Twilight's Zone

The heavy iron door on Twilight Sparkle’s cell slammed shut with a bang!

“You have half an hour to get that uniform on before lunch,” the guard who had dragged her there said as he retreated.

“Wait!” Twilight called after him. “You have to let me out of here! I’m not crazy! Let me talk to whoever’s in charge! I’m a student of Princess Celestia!”

The unicorn’s voice shook in desperation as the numbness of her mind faded. Only now, locked inside a tiny cell, did she realize the seriousness of her situation.

Twilight shrank down away from the door as she felt a sob well up in her.

{This can’t be happening. I have to be dreaming. Yes, that’s it! In a moment I’ll wake up and everything will be normal! I’ll be inside the library with Spike and then I’ll walk into Ponyville to visit all of my friends}, she thought.

Knocking herself in the head with her hoof, Twilight tried to force herself back to reality, but each attempt only caused her pain instead.

{So I’m not dreaming. I’ll have to find someone who’ll listen and explain everything to them. I’m sure that once they realize that this has all been one big misunderstanding, they’ll let me go, right?} Twilight let out a sigh. Somehow, she didn’t even believe herself.

Staring down at the tattered patient uniform, Twilight debated whether she should put it on or not. It was stained with unrecognizable substances and had uneven stitches that made the unicorn wonder how the outfit possibly stayed in one piece. Twilight let out a small laugh as she imagined Rarity taking a look at it. The ugly asylum attire would surely have given the fashion-conscious unicorn a heart attack.

“I might as well,” Twilight murmured as she slipped it on. “I’ll just take it off later when I go to clear my name.”

An automated buzzer echoed through the asylum halls as all the cell doors slid open in time for lunch. Twilight Sparkle got up from where she sat, now donning the unattractive uniform of the mental hospital’s patients and meandered down towards the lunchroom.

As she walked, Twilight noticed something strange. All the other ponies she saw were mares with messy, unkempt manes and tails, wearing the same outfit that she wore, sure, that much was obvious. But as she looked closer, it became apparent they were all... Earth Ponies, something that struck her as unusual for such a large institution.

{Am I the only unicorn here?} Twilight wondered. {Nah, that can’t be it. I’m sure that there are more... Plus, Rainbow Dash is here, and she’s a pegasus...}

“Line up here to get your grub!” a stallion shouted, indicating to where a bunch of trays were stacked in order for the asylum ponies to use them.

“Huh, ‘grub’ is right. Ah jus’ can’t believe the stuff they’re allowed to feed us here. Why, what Ah wouldn’t give for jus’ an apple...” a pony behind Twilight muttered. The purple unicorn’s ears twitched as she instantly recognized the voice that had spoken.

“Applejack?” Twilight turned around, her eyes widening as she caught sight of her friend. The farm pony’s mane was in a state of complete disarray, and she had visible scars running up and down her face that Twilight couldn’t remember being there previously, but it was undoubtedly her. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Ponyville!”

The orange mare snorted. “Ah wish. Y’all have no idea of what Ah’d give jus’ to be back home on mah farm.”

“Well, why aren’t you?”

“Ah... Ah dunno. It’s a long story, Ah suppose you can say.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “What I meant, is, why are you here? You and Rainbow Dash.”

“Rainbow Dash? Is she okay? Ah haven’t seen her since las’ night.” A look of concern flashed through Applejack’s eyes.

“I’m sure she’s fine, knowing Rainbow Dash and all...” Twilight trailed off. “You never answered my question. Why are you here and not in Ponyville?”

Applejack looked down. “Like Ah said, Ah dunno. Ah wish Ah did, but Ah honestly don’t. Ah’ve been here for years, but Ah don’t remember how Ah got here,” she said quietly.

“Years?!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. “How could it have been years if I only saw you yesterday?”

The farm pony’s expression went completely blank. “Ah’ve never seen you before in mah life. Are ya sure you ain’t mistakin’ me for somepony else, sugarcube?”

“What? But that can’t be right...” the unicorn wracked her brains for possible logical answers, but found none.

“Applejack! There you are, darling!” a familiar pony’s voice shouted.

“Yeah! Did you save us a spot? Huh? Huh? Wow, I’m so hungry I could eat a cow!” another one added before laughing crazily. “Ha ha but I’m sure that wouldn’t taste very good. Unless you just drank all the milk... Ooh! I wonder if there’s a cow that’s made fully out of milk... Or chocolate milk... I love chocolate milk!”

