The meeting of devious minds
Harmonious Conversion
By NotMolo and Belgian
Chapter one: The meeting of devious minds
The castle was illuminated in an orange glow from the setting sun in the West, giving it a warm and welcome feeling as the ponies of Canterlot trotted towards their homes, ready for an enjoyable evening and a good night’s rest. Inside Princess Celestia’s room, however, there was still some activity as Celestia paced around nervously, always looking at the grandfather clock that stood in her room.
There were guards positioned outside of her royal chamber, standing either side of the doors, almost as still as the statues in the corridor. The sound of approaching hooves broke the silence as they echoed throughout the halls. Both of the guards turned their heads slightly to the right, gripping their weapons tightly.
It was a mare that approached the guards, not really looking where she was going as she was far more interested in the architecture of the castle and all the statutes that stood proudly in the hall. She was a unicorn with a royal yellow coat, an orangish mane, and a swinging golden pocket watch as a cutie mark. As she walked down the hallway and looked at the paintings of the Royal Pony Sisters that adorned the walls, she failed to spot the statue in front of her. Bumping face first against it, she almost fell to the ground, but managed to regain her balance at the last moment. Luckily for her, the statue was just wobbling, nothing more. “I’m alright!” She shouted as she rubbed her muzzle.
The guards gave each other a brief glance before one of them walked over to the clumsy mare. “State your business here!” He ordered, keeping his voice at the appropriate volume, not wanting to disturb his princess. His tone was strict with a strong hint of authority common with the royal guards.
At hearing the voice, Dream took a step back, a bit startled by the sound and tone of the guard’s voice. Still, she knew he was just doing his job. After all, walking towards the Princess’ chamber without anypony knowing who you were seemed a bit suspicious, even to her. She cleared her throat and allowed a polite smile to appear on her face. “My name is Dream Searcher, mister, and I’m a hypnotherapist. I have an appointment with Princess Celestia. You can ask her, if you want.” Her tone was a lot more gentler and more soothing, fitting for a hypnotist.
The guard looked over at his partner and nodded. After giving Dream a wary glance, the second guard knocked on the door to Celestia’s room, waited for a short period of time and entered the room, closing the door softly behind him. Inside the room, the guard slowly approached his princess and bowed his head in respect. “Princess Celestia,” he spoke, his voice much calmer than his fellow guard. “A hypnotherapist by the name of Dream Searcher claims to have an appointment with you.”
Celestia looked at the guard as a relieved sigh escaped her lips. It had taken a while, but finally the pony she wanted to see had arrived and was now standing in the hallway. She smiled at the guard, walking past him but stopping in front of her door. “Guard, while this hypnotherapist is inside my room, I don’t want to be disturbed, understand?” After a brief nod from the guard, Celestia turned back to the door and opened it, her trademark smile appearing on her face. “Miss Searcher, a pleasure to meet you.”
Dream walked into the room, making sure to avoid looking at the guard as they passed one another. She waited until he left the room and closed the door before focusing her attention on Celestia’s bedroom. “Wow, Princess, you surely have a beautiful room. I wish I had a room like this.”
The room itself was rather spacious, one of the larger bedrooms of the castle. The walls of the bedroom had been painted in a sterile white color, making Dream think that she was in the hospital, actually. But, she also knew that hospital didn’t have a huge bed with fluffy cushions and several paintings that adorned the wall, the most of them showing Celestia and her sister. The last thing Dream noticed was the giant closet against the wall, knowing that it probably held Celestia’s dresses for the many events she visited.
The gracious Alicorn put on a warm smile. “Thank you,” she responded, walking over to her bed of cushions to lie down. “I’ve heard so much about your remarkable talents, Miss Searcher. I’ll be looking forward to seeing them firsthoof.”
Dream looked at Celestia as she was lying there, smiling gently at her. She just stood there awkwardly before the Princess motioned to her that she could sit down next to her. It was a great privilege for a pony to sit down next to the Princess, so she shivered a bit from nervousness as she sat down on the spot Celestia had indicated. “Well, Princess, it’s nice to hear that I have such a good reputation. But why do you of all ponies need my services?” She asked, willing herself to calm down.
“Even princess get stressed every now and then, Miss Searcher,” Celestia answered, maintaining her kind and gentle tone, though there was a hint of stress showing. Her body shifted in place a tad as she got more comfortable, preparing herself for the session. “Now then, shall we begin?”
Dream nodded slowly, also shifting in a more comfortable position. She didn’t dare to lie down next to the Princess, though, but just sitting down was enough for her. Giving a small smile, she cleared her throat. “Well, then I guess you need a relaxation session. Basically, it’s just putting you in a trance, making you drift in blissful mindlessness and then waking you up.” She gave Celestia’s body a quick glance, noticing that she was indeed lying comfortable and continued to speak. “Now then, I just want you to close your eyes and think of a relaxing place, the place that makes you feel most relaxed. When you’ve found your special place, just describe it to me.” Dream’s voice had changed drastically, turning into a more relaxed and soothing voice.
Placing her trust in the mare, Celestia shut her eyes and began to conjure up the most relaxing location she could think of in her mind. She pictured the royal garden with two fillies happily running after each other, giggling , laughing and having a wonderful, carefree time. The two children were none other than a very young Princess Celestia with her younger sister, Luna. Filly Celestia darted behind a water fountain, crouching down to hide from her sister, a playful and cunning grin on her face. Luna’s pace slowed as she started to look around for her older sibling, nearing the water fountain.
Celestia slowly peered over the fountain, looking to see if she could find her little sister and if she had located her hiding spot. She saw her little sister slowly trotting through the garden, searching for her big sister. Sensing opportunity, Celestia slowly moved away from her hiding spot and walked into the maze, knowing that the game of hide and seek had just begun.
Outside the daydream, Celestia’s smile had broadened and her muscles grew more relaxed. Back in her merry recollection, the young Alicorn made her way through the hedge maze. It may have been vast with many different routes to take, but she knew the way to the centre like the back of her hoof. After wandering around aimlessly for a minute, Luna headed into the maze.
As Luna walked around, she whistled a bit as she saw the giant hedges, much larger than her little body. The maze was relatively unknown territory to her, seeing that her father and mother didn’t want her to walk into the maze and get lost. Still, she had a faint feeling that her big sister was hiding in this maze and she was determined to find her. After ten minutes of not really knowing where she was going, she finally found the center of the maze, a golden globe of the planet standing in the middle.
“Took you long enough,” a voice giggled from above. Luna looked up and saw Celestia standing on top of the spherical object, beaming down at her. Celestia started to laugh cutely as she hopped down, flapping her wings slightly to steady her descent. Luna grinned and joined in with her older sister in laughing happily. In reality, Celestia let out a tiny chuckle followed up by a blissful sigh.
Dream felt all the warm emotions spreading over the Princess’ body and mind, making her already more relaxed. She always liked to see how happy ponies could become when they were about to enter a trance. It seemed that Celestia had began to guide herself into a trance by just thinking about what made her feel relaxed, so Dream knew she didn’t have to guide Celestia a lot. “Alright, Celestia,” Dream began, not wanting to address her by her title while she would guide Celestia. “Tell me a bit about your special place.”
“I am in the royal garden with my younger sister, Luna,” the princess started to explain, voice somewhat monotone with a noteable trace of contentment. “We are both in our youth as fillies and have met up in the centre of the hedge maze,” she paused to take another sigh of relaxation. “They were such happy times.”
