Twilight woke up after a few hours sleeping uncomfortably in her cell. The first things that Twilight noticed as she awoke was that she was still imprisoned in the Sleipnir Asylum, and she had once again woken up before what was considered daytime at Sleipnir. Twilight was preparing to try once more to sleep on the floor of her cell when she noticed a muffled sobbing coming from the cell next to hers.

“Pinkie, I mean Pinkamena, is there something wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight, is that you?” Pinkamena asked in between sobs, “Why are you here? You don’t belong here; this is where the bad ponies go.”

“Pinkamena…”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Pinkamena snapped, “My name is not Pinkamena! It’s Diane, DIANE!"

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry Diane, but don’t you remember me? We talked a lot yesterday; you said that we were friends?”

“Friends? No, I can’t have friends. I don’t deserve friends. I can’t be trusted with friends!” Pinkamena/Diane began to slam herself against the wall of her cell, and evident by a loud banging noise coming from just next to Twilight’s cell.

“Diane, are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I am so sorry.” Diane sobbed.

“Diane what’s wrong?” Twilight asked again, “What are you sorry for?”

“You don’t want to know Twilight, it’s awful. I’m a bad pony.”

“Whatever it is, you can tell me.” Twilight said soothingly

“Do you promise not to hate me?”

“Pinka…”

“Diane.” Pinkamena corrected.

“Right, Diane. I could never hate you. We’re friends.”

Diane was silent for a moment before she said “Ever since I was a little filly I’ve had this… craving I guess would be the right word. I’m not sure how to explain it, it sort of feels like an itch inside my mind. Whenever I see pony, I want to do things, such terrible, awful things to them.”

Diane sniveled, “Usually it’s not so bad and I can just ignore it, other times it gets worse and I have to go somewhere to be by myself. But there was this one time, I invited Rainbow Dash over to bake cupcakes with me, she was running late so I decided to make a few cupcakes by myself. While I was gathering ingredients for the cupcakes I stumbled upon some medicine. I ground up the medicine into a powder and mixed it and some alcohol into the batter. When Rainbow Dash finally did show up, I fed her the poisoned cupcake; it knocked her out almost instantly. I took her down into the basement of Sugercube Corner, where Mr. and Mrs. Cake had this table that was designed so that you could easily strap a pony on it. I tied Rainbow Dash to the table and waited for her to wake up. When she finally did I took one of the knives we used to cut cakes and… and…” Diane broke into a cry, “I’m sorry Dashie, I am so sorry.”

Twilight sat for little bit while she let Diane’s story sink in. She didn’t expect to hear how Diane murdered one of her friends; she almost wished that she hadn’t asked. As Twilight thought about Diane’s story she remembered something that Corncob had said during his fight with Pinkie. Didn’t he say that Pinkie/Pinkamena/Diane killed two of her friends? Diane only mentioned Rainbow Dash, so who was the other one? Twilight almost asked Diane about it, but hearing her sobs Twilight decided that now wasn’t the time to do so.

Twilight sat in her cell, listening to Diane’s crying, unable to think of something to cheer her up, and unsure if she even should. It wasn’t long until the lights came on and the Administrator announced that day’s schedule. It was mostly the same as what the schedule was yesterday but this time the exercise was called Fun house. It was basically the same exercise as yesterday’s but with landmines. Once again the Administrator neglected to inform the inmates of what their meal would consist of.

Twilight waited quietly for a while before Dread’s signature metallic clopping became audible. It was a while before Twilight could actually see the android, but even so, seeing him made her feel hopeful. After Twilight came back from her visit to Dread’s office yesterday, Twilight had been fantasizing in her mind how Dread was going to prove that Twilight didn’t belong at Sleipnir, take her home, and put everything back the way it was supposed to be.

These daydreams had partially clouded Twilight's perception of her situation as well as her view of Dread himself, and what’s more is that Twilight was completely aware that daydreams were fantasy and completely unrealistic. Even so, Twilight felt that she had to hold on to something, for the sake her sanity if not anything else. She had no idea why she was locked in Sleipnir, or what she had done to deserve such a bleak fate. Twilight no longer had anything to look forward to, nothing except a fantasy.

“Good morning Miss Sparkle,” Dread said when he had finally arrived at Twilight’s cell, “I do hope that you had a pleasant night’s rest.”

“Well then my answer might disappoint you, Dread.” Twilight mumbled before asking, “So what’s for breakfast.”

“I assure you that you are better off not knowing.” Dread answered, “You know what they say; ignorance is bliss.”

