"Running parallel to the Magical Land of Equestria, there is a seventh dimension. A dimension of Honesty and Lies. A dimension of Kindness and Cruelty. A dimension of Laughter and Misery. A dimension of Generosity and Greed. A dimension of Loyalty and Betrayal. But it's also a dimension of Magic and Mind. It's a nightmarish land whose boundaries are that of imagination. I am the key, the door, the guide, and the signpost of this world. Your next stop: The Twilight Sparkle Zone."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, plus Applebloom's cousin Babs, were making their way to the schoolhouse for another day of learning, which they weren't too enthusiastic about. Nevertheless, their spirits were still up.

"Ah'm pretty sure this visit will go loads better than your last one, cous!" Applebloom said.

Babs smiled bashfully. "Yeah, sure. Now that I'm not hanging around those two brats."

"Uh-oh, speak of the devils," Scootaloo remarked, and she pointed at the two approaching fillies.

"Darn it," Sweetie Belle muttered darkly, averting her eyes to the ground as the two bullies grew near.

"Oh look, Silver. The Bad Seed is back in town," Diamond Tiara said, her voice dripping with scorn.

Silver chuckled and said, "Yeah, she is. Maybe she'll grow into something. . .that we can chop down!"

The bullies laughed at this, but Babs glared at them and said, "Hey! I'm warning you punks-"

"Oh, what are you gonna do?" Diamond asked mockingly, her face set in an unpleasant smirk, "Tell on us? Ha! Yeah right. No one would dare punish us! Our extremely rich daddies would never allow that to happen. But you wouldn't know anything about having money, would you, Blank-Flanks!"

The cruel duo laughed mockingly as they pranced around their four victims, shouting names at them.

"Bad Seed!"

"Chicken-loo!"

"Hick-bloom!"

"Squeaky Belle!"

Diamond and Silver then ran off to the schoolhouse, laughing uproariously.

"Oooh, those two little. . ." Scootaloo said, her face growing red with rage.

Sweetie Belle put a hoof on Scootaloo's head, and turned it so she was looking at her. "Let it go, Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle said matter of factly, "Let them enjoy it while they can."

Sweetie Belle then calmly walked off to the school house.

"Huh?" Scootaloo said aloud, and then exchanged glances with Applebloom and Babs.

"What the hay did she mean by that?" Applebloom asked.

Babs shrugged, "I dunno. Come on, let's get going."

The fillies all made it to school on time, and were soon sitting at their desks.

"Good morning class," Miss Cheerilee greeted as she took her place at the chalkboard. There was a sudden cool breeze that went through the classroom. "Diamond, would you please close the window for us?" she asked.

Diamond silently grumbled at having to do something for anypony but herself, but got up anyway and walked to the open window. She reached up and closed it with ease.

BANG!

CRASH!!

Diamond was frozen in shock and fear as something flew across the room and knocked her signature tiara off her head, smashing it and sending it's pieces flying through the window, shattering the glass in the process. The filly turned around slowly to see something she couldn't even comprehend at first glance.

There was Sweetie Belle, standing up next to her desk, looking right at her with hate filled eyes. Held in her magical telekinetic grip was a small meat object with a barrel on the end facing her. The end of the barrel was smoking slightly, and it was pointed directly at her forehead.

Princess Twilight Sparkle stood watching in a corner.

"Let me introduce you to little Sweetie Belle, age 6, who lives in a village that appears to be Ponyville in a place that is supposed to be Equestria . And if by some strange chance you should run across her, you had best not harm her, wrong her, mistreat her, or make her cry. The same goes for her friends as well. Offend her at your own risk, because if you do meet this particular Sweetie Belle, you can be sure of one thing: you have entered - The Twilight Sparkle Zone.

Six Chambered Cylinder

Everyone stared in disbelief at Sweetie Belle, her face set in an angry glare as she aimed the weapon right at Diamond Tiara's head, only a yard of empty space between the two fillies.

"Sweetie Belle-" Miss Cheerilee began, signs of panic very clear upon her face.

"NOPONY MOVE!" Sweetie Belle shouted, her voice reaching a fever pitch as she turned her head to glare at everypony in the room, her magic still holding the weapon aimed at Diamond. "NOPONY MOVE A MUSCLE!"

