades, even during Lucifer's reign that were brushed aside for his and his former soldiers' terrorizing the whole kingdom," Solaris explained. "If you've been looking for new members back then, I'm sure you would have seen the devastation he left in his wake."

Starlight grimaced as she nodded her head. "I...have tried to steer clear of Canterlot with that hurtful stallion taking over. But, what was it about missing ponies?"

"Investigations from authorities have pinpointed the general area of where the train conductors and staff had last seen the ponies who were recently last seen at the end of the line not too far from this town," Solaris continued. "Those who were seen leaving back there weren't seen again, but for those who have sent letters to their loved ones to let them know they were fine didn't have a return address, and they had the same equal sign marked on the letters like the one you personally delivered to my guards. Did these ponies end up here?"

"He must be talking about some of the ponies you invited to our town from other cities," Party Favor said.

"Oh. I see." Starlight chuckled, brushing off the concern for the ponies she brought. "I assure you, Prince Solaris, that those 'missing' ponies are just fine. In fact, they warmed up to Our Town so easily, but I did make sure to deliver those letters to their old friends and family to let them know they aren't in any trouble."

"...I see. Well, that answers that," the alicorn said. "Sorry about the assumptions, Miss Glimmer. I just want to make sure there are no more losses than what have already been lost during those tragic years."

"I understand completely," Starlight said. "In fact, you could say I was helpful bringing a few willing refugees during those times. We were quite lucky that dreadful stallion didn't find this village. We are a peaceful village and don't condone violence, not even as discipline to our children." Starlight then looked at Emerald, who seemed a little bored as she looked around, hiding between her father's legs. "Speaking of, I'm sure this little one isn't all that interested our conversation. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Umm...My name's Emerald Sparkle," Emerald said nervously.

"Well, Princess Emerald, it's nice to meet you," Starlight greeted. "Say, Your Highness, how about I have my son take your daughter to play with the other foals? It'll help her get to know everypony and get some energy out of her system from the long ride you all must have had."

"That's a great idea, mother," Dusk agreed.

Solaris and Trill, however, did not seem to like that idea. They had no idea what these ponies were like, and their constant smiles did not assuage their worries. And the fact that everyone was supposedly equal with no special talents worried them about how things were run around Our Town. Emerald was bored, and maybe she could make some more friends outside of school, so doing something could help get rid of her earlier boredom from today.

"It's just going to be Dusk Shine and the other kids, right?" Trill asked skeptically as her overprotective side kicked in. "I don't want the other adults around her with those creepy smiles on their faces."

"My son is a great chaperone. You don't have to worry about a thing." After being assured, to their reluctance, Solaris let Dusk escort Emerald outside to play with the other foals. "Now, how about you take a little tour around the town and get to know everypony? Double Diamond would be glad to show you around."

"Didn't we already see the whole town already?" Trill questioned with a raised brow, Starlight, Party Favor, and Double Diamond laughing, even though she wasn't really making a joke about the singular street all there ever is in Our Town.

"She actually is funny," Party Favor commented.

Trill sighed in exasperation. "I was being serious..."

Emerald followed Dusk down the road, keeping her eyes locked on where they were going than the greeting ponies welcoming the young princess. She could swear that some of them had already greeted her and her parents already, starting to get annoyed getting a lot of attention. She liked it when her daddy gave her a lot of attention, but this was beyond her liking. Thankfully, they didn't have to go far to where Starlight's house was as they stopped at one of the houses in the center of town. Dusk opened the door and invited her inside, the building a large playroom where most of the foals in town would come to play. Although, playroom was an understatement as the room was just as boring as Starlight's, only with some toys, board and card games, and a bookshelf with some old storybooks.

"Hey, everypony, meet a new friend!" Dusk announced.

The ponies who were playing stopped and turned to them, giving her the wide grins that every pony in this town always wears no matter what occasion. She swallowed nervously as she walked inside, but she didn't have to worry for long when she saw a purple flash only she could see, thankful to have her guardian angel watch her in place of her mommy or daddy. She looked back to see Twilight, the others thinking she was looking at Dusk, and even the alicorn angel could tell something was off with the ponies here.

"Don't worry, Emerald. I've got your back," Twilight said.

The filly took in a deep breath to settle her nerves, but when she looked back at the others, she yelped when they all gathered in front of her close to her liking, staring at her in fascination. "...Umm...Hi?"

"Wow, look at her!" a filly said as the foals now began surrounding her. "She has holes in her legs!"

"Is she a pony?" a colt asked curiously.

"No, she has to be one of those changeling things my mommy talked about!" another colt said.

They began poking and prodding Emerald to her disapproval, seeing if the holes in her legs were real and observing every part of her hybrid body. "And she doesn't have a cutie mark!"

"Can she get a cutie mark?" a filly in the back asked.

"She could be like us!" the first colt said.

Dusk saw how overwhelmed the princess was, levitating her away from the foals while surrounding the filly in his pale blue aura. "Whoa, whoa! Easy, everypony," he said. "Let's not scare the princess."

"Princess!?" the foals exclaimed in shocked surprise.

"Yes! This is Princess Emerald Sparkle, the daughter of Prince Solaris and Princess Trill!" Dusk introduced, making the hybrid filly grin nervously. "They've come to check Our Town and bring more ponies to see how wonderful our lifestyle is!"

"Umm, are we?" Emerald asked, still unsure if the village was worth bragging about.

Ignoring her question, Dusk placed the filly down, away from the foals to her gratitude, and sat down with her, grabbing an old board game that has seen better days. "You ever played Dragon Pit?" Emerald shook her head, never even hearing a board game like that. Dusk set up the board, which had a plastic volcano in the center with red ramps leading down to differently colored spaces for each of the differently colored dragon pieces he placed at the starting points for each path. "My mother loved this game when she was a filly. It's really fun. Want to give it a try?"