This annoyed Twilight, saying that ignorance was bliss insulted her very being. She had spent the majority of her life seeking to rid herself of ignorance, so that there would never be a problem that she could not solve with her wits. Twilight was prepared to give Dread a very long lecture about how it was every pony’s responsibility to educate themselves for the future, then she realized that she was getting upset over some food and that Dread was probably right about it anyway.

“How are you feeling today Miss Pie?” Dread asked Diane as he gave her food.

“Bad.” Diane said plainly, having stopped crying sometime while Twilight was watching for Dread.

“Well we certainly can’t have that…” Dread said, emulating thoughtfulness; “Is there something that you wish to talk about?”

Diane sat quietly for a second before answering, “No, I don’t want to. I appreciate the offer, but I don’t feel like talking about my feelings right now.”

“Very well then, I respect your decision, but if you change your mind you need only to tell me the next time I come by.”

With that Dread left to feed the other inmates. As soon as he was out of earshot, Diane began crying again. Twilight was about to ask her what was wrong, but instead decided that it would be better to let Diane cry herself out, after all she did say that she didn’t feel like talking. Until Diane was ready to open up, Twilight would just have to respect her friend’s wishes. In the meantime, Twilight could study what foreign chemical that she had been given in the guise of breakfast.

Twilight opened the container that held her breakfast and inspected its contents. The item inside could only be described as the most disgusting thing Twilight had ever seen. It was a brownish green lump of goo that was sprinkled with specks of a black fungus and coated in what Twilight hoped was just watered down mayonnaise. The object tasted no better than it looked; it had a flavor that seemed spicy, sweet, and bitter at the same time. Dread was correct; Twilight didn’t want to know what she had just ingested.

After forcing down her breakfast, Twilight waited in her cell for the Administrator to announce which inmates would be forced to kill each other. While Twilight was waiting she could just make out the sound of an insane pony laughing somewhere distant from her, it was the same voice that she had heard the night before; a dry, humorless laugh. Twilight contemplated what could be running through the pony’s mind, but decided that it couldn’t possibly be good.

Twilight instead turned her thoughts to Ponyville, her home. She wondered how her friends were doing, and what they must’ve thought of her. Surely they would know what Twilight did to get herself locked up in a dungeon, and then get locked up in Sleipnir. They must’ve hated her.

As she was thinking, Twilight realized that she wasn’t actually visualizing her thoughts. Twilight tried to visualize her friends, only to be met with a piercing headache. The sudden headache caused Twilight to collapse, her entire body shaking from the pain. A combination of Diane’s sobs and the nameless mad mare’s laugh became the theme song of Twilight’s current pain. It wasn’t until a few minutes after Twilight had stopped visualizing her friends that the headache finally subsided.

Twilight was disturbed by her most recent headache. Why did it hurt so badly when she visualized her friends? Twilight didn’t have an answer; her head didn’t hurt at all when she saw Pinkie/Pinkamena/Diane, so why did it hurt when she visualized the real Pinkie?

A few hours later, the Administrator announced the names of the ponies that would be killing each other. Twilight didn’t know either of the two ponies and neither one of them looked out of the ordinary, so Twilight didn’t even give them a second look. This disturbed Twilight, after all those ponies were still ponies and she as a princess should care about their well being. Even if they were psychopathic rapists, no pony deserved to be forced to fight for their life. And yet Twilight couldn’t find it in her heart to care about them.

Shortly after the ponies had been called up, Dread came over to Twilight’s cell.

“Miss. Sparkle, I would like to see you in my office.” The android said when he was sure that the Administrator wasn’t watching, “There is much that I wish to discuss with you.” Dread let Twilight out of her cell and walked her down the hallway and into the laboratory.

The scenery hadn’t changed much from when Twilight was last in the lab; everything still looked like it was abandoned. Twilight did notice however, that some pony had begun to repair a few of the machines; or at the very least clean them up so that they looked nice. Twilight wasn’t familiar with these machines so she had no way of knowing whether or not they were fixed at all.

It didn’t take long before the two of them arrived at Dread’s office. Unlike the laboratory, the office seemed to have had a cyclone pass through it. Books were haphazardly tossed everywhere, covering the floor, bits of paper with hastily written notes covering the spots that the books couldn’t.

“My apologies about the mess,” Dread said as he began to pick up some of the books, “I spent all of last night researching what might be causing you to have these headaches that you’ve been experiencing and I fear that I have forgotten to clean up.”

Twilight smiled, “Oh I know the feeling, I once stayed up for three days straight doing nothing but studying. Here let me help you clean up.” Twilight prepared to cast a levitation spell to clean the office up in a single movement, only to have her head try to punch the back of her eyes, causing her to utter an involuntary grunt of pain.

