You reawaken from your trance, and feel your body shape itself around you from the liquid contents of the cocoon in which you were born. At first you were simply a blank slate, suspended in genetic material with no real distinction between your body and the fluids around you, but now those materials begin to aggregate into your desired shape, leaving a clear separation between you and the now less dense liquid you float in. You feel the last of the internal changes imprinting themselves into your mind, reconfiguring your brain, horn and nervo-magic system to both allow yourself to process information more efficiently and empower your influencing abilities, giving you a clear if not yet all-encompassing understanding of how to infiltrate and slowly twist the minds of ponies, then you nod to Chrysalis and suddenly the cocoon ruptures.

You step out, as the light green liquid that previously surrounded you flows out around you and is reabsorbed by the apposite set of small holes and tunnels on the pavement below you, meant to recycle the fluid in some capacity. Cool air flows over your chitin-like skin, drying it, and you finally feel your own shape fully. Slender legs, pierced with oval holes up to a little over your knees, rise from small but solid hooves up to modest, round and firm buttocks. Just above them is the attachment of a short, stubby grey tail, its length only enough to barely extend below them. On the front, an average sized, horse-like dick and a pair of balls hang from your crotch, just above the entrance to your marehood.

Rising higher, your waist thins slightly before expanding again, a pair of breasts rising and falling with your breaths, light-blue nipples stiff on them. Nothing like your Queen's glorious rack, but certainly not flat either. On your back, thin wings buzz excitedly, not too powerful-looking but effective nonetheless. Holes pierce your forearms as well, not particularly muscled, like the rest of your body, your fingers ending in shiny black nails. A short black fin-like structure rides the back of your neck, ending near the base of your head. Long ears stand perky at the sides of your head, and a curved horn rises upwards from your forehead. Light-blue eyes and thin lips adorn your face, your features sharp but not unpleasant to look at. Unlike your Queen, you do not have a mane to speak of, though your insect-like appearance mitigates the lack of one and the end result is actually rather nice looking.

"Elytra, huh?" Chrysalis comments as you communicate your name to her. She steps forward towards you, glancing up and down your body. "Trying to imitate perfection, I see," she says, noticing how your build mirrors hers. She presses herself against you, staring down at you, her heavier breasts and longer cock pushing against your smaller assets. "But there is only one Queen," she hisses, almost hysterically, a glimpse of emotion in her eyes you can't quite make out the meaning of. "Don't forget that," she snaps as she walks away from you.

Your Queen nods, impatient, and you need no further indication to showcase your chosen disguise. A flash of green over your body, and you now appear as a pony to the outside world. A unicorn mare, your proportions unaltered when compared to your true form and both your cock and vagina visible. A short silver mane, with strands of muted grey, falls on your shoulders, a long tail of the same colours replacing your true one. Your coat is a vibrant light blue, while your eyes green to better match and mask the colour of your magic's aura. Your cutie mark a stylised orange blossom of Lilium parvum. Meadow Lily, is what you have called your alter-ego.

As you telepathically inform her of the backstory you have come up with for the character you will impersonate, Chrysalis clicks her tongue, mildly impressed. You have chosen to pretend you are from Canterlot, where you have recently finished your studies to become a masseuse, exploring a number of various techniques and related subjects such as stress counselling, hypno-therapy, muscle-therapy and magical relaxation treatments in general. You came to Ponyville looking to get away from the stressful, frantic life of a big city, and hoping to get a job at the local spa. Should you manage to get the job, it will work perfectly as a starting point to corrupt and take control of the citizens, giving you direct access to them and a setting in which you are allowed to exercise your powers while suspicions are at a minimum. You do of course have a backup plan, but believe it won't be necessary.

"You know," the Queen says, "I was planning to discuss your plans this evening and have you go to Ponyville tomorrow morning, but it seems you were capable of coming up with a remarkably good one all on your own." She shrugs. "All the better, I guess, time gained for both of us."

You smile, happy at your Queen's approval.