"Uhh...ok," Emerald said, picking the green dragon while Dusk picked the purple one, and two others who joined them took the red and blue dragons.

"To play, you have to roll the die, move the amount of spaces, and hope the volcano doesn't erupt," Dusk explained as he went first. He moved a couple spaces from his starting point, then they went around to the other two ponies before it was Emerald's turn. Emerald took the die and tossed it, then moved the amount of spaces while silently counting them out loud to practice her numbers. Suddenly, the volcano let out a small puff of smoke, shooting out a plastic ball of lava rock and land on one of the lava ramps. "Uh oh! Somepony's dragon's about to get trapped!"

The rock, unfortunately, headed straight for Emerald's piece, stopping as it bumped into her dragon. "...So, what happens now?" The moment she asked, the space her dragon was only suddenly flapped open, dropping it as it got trapped. Completely caught off guard, Emerald let out a startled yelp, her horn lighting up on instinct, and accidentally knocked the whole board over. All the foals, including Dusk, gaped in surprise at the filly's surprised magic burst, Emerald grinning bashfully at what she did. "Oops. Sorry. I didn't know that would happen?"

"...Your magic or the trap?" Dusk asked.

"Both." After everyone recovered from the shocking amount of magic from Emerald, they set the game back up and started over while the others went back to playing. Restarting their game, Emerald had a question she wanted to ask them, mostly out of curiosity. "So, when did everypony get those...cutie marks?"

"We were born with them," one of the fillies playing Dragon Pit with her said.

"Really?" Emerald asked. "But daddy told me about cutie marks. They appear when somepony finds their special talent."

"Well, not in Our Town," Dusk said as he rolled the die. "Any newcomers who wish to join go through a little ritual performed in private by my mother, giving up their cutie marks and getting these." He then pointed his hoof at his flank. "Those who were born in Our Town, like me and everypony else in this playroom cottage, we were given the ritual the moment we're born. We were raised to be equal among our peers and be perfect friends with no talents to hurt each other."

"They're 'born' with those cutie marks???" Twilight questioned, fully aware that none of the other foals could hear her. "Why in Equestria would Starlight think it's a good idea to let foals, let alone her own son, think that cutie marks are considered evil and prevent them from ever achieving a bright future with skills they don't even know they're good at? And why does everypony in this town seem to go along with it after giving up their cutie marks!?" Emerald ignored the ranting tangent her guardian angel went on, spotting her pacing around the room while stepping over and around the foals, despite being able to phase through them. The alicorn stopped as she had an idea. "Emerald, ask him where everypony's actual cutie marks are."

"...Where are the adults' cutie marks, then?" Emerald asked. "Did they...disappear?"

Dusk opened his mouth to answer, only to pause as he began thinking. "...Ummm...I...I don't really know," he said. "Mother never told me. All I know is they leave, she performs the ritual outside the village, and they come back with a new addition of our growing community. I saw mother leave with a couple ponies out to toward the mountain range, but I don't know where specifically."

"Somewhere out in the mountain range, huh?" Twilight hummed in thought, growing more curious about this ritual. "I'll be right back, Emerald. I'm going to do a little bit of investigating out in town. Maybe see if your father found something odd or suspicious from the other ponies around here."

Emerald nodded, pretending to think her next roll would go well as it was her turn now, Twilight flying out to find Solaris and explore more of what they've already seen. The volcano erupted again when the filly's turn ended, the plastic rock rolling back down to her piece and trapping it again.

"Aww, come on!" Emerald whined. "Why does my dragon get trapped!?"

"Bad luck, maybe, but my mother was a champion at this game," Dusk said with pride as Emerald moved her dragon back to start with a leer.

As the game continued, another question popped in Emerald's head. "Hey, Dusk? Is Party Favor your daddy?"

Her question made the teen pause as he was about to roll, his grin fading into a frown. Emerald could practically taste the sadness radiating from Dusk Shine, his body tense as his eyes shook from struggling not to tear up.

"...Uhh...M-Mr. Party Favor isn't my...f-father," Dusk said.

"Oh. I thought that he and Starlight are both unicorns, and you're a unicorn, and he led me, mommy, and daddy to your home..." Dusk shook his head, taking his roll to try to avoid thinking about the subject. "Is your daddy Double Diamond?"

He tensed again, shaking his head silently. Emerald was surprisingly shocked to hear Dusk had no idea who his biological dad was. Looking at the others, they answered her question if they had both parents with nods, just as shocked as the princess was. Dusk cleared his throat, inhaling shakily as he tried to breath to control his emotions.

"I...I never knew who...m-my father was," Dusk uttered. "M-Mother never...never told me about him...Said I...didn't need a d-dad around to...to be h-happy..." Emerald felt bad for upsetting the older unicorn. Even though he was just about as awkward as the rest of the town, he was still technically a kid, barely even an adult. She wanted to give him a hug, but she got distracted when the volcano erupted again, only this time, Dusk's dragon was the rock's target now, his space flipping open and trapping it. "Oh no. My dragon got trapped," he said, laughing awkwardly, though it sounded more depressing with his fake smile. "Back to start I go."

Emerald refrained from asking anymore questions to avoid hurting anyone else's feelings. She couldn't imagine how she would feel if her daddy was never around in her life.

"Interested in some of the latest fashions?" a salespony asked Solaris and Trill as they stopped at the "clothing" store. The older stallion showed them his line of ragged old cloaks that was apparently the latest fashion. "We've got cloaks this month!"

"No thanks," Solaris said politely before Trill decided to make a harsh comment. "We're...good on cloaks back home."

The couple left and made their way to what was considered the bakery, taking a seat at a table that was far enough away from the portly stallion. "Ugh. I'd rather walk around in the buck for the rest of my life after seeing those poor excuses for rags. I bet Gem would vomit at the sight of them."

