Whisper galloped down the streets of Ponyville, toward one of the town's newest and most obvious landmarks. Nopony even glanced at her as she wove between citizens like barrels in a rodeo race. The Castle of Friendship grew larger and closer.

She hadn't gone to the Festival of Friendship, in Canterlot. She missed the excitement of the Storm King's invasion. Now that Princess Twilight and her friends were home, however, Whisper Wind would not be left out, again. Her pace quickened and she was soon standing at the steps to the giant blue crystal tree... house... castle... thing. It was really quite intimidating, so close. For a moment, she had second thoughts, but quickly pushed them to the back of her mind. She straightened up to her full height (though that wasn't saying much), lifted her chin, and confidently climbed the stairs and thumped her hoof on the doors.

The loud knock echoed and rang through the structure, making her jump. She almost turned and ran, but the doors were already opening.

"Who is it?" somepony shouted from inside.

A small purple and green dragon looked over his shoulder from the doorway, "I just opened the door! Be patient, Twilight!" he turned to Whisper, "hi there. Can I help you?"

Whisper squeezed her eyes closed a moment. Spike was still standing there, staring expectantly. She took a deep breath, "I'msosorrytodisturbyoucanIspeakwithPrincessTwilightplease?"

Whisper

as the Ghost.

A short pause, then, "uh. What?"

The pony groaned and took another couple breaths, slower, this time, "I'm sorry, Spike. I'm Whisper Wind. Is Princess Twilight available? I wanted to ask her some questions about your trip to the Badlands."

Spike looked over his shoulder again, then back to Whisper. He pondered, a moment, then finally replied, "well, she's catching up on her paperwork, right now, but I think she needs a break, anyway. Come on in."

"Spike? Who is it? Is it Rarity? She was going to come fit my Gala dress, today."

Whisper suppressed a giggle at Spike's reaction to the name Rarity and followed him inside. The large main room shimmered in the light filtering through the stained glass windows above.

"No, Twilight. It's Whisper Wind. She wants to talk to you about our latest adventure."

"Be right down!"

"That was easier than I expected," Spike muttered to himself. He had a suspicious tone to his voice, as if expecting a changeling to come down the stairs, instead of Twilight, "anyway," he redirected his attention to Whisper, "have a seat here and Twilight will be right down. I'm going to go get her, otherwise she won't be."

He trotted off down the hall and Whisper took a seat on a bench in the wall. Numerous doors lined the other walls, and she couldn't help but wonder what was behind each one. All she knew was the big central one led to the throne room.

A few moments passed before Spike reappeared, "she keeps doing the 'one more page' thing. You should probably just follow me to the library," Whisper stood and did as she was told, "so, why the interest in the Badlands? They were not a fun place."

The filly looked at her hooves nervously, "well... I've always loved Daring Do, and always wanted to go on adventures. I've ventured into the Everfree Forest, a few times, but these Badlands sound so exciting to me!"

Spike snorted a short, flaming laugh, "that's one word for it, I suppose. Anyway, here we are," he pushed open the door, "Twilight. Visitor."

Sure enough, the purple pony princess was sitting at a desk, scribbling away at towers of paperwork, "uh huh. I know. I said I'd be right down after this page."

The dragon sighed, "no. I mean, she's right here," he gestured with both arms to Whisper.

Twilight's head probably should have snapped off from how fast it shot up and twisted around, "what? But. I," she groaned.

"Sorry Twi. I didn't want to keep her waiting," he plopped into a large chair, "and you were taking forever."

Whisper smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to interrupt your duties."

"I told you, she needs a break. She's been working for ten hours, straight!"

The alicorn stood up and walked toward the unicorn standing awkwardly in the doorway, "you're probably right, Spike. So, Whisper, was it?" she looked the visitor up and down. Her coat was a matte black, and her blank white mane contrasted heavily. The image of a small bright green wisp of smoke sat on her haunches, giving no indication of this pony's talent, "I recognize you, but don't seem to see you around town, much."

"Yeah. My special talent is going unnoticed."

Twilight let out a, "hmmm," that Whisper knew so well. Everypony who heard what her talent was had that same response. Who is unique by blending in? A moment later, however, Twilight seemed to snap out of her thoughts and gestured toward the chairs, "oh, right. You wanted to talk about the Badlands?"

The two took a seat, "well. To be perfectly honest..." this was it. This was the moment she had been anxious for since word had first arrived from Canterlot. How she handled this could change her life, forever, "I... I want to be your official Friendship Ambassador to Klugetown!"

