Hypnos sat at the desk in her living room, quietly scribbling in her journal. It was dark outside, and being a teenage filly, Feather Dance had already retired for the night. Since Hypnos had had such a busy day, she was thinking of doing the same. She never thought everypony could be having so much trouble in their lives. A dead family member. Depression. Both at once.

Hypnos leaned back in her chair and breathed deeply, inhaling the heavy aroma of the scented candles she had lit. She WAS a hypnotist, but this was a lot to put up with.

It would pay off, though, she reminded herself.

She stood up from her chair, closing her journal book with a barely audible *thump*. She was about to head upstairs to brush her teeth and settle down for the night when she heard a knock at the door.

Hypnos groaned inwardly, but kept her composure. Just one more, then she could go to bed.

Hypnos briefly considered using a rapid induction on her "customer" while they were at the door, and suggesting to them that they return to her house the next day. She quickly chided herself for thinking about that, though, and set out for the door.

Show some discipline, Hypnos, she thought to herself. Some professionalism. Extravagances will come later.

Running her hand through her dark mane, she slowly trotted into her mudroom and opened the front door. She was greatly surprised to see the one person she never thought she would.

oOo

Seth stood quietly on Hypnos' doorstep, waiting for her to answer his knock.

What the hell am I doing? I'm about to put myself in serious danger, he thought. I'm stepping into a confined area with somebody-somePONY-that I don't trust at all, who has the ability to hypnotize me in seconds. Plus, in the area that this house is located-he glanced around in reaction to his own thought-no one will be able to hear me cry for help.

You know what you're doing it for, said an optimistic voice in the back of his his head. You're doing it for you. You're doing it for Lyra. You're doing it for the mane six. You're doing it for all of freaking Equestria.

Whoever he was doing it for, he hoped he was doing it soon. Equestria got pretty damn cold at night. He was shivering, but he wasn't sure if it was the cold, his nerves, or both.

Calm down, man. She's a pony. She hardly comes up past your stomach. You have a physical advantage. If she tries anything funny, just deck her.

Finally, the door opened, and there was Hypnos. She was wearing a black fleece sweater with a softly swirling mist pattern on it. Her wings were folded back relaxedly, and her mane spilled back over her fleece loosely. In fact, everything about her seemed rather loose or relaxed. A soft flower-like aroma drifted from inside the house, and since it was night out, she had sleepy eyes.

Seth smirked inwardly. Oh, the gut-busting irony.

The pegasus pony's eyes weren't tired for long, though. When she saw Seth, they flew wide in shock.

"Why, hello, Seth! What brings you here at this hour?" she said, expertly masking a mixture of confusion and exasperation.

Seth raised a hand calmly in greeting. "Hey, Hypnos. I don't know if this is the best time, but...may I step inside for a minute? I'm freezing out here."

"Of course you may," she said, stepping aside to clear a path into her house, "but why are you here? Have you come to do a session with me?"

Seth stepped inside. The cold air wafted onto the back of his neck, making him shiver once before Hypnos shut the door. "Sorry. Not tonight. I just need to talk."

He looked around the interior of the house. It was warm and comfortable, with a bright fire blazing gently in the hearth. The walls, floor and ceiling were a dark, dark stain of brown, and looking into the room before him, there were two couches: a soft-looking love seat of a beige color, and a psychologist's couch-bed which was more of a pinkish-red hue. Seth guessed that this must be the one she used during her hypnotherapy sessions. There was also a small wooden desk, a coffee table, and a TV, all in the living room alone. A side door opened out from the right wall of the room, presumably leading into a kitchen. Lastly, to the left of the room's opening, a staircase led up to the second floor. That flowery scent was much stronger now that he was inside, and he saw that it came from a cluster of scented candles on the coffee table.

The scent made him a little bit drowsy. It probably had a sedating effect on the ponies she worked with, make them slip under faster. Aromatherapy and hypnotherapy at the same time. Clever girl.

"All right. Go ahead and take a seat on the couch." Hypnos said, gesturing to the love seat.

Seth narrowed his eyes inwardly. This, he supposed, was the hypnotist's equivalent of trying to get him drunk. He shook his head.

"I'll stand." he said politely. This would make it slightly harder for her to hypnotize him, since this position left him more self-aware and required much more physical effort than sitting. It wasn't a huge difference, but it would help.