"And that's why you let me do the talking," Solaris said. "We don't want to be rude to these ponies."

"Not in person?" Trill asked. "Ok. Since we're alone now, these ponies are-"

Solaris quickly shoved a hoof in the changeling's mouth. "Shhhh!" he hissed. "Don't even, Trill. We're being watched." Trill looked around, giving her husband a skeptical glare after seeing several ponies from this town watching them as if he was stating the obvious. "I'm talking about Double Diamond, Trill."

They both looked over across the road, where they saw the stallion in question sitting at a table by himself. He waved at them, Solaris waving back with a nervous grin to not cause any suspicion. Trill growled, biting the alicorn's hoof to make him move his hoof away.

"I don't like the way everyone's looking at us," Trill said. "I swear, I think everyone's hiding behind those masks they call smiles. I can sense emotions better than you can."

"Well the least you can do with your comments is at least being subtle so they don't know you'll insult them," Solaris argued, the couple unaware of a unicorn mare approach them, her coat a light cerise-gray with a pale gray-magenta mane, an apron tied around her barrel as she appeared to run the bakery they sat at. She was about to ask what they would like to order, but couldn't as they continued arguing. "You know, for being a changeling, you're not that good at being discrete, both when disguised or choosing your words. How ironic."

"Excuse me!?" Trill exclaimed. "Look who's talking! You stick out like a sore hoof in the middle of a pitch black cave!"

"You could at least be a bit more sincere with how ponies feel and actually grow up," Solaris said.

"Oh, you're such a hypocrite," Trill grumbled. "You're a bit too sincere, and sensitive! How about you toughen up and grow a bigger pair than the ones between your legs!? You complain and whine about every little thing, and you keep dwelling on the past, which aggravates me because I always feel it, and I hate that!"

"Well, excuse me for actually suffering from depression, which doesn't just go away overnight! I apologize that I got emotionally traumatized watching my family dying in front of me!" Their arguing began catching everyone's attention, never seeing an argument get so heated and angry.

"Umm, I'm sorry to interrupt," the mare said, snapping Solaris and Trill from their shouting as they looked at her. "Is your relationship ending?"

Surprised by the sudden accusation, Solaris and Trill looked at each other, then back at their waitress in confusion. "...What?"

"Well, you two are a royal married couple, and you're fighting with each other," she stated. "Does that mean you're getting a divorce?"

"What!?" Trilled exclaimed while Solaris was left flabbergasted. "Are you crazy!? Why would I want to break up with Solly!?"

"Well, like with friendships, two ponies who argue end up hurting each other, ruining their relationships and never being together again," the mare said as if the answer was obvious just from witnessing their bickering.

Trill raised a brow, then leered at her. "...You think that's what love is about? A perfect romantic couple where they never fight and love each other forever and ever?...Have you been living under a rock? All of you?"

"Trill, enough," Solaris chided. "This is exactly what I'm talking about."

"How do these ponies even have kids!?" the changeling asked. "Don't tell me you all believe the baby fairy flies in and delivers it to your doorstep!"

"No, we know how it happens," the mare said. "When a stallion and mare get together and are alone, they-"

"Ok, ok, I get it. You know how reproduction works. I don't want to hear the lecture after I went through a live birth with Emerald." Trill grimaced, still recalling the excruciating pain she went through during labor. Suddenly, her stomach began rumbling, her anger ebbed by hunger as she grumbled. "Maybe I'm just ornery because I didn't have breakfast today."

"I thought you fed off me earlier today," Solaris said. He shook his head, letting out a sigh. "I guess we can go for a little food."

"Ok. Well, my name is Sugar Belle," the mare said as she introduced herself. "I run the bakery here. What can I get for you? We have muffins..."

Solaris and Trill waited for Sugar Belle to continue listing what she had, only to wait longer when she listed the only thing she did have. "...Ok...Anything else?" Trill asked, waving her hoof to get the mare to move on.

"No, that's about it," Sugar Belle said.

"Seriously? No cookies?" Sugar Belle shook her head. "Cupcakes? Pies? Donuts?" Another shake. "...Do you even have any chocolates?" The baker shook her head yet again. Trill let out a distraught whimper, her eyes tearing up as a changeling's favorite of favorite normal foods to eat wasn't even made in Our Town. "Whyyyyyyyyyy!? No chocolate!? It's the end of the world!"

Trill began getting dramatic, slamming her head against the table and sobbed uncontrollably. Sugar Belle was highly confused, looking at Solaris as he rolled his eyes.

"She's just being dramatic. Changelings love the taste of chocolate since it's a suitable substitute for love they take from ponies," he said. "We'll take a couple muffins."

"Ok. I'll be right back." Sugar Belle left to get their order, leaving the couple alone, or what counted as alone with everyone watching them.

After all the yelling they did, Solaris and Trill began regretting what they said to each other. It didn't help that Sugar Belle's assumption of them getting divorced over a fight like that made the alicorn nervous, his wife sensing his distress at the idea of them being split apart. Trill lifted her head up, both of them staring silently at each other, their expressions clearly showing just how they wished they didn't spout such horrible things to upset each other.

"...I'm sorry," Trill apologized first, knowing she had thrashed the line that really upset Solaris. "I know you can't get over what happened...It's just-"

"You don't like when I get upset about it," Solaris finished for her. "...I know...I can't help it..." He let out a sad sigh, rubbing his hooves against his eyes, both out of exhaustion and trying to keep his tears from showing. "I didn't mean to insult you as a changeling...You're able to pull off different disguises quite well, and you have a knack for acting when you...Well, you know."

"No, you're right about me not growing up," Trill argued. "I always act immature for my age, even worse than when we first met. And I keep getting on your nerves about it. You're under a lot of stress, and I just want you to loosen up from time to time. And you're not too sensitive; you're strong when you need to be, especially when your family and friends' lives are on the line."

