The Twilight Sparkle Zone

by Matthais Unidostres

Rating: teen
Tags: Lightning Dust, Gore, Diamond Tiara, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Spike, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Crossover, Main 6
Length: 17936

Running parallel to this world of magic and wonder, there is a Seventh Dimension. A Dimension known only as "The Twilight Sparkle Zone."

Running parallel to this world of magic and wonder, there is a Seventh Dimension. A Dimension known only as "The Twilight Sparkle Zone." And within this place, ponies good and evil, young and old, strong and weak will face situations that twist not only sight and sound, but the mind as well. Follow Princess Twilight Sparkle, listen and observe as she shares these strange tales with you.

Published 2014-08-26 03:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-08 17:47:58 UTC

Table of Contents

Episode One: Six Chambered Cylinder
After being tormented by Diamond Tiara for so long, Sweetie Belle decides enough is enough, and soon Diamond is staring down the barrel of a gun as her once "victim" now executioner is reflecting on the nature of what society says is right and wrong.

Episode Two: She's Alive
After being kicked out of the Wonderbolt Academy, Lightning Dust is gains a hatred for modern Equestrian society and advocates for a return to the old ways of the Warrior Pegasi where the strong are the masters of the weak. Her Neo-Pegasopolis Party is small and struggling, and seems on the verge of fizzling out. However, that all changes when she is visited by what appears to be the ghost of Commander Hurricane.

Episode Three: Ah Am Xenophobia- Color Me Orange
Applejack despises Changelings due to the fact that they use deception and lies to feed off of the stolen love of others. The arrival of a Changeling Ambassador in Ponyville only further fuels her rage and disgust for the insect-like creatures. This leads the farm pony to do something that she will never regret.

Episode Four: The Button Giveth. . .
Scootaloo wants to be able to fly more than anything, but her defective wings make that an impossible dream. But then Scootaloo faces a moral dilemma when a stallion presents her with a device that can permanently remove somepony else's wings and permanently give her healthy wings with the push of a button.

Episode Five: I Daring Don't Believe It
After reading several of the Daring Do books, Spike begins to see characters from the series in real life, filling him with the fear that he might be losing his mind.

Episode Six: Malevolence-Epitome Incriminated
After her constant torment and abuse of ponies poorer than she is, and her lack of respect and compassion for anypony else but herself, Diamond Tiara is brought to Princess Twilight's Castle and is put on trial by the entire Council of Harmony in an attempt to plant the seeds of Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic within her.

Episode Seven: The Jeopardy Cottage
Scootaloo is house-sitting for Fluttershy when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon turn the cottage into a deathtrap in the name of Social Darwinism.

Episode Eight: The Three of Us Are Dead
After storming off into the Everfree Forest in a huff, Applebloom soon discovers that her friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had followed her into the forest and into their deaths.

Episode Nine: And To The Republic
The rise of an extremist group called "The New Lunar Republic" puts Celestia on edge, especially when a certain unavoidable Solar Eclipse will strip Celestia of her magic for 7 tense minutes.

Episode One: Six Chambered Cylinder

"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"

Episode Two: She's Alive

"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."

In the center of Cloudsdale, a stage of cumulus clouds had been hastily put together. Large poles bearing the flags and banners were stuck into the clouds. They were imitations of the Pegasi Tribe flags of old, depicting the head and wings of an ice blue pegasus.

Standing on the stage was a group of four pegasi, three male and one female. One male, named Score, was grey with black hair, and had a three footballs on his flank. Another, named Hoops, was tan with brown hair, and had three basketballs. The third male, named Dumb-Bell, was dark brown with white hair, and had a dumb-bell Cutie Mark.

The lone mare, and leader of this group, was electric blue with yellow hair. Her Cutie Mark depicted a bolt of lightning striking down hard. Lightning Dust stood on stage and looked down at all the pegasi who were approaching out of curiosity.

"Mare and gentlecolts!" Lightning Dust shouted, "I speak in the name of the once great leader, Commander Hurricane! The one who knew that the strong are better than the weak! The one who that your own awesomeness is more important than anypony else! If they're too stupid to get out of your way, then they deserve whatever they get!"

Lightning Dust paced around the stage, looking more than a bit agitated. She nervously ran her hoof through her hair and said, "I was kicked out of the Wonderbolts because I didn't let a whimp hold me back. Because I a couple of dumb civilians got in my tornado." Lightning Dust turned to the small crowd that had gathered there and shouted, "NO! It's not fair! That's not fair, I tell you! I am one of the greatest fliers Equestria has ever known. Commander Hurricane would have made me second in command! We need to bring back the days where Pegasi were warriors, where the strong ruled-"

SPLAT!

A rotten tomato slid off of Lightning Dust scandalized face as the sound of laughter rang throughout the small crowd of ponies.

"Wow, this mare has totally lost it!"

"Aww, boo-hoo. The poor wittle girl got kicked out of the Wonderbolts!"

"Looks like somepony wants to get frozen by a Windigo!"

"The Great Commander Hurricane? Oh, please!"

Lightning Dust flared her wings and flew out towards the small group in front of her, but was stopped by the three large males behind her. As the group of citizens dispersed, Lightning Dust could stare hatefully at their backs, and spit contemptuously.

"Dust, I don't think we're gonna get anywhere like this," Hoops said as he held onto to one of her wings.

"Let me go," she replied grumpily.

The three stallions released her, and she sunk to the cloudy ground with a defeated sigh.

"Alright, you four, pack it up!" came an official sounding voice.

The group turned to see a pair of pegasi police officers approaching them. One of them pointed to the stage with a billy club and said, "You can't congregate in the middle of town like this without a permit. So go ahead and disperse this clouds."

Lightning Dust bit her lip, her left eye twitching. She went over and raised a hoof as if to start breaking up the clouds, but then spun around and took a swing at the officer. She missed, and the officer dealt her a blow to her stomach with his club. Lightning Dust fell over, breathing heavily after having all the wind knocked out of her.

"Are you a madmare?" the officer asked gruffly. "You really think you're in the right, don't you?"

Lightning Dust stopped gasping, and looked up defiantly at the officer. "Ponies like you. . .who defend the weak. . ."

"Contribute something to society," the officer interrupted, "What do you do? Whine about what a sociopath you are? Talk about what a great dictator Commander Hurricane was? How being strong gives you the right to put others in harms way, or even harm them deliberately?" The officer looked at the Pegasopolis flags. A look of disgust crossed his face. He walked over to each of them, and kicked them down one by one. "SCRAM!" he shouted to the three stallions, who quickly obeyed and flew off in different directions.

The other officer bound Lighting Dust's wings in special wing cuffs, a metal ring that held the wings together. The irate mare's body burned with indignity as she said in a low voice, "Someday, everypony will see that I'm right. That Commander Hurricane was right before that stupid Hearths Warming Ever stuff corrupted him. Pegasi are warriors. We take from the weak. We live off the weak. We sacrifice the weak. If the Wonderbolts believed that, I'd still be with them."

The officer that bound her snorted and said, "If the Wonderbolts believed something as sick as that, I'd circulate a petition to ban them. Now come on, missy. A week in jail should do you some good."

The two pegasi nudged Lightning Dust forward as she walked in stubborn silence.

Twilight Sparkle was standing next to the stage.

"Portrait of a bush-league dictator named Lightning Dust, a sparse little mare who feeds off her self-delusions and finds herself perpetually hungry for want of greatness in his diet. And like some goose-flapping predecessors, she searches for something to explain her hunger, and to rationalize why a world passes her by without saluting. In her own twisted and distorted lexicon, she calls it faith, strength, truth. But in just a moment, Lightning Dust will ply her trade on another kind of corner, a strange intersection in a shadowland called - The Twilight Sparkle Zone."

She's Alive

Lightning Dust laid back in her cell, empty other than herself. She looked out the barred window in the cell of dark grey nimbus clouds. It was sunrise of the seventh day. Only a few hours before she could leave.

"Lightning Dust. You got visitors," the guard said.

Lightning Dust looked up to see Dumb-Bell, Hoops, and Score walk over to the bars.

"Hey, Dust," Hoops said plainly, a nervous look on his face. The others seemed a little uneasy as well.

"Did you get our flags," Lightning Dust asked as she walked over to the bars, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Uhhhhh...." Hoops said, looking more uneasy than ever.

"Well, the thing is. . ." Score said, doing his best to avert his eyes from Lightning Dust, desperate to not look her in the eye, "About our. . .thing. . .group. . .it's just. . .it kinda. . ."

"It's over," Dumb-Bell said flatly, causing the other two to wince.