“What the hay was that?” Twilight asked before she remembered that her horn was coated in something, “Oh, right the paint. I forgot about it.”

“Sorry about that.” Dread said, “For reasons of security, unicorn inmates have their horns coated in a metallic polish that cancels out any and all attempts at magic use. The headache you just experienced was the magical energy in your horn being bounced back into your head. Come to think of it, you haven’t been attempting use magic have you? That would explain the headaches.”

Twilight shook her head, “No, that can’t be it; the headaches only come whenever I try to remember my past. Just today I tried to visualize my friends in Ponyville and my head felt like it was going to rupture.”

“Yes, I think you mentioned something like that yesterday. Perhaps it’s an effect of…” Dread’s voice fell silent as the android began to pace the room. “It’s worth a shot, but what if…”

“Uh, Dread?” Twilight asked, “What are you mumbling about?”

“Nothing, just an idea as to what may be causing these headaches that you’ve been having, I’ll need a blood sample to be sure though.”

Dread grabbed a syringe from a drawer and prepared it with a sterilized needle. Dread then grabbed what appeared to be some kind of rubber band.

“Now if you don’t mind, could you please sit on the sofa? I don’t want you fidgeting when I take the sample.” Dread asked.

Twilight obeyed. Dread took the rubber band and placed it on one of Twilight’s front legs; the rubber band was uncomfortably tight. Dread then used one of his claws to feel out a vein in Twilight’s leg. When he had found a vein that was large enough, Dread sterilized the spot with alcohol and inserted the needle. The pain that Twilight felt was minimal, but the purple alicorn had a history of medical shots going wrong; once when a doctor had accidently missed the vein, and another time when the doctor had accidently used the wrong medicine; Twilight new that those were just accidents and that she had nothing to worry about, but she still was not comfortable with the idea of sharp objects being poked into her.

Once the syringe had the right amount of blood in it, Dread bandaged the wound on Twilight’s leg and prepared for some kind of blood test.

“Um, is this going to take long?” Twilight asked, “Am I going to have to go back to my cell?”

“Yes, you will have to return to your cell eventually,” Dread said as he searched his office for supplies, “but not right now, I still would like to talk to you. Today is a rare opportunity; it’s not often that the administrator sets up exercises that take up several hours to be determined.”

Twilight blinked, “What do you mean several hours, the fight today involves explosives! If anything it should take up less time.”

Dread made an electronic white noise sound that Twilight guessed was some kind of chuckle, “Miss Sparkle, do you really think that a pony who loves to watch others suffer would set up a fight that can be completed quickly?”

When Twilight didn’t answer Dread continued, “The Administrator only said that the fight would involve land mines to make the fighters paranoid. The purpose of today’s fight is to drive the ponies even more insane. There are no landmines, only flashing lights that make a beeping noise if you get to close, but the ponies don’t know that. They’re so terrified of the fake bombs that they’re more concerned with not blowing up than actually killing their opponent. But here’s the twist, they’re also paranoid about their opponent managing to take them out, so they just sit there staring at each other. The paranoia gnaws at their minds until one of them makes a move, and that can take hours, days in some cases.”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably, “Wow, that sounds awful. But what if the inmates aren’t afraid to die, or are so Tartarus bent on killing that they don’t care about the bombs?”

“Simple, the Administrator performs a background check on the inmates and finds the ones with the ones that value their lives the most or will think too much about the situation at hand. It’s the only time the Administrator actually looks at the files I keep on the inmates, but I digress. The entire process takes approximately two weeks for the Administrator to complete, and that is including the elimination of sociopathic inmates such as Miss Pie or the late Corncob.”

“Are you sure that Pinkie Pie’s a sociopath, because she was showing a lot of emotion this morning.” Twilight asked, hopping that she would get an explanation of Pinkie’s/Pinkamena’s/Diane’s multiple personalities.

“Ah yes, Miss Pie’s contrite personality, perhaps I should have been more clear. Miss Pie is considered a sociopath because her dominant personality is a sociopath. Miss Pie suffers from dissociative identity disorder, more commonly known as multiple personality disorder. Miss Pie has three personalities to be exact; a sociopath, a manic psychopath, and contrite personality that suffers from depression. Like I said before, the sociopath, the one called Pinkamena, is Miss Pie’s dominant personality, or at least it’s the one that Miss Pie usually uses; the manic psychopath, called Pinkie, comes out whenever Miss Pie is preparing herself for a kill; and the contrite personality, who insists on being called Diane, Diane I believe is the real personality of Pinkie Pie;”

“No, that can’t be right.” Twilight interrupted, “The Pinkie Pie I knew was a fun loving pony who wanted to make every pony happy, not some overly emotional mare that can’t go two minutes without crying.”