As everypony sat frozen in their seats, their eyes fixed on Sweetie Belle, the white unicorn eased up the tension on her face and gave Diamond Tiara a small smile. "It feels so good, Di," she said calmly and steadily, "It's just so. . .amazing. After all the name calling, the spitballing, the mocking, the frame-ups, the slandering, the blackmailing, the way you shove the idea that you're so perfect in our faces!" Sweetie Belle took a moment to compose herself and steady her breathing, and then she said, "I finally got you right where I want you. Now I am the powerful one. That's how the world works, isn't it? If you have power or something over somepony else, then you can do whatever the hay you want to people not as high as you. And society won't care, because those people aren't big, or because you're just too big.You had all that money, Di. But now. . . I have this!"

"Sweetie Bel-"

"DON'T MOVE!" Sweetie Belle shouted at Miss Cheerilee, who had attempted to interject into the conversation, "I'll shoot. I swear I'll shoot! Luna dammit, I'll blow her bratty brains out!"

Cheerilee swallowed down a large lump in her throat and said, "Oh. . .no Sweetie. . I won't move. Nopony will more. Isn't that right class. Nopony is going to move." She adopted a calm, coaxing tone and put on a gentle smile. "How about we just talk, Sweetie Belle. Let's just talk, okay? Maybe about. . .that item you brought to class. Why not tell us what it is, where you got it from, what it's for; I really want to know more about this."

As Cheerilee's heart pounded with fear, Sweetie Belle took a moment to look around the room. Babs, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were all looking at her in disbelief. Babs actually looked legitimately frightened. Sweetie Belle gave a piercing glare at Silver Spoon, who was clinging to her desk with eyes wide with desperation, and then brought her attention back to the weapon she held with her magic.

"This is a revolver from the Griffon Kingdom," Sweetie Belle said, "It's one of the souvenirs Princess Twilight and her friends brought back with the when they visited the Griffon Kingdom. I've read all about them. They're designed to be held in a griffon's claws. Six bullets are placed in this chamber, and when you pull this little trigger, a mechanism lights this powder in the bullet to fire it out at the target. Although it's meant for claws, a unicorn can use magic to hold the gun and pull the trigger. I checked the chamber after a stole it. Maybe it was by mistake or something, but it turns out they brought back a fully loaded gun."

"So there's five bullets left?" Cheerilee asked, feigning curiosity in her voice.

"Yes," Sweetie Belle asked, "But I only need one to-"

BANG!

Sweetie Belle and swiveled the gun to her left quickly, fired, and then back at Diamond Tiara before she could take a step. The sounds of Silver Spoon's cries of pain rang loud throughout the school house. The grey filly had tried make a mad dash at Sweetie Belle and the gun, but the unicorn was too fast for her, and shot Silver in the front right hoof. The outer Keratin was shattered completely and Silver Spoon went down hard.

"This monster is not worth it, Silver Spoon! You're better than her, I know you are!" Sweetie Belle said in an almost pleading tone, "You were the first to clap for Granny Smith on Family Appreciation Day. You stayed out of that sick Gabby Gums plot. So take my advice, and just. Let. Her. Burn."

Diamond Tiara suddenly found the strength to speak and desperately called out to the filly who used to be her victim, "You're gonna get arrested for this! You'll be locked up in prison for the rest of your life if you shoot me!" Diamond's eyes shone with pitiful tears as the fear for her life grew more and more.

Sweetie Belle simply smirked. "Worth it," she said.

"Sweetie Belle, please!" Cheerilee said desperately, to frightened to move but getting more and more panicky by the second, "Murder is wrong! You couldn't possibly not know that!"

"Oh, but Miss, Cheerilee," Sweetie Belle said sweetly, "This isn't murder."

"It will be if one of those bullets hits it's mark!"

"I mean, killing Diamond Tiara would not be murder."

"How so?" Cheerilee demanded, her fear slowly turning into anger as her eyes shone with loathing at the unicorn who dared harm her other students.

