Hivemind Control

Celestia strolled down the hallway, considering what she might have for breakfast this morning. It had been an early turn-in last night, as the delegates from both sides had come to blows and needed to be separated, so she'd had them confined to their bedrooms for the night to cool off. The sooner this argument was resolved, the better, but violence within the castle was strictly forbidden, especially near the princesses.

As she slipped into the kitchen to have her meal prepared, she was met with somepony she didn't recognize. "Who are you?" she asked, apprehensive and ready to summon the guards. "What has brought you into Canterlot Castle today?"

"You are Celestia?" he asked, prompting a nod from her. "Then it is your sister that brings me here. We arrived yesterday evening, and she insisted that I stay for breakfast."

Celestia nodded again. "Where is she now?"

"Over here," called Luna, stepping into the room with two plates of breakfast lasagne. "I see you've met Cosmo. I trust you're becoming better acquainted?"

Celestia turned to the stallion and sat down across from him. "So you're the infamous Cosmo of which Luna speaks. It's about time we met."

Cosmo nodded but did not speak. His mouth was full of noodles, eggs and cream sauce.

"I think I'll have some waffles," nodded Celestia. "With sliced fruit on top. Luna, could you go make them?"

Luna furrowed her brow. "We have cooks. Even if we didn't, you know how to use the waffle iron better than I do, and besides, I just sat down with my own breakfast. It'll be cold by the time I come back."

Celestia, without pulling her eyes away from Cosmo, pulled a cloche off the wall. These had been enchanted to keep the food inside at a constant temperature, even if there was a temperature gradient in the food itself. Under one of these cloches, a slice of peach pie would remain piping hot while the scoop of coffee ice cream on top would remain freezing cold for a good hour, at least. They came in handy, especially if it would take half an hour to transport food from one end of the castle to the other. She placed it soundly over Luna's plate. "There. Your food won't go cold on you. Off you go."

Grumbling, Luna left the room. Cosmo looked a bit nervous as Celestia kept her eyes locked on him. He swallowed hard.

"You've probably heard tales of my gentleness and caring," began Celestia. "Despite your current interpretation, they're true. This is not an instance of my gentleness, but rather, my devotion. I only have one sister, and it is imperative that she not come to harm. I find it very odd that her mental health has suffered since meeting you, and I have to wonder if that is perhaps not an accident."

Cosmo swallowed his food. "I don't follow?"

"I find that hard to believe. She was perfectly fine until she met you, then began to deteriorate the very night you met."

"Couldn't it just be that she fell for me? Love at first sight, and so forth?"

Celestia scowled. "What have you done to my sister?"

Cosmo began to shake. Celestia could be absolutely terrifying. "A-all we've done is talk to each other and have sex, I swear!"

"And you would be willing to swear to that in a court of law?"

"Yeah."

"Yes or no. Don't 'yeah' me."

"Y-yes, your majesty!"

Celestia sat back in her seat. She'd leaned forward to be more intimidating, but that was no longer necessary. "What have you spoken of?"

"I don't recall."

"What do you mean, you don't recall? Was there nothing important in your conversations?"

Cosmo shook his head. "We've talked about so very many things. Hours upon hours of discussions taking place over weeks. I don't remember all of them. We talked about our jobs, our families, our living arrangements, and so many other topics that I can't remember."

Celestia closed her eyes and nodded. "That is an acceptable answer. And what of the sex? What goes on between you in the bedroom?"

"Don't answer that," barked Luna, walking in with a plate of waffles. "Tia, I love you dearly, but this interrogation is over. Here's your breakfast."

With one last distrustful glare at Cosmo, Celestia took her plate and set it in front of her. As she took a bite, her face scrunched up. "These are not the same as usual."

"No," responded Luna. "I added a few ingredients to aid you in healing your colon."

"What does that mean? What did you add?"

"Prunes for the fruit, yogurt instead of milk for the batter, and apple and pear chunks mixed into it. You know, laxatives."

Celestia furrowed her brow. "Why would you give me laxatives?"

"To help you with that bug up your butt."

Cosmo was barely able to cover his mouth in time. He was able to control his outburst of laughter, but a bit of noodle was now dangling from his left nostril. He quickly wiped his face, disposing of the noodle into his napkin, then looking up between the princesses sheepishly. "It was a spicy ricotta," he chuckled, trying to save face.

Celestia rolled her eyes, picked up her plate, and left the room. She wasn't happy with Cosmo, but she had to admit that Luna's reaction was justified. On reflection, Celestia wondered if she was being overprotective. She found Cosmo to be suspicious, but every time Luna had spent time with him, she'd mentioned feeling happy and refreshed the next morning. Perhaps he was actually good for her sister, and she was just being stubborn.

Regardless, she found her way to the conference room she would be using today. She finished her meal there, and while it still tasted a little bit different than what Luna had described, it may have all been in her head. After all, this conference was causing her no end of stress, and worrying about Luna was not helping her to relax. When this was all over, she needed to calm herself. Perhaps a hot bath with Luna would give them both some time to reconnect and speak their minds to each other in a guiltless environment.

With her breakfast done and dusted, she called in the delegates, having them sit at opposite ends of the table. Four Equestrian guards, two for each, surrounded the guests, to make sure they didn't start fighting again. Everyone had been fed, had been given time to sleep, and should have been in amicable moods.