"It's not over," Lightning Dust said flatly.

"Yes it is, Dust," Dumb-Bell replied.

"It's never over."

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"You're wrong-"

"YOU DOPE!" Dumb-Belle shouted in Lightning Dust's face, spraying spit at her. "Commander Hurricane is long dead, Pegasopolis doesn't exist, and everypony is thinking we're crazy! You said you'd make us important and in charge of things because we were strong! You promised us that we'd be in the Wonderbolts, for crying out loud! Well guess what, we're not as stupid as we look! Come on guys, let's get out of this place."

Dumb-Bell turned and marched out of the room. Hoops and Score took a moment to look back, and then turned away as well.

Lightning Dust watched the trio go, and then let out a long and loud growl as she marched over to the makeshift bed and started beating the pillow with all her might. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid weaklings!" she screeched as she flung the pillow into the wall.

She sat down hard. "I'm better than them," she said. "I'm better than Rainbow Dash, and those stinkin Wonderbolts. They felt threatened. I was a threat to them."

Lightning Dust simply stood staring at the floor for a moment, contemplating how pathetic Equestria was compared to the proud and might Pegasi Tribe, until her keen senses picked up the approach of somepony. She looked up and through the prison bars, and soon the silhouette of a pegasus mare approached the bard. The pegasus was standing back in the shadows of the hall, making it impossible to see the face.

"Heh. . .Who are you?" Lightning Dust asked in only vague interest.

"An ally," the figure said, "One who shares your values and beliefs."

Lightning Dust sniffed, and walked over to the bars. She rested her forelegs against them and looked into the suddenly darkened halls. The figure didn't come any closer, but still remained in the shadows.

"And I suppose you'd consider yourself better than those three foalish colts who left me here?" she asked the figure.

The figure didn't move a muscle. She simply stood up straight and still, and replied, "Let me straighten you out about something. Something every great leader must know and must always remember. 'Your people are your greatest asset.' They may be naive or slow or simple minded, but there will be times when that either does not matter or actually benefits you."

Something about the way this mare spoke intrigued Lightning Dust. She seemed so sure and authoritative in her speech. "Explain," Lightning Dust asked.

The figure continued, "Their ignorance is your strength. It is through their ignorance that you can convince them that your side is the only side. That you are their saviour. That you and only you are the one who knows the truth. Brute force means nothing if nopony wishes to join your side. After you convince the masses, then you can use brute force as you throw their brainless bodies at the enemy. The ones who remain when the dust settles will be the strongest ones, and then, strength will beget strength, and you will have your force."

The figure leaned forward a bit. "However, it is clear you do not know the first thing about enthralling a crowd, or spreading hysteria for your cause. All you do is whine and complain about your own suffering. Your role is to be a leader, not a martyr. I guarantee you'll have plenty of those a little later. What you need to do is to open their eyes to their own suffering and oppression. This is, in fact, quite easy. For you see, all you need to do is make whatever the Earth Ponies and Unicorns do an act of oppression."

"Earth Ponies and Unicorns?" Lightning Dust echoed.

"Are you inferring that the idea of coddling, shielding, and wasting resources on the weak came from Pegasi?" the figure asked in an accusatory tone.

Lightning Dust breathed a shaky breath, and then shook her head. "No. Of course not. It was obviously that pathetic unification that corrupted the Pegasi race. The Unicorns and their codes of conduct. The Earth Ponies and their claims of comradery to all equines. It was their pathetic flightlessness that shattered my ambitions."

"Enough whining about you," the figure growled out, "You must make your audience feel their own grievances. Grievances that will hit them where it hurts the most. If they are poor or at the very least desire more money, tell them that the Earth Ponies steal from them by charging money for the food they grow. The food that would not exist without the Pegasi's rain! If they feel that taxes are too high, tell them that the taxes go to the nobles who are guarded by Pegasi guards, and that there would be no one left alive to collect those taxes if it weren't for the Pegasi! If they receive payment or wear clothing from the wealthy Unicorn high class, tell them that the Unicorns view them as lowly entertainment for them to gawk at in flight shows and competitions as quote unquote 'freaks' and 'ruffians', and clothe them as they would a foal's doll. And if they fear the Royalty, tell them that although they raise and lower the sun and moon, the Pegasi have clouds that can blot out both of them, and like the clouds, should all the Pegasi gather together as one unstoppable force, wielding the power and warrior spirit of the Pegasi race, surely not even their pampered rulers could overcome them!"

Lightning Dust's eyes were wide and her heart was impassioned and beating strongly.

"Genius. . .Genius. . .She's genius!"

"You will be released very soon, Lightning Dust," the silhouette said, "I give you one more piece of advice. In the beginning, you will have other members of your race who have been brainwashed by Harmony. You mustn't give them a reason to stifle you. Therefore, you must play by their rules until you are more than able to overthrow them. Therefore. . .you ought to get that permit. . ."

". . .and like the clouds, should all the Pegasi gather together as one unstoppable force, wielding the power and warrior spirit of the Pegasi race, surely not even our pampered rulers could overcome us!" Lightning Dust shouted from behind the podium.

The audience cheered and stomped their hooves in the auditorium Lightning Dust had rented. She smiled as she gazed upon her new followers. She counted 30, not including herself and the trio of males standing behind her.

"Never doubted her for a second," Dumb-Bell said with a smirk.

"Neither did we!" said Score as Hoops nodded enthusiastically.

"They really are simple minded," Lightning Dust thought to herself as she recalled her mysterious mentor's advice. She smirked and finished her thought with, "But they'll fight. . .they all will. First with words to win over all of Cloudsdale. And then, with force to-"

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone's attention snapped to the entrance to the auditorium. Standing there was the absolute last pony Lightning Dust wanted to see.

The new arrival gazed around at all the ponies, and then at the Pegasopolis flags hanging behind Lightning Dust. Spitfire gazed at Lightning with a look of shame. "I did not believe the rumors," Spitfire said as she slowly walked down the aisle and towards the stage. "This talk of a Neo-Pegasopolis rally led by a feisty, charismatic mare named Lightning Dust? A mare who spoke off Pegasi Supremacy and a return to the old ways of Commander Hurricane? Again, I did not believe it."

Lightning Dust felt a lump in her throat beginning to grow as painful past memories began to resurface. The two guards flanking her. The ripping off of that golden badge. . .

Spitfire stopped right in front of the stage. "But I just had to check it out for myself. So I peeked in, I saw you, and I heard you mad ravings."

The Wonderbolt Captain flew up and landed soundlessly right next to Lightning Dust. The electric blue mare was sweating profusely. This did not go unnoticed by the audience.

Spitfire turned and addressed the ponies watching, "Why are you all wasting your time with this? What's so gripping about an angry little mare throwing a temper tantrum? A mare who doesn't know her history and is doomed to repeat it? I doubt you know much history either. If you did, then you would know what happens to those who think and act like your 'Commander' over here. They get frozen in ice, burned alive, turned to stone, banished to Tartarus, imprisoned on the moon, and even obliterated and scattered across Equestria."

As the crowd began to mutter to themselves, Dumb-Bell leaned over to Lightning Dust and whispered, "Hey, uh, Dust? Maybe we ought to. . ya know. . .maybe get her out of here?"

Lightning Dust opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She could only stare in dumbstruck silence at Spitfire, who seemed to emanate an aura of confidence and righteousness. Spitfire must have felt her stare, because she turned to look Lightning Dust in the eye and said, "Do you get it now, Lightning Dust. Do you understand that behind all this talk, you're just a loose cannon who got kicked out of the Wonderbolts because you don't care about anypony except yourself? That if you actually were a Commander, that you wouldn't give two bits about the lives of individual civilians? That allllll of this is just an overblown temper tantrum?"

Smack!

Spitfire's head was knocked to the side by Lightning Dust's hoof, but the Wonderbolt Captain quickly turned her head back to face the younger mare. Spitfire kept up her contemptuous glare and said, "So you can hit me? Big deal. That means nothing. Just a fight or flight response, nothing more. And right now, by the look in your eyes, your sweat soaked fur, and labored breathing; I'd say you're slowly considering the flight option more and more. As expected, Lightning Dust. You're a coward who wants attention."

The entire auditorium was quiet as Spitfire took her time walking to the exit. She left without looking back.

Lightning Dust leaned on her podium, her head staring down as a huge empty pit grew in the depths of her stomach. She could barely hear the crowd of pegasi talk quietly amongst themselves as they slowly filed out of the room.

"Uh. . ." Score said nervously as she stared at the back of Lightning Dust's head.

"Leave me," she said in a broken tone of voice.