There was an uncomfortable long silence. Spike had stopped his idle fidgeting and both stared wide-eyed at Whisper, who felt like she wanted to melt into her chair. Finally, after too many long seconds, Twilight put a hoof to her face and spoke, "why does everypony think that's a thing. Everypony keeps asking to be a Friendship Ambassador. That was just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. But now it's apparently a thing!" she groaned, then seemed to come back down to Equestria from her rant and looked Whisper straight in the eyes, "why?"

Another pause, this one much shorter and less awkward, as Whisper gathered her thoughts into her prepared speech, "I've always wondered what I'm meant to do. Everypony else gets their cutie mark and knows their talent, and it tells them what they should be doing with their lives. Me? I'm socially invisible. I don't know what to do with that. My only happiness in life was reading Daring Do. It inspired me to explore. I went into the Everfree Forest," Twilight looked startled a moment, but Whisper continued, "and found that my power worked on the monsters and animals there, too. I could sneak through the trees without being attacked. I even watched an Ursa Major sleep with her baby, one night!" Another shocked look. Whisper paused to take a breath, then continued before Twilight could interrupt, "I never feel more alive than when I'm in the midst of danger. Then, I heard about your adventure in the South! All the places we had never heard of, and the strange creatures that lived there. I want to see it for myself. I know this is my calling."

More silence. Whisper could hear her heart thudding in her chest. When a knock came on the door, she almost jumped out of her hide.

"Twilight?" a pink and purple unicorn leaned her head into the library, "ooo. Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. The friendship map is calling somepony."

"Who?"

"That's the thing. I don't know. There are four cutie marks, and I don't recognize any... of..." she trailed off, staring at the now-blinking cutie mark on Whisper's flank, "Correction. I recognize one of them. Her's."

"Oh, oh oh!" the vibrant, jubilant pink pony bounced around the table in middle of the throne room, "I know that one!" she jabbed a hoof at one of the four cutie marks floating over Klugetown (the one that looked like a clay pot), "that's one of my cousins! Pot Pie!"

"Ain't that convenient," Applejack said from her chair.

"Well, the map isn't going to have us send somepony we don't even know, would it?" Starlight Glimmer was standing at the south side of the table, examining it closely, "we can't exactly send them if we can't find them. Though, none of us know Whisper, that well, and I don't recognize the other two, either."

Twilight nodded, "This is the first time it's even expanded beyond our group of friends. That time it called Starlight surprised me, but this?" she seemed at a loss for words.

Whisper was just standing as far from the action as possible, unsure what to do or say. Finally, she worked up the courage to speak. Every head turned to her as she did so, as if just noticing her for the first time, "so... what does this mean? Why was my cutie mark flashing?"

"Whenever there is a major friendship problem, somewhere in Equestria," Twilight began, only to be interrupted by Starlight interjecting "or beyond, apparently," the alicorn shot her pupil a glare, then continued, "Whenever there is a friendship problem, the map has called upon two of us to go out, find it, and solve it. For example, it called Applejack and Fluttershy to Las Pegasus to fix a problem with the performers at one of the casinos there, and called Starlight to Canterlot when..." she trailed off, realizing she didn't want to reveal to a random pony that the princesses had argued, "when there was a dispute in the Royal Court."

"So, it's calling me... to solve a... friendship problem?"

"You and three others," Starlight corrected.

Twilight nodded, "apparently your feelings of purpose were spot on, Whisper. You really are meant to travel to Klugetown. I can't say why, but when we find these other three ponies," again, Twilight was interrupted, but what Rainbow Dash said made everypony's eyes snap to the map.

"Two ponies," the blue pegasus said, "and a griffon."

Indeed, they now noticed that one of the symbols was in the shape of a griffon's talon.

"How are we supposed to figure out who it is from that?" Pinkie shouted, "every griffon has talons!"

"Well, the griffon we need will be glowing," Fluttershy's explanation was quickly drowned out by Rainbow saying basically the same thing, but three times louder.

"So we find the glowy griffon!" Pinkie bounced on her hooves, "and I'll call my cousin! I bet he's reeealy confused as to why his butt's glowing!" she giggled.

"I'll get a hold of Gilda," Rainbow said, "see if she's seen any... glowing griffons."

"We could ask the Crusaders, too," AJ shrugged at the strange looks she got, "they have that griffon friend, right?" she got nods of understanding and affirmation.

