Chapter III: Reboot

Shining Armour, covered horn to hoof in a reinforced hazmat suit, clambered through the sawed open access door and into what remained of the Main Reactor Complex. The whirr of air filtration filled a good portion of the air as the devices worked steadily to remove the excessive amount of nuclear ash from the air within the cavern. Floodlights and smaller electric lanterns had been strewn about the complex, their light illuminating the path around the rubble and the debris that had dropped from the ceiling and fallen from the walls during the explosion.

Ponies, all wearing protection, scampered to and fro. Clean-up crews danced around, vacuuming up dust and clearing debris into awaiting carrier trucks. A few of the ponies had the mark of the Royal Guard. The ones from the Guard all were equipped with a plethora of nonlethal weaponry, from tasers to beanbag guns. No lethal weapons on the set was what the Director had decreed, ever since that incident with the murder up on Restaurant Row.

The only place on the site that wasn't busy was a taped off area at the side of the disaster zone, a site filled with body bags. The numbers of lost fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, and friends only increased as crew drove their way through the rubble.

It had been a few days since the explosion, and ponies' calendars were starting to near Nightmare Night. The Director had reluctantly reinstated the daily live broadcast for the fan's Twilight Sparkle fix. He hadn't wanted to do it until they could figure out the cause behind the meltdown. That was why Shining Armour was here, to try to recover anything that might point to foul play.

The fact that sabotage may have been the cause had come under investigation when an investigation of the ducts leading into the facility had uncovered a copper piece wedged into the fan's junction box. Recently, the workers had tracked down the location of where the reactor's surveillance recordings could have been left. He had a suspicion that Administration was where he was looking, and that was where he was headed.

The rescue crews had already cleared most of the rubble and searched the remains of the Main Reactor Complex for survivors.

They had not found one living soul.

It had taken too long, welding and drilling through three blastdoors, each one a foot thick. Shining would never forget when they approached the last door, when they heard someone screaming from the other side and hammering on the door, begging to be let out. The screams had turned into whimpers and then went silent as they made crawling progress on the doors. When they finally welded open a pony-sized hole in the door, they found nothing but a dead, irradiated corpse on the other side.

Most of the dead that were lined up in body bags at the side of the disaster zone had died from the initial blast or from the burns they had sustained afterwards. An unlucky few had survived the blast and the fires and had died slowly from radiation poisoning or from suffocation as they were trapped in rooms where the vents had been sealed of by Fire Suppression.

Shining gritted his teeth, approaching a particular expedition site by Reactor Administration, a building far left of the actual reactor. If there was a pony to be held responsible for this, he would find him or her, and he would... he would... he would! He would... do something.

It wasn't like him to think murderous thoughts, he realized. Perhaps whatever was getting into his guards was getting into him as well.

Shining shook his head.

No, he was much better than them. He wouldn't rot and expire so quickly as they would. He knew that. He had just let his emotions get away from him.

The Reactor Administration building wasn't too impressive. It was simply a few offices built off to the side where eggheads would work their numbers, the real reactor control being done right next to the Reactor itself. However, here was where the Reactor's security office lay and here was where they might be able to retrieve the hard drive with the surveillance of the meltdown itself. Unfortunately, the clouds of flying debris and fire had also blasted through this building, scorching the inner rooms and covering everything in the ash that was ever so present.

The security office lay at the end of two long hallways. Sealable doors could shut off either entrance and floodlights lay above the door itself. Beside the doors where windows, having been muddied by the blast. The office itself wasn't much more of a broom closet, but it had been fairly well sheltered from the fires and fallout. A 5x8 room with a desk, a fan, some buttons, and a swivel chair. A small tablet lay on the desk, a cable connecting it to the complex's surveillance system. Its screen was cracked and, like everything in this room, covered in dust.

A guard stood by the right door, opposite to Shining on the left. An IT pony worked away at a server rack beneath the desk, seemingly slowly moving delicate parts around within the equipment. Shining, not seeing any room within the office to put himself, opted to peek in around the door frame. The tech looked up.

