Everyone threw themselves face down onto the library floor into the most abrupt and heartfelt bows they had ever made before their princess. Everyone but Twilight Sparkle. Twilight's knees reflexively buckled, but she stopped herself from bowing and stood up straight again. It took a huge effort of will, but she managed to look Princess Celestia in the eyes even though she couldn't stop her legs from shaking.

"What I've done is saved Ponyville from a ch-changeling invasion," Twilight said, her voice breaking on the last word.

The princess said nothing in reply but made a sharp motion of her head and caught up the red spell book in her magic. It floated over to her and she flipped through the pages. After a moment, the seal stopped glowing and the book snapped shut.

"You stole this book from the sealed vault in the archives," the princess continued at a bearable volume. "You used awful magic that you know is forbidden. You killed uncounted living beings." The furious motion of her mane slowed and it drooped toward the ground. Her voice softened even further. "How could you do such things, Twilight Sparkle?"

"How could I arm myself against those parasites?" Twilight felt her fear become indignation, and her voice rose. "How could I treat them like the giant, emotional ticks that they are? If they didn't want to die then they shouldn't have attacked my ponies!"

"Your ponies, Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight blinked in confusion and stuttered, "Y-you know what I mean. All my... friends here."

"If you thought the changelings would try to infiltrate Ponyville why didn't you come to me? Why did you decide to deal with them yourself?"

Twilight took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself and said, "I didn't know they would be back... not so soon and not here, anyway. I just wanted to be ready." She looked up at the princess in a pointed manner. "Somepony needed to be."

The guards' eyes widened at the disrespect, and there was a sharp intake of breath from one of them. Twilight felt a tug on her tail and looked down to see a still prostrate Spike making urgent shushing motions at her. It only made her angrier. "What? What, Spike? Is this another of those stupid 'you can't say that' situations, even though it's the truth? If we waited for her to do something we'd all be..."

"Twilight," Celestia said. Her voice was low, barely audible, but everyone in the room felt a sudden chill run up their spines. A piece of paper slid out of the old book and floated over to hover in front of Twilight. "You say you were only preparing for an invasion, Twilight Sparkle? If so, what did you need with this?"

Twilight looked with dismay at her map of the rocky wasteland that was home to the changeling swarm. The three most probable locations of the queen's hive were marked with large crosses and accompanying notes.

"Well?"

Twilight hung her head in shame.

"Twilight Sparkle, answer me."

The little unicorn began to tremble. "I..." she began to speak but seemed to run out of breath after the first word. She swallowed and tried again, her head still between her forelegs, "They're evil. Can't you understand that? They've hurt so many ponies, and they wouldn't stop just because they've been thrown out once."

"And so you planned to... what? Go hunting changelings in their homeland? How is that any better than what they did to us?" The floating piece of paper crumpled slowly into a tight ball. "Along with everything else, Twilight Sparkle, you've deliberately lied to me. I am so disappointed in you." Princess Celestia closed her eyes and her voice shook ever so slightly as she said, "You will come to Canterlot and I will decide your punishment there."

Twilight's head flew up and she gasped as if she'd been struck. "No! I didn't mean to... I mean I... I..." She broke off and stamped her hooves on the floor in a burst of anger and frustration. "You are disappointed in me?" she screamed. "You couldn't even..."

Without warning, the princess and Twilight vanished in a violent burst of golden magic. The ponies and dragon left behind all looked at each other in dismay.

"Uhmn, Sarge?" one of the guard ponies said after nervously clearing his throat. "I think Her Majesty forgot about us. What do we do now? Hoof it back to Canterlot?"

The sergeant gave him a sour look. "Do you want to be back at the palace when Shining Armor finds out what's going on between his kid sister and the princess?"

"Oh, horseapples!"

"Exactly. I think we should provide aid and comfort to the good citizens of Ponyville by cleaning up changeling carcasses until we get further orders." He motioned his squad out the library door.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike sat gaping at each other for a long time. Finally, Applejack shook herself and stood up. "RD, I'll fetch Rarity, you go an' round up the rest of the gals. We'll meet up with y'all at the train station. I reckon Twilight's gonna need us."

Twilight felt the familiar twisting sensation of Princess Celestia's spell as it hit her and had a moment of interstitial time to wonder where she'd appear. Would it be a jail cell or a dungeon? She didn't expect a pleasant sitting room in the palace. The princess didn't appear with her, and Twilight took a moment to marvel at the control it must have taken to send the two of them to different destinations. Then the full weight of what she had done and said hit her. She sank to the floor and bowed her head until her horn hit the floor. "Twilight Sparkle: Smartest utter idiot in Equestria," she muttered to herself.

