It was evening the next day when I finally woke up. Dried mud mixed with some grass and leaves clung to my fur as well as my bed. With the long trail of muddy hoofprints leading from the front door to the bedroom, I knew it was going to be a busy day, even with how much of it I wasted. It was only after walking downstairs and seeing the brainwashed yellow earth pony in the living room that I remembered what had happened.

"You're still here," I said, not as a question but a simple statement.

"Of course, I'm still here. You told me to not move and I will always obey my master." The earth pony said with his usual smile.

"My bedsheets are filthy, go wash them." Time to test his obedience.

"Yes, master." He spoke, walking towards the stairs.

Not enough to stall you? Very well, "After that, clean up all this mud." Another order.

"Of course, master." He repeated, still walking to the stairs.

If he does well, I'll keep him. If not, it won't be much to replace him. After he left, I heard the water pipes make a loud noise from his washing. I walked back upstairs and into the bathroom as I heard the familiar squelching and sloshing noises as he did his work.

"Geez, I really got myself filthy yesterday." I said as I looked at myself in the mirror. Just looking at myself caused me to wince as I remembered slamming my head into the tree on my way to get my slave. Dried blood was caked around the mark where I got hit, as well as some puss from an infection. A quick smirk moved onto my face, "Oh the perks of being a healer." I said as I easily and effortlessly cast a healing spell on my wound. I was lucky I entered this planet a unicorn or else it would have taken a long time to heal. As it was, the bleeding had stopped and the pain was gone in less than a minute.

Now, it was time for a nice long bath. I looked at myself in the mirror again. A nice long, hot, bath.
After having spent the entire day sleeping and then another hour of cleaning myself, I was finally ready to get to work again. I found myself looking at my slave, still sitting in the exact spot I had left him in. "Speak, Slave." I commanded.

"I await your orders, master." He responded without hesitation.

"Show me what you did while I was in the bath."

"I washed your sheets and cleaned mud off the floor." He still smiled, even as he spoke.

I had to examine his work, anything wrong could lead to disaster later if the hypnosis didn't stick. I looked at the sheets, it was clean and no mud clods were in it, he even used the lavender detergent I liked so much. Likewise, the floor had been expertly cleaned, as if he had scrubbed and scrubbed until his hooves bled.

"Your work is satisfactory, now come with me." I commanded, leading him up the stairs and into my room. The door was closed behind us and we sat on my bed.

"Lay down," I said, motioning towards the bed.

"Yes, master." He responded happily, immediately laying down on the bed. Cutie marks are powerful things. Who's to say it's pull over him doesn't outrank my pull over him.

I stood over him as he lied on the bed, staring into his eyes. "You're good with a bow and arrow, correct?" I asked.

"Yes, master." He responded.

"Let me into your mind, slave." I demanded, making sure to maintain the dominant hold I had over him.

"Of course, master." He responded. Then, his eyes glazed over and he fell into a trance. I started the process of overriding his brain. Removal of his likes and dislikes and removing them with thoughts of obedience and servitude were the first things on my list. After that, I would have to make sure he stayed a loyal slave. So I made sure that he liked serving and obeying. I made sure he disliked disobedience to me and independence from me. He needed to be entirely reliant on me and my commands. If he was going to be my slave, he needed to be absolutely hopeless without me. After a few minutes, I had finished the process and moved onto my next goal: the replacement of his life.

He had a family and friends of course, I just needed to make sure he viewed me as more important to him than any of them. I started by replacing his love for his family and friends. He needed to care more about what I thought than what they thought. I worked hard on that all night, and finally in the early hours of the morning I was able to finish it.

Last thing: his cutie mark, It had to go and I was going to be his surrogate cutie mark. I needed to be as present in his mind as his cutie mark now was. With some shadow magic and earth magic mixed together, I removed his cutie mark from his flanks. I was careful to make sure I could put it back on there if I needed to, but for now, it was gone.

Once I had done that, I woke him back up and started asking him questions about himself. The hypnosis wasn't even really there anymore, it's work had been done expertly and I'm sure mother would've been proud of my usage of the mind control spell she designed. I asked him. "Do you have any family?"

"No, they are not important to me." He responded.

"What about friends?" I asked.

"I had some, but they aren't important to me." He responded once again.

"What is important to you?" I questioned.

"Serving you, master. You are the only family and friend I need or want." The stallion responded with a smile.

"What do you like to do?" I said, testing his new loyalty to me, to make sure it had taken hold.

"I like to serve you, master. It is the only thing in life I like to do." He responded.

Perfect.

"What do you not like?" I continued with my questions.

"I do not like disobedience or people who disobey you, master." He responded perfectly.

"That's a good slave, now follow me to my workroom," I said, turning and heading to my workroom, eager to get my work done.

The entrance to the tunnel leading to the mirror pool wasn't covered, it was a simple hole in the floor using a tree for a ladder. Dark and cold rock and dirt filled the tunnel and sent a chill to mine and my slave's bones. It was clear that my plans would require a very special touch. The entire thing needed to be fixed up, but first, more slaves.
I emerged from the tunnel, it's darkness giving way to a dimly lit room with the shimmering of the Mirror Pool.