“You forget, Miss Sparkle; the Pinkie Pie that lives in the cell next to yours is not a carbon copy of the Pinkie Pie that you knew before you came here. This version of Pinkie Pie is a murderer and a cannibal; she slaughtered two of her friends in fit a fit of madness. How would your version of Pinkie Pie feel if she knew that she killed any pony, and what if those ponies were her friends?”

“I guess that does explain Diane’s constant crying. But why does she insist that she be called Diane?”

“As to that I am not sure. All I know about the Diane personality is that it will only come out when Miss Pie has consumed pony flesh.”

Twilight blinked, “Pony flesh? You mean to tell me that Diane will only show up whenever she eats some pony? That’s impossible! It makes no sense, I mean how can…”

“Yes, I agree that it makes little sense,” Dread interrupted, “but I have tested the theory numerous times. Miss Pie will go into her Diane personality every time she consumes the flesh of a pony, whether she is aware of it or not.”

“Wait, you mean to say that you’ve been giving her pony flesh without telling her?” Twilight asked, her stomach twisting at the thought, “That’s bucked up! What kind of a pony would do such a thing? And furthermore what made you decide that it was pony flesh that triggered the personality anyway?”

“Perhaps I should explain how I came to my conclusion. You see at first I didn’t notice the connection, I simply believed that Diane was just another alternate personality that Miss Pie would become randomly, after some length of time I began to notice that Miss Pie would only become Diane after she competed in one of the Administrator’s exercises. I went on believing that a vigorous exertion of energy was the trigger; that is until the Administrator decided that for one exercise the survivor would get nothing, that time Miss Pie did not change personality and I developed my hypothesis.”

“Okay, that explains your thought process,” Twilight said, still glaring at Dread, “but that doesn’t explain the sneaking her bits of pony flesh.”

“Miss Sparkle, you are a scientist, surely you understand the need to test a theory.”

“Yes, I understand, but I also understand that a scientist must have morals. Sneaking a pony food without telling them what’s in it is just despicable.”

“Miss Sparkle, I understand that my methods are not exactly ideal…”

“Ideal?” Twilight interrupted, “Your methods are so far from ideal that I can’t even fathom why a pony would even consider them, yet alone implementing them! It’s monstrous, ghoulish, and disgusting! You should be ashamed to even call yourself a pony!”

The lights in Dread’s eyes brightened and when he spoke his voice became much lower and much louder, “You forget, Miss Sparkle, I am NOT a pony! You forget where you are; you are no longer in Equestria, you are in Sleipnir! Your concepts of morality mean NOTHING here! I did what I did what I did for Miss Pie! You have no right to question MY ethics; YOU are a lowly inmate guilty of crimes against pony kind!”

Twilight trembled; she had forgotten that she was not innocent. No, she was guilty of what must’ve been a terrible crime, a crime she couldn’t even remember committing. Everything that she had known back in Ponyville was gone. Even if she went back there was no way any pony would forgive her. She no longer belonged there, she could never go back. Twilight’s eyes began to tear up at the thought that she would never see her friends again, and she began to cry.

“My apologies for losing my temper with you, Miss Sparkle,” Dread said, “but you have to realize that I only want what’s best for Miss Pie. If cannibalism can somehow stabilize her condition, then isn’t it worth the lives of a few ponies?”

Twilight glared at the android, her eyes red from crying, “The sanity of a single mare is not worth the lives of many others. Even if all the ponies that you feed Pinkie are psychopaths or rapists, that doesn’t give you the right to just kill them! If you are going to put so much effort into curing one pony, then don’t the other ponies deserve the same amount of effort? No matter how evil a pony is, they are still a pony and they deserve to be treated like such!”

The android looked down at his mechanical legs, “I’m sorry if I implied that I was the one who murdered the ponies that I served to Miss Pie. Not all of the inmates at Sleipnir are cannibals, so more often than not I have to dispose of a body, the administrator never said how. I realize that my methods are morbid, but I thought that if I could help Miss Pie become herself again, then the end would justify the means. You have said nothing that I do not already believe. Forgive me, Miss Sparkle for coming off as though I only cared for Miss Pie, but out of all the inmates here at Sleipnir, she is the one who has come closest to overcoming her own insanity. I fear that I may have gotten so obsessed with finding a cure that I have allowed myself to become obsessed. I only want to help.”

“Wait a minute, if Pinkie is the closest to overcoming her insanity; that would mean that Sleipnir has never successfully cured a pony of insanity.”

