A Mark of Hypnosis
It wasn't that Cloudy Mind didn't want her cutie mark, she did. She just didn't have much interest in trying to get one. Then, one day during recess...
"Ugh! That Spoiled Milk is so mean!" thought Cloudy, flying through the playground, brushing her blueish-gray mane out of her eyes, "She had no right to call Noodle weak! Sure, he can't fly yet, but at least he has his mark!"
She kept flying around the playground, until she spotted the young, tan, pegasus colt with a grey mane. He had his head down, and sniffling sounds could be heard coming from his direction.
Cloudy landed and walked up to him. He looked up, and his silver eyes met her blue ones.
"C-Cloudy?" he sniffled.
"Hey Noodle," she said, sitting down next to him, "don't listen to Spoiled. You're not worthless, you're the best cook I know!"
Noodle smiled at her, then sighed and looked at his wings. They were small, even for a young colt.
"It's not just what she said. My mom took me to the doctor yesterday," he paused, fluttering his wings feebly, "They said I'll never be able to fly."
He sniffled, then started crying again. Cloudy wrapped her tiny white hooves around him, hugging him in silence.
They parted, and Cloudy remarked, "You know, this reminds me of what happens in 'Daring Do and the Amulet of Encanta'."
"What happens in that?" asked Noodle, curiosity distracting him.
"Ahuizotl uses the Amulet of Encanta to hypnotize Daring Do into thinking she can't fly!" exclaimed Cloudy, thinking about the story, "It's my favorite story my mom reads to me before bed," she added, blushing slightly.
Noodle sat there, thinking. Suddenly, he looked Cloudy straight in the eyes.
"Cloudy, do you think you could do the opposite?" he said slowly, thinking.
"Hypnotize you? But I don't have the Amulet of Encanta!" Cloudy pointed out.
Noodle still looked hopeful, "Yeah, but we could pretend you do! And all you have to do is copy what he says in the book!"
Noodle looked at Cloudy with the best puppy dog eyes he could muster.
Cloudy sighed, how could she say no to that?
"I guess we could try it..." she said.
"Oh thank you!" Noodle shouted, hugging her.
He let go of her, and lay down in the grass. "Ok, what now?"
She thought for a moment, then spoke. "I don't really know... I think you're supposed to relax, and listen to my voice."
"Yeah, that sounds right," she thought.
"Just relax, and listen to the sound of my voice. Feel it relaxing you deeper, and deeper." Words were flowing easily from her mouth, though she didn't have a clue what she was doing.
Noodle let out a breath, and found that his eyelids were starting to grow heavy.
"Just, um, become tired as you hear my voice, relaxing you deeper, and deeper." Again, she was finding the words to say, though this time it felt more natural.
She noticed how tired Noodle looked, with his eyelids already half closed.
"Every word I say, relaxing you deeper, and deeper."
Noodle's eyelids drooped, and he yawned.
"It's working!" she thought, "But now what?"
"When I say the word... sleep, your eyelids will close, you will be really relaxed, and I will have hypnotized you." Cloudy took a deep breath.
"Hope this works," she thought.
"Sleep," she said.
Noodle closed his eyes, and his breathing became slow, and rhythmic.
Cloudy had to stop herself from squealing. "It worked! I hypnotized him!"
"Um, Noodle, can you hear me?" she questioned.
Noodle slowly nodded his head.
"Roll over and lie on your belly, please," she asked.
He rolled over, so that his belly was touching the grass.
"Now, I want you to imagine something for me. Imagine you're in the sky, and you're flying. Can you do that for me?"
As if responding, Noodle's wings twitched, much like they would if he was dreaming.
"You can feel the wind whipping through your mane, feel the air between your feathers. You can see the scenery flying past, racing the birds as you fly."
Noodle's wings twitched again, and a smile crept up his lips.
"It feels amazing to know what it's like to fly, but you're okay with the fact that your wings are too small. Flying is awesome, but there's a whole lot more awesome things on the ground."
Noodle smiled, a continuous smile, and Cloudy smiled as well. She watched him for a minute, with his wings twitching, and him smiling.
"I wish he could fly like this all the time. But he can't stay in trance forever," she thought, sadly.
"It's time to stop flying now Noodle. When I tap your shoulder, you'll open your eyes and you'll be out of hypnosis."
Cloudy reached over and tapped his shoulder. Noodle slowly opened his eyes, still smiling. Without warning, he pulled Cloudy into a hug.
"Thank you," he whispered, hugging her tightly.
"You're welcome," she replied.
"I think I understand it now," Cloudy thought, "while he'll never be able to actually fly, I was able to help him understand what it could be. He doesn't need to fly anymore. I helped him. And if I try, I can help other ponies!"
Suddenly, there was a flash of light. Startled, Noodle let go of her. Cloudy got off the ground, and stood up.
"What was that?" she asked, looking around.
"Cloudy, your flank!" Noodle shouted, pointing to it.
Heart racing, she slowly turned to look at her flank. There, right in the middle, was a cloud with a pink-and-purple spiral on the inside of it.
"My cutie mark!" she yelled, laughing, "I got my cutie mark!"
Fillies and colts came rushing over at the yell, crowding around Cloudy. They all cheered and congratulated Cloudy on her mark. But Cloudy was still looking at Noodle.
"Congratulations," he said, smiling.
"Thank you," she replied, returning the smile.
The bell rang, and the children started making their way back to class. As she was walking back to the schoolhouse though, a single thought was in her mind.
She was going to help ponies, from now to forever.