Obsidian Series

by Furious Thestral

Dreamweaver.

Obsidian Mind followed Twilight and Spike out of the forest and reached down the road that led to the town. She could tell from afar that the town held a certain aura of humbleness and modesty, with how the houses were made of wood and rooftops of hay.

"There it is, Ponyville on sight!" Spike exclaimed, flying close to the dark mare. "So, how does it look?" He asked with a good natured smile.

"It d- does look beautiful and p- pe- peaceful." Obsidian said, enjoying the view of the entire town from the hill and feeling in awe at how it looked.

Spike chuckled a bit as he shifted to be in front of Obsidian, "believe me when I say this but this town is anything but peaceful," he corrected the earth pony mare with a wide grin. "In Ponyville something crazy is always happening, always."

Obsidian tilted her head, surprised at what Spike meant with those words but since he didn't elaborate she just shrugged and they continued on down the path, walking together closer to the town.

The town seemed lively and busy as Spike said. Obsidian Mind watches around her as the townsfolk bustling around the streets on their own activities and foals rushing around in groups, playing their games and having fun, the mare took notice that there were more earth ponies than unicorns or pegasus as far as she can tell. It didn’t mean much for her in regards to such detail for her own plans.

As they continued on, they turned around a corner and reached the main street. Obsidian had to stop for a moment and observe the tallest building in the town. She was certain that the alicorn had a castle of itself or at least one edification that displayed her power and authority where everypony would find her and ask for her advice but never she had expected it to be a massive castle made out of crystal that shines to the ponies to see. Obsidian Mind could only stare at it in awe.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Asked Spike, hovering at face level to Obsidian and with a smile once he caught the black earth pony staring at such marvel of a building, "you know, Twilight obtained this castle after defeating Tirek with her friends, quite the feat, you know?" He continued on as he enjoyed watching the expression of amazement on Obsidian's face.

"It re- resembles the c- ca- castle of the Crystal Empire!" Breathed the ObsidianMind as she regained her mobility from her hooves and reached up to Twilight.

"You've been in the Crystal Empire?" Twilight was surprised at the tidbit of information from the dark unicorn.

"Ju- just a few ti- t- times, I enjoyed the city and me- meeting Princess Amore." She replied, keeping her eyes on the magnificent building and walking past both Spike and Twilight.

Spike landed next to Twilight and gave her an odd look at the mulberry alicorn. "Princess Amore? never heard of that one" He was intrigued to ask if the earth pony didn't know that was not the name of the princess of the empire.

"She probably refers to her by her first name," dismissed Twilight with a bat of her hoof. "You know that her full name is Mi Amore Cadenza." She explained further, taking a stride to be with Obsidian once more while Spike stood there mulling things over.

"It really is a b- be- beautiful castle, princess Twilight." She praised, giving a joyful smile.

Twilight gave an awkward smile, "no need to be so formal, Obsidian, you can just call me Twilight," she gestured with a more passive smile. "We can treat each other like friends."

"Fr- friends?" Obsidian remained still, stunned for a moment at how she was called, and began to process the word that she never heard in her life. "I never had a f- fr- friend before." She said surprise in her voice with a hint of fear under the tone.

Twilight then stretched her hoof to Obsidian, "then I would be glad to be the first one to be considered as one."

Obsidian was hesitant on taking on Twilight's hoof but watching the honest smile of that mulberry alicorn she lifted her shaky hoof she bumped on Twilight's own. She smiled, even when her mind reminded her about what she still had to do.

"Hey, don't forget about me," Spike landed in the middle of the two mares looking a bit miffed that he was left out.

"Oh! I am s- s- so- sorry, I didn't me- m- mean to imply not being fr- fe- friends with you t- t- too!" Obsidian cried as she sat to hug the little drake but stopped, hesitating on the hug, in case the little one wasn't a hugger.

But Spike changed his expression and laughed for a bit as he reached for one of Obsidian’s hoofs and bumped it with his claw, "sorry, I was just teasing a bit," he then puffed out his chest and pointed his thumb at himself. "But you can still count on me to be a good friend."

"The best I might add," corrected Twilight, hugging her little dragon.

"Th- thank you both," Obsidian said, feeling overjoyed that two strangers offered her their friendship. It was unique, special, even fantastic could be used to describe such a feeling and she loved it for what it was worth but deep down a pang of guilt hit the back of her head and subdued the happy feelings down a notch.

They continued on to the castle without much of a word and even if the building itself grew taller the closer they got. Once they reached the front doors Spike took the lead and held on the knobs of both doors, “here we are, the Castle of Friendship!” With that he opened both doors simultaneously to reveal inside.

