Dez, a middle-aged mare, sat on an upper balcony of the Crystal Palace, over-looking the city. Hoofsteps told her someone was coming.

"Well, if it isn't the fantastic Mr. Silverstreak," she smiled without turning around. "Come to say hi?"

"There is that," Speedy said as he sat down beside her. "Though... I want to talk to you about your... um... volunteer geldings."

Dez nodded. "Yeah, old business that."

"Before I came along with the AGO, the Hidden Railroad had no way of reversing castration," Speedy began slowly. "I want to know..."

"Why we did it?" the mare finished for him. He nodded. "Before I inherited this institution from my mother, and she her mother, geldings weren't so bad as they are today. Our main concern was rescuing abused geldings throughout Equestria. We'd always seen castration as a bad thing, but ti was never as bad as it has been lately. During my mother's time, it was starting to get worse, colts were being treated like a simple commodity, gelded servants, breeding stock, we needed a way to... infiltrate high ranking places."

"Couldn't you just ask ones who had already been gelded?" Speedy asked.

Dex shook her head. "If only we could. But, if someone recognized them, well, it's lawful to hang a runaway gelding, you know. We asked for volunteers within our own ranks. Geldings tend to be overlooked."

She turned to see Speedy's expression. "Don't give me that look. Is was purely volunteer based. We even had a system set up. They had a year between the moment they signed the contract to the date of the gelding to change their minds. Most did change minds. We even went so far as to give them the option to backing out up to the moment their last testicle was severed."

Speedy scowled. "So they had a year to change their minds?"

Dez nodded. "Yes. During that year, we ensured to encourage them as much as we could not to go through with it."

The stallion was taken aback. "You encouraged the volunteers to not go through with it?"

The mare chuckled. "Why are you so surprised? Of course we don't want to castrate anyone. Those who had the resolve enough to not be swayed were the volunteer geldings, sent to Railroad members to aid in our mission."

"How did you encourage them not to want to go through with it?"

Dez rolled her eyes. "Easy. Parties, porn and poontang. It ensured we only got the most resolute of stallions. A great loss, on our part. Until you came along with your revolutionary medical procedure. Where did you find how to reverse castration, Speedy?"

The stallion looked away. "We have our secrets."

The mare nodded. "We do. Again... thank you, Speedy."

Speedy looked back at her. "For what?"

"If not for you, the Hidden Railroad would have probably died out under all the new laws. We were on rocky shores, our methods were medieval, and our supporters were leaving in droves." Dez paused a moment to watch an approaching pegasus flying from below. "Though, perhaps it's due to our distaste for blood. We could never have done what you did. Especially to Rarity."

"Oh," Speedy asked.

Dez nodded. "Intelligence said that she was very kind and good to her geldings. We would have left her alone. It seems a little harsh, what you did to her."

Before Speedy could reply, a laughing rainbow-maned mare shot past the balcony. Dez blinked.

"Was that Rainbow Dash?"

Speedy nodded. "Yeah... she's been do that nonstop since her operation."

Dez smirked. "Enjoying her new teats is she?"

the stallion chuckled. "Well... she's never felt anything like it before. Says the wind tickles."

I imagine it does at her speed. Dez said, squinting her eyes. "Why are they white?"

Speedy shrugged. "Nurse Redheart wanted to give us a show of good faith. She... donated them for Rainbow Dash."

"Well, that's another problem solved, then," the mare nodded as she looked back down over the city. "Though... we're kind of at a tipping point. With all the geldings coming in and being repaired, we're gonna need more mares. Civilization hinges on reproduction, after all."

"Well, the mares still outnumber the stallions," Speedy said. "Not by much though. We're already beginning to send them to other allied nations. I'm sure they have enough ladies to help with the problem."

"Speaking of ladies, how are you and Pinkie doing," Dez asked roguishly. "What's it like with a mare whose two separate ponies? Must be like having to share yourself."

Speedy nodded. "A little. Why do you ask?"

"The Hidden Railroad must be headed by a mare, Speedy," she told him. "It's not some matriarchal supremacy thing, it's really symbolic. A mare standing to hold the hoof of the oppressed gelding."

"Because a stallion promoting it would seem more like division in the sexes," Speedy translated. "Which is what Celestia tries to do with me and the AGO."

Dez nodded. "Precisely. It's been passed on from mother and daughter for five generations, Speedy. I'd rather not break tradition. But... I have no daughter to pass it on to."

Speedy blinked. "I can see how that might be a small problem."

Dez smiled and nodded. "A small problem that can be very easily fixed." She stood up and swished her tail from side-to-side. "If Pinkie's alright with sharing you with Pinkamena, do you think she'd be willing to share you with one more?"

Speedy froze, speechless.

The mare chuckled before turning to leave. "It's alright. Talk it over with that mare of yours. You know where to find me."

And with that, she was gone, leaving a stunned stallion behind.