Twilight woke up screaming; her head was hurting as if some pony had tried to jam an icicle into it and succeeded. Twilight placed her front hooves to her temples and pressed down. The pressure did nothing to calm Twilight’s headache so she pressed her head onto the wall of her cell and waited for the pain to pass. Twilight’s headache took several minutes to calm down to a bearable intensity, and even longer for it to fade altogether.

As soon as Twilight’s head stopped hurting, the alicorn looked out of her cell window to try and guess what time it was. This proved to be a waste of time; the entire hallway was pitch black save for the occasional flickering light in the distance. Twilight tried to go back to sleep, but found that every time she closed her eyes for more than a couple of seconds the images from her dream would flash before her.

Twilight thought about the dream she had. It was not like her to be bothered by something as foalish as a nightmare, but still she could not get it out of her mind. Twilight reflected on the images that she saw, trying to figure out why they bothered her so much. The reason why the first three images bothered her was obvious, they were simply graphic images that Twilight wasn’t used to seeing, even after her encounter with the monster named Sam.

It was the fourth image that troubled Twilight; Why. How could a single word cause Twilight so much distress? Did it have something to do with whatever Twilight did to end up at Sleipnir? Was it something to do with the actual dream itself? Twilight didn’t have answer.

After an hour Twilight managed to force herself to sleep despite the unpleasant mental images. A few hours later Twilight was awakened by the pony who lived in the cell next to hers.

“Hey Twilight, wake up! You’re gonna miss breakfast!” Twilight’s neighbor called from the next cell over.

“What? What am I going to miss?” Twilight asked as she jolted awake.

“I’ve been trying to wake you up for since the lights came on.” Pinkie/Pinkamena/Diane said in cheerful, if slightly raspy voice, “For a second there I was afraid that you died in your sleep.”

“Well I’m alive. Did the Administrator already do the morning announcements?”

“Yeah, he also showed the highlights of yesterday’s fight. I have to say I’m very impressed by how brutally you took out that thing, uh… What was his name again?”

“Sam.”

“Right, Sam, weird name. Anyways, I can’t believe how far you pull his brain out of his skull without breaking any of the nerves! And then you just left him there to die with his brains hanging out. It was so cool!”

“Um yeah, the brain thing…” Twilight didn’t think about it at the time, but how did she know how to remove the brain without killing Sam? It seemed so natural in the heat of the moment, but now that Twilight was thinking about it the whole idea seemed ridiculous. The act of removing a brain without killing a pony would take supernatural skill to perform; all the nerves would’ve had to stay connected to the body in order for the act to be successful.

“So did the Administrator say what we will be having for breakfast?” Twilight asked.

“No.” Pinkamena grumbled, “I swear he goes out of his way just to make food as bucking disgusting as he can.”

“Yeah that’s probably true.” Twilight said.

A few minutes later Twilight heard the sound of Dread’s metal hooves clip clopping some distance away. As the sound grew louder, Twilight noticed that there was something wrong; the pattern of Dread’s hoof steps was off. Twilight listened as closely to Dread’s hoof steps as she could in an attempt to figure out what was wrong with Dread. In the distance Twilight could just make out the sound of metal scraping metal mixed in with Dread’s hoof steps.

It took longer than usual for Dread to come into Twilight’s limited range of vision. When the android did come into view he was visibly damaged; the top of his head had been burned, one of his hind legs seemed to have stopped working, and the light that was his left eye had been broken.

“Good morning Miss Sparkle.” The android greeted, his voice crackling slightly, “I do hope that you slept well last night.”

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“Mostly, I’ve had a few of my body parts breakdown this morning, but all is well.” Dread answered, “It’s nothing that cannot be repaired.”

“But the burn mark…”

“Burn mark?” Pinkamena asked from the next cell over, “What burn mark?”

“It’s nothing Miss Pie. I simply had an accident with a falling light.”

“Liar, you’ve been hurting yourself again haven’t you?” Pinkamena accused.

“I assure you Miss Pie; it was only an accid…” Dread started to say before he was interrupted by Pinkamena.

“Don’t try to feed me that accident crap Dread! You’ve hurt yourself like this before and it nearly killed you!”

“I appreciate your concern Miss Pie, but I have not been causing myself any harm recently. Now if you would be so kind, I have inmates to feed.” Dread gave both Twilight and Pinkamena their breakfast and then quickly left.