“Yes, but remember that insanity is not something that can be cured with standard medicine, and the ponies that get sent into Sleipnir have a different insanity from standard insanity. You see…”

“That’s quite enough Dread.” A masculine voice said from the entrance to Dread’s office. Twilight looked to see that the voice was coming from a dark gray earth pony who was wearing glasses and a dirty lab coat.

“Dr. Layne what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be hiding with Project 6-19?”

“Shouldn’t you be pretending to be a mindless automaton Dread? Not giving away top secrets to blood thirsty psychopaths?”

Twilight wanted to protest at being called a psychopath, but her better judgment told her that doing so would only result in her being forced back to her cell.

“I don’t see the point in keeping secrets anymore now that Sleipnir has been largely destroyed.” Dread said, “You and I are the last surviving staff and you know. Who cares if I tell one of the test subjects the truth behind the insanity? There’s no pony to care or do anything about it, all of the administrators are dead. I had to dispose of their bodies myself.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, “What administrators, what bodies, who is this Layne pony?”

The android and the stallion looked at each other.

Dread asked, “Should I tell her or…”

“I’ll tell her Dread.” The stallion interrupted, “At least I’ll explain who I am. I am me so it’s only right.”

The stallion turned to face Twilight, “My name is Dr. Quill Layne. I am in charge primary research of Sanguinam Ungolum, at least I was until well… Never mind, it’s not important right now.”

“Sanguinam Ungolum?” Twilight asked. The words sounded strange to Twilight.

Dread answered, “Yes well to explain that I must first explain what exactly Sleipnir is. You see Sleipnir was not originally a gladiator coliseum; it was originally a facility that was designed to research the multiverse and the various ponies that inhabit it. At first, that was all we studied, until we discovered certain corruptions among ponies often in the form physical appearances and behaviors. Over time we discovered that these corruptions were caused by genetic mutations, viruses, or a combination of the two.”

“Dr. Layne, would you mind fetching the examples that we use?” Dread asked.

“Hmph, fine.” Dr. Layne answered as he left the office. Twilight wasn’t sure, but he seemed that glare at her as he left.

“Thank you, now where was I? Ah yes, genetic mutations and viruses.” Dread said before continuing, “Here at Sleipnir we have identified three ailments that we believe are responsible for the majority of the corruption throughout the multiverse; anthropromorphia, turpus equus, and sanguinam ungolum.”

Dr. Layne returned with what looked like a rolled up poster in his mouth.

“Which virus is this?” Dread asked.

Dr. Layne spat out the poster and answered, “Anthropromorphia, it’s the only example that I was able to locate. I doubt that I’ll be able to find the others without drawing attention to myself.”

“Well I suppose that it is lucky that you managed to find that one. Fortunately anthropromorphia is the only condition that requires a visual aid to understand.” Dread answered, “If you don’t mind, could you please set it up?”

“You’re the one with those claw things.” Dr. Layne grumbled, but he complied.

There were five images on the poster, each one more grotesque then the last, all of them having a number beneath them. The first image was that of a normal pony, with dotted lines were the horn and wings would go if the pony was an alicorn, the number one was written beneath this illustration. The second image had a similar looking pony, but it was standing on its hind legs, its hind hooves were elongated and lines had been drawn on its front hooves for some reason. The image resembled the Pinkie Pie that was in the cell next to Twilight’s. The rest of images were showed the cartoon pony advancing further into an alien, becoming taller, thinner, and developing oddly shaped faces.

“Anthropromorphia is a genetic and magical mutation.” Dread explained, “The condition causes drastic changes to a pony’s biological structure. Exactly how much a pony is affected by the condition varies from pony to pony but Sleipnir scientists have been able to determine five stages that the condition tends to take place.”

“The first stage,” Dread continued, “is a carrier. A carrier is a normal pony that has been infected by the gene that causes the mutation, but is unaffected by it. At this stage the mutation remains a recessive trait until a pony is actually born with the active condition, at which it becomes very dominant.”

“Stage two is where you can actually see how the condition is changing a pony’s body. Aside from the obvious skeletal differences, stage two also mutates the hooves of a pony. Rather than being a stone-like growth on the end of a healthy pony’s legs, the hooves on an anthro pony become softer, especially on the front hooves. Affected ponies also develop bones in the inside of their hooves that can be used like a griffon’s digits.”

“Stage three is essentially a taller version of stage two so we’ll be skipping it.” Dread said much to Twilight’s disappointment. The knowledge that Dread had given her had caused Twilight to want to learn more about the mutation, and vomit, but it also made her want to vomit.

