A Conspiracy of Order

The pegasus groaned as she felt other ponies start nudging her along. The faint smell of…something – was it…was it piss? – on her face and down her cheeks was both indistinct and strong at the same time. It didn’t smell bad, not like the real thing would, but it smelled…smelled like something else, something that made her feel good, hot, floaty. It was impossible for her to settle, her thoughts flitting about for a few seconds only to be smothered beneath that blanket of warmth and…and need, for lack of a better word.

The blue-furred pegasus giggled as she was dragged along, her hind legs leaving trails in the dirt behind her as the rest of the Apple family pulled her toward the barn. How late was it? Late enough that…

“Mmmph…”

A little droplet had run down her face to her lips. Another little taste, another little shiver of pleasure down her spine as it hit. She’d had some fun with cider before, but this was the first time that the drink had made her so horny. Her pussy was drenched, oozing between her hind legs and staining the ground as she was pulled along.

“Hehehe…anyone else…wanna have fun?”

There was no response. Just a rhythmic, unbroken clop, clop, clop of hoofbeats as the Apple family dragged her on. No response, no nothing. Just…just a slow pull toward her destination.

The barn was dim. Rainbow Dash shrugged as she was pushed inside, guessing that she’d be left to sleep off her drunken stupor. But was she –

“Mmmph…”

One of the Apple mares squatted down, a stream of piss playing over her face. She had just enough time to think that it was a little wrong, a little gross before the pleasure hit her again. All it took were a few droplets getting past her lips and into her mouth and she was fine again, happy and drifting along.

They dragged her through the mud. High, happy, drunk, the pegasus mare was happy to go along with it. Even when they fitted her to some sort of rubber-metal frame, she didn’t care. When they pushed her tail to the side, grinding something against the ground behind her, she didn’t do anything but giggle. Her head lolled to one side then the other as she looked at old friends, old companions…

Except…they didn’t look back in the same way.

There were no smiles, no expressions of concern. There wasn’t even that slightly judgmental look that she was used to seeing from the older mares of the family. There was nothing; their faces, and eyes, were empty.

What the hay…

Rainbow Dash tried to think through the haze that had settled over her, trying to push through it, but it was so…so hard. Her thoughts moved at a snail’s pace when she could think at all, and everything felt completely smothered, pulled under the warmth that had settled in her head. It would be so much easier to just give in and be happy, horny, and sleepy, but…but there was something –

“Ah!”

Rainbow Dash gasped, her eyes opening wide for a split-second as something pushed under her tail. Thick, almost wooden, save for the fact that it was smooth as could be. It spread her asshole wide, her pussy doing the same a second later as a different tendril pushed inside that hole. Her mouth hung open, a string of drool running past her lips.

“This one will be infested,” she heard Twilight say.

“It will take all night with the sapling.”

“It will be sufficient.”

“It will be different.” Applejack. What? “Different than us.”

“Perhaps that is for the best.”

What were they talking about? What were her friends doing? And what did ‘infested’ mean? What was happening? Why were there things inside of her holes when she was just standing there and why didn’t they feel like –

“NNGH!”

Something pulsed through her, resonating between her pussy and her asshole. Her eyes widened for a moment, all four legs spasming. She stomped, trying to bring herself to a point where she could fight against the restraints that held her, but nothing…nothing wanted to work. Even when she could lift a leg and bring it down, it was like fighting against weights that were heavier than boulders.

What…what’s happening…

She didn’t know. She couldn’t understand. She couldn’t even process what was happening around her enough to come up with any vague ideas of what it could be.

And bit by bit, the barn door closed, leaving her in darkness.

Thrust.

Thrust.

Thrust.

She wanted the thrusts to keep going. The pleasure was too good, but it was so rare. She wasn’t even sure that the things inside of her were thrusting, just that there was a sense of something moving in, out, in, out. The tingling feeling that came with it made her pussy leak and her other hole clench, keeping her all too aware of the things inside of her. It felt good. She felt good. She felt so fucking good.

Her mouth had never quite closed. The Apple family came by from time to time to ‘water’ her, either by mounting her face in the case of the males or backing up and jamming her nose between their cheeks and pissing in her mouth. The flavor was never foul; it was too mild for that, watered down, filled with…something. It always made her happy, keeping her mind empty, forcing her to only feel.

And she felt a lot. A lot. Her body was on fire with need, her holes clenching on and milking the things inside of her. Every time that she clamped down on them, something went up her spine, a tingle, a little shock that was as pleasurable as it was strange. And each time, it went a little bit higher, almost like water coming in on the beach. Higher, higher, higher, reaching toward her head.

When it finally did, she swore that she could almost hear a voice, whispering, cajoling, pulling at her. She couldn’t help but listen as it whispered in her skull, little words that made no sense at first, but slowly started to form into things that she could vaguely understand.

Nest. Service. Submit. Drone.

The words themselves weren’t quite words; they were more like pictures, images, concepts that were being rammed into her and forced into her head. She wasn’t allowed to understand; she was made to understand. Each pulse, each throb up her spine, was a pulse of pleasure greater than anything that she had gotten from a stallion’s cock or a mare’s mouth. It was so good, so intense, that she was a drooling mess long before the message started to fully sink in.

Over time, her legs spread further, and the constant pressure between the raised lips of her anus and the puffier ones of her pussy started to change her. She could feel it. She could feel the way that she was looser, able to take things quicker, further, deeper. Her insides felt more…more sensitive, more eager for whatever would slide inside.

Conditioning continued, taking her further and further down the route to being a proper drone. Yes, drone, the word repeating over and over in her head, reminding her that she was no longer a mere pony, a simple pegasus, or one of the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. She was a drone, a drone that was meant to be loyal to the Nest, a creature and extension of the very thing that was fixing her, correcting her from a lifetime of being just a simple, ‘free’ pony that had made so many mistakes with her life. Wouldn’t she want to be free of all those mistakes? Wouldn’t she want to be the sort of mare that could live a life free of regrets?

