Eyes of Sunset, Siren Song

Sunset saw her first.

It was a typical day at Canterlot High, or at least as typical as Sunset let it. She opened the doors with a flair akin to a dramatic villain entrance, causing everyone in the vicinity to stop what they were doing, stare, then beat a hasty retreat. Sunset smirked. Although that happened every time someone saw her, the charm had never quite worn off. She set off down the halls to her locker. Once she got there, she entered her combination and opened the door, setting her backpack down so she could pull out the books she needed.

"Oh, hello!"

Sunset turned to see who had spoken and found herself looking into a pair of soft, intelligent violet eyes. They belonged to a girl with pale lavender skin and straight indigo hair, which contained one purple and one pink stripe. The girl was dressed in a pale blue, short-sleeved blouse with a pink bow on the collar, pulled over a pleated purple skirt patterned with a pink, six-pointed star. Pink-rimmed, purple argyle leg warmers covered her legs, and on her feet were a pair of black Mary Jane's. She looked at Sunset Shimmer, somewhat shyly, and smiled. "Hello," she said again. "My name's Twilight Sparkle. I'm new." She opened her locker (which was right next to Sunset's) and started putting books of every size and subject inside.

Sunset's insides quivered with excitement. She made it a point to seek out new students so she could 'show them' who was boss, and here was one right next to her! Sunset looked around. There was no one in the halls. She had plenty of time until class. It was the perfect opportunity to 'lay the ground rules,' as she liked to put it. Although the students that had been here for a while learned to fear her, anyone new became her unflinching assistants. That's why Snips and Snails always bent to her whims, no matter how difficult, outlandish, or embarrassing.  She grinned, sweeping her bangs in front of her eyes and ducking her head slightly. She knew it was terribly cliche, but she couldn't help but have a dramatic unveiling every time she did this. It just made everything the tiniest bit more satisfying.

Peering out from behind her hair, Sunset saw the girl finish with her books and turn to look at her. Sunset stood perfectly still, chuckling inside as the girl grew more and more uncomfortable, fidgeting slightly. "Sooo..." Twilight said, in a downright embarrassingly thin attempt to break the tension. "What's your name?"

Sunset smirked, lifting her head until she was looking Twilight in the eye, her gaze burning into her like a laser. Twilight flinched visibly at the intensity of Sunset's assault. The glow from Sunset's eyes was reflected in Twilight's, tinting the violet a unearthly shade of blue-green. "My name?" mused Sunset, grinning at the sight of Twilight's jaw hanging open. "Sunset Shimmer, although to you..." she paused, trying to think of the perfect term. Finally, it clicked. "Although to you, I'm the boss around here."

Twilight's left eye twitched sharply. She wasn't sure what was going on, or how this girl's eyes were glowing like they were, but one thing was certain: it was making more and more sense that this girl should be the boss. The way she carried herself, the way she spoke, the way she looked at Twilight as though she was nothing more than a cute dog...

Something clicked. Twilight had read enough science-fiction to recognize the signs of mind control when she felt them. At any other time, she would have chided herself for even suspecting something so outlandish. But now, as she felt her thoughts begin to crumble like rocks under an unrelenting wave, and saw the captivating glow of Sunset's eyes become brighter and brighter, she decided, just this once, to accept those signs as fact. After all, hadn't she once read a scientific study on the effects of morphogenic engine imaging on the human brain? This could be like that.

Twilight tried to twist her head away, but no matter where she looked, part of her was unwilling to look away from those mesmerizing eyes. They were just so beautiful, and really, it was silly of her to think they were bad. Something this beautiful couldn't be dangerous, could it? Of course not.

Twilight was still was lucid enough to know that those thoughts weren't her own. In a desperate final attempt, she lifted her arms so she could put her hands over her eyes, blocking her sight. Sunset, however, saw her arms lifting and frowned. "Don't do that," she scolded.

