Friendship Express

The Friendship Express is the name of the train that is usually used by the ponies in Equestria to get to certain places, beginning with the second season. Since season two, the train has appeared in the main title sequence.

Season two
Outside of the title sequence, the Friendship Express makes its series debut in Hearth's Warming Eve when the Mane Six and Spike use it in the cold open to travel to Canterlot to perform in the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant. Applejack boards the Express to travel to Canterlot to compete in the rodeo. In the same episode, when Applejack does not return, the rest of the Mane Six board the train to travel to Canterlot to try to find her. When they get a lead, they take the train again to travel to Dodge Junction. In an attempt to lose the rest of the Mane Six in their pursuit, Applejack's carriage crosses a railroad crossing just before the Express arrives. In the end of the episode, Applejack and the rest of the Mane Six take the train to return home to Ponyville. Most of the action in the episode MMMystery on the Friendship Express takes place on the Express. In A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, the Mane Six take the train to a heavily guarded Canterlot to take part in the royal wedding between Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

Season three
In The Crystal Empire - Part 1, the Mane Six take the train to travel to the Crystal Empire, which had re-emerged after a thousand years. At the end of The Crystal Empire - Part 2, the Mane Six board the train from the Crystal Empire to travel back to Ponyville. In One Bad Apple, Applejack the Cutie Mark Crusaders first meet Babs Seed at the Ponyville train station as Babs disembarks the Express. At the end of the same episode, Babs boards the train from Ponyville to travel back to Manehattan. In Just for Sidekicks, Angel sneaks aboard the Express to travel to the Crystal Empire to get back to Fluttershy. Spike, who is taking care of the Mane Six pets while they are away, attempts to get on the train to retrieve him but the conductor says he can't let him and all of the animals on without a chaperone. So Spike uses the Crusaders as chaperones, but the train pulls away from the Ponyville station before they can get off. The train stops at the Crystal Empire, where Angel attempts to get Fluttershy's attention. After a diversion from Spike, Spike, the Crusaders and the pets re-board the train to get back to Ponyville, but accidentally find themselves in the same car as the Mane Six. In Games Ponies Play, the Mane Six take the Express to travel to the Crystal Empire to welcome the Equestria Games inspector to the Crystal Empire. Later, they see a pony getting off the Express carrying floral print luggage whom they assume to be the games inspector. The end of the episode happens simultaneously with the last train sequence of Games Ponies Play.

Season four
In Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1, Princess Twilight Sparkle's friends take the train from Canterlot back to Ponyville to prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration, leaving Twilight in Canterlot to prepare her part of the celebration. Later in the same episode, Twilight at first hopes to catch the train from Canterlot to Ponyville when the Everfree Forest invades Equestria, but Spike reminds her that she now has wings. In Flight to the Finish, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are about to board the Express to the Crystal Empire, but Scootaloo decides to stay behind, convinced that the only way the Crusaders' flag-carrying routine will succeed is if she can fly. When Rainbow Dash learns of this, she pulls the emergency brake so she, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle can get Scootaloo to come back. In Rarity Takes Manehattan, Rarity and her friends take the Express to the title city. In the last act of the episode, when her friends fail to show up to her fashion show, Rarity assumes her friends took the train back to Ponyville, but it turns out they missed the show because they overslept. At the end, the Mane Six and Spike take the train back to Ponyville. In Rainbow Falls, members of the teams for the Equestria Games take the Express to the title village in hopes of qualifying for the games. In Three's A Crowd, Fluttershy's friends bid her adieu at the station as she takes the train to observe the Breezies. In Simple Ways, Twilight accompanies Rarity at the train station to greet Trenderhoof as he disembarks the train from Manehattan. Near the end of Maud Pie, Pinkie Pie accompanies the title character on the Express as she returns back to her family's rock farm. At the very end, the Mane Six send Maud off as she travels to get her rock-torate in rock science. In the third act of For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils, Sweetie Belle and her friends take the Express to Canterlot to save Rarity from a bad future after Sweetie sabotages her costumes. In the cold open of Trade Ya!, the Mane Six travel on the Express to Rainbow Falls for the annual Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange. In the end of the same episode, the Mane Six take the train and share some of the treasures they received on their way back to Ponyville. In Equestria Games, all of the competing athletes and teams travel to the Crystal Empire to compete in the title games. The train is only mentioned in Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1.

Season five
In The Cutie Map - Part 1, the Mane Six take the Express to attempt to go to a rather mysterious village they have been summoned to, but they come to the end of the line in a deserted area, so they hoof it the rest of the way. In The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie take the train from Ponyville to Griffonstone when the Cutie Map summons them there. In Party Pooped, Pinkie takes it upon herself to take the train to Yakyakistan in order to retrieve some things from there in order to make Prince Rutherford and his yak accomplices feel at home. Unfortunately, the train stops at Dodge Junction when sheep decide to graze on the tracks there. The yaks also attempt to take the train back to Yakyakistan, but the sheep at Dodge Junction also leaves them there. In Canterlot Boutique, the Mane Six disembark the Express at Canterlot to see Rarity's new boutique. In Made in Manehattan, the train appears during a long shot of Manehattan. At the end, Applejack mentions hoping to take the next train back to Ponyville. The Friendship Express is only referred to by name in The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows, where Pinkie mentions that Shining Armor and Cadance are taking it instead of the Crystal Empire train in order to not attract attention. In Hearthbreakers, the Apple family and Pinkie Pie take the Express on Hearth's Warming Eve to travel to the Pie family rock farm to spend Hearth's Warming there. Near the end of the same episode, the Apple family are on the train back to Ponyville after they are sent away by the Pies, but Applejack yells for the conductor to stop the train so they can get back to the Pies.

My Little Pony Equestria Girls
In the cold open of this film, the Friendship Express pulls into the Crystal Empire station, where the Mane Six disembark.

My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games
The Express appears in a dimensional rift opened by Midnight Sparkle as it speeds down a hill in a deserted area.