"Security Chief Armour, good to see you. I think I've got the hard drive here but the surge set the thing on fire, I don't want to risk having something break if I'm not careful," he grunted, being as careful as one could be with full radiation protection on.

Shining Armour nodded, a surprisingly hard thing to do with a bajillion life-supporting air pipes suckered to your helmet. His ears perked as the sound of hoofsteps rang through the halls. Shining turned, before frowning slightly at the pony he saw.

"Good afternoon Inspector Neighsay," Shining said, attempting to be as polite as possible. "Dropped by to see how... my investigation is going?"

The beak-faced unicorn stared back at him, an eyebrow raised.
"Quite well, Armour. The Director asked me down here to check up on you."

"I guess we do what the Director says, don't we?" Shining answered, his lips drawing into a tight line.

A moment of silence was eventually interrupted by the excited giggle of the technician as he finally lifted the drive free of the charred server rack.
"Got 'em!" he said, lifting a fairly intact-looking hard drive with a wing.

Before Shining could say anything, Neighsay pushed past him and snatched the hard drive with his telekinesis. He procured a portable device, plugging the hard drive into it.

"Neighsay, the Director wants to review the footage himself. Give the drive to me!" Shining said sternly, holding out a hoof.

The Inspector looked back at him as a loading screen circled around the device's screen.
"I believe this type of work is left to... real detectives, Armour," he said dismissively as he began to click through the files.

"Give it to me. Now," Shining demanded, the guard across the room looking up at the commotion.

Neighsay didn't answer, instead clicking onto a random recording. The file began to play. The screen showed a grey pegasus mare in the uniform of the Equestrian Mail Service, dumping her mail bag into the auxiliary ventilation shaft.
"Looks like we have out saboteur," Neighsay grinned, looking up at Shining as he stowed away the drive and his player.

Without another word, he turned tail and walked down the hallway, ignoring Shining like he was but a fly.

Shining turned to the guard, the tech having left long ago.
"Private, accompany Inspector Neighsay and make sure that the drive gets to the Director safely," he ordered, keeping an eye on the Inspector as he continued on.

"Yessir," the guard said dutifully, concealing his stun baton within his spear and starting after Inspector Neighsay.

Shining began his own trek towards the exit, dodging damaged rebar and toppled debris as he went. He was going to make his way to the Cloudsdale Distribution Centre to find the name of that pegasus.

He had an arrest to make.

Twilight Sparkle stared through her telescope, looking out at the starry skies. Everything seemed normal, the stars were in their expected places and the moon was orbiting in its usual path. Nothing showed evidence to anything wrong with the sky. Neither had Princess Celestia's letter shed any light on the mysterious darkness that had seemingly consumed Equestria four days ago.

I'm not sure what you're talking about Twilight, nothing is out of the usual. Don't tell me your letting your fears get the better of you!

Love, Celestia

PS, my sister Princess Luna is coming by to visit Ponyville for Nightmare Night. She isn't expecting anything from you so please. For the love of me. Don't shoot off your rocker.

Again.

Twilight can't have been the only one to see the sky go dark! She can't have been hallucinating. Could she have? Twilight looked away from her work for a moment, considering the possibilities. Nah, just because she'd been up teaching a lecture to two very bored townsponies before heading out into the bright sun certainly couldn't have caused her to start seeing things!

Besides, when Twilight Sparkle saw things, she actually saw things. She definitely didn't go blind and stumble around in the pitch darkness!

Hmm, maybe there was something wrong with her. That didn't matter right now, however. She needed to inspect every inch of the sky to be sure that there was nothing out of place! Her work and her Spike lay forgotten on the desk, instead being covered by star charts and various graphs. She pushed her household Spike aside, a soft "oof" and a complaint echoing from the floor.

Her household Spike began making noises behind her as she furiously scribbled away at her notes, trying to find a solution to the puzzling enigma before her. Suddenly, her Spike uttered a terrifying prospect.

"Twilight, Princess Celestia is here."

Twilight spun on her hooves, knocking over Spike in the process.
"She's here!? Where? Where? I can't let her see me like this!" she cried, attempting to pat down her mane into something that was half presentable.