Dread went on to explain the last two stages of anthropromorphia. Stage four was essentially what Corncob had. Stage five altered a pony’s physical shape to the point that Twilight thought that the affected pony could no longer be considered a pony.

“Stage five looks awfully like those creatures that Lyra won’t shut up about.” Twilight commented, remembering all the times that the strange unicorn had up to her to talk about those imaginary monsters that she had come up with.

“Yes, I’m quite aware,” Dread said, his eye’s glowing like they did when he was yelling at Twilight, “in any case we need to move on.”

Dread gave Twilight a rudimentary description of what turpus equus was. The effects of this disease were not as nightmarish as anthropromorphia in Twilight’s opinion, but nonetheless Twilight was disgusted by the virus.

Turpus equus is a virus that causes a pony’s brain to produce an excess amount of hormones, increasing the pony’s sexual appetite to an unhealthy level. According to Dread, ponies infected with turpus equus are low priority unless the pony in question has another virus to go with it and make the infected pony a threat.

“Unless they have another virus,” Dread said, “ponies infected with turpus equus are little more than a nuisance. That said, it usually better to separate them from uninfected ponies to prevent an epidemic.”

“Please, never mention that virus again,” Twilight said, mildly traumatized, “or that example you used, the one with Applejack and Gilda.”

“Believe me when I say that discovering the two’s fetish for cacti was among the tamest examples of turpus equus.” Dread said, emitting the same white noise that seemed to be his laugh, “In any case, it is time that we moved on to the most dangerous of the diseases, as well as the most mysterious, sanguinam ungolum.”

“Sanguinam ungolum,” Dread continued, “is a virus that alters the mind of those who are unfortunate enough to have come under its influence. The virus causes its hosts’ natural desires, their hopes, their dreams, and their emotions to become warped. Those who become infected with an active sanguinam ungolum virus become consumed with an overpowering desire to cause pain, specifically the pain of other ponies, even if such an act would directly contradict the infected pony’s personality.”

“It turns ponies into another species.” Dr. Layne interrupted, “Sanguinam ungolum turns ponies into monsters. Hay, the only reason why Sleipnir doesn’t exterminate them like we would any other vermin is because…”

“It is because not every pony shares your view on the matter.” Dread said, cutting Dr. Layne off mid sentence, “There are some who believe that just because a pony is a cold blooded murderer does not mean that he or she is not a pony. There are some who believe that just because a pony suffers from a virus does not mean that that pony should just be killed.”

Dr. Layne began to mumble something but was too quiet for Twilight to hear what he was saying.

Dread apparently could hear him because he said, “Don’t act like you’re the only one who hasn’t experienced loss by the hand of a sanguinam infected pony, between the two of us I would say that you have lost the least.”

Dr. Layne opened his mouth to speak, but instead scowled at Dread and stormed out of the room, muttering under his breath.

“What was that all about?” Twilight asked.

“Dr. Layne lost his left wing to a pony infected with sanguinam ungolum many years ago and has harbored a hatred for the disease and any pony infected with it ever since.” Dread answered.

“Wait, I thought that Dr. Layne was an earth pony?”

“That is because from all outward appearances Dr. Layne looks like an earth pony, the fact that his lab coat covers his remaining wing doesn’t help.”

“When you were arguing, you said that you had both lost something to the virus, what does that mean?” Twilight asked, genuinely curious as to what an android could possibly lose.

“Perhaps another time,” Dread answered, “right now I need to tell you as much about sanguinam ungolum before I have to put you back into your cell.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Like I said before, sanguinam ungolum corrupts the minds of ponies. It causes them to have an unbearably strong desire to cause pain. However ponies infected with sanguinam ungolum do not always lose their sense of morality, rather their morality becomes warped to accommodate the virus’s influence. For example, when I first talked to Miss Pie, she told me flat out that cannibalism was the best way to express friendship.”

“What?” Twilight asked in surprise, “She never told me anything like that!”

“Yes, it seems that Miss Pie’s view on the matter has changed during her time here at Sleipnir, but she did believe it at one point. If I recall correctly she said that when she ate some pony that their bodies became unified, and that she would never be separated from her friends again.”

“That’s bucked up!”

Dread’s crackled with white noise, “Believe me, it is tame compared to what some of the other inmates will tell you.”

“You said that about A.J. and Gilda.”

Dread looked at Twilight, his red lights looking right into her eyes, “That’s because I mean it.”

Twilight shifted, the full weight of what Dread said hit her like one of Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainbooms. Exactly what constituted the term bucked up here at Sleipnir? Twilight wasn’t sure that she wanted to know.

“We have about ten minutes before it is time for me to take you back to your cell.” Dread said.