The trio of pegasi took it as an order, and quickly left Lightning Dust alone with her thoughts.

She wasn't sure how long she had stood there. All she knew was that it had suddenly become quite dark. But then, she felt that undeniable presence that could not be ignored. Lightning Dust looked up to see the familiar silhouette stand in the open doorway.

"She's too much," Lightning Dust said, almost apologetically. "She's just too much. That Spitfire. Her words carry so much weight. She puts herself in her words. She has no fear. She's the embodiment of the Wonderbolts. . ."

"Those Wonderbolts are a mockery to the true power, ferocity, and courage of the Pegasi race," the figure said shortly, "And what's worse is that it is the Wonderbolts who have weakened, have distracted you, have ruined your notion of the Glory of the Pegasi Race. That pathetic excuse for a Captain and her team don't have centillion of the might that the Pegasi soldiers of old had. And the fact that you, Lightning Dust, allowed them to humiliate you shows that you have the soul of an infantile fruit bat!"

Lightning Dust slammed the podium with her hoof, bringing herself up higher on her hind legs as she desperately fed off the insult and indignity she received from this stranger.

"And what are you? A vampire fruit bat?!" she shouted, "Hiding like a coward while you send me to do all the hard work for you?! You think you can sit there all hidden and judge me? You know what to say. You know what to do. You're ideas and techniques worked. But what do you do? Send me to face the one who crushed me all by myself while you slink in the shadows and come out to mock me! HA!" Lightning Dust knocked the podium off to the side with all the force she could muster. She ignored the noises it made as it rolled clunkily over the cloud floor. She clenched her teeth as she fell back down to all fours. She pointed an accusing hoof and shouted, "I'm twice the mare you'll ever be! I DON'T HIDE IN THE DARKNESS! WHAT HAVE YOU EVER DONE!?"

"What have I done?!" the figure spat, pure rage barely visible on the figure's concealed face, "I've made speeches that sowed Disharmony in the hearts of Pegasi better than Discord could have ever dreamed off! I've fought battles that not even the Changeling Queen could stand to witness!! I've ruled over the entire Pegasi race with a grip stronger than that of Tirek!!! I've done all of that and more, thousands of years before you were spawned!!!! And as for being in Darkness, Lightning Dust; if Luna was corrupted by Darkness, and if King Sombra became Darkness. . .THEN I INVENTED DARKNESS!!!!!"

The figure stepped out of the shadows.

Every nerve in Lightning Dust's entire body seemed to shut down, although she inexplicably remained conscious. Her whole body went limp, and fell to the floor like a sack of jelly. She began blubbering madly, as if trying to but together a coherent sentence. However, that was impossible for her at the moment. Her eyes were still wide opened, and they were fixated on the blood red Commander, her gold rimmed eagle eyes, her short black hair and tail, her golden rimmed helmet, her silver grey armor, and the golden lightning bolt on her chest. She was completely shaken to the core as the strong looking pegasus seemed to tower over her, continuously wearing an angry frown.

"P-p-p-please. . ." she eventually got out. She did not know what she was saying please about. Her mind was only half working. However, it was working enough to get her body slowly back under her control so that she could stand up with any remaining dignity she had.

Commander Hurricane watched as Lightning Dust stood unsteadily on her hooves, but soon managed to still herself.

Then, Lightning Dust performed one last deep breath of relaxation, and saluted with her right fore hoof. "Commander!" she said officially.

Commander Hurricane did not smile. She merely nodded and said, "Very good soldier. Keep in mind that I am your Commander. Everything I say is an order! Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" Lightning Dust replied, holding the salute and remaining perfectly still.

"I can't hear you!"

"YES MA'AM!"

Commander Hurricane nodded again. She then began to pace back and forth in front of Lightning Dust. "The Hearth's Warming Eve tail is accurate up to it's ending," the Commander said, "Puddinghead, Platinum, and I were not brainwashed by the weakness and sentiment of Harmony and Friendship. Rather, we were left to our frozen fates, and our subordinates took our place until the arrival of Celestia and Luna. It was an edit to coddle stupid foals, but it also slung mud on my name. Just another motivation for our cause." She turned to Lightning Dust and said, "You have what you need to succeed, soldier. You can deny foolish sentiments. You already have our plan in your head. As you thought to yourself before: 'First with words to win over all of Cloudsdale. And then, with force to overthrow this abominable land, where the strong are expected to sacrifice their ambitions for the weak.' That is what I did, and that is what you will do. Do you understand?"

"YES MA'AM!"

"Good. . ." Commander Hurricane smiled, "And now. . .for your final test. A test in which you will learn about insubordinates, and the making of examples. Some Pegasi are too far gone to see our truth. Most of them will either make good slaves, or are indolent enough to remain normal civilians to use as factory workers or meat shields. But some of these may have too much voice, or too much influence, or too much power, or too much intelligence. Those ponies are a cancer to our Race, and they must be remove. Spitfire has been corrupted by Harmony, by compassion, by sentiment. That will lead her to come back to you, to convert her with her Gospel. She will first check your home and find nothing. Then she will come back here. Here. Where there are no witnesses." Commander Hurricane unsheathed a silver dagger. It had a leather strap around it to fasten it to the user's hoof. Commander Hurricane pressed the dagger into Lightning Dust's hoof. "Kill her, and our victory in Cloudsdale is assured. Do you understand?"

Lightning Dust stared down at the dagger. At first, it brought on feelings of repulsion. But then, those feelings were pushed out by the memories of not only that fateful day at the Wonderbolt Academy, but also of the events of today. And as she gazed at the face of the insuperable Commander, she found it impossible to refuse anything she asked of her.

Lightning Dust set her jaw, attached the dagger securely to her right hoof with the leather strap, and saluted once more.

"YES MA'AM!"

The blood red pegasus nodded, and with a powerful flap of her wings, she flew off backstage, leaving Lightning Dust all by herself.

"Lightning Dust?"

The mare turned to see Spitfire slowly walk into the auditorium. It was still dark, and Lightning had attached the dagger to her hoof in such a way that nopony would see it while standing face to face with her.

"Lightning Dust. . ." Spitfire began, looking slightly down and sympathetic. "I. . .I want to help you."

"Help me to be weak?" Lightning Dust said bitterly, glaring hard at Spitfire, "To hold back? To wait up for others who have no business trying to fly or to be Pegasi or to even live?! Pegasi control the weather, they fight, they protect, they guard, they're the strongest. Unicorns and Earth Ponies are beneath us. Who cares about their pain if we get something out of it. Even if it's just thrill."

Spitfire kept a straight face. She then raised an eyebrow and said, "Okay, Lightning Dust. I want you to answer this question for me, and I want you to say it unwaveringly. If the ponies in the hot air balloon that got caught in your tornado had died, would you have minded?"

"No Spitfire. . .I would have preferred it if they had died."

That statement completely broke Spitfire's composure. She looked shocked, horrified even. "You. . .you don't mean that. This is all talk. It's got to be!" Spitfire leaned closer to the other mare and looked directly into her eyes. She prodded her with a hoof and said authoritatively, "You're self-centered, narcissistic, a loose cannon, and an adrenaline junkie; but you're certainly not an evil bigot!"

Lightning Dust sneered and raised her right hoof. "You don't know me at all, tumor. . You don't know the Pegasi race at all."

It all happened in an instant. She tackled, she thrust forth her hoof, there was blood, and now she was standing over the one who had broken her.

"Congratulations, soldier," came the voice of Commander Hurricane from backstage, "The tumor had been removed, and the Pegasi race is stronger for it. Now, tell me, how do you feel?"

Lightning Dust was feeling a lot of things. Horror, terror, trauma, disgust, and disgrace; just to name a few. But that didn't stop other feelings to come as well.

"Powerful. . ." Lightning Dust said as she gazed at the bloody dagger, "Masterful. Almighty. Omnipotent. . ."

"The word you are looking for. . .is IMMORTAL!"

Lightning Dust's eyes widened as a chill ran through her whole body. "Immortal. . ." she repeated softly.

"Don't move a muscle," a voice said.

Lightning Dust turned to see the pair of police officers who arrested her before standing at the entrance. Behind the officers where Hoops, Score, and Dumb-Bell.

Dumb-Bell swallowed hard, but then gathered up his nerve and said, "Dust. . .we came back to check up on you. Spitfire got here first. We saw the whole thing and. . .and we ran to get the cops. We. . .we just had too."

One of the officers nodded and said, "Well, Ms Dust, I can say with great certainty that you'll be found guilty of this murder."

"Actually, it's attempted murder."