She gives a flick of her horn, and a backpack levitates towards her. She tosses it at you, and as you catch it, she explains, "Clothes, all gender neutral since I didn't know what you'd pick. Enough bits for a pony to eat sufficiently and pay a decent rent for a month, you won't need to do any of those things if everything goes alright, but cash can always come in handy. And pen and paper. We can't communicate telepathically while you're there, so you'll have to write if some important developments arise, I taught you how to magically send letters to me already. Pretend you're writing to your parents or something, stupid ponies and their stupid relationships, they'll fall for it."

You study the contents of the backpack, and still wearing your disguise you don a pair of white pants and a grey sweatshirt. Inside the backpack remain three more pairs of similar pants, one black, one grey and one ochre, a beige sweatshirt like the one you're wearing, and two light jackets, one blue and one black. There's no underwear in there. You make a mental note to buy something from Rarity when you have the time, and slide the backpack on your shoulders, closing it.

As you begin to walk away, Chrysalis calls your attention one last time. You turn back, and she flicks something in your direction. You catch it in your hands, and study the polished black stone ring she just gave you, too large to go on a finger but just right to slide to the base of a unicorn's horn. "A piece of what is left of my throne," she explains, "I'm sure you'll find a use for it."

You turn back, and begin to walk. The trip is... fuzzy. You do not remember what path you walked through to exit the hive, or what the scenery was like once out of it. You don't know how long you walked after that, or in what direction, or even if you took a straight path or went around the town. All you know is that you're standing at the edge of Ponyville, and you'll find your way back should you try to. A security measure, clearly, in case you are captured or choose to betray Chrysalis.

You walk down the road to the centre of town, greeting back the ponies who wave at you. Pinkie has not appeared before you yet, and given you've been in Ponyville for minutes at this point there is a strong possibility she might be away on a friendship mission. You spot the local spa up ahead, and speed up slightly, seeing the two mares in charge of it locking the door behind themselves and likely preparing to head to a restaurant for dinner. The two are identical in body shape. Nothing outstanding in terms of tits and ass, but nothing to scoff at either, and it's clear that they take care of their bodies, their slim physiques, along with the attention paid in the cure of their skins, hands and faces, making them rather pleasant to look at.

Acting a little short of breath, you reach them, and ask, "Excuse me, does this happen to be Ponyville's spa?"

"That is indeed the case, ma'am," Lotus replies.

Cutting in before Aloe has a chance to tell you that they are closed now, and that you would need an appointment anyway, as you sensed from her out-coming thoughts, you point at them and excitedly say, "Oh, then you must be Aloe and Lotus! I've heard so much about you!" You intentionally switch up their names to make it look like a mistake. It isn't a real mistake. Mistakes are for weak and inferior creatures like ponies.

"That would be us, yes," Aloe answers, a little surprised by your enthusiasm. "I understand you don't seem interested in the spa's services directly, it seems. What brings you here to us then, ma'am?"

"Well, it's actually kind of a long story. Oh, but I see you two were just leaving for dinner..." You feign hesitation. "Is it okay if I tag along, and explain everything there?" Of curse it's okay. Little things like this are easy to manipulate, especially on weak-willed ponies such as these two. The instinct to be nice is there, it's easy to just push in the right direction. It's easy to manipulate their first impression of you into being that of someone they feel they can trust.

"Of course it's okay," Lotus says, "Miss...?"

"Meadow Lily," you promptly reply, and the three of you begin to walk towards the chosen restaurant.

The food there is pleasant, you suppose. You do not have much of a taste for pony food, but it would be foolish not to eat anything. Throughout the meal, you explain why you are there, all the while slowly pushing on the confines of the two ponies' minds. Only small suggestions, for now, impressions that it's okay to trust this pony, that it's nice to spend time with her. Using your magic to handle the cutlery while gesticulating as you explain your story gives you a great way to both push extra magic towards influencing the two and divert their attention from any signs of it. As you prepare to leave, you offer to pay for all three yourself, and while at first the two refuse you manage to convince them. You feel gratitude and respect emanate from them afterwards, far tastier than the meal to you.

You accompany them back to the spa, their home on the upper floors of the building. They have already agreed to let you stay with them for the night, they have an empty room ready anyway, and to possibly have you remain there further if you do get the job, at least until you're still settling in the town. They believe your coming here with no plan other than meeting them was kind of foolish, but admirable, and are willing to give you a shot. You might be really helpful to them if what you claim about your studies is true. And speaking of the job, you decide to push further on a particular point of discussion.

