Hivemind Control

The door handle rattled in Cercus' hoof. Unable to undo the latch, he pounded on the door. He waited outside the door for a minute before the locks on the door began to click open. The door swung open, and a busty mare opened the door. "My, my, what a scary face you have," she mused. "Are you gonna take all of that animosity out on li'l ol' me?"

"You know why I'm here," grumbled Cercus. "Can we just move this along?"

The mare took a few steps back and collapsed to the bed, spreading her legs. "Oh, no, the big bad bug is going to have his way with me! Hope he doesn't lay eggs in my butt."

The royal chamber had improved significantly since the last time he'd been here. The walls were no longer fully exposed, but tucked away behind mycelium bricks. The chamber was deeper, too, resembling more the bedchambers of Luna and Celestia, with multiple rooms separated by doorways. Unlike with Canterlot castle, however, the new hive had branching roots supporting the frames, rather than cut timbres merely decorating the frame.

"Will you take this seriously? This is important."

"Ugh. Fine." In a flash of green, the mare reverted to Chrysalis, rolled out of bed, and moved over to the vanity. "Call it practise for you disguising yourself as a pony, and you failed to convince me."

"You can tell the difference regardless; you have..." He stopped and took a deep breath. "Luna and Celestia are being separated and sent to opposite ends of Equestria."

All levity instantly drained from Chrysalis' face as she rounded on Cercus. "Why didn't you tell me?! That's a very bad turn of events!"

"I know," growled Cercus through his gritted teeth. "Why do you think I came here instead of waiting for your messenger? Did you really think I was here to see your interpretation of a whore?"

"Hold your tongue!" commanded Chysalis, standing and pacing. "Let me think, let me think."

As she paced around the room, Cercus scowled at her. "This was your plan from the beginning. How do you not know the next step?"

"This was supposed to be two more steps down the line!" barked Chrysalis. "Things are happening out of order, and faster than I accounted for. We don't even have that little slut that I had to dress up as, yet. We were supposed to begin on her before we pulled them all apart." She turned to him. "You're the one who's been inside of their heads. You're supposed to be the one in control. How did you fuck this up?!"

"By following your orders," he snapped. "You demanded that I cut Luna with a poisoned dagger. I did. You demanded that I ensure that the poison takes. I did. You demanded I minimise her recovery. I did so far. You commanded that I poison Celestia, too, but she wouldn't let me close. I had to convince Luna to slip the eggs directly into her breakfast, so Celestia has the wiggleworms excreting the toxins into her bloodstream on a daily basis. If you asked me, I'd say that the problem was cause when you se--"

"No one asked you!" Chrysalis leaned up and rubbed her temple. "How long ago did you give her the eggs?"

"A week ago. At the time I left, they were nowhere near pupating."

"Then we probably still have time. But you're not going to be working alone anymore. While it's true that you have yet to be discovered, this is too much for your capabilities."

"Yeah, I know. That's the problem. I can't be on both ends of Equestria at the same time. I need to have a ring that I can call on when things go south."

"If things go south."

"When things go south. They already have, or I would be requesting it, not demanding it. They're bound to blow up in our faces if we don't do something. If I have to hold this whole operation together alone, it will break me. The spirit is willing, but... Look at this!" He stood up on his hind legs. There were arse-shaped bruises on his gut and hips. His testicles were shriveled from overuse. "I can hide it from the princesses, but you have no idea how much impact force I've sustained! They're too much for me alone!"

"Fine. You can select three more changelings to aid you in your journey. You and one other of my choice will be permanent fixtures for one of the princesses each. Your current messenger will join the other three, plus two more of my choosing, in swapping out status updates twice a week. Sundays and Wednesdays, you will be alone. Do not blow it again. Do I make myself clear?"

"As a crystal pony." Though he was agreeing, Cercus was really hoping for some time to recover. At the very least, he would be reduced to just dealing with Luna. "If you'll excuse me, I have some orders to distribute."

As he walked out of the royal tunnel, he made his way to the main pillar. Several flights of shiftstone stairs had been added, making it feel more like home. As much as Cercus wanted to aid in the construction and help build it up, he had to wait. It wouldn't be too much longer, he hoped, before he could link up with his fellow changelings and just rest. He'd taken on so much already, doing everything he could to give them hope, but now he felt that he needed it more than they did.

He made his way up to the pinnacle of the tower. The stairs continued upward beyond this, but they didn't lead anywhere. This was the highest habitable section of the new hive. A few of the more durable changelings were up here, working their way up, as was the way changelings built their hives.

"I need some volunteers," he called out. "Able of body and sturdy enough to take a beating. In exchange, all you can eat."

"What's the job?" asked one.

"Glad you asked," smiled Cercus, shifting into Dip. "You've probably had a taste of this one. Tell our dearest queen that you would be willing to keep Celestia of Equestria occupied. As long as one of you keeps this form at all times, you're set. I'll also need three more to act as messengers."

"Is this having to do with that mission where we dealt with Luna?" called another voice.

"Yes."

Mandible stepped forward from the crowd. His neck was looking much better, almost completely healed. He sounded different, too. "I owe her some payback. Anything I can do to help, I'm in."