Though all of them were unsure of what they were going to find on this journey, none of them wavered in their commitment to reaching the end of it. Having been given an unexpected task by the newly-formed Cutie Map, Twilight, along with Pinkie pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, now ventured forth from the train station. This was the last stop, so as far as they knew, there was nothing and nopony else out here. And as they kept on walking, that belief held firm. It really did just seem like a bunch of craggy mountains and barren wastes. Naturally, a mare like Rainbow Dash was becoming more than a little irritated by this lack of activity, as evidenced by the annoyed grunt she let out. Twilight, by contrast, stayed determined, her gaze never straying from their path ahead. They seemed to have been walking for ages now, traversing one particularly narrow path through a mountain, and it was here that Fluttershy finally broke the silence.

"So...what do you think we'll find, Twilight?"

The young Princess sighed, her ears drooping somewhat.

"I have no idea, Fluttershy. This is new ground for all of us."

"Literally and figuratively," Rarity added.

"Y'all said it, Rares! Ah ain’t even heard o' this place before," Applejack chimed in.

"All I know is that there’d better be some big monster we have to fight at the end of this. Because that's the only thing that'd make this long journey worth it!" Rainbow declared.

A giggle escaped Pinkie.

"Well, I hope we meet a bunch of new ponies here! We came from a Friendship Palace, we're following the Princess of Friendship, and we're on a friendship mission. Trust me, ladies, there'll be more friends than we know what to do with!"

Looking back to her party-loving companion, Twilight broke into a small smile.

"I certainly hope so, Pinkie."

Then, as she looked forward, she stopped, and her eyes widened.

"Wait...I think...yes! We're at the end of the path!"

The other mares looked on, and sure enough, their leader had the right of it. The pathway had indeed been growing wider with their last few steps, and there, just ahead, they could see the mountains on either side of them give way, revealing what appeared to be a ridge of some sort. Feeling a degree of elation over this, the group charged forward, and within a minute, they were out. Rainbow stretched out her wings, enjoying the feel of the sun on her, while Rarity looked down to her hooves, a grimace upon her face.

"Ugh! I'm sure that was all good exercise, but I swear, my hooves will need such a cleaning from all that dust when we get home!"

Applejack rolled her eyes at that.

"Will ya cut yer belly-achin', Rarity? We got us a mission ta finish!"

The fashionista huffed at that, flipping aside some of her mane. But, before she had a chance to retort, she was halted from the sound of Twilight's voice.

"Girls...I think...we're here."

All mares rushed to her side, and together, they looked over the edge of the ridge, to what lay below. It was a small town, out in the middle of a wide open plane. From the looks of things, it was about half the size of Ponyville, and was built in a circular fashion, with a single building in the centre, relatively the same size as the Ponyville Town Hall, with a great manner of homes and other buildings dotted around it. And beyond the area where the buildings were, there appeared to be lush and verdant farmland, creating a healthy-green contrast to the wasteland the mares had just walked through. Even from this distance, Twilight could see ponies down there, walking in the streets or tending to the fields. But, what truly drew her attention was that central building. For there seemed to be some sort of light or glow emanating from its windows, which she briefly narrowed her eyes to. After regarding the place carefully, she turned to each of her friends.

"Okay, girls...we don't know what we're going to find down there. But we shouldn't go in as though we're looking for a problem. We just walk in, look around, maybe talk to a few ponies...and see how things go from there."

The others nodded to her, all in agreement, and with that matter settled, the young Princess took a deep breath, then took that first step down the steep incline. They all went down together, trying to be as careful as possible, but, thankfully, the ground soon became flat enough for them not to worry about slipping. And so it was that they drew nearer to this unfamiliar place, and as they did so, they began to walk through the spaces in-between the aforementioned farming fields. Looking down, they noted that they were now walking upon paved pathways, all neatly built in-between the fields, and as they journeyed over these cobbles, they took a moment to look upon the ponies nearby.

"Well...they're certainly working hard," Rarity commented.