"Do I have to wait until next week to begin working with you?" you ask, just before reaching the building.

"We have told you already, we need to see if you're good enough first, and that's not something we can test with clients," Lotus explains. "We'll do it tomorrow, and then after the weekend you'll begin working with us, assuming we think you're good enough."

You groan, pretending to be annoyed, and feel the discomfort inside them. Stupid ponies, so easy to manipulate.

"Well..." Aloe begins, "We could let her try right now with one of us. We could both go for a massage, really."

Lotus almost rolls her eyes, but finally sighs. "Fine, I guess you're right. But you're doing it, not me!"

You smile and act excited, as the three of you enter the spa and the others go to prepare the room. Minutes later, the scene is ready, as Aloe lies prone and naked on the massage table, resting her head and arms on a pillow while a large towel covers her body below the waist. You lean down to whisper to her, your magic lighting up for a moment.

Lotus enters the room once more, having left for a moment to fetch more towels. "So, let's start then," she says.

"Actually," you begin, "Aloe and me talked about it, and I know you need to be here to judge how I do, but she can do it just as well. So since I'm a little nervous, could you please leave the two of us alone? She'll be enough of a judge, I'm sure you wouldn't disagree with that."

Lotus bites her lip. "Aloe?" she asks.

"Don't worry about it. I'll scream if I need help, okay?" the other mare jokingly replies.

Lotus shrugs. "Well, I guess you're right. Do a good job with her, okay?" she says to you before turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind herself.

You smile to yourself. This is too easy. Moving back towards the table, you pull yourself up and straddle Aloe's body, your knees on either side of her. Your hands move to her shoulders, and you begin to rub along her soft pink skin. You don't know much at all about massaging, save for the basics of it you managed to extrapolate from the two ponies' minds, but that is of little concern here. Your horn flashes bright, as a green hue forms around the edges of Aloe's eyes. All part of the relaxation techniques you've studied, of course, there is no reason for the pony to be suspicious of anything. You lean forward, still rubbing the other's back, and whisper in her ear, "How are you feeling? Is this relaxing you?"

"I..." The mare's words are somewhat sluggish. "My head feels kind of fuzzy," she says.

"That's good," you answer, still rubbing her shoulders. "It's good for you to relax like this. It means my massage is working. It's working, and it's making you feel so relaxed, and so drowsy, like you could just sink here. So relaxed, so calm. So peaceful. Like you could just let go of everything and sink."

"Let go..." Aloe whispers.

"That's right. Just let go. It feels good to let go. It feels good to relax, and let yourself fall. So relaxed, so peaceful, as you listen to my voice, as you feel my hands on your body. You love feeling like this. It makes you so relaxed, like all your stress and worries just melt away. Nothing matters anymore, just me and you. And you're sinking, falling deeper, so relaxed. It's good to feel like this. It's good to let go. You don't need to do anything, just let me take care of this for you. You don't need to think. Your mind empty of all worries, and you just let go. It's good to let me take control. It makes you so happy, you're happy that all you need to do is listen and follow my instructions. It's good to let go," you continue, your magic pushing its way deeper into the mare's mind as you keep working on her shoulders and back.

"Feels good... Don't need to think..." she breathes, barely audible.

"Just like that. Empty your mind, just listen to my voice. With every word I say, you get a little more relaxed. And you keep sinking, more and more relaxed. And you can just let go." You feel her body going limp below you, and triumph swells up inside you. She's yours. Oh, you would force the pathetic thing to start choking on your cock right here and now if you could. But that would break her out of her trance, you sadly cannot go too far just yet. Hypnosis is an art, it can't be rushed. Unless your magical reservoirs rival those of an alicorn, but you are no Queen. Yet.

"It feels good to be relaxed, so blank and empty," you whisper in Aloe's ear, and the mare nods. "You love feeling like this. You wish you could spend all your time like this, happy, blank and thoughtless. It's good not to think. It's good to let me do the thinking for you. Everypony should get to feel like this, everypony should get to feel what it's like. Only I can give you this. Everypony should feel what this is like, so I should get to work here and let everypony experience this. And you need to be good to me, so I'll give you more and more of this. You love being blank and thoughtless like this for me. You love the way I make you feel."

