Trance By Twilight

Act 1

The Castle of Friendship was unusually quiet as the afternoon sun began to set as per the will of Celestia. That's not to say that the crystal-studded, tree-like building was typically bustling with noise and activity - at least not on most days. Regardless, Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but look up as she became aware of the deafening silence that was broken only by the scratching of the quill she was guiding across a sheet of parchment with her magic, a faint purple glow surrounding the feathered writing tool as it moved back and forth briskly, jotting down the thoughts of the levitation spell's wielder. The purple pony let the glow around her alicorn horn fade, severing her connection to the quill and causing the ink-tipped plume to fall lifelessly onto its side, no longer animate.

"Wow," Twilight muttered as she glanced out the window to see the setting sun. "Have I really been writing memoirs all afternoon? No wonder I'm so hungry!" She exclaimed, chuckling knowingly as her stomach rumbled right on cue. The Princess of Friendship got to her feet, standing on all fours and spreading her wings as she stretched her whole body, letting out a silent yawn. "Not to mention sleepy," she went on, giving her wings a quick flap to make sure that they hadn't gone numb as a result of her sitting still for so long. She then frowned. "Wait. Sleepy? What does that make me feel like I'm forgetting something…?"

Her horn flickering with magic once again, Twilight rolled the sheet of parchment she had been writing on into a scroll, tying a red ribbon around it with her magic and setting it aside for later. She then raised a hoof to stifle another yawn before turning to trot out of the study, making a beeline for the castle's throne room. It was there, she predicted, that she would find her companions Spike and Starlight Glimmer, along with the reason behind the suspicious absence of audible distractions.

The huge, ornate table that housed the Cutie Map stood, as always, in the centre of the throne room, surrounded by the numerous crystal thrones that had earned the room its name. As Twilight had expected, Starlight and Spike were seated at the table. What she hadn't been expecting was to find her fellow purple pony fast asleep upon Applejack's throne, Spike snuggled up against her. The little dragon gave a soft snore as he turned over slightly, seeming to be using Starlight's tail as a makeshift blanket. Starlight, seemingly in response to the dragon's snore, let out a snore of her own; a long, loud snore that almost seemed to shake the entire castle. It was all Twilight could do refrain from laughing at the sight of them, for the pair looked adorably amusing… or amusingly adorable. Either phrasing was most certainly appropriate.

Twilight made her way around the table quietly, not having the heart to wake her sleeping roommates. She found the partially crumpled scroll she was looking for at the edge of the table and levitated it up to eye level, examining the checklist Spike had written out for her at the start of the day. All of the tasks listed on it had been checked off… except for one, and as Twilight stared at it, her eyes widened.

Earlier that week…

"It's a tie!" Pinkie Pie declared, beginning to blow her referee whistle incessantly until Rarity gently plucked the noisy instrument from the pink pony's mouth, resisting the urge to forcibly wrench it from Pinkie's grasp and cast it over the horizon with her magic.

"I think they get the message, Pinkie, dear," the fashion-forward unicorn said with decidedly forced calm before turning to look at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, both of whom were standing nearby, sweat pouring off of their brows as they eyed each other, panting. A grin crept across the face of both the orange earth pony and the cyan pegasus with the multi-coloured mane before the exhausted pair collapsed onto the grass.

"Oh, my. Do you think they overdid it?" Fluttershy asked as she stepped up beside Rarity, the timid yellow pegasus watching her collapsed friends with concern.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Rarity said, shaking her head in knowing disapproval. "I still don't see why they insist on pushing themselves so hard just for the sake of some silly competition. I mean, one hundred push-ups each? Is the title of 'most daring pony' really so important that it's worth risking hospitalisation for?"

"Of course… it's worth it… Rarity," Rainbow Dash gasped, still trying to catch her breath as she slowly got to her feet. "I'm not… gonna let… Applejack… hog… all the... glory."

"Right… back at ya… Rainbow Dash," Applejack panted, reaching up to remove her signature hat in the hopes of tempting a cool breeze to ruffle her blonde mane, which was drenched with sweat. "Ah still say… that Ah won… the last round… fair and square."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I still say that throwing up in my mouth during a cupcake eating contest doesn't count as a loss if I swallow my own barf and keep going!" Dash declared, finally managing to shake off the majority of her fatigue.

"Oh, how vulgar," Rarity muttered, shuddering in disgust. "Another comment like that and I'm the one who'll be throwing up."

"Girls, please, not while I'm reading," Twilight pleaded from her spot beneath a nearby tree, her face hidden by a book about Equestrian history. "I'd rather not have my mind conditioned to associate Star Swirl the Bearded with 'barf' as Rainbow Dash calls it." She then lowered the book, her eyes lighting up hopefully as she spoke. "Oh, that reminds me, Applejack - have you given any thought to that favour I asked of you the other day?"