"But I hate how my misery makes you and Emmy miserable, too," Solaris said. "I may seem strong, but I'm still that pathetic, whiny colt I was before my life turned upside down after my fifteenth birthday." The stallion lowered his head on the table, sighing with a pained grimace as the worst start of his life outside his old mountain home came back to him. "I'm one to talk about not growing up...I wish I was a colt again and had a normal life with my mom, my aunts, Uncle Spike..."

Solaris could hold back his tears as the fond memories of his family came to him. Trill scooted closer, pulling her sensitive husband into a hug, which he gratefully accepted and held her tightly.

"I know, Solly," Trill said as she rubbed Solaris's back, the alicorn slowly calming down. "I'm really sorry. Can you forgive your immature, horribly insensitive changeling wife who only wants to see you happy?"

Solaris couldn't help but chuckle as Trill stated her flaws, pulling his head away from her shoulder while drying his eyes with his hoof. "Yeah, if you can forgive your overly-emotional, always serious pony husband who relies on you to be his rock to keep him from falling into despair."

"Deal," Trill said with a giggle, the royal couple sighing as they gently rubbed their muzzles together, making up over their fight.

Sugar Belle had witnessed their makeup conversation with their muffins on a plate held in her magical aura, setting it down at their table while utterly confused by their status as a married couple. "You're making up?"

Startled, Trill and Solaris looked at Sugar Belle, ignoring their food as the unicorn questioned their methods in being a romantic couple. "...Yes? Couples can make up after a fight," Solaris said.

"But, earlier you were arguing and were ready to hurt each other, and now you're both apologizing as if nothing happened," Sugar Belle stated.

Trill's brow rose even higher, giving Solaris a blank stare before giving their waitress/baker the same deadpanned look. "Yes. That's something called a 'normal relationship'. Next you're probably going to ask us how the two of us have makeup sex in the privacy of our bedroom."

Solaris blushed heavily, always hating how nonchalant Trill can be when talking about their privacy behind closed doors. "T-Trill! Do you even have any tact at all!?"

"What? Makeup sex is amazing," Trill said, letting out a low purr that made the alicorn's fur stand on end, her chitin skin sensually rubbing against his coat. "Maybe we can ask one of these ponies to let us borrow their bedroom and go crazy. Let off some tension from our little spat."

"You're so insatiable," Solaris grumbled, his blush glowing brighter as he was being teased.

"I...I don't understand," Sugar Belle said, interrupting the couple. "You two are so different, but you love each other. Two different species, two different personalities, and even after fighting, you're still together..."

Trill groaned, facehoofing in disbelief. "Yeah, we're different, yet we make it work. Maybe being the same is not always such a good thing, don't you think?"

"Yeah. Starlight's philosophy for this village sounds like a too-good-to-be-true utopia," Solaris added, grabbing a muffin with his magic and brought it toward him. "The one thing about perfect civilizations with eternal peace and no differences lead those places to ruin really quickly. It's a miracle this town has lasted for so long without everyone having unique talents and being friends with everyone." He took a bite of his muffin, his cheeks bulging as his taste buds were met with the foulest tasting pastry he had ever had the displeasure of putting in his mouth. He spit out his mouthful on the ground, away from Trill, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "Egh! W-What the hay!? What kind of muffin is this!?"

"Sorry," Sugar Belle apologized. "I know I'm not much of a good baker. At least, I'm not better than anypony else in Our Town." Double Diamond overheard that comment Sugar Belle made about herself, growing suspicious as he stood up from his seat while leering at the unicorn mare. Sugar Belle winced as she spoke out of turn, making the couple suspicious with her sudden panic. "Uhh, hope you enjoy your food!" Solaris doubted he would considering he ate something not even a dog would eat out of curiosity. Before Sugar Belle headed inside, she approached the prince, leaning her head down to his ear. "Come inside before you go. Meet me downstairs."

Sugar Belle quickly lifted her head up and smiled to Double Diamond, then hurried back inside her home/bakery. The couple's guide sat back down, returning to his horrible muffin as his suspicions were abated. Trill and Solaris wondered what the unicorn wanted to discuss with them about, though how to get inside without acting suspicious would be a challenge. Solaris then had an idea, though it involved the disgusting muffins.

"Trill, you need to eat both these muffins," Solaris said.

"Uhh, no," she said defiantly. "If you hate them, what makes you think I'll eat them?" In response to her question, he blew out a plume of green flames, using his inherited magical dragon breath to transport a shaker filled with the pink sprinkled love essence in case his wife got picky. Trill blinked, looking at the muffins, then the alicorn and that smirk of his showing his genius coming to light. "...Will it still be disgusting even with that?"

"We won't know, but we need to figure out what was up with Sugar Belle." He sprinkled a good helping of the special seasoning for changeling taste buds on the muffins, then pushed the plate over to Trill.

The changeling princess grimaced, grabbing a muffin and took a tentative sniff. Swallowing her fears, she took a bite, thankful to have the disgusting flavor of the muffin dulled by the essence of love, though it was still bland to her. She munched on the muffins and ate them down, not leaving a crumb to make Solaris's plan work.

"Mmm...Really good muffins," Trill said. "I'm still kinda hungry."

"Then let's go inside and see if Sugar Belle's got anymore," Solaris said, his acting not as great as Trill's, but it was convincing enough for Double Diamond.

They headed inside Sugar Belle's bakery, shutting the door behind them as they found the cellar door opened, the unicorn waiting for them to head downstairs. "You could use some work acting. We could try some role-playing in bed with you doing some kinky stuff."

"I'll pass. Now stay focused." Solaris lead the way downstairs, the basement barely lit up from the light shining through the windows. "Sugar Belle? We're here."

