Spiral Swirl's Encounter

by Juke Denton

Chapter 6

The sound of birds chirped in the background as the two siblings and their pony companion were traveling through the woods back to the children’s home. Their walk was uneventful and mostly quiet with only the beautiful weather and calm wind to accompany them.

The trio soon arrived back at the house just as the sun was beginning to go down. Maddie and Joey made their way through the backdoor with Spiral close behind them. After closing the backdoor and making sure it was locked, the young children shouted, “Mom? Dad? We’re home!”

“Hi Maddie! Hi Joey! I’m almost finished with prepping up dinner!” The children’s mother shouted back as the siblings went to put their towels in the laundry room, the picnic basket away and wash their hands for supper. Spiral meanwhile went to the kitchen to see what the mother was cooking up for tonight.

As she entered the kitchen, Spiral could smell something pleasant and delicious coming from the oven as she asked Maddie and Joey’s mother, “What’s that wonderful smell?”

The mother jumped at the question and looked to see the teal unicorn look up at her with enquiring eyes and said, “Oh! Spiral. I thought you might be with Maddie and Joey. As for what I’m cooking up, it’s pizza.”

“Pizza?” The pony questioned at the very sound of it. “I’ve never heard of this ‘pizza’ before. What is it?”

The mother smiled at the doctor and said to her, “To put it simply, it’s a type of flatbread topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese and cooked in an oven, but you can also add other toppings like meat, veggies, and other types of cheese. It’s a delicacy most people enjoy and it’s one of Maddie and Joey’s favorite dishes I cook up for them.”

“It certainly sounds delicious.” The mare said as she continued to inhale the smell of bread, sauce, and cheese coming together in an irresistible flavor that would make anyone (or in this case anypony’s) mouth water over. “Would I be able to try some?” She asked in a polite tone, hoping the mother would let her.

“Of course!” The mother answered back. “I have one pizza cooking especially for you. I didn’t know what kind of toppings you might have wanted, so I just put on extra cheese. Maddie and Joey’s pizza has meat toppings so you don’t need to worry about confusing which one’s which. I also have a salad on the cutting board to go with dinner. ”

“Splendid!” Spiral replied as she couldn’t wait to get her hooves on the pizza that was on the other side of the oven door. “But wait, what about you and your husband? Aren’t you two having any?”

“Oh…that’s right. I forgot to tell you and the children earlier today. The two of us have a dinner meeting to go to tonight so that’s why I’m cooking this up. I’m so sorry to ask you of this Spiral but, could you watch Maddie and Joey tonight? I know this is a last minute request, however this is a mandatory event my husband and I both have to attend. All you have to do is make sure you clean up after dinner, keep an eye on the two and have them in bed by 9:00. Can you handle this?”

“Sure thing.” The pony doctor said with confidence while thinking to herself, ‘Foalsitting Maddie and Joey will be fun with the time their parents are away. Perhaps maybe they’d like to do another session with my hypnosis.’

“Wonderful!” The mother replied, as just then a *DING* *DING* *DING* *DING* noise went off, signifying that the pizza was ready. She went over to one of the drawers, put on her oven mitts, turned off the oven, pulled open the door, took out the sheets the pizzas were cooking on and set them down on the counter to cool off.

Spiral could only stare at how appealing the cheesy flatbreads looked and smelled. The mare was about to drift into a pleasant fantasy when a loud, “PIZZA!” brought her back to reality and saw the two children (still wearing their swim outfits) standing at the doorway to the kitchen.

“Indeed it is.” The mother said with a smile. “And it’s your favorite: sausage and pepperoni.”

“ALRIGHT!!!” The two siblings shouted in unison and rushing over to the counter to get a good look at the tasty treat. But before any of them had the chance to even touch it, their mother asked in an authoritative but kind tone, “Did you two wash your hands when you walked through the door?”

“Yes, mom.” The kids responded while showing her their hands as proof.

The mother checked the hands thoroughly before giving an approved look and said, “Very good. Now, sit yourselves down at the table and I’ll have the pizza all ready in a minute.” Maddie and Joey were about to race each other to the dining room, until they heard a voice that said, “And no, running. We don’t want any injuries to occur now, do we?”

The boy and girl turned their heads to see their father standing in the doorway, looking professionally dressed and responded with, “No, dad.” in disappointing unison as they quietly made their way to the dining room table.

The father then went over to his wife, gave her a quick kiss, and said to her, “You’d better hurry and get ready. We have to leave soon.”

“Yes, yes. I was just getting dinner ready for Maddie and Joey. Also, I talked with Spiral and she’s agreed to babysit the two tonight.”

The father looked at the unicorn with a slight worried look and asked, “Are you sure she can handle it? We can always call up Denise to look after them. She’s always reliable at the last minute.”

Spiral interjected to the conversation with, “Don’t you worry. I can look after Maddie and Joey while you two are away for the evening. I promise to make sure they don’t cause any trouble and to have them in bed on time.”