Twilight’s attention was immediately diverted to the three ponies that just entered, all of them friendly faces. “Rarity? Pinkie Pie? Fluttershy?” she whispered.

Rarity smiled at her. “Oh, you must be new here. I see you’ve met my good friend Applejack. I’m Rarity, by the way. Before I came here, I was the most famous fashion designer in all of Canterlot!”

“She suffers from megalomania,” Applejack whispered underneath her breath. “That’s why she’s here.”

“Er... It’s nice to meet you, uh, Rarity. I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said awkwardly. It was weird to reintroduce herself to one of her best friends.

“Well then, Twilight Sparkle, you must be new here! You still have your...”

“Hey Rarity! Ain’t ya gonna introduce the others?” Applejack interrupted, indicating to the two ponies that stood behind her.

“If it isn’t any trouble...” Fluttershy added in her soft voice.

Rarity cleared her throat. “Ahem. Yes. Twilight Sparkle, this is Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, this is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Hi guys,” Twilight said, waving to them.

Pinkie Pie let out a large gasp and bounced over to her. “Ohmigosh ohmigosh it’s a new pony! I’m Pinkie Pie, but you probably already know that because Rarity already introduced us and I’m so excited to meet you and back in Ponyville I would’ve wanted to throw you a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig party but here we’re not allowed to throw parties which really sucks because that’s my special talent and I just looooooooove parties!!!!!”

“Breathe, Pinkie,” Applejack reminded her. The pink pony nodded and inhaled deeply before rambling on about her parties.

{Well, some ponies never change}, Twilight thought, relieved.

The five ponies soon got to the front of the line and received their share of the disgusting glop that the tough-looking mares running the cafeteria called “soup”.

“Ugh! Today’s lunch is even more revolting than wearing last month’s fashion!” Rarity complained as she sat down at a table.

“Well, you’re not exactly wearin’ the latest duds yerself,” Applejack pointed out. Rarity sniffled dramatically as she cast a disgusted gaze down to her outfit, and Twilight could’ve sworn she saw a tear leak out of one of the fashionista’s makeup-less eyes.

“It’s not like I have a choice. You’re in the same boat as I am here,” Rarity said, glancing away.

“The only difference bein’ that Ah don’t care.”

“If you were as civilized as I am, you would.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Even in a mental hospital you jus’ have tah be so dang fussy.”

“Um, excuse me, girls, but can you stop arguing please?” The two bickering ponies ceased conversation as they heard the sound of Fluttershy’s soft voice.

“Fluttershy’s right,” Twilight agreed. “We need to stick together if we want to get out of this mess.”

The four other ponies looked at her with complete confusion written all over their faces.

“Like... escapin’?” Applejack ventured.

“Yeah,” the purple unicorn said. “You see, I’m not supposed to be here. Last night when I ran into Rainbow Dash, the guards grabbed me because they thought I was in league with her. I’m really a student of Princess Celestia and I have to get out of here and go home!”

All of her friends fell silent.

“Um, Twilight, I’m not sure you quite understand. Nopony has ever successfully escaped from here before. I mean, Rainbow Dash has tried three times already, and she’s the bravest pony in the entire institution!” Rarity told her.

“Yeah! And if you get caught, they have these huge zappy things that go “ZZZZZZZZ” and you go “AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH” and the next morning, they scrape your dead body off the floor!” Pinkie Pie added, doing a dramatic reenactment of somepony getting electrocuted.

“Plus the Warden is really mean. She doesn’t show mercy on anypony who dares disobey her,” Fluttershy whispered.

Twilight raised her hoof. “Okay, okay. I really think you guys should give it a shot, but if you don’t want to, I can’t force you. Anyways, I’m here because of a mistake. I’m sure that whoever’s in charge will let me go once they realize that this has been a little mix-up.”

“That’s what they all say, darling,” Rarity said, rolling her eyes.

“What’s what they all say?”

“That they didn’t do nuthin’ wrong. We’re all here for somethin’, Twi, you gotta understand that if you’re gonna last a day in here,” Applejack told her.

“Well, what are you guys here for?” Twilight wondered. She had no idea why all of her friends had been put into a mental hospital in the first place.

“Megalomania, as Applejack pointed out earlier. They think I have delusions of grandeur!” Rarity started.

“Paranoia,” Fluttershy whispered. “I hear voices that nopony else does.”

