Ponyvillian Holiday

Chapters

Royal Troubles
The Transfer
Good Morning Sunshine
It Begins
Midday Flyer
Quirky Small-Town Charm

Royal Troubles

Her Royal Majesty Princess Celestia, the Ruler of Equestria and Its Satellites, Bringer of the Sun, Giver of Law, Vanquisher of Evil, Queen of the Sky, Duchess of the West, Generallissimo of the Equestrian Army, Lady of Canterlot Castle, Chairpony of the Council of Magic, Headmistress of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Archcurator of the Canterlot Royal Archives, Senior Leader of the Equestrian Crisis Council, Head Researcher of the Equestrian Historical Society, she of infinite patience, caring, and wisdom, immortal leader of All Ponykind, was fed up.

"So let me get this straight," she said, peering down at the assembled ponies at the foot of her throne, "you want me to approve this bill . . ."

"Exactly, Auntie," broke in Blueblood. "That's what we've been saying this entire time!"

"You all expect me to make into law a bill which not only reduces your royal income tax, already at 1.5 percent, to zero, but in fact gives you a rather large tithe from the royal income because, and I quote," -she peered at the parchment- "We're just that awesome."

Blueblood, Jet Set, Uppercrust, and several other members of the Canterlot elite nodded in approval.

"I am not signing this," said Celestia, "and that's my final say. It is ludicrous and entirely unneccesary."

The ponies before her frowned. Celestia ignored them and continued, "I'm not even sure why you created this bill, Blueblood, since, as a member of the royal family, you already live off the income from the taxes."

Blueblood merely scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"We will be taking this to the legislature," said Jet Set. "Our cause will not be denied by the whim of one pony. We shall set our brave ideals before Equestria and let it decide."

"Bribe the representatives, you mean," said Celestia, sighing. "If you have no other issues to present before me, you are dismissed."

Celestia was not sad to see them leave, even if they took entirely too long to file out of the throne room. She shifted her royal tush slightly. Most ponies don't realize how uncomfortable the throne is. Years of desperate research suggested an irreversible hardening spell was put on it to "prevent royalty from sitting easy in power", by an annoyingly poetic former king. Celestia had even tried putting down a cushion, but it just turned into stone.

"Right, how many cases left?" she asked her scribe, sensing a migraine on the horizon.

"Only five hundred and seventy-three, your majesty!" said the scribe cheerily.

The sun flickered briefly overhead.

The orange light of sunset played upon the door as it squeaked gently open. "What's up, sister?" asked Luna. Celestia responded with a thrown pillow.

"That great, hmm?" said Luna, grinning. "Did you finally give in and pass Blueblood's silly bill?"

Celestia was lolled out on her bed, sipping tea, and feeding Philomeena cake. She frowned. "Of course not! If it went through, there wouldn't be enough in the budget to fund the new airship dock!" She groaned. "They'll get it through the convention, though, I just know it."

Luna tilted her head. "I still don't understand why you did all this, Tia. You had complete control, and you just gave it away and set up a system you hate!"

"You don't understand," insisted Celestia. "We can't just give orders. They need to think for themselves. They're all individuals. They're all unique. They have the potential to make Equestria into a better place than I could ever create. We just need to give them the opportunity."

She flopped her head back down. "Even if it puts me through Tartarus every day."

Luna sat down next to Celestia on the bed. "Can we still execute dissidents?"

"Not anymore," said Celestia, smiling ruefully. "We outlawed that five hundred years ago."

"Too bad," said Luna. She stared at the setting sun thoughtfully for a while, stroking Philomeena quietly, without saying anything. Celestia stared at her sister in confusion. Luna wasn't usually the thoughtful sibling; that was Celestia's job. What was she planning?

"I know what you need to do," said Luna at last. The corners of her mouth turned up into an impish smile, and she gazed at Celestia with a frightening look of mischief. Celestia felt genuine fear.

"I know what you need to do!" repeated Luna, more loudly now. She jumped up from the bed, causing Philomeena to squawk loudly. "It's obvious! Oh, and it'll be so fun!"

"Luna," said Celestia cautiously, "you and I have always had differing ideas of fun . . ."

"You should take a vacation!" said Luna.

"A what?"

"A vacation! A holiday!" said Luna. Celestia stared at her blankly. "You know, take some time off," said Luna encouragingly.

Celestia finally processed what her sister had said. "Take a break . . . from being a princess? Leave behind my kingdom? Who'll raise the sun every day? You're not yet powerful enough to handle it on your own, and you don't understand the system . . ."

Luna stuck her hoof over Celestia's mouth. "Just listen for a moment. You can take a temporary break from your job, just spend some time having fun for the first time in two-and-a-half thousand years. Travel Equestria! Relax! Be a normal pony, not the princess!" She pulled away her hoof and looked expectantly at her sister.

Celestia let out a bitter laugh and picked up her teacup. "Yes, and I certainly wouldn't stand out in a crowd."

"There is a solution for that," said Luna calmly. "You could be a normal pony, and have the sun taken care of as well."