Obsidian marveled at the large corridor and at how tall the ceiling even was more taller than what she had expected. Even the glitter that came off of the walls dazzled her eyes, showing how immaculate it all was.

"You must be tired from your trip," Twilight guessed once they reached the stairs to the upper levels of the castle. "I will show you to the guest room while Spike can bring you something to snack." She offered.

"Oh n- no, I don't w- wa- want to impose." Obsidian tried to refuse, waving her forehooves in rejection.

Twilight was a bit concerned but still carried her smile, "no worries, we are here to help a friend in need." She insisted, holding her hoof on the dark mare’s shoulder.

"O- okay… th- thank you," she yielded, following Twilight through the stairs while Spike made his way to another hall down the path.

It wasn't too long when they reached the guests rooms, a full hallway with doors on both sides for anypony to pick as their room.

"This one will do nicely, it is close to Starlight's room… and also Trixie's- just in case you need something." Twilight opened the room to show a completely furnished bedroom with a generously big bed and another room that led to a personal bathroom.

"I ca- cannot thank you enough for this pri- Twilight," Obsidian said, showing her gratitude towards the princess.

“No need to thank me. This is something I would do for anypony,” she gave a small nod and a smile. "Spike will come here soon with something for you to eat, while you can wait on the bed or wherever you feel comfortable." Twilight suggested as she turned around to leave. "See you in a moment." She added before closing the door.

"Until then," replied Obsidian before the door closed and left the mare alone. She observed the bed and poked it a few times before jumping on it and relaxed her body as her eyes remained focused on the crystal ceiling, specifically on the chandelier, and her thoughts swirled around her mind, doubts and hesitations were eating inside her but amidst the inner turmoil there was one thing that made her push herself forward with what she had to do and clear her mind entirely of such debate.

"It will happen tonight then."

***

Spike made his way to the kitchen where he found Trixie and Starlight idly chatting with each other, or as Spike could hear Trixie was the one taking most of the conversation.

Starlight noticed Spike's return and quickly greeted him, "hey Spike, returning from your trip with Twilight?" She asked, ignoring the pout face Trixie gave for interrupting her current story.

"Just arrived. We made it to Zecora's home; where she gave Twilight a potion that will help her with her sleep at night and you girls won't believe what happened after that," he began telling the adventure he had, making sure he had the attention from both mares as he continued on with the story of his heroic rescue. "We both rushed deep into the forest, almost reaching to the castle of Two Sisters, and found a hoof reaching out of the quicksand just up ahead of us and we knew we needed to act quickly as we rescued a mare from the treacherous quicksand and from the clutches of the Everfree forest." He couldn't help but push out his chest and lift up his hand to his face once he finished.

Starlight seemed enraptured by the story while Trixie looked a bit miffed.

"After that, we returned to the town and Twilight then decided to bring her home with us since she lost her saddlebags with all of her belongings on the quicksand." He finished along with preparing a daisy sandwich.

"So, does this new pony do have a name or is she going by the alias of Blank Space." Trixie asked, looking down on Spike from how high her muzzle was.

"Mindy The Silent, that is her name," Spike replied, setting the food on a platter with a glass filled with orange juice.

"Quite the name, probably from Canterlot," guessed Trixie as she got off her seat and walked closer to Spike. "Trixie must say that it is so generous of Twilight Sparkle to lend a helping hoof to those in great need of it." She added, receiving a curious look from Spike and Starlight.

"What do you mean?" The little dragon asked, expecting for Trixie to elaborate on the matter.

"Is it not obvious? Does the Great and Powerful Trixie need to explain it to you?" She mockingly asked with a playful grin, to which Spike replied with a growl at the azure unicorn.

Trixie took that as the answer she needed and decided to forward with her explanation. "Twilight has always been such a good mare so good that she might not know when a pony will take advantage of her good will," she began moving around Spike to keep his attention. "Who knows when this mare might even become a freeloader in the near future."

That gave an awkward silence followed by Spike raising an eyebrow and Starlight coughing from the background.

"Seriously?" Spike asked after a good amount of time had passed.

Trixie nodded, holding on to her own opinion, "Trixie has always been serious, after all, if Twilight keeps this up who knows how many ponies will end up storming this castle to get a place to sleep." She pointed out believing in her own point of view.

Starlight decided it was time for her to take into the conversation, "what Trixie meant to say is that we could all go together and meet up with our new guest and know her better," she looked at both friends. "Perhaps she could need two more friends inside this big castle."