Dream nodded slowly, trying to imagine the lovely scene in her head. It certainly looked and felt like a very relaxing scene. After all, the bond between two sisters was strong, she knew, so maybe she could focus on that bond. She once again cleared her throat, now really beginning her induction. “Now, Celestia, I want you to imagine your sister. I want you to think about all the enjoyable times you had with her, the times that made you laugh, made you feel happy, made you relax. Just think about them, let them fill your mind.” Her voice was still slow and soft, constantly trying to relax the Princess.
Since the two sisters shared countless centuries together, there were many moments in their lives that they spent with each other. During the rest of their childhood, Celestia and Luna played games, raced each other on foot and in the air once they were skilled enough to fly, experimented with all sorts of ammature spells; some resulting in comical results for the pair, accompanied with laughter.
Once again, Dream nodded, seeing the relaxing effect spreading over her body as more and more of it became rather limp. It wouldn’t be much longer, she knew, and then she could start with manipulating Celestia’s mind a bit. As a look of devilish intent flashed over her face, she continued guiding Celestia into a trance. “Just think about these feelings, Celestia, and let them start to relax you completely. Allow those warm and loving feelings to bring you tranquility, all over your body… and all over your mind. Just let go as these warm feelings begin to take you away.”
Every scrap of tranquil-filled memories Celestia could reminisce and the soothing emotions they brought filled her mind. The ruler of Equestria slipped further down into a relaxed and hypnotised state, a small smile on her complexion and her body just as calm as her mind. Celestia was in a world of bliss; a feeling she hadn’t experienced for a long time.
Dream let out a sigh as she knew that what she would be doing now could be punished with banishment. But, she saw no other choice. She just had to free Deviosis out of his prison and manipulating the mind of the ruler of Equestria was the only way she knew would work. “Celestia, I want you to do something for me now. I want you to think of a pony, namely Deviosis. Just think about him, think about his crimes and how he had to pay for them.” A bit of sweat appeared on her forehead, because she knew that if Celestia wasn’t in a deep trance and managed to snap out of her hypnotized state, she’d be in a lot of trouble.
“Deviosis…” Celestia mumbled out; her peaceful complexion cracking a tad. Deviosis was a villainous stallion; nowhere near on the level of fiends like Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra; miles from them, in fact. However, he was still a devious threat to the lives of regular ponies, particularly the residence of Ponyville. He was a unicorn who specialized in powerful and even illegal mind control magic. Through his suave facade and other shady tactics, he had enslaved half of Ponyville even Twilight Sparkle and her friends. It wasn’t a happy memory for the Equestrian ruler to remember.
As Dream saw a frown appearing on Celestia’s face, she knew that she was thinking about the villain. Now, she just needed to twist something in Celestia’s mind, and then she could begin to wake Celestia up from her trance with no memory of what happened while she was under. “Celestia, I want you to remember something. When you get out of your trance, I will ask you if I can take care of Deviosis, trying to reform him into a good pony. You will think this is a good idea and you will allow me to get Deviosis out of prison. Do you understand?” Dream slowly asked, taking care of articulating her words very well, so that Celestia understood each and every one of them.
For the following couple of seconds, there was nothing but silence. Celestia remained quiet and motionless, seemingly still lost in her hypnotic state. All of a sudden, she started to stir and gave Dream a little nod, signifying that she understood the command. She remained in her trance-like condition, but it was pretty apparent that her peaceful mood was broken when Deviosis’ name was brought up.
Even though Dream could see that Celestia wasn’t that relaxed anymore, it didn’t really matter. After all, she had implanted the command in Celestia’s mind, so now she could begin with waking her up. “Celestia, now I want you to feel something else for me. I want you to feel little balloons begin attached to your limbs. These balloons are filled with helium and are slowly pulling you up towards wakefulness. Just allow them to pull you out of your trance, and when you’re completely awake, you’ll feel relaxed and refreshed,” Dream instructed, really glad that she had managed to manipulate the mind of one of the most powerful beings on the planet. It seemed that her hypnosis powers were actually really strong.
Celestia begun to awaken from her entranced frame of mind, her eyes fluttering a few times before they fully opened. For a brief second, the princess’s eyes were dull and colourless before reverting back to their original appearance. She glanced over at the hypnotherapist and gave her a warm smile. “You are just as skilled as I was lead to believe, Miss Searcher,” she complimented, followed up with a chuckle. “I haven’t felt this relaxed in a long time.”
Dream smiled widely as she heard the praise of the Princess. She liked to know that her services were working. After all, she would be a bad hypnotist if they didn’t work. “Well thank you, Princess. But, you were also a very good subject and you followed my instructions to the letter.” She waited for a moment, knowing that her next question would prove if her post-hypnotic command had worked. “Princess, I’ve read about a stallion named Deviosis who’s currently being imprisoned in the prison of Canterlot. I’ve also read that he has hypnosis power and I would like to help him turn into a good pony, one that doesn’t try to enslave other ponies. May I take him with me back to Ponyville? I’ll make sure to send a weekly report about his progress.”
Celestia took a few steps towards Dream, her smile broadening.“I don’t see why not,” she answered. She turned and headed over to where she kept her scrolls. “You are certainly a skilled hypnotist, Miss Searcher, so I will leave him in your hooves. I will send a letter to the warden of Canterlot prison immediately.” An empty parchment and an ink-filled quil hovered up to her, coated in her magical aura. “When will you be available to collect Deviosis?” she inquired, not looking at her, ready to write at a moment’s notice.
Dream thought about that for a moment. She could pick him up today, seeing that she wanted to put her plans into motion as soon as possible, but being so eager might arouse some suspicion. Still, her need to start up her plans was far more important than the risk of getting discovered. “Oh, today would be fine. I have a train this evening, so today is actually the only day I can pick him up,” she answered honestly, seeing that she actually had to catch her train this evening.
Celestia noted what Dream said and added it to the rest of the information. After writing everything down, she used her magic to roll it up and make it vanish in a vapour of green smoke. “There, it should be fully sorted out by the time you get there, Miss Searcher,” she explained, turning around to face Dream with the gracious smile still on her face. “I wish you luck with a fair warning. You can’t let your guard down against ponies with devious intentions, no matter what skills you may possess. Some may even try and put on a friendly facade to lure you into a false sense of security.”
Dream nodded quickly, glad that her command had worked and that the Princess had given her green light. She gave a quick bow and said her goodbyes. As she left the castle, she had a skip in her step, knowing that she would be able to meet the famous Deviosis now. Oh, the glory and power he would bring her, she just couldn’t wait. After a quick trot through the city of Canterlot, she arrived at the prison, already seeing two guards stationed outside. “Hello, sirs, my name is Dream Searcher and I’m here for Mister Deviosis.”
The guards, both of which were grey with a different set of armour from the palace guards, kept silent as they stepped to either side, revealing a stallion walking towards them from inside the prison. As the male pony got closer, his details become more clearer to Dream. He was a dark red unicorn with black smudge patterns over his body. His mane and tail were black and white stripes with a single grey one in the middle, untidy and unwashed from his time in the joint. His Cutie Mark was a crimson and black spiral pattern and there was a magic-suppression ring around his horn.
Dream took a step back when she saw the rather intimidating stallion stepping towards her with a shit-eating grin on his face. She didn’t know he looked like this, and she briefly wondered just how bad it was in prison. If the state of his mane and tail were anything to go by, then it surely wasn’t very pleasant to be locked up here. She put on a polite smile as she waited for Deviosis to come to her. “Hello, are you Mister Deviosis?” She asked in a polite tone, trying to start a healthy and friendly relationship between them.