The teacup nearly dropped, but Celestia caught herself. "Surely- you don't mean- the transfer-?"

Luna nodded.

"That's incredibly risky!" exclaimed Celestia. "Nopony's performed that spell in millenia, and for good reason!"

"There is very little chance of an accident when doing it. It's been done successfully before. And it can be reversed without too much effort," said Luna.

"But even we did go through with it, what pony would be responsible and knowledgeable enough to handle all that power?"

"I should think that would be obvious too," said Luna.

Once again, Celestia grappled with her teacup. "Absolutely not. I cannot ask her to do that for me- the risks are too high-"

"You know she could handle it," said Luna, smiling. "We just have to give her the opportunity."

Celestia paused to consider. I could gain brand new insights into my country . . . see things through the hooves of a normal pony . . . and yes, get away from all this work for a bit. And I'd certainly trust her with my life, but what if something unexpected happened? She couldn't handle a national crisis . . . no, that's not true, she's done it four times before. But still . . .

"I can't do it," said Celestia. "It is very tempting, and it might just work, but it's too big a risk to take."

Luna sighed. "You were always too responsible for your own good, sister."

Celestia trudged slowly to the throne room the next morning, not feeling any less overworked, but far more virtuous.

With a heavy heart, she entered the room and sat down upon that extremely uncomfortable, glorified chair. Her scribe bustled up with a look of alarm.

"Blueblood's taken his bill to the legislative convention, and they've backed it up. If you still want to veto it, he'll take it to the court."

Celestia's eyes widened in alarm. She had to veto the bill, there was no doubt about that, but if Blueblood was going to take it to court . . .

A long string of tedious hearings played through her mind's eye, with "citizen leaders" brought in from every corner of Equestria to testify, endless discussion and debates, and if worst came to worst, a popular vote . . .

"Your majesty?" asked the scribe.

Celestia bolted down the hall back to her rooms. Yanking a pen, inkpot, and sheet of parchment from goodness-knows-where, she sat down at her writing table, and began to scribble:

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

The Transfer

Twilight gingerly stepped off the train to Canterlot. She was worried. Some nagging, unconcious gut feeling told her something odd was going on.

But why should she be worried? She had been invited to Canterlot by her mentor to simply take part in a mission. A mission which was a matter of such extreme urgency that Twilight had to be on the train that very afternoon. And which nopony could know about, not even Spike. She'd even asked Twilight to burn the letter she'd sent it on her . . .

Okay, yeah, this was kinda creepy.

But if there was one thing Twilight has too much of, it's faith in in her teacher. Trying to assuage her worries, she collected her bags and headed for the castle.

For some strange reason, Twilight was directed to Celestia's private rooms. Even her brother, who was often chattier than Pinkie if you played the cards right, was locked up tight. He merely said that "the Princess is not coming out of her chambers".

Twilight knocked once, very lightly.

No response.

She knocked again, louder.

Still no response.

She knocked loud enough that one could actually hear the sound of hoof on wood.

The door squeaked open, and Luna stuck her head out. "Finally!" she hissed, and then abruptly yanked Twilight inside.

Twilight briefly glanced around the room. It was impolite, she knew. but she couldn't resist the temptation to see how her mentor really lived. There were books, mostly. Just books. There was a bed and a fireplace, but they seemed to be afterthoughts in a monument to the bibliophile. Twilight, naturally, was thrilled.

Celestia was consulting -surprise, surprise- a book. She looked abnormally worried.

Luna poked her. Celestia lifted her head from her book, peered around, and finally caught sight of Twilight. "Ah! Twilight! I'm glad you've arrived!"

Luna leaned down and whispered, "Celestia's been . . . researching. I haven't seen her in this state for a long while."

Twilight's eyes glimmered. "She's- researching?" She suddenly felt a deeper connection to Celestia than ever before.

Celestia trotted around the room, gathering strange magical instruments. At last she turned back to Twilight, a harried expression on her face. "Twilight, as you probably gathered from the letter, I need some help with an mission."

Twilight leaned forward hopefully. "Yes?"

"Well, it's not really a mission," Celestia added. "It's more of an . . . experiment."

Twilight stood on tippy-hooves. "Ye-es?"

"I need you to temporarily take my place as Sun Princess of Equestria."

" . . . what."

That one word basically summed up what can best be described as an explosion in Twilight's mind. She was awash in confusion, disbelief, doubt that such a thing was possible, worry about her teacher's sanity, fear that it might actually work and she would be stuck with far too much responsibility, and at the very back of her mind, a tiny, squashed-down bit of ambition.

"I told you she wouldn't go along with it!" said Celestia, glaring at Luna.

"As I recall, you were the one who contacted her, sister," said Luna. She turned to Twilight. "Hear us out, please."

The door was right behind her; she just had to walk away, head back to Ponyville, and wait for Celestia to come to her senses. Very easy. Just a few steps . . .

"All right," said Twilight, sitting down.

"My dear sister has been feeling . . . a bit overworked recently," began Luna. "It's not easy, you know, being the Princess of Equestria."