Some while later she heard a polite knock at the door followed by the sound of hoofsteps entering the room. "Ms. Sparkle?"

Twilight didn't bother raising her head. "What?" Her voice was barely audible even to herself but the other pony evidently had good ears.

"I am instructed to inform you that Her Royal Majesty has requested that you not leave this suite until you are called for. In the meantime, I am to act as your hoofmaiden and see to your needs."

"Thank you, but right now all I want is to be left alone."

"I will be very quiet, ma'am. You will hardly know I'm here."

"Huh?" That did spur Twilight to look up. The unicorn mare looking down at her was large and muscular, with a rough, sharply angled face. She wore no clothing but Twilight could see the flattened stripes on her coat where the straps of barding would rest.

"Hoofmaiden, huh?" Twilight commented sourly.

"Yes, ma’am."

"Do you have to be in the same room with me, Snowdrop?"

"Oh." The mare had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed. "I see. We thought you might not recognize me, since I only joined the guard a couple of months before you moved away from Canterlot."

"What's the point of the deception?" Twilight growled.

Snowdrop sighed. "Her Majesty ordered that you be guarded, but the captain thought it might be... less stressful for you if it wasn't so obvious."

"Oh, no," Twilight groaned, bringing a hoof to her face, "I didn't even think about dragging Shining Armor into this mess! Ponyfeathers! I didn't think at all. What in Equestria is wrong with me?"

Snowdrop didn't say anything.

"Fine. Guard away." Twilight began to pace around the room. "What are you going to do if I just pop off to somewhere else or throw myself off the balcony?"

"Please don't do that, Ms. Sparkle. Her Majesty and the captain would be very unhappy, you would be dead or a fugitive, and I would have to explain to them why I failed to do my duty."

"Oh, don't worry," Twilight sighed and stopped pacing at the open French windows that led onto the balcony to gaze unhappily at the magnificent view. "I think I've done enough damage for one day."

Snowdrop didn't reply and Twilight stayed where she was. Her thoughts chased themselves in useless circles as she watched the sun sink lower in the sky. There were clouds scattered in the West. They were obviously placed so as to provide a decorative sunset, but the sun dropped below the horizon with a sudden haste that left no time to appreciate the colors in the sky.

"Wow," Twilight muttered with a wince, "it looks like she's still pretty upset. I guess I don't blame her. I can't believe the way I... ugh! Why was I so angry? Why did I think I could get away with..." Twilight looked over her shoulder at Snowdrop. "Why am I asking you? Because I'm not talking to myself. Really."

"Of course not, Ms. Sparkle."

"Just call me Twilight... or dummy."

"I prefer Ms. Sparkle, Ms. Sparkle. It's near dinnertime. Would you like to order something to eat?"

That reminded Twilight that she hadn't had anything since breakfast. She took a moment to try to assess whether her current emotional state would dictate a meal based on nutrition or on how well its colors would go with the rug. "Maybe something light." She turned to face Snowdrop. "The palace kitchen does a yummy pasta salad. Why don't you order two? You must be getting hungry yourself."

The sudden look of dismay on her guard's face was wholly unexpected.

"Uh... don't you like pasta salad?"

Snowdrop didn't answer. She suddenly snapped to attention and froze in place as if she'd been hit by a cockatrice's stare. Twilight spun around to find the Princess of the Moon glaring into the room from the balcony. There was no hesitation then; Twilight dropped into a deep, formal bow.

"Fie! Give us no obeisance that thou wouldst withhold from our sister, Twilight Sparkle!" Princess Luna cried out, not quite at the volume of the royal Canterlot voice.

"Oh," Twilight said, looking up but not rising, "you've heard about..."

"We come hither from her chambers, direct. She is most vexed!"

"Your Majesty, I regret my disrespect, and I will apologize to Princess Celestia as soon as she'll let me, but I don't regret my actions. I know she's upset about me killing all those..."

"Pah! Honorless foes of our little ponies such as those insects should be trodden underhoof!" Princess Luna stomped one hoof on the floor with bone-crushing force to emphasize her statement.

"Huh? I don't understand."

