The train speeds across bridges and overpasses.
It's not fast enough.
I sit in my seat—or at least I pretend to. My legs are jostling. Bouncing. I can scarcely control my heartbeat.
What is this?
What's happening?
The green hum crackles from a distance. I gaze out the window more times than I can count. Adjusting my shades, I squint at a gray sky melting from the rise of a golden dawn. Another city looms beyond blurring lampposts. I spot skyscrapers, a white dome, a towering needle of steel and glass.
My ears pop with a crimson burst. The train dives into the earth, screaming breathlessly into an elaborate subway system.
Minutes later, I hop up, practically bounding up the steps until I'm at street level. The urban air belches into me—and yet somehow it's still a thousand times cleaner than where I have been. With magic, I drag my luggage behind me, panting as I quicken my pace.
Before long, I've pierced the downtown heart of Torontrot. The only thing more pleasant than the ponies here is the architecture—but I ignore them both. I've sneezed my way through here on tours and I can do so again.
I brush by artistic districts, relying on memory. It takes a bit of scrounging, but I dredge up the names of local music stops from my feverish mind. I find a hybrid of a coffee shop and a record store. I leave my luggage at the front entrance with permission from the propietors, and I launch myself at the vinyls that they have in stock.
For minutes... hours... I hoof my way through each album. I stare at every cover. My magenta eyes dart and twitch, paired with panting breaths.
When I find nothing... I move on.
I hop from block to block... record store to record store... sucking the musical marrow out of Torontrot with my heart and soul. I must look like a mad mare to all of the casual patrons quietly rummaging through each shop's humble assortment of vinyls. More than once, I hear a gasp or two—then golden voices whispering away, echoing DJ-P0N3's name. But none of my quiet fans bother interrupting me. The ponies here are nice, after all. So I act nice back. I ignore them.
But soon enough, I am reunited with my sighs. Another sun has set, and I realize with aching limbs and tired eyes that Torontot has yielded nothing.
I should find a hotel to sleep... to rest... to eat. But I don't. I book it straight for the subway station and I grab the first train heading east.
I need to search more...