Deviosis chuckled, his eyes scanning up and down the mare’s body. “So, are you my guardian?” he asked, placing on a sly smirk, showing off his unhygienic yellow teeth. His breath was awful, made very apparent by strong scent of cigar smoke wafting out with every word he spoke. “You are an attractive one, my fair mare,” he went on to say, his tone too creepy to be considered a compliment. “There were no ponies like you in prison.”
Instead of backing away from the gruesome display, it only began to heighten her curiosity even more. What exactly did happen in that prison? Were ponies treated so badly that they couldn’t even keep up their hygiene or was it just the stallion in front of her? When he spoke to her about being attractive, she countered it with an insult. “Well, I’m pretty sure you’ve been taken by your fellow inmates in the asshole, am I right?” She asked him with a smug grin on her face. She wasn’t a mare that would be insulted like that. No, she would show Deviosis who was the boss in their business relationship.
The unkempt unicorn let out a laugh, highly amused by the attitude of the female he had complimented. “Now, now, what type of talk is that for a fine young lady like yourself?” He took a single step closer to Dream, his unnerving gaze never looking away from her. “No mare should utter such distasteful trash, even to an unsavoury sort like myself.” He raised his left hoof to rub under Dream’s chin, but a loud warning grunt from a guard made him reconsider his action.
If Deviosis had placed just one hoof on her body, she would have kicked him back into the prison, plans or no plans. She didn’t like it that stallions placed their hooves on her body and especially not inmates with no sense of hygiene. “Well, as amusing as this is, Mister Deviosis, we aren’t going to achieve anything if we just stay here, throwing insults at each other. So, if you would follow me, we have a train to catch,” she said to Deviosis with a stern glare on her face, not wanting to hear any backtalk out of his filthy and unclean mouth.
Deviosis grinned and bowed his head at Dream before he followed her to the train station, keeping a safe distance away from her. It was mostly for her concern, not his. He didn’t want to rile up this generous mare any more than he already had, unintentional or not. During the walk, he remained quiet; his mind seemed to be on something else. Something that wiped the arrogant smirk off his face, replacing it with a serious frown.
As they arrived at the train station, she began to notice the frown on his face. She turned around with a look of concern plastered on her face, wanting to know why exactly Deviosis was frowning. “Mister Deviosis, what’s the matter?” She asked with genuine concern in her voice, the effect of the ‘compliment’ immediately forgotten. She cared about ponies, she really did, and if something was troubling Deviosis, she would try to help him.
“Oh, I was just thinking about those delightful mares that ruined my plans,” Deviosis responded in a scornful manner, looking up at Dream. His eyes showed hatred, but the resentment was not directed at her in particular, rather Twilight Sparkle and her friends. “I gave those girls a chance for a peaceful and blissful experience, but they had to go and ruin it by defying my gracious offer.”
She had read about that, how he had taken control of Twilight and her friends, and that was also the thing that made her decide she had to work together with Deviosis. She did want to ask more about it, but she decided to wait until they had a secluded pair of seats in the train, so that nopony heard them talking about these things. The train was already waiting in the station, so the two of them searched a rather lonely pair of seats and sat down on it. Dream took a quick glance around, but didn’t really notice somepony sitting within hearing range. “Alright, tell me more about your… crime.”
“I’ve already told you everything you need to know, my dear,” the devious unicorn spoke, putting on a small smirk. “Now, that’s enough about me. How about you? I don’t even know your name.” He then pointed out as he edged a bit closer to the fellow unicorn. His stench still lingered, which caused the few ponies that were in the same carriage as them to sharply make their exit, leaving the two alone. “Please excuse my unpleasant odor. It cannot be helped and I am as comfortable with this state as you are.”
As he edged closer to her, she moved away a bit, not really wanting to be too near to him. She knew what he was capable of with those mind control powers of his, and she didn’t want to become his mindless thrall. That, and his stench would make even the most hardened nose scream. “Well, first thing you are going to do when we arrive at my house, is taking a bath. As for my name, I’m Dream Searcher, hypnotherapist of Ponyville,” She said, giving him a small nod as introduction.
Deviosis chuckled. “There, you see? You can be polite when you want to, Dream,” he commented, trying to give a friendly smile. His smile exhibited more of an unnerving nature than a pleasant one. As much as he wanted to reach out to softly rub his hoof down the side of her face, he smartly decided against it, not wanting the already tense mare to feel even more uncomfortable. “So it’s true that you specialize in hypnosis? My, that is intriguing. All the warden told me about you is that you’ll be watching over me from now on.”
She nodded slowly, averting her eyes a little as she found him to be rather intimidating. She had a very bad feeling about him, and she knew she was treading on thin ice, but she needed him and his powers if she wanted to complete her plans. “Yes, when I had hypnotized Princess Celestia, I manipulated her mind a bit, so that when I asked her if I could take care of you and turn you into a better pony, she would think that it was a great idea. Heh, the power of hypnosis.” She smiled faintly, thinking about what else she could have made Celestia do in her peaceful trance.
At that moment, Deviosis let out a loud laugh. This time there was no trace of malicious intent. It sounded very much like a legitimate laugh, as if he had heard a very funny joke. After finishing off his laughter with a couple of small chuckles, he turned his attention to Dream. “You really think your skills are on a level that can turn the mighty alicorn ruler of Equestria into your willing puppet?” he asked her, not believing such a pretty thing had the power.
She slowly shook her head, turning her attention to the view outside as the train began to move, heading towards Ponyville. The trip would take about two hours, so there was a lot of time to talk or sleep if one of them needed it. “No, not yet,’ she answered, not really offended by his mocking remark. “But, I plan on becoming the most skilled hypnotist of Equestria and turn all of these ponies into my slaves. With your help, of course.” she added quickly, finally explaining her plan to him.
Deviosis wasn’t surprised that Dream shared a similar ambition of mental domination as he did. He knew from experience with Twilight that behind every pretty face is something your average stallion wouldn’t take for granted. The prospect of her hypnotizing Celestia was still impossible for him to believe. “You want my assistance with your scheme, my dear mare?” he inquired with interest. “I admit, you have peaked my curiosity. Why do you need my help?”
She just kept looking out of the window, seeing that landscape pass her vision. She knew that if her plan worked, this would all be hers in a few months, maybe weeks. But, if it failed, then she’d have to endure the same fate as Deviosis, a ticket to prison and saying goodbye to personal hygiene. “Well, you have mind control powers, correct? Well, I have hypnosis power which are a lot more subtle than your mind control powers. If we combine our strength and take down the Elements of Harmony, like your original plan, we can move towards Canterlot and take down the Royal Sisters,” she explained to him, her voice taking on a more dark tone.
“There one problem with your plan, my dear,” he began to say, his hoof slowly moving towards Dream. It stopped inches away from her face and pointed up at his own horn. “I think you are forgetting about the anti-magic ring on my horn,” he explained, chuckling. “I am afraid I don’t know how to remove it. The only knowledge I have about such an annoying trinket is that the wearer cannot remove it himself.” As he moved his hoof back down, he tenderly brushed it through Dream’s mane.
As he moved his hoof through her mane, Dream wanted to push it away, but noticed that it was gone before she could even move. He had been lucky this time, but next time, he could expect a hoof to the face. “Well, you say that the wearer cannot remove it himself. So, allow me,” she quickly answered him, looking at his horn and allowing her own horn to shimmer. It took some prodding, but eventually, she managed to pull of the ring and placed it on his hoof. “There we go.”