“He’s been hurting himself again and I know it.” Pinkamena grumbled as soon as Dread was gone.

“What do you mean hurting himself?” Twilight asked.

“It’s a long story Twi, and I’m not sure about all of the details, but every couple of weeks or so Dread shows up looking like he did just now with a burn mark on his head. At first I believed him when he told me that it was just an accident, but then I noticed that it happened far too often to just be bad luck. I’m not sure how he does it, but I know that it’s him who puts the burn on his head. I think that he’s sad about something, but every time I ask him about it he avoids the question. I’m worried about him Twilight, I’m afraid that any day now he’s just gonna do himself in.”

Twilight took in what Pinkamena said for a moment and then began to giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Pinkamena asked.

In between laughs Twilight answered, “It’s just that when I first met you, you seemed to be proud of how heartless you are, and now here you are expressing concern for a robot. I’m sorry, but it just feels so fake!”

Pinkamena grumbled, “I am not a black hole of morality you know, I am capable of caring about some pony. I’m not a total monster Twilight.”

'Tell that to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy', Twilight thought before saying, “I’m not saying that you are, but it is odd that you value the life of a machine over the life of a pony.”

“I don’t think you understand what Dread means to me.” Pinkamena said quietly.

Curious, Twilight asked, “If I don’t understand, then would you care to enlighten me?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it Twilight.”

“It’ll pass the time until the Administrator announces the fight today.”

“Ugh, fine I’ll tell you, just promise not to laugh okay?”

“I promise that I’m not going to laugh Pinkamena, just tell me the story.”

Pinkamena sighed, “For most of my life I’ve had to deal with homicidal urges. Usually I could just ignore them, but sometimes they would become so strong that I would have to lock myself in my room to keep myself from hurting any pony. There was this one time however, I asked Rainbow Dash to come over to help me make cupcakes…”

“You’ve already told me this.” Twilight interrupted.

“What?”

“You invited Rainbow Dash over to help you make cupcakes, she was late and your urges began to become stronger. When Rainbow Dash finally did arrive you fed her a poisoned cupcake, murdered her in your basement, and then somehow turn Rainbow Dash into cupcakes. Did I miss anything?”

“No, that pretty much explains what happened up to a certain point. I don’t remember talking about this before though, when exactly did I tell you all this?”

She doesn’t remember what she did as the Diane personality, Twilight thought to herself before answering, “Come to think of it maybe it was Dread who told me all that.”

“Weird, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Anyway, after I killed Rainbow Dash I ran away, no note, no message, I didn’t even bother to pack anything; I just ran. I started what I thought was a new life in the Everfree Forrest. I lived off of berries, wild fruit, and the occasional squirrel. I hated myself; I hated how seclusion didn’t stop me from feeling my urges, even though I had killed one of my best friends. I started to justify my actions to myself, to try and prove that I wasn’t a monster. I told myself that cannibalism was the ultimate expression of love; that Dashie wasn’t really dead, she was just living inside me. I think that it was sugar withdrawal that drove me insane.”

“Well that explains a little about what happened after you ate Rainbow Dash. But I don’t see what Dread has to do with any of this.” Twilight said after Pinkamena stopped talking.

“I’m getting to that. Sorry I had to catch my breath. Now where was I? Oh right; I lived in the Everfree forest for a long time, at least a couple of months. Every day I felt my urges become stronger, even though there was no pony around to trigger them. It was so bad that even my dreams started to become affected. I would dream that was a monster that would do nothing but hunt ponies down and maul them. Strange thing was that in every dream was different, sometimes I was a large wolf that terrorized the streets of Canterlot, other times I was a dragon that preyed on the pegasi of Cloudsdale. The dreams didn’t help my urges though, if anything they made them worse. Soon I couldn’t think of anything but bloodshed. I would go about my day thinking of better ways to kill ponies; how to make them bleed more, or how to make them scream louder. It’s a wonder how I remembered to feed myself.”

