From the moment Twilight and her friends stepped out of Starlight's home, they could feel an air of excitement all around the Town. As Starlight guided them further away, they would look around and see groups of other ponies, all busy chatting to one another in much the same way one would see when some juicy bit of gossip leaked to Ponyville. Apparently, it would appear as though this Sweet Sprinkle getting her mark was something quite a few around here were interested by, as barely a moment passed when Twilight didn't pick up on somepony commenting on it. But, she herself remained silent, keeping her eyes forward as Starlight continued to walk onwards. She was taking them to that large building in the centre of town, and before long, they were close enough to see a small crowd of other ponies gathered near the front door of the place. And at the centre of that crowd was a small pink earth pony filly, with bright pink fur and a yellow mane. Once they drew nearer, this filly looked to them, breaking out into a wide smile.

"Starlight!"

She rushed forward like a foal towards a pile of Hearth's Warming Eve presents, and Starlight couldn't help but smile to that display.

"Hello there, Sweet. I hear you have something special to show me?"

The filly nodded enthusiastically, turning slightly to show her flank. There, Twilight could see that she did indeed have a cutie mark. It was a trio of ice cream cones, each with a different colour. Sweet, looking to it herself, bore great pride in her expression.

"I just got it today! I was making ice creams for my friends over at a Birthday party, and when everypony told me how good they were, I realised it was my special talent!"

She charged away, towards a mare and stallion who shared similar colouring to her.

"Can I show her, Mom?"

Her Mother chuckled.

"Of course, sweetie."

The filly beamed, then moved over to a small table, upon which rested a number of ice creams, all carefully placed within their own cone. Approaching it, Starlight lit up her horn, levitating one towards her. After looking it over, she gave it a single lick, and within moments, she let out sounds of enjoyment.

"Oh my! This really is good!" she said honestly.

Sweet giggled, and soon started to offer her creations to everypony around her. As for Starlight, she took her ice cream and offered it to Twilight.

"You simply have to try this, Princess!"

Though a little hesitant, Twilight nevertheless accepted, and after giving it a quick lick herself, she smiled.

"Well...that certainly is delicious," she said, meaning every word of it.

Starlight's smile widened, but before she was able to say anything, she was prevented from doing so, as Sweet suddenly rushed to her side.

"Miss Starlight? Can I do it now?"

Looking to her, Starlight thought on that, offering a warm smile to the child.

"I appreciate that you want to do that, Sweet...but there really is no rush. The Town doesn’t need it straight away after all. If you want to wait a while, enjoy your talent while it's still yours..."

But Sweet shook her head vigorously.

"Nope! I wanna help out now! Pleeeeeaaaaase?!"

Though taken aback by her directness, Starlight soon chuckled, giving a single nod.

"Alright...if that's what you want."

Sweet giggled happily, heading for the large nearby building. Starlight, meanwhile, looked to Twilight, her face one of confidence.

"You wanted to know what we do here, Princess? Well...take a look."

And with that, the Town's founder led the way, with Twilight and her friends in-tow. Many of the other ponies, Sweet especially, joined them, and before long, the doors of the Town's central building were opened. As soon as this happened, Twilight and her friends looked on with awe. For there, right in the centre of that round chamber within, was what appeared to be an enormous diamond, at least three times the height of the tallest pony they'd ever met. it glowed brightly, sending beams of light in all directions, and hovered a clear foot above the ground, as if by magic. Naturally, as one would expect, Rarity was practically drooling at the sight of it, much to Applejack and Rainbow's amusement. Many of the townsfolk wandered around it, looking to it with both awe and respect. Starlight and Sweet approached it from the front, and Twilight, along with her friends, remained where they stood.

"Okay now, Sweet...you know how this works?" Starlight asked.

The young filly nodded.

"Yep!"

She turned to the giant diamond, taking a few steps closer, all while her parents looked to her with pride. Once she'd reached it, she stretched out her hoof, touching its surface gently, before closing her eyes. At first, there was nothing, but then, Twilight watched with both fascination and worry as the diamond began to glow even brighter. What's more, both Sweet and every other resident of the Town also began to glow, albeit to a lesser degree. Then, in a turn that truly shocked Twilight, she watched as Sweet's cutie mark began to float right off her flank, heading straight for the diamond. Within seconds, it passed into its surface, before eventually fading away into the light of the thing. Then, once this had happened, the light faded a little, and Sweet lowered her hoof, opening her eyes again. She turned, smiling widely to everypony who looked to her, and many began to gather around her, telling her how proud they were of what had happened here.

"What...what was that?" Twilight asked.

Turning to her, Starlight took a few steps closer, before speaking in a somewhat hushed tone, perhaps not wanting to be overheard by the other nearby ponies and spoil Sweet’s big moment with this.

"We call it the Conduit. An ancient magical artefact I discovered near here. Ponies with cutie marks come to it, and, if they're willing, they contribute not only those marks, but their special talents too."

Twilight looked to her, utterly taken aback by that statement.

"But...but...that's impossible! That kind of magic, it’s...it’s never even been heard of before!"

Starlight nodded.

"Yeah...that was my first reaction. But, it’s true. And what’s more, each pony ends up with a connection both to the Conduit and to each other. You see..."

Before she was able to say anything further, however, she turned to see Sweet approaching her.

"Hey, can I go to my friends now? Maybe we can make our ice creams together?"

Smiling again, Starlight looked to her and gave her a pat on the head.

"Sure, go ahead."

Laughing again, Sweet once more ran off, heading straight out of the building. Meanwhile, Party Favour, who had been accompanying them this whole time, walked over to Starlight with a big smile of his own.

"I tell you, it's been ages since I had a decent ice cream around here! I can't wait to head on home tonight and make some!"

Starlight laughed.

"Trust me, Party, we're all looking forward to that."

However, Twilight and her friends remained shocked and confused about all of this. Fluttershy though appeared to be somewhat calmer in the matter, and soon spoke up, looking as though she’d just put two and two together.

"So...each of you can do everything the rest of you can do? The Conduit lets you share your talents with one another?"

Starlight nodded.

"Correct. Everypony who has ever connected to the Conduit benefits from every new mark given to it."

Turning to the Conduit again, Starlight's expression and tone of voice became more thoughtful.

"Imagine it...an entire community...all sharing their talents. All exceptional, all talented, with nopony ever being made to feel like they can't do what others can."

Smiling again, she looked back to Twilight.

"Every mark is a blessing here...for they make us all better for it."

A silence passed, and Twilight and her friends clearly seemed to be struggling with this revelation. Starlight seeing this, let out a sigh, nodding slowly, as though this was the kind of thing she was used to seeing.

"I see this is going to take a while for you to accept."

She began to walk past them.

"Feel free to go about the Town if you like. I'm sorry for leaving you like this, but have other work I need to be getting back to."

Reaching the door, she paused, giving the group one final look.

"Believe me...you're not the first to have a hard time getting your heads around this...and you won’t be the last."

And with that final statement, she left, leaving Twilight and the other mares alone in this place. Some stared at the Conduit, at once afraid and curious about it, like it was some otherworldly thing they hadn’t quite decided how to feel about. Twilight particularly regarded it with analytical eyes, even when Applejack broke the quiet.

"Well...ah guess we know how that little fella back there could carry that big cinderblock around now. Ah bet some big strong-guy has his mark in there."

Fluttershy, nodding to that, looked over to their leader.

"So...what do we do, Twilight?"

Thinking on that, Twilight gave the only answer she could right now.

"I think...we need to talk to some ponies."

Next Chapter: Plans Estimated time remaining: 32 Minutes