It started when the phone rang.

Moondancer looked over her glasses at the ringing phone and quietly sighed to herself. She grimaced, put a bookmark in the book she had been reading, closed the book, and picked up the phone.

"Um... hello?"

"Greetings, my little pony. It is I: Princess Celestia. How are you?"

Moondancer raised an eyebrow and looked around her home as if expecting to see somepony pop through her window with a shout of "gotcha!" Surely Princess Celestia wouldn't be calling her. It was her voice, though...

"I'm fine, I guess?"

"That is wonderful. Most wonderful. I am happy when my subjects are happy, my little pony."

"I mean I just... huh?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot be happy all of the time. Sometimes ponies don't pay their income tax correctly, my little pony, and I have been going through our tax records and I see that you are one of them."

"Right." Moondancer rolled her eyes and opened up her book again. "I'm surprised that you're calling me yourself, Princess Celestia. I thought you might have somepony you delegated stuff like this to."

"Sometimes I call, my most beloved subject. I feel that a personal touch is best in the interest of not appearing too aloof to my subjects. I love each of my subjects dearly. Each and every one. However, a good ruler must use a strong, guiding hoof, and that means making sure that ponies pay their income taxes."

"Right, right. So how much do I owe you, Princess Celestia?"

Celestia gave a light laugh. "Not that much, my little dearest pony. You owe me four thousand, nine hundred and fifty-five bits and ninety cents. I am sure that you did not intend to defraud me because I find joy in seeing the best in my little ponies who I love like children. However, like any good mother, I cannot let you break rules. I would hate to punish you with ten years in a nasty prison. It breaks my heart knowing that there are ponies who have to go there, and I wouldn't want you to be one. You wouldn't want to break my heart, would you?"

"Oh, no, no of course not," Moondancer said flatly. "That would make me sad, too."

"It is as I said: I strive to see the best in my little ponies. Should you simply pay the amount I will not have to punish you. It is good that you did not do this intentionally. If you had, I would have had to put you in stone."

Moondancer gasped while still keeping her flat expression. "No, no! I wouldn't want you to do that! I'll pay!"

"I'm so proud of you for doing the right thing, my little pony. Now, I am certain that you have a general store nearby. I pride myself on Equestria being a happy, prosperous nation."

"Oh, there definitely is." Moondancer quietly sighed and lit her horn. This farce had gone on long enough.

"Wonderful. Once you are there you should see payment cards. If you just--"

Moondancer finished charging up her spell and shot it into the phone. Unfortunately for the pony on the other end, it had the effect of changing his voice into one that was most certainly not Princess Celestia.

"And then you can... erm... What in the name of...?"

"If you're going to use a voice changer, it's probably best that you change your voice to somepony more believable, or at the very least, study up on their speech patterns," Moondancer grumbled. "Now if you're done, I have a lot of studying to do!"

"Well... I just wanted to use a voice that... you might be more comfortable with. Nopony likes hearing bad news. I am afraid that you do still owe the Equestrian government five thousand, eight hundred and twenty-seven bits and ninety-four cents."

"But you said it was four thousand, nine hundred and fifty-five bits and ninety cents before."

"Oh, uh... no, I had somepony else's paperwork in front of me. Yeah, that's it! So if you could go--"

"Oh just leave me alone," Moondancer grumbled. "Go find somepony else to bother."

With that, Moondancer ended the call.