Celestia grunted in agreement.

"So I suggested that she, well, take a vacation," said Luna.

Twilight raised one eyebrow. "That's what all this fuss is about? She wants to take a vacation?"

"Patience," said Luna. "It would not be easy for Celestia to, what's the phrase, fit in. She could disguise herself, but she would still need to look after the sun every day."

"There is a spell," she went on, "that could solve all these problems. It transfers an alicorn's power to another pony. It has been performed successfully in the past, and can be reversed very easily once Celestia comes home. She will, for all intents and purposes, be a normal pony. However, she needs somepony to transfer her power to. That's where you come in."

"So . . . I'll be like you? An alicorn? And be in charge of Equestria?" Twilight asked hesitantly.

"Don't get too excited," said Luna, smiling. "We would like to transfer her power to you, yes, but we will not to give you too much responsibility. I will simply report that Celestia is . . . ill, and must not be disturbed. Nopony will have to know that Celestia is gone. I will look after the kingdom. You'll just have to raise the sun every day."

"I've recorded my methods, although I'm not sure if you'll find them descriptive enough," said Celestia. "Luna will be there to help you out, of course, but if you can't handle it . . ."

"Relax, sister," said Luna, winking at Twilight. "I haven't seen you this worried about something since Starswirl the Bearded asked you to marry him."

Twilight could not help blurt out, "WHAT?!"

Celestia giggled. "I turned him down, of course, but he was rather insistent."

Luna pressed on. "Anyway, we've agreed that you're the best candidate for the position, and we'd like to carry out the transfer as soon as possible, if you're willing. Celestia won't be gone longer than a month, I'm sure."

"A month?" squeaked Celestia. "I can't be away that long, Luna-"

Luna shushed her sister and looked at Twilight. "We won't do it if you don't want to, of course, but we thought you might like it."

Sometimes we surprise ourselves. Twilight thought that she might be a bit more worried about taking control, carry out a strange magical procedure, and all the other myriad risky things involved. But there was no doubt in her mind.

"I'll do it."

Thirty minutes later, they were ready to begin. Celestia had taken Twilight down a secret passage that looked like it hadn't seen the light of day in several centuries. The room they were in looked suspiciously like a dungeon, and there were several inexplicable brownish stains on the stone floors that Twilight tried not to think about.

Celestia and Twilight were lying side-by-side on two tables, surrounded by a bevy of strange instruments, books written in dead languages, and obscure charts. Luna was bustling around, making sure everything was in proper order.

"You two ought to be connected by threads of mercury and silver," she muttered, "and we've got the serum of poison joke, to make the transformations go faster, right, and I think we'll just need a few more pegasus feathers . . ."

Celestia had taken off all of her royal jewelry and her crown. She seemed embarrassed about it, but Twilight didn't think it made her look much different. She was shifting back and forth on the table and glancing at Twilight with an embarrassed look on her face. Occasionally she would flutter her massive white wings, or gently poke her horn.

It was strange to think that Celestia was just as anxious as Twilight, if not more so.

"Alright, I think we're ready to go," said Luna at last. "I'll just summon down the lightning-"

"Lightning?!" cried Celestia. "I never heard anything about lightning!"

"Oh, it'll just be a quick jolt, nothing too painful," said Luna. As Celestia continued to protest, she couldn't help but smile and added, "Joking! Joking!"

"So . . . there's not gonna be any lightning?" asked Twilight.

"I didn't say that . . ." said Luna, but then she gave Twilight a friendly wink. She levitated a dusty tome into the air and flipped to the right page. She paused only to look at the two ponies on the table and ask, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Positive," said both at the same time.

Luna nodded and began to chant in some strange language. The wires and instruments began to hum lightly. Celestia smiled encouragingly at Twilight. The purple unicorn breathed slowly, trying to keep calm. it began to get easier, gradually. her eyelids grew heavy.

Luna's chanting grew to a crescendo. Twilight felt herself beginning to vibrate slightly. But she didn't care. She was just too tired . . .

Then she passed out.

Good Morning Sunshine

Conciousness returned slowly and painfully. Celestia opened her eyes once. It was extremely difficult. She didn't feel like trying again.

However, she was disturbed by a gentle poke on her leg.

"Garrrraaaarrrraaaaaarrrraaaggghhhhhh," groaned Celestia, without opening her eyes.

"Well put," came her sister's voice. "But you need to get up now. I have to make sure that nothing went wrong."

"Buuiimmtirredd," moaned Celestia.

There came the sound of flipping pages. "Well, yes, extreme fatigue is likely on the part of the donor. But can you please get up?"

Celestia shifted one hoof ever so slowly. Then she shifted another. Then she fell to the ground with a thump.

Her flank and legs smarting, she forced open her eyes to see Luna giggling at her. "Careful," hissed the moon princess. "You'll wake Twilight."

"I'm already awake!" said Twilight.

The sisters stared at the new and improved Twilight Sparkle. She had gained the graceful figure and height of an alicorn, and there were now two purple wings gracing her back. Everything about her exuded power and grace. Well, everything except the fact that she was jumping up and down like an overexcited schoolfilly.