In pony prison, every variety of ponies had their individual section. Mixing all the different types with one another normally led to disaster. It was a precaution ruled not only by the warden but by Princess Celestia herself. Even if Deviosis had made friends with another unicorn inmate, none of them would have been able to remove the ring. Any unicorn who wore the ring were also unable to remove anyone else’s. This was one of the reasons behind the separation of unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi criminals.
When Dream had placed the ring on Deviosis’ hoof, she looked at him, studying his face. The only thing she saw, however, was just his filthy coat and mane. She shook her head slowly, still not understanding how anypony could live like that and turned back to the landscape outside, it was far more pleasant than looking at the stallion next to her. “Well, seeing that I have told you my plans, you should tell me the details about your crime. I want to hear everything.”
Before he began to tell his wicked tale, Deviosis shifted his body to get into a far more comfortable position in his seat. His movements were careless; he didn’t even bother to take Dream into account. “It all started with a shy animal loving Pegasus,” he started to enlighten the inquisitive mare, his trademark smirk curling up. “I believe her name was Fluttershy.”
It took a while for Dream to bring Fluttershy’s image to her mind. After all, the shy mare didn’t really appear much in Ponyville and she had never seen her for a hypnosis session. But, Dream knew that Fluttershy was one of the Elements of Harmony, thus making her very important. She turned to look at Deviosis, interested in his story. “Well, what happened?” she asked with a bit of urgency in her voice, really wanting to know what he had done to the pale, yellow mare.
“You know, I could go for a nice cigar right about now,” he said instead of continuing with his engrossing anecdote, developing a teasing disposition. “Yes, I am aware that it’s a vile habit, but a stallion has his needs. The last one I had was just this morning, but it was half-used I only managed to take a few puffs before it was snatched away from me.”
She shook her head, not exactly pleased that he was a smoker. But, she did know that each pony had different urges and it seemed that Deviosis had smoking urges. Still, that didn’t mean she approved of it. “Well, as long as you smoke outside, that won’t be a problem. Now, how about you continue your story? I might buy you a pack of cigars.”
“I merely joke, my dear,” Deviosis admitted with a chuckle. “I will reveal to you the rest of my tale without such bribery, but only because you asked nicely.” He cleared his throat and put on a serious demeanour as he continued. “It was hard to gain Fluttershy’s trust. I am not the type of hypnotist that jumps right into it. I’d rather take my time and lure mares into a false sense of security through my charms rather than my powers.”
He quickly looked at Dream, noticing the rather eager and interested expression on her face, urging him to continue. “We first met in the forest. I had been running for quite some time, trying to escape a bunch of angry mares who wanted to skin me alive, but at a certain point, I tripped and fell. I must have lost conscience for a moment because when I woke up, a certain butter colored mare stood above me with a concerned expression on her face.” He gave a little smile, the thought of Fluttershy’s kind nature giving him a rather warm feeling inside. “That’s when things became… interesting.”
Deviosis paused, taking a moment to appreciate how Dream was becoming increasingly engrossed by his recap. “As much as I tried to start a conversation with her; telling how much I was grateful and what have you, she just wouldn’t say anything that wasn’t a reticent whisper,” he explained, his smile twisting into a cunning smirk. “Even my soothing words weren’t enough to ease her bashfulness, so I went straight to the hypnosis with a glow of my horn.” His horn glowed a faint red, but it soon fizzled out, followed by a strained groan from him.
All the while, Dream had listened intently, only growing more interested with his story by the second. When he groaned, however, she placed a hoof on his shoulder out of a bit of worry for his wellbeing. “Hey, you alright?” She asked him, cocking her head a little. She wanted to know more about his past, but she figured that now wasn’t really the best time. “Maybe you should try and catch some sleep.” She still didn’t really like Deviosis, his stench his worst trait currently, but she didn’t want him to collapse on the way to her house.
“Please forgive me, dear,” Deviosis spoke, a smile seeping through his fatigue state. “I tried to resist, but I can no longer sustain my vitality. My experience in that Celestia forsaken hellhole has left me drained.” The exhausted stallion looked like he could scarcely keep his balance anymore. It looked like he was going to rest his head upon Dream’s lap, but instead gently placed himself down on the other side.
Dream gave a quick nod as she watched the stallion lay himself down on the seat. If Deviosis desired some sleep, then she would respect that. Deviosis was under her care now, so she could continue with her questions on a later date. But, seeing that her talking partner had opted for some sleep, she had to do something else now and what could a pony do to pass the time on a train? That’s right, she stared out of the window, watching the Equestrian landscape until they arrived at their destination.
*****
Two hours later, Dream let out a little yawn, the trip and just staring out of the window had made her a bit sleepy. She just wanted to follow Deviosis’ lead and rest a little, but seeing that they had arrived, she knew she had to wake Deviosis from his sleep. Her hoof patted his side, making sure she didn’t touch the stained and nasty spots on his coat. “Deviosis, we’re here.”
The unicorn yawned and sat up. A smile dawned on his face the second he lay eyes upon the yellow mare. “Ah, thank you, my dear,” he said, followed closely by a second and shorter yawn. He hopped down from his chair and made his way to the nearest exit. “Come along now, Dream Searcher,” he called over to her as he reached the door to the carriage. “I am in dire need of a bath.”
“No kiddin’.” She answered back, just barely stifling a chuckle at her own comment before jumping down from her seat and walking over to the door of the carriage. She slowly opened it and smelled the clean, sweet air. Only now it had really dawned on her that she had been sitting next to a pony who basically smelled like garbage dump.
By smelling the air, she really knew that she needed to lead the stallion back to her house and make sure that he got a bath. Only then, she could give more details about her plan. She jumped out of the carriage and onto the platform, starting to lead him through Ponyville and to her house that was located at the edge of Ponyville. “Alright, so, have you ever been in Ponyville?” She asked him, wanting to start some small talk to make the walk a bit more enjoyable.
Deviosis chuckled in amusement at the question. “My dear, have you so soon forgotten?” he answered with a question of his own, a snide smirk curling up on his complexion. “Ponyville is the very place where I hypnotized Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”
In the rather quiet streets of Ponyville, a smack of a hoof hitting a forehead could be heard. Dream had facehooved and shook her head a little. “Oh darn, I forgot. I really hate it that my short term memory is so bad, sometimes it just doesn’t really give a damn and then I forget a lot of stuff. Last time, I forgot that I was cooking something and the whole kitchen almost went up in flames.” She answered as they made their way through Ponyville. She kept a look on Deviosis, making sure that he didn’t try anything, but also looking at the reactions of the ponies around them.
The residents of Ponyville were all staring at Deviosis more than they were at Dream. It wasn’t the fact that they recognized him as the villainous stallion whom had entranced their fellow townponies awhile back, but rather the fact that he reeked of an almost unbearable stench. Several mothers placed their hooves out in front of their fillies and colts to prevent them for getting too close to Deviosis. “Ah, just the welcome I would expect here,” Deviosis commented with a chuckle. “I do hope you home isn’t too far away, my dear.”
Dream shook her head a little and continued to walk towards her house, seeing it appear in the distance. “No, it’s right over there, actually.” She replied as she noticed the looks the ponies were giving Deviosis. Still, she couldn’t blame them, seeing that he had controlled the Elements and caused quite the stir in Equestria. She also knew that if she failed at doing the exact same thing Deviosis had tried to do in the past, namely controlling the Elements and the Princesses, she would also be looked at like she was a walking scandal.
As they reached the house, she opened her front door and stepped inside. The room that she entered was her living room which had beautiful oaken walls and floor, several tables and closets with decorations on them and a comfortable looking couch. She walked over to the couch and sat down on it. “Now then, I suggest you go and wash yourself. The bathroom is just upstairs, the first room on the right.”