Spike dug himself out of the piles of seismic data that Twilight had thrown him into.
"No, she isn't here..." he groaned, standing up. "You just obsessing again."

Twilight opened her mouth to retort, but shut it again as she glanced around the library. Precious books had been thrown around the library. Chalkboards filled with calculations and prediction filled every square inch of floor space. Printed charts from the computer downstairs hung from the ceiling and rolled off the desks. A mirror, abandoned in a corner, revealed her own state. Her mane had popped out of place again and she was grinning psychotically... again.

She cleared her throat and calmed herself, trying to get her mind back into its proper state again. She lit her horn, intending to pick up her upended books and to put them back onto the shelf.

The books didn't budge.

She furrowed her brow, shooting a glare in the direction of the disobedient tomes. The volumes finally, reluctantly returned to their places. With a frown, she picked up her quill, intending to write down the anomaly. Until she felt Spike's claw on the quill. The baby dragon looked up at her with a deadpan.

"Okay, alright. I'll take a break," she said, putting her quill down in the inkpot. "Maybe it was nothing."

"It was nothing Twilight, nopony saw anything. You're just a bit stressed!" he said reassuringly, giving her a small pat.

Twilight sighed, before smiling at her assistant. He was right, she had just come out of a mental freakout a week ago, it wouldn't look good for her if she went insane so quickly. Besides, Princess Celestia said it was fine. It wasn't as if the Princess would lie to her or anything! Right?

Twilight paused a moment, a worried look on her face. The distressed look on Princess Celestia's face from that day coming to the forefront of her mind. What if the Princess was secretly under duress and couldn't tell her about whatever was happening?

Twilight put a hoof to her mouth as she considered the possibilities, her pupils shrinking as her mind began to run at full tilt. Spike could only muster the energy to facepalm behind her as he saw Twilight begin to rocket off into the insanity ward again.

She had to do something! But what? How could she contact the Princess without either embarrassing herself or tipping of the villain? She couldn't just walk into Canterlot? Could she?

She stared out of the library window, a few strands of her mane beginning to pop out of place. Outside, the town of Ponyville was getting ready for Nightmare Night. Decorations had been hung seemingly overnight and some temporary vendors had appeared in the marketplace selling a variety of spooky items.

Wait a second.

Twilight picked up her mentor's letter again, skipping down to the postscript.

Princess Celestia had said that her sister, the one that they had freed from Nightmare Moon. Twilight believed her name was Lunar... or something like that. Maybe she knew something about whatever was going on!

It made sense, Princess Celestia had said something about her not "expecting anything from her" or some baloney like that. Maybe that was code for "be indiscreet and take her away to your basement for questioning" or something like that!

Twilight gasped, her household Letter-Toaster losing its balance and falling over, another "oof" coming from the purple dragon.

Maybe Celestia was giving her a quiz on counter-espionage!

Twilight Sparkle snatched the letter and placed it flat underneath a loyal microscope, pushing her household Spike aside and ignoring its objections as she poured over every inch of the parchment.

If the Princess needed her help, incognito style or no, Twilight Sparkle would be the one to give it to her!

The Director gazed upon the elevator doors, a snarl on his face.

Just a few moments ago, Security had informed him that they had just arrested the saboteur responsible for the explosion in the Main Reactor and that they were escorting her to him that moment. He watched as the display above the door displayed the "up" arrow as the elevator made its ascent from Ponyville Control to his suite.

He took a deep breath as the elevator played a jingle from The Twilight Sparkle Show's theme song as it reached the top of its ascent. The Director cracked his neck and leaned forward in his chair as the doors slid open to reveal a grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane being escorted by two masked security officers. Security Chief Shining Armour and Security Inspector Neighsay stood behind the arrested and the two officers.

Neighsay came up to his desk placing a flimsy-looking hard drive on the glossy hardwood in front of him.
"On that drive are recordings of our culprit," the Inspector glanced behind him at the pegasus, who was currently looking around cluelessly. "Entering the reactor building, unauthorized, and dumping her entire mail bag into Auxiliary Ventilation Duct B. Cloudsdale Distribution records her having the same copper statuette that we recovered from Duct B in her bag at that time. Have fun, Director."