"This feels so strange!" said Twilight. "But really good, too! All this- power, I guess! And it's like there's something in my head- oh, is that the sun? You have a neural connection with it? Is your magic just linked strongly enough to it that you know where it is at all times? Oh, and I'm so tall! I should be recording this, it's really giving me a new insight into-"

Luna, finally finding her voice, cut in, "That will do, Twilight." The brand-new alicorn stopped at once and blushed.

Celestia slowly struggled to her feet. It was . . . strange, to say the least. She felt much weaker, but the weight of the sun in the back of her head was gone. That, at least, was a relief. She felt lighter, too, and she seemed to be seeing everything from a new angle.

Twilight and Luna looked at Celestia and then exchanged glances. There was five seconds of utter silence. Then both of them cracked up laughing.

Between guffaws, Luna managed to choke out, "How's- the weather- down there- sister?"

"Ha, ha," grumbled Celestia. "Fetch me a mirror."

Luna's expression turned to one of apprehension. "Are you sure?"

Celestia felt a sudden wave of fear sweep over her. "Yes- why? Is something wrong?"

"Um, no," said Luna hastily. "Nothing's wrong at all."

"Get me a mirror!" shrieked Celestia.

"All right, if you say so," said Luna apprehensively. She levitated a mirror and positioned it in front of Celestia. And there, in the mirror, was-

a perfectly normal pony.

Celestia gazed in confusion for a few seconds before Luna started giggling again. Celestia jabbed her with her hoof.

"You jerk!" she screeched.

"I said nothing was wrong, didn't I?" said Luna, wiping a tear from her eye. "It was just the way I said it."

"One of these days . . ." muttered Celestia, but she had become distracted by the pony that looked at her from the mirror.

She was now a pony of normal height, which is to say much shorter than an alicorn. She no longer posessed wings; instead, she was a unicorn. Her coat was still a pure white color, but this wasn't exactly a "rarity" in the pony world. Her eyes were still a light shade of purple.

Celestia stroked her mane. It was now a normal length, running down to her shoulders, and completely blueish-gray with a few splashes of pink here and there. Her tail had changed in similar manner.

Twilight, meanwhile, was also examining her new, ultra-long, flowing mane, if only to untangle her legs from it.

Luna watched as Celestia stared at her cutie mark, which was a simplified version of her old one. "And here I always thought I was the short one!" quipped Luna.

Celestia laughed sarcastically, still looking at herself in the mirror. "Do you think I could pass for a normal pony?" she asked axiously.

Luna squinted at her. "I can tell it's you, but only because I know that you've changed and I know you very well." She paused. "I don't think most ponies would be able to tell, though. It's not immediately obvious."

"But how do we know?" Celestia insisted. "I have to be sure nopony can recognize me! I need to, I don't know, do a test. See what most ponies would do."

"Like an experiment?" asked Twilight, rubbing her hooves together. She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Oh! I know! You should meet my friends!"

"Your friends?" asked Celestia skeptically. "The other Elements?"

"Yes! Exactly!" said Twilight emphatically. "I'll tell them that you're a friend from Canterlot, and you can go to Ponyville and spend some time there! I think Luna's right: most ponies wouldn't recognize you just by looking at you, but we can test for longer-term relationships. If they don't recognize you, you'll be fine, and if they do, well, you can, um, tell them that you're testing a disguise spell or something, which is somewhat true."

Celestia thought it over. "That . . . actually sounds like a pretty good idea."

"It's settled, then," said Luna. "You can go to Ponyville and spend some time with Twilight's friends. Twilight, obviously, will have to stay here, but she can send a note or something. There's only one problem I see."

"What's that?" asked Celestia.

"You obviously can't be 'Celestia', silly," said Luna. "You'll have to pick a new name."

"A new name?" This rather obvious fact hadn't occurred to Celestia. What kind of name could she use? She ran through candidates in her mind for a bit, before settling on a likely choice.

"How about . . . Sunshine? It's not too obvious, I don't think, and it'll go along with my cutie mark."

Luna and Twilight looked at each other for a moment and came to a silent agreement. "Sunshine it is, then," said Luna at last. "I like it. Let's get you ready to go."

It Begins

Over the next two hours, Luna continued to iterate all possible side effects and consequences of the spell as "Sunshine" packed her bags.

"Now, Celestia-" she was saying.

"Call her Sunshine," broke in Twilight. "She has to get used to the name."

"Alright. Sunshine, as you can probably tell, you've lost just about all of your alicorn power to Twilight. However, the spell does leave you with a small reserve of your more powerful magic, in case of emergency."

Celestia nodded and buckled up her suitcase. It had been extremely difficult to pack; Luna had refused to cast an extension spell, in order to keep the bag "normal". This had forced Celestia to pare down her belongings, an extremely painful experience. Ninety percent of the space was occupied with rare first editions from which she could not be parted from at any cost. A saddle and set of boots were thrown in almost as an afterthought.