Pinkamena stopped to take a breath, “Eventually a pony somehow wondered into the area that I had been staying. I was asleep when they came so she didn’t notice me. I woke up when the pony screamed out in pain. I looked out of my hiding spot to see Fluttershy lying on the ground. I don’t know how she fell over; she must’ve tripped on a rock or something. Anyway, I didn’t think twice about what to do. I took the closest rock I could find and used it to knock her unconscious. Once I was sure that she was out cold I laid her on her back and place two boulders on her front legs to keep her from getting up. I took the rock that I used to skin animal skins and tore open Fluttershy’s torso. I was so blood thirsty that I just started ripping out her organs. I didn’t care that Fluttershy was my friend, as far as I was concerned my life as Pinkie Pie ended when I killed Rainbow Dash. I was the monster in my dreams, a wild beast that would kill any pony it came upon, and I loved it. I loved the feel of ripping apart flesh, the warmth of the body as it spills its contents. I began to splash Fluttershy’s blood onto my fur, embracing the monster that I was.”

“Pinkamena, you’re going off topic!” Twilight shouted.

“Sorry.” Pinkamena replied.

“It’s fine; just tell me what happened next.”

“While I was busy killing Fluttershy, she woke up. I don’t know how, but Fluttershy woke up after I had completely torn apart her insides! She didn’t say anything, but her eyes looked happy. Why was she happy? I had torn her organs to ribbons, and she looked up and smiled at me. Why was she happy Twilight?”

Twilight tried to find an answer, but none came to her.

“Maybe she was just happy to see you after so long?” Twilight guessed, trying to give Pinkamena some closure.

“But why though? She had to have known that I was the one cutting her up. I was covered in her blood for Celestia’s sake!”

Twilight didn’t know what to say. A number of solutions as to why someone would smile to their executioner popped into her mind, but none of them seemed right. It could be that Fluttershy thought that Pinkamena was trying to save her, or that Fluttershy simply didn’t realize that she was dying; neither of those reasons seemed likely thought. What was most likely Twilight believed; was that Fluttershy made a face that Pinkamena, in her insanity, mistook for a smile when it was actually an expression of terror. Twilight didn’t want to tell Pinkamena that last thought though, seeing as it might only upset her more.

“So what happened next?” Was all Twilight could think to ask.

“Well, I was angry, angry that she wasn’t afraid, angry because she was happy. I was going to finish her off right then and there, to punish Fluttershy for not fearing me, to wipe that smile right off her face, but then I heard a noise coming from behind me. I felt something hit me on the back of my head. The next thing I know, I was tied up and being dragged off to Celestia knows where. I tried to struggle, but whatever it was I was tied up with was designed so that no pony could escape it. I looked back at what was left of Fluttershy, and would you believe that she was still smiling?”

“Do you know who…” Twilight started to ask before Pinkamena interrupted.

“It was Dread Twilight. Dread was the one who knocked me out and tied me up. I don’t know if he meant to take me out while I was killing Fluttershy or what, but because of him Fluttershy had to die on her own, without any pony with her. No pony should have to die alone, no pony.”

Twilight thought uncomfortably of the state that she had left Sam in yesterday, before reminding herself that Sam wasn’t a pony.

“They way you’re talking, it sounds like you would hold a grudge against Dread rather than care for him.” Twilight pointed out.

Pinkamena laughed, “Yeah, I did hold a grudge against him for a while, but then after a few weeks of being locked in this cell, he offered to let me walk out for some fresh air while the Administrator watched the ponies play his games.”

“And you accepted?”

“Buck no, I spat in his face the first time he offered me that. It wasn’t until the next time he asked that I accepted.”

“So when did you accept his offer?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, the third or fourth time;” Pinkamena answered, “I don’t remember exactly why I accepted, but I’m glad that I did.”

“So what did you talk about the first time you went with him?” Twilight was eager to find out more of Pinkamena’s relationship with Dread.

“He asked what my favorite party was.” Pinkamena answered.

“And what was your answer?”

“A surprise party of course!” Pinkamena laughed.

Twilight was prepared to inquire more when the Administrator’s voice suddenly came on the intercom to announce the day’s fight. Twilight looked at her still untouched breakfast, wondering how the time had passed so quickly.

“Dang, how long have we been talking?” Pinkamena asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight answered, “I haven’t even taken a bite out of my breakfast.”

Twilight quickly ate her food. It was dry and tasteless, but it was still better than what Twilight normally had to eat at Sleipnir. Once she was done eating, Twilight turned her attention to who the Administrator would have killing each other that day. Twilight didn’t recognize either of the ponies that the Administrator had named, from what she could tell they were both stallion with a severe case of anthropromorphia. Twilight didn’t bother trying to read the impossibly fast scrolling list of offenses that the two stallions were guilty of, but judging how one of them was named Fleshpounder it couldn’t have been tasteful.