"That only leaves this one," Starlight indicated the cutie mark of a pair of gears, "maybe we can set up a locating spell. Or put out flyers."

"I shall contact Sassy Saddles and Miss Pommel. They might have seen something in Manehattan or Canterlot," Rarity suggested.

"I can call the princesses," Twilight added, "and my parents. And Cadence. Ohhh I need to make a list of people to ask!" Spike sighed and immediately pulled out a quill and parchment from seemingly nowhere, "Spike, make a- oh, thank you."

Whisper looked back at the map. These three ponies. No, two ponies and griffon? That was exciting. These three would be her traveling companions. She didn't even know them, yet. Why them? What would they be like? She pictured Pot Pie as a jokester. He was related to Pinkie, after all. The griffon was probably big, strong, and terrifying. The last one had gears for a cutie mark, so she was obviously the quiet, nerdy type.

A crash from upstairs put an end to the conversations and Whisper's thoughts. They all looked up to see a mass of feathers wedged in one of the windows, "a little help, please?"

Rainbow Dash flew up and tugged the glowing talon that was presented to her. With a jolt and another crash, the pegasus and griffon sat in a crumpled heap on the floor.

"Well I'll be," Applejack sat up and tipped back her hat, "fancy that."

"Gabby told me to come see you," the bird-like creature had made its way off the floor and was straightening and preening its feathers. It was the typical brown of the average griffon, with black secondaries and orange accents. He was lankier than Whisper had expected, but still pretty tall and imposing around the little ponies, "she said you ponies had seen something similar to this?" he held up his talon, which had just stopped glowing, "huh. Guess this is the right place."

Marduk

as the Hunter.

"I don't know about y'all," the orange earth pony sighed, "but this whole deal with the map gets creepier by the day."

Starlight giggled, "magic can do that."

"Ooo!" had Pinkie stopped bouncing even once since she arrived? "I wonder if I can use it to call ponies for a party?"

"Shouldn't you be callin' yer cousin?"

Now she stopped bouncing, just long enough for her eyes to go wide, before she disappeared in a pink blur.

The griffon was standing even more awkwardly than Whisper was. He didn't have the convenience of her social invisibility.

Twilight noticed this and hurried to him, "I'm so sorry. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. Allow me to explain everything," she led him to the side and entered lecture mode. Starlight was still scratching her chin at the map. Fluttershy was doing her best to imitate Whisper and disappear. Rainbow and AJ were loudly discussing something completely unrelated (hoofball, whatever that was).

"...and this is Whisper Wind." the unicorn jumped as she heard her name and turned to see Twilight and the griffon walking up to her, "she's one of the other three who were called. Whisper, this is Marduk."

"Hi," Whisper squeaked, "I'm Whisper."

The griffon laughed, "a shy one, eh?" his voice carried a bit of a drawl, similar to Applejack's but more laid-back and mellow, "pleased to meet ya," he extended a talon, which Whisper shook awkwardly with a hoof, "Gabby said her Crusader buddies told her about this weird cutie map thing, but I never thought I'd get involved. Pretty random, eh?"

"That's what I don't get about all of this," Twilight said, "it's always called me and my friends. Why these random ponies? Why now? It just seems too convenient!"

"Do you mind if I do some tests on the map, Twilight?" the three turned to Starlight, "I won't do anything intrusive. Just surface level stuff. See if I can figure out the core mechanism, and try to answer our questions about it."

"That's a good idea," Twilight trotted of to the table, leaving the two would-be adventurers alone in the corner, "I mean, we've had this thing for years now, and since the Pony of Shadows incident..."

"So..." Whisper turned away from the magic discussion to the griffon, "are you excited?"

Marduk grinned down at Whisper. Somehow. How did that work with a beak? "Hell yeah! I've been itching for adventure, and this falls right into my lap? Karma's been real good to me."

Whisper winced at the swear, but tilted her head at the other strange word, "Karma?"

"It's, like, this force that governs everything. When you do good, good happens to you. If you do bad, you get it back, as well," he shrugged, "don't know if I believe in it, but I like the thought."

"Well, magic can give us our destinies and call us to grand adventures. That sounds like your Karma, to me."

The griffon playfully punched the pony's shoulder, "I think I'm gonna really like you, my little pony friend."

