At last, I can finally get back to the business of mind control. I received a memo from Anastasiya that the testing grounds are complete with coordinates. Upon teleporting to her, I am greeted by a landscape of rolling hills. Anastasiya is there, and, after showing proper deference, she presents me with a diagram laid out on a table with what she has set up.

10 cells at 1-mile intervals (as the crow flies), each with 5 test subjects. 20 miles away is a second testing ground with the same arrangement of subjects. Additionally, there are a few special cells in each setup whereby I may test more irregular casting situations. For each grounds, there is a cell at high elevation, an enclosed cell within a Fair Day cage, and an underground cell. From our vantage point atop a hill, I am able to spot the first, second, and third mile markers for the cells, but the others escape my vision. Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) casting will be important.

I have formalized my mind control spell and algorithmically described it in preparation for conversion to an area-of-effect spell. Previously, I had individually fiddled with the individual souls I was casting on. I was wary of personalizing each casting too much due to the goal of creating a universal spell, but that doesn’t mean I was perfectly consistent. This will be a test if my generic version has mass applicability. I believe it will, but there may be exceptional circumstances which will reveal themselves in time.

There are two kinds of area of effect spells. The first is modeled as a point charge where strength of the spell follows an inverse-square distribution. Generally, spells are modeled as a function applied over reality, where a coefficient multiplied to the function determines strength. In the case of, say, Mildgyd’s Magnet, the force applied to metals is the strength which decreases from the point of cast. A piece of metal placed near the point of cast will accelerate to a higher final velocity than a piece of metal placed further from the point of cast.

The second kind of area of effect spell is the field-based model, where a uniform field is cast over an area. Unlike the point-charge model, these spells can take the form of any shape, though it usually works better to use geometry that is easy to visualize. Take the standard shield spell; it is generally cast in a spherical shell. Within the field, the strength of the spell function is equal, which is apparent in spells like Decay where rust forms at the same rate across the effective area.

Which model to base my mind control spell on, however, is still up for debate, hence the two testing grounds. In the case of the point-charge, I would cast the spell at a specific point where strength would then decrease over distance. Mana-wise, this is the much cheaper method of casting. The question is how potent the effectiveness will be over a distance, and how the lower strength version will affect creatures.

For the emotional components of the spell, that’s easy to determine. The function I have designed changes emotion proportionally based on strength, so creatures further away will have a lower level of positive sentiment towards me. The semantic components are less predictable though. Adding a semantic association is not a continuous function like emotion, but rather discrete. Classical spell theory states that discrete spell functions encounter what is sometimes called the fabric of reality. If the spell function has a high enough strength coefficient, its effect occurs. If the spell does not have a high enough strength to overcome the fabric of reality, its effect does not apply. There is no proportional relationship, merely a question of if it passed the limit or not.

The issue becomes, then, measuring the fabric’s strength. Different spells encounter different levels of resistance, and, as I understand it, for my mind control spell, each semantic association will have a slightly different fabric strength to contend with. This test will serve as a good measurement for which fabric strengths dominate.

The other upside besides mana cost when it comes to the point charge is easier BVLOS casting. If I cast the spell at my altitude, the spell’s influence will end at the horizon, which, at sea level, is about 2 miles away. However, if I cast the spell in the air, I can affect a large area beyond the normal horizon without having to change the spell at all.

In the case of the field-based model, I would conjure a region of reality where my spell takes effect. The upside here is a uniform application of the spell, which leads to uniform results. The downside is that, due to the first law of magical dynamics, I don’t get that energy for free and have to use significantly more mana to apply the function over an area rather than a point. BVLOS casting with areas also requires much more thought to maintain the mental structure of the area.

There also lies the question of what shape to make the field. The world is not entirely composed of flat terrain, so I would have to make a shape which extends into the ground and into the air relative to the local terrain in order to guarantee results. If I were to travel by train, mind controlling a nation as I moved through it, the best result may come from a thin and tall rectangular prism perpendicular to the train. Moving along the tracks, the thinness would not matter, as every location near them would be affected at some point. A problem for later. Today, my concern is with effectiveness. Once that has been determined, then I can work on optimization.

