Upon waking today, I decided to get a head start on the business of mind control before returning to the affairs of state. I spoke to Aethelflaed and tasked her with finding me a permanent pool of test subjects, the first of whom I will need delivered by sunset tomorrow. She has an idea of getting subjects from jails, which does seem like a good idea. This way, I won’t have to deal with children or the loyal. I suppose one who is loyal to me could commit a petty crime or similar, but I have confidence in Aethelflaed’s ability to filter those out.

Yesterday’s forays into memory taught me much about the structure of memory and have revealed to me at least 4 axes in which to try to work from: episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory, and personality.

To control a creature through its episodic memory, the easiest method would be the full erasure method I tried yesterday. Without experience to rely on, the ponies were forced to accept the information they were told. This is not a foolproof solution, as I noted that while I made some ponies forget how they were brought to my lab, they did not lose their distrust of me, as that information is semantic. With a little semantic erasure as well, it would be easy to create gullible fools. My objective, however, is not to create fools, as I require slaves who are engineers and researchers. Furthermore, episodic memory contains valuable information a slave can use to be of better use to me, so I believe erasure is not the correct course of action.

If control through the erasure of episodic memory is not widely applicable, perhaps the inverse is. I could implant episodic memories of, say, a lifetime of serving me. The issue here becomes generating these false memories and ensuring they are not identified as such. I believe I could copy or at least transplant the memories from one of my housemaids into a farmpony, but it I would not be surprised if it led to strange effects. If I were to overwrite the memories within the target, I could feasibly “clone” one of my maids, but I don’t need more maids. If I were to merely add the memories, I suspect the identity of the original subject would identify the memories as foreign, and thus not accept the behaviors within them.

Identity is an interesting concept. There was no “identity” pattern I could find when erasing the memories of ponies yesterday. It seems to primarily consist of semantic data about who they are, but personality and procedural memories can provide some semblance of what the common creature might also refer to as identity. Episodic memories also contribute to the concept. Even if I were to overwrite the episodic memories of a subject, it is possible that the memories of their identity would cause them to still resist me. For example, if I overwrite the memories of the pony, they may remember they are a pony (as well as observing it) and reject the memories of my deer servant as somecreature else’s.

Tampering with semantic memories seems to be the most promising route. Semantic memories include personal information like what the creature worships, associations like “fire bad” and “money good”, and also general knowledge like how to do long division. While associations are here, I noticed that emotional responses are actually housed more in procedural memory and personality. It seems for each of these categories, the best way to think of how to approach my spell is to consider what I will remove and what I will add.

For removal, negative associations with me are an obvious low-hanging fruit. Negative forms of self-identification towards me (i.e ideas like “I am not Viiradian”) are probably also a good bet to remove. Beyond that, however, I believe I must tread with caution. While it may initially sound correct to remove thoughts critical to my rule or with positive self-identification towards other groups, I worry about the possible downstream repercussions. If I were to erase negative feelings towards how I do things, how can my rule improve? If their complaints are valid, I do want them to inform me and contribute to fixing the issues. I am both great and powerful, but I am not so prideful to think myself infallible. At least not yet.

Positive self-identification towards other groups could cause similar issues. While removing national identity could be useful in pacifying occupied territories, other identities are less useful to remove. If I were to erase a stallion’s belief in their responsibilities as a father of a foal, yes that would prevent him from trying to protect his child from me killing them but may also leave a child abandoned. This child would then not be able to serve me. A secondary mandate to foster a child as part of service to me would likely be less powerful than the already in-built societal responsibility to care for one’s offspring. I should try and take advantage of these premade societal roles to minimize the amount of society rebuilding I will have to do in each conquered land.

Adding semantic information is where things seem most powerful to me. By adding positive associations with me, creatures will be inclined to make the logic work in my favor. I need not remove a worship of Boreas or Celestia as they will understand that I am more important than either of them. I would like to test this first as there are many ways in which I can add this association, and some may not be enough for the target to justify to themselves obeying any command I could ask.

Procedural memory seems the least useful to me. I would prefer to keep skills untouched so that creatures may use them in service to me, but some other aspects of this type of memory could be on the table. Procedural memory contains associations related to actions in response to stimuli. While mostly minor, there are certain associations that could be a danger to me. Primal responses of fear or self-defense instincts could be annoying to deal with. I don’t want a situation where a pony cannot fulfill one of my commands because they are too scared to. However, there is a very delicate balance to achieve where if I remove all fear, they will act with undue risk. I will avoid these memories unless necessary.

Personality promises benefits similar to that of semantic memory as much of identity is also stored here. Personality encompasses things irrelevant to me like how creatures emote and their vocal inflections, but it also includes emotional responses to associations. A purely semantic association of me as their goddess does not necessarily translate to action and may prove inadequate. I don’t need to elaborate on the number of nations and griffons that nominally claim fealty to Grover VI but do nothing for him or are not motivated by that fact. By combining semantic fact with strong emotional responses, creatures will be more likely to be driven to proactive action in my service.

Are there, however, problematic personality elements that I should remove? Negative feelings towards being mind controlled are one idea. In a primarily semantic spell with some personality alteration, it is possible that creatures will be willing to justify anything for my sake, but negative emotion can be a powerful force. Testing will be the only way to be sure if this is necessary.

I do recall one major event of personality alteration occurring on a mass scale. There was a news story in Equestria a few years back about an incident where two of the princesses and many members of a town came under the effects of the water of a cursed hot spring. According to the article I read, aspects of their personalities were amplified, causing major disruption. Luna is said to have transformed back into Nightmare Moon temporarily whereas Twilight Sparkle attempted to implement a technocratic, authoritarian reign.

I do not believe a primarily nondeclarative approach to mind control is the right approach. Unlike memory magic that affects episodic and semantic memory, active emotional manipulation is both a well-developed field and notoriously messy. The “Want it, Need it” spell is the most famous example, of course, but love potions are also famous for causing all sorts of issues. On the topic of love, I’d categorize the Equestrian princess Cadence’s supposed specialty of love magic as emotional manipulation, and thus a form of active mind control, but I’m sure they would have a more flowery description. I suspect, therefore, that my passive soul alteration methods would have similar results if primarily nondeclarative.

This analysis bodes well for my test subjects tomorrow. A primarily additive semantic approach with a side of positive emotional association appears to be the best approach, but only real data can prove or disprove this hypothesis. I, unfortunately, must conclude here for now, as I must oversee the construction of two new gun factories - one for rifles and one for artillery. Viirad is undergoing a general rearmament for the coming invasion of Kasa, and my soon-to-be slaves will need weapons to wield.

Author's Note

Ponies of Dark Water reference!