Shortly after the Administrator announced the two ponies who would be fighting, Dread’s hoofsteps became audible somewhere down the hallway. When arrived at Twilight’s and Pinkamena’s cells he wasn’t in as bad a shape as he was before; he had fixed his eye, his leg, and had even made an attempt to clear up the burn mark on his head, though it was still visible.

“Greetings Miss Sparkle and Miss Pie,” Dread said, “how are you doing?”

“Fine Dread,” Pinkamena answered, “what about you?”

“Me? Well I’ve been forced to fix some of my faulty body parts without proper tools or even a way of looking at what I was doing; but barring that though and my day has not been out of the ordinary.”

“So you haven’t hurt yourself anymore?” Pinkamena asked.

“Honestly Miss Pie, I don’t understand where you get these ideas.” Dread answered.

Dread unlocked the two ponies’ cells and led them down the hallway in the direction of his office. Twilight found

that she was strangely more comfortable with the insane ponies that lined hallway staring at than she had been the last couple of times she had come this way. Twilight guessed that it was either the fact that she was in a larger group than the last couple of times she had walked this path, or that she was simply getting used to the stares.

It wasn’t long before the group made it to the abandoned laboratory. When they entered Twilight notice that a few of the machines had been fixed, including a large metal box with blinking lights, several monitors that were now displaying, a pole with a wire coiled around it that was topped with a strange circular object. Twilight had no idea what any of these objects did, and had to use every fiber of her self control to not jump around like an excited school filly.

Dread led the two mares to his office and began to talk with them.

“Alright, I’m going to ask you five questions,” Dread said when they had both sat down, “for each question I want Mrs. Pie to answer first then Mrs. Sparkle. Understand?” They both agreed.

“Very well, let us begin. Question one; how do you feel about each other?”

Pinkamena answered, “Well it’s nice having some pony talk to. Before Twilight arrived I would have sit in this stupid straight jacket and listen Berry mumble those weird poems of hers.”

Twilight answered, “Well having Pinkamena to talk to has certainly kept me sane while I’ve been here. I wouldn’t say that all of our conversations have been…pleasant, but I’ve enjoyed her company nonetheless.”

Dread scribbled something into a notebook before continuing, “Whenever you look at a dead pony what do you feel?”

Pinkamena answered, “Well I don’t really feel anything per say. I mean it’s just a dead body, hay I’d probably make ice cream out of it or something.”

Twilight answered, “Disgusted at the body and sad for the pony, but I don’t think that it would bother me too much…”

Again Dread scribbled into his notebook before continuing, “Do you feel like you have changed any during your time at Sleipnir?”

Pinkamena laughed, “Yeah, I think that I’m a lot calmer than I used to be. I’m not sure why though, maybe the constant pony flesh I get to eat?”

Twilight had think about the question for a moment, she didn’t feel any different than she did when she lived in Ponyville, but did change would she have noticed the difference? Twilight thought back to her fight with Sam, and of how eager she had been to cut the monster up? Was that a sign of some change that Twilight had undergone in a matter of days?

“I’m not sure.” Twilight said finally.

“Hmm, well perhaps it was a little early to be asking you that,” Dread said, “I’ll ask you again in a few weeks to see if your answer changes.”

Twilight’s stomach twisted when Dread said ‘in a few weeks’. Twilight hadn’t thought about it before, but she had no idea how long she was going to locked up in Sleipnir. Buck, she didn’t even know if there was an end to sentence at all. She could very well be here for the rest of her life, though that might not be a very long time if the Administrator has something more dangerous than Sam waiting for her.

Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of quill scratching on paper.

“What is kind but also cruel?”

“The sun,” Pinkamena answered plainly, “I mean it’s a giant ball of fire that can burn every pony to crisp if Celestia bucks up its orbit, and yet we can’t grow crops, or dry anything without it.”

Twilight thought for a moment before answering, “Time, it ages certain enchantments, making them more powerful, but it is also what causes certain things to fade away.”

Dread scribbled his again before asking the last question, “What is love?”

Pinkamena looked as though she had trouble coming up with an answer. It took her a full minute before she decided on what she was going to say.