Applejack placed her hat atop her head once more. "Ah have," she admitted, "An' you know that Ah'm always willin' tuh lend a hoof tuh help you with your research, Twi, but Ah gotta be honest - Ah'm still not sure how Ah feel about that so-called hypnotism stuff. Ah mean, Ah usually group somethin' like that with necromancy or voodoo. That is, it's the kinda thing that Ah feel ponies ought not tuh be messin' 'round with all willy-nilly. N-Not that Ah'm accusin' you of doin' anythin' all willy-nilly, Twilight," she added quickly, giving an awkward chuckle.

"Hypnotism?" Dash snorted, glancing over at Twilight. "You're kidding, right?" That stuff's a load of bunk! You can't just clap your hooves together and make someone obey your every command! That only works in those sci-fi comic books!"

"Says the pony who got brainwashed by Discord into believin' that a small, fluffy cloud was all of Cloudsdale and that she needed to guard it with her life," Applejack reminded her.

"Yeah, well… That was different!" Dash insisted quickly. "That wasn't hypnosis; that was magical influence! He literally zapped my mind full of crazy thoughts!"

"You mean crazier than your normal thoughts, right?" Applejack joked, smirking at her competitive friend.

"Oh, hardy har har," Rainbow declared sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "At least I wasn't brainwashed into being a compulsive liar."

"That's enough, you two!" Rarity said sharply. "All you two do in your spare time is bicker and compete! It's so… so…"

"Don't say it's uncouth!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack warned her in perfect unison.

"Well, if you're really not comfortable with it, I suppose I could put it off until further notice," Twilight mused. "I won't force you if you're scared, Applejack," she assured her friend.

"Ah ain't scared! Much," Applejack replied. "Ah'm just… cautious, is all."

Rainbow Dash snickered. "Oh, this is priceless! What's the matter, Applejack? Scared that the big bad Twilight Sparkle is gonna make you go sleepy-byes on command?" Careful, or she might make you imagine that you're in a world where apples don't exist!" She teased before cracking up laughing. She stopped abruptly when a thought occurred to her. "Wait. No apples means no apple cider. And no cider means…! OH, NO!" She exclaimed in horror, prompting Twilight and the others to burst out laughing.

"Who's scared of the effects of hypnosis now?" Applejack teased, walking over and playfully nudging Dash in the side with a hoof. "Maybe you should get Twilight to hypnotise you. She might make you imagine a word where the Darin' Do books were never—"

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, DON'T EVEN GO THERE!" Rainbow Dash howled, putting her hooves over her ears, standing upright on her hind legs. "I'M NOT LISTENING! LA LA LA LA LA!"

Pinkie was now rolling back and forth on the grass, laughing so shrilly that Rarity and Fluttershy were wincing. "Oh, Rainbow Dash, you are so random!" the party pony declared.

Rainbow felt her cheeks redden, realising that she had talked herself into a position that saw her friends laughing at her expense. She lowered her hooves to stand on all fours once more and stormed up to Twilight, who was still guffawing, though not nearly as hard as Pinkie. The alicorn's smile gradually faded under the furious look Dash was giving her. The cyan pegasus pointed a hoof at her.

"You name the time and place and I'll be there! To get hypnotised!" she proclaimed boldly, her cheeks still flushed. "I-I'll show you guys who's scared!"

"Oh, what the hay - better count me in too, Twi!" Applejack called from where she stood, still chortling. "Can't have Rainbow Crash over there showin' me up!" she said half-jokingly.

"So it's a bet, then!" Rainbow declared, whirling around to face AJ. "First one to chicken out loses, and the winner is officially always and forever the most daring pony in all of Equestria!"

"Here we go again," Rarity muttered as she turned away, rolling her eyes. "So uncouth…"

"Um, uh…" Fluttershy looked like she wanted to say something, but she ultimately decided against it. She glanced over at Rainbow Dash, gave a small smile and shook her head knowingly. 'Some things never change,' she thought to herself.

And thus…

"Oh, my goodness, oh, my goodness, how could I forget?!" Twilight exclaimed aloud very fast, her panicked babbling prompting a loud snort from Starlight, while Spike mumbled something about 'not wanting to go to school today' before starting to suck his clawed thumb. The Princess of Friendship raced out of the room, continuing to fret and verbally vent her panic. "I gotta find that book, I gotta find out if Fluttershy's still good for that request I made... and I still gotta make a sandwich or something!" she cried as her stomach rumbled again.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound of somepony rapping on the front door echoed magically through the castle and, with a worried moan that prompted one of her purple hairs to spring up and out of place, the first warning sign of an OCD-related freakout, Twilight hastily galloped downstairs. She stopped before the front door, taking a brief moment to try and compose herself, exhaling deeply before pushing the large wooden door open.