With that, Neighsay stepped aside and motioned to the two burly officers. They marched the now frightened-looking pegasus up to the desk, goading her along with the butts of their shock rifles. The director fixed the two officers with a glare.

"While we may all hate this miscreant, that is no reason for excessive force. Officers, step back," he warned.

The guards looked at each other, before stowing their rifles and taking a step back from the desk, leaving the derped out mare in front of the Director's desk, a place where one does not want to be when they have committed a crime.

"What is your name," the Directors imperative brooked no argument.

"D-Derpy Hooves, Director sir," she quivered, trying to back away from her employer's desk only for her rump to meet the legs of her guards.

"Derpy Hooves, I. Want. You. To. Explain. Yourself," he said, leaning out over his desk and bearing down over the shaking mare.

"I d-d-d-d-d-d-don't kn-kn-know w-what's h-happening..." she stuttered, attempting to become one with the carpet below her.

The Director didn't spare her a word, instead turning and switching on his flatscreen. The screen began to display pictures of the disaster, each one labelled "Evidence". he switched past a few of the aftermath of the meltdown, before stopping at a picture of a junction box with the words "Duct-B" written above it. He pointed at the junction box, or more specifically, a large glob of orange/red material that had melted over its exposed wiring.

"What does this look like?" he asked, his voice too stable for Derpy's liking.

"I-it looks like... a-a melted... thingamabob..." she said, still shaking.

"This... "melted thingamabob" has been identified as the cause of the reactor meltdown," he muttered, his voice still as even as the floor beneath them. "This, melted thingamabob, was in your mailbag when you dumped it down the access panel for Duct B," he finished, switching the screen over to a grainy surveillance video of Derpy emptying her bag into the shaft.

"N-n-no! T-that was the mail tube! I swear! A-and all the doors were open, so I thought that was were I was supposed to go!" she pleaded, looking up at the Director with shaky, skewed eyes.

"Wrong answer. Even if what your telling me is true, how could anypony, even the most retarded mind think it would be a "good idea" to dump their cargo into a duct that anypony with common sense could deduce, was NOT for mail!" he shrieked, towering over her.

Derpy paused, thinking over her memory of that night. She could not refute what her employer had told her.
"I-I just don't know what went wrong..." she muttered, her brow furrowing and her scared grimace dropping into a frown.

The Director huffed, sitting down in his swivel chair.
"Needless to day, you're fired. Inspector," Neighsay looked over at him, Shining Armour grimaced behind him, "Read Miss Hooves her rights."

The Inspector fettered the pegasus and restrained her wings, enunciating her right to remain silent as the chains clicked on.

"You will be detained until you can be convicted of reckless mareslaugter," the Director sighed, leaning back. "I hope you have more to say for yourself than 'I don't know what went wrong' when you face the courts as well as the families you just stole a total of one hundred and fifty five members from, collectively."

Shining Armour took up the back as the security officers seized the mare and guided her back to the elevator.

"Oh, by the way," he called out, looking at Shining as his squad entered the elevator, "I would like to congratulate you, Armour, on finding the hard drive."

The Director smiled knowingly as Neighsay scowled at the security chief.

"Don't think I don't know everything that goes on in this set, Neighsay."

"L-little Timmy? W-where are you? Can you please come out for me, little squirrel?" Fluttershy called, poking carefully around the forest, looking for the stray animal.

She had spent the ten minutes of power outage quivering beneath her covers, hearing the animals go crazy in her cottage downstairs. When the lights had come back on, she found her home in disarray with every single animal gone from their electronically-sealed cages. Apparently, this was the case in many places, with Animal Control losing all coordination. Fluttershy had, much to her dismay, been drafted into Animal Control: Character Squadron Alpha to search for the lost "animal assets" that had broken loose.

All characters who had any background with animals had been diverted to the Ponyville Dome to recover the wildlife and put them back in their places. They wouldn't, after all, enjoy a mauling due to Stray Bear on top of all the deaths that had happened in the Main Reactor explosion.