The father thought for a moment, then said, “Okay. I’m trusting you’ll take care of everything while we’re gone. As strange as it sounds, even though I’ve only met you yesterday, I feel like you’re trustworthy enough to watch our children.”

“Well thank you.” The pony said taking in the compliment. “I won’t let you down.”

Looking back at his wife, the father said, “Well, better serve dinner to the little rascals and then get changed. We have to walk out the door soon.” The children’s mother nodded, then got out a pizza cutter from one of the drawers, sliced the children’s and mare’s pizzas up, and took the dishes out to the dining room with Spiral following behind.

Meanwhile, Maddie and Joey were waiting patiently to be served while thinking about the fun time they had earlier with their pony companion. Soon enough, their mother brought out the pizzas for them and Spiral. The unicorn, entering the room, went to pick a seat of her own and helped herself up to the table. The mother then went back to the kitchen to retrieve the salad and put it next to the pizzas.

“Now be sure to have plenty of helpings from the salad, for vegetables, to offset that pizza. Understand?” The mother asked in a firm manner.

“Yes, mom.” The kids said in a tone that was meant to be compliant on the outside, but deep down they had a distaste for the green leaf and carrot vegetable mix. Spiral gave an internal chuckle knowing how the kids really felt toward the salad.

“Very good.” The mother said before she kissed each child on the cheek. “Now then, your father and I have a dinner meeting to go to tonight, so Spiral will be looking after you two tonight.”

“Really?!?” The two kids asked surprisingly as they looked at their mother then at their unicorn friend.

“That’s right!” Spiral said while she thought of possible fun activities to do with the two of them for the evening.

“This is WONDERFUL!!!” Maddie shouted. “First we got to spend time with Spiral for the afternoon and now we get to do it again for the evening! I hope we can do this more often and…” Just then, the little girl remembered that she was wanting to bring one of her friends over to meet the unicorn. “Oh! Mommy? Would it be okay if I invited Stacy over tomorrow so she can meet Spiral?”

The mother seemed a bit hesitant about letting others know about Spiral Swirl’s existence since having magical, talking, unicorns around wasn’t common. She looked down at her daughter and said, “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. It’s not every day that people see a pony, let alone one like Spiral. And if word of this got out, then it could be problematic.” She then looked at the mare and said to her, “But, this is up to you Spiral. Are you okay with meeting other people or do you just want to keep your presence known only to this family?”

The pony simply smiled back to the mother as she replied with, “Oh, I don’t mind meeting a friend of Maddie’s. In fact, I’d love to meet some of Maddie and Joey’s friends, but perhaps maybe having one over at a time would be best.”

“If you say so.” The mother responding as she looked at the time and said, “Well, I need to get ready. Enjoy the dinner everyone!” She then left the dining room leaving the children and the mare to chow down on their pizza and salad.

The unicorn used her magic to lift a slice of her cheese pizza onto her plate while the children got their hands on a couple slices of the sausage and pepperoni pizza. But before Spiral could bite into the delicious looking cheese bread, she noticed Maddie and Joey had folded their hands, bowed their heads, and said a quick prayer. She noticed them doing it earlier in the day when they were at the pond and thought nothing of it, but now she was compelled to ask, “Umm…forgive me if this sounds rude but, what were you two just doing?”

Joey looked at the inquisitive Spiral and answered with, “We were saying a prayer for the meal. Mom and Dad say that it’s always important to give thanks to God before eating an evening meal to show thankfulness.”

Spiral only felt more confused now and instinctively asked back with, “God? Who is this ‘God’?”

“He’s a holy father who looks out for people in the world and has a son who died so we may have eternal life in heaven.”

“I see.” Spiral said before asking another question. “But how does sending a son to his death grant eternal life?”

“Well…” Joey thought for a moment as he tried to come up with the best answer he could, until he decided to reply with, “You might want to ask our parents, especially our Dad. They would know more than us.”

“I might just have to.” Spiral said getting more curious about the subject, but decided to push it aside for another day.

At that moment, Maddie and Joey’s parents (all dressed up in their dinner party outfits), went to give their children good night hugs and kisses as the mother said to them, “Now you be on your best behavior for Spiral, okay?”

The two children nodded their heads in understanding as the parents went out the front door and locked it, leaving the hypnotic doctor and the two siblings alone for the night. The children dug right in to the pizza on their plates, while Spiral held her slice in the air with her magic as she slowly brought it close to her mouth and took a small bite. Her face lit up with delight as she took another bite of the scrumptious delicacy and tasted the flavor of sauce, cheese, and bread.

‘I can certainly understand why humans love this stuff!’ The mare thought to herself in ecstasy. ‘Imagine if this recipe was brought to Equestria, ponies would be lining up for blocks just to try a slice!’

Quickly finishing the first slice, Spiral used her magic to retrieve another piece of her pizza, along with some salad. She took notice of the children eating away at their pizza, but didn’t have a single leaf of lettuce or slice of carrot on their plates.

“Maddie. Joey. How come you don’t have any salad on your plates?” The mare asked bluntly.

