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. Next Chapter: Quirky Small-Town Charm Estimated time remaining: 7 Minutes