"Thank you for coming," Sugar Belle said, stepping into the lighting with the same wide, creepy grin every pony in the village wore.

"Why did you want us down here?" Solaris asked.

"So nopony could see what's about to happen." As the unicorn stepped closer, the couple heard more pairs of hoofsteps approach them from the dark basement.

Turning to the steps, they saw Party Favor and another mare here as well, this one a pegasus with dark blue fur and grayish-silver mane. Feeling as if they were being ambushed, Solaris widened his stance, ready to light his hooves with green flames in self defense as he first focused on Party Favor, knowing how curious the stallion was to Trill. Just as he was about to fend off their attackers, he yelped when the pegasus mare touched his flank, admiring his cutie mark.

"Wow! Just look at his cutie mark!" the mare said, her rubbing making Solaris nervous as he started to feel molested.

"Can changelings actually get cutie marks?" Party Favor asked Trill.

"Uhh, no," Trill answered. She turned her head as she heard her husband squeak, frozen in confusion and embarrassment as Sugar Belle joined her pegasus friend in admiring and rubbing Solaris's flanks. As much as she loved the idea of her alicorn lover to have other mares join in the herd she wanted him to have, she wasn't going to let it be involved with the older mares as long as they were acting this strangely. "Hey, hey, hey! Hooves off my stallion, you weirdos!"

Solaris snapped out of his embarrassed stupor at Trill's statement. "Oh, NOW you think it's a bad idea to have other mares around me? Your standards just flip flop all over the place."

"There's a time and place for you to be admired by mares, but it's not here!" Trill said, transforming herself into a wolf and lunging at the mares fondling Solaris's rear. The three ponies were startled, Sugar Belle and the pegasus shrieking as Trill growled at them, making them back away. "Only I can touch that rump, not you weird, equalist hussies!"

"Ok, Trill, no need to fly off the handle," Solaris chided, gently placing his hoof against her shoulder. Trill growled again, shifting back to her regular form, though kept a skeptical glare on the two mares. "Now...why exactly were you two so interested in my...flanks? And why does Party Favor want to get to know about my wife?"

"We were admiring your cutie mark," the pegasus answered.

"And you are?" Solaris asked.

"Oh. I'm Night Glider," she said. "But I still can't believe it after Sugar Belle saw you two fight. You're both so different, yet you still like each other."

Trill let out an irritated sigh. "Ok, does everypony in this town need a crash course on how romance works? Because not everything is perfect in a relationship: whether it be familial, friendly, or romantic! Fights break out, and it only gets worse if nopony admits they were wrong and stew in their anger, making it far worse!"

"But what about the...cutie mark thing?" Solaris questioned. "Sugar Belle, you made a comment about yourself saying you could bake better, only to panic when you looked over at Double Diamond."

"Well...Before I gave up my cutie mark, I loved baking," Sugar Belle admitted. "I'd love to have my talent back for just a day, make something else other than those disgusting muffins..."

"So why not get your cutie mark back?" Trill asked.

The three ponies seemed nervous as they looked at each other. "I don't think Starlight would appreciate that," Party Favor said. "Daydreaming about such a things is one matter, but getting them back? That seems extreme."

"How is it even possible to take away somepony's cutie mark?" Solaris questioned.

"There's a special ritual Starlight does that takes away our cutie marks and give us these," Night Glider said, pointing at her equal sign cutie mark along with Party Favor and Sugar Belle. "It's called the cutie unmarking. Starlight uses this mystical staff called the Staff of Sameness to magically take away our cutie marks and give us our new equal cutie marks."

Solaris and Trill looked at each other, absolutely astounded at how all these ponies earned these cutie marks. "That makes no sense," Solaris uttered. "Everyone's cutie mark makes them stand out from each other...And what about the foals?"

"When they're born, they're given the ritual even without discovering their true talents," Sugar Belle said. "Better to have them as friends and be equals so they don't hurt each other with talents that could make everypony their age jealous of them."

"You're all denying your children something they'd like to do before discovering what they're good at!?" Trill exclaimed, shocking the couple. "Don't you want them to have a future where they can be successful!? Or are you really planning to keep them here being 'equal' for the rest of their lives!?"

"The foals don't really complain," Party Favor said. "Besides, Starlight makes the rules since she founded Our Town. Things have been pretty peaceful here, even hearing news from outside about how much destruction had been going on in Equestria."

It was frustrating for Solaris and Trill to hear how horrible the foals' lives were, growing up to be equal among their peers while forever being clueless to how they could benefit everyone with talents they didn't know they had. One thing did bother them over the cutie unmarking, and that was what happened with their cutie marks for those who were gathered from outside the unknown village and willingly joined the "friendly" community.

"What happened to your real cutie marks during this special ritual?" Solaris asked curiously. "Do they disappear?"

"They're actually kept in the vault in the caves," Night Glider answered. "It's in a mountain just a mile away from here. We're freely welcome to visit at any time to let them remind us of the heartache living a life with special talents."

"I see..." Solaris was curious about this vault and how some of these ponies seemed to wish they had their old cutie marks back, but were too afraid to voice their opinion out in public. Considering how everyone's supposed to be equal and friendly, it sounded like Starlight had some very strict rules while spreading her philosophy on the pain cutie marks bring and end friendships faster than an argument over something pointless. He wanted to see it for himself and figure out what was really going on in this "peaceful" village. "Say, can visitors outside take a look at this cutie mark vault freely?"

"I think so," Sugar Belle said.

"Hmm...Interesting." The alicorn looked at Trill, giving her an apologetic look. "Well, I think I should see this vault for myself. Trill, why not entertain our new friends by explaining what changelings can do?"

"Wait, I'm doing what now?" Trill asked, only to be offered no reasonable answer as Solaris gave her a kiss on the lips before backing away.

"Sorry, hon! You can get back at me when we return home!" Solaris said before letting out a breath of fire, covering himself as he magically transported himself away.