"Ken thee not, indeed? We would feign enlighten... oh, moonrocks! I'm so upset that I'm slipping back into archaic Equestrian! Twilight Sparkle, how could you treat my sister like that!"

"I..." Twilight collapsed from her bow and lay on the floor in a puddle of misery. "I don't know! I was just so angry!"

The Princess stood, looking down on the sobbing unicorn for a long moment and then raised her head and spoke to Snowdrop, "Leave us, guard. I wish to speak privately."

Snowdrop spoke without moving from her rigid, braced position, "Your Majesty, my orders from Her Majesty... uh... that is, Her Majesty of the Sun, are to..."

Princess Luna gave her a flat stare. "The moon is in the sky now and I never repeat an order." There was a flash of dark blue magic and Snowdrop was no longer in the room.

"Oh!" Twilight exclaimed. "You didn't hurt her, did you? She was only doing her job."

The Princess ignored her question. "You chose to violate the laws of Equestria and go against the wishes of my sister. Why?"

Twilight sat up and took a moment to compose herself. "I did it to protect the kingdom from the changelings."

"You reasoned out the only sure way to do this and made a logical decision to disobey the laws of the kingdom and the desires of its monarch for the good of all?"

"Yes, that's it exactly!"

"The law says your method was criminal. Your sovereign says your actions were unnecessary and cruel. Yet you acted in spite of..."

"Because I was right!" Twilight suddenly shouted.

"It seems your cool, thoughtful solution is twisted around a smoldering coal of anger that blazes to life at the slightest wind of opposition. Why is that, Twilight Sparkle?"

"I... I don't know."

"Nor do I know the why of it. But I know where your hubris will lead you." Princess Luna turned away and strode to the balcony.

"I don't understand, princess. Don't go! If you really know something that will help, please tell me."

"I will do better than that, Twilight Sparkle, I will show you." The princess stepped lightly up on to the railing of the balcony and beckoned with a hoof. "Follow me."

Twilight looked down at the slope of the mountain far below and then back up at the princess. "Uhmn... I can't fly but if you give me a moment, I'll fix that. I've got a spell for wings. It takes a lot of energy but..."

"Oh yes," Princess Luna said, giving an irritated shake of her head. "Don't trouble yourself!" Her horn glowed briefly, and Twilight felt a sudden tingling behind her shoulders. She turned to see two rather large wings sprouting from her back. Black wings. Black, leathery bat wings.

"Eagh!" Twilight tried to jump out from underneath her new limbs and succeeded just about as well as one might expect.

The princess raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh... ah... sorry!" Twilight forced herself to stop trying to flinch away from the new parts of her own anatomy. "Just a little... surprised... and... uh... not so fond of bats, actually."

"No? But they are delightful creatures!"

"I'm sure they are, Your Majesty," Twilight replied, plastering a wholly false smile onto her face.

Princess Luna shrugged and bounded into the air. "Follow," she called down to Twilight.

Regardless of how ghastly they looked, the wings worked very well, and soon Twilight was soaring beside the princess high over Canterlot. She'd seen the city from the air several times but never at night; piloting a balloon in the dark was a foolish thing to do. She didn't have long to admire the lights because the princess led her in a long, banking turn that took them down the valley towards Ponyville. For a moment Twilight felt a powerful surge of homesickness. She couldn't help but wish she was back in the library with Spike and everything was the way it had been yesterday.

"Twilight Sparkle, attend!"

Twilight shook herself out of her reverie to discover that Princess Luna was some distance away. Twilight had been unconsciously heading for Ponyville, while the princess had veered to the West. Twilight banked and gave a few powerful flaps of her wings to catch up. The lights of Ponyville slid off to her right. Ahead was nothing but darkness.

"Where are we headed, Your Majesty?"

"Please, Twilight, call me Luna. We are alone, and there is no need to be formal." Luna laughed, and there was a noticeable tone of bitterness in it. "No need for monarchs and titles... particularly in this place."

"Why? Where are we? I can't see a thing!"

"Your pardon, I forgot."

There was a spark of blue magic in her eyes, and suddenly the blackness below Twilight resolved itself into a dim but clearly visible landscape in shades of soft gray.

"'Tis the Everfree, Twilight, and there is our destination, the summer palace... what little remains of it, that is. It has fared better than the rest of the republic, at least."

Twilight followed Luna into a descending spiral toward the ruins. "What republic is that?"

Luna made a gesture of her head indicating with her horn the forested landscape below. "Why, the Everfree Republic of course!"