"So it was you? All this time?" Repeated the dragoness once more, unable to believe that a modest girl like Ocellus had turned out to be the Mistress. "No, it can't be. I don't believe you."

"You don't? How else would I know what you dream about at night if I wasn't the one who sent those dreams?" Asked the changeling.

"Well, I... I... I don't even know," Smolder said confused.

"That's what I mean. Trust me, Smolder, it was me. I'm the mysterious mare who came to you in your dreams and taught you how to be a maid," Ocellus said, looking her friend straight in the eye without fear or doubt.

"So it was you who wanted to seduce me and make me obedient?" The dragon frowned. "And you're the reason I've been pining for lust and desire all these days! How could you?!"

Smolder clenched her fists angrily. She'd finally found her. The Mistress she'd been searching for all this time.

But the feeling of resentment was immediately replaced by an overwhelming happiness.

"Mistress, it's really you! I have found you at last!" Smolder exclaimed with a smile and fell to her knees, kissing Ocellus hooves like a servant to their queen.

"Smolder! Smolder! Wait! That's very sweet, but let me explain something to you first," the changeling said, blushing embarrassed. But the dragoness didn't listen to her and continued to caress her mistress chitin and hooves with her tongue.

"I knew you would come. Knew you would not deceive me. I was a good girl and I did everything you said," Smolder whispered enthusiastically, unable to contain the joy that rippled inside her that was ready to burst out. "Please tell me I've been a good servant. Praise me. Order me to do something. I will do anything. I'll do whatever you say."

"Well, then stop licking my hooves and listen to me for a minute," Ocellus said sternly, and Smolder immediately pulled away from her and sat on the floor, resting her knees on the floor.

"Yes, Mistress," the dragoness said quickly, happy as a little girl.

"Thank you," the changeling said, wiping her wet hoof with the bed Smolder's sheets. "Now I'd like to explain to you why I did it and started sending these dreams. So please listen to me carefully."

"Yes, Mistress, I will do whatever you say," Smolder nodded with a smile.

"So, first I would like to apologize to you and tell you that I never meant to hurt you," Ocellus began to speak.

"Of course, Mistress, you would never do that, because you are the best," Smolder said, looking at her in love.

"Besides, I didn't do it out of self-interest. I mean, I wanted to get something from you, of course, but it had nothing to do with..." the changeling continued with a surprised look at her.

"Yes, Mistress, and you can get anything you want from me," the dragoness whispered as she slipped her hand into her underpants.

"Smolder! Stop that right now!" Ocellus exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Mistress, I forgot that you don't like me touching myself without permission," the dragoness apologized, putting both hands behind her back.

"Oh! You and I are not going to work out that way," the changeling muttered, pressing her hoof to her face.

"What's the matter, Mistress? Have I done something to upset you?" Smolder asked worriedly. "Have I been insufficiently obedient?"

"No, it's not that at all. You've been very obedient (the dragoness smiled happily at those words). It's just that your enthusiasm is preventing me from getting the truth to you, so... eh... I'm afraid I'll have to remove the spell from you. It's the only way I can really talk to you. Just promise me," she swallowed hard, "that you won't attack me when you're back to normal."

"I promise I will never hurt you, Mistress. I live to serve you," Smolder nodded eagerly.

"Good, then let's get started."

And as she approached the draconian, she swung her horn, from which a thin pink haze billowed out, traveling toward Smolder's head and enveloping her completely. As soon as it happened, Smolder felt all the joy that had been raging in her chest disappears. It was as if it had dissolved, vanished. She was no longer blinded by the unbridled rapture that had made her love Ocellus. She no longer felt anything for her at all... except a growing resentment.

"That's it," Ocellus said carefully, stepping back. "I've removed the spell from you, and now we can talk."

"Talk?" Smolder mumbled confusedly, then shook her head and exclaimed loudly: "Talk! To you?! After what you did?!"

She jumped to her paws.

"Yeah, well, you see? I'm..." the changeling said with a startled gasp.

"You wanted to brainwash me! Make me your slave!" Smolder raged.

"No, I'm not! You see, the thing is…" Ocellus tried again to get a word in edgewise.

"Shut up! We have nothing to talk about! You wanted to turn me into a servant! To mock me! But I won't let you do it! And as soon as Principal Twilight gets back here, I'm telling her everything! Now I'm going to go to the teachers. Let them punish you, you treacherous seducer!"

And Smolder headed for the exit.

