Tranced

Tranced

Chapter 1 - Moving In(Butterbell)

"Okay, stop here," I instructed to the stallions. "Here's a tip."

The stallions neighed, pleased with their tip. I headed off to the house I was supposed to go to, dragging my luggage along.

After staying in Baltimare for a few years, I had decided to move. My mother had encouraged me to travel the world and explore. I decided to start in Ponyville.

A pink pony was trotting down the street.

"Excuse me," I asked her. "Do you know where 305 Carrot Avenue is?"

"Yep! Follow me! I'm Pinkie Pie, by the way! What's your name? What's your cutie mark represent? Why do you want to visit 305 Carrot Avenue?"

I memorized each question and responded in the corresponding order. "Butterbell. That's classified. I'm moving there."

Pinkie Pie started bouncing happily. "Yay! A new neighbor! Where did you live before moving here? What was it like? Why is your cutie mark classified?"

I responded in the same way, "Baltimare. It was a nice place, but I wanted to see a bit more of the world. I don't want to talk about it."

My cutie mark was a purple spiral. Most would wonder what this stood for. I'll get to that later.

"I'll have Twilight give you a tour! Oh, here we are!" Pinkie Pie came to a halt at 305 Carrot Avenue. "I'll see you later!"

I waved bye. Then I unpacked.

A few minutes after I had set up everything, somepony knocked on the door.

I opened it. A purple unicorn with a darker purple mane was there.

"Hi! I heard we had a new neighbor, and I thought you might want to learn a bit about Ponyville. I'm Twilight Sparkle. Pleased to meet you," she said.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," I replied, shaking her hoof.

"I'll give you a tour," Twilight Sparkle said. "Follow me."

Since I see no need to go over boring details, Twilight showed me the basic places like Sugarcube Corner and Sweet Apple Acres.

"Well, since you probably want to go back to your home now, I'll let you go! Have a nice day!"

I bid my farewell. "Goodbye!"

I arrived at my house and took a rest on the couch. I started reading a Daring Do book, my favorite series.

Ten minutes later, someone knocked on the door. People here must enjoy neighbors, I thought to myself.

I opened it. A yellow pony with a pink mane was there. I remembered her - Fluttershy.

"Hello," I said. "Fluttershy, right?"

The pony nodded shyly. "I'm from earlier, remember? I ran away and hid in the bush."

"Well, come in," I requested. "Have a seat."

Fluttershy seemed really shy. I decided to fix this.

Now, to tell you a bit about my cutie mark.

My special talent is hypnosis. I've dreamed of being a hypnotist since I was young, and received my cutie mark when I successfully hypnotized a pony to act like a chicken. I decided to help Fluttershy overcome her shyness.

"Fluttershy, do you like my couch?" I tried to engage in conversation.

"Oh, yes. It's relaxing," Fluttershy replied. I chuckled to myself. This would be easy.

"Very relaxing?"

"Yes." Fluttershy's body seemed to slump into the couch.

"Could you do me a favor and stare at this?" I took out a crystal.

"Sure," Fluttershy responded as she stared at the spinning crystal.

"Fluttershy, are you tired?" I asked nonchalantly. I couldn't slip up, otherwise this wouldn't work.

"Yes," Fluttershy replied. Her voice was getting flat.

"Well, you may need to close your eyes. Just let them get heavier with each word I say."

I waited a bit before going on.

"I'll count to 3, and on 3, you will fall into trance. 1, 2, 3!"

I could tell that Fluttershy was under my power. I decided to do a test before actually attempting the confidence.

"I command you to dance. An Irish jig, maybe?"

Fluttershy was doing a perfectly executed Irish folkdance in a matter of seconds.

"Stop."

Fluttershy slumped back onto the couch.

I decided to try boosting her self-confidence now.

"I'll count to 3 again, and when I reach 3, you will wake up and forget that I ever hypnotized you. Whenever you feel shy, the shyness is replaced by self-confidence. 1, 2, 3!"

Fluttershy's eyes - well, fluttered - open. "It was nice staying with you."

I noticed that her voice wasn't the quiet voice - it was a socially engaged voice. An excited voice.

"See you later!" I waved as she left.

I took out my book, making sure that the bookmark was there, then continued reading.

Two evil ponies watched from the shadows.

"When is she ours?" one hissed in a raspy voice.

"Soon. Don't be impatient Impatience is our weakness. We were defeated before because of it," the leader said in the same voice as the other pony, except much more intimidating. "It will not happen again."

"But how will we take her?" the minion demanded. "She resisted us."

"That's because I wasn't doing the job!" the leader snapped, losing his patience. "If I had done it, I'm sure that I could have taken her!"

"Either way, what if she resists?"

The leader's eyes flashed. "We'll have to resort to... Plan Zeta."

The minion gasped. "Plan Zeta? But that's for emergencies!"

"Are you questioning me?" the leader said in a cool tone of voice.

The minion gulped. "No, sir! Not at all!"

The leader observed Butterbell. "We won't take her first. We'll start minor."