Prince Shining Armor was mad. Princess Cadenza was mad. Twilight was fuming.

Nyx, she was just scared sick. The moment Shining Armor had clapped eyes on her, he'd called his Guard. They'd come at a gallop, six stern-looking and huge stallions in gleaming crystal armor who fell in step on either side of her, Spike, and her mother. Shining armor had ordered them to "escort" Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and "the foal" to the "petitioner's chamber" and stand watch over them. The unsmiling Guards promptly led them into the castle and down stark, glittering halls, past still more stony-faced guards.

In her growing panic Nyx forgot what "escort" meant. She hoped it didn't mean the same as "arrest". And "Petitioner's chamber"--- what was that?? She slunk lower and lower under the guards' accusing glare as they walked until she looked like nothing but a hat with feet.

As it turned out, the petitioner's chamber wasn't a dungeon cell, much to Nyx's relief. It was a large, clean, if somewhat bare room lined with benches and with a few amenities laid out on tables, meant for people waiting to petition the Princess for one thing or another. It didn't help much, though, when the door was locked behind them and all six of the guards took up posts around the room, watching their every move.

Nyx's mood had sunk further into gloom at this. What had she done now? She was so distressed she crawled under one of the tables and curled up there, afraid to move.

Twilight, on the other hand, had gotten madder and madder with every passing minute. When Shining Armor and Cadence finally made an appearance nearly an hour later, she had proceeded to beat her brother about the head and shoulders with her saddlebags. "What--the BUCK--Do you think-- you're-- DOING?" She yelled, telekinetically whaling him upside the head.

        Shining Armor didn't reply; he was too busy saying words like 'ow' and 'oof' and 'jeez!'

One of the guards stepped away from his post, advancing aggressively. "Cease and desist! That's the Consort Prince of the Crystal Empire!"

Twilight shot him a glare that would have blown out a cockatrice's eyeballs. "Oh yeah? Well I'm his SISTER."

The guard considered his options. "As you were," he said, stepping back to the wall.

Twilight gave her brother a couple more thwacks, just for the therapeutic effect, before dropping the saddlebags to the floor. "What did you think you were doing, you idiot? Calling the guards on us, locking us in a room---" She pointed at Nyx. "You scared your niece half to death!"

Shining Armor reared back, his temper flaring. "That thing is not--" he started in a low tone before Twilight's hoof whipped out and corked his mouth. She spoke just as quietly as he did.

"Finish that sentence, brother dear, and I'll ram a flugelhorn so far up your rear end they'll be able to honk it by squeezing your nose." Shining Armor wisely shut up. "She is not a thing, she is a pony. Her name is Nyx. She is also my daughter, which makes her your niece. And I brought her up here in the hopes that you would actually get to know her, instead of just resenting her for her past."

        Her tone softened a hair. "We all gave Luna the benefit of the doubt. Don't you think Nyx deserves at least that much?"

Cadence had stood aside and watched the whole exchange. She now stepped in, sighing in aggravation. Her face was just as stern as Shining Armor's had been. "Twilight, we do understand what you're trying to do here," she said. "But you've put us in a terrible bind."

"What do you mean?" Twilight scowled, still angry, but put off her stride.

"No matter how you feel about Nyx, the fact remains that she is Nightmare Moon-- and don't give me that look, you know very well it's the truth--- and she's effectively a convicted criminal, one out on parole. One which you just transported across national borders."

Twilight's face became suffused with shock. "I see you're figuring it out," Princess Cadence said stiffly. "Technically that forfeited her parole. And by doing it you might have committed a felony yourself. By my duties as Princess of the Crystal Empire I could throw her in a dungeon right now..."

Twilight's face was a portrait of shattered trust. "Cadence-- You wouldn't--"

"Of course I wouldn't," Cadence said with a tsk... the closest she ever came to snapping at anyone. "It's me, Twilight, remember? I would never do something like that." She looked over at the frightened alicorn filly hiding under the table, her stern expression softened a touch. "I'm hardly frightened of a powerless little foal. But there are ponies watching, all the time. Ponies from the Empire, and from Equestria. Troublemakers who would insist I 'do my royal duty'--" here she made quote marks in the air, rolling her eyes "--and lock up the scary nightmare menace... just to try and get me over a barrel when I wouldn't."

"So you're not gonna lock me up?" came the faint question.