“I’m not sure.” Pinkamena answered, “I mean love has meant so many things to me over the years. For most of my life I thought that love meant that you wanted some pony to smile no matter how tough life is, latter I thought that love was something that could only be expressed by eating some pony, now I don’t know what to think.”

Twilight didn’t have as much trouble coming up with an answer, “Love is when you care about a pony more than any other pony in the world, when you love a pony you are choosing that pony over every pony else. Really, that’s all I have to say on the matter.”

Dread made one last note before putting away his notebook. Dread got up and walked over to a cabinet from which how pulled out a small package.

“I am terribly sorry Miss Pie,” Dread said as her walked back, “I meant to give you this at breakfast but forgot.” Dread gave the package to Pinkamena, “It is a gift from Miss Sparkle.”

“Oh really?” Pinkamena asked as she examined the package, “How would Twilight get me a gift?”

Dread was about to answer when a dark grey pegasus stallion burst through the door.

Dr. Layne was breathing heavily and he had a panicked look on his face.

“Dread, I need your help!” Dr. Layne said urgently, “There’s a complication with Project 6-19!”

Dread swore loudly before rushing off, adding as he left, “Enjoy your present Miss Pie. I’ll be right back.”

When the Dread and Dr. Layne were gone Pinkamena turned to Twilight and asked, “Do you have any idea what the buck that was about?”

“I have no idea.” Twilight answered honestly, “Has Dread ever mentioned a Project 6-19 to you?”

Pinkamena shrugged, “No, I guess it never came up. Whatever it is it has to be important, judging by how Dr. Layne reacted to it.”

Twilight suddenly found herself very curious about this Project 6-19. Pinkamena was right, it had to be important; otherwise Dread wouldn’t have rushed off like that. Twilight wondered exactly what could be so important that Dread would just leave without an explanation. Could it have been a cure for sanguinam ungollum, a way to overthrow the Administrator, or something else entirely?

“Hey, hey, Equestria to Twilight.” Pinkamena had begun to wave a hoof in front of Twilight’s face.

“Wha-what?” Twilight asked, snapping back to reality.

“You’ve been starring into empty space for a while now, I was afraid that you were going to start drooling. Pinkamena answered.

“So do you want to find out what Project 6-19 is?” Twilight asked.

Pinkamena shook her head, “Nah, if it were important for us to know Dread would’ve told us, and besides if Dread doesn’t want us to know we have to respect that.”

“Yes but…” Twilight didn’t like the idea of there being something that she didn’t know about.

“Look at it this way,” Pinkamena interrupted, “we can ask Dread what Project 6-19 is when he gets back. If he tells us, then we’ll know. If he doesn’t, then it’s none of our business. If we press the matter then Dread might get mad at us and stop having these little talks with us. The only reason that we’re out of our cells is because Dread wants to talk to us, but I have no doubt that he’ll have no trouble leaving us in our cells like all the other inmates.”

Twilight looked at Pinkamena, “This morning you were distressed over the fact that Dread was hurt; and now you’re talking about him like he’s some kind of lonely sociopath.”

Pinkamena sighed, “Yeah I guess that is a bit of a contradiction. But that doesn’t mean that Dread won’t get mad at us. I like Dread, but I’m not sure what he thinks about us. I mean he may just think of us as some kind of experiment or something. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t know how exactly Dread would react to us snooping.”

Twilight thought for a moment. She still didn’t like the idea of not knowing something, but always preferring rationality over mindless urges, Twilight decided that Pinkamena was right and that she should wait to ask Dread about the project.

“So what’s in the package?” Twilight asked, pointing a hoof to the package that Dread had given to Pinkamena before he left.

“I’m not sure,” Pinkamena answered, “I haven’t opened it yet.”

“Well open it already.” Twilight ordered.

Pinkamena opened the package. Inside was a cupcake that had been crudely frosted with icing.

“Huh, why would you give me a cupcake?” Pinkamena asked while looking at the pastry.

Twilight suddenly remembered her reward for killing Sam yesterday, “Oh yeah! Yesterday I asked for two cupcakes, one for me and one for you. I remember getting my cupcake, but Dread thought that it would be better to wait until today to give you the cupcake because… of reason that I can’t seem to remember.”

“Okay? Why didn’t you say anything when Dread gave me the cupcake? He did say that you were the one who got it for me.”

Twilight shrugged, “I guess I didn’t think about it at the time.”