Everypony looked over with great shock to see Spitfire raising her head slightly and managing a small smile. "She only just missed my heart. Got a rib though. Give me a few stitches and a blood transfusion, and I'm sure I'll live," the Wonderbolt Captain said laboriously as blood continued to leak out of her chest wound.

At that moment, Lightning Dust turned fast and propelled herself at top speed at the wall behind her, smashing through the clouds and leaving a pegasus shaped imprint. As she flew out into the night, two more Pegasi police officers flew out in front of her, back up for the others in case she attempted to flee.

"FREEZE!" they shouted as they pointed crossbows loaded with ice arrows at her.

Lightning Dust went into a step dive to evade them, but to no avail. She felt the icy sting of the arrows as they pierced her wings. Her feathers grew cold, stiff, and heavy. She was falling fast, but her descent was stopped when the two officers dived down and grabbed her by her wings. A sudden intense rage built up inside of her, and it exploded out of her as she screamed, "HAIL HURRICANE!!!"

Lightning Dust thrashed around wildly, swinging her hooves madly, until she managed to catch the two officers in their faces. Stunned, the two officers let go, and Lightning Dust resumed falling to the ground, her icy wings making her heavy and dense.

Lightning Dust began repeated a mantra, "I am immortal. I am immortal. I am immortal! I AM IMM-"

SPLACK!!!

After rushing Spitfire to the hospital, the two officers arrived at the scene where the two back-up officers were already. There the body lay, wings iced over and nearly every bone broken from impact.

"'Hail Hurricane'. . ." one officer repeated in pity and disbelief, "How very sad. How can someone become so driven by a pony who isn't even alive anymore?"

The officers didn't at all notice the shadowy figure of a pegasus watching them from a distance. Nor did they notice the pegasus turn to two other shadowy figures. One was a unicorn wearing a royal robe and crowd. The other was an earth pony wearing a odd looking hat and a ruff around her neck. The three figures nodded to each other, and went their separate ways.

"Where will they go next, to whom will they visit, these phantoms from another time, these resurrected ghosts of a previous nightmare - to Prince Blueblood in Canterlot? To Filthy Rich in Ponyville? Anyplace, everyplace, where there's hate, where there's prejudice, where there's bigotry. They're alive. They're alive so long as these evils exist. Remember that when they come to your town. Remember it when you hear their voices speaking out through others. Remember it when you hear a name called, a minority attacked, any blind, unreasoning assault on a people or any living being. They're alive because through these things we keep them alive. Not just in the Twilight Sparkle Zone, but in all universes, and in all worlds."

Author's Note

Communist Lightning Dust avatar by Schrodinger-Excidium
http://schrodinger-excidium.deviantart.com/art/Communist-Lightning-Dust-avatar-425085113

Commander Hurricane Interpretation by Emkay-MLP
http://emkay-mlp.deviantart.com/art/Commander-Hurricane-Interpretation-360270841

This chapter is based off of "He's Alive" - Season 4 Episode 106 of The Twilight Zone

Episode Three: Ah Am Xenophobia- Color Me Orange

"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 door to Applebloom's bedroom slowly creaked open, and the orange mare tentatively stuck her head in.

"Applebloom?" she asked softly.

Applejack only received a series of violent coughs as a response.

The orange mare frowned as regret and despair pained her heart. She walked into the room and approached the bedside of the ill filly. The bed was surrounded by a magical anti-germ bubble to prevent the spread of the disease, similar to the bubble used to contain Discord during his illness.

Applejack did her best to keep her tears in as she placed another wet, cool rag on her little sister's fevered brow. The bubble shielded her own hooves as placed the rag new cold rag, and used the old one to wipe away the nasal discharge on her face. Applejack tossed the dirty rag into a red, glowing incineration orb Twilight had given her. She gently stroked Applebloom's sickly face with her shielded hoof. Giving a sigh of helplessness, Applejack turned away and left Applebloom to rest.

Applejack exited the room, and was met by Granny Smith.

"She'll hang on in there," the older pony said in a tone that was serious and subdued, and yet had the slightest hint of hopefulness. "She's strong like her Ma and big sis. She'll make it. There's some smart ponies working on a cure right now."

"That ain't fair," Applejack said quietly, her hat casting a shadow over her eyes, "That ain't fair. That just ain't fair."

"Ah won't lie, it ain't lookin' good," Granny Smith said, but then she lifted Applejack's chin and said, "But what kind a' family would we'all be if we gave up on our king folk when they still got a fighting chance left in 'em?"

Applejack closed her eyes and nodded. "You're right of course, Granny." Then a dark look grew on her face as she opened her eyes. "It's almost funny, in a sick kind a' way. Applebloom got infected by some germ right when Equestria itself is."

". . .Say what now?" Granny Smith asked in confusion.

Applejack gently pushed Granny Smith's hoof out from under her chin and said, "Changelings, that's what. Thinking they can just come in here after what they did to us. Twice! Filthy manipulating deceiving bugs. What were Celestia and Luna thinking? What was Twilight thinking? They expect my friends and Ah to meet with some stankin' ambassador?" Applejack turned and angrily stomped down the stairs towards the front door. "Well, Ah ain't keeping quiet for another second. Ah'm gonna give them a piece of mah mind!"

Granny Smith watched in shock as her granddaughter slammed the door behind her. Her shock soon turned to disappointment as she shook her head slow and mournfully.

Twilight Sparkle stood quietly watching in the far corner of the living room.

"Applebloom. Nine years old. A young filly stricken with a deadly disease known as Glanders. However, her older sister Applejack also happens to have an infection of her own. Not Glanders, or Erbovirus, or the Trots. It is a sickness known as hate. Not a virus, not a microbe, not a germ - but a sickness nonetheless. Highly contagious and deadly in its effects. Especially in - The Twilight Sparkle Zone."

Ah Am Xenophobia- Color Me Orange

Applejack pushed the doubles doors open and walked into the main Council Room. Everypony else, with the exception of Spike, was already there.

"Ah, Applejack. I'm glad you could make it, considering. . ." Twilight's voice trailed off a bit as a look of sadness passed over her face. This look of depression and worry was reflected on the faces of the other ponies as well. Pinkie Pie's mane even deflated slightly.

"Ya said that there were scientists in Cloudsdale and Canterlot working non-stop to cure all these Glanders victims that keep popping up all over Equestria," Applejack said as she strode over to her throne, giving Twilight a withering stare. "Applebloom is gonna pull through. Ya said some ponies have survived it but lived on as carriers. But thanks to magic it's always containable. Not lie it's an epidemic or anything. So all that needs to be done is for that cure, vaccine, whatever to be made so Applebloom and everypony else can be themselves again. That's simple!" Applejack sat down on the Throne of Honesty hard, and slammed her hoof on the arm of the throne. "What's really irking me is the reason we're all gathered her right now!"

Twilight gazed at her friend in shock. "Applejack, I wouldn't blame you for having a slight grudge against the Changeling-."

"Slight grudge!?" Applejack shouted, "Are you kidding me? Have you lost your mind. Have ya all lost your minds?" Applejack pointed directly at Twilight and said, "Those creatures. They kidnapped Cadence, brainwashed your brother, attacked Canterlot, kidnapped three fillies we all care about, and tried to kill us all! And you want to sit here and talk to some bug eyed ambassador? They started a war, and we should have should have finished it! Finished them!" Applejack leaned back on her throne and caught her breath. "What good do those ugly things do, anyway?" she asked quietly. Then she sat up straight again and shouted, "None! They lie and deceive, then they steal! The land they walk on or fly over turns black and ugly, like they are. A bunch of freaks with holes in their bodies and bug wings-"

"Don't judge a book by it's cover!" Fluttershy exclaimed suddenly, after which she quickly covered her mouth and slid back on her throne.

Applejack turned to Fluttershy, giving a look of disparagement to the yellow pegasus. "If you ask me, the cover matches the pages just fine in this case," Applejack replied calmly. She lifted the brim of her stetson hat and said, "Evil parasites who steal love while in disguise. Spit up green goop all over the place. They look like freaks. they act like freaks. They are freaks."

Fluttershy shuddered a bit, and hid her face behind her mane. But she managed to squeak out, "But. . .they were just. . .hungry. . ."

Twilight heard Fluttershy loud and clear, and she nodded and said, "Correct, Fluttershy. They were hungry. Desperately hungry. Queen Chrysalis is the mother of the Changeling Hive, so she felt some maternal instincts to feed her children. So, she saw how much love Equestria had, and decided to take it. When she failed, she felt resentment and anger over her failure, and hatched a revenge scheme. That also failed. Ergo, there's a difference between someone who does evil just because, and someone who performs questionable actions out of desperation or retaliation."