"Finished!" called Twilight from the desk. Celestia trotted over to take a look. Annoyingly, her desk was now too high for her; she had to stretch just to see the letter.

Dear Friends,

As you might have heard, Princess Celestia is ill. She has asked that I stay with her to help out. I'm sorry this on such short notice, but it can't be helped. I can't exactly predict when I'll be back, but I shouldn't be gone for a month at most.

On a related note, my friend Sunshine will be coming to spend some time in Ponyville. She's a unicorn who I knew from my Canterlot days. I offered to let her stay at the library, seeing as I won't be there. I hope you'll all be just as welcoming to her as you were to me when I first came to Ponyville. Sunshine's never been out of Canterlot before, so you can show her all there is to see in Ponyville. She'll be arriving on the train tomorrow.

I hope to see you all again as soon as possible!

Love, Twilight.

"Looks good," said Celestia. "Wait- I'm staying at the library?"

"If you want," said Twilight sheepishly. "I thought you'd like it."

"No, no, it's fine," said Celestia quickly, secretly beaming with joy. "And . . . that part about me never having left Canterlot?"

"Well, Celestia the princess might have travelled," called Luna, "but Sunshine has never even left the Royal Palace."

Celestia shrugged. "Shall you send it, then?"

"Um- of course," said Twilight. She looked at the paper and screwed up her eyes in concentration. It suddenly occurred to Celestia that Twilight had never seen her send a letter from this end. After a few seconds, the letter furled up and burst into green flame that disappeared out the window.

Twilight opened one eye. "Was that it? Did I do it?"

"I think so," said Celestia in surprise.

"Come on, Cel- Sunshine!" said Luna. "The next train to Ponyville leaves in twenty minutes. you've got to get moving!"

"Alright, alright," grumbled Celestia. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to get rid of me."

They ducked into yet another secret passage (it wouldn't do to see an unfamiliar pony leaving Celestia's quarters) which led to the gatehouse. For the first time, Celestia's new size came in handy: she didn't have to stoop down the way Luna and Twilight did. It seemed to odd that her journey to the real, normal world was taking her through an old, musty tunnel that only two immortal goddesses knew about.

After making sure the coast was clear, Celestia opened the door and stepped outside with her bag. Luna and Twilight stayed behind.

"Don't destroy Equestria while I'm gone, please," said Celestia. There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Uh . . . Have fun in Ponyville!" said Twilight.

Luna and Celestia looked at each other. "I'll miss you, sister," whispered Luna.

"I'll miss you too," replied Celestia. "But I won't be gone too long."

"I'll be sure to write," said Luna. "Just try and have some fun."

And with that, the door closed and Celestia was on her own.

It waited. It was used to waiting.

Ponies were fools. So impatient and busy. They didn't realize the value of waiting. To a pony, waiting almost two years to make a move would be unthinkable. Mortals just had no sense of perspective.

It had spread itself thin, watching and waiting. Planning. It would not be caught blindsided this time around. It needed to know anything and everything about Equestria, so that it could not fail.

It was going to succeed this time. It knew what it had to do, and how to do it. This way might be a bit more difficult, but once it was in, it would be nigh-unstoppable.

It would begin its plan tommorrow. Start small, and work its way up. It would just have to be discrete. Very discrete.

Of course, there were no ponies that could recognize it. None save one, that is. It would just have to avoid her. Not impossible, but not very easy either.

Then, it sensed something. A major event was occurring in Canterlot. It gravitated its mind towards the sparkling mountainside city. This was something important.

And yet- no ponies running in the streets. No shouts or loud noises of any kind. Nopony seemed to sense anything. Not at all like that amateur from a few months back.

It followed its senses towards an alley near the palace. Nothing there but a single unicorn. Strange, but it was never wrong when it sensed something.

That mind- it was familiar. And far older than it looked. It hissed at her unconciously. An old enemy. But what was she doing in this form?

It briefly scanned the castle. There were two others, the others it loathed more than anything. And it sensed raw power coming off the unicorn. No, not a unicorn anymore.

Then the entire absurd story flashed through its mind. Surely she hadn't done such a stupid thing? To trade away all her power? And give it to that- mewling newfoal? It simmered with anger. If she lacked her power, then its plan could not be carried out anymore. Unless-

A new idea occurred to it. The plan could be salvaged. Improved, even. And quite easily, too.

If it had had a body, it would have smiled.

Midday Flyer

Celestia trotted down the streets of Canterlot, trying to take everything in from the perspective of a normal pony. Mostly, everything just seemed bigger.

Even distances. Of course, Celestia knew that the change in height would mean shorter legs which would mean smaller steps which would mean a slower pace . . .

But walking took forever now!

As the former princess passed her subjects, she studied them to see if anypony recognized her. There was no response, except for the occasional "do you mind?" when she stared too long.

Amazing. Not even ponies from her capital city recognized her.

But then, Celestia hadn't often actually walked down the streets of Canterlot. She usually teleported. Or flew. Or rode in her royal carriage.