Pinkamena frowned, “Didn’t Dread tell you about my relationship with cupcakes

Twilight sighed, “Yes, but it wasn’t until after I had made the request, and by that time it was too late for me to change my order. I am so sorry if it offends you, I really am.”

Pinkamena giggled, “I’m not offended by cupcakes, I love cupcakes. They make me feel close to Rainbow Dash when I eat them.”

Twilight could not think of a response to that.

Dread returned after some time. When he returned to his usual standing place he acted as though he was never gone.

“So Miss Pie, did you enjoy your cupcake?” the android asked as casually as his electronic voice would allow.

“It was fine Dread,” Pinkamena answered, “but there’s something that I would like to talk to you about.”

“Well by all means, talk to me.”

Pinkamena cleared her throat and asked, “What is Project 6-19?”

Dread’s eyes flickered, “Oh a chemical compound that Dr. Layne believes might be able to greatly reduce the effects that turpus equus has on a ponies mind, effectively rendering the virus harmless.”

It was Twilight’s turn to ask questions, “When Dr. Layne came in he said that Project 6-19 was having complications, what were the complications that he was talking about?”

“Ah, yes well the solution that Dr. Layne had created was beginning to produce fumes when it shouldn’t have. Dr. Layne wanted me to look at the fumes and tell him what to do about them. It was a fairly simple fix so I had no trouble with it.”

“Okay, what did you do about it?”

“About what?” Dread asked.

“The fumes!” Twilight answered angrily.

“Ah, yes well I added a few drops of mercury to the formula and mixed in some haloperidol to settle it.”

Twilight shook her head, “Neither of those chemicals would stop something from fuming.”

“Yes, well…” Dread looked at his clock, “Would you look at the time! The fight will be over any minute now; best get you two back into you cells.”

Dread hurried Twilight and Pinkamena back to their cells, ignoring all protests and questions. As soon as the two mares were safely lock away Dread turned and hurried back to his office.

“He’s keeping something from us.” Twilight said as soon as Dread was out of ear shot.

“What makes you say that?”

“The fact that what he said about chemicals makes no scientific sense, when a chemical starts to fume you don’t get someone to try and stop it from fuming, you put it in a fume hood to filter out any potentially dangerous from the air. Also, if Dr. Layne were actually working with chemicals, especially chemicals that start producing fumes, then he should’ve been wearing some kind of safety equipment, but all he had on was his lab coat. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, you do have a point there.” Pinkamena said thoughtfully, “Dread doesn’t want us to know what Project 6-19 is, but I’m sure that Dread has a good reason to keep it a secret.”

“I’ll bet he does.” Twilight grumbled unhappily.

The two mares sat in silence. Twilight listened to the ramblings of the insane mare who never seemed to shut up, trying to see if she could make out what exactly the mare was rambling about. Meanwhile Pinkamena occupied herself by thinking up ways to improve the standard surprise party, all of her ideas involved blood and severed heads but they entertained her.

After a few hours Twilight broke the silence in an attempt to alleviate herself of some boredom.

“You never finished your story.” She said quietly.

“What story?” Pinkamena asked, her mind still dwelling on macabre celebrations.

“The story of how you became so close to Dread.”

“Oh, right. Where did I leave off again?”

“You were at the first time you talked with Dread.”

“Thanks.” Pinkamena said before continuing her story, “The first couple of times Dread and I talk were mostly uneventful. He would occasionally ask me these random questions, kinda like he did today, but most of the time it was just us talking. It was fun; it relieved the boredom of being stuck in a cramped cell all day. As to why I worry so much about him, well I guess it started when he actually started asking me about my killing Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. As we talked about them he explained to me that I was infected with a virus that makes ponies crazy. He told me that I couldn’t help myself and that I wasn’t a bad pony because of how I acted. He told me that he was going to try to help me control my urges so that I can go back to normal life one day. He told me that I wasn’t a monster.”

“Oh… okay… That makes sense.” Twilight answered awkwardly, Pinkamena’s last sentence bothered her.

“Thanks, I’m glad that you understand.” Pinkamena replied.

Once more the two mares sat in silence, but this time Twilight’s mind was on something other than the ramblings of an insane mare, this time she was concerned about what Pinkamena had said. If Pinkamena’s story was accurate then it meant that Dread had told her that it was okay to be a murderer, even though it might’ve been unintentional. By telling Pinkamena that she was not a monster Dread took away some of the guilt that Pinkamena should be forced to endure. Under no circumstances should murder just be forgiven, no matter how nice the pony was. If there was one thing that Twilight was certain of, it was that taking another pony’s life was the most evil thing that a pony could do, the only thing that could make it worse was murdering a friend or loved one.