Twilight folded her forelegs and turned to Applejack, who looked like she was shimmering with anger. "Applejack. You said that they started a war, and we should have should have finished it. Well, that's what we're doing right now. There's more than one way to finish a war. One of those ways is with a peace treaty. What's more, a proper peace treaty is a sure fire way of making sure the fighting never starts again in the future."

Applejack slammed her hoofs down hard on the arms of her throne and stood up tall on her hind legs in fury. "You think a darned peace treaty is gonna stop those vermin from attacking us again? Are you really get sit there and lie to me? To us? To Equestria? To yourself?" Applejack fell back down on all fours and said, "They're. Not. Ponies. They're monsters. I don't care if they're 'hungry'. It ain't natural and it ain't right to turn into something ya ain't and suck the love out of innocent ponies. It ain't right to kidnap my sister neither! Changelings are like them Timberwolves. You have to burn them, or they'll keep coming back. No amount of talks or pieces of paper are gonna change what they are. They're a warmongering, lying, deceiving, pile of uncivilized bugs!"

"Applejack! Queen Chrysalis is not every Changeling!" Twilight argued. "The average Changeling just wants food. They don't even need romantic love. Just standard Friendship can sustain them. They can live, get educations, and work steady jobs all over Equestria. The Crystal Heart broadcasts a background of hope and love across Equestria, which means they'd never get hungry enough to try to drain ponies. And they can take on pony forms so other ponies aren't creeped out by them. We don't have to keep fighting them-"

"They should not exist!" Applejack shouted back, "They attack our loved ones and you just wanna forgive them? We should have exterminated them! All of them! What part of 'They're evil' don't you understand, Twilight? Why do you and Celestia and Luna want to show sympathy to a race without a shred of good in them?"

"They do have good in them, Applejack," Twilight said sternly, "You just have to let go of your grudges, let them atone for what they did in a proper way, and let yourself see it."

Knock-knock-knock!

Twilight's wings sprang open and she gasped. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, that's Spike with the Ambassador right now!"

"Changeling-Pony Peace Party!" Pinkie exclaimed, tossing some confetti she got out of nowhere into the air.

"Assuming Applejack doesn't screw this up," Rainbow Dash said as she gave the farm pony the stink-eye.

Twilight quickly teleported and pushed Applejack back on her throne. "The other Princesses are counting on us, Applejack. Changelings aren't ponies, but they are just like us at heart. They deserve a chance, not to be wiped out just because they had a bad Queen. This has to work out. Who knows what this new culture has to offer us? So, I ask you, Applejack, as a friend. . ." Twilight leaned close to Applejack's face and said with fire burning in her eyes, ". . .to keep your mouth shut if you have nothing nice to say. Understand?"

Applejack didn't speak. She just glared back at Twilight with a cold stare of her own.

"Ahem," Rarity interjected, "It helps to imagine that you're talking to a pony in a very realistic Changeling costume when you're looking at them." Rarity smiled innocently, hopping that her piece of advice was helpful.

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!

Twilight quickly teleported back to her throne. "Enter," she called out in an official royal sounding tone.

The doors opened, and Spike stepped into the room. "Announcing, the Ambassador from the Changeling Hive, Lord Cocoon," the young dragon declare.

In walked a Changeling about the size of an average pony. His insect-like wings were slightly larger than normal, and he wore thin, bronze armor, which was oxidized to a shade of green. Like Chrysalis, he had a torn up mane and tail, with some holes in them. He also had a short gnarled horn on his forehead. The ambassador had a medium sized black box balanced on his back.

"Greetings, Elements of Harmony," Lord Cocoon said, his face not betraying any emotion, "I believe we all know why were are here together at this time and place. And as you can see, I come bearing gifts which you will find very much rewarding." He gently set the box down on the ground, and then focused his attention on the six ponies. "I am very much looking forward to this. I'm sure we are all more than willing to finally forget about how you sent hundreds of starving creatures flying through the air."

Applejack ground her teeth so hard it was almost audible.

Twilight cleared her throat and struck a regal pose. "Ahem, with all do respect, your Lordship, surely you understand that we were being invaded by an enemy army who seeked to conquer us. Surely it is expected of a nation to fight back when war is declared upon us."

Lord Cocoon nodded his head at Twilight a few time, and then moved his mouth into a jovial smile. "Ah. . .but I kid, I kid, Your Majesty. Surely we were at fault due to some lack of communication on our Queen's part. My previous statement was meant to lighten the mood. Changeling humor, you understand."

Pinkie Pie instantly began to burst out laughing, and her laughter sounded compeltley genuine. "Oooooh! I get it! I just got hte joke! Ha-ha-ha-haaa! That was funny!"

"Their slime on our land is not a joke," Applejack said aloud with her hat over her eyes.

"Hmmm?" Lord Cocoon said as he glanced at Applejack.

"Pay no attention to her!" Twilight shouted nervously, "She just doesn't understand the benefits that could arise from our two nations working together!"

"Yeah, having your sister kidnapped by you bugs can do that," Applejack said bitterly.

"Applejack, please," Twilight said sternly, panic beginning to set in.

"Oh no, Your Majesty," Lord Cocoon said as he held up a hole filled hoof, "If this mare wishes to blame all of us for the actions of one foolish Queen, who has gone through a major attitude adjustment that we. . .persuaded. . .her to go through, then so be it. Her loss."

Applejack's head shot straight up. "So now you're making me out to be the villain here?" she said accusingly.

"Applejack, you promised-" Twilight began.

"Ah didn't promise nothing!" Applejack shouted. She jumped up and walked over to look at Lord Cocoon face to face. "Let me tell you something, bug. When your filthy Queen was pretending to be Cadence, and Twilight was trying to warn us and we didn't listen, do you know what that did to me? We'll Ah'll tell ya. It took away all the confidence Ah had in myself that Ah was a good friend. You Changelings made me look like a sucker and fool. Ah lost my title as the most dependable of ponies that day, and Ah lost it because of you!"

Lord Cocoon stared at Applejack with a clam, cool, and collected facial expression. Applejack looked at that face, and the hatred she had for his kind grew. She crouched down low and said, "And now, you deceiving liars wanna move in and spread your filth all over our land. After what you did to me, mah friends, and mah family!? I'LL SEND YOUR BUG EYED FACE TO TARTARUS RIGHT NOW!"

Applejack sprang and tackled Lord Cocoon to the ground. The Changeling truly did not expect Applejack to actually attack him, so he was completely caught off guard. As Applejack threw punches at the Ambassador, she could hear the voices of her friends behind her.

"Eeep! Oh no, oh no, oh no!"

"T-T-Twilight, do something! Stop this uncouth tussle!"

"I-I-Oh-Um-Wha-She-I CAN'T THINK!"

"Applejack? Ambassador guy? Aaaaah, this is not awesome!"

"Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh; this is just like when Daring Doo was fighting those bad guys and we were all too surprised and shocked to do anything until the fight was over!"

Applejack's strong farmer's body had the Changeling pinned down. She then reached over, grabbed the black gift box, and slammed it against the Changeling's head. The box crumbled, and there was the sound of glass breaking.

Suddenly, Applejack was immobilised, and levitated off of the terrified Changeling Ambassador. Twilight dropped Applejack to the floor in front of her, and then looked over at Lord Cocoon. The Princess was completely mortified.

Lord Cocoon got up shakily, and glared with wide eyed amazement at the ponies in the room. "We're quite through!" he gasped out, and he ran past a very scared looking Spike and straight out the door.

The room was completely silent. Then, all eyes fell upon Applejack. The farm pony didn't flinch. She just kept looking straight ahead and out the door the Changeling had fled through.

"How could you?" Twilight asked softly. It wasn't in anger, or fear, or grief. It was said in near monotone, as if by someone in shock.

"Ah don't care what you girls say, think, or feel; because Ah know Ah did the right thing," Applejack said sternly, "After everything those Changelings have done to me and to the land of Equestria, Ah'll do whatever I can to make sure they are not welcome here."

Twilight looked around at her friends. Fluttershy was trembling and pale. Rarity's jaw was dropped in shock. Rainbow Dash looked very mad, but was controlling her anger. Pinkie Pie's mane was flat. Spike was slowly edging towards the door.

Then, Twilight turned to Applejack and said, "I can't change your heart, Applejack. Nopony can."