Whisper laughed awkwardly. This day was going too fast for her. Magic maps, glowing marks, and griffons calling her friend. She needed to lay down. Twilight and Starlight were still having an animated discussion at the table as she approached. Unsurprisingly, neither noticed. She cleared her throat. Nothing. "Excuse me?" They continued, and she sighed. He horn glowed a bright green, and when she spoke again, her voice boomed across the room, "excuse me?" Everypony (and griffon) jumped and stared, "sorry, princess," she cut the glow, "it's hard for me to get ponies' attention."

"No, it's alright," Twilight said, "what's up?"

"Wow," Starlight added, "you look exhausted."

Whisper nodded, "can I go home for the night? It's been a really long day."

"Of course!" the princess looked taken aback, "we could set up a room for you here, if you'd like."

"No, thanks. I need to get ready for the trip, anyway. I'll come by first thing in the morning, though."

Twilight nodded, then turned to Marduk as the unicorn left, "I assume you need a place to sleep. Griffonstone is a long way."

He shrugged, "eh, Griffonstone is lame. I'd be happy to crash at your place, if someone will tell Gabby."

"Spike? Will you show Marduk to a spare room, and send a letter to Griffonstone?" she looked over to a drooping dragon, "then you should go to bed, too."

The dragon and griffon left the room, followed soon after by Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. Twilight and Starlight stayed up late into the night, studying the map.

By noon, Pot Pie was on his way to Ponyville. Coincidentally, he had just finished a long delivery run, and was looking for a new journey, as well. This, of course, fueled Twilight's paranoia into the whole ordeal. The last pony had been located overnight in the Crystal Empire. One of Sunburst's old friends had come to him to find out why her cutie mark was flashing, and Starlight's childhood friend had gotten in touch with her. She was on another train south as Whisper, Marduk, and Pinkie Pie assembled at the train station to meet Pot.

"So, what's your cousin like, Ponk?"

Pinkie giggled at the nickname the griffon had given her, "he's a lot like my sister!" she didn't elaborate, apparently not remembering that the other two hadn't met her sister. Or that she had three very different sisters. Because of this, Whisper chose to believe, once again, that Pot Pie was like this pink mass of hyperactive cotton candy.

The brightly colored train pulled up to the station and ground to a halt. Pinkie PIe was bouncing from window to window, trying to get a view of her relative, inside. She was at the very back of the train when he exited the first car.

Whisper's eyes grew wide. She knew it was him by his cutie mark, but what stood before her was nothing like what she had expected. Pot Pie was easily twice the size of a normal pony. He had to squeeze to get through the train's door. His coat was a muted reddish-brown and his mane and tail looked like straight, short, dirty straw. He looked around as Pinkie Pie bounded back toward them. He turned his head toward Marduk and Whisper. He had actually noticed her in the crowd. His eyes locked gazes with hers.

Pot Pie

as a Pony.

"Cousin!" Pinkie threw her arms around her massive relative, who carefully but enthusiastically hugged her back, "it's been so long! How's the delivery business? I heard you traveled all the way to Yakyakistan, last month!"

He laughed a deep, hearty laugh. When he spoke, it was in a soothing baritone that made Whisper melt, "and I heard you're the official Friendship Ambassador to Yakyakistan!"

"We should go together, sometime!"

"Well I seem to be going to Klugetown, right now. Maybe after Hearth's Warming Eve?"

"It's a date!"

Marduk leaned toward Whisper with a claw shielding the side of his beak, "that doesn't seem like a very specific date, to me."

The big pony turned toward the unicorn and griffon. Pinkie was now on his shoulders, waving her hooves like she had a lasso, "so, are these the new friends you told me about?"

"Suuure are! This is Whisper, and Marduk."

Whisper shrank back, but Pot Pie grabbed she and Marduk in one big, choking hug, "pleasure to meet you two. I look forward to our adventures together," he set them down and they staggered a moment, "you said there was a fourth, though."

"Yupperoonie! She will be here in a few hours. She's coming from the Crystal Empire," without warning, Pinkie gasped and her mane shot straight up, "I know! Let's go to Sugarcube Corner while we wait! Mr. and Mrs. Cake just finished this amazing batch of cupcakes. They're carrot cake with avocado icing and a cherry tomato on top! Get it? Cherry tomato on top?" she giggled uncontrollably, rolling on her back and nearly falling off of Pot's broad shoulders.

Whisper rolled her eyes and motioned wordlessly for the other two to follow her as she led the way to the sweet shop, "so, Pot Pie," he looked sidelong at her as they walked, "you noticed me in the crowd."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, my special talent is not being noticed, and that train station was pretty busy, today."