“Extrasensory perception,” Pinkie Pie explained. “In other words, it’s just my Pinkie Sense, but a whole bunch of ponies thought I was crazy so they took me away to the funny farm! At first I thought it would be like a farm with a whole bunch of clowns, and I was like, Ooh! I love clowns so I...”

“Pinkie, that’s enough!” Applejack cut her off. “Ah think Ah mighta told ya earlier, but Ah actually don’t know why Ah’m here. Ah’ve seemed tah have lost a big chunk o’ mah memory...” the Earth pony looked down at her barely eaten soup.

“What about Rainbow Dash? What happened with her?” Twilight asked. The other four exchanged glances.

“Well... Ah guess y’all should probably know. She didn’t make the Wonderbolts, which kinda sounds lame in comparison, but that was RD’s lifetime dream, and she blew it. So she started doubtin’ herself and it got tah the point where she could barely function. Then, one day, while she was out in public, she saw the pegasus who took her place on the team, the spot that she shoulda had. So, she waited until that pegasus came closer, an’ then...” Applejack trailed off for dramatic effect. “Wham! She attacked her, jus’ like that! As it turned out, Rainbow had been harbourin’ a secret grudge against that pegasus, waitin’ fer her moment tah strike. In jus’ three days, she was transferred from prison tah here when her behaviour turned violent an’ uncontrollable. She’s been here ever since.”

“Wow... Poor Rainbow Dash...” Twilight gasped. Suddenly, a strange thought occurred to her. “Hey, when I saw her outside the prison when we were captured, why didn’t she use her wings at all? The stallion guards weren’t pegasi, so she could’ve easily outflown them... I don’t understand... Rainbow Dash never walks if she can fly...”

“They cut my wings off, okay?” a different voice interrupted. The ponies at the lunch table let out a collective gasp. In front of them stood the very same mare that they were just talking about.

“There ya are, sugarcube! Ah’ve been worried sick ‘bout you! What in tarnation did they do tah yer face?” Applejack exclaimed.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it,” the newcomer muttered.

Rainbow Dash cast a dark glare at Twilight as she sat down next to Applejack with a plate full of food. Her mane was covered in dirt and grime, and there was a black ring around her right eye. Fresh cuts and scrapes decorated her face as if nopony had made an attempt to bandage her up. On her back, sticking out from underneath her torn up asylum uniform, were two little knobs, one on each side that, at one point, must have supported her wings. She sat patiently while Applejack dabbed at her injuries with a wet napkin.

Twilight pulled her gaze away from the cyan pony to glance at each of her other friends. Fluttershy, like Rainbow Dash, bore the knobs that signified wing removal. Rarity had a small, barely noticeable bump on her forehead where her horn had been cut off. Pinkie Pie and Applejack, however, showed no signs of handicapping, but since they were both Earth Ponies, Twilight guessed that whoever ran the institution did not find them to be a potential threat.

{How did I not notice this before?} the unicorn wondered. {But now that I’m here, will they do the same to me...?} Panic began to bubble up inside her as she began to realize all the things that would be taken away from her with the removal of her horn. Surely Princess Celestia wouldn’t bother mentoring a magic-less Earth Pony...
Even her cutie mark and Element would become obsolete...

“Twi? Are you okay, sugarcube?”

Twilight Sparkle suddenly became aware of the other ponies at the table staring at her, concerned expressions on their faces.

“Heh heh, I’m fine...” the unicorn murmured nervously as sweat poured down her face.

“But you look absolutely dreadful, darling! Your face went ghostly pale all of a sudden,” Rarity said apprehensively.

“Yeah, you look like you’re really worried about something. Ooh! Ooh! I know! You’re worried that your horn will get cut off so you won’t be able to use magic and you can’t be the student of a powerful princess and be part of the Elements of Harmony and even your cutie mark will get all dry and dusty and then it’ll fall off!!!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

“How did you know that?” Twilight asked, her mouth hanging ajar.

The pink pony shrugged. “Lucky guess.”

Suddenly, the background murmur of other ponies’ conversations died down, leaving the room in total silence. Loud hoofsteps thudded against the ground as the door to the cafeteria slowly slid open.

Fluttershy let out a squeak and dive-bombed underneath the table. “It’s her,” she whispered timidly.

“Who?” Twilight wondered. Her friends all looked incredibly nervous, even the usually fearless Rainbow Dash. Applejack cautiously placed the cloth she was using to clean RD’s wounds down. Rarity and Pinkie Pie clung to each other as if they were bound together by glue.
Everypony in the room wore the same frightened expression on their face.

“It’s the Warden.”