"Hey! Where are you going!?" Trill was too late as the wisp of smoke flew up and out of the basement. "Solly, don't you dare leave me here by myself!" Growling irritably, she turned to the trio of ponies, all three of them eager to know more about changelings, especially Party Favor. Trill grinned nervously, having no choice now as she formulated the many ways she wanted to kill her husband for putting her on the spot in front of ponies who were more awkward to be around than the nobles in Canterlot. "Solly, you're in for it this time, you jerk..."

Outside the village, Solaris reappeared in a puff of flames once the wisp of smoke flew far enough away from anyone to see him. "I am going to be in for it big time," he uttered to himself. He turned to face the mountain closest to the village where the cutie mark vault was held. "I'll worry about the consequences later. Now, let's go see what this vault looks like."

After a bit of a walk toward the mountain, Solaris walked along the path leading around to search for a cavern. Considering how the ponies back in Our Town would come to see the vault, he wasn't surprised to find a dirt road leading to where it was located. Climbing up the slight slope around the mountain, he found it leading to a wide cave. Once he stepped inside, he gaped in awe as the first thing he saw was a giant wall of what appeared to be clear enchanted glass, stretching nearly as tall as the mountain and as wide as the cavern it was in. Inside that glass, placed in different slots, were hundreds of different cutie marks on display, which must have been the cutie marks of the ponies in town. If he didn't count the foals, he could estimate that these all came from the adults who had joined and performed this odd ritual to give up what made them unique.

His eyes moved down as he started from the top of the wall, ignoring the several empty spaces for future newcomers to willingly get rid of their cutie marks, he spotted what appeared to be an old, two-pronged staff resting on a small pedestal. Solaris figured this must have been this Staff of Sameness Night Glider talked about earlier. He got a better a look at it as he approached the pedestal, finding it odd how this strange, plain-looking staff was able to take a pony's cutie mark away. Then again, seeing how awkwardly normal everyone had behaved, it would make sense.

"Your Highness?" Solaris yelped and quickly turned around with his forehooves up in a fighting stance, only to breathe a sigh of relief as Starlight stood at the mouth of the cavern. "I see you found the vault. Although, I didn't see Double Diamond with you."

"I...like wandering around new places," Solaris lied. "Can you blame me if I sometimes hate sitting on a throne every single day inside a luxurious castle?"

"I can imagine how boring it can be." Starlight made her way to the vault, grabbing the Staff of Sameness with her blue aura. "This is where ponies' cutie marks are stored. And this is the Staff of Sameness, one of Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items. Thanks to this nifty little staff, it helped me create the friendly community it is today." Starlight twirled the staff around, slowly turning to the prince. "Where is your wife? Surely she would want to be here to see this spectacle as well."

"I wanted to take a look around by myself," Solaris answered. He looked at all the different cutie marks again, several questions running through his mind. "This must be some pretty powerful enchanted glass. How exactly do their cutie marks get taken and placed in these slots?"

"Oh, it's kind of like ripping off a band-aid," Starlight said. "Just rip, place, and their new cutie mark appears in its place. No special talents and just as equal as everypony else."

"Uh huh...And, you aren't worried about some ponies wishing they had their cutie marks back?" he asked.

"No. Ponies are welcome to come to the vault to see their cutie marks to remind them of a painful future of failed friendships with their talents," Starlight said, though she began to grow suspicious by his question. "Why? Have ponies been talking about taking back their cutie marks?"

"I...may have overheard somepony talking about that during the tour," Solaris said, keeping Sugar Belle, Party Favor, and Night Glider out of trouble. "Not everyone seems to be happy living here without their cutie marks for the rest of their lives."

"This kind of thing happens from time to time, but that's just their anxiety and doubting themselves. In the end, they're quite content and happy as they're surrounded by everypony who's just like them." Solaris didn't believe that was the truth. The trio of ponies who wanted their true talents back seemed afraid to cross Starlight about the issue, and there were sure to be others who wished they could go back to their old lives. While he looked at all the different talents of cutie marks, Starlight approached the prince as she had her own share of questions to ask him. "Tell me, Prince Solaris. Have you ever been happy with your cutie mark?"

He stared at the unicorn quizzically. "Have I ever been happy? I'm married to the love of my life, we have a beautiful daughter, I'm in charge of a kingdom that I saved from a lifetime of misery, so how could I possible not be satisfied with my life?"

"I asked about your cutie mark, not your life," Starlight reiterated. "When exactly did you get your cutie mark?"

"I got it after I met Trill," Solaris answered without hesitation.

Unfortunately, it also reminded him of how he ended up meeting her in the first place again. His distant stare gave Starlight a hint as to what he was thinking, his mind playing back that horrible night: woken up by Spike, told to escape when he disobeyed and tried to save him, which ended up getting his dragon uncle killed by Lucifer, teleporting him away into the Everfree Forest with his final breath while inheriting him his dragon magic. His ears smacked against the side of his head as he winced, still able to hear the disturbing squelch of Lucifer's powerful aura blade piercing through Spike's chest, shutting his eyes as his uncle's pained grunt echoed in his head along with his pleas for him to escape that fell on his young deaf ears.

It also reminded him of the deaths of his aunts that he had witnessed, the first being his Aunt Rarity trying to get revenge for Spike's death failing as she was slain by the arcane unicorn stallion. Tears spilled from his clenched eyes, cringing whenever he heard the sound of a collapsing escape route from the ancient pyramids with Applejack's cry as she was crushed, a crystal spire piercing through Rainbow's body and the shattering of crystal caused by him, the sound of arrows raining down with one striking Fluttershy's spine, her yelping from the impact and her gargled gasping for breath as the arrow dug right in her spine after falling over and stopped her lungs from functioning, and the scream Pinkie made as she fell to her death from the crumbling cavern inside the changeling kingdom growing faint until it came to a dreadful stop.