Twilight then got up, and walked to the smashed box. She sighed, and picked it up with her magic. The bottom flap opened by itself, and shards of glass fell out, along with a stream of an odd looking, viscous liquid. This was followed by a damped piece of parchment that fluttered out and landed right at Applejack's hooves. Curiosity led the farm pony to look down and read it.

Greetings to the ponies of Equestria.

We come as friends and in peace. In light of your moderate struggles with the disease you call "Glanders," we bring you this gift. The contents of the enclosed two-liter vial is a serum. It is a cure for all forms of the bacterium which causes Glanders-

Applejack couldn't bring herself to read further. She just stood there helplessly as her entire body began to slowly turn to ice. From the tips of her hooves to the tips of her ears.

"That ain't fair," Applejack said quietly, her hat casting a shadow over her eyes, "That ain't fair. That just ain't fair."

"The best laid plans of Changelings and Ponies...and Applejack...the small mare in the stetson hat who wanted nothing more than to see an enemy nation destroyed. Applejack, who will soon find herself as just a part of a landscape smashed by war, just a piece of the rubble, just a fragment of what blind nationalism, ethnocentrism, and xenophobia in high places has doomed her nation to. But as for the present; the true illnesses are fear, hate, revenge, blame, and forgiveness. The cure: a little more faith. An Rx off a shelf - in The Twilight Sparkle Zone."

Author's Note

References:
"I am the Night - Color Me Black"
"The Gift"
"Time Enough at Last"

Episode Four: The Button Giveth. . .

Scootaloo stood on the top of a tall hill, on her scooter and ready and raring to go. She flapped her tiny wings a bit, doing her best to feel for the tiniest breeze in the air. Scootaloo looked down the hill to where she had set up a ramp made of old wooden boards.

"This is it," she said to herself, "I'm going to fly."

Scootaloo then pushed herself off and down the hill. The wheels of her scooter turned faster and faster as she descended down the steep slope. Within a matter of seconds, she had reached the bottom and hit the ramp dead center. She was carried up into the air, and let the scooter fall to the ground as she spread her forelegs and spread her wings as far as she could. She flapped her wings hard, trying to hang to the updraft pushing up against her chest. However, when she took a chance to look down, she saw that nothing she was doing was even slowing down her rapid descent.

The orange pegasus hit the ground and skidded over the grass and dirt. A cloud of dust was kicked up during her landing. The sting of the road rash she felt on her belly was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her heart. She lay still on the ground, her only movements were here gentle breathing, and the twitching of face as she cried.

"Why can't I fly? Why can't I?" she asked herself aloud.

"You need a fully functional pair of wings," a stallion said.

Scootaloo looked up at the approaching unicorn stallion. He was grey, with black hair. His tail was short, and his mane was well groomed and gelled into place. His eyes were brown, and he wore a black suit and tie. His Cutie Mark was a present wrapped in black wrapping paper.

"Luckily," the stallion said with a smile, "I can get you a pair."

Twilight stood watching next to the ramp.

"Here we have Scootaloo Songbreeze, age nine. A filly who wants one thing, and one thing only. A filly unaware of how much that thing will cost her - in The Twilight Sparkle Zone."

The Button Giveth. . .

"You can give me better wings?" Scootaloo asked, sounding interested but not fully convinced.

"Guaranteed," the stallion said. He then produced a rectangular metal tablet out of nowhere, and showed it to the filly. The tablet had a glowing screen on it that said the word "WINGS" in flashing letters. Beneath the screen was a hoof-sized red button.

"My role in Equestria is to give and to take," the stallion said, "I take something from one pony, and then give that something, in essence, to somepony else. Then I take something else, and give it to some other pony. And so on and so on. It is all very simple, young filly. All you have to do is push this button, and somepony, somewhere in Equestria, will lose their wings. Then, you will gain the wings you need in order to fly."

Scootaloo continued to lay on the ground. She looked up at the unicorn and asked in disbelief, "Somepony else will lose their wings?"

"Nopony you know. Nopony who knows you. Nopony you will ever meet," the stallion said.

Scootaloo looked very unsure about the whole situation. "I don't know. . .I just. . ."

"You have never flown, and you never will with the wings you currently have," the stallion said assertively, "This pony who you will never come in contact with has experience flight due to the fact that this pony's wings are healthy. I've seen this pony, although the rules forbid me from telling you anything about him other than that what this pony has would be very beneficial to you. Who deserves flight more? One who has already flown, or one who has never flown and faces a future where she never will?"

The words "never will" echoed loudly in Scootaloo's brain. She turned to look at her tiny wings, the marks of her shame, the evidence of her disability, her birth defect. The appendages that were normally supposed to be a Pegasus' pride were now the things that seemed to mock her whenever she flapped them or looked at them.

"You're thinking it over. Good," the stallion said as he gazed down at the filly with approval, "Also, you should know that you will be given wings in essence. That means you won't have wings that are too big or the wrong color. When the other pony's wings vanish to remove that pony's ability of flight, your wings will simply become the wings of a normal pegasus that will give you the ability of flight. They will be fully functional, and they will be your wings. As if you were born with them."

The stallion set the tablet on the ground in front of Scootaloo. "When you've made your decision, either go ahead and press the button, or come back here within 48 hours to return it to me. And don't worry. The button can only be pressed by your own hooves, and nothing else. Think carefully."

Then the unicorn teleported away.

Scootaloo traveled through town on her scooter, the device in her saddle bag weighing her down both literally and emotionally.

"I've never flown, and I never will fly," Scootaloo thought to herself, "Unless I press that button. . .but what about the other pony? What if they aren't ready to give their wings up. What if they don't want to?"

Scootaloo was so caught up in her thoughts that she clipped the side of one of Applejack's apple carts. She spun out of control and flew off of the scooter and back onto the hard ground.

"OW. . ." she moaned as she got up off of her sore underbelly. Out of the nearby Sugarcube Corner ran out her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.

"You okay, Scootaloo? That looked like a nasty wipeout!" Applebloom said in concern.

Scootaloo still felt the pain from her earlier road rash, but she ignored it and put on a cool face. "Yeah, no big deal. That's not gonna keep me down."

"Oh good," Sweetie Belle said cheerfully, "So, let's head over to the clubhouse and figure out what we're gonna do today!"

Scootaloo's chill demeanor faded a bit. "Actually, I'm not really in the mood for Crusading today."

"What!?" Applebloom exclaimed while Sweetie Belle appeared to look almost relieved. "But you're the one who always comes up with the most insa- Ah mean, awesome ideas!" Applebloom said.

"Well maybe I got a lot of stuff on my mind right now," Scootaloo replied confidently.

"Like what?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo was silent for a minute, thinking about things. Then she looked at Applebloom and asked, "Applebloom, is being an Earth Pony. . .okay?"

Applebloom looked confused. "Huh? What kind of question is that?"

"I mean, do you like being an Earth Pony?" Scootaloo asked.

Applebloom smiled, "Well of course Ah like it! Darn tootin', there's nothing like working on the farm, making things grow, hanging out with tones of nice animals, and then taking the stuff you grew with your own hooves and turning into something ever more wonderful! Like fresh hot apple pies!" Applebloom stopped for a moment to close her eyes and lick her lips.

"Mmmmmm!" Sweetie Belle said as she imitated Applebloom.

Scootaloo didn't give the thought of pie as second thought as she shook her saddlebag a bit, listening to the sound of the device shaking around inside it. "So, if some other pony would become an Earth Pony after enjoying life one way, they'd probably enjoy living in a brand new fun way?"

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo an odd look.

"Is this about your. . .wings, Scootaloo?" Applebloom asked.

Scootaloo huffed and turned away, "Can't a filly just ask a simple question?"

"But why are you asking that question?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Well, Applebloom made being an Earth Pony sound so nice. I figured if somepony got suddenly turned into an Earth Pony, then it wouldn't be all that bad! They might even be happier because of it!" Scootaloo said over her shoulder at her two friends.

"Or maybe that pony loves using magic or flying too much to let it go," Applebloom suggested.

"Well maybe I deserve it more than they do!" Scootaloo shouted. She then hopped over to her scooter, picked it up, got on, and zoomed away, leaving her too shocked friends in the dust.

Scootaloo found herself back on the hilltop. The place where it all started. She sat there, holding the device in her hooves. Staring at the flashing word "WINGS" on the screen, and the red button beneath it.

Scootaloo's moved her gaze upwards. She looked at the sky and the clouds above. Heights she would never reach. An experience she would never have. Then, just above the horizon, far off in the distance, was a tiny speck of blue and rainbow. A multicolored trail was left in the wake of the speck. The filly recalled her countless dreams of flying high with that mare in the distance. She had taken her under her wing, said they were sisters, but did that truly mean anything if they couldn't fly together?