“Because we don’t like salad. It tastes bland.” Joey replied while taking another bite of his meat filled slice.

“Well salad is important to have and your mother did insist on the both you having a good portion of it so…” The unicorn said as she used her magic to push the salad bowl between the children. “…go ahead and serve yourselves.”

“But I don’t want to.” Maddie pouted with her arms crossed.

An idea suddenly went through the pony’s mind as she gave a smug grin as she looked at Maddie and Joey and said in a laid back tone, “Oh, I see how it is. Hehehe…okay then, I guess it’s Trance Time.”

Maddie and Joey’s mindsets went from defiant to obedient in zero seconds flat from the trigger as their eyes changed to the hypnotic unicorn’s trademark black and white spirals. The mare looked at the two kids from her seat and said to them, “Now you two are willing to be more cooperative. Isn’t that right Maddie and Joey?”

“Yes, mistress.” The droned voices of the siblings responded.

“Good. Now then, listen up. From now on, when you are asked to eat vegetables by your parents or myself, you will not complain but instead comply with the request in a normal state of mind. Understand?”

“Yes, mistress.” Replied the children as the command became implanted in their subconscious.

“Very good. Now, I know all of us want to have more fun right now, but it is dinner time so we can wait till later. In the meantime, I want both of you listen to what I say next. When you two wake up from your trances you’ll forget about me saying your trigger and everything that happed while hypnotized, but the command will stay in the subconscious part of your mind. Understand?”

“Yes, mistress.” Maddie and Joey said a third time to the pony doctor.

“Then on the count of three, you’ll return to normal and be free from entrancement. 3…2…1…Awaken!” The pony readjusted herself as if nothing happened while the two children yawned and stretched themselves from the short hypnotic time they were put under. To avoid awkwardness, Spiral said to the children, “You two okay? You look like you just zoned out there for a few seconds.”

“Yeah I’m fine.” The oldest sibling stated as he shook his head until he got his bearings back and said, “I just forgot what we were talking about a few seconds ago.”

“We were just discussing about you and Maddie needing to eat your vegetables.” Spiral replied as she tested the post hypnotic suggestion. “You both want to be strong and healthy don’t you? So, will you go ahead and have some salad?”

Something in the back of Maddie and Joey’s heads told them that they should try some of the salad put before them. Complying with the unicorn’s request, the two kids each took a handful of greens and carrots from the bowl and put them on the plates next to their pizza slices. The siblings stared at the lettuce for a moment before grabbing a fork and stabbing some little portions with the utensil. After another moment of looking at the vegetables, the children hesitantly began to chew on the leaves and were surprised that it wasn’t as awful as they thought, but still thought it tasted too bland for them.

Spiral was watching the whole situation play out with an amused look that said, “This is too funny not to watch.” She chewed on her own serving of salad while trying not to laugh at their expressions.

As the children were starting to eat more of the salad, Maddie had wondered something about her unicorn friend and asked, “Hey Spiral, can I ask you about something?”

The teal colored mare shifted her focus on the human girl with a warm smile and responded with, “Of course Maddie! What is it you want to ask me?”

“How did you get those pictures of the pocket watch and spiral on your flank? Was it called a cutie mark?” The little girl asked with a cute expressive look in her eye.

Spiral chuckled at the youngest sibling’s curious nature and answered with, “Yes it’s called a cutie mark. As to how I got it? Well…there’s not much to say except, it just happened to appear out of thin air one day when I was on spring break helping out my mother and sister around the house. You see, I always had a knack for determining the inner workings of a pony's mind combined with a yearning to help others. When I got my cutie mark, I had somehow awoken a special type of magic called Hypno Magic.”

“Hypno Magic?” Joey asked curiously.

“It’s rare type of magic only a few unicorns have been born with, which can enhance the effects of hypnosis on any given subject. I would sometimes use my power to help my family with sleeping problems and memory issues. Though other times, I would use it to mess around with my sister for the fun of it.”

“Interesting.” Joey said as he now had a deeper fascination for hypnosis more than ever before. “I don’t suppose you could teach us how to use hypnotism the way you use it, could you?”

“Well…” Spiral started; unsure of how to answer his question. She didn’t know enough about humans to be able to teach them about her methods, plus she wasn’t one who liked to give away her secrets that easily. “…I’m afraid that’s a question I can’t answer right now. I’m not pushing it away to be mean or anything, I just need some time to think about it. Okay?”

“Ohh…okay.” Joey sighed in defeat but understood where the mare was coming from.

“Don’t be sad about it. I’ll tell you what, when we finish eating, let’s clean up, and then we can have some fun until bedtime. Sound like a deal?”

Joey looked at Spiral before smiling back and saying, “Sure! I’m up for an evening of fun!”

“Me too!” The little sister added in excitement.

The three then went back to eating quietly and enjoyed the rest of dinner.

Author's Note:

I'd like to thank Rathbane for giving me some input on how to incorporate a little bit of Spiral Swirl's backstory.

Comments

[TriforceAndroid]

Using hypnosis to help the kids eat their veggies? I'm fine with that!