"Murder is killing without reason or provocation. It's killing for the sake of killing. But not all killing is murder." Sweetie Belle kept one eye on Diamond Tiara, who was still cringing against the wall. Sweetie Belle asked Cheerilee in a polite manner, "Miss Cheerilee, are soldier who fight in war murderers?"

"Well. . .I-"

"No, they aren't," Sweetie Belle cut in, "They're fighting to defend their own, to destroy those who stand against their ideals and want to see them destroyed and replaced with their own. My ideals are Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Friendship. Diamond Tiara's ideals are Dishonesty, Cruelty, torment, Selfishness, Betrayal, and Bullying. I'm not gonna let her go on living and spreading her own Disharmony to other innocent ponies."

"You are not at war with Diamond Tiara!" Cheerilee said in a loud voice, not an actual yell, for she still feared the gun Sweetie Belle held. "This is a classroom, not a battlefield! The rules of war don't apply here! If you shoot her, you are wrong!"

"What about 'Self Defense'?" Sweetie Belle asked, taking her eye of Diamond to look at Cheerilee.

"Diamond did not attack you first!"

"Not physically, but she did attack me and my friends mentally! For months she's humiliated us, mocked us, blackmailed us, stole from us, made us feel worthle-"

BANG!

Cheerilee had suddenly dived downward in an attempt to slide across the wooden floor and catch Sweetie Belle in the legs. During the discussion, Diamond had slowly crept out from the gun's aim, giving Cheerilee the confidence she needed to act. However, Sweetie Belle was quick, and knew that Diamond was out of the shot, so rather than wasting a bullet firing at her and allowing herself to be restrained, Sweetie Belle fired at Cheerilee's backside, grazing her back and putting a bullet into her buttocks. The teacher yelled out in pain as she lay on the ground in pain.

BANG!

Diamond had attempted to use this distraction to get out the door, but Sweetie Belle's magic had gotten good, and the gun quickly turned and fired a shot at her. The bullet grazed her snout, not enough to draw blood, but it stopped her in her tracks. She fell flat on her face and looked over to she the barrel of the gun aimed at her yet again.

Sweetie Belle was looking at Diamond with a face red with anger, but she was speaking to Cheerilee. "How much money was Filthy Rich giving you? I mean, why else did this brat never get the discipline she needed to make her stop? I guess that makes this all your fault. If you had done something to set this miserable waste of a pony straight, then I wouldn't be doing this right now. So thanks a lot, Miss Cheerilee."

Sweetie Belle then took a sweeping glance at the room at large, "You know, there's a lesson in here. Dear Princess Celestia, a lot of the time, ponies say someone is evil or is bad or is doing wrong when they take the law into their own hands. They think a pony is in the wrong just because they go against what society says is right. A pony can lie, cheat, do underhoofed things, spread rumors, tears others down, blackmail, and be the hugest self entitled social darwinistic bigot in the entire world; but if they don't break any laws, or aren't caught breaking any laws, they're innocent."

Sweetie Belle smiled as she focused her gaze upon Diamond Tiara, who was laying on her side and breathing heavily, her eyes glued upon the gun. Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her mouth and giggled a bit. Then she placed that hoof upon her heart and said, "But the moment a good hearted filly, one who has done her best to follow the rules and be kind and to always do the right thing and not fight back, the moment she tries to take a stand in a BIG way. . . she's the bad one. She's not allowed to end the suffering, the torment, the evil. . ."

Sweetie Belle took an excited breath, and smiled wider. "It's society that's in the wrong. So I don't have to listen to it."

Sweetie Belle took a one step closer to Diamond Tiara.

"WAIT!"

Sweetie Belle turned to look at Silver Spoon, who was still lying on the floor with her shattered hoof. She looked up at the unicorn, pleading silently with her eyes.

"She's bad company Silver," Sweetie Belle said, "Let her go. There's nothing you can do."

Silver Spoon looked down at the floor and said, "You're right. . .there's nothing I can do. . ." Silver then looked back up with a new sense of determination in her eyes. "But there is something someone else can do."

Using the moment of confusion created, two fillies immediately tackled Sweetie Belle in the back.

BANG!

