Masked Matter-Horn, I know where you live, I know how to find you. I am coming and when I find you, revenge will be mine.
The Maneiac

Twilight looked at the letter. "Well this is the oddest thing ever." She checked over it for any magic or enchantments, but found none.

"What's that Twi?" Gel trotted over but his question was lost when Starry, Rarity and Rainbow Dash entered the room. They looked immaculate but everypony could add, and it wasn't like the math was anything nearly as advanced as two plus two. "Well, look at you." Gel turned his attention on the trio.

Starry beamed in happiness, reaching out with her forehooves to hug both mares. "Anything from breakfast still going?"

Gel shook his head. "You could probably cook something new, but we were done with the bagels a while ago. Everypony was just working out what we are going to do with the day."

Alone with the letter, Twilight sighed. "This has to be a joke or a prank. The only ponies that know about that… incident, are my friends and Spike." She crumpled the letter up and tossed it in the bin. Her mind returned to that particular incident, and of how much the Maneiac's mane had made her get so distracted she had practically lost the fight before she had started.

Closing her eyes a moment, Twilight imagined what would happen if somepony had the same control of their mane that that odd mare had. She trembled in delight at the idea. "I so need to write this down." Paper and quill appeared and she was scribbling, her tongue pinched in the corner of her mouth as she tried not to get too worked up by her thoughts.

"Well, I believe we are going to go and visit Canterlot. I hear there are the most astounding fashions there." Rarity tilted her head to Rainbow Dash, who nodded quickly.

Rainbow Dash was a little overwhelmed by Rarity still. The mare had held her, pinned, for quite a while after they were 'done'. She blushed a little at the promises her friend had whispered in her ear. "And shopping, isn't that right, Rarity?" She couldn't stop the flush when she looked at the mare. Starry had told them all about… toys.

Rarity reached a hoof up and rubbed her friend on the shoulder, right in the spot she had stood to keep Dash pinned down. "Oh yes we will."

"Ah'm gonna go see if my twin needs any help on the farm. I miss doing things with my hands… hooves." Mirror Applejack smiled an open smile but she was leaning against Starlight.

The unicorn enchantress smiled and caught the drift. "Oh, uh, yes, I too have something I need to see about…" Everypony could see that Starlight had eyes only for the earth pony. "Oh, on the farm I mean, I want to check somepony out on the farm." She smiled, talking quickly. Then she blushed more. "Something! Definitely something!"

A few giggles followed her slip but nopony challenged her on it, not when they each had close company of their own to see to. It turned out Starlight and Applejack would be the first two to leave. The pair couldn't stand the restriction any further and calmly got up, each keeping close enough to touch the other. They walked slowly to the door before taking off at a full gallop for the front door.

"Were we ever like that?" Twilight turned her attention from the fleeing mares to Gel.

"Us? Oh no. I covered you up and stuffed you wherever I could catch you. Company or not." Gel leaned over and kissed Twilight in a most agreeable way. Breaking from it he added, "Still do, of course, but now ponies don't stare at us, because we are married."

Princess Twilight Sparkle was out in the town, shopping. She had left her husband meditating and had left the castle in Starry's competent hooves. Trotting along, she spotted what she was looking for. Entering Sugarcube Corner, the alicorn stopped a moment, her doppelganger was standing behind the counter, wearing an apron. "They rope you into working here?" Twilight walked over.

"You could say that." Mirror Twilight was nervous. The strange pony that had come in before Twilight had told her to stand here and act like she didn't have both Pinkie Pies bound up in her crazy mane. She kept looking to the side, trying to gesture toward the back room with just her eyes.

"What's on sale?" The alicorn looked around at the display cases, completely oblivious to the warnings her other-self was trying to give. "Oh, you have banana cake! I'll take that please."

Mirror Twilight was shaking so bad her hooves wouldn't move. This totally wasn't what she had wanted when she had asked about a holiday. "Uh, coming right up… oh no, there are none left out here, I will need to get help from the back." She put as much emphasis on the words 'help' and 'back' as she could.

"But there is one right here? Can't I have that one?" Princess Twilight gestured to the one in on display.

"She was trying to warn you about me." The Maneiac stepped out from the back room, half-reclining on her wild mane that was curling all around her. Two pink ponies walked out, stepping up right beside her, wearing happy, blank smiles.

"Maneiac!" Twilight immediately wrapped herself in a force bubble… and then was silent to the room. She went on and on about how she would put the evil villain down, about how she wouldn't let her get away with it but, after nearly a minute, she realized she might have gotten a little heavy-hooved with her defensive spell. Lightening it up so she could speak properly, she glared at the villain. "And now I forgot what I was saying…"

Mane greeted her adversary with laughter, unbridled and manic laughter. "You can't even monologue right! Too bad for you I have commanded these two that, if they find out I am defeated, to forget everything they ever knew and loved." Her tentacles reached out, rubbing both pink ponies under the chin.

"That's right Twilight." One Pinkie Pie leaned into the stroking tentacle, kissing it.

The other was done with her kiss. "We will forget even our own names if you hurt Mistress."

"See?"

Twilight stood, stunned. "What do you want then?" She was furious, it was taking all her focus to keep from just unleashing all her magic in a beam at the insane pony.

"Why, you. I want to play at your castle, for one day and night." Mane smiled, unable to stop a nervous giggle. She always got a little more silly when her plans were going right. Of course Twilight wasn't to know that her hypnosis only lasted for three days at most. "My pet, my toy. I will make you do all sorts of things."