Cadence heard the tiny bell-like voice and  looked over to where Nyx was hiding. She could see two glowing cat-like--- and very afraid looking--- eyes in the shadows under the table. "Of course not," Cadence said, years of babysitting softening her voice. "I don't throw little fillies in jail. Even if I was that mean, can you imagine how bad it would make me look? Come on out." Reluctantly, Nyx crawled from her hiding space, wincing and donning her sunglasses and hat as she came out into the light.

A part of Cadence chuckled at the sight of the tiny filly in the enormous sunglasses and hat. Cadence was still wary, but if this was just Nightmare Moon putting on an act then she'd studied acting under the masters. For now, her gut said 'filly,' and she'd go with it. For now.

Besides she was pretty sure she could take this 'Nightmare Moon' in a fair fight.

Twilight was getting distressed. "Oh I'm so sorry, Cadence," she fretted. "I feel like such a fool-- maybe Celestia can smooth things over--"

"Hopefully she will when the official report arrives," Shining Armor said grimly. "We can't afford any more political....." He realized that Twilight was glaring at him with fury and panic. "What?"

"You filed an official report?" Twilight shouted. "That's going to go on her permanent record! There'll be inspections and inquiries and nasty officious little ponies with inkwell cutie marks and-- wait, wait,  It will take at least a day to arrive at Canterlot, right? Maybe I can write Princess Celestia and...Spike!"

"Yo," Spike said, popping up by her elbow. He pulled a scroll and a quill off one of the nearby tables. "Lemme guess, "Dear Princess Celestia--ahurk!" Before he could put quill to paper, he grimaced and cut loose with an enormous belch. A scroll with the royal seal appeared in midair. He grabbed it out of the air. "Yup... from Princess Celestia." he said.

Twilight bit her lip. "Go ahead and read it, Spike," she said. Spike nodded and unrolled it. A second, official-looking lined document fell out. He caught it in one claw and handed it over to Twilight. He started reading the first scroll:

My Most Faithful Student,

I fear I may have some egg on my face. In respect to your recent summons to the Crystal Empire to aid in the library reconstruction, I realized that I may have made an oversight. It occurred to me that you would most likely be traveling with Nyx, and my sister pointed out that Nyx's legal status as 'parolee' would make doing so a felony! It is with some embarrassment that we consulted with our legal advisors and had Nyx's status revised from 'parolee' to 'time served.'

(Along with a tremendous amount of legal jargon explaining why this made sense, of course.)This should prevent any legal problems when you arrive in the Crystal Empire today, and make Nyx visiting her extended family a little less stressful.

Enclosed are the official documents, just give them to Cadence. I've already filed duplicates. And yes, this will nullify any reports subsequently filed... say, as of two hours ago.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

"Wow," Spike said. "She's good." He looked at the scroll and turned it over. "Whups, here's a postscript..."

Dear Spike,

Darn tootin' I am.

-Celestia.

Spike's eyes glazed over for a moment. "Urrrh...."

Twilight deflated like a balloon. "Oh thank you Celestia," she said, magically passing the document over to Cadence.

Cadence chuckled and rolled the paper up, tucking it under her wing. "That's Auntie for you," she said. "Closest thing she has to a hobby. Would you like to go to your rooms now? We have a guest suite connected right to our living quarters."

"Yes, we would." Twilight picked up her saddlebags--- and swatted Shining Armor across the head again.

"Ow, HEY! Man I shoulda worn the freaking helmet-- OW!!" Shining tried to duck. "What now??"

"You idiot! You filed a guard report on an eight year old filly?" She beaned him again. The beatings were obviously going to continue till Twilight's morale improved.

Nyx suddenly gaped, her eyes going round behind her sunglasses as she suddenly remembered something. "Mommy! Wait! The bags--"

Spike caught the drift as well. He waved his claws frantically. "Twilight, stop! The luggage, you--"

They were a split second too late. With a tremendous BWOMPF, Twilight's saddlebags exploded. In the blink of an eye, Prince Shining Armor, Consort Prince of the Crystal Empire, was buried in a pile of re-enlarged luggage. Cadence, Twilight, Nyx, Spike, even Peewee still perched on Nyx's hat gaped in astonishment.

There was a brief silence. Shining groaned from somewhere under the mass of luggage. Twilight didn't miss a beat. "And you can just bring our luggage to our rooms, Big Brother," she said. She turned on her heel and left the room, nose in the air.

Nyx decided discretion was the better part of valor. She ran up and grabbed the handle of her travel bag in her teeth. "S'okay, I'll carry my own."

Spike was right behind her. "YYeah, I got this one, thanks." the two ran out the door.

Under the remaining baggage, Shining Armor muttered to himself. "That mare could make Tirek himself bail out of his own chariot when he saw her coming..."