Given her personal line of work, it was no surprise that Applejack's instincts compelled her to go to the area of farmland that she and her friends had seen just outside of town. Once there, she looked on with admiration at everypony who was working within it. Now, she was by no means a stranger to people working hard in fields for a living, but now, realising that each pony she saw out there probably had the farming talents of dozens of others, just made her realise how capable they were. Talents in irrigation, care for plants, choosing the right soil, all of these things and more were all mixed up in the mares and stallions she saw there, and as such, they set to work with a speed, efficiency and self-assuredness that she had rarely witnessed before. But, she wasn't standing there unnoticed for long, and soon, a nearby mare looked over to her, having just finished planting a number of seeds in the ground.

"Hello there!"

Applejack smiled to her, tipping her hat.

"Howdy!"

The other mare took a step closer to her.

"You're one of the Town's visitors, right? A friend to that Princess?"

The orange earth pony let out a chuckle.

"Yep. Name's Applejack!"

The other mare nodded to that.

"Sandy Oak."

Applejack looked out over the field, once more admiring the work everypony was doing.

"Ah gotta tell ya, it's been a while since ah've seen so many good farmers in one place. Normally it's jus' me an' mah family."

Sandy titled her head.

"You have a farm back home?"

A look of pride came to Applejack.

"Eyup! Sweet Apple Acres! Finest Apple Orchard y'all have ever seen!"

Hearing that, Sandy then smiled.

"Oh, I haven't had a decent apple in a long time! Still, we get some pretty good fruits and vegetables growing here without them, I suppose."

Applejack regarded her carefully.

"Ah'm sure the folks round these parts were pretty grateful when ya contributed yer cutie mark. All that farmin' like ya can do an' stuff?"

But Sandy simply giggled.

"Actually...my mark was in gardening."

Applejack seemed surprised by that.

"Um...gardenin'?"

Sandy nodded back.

"That's right. Planting roses, mowing lawns, all that sort of thing."

But then, a sigh escaped her.

"Truth be told...I was never that happy with it. Oh, sure, I could make a nice garden...but it never...never really fulfilled me."

Her face lit up soon afterwards.

"But when I came to this place, when I joined myself to the Conduit...I suddenly had every avenue opened to me! One day I was only ever good at planting flowers, and the next, I was helping to build houses, cook food I'd never even knew I could..."

Looking back to her field, her smile widened.

"...and today, I'm helping out here."

A chortle escaped her.

"Back in the day, I would have needed the help of pretty much all of my neighbours to get all the work done in a field like this...but now I can do it myself."

Looking back to Applejack, she let out a contented sigh.

"I never felt so capable as I have been since I came here."

Hearing all of that, Applejack seemed thoughtful.

"That...that sounds real nice, Sandy."

Sandy stepped forward, looking to her with curiosity.

"And you? Are all your family farmers too?"

To that, Applejack regained her smile.

"Eyup! Most o' us all have talents in farmin' apples, as ya can guess. When we're all together, ah tell ya, those orchards don' know what hit em!"

Thinking on that, Sandy nodded.

"It's good, isn't it...when so many ponies around you can all do what you can do?"

Realising what she meant by that, Applejack fumbled for a bit.

"Well...um...ah guess?"

Turning, Sandy started to move off, heading straight back for her part of the field.

"It was nice meeting you, Applejack! Enjoy the rest of the Town!"

Nervously, Applejack waved back to her.

"Yeah...um...you too?"

Once Sandy was out of earshot, Applejack let out a long sigh of her own.

"Whoo boy...that...that sure was...different."

---

As a great lover of fine aesthetics, Rarity had taken something of an unscheduled break from her goal of asking questions around town, and instead elected to simply stand in front of one of the local buildings. She looked to it with utter awe, practically fawning over its architecture, its design. It wasn't just that it was well-built, it was downright beautiful to look at. Homes in the likes of Ponyville were all well and good, but this? This was something you were more likely to find in Canterlot, or some of the more aristocratic neighbourhoods of Manehattan. It was art, and of course, Rarity always appreciated art. But, unfortunately for her, as she stood there, near-drooling at this beautiful home before her, she failed to realise that some of the local residents were giving her odd looks. Apparently standing in front of a single house for ages on end and staring at it wasn't exactly considered "normal" behaviour. But, thankfully, it wasn't long before she caught the eye of one particular stallion, a unicorn, who walked up to her with some confusion in his expression.