Spike seemed more convinced with Starlight's explanation and felt more relaxed, giving both mares his smile of approval. "Yeah, I guess that if Mindy is staying here for a while she could need a few more friends so that she doesn’t feel out of place." He concluded, taking the lead to the guest rooms for the other two mares to follow.

Trixie looked at Starlight and gave her a smug look of her persuasion skills, to which the pink unicorn laughed a bit, considering that Trixie was just being Trixie.

Upon taking the platter filled with lunch and the unicorn duo, Spike knocked at the door where their newest guest was and opened it afterwards, "hey, Mindy, I brought you some lunch and two other ponies that might want to be your friends." He announced, leaving the platter on a nearby table next to the bed where the dark earth pony lied upon.

Mindy sat up straight and watched the sandwich with curiosity before looking at the two other mares and gave them a welcoming smile.

Starlight stepped forward and gave her hoof as a greeting, "my name is Starlight Glimmer, a pleasure," she began before pointing at her companion. "And she is the Great and Powerful Trixie." She added.

Mind gave her hoof, with a hint of trepidation, "u- uhm, Mindy the Silent," she greeted the new mares, which they responded by bumping hooves in kind.

"I will leave you girls to get to know each other a bit better," Spike said with a smile, picking up the platter and pointing out to the door. "Gotta make sure that Twilight has everything in hoof for her research." He then scurried off out of the room, leaving the three mares alone in the room.

The silence was awkward at best, as Mindy looked everywhere but at the other two mares, wracking her head to find a starting point for a conversation.

Starlight decided to make the first move as she sat on the couch, at a respectable distance and cleared her throat.

"So, Mindy, where are you from?" She started, giving her the well practiced friendship smile Twilight taught her about.

"And what do you dedicate yourself to?" Added Trixie, once more feigning ignorance from Starlight’s stare with such intrusive intrusive questions.

Mindy looked from Trixie to Starlight for a few moments, considering what she could answer to these mares, doing also her best to not look suspicious. "I am f- from a small town near Canterhorn; called Moot Point. I am a dreamweaver."

Trixie didn't seem impressed nor interested while Starlight was curious to know more about this mare.

"Dreamweaver? I never heard of that sort of job." She said her gut feeling warned her of something was off about this mare but she labeled it as simple curiosity. "can you explain what this job entitles?"

Mind was nervous, she expected that her answer was of common knowledge but it was not the case as she tried to find the right words to answer Starlight's question.

"W- well, it is a si-simple job that helps ponies that suffer from insomnia, c- co- com- compulsion of anger, problems from eating or drinking too- much." She explained, fidgeting on her hooves while continuing on. "Basically it helps ponies to be a- able to obtain peaceful dreams through an induced sleep th- that helps them with any p- problem."

Trixie paid attention, wondering what kind of job was that, soon she lightened up as a thought came upon her. "Trixie assumes that is what hypnotherapists do."

"Father was a bit old fa- fashioned." Mindy shrugged lightly as she glued her eyes on the floor.

Starlight was now interested in the subject, it could be an option to help with Twilight's recent nightmares. "Can you show us how this works? For curiosity's sake." She requested.

Even Trixie seemed interested as Starlight noticed how subtly the azure unicorn inched closer to their newest friend.

In an instant, Mindy stopped being shy and nervous and lifted her head to look directly at both mares with a look of certainty. Before Starlight could even frown inconfusion she noticed the jet black earth pony opened her mouth to say something but everything went dark as her eyes closed

Thud

Smack

Mindy watched Starlight fall asleep on the bed but she winced once she saw Trixie fall flat, face down first on the hard crystal floor along with cape and hat.

"Oh dear," she whispered as she helped the sleeping mare carry her up on the bed and to check for any wounds. Fortunately for Trixie only her muzzle was red from the impact. "That is good… I think."

Obsidian Mind took a deep breath to ease herself and observed the two mares sleeping without any care in the world. "I better get started then." Resigned, she leaned closer to Starlight and began to whisper in her ear.

~~***~~

Starlight Glimmer was in the middle of the desert, nothing but sand and rocks as far as the eye can see. Nothing to use as a guidepoint she had been walking for what seemed to be hours, even there was no telling that she was getting anywhere.

From 1 to 10, 1 being cold and 10 being scorching hot, how do you feel?

"10… it feels like a scorcher." Starlight replied unconsciously, dragging her hooves under the intense heat of the sand, even the intensity of the sun was making her more uncomfortable on her coat, like an itch that she couldn't reach but tried her best to ignore.