A cry of pain rang out right after the gun fired. A blow to her horn disabled Sweetie Belle's magic, and the went flying in some random direction. Sweetie Belle pushed the two assailants off of her and rolled into the wall. She propped herself up against it and stared angrily at Scootlaoo and Applebloom.

She took a few shallow breaths, then she screamed, "YOU'RE TOO NICE! THE BOTH OF YOU! YOU'RE TOO NICE! YOU WON'T DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING! ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS NOTHING!!"

Sweetie Belle turned to see Babs Seed lying on the ground with a bleeding right ear. The Manehatten pony had pushed Diamond Tiara out of the way of the shot, but had taken a bullet to the ear.

"Serves you right," Sweetie Belle hissed, "You bullied me just cause you got bullied. Oh, puh-lease! That's no excuse. But then again, only I seemed to really care. Only I burst into tears when you stole our clubhouse, you filthy little city prick."

Sweetie Belle then turned her attention to her two other friends. Scootaloo looked angry, while Applebloom looked disappointed.

"You can't just try to kill ponies like that!" Scootaloo shouted, prodding Sweetie Belle's chest with her hoof.

"This isn't you, Sweetie Belle," Applebloom said in an almost sad sounding tone. "Killing someone is an extreme last resort, and only if they do something that deserves it. Diamond Tiara may never stop, but she hasn't hurt us. She can't hurt us. We've beaten her tons of time. There are better ways to teach her a lesson. Pranks, humiliation, a hoof to her face! But to do something this bad? No matter how evil she is, doing that just makes you evil like her."

Sweetie Belle stared at Applebloom, her eyes slightly glazed over as if she were thinking it over.

She opened her mouth to speak.

"One bullet left."

It wasn't Sweetie Belle who spoke.

Everyone turned to see Diamond Tiara standing next to a desk. The griffon gun was on the desk with a pencil placed in the trigger area. The barrel was pointed right at Sweetie Belle. A smile of wicked delight was upon Diamond Tiara's face as she held the pencil with one hoof and the held the gun down with the other.

"You're dead Squeaky Belle," Diamond said with biting vitriol, that smile still on her face.

"Diamond, wait!" Silver Spoon called out.

"I'm not making any lame speeches about right and wrong, I just wanna see you die, Dumb Belle," Diamond said triumphantly, ignoring Silver Spoon.

"No! It's still wrong!" Applebloom shouted.

"You'll be sinking to her level!" Silver exclaimed.

"Level-schmevel! She's a worthless Blank Flank. I'm a rich talented young filly. I'm better. She's nothing. And she is going to die," Diamond said almost casually, and with a flick of her hoof, she pushed the trigger with the pencil.

BANG!

Diamond didn't laugh maniacally. Rather, she laughed her normal gleeful laugh. She looked at Sweetie Bell, waiting for her to drop down dead. However, what happened next shocked her to her core.

Sweetie Belle started laughing.

Before Diamond could fully comprehend this, everyone else in the room started to laugh. This included Babs, Silver, and even Miss Cheerilee.

The laughing continued for a solid minute, then Diamond Tiara couldn't take it any longer.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL LAUGHING ABOUT!?" she exclaimed.

Everypony soon brought their mirth under control, and Cheerilee spoke for the class in general. "Diamond Tiara, the test is over."

Diamond blinked, "Test? What test? That psycho Blank Flank tired to kill me!"

Cheerilee just smiled and shook her head. She then stood up, and turned to look at her injury. With a flash, the injury was gone as if it had never happened.

Diamond's eyes widened in disbelief. She looked around and saw Babs and Silver Spoon getting up, their injuries vanishing as well.

"You mean. . ." Diamond Tiara's mouth went dry. She licked her lips nervously and said, "Sweetie Belle wasn't trying to kill me?"

"Of course I wasn't!" Sweetie Belle said jovially in her normal chipper voice, "I'd never kill anypony! NEVER! That's a horrible thing to do, and I hope I never get into those rare occasions where you have to kill to survive. And come on, killing someone for being a bully? Maybe if I didn't have a family and friends who loved me or was mentally insane or just had an awful life, I could snap like that. But somepony like me doing that? No way. I'm just a really good actress." Sweetie Belle smiled with pride as she received a double hug from Scootaloo and Applebloom.