To tell you the truth, I don't know why I asked my slave this question. "What do you think of the mirror pool, slave?"

"It's a beautiful sight, master. It is mesmerizing." He responded with awe as he moved closer to the surface so he could see his reflection.

"Indeed..." I responded as I violently shoved him into the pool.

Now if I recall correctly, A magic spell must be spoken for the pool to work.

"And into her own reflection she stared,
Yearning for one whose reflection she shared,
And solemnly sweared not to be scared
At the prospect of being doubly mared."

Speaking the phrase made me uneasy, I hope the pool didn't mind that I wasn't the one who entered and that the pony who did enter was a stallion. To my satisfaction, There was a flash in the water's reflection and then it quickly cleared to show me my slave, as well as his new twin brother. The mirror pool had worked perfectly as expected, and my number of slaves had been doubled. I wasted no time and levitated them back out of the pool and onto the tunnel's floor.

He stared at me with adoration, and the original kept the smile on his face that he's had since I enslaved him. "Master, what are your orders?" He asked me this with a tone of kindness, they had both become so much more agreeable since I stripped them of their free will.

"Both of you, back into the pool." I commanded and they complied. Again the spell was cast, and after the light had flashed, four enslaved yellow stallions left the pool.

"Perfect, absolutely perfect." I continued to congratulate myself as I looked upon the four slaves. I knew I'd want more, but right now, there was other work to do. Namely, a lot of construction work, as well as resource gathering. A quick teleportation spell later and the five of us were back in the living room of my house.

"Slaves, I want you four to talk to each other the entire time I'm gone," I commanded. My home was soon filled with the sounds of four happily obedient slaves talking to each other. With that, I left my home and entered the crisp morning air of the outskirts of Ponyville.

I let out an exhale as my plans were slowly coming together. Assuming that the mirror pool's magic never fades, wears off, corrupts, or breaks, I'll have a never-ending army of loyal ... slaves sounds a bit backward honestly. Maybe I should call them minions instead.

That small tunnel connecting my workroom and the mirror pool would have to be thoroughly enlarged. I'd make it much bigger if I could but too big would gather some unwanted attention. I'll need a room for the stallions to eat and sleep will be necessary, as well as other amenities, like a lab, control room, armory, prison ... and definitely a room for outfitting the minions. If all my minions looked the same it would be too obvious.

I was removed from my planning and scheming by the sound of hundreds of heavy hooves smashing against the grass.
A scream rang out from Ponyville. "STAMPEEEDE!" Immediately I knew what had happened, It's applebuck season. I had assumed that either wasn't going to happen, or it already did after I stole that ticket. I must've been in Equestria for at least 2 weeks by now. That's what I thought anyway since time was much different here. Days and nights were shorter, and to be fair I hadn't asked anyone how long a year or month is here since that would dispense more attention, but I could only assume they were different than the years and months we had back home.

Now that I knew what exactly was going on in town, I decided to not go into Ponyville and instead headed for the Everfree Forest to gather resources I would need for the construction of the tunnel system I Intended to build. Looking at the forest, I was reminded of the first day I arrived here. How absolute power was close at hand until those three sent me here. But there was time to reminisce on old times later, now I'll need plenty of met....als.

I fell back onto my haunches and sat in disbelief. Instead of traveling all over, digging up metal ore, forging it into a fashion where it's usable for my needs, could I simply use the Inspiration Manifestation Spell to turn something common and plentiful into what I need? "That ... would certainly save me an awful lot of time ..." Without further hesitation, I ran back into my home and into my workroom where I rummaged through old books on the periodic table and chemistry. My minions continued to speak to each other about this and that even as I ran past them. As I grabbed an empty tome, I began writing.

"All things are matter, which would include oxygen." I wrote in the book as thoughts, theories, and ideas flooded my mind. "Theoretically, the Inspiration Manifestation Spell could be used to convert oxygen into anything." You knew exactly what this was, this type of magic was illegal as far as every government universe wide went, including your own kingdom. Nobody took over the universe without breaking a few rules, though.

Gathering the two books, some quills, and ink, I teleported myself outside to start practicing my theories. The initial thought on my mind was how converting oxygen into a solid metal would affect the environment. Even though committing crimes are common for me, I still prefer a beautiful green world. I remember from the show that Rarity cast the spell on Spike and gave him that odd crystalline armor, but since the transformation happened off-screen, I couldn't tell if she used the dirt around him to do that or if she simply used oxygen.

I gathered my strength in my horn and reached out to feel the air in front of me.
In a flash of light, oxygen was ripped from the air and used to create copper just as I wished. It wasn't very pretty, it was a misshapen blob, but it was copper.

"YES!"

I feverishly began taking notes on the process of converting oxygen into a different matter. I continued to practice until I could create perfectly spherical balls of whatever metal I was aiming for. "This ... this is amazing," I spoke in amazement of the power I wielded. Now I would push the spell to its limit.