He shrugged, bumping the still laughing Pinkie into the air, briefly, "I'm a traveling merchant. If I don't notice something, or somepony, I could get hurt, tricked, or stolen from."

"Is that usually a problem?" Marduk asked.

"No. Because I always notice things and ponies."

"Fair enough," the griffon did his creepy grin, again, "I like you, too. This is going to be one hell of a trip."

The big red pony smiled back. The smiles and contagious laughter of the pink one brought a smile to Whisper's face, as well, "yeah. It is."

Whisper watched as the others ate. Pinkie shoved cupcakes in her mouth, the icing coating her lips as she told a joke about three pigs. Or something. Pot Pie was far removed from his cousin's demeanor. He ate slowly, sure to finish a bite before speaking, or starting another one. He also ate much less than Whisper expected. Marduk was concerned, at first, about pony cuisine, but found a nice blueberry and peanut scone. He seemed to be enjoying it a bit too much.

She sat and nibbled a cupcake. It wasn't nearly as bad as it had sounded from the description, and made her feel a bit less guilty about eating cupcakes for lunch.

"and then the last pig replied, "orange you glad I didn't paint it blue?" Pinkie's laughter filled the shop. Other patrons glanced over, but they all knew what to expect from her, and went back to their meals. Pot Pie laughed politely and told Pinkie it was a good joke. Marduk gave Whisper a confused look, and she just shrugged and awkwardly joined the laugh, "your turn, Whisper!"

"What?"

"Tell us a joke!" her eyes seemed to pierce Whisper's soul as she stared expectantly.

Whisper stammered, "so. Um. My uncle is in the hospital. He fell, and couldn't giddyup. Don't worry, though. His condition is stable."

There was a long silence. The griffon gave her a look that said, "what was that?" Then, Pinkie exploded into another round of riotous laughter. Her cousin laughed along politely.

"Couldn't giddyup!" Pinkie wailed, "condition stable!" she fell off her chair and rolled on the floor.

Marduk's look changed to downright confused, "is she okay? Something seems very wrong with that pony."

"Her sisters would agree with you," Pot Pie leaned close so he didn't have to shout over Pinkie's laughter, "they claim she's seen every shrink from here to Manehattan," his grin made it hard to tell if he was joking or not.

Finally, Pinkie quit laughing and got back into her chair, "well, Marduk, think you can beat Whisper's joke?"

He rolled his eyes, "yeah, that'd be real hard. Not sure I should even try. Hey!" Whisper nudged his ribs with a hoof and now they were all four laughing.

A distant bell brought it to an end, as the town's clock tower signaled 2pm.

"Guess we should get back to the train station, huh?" Marduk stood and stretched his wings, drawing looks from the other ponies in the shop. He gave the room a wink in reply.

"Yes!" Pinkie jumped up, "I wonder what she's like? Do you think she likes cupcakes? I should take her one. What flavor, though? Maybe one of each?"

As Pinkie rambled, the other three wandered toward the door and Pot Pie asked, "what's her name, anyway?"

Whisper shrugged, but Marduk put a claw to his beak in thought, "they told me, this morning. What was it...? Hmmm... oh, yes, Bevel Gear," he chuckled and shook his head, "you ponies have such crazy names."

They were half way to the station by the time Pinkie Pie caught up, a large box of cupcakes balanced on her back, "I couldn't decide. They all seemed so good, and I didn't know what Bevel would want. I can give the extras to my other friends. Ooo!" she zipped over to a small group of fillies and presented the box to them. They each took one and she was back in a flash, "that works too."

As they approached the tracks, they could see the train was already at the station. Another large (for Ponyville) crowd was gathered to meet the travelers, and the four companions were greeted by Twilight and Starlight as they approached.

"We were beginning to wonder," the later said.

"Pinkie had to get a box of cupcakes," no sooner had Pot Pie said this, than the box was shoved under the noses of the two purple ponies, who each graciously took a sweet.

"Is Bevel here yet?" Whisper asked.

"The train just pulled in," Twilight answered, "she should be getting off any time. We might have to wait for the crowd to clear a bit before we can find her, though."

They didn't have to wait. A silver blur appeared briefly above the heads of the other ponies. Then again. Then once more. Before they knew it, a silvery-blue pegasus filly was in front of them, dancing on her hooves in excitement, her grease-colored mess of a mane seeming to vibrate in time, and her wings fluttering like a hummingbird's, "hi there, I'm Bevel Gear!"