"Oh! Fluttershy," she said, a little surprised to see the yellow pegasus on her doorstep, Angel Bunny sitting on the pink-haired mare's back.

"Hello, Twilight," Fluttershy said in that soft voice of hers. "I just thought I'd stop by and see if you still wanted to hold that meeting with Applejack and Rainbow Dash at my cottage tonight."

"Oh, yes, definitely!" Twilight gasped out, relief flooding her features. "I was just planning to come over and ask you if we were still good on that, actually! Looks like you beat me to the punch!" she said, giving a shaky chuckle.

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Are you alright, Twilight?" she asked. "You, um, seem a little wound up."

"Oh, n-no, I'm fine," Twilight assured her. "It's just that I only just remembered that I was supposed to be hosting this thing tonight and I'm a little behind on preparations. Plus, I'd prefer to be ready to go by sundown because Spike invited Discord and Maud Pie over for a game of Ogres and Oubliettes... which he didn't tell me about until just this morning!" she exclaimed, her eye twitching slightly, another hair in her mane moving out of place with a comical sproing sound.

"Oh, my," Fluttershy said. "It sounds like you've got a lot on your plate. Do you need any help?"

"I would LOVE some help!" Twilight declared in a somewhat deranged tone, leaning in uncomfortably close towards Fluttershy, smiling rather maniacally. Fluttershy cautiously took a step back. Realising that she was making her friend uncomfortable, Twilight exhaled deeply once more. "Sorry," she said. "I guess I am kinda wound up right now." She gave a small chuckle. "Regular manic mare over here, am I right?" she said half-jokingly.

Fluttershy giggled knowingly. "It's alright," she assured her friend. "I'm sure that if we work together, we'll have the preparations wrapped up lickety-split!"

Twilight blinked at her. "Lickety-split?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, um..." Fluttershy partially turned her head away, looking embarrassed. "I spent most of yesterday with Pinkie Pie, and I think she may have rubbed off on me a little."

"Should I be worried?" Twilight asked, prompting both mares to laugh at her joke. "Anyway, come on in! Always great to have you here, Fluttershy," she went on as she filed inside, the yellow pegasus soon following suit.

"Thank you. So, what exactly do you need help with?" Fluttershy enquired, Angel Bunny curiously sniffing the air from his spot on the mare's back. The little rabbit could smell food.

"Well, I'd say the main priority is finding that book on hypnotism that Starlight loaned me," Twilight said, right before her stomach gave a particularly loud rumble. "Though maybe that can wait until after I grab a bite to... eat," she finished slowly, following in Angel's example and sniffing the air. "Am I going crazy from hunger or is somepony making s'mores?"

Fluttershy sniffed. "I smell it, too," she said, hearing her own stomach rumble, though not nearly as loudly as Twilight's. She closed her eyes for a moment, a dreamy look on her face. "I haven't had s'mores since... I can't even remember the last time," she confessed. "All I know for sure is that I can thank Rainbow Dash for introducing me to those gooey, delectable... marshmallow-filled..."

"Um, Fluttershy? You're... drooling," Twilight pointed out, staring at her friend with a mixture of bewilderment and mild amusement as an unmistakable strand of saliva started to dangle from the edge of the yellow pegasus' mouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Fluttershy said, quickly reaching up with a hoof to wipe her mouth.

The two mares made their way through the castle, letting their sense of smell guide them to the source of the delectable aroma. They reached the kitchen door and Twilight pushed it open with a hoof. She couldn't believe the scene presented before her:

Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo were gathered at the kitchen table, their muzzles covered in sticky white marshmallow goo and graham cracker crumbs as they stopped abruptly in the middle of happily nibbling on the snacks they'd made, realising that they had been caught red-hoofed. A saucepan lay on its side upon the still active stove, spilling hot melted chocolate onto the fiery burner, the flames of which were making the spilled chocolate bubble and sizzle warningly.

"Um..." Scootaloo said awkwardly.

"Uh..." Applebloom began with a nervous giggle.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders... Dessert Makers?" Sweetie Belle tried after a long moment, smiling meekly.

"You already have your Cutie Marks," Twilight reminded the trio in a deadpan tone while Fluttershy could only giggle at the adorable antics of the little fillies. It was right then that Discord appeared out of thin air before them all, dressed in a viking helmet and chain mail, bearing a shield in his taloned left hand and a sword in his right paw.

"WHO'S READY TO PLAY?" he bellowed cheerfully. "I'm Chairman of the Board... Game! I call dibs!"

Twilight's entire mane went SPROING!