Shortly after leaving the Castle of Friendship, Twilight teleported both her and Pinkie to Fluttershy's home. Amongst the various animals in the room, she was on her couch and reading through the book Twilight had given her. Twilight saw the same blue bird was still on her shoulder, possibly helping her by giving descriptions of the creature they were searching for.
Fluttershy noticed the appearance of the two friends and looked up from the book. "Oh, you're back Twilight. Hi Pinkie. We've been looking through this book like you asked, but we haven't found anything close to the creature."
Twilight shook her head. "That's okay Fluttershy, you don't need to keep reading. I'm here because we have a lead!" Pinkie quickly lifted a hoof. "More like a trail!"
Twilight continued despite the interruption. "Now we have something to follow, and it should lead us right to the creature, or at least close enough to know its general location."
Fluttershy smiled. "That's great news Twilight. Though, I'm sorry I didn't help much." She lowered her head a bit. Twilight lightly stamped her hoof. "That's not true. You and your bird friend are the one's who found out it was in the forest. You helped plenty." Fluttershy lifted her head back at the compliment. "It was nothing really..."
Twilight smiled back. "So, are you going to come with us to find the creature?" Fluttershy tilted her head in thought. "Sure, I'd like to help."
Pinkie Pie quickly spoke up. "But what about all your animal friends?" She said as she hugged a group of them together, who were subtly trying to get away. Fluttershy dismissed the thought. "Don't worry, they're very smart. They can take care of themselves for a bit while I'm away." She turned to the animals around the room. "Until I get back, Harry is in charge." The animals all looked at the bear, who was asleep while some birds sat on top of him. The little bunny known to them as Angel hopped forward, stamping his feet. Fluttershy firmly shook her head. "You can't be in charge this time. Remember what happened last time you were in charge?" At this, Angel's ears wilted as he remembered that disaster.
The three of them grouped up, and Twilight teleported them to gather the rest of their friends.
Luckily, each of them didn't have anything important that required their attention. It wasn't Apple bucking season yet, so Applejack could leave the light chores to Big McIntosh, Rarity didn't have any orders with a tight deadline, so she could go and leave Sweetie Bell with Apple Bloom at the farm. And Rainbow Dash didn't have a Wonderbolt show to practice for, so she joined and left Scootaloo with her friends at the farm.
After informing them of the situation and new development, the 6 teleported to Zecora's hut, where the zebra was waiting outside for them.
Twilight spoke first. "So, where does the trail start?" Zecora motioned for them to follow her, and she lead them around to the back of the hut. "After stealing a map from me, through the window the creature did flee" she told them.
Twilight walked up to the window and began using magic. She tried various magical activation spells before one of them worked, revealing a glowing blue trail of smoke. It flowed from the window and out into the forest to the east.
Twilight looked back at her group. "If it took a map and went east, then it could be headed for Manehattan. Just to be sure, we should stick to the trail. We'll find it in no time!" The group hurried off, following the curling blue smoke.
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After running through the night and well into the next day, E-30 exited the woods and saw the large city in the distance. It was remarkably similar to the city he would see back on Earth. It was an island filled with tall skyscrapers covered in windows, one of which had a gold horse head on top, like a knight in chess. Outside the city on an island of its own sat another familiar sight. "Is that the Statue of Liberty?" Indeed, the famous statue he knew from Earth had its own version in this world, except this version depicted a horse, obviously.
Looking at the mainland, he saw the large bridge connecting to the island, with a train track spanning it rather than a road for cars. "Either I find a way onto a train, or try to swim across. Earth's oceans are scary enough, so I'd rather not find out what lives in the sea here."
E-30 decided to take the train, so he headed to the station that was located right before the bridge. When he got to the station, there was already a small group of horses waiting for the train. It was easy enough to get the the tracks without a ticket, since the tickets were inside the building, and there were no fences.
He crawled underneath the wooden waiting platform and waited for the train to arrive. Above him, he heard the hard knocking sound coming from the walking horses, and various conversations that took place between them. He tried to listen in in case there was something important to he heard, but all the conversations were either uninteresting, or he lacked the proper context to understand.
He quietly unraveled his map, looking it over to try and find his destination within the city. Unfortunately, the map seemed to be meant for general directions, rather than directions within the city. "I need a better map."
E-30 heard a giggle above him, so he looked up and saw a horse child looking at him through a space between the planks. He remained silent, hoping the child would go away. For a second, the child did leave, only to return giggling harder than before. Suddenly, he saw the child begin to pour juice from a cup down between the planks. E-30 didn't move away in time to avoid being drenched in the red liquid.
He was tempted to try and scare the child, but at that moment the child's parent appeared to reprimand them. "Don't pour your juice on the ground!" The child looked down at the space between the planks. "But there was..." E-30 had moved away into the darkness, so the child saw nothing.
The two horses above him walked away, leaving him wet and frustrated. His map had been hit by the attack as well, so it was now more useless than before. "I guess I didn't need it anyway." He said, leaving it behind and getting closer to the tracks outside the platform.
The unmistakable rhythm of the train began, becoming louder as it arrived at the station. The numerous train wheels glided past him, slowing to a stop before the train blared its horn.
E-30 poked his head from underneath the platform, looking up at the train for a place he could hide. 'Maybe the caboose? No, someone will probably go back there. It's too exposed anyway. Same with the top.'
As he tried to think of a plan, the train let out another horn before it started slowly accelerating. Panicking, he searched for an idea. Underneath the train, he saw pipes and beams running the length of the car. "...This is a horrible idea..."
He scrambled from under the platform, going through a gap between two cars, and flattened himself against the track. When the next car moved over him, he grabbed on to one of the beams and lifted himself off of the track. There was no space to lay on top of the beam, so he just had to hold on for dear life as the train picked up speed.
The trip became more and more nerve wrecking as the train got faster. While he wouldn't get tired from holding his position, the shaking and vibrations of the train made him think he would slip. He accidentally let his butt get too low without thinking, and the shower of sparks that followed quickly reminded him of the danger he was in. If he got caught on something, he would definitely die. They would be finding tiny pieces of him scattered all the way down the track.
E-30 watched through the spaces between the wheels at the city got closer. Before long, the ocean was gone and the train began its long braking process. The shaking of the train car began to disappear, and the threat of obliteration went with it. The train finished stopping and blared its horn, having arrived the destination. E-30 dropped from the beam and peeked his head out from under the train. The platform wasn't made of wood this time, so he couldn't crawl under it. He decided to follow the tracks backwards, arriving at the end of the platform. He hopped over the protective barrier next to the rails, into the alley next to the platform.
Luckily, there were pamphlets scattered across the ground and jutting from trash cans. He picked on up and opened it, revealing a more detailed map of the city itself. He searched for the street he needed. "There. 9th Avenue. Now I just need to go through a crowded city without being seen." He looked to his right, seeing a sewer cover on the ground. "Great..."