I will start with the point charge method. I’ll cast the charge at an altitude of approximately 500 feet, which should provide enough range to cover the entire test range. Applying my generic mind control spell function onto the point-charge structure, I will the spell to take effect at my chosen position with a power level that should allow me to observe the effect of the decrease in strength over distance. There is no visual effect beyond the glow of my antlers, but I am able to sense the emission of psionic energy propagating through the air. To prevent my own soul from being affected, I cast a shield spell that blocks the incoming magic.

I just now realize that this means that Anastasiya will be affected too. I look to her to see a somewhat apprehensive face looking upwards. I understand her feeling. Even though she already serves me, anycreature would be afraid to come under the effect of mind control. The spell’s effect is obvious as her fearful expression slowly returns to normalcy, and then what could perhaps be identified as contentedness.

The inspections at the cells at the first, second, and third mile mark were uneventful. The spell went as planned with the ponies in the cells greeting me on their knees. The fourth mile mark is where things began to get interesting. Upon teleporting Anastasiya and I to the cells, I noted 4 out of 5 ponies obviously got the full effect of the spell, but for the fifth one, a male unicorn, it was less clear. When I appeared before them, there was some whispering and surprise at my arrival. 4 moved to bow, while the fifth looked oddly at the others, hesitating before joining in. I questioned him regarding this, but it was clear his fear of being punished prevented him from speaking his true thoughts.

Entering his mind directly, I can better observe the effects of the spell. According to his memory, the 5 ponies in the cell didn’t notice when the spell went off besides a bit of an “off” feeling. It took the 4 fully affected ponies a few moments to realize their new loyalties, but the fifth noticed he did not think the same. Apparently, the four began to share in their new identity under me, and the fifth made non-committal responses when questioned. However, when he participated with them, the emotional response from the spell was still present. The discrete, semantic parts of the spell did not fully take hold, but the emotional, continuous parts did.

It seems he is experiencing something like one of my test subjects from last week did. While these five seem to know they have changed, none have said the term “mind control” out loud. I bring it up to the unicorn, and he has a flash of terror in his eyes before he tries to hide it. He doesn’t know I’ve been in his mind and know of his conflict. I wonder why he is relatively calm about the situation compared to the previous test subject with this condition whose first instinct was to hit herself in the head.

Is it that this pony is more tactical and manipulative? Is it that he is just less put off by the situation? While those could be factors, I believe it mostly has to do with the social dynamics of the different situations. Previously, I was personally interacting with the subject, and she was on display for a group of free-willed ponies. Here, this subject is amongst those loyal to me, and has already been trying to blend in. There is a clear social pressure to keep his true conflict hidden, and combined with a well-placed fear of bodily injury from myself or the loyal ponies, he’s acting rationally.

The social dynamics are also likely why they didn't mention mind control in their conversations with each other before I arrived. Mind control is still seen as a morally bad thing, and associating a bad thing with me in a conversation with other loyalists could be damaging to one’s reputation and body. I would imagine that, in contrast to these random prisoners, those with tight bonds would be able to bring it up with each other.

I tell him not to fear his thoughts and that he’ll feel better soon. I believe that, with enough time faking it, the existing emotional response will add semantic information to the existing nondeclarative memories. My words of comfort seem to unsettle him as he realizes what they mean.

The next cell followed the trend of spell effect degradation. What is interesting though, is how that didn’t change the social dynamics between the ponies. At mile 5, 3 ponies did not have full semantic information embedded, but the confidence of the other 2 caused them to feel like they had to conform.