“You have such a lovely home, Dream Searcher,” Deviosis complimented, admiring the decor on his way to the stairs. “A fitting abode for such a beautiful mare such as yourself!” he glanced back at Dream and smiled at her. Through his grimy appearance, a legitimate sign of charm could be seen coming from him. “I shouldn’t take too long. Take this time to catch on some well-needed rest, my dear.” He headed up the stairs and followed Dream’s directions to the bathroom to make himself more hygienic.
Dream shook her head and groaned a little. She enjoyed it that Deviosis was willing to help her, but why did he have to try and charm her like that? Couldn’t he just take the hint that she wasn’t interested in him? He would just need to help her with her plan, they would share the spoils, and then they would part ways. It was the perfect plan.
Upstairs, Deviosis had found the bathroom without any problem. The first thing he did was turn on the shower using his hoof as opposed to his magic like an regular Unicorn would’ve done. It was natural for somepony like Deviosis who prefered to mainly focus his magical talents on mental manipulation. When it came to mundane tasks, Deviosis had no problem acting as if he was an Earth Pony. The moment the shower water poured out, the messy stallion entered the shower without testing the temperature first. He was in a rush to get all clean and presentable to the lovely mare waiting downstairs. Fortunately for Deviosis, the water was warm and there was no fellow convicts giving him any lustful gawks, putting him at ease.
It took twenty minutes until Deviosis was all spick and span. After drying himself with a towel he headed back downstairs and re-entered the living room where Dream awaited. “I do hope I didn’t keep you waiting, my dear,” he said, placing on a smile as he made his way over to her.
She rolled her eyes at hearing the nickname he had given her, but she didn’t make a nasty comment about it. She did have to admit that seeing Deviosis so clean was a rather pleasant sight for her eyes. She jumped off the couch and walked over to him, looking at his coat and mane. “Hmm, no dirt or smell… I like it.” She commented before walking into her kitchen. “Is there something you want to eat? Seeing that you’re my guest right now, I’ll have to take care of you.”
“Oh, you know me, my dear; I would hate to be a burden,” Deviosis answered, taking a seat on the sofa. “But if you must insist, a cold glass of milk with a side of hayfries won’t go amiss.”
She nodded and walked into the kitchen. She thought that having milk with hayfries was a rather strange combination, but she knew she didn’t have to question ponies’ eating habits. She walked into the kitchen and started preparing the hayfries, at the same time, levitating a bottle of milk out of the fridge and filling a glass with it. A few minutes later, she returned with the food and milk on a platter, levitating it to him. “Here’s your food.”
“Already it looks divine, my dear,” Deviosis remarked, taking the plate from the air and placing it on his lap. Using both of his hooves, he snatched up the glass of milk and gulped it down hastily. His manners were suddenly non-existent. After coping with prison food and tap water for weeks on end, it was refreshing to consume something healthy for a change. His table manners did not return when he moved onto the hayfries. He scoffed them down like an impatient foal.
All the while, Dream watched with interest. Normally, she would have been quite disgusted by his eating, but right now she knew that prison was probably a place where one only received untasty and unhealthy food. She didn’t say anything about it and walked back into the kitchen with her plate once Deviosis had finished eating.
In the kitchen, she placed the plate in the sink and started cleaning them, humming a happy tune to herself. She liked having contact with ponies, seeing that her job of being a hypnotherapist required her to have contact with a lot of ponies, but sometimes she liked being alone more. Just doing the dishes while humming that happy tune was quite relaxing to her.
“I must apologize, Dream Searcher,” Deviosis spoke in a raised voice in order for Dream to hear him from the living room. “It’s just been so long since I’ve had a proper meal that I had forgotten my table manners,” he explained, chuckling a little. While he waited for his mare host to return, he took the time to glance around the room
Dream finished up the dishes and placed the clean plate in the cupboard before walking back to Deviosis. “Ah well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. So, I will show you to your room now,” she said to him and walked up the stairs. Once upstairs, she took a right and opened the door next to the bathroom. “Well, then, this is your room.”
The room itself was sparsely decorated. It had a few flowers here and there, and the occasional vase, but not many other decorations were found in the room. Dream knew that it was just a guest room and seeing that she didn’t really receive many guests, she didn’t bother to decorate the room that much. It did have a closet, a commode, and a bed, just the basic items needed to live comfortable in the room. “So, how do you like it? I know it’s not much, but I think it’ll do for now,” she said, giving a smile.
“It may not be much to you, my dear, but in comparison to the murky and damp dwellings of a jail cell, it’s my idea of paradise,” Deviosis replied with a chuckle. However, he seemed far more interested in Dream than he was with the presented accommodation. He glanced at the blonde mane mare and took a few steps towards her. “I know I’ve may have said this before, but I am very thankful for what you’ve done for me thus far, Dream Searcher.”
Dream just nodded her head, smiling at him. Deviosis was kind of a creepy stallion, she had to admit that, and she also didn’t like it that he was constantly trying to charm her, but hearing that he was thankful for what she had done for him actually made her feel really good inside. “Well, don’t mention it. I enjoyed helping you getting a roof above your head for now. So, I think I’ll be heading to bed soon, this days has made me quite exhausted, and I suggest you do the same as we need to hypnotize somepony pretty important tomorrow,” she said, heading to the door.
Before Dream could exit the guest room, Deviosis walked up in front of her, his smile still stretched across his face. “My dear, before we both retire for the night, is there anything that I can do for you?” he inquired, tenderly running his hoof down Dream’s mane. “It would not be chivalrous of me to not repay my obligation to a beautiful young lady such as you.”
Dream felt the hoof going over her mane and she began to shake a little. Not because she was afraid of nervous, but because she knew that he was a creepy stallion and she didn’t want to be that close to him. She raised her hoof and smacked him across the cheek. Not very hard, so it wouldn’t hurt, but enough to get the idea through into his mind. “No offense, Deviosis, but you just left the prison and you looked… well, disgusting, so I’d appreciate it if you kept your hooves where they belonged.”
The stallion preserved his composure despite the mare’s justified assault. He let out an amused chuckle, ignoring the light pain caused by the slap. “I apologize, Dream Searcher. I have been in prison with other smudges on society for so long that I’ve lost the knowledge of common courtesy,” he explained, walking over to the bed and climbing into it. “Good night, Dream Searcher.”
Dream nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her. She had to admit that maybe slapping him just for that silly thing was a tad too much, but at the moment, she felt so creeped out that she just had to slap him. She sighed, walking over to her own room and lying on her bed. She was so exhausted because of all the events that had happened during the day that she really needed some well-deserved rest. It thus came to no surprise that she was already sleeping within five minutes, snoring ever so softly.
Harmonious Conversion Chapter 2
Phase one
It was late in the morning when Dream woke up from her deep sleep, her mouth opened slightly as a bit of drool seeped down her chin, wettening her pillow. She blinked her eyes for a moment and let out a loud yawn, stretching her limbs and looking at her alarm clock. Her eyes widened a little when she saw that it read 10:47AM.
She flailed her limbs, quickly jumping out of the bed, as she knew that today was a pretty important day and she already had overslept. Feeling a bit nervous, thinking that she wouldn’t have enough time to continue her plan, she headed into the bathroom, quickly starting to clean herself up, so that she could go and wake up Deviosis. They just had to skip breakfast, probably.
The shower felt really good, the warm water just pouring over her, giving her goosebumps for a moment. However, she knew that she couldn’t keep enjoying her shower, as she was already way over time.