"Smolder, wait! Please don't do this! Listen to me before you go!" Ocellus begged her, throwing herself at the young dragon's legs.

"No, I will not listen to you. I won't let you brainwash me again."

"I beg you! I know what I did was wrong! Just give me a few minutes! I'm the one who cast a spell on you, even though I might not have," the changeling said, holding her leg.

"Yeah, well, thanks for doing me a favor," the dragon snorted, trying to free her leg from Ocellus' grip and walk to the door. "After she'd cast a spell herself."

"I just wanted to talk to the real you and tell you everything. Don't you want to know the truth? Please let me explain. I promise I won't use any more of my spells and as soon as I'm done, you can go to your teachers right away."

"Oh, all right," the dragon nodded with a frown. "But be careful what you say. Because if I don't like what you have to say, I might even use my claws."

She straightened her skirt and sat down on the bed.

"Well, what do you want to say to me? Are you going to try to justify yourself to me? Or maybe you'll give me a reason not to tell anyone? Or maybe you'll tell me why you did it?" She asked.

"Yes," the changeling nodded affirmatively.

"Is that so? All right, then. I'm listening."

"Because I... I love you," Ocellus replied, blushing thickly.

Smolder stopped frowning and opened her mouth wide.

"You what?!"

"I love you, Smolder," the changeling said it again. "I've loved you since the first day we met. You were so strong, so energetic, so beautiful, I couldn't resist. I've never seen anyone more beautiful than you."

"Really?" the dragon muttered, blushing too. "Is that why you enslaved me? That's bullshit!"

"No, Smolder, it's not. I know it sounds silly, but I wasn't sure if you... well... well, if you liked mares. So I decided to get crafty and use the seduction charms my mom taught me back when she was queen of the hive."

"Chrysalis? She taught you how to get into other's minds?" Smolder said in shock.

"Yes. She told me it was a way to weaken the will of a victim... I mean someone you like, and help them see you at your best. But I wasn't trying to enslave you, I was just afraid you'd be against having an affair with a filly, so I went a little overboard with the charms. I just wanted to loosen your stubborn nature a little and show you how happy you could be as... um... my girlfriend."

"A maid, to be exact," Smolder interjected.

"No! I just wanted you to open up and see that there's nothing wrong with giving in and obeying."

She sighed sadly.

"But then I got carried away. I liked seeing you as a maid, and I... well... got carried away with being Mistress."

Ocellus sat down on the floor, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Even though I knew you'd hate me when it was over."

She lowered her head.

"Yes, I know I screwed up and did worse than my mom when she subjugated Shining. I'm... I'm so ashamed."

She couldn't take it anymore and burst into loud tears.

"Please forgive me!!!" She howled.

Smolder looked at her in surprise. Even though she was still angry, she felt sorry for her friend.

"Well, well, stop making a flood here," she said, leaning slightly toward the roaring changeling.

"No! I can't! You're absolutely right to hate me! I'm horrible!" Ocellus wailed.

"Come on, you're not," said the dragoness.

"Yes, I am!" The changeling said, wiping her reddened eyes with her hoof and looked at Smolder.

"That's the whole truth. Now you can go and tell your teachers about it. I have done so much wrong to you and I must be punished. Go ahead, you can tell them what I've done. I'll take whatever punishment they give me."

Smolder was confused. She wasn't prepared for this turn of events. Nor was she ready for a sudden declaration of love. Even though she'd thought about leaving the room and looking for one of the teachers, she didn't want to do that now. If she told them what had happened, what would they do to Ocellus? Expelled from the school? Send her to Tartarus? Or do something worse?

She pictured her weeping friend being taken to the city garden, where a trio of frozen villains stood, and turned to stone, too, and the image made the dragoness sick to her stomach. Yes, Ocellus had done a terrible thing, but she didn't deserve such a harsh punishment. Not like this.

"No, I won't tell them anything," she finally said. "I don't want you to be punished."

"What?" the changeling sobbed. "But I bewitched you; I took away your will."

"Yes, and by dragon standards, I committed a terrible crime, one that many would want to burn you for. But I'm not like the others and I won't give you up."

"You won't?" Ocellus said with renewed hope and immediately rushed to the dragoness and hugged her. "Thank you, thank you, Smolder! I can't thank you enough!"

But after a moment she pulled away from her and lowered her gaze.

"And yet, now that you know everything, I can't stay here. After what's happened, you're not likely to want to be friends with me."

She brushed the tears from her eyes and headed for her wardrobe, telekinetically retrieving her bag from it.