Arriving at mile 6, I immediately spot an interesting sight. Three of them are plugging their ears with one even banging her head against the cell bars. The fourth and fifth are sitting next to each other, with one looking conflicted while the other speaks my praises to him. Fascinating. Noticing my presence, the one clearly fully affected by my spell, an earth pony mare, stops talking and approaches the edge of the cell seemingly just to behold me.

After complimenting and showing me deference, the mare explains that she was trying to help the others accept me, but that only the one stallion showed any signs of openness to the idea. The stallion she referred to blushed at the idea, perhaps out of some notion of guilt or shame. He gives me a respectful head nod, but that’s it.

Meanwhile, the others plugging their ears look more afraid than ever. One was on the side of the cell closest to me when I arrived, and he has now gone to the other side and closed his eyes. The mare banging her head on the bars, just noticing me now, stops for a moment. It looks like she doesn’t like what she thought when she saw me, and she screams before returning to attempting to give herself a concussion.

It seems that, with only one pony out of five fully under my control, the incentive dynamic to fit in was not as powerful, and the others, the second pony excluded, felt they had enough reason to simply try and block my words out. It would be of no surprise to me that, if they didn’t cover their ears, they could easily fall under my sway just from hearing the first earth pony talk about me. I theorize that that is what they started thinking after the spell came down, and thus have been trying to protect themselves ever since.

I teleport us to the cell at the seventh mile, and this time, do not immediately notice any movement. In the cell, all five sit in silence, nervously not making eye contact with each other. As I near, there is a clear shift as 4 of them move away from me. Only one remains. She also looks afraid, but not as much as the other ponies.

I ask her why the others are acting as they are. Stumbling over her words, she says the others are “feeling strange” about me and are feeling very uncomfortable about that fact. I then bring the question to herself, and she pauses, unsure of whether she should answer. She says she also feels positively about me despite the fact the army killed her father last week, but that it isn’t strong enough to worry about and that she is able to ignore it. I appreciate the candor. My observation is that, without at least one pony fully affected bringing me up, these partially affected ponies can keep off the topic and mostly ignore it without having to erase their own memories the hard way. I would also associate the more tepid response with the weaker emotional association that is created this far out from the point of cast.

Cells at miles 8 through 10 continue the trend. At cell 9, the majority unaffected ponies console the lone pony emotionally affected. Cell 10 didn’t even know the test happened. It seems that the mana I used to cast the spell was rather accurate for gauging the different levels of reactions.

The cell at high elevation was 100% fully affected despite being at the 5-mile mark due to the increased vertical proximity. I was curious to see the effect on the ponies in the cell that was in a Fair Day cage. While the pegasus Fair Day invented his namesake cage to block out electromagnetic radiation, he discovered later in life that a difference in material can cause a mesh to also block out magic. I had Anastasiya construct a crude one from rock. Stone is well known for its ability to store magic, and I have found the rock in Barrad to be quite potent. Unfortunately for me, the cage did work, and the 5 ponies in the cage were just like those at the 10-mile mark.

The final cell at this grounds was the underground one, and I instructed Anastasiya to keep these at least near a cave entrance to have some hope of being affected. As I expected, the ponies were affected far less than their raw distance would suggest with only 1 fully affected pony at a distance of 5 miles. The dynamic was similar to the other cell like it, but this pony was apparently more charismatic, as he was preaching about me to the rest, none of whom were trying to plug their ears this time.

What I do like about this method is its mana-efficiency. While the social dynamics help, what I do not like about this method is the amount of, for lack of a better word, nutcases it creates. I dislike their unpredictability and extreme behaviors. Even the unaffected ponies were at least calm, but these partially affected ponies seem to have a high chance to perform self-harming behaviors, which are not ideal for soldiers and factory workers. I could recast the spell multiple times over overlapping areas, but that merely mitigates the issue rather than solve it.

I teleport myself and Anastasiya to the second testing ground. She gives me a map which covers the locations of the next set of cages, and I begin to form the region for my field-based version of the spell. I choose a rectangular prism with a width slightly larger from the largest deviation from the crow-flies line in the middle of the layers of cells. For height, I visually estimate the height of the hill we are on and mimic it. I make the length of the prism extend the full 10 miles.

