"Another cookie, my queen?" a cookie floated in the air I'm front of me, which I swiftly took and began to munch on.

"Luna, go get me some chunky ones, I wanna try them," I say, looking at the blue alicorn next to me.

"Of course, my queen," said alicorn says, taking their jar of cookies and exiting the room. I looked down at the hoofstool I was currently resting my hind hooves on. The white alicorn looked back with pulsing purple eyes, then cocked its head at my attention.

"Do you wish something of me, my queen?" Celestia asked, "I'd love to serve you more actively." I briefly considered her proposal.

"mmmm, nah."

"Very well, my queen," she said, breaking eye contact with me and gazing off into nothing as her mental facilities shut down once again. I sighed in satisfaction as Luna returned.

"Your cookies, my queen," she said, bringing me one of the chunky cookies. Suddenly, Celestia piped up

"Time to get up," she said.

"I beg your pardon?" She said nothing in response. "Did you just ask me to get up?" Anger began to surge, then she spoke again.

"Come on, Mesmera, get up." She spoke in the voice of a stallion this time though. It sounded... familiar. "Come on, wake up," she spoke in Pathfinder's voice, and suddenly I was staring at Pathfinder as I lay on my side.

"Nooooo...Dun wanna get up…" I flipped over the other way in my bed, "I was having such a good dream," I sighed, "I ruled Equestria."

"Well it will be a reality soon enough if I have anything to say about it, but to rule the world, you need to get up out of bed." I groaned as I sat up, pouting. Brightstar was also there, looking at me with her purple-tinted eyes.

"I can't wait for everyone else to see the truth as I did," she said with a smile, "is there anything I can do to help?" I had to think about that question a bit.

“Well I think the tutoring group might be a good start,” I mused, and Brightstar quickly jumped on that.

“Of course, my queen! Ms. Marigold especially should know! She could teach the class everything there is to know about serving their queen!” Her smile grew wider and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Ms. Marigold it is, then. See what you can do to make my job easier and I’ll do my part,” I affirmed with a smirk “I hope you’ll have something by tomorrow, ideally sooner. The sooner we can get our hooves on her the better.” Brightstar herself responded with a salute and “yes, my queen,” and I proceeded to dismiss her to go home and plan.

———————————————————————————————————————

The bell rang for recess just as lunch was finishing up. All the colts and fillies galloped out into the yard to swing, play hopscotch, wallball, or whatever else they might want to. All except myself and Brightstar.

“I think now is a good time to try it. Bring her back to the classroom.” before I could say anything, she had went over to Ms. Marigold, who was watching over all the kids.

“Oh, Brightstar, Mesmer, is there something you wanted?”

“We’re not feeling the best. We wanted to know if we could go to the classroom.” Brightstar put on a nervous smile

“Of course, come with me,” she gestured to us to come in as she opened the door, heading in herself. We did as she requested, walking down the empty hallway, “do you need to go to the nurse? I’m sure-”

“Nono, we don’t feel sick,” I interrupted, “we just...wanna be inside for now. Play with some of the toys.”

“If you’re sure,” Ms. Marigold said, slightly unsure.

We entered the classroom and Ms. Marigold took a seat at the front of the classroom, looking back at us. It was then that I returned to my original form, much to the alarm of Ms. Marigold. The pony jumped back with a yelp, startled by the burst of fire that had just engulfed my body. Before I had time to react, Ms. Marigold's chair flipped over, landing her squarely on the floor, dazed.

“Oops,” I said with a slight giggle, trotting over to the orange mare on the ground, “Didn’t mean to scare you.” I smiled innocently as I stood over her, buzzing a tiny bit. She didn’t seem to find this as entertaining as I did.

“M-mesmer?” she stammered as she tried to regain her bearings.

“Mesmer-a,” I corrected, “Queen Mesmera.” Brightstar came over with a big dopey grin on her face.

“My queen, and now yours too!” I could taste the happiness coming from Brightstar as I spread my wings out for Ms. Marigold to see, lighting them up with pulsing purple rings and watching Ms. Marigold’s expression turn from fear to relaxation.

“So then Ms. Marigold, I know that students are supposed to listen to their teachers, but I think this will be a time where you listen to me,” I said, smugness filling my voice, “and in fact, from now on you’re going to do lots of listening to me; your queen.” Her reply was a silent nod as her brain processed my words, “And we’re going to make sure that all the ponies of Equestria do the same. Understand?”

“Yes, my queen,” she droned as her mind finished processing her new desires. I rubbed my hooves together mischievously at my victory, and after a few moments, I clicked my shell and she snapped awake. She then began to apologize for not seeing it before and pledging her allegiance.

———————————————————————————————————————

“Come on Light, just focus on your drawing…” I just couldn't shake the feeling that something was... wrong with Ms. Marigold. Whenever they had a new student she would give them extra care, understandably, but over the last few days she had been practically orbiting around Mesmer Swirl. That, and some of the things she says were... strange, and she would occasionally just stare off into space.

"It's probably nothing," I say to myself, putting my pencil to my paper

"You okay, Light?" Night Stem looked at me, somewhat worried, "you seem frustrated."

"I am. Well, not frustrated," I look over at Mesmer Swirl, seeing her smiling widely as she kicked her hooves up on her desk. "You notice anything weird about Ms. Marigold?" Night Stem put her hoof to chin and considered.

"Y'know, I do. I thought I was just imagining it. Brightstar, too"

"I'm gonna look into this."

"Please do."

Author's Note

Hey all, sorry this took so long. A lot of writer's block and being unsatisfied with bits of the chapter, but now it's out. I hope you find this wait was worth it.