Hivemind Control

Twilight was back in Cercus' capable hooves once more. She'd taken a bath after every trip to the throne room except the last one, but this one, she knew she would enjoy. In fact, Cercus even made sure to make it an herbal bath in a double tub, meaning he would be bathing with her this afternoon.

As similar as this was to her first time, it would not be the same. This time, she was well-adjusted and ready to be bathed by an attendant, or even Cercus, if he wanted to be more hooves-on with his care. He'd washed her enough that she'd become accustomed to his doing so, but this last week without him, she'd been more chummy with the attendants, who were very friendly; certainly moreso than her other company.

As it so happened, Cercus did call over an assistant to aid in his own scrubbing. The reason he gave was that he wanted to hear Twilight talk about what had happened, but Twilight suspected that he just wanted to let a pony handle his junk. Not that she minded, of course. She was used to it by now, as she'd had to watch Mandible visit the princesses and enjoy their bodies, and he'd even had her suck him off while she was glued to the bed. Changeling genitals had become part of her routine.

As she went over all of the details of what had gone down the previous week, he kept closing his eyes and nodding along. As Twilight was very succinct and exhaustive, he wasn't required to ask any questions, as she pretty much answered the ones he was going to ask without him even needing to push. When she came to the part where he walked in, he just held up his hoof. He knew what happened next.

"Sounds like you had an eventful week," he said coolly.

"Please, don't make me go through that again," she huffed, the attendant scrubbing her shoulders. "How was your week?"

"A lot of talking," he nodded. "As I said, Spike is a chatty character, very open to sharing information with somepony carrying a letter from you. I'd have been back sooner, but he kept coming up with questions that needed answering, concerns that needed addressing, he mentioned that he sent your favourite manebrush out for repair... So much stuff that wasn't important, but I still had to answer his questions to be able to move on."

"Did he ask about me?"

"At least thrice daily."

Twilight smiled. "That's just how I imagined he'd be."

"Then you may enjoy this good news: He may be able to take a break soon. We're going to begin returning the princesses to the castle."

Twilight's jaw dropped. "R-really?"

"Yeah, it should be about two weeks until Luna can go back to Canterlot," Cercus nodded. "A bit slower than expected, but all part of the plan, regardless."

Twilight thought back to the last time she'd seen Luna, the day before yesterday. She was completely changed, to the point where she could shift patches of her skin into other colours. So close was she to being one with the changelings that she could almost take the form of an alicorn again, though her anatomical structure would remain as it had become, as would her mind.

"Mandible will be going to replace the royal physician, who will have a sudden epiphany on how to fix the disease that has been plaguing the princesses, have a courier carry 'the cure' to her, and voilà. She can start healing and come home with most of the disease gone. Cadance will come next, along with a changeling posing as Shining, and finally Celestia."

Twilight furrowed her brow. "What about me?"

"You're not quite ready," said Cercus. "We'll send a facsimile with Celestia when she returns, but you can't even take a changeling's seed yet. We can't send you home as you are, you're still a risk."

"So, in order to leave here, I have to change myself into a changeling and let them all use me whenever?"

Cercus shook his head. "Not at all, though that is one way to do it. We could enthrall you, bind you to me, suck out all of your capabilities... or, if we wait long enough, it won't matter. Once we're harvesting Equestria and growing ponies for our consumption, you'd be unable to do anything even if we let you go. I wager five years. Five years from now, you'll be incapable of defeating us because we'll be so ingrained into your home."

Twilight sighed and rinsed out her mane in the herbal water. As the rosemary-scented mud poured down the drain, she weighed her options. If she waited, it would be years of putting up with whatever Chrysalis wanted to do to her, but she would leave with her will intact, to a broken Equestria that she would not know as home. To leave right away, she could let go of her very being, lose her mind, and succumb to the same fate as the other princesses, laying eggs every week to bolster the hive's numbers. She'd be out, and able to see Spike, but would she even be capable of recognising him?

Her thoughts weighed heavily on her as she and Cercus went to dinner. He didn't bother her or ask what she was thinking about. She'd tell him if it was important to her. Even as Applejack came over, she did more talking to Cercus about Twilight than actually talking to Twilight. She had been around long enough to know when the princess was concentrating on something, or at least was able to tell the difference between her being focused and upset.

After an early dinner, they returned to their room. Mandible, hearing about Cercus' return from Carapace, had sent a stallion to clean it before leaving, especially the bed. As Twilight walked in, seeing the zucchini in his gear with two bites taken out of it called her back to reality. If only he'd known where it had been, he'd not have bitten into it. Or perhaps he would. She didn't know whether or not he was that perverted.

She laid down on the bed and curled up. It hadn't been a long day, and she had been excited to finally be up and moving around, but now it was time to think. She had a lot to consider. She sighed as Cercus crawled into bed behind her and laid beside her. Despite the bigger bed, he was no further from her than he had been previously. He was still smelling her mane, though now it smelled of rosemary. She could still feel his exhale on the back of her neck. And as she reached behind her and pulled his wrist around to her chest, she could feel his embrace.