'Dear Twilight Sparkle,

You are under arrest, by the decree of H.R.H. Princess Celestia.

Please remain at your home for the next twenty-four hours.

During that time an entourage of royal guards will arrive to escort you to Canterlot whereupon your trial will take place.

The nature of the charges brought against you will be explained more fully at a later venture. Your co-operation is recommended.'

There was no signature on the letter, but the royal stamp on the envelope was all that was needed. It had been Spike who had actually first seen the letter; it had come in along with the rest of the regular post that morning. It had take Twilight a few minutes to understand what it was she was actually reading, and then quite a few more to make sure that this wasn't one of R.D.'s practical jokes. After her suspicion gave way into plain old confusion, Twilight had Spike call the rest of her friends over to the library to discuss the letter. After Twilight read it out to them, Fluttershy fainted. Spike lifted her onto Twilight's bed and then the discussion began.

"Well, dear, it must have been a mistake, no?" Rarity was the first to speak. "I mean, there surely must be more than one Twilight Sparkle in all of Equestria, and they just sent the letter to the wrong mare, that's all."

"Yeah, Twilight, you need to chill out. Stop freaking out over this kind of stuff, y'know?" Rainbow Dash was second.

"I think breaking the law is worth freaking out about, Rainbow Dash! In any case, this might be a mistake, but - what if it's not?" Twilight responded.

"It isn't!" replied R.D.

"But what if! I mean, I don't remember doing anything bad, a-and certainly nothing illegal, but that doesn't mean I didn't break a law accidentally!"

"Now, how does that make one lick of sense? How can ya break a law by accident?" was Applejack's first interjection.

"There's lots of laws I don't know about! There might be laws against anything... there could be laws against wearing glasses, for all I know."

"In that case, why haven't I received a letter? A fashionista like me wears glasses everyday, you know."

"Well... I don't know. My point is... it could be anything."

Rainbow Dash piped up again.

"Look. Even if that dumb letter's meant for you, and it isn't, and even if you did break the law, and you didn't, then don't worry about it. I know the perfect way to get out of any trouble."

"Really?! Tell me, please -"

At that moment they were interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

"Twilight Sparkle, please open this door."

Twilight was shocked, but after a moment regained her composure, went to the door, and opened it, revealing two burly guards dressed in the traditional elaborate armour. Their expressions were neutral.

"Twilight Sparkle, please come with us."

So soon? Twilight quickly glanced over to R.D., Rarity, Applejack and Spike and asked the guards,

"Can I say goodbye to my friends first?"

The guard who had not previously spoken spoke.

"No."

Each guard then grabbed hold of one of Twilight's legs and began to roughly drag her to the carriage a short distance behind them, where a further two guards were waiting to lift it into the air.

"Hey! HEY! Get off of me, now! Help!"

Everyone except Fluttershy rushed out of the library.

'What do you brutes think you're doing?! Let go of her, this instant!'

'I've got half a mind to give you royal idiots a beating!'

'What in tarnation is goin' on...'

'Twilight!'

The guards neither acknowledged or responded to any of these outbursts, continuing only to drag Twilight towards their carriage. When they got there, they cleanly lifted Twilight off the ground and over into the carriage. Before anyone really had a chance to react, the carriage began to ascend into the deep blue sky of the summer afternoon. Twilight looked over the side, down at her friends slowly becoming nothing more than coloured dots and then - nothing at all. Tears of pain, confusion, and something inexpressible ran down her face and fell to the earth below her. For her friends on the ground, it might have appeared as if it were raining, for a single moment, in that beautiful summer's day.