"...ghness? Your Highness?" Solaris gasped, panting heavily as his eyes shot open. Starlight looked really concerned after he stopped responding, his cheeks stained with his still-flowing tears after snapping out of his most painful memories. "Are you alright?"

"...I..." Solaris controlled his breathing, slowly turning to look at his cutie mark. The rising sun with the upper half of a six-pointed star inside it, the six rays of the semi-circle sun bearing six smaller white stars inside them was an expression of hope, a new dawn to the darkness that clouded Equestria in its decade and a half misery. As much of a positive outlook it may have brought, it reminded him of how this was also a sign of his destiny, where the world rested on his shoulders, and the six stars seemed to resemble the loved ones he's known since he was born were forever lost. "...I don't know anymore..."

"Hmm?" Starlight mumbled curiously.

"...I...also lost my uncle...not too long before I got my cutie mark," Solaris said. He rubbed his eyes, wiping away his tears as he let out a depressed sigh. "I was destined to save Equestria...but to gain the strength I needed to defeat Lucifer...I would have to sacrifice something I held dear...I lost the mares and dragon I was raised by for most of my life." The alicorn sat down, his heart heavy with sorrow. "I don't know why this was supposed to be my fate. I wanted to run away after what I did to Aunt Rainbow Dash..." He swallowed the lump in his throat, ignoring the urge to throw up as the gory memory of what he did to his loyal aunt still haunted him worse than everything else he was forced to endure. Starlight's question about his happiness with his cutie mark made him rethink his earlier response. "...I guess I still feel miserable, even though that nightmare's behind me."

"Ah...I see," Starlight uttered. "You know, Prince Solaris, cutie marks don't just cause strain on friendships. They really can remind you of painful memories you've experienced, before, during, or after it appears. And I can see how painful yours must have been during that silence." She placed a sympathetic hoof on the stallion's shoulder. "I know exactly how you feel. But, it wasn't me who got their cutie mark who hurt me...Somepony I knew just up and left me after he got his, and I never saw him again." Starlight let out a bitter scowl at the memory, but she let it go as she regained her calm grin. "But after finding this community and equality, I've never been happier.

"If you want to forget about your terrible past and get rid of that cutie mark, we would be pleased as punch to know the ruler of Equestria has given our way of life a chance and loved it so much he was willing to stay. What do you say, Your Highness?" Starlight asked, waving the Staff of Sameness in front of the alicorn, waiting patiently for his response.

Solaris eyed the staff as he actually thought about giving up his cutie mark. Before he gave his answer, he thought back to the better moments in his life before and after the tragic journey he had suffered through. Even though he's lost his aunts, there were many fond memories he had with each of them, all of them like mothers to him while Spike was the father-figure he was glad to see him as, even if the identity of his real father was still unknown. Then there were their kids, the young ponies he found as his siblings more than cousins, although Gemstone's constant reminder of her affections for him were starting to make her more as another potential lover, though he isn't going to admit that aloud. At least not yet.

Then there was his biological uncle and aunt from the Crystal Empire, never knowing of their existence until his journey led him there. He got to know them after his journey's end, getting help from them with leading Equestria to a brighter future. And Flurry Heart was a delight, just as loving as her mother and concerned for his feelings despite being younger than him by about twenty years, ignoring her wilder infant years, especially accidentally breaking the Crystal Heart and bury the kingdom under a blizzard of ice and snow. And he's made some great friends like Gale, the blind griffon giving him a hard time at first, but it was only to get him to toughen up and face the reality of war, even though his prior experiences of life were just as worse as a deadly battle.

Trill and Emerald, however, gave him his answer. Since he first met the changeling princess, he despised how much of a goof she was, along with the embarrassing and hurtful pranks she pulled on him. He's grown a tolerance to her shenanigans since then, and got to know her more and more as his tragedies got worse and worse. Deep down, she was concerned about him, especially after nearly escaping from the collapsing pyramid and lost Applejack in the process. It was only a few days after they had met before their acquaintanceship turned to friendship, then blossomed into love, but despite how rushed his feelings were for her, he needed someone there for him, and she was when he spiraled down the pit of depression as he lost each member of his family. Now, they were a loving couple, Trill occasionally getting on his nerves at times, and they have a daughter to raise thanks to his stubbornness to find a way for them to have a baby through all their research. He wouldn't give up his cutie mark for the two ponies whose made him the happiest stallion in the world.

Solaris looked at Starlight, still waiting for his answer, giving her a grin. "Thanks for the offer, Starlight, but I'm going to have to decline."

The mare's eye twitched, her aura almost faltering as she was about to point the pronged end at him. "...What?"

"It's true my cutie mark reminds me of the worst of my past, but I can look past all that when I have something to protect," he said. "Without me, everyone all over the world would have suffered Lucifer's wrath. I had a reason to keep fighting despite my pain. I'm always reminded I'm never alone, and I know I won't. Not for the rest of my life." Starlight's grin was slowly faltering as her lips twitched, though Solaris didn't notice as he looked at the wall of cutie marks. "My wife and daughter are my life, and I wouldn't forgive myself if I let anything happen to them...Living a life without being special might be fine in your case, but not for me. I have a kingdom to run, two ponies I need to keep tabs on twenty-four hours a day if I'm able, and keep giving hope to the ponies who seek my aid. Thanks for the hospitality, Starlight Glimmer, but next time you want to ask for other ponies to join your community, set up some flyers to let others know. It would be bad to have investigators think that you're kidnapping everypony."

He gave Starlight a nod and turned to make his leave. He didn't really have a right to take the other ponies away from the village if they were happy, even those who did want to return to their old lives. Starlight, however, wasn't pleased as he walked away, her gaze hardening as she scowled at the stallion.