It's probably enough for now. You get off from the table, letting your magic slowly dissipate so that the mare may awaken from her trance, no memory of it but your changes safely planted inside her, and you bask in the feeling of love Aloe begins to exude towards the massage. It's not quite love for you yet, but it's a start.

"That was amazing," the mare purrs, getting back to her senses.

You smile, you hands behind your back, and pretend to be nervous about the ordeal. "So did I get the job?" you ask.

"I don't know," Aloe replies, getting up and wrapping the towel around her body, "I'm honestly considering just keeping you all to myself." She smiles, then chuckles. "Oh, but it would be such a crime to deprive others of this. Welcome aboard, I guess," she says, walking towards the door.

"So? How did it go?" Lotus asks as the door opens.

"You need to get one of these yourself," Aloe says in response.

"I guess she's on then." The blue mare turns towards you. "Good job, Lily! We have a spare suit somewhere, you'll have to use that until we get one done for you. Now, as for tomorrow's activities," she continues, immediately assuming a more business-oriented mentality. "We'll need some help around the spa in the morning, mostly cleaning and replacing equipment between sessions, stuff like that, it would be great if you could help with that. Then in the afternoon we've got three clients that you could work with, though they'll all come at around the same time so you'll need to choose one. I think it was Roseluck, Thunderlane and..."

"Rarity," Aloe reminds the other, having put her clothes back on. "Well, I guess you'll tell us tomorrow. Now, let's go see your room, shall we?"

You nod, and the three of you head up the stairs.

Current choices to make:

• Will you stay and help out during the morning or will you go out in town? In case you pick the latter, how will you spend the morning? Note that not showing up on your first day on the job might make you lose the trust you have gained so far, the two of them are nowhere near as under your control as Shining was under Chrysalis's during the wedding.
• Similarly, what will you do in the afternoon?
• Assuming you don't make the stupid choice and actually work instead of fucking around town, which client will you work on of the three?
• How will you approach your session with them?
• In general, how will you try to develop your control over Aloe and Lotus, and how will you act towards them?
• Any other thing in particular that you feel should be relevant to your future actions, it's never too early to start planning ahead if you account for how future events might derail those plans.

Author's Note

Oh look, this thing is alive. I apologise for the long wait.

A couple of notes on the decisions taken:

Futa, unicorn (by only a little), boost mc and int won, you can check that for yourselves.

I picked Elytra as a name for two reasons. One, it was suggested by two people, that's 100% more votes than any other name. Two, it actually fits as a changeling name, being in reference to an insect's body parts. It's like how all griffon names start with G, keeps it consistent with the show.

Picking the disguise was much more complicated, everyone had different ideas. I went with a mishmash of a couple different prompts, with particular attention paid to zoruatrainer66's comment, as I particularly liked the ideas in there. I did make a couple of changes, but that's bound to happen on highly specific topics of decision. It's my story, if there is no consensus then I get to say how things go.

Speaking of the character's made up backstory, part of the reason I went with this is that it fit very well with the whole idea of going to the spa. I had said to only make some early plans as far as what to do once in Ponyville, and as Chrysalis says I planned to make that the topic of this chapter's decisions, but that thing just came together so well and I liked the idea too much. I apologise if some people feel cheated because they held off on planning, but I also wanted to add some actual meat to this chapter to make up for the wait. And that idea of going for the spa just fit so nicely, I never thought about it myself and people seemed to naturally converge towards it in the comments. zoruatrainer66's comment was again the nail in the coffin here, that idea was just too good for me to pass up.

And speaking of that, yeah, well written comments might get prioritised. Not in terms of simple multiple choice selections, that's just a matter of quantity of votes, but when it comes to broader choices like what approach to take, stuff where only your imagination is the limit and everyone comes up with something different, the better ideas and the more thought out comments will get the most attention from me. ~~Because I'm lazy, and I like it if I can just rip stuff straight from you people without needing to think for myself.~~ But in that regard, if you see a good comment leave a like on it, so I get a better idea of what people want.

See you next time, hopefully sooner. ~~Who the fuck am I kidding.~~