Come to think, Celestia hadn't walked down the streets of Canterlot in several decades. She blushed unconciously, then berated herself for it. She was the Princess of Equestria, after all. She needed to have things done as quickly as possible. And walking down the streets of Canterlot was not doing things as quickly as possible.

She glanced at the clock tower. Thirteen minutes until the train left. She couldn't stop herself from dawdling and looking into store windows. Boutiques, galleries- beautiful art out for display. She felt a rush of pride, quickly replaced by another stab of embarrassment. This was her city; a city of sophistication and high culture.

And she'd never had the time to even walk through it?

Every so often she would pass a bakery or cafe, and the smell would set her stomach rumbling. She was half-tempted to forget the train and spend the rest of the afternoon in Canterlot.

But Twilight had already sent the letter; Sunshine was expected in Ponyville tommorrow. And the only way she could get there on time was the train. A promise had been made, and she certainly couldn't go back and ask Twilight to send another letter.

Ten minutes left.

Celestia picked up the pace. Fascinating shops? No time. Delicatessans? Not on her watch! Other ponies? She'd bowl them over-

Well, all right. She'd stop for other ponies. But five seconds, little old mare, no more!

Presently she arrived at the train station. The Equestrian railway system had been Celestia's brainchild: while most ponies had seen a mad inventor with a steam-driven tractor, she'd seen the potential for a revolutionary new transport system. She was pleasantly surprised to see a long line of ponies waiting in line for tickets.

"Isn't it wonderful?" she said to the pink-maned unicorn in front of her. "Back in the olden days, the first city to be linked to Canterlot by rail was Ponyville. And back then, the coaches had no roofs, and the locomotives were strange-looking vertical-boilered things. Of course, that all changed when the Vandercolts got involved-"

"Hey, can you just be quiet?" snapped the unicorn. "I've already been waiting in this line for ages already, and it doesn't help when a train geek starts blabbing."

Celestia turned a bright shade of red and went silent. It seemed that containing all of her considerable knowledge of Equestrian history might be very difficult in the future.

The line crawled slowly forward. Five minutes until the train was due to depart. There were still ten ponies ahead of her, each one was taking a full minute to get their tickets.

You'd think they would have a better system for this, Celestia mused, tapping her foot impatiently. At this rate, she would miss her train.

Luckily, it looked like the other ponies were also worried about missing the train, so there was still a minute left when the pink-maned unicorn reached the booth.

The unicorn bought her ticket, and Celestia got out her bits, but the unicorn didn't move.

"Can you send somepony to put these bags in the baggage car?" she asked.

The ticket pony. glanced down at the three bulky bags the unicorn had with her. "No can do, Miss. The baggage car's already been sealed up. You'll just have to take them with you on the train."

"Take them with me?" said the unicorn in shock. "No, I can't do that! I need leg space!"

"Well, then you should have gotten here earlier," replied the ticket pony.

The unicorn glared at him. "I can't be blamed if you have unreasonable policies! I should be able to put my bags in the second before the train leaves!"

Behind her, Celestia glanced at the clock and seethed. Thirty seconds left.

"We need the time to secure the door properly," replied the ticket pony. "Just take your bags onto the train."

"I told you, there won't be enough space! I'm not moving until my luggage is in the baggage car!"

"Will you just shut up and move on?" snapped Celestia. "If you wanted space, you should have either gotten here earlier or not taken so many bags! Some of us just want to buy a ticket!"

The unicorn glared at Celestia and stepped aside. Fifteen seconds left.

"Just give me a first-class ticket!" cried Celestia, slamming her bits onto the counter. The ticket pony calmy passed one to her. She eager grabbed it and sprinted for the platform.

"All aboard to Ponyville, Trottingham, Griffon Kingdoms, and all points west!" came the conductor's voice.

"Waitformewaitformewaitforme!" Celestia shouted, scrambling onto the platform. The locomotive whistled, and a huge cloud of steam burst from its wheels, shrouding her in a blinding fog.

When it cleared, the train was already pulling away. Now soaking wet, Celestia ran for the nearest coach. She threw her bag onto the steps. The end of the platform was approaching. Using gymnastic skills she hadn't needed for three thousand years, she leaped for the coach and just barely made it.

Dripping slightly and hoping againt hope that her books weren't damaged, Celestia slowly walked up the train towards the first class coach. It was proving more difficult than one might expect given that she had to jump the gap between coaches. Added with the facts that first class was at the front of the train and Celestia had gotten on the second-to-last coach, and you had a very unhappy unicorn.

But, at last, the end was in view: she had but one coach left to pass through. Finding new strength, Celestia trotted sharply down the aisle.

That is, until she encountered a lion sprawled across it.

Celestia gave a start, but was relieved to see that it wasn't a lion. It was half a lion. Or a griffon, to be more precise. They weren't uncommon in Equestria, but Celestia was still surprised. Especially because her height decrease meant that the griffon (a noted omnivore) was now twice her size.

In any case, half of the griffon was lying in Celestia's path, and didn't look like it would be moving any time soon.

"Um . . . excuse me?" Celestia asked.

The griffon lazily lifted its head to stare at her. "You talkin' to me?"