Now, it was the middle of the night, and Fluttershy was wishing she was home where she had more light than just her standard-issue flashlight and a couple of glow sticks.

Fluttershy was scared of the dark.

Something rustled in the bushes, and the butter-yellow pegasus jumped back from the noise, her flashlight coming to rest on the suspicious bush. She inched closer, before taking a few steps back.

What if the animal was infected with rabies? She didn't want to go insane! Fluttershy backed up until her behind met a tree.

No! That was ridiculous. Everything that came in and out of the set was screened for anything that could carry viruses. Fluttershy clutched her flashlight with a wing and crept closer, trying to whisper some sweet nothings but only uttering scared whimpers.

B-but... what if something made its way in... past Security?

Fluttershy reached for her pack, before pulling out her stun baton and gripping it in her mouth. Her tongue hit the "On" button and the metal buzzed to life.

The bush rustled again, this time the disturbance coming from the leaves nearest to her position.

She gripped the stun baton, ignoring the protests of her imaginary dentist's comments on the proper use of teeth for handling tools.

The bush exploded out, a figure coming from the shadows. Fluttershy squinted her eyes shut and lashed out with her baton, right before a pony's scream echoed through the forest right before she heard the thump of somepony falling over.

Fluttershy opened her eyes, the spent baton rolling out of her mouth. She gasped as she saw the twitching form of Roseluck, one of the Animal Controllers on her squad, lying on the path.

"O-oh! I-I'm so, so sorry! A-are you okay?" Fluttershy cried, running to her fallen comrade's side.

Roseluck groaned, slowly getting up, her muscles still slightly seizing from the shock.

"I'm fine... I guess?" she said groggily, struggling to keep herself on her hooves.

"I'm really sorry! I thought you were a rabid animal!" Fluttershy said, beginning to check her friend over for injuries. Roseluck, however, just fumbled with her Animal Control vest, looking for her radio, and gave Fluttershy a queer look.

"Rabid? Really? They sanitize the dirt in this place. How could rabies... or any disease for that matter, get past the two year quarantine they put on any biomaterial thhhhat," Roseluck stumbled, her eyes still slightly dilated from the shock.

"Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked, motioning for Roseluck to sit down.

"What setting did you put that stunner on?" Roseluck asked, sitting crookedly on the soil.

Fluttershy looked behind her at the baton, gasping when she noticed the switch was still in the "On" position. She ran over, clicking the baton off. She looked at the shock settings, which was metered by the size of its target.

It was set to take down bears.

"What were you thhhhhhhhhh------" Rose stumbled again, "Th-thinking? That could've killed me!"

"I-I... I don't know. I'm so sorry..." Fluttershy mumbled, taking the baton back down to the lowest level (bunny rabbit size).

Roseluck sighed, noticing the burn mark on her vest for the first time. The Kevlar was probably the only thing that stopped her from suffering a sudden stop of the heart.

"Look, it was an accident. Just... always identify your target next time. 'Kay?"

"O-okay..."

"Cool! Come on, help me up, I don't think there's anything more we can do tonight," Roseluck reached out a hoof, and Fluttershy took it gratefully, helping what used to be her background buddy up off the path.

Together, they began to limp back to Ponyville, simply enjoying the silence of the forest.

"You know, I'm really happy for you, Flutters," Roseluck sighed, stamping her back left leg a few times to try and shake the pins and needles from it.

"Why?" Fluttershy responded.

"Well, duh. You got into the Mane Cast. The Mane Cast! Ponies dress up as you on the Outside! You have museums dedicated to you inside of the Ox Ford! You know, I've even heard somepony started a cult dedicated to you!" Roseluck drawled, her steps just beginning to stabilize twenty minutes after the stunning.

"A-a cult? Oh my..."

"Yeah, well. I guess it must be kinda creepy, huh?" Roseluck chuckled, shaking her head a bit.

Fluttershy paused, before taking a breath and sighing.

"Why do you still like me?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well... I really wouldn't be your friend if I got upset about you becoming a Mane Character, right?"

"No..." Fluttershy stopped, looking over at her friend. "You know why. I stole your spot."

Roseluck paused for a moment as well. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the wind in the trees and the night birds singing their lullabies.