"That's why it would be best if we weren't roommates anymore. I'll ask Principal Twilight to move me somewhere else, or maybe I'll leave here altogether. I don't deserve to go to Friendship School. I betrayed it."

And she began to slowly pull out and put away her things while Smolder watched her, trying to process what had happened in her head. She didn't know if she should be angry that her best friend wanted to subjugate her, or sympathize with her because her life had been ruined. She was also a little embarrassed, not because of Ocellus' confession, but because she felt something for her in turn. She remembered how often her friend had helped her when she couldn't learn something, or covered for her when the dragon was late for class, and how they had danced together that evening. They were so good in each other's company.

"So Ocellus has been in love with me all this time and because of love she did this crazy thing?" She said mentally, looking at her friend.

Smolder rubbed her shoulder in embarrassment and then walked over to Ocellus and touched her leg.

"Wait. You don't have to go anywhere," she said.

"I don't? But I've done terrible things, I've taken away your will, I've deceived you, I've..."

Smolder's claw touched her mouth.

"Yes, yes, you were selfish enough to want what you liked. You went to unthinkable lengths and risked everything to get it. Just... like a real dragon."

She took Ocellus' front leg and held it against her.

"I don't understand. What do you mean?" The changeling asked, confused.

"That I love you too, silly."

"Love me? B-but... I did the wrong thing, didn't I? I disappointed you."

"No, you didn't. I don't blame you for what you did. A lot of us can get a little crazy sometimes. Especially when we strive for things that seem unattainable."

She walked over to the changeling and to her (and her own) surprise, gently kissed right on the lips.

Ocellus rounded her eyes. Her ears drooped and a bright blush appeared on her cheeks.

"And then, I even liked your charms," Smolder whispered after the kiss.

"Really?" Ocellus asked.

"Really. I know it's hard to explain, but I liked feeling weak and driven. I liked not being like other dragons. From an early age, we're taught to be rude and cruel. To take what we want from the weak, and to treat no one with respect. Except I never liked that. I didn't like to be brash and mean and take on everyone. I wanted to be fragile and delicate, and you helped me feel that."

She touched her paw to Ocellus' cheek and ran it along it.

"Also, you were right."

"About what?" The changeling asked.

"The night you gave me the dress and told me that the life of a maid was so much better than wandering mindlessly in the mountains or sleeping in a cave. I don't want that, I don't want to live like that. I want to..."

She took a deep breath before continuing.

"I want to be pretty and graceful. I want to wear dresses and wear makeup. I also want to be obedient. And meek. Your charms captivated me so easily for a reason. I always wanted to be with someone strong who could take care of me and protect me. Someone like you."

Ocellus listened to her, mouth open in surprise.

"And now you've given me what I've dreamed of all my life but were afraid to admit. Thank you."

She was silent again for a moment, and then, gathering her courage, continued.

"So I don't mind at all if you want to be my girlfriend. If you don't mind, of course," she finished, her head lowered in embarrassment.

Changeling stared at her for a few seconds, stunned, not saying a word. For several long and seemingly interminable seconds this tense silence lasted, until she suddenly jumped on top of Smolder and showered her with kisses.

"Yes, Smolder! Yes! Yes! I want it! I love you so much!"

And they kissed again, embracing each other.

"Well, great," the dragoness said, a little confused. "Then I think we should continue to be roommates, and..."

She looked at her bed.

"Spend time together sometimes. As a couple."

"Yes, like two girls who love each other," Ocellus said cheerfully.

And then a sly smile appeared on her face.

"What's stopping us from doing it now?" She asked.

"Now? After everything that happened?" Smolder said, blushing slightly.

"Of course! I think this is the best opportunity to start our relationship and open up to each other."

"Well, I don't mind. But can I ask you something?" The dragon whispered softly.

"Of course, you can ask anything you want," the changeling said eagerly.

"Would you mind being my mistress again?" Smolder said.

Instead of answering, Ocellus stepped closer to her and dropped her back onto the bed with a shove.

"Of course. It can't be otherwise. After all, I am the hereditary princess of the hive, and I will always be in charge," she said, climbing on top of the dragoness and eliciting a slight moan from her.

"We have a whole night ahead of us, so let's make it a memorable one," she whispered in Smolder's ear and then kissed her soundly.

Author's Note

Wow, that was a tough conversation between Smolder and Ocellus. They almost broke up completely, but in the end they were able to make up and become a couple despite all the difficulties. That's so wonderful