Celestia opened her mouth, but said nothing.

"You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?" it repeated, examining its claws.

Celestia scrambled to find words, but to no avail.

"Well then who else are you talkin' to?" growled the griffon. "You talkin' to me? 'Cause I'm the only one here."

Celestia tried to point out that there were several dozen other ponies in the car but also confirm confirm that she was, in fact, talking to the griffon. However, something about the half-eagle paralyzed her.

"Who the buck do you think you're talkin' to?" it snarled.

"Y-y-y-you," Celestia stammered out at last. "I just- I just- wanted to ask if you could move out of the aisle, please, so I could go by."

The griffon glowered at her. "And why should I move for a twerp like you?"

Straightening up, Celestia replied, "Because I asked you to."

"And that means I should move for you?" scoffed the griffon. "Puh-lease."

Celestia finally found her courage. "Just move!" she snapped.

The griffon rolled its eyes and slunk back into its seat. "Jeez! Alright, Princess."

Celestia's eyes widened before she realized that the griffon had meant it sarcastically. She scurried past it and headed on to the door.

Finally, she reached the warmth and comfort of the first-class carriage and settled down in her seat. Out the window, she could still just make out Canterlot in the distance. She thought of her sister and of Twilight, trying to wonder how they were handling themselves. The sun was still on its normal cycle, so they obviously weren't over their heads yet.

The train thundered onwards out of the mountains towards Ponyville. Twilight's friends would be waiting for her. With luck, they wouldn't recognize her, and she could at least try to have fun. The first few hours of her time as a normal pony hadn't been thrilling. She would need to control her temper more in the future.

As the train clattered over a high trestle, Celestia felt her stomach rumble. She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. She then realized that she hadn't bothered to pack any food. Or, for that matter, get a spot in a sleeping car.

It was going to be a long trip.

Quirky Small-Town Charm

Celestia awoke with a start to the sound of screeching brakes and shouting. Pulling herself away from the plushy seat, she looked out the window and saw Ponyville in the distance.

She didn't feel great; her back ached and she was still exhausted. Not to mention the fact that she was starving. But at least her journey was nearing its end.

The train slowed down as it entered the town. Celestia could see ponies going about their daily business. Some of them looked familiar. Of course, she couldn't be expected to know al of her subject's names, but Twilight's stay in Ponyville meant that Celestia knew the town fairly well.

With a final whistle, the train drew into the platform and rattled to a stop. Celestia stretched and stood up from her seat. Levitating her bag, she filed out the door along with the few other ponies who were getting off at Ponyville.

And was nearly tackled by a hyperactive pink pony.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! And you must be Sunshine! Twilight told us you were coming, and I wanted to be here so I could say hi to you!" she said in a rapid-fire voice that would have put a machine gun to shame.

Celestia's eyes briefly glazed over. "How- what- wait, how did you know who I am?"

"Duh!" said Pinkie, retrieving a deerskin hat out of nowhere. "Twilight told us you'd be coming on the train tomorrow, so I went down to see all the ponies getting off the train. You were the only pony I'd never seen before, and besides, your cutie mark's a bit of a giveaway, so I said to myself, "that's gotta be Sunshine!" And it was! And you are!"

"Oh-kay," said Celestia slowly. Pinkie took her hoof and practically dragged her out of the station and into the streets.

The fresh air hit her like a wave of water; it felt so much purer out here in the country. On the breeze she could smell hay, and flowers, and cakes and apples, and dozens of other pleasant odors. It was so much quieter than Canterlot.

Except for Pinkie, of course.

"I have to take you to meet my friends. They knew you were coming, too, but they were really busy, so I said 'I'll go down to the station and meet her and then I'll take her to meet you!' And that's what I'm doing!"

Celestia nodded and desperately tried to gain tractionas Pinkie pulled her down the street.

A few ponies looked at her as she passed; a new pony was presumably much rarer in Ponyville than in Canterlot. Still, there was no sign of recognition on any of their faces.

Presently they reached the edge of town. Pinkie drew to a halt and called, "Hey Dashie! Twilight's friend is here!"

Celestia looked up to see a majestic cloud house floating above them. From within, a grouchy voice called, "Pinkie, what's going on? It's too early!"

"I told you!" said Pinkie cheerfully. "Sunshine's here! You know, Twilight's friend from Canterlot?"

Rainbow stuck her head over the edge of the cloud. "Huh," she said to no one in particular. Sighing, she alighted from her home and landed in front of the two ponies.

"Twilight's friend, huh?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes-" said Celestia, "from Canterlot." That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Rainbow tilted her head and looked over her with an appraising eye. At last, she said, "Wassup?"

"The sky," said Celestia without thinking. Rainbow and Pinkie fell over laughing.

Rainbow gasped for breath and said, "You're a hoot, Sunshine! How'd you meet Twilight?"

"The, uh, library," Celestia improvised. "I worked in the Canterlot Royal Archives."

Rainbow grinned. "See Pinkie, I told you she'd be an egghead like Twilight!" Celestia smiled awkwardly.