"Um...Miss?"

Shaking herself out of her trance-like state, Rarity giggled nervously before turning to face this male.

"Oh! I do apologise! I was just...admiring the view."

The stallion chuckled.

"Yeah...I was always pretty proud of them."

At first, Rarity didn't quite understand what he meant by that. But then, as the moments passed, realisation came to her, and her eyes widened.

"You mean...you’re the one who made this beautiful home?"

A blush came to him.

"Well...not this one...but my talent was in architecture and building design. And after I joined the community...well..."

He didn't finish, but Rarity already understood where he was going.

"Ah, I see. Everypony was able to do the same. And so you have a whole town of gorgeous buildings."

The stallion nodded, taking a step forward and offering his hoof.

"Chipper Chisel. A pleasure to meet you. My friends call me Chip."

"Rarity too took a step forward, accepting his hoof.

"Rarity. Charmed, I'm sure."

But then, curiosity came to her.

"If I may ask, Mr Chisel, how did you end up in this place?"

Chip sighed, looking to the building nearby.

"Back when I was working in Canterlot..."

Sadly, he was then interrupted when Rarity let out a happy-sounding squeal of joy.

"Oh my! You're a genuine Canterlot architect?!"

Chip, taken aback by that, gave a nod, and Rarity immediately realised her interruption.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry, Sir! Please, do go on."

Clearing his throat, Chip regained his earlier train of thought.

"Well...all I ever wanted when I was making my designs and plans was to make homes that ponies liked. But, more often than not, I was always commissioned to create big expensive homes for the city's elite."

He grimaced, turning away.

"It wasn't that I was ungrateful for the chance to build, or even for the money. And I know my patrons weren't bad people, but..."

Soon, he let out a longer sigh.

"...I just wanted to building things for everypony, not just...a few."

A frown came to him.

"But...my bosses always said we had to prioritise our higher-paying clients."

Eventually, he turned away from Rarity, his voice tainted with a degree of resentment.

"So...I left. I didn't want to just keep doing that sort of thing over and over for the rest of my life."

Then, slowly, a smile touched his lips, and he once more looked back to the fashionista.

"But eventually...I found the Town. A place where I didn't have the problems I was restricted with back home. It took a while, but I eventually warmed up to the idea of giving up my talent to everypony living here. And I tell you...seeing my abilities being used by others to provide homes to all? There was no better feeling of accomplishment."

Taking in all of this, Rarity nodded slowly.

"Yes...I imagine that would feel good."

Soon, she to began to smile.

"I've always had a love of being able to use my own craft to provide glamour to all I meet. If they too could do it, make dresses and outfits as well as I could...well...it wouldn't be long until everypony made such things. Why...it would be if I had me it for them myself."

Chip's smile widened.

"You know...a good range of outfits would always be welcome here, if...you know..."

Understanding his implication, Rarity took a step backwards, giving a genuine smile but nevertheless sounding uncertain.

"Oh...well...I appreciate the offer, but..."

But Chip raised a hoof.

"It's fine, don't worry. I know it's not for everypony. Still..."

He gave her a slight bow of his head, then started to walk past her.

"...I've got some other things I need to do. It was nice meeting you!"

Rarity watched him go, giving a small wave as he left. And as soon as she was alone, she pondered what she'd learned.

"Well...no evil plot yet. Rainbow will be most disappointed."

---

"Wow! Your cutie mark is really pretty!"

Children had always loved Fluttershy, and today, they were swarming all around her. Right now, she was right on the edge of town, standing beside a small pond that was adjacent to a peaceful-looking willow tree. The perfect place for one to go if they wanted someplace calm and relaxing. But, that wasn't what she was getting, and instead, many of the youth of the Town were instead surrounding her, asking her mad questions about where she was from and what her talents were. Fluttershy, for her part, didn't have any issue being asked this sort of thing, especially by a bunch of happy and eager children, but even so, being bombarded by it constantly was getting to be a bit much.

