When compared to the happier and open environment of the Town, this place right here was about as far removed as you could get. And yet, Twilight knew she had to be here. A cave, darker than dark, located right at the base of the mountain range that stood beside the Town. It was cold, it was unpleasant, and it was pretty much the last place anypony would want to come to. But, with her horn illuminating her surroundings, Twilight did not stop in making her way further into it. Every once in a while she'd come across some tiny puddle on the ground, where drops of water would fall from the stalactites above her. But she ignored the less-than-pleasant aspects of her being here, and instead focused on what lay in front. For it was not long before she finally saw what it was she'd come here for. Taking steps closer towards it, the young Princess narrowed her eyes, letting out a long sigh.

"So...this was where it came from."

"Twilight?"

"GAH!!!"

Spinning around, Twilight looked on in surprise to see that it was none other than Fluttershy, who backed away from her as soon as she'd screamed like that. Twilight, realising who it was, immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh...Fluttershy...it's you."

The yellow pegasus nodded, gesturing to the side.

"Well...not just me."

And it was with such words that Twilight noted that her friend was indeed not alone here. Applejack, Pinkie and all the rest of her friends had joined her, and together, they looked to one another with looks of uncertainty. Twilight, seeing that, spoke the question she knew she'd have to ask.

"So...what did you find out?"

After another round of worried-looking faces, it was Rarity who spoke first.

"Well...everypony here seems to be...happy here."

Pinkie nodded.

"Yep! Nothing creepy or schemey or bad-guy-ish going on anywhere!"

Rainbow grumbled.

"And it's totally boring! All these ponies are just...just nice, and not trying anything sneaky at all. They just kept saying how good things are here!"

Twilight nodded to that.

"I thought as much."

Fluttershy, looking once more to Twilight, spoke in a more thoughtful tone.

"Twilight...why did you come here?"

Looking around briefly, Twilight sighed.

"Double Diamond told me about this place. It where Starlight first found the Conduit. In fact..."

She turned, her gaze now once more upon the direction she'd been looking in before Fluttershy startled her.

"...they found it...in there."

She increased the power to her horn, lighting up the immediate area even more than before. And within moments, her friends all stared wide-eyed at what now stood before them. It was a wall, pony-built, right at the back of the cave, and at its centre was what appeared to be a stone door, which had been opened. That door was large, towering over all of them. Large enough, in fact, for them to realise that the Conduit would have been placed within it. Rainbow, walking next to Twilight, kept her eyes on it before speaking up.

"So...somepony just put that big diamond here?"

Looking to her alicorn friend, she bore confusion in her expression.

"Why?"

Narrowing her eyes, Twilight stepped forward, and as she did so, the light of her horn began to make it clear that there was writing upon that wall, which everypony else soon noticed. But, the words and markings they saw were completely unrecognisable. That is, except for Twilight herself, who now placed her hoof upon it.

"It's old ponish. I was never an expert in it, but I know enough to get a good idea of the story here."

Pinkie smiled widely to that.

"Ooooh! A story? Go ahead!"

Looking over the words in front of her, Twilight did exactly that.

"Long ago...there was a unicorn king, whose magic was more powerful than any other in his kingdom. But he was cruel, jealous. He treated those whose magic threatened to match or surpass him with nothing but ridicule and scorn."

She walked along the wall, speaking aloud as she continued to read the inscriptions.

"Several of his unicorns grew so tired of this that they left, forming a village far away from his borders. And there, they began to turn away from the ideas that king had built his power on. The notion of the greatest magic having the greatest say. So..."

Briefly, she glanced to the massive open doors nearby.

"...using their talents, they created the Conduit, so that no matter how exceptional one was, that ability could be used by all who lived with them. That nopony would ever be left out or made to feel as though they could not stand with them as equals."

But then, she frowned.

"When the king they'd escaped found out about this, he raged. He might have still surpassed them in magic, but compared to the talents they all shared, each and every pony in that village surpassed him in almost every other way.”

She placed her hoof gently upon that final inscription.

"He went after them, hoping to destroy the Conduit, as well as the ponies who made it...and so those ponies fled. They hid the Conduit, hoping to keep it safe. Hoping...that a day would come when ponies would accept what they had tried to begin there."

And with that, her friends could tell that the story had finished, as Twilight simply stared at the ancient words upon the wall. Rainbow, for her part, looked to her like some eager child, waiting for more. But, when it became clear that there was no more, she instead just gave a frown.

"Wait...that's it?!"

Twilight nodded.

"Yes...that was it."

Rainbow looked to her, then to the wall, and back and forth a few times over, before just settling on the wall.

"It's...it's not an evil plan? I...I don't know what to do when it's not an evil plan!"

Twilight nodded again.

"In truth...I suspected that this might be the case. The Conduit is no evil magic. The ponies of the Town aren't scheming...and every single one of them has meant what they've said to us when they told us how happy they are here."

Rainbow looked to the other mares, many of whom seemed as nonplussed as she was, before once more looking to Twilight, scratching her head as she spoke.

"But...but the Map called us here, remember? There's gotta be something wrong going on here!"

It was with that when Twilight finally looked her in the eye.

"I realise that. But whatever it is, the Conduit isn't the problem. They’re not the problem. Whatever reason the Map sent us here...we haven't been able to find it."

Taking a step forward, it was Fluttershy who spoke next.

"So...what are we going to do?"

Twilight thought long and hard about that, looking again to the inscriptions. From everything she'd learned, it was obvious to her that not once, in the entire history of this place, this magic or anypony else here, had there ever been any ill intent. And yet, here they were, still looking for a problem in a place that, by all appearances, had none. Naturally, the Princess was at a loss here, even as her friends looked to her for guidance. Then, in one moment, she turned to Fluttershy, staring at her for the longest time. Afterwards, she shut her eyes tightly, letting out an incredibly long sigh, before giving a single nod.

"...We need to go back into the Town."

Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"Fer what?"

Turning, Twilight looked back where she'd come from, to the entrance of the cave, where the light of the day could be seen pouring in. She narrowed her eyes, walking just beyond where her friends were standing, before speaking up in a tone full of purpose.

"I need...to talk to Starlight. There's...something important that needs to be said."

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