"Come on Dashie, we have to go take her to meet Flutters!" said Pinkie enthusiastically. Rainbow sighed good-naturedly, and Pinkie once more yanked Celestia off of her hooves and pulled her towards their next destination.

Celestia had never really noticed how adorable Fluttershy was before. They had met before, but the effect of the yellow pegasus shyly sticking her head out of her door and whispering a greeting made Celestia was far cuter than she had previous known was possible. This was not to say Celestia was attracted to her; no, the effect was more of an urge to hug and protect her as one would a small filly.

Fluttershy said something. Celestia noticed that the other ponies were staring at her expectantly. She'd been asked a question, she just didn't know what it was. Taking the safest door, she replied, " . . . Maybe?"

Pinkie Pie started laughing again. "She's so funny!" she cried.

Fluttershy looked confused. "So, um, was it a good trip or not?" she whispered.

"Oh, it was fine!" said Celestia quickly.

"Isn't this great?" said Pinkie. "I'm gonna take Sunshine to meet all our friends, so we can all have a lot of fun while she's here! And maybe I can-"

She gasped, then rocketed away.

Celestia blinked. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Um- what just happened?" said Celestia at last.

"Just Pinkie being Pinkie," said Rainbow.

Celestia briefly mused upon this, then decided it was best if she tried not to understand. "So . . . should I go meet the other elem- your other friends?" she asked.

"Rarity would probably want to hear about Canterlot," said Fluttershy.

"Rarity?" scoffed Rainbow Dash. "I know better than to go to the boutique. I'm gonna go see what Pinkie's up to."

And with that, she was gone, leaving just Celestia and Fluttershy.

"So . . . the boutique, then?" asked Celestia. Fluttershy just squeaked.

"Canterlot, hmm? At the palace?" said Rarity, fussing around the shop. "That sounds wonderful! Where did you work, exactly? The ballrooms? The royal wardrobes?"

"Um . . . the archives," said Celestia, looking away. The spark in Rarity's eyes faded for a moment.

"The archives? Ah, well I shouldn't be surprised by that, you are Twilight's friend, are you not?" she said, half to Celestia and half to herself. Straightening her back, she continued, "And any friend of Twilight is a friend of Rarity! Come on, darling,let's see if there's anything that speaks to you."

Grabbing some dresses off the rack, the white unicorn proceeded to circle Celestia, judging her from different angles. After a while, her expression grew perplexed.

"Forgive me for asking, darling, but, uh . . . when was the last time you washed your mane?"

Celestia froze. She thought on it for a moment. When had she last washed her mane? She had never had to do it before; it just seemed to repel dirt. Why, she hadn't washed her mane since . . .

"Tia, if you don't stop splashing your sister, I'm going to put you in time-out!"

"But she started it!"

"I don't care! You're too big to be squabbling!"

" . . . Sorry, mama."

"It might have been a while," said Celestia.

"My! Well, that simply won't do!" said Rarity indignantly. "Don't worry, I'll have it looking beautiful in no time!" With that, she disappeared into a closet.

"Where's she going?" asked Celestia, slgihtly alarmed. Fluttershy said nothing.

"Here it is!" came Rarity's distant cry. She bustled back into the room, levitating a hefty bag. "My patented mane-styling wonder kit! Fourteen different shampoos, ten conditioners, forty-five brushes of various sizes, and one hair dryer in every color!"

"Wait," protested Celestia, "you don't have to do this! My mane's fine!"

"Don't worry, darling, it gets less painful after the first time!" said Rarity.

"Fluttershy! Help me! Please!" Celestia pleaded, but Fluttershy shrank out of the way as Rarity approached, a manic glint in her eye . . .

"Rarity, what're ya doin' ta that poor mare?"

Rarity froze. "Just . . . cleaning her up a bit," she said defensively.

"It ain't cleanin', it's torture. let her be."

Celestia's savior drew into view. There was no doubt who this was; she was the only element Celestia hadn't encountered yet.

"Yer Sunshine, right?" asked Applejack, sizing up the newcomer.

"Yes," said Celestia, trying to convey her sincerest thanks through her eyes.

Applejack jsut winked at her. "Figured as much. Pinkie sent me ta bring ya'll roung ta Sugarcube Corner."

"Why?"

Applejack chuckled. "You must be a newcomer if you ain't figured that out already."

Cakes . . .

Cakes, cakes, everywhere, and every one to eat, if her appetite would hold out. Chocolate cakes, vanilla cakes, marzipan and carrot, bedecked with icing in every flavor known to pony (and several only discernable to cows).

Well, Pinkie Pie was also jumping around, saying something about a "Welcome Party", but that was only of minor importance to Celestia, whose temptation was already being tested to the limit.

"-so since you're our new bestest buddy I wanted to throw you a party that we're all really happy that you're here and we hope you're gonna have great time here in Ponyville!" Pinkie concluded.

"Thanks," said Celestia, not taking her eyes off the display cases.

"I made us all a big lunch, if you're hungry," said Pinkie excitedly.

"I think we can just skip straight to desert."