Scootaloo looked down at her underdeveloped wings, forever frozen in their stunted state. Hot tears of shame dribbled out of her eyes. It was at that moment that a recent memory came to Scootaloo's mind:

"Says the Best Young Flyer in Equestria," Scootaloo thought in with bitterness she never even knew she had inside her. "She has perfect wings, she's gonna be in the Wonderbolts, she can do a Sonic Rainboom! What gives her the right to say that to me! SHE HAS EVERYTHING!"

Filled with an anger fueled resolve, Scootaloo raised her right hoof high, and slammed it down hard onto the red button.

The screen of the device went blank.

"Well, that was fast."

Scootaloo turned to see the unicorn from earlier approach her. He smiled and held out his hoof. "I'll take my device back now, please."

Scootaloo wordlessly handed the tablet over. The stallion checked it over, and then nodded. "Good. Good. Now, look at your wings."

Scootaloo turned, and gasped in utter disbelief. Her wings were about twice as big as they used to be. Scootaloo's shock caused them to pop open. They were an absolutely gorgeous set of orange wings. Scootaloo flapped them, and she felt the air that they pushed rush away from her. A breeze blew over her, and she could feel the slightest change in the air on the tips of her feathers.

With tears of joy running down her cheeks, replacing the tears of shame she shed earlier, Scootaloo jumped into the air. . .and flew.

With her physical disability gone, instincts quickly took over. Scootaloo soared up and up, and she touched the clouds. She spun corkscrews through the fluffy white matter, and felt the Sun on her face as she flew slightly closer to it than ever. She had yet to learn any of the cool tricks the pros did, but she wasn't worried. She knew that she had all the time in the world now.

After what felt like hours of soaring, diving, spinning, and laughing; Scootaloo finally landed back on the ground.

The grey unicorn was still standing there, wearing a triumphant smile on his face to match Scootaloo's. "I see that you are satisfied?" he said.

"I'm more than satisfied! I'm COMPLETE!" Scootaloo cheered as she jumped and pranced around in joy.

The stallion nodded, "Excellent. Now all we have to do is determine what you'll be giving up."

Scootaloo froze in mid-prance. She slowly turned towards the stallion with a look of confusion. "Huh?" she asked.

"I told you, young filly," the stallion said, still smiling, "My role in Equestria is to give and to take. I took the wings from one pony and gave them to you. Now I must earmark something of yours to give to the next pony I visit. Then I earmark something from that pony, and so on and so on."

"Bu-bu-wha- That's what you meant?" Scootaloo gasped, "I thought you were gonna just go take from someone else after I pressed the button."

A look or irritation passed across the stallion's face. "You mean you expected to get those wings for nothing? Without paying for them in some way? Young filly, nothing is free. Nothing! The pony that those wings came from got something they wanted first. I don't take without giving, but also don't give without taking. That's the way it is. That's the way life is."

Scootaloo felt a great unease grow inside of her. She gulped down a lump in her throat and said, "So. . .now what?"

The stallion levitated the tablet in front of him and stared at it. "Well, you won't actually lose whatever it is until the next pony actually presses the button. It will be a pony you will never meet, I promise you that-"

"But what is it!? What am I gonna lose?!" Scootaloo exclaimed nervously.

"Hold on, I don't know yet. It's always a random drawing. Now, let's see. . ." The stallion tapped the tablet's screen a few times. The screen flashed wildly for a long moment, until it finally stopped on something. The stallion smiled, and then broke out into some gleeful chuckles. "Jackpot!" he said, and he turned to go.

"Wait!" Scootaloo called out, "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I don't know," the unicorn said carelessly, "Maybe to a hospital. An old folks home. A house with a vibe of sadness or tragedy. Or maybe even a hospice."

"What are you talking about? What am I gonna lose? Tell me!" Scootaloo demanded.

The unicorn's only response was to hold up the tablet and show Scootaloo what the flashing word on the screen was: "LIFE".

Then the unicorn teleported away.

Scootaloo stood frozen in place, but not for long. Her knees quickly gave out and she fell down to the cold hard ground hard, her road rash still causing her some pain. It was a much more welcomed feeling than the coldness she felt in the pit of her stomach, and her heart.

"Scootaloo Songbreeze was given a choice. A choice of either selfishness or compassion. Of greed or generosity. But leave it to Scoots, one of life's perpetual losers, to make the wrong choice. A filly that had it all except for one thing will very soon have nothing at all. An epitaph for a pegasus filly - in The Twilight Sparkle Zone"

Author's Note

Based on "Button, Button"- 1985 Series- Season 1 Episode 20b

Episode Five: I Daring Don't Believe It

"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."

. . .And so, with Ahuizotl defeated, and the Sapphire Statue secured, the world was once again save thanks to Daring Do.

THE END

Spike looked up from the book with a huge smile on his face. "Wow! That was amazing!" he said as he sat in his throne at the Friendship Castle.

Rainbow Dash nudged Spike on the shoulder and said, "It sure is! Nothing beats the unbelievably unstoppable, awesome Daring Do!"

Spike closed the book and admired the cover. It read "Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone by A. K. Yearling." over an image of Daring Do swinging on a vine over a river of angry crocodiles, with the titular artifact in hoof.

"She must go on adventures every day!" Spike said in amazement, "She must have no fear at all. Especially if she has to fight against bad guys like Ahuizotl." Spike shuddered a bit, "Ohhh. . .that guy is something else."

Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously. "Heh, he sure is. Believe me, I know," she said vaguely. She then brightened right up and asked, "So, are you gonna read the book I'm in now?"

Spike shook his head as he got up off the throne and carried the book under his arm. "No way, Rainbow. I can't read the series out of order. I'm gonna read the whole series start to finish. That way I'll get the full affect of it."

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she hovered above the floor, "Huh! Fine, have it your way. Guess it makes sense to save the best for last."

Spike entered the castle library, which was filled with all the books that were magically restored from the old Ponyville Library, and walked over to the fiction section. Spike put Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone back in it's place, and his eyes moved over to the end of the long self. His gaze fell upon Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny for quite a while. Then, he reached out with a claw and pulled it out. Turning it over, Spike read the synopsis on the back cover.

Ahuizotl makes his return, in search of a set of magic rings with the power to keep the sun in the sky for eight hundred years. Daring Do will need a bit of help for this one, in the form of a rainbow-maned mare from Ponyville.

Spike looked at the book long and hard for a moment, then he quickly put it back. "No," he said as he pulled out Daring Do and the Griffon's Goblet, "I want the whole Daring Do experience in the way it's meant to be had." Spike smiled as he exited the library with the second Daring Do book in hand.

From within the Library, next to a shelf of books, Twilight was watching.

"Spike the dragon may not know this yet, but he is soon about to come to the conclusion that these books have become a gateway. Not just a gateway of imagination, but a gateway of reality. What is real will be mixed with what isn't in this little dragon's mind, because this gateway that those books will take him through happens to pass right through. . .The Twilight Sparkle Zone."

I Daring Don't Believe It

A few days had gone by, and Spike was on the fourth book, Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams. It was 10 P.M., and Spike was still up reading, sitting up in his bed with a small lamp next to him, lighting the pages. Spike felt his scales tingle with suspense and anticipation as he read on.

Daring Do stood overlooking the magnificent Tenochlitan Basin. It's beauty completely filled her eyes as she looked over it. However, this inadvertently caused her to let her guard down. Behind her, moving slowly and silently, was a dark, black creature with an evil eminence. It was one of Ahuizotl's cats, the black panther. It's eyes a dull yellow with black slits. It's teeth white and razor sharp, with a pair of saber-like sticking out-

CRASH!

Spike jumped a few inches off of his bed when he heard the crash. His heart pounded as the sound echoed in his ears. It wasn't too loud; not enough to wake anypony up. It sounded like something had knocked over a half full trash can.

Reminding himself that a dragon should be brave, Spike took a deep breath and walked over to the open window, and stuck his head out into the warm summer night air.

Spike's breath was stolen away when he saw the dark, black creature lurking below, only a few yards away from the Castle. The feline stopped, and turned directly towards Spike, locking it's eyes with his eyes, baring it's huge teeth, staring down into the young dragon's very soul.

Spike closed his eyes.

He opened them.

The black panther was still there.

"TWILIIIIIIIIIGHT!"

Twilight burst into the room and quickly ran over to Spike's side. "What!? What is it? What's wrong!"

"H-h-h-huge panther!" Spike shouted as he pointed out into the night.

Twilight leaned over and looked out the window. She looked long and hard, and then finally said, "Spike. . .there's nothing there."