"Is it true you can talk to animals?"

"Are you staying?"

"Did you see the Conduit? It was pretty neat, right?"

"Where's Ponyville? I've never heard of it."

"So what's it like being friends with a Princess?"

All these and more were being thrown at her in a rapid-fire manner, as children were usually known for doing, and though she tired her best to remain as calm and collected as she could, there was no question that Fluttershy was on the defensive here.

"Oh...um...well...you see..."

"Okay, kids, that's enough."

All eyes turned to the owner of the second voice; Starlight. The Town's founder walked on over, looking more than a little amused at the predicament Fluttershy had gotten herself in, before addressing the kids directly.

"I'm sure Miss Fluttershy would love to answer all of your questions, but she needs a little break right now. Besides..."

She raised her eyebrow at a few of them.

"...I believe some of your parents were expecting you to be in the middle of your chores right now?"

Naturally, there was a chorus of "awwww" at that remark, and soon, many of the colts and fillies started to walk off, heads hanging low. Fluttershy, being Fluttershy, offered them a wave and a smile as they left. But, one filly stayed behind briefly, looking to the Town's guest and giving one final question.

"Miss Fluttershy? Will you be staying here? I'd love to be able to talk to animals like my puppy one day!"

Though slightly startled by that, Fluttershy, to her credit, quickly re-composed herself.

"Well...we'll see."

The filly smiled to that, then ran off to join her friends. Starlight, shaking her head, looked to Fluttershy and spoke in an apologetic way.

"I'm sorry about that. The kids usually get pretty excited whenever somepony new comes along."

But Fluttershy simply giggled.

"Don't worry about it. They were just being curious."

Starlight walked past her, looking to the still waters of the pond.

"So...how are you enjoying our home?"

Fluttershy considered that.

"Well...it's very nice. Everypony here has been very welcoming."

Starlight smiled.

"...And has your investigation gone the way you wanted?"

Fluttershy was made silent by that, and Starlight looked to her, her expression hard to read.

"It's alright, Fluttershy. I know Twilight would have asked you and your friends to find out as much as you could here."

Though hesitant, Fluttershy nevertheless spoke up again.

"You're...you're not upset?"

Starlight shook her head.

"No. Sooner or later, ponies from further afield will find out about us and how we do things here. When that happens, we'll have more scrutiny than we'll know what to do with."

She focused on her pegasus companion.

"When I first found out what the Conduit could do...what it would mean for everypony...I was terrified. I didn't know what to think."

Her expression then softened.

"But when I stopped to think on it...how much good everypony could experience...I knew it was something that should be shared."

Then, she raised a hoof, pointing it to Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy...your talents lie with animals. Communicating and caring for them. And there are many critters all over Equestria who go through hard times because they don't have anypony like you there."

She took a step forward.

"Can you imagine...how much better off they'd be...if every pony they came across could commune with them and give them the same level of care you can?"

Fluttershy paused, thinking on that.

"They'd...they would have better lives than ever."

Starlight nodded, looking over to the pond.

"I want you to know...something like this...it's a choice. Nopony can or should make you want to do this. But I just wanted you to know...what it would mean if you and your friends were to become a part of what we're doing here."

Slowly, she turned back to her, her expression more serious than before.

"The flying skills of Rainbow...the magical talent of Twilight...all this and more, all shared by those who live here."

As Fluttershy looked on, Starlight began to move off, pausing just briefly to speak one last time to her.

"Twilight has headed off to the caves by the town, where I first found the Conduit. You should go there when you can...and think about what I said."

And so Fluttershy remained quiet, watching as Starlight walked away. Though she had spent much of her life as one known for naiveté, Fluttershy could still feel as though there had been no attempt at deception of manipulation from Starlight as she'd said all of that. The words she'd been given repeated themselves over and over in her mind, even when she turned in the direction Starlight had given her. As she looked out, far from the Town, she sighed.

"...I'm...not sure."

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