"I wanted to tell you something, Hypnos." he said, gazing distractedly into the blazing hearth.

"Yes...?" responded Hypnos.

He turned suddenly, locking eyes with the violet pegasus. They seemed calm, fierce and infinitely intelligent at the same time, a look which sent chills down Hypnos' spine.

"I'm onto you."

Hypnos seemed surprised. "What do you mean? I didn't do something wrong, did I?"

"You know damn well what I mean." replied Seth, never breaking his strange stare. "Don't play freaking dumb with me, Hypnos. I saw your little helper with Pinkie after your first "demonstration." She was hypnotizing her again. Maybe you can explain that?"

Hypnos shook her head in astonishment. "I cannot believe you would think Feather Dance would do something like what you are implying. We are both completely legitimate and use our skills only to help others."

Seth could see it in her eyes. She was lying through her teeth.

"I'm going to make this clear once, Hypnos. You better listen the frick up." Seth leaned in close, although his nerves were crackling. He could feel the pegasus pony's breath on his nose. "I know that you kidnapped Lyra. I know that you aren't the goodwill pony you pretend to be. And I will freaking screw you up if you try anything. ANYTHING. Got it?"

Hypnos said nothing. Her expression was calm, blank even. Seth's stomach suddenly lurched. He hadn't thought about how she would've reacted to his speech, and for some reason, this face terrified him.

No. Breathe, he thought. Just...just breathe. She's not scary. She's just a pony...just a pony.

Seth's calm tone returned. "That's all I have to say. If you don't mind, I'll be leaving now." he said as though what had just happened was mere small talk.

He was about to turn around and leave when he suddenly froze and shut his eyes, furrowing his brow. Bowing his head slightly, he spoke.

"Hello, Feather Dance."

Hypnos finally noticed a faint glow behind Seth. Green magic.

"You can stop playing hide-and-seek now. I know you're there." Seth said, opening his eyes and raising his head.

Slowly, the green-maned unicorn trotted into the open, dousing her magic. Seth looked down as she walked slowly out from behind him.

"Nice try." he said, gazing angrily into Feather's eyes. The green unicorn blushed as she trotted up next to Hypnos. Hypnos cocked her head in a way that said, keep talking. I want to hear this.

Seth grinned. "You see? You can deny it all you want, but your little assistant just proved that you were lying. Trying to sneak up behind me, eh? That's a really tricky thing to do. Do you do that to other ponies when they try to run from you?"

Hypnos interrupted suddenly. Her tone was calm, yet her purple eyes were filled with unspeakable malice.

"Fine, Seth. You can believe whatever you want. Just be aware of the consequences."

"What consequences?" Seth replied. He was insanely tense, despite the cozy atmosphere. His heart pounded at one hundred twenty percent speed. His hands were balled up into fists. And yet he still grinned. Maybe he wanted to feel superior. It wasn't working.

Hypnos said nothing. Instead, she simply turned to Feather Dance and said, "Let's go back to bed."

She looked back at Seth, her face once again unreadable. "You are no longer welcome here. Leave now, before I make you."

Seth knew what she was implying.

The two ponies left the room, walking up the stairs toward their bedrooms. On the way upstairs, however, Feather Dance looked back down at Seth.

It was an odd look, somewhere between sadness, contempt and pity.

Seth locked eyes with Feather Dance. "Well, you heard your mistress." he chirped. "Go back to bed."

The green unicorn rolled her eyes and continued to trot up the stairs. Seth's chest tightened gleefully.

Slowly, carefully, so as to make no sound, he reached for his pocket. He pulled out a sleek, flat device.

Seth hit the "Stop Recording" button on his iPod Touch.

It's a start, he thought.

Author's Note

I know, technically it's on hiatus, but I couldn't resist uploading this. I feel it is better than most other chapters, and I hope it makes up for the chapters that earned your enthusiastic hate. I'll say this once, so listen. Leave a fucking comment. Leave a fucking review. And please make sure it helps me get back on track. I might un-hiatus the story if I get enough likes and positive feedback. Yay muffins. Now go make me a happy monkey and leave a review.

P.S. I'm not a monkey. It's an expression, dumbass. I'm really a pony.