If oxygen can produce a solid ball of metal, does it matter how much oxygen is used? I sat upright and closed my eyes in concentration as I shrank my magical grasp to the size of a pinprick. My magic had about two inches of oxygen into its grasp before I started breaking the laws of reality. As I added more force into the spell, the two inches of oxygen quickly grew, distorted, and stretched. The force of the spell was visible as a wave of energy erupted from my horn.
I could feel the laws of reality being broken as I continued to stretch the oxygen into a horribly disfigured ball of steel.
the ball grew and grew until it was as big as my house.

I had to hide the evidence quickly, and even though my head had started to hurt with the strain, I couldn't be discovered. Wrapping my magical grasp around the disfigured steel ball, I funneled heat into and around it as such an intensity that it melted. The ball turned into a puddle of liquid steel that I quickly funneled away.

"Whatcha doin'?"

My heart stopped when I heard that high-pictched voice ask me such a question. I turned behind me to see who it was,
I knew this filly, I just couldn't remember her name. White fur, red mane, and purple glasses. I don't like to admit it, but I panicked. Without thinking about it, I focused on the filly's brain with my magic and converted it into rock.
I didn't know what came over me. She just asked a question. I guess the feelings of guilt and paranoia got to me.

The now lifeless little filly fell onto the ground and her head hit the dirt with a thud. Adrenaline flowed through my body like blood and I teleported myself, the filly, and the steel inside of my home.
She didn't even have her cutie mark yet. That one thought played on repeat in my head even as I hardened back the steel and left it in the living room.

My nose had started to run a bit and I sniffled to counteract it. The slaves continued to speak to each other until I spoke in a broken whisper "Stop." My four stallion slaves obeyed and ceased their chatter.
I could not believe what I had done. I had killed a little filly. She didn't even have her cutie mark yet.

Even the four stallions knew something was wrong, the original one came closer to me slowly and placed his hoof on my back comfortably. "It's alright, master. It'll be alright. We're here for you." he said in a comforting tone.

"Get off." I replied sadly. The slave had no choice but to obey. I attempted to swallow my sadness just enough so I could get back to work. Picking the filly up in my magic, I walked with her into my workroom. I made this mess and I'd clean it up. The building was silent, no noise interrupted me from my sorrow.

Through great effort and a few failed attempts, I turned the rest of the filly's body into a large emerald. I looked at the beautiful gem in front of me and remembered the lifeless eyes it once held.

Closing my eyes to spare myself the sight, I conjured up a large mortar and pestle that could fit the fi- gem, I conjured up a large mortar and pestle that could fit the gem and set the gem inside it. After a few deep breathes, I could continue on my work. Wrapping my hooves around the wooden stick, I began the process of breaking the singular large gem into many smaller ones. The soft ca-chunk of wood on the gem soothed my aching heart as the gem broke into smaller and smaller pieces. Eventually, I had made around fifteen emerald gems out of the one. These had to be removed, not temporarily, not partially, permanently. Only one creature can truly get rid of gems, dragons, and I only know the exact location of one dragon. Washing myself off and hiding any evidence of wrong doing, I headed off for the Golden Oaks Library with the emeralds.

I traveled through the roads of Ponyville and the scenery didn't make me happy. I saw the happy ponies going about their lives not knowing that inside, I was miserable. I've lost a bit of touch with reality.

I just had to get rid of the -- I just had to make sure Spike was alright, he did seem pretty sick last time I saw him. As a good healer, I should check up on my patients every now and then. I found myself lying to myself more and more.

I pushed the door into the library open and was immediately met with friendly faces and warm greetings from Spike and Twilight.

"Hey Lively, here for a book?" Twilight asked.

"Oh no, I'm just here to check on Spike, how's he feeling?" I asked in an innocent tone.

"Oh, he's feeling pretty good, all things considered. He was just asking about you actually."

I needed the subject changed from that. "I brought some emeralds for him to help him get some of his strength back from that illness he caught." That I caused.

"You brought me gems?" The excitable dragon asked.

"Of course I did, Have to make sure you're doing alright." I replied smoothly and levitated a small box of what used to be the f-- I gave him the gems.

"Thanks a lot Lively, you're the best!" He said before gobbling up the gems.

"Heh, no problem." I replied with a fake smile. With each bite Spike took of those gems, he destroyed more and more evidence. Not that anything happened, everyone is fine, I'm fine, Spike's fine, Twilight's fine, the filly's ... fine ... nothing
happened.

Within less than a minute's time, all of the gems were consumed. "Those were really good, Lively, thanks for everything you do for me."

I couldn't stay in there any longer. I just wanted to go home and sleep this night off.

"Don't mention it, Spike, It's what I'm here for."

With that, I left the library and returned home. I dared not continue to work, right now I needed sleep. I didn't care that it was noon, now was time for bed. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing as I drifted off to sleep. My mind was blinded by emotion, thoughts flew this way and that, the construction, my slaves, Ponyville, applebuck season, Spike, the grandparents of creation. I remembered what I was fighting for, I would have my revenge.

Author's Note

This took much longer than it should have