"Well, Flutters. Maybe some ponies just like to stick to the background," Roseluck smiled, before restarting her march back towards Ponyville. "Besides, I'm in The Twilight Sparkle Show. Friendship is Magic."

Fluttershy furrowed her brow, frowning.

"You should hate me, all the magic in the world shouldn't change that," she stated, continuing her trot as well.

"Look, just because some purple unicorn decided she liked you before I got my cue doesn't mean I should change my opinion of the filly I've been by the side of since kindergarten," Rose sighed. "'Sides, I got to meet the rest of the Flower Trio. That's a plus for me."

Rose turned to her friend.

"Hey, did you like my line from Applebuck Season?" she asked, a grin on her face.

"The Horror! The Horror!" they synchronized voices, before bursting out laughing.

"They gotta let you do that again!" Fluttershy said, a smile returning to her face.

Their earpieces buzzed.

"All Animal Controllers be advised. Timmy the Squirrel has been recovered and recaptured. All stray animal assets have been contained. All undercover agents, prepare to switch places with your proxies. All Animal Controllers from Character Squadrons, please return to you positions and resume Night Time Routines. Out."

"Already on it, Coordinator!" Roseluck called to the wind.

Before long, Fluttershy and Roseluck parted ways. Fluttershy returning to her cottage, Roseluck trotting off to meet her trio of background buddies.

"I'm just saying, Director, I really don't think we're up for another episode so soon!" Perfect Logistics said, trying his best to keep up with his employer.

The Director sighed, turning to the Head of Scripted Ops.

"Look, how much more stress does it put on the system to send a simple signal to our satellites?" he asked, his mind seemingly considering his employee's concerns to be below the urgency of his current actions.

"Not much, Sir. But-"

"Twilight Sparkle is already expecting Princess Luna this Nightmare Night. We may as well continue on with the episode so that the resources we've put on don't go to waste. Besides, everypony is waiting for Luna's next appearance. We don't want to disappoint," he said dismissively.

Logistics hurried up to catch up to the Director before he left his division.

"But Sir, this thing with the lightning that you've got planned, the power grid's still sketchy! We don't want another failure!" he pleaded.

The Director nodded, pressing a button on the wall, the door beside it opening up.

"Yes, I guess we wouldn't want that happening... I want you to revamp the SFX for tomorrow's episode. Minimize system load. That probably means you'll have to cut that thing with Twilight Sparkle turning everyone into vampires," the Director began fumbling with his coat subconsciously.

"Here's what you do," he continued, "Everypony in Ponyville is afraid of Princess Luna due to her past as Nightmare Moon. We gotta set Twilight up to try to solve that problem... in her own way," the Director winked.

"But sir... we can't change the script now! We have ponies wanting to hit the hay. We don't have the time to redo the episode!" he cried as the Director began to walk through Ponyville Control towards his suite.

"You're the one who wanted the script changed, Perfect Logistics. Get it done," the Director called out behind him.

Logistics wanted to cry out again, but the door shut in his face. He sighed.

"Sir, yes Sir."

"Hello Everypony, Griff, Zebra, and Dragon out there today! This is Mythical Morning of the Supper Broadcast! IN our headlines today: a big blowout in a Hab Dome on the lunar surface causes colonist deaths, Confederate military movement on the eastern borders to counter reported refugee movement, and the an exclusive interview with the Director of the one and only, Twilight Sparkle Show!

"In fact, here we are now. An one of a kind interview with the creator of the media giant that we all know and love, the Director of The Twilight Sparkle Show!"

The Director sat down at his desk, adjusting his suit and tucking in his handkerchief. His sponsors had requested that he sit through an interview with a popular TV personality. One of the few shows that actually managed to survive The Twilight Sparkle Show's dominance over the airwaves.

"Good morning, sir! How is your evening?"

The Director looked at the pegasus, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Oh, you know. Every day presents a... new crisis."

"I bet! So, I would like to congratulate you, sir, on you're 546th episode! Now, I know the show has come oh so very far ever since My Little Twilight premiered on the 7th of April 1998. How far do you think The Show has progressed since its humble beginnings?"