Diamond Tiara's eyes shifted around nervously. "Bu-bu-bu-but. . .but why!?"

Diamond Tiara then felt a strong presence behind her. She turned around fast to see none other than Princess Luna standing there. "This is a dream," Diamond said softly, sighing in relief as a small smile appeared on her face.

Luna stared down at Diamond Tiara, her face stern and her eyes cold. "Wrong, Diamond Tiara. This is reality. Everypony here is real. We simply observed while casting a few well timed illusions, specifically the gunshot wounds."

Diamond blinked her eyes as her ears hung low.

"During the time period of one year," Luna continued, "Thou hast committed a series of malicious, hateful, and blackhearted actions in Ponyville. This led to an appeal by the Elements of Harmony for a Royal Investigation. . . for the good of Harmony. We designed this first test as a benchmark to see how bad thou really were. We did not expect this, but thou surprised us. thou have shown yourself to have the capacity to commit murder. Therefore, I now declare you DISHARMONY."

"Dis. . harmony?" Diamond Tiara repeated in disbelief.

"Thou hast disgraced The Elements of Harmony. Thou hast proven yourself to be evil. Thou have therefore, no place in Equestria....thou art DISHARMONY!" Luna declared.

"But. . .but. . .I was defending myself!" Diamond Tiara argued.

"Sweetie Belle didn't have the gun. You did. Sweetie Belle was no longer a danger to you. Thou art DISHARMONY."

"But she threatened to kill me!"

"Thou took the gun. Thou were safe and could have run away, yet thou chose to kill her. Thou art DISHARMONY!"

"No, no! I thought this was real! I thought she-!"

"The fact that thou thought it was real only proves our point. Thou had the gun, you were in no danger. Her friends were calming her down. Thou could have ran for help. Perhaps fired the last bullet into the floor for safety. Sweetie Belle had reasons for possibly wanting to kill you, namely your torment of her. Sweetie Belle never went out of her way to harass you. Let thou gleefully shot her to satisfy thou own hatred.. Thou art DISHARMONY!"

Diamond Tiara felt her whole body shake as the Princess of the Night towered high above her. "No, your Majesty, please! You're making a terrible mistake!"

"DISHARMONY! DISHARMONY! DISHARMONY!" chanted Sweetie Belle, Babs Seed, Scootaloo, and Applebloom as they shot cold glares at Diamond Tiara.

"No, this is all a mistake!" Diamond pleaded as she backed away from the four Cutie Mark Crusaders, "I'm not evil! I'm not Disharmonious!!"

"DISHARMONY! DISHARMONY! DISHARMONY!" chanted Featherweight, Button Mash, Snips, and Snails with that same cold stare.

"I'm Diamond Tiara Rich! I'm Filthy Rich's only daughter!" the filly cried out desperately as her teacher and classmates closed in on her, with Princess Luna blocking the doorway, "The Rich's support Ponyville! We carry Ponyville! We created Ponyville! We give it strength! How can you call me disharmonious! HOW CAN YOU!!?? PLEASE, I'M NOT DISHARMONIOUS! NO!! NOOOOOOO!!!!"

Diamond Tiara let out an ear piercing shriek as she was set upon on all sides by the other ponies. Her screaming goes completely ignored as their chant of "disharmony" drowns her out, and Princess Luna keeps a serious face and unfurls her wings to salute the great victory for Harmony that was won at that moment.

"I know that many of you are calling foul on the quote-unquote 'test' given to Diamond Tiara, the late Diamond Tiara. Let me the first to tell you that you are only partly wrong, and that the other ponies were only partly correct. She *was* Disharmony, but to be fair, so was the pony that Sweetie Belle was portraying. Any pony, any person, any entity that seeks to make excuses or to justify any evil action, or fails to recognize their own evils; that person is Disharmony. Just as Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the Serpent, so did Diamond Tiara blame Sweetie Belle and Sweetie Belle blame Diamond Tiara - in The Twilight Sparkle Zone."

Author's Note

This story was inspired by Season 2 Episode 65 of the Twilight Zone. "The Obsolete Man"