Spike looked out to where he last saw the huge predator, and he only saw nothing. "But. . .no, I'm sure I saw it."

Twilight rubbed Spike affectionately on his head and said, "Don't worry, Spike. It was just a dream."

"No, I wasn't dreaming! I was wide awake, I know I was!" Spike exclaimed as he slammed the crystalline windowsill with his fists.

"Spike, what would a huge panther be doing in Ponyville. Not even the Everfree Forest has panthers living it!" Twilight said incredulously, her eyes filled with sleep and frustration. "And why were you wide awake at this hour?" Twilight asked suspiciously.

"Uhhh. . ." Spike said nervously, as he looked over at the book and lantern next to his bed.

Twilight gave Spike a look of disappointment. Then, she walked over and turned out the light with her magic. "Spike. Go to bed."

The next morning, Spike was grumpily walking through town. He had a tote bag over his shoulder, ready to be filled with some quills from Quills and Sofas, as well as some parchment, ink, maybe some vegetables from the market.

As Spike walked on, not really paying attention to where he was going, he felt the frustration well up in his chest.

"I can't believe what happened last night," Spike muttered, "I'm positive I was wide awake. I know what I saw. It wasn't imagination, and it wasn't a dream. I know I saw that panther! But when Twilight showed up, it was already gone. That's it. Uuugh. I woke Twilight up out of a sound sleep to show her something that wasn't even there! She probably thought I was crazy." Spike's frustration suddenly evaporated, and he began to feel a terrible uneasiness fill him. "But wait. . .what if. . .what if I am crazy. I mean, seeing of all things a wild black panther in Ponyville, where they're not supposed to be less than 3,000 miles away? That doesn't make any sense. And I was wide awake. I was aware. I was actually seeing that panther. It was right in front of me, but it wasn't. . .but it was. . .but it wasn't. . .but it was, wasn't, was, wasn't, was-"

Spike's soft mantra and growing panic was cut off when he pumped into somepony's backside. As he fell onto his rump, he looked up at the stallion he had bumped into.

"Watch it, you rat," he sneered, staring down at Spike with his light green eyes.

Spike looked up at the brown stallion, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"Hmph. Stupid dragon," the stallion huffed as he turned and walked away.

Spike kept his eyes on the stallion, his mind going back to what he had read.

Dr. Caballeron was a pony that you could just tell would bring no good. His dark stubble of a beard against his grayish-brown fur brought an air of roughness, and his green eyes beneath his thick black eyebrows were a sign of his craftiness.

"Come, come now, Miss Do," he said slyly, "You can't keep me away from valuable artifacts. Not as long as I have a Cutie Mark like this." The light seemed to glint of the stallion's golden skull Cutie Mark, it's red eye seemingly winking at Daring. "So, Miss Do," Dr. Caballeron said as he adjusted his polka-dotted ascot, "What is your answer?"

Spike felt a little sick. He couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him, and yet there he saw Dr. Caballeron, complete with white shirt, red and white polka dotted ascot, and golden skull Cutie Mark.

"He's not real. He's not real. None of it's real!" Spike thought desperately to himself as he began to sweat heavily. Then, right before the stallion got out of sight, Spike jumped up, dropped his tote bag, and ran off to follow the stallion at a safe distance.

Spike crept over to the door of a large warehouse which belonged to Filthy Rich. It was part of his business, Backyard Bargains. The young dragon pressed his ear to the door, and he could hear some muffled voices. A sudden urgency filling his little body, Spike ran to the side of the building and used his claws to climb up the wall. He reached one of the small windows near the top, which happened to be opened, and slipped in, landing on the scaffold that lined the top of the warehouse. He crept as quietly as he could behind a line of crates, and then timidly peeked over them. What he saw nearly threw him into shock. His eyes were wide and focused on the figure on the floor below him. His mind went back to a paragraph he had read from Daring Do and the Sapphire Statue.

Daring Do looked up, still slightly shaken from her volcanic blast off and crash landing, but still aware enough to recognize her arch-nemesis. There the beast stood, malicious and bizarre. It had an elongated dog-like head, except for his eyes, which are positioned over his nose at the end of his snout. He walked on all fours, with dog-like hind limbs and ape-like forelimbs, and a long monkey-like tail with a hand on its end. Dark blue fur was over most of his body, while his stomach, lower jaw and limbs are of a lighter blue. He wore golden colored jewelry; a necklace, a single ear ring, and three bracelets, one for each foreleg, and one around his tail's wrist.

Ahuizotl, the Ancient Evil One.

Spike stood frozen in terror as he saw Ahuizotl speaking to Dr. Caballeron and his cronies who were going through the countless boxes in the warehouse.

"Keep going! I know Filthy Rich obtained that collection of amulets! He must have what we seek! We will find it eventually. Just keep looking!" Ahuizotl commanded.

Spike was ridding so intently on this new development that he accidentally pushed a crate over the railing, which fell and crashed to the ground.

"INTRUDER! GRAB HIM!" Ahuizotl shouted as he pointed at the small purple dragon.

Spike let out a horrified scream as Dr. Coballeron's henchponies began swarming up the steps towards him. Spike ran to the window, and stared at the dizzying drop before him. He then turned and made a mad dragon charge across the scaffold and towards the far steps. Spike suddenly tucked and rolled in the middle of his charge, becoming a living dragon ball. He knocked over the two ponies in front of him and bounced down the steps. Slightly disoriented and scared, Spike got one last glimpse of an enraged Ahuizotl before he flipped the bar keeping the door closed and pushed the door open. Ahuizotl's tail hand only barely missed the fleeing purple dragon.

The sound of snarls made Spike quickly turn to see those vicious cats on his tail. This only increased Spike's speed as he raced in the direction of the Rich Family Mansion.

Filthy Rich pulled open the door to the warehouse with a frustrated demeanor. He pointed into the dark building and said, "See! Nothing!"

Spike leaned in and looked around. To his shock, none of the crates were opened or damaged or even out of place. He jumped in shock as Filthy Rich flipped on the lights and walked around the building.

"No ponies or monsters hiding behind boxes, no evil plan, no ransacking going on, no evil cats! NOTHING!" Filthy Rich shouted angrily. He then glared at Spike and said, "Now go! And leave me alone!"

Spike walked through town with his head down, feeling a mixture of shame, confusion, and fear. "They were there. They were there. I saw them . . . but they . . ."

Spike's thoughts began to break down into panic and confusion as he made his way back home. He entered the castle and walked up to the second floor, hoping that if he got some air on the balcony, he would feel better.

"Hello, Spike," came the voice of Twilight.

"Hi," Spike said without thinking.

"Spike, I've got something to tell you. Guess who- . . . Spike? Wait a minute, hold on!" Twilight called out.

Spike didn't listen. He simply walked up the stairs and headed towards the balcony.

"Hi there, Spike!"

Spike turned and saw Daring Do herself standing there, waving and smiling.

Spike stared at the pony, then ran and jumped off the balcony.

The police pony shook his head somberly. "Well, isn't that a tragic series of events."

As she sat in the interrogation room, Daring Do nodded in agreement. "Like hay it is. I had proof of Ahuizotl and Dr. Cabelleron having some of business with Filthy Rich. Maybe they were in cahoots or maybe Filthy just had the bad luck of buying something they wanted, but that doesn't matter right now. Princess Twilight and I thought it would make Spike happy if he were to meet me for real and all that, she said he was a big fan. I'd even figure out a way to put him in my book, like I did for Rainbow Dash." The mare then hung her head and buried her face in her hooves. "Twilight looked so distraught. And the poor little dragon. It . . . just isn't fair . . . you know."

"I know, Miss Do," the police pony said, "I know . . ."

"But WHY?!" Daring shouted angrily, tears of shame in her eyes, "I can't stand when innocent lives suffer or worse! What happened?! Why did this happen?! Why did he jump?!"

Police surrounded Spike's body, still in the process of making a chalk-out line around the dead dragon.

"Spike the Dragon. Fan of the Daring Do Series, who lost his reason, his mind, and finally his life to a collection of adventure books. The young dragon's suicide had the same cause as many suicides, and that's the loss, well in this case, assumed loss of his mind. The mind is very powerful, capable of amazing feats. It takes a strong force to break one's mind. However, once the mind feels and accepts that it has begun to malfunction, to fracture, and to break, it has no problem turning on itself and finishing the job on it's own terms. Even if the initial breakdown itself is merely Fiction. Psychology 101 - from the Twilight Sparkle Zone."

Author's Note

Inspiration:
The Fever
Perchance to Dream