The Director pursed his lips.

"Let me give you an idea in terms of overall scope of this little project. We started out with a singular camera, one held by an undisguised camerapony inside of Twilight's room. Now, the number of cameras we have around the entirety of Equestria numbers in about the five hundred thousands."

The Director shifted in his chair.

"In 1998, the most advanced camera printed live video with a frame rate of about 28fps. Now, we have cameras that record at a silky smooth 100 frames per second. The creators of which, I should note, were hired by my company to produce such cameras.

He cleared his throat.

"When My Little Twilight moved into its second season, it earned a gross income of about ten million. Now, it earns enough to compete with some mid-sized countries.

"We started with a full cast of about ten ponies when Twilight was still a foal, now we have about a thousand background ponies active around the set with several more on standby for emergencies.

"Our communications system started with a singular two-way radio and word-of-mouth, now we have earpieces that are considered to be military grade.

"We used to share a channel with kid's cartoons. Now, we have a satellite grid and multiple broadcast stations across the planet.

"When Twilight Sparkle took her first steps, the show's viewership numbered only in the millions. By the time she spoke her first word, astronauts held their breath to listen to her say "mama"."

The Director left a pause, to let his words sink in.

"Wow, that sounds like a great many achievements Director. Now, there's something I've always wanted to know. What was your favourite Twilight moment?"

The Director tilted his head slightly, breathing in.

"Probably when she was about six months old. We had installed a new independent remote-controlled camera on her cot, it was the first non-handheld camera we had. She would wake up every morning, and it warmed my heart to see her lying there talking to herself in her incoherent babble. Anyway, one evening, the duct tape construct holding the camera frame to the cot became unstuck and the camera tumbled into her bed while she was sleeping. You see, the camera was covered in this grey sock and had a tiny hole for the lens to poke through while the mounting extended through the mouth of the sock."

A grin came to the Director's face.

"Now, when it fell over into her cot, she woke up. She looked deep into the lens, with that cute, confused look in her eyes. She then babbled something and then hugged the sock-camera close to her. From then on that one surveillance camera became her number one toy. You'll never guess what she named it."

"What? What did she name it?"

"Smartypants."

The Director grinned as a gleeful smile crept onto the host's face.

"We eventually removed the camera's mount and coated the thing in a teddy bear exterior, but she would never take any other substitute for that darn camera."

"Really... huh. So that's where that ugly doll came from, huh?"

"Yes, yes it was," the Director nodded slowly.

"So, I've got one last question. Four days ago The Twilight Sparkle Show cut transmission for the first time in all of its airtime. What happened?"

The Director sighed.

"Technical difficulties. I am... less than happy about what has happened, but the pony responsible will be severely punished. I can tell you that much."

The host nodded.

"So then, some unbelievers don't understand what is so attractive about The Twilight Sparkle Show. What is your opinion about your Show's selling features?"

"In my opinion, The Twilight Sparkle Show is a showcase of how life should be. It is a story, without cue cards or scripts, about the life of a perfect little filly in her perfect little world. The Twilight Sparkle Show is a testament to the true, unadulterated nature of all intelligent creatures. Kindness, loyalty, laughter, honesty, generosity, and the magic of friendship. Principles that our great nation has been founded on."

The host made his closing remarks to his audience, making sure to mention his sponsor on his way out. As the call ended and the audio feed from the Supper Broadcast cut out, the Director sat in the seclusion of his office. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the picture of him, Chief Armour, and Twilight.

He had said that The Show valued honesty, he felt a pang in his heart as he realized how easy it felt for him to lie.

Author's Note

I had tried to write a segment on Celestia and Luna, but I stalled out again. Fun fact, they were actually going to be included in the big boom from the last chapter but I couldn't engineer a way for them to survive.

Anyway, here you are, the next chapter of The Twilight Sparkle Show.

Also, we haven't seen the last of that Grey Pegasus Mare

I really don't hate the Derp, but in this universe her mess-up really required punishment of the court of law style.

Also, its late. I need to travel. This chapter's unedited.

Sorry about that. I'll update with an edited version soon.