She quickly jumped out of her shower, taking the towel with her magic and drying herself off as fast as she could, making sure that she looked at least a bit presentable before leaving the bathroom again and then heading out of her room, walking into Deviosis’.
Once there, she looked at the bed, raising her voice a little to wake him up. “Deviosis, time to wake up now.”
Deviosis yawned and sat up. He looked over at the hospitable mare with a smile curling up on his face. “Good morning, my dear,” he greeted, moving out from underneath the quilt. “I see that you have already freshened up and I must say your mane looks exceptionally impeccable.”
She looked at her mane for a moment, noticing that it was in quite the disarray, but then again, she did leave the bathroom as fast as she could.
“Well, I was in a hurry,” she started to explain. “Because it seems that we have overslept. So, I would appreciate it if you could quickly go clean yourself up so we can start the first phase of our plan for world domination,” she said, giving a curt nod.
The stallion let out an amused chortle. “My dear, I was merely giving you a compliment,” he explained as he passed by her, exiting the room. “Anyway, I won’t take long. To keep a mare waiting on her desire, no matter how wild it may be, is something I would hate to do.”
Deviosis headed into the bathroom and, true to his word, cleaned up in no time at all. After combing his hair to his usual standards and washing his face, Deviosis returned to Dream.
In the meantime Dream had taken a seat on the bed, just waiting for Deviosis to finish cleaning himself up quickly. Constantly, she looked at the clock, wanting that he did it faster, but she knew that he was probably already doing it as fast as he could.
The moment he returned, she nodded and jumped off the bed. “Good, you’re ready. So, follow me, and I’ll explain what we’ll do today,” she said and headed out of his room, going down the stairs.
“Today, Deviosis, we’re going to search for an inventor. You see, I might be a hypnotist, but hypnosis can only do so much. What I want is total and complete control, so I’ve decided to settle on robots. I need an inventor who will make me a robotization machine so that I can convert normal ponies into nothing more than mindless, obedient machines who will obey my every order… um, our every order” The more she talked about it, the more excited she became.
“Inventor? Robotization? Machines?” Deviosis inquired, mind trying and failing to comprehend the scenario. “Call me old fashioned, my dear, but the concept of mind control you just presented to me sounds quite absurd.”
Dream looked back when she heard Deviosis say that and just shook her head quickly, nearing her front door. “To you, maybe, but I know that science is a great thing that can do many amazing wonders. Trust me on this one, Deviosis, I know for a fact that we will have an army of robots soon enough. After all, as you’ll soon experience, mind control is a lot stronger than just plain hypnosis,” she said, heading out of the house.
Deviosis followed the mare by her side, matching her pace step-by-step. “I am far from calling a beautiful mare such as yourself deluded or crazy, Dream Searcher, yet I do believe you are setting your sights on pure fantasy.” He added in a chuckle and started to glance around Ponyville, hoping that nopony would recognize him. He didn’t want to cause too much trouble at such an early stage of Dream’s plan.
But Dream just shrugged a little, not really wanting to hear his thoughts about her plan. After all, she thought that it was a very good plan, one that just couldn’t fail at all.
“Meh, this is how we’ll do it, Deviosis, and you’ll see that in the end, I was right. But for now, let’s keep quiet about our plan, alright? We don’t want prying ears to hear about our little conversation,” she said, knowing that they couldn’t be careful enough. “Now let’s go to the market and do a little observation.”
At the market, Dream looked around, having taken a seat on a bench, hoping that she wasn’t drawing any attention to herself. They needed to find an inventor and Dream had knowledge about one in Ponyville. Apparently, her name was Angel Grace and she had a white coat and a bright green mane and tail. That was all she knew, so it could basically be anypony. She just had to keep her eyes open for the mare. She was bound to pass by the market sometime.
“Alright, Deviosis, we’re looking for a mare with a white coat and a bright green mane. That’s all I know about our little inventor, but four eyes are always better than two, so just observe the market and say something when you see her,” she instructed Deviosis.
The stallion kept his eyes peeled for a pony matching Dream’s description. He felt uneasy being out in the open like this; he was still infamous around Ponyville after what he did to Twilight Sparkle and friends.
Deviosis hid his thoughts from Dream with relative ease, wanting to keep a calm and mature demeanour in front of her. “My dear, while we wait, can you satisfy my curiosity?” he asked, sliding closer to her. “Where did you find out about this Angel Grace exactly? I’ve never heard of her.”
She quickly looked at him, just for a few seconds before she looked back at the market, not wanting to miss Angel. “Well, this plan of mine has been in my head for quite some time. So, I asked around town, wanting to know if there was somepony here who knew a lot about technical stuff. Eventually, the ponies pointed me into the direction of Angel. She is kind of an introvert mare, they said, they don’t see her a lot around here, but I know that she will be the pony who will lead us to dominance.”
“When we do locate this Angel Grace, what is your plan on communicating with her?” Deviosis asked next, his watchful gaze catching sight of a group of mares gathering up at a fruit stand, giggling and chatting with one another. None of them were Angel Grace, unfortunately.
“Good question,” she replied, still keeping an eye out. “To be honest, I haven’t really thought that through, though I do have this basic idea of going to her and trying to win a bit of her trust by pretending that you are a scientist. I can’t act like a scientist because she knows I’m the local hypnotist, but I’m sure she hasn’t heard about you before, so you’re the perfect actor,” she said.
Just a few moments after she had finished her sentence, Dream could see a faint glimpse of a bright green mane in the distance, coming towards the town. She stood up, trying to have a better look.
In the corner of his eye, Deviosis noticed Dream move off from the bench. “What is it, my dear?” he inquired, head turning to look at her. “Do you see Angel Grace?”
Dream nodded, now having a far better look at the mare who was approaching the market. Sure enough, it was Angel Grace who was now heading towards them. Dream looked around, noticing that there were a few ponies around, but not too many, which meant that it was harder for ponies to know something was up.
“Alright, let’s get going. Remember, you are a scientist and tell her that… you’ve done some kind of major invention THE inventor of Ponyville really has to see,” Dream said, starting to head towards the market.
Meanwhile, Angel Grace, the lovely, pristine white Pegasus, had arrived at the market. She was looking for a few new tools she could use to build her inventions. Her old ones had broken because she became a bit too rough with them when she forced a bolt inside a machine. She had used every tool possible, but the bolt just didn’t want to move. As she sighed a little, looking over the tools, she noticed two ponies approaching her.
“You want me to put on a scientist charade, my dear?” Deviosis asked, for the first time a real look of unease crossing his face, "I know nothing about science, Dream Searcher, it is something I can't even comprehend." He swallowed a little, starting to shake his head. "I don't like your idea at all.”
“Just try, alright? We only have one chance at this. I know for a fact that Angel is a very shy mare, so if she knows something’s up, it’ll be very hard to capture her,” Dream said, frowning at him before turning her attention to the mare near the tools stand.
“Hey there, you are Angel, right?” Dream asked, putting on a friendly, but fake smile. “You probably know me, I’m Dream Searcher, the hypnotherapist, but I wanted to introduce you to my friend over here. His name is Deviosis and he’s an inventor, just like you. Apparently, he has done a really big invention that you really need to see and comment on it,” Dream said, lie after lie flowing out of her mouth.
Angel, honestly, was a bit nervous due to the sudden approach of the dark yellow mare, but she forced herself to hide her nervousness and put on a smile, though she wasn’t really that good at it. “H-Hello there. Um… yes, I’m Angel, nice to meet you, Mr Deviosis. So, what is this invention you have created?” She asked. Maybe if she got straight to business, she wouldn’t feel so nervous anymore.