“What? But you said that the fight could last days?” Twilight responded.

“On rare occasions, but I am not willing to wager your life that this fight will take that long. Now if you don’t mind, there is one more thing that I need to tell you about sanguinam ungolum.”

“Okay, fine. Tell me.”

“Sanguinam ungolum does not only affect the pony who suffers from it. We’re not sure how, but the virus actually corrupts the very world that the victim inhabits. Exactly how much a world is corrupted depends on how much the afflicted pony is corrupted, as well as how many ponies are afflicted. Worlds that become tainted with sanguinam ungolum have their color spectrum altered. For example, on one world everything became a reddish color, even the sky. Society is also affected, with wars being more likely to breakout for increasingly irrelevant reasons. Sanguinam ungolum is the single greatest threat to all life, as well as the very nature of the multiverse, and there is no cure.”

“Wait a minute, why hasn’t any pony tried using the Elements of Harmony against sanguinam ungolum?” Twilight asked, “If it’s such a major threat, then surly the Elements can do something about it?”

“Unfortunately the Elements of Harmony are only useful against threats that disrupt the natural order of the world they inhabit. When faced with something that doesn’t, the Elements are nearly useless. Sanguinam ungolum is a virus that perverts the natural order, but they it does not disrupt it.”

“But what about ponies who represent the Elements, surely they have some immunity to the virus?”

Dread’s voice crackled white noise, “Forgive Miss Sparkle, but you do realize that both Miss Pie and yourself are Elements of Harmony, correct?”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably, “Well, yes but, I'm not inf...”

“Then you should know that being an Element of Harmony means almost nothing. Almost every pony can be placed into one of the six categories that are the Elements of Harmony. Take for example your friend Applejack, a mare that reasonably honest but not so much that it is something to admire about her. In fact, if you were to ask me to describe Applejack in three words, honest would not have to be one of them.”

“But… But surely the Elements can do something?” Twilight asked, disheartened, “They’re the most powerful magic in the world.”

The red lights on Dread’s face dimmed, “Do not misunderstand me Miss Sparkle; the Elements of Harmony are very powerful, but only against certain things. The Elements were never meant to be an end all solution to evil. Evil is something that there can be an easy solution for, or else viruses such as sanguinam ungolum would not exist.”

Twilight began to cry. The idea that the Elements of Harmony, that which Twilight had always believed could do anything, were next to useless against something as vile as sanguinam ungolum terrified her. What if there was something even more dangerous than sanguinam ungolum? What if there was something so evil that it would destroy all of Equestria without even caring for the lives it took? The ponies would have no way of protecting themselves if the Elements didn’t work. Every pony knows the Celestia never does anything to help.

“Would you like me to take you back to your cell Miss Sparkle?” Dread asked.

“Yes, please.” Twilight choked.

Dread walked Twilight back to her cell. On their way Twilight began to hear the insane laughter of the crazy pony who Twilight hoped that she would never meet. When they arrived back at her cell, Dread locked Twilight in and left, neglecting to say goodbye.

Twilight looked at the screen mounted inside her cell. Obviously the fight was still going on, but it seemed to almost be over. One of the two ponies had apparently stepped on a mine and blew off their left hind legs. The other pony hadn’t gotten around to finishing off her opponent, but Twilight could see that it was only a matter of time.

Twilight looked away. No matter how desensitized Sleipnir made her, Twilight swore to herself that she would never be able to look at the face of a dying pony and feel nothing. Twilight averted her eyes to avoid breaking what was the string that she felt kept her who she was, and the only thing reminding her that she wasn’t a psychopath.

“Are you back already?” Pinkie/Pinkamena/Diane asked from the next cell over.

“Didn’t you see me walking down the hall?” Twilight asked.

“No, I was asleep until just now.” Twilight decided that it was Diane who she was talking to, “I thought that maybe some sleep would help forget what I did… I don’t know why I bothered though; I just relived the whole thing in my head. The look of terror in Dashie’s eyes, the way I could almost see her heart break. It was awful!” Diane had begun to sob when she finished.

“Oh, I’m um… sorry.” Twilight wasn’t quite sure what to say, after all it was Pinkie’s fault that Rainbow Dash was dead, at least this Pinkie’s version of Rainbow Dash, Twilight still wasn’t used to the idea of a multiverse. As far as Twilight knew, Diane deserved to feel this upset, she probably deserved more but Twilight didn’t know exactly all that Pinkie had done.

Twilight sat in her cell for the next couple of hours, quietly listening to Diane’s sobs and the distant laugh of the insane pony. Occasionally Twilight glanced up at the screen to see if the fight was over, but somehow the pony who had had blown off his leg had managed to survive for much longer than Twilight had expected, and the other pony in the fight hadn’t yet made a move, probably afraid of the mines. Twilight quickly looked away from the screen after she understood what was going on.