Twilight thought back to Sam and how if she were to judge all ponies by the same standard then she must consider herself to be evil. Then Twilight remembered the faces that made up Sam’s loin cloth and once more Twilight reminded herself that Sam was not a pony. Killing a monster was not the same as killing another pony.

After some time Twilight heard the sound of Dread walking along the halls, giving food to the inmates. To her left Twilight could just make out the sound of Pinkamena snoring. That was good, if Pinkamena was asleep then she wouldn’t butt in on the little talk she and Dread were about to have.

Dread didn’t take long to arrive at Twilight’s cell.

Almost as soon as Twilight saw the robot’s mechanical muzzle she said, “So Pinkie told me some of the things that you’ve told her.”

“Hello to you too Miss Sparkle, might I ask what about my discussions with Miss Pie have gotten you so riled up that you feel the need to discuss it so loudly?”

Twilight, realizing how loud she had been a moment before dropped her voice so that only Dread could hear her, “I want to talk to you about the ideas you’ve been putting in Pinkie’s head.”

“Go on then, I’m listening.” Dread said politely.

“I don’t think that it’s a good idea to tell a known psychopath that she isn’t a monster, especially if the psychopath is as unstable as Pinkamena.”

Dread replied, “Yes, you are correct that telling a pony that they’ve done was not wrong is indeed a very bad thing to do. You and I are in agreement there.”

Twilight blinked, “But Pinkamena said that you told her that she wasn’t a monster?”

Dread lowered his head so that he was looking at the ground, “Yes, I can see how Miss Pie could get confused and believe I told her that...” Dread look back up, “The problem with Miss Pie and her mindset is that memories are often warped versions of what actually happened. I’ve noticed that this is especially true with memories that Miss Pie shares between her three personalities, with each alter ego changing the memory to fit that personality’s mindset. In the past I have told Miss Pie in her Diane personality that she was not beyond redemption and that she did not have to forever be a monster if she did not want to, that may be were the Pinkamena personality came up with the story that she told you.”

“So what you’re saying is that just that I shouldn’t trust anything that Pinkamena tells me?” Twilight asked.

“No, you can trust what Miss Pie tells you, for all her crimes she is not a liar, but keep in mind that what she says may not be exactly what happened. If you feel like you need to know the exact truth, ask me about it and I will do my best to fix any inaccuracies that Miss Pie comes up with

“Alright, but what if you don’t know the answer?”

“Then you will have to ask one of Miss Pie’s other personalities and try to uncover the truth with what you are told.” Dread answered before he left to feed to the other inmates, leaving Twilight with her dinner.

Twilight tried to wake Pinkamena up by calling her name but it was no use, the mare wouldn’t wake up. Giving up, Twilight turned her attention to her dinner. It was dried, shriveled thing that had deep fried and then coated with sugar. When Twilight tasted the object, it reminded her of the way Sam’s lair had smelled. Twilight had to force herself to swallow the thing.

As soon as she was done eating Twilight laid down as best she could in her cell and waited for the Administrator to announce that it was time to sleep. As she waited Twilight began to think again about Project 6-19, and how she should’ve asked Dread for more information about it instead of criticizing his counseling techniques. Then Twilight remember that Dread had lied to her the first time she asked about the project and that he could’ve just as easily lied again. Dread’s lie was weak the first time but Twilight had no doubt that he had come up with a better one since then.

After some time the Administrator announced that it was time to sleep and proceeded to turn off the lights in the facility. Twilight closed her eyes and waited for sleep to overtake her, and then she remembered her nightmare the previous night. Twilight found herself reliving the images. As the macabre visions flashed through her mind Twilight tried to think about what they could mean. As she thought Twilight’s head began to burn on the inside. Twilight tried to scream but found that she couldn’t. Quickly the first three images began to flash by less and less until only the fourth and most horrible remained. Twilight’s mind melted at the fourth image; Why. Twilight tried to cast the image away but it would not leave her. Twilight sat up and opened her eyes, almost immediately the visions left her. Twilight looked out of her cell window into the dark halls of Slepnir where in the distance an insane mare was cackling wildly.