She continued her trek forward, her need to find something -anything- was getting more desperate as she continued to find herself in midst of the sand and she feared that it would not change anytime soon as she had no other option but to push forward.

At the distance Starlight spotted an object, a palm tree, in fact it was an oasis. The pink unicorn rushed towards it with the desire to feel the coolness of the shade they could bring. using all her strength in the process but it was all worth it .

From 1 to 10 how do you feel?

"8, it feels good to be under the shade." Starlight replied as she ventured deeper into the palm trees.

Indeed it felt nice to be under the shade, the deeper Starlight walked into the shadows the cooler it started to feel. It was relaxing.

From 1 to 10 how do you feel?

"7, it feels nice and relaxing." Starlight replied, enjoying how without the intense glare sun on her back, she could let loose of her aching muscles and enjoy the coolness of the shadows.

The further she continued on, she could start to hear the sound of water close by, and as luck would have it, there it was. Crystalline blue water that even by watching it was a refreshing feeling to Starlight.

She trotted to the water and dipped her hooves into the lake, walking slowly she felt the water reach to her barrel.

6

She could still walk deeper and was now neck deep into the water, no longer her hooves touched the bottom but still Starlight needed to go deeper.

5

Starlight submerged her head into the lake, allowing herself to sink into the bottom and enjoying how good ghe water felt.

4

Totally relaxed, her body limp and at ease, Starlight could see that she still went deeper and deeper, noticing how far the surface was getting but she paid no mind to it, focusing on how good it was to relax and submerge deeper.

3

The water was soothing in her coat, no longer bothered on where she was but focused on relaxing, enjoying how good it was to relax her body and mind.

2

Nothing. Starlight was floating in the middle of nowhere. She couldn't see, nor hear, nor feel, not even give voice her own thoughts as she was in a mindless state of which her mind was an empty vessel in need to be molded by the only voice she listened to.

1

Starlight touched the bottom.

~~***~~

Obsidian Mind, breathed in relief, watching how both mares were now in a deep state of hypnosis. She knew that other methods would be faster but for the plan to work she needed somepony in a free mind of thought and not an obedient, down to the letter, mindless pony.

Surprise enough that the mare called Starlight had resisted more than she expected, compared to the other mare that is. But it did not matter how many magical wards a unicorn can cast on herself Obsidian always knew that her power to overcome any unicorn was absolute.

"Now, I want you two to listen and dream." She whispered, leaning closer to Starlight's ear and began to murmur gently into her ear. Words that seemed intangible but they reached the pink mare nonetheless, while Starlight gave a soft smile the more she heard from the dark unicorn.

~~***~~

There was nothing around Starlight, only the void of her mind as it was nothing but herself inside and then in an instant something changed, the space around her morphed and she was now inside a room but not any room, she recognized as the throne room of Twilight and her friends. But it was completely empty except for the furniture and a glowing purple orb that was floating above the table.

Starlight walked closer to the round table and kept an eye on the orb. It began to swirl slowly and began to grow in size, pulsing in rhythm with Starlight’s breathing, once the pink unicorn reached the table she kept her eyes on the orb as it began to glow brighter.
“Obey Twilight, serve Twilight, please Twilight, follow Twilight.” It said in a sweet tone of voice that it gave Starlight a pleasant feeling and a desire to hear more, but deep inside she could tell that what it said wasn’t right, Twilight was her friend and as such she had seen Starlight as her equal, regardless of the teacher student relationship they had, Twilight never pulled out rank on her to do anything for her friend.

The orb soon enough revealed an image, one that Starlight recognized all too well. She saw Twilight offering her hoof in friendship, after all the fighting, the revelation, of a dark future, after so much hatred and yet.

“Twilight has given you so much, why not give something in return?” The orb spoke once more, showing Starlight more images of their friendship with the mulberry alicorn in
Ponyville. “Obey Twilight, serve Twilight, please Twilight, follow Twilight.” It repeated,dousing the pink unicorn in that sweet sensation that she couldn’t resist.

Starlight had to admit that the voice was right, Twilight had done so much for her and what had she done in return but to use magic against her friends and other inconveniences around the Ponyvillians, Twilight had forgiven her for those transgressions as well. It was due time to give something back.

"Twilight could be a great leader and all the kingdom must know of this." This time the orb showed Twilight in a throne, in this same castle, with a royal cape, jewelry ornaments around her body, a golden scepter and a crown that was bigger and shinier than the ones that carried Princess Celestia or Luna, while around her all her friends and neighbors from Ponyville bowed before Twilight as they changed her name as queen of the kingdom. The voice resounded around the room creating an echo that hit Starlight from every single direction and made the mare feel her heart aflutter with each word it said. “Obey Twilight, serve Twilight, please Twilight, follow Twilight.”

