//------------------------------//
// The Encounter 
// Story: Surrender 
// by TempesttheDragnix 
//------------------------------//

Twilight hurried her slow trot to a jog as the sun dipped towards the horizon. It was almost night, and she still hadn’t made it back from Zecora’s hut. There was no way she could make it to Ponyville in time, and she needed to find shelter, fast. There was a cave up ahead, large enough for her to enter, but too small for any predators to follow her in. Perfect. She quickly slipped into the cavern and lit her horn, feeling unsettled by the darkness around her. 
Suddenly she jumped, thinking she heard somepony sighing behind her. When she swiveled around to face the threat, however, nothing was there. Just my imagination, she thought. Nothing to worry about. Twilight turned back around and headed deeper into the cave, her fear growing with every step.
“Hello? Any scary monsters in here I need to worry about?” she asked, half to keep her mind off the shadows around her, which seemed to be crowding in from the cave walls, constricting her. 
“No. Just a lonely one.” Twilight jumped at the voice, which seemed to come from everywhere at once. She turned around to see a pair of pale green eyes staring back at her from the darkness. 
“W-who are you?” She asked, backing away. “I-I know battle magic, so don’t think of trying to attack.” Even to her ears, the threat sounded weak.
“Don’t worry, there’s no need.” The voice sounded gentle, kind even. Twilight turned back to the strange green eyes, which were glowing gently in the dark cave. Those eyes were so sad and so lonely, and they seemed to draw Twilight’s gaze. As she stared, she felt a sense of calm come over her. Why was she ever afraid of this being? It obviously just wanted somepony to keep it company. 
Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts by a tendril of shadow wrapping around her left hind leg. She yelped and jerked her hoof away, backing away from the shadows. But she stopped when the Voice spoke again, its tone soothing and trustable.
“What’s the matter? Do you not like my shadows? Do they scare you? I assure you, little pony, there’s nothing to be scared of.”
Those last few words were authorative, and leaking with magic. The being’s eyes moved until they were in front of her, and starting gently glowing again. Twilight felt herself relaxing slightly, and the shadows no longer seemed threatening. In fact, they were welcoming, inviting. There was nothing to be afraid of, not if the Voice said she was safe. A few tendrils of darkness again broke off from the rest and wrapped themselves around her legs, pushing them gently together. That seemed like it should be odd- shadows couldn’t touch or move things- but Twilight was so caught up in the green eyes glowing ever brighter to care.
“That’s it,” the voice said, the words changing from soothing to hypnotic. “Just relax. Just let all of your fear and doubt melt away. Look ever deeper into my eyes, and let yourself drift, let yourself get more and more relaxed, until you’re too tired to even think.”
That was right. Relax. Drift. Let the glowing eyes take her. Twilight could barely feel her body anymore, and was only faintly aware of some sort of pressure cocooning her in a cool, comfortable blanket.
The voice continued its soft chant of suggestions. “Close your eyes, little pony. Clear your mind of all thoughts. Let your will slip away with your tension, and let me do all the thinking for you. After all, you’re so tired. You don’t want to think, don’t want to fight. You just want to sink deeper, to let me have control.”
Twilight was so sleepy at this point that she didn’t even register what the Voice was saying. All she knew was that her mind was becoming increasingly empty. She had no thoughts of her own, only the ones the Voice was speaking to her. But she didn’t mind. In fact, she wanted her thoughts, her will to fade, wanted them to be replaced by the Voice and its words.
The being in the shadows let out an evil chuckle, feeling proud of itself. This naïve little pony had fallen so easily. It would be no problem turning her into a toy. Sometimes life got so boring in this forest. It would be a real treat to have a plaything to keep her company. The pony was already under its control, now it just needed to make sure she would stay that way.
“Just keep sinking deeper and deeper. Let your mind become absolutely blank. You have no thoughts, no opinions, no memories, no name, no personality. You only have me. And you want to please me. You love it when I tell you to do something, and you love obeying. It makes you happy to obey. Repeat after me, my pet: ‘It makes me happy to obey.’”
“It makes me happy to obey,” the pony repeated, knowing that it was true. She was nothing without the Voice, and whatever it said was absolutely true.
“Good. Now, pet, I want you to open your eyes.”
The pony’s eyes opened.
“Look around you at the darkness. You love this darkness. You want to be wrapped in it constantly, and the darker it is around you, the more obedient you are. Is that clear?”
The pony nodded, happy to agree with the Voice.
“Good. Now I’m going to test my level of control. When I tell you to do something, do it. Now, sit down.”
She obediently sat.
“Stand up… walk around… bow… lie on the ground… now stand back up again… good. Now, my pet, I’m going to release my control on you. You will not remember anything that happened while you were under my control, and you will be exactly as you were before you met me. However, once a night, you will come to this cave and wait for me to appear. Once you see my eyes, you will become my toy again. Then we can really have some fun. Now then, wake up.”
Twilight blinked open her eyes in time to see what she thought was a pair of eyes closing. She looked outside to find that it was almost daybreak. Huh, must have fallen asleep. Taking one last look around the cave, she stepped out of it and headed back towards Ponyville, unaware of the pale green eyes watching her from the cavern’s depths.