Deviosis cleared his throat and put on one of his politest smiles in his arsenal of gentlemanly facades. “Please, call me Dr. Deviosis, my dear Angel Grace. It is custom to be formal even outside the laboratory,” he went on to say, offering his hoof to shake. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about you, and I feel honoured having you be the one to try out my new invention!”
His eyes gazed over at some ponies going about their daily lives. “Have you ever, perchance, wondered what our wonderful town dreams about, Dr. Angel Grace? Has your curiosity ever attempted to fathom the possibility that ponykind could create such a feat of technology? The ability to explore the untapped world of the subconscious is closer than you think, my dear, for I have created an invention that allows me to see what ponies dream about!”
It seemed that what Deviosis told Angel really caught the white mare’s attention. “A device to enter a pony’s dreams? Like Princess Luna does with her magic? Wow, that is amazing indeed. You have to show it to me, Doctor, I would love to try it out and maybe make my own adaption to it. The possibilities are endless. Of course… it would need regulations, because not everypony can enter somepony else’s dreams, but I’m sure Princess Luna would appreciate the help in the dreamworld, nonetheless.”
“Well, Doctor Deviosis here has the device stored at my house, we can try it out there,” Dream interrupted, glad that science really was Angel’s weak spot. However, what did concern her, though, was that Deviosis had been able to create a lie that quickly, even though he had said he didn’t know anything about science. She knew she had to keep a close eye on him, she still didn’t trust him completely.
“Oh… um… alright,” Angel whispered, only now realizing that she was going to somepony’s home who she actually didn’t know that well. But still, the invention seemed too good to pass up. “Is the device safe, Doctor, or does it still need some tweaking?”
“I assure you that my creation is in prime condition, my dear,” Deviosis replied, chuckling jovially, sticking close to the unwary scientist.
“Well, we’re here!” Dream shouted, stopping the conversation between Angel and Deviosis, mainly because she wasn’t sure how long Deviosis would be able to keep this up. Angel, on the other hand, hadn’t been even aware that they had already walked towards Dream’s house. “Now, Deviosis and I will grab the device, you just wait in the living room, alright?” Dream asked, having entered her home and already heading down into her basement.
Before following his partner in crime, Deviosis gave one last smile at their guest. “I promise you that we won’t be gone too long, Dr. Angel Grace. If you feel peckish, do not hesitate in getting yourself something to eat from the kitchen,” he stated, turning around to head down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he walked over to Dream. “Everything is going smoothly, my dear.”
“Yes, indeed it is, but now we need to start up our real plan. Deviosis, it’s now time to use those famous mind control abilities of yours. You see, while I do hypnosis, I can only actually influence my subjects’ actions, I can’t really control them fundamentally, change the core of their existence. However, mind control can, you can. You can make her think that she’s our slave and that’s she lives to serve us, that’s what you need to do.”
“If we take her down, we’ll open up the way for our world domination, our robots,” She spoke, an evil grin forming on her face. “So, can you do that?”
“Your ambitions never cease to amuse me, Dream Searcher. In the past, I desired only for the mares of this quaint town to service me in many different ways. My power of persuasion, as some may put it, was never intended to be used in a way you are requiring it should,”
Deviosis started to explain, pacing around the basement at a slow and steady pace, eyes lightly shut. “However, I know that if it wasn’t for you, I would still be living through the hell of prison,” he stopped and looked at the mare, a charming smile curling up and his eyes opening up to reveal a warm glint. “In addition to that, what kind of stallion would I be if I turn down a beautiful and intelligent mare such as you, Dream Searcher?”
She clapped her hooves in front of Deviosis’ face, a frown present on her own. “Focus, Deviosis, you can always charm me later, now we have a mare to worry about. So, I do hope that your mind control abilities will prove to be enough to control her.” Dream was all business now, not a hint of fun could be found.
She walked back up the stairs, once again taking on the fake appearance of a smiling and kind hypnotherapist. She walked into her living room and saw Angel sitting on her fluffy couch, turning her head to look at Dream. “Oh… um… where’s the device?”
It took a few more minutes until Deviosis entered the room, levitating two glasses of white wine by his side. His charmer eyes were staring directly at the mare inventor. “Please excuse us for keeping you waiting this long, my dear,” the stallion said in a courteous voice to go along with his gracious smile. After placing the glasses down upon a nearby table, he took a seat a pillow away from Angel. “Are you comfortable, Dr. Angel Grace?”
Angel nodded her head slowly, sitting down on the pillow, but she did feel that there was something off about them, though she couldn’t place her hoof on it. Yet, for now she gave them the benefit of the doubt, because she knew that it could just be her shyness and paranoia making her think these thoughts.
“I am comfortable, yes, but I must ask, Doctor, where is the device? Didn’t you say you were going to get it in the basement?” She asked as she saw Dream now moving to sit down beside Deviosis.
Deviosis chuckled as he magically moved one of the wine glasses over to Angel. “Now, now, my dear, we have all day to discuss our business,” he nonchalantly replied, shuffling closer to her. “This is a fine opportunity to celebrate. I am sure that even you don’t get asked to test a dream machine every day,” his one hoof was affectionately placed around her shoulder while he used his spare hoof to hold the wine glass for her. He stared deeply into her eyes. “Drink up, my dear. You deserve only the best.”
She frowned now, not exactly used to being so close near somepony, especially not somepony she hadn’t even met before. By now, her mind knew that something was up. They weren’t just here to show her a device, if it even existed, they wanted something else, and that something probably had to do with her. She eyed the glass of wine, knowing that it was foolish to drink from it.
“Um… no, thank you. I-I think that it’s better if I… um… leave now.” She didn’t waste any time at all and quickly stood up from her seat, already walking away towards the door. She had to leave now, she knew she had to!
However, before she even reached the door, Dream’s magic locked it, levitating the key over towards her. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that.”
“Some mares just do not appreciate hospitality, my dear,” Deviosis said, slowly approaching the trapped inventor, eyes shut. “A real pity if I do say so myself.” He remained calm and collective as he gently placed his hoof underneath Angel’s chin. “There is no need to be afraid, Dr. Angel Grace,” he then said, opening his eyes to reveal they were full of black and crimson spirals, swirling around at a soothing pace. “We will not harm you. We simply need your help.”
Angel was a bit surprised by the hoof under her chin, her body already trembling from fear. However, what scared her more were the spirals in his eyes, the spirals she was now looking at. She tried to look away, look away from this spinning colors, going so slow, a nice mix of black and red. To be honest, she could keep staring at them forever, but her mind was strong enough to make her look away.
“What… what are you doing? I want to leave! Let me go! Please, I won’t tell anypony,” She hastily spoke, feeling her nerves get the better of her. Even her wings were now flapping softly, making her rise into the air.
“Hush now, my dear,” the hypnotic stallion softly shushed, increasing both the power and the velocity of the captivating spirals, his horn letting off a slight reddish shine. Even though his intentions were wicked, Deviosis kind smile had never left his face. “Please look into my eyes. It is the only way to see the truth, Angel Grace.”
Even though Deviosis tried to coax Angel into looking at him again, the shy but smart mare didn’t want to hear anything of it. As she shook her head, Dream groaned and rolled her eyes. “You have to be more forceful, Deviosis,” Dream spoke, her own horn starting to glow a soft yellow. That same glow showed around Angel’s face, making her look into Deviosis’ eyes again.