The alicorn blushed but froze in thought. She wondered if it would really be that bad. Just a day? One day and a night, to be precise. "And you promise all my friends will be okay?" She narrowed her eyes.

"These two? Oh, you mean all of them. I promise you, Masked Matter-Horn, that I will not hurt your friends in any way." The Maneiac let out a betraying giggle. Of course she wouldn't hurt them, she would be too busy playing with Twilight to hurt anypony. Besides, broken toys weren't fun.

Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, gave a little nod and her shield blipped out. "Then we have a deal. One day and a night." Twilight watched as the manic mare came closer and closer, her mane holding her up so the alicorn had to tilt her head a bit. She gulped.

"Perfect. Then your time starts now, Masked Matter-Horn." Mane deployed the watch first, swishing it back and forth before Twilight's face. "Just relax, relax and let me take control of you." It aroused Mane more than she cared to admit. She had heard legends of this pony, in the outside, real, world. Princess. Element. Master of Magic. "Mine." She watched Twilight's eyes start to follow the watch.

It was impossible not to become fixated on the movement, Twilight's eyes slid side to side, in time with the watch. The word the villain said made her tremble. This most certainly wasn't what she had dreamed of, but it was getting close. The first tendril to trail down and over her back made her gasp, but the watch held her attention still. Back and forth, back and forth. Inside her. "P-P-Please…"

"Please what, pet?" Mane lowered herself down so she was looking past the swinging pendulum, watching the alicorn's worried eyes follow it.

"My foals, be careful of them." The moment the words were out of Twilight's mouth, Mane shook and drew back. Twilight relaxed again and her calmness was noted. The tendril drew back to her entrance and worked at teasing her instead, it felt good.

"I would not hurt your foals, be calm my pet. I am not a monster, just a… bad mare." But that didn't stop Mane from shoving another of her tentacles deep into the mare's tail-hole. She expected her to grunt and groan in discomfort, she didn't expect a moan. "What… I mean, you love this." It wasn't a question, but Twilight nodded back to her, looking to be half in a dream.

Twilight clutched her muscles around the intruder, again and again. She was completely relaxed as she watched the shape moving still. Then something lifted up behind it, something spinning and even more distracting. It took away all the background worry of what she could see of the shop.

"You are my pet, Twilight Sparkle. You adore me and love me. You will do anything I ask as if it were your greatest wish. But Twilight, you remember who you are, you remember you are the Princess. You just don't know how to tell anypony that." Mane whispered the words once. She had spent hours composing them. Days editing them. She repeated them again. "Tell me Twilight, what are you?"

"Your pet." Twilight trembled, she wanted to say who she really was, what she needed to say and struggle, but the hypnosis kept her from those words. "I am your pet, I will do anything you tell me."

"Good pet." The moment Maneiac said the words Twilight felt good, she smiled widely and looked up, past the pendulum but right into the spiral. Her eyes got trapped by it, pulled in and focused into the center. When the pendulum swung past again, her eyes latched onto it like a drowning pony for a life raft. "If any of your friends ask, I am an old friend, visiting. If they become suspicious, wrap them in a bubble and bring them to me. You love to bring me your friends to make into pets."

"I love it." Twilight spoke the words, almost crying inside.

"And when I told you it was one day and a night. Twilight, my pet." Mane drew back the pendulum, drew back the spiral and admired the blank stare of the alicorn princess. "Twilight. I lied."

Gel had found the map room was amazingly relaxing. He could see all of Equestria around him, but he sat right where Canterlot was. He was alone, but surrounded. His eyes were closed but he heard the front door open and close. "A short one today." He sighed but it didn't stop him smiling.

"Sorry My Prince." Starry bowed to Gel, uncharacteristically formal. But she had been taking a liking to being their mare-around-the-castle. It just felt right to her. "Must be your wife home."

"She wasn't long." Gel flowed over the world, black goop pouring down the side of the map and reforming into his stallion-self. He trotted out of the room to find the oddest sight. Twilight was walking beside a mare that looked absolutely astounding. "Oh, hi there." He waved a hoof at the newcomer and approached Twilight. "Twi, what's going on?" She seemed a little spaced out, but he certainly wasn't worried about anything.

"This is M-" Twilight bit her tongue. "My old friend, Mane-Mane." She cursed, she was sure Gel would have known about the Maneiac. "Mane, this is Gel, my husband."

Maneiac was shocked at the odd creature. "A pleasure." She giggled a little manically, trying to keep control of herself. "Your wife invited me and some friends over. Hope you don't mind?"

Gel shook his head. "Of course not. Twi, you never talked about such a unique friend." He leaned in and snuggled his love, getting a cuddle back. "What's wrong?"

Twilight screamed inside her head. She fought the conditioning to tell her husband what was wrong, that it wasn't a friend, but a viper. She ached to just drop to her belly and cry to him and have him fix everything. "Oh, you know how it is, foals are a bit active today." She deflected his question with more elegance than she had ever possibly managed before.

"Maybe later I could take your mind off them. Privately." Gel nuzzled her, giving her nose a lick and smearing a little of himself against her before pulling it back.

Mane watched the two talking, intrigued. She would likely play with Twilight herself later, of course, but maybe she could invite her husband too, he would make for a grand pet.

Author's Note

The classic undoing of a hero by threatening innocents. Added complexity for including a dead-mare's-switch and the whole thing being a bluff. Well played Maneiac, well played indeed.

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