Bevel Gear

as the Techie

Pinkie bounced up and the two began bouncing in circles around each other, "oh, I like her!" Pinkie giggled.

Marduk shook his head and smiled, "I can't imagine why."

"So," Twilight stood behind the map table with her student. The other four stood on the other side, looking across the miniature Equestria as she spoke. It had been a full day since Bevel had arrived. The adventurers were all feeling well rested, but the princess looked tired and overworked, "now that you are all here, we should fill you in on what we learned in studying the map."

"Not much," Starlight muttered, eliciting a sharp look from Twilight, "what? It's true."

"While it's true we still don't know the exact mechanisms that govern the map's function, we were able to learn how it calls those it summons. We were able to-"

"We replicated it!" Starlight blurted, then shrank back, "sorry."

Twilight's look softened, "no, no. You're the one who replicated the spell. You should tell them."

The excitement in Starlight's eyes shone bright as the sun, "so, we figured out enough of the map to replicate the basic functions," her horn glowed and four books rose from behind the table. Each had the three cutie marks and talon on them in silver, with a different in gold on each. She passed them to their respective owners, who opened them to find the pages blank, "these journals will help you pinpoint and record any potential friendship problems you come across, like a diary. They also record anypon- anybody you meet and places you discover, like an encyclopedia."

Twilight smiled at the overflowing enthusiasm in her friend, "they also integrate the magic from a communications book I use to talk to another friend. If you write to me or Starlight in it, our copy will receive the message, and vise versa."

"It also works between your books," Starlight added, "in case you get separated."

The book Whisper held in her magic began to glow and vibrate, as did Pot Pie's and Marduk's. They opened them to find:

G34R: Test post. Please ignore.

"Well that seems to work," Marduk gave the silver pony a sideways grin, "you write quick."

"That was Bevel?" Pot looked confused, "the name says Gee-Three-Four-Arr."

"I modified the magic shell by writing a string of spell code into the inside cover..."

Whisper raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound real. The results didn't lie, though. She nudged Marduk's shoulder as his eyes glazed over, "don't worry about it," she muttered, "it's just meaningless technobabble."

"Can you change mine, too?" the griffon asked.

"And mine!" Pot said.

Whisper shrugged, "might as well."

They handed their books to the pegasus, who went to work with her unusual quill. Whisper hadn't noticed, but now realized she always kept it tucked in with her wing feathers. The quill was made of metals and crystals, instead of being a real feather, but blended nicely with the color of Bevel's coat. When the work was finished, Whisper opened the book to find a list titled "Contacts," under which were listed:

• Bookhorse (Twilight Sparkle)
• G34R (Bevel Gear)
• Ghost (Me)
• Kitetail (Starlight Glimmer)
• Hawkeye (Marduk)
• Scarecrow (Pot Pie)

The next page was labeled "Objectives" and held one item:

A Journey Ahead

Meet with Capper at Badlands station.

Turning the page revealed a map of Equestria. Three small cutiemark (and a talon) icons sat over Ponyville, and another, diamond-shaped one, south of Equestria, though it was simply labeled "objective." One more page ahead showed a closer view of the castle's interior as a map, with the icons for herself and her three companions in the throne room, as well as ones for Twilight and Starlight, "wow," she breathed.

Starlight giggled with glee, "amazing, isn't it? That more detailed map will change depending on your current location, and show the locations of others, nearby. Go outside, and it will show Ponyville. Enter Sugarcube Corner, it will show the inside of the building."

Twilight raised a hoof, "but it will only show places you've been and seen. It can't show you the basement of the castle, for example, unless you go down there. Same goes for cities and towns."

"Right. Finally, Rarity helped us make you all saddlebags that integrate with the books, so you can see at a glance what you have in your packs. It should help you keep things safe and organized in the streets of Klugetown."

Twilight shuddered at the memories of creatures trying to buy and sell all sorts of items... and other creatures.

"So, what now?" Pot Pie put his book into his new saddlebags.

"Well, our train doesn't leave until tomorrow morning. I guess we chill until then?" Marduk did the same and looked around the room, aimlessly.

"Are you kidding?" a pink head appeared suddenly from behind the griffon's head, "we have to throw your going away party!"

"How does she do that?" Whisper wondered aloud.

Pot Pie laughed, "you learn not to ask."