Eventually the mare did manage to build enough courage to end the stallion’s life. In her attempt to get within reach of her opponent, the mare stepped on a mine and blew both of the fighters up. Twilight, who wasn’t paying attention at the time, only realized what had happened by the sound of an explosion coming from the intercom.

“Looks like the fight’s over.” Twilight said absentmindedly.

Twilight tried to think about something to distract herself from her cell, but anything that came to mind either caused her head to hurt or simply depressed her. It wasn’t until now that Twilight realized just how boring the cell was. Twilight was not one to be easily bored, but the simple fact that there was literally nothing for her to do. No books for her to read, no problems for her to solve, and nothing for her to reorganize. At least when Pinkie/Pinkamena/Diane wasn’t crying she could have a conversation, even if the topic was unpleasant.

Twilight’s boredom ended when the Administrator announced that dinner would be served shorty.

'At least I’ll be able to see Dread, if only for a moment.' Twilight thought to herself, still clinging to the hope that Dread would be able to get her released.

Minutes later Twilight heard the familiar metallic clopping noise echoing down the hallway, mixing in with the sound of the pony who never seemed to stop laughing. Twilight waited in mild anticipation, both for the chance to see one of her few friends here at Sleipnir, and for the prospect of food.. Twilight hadn’t noticed it before, but she was hungry enough that she was willing to eat whatever foreign material Dread gave her.

“Good evening Miss Sparkle.” Dread said when he came to her cell, “A word of warning, when you eat your dinner, hold your nose, it will help hide the taste.” Dread gave Twilight a container and a water packet.

“I hope that you sleep well tonight.” Dread said as he moved on to Pinkie’s cell.

'Not likely,' Twilight thought to herself.

“Miss Pie, you food is here.” Dread said to Diane as he inserted the containers.

“Go away!” Diane cried, “I don’t deserve to eat!” Diane began to ramble about how she was a terrible friend and deserved a number of painful deaths to make up for how evil she was.

“Miss Pie, I understand that you are guilty about the loss of your friends, but would they want you to starve yourself?”

Diane said nothing but accepted the food nonetheless.

As Dread went on to feed the other inmates, Twilight inspected the contents of the container. Inside was a stinking mass of what looked like a combination of manure, mayonnaise, and rotten fish. Twilight pressed her front hooves to her nose in an attempt to block the smell, hoping that Dread was right and that this would somehow hide the taste. It didn't; when Twilight attempted to take a bite out of the shapeless mass, her mouth was filled with the taste of onions, medicine, and her brother’s cooking. Resisting the urge to vomit, Twilight forced the vile meal down and immediately popped the water packet into her mouth. The water did little to wash away the foul taste of whatever it was Twilight had just eaten.

“Twilight?” Diane asked from her cell.

“Yes?”

“How was your talk with Dread?”

“It was pleasant,” Twilight answered, “Why do you ask?”

“No reason. I just wanted to know if you enjoyed his company.” Diane answered, “What did he talk to you about?”

“Oh he just asked about how I was feeling and if I remembered anything about what I did to end up here.” Twilight answered, unsure if she should tell Diane about the viruses. Then, remembering what Pinkamena had told her the day before, Twilight asked, “Doesn’t Dread talk to you sometimes?”

“Yeah, sometimes, I think that the reason he didn’t talk to me today was because I was crying so much, he doesn’t take me out when I’m like that. Back when I first came to Sleipnir, Dread would take me out even if I was crying, then one day he just decided that he wouldn’t take me if I was crying, I’m not sure why though.”

This didn’t make sense to Twilight. Shouldn’t Dread talk to Diane more when she’s crying? Isn’t it just natural to cheer up a crying pony? Twilight decided that she would ask Dread about it tomorrow.

Diane and Twilight talked for the next couple of hours until the Administrator announced that it be time to sleep soon. This didn’t feel right to Twilight, it seemed as though night time came sooner than it should’ve. Maybe she had lost track of time while she was in Dread’s office? That was probably the answer; after all how many times had she accidentally stayed up all night reading a new text book?

When it was time to sleep, Twilight attempted to make herself as comfortable as she could in her undersized cell. When Twilight finally succeeded in getting comfortable, she closed her eyes and listened to the distant laughter of the insane mare. Slowly but surely, sleep began to overcome Twilight.

Just before she had fully succumbed to warmth that sleep offered, Twilight heard a high pitched voice say, “I’m so sorry Fluttershy.”