She could no longer resist it, it has been done and Starlight was the mare to help Twilight become the sole ruler of all Equestria and nopony, neither earth pony or alicorn will stand against her objective to grant Twilight the kingdom.

Obsidian Mind watched the reaction of Starlight's face. The dream went on as expected, the conditioning was being accepted by Starlight, making her become a loyal ally to Twilight Sparkle. Obsidian then watched how Trixie was doing and smiled in relief on how the Azure unicorn was much easier to control.

"Obey Twilight... serve Twilight… please Twilight… follow Twilight…" Trixie droned off as she continued sleeping.

With these two mares conditioned it was all going as her master instructed, to which she was hesitant to obey him the more she continued even when there was no other option for her to stop him. Once she was done her freedom was guaranteed.

~~***~~

Starlight woke up, she looked around and noticed that it was completely nighttime, not only that, but she was located in the rooftop of the castle, away from the pool but close to the giant star that decorated the front of the castle and next to her side was Trixie, who was mumbling something in her sleep, her ear and left forehoof twitching until she woke up with a snort while using her right forehoof to clean her muzzle from drool that pooled all over her cheek.

"Wha' zahh?" Mumbled Trixie, she looked around and felt a bit disorientated until she found Starlight next to her. "What was in that punch?"

Starlight ignored Trixie and helped her to get up and guide her friend back inside to and into their own respective beds for the rest of the night.

That was until she noticed a dark figure that was lying prone. Starlight focused on the intruder, who she assumed was writing something on the floor with a piece of chalk. At a closer inspection, Starlight could notice that it was a magic circle that the pony was drawing. It was big in comparison with those she normally knew with several runes drawn in it, it seemed like complex to recreate and in the center of it all was a six pointed starburst that Starlight knew from only one place, Twilight's cutie mark, and on top of it rested a black gem that laid inert on the floor.

Starlight walked closer to the pony and glanced back at Trixie, who was now on her senses, and returned to look at the cloaked pony.

"Uhm, excuse me?"

The chalk went flying and the pony yelped in surprise, it turned around and Starlight took notice that it was the mare that was brought by Twilight and Spike, Mindy, "oh, you two are awake! Good," she looked at both unicorns and nodded to herself. "I just set up the magic circle and all that is needed is for you two to charge it up!"

"Charged it up?" Starlight asked as she and Trixie walked closer to Mindy as the pink unicorn kept her eyes on the magic circle. "What for?"

Mindy reached out to Starlight and whispered, "it's all for the sake of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Those words echoed within Starlight's mind as her eyes lost focus for a brief moment, same with Trixie, as she remained unmoving for brief seconds as the mantra came back into her head, before regaining her consciousness. Both mares shared a smile, showing excitement as they had a firm nod to Mindy.

"anything for the sake of queen Twilight Sparkle." Trixie replied first, making her way next to the magic circle and setting her horn high, Starlight being close by to take her own place on the circle did the same and both of them charged their horns into a blazing flare before unleashing their power simultaneously the magic from both mares hit the obsidian shard and charged it with energy that made the gem float in the middle of the circle while the engravings on the floor began to glimmer dimly and increasing it slowly gaining more light as it began to glow and the gem finally started to shine.

Mindy watched everything with rapt attention, keeping an eye that everything was going accordingly. Soon the obsidian stone will reach to its fullest charge and then it will start the spell that will reach throughout the entire town. She made sure everything was set and that nothing would go awry once it fired off and preparing for the next part of the plan

The crystal was at full capacity by the loud humming of magic vibrating through it and in the blink of an eye the spell imploded, a magical aura of violet and black soon manifested all over Ponyville and its sleeping residents covering everything from Ponyville’s hospital to Sweet Apple Acres.

~~***~~

Twilight watched the sunset from her bedroom and decided to start her ritual sessions before going to sleep, even by getting everything ready she even pulled out her onesies for a more comfortable sleep.

Take the opportunity to reach for her saddlebags and pull out Zecora's potion with her magic and consume one sip from the vial. Her dreams had been repetitive and had started to wear her down for the last week, which was why Twilight needed to get rid of them and have a good night's rest. Setting the potionat the nightstand and climbing on to her bed to be sound asleep, ignoring the brief flash of light and the rumbling noise that traveled into the entire town.

Author's Note:

Tookme long enough to write down the hypnosis...

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Which one of your stories is the previous one?

[Furious Thestral]

11382109
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/166760/the-relics-of-obedientiam this one.