Angel struggled quite a lot, trying to pull her head loose from the magical hold. When she realized that it was futile, she tried to close her eyes, but even there the magical hold prevented her from closing them. The only thing she was allowed to do was looking straight into Deviosis’ spinning eyes which seemed to have become a bit more powerful now. She could feel his power inside her head, making her relax, but also making her wings flap a little less, slowly starting to descend again.
“P-please… don’t do this… I-I want to go home,” she pleaded, her voice filled with fear, though her body just starting to show relaxation. No matter what she did, the more she stared into his eyes, the better she was feeling.
Deviosis didn’t answer her pleas, he knew that he had to take her down in order to further advance Dream’s plans, whatever she was planning with the robots. It was all a bit too complicated for him, but as long as he could be in control, he was fine with it. Plus, being around Dream did feel really good, he needed to spend more time with her after this.
As he stared deeply into her eyes, he increased the power of his hypnotism a little more, making sure that it was now completely impossible for Angel to look away. It did seem that Angel didn’t have such a resistant mind, so it wouldn’t be long until she would fall. Then, he could hand things back over to Dream.
Back in Angel’s mind, thoughts were already starting to slow down. It was as if the spirals were slowly starting to seep up everything that was going on in her mind. She didn’t have room to think because the spirals would just absorb her thoughts, no matter what she did. It did show on the outside too, because slowly her own eyes were starting to become swirling black and red spirals.
However, that didn’t mean that she was ready to give in, though. While she couldn’t think at the moment, she made sure to focus all of her attention on the core of her mind. She could feel the hypnotic influence, the pleasurable feeling, just going through her head, making it very empty and light, but she needed to make sure that it couldn’t go any further.
The mental battle continued for five more minutes, Dream watching from the side, seeing Angel’s face looking at Deviosis in pure concentration. She wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing, because at some moments she could see a glimpse of pain in Angel’s emotions. But eventually, she heard Angel let out a sigh and closed her eyes, falling to the floor.
“Does that mean that she’s now completely entranced, Deviosis?” Dream asked as she moved over to Angel, giving her a gentle prod on the back.
“”Well, my dear, all ponies act different when they enter a trance. Some just keep staring ahead, some start to drool and mumble, while others… fall onto the floor… Angel is part of the last group,” he said with a nod of his head, letting out a soft chuckle. “But yes, she should be entranced now.”
True to his words, Angel’s mind had given in just a few seconds ago. The relentless assault was just too much for her fragile mind to handle and her defenses broke down, the spirals had free reign in her mind. It felt so empty, but at the same time also so pleasurable. It was like a sleep she didn’t want to wake up from. And sleep she did.
“Angel is all yours now, my dear, you now have complete control over her mind,” Deviosis told Dream and took a step back to watch what would happen.
“Finally, after all this time, the first real phase of my plan will begin.” She moved over to Angel and sat down on the ground beside her, placing a hoof on her back, stroking it gently.
“Angel, my dear Angel, look at how mindless you are at the moment. I bet it must feel so wonderful not to think about your cares and worries for once,” Dream softly spoke as she saw Angel nodding her head just a little bit. “Very good, but you know what you can do now? You can listen, listen to what I have to say to you now.”
As Angel nodded once more, Dream cleared her throat and started changing Angel’s mind. “Very good once again. Now, you may find it hard to make your own decisions in this state, right? Because making decisions means that you have to think, and you don’t want to think at all, right?”
Angel shook her head gently, her mind defenceless to Dream’s words. “No, I don’t… enjoy thinking at all… “ She spoke, her tone hushed and rather monotone.
“Indeed,” Dream answered back and continued the brainwashing. “So, seeing that you don’t want to think and make decisions, it might be better to allow somepony else to make the decisions for you, right? Somepony like me? As a hypnotherapist, I have a bit of experience in making decisions for ponies.”
Angel stayed silent for a moment, acting like she was thinking, but her mind just accepting what Dream told her. It was like a sponge soaking up water. “Yes, you… can think for me, Dream.”
Dream grinned, she was certain that there was no way back for Angel now. “Good, and you know that there’s a proper term for somepony who makes the decisions for you, right? It’s called a Mistress. As of now, I’m your Mistress and you are my slave. You will obey anything I tell you to do and you’ll do it without any form of hesitation,” Dream said, going in for the kill.
And once again Angel just nodded like it was the most normal thing in the world. “Yes… I’m your slave and you are my Mistress… I will do anything you say… I will obey.”
“And finally, you will also obey Deviosis, your Master, he has the same amount of power over you as me and you will also do whatever he says,” She finished and looked at Deviosis who shot her a grin back. It seemed he was quite happy to have a cute-looking slave like Angel.
“I will also obey my Master Deviosis and do whatever he says, no questions asked,” Angel repeated in her own words and kept staring ahead mindlessly.
As Dream stood up, she turned to Deviosis. “Well, she’s completely ours now, we have our inventor. We’ll use her to create the robotization machine for us and eventually she’ll become a robot herself. However, before we start up the next phase of the plan, there’s something we need to do first. You see, you’re a convicted criminal, right? So it might be better if we allow Angel to create a device which will stop us from controlling one another.”
He blinked at her for a moment before giving Dream a charming smirk. “Oh but my dear, you don’t have to fear me, I would never try to control such a pretty mare as you. Especially not now that you’ve helped me get out of the prison, it would be like betraying your trust. “
“But that’s the thing, ‘my dear’, I don’t really trust you completely. Just see this as some kind of precaution, alright? Maybe, when we both know each other a little better, I’ll turn off the device,” She said before looking as Angel again. “Angel, dear, when I clap my hooves, you’ll snap out of your trance but still stay obedient to the both of us.” And with that, she clapped her hooves.
The moment Angel heard the clap, the spirals in her eyes started to fade to make way for some glazed over eyes. She turned her to look at both her Mistress and Master and gave the two of them a deep bow. “Master, Mistress, I’m at your command.” The obedient slave declared with the utmost loyalty.
“Very good, my dear slave. I already have a command for you. Down in my basement you’ll find the materials to create something for me. What I want you to create is the following. Deviosis and I need a way of preventing us from controlling one another, so I’ve been thinking about creating two bracelets which we put around our hooves. Once the bracelet notices mind control from the pony wearing the other bracelet, it’ll give the caster an electric shock. That’ll make sure that we won’t try to control each other,” Dream explained.
Angel quickly nodded her head at her Mistress’ command. Decisions were still hard for her to make, but she still had her intelligence required to make the device. “As you wish, my Mistress, it’ll be finished soon.” She turned around and headed into the rather cold basement to get started on the device.
Meanwhile, Deviosis had a rather hesitant look on his face, feeling that the device Dream had ordered was just a little bit too extreme to his tastes. “My dear, I don’t want to criticize you or anything, but is a shocking device really necessary?”
“Oh most certainly,” Dream began as she turned back to him, a wicked smile on her face because she felt that Equestria lay within her grasp. “But it’s only temporarily, trust me.”
“If you say so, my dear,” He told her, scratching the back of his neck with his hoof. For a moment, he wasn’t really feeling all that comfortable around Dream. “So, she’s working on the device, what happens now?”
“Now we wait until the bracelets are finished and then we begin the second part of my plan, ordering our inventor slave to make the robotization machine and capturing our first target. Fluttershy.” Dream exclaimed, putting her hoof on the ground forcefully. Equestria would be her technological empire soon.
Author's Note
Well, here's the second chapter. I'm sorry for the long wait and I wish I could promise the next chapter will come sooner, but I can't. However, I can promise this: Robots next chapter.
-Belgian