Casting a spell with such a large volume of influence and complex spell function takes a lot of mana, especially when most of the region is out of my sight. A lot of the region of influence is also wasted as much of it is, for example, empty air or in the middle of a hill. However, this should guarantee full application on everyone in the region. I hold it for a few seconds for the spell function to apply to everycreature in the prism. Upon completion, I release my hold on the region, causing the spell to dissipate. I then teleport the two of us to the first cell to begin collecting data.

While the spell mostly worked as expected with full application on all 50 subjects with little of note in regard to the spell, I do want to document the most hilarious interaction I had with the subjects at the 6th mile cell. I arrived at the scene of a fierce argument between the 5 subjects in the cell. At first, I was worried that the spell function didn’t have enough time to work on one of the subjects, but what revealed itself was much funnier.

When one pony saw me, he called on everyone to shut up and kneel to me, their goddess. He and two others did so immediately, one hesitated before complying, and the last one stood defiantly before me.

He looked me right in the eye and said so confidently, “I only kneel for Viira Lehtola, and you’re not her.”

I’ll admit that I was more than a little amused, so I asked him who he thought Viira was. Hilariously, he responded that he didn’t know, but that he was pretty sure Viira was a unicorn or a kirin or some race that had magic. He then said he knew for certain I wasn’t Viira because Viira couldn’t be a deer because deer don’t have magic. The secondhand embarrassment from the ones kneeling was palpable.

I asked them if this is what they were arguing about, and, as it turns out, it was. The three who knelt immediately all had familiarity of me either from following the news or being affected by the purge. The other two had been in their prisons for a while, and they still hadn’t heard of me. Thus, when my spell came down, their lives were rewritten to serve someone they didn’t even know. The one that hesitated was at least partially convinced, but couldn’t be sure, while this final stallion still didn't get it.

I asked Anastasiya where she found this fine specimen of ignorance. She looked through her notebook and found he was a minor noble’s son arrested for assault outside his mother’s lands. Just educated enough to be confident in his knowledge, but not educated enough to actually know anything. It does explain the confidence, I suppose.

Though this encounter was entertaining, it is demonstrative of an issue I will have to address. This incident will likely be repeated as I cast the spell across lands far from Viirad. Perhaps once I have conquered Griffonia creatures will know who I am because their governments will make a point to inform their citizens of the coming threat, but before then, I am certain I will be mind controlling many more isolated communities and ignorant individuals who will not know who I am. It would not do to have civil wars break out in my name due to misinformation about who I am, so I will have to make sure I have a well-established media presence so those I conquer will know who to kneel to.

As for this one, I decided to take a quick trip through his soul to implant my identity into his mind. His 180 degree turn from denouncing me to groveling before me, begging for forgiveness was quite gratifying.

An inspection of the high elevation and underground cells showed the region did not reach either, as I expected. It simply takes too much mana and effort to maintain a spell over a region that large, and I plan to do this for extended periods of time. The Fair Day cage, however, was ineffective at blocking my magic, as the field permeated throughout the region rather than traveling as a wave.

In the end, there is no perfect option. I could travel the nation unleashing point charges, but I would likely create many mentally damaged creatures on the periphery. Because of this downside, I believe I will have to go with the field-based method. It is, importantly, consistent. I will have to spend a lot more mana which means the process will take more time as I will have to rest, but I believe the quality improvement will be worth the additional cost.

I instruct Anastasiya to deal with the test subjects, and I teleport back home to my tower. With a spell made, I now have a nationwide tour to plan.

Author's Note

Whoops, had to invent a theory of magic there. I was going to include equations before realizing I got lost in the sauce.

The two-mile horizon is based on the half-radius planet. On Earth, the horizon is 3 miles away.

I do enjoy the Fair Day / Faraday pun.