Twilight was sat in the library of her castle. She had made a small nest of pillows to lay on, while she read a book. It was the most recent addition to the Daring Do series, and she wanted to read the book before lending it to Rainbow Dash, who was also an avid fan of the series.

As she read her book, Spike lay beside Twilight, using her side as a pillow as he read a comic book. His comic book is an older version of the Power Ponies, he would occasionally open the book a bit wider and show it to Twilight to look over the page he was on, as Twilight enjoyed appreciating the artwork on each page.

And as Twilight read, she would show Spike any pictures she found on each page, for Spike to look at and Enjoy. He may not be a Daring Do fan, but he enjoyed the pictures, and they kind of told the story for him.

The afternoon was rather quiet, nice, and relaxed. They had no problems to handle. Twilight had no meetings or chores to do, they were able to just enjoy their time together. But unfortunately, their relaxed afternoon came to an end, as Twilight’s cutie mark began to glow and pulsate.

“Is that the map?” Spike asked, sitting up and looking at Twilight’s flank.
“Yeah, let's go and see what’s going on.” Twilight said as she rose to her hooves. She and Spike quickly made their way to the Map room of the castle.

As they made their way, the rest of Twilight’s friends came running into the castle, and Twilight’s eyes widened as she saw them come running, they too having pulsating cutie marks.
“The map needs all of us?!” Applejack asked as she saw Twilgiht’s cutie mark also pulsating along with the other 5 mares.
“What could the map possibly want with all 6 of us?” Pinkie asked, looking concerned.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out!” Spike chimed in, as all 7 of them ran into the map room, gathering around the map to see what was going on.
Once all 6 mares were around the map table, their cutie marks were illuminated above the map, they began to move, circling Canterlot, Past Manehatten, and coming to a stop in what looked like an empty desert area between Appleousa and Yak-Yakistan.

Rarity slowly leaned into the map to get a better look at what the map was showing them.
“It's a village.” Rarity spoke up, causing the other mares to lean in and look closely as well.

“What could possibly be over there?” Rainbow Dash asked as the 6 mares all gave each other rather confused looks.
They then looked back at the map, back at the tiny village.

It was such a small town, what could be there? Was it a friendship problem? Was the town being attacked?
“How could a town so small need all 6 of us to go there and solve some kind of problem? Whatever is going on over there, it must be huge! Maybe somepony is in danger? But even then, what would need all 6 of us?”
Twilight asked, looking very confused. And the other mares looked at each other, trying to theorize what would be over there. In the middle of a desert, in a town that looked like it was made up of 10 houses at most.

“Well, to get there, we’d need to get the train, it’ll be the final train to leave Ponyville for the evening, so we have a couple of hours to prepare for the trip.”
Fluttershy spoke up, pointing toward the train station on the map.

“Well, the train trip looks rather long, so I’d say we all pack in preparation for the trip. So possibly some food for the trip, some water. Maybe some form of entertainment, because I believe this trip will last late into the night.” Twilight suggested, and the mares all nodded in agreement.

As they all discussed plans for the trip, the map slowly faded from the table, and Spike walked over with the mare’s bags. Given how the girls didnt have a lot of trouble that involved big trips, they left their bags at the castle, seeing as the map summons them all there regardless.
Spike handed the mares their bags, as well as handing Twilight a few scrolls and quills. She may not need them, but Twilight liked having them on her in case of emergency, to summon Celestia or Luna for assistance.

“Well Spike, you’re in charge, take care of the castle while we’re gone. Girls, pack your things, and meet back at the train station in a couple of hours for the final train.” Twilight instructed, before making her way upstairs to gather a few things.

The girls quickly made their way toward their homes to gather things for the trip. After a few hours of packing, they all gathered at the train station, with Applejack being the last one to arrive.
The farm pony was panting slightly from running to the station, as she lived the furthest away.
They all welcomed Applejack warmly and then began to double-check their bags in preparation for the trip.
Everyone had packed snacks and water per Twilight’s instructions, and they told each other what they had packed.

“Well, I packed a new hat I was making at the time.” Rarity spoke up, pulling it out of her bag and putting it on her head. It was a simple-looking sunhat, but Rarity had prettified it by adding a simple gemstone pattern along the outside, that stretched up above her head so it all looked neat and put together. All topped off with a simple yellow feather for a pop of colour.

“Aaaand why would you need that?” Rainbow asked, folding her hooves.
“Well, first impressions are important.” Rarity responded, raising an eyebrow at the blue pegasus.

“Well I didnt pack anything for myself, but I do have the map of Equestria so we can mark our journey.” Fluttershy spoke up, taking out the rolled-up map, as well as a couple of pencils.
“I thought since the map in the castle had the town look so small, maybe we can update THIS map with what the town actually looks like.” Fluttershy continued, theorizing that the map may be outdated and that it has the beginning stages of the town they’re going to.

“That's not a bad idea Fluttershy! You never know what we’ll find there, and it's essential to be up to date on all information.” Twilight responded with a bright smile

“Well, ah didnt bring anything essential toward all of us, but ah brought mah rope. In case things get ugly.” Applejack explained, showing the rope tucked into her bag, wrapped within a bundle of apples she packed to eat on the train.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight had both packed books for the trip, with Twilight bringing the most recent daring do book she was reading earlier, so Rainbow could read it when she was finished. The blue pegasus did a few flips in the air in excitement.

Before handing Twilight a fairly rare find. She had found the first edition of the Daring Do series, but it had the original cover art of Daring Do standing with her hooves spread in a confident stance, her chest puffed out and her wings spread wide. The inside of the front cover was also signed by the author; A.K. Yearling.

The 2 ponies gave excited squeals at the find, and Applejack turned to Pinkie, about to ask what she packed for the trip, only to see the pink party pony stuffing her party canon into her bag with ease. Shutting her bag perfectly, she then put the bag across her back to take it onto the train and noticed Applejack’s shocked look.

“What? You never seen how I pack my party canon before?” Pinkie asked.

“No no…” Applejack began “It's just that… heheh… Ya never fail to amaze me Pinkie. Right when I thought ah had seen everythin’ ya do somethin’ that proves me wrong.”

Pinkie Pie simply laughed in response, as the train pulled up to the station. A fairly large crowd got off at Ponyville station, and one of the staff came out to tell waiting ponies to board within the next few minutes.

As they approached the train, twilight took the map from Fluttershy and opened it, showing it to the staff member.

“Hello!” Twilight began, and the staff greeted her with a warm smile.
“I just wanted to make sure. But we need to go here.” Twilight explained, pointing to the map, at the small town illustrated. “Does this train go there?”

“Yes, it does.” The staff member begins. “But it's one of the final stops the train takes, so you’ll be on board for at least the rest of the day. By the time you arrive, it'll be sundown.”

The mares all thanked the staff member and got onto the train, with Twilight putting the map back into Fluttershy’s bag. As they took their seats, the train gave a high-pitched whistle, letting out a puff of smoke, before leaving the station…

Author's Note

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, i look forward to make the next ones and building this story :D