"You're not going anywhere," she growled, Solaris's ears perking up as he heard her.

He turned his head, too slow to react as something struck him in the back as he grunted in shock. Staring at Starlight, the mare had aimed the Staff of Sameness at him, a magical aura tethered from the prongs to his glowing body. Solaris let out a grunt as something painful struck his flank, which turned to a yell as the searing pain grew worse around his cutie mark. He forced his eyes to squint open as he watched the aura peeling away his mark right off his body, cutting off the tether where his cutie mark and flank were connected. He collapsed on his stomach, groaning in agony while Starlight grinned sadistically as she watched his cutie mark float in the prongs of the staff, then sent it straight to one of the empty spots in the vault, sealing it away with the others.

"W-What...?" Solaris stood up, feeling really weak. He looked at his flank, an equal sign appearing in place of his stolen cutie mark. "Y-You...You just stole my cutie mark!"

"I don't want you to leave until you have at least experienced how Our Town lives," Starlight reasoned, but Solaris didn't believe it as he was being forced against his own will to "experience" her village's ideals of friendship.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with," Solaris growled. He ran at the smirking mare, flapping his wings as he leapt and reared a foreleg back to strike Starlight. The new mark on his flank glowed, forcing the alicorn to drop to the ground as his hoof's force greatly lessened to his surprise. His hoof swung weakly, but Starlight stepped aside as she easily read his movements. "W-What the hay?" Snapping out of his daze, he shifted his stance and was ready to buck Starlight hard, only for his mark to glow again as the strength of his buck was pitiful, Starlight backing away while being amused by the alicorn's confusion. "What's happening!? What did you do to me!?"

"I made you just like everypony else in Our Town; I took away your talents using the Staff of Sameness," Starlight explained.

"But...my cutie mark doesn't express my talent," Solaris stated. "It's more like a symbol of hope, my destiny that brought Equestria back to its peaceful ways. How did it take away my ability to fight?"

"It's not just what ponies are mostly skilled at," Starlight said, twirling the staff around her. "Every single thing you're good at, whether it shows in your cutie mark or not, it's taken away." The stallion's eyes widened in shock from hearing this. He looked down at his hooves, trying to spark his hooves with green flames, but he couldn't summon his fire. He then took in a breath and tried breathing fire, but all he did was blow out air, not even hot air or steam. "Yes, that also includes your magic fire breathing. I've heard about it while I visited Canterlot to gather more willing followers. If you think I don't know what really goes on outside my happy little village, then you have no idea how much I do know about current events, even Lucifer's reign."

Solaris grunted angrily, unable to defend himself with no physical skills or magic, and now he was completely helpless to the unicorn mocking him. "You're not going to get away with this," he promised. "When Trill finds out about this, you're going to rot in a jail cell for attacking me and holding me hostage."

"And how will she do that? Head back home and alert the guards?" Starlight asked. "Or...try to alert the guards you brought to keep an eye on my village?" Solaris didn't flinch as her last guess was spot on. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of beating him, already taking enough of that abuse when he faced his opposite self, Nova Flare, in his final trial. "I've never tried using this staff on a changeling before. It might not work if they don't really have a cutie mark to begin with...Although, little Emerald, though..."

Solaris snapped at Starlight's threat as he charged again, no longer caring if his punches were now weak and slow as all that mattered was keeping his daughter safe from this mare. "Don't you dare lay a single hoof on my daughter, you-!" The equal sign mark glowed again, making him trip up as he staggered forward, Starlight stepping aside again as she angled the Staff of Sameness toward his abdomen. "Agh! This stupid-!"

One hard jab into his chest with the staff knocked the wind out of Solaris. He definitely felt a lot weaker as he gasped for breath. Starlight flipped the staff around and gave him a hard smack in the back of the head, sending the alicorn falling to the ground in a crumpled heap. He groaned, lifting his head, only to have it get slammed back down to the ground by Starlight's hoof. The mare chuckled, levitating the staff back on its resting place as she leaned her head down to the pinned stallion's ear.

"Relax, Your Highness. I'm not that cruel," Starlight assured, though she wasn't impressing Solaris with her empty promise after what she just did to him. "I won't harm a single hair on your wife or daughter if you are willing to join us. If not, well, I have methods to help shape newcomers or those who wish to leave into loving being equal among their new friends. Would you like to try the easy way or the hard way?"

"As if I'm going to go along with your ideals when you're practically kidnapping me," Solaris growled.

"The hard way it is, then," Starlight said. She figured he wasn't going to go along with her back to Our Town, she struck the alicorn with a spell, knocking him unconscious for a while. The mare then teleported the both of them out of the cave and into a building back in town, the windows in this house barred with speakers set in the corners of the single room building near the ceiling. "Now, judging by that look in his eyes when I asked him about getting backup..." Looking out the back window, she peered out toward the entrance of town, up on the hill where she caught sight of a few glints of metal reflected off the sun. "Let's see if we can't bring some more friends to help further my cause."

"Any sign of the royal family?" Steele Wing asked.

The pegasus with the binoculars scanned the town, having kept an eye on both the couple and their daughter throughout their "visit". "Princess Emerald is still in that one building, which I guess is supposed to be an entertainment hut for the kids. And no sign of His or Her Highnesses when they went in what seems to be a bakery."

"I can't even tell which house is supposed to be what from here," the youngest of the troop said with a frustrated groan. "How do you even know which is which?"

"Observational skills, rookie," the lookout answered. "Never overlook anything that seems suspicious."

After a moment of silence, the soldiers' ears perked up when they heard the popping sound of a teleportation spell behind them. Quickly turning around, they spotted Starlight Glimmer standing before them with a calm grin.

"Hello, everypony," the mare greeted, her horn lighting up as her friendly gaze turned into a crazed leer. "Welcome to Our Town."