Against her will, Twilight's arms drooped back to her sides. Despite herself, she found herself feeling terribly ashamed. She had upset Sunset Shimmer! What was wrong with her?

Sunset noticed Twilight's sadness and smiled. "Oh, don't be so sad!" she said gently. "You didn't mean to. You just didn't realize that all I'm trying to do is-" Sunset couldn't help herself, a nasty grin spread across her face, "-help you."

Twilight nodded mechanically, her willpower finally breaking under the weight of Sunset's prolonged assault. Of course that's what she had been doing. She only wanted to help her. Why couldn't she see that before?

Twilight sighed happily, feeling a gentle warmth creeping through her. Looking into Sunset's eyes made her feel warm and comfortable, like she was lying on the world's softest feather bed. Why had she fought this? When she looked back, all she could remember was feeling cold and terrible. All Sunset was doing was helping her! What a fool she had been not to see it.

Sunset could barely conceal her excitement. Twilight was showing all the signs of being almost under. Sunset had always felt that the more resistant people were to her control, the better they listened to her once they were under. She beamed to herself, gazing at Twilight's blissful, unaware face.

It was then that the idea first wormed it's way into her head.

As she looked at Twilight, she started noticing little things that she hadn't before. She had a cute dimple on her cheek; only on the right side, though. Her hair was soft and silky looking, and Sunset had a sudden, irrational urge to run her hand through it. She fought the feeling down, uncomfortable, and shook her head a bit. Time to get down to business. No time for weird thoughts.

"Now, then, Twilight Sparkle..." Sunset said haughtily. "Do you feel good right now?"

Twilight could only nod.

"Good," said Sunset, grinning. "But notice that, as good as you feel, there's a pain in your head that keeps you from relaxing."

The instant Sunset said this, Twilight noticed that yes, there really was a stabbing pain behind her eyes. In fact, she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it before. She winced in pain, putting a hand to her temples.

"Yes, it does hurt," simpered Sunset, in a voice dripping with false sympathy that, to Twilight, sounded only too genuine. "Now, how about I help you feel better? Does that sound good?"

Twilight whimpered in pain, the stabbing behind her eyes getting worse every second. "Y-yes," she stuttered.

Sunset smiled. "Good," she purred. "Now, when I snap my fingers, the pain will vanish, and you'll suddenly be so tired that you'll fall asleep, right here. Ok?"

Twilight nodded. "Okay," she echoed.

Sunset smirked, then, with a flourish, snapped her fingers.

Instantly, Twilight keeled over, fast asleep. Sunset was ready, however, and caught her, surprised at how light the girl was. Sitting her down and propping her against the lockers, Sunset put a finger to her chin, wondering what she should say. The wording was always very important in these situations. Why, once she'd told someone that they would love her unconditionally, and the next day, they showed up at school wearing a shirt that said: I LUV SUNSET on it, and bore a picture of her face in the middle of a heart. Where they got that, she never found out, but needless to say, it was pretty embarrassing. She had to make sure she did this right. Finally, she had a brainwave.

"Twilight? Can you hear me?" she ventured. Twilight's head bobbed up and down in a nod, although her eyes were still closed.

"Ok, Twilight," said Sunset. There are two boys that follow me around. Maybe you've met them? Snips and Snails?"

Twilight nodded again. She had, in fact, met those boys earlier.

"Well," Sunset continued. "From now on, you'll act just like how they act around me." Sunset would have gone into more detail, but it was nearly time for class, and she wanted to wrap this up. "Got that?"

Twilight nodded a third time.

Sunset clasped her hands together with glee. "Perfect. now, when you hear the bell ring, you'll wake up with no memory of this. You'll only remember that you tripped and hit your head on the lockers. Is that clear?"

A fourth nod.

Sunset nodded to herself, leaned down, gathered up her backpack, and hurried off to class, smiling to herself. When she got to class and walked through the door, she heard the bell ring.