Twilight nodded. Each mare and stallion they saw, while appearing to be all alone in their respective field, nevertheless seemed to be working well, planting seeds and picking up fully-grown vegetables with ease, all with looks of contentment on their faces. But, as Twilight and the others walked through, they couldn't help but notice something peculiar about these ponies, something Rainbow was more than willing to point out.

"Um...guys? Is it me...or are these ponies a little...um...bare?"

They all knew what she was talking about. For on every pony they saw, their hind-quarters were completely and utterly blank. No cutie marks of any kind. Naturally, this was not something that went without comment.

"Blank-flanks? At their? age?" Applejack said.

Narrowing her eyes, Twilight looked ahead, to the town proper.

"I think...we might have found the reason for being called here."

Sharing her determination, the other mares all walked with an upped pace, and before long, they were in the town in earnest. Just as they could see from the ridge, things were pretty busy down here, with ponies all over moving about in the exact way one would when they were in the middle of something important. Beside the obvious strangeness of having markless ponies all around, there was nothing around here that suggested that something bad was going on. As such, Twilight raised an eyebrow to it all.

"Well...things seem...pretty normal so far."

To that, Pinkie went right up to her face, poking her in the chest while bearing an utterly serious expression.

"So far indeed! Who knows what kind of sinister plot is going on beneath the surface?!"

Hearing that, Rainbow planted her hoof square in her forehead in frustration.

"Pinkie, for the love of Celestia, please don't put your detective hat on for this!"

Pinkie's ears drooped.

"Awwwww! But I was looking forward to it!"

Twilight shook her head, and then, before she had the chance to say anything else to her companions, she was distracted by the sound of somepony else calling out.

"Alright now, Whither! It's coming down now!"

The mares turned, and as soon as they did so, their eyes widened with shock. For there seemed to be construction going on of a new house, and atop the construction was an earth pony stallion, who was currently in the middle of pushing off a big pile of cinderblocks, all tied together, off the edge of the roof. Below, in the street, was another stallion, but this one was much smaller. His limbs were spindly, and overall he looked like he could barely lift a bucket of water, much less what was about to fall off the roof. And yet, he looked up with a smile, giving a nod to his companion above.

"Ready when you are!"

And down came the blocks. Twilight and the others watched in horror as the giant weight came crashing down, the poor little stallion right in it's path. Instinct kicked in, and Twilight charged forward, ready to do something to try and save this stallion's life. But she was too late, for the cinderblocks were already coming down to him.

"NO!!!"

But, she stopped. For there was no crash, no crushed stallion, no damage or injury of any kind. Instead, she and her friends watched with stunned faces, for that tiny stallion now bore the entire weight of the blocks upon his back, with the same manner as one would, say, wear a particularly heavy jacket. And always, he just smiled, as though this was just a normal day for him.

"Alrighty then, I'll get this stuff over to the other site," he called up.

The other stallion nodded, before getting back to his own work, and Twilight watched as the small stallion, Whither, trotted off happily, all while carrying that giant weight upon his back. As one would expect, none of her friends really knew how to react to this, other than with shock of course, and after that long silence, they were, for the first time, addressed directly.

"Hello there!"

Shaking themselves out of this stunned state, they turned, seeing a bright while stallion approach them. He was looking to them all with a friendly smile, and as soon as he reached them, he spoke, his tone upbeat and welcoming.

"I take it from that reaction you had back there that you're all new here?"

Stepping forward, Twilight nodded, giving him his answer. The stallion's smile widened, and he continued speaking as a result.

"In that case, welcome! Name's Double Diamond. How can we help you?"

Briefly, Twilight looked to her friends, but several of them just shrugged their shoulders, so when she looked back to Double, she hesitated somewhat.

"Well...my name is Twilight Sparkle, and...I'm not really sure what to make of your town here."

Chuckling, Double nodded.

"Yeah, it can take a bit of getting used to, trust me. I remember what it was like when I first arrived myself. But, tell you what..."

He gestured to the street behind him.

"...how about I take you to the town's founder? I'm sure she can answer any questions you have."

Considering that, Twilight gave one final look to their surroundings, to the markless ponies around them, before looking back to Diamond, giving a single determined nod.

"Yes...I think I would like to speak with her."

Next Chapter: The Founder Estimated time remaining: 45 Minutes