No more being responsible for her own mistakes. No more being the one that had to bear the burden of guilt. All she had to do was listen, do what she was told, and be a loyal drone.

And little by little, Rainbow Dash fell into that idea, conditioned to pleasure, conditioned to the words of the Nest, and to the feeling of the things inside of her. And every time that she had even a slight question about it, another member of the Apple family showed up with another dose of that heated, mind-numbing piss.

The sun was rising. Rainbow Dash was nearly gone, her eyes barely lidded, her tongue hanging out. She hadn’t said a word for nearly two hours, she was sure, and the light that came through the open door almost hurt her as the other drones came in.

She understood, now. She understood what they were, and she understood what she was being made to be. It was all good. It was all right. There was nothing wrong with this.

Twilight-Drone and Applejack-Drone stood in front of her. They didn’t have any of the former friendship that they had shared, and some part of her hated that. Of all the things that she had lost, that treasured piece should have been irreplaceable. And yet…yet, that anger was not directed toward them, or to the Nest, but at herself. Rainbow Dash hated herself, felt so much rage for herself, for not being a good enough drone on her own. She should have gotten rid of that, should have let it go, but she couldn’t. It was…it was the last bit of her life, the part of her that she had loved for so long, and it was so hard to let go of that.

The things inside of her pulsed, and she gasped. Stomp. Clop. Front. Back. Something was pulsing through her now, something wriggling from the things inside of her to actually…actually be part of her. It was worm-like, almost like a new branch or vine or tendril. Something that was…that was pushing deeper inside, wriggling against her inner walls – mostly in her ass – and then pressing tight against it. It ached, then it tingled, and then she was…

It almost felt like she was screaming. In pleasure? Pain? No, just in pure, raw sensation as the new thing burrowed into her anal walls, roots pushing in deeper, reaching out and making contact with her spine. The same sensation-pulse that had all but broken her earlier hit her again, and again, and again, echoing out from her back and running down her legs, up her neck, through her tail and wings. Everything went numb, then hyper-sensitive, then numb again. It was like her body was being turned off, then turned on, then turned off again, each time with a pulse going to a different section of her body.

Through it all, the drones looked at her, staring, unwavering. They were watching as she was finally taken in, made part of the Nest. Made like them.

Pulse.

Pulse.

Pulse.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t move. Not just because of the restraints, but because her body was no longer her own. The things in her pussy and her asshole pulled out, dragged free. Her pucker felt like it was mildly distended, pulled out, but then it pulled back in. Her pussy, likewise, felt like it was almost gaping, but the thing inside of her clenched her muscles and pulled it back.

Pulse. Check.

Pulse. Check.

Pulse. Check.

Each time that she felt the sensation-pulse, Rainbow Dash was sure that she was going to fall. Her legs felt like they were about to buckle every single time, and yet, she was still standing. Barely, perhaps, but still standing, and every time that it faded, she was aware of how little control she still had of her body.

But…at the same time, it felt right to lose that. There was no need for her to be in control. Her loyalties to others had gotten her in trouble before. She’d just had a hard fight with Applejack that Twilight had to break up, because she was too loyal. Better to let that be controlled by something that knew better, something that was kind and pleasurable and better than her.

It was better to be a drone. Better to just let go. Better to allow someone else to take control and be the one calling the shots. Yes, yes, that felt right to her.

And as she submitted, something went ‘click.’ Something shifted, and she realized that she was no longer held back. She could…she could step forward, pull the things out of her holes, and just…walk away.

And yet, she didn’t.

She stood there, letting the last of the conditioning happen. She felt the first little flick of her tail, up, sideways, up, other side. It took her far too long to realize that she wasn’t the one making it happen. Far, far too long. By the time that she realized that the thing that had burrowed inside of her – the Nest parasite – was the one controlling her body, it was too late. She was…she was so far in the back of her own head that she didn’t know if she would ever come out again.

It was the Nest parasite that made her take a step forward. It was the Nest parasite that had her leave the Nest sapling and let her holes close completely without anything left inside. And it was the Nest parasite that lifted her head and made her look Applejack-Drone and Twilight-Drone in the eye.

“One more,” Rainbow Dash-Drone said, her voice coming from her lips, but they weren’t her words.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight-Drone confirmed.

“The animal watcher,” Applejack-Drone said.

“This drone will handle it,” Rainbow Dash-Drone said.

“It is capable?” Twilight-Drone asked.

“It is.”

“Strange. And different.”

“Indeed. This drone is capable, quickly.”

“This will be remembered.”

“This will be done again,” Rainbow Dash-Drone said.

It was the parasite saying it all, of course. The host was vaguely aware of the fact that this was different, unexpected. The usual conditioning took far longer, either with much greater doses of the drugged urine or other fluids, or with days with the Nest to fully indoctrinate someone before forcing something inside of them.

Having a place off the beaten path for the other pending drones would go a long way towards speeding it up. Most others wouldn’t be ready for use so quickly. She, however, was, and that meant –

“Fluttershy will be infested by the end of the day.”

Rainbow Dash-Drone.

Rainbow-Drone.

Dash-Drone.

The host didn’t know which name she would eventually settle on, whether she would stay a she or become an it, or a number of other answers to various questions. All she knew was that she was given a task by the Nest, and she would make sure that she succeeded in that task. That was all that mattered, and she was, as ever, very loyal to those that earned it.

And the Nest had earned it.

Rainbow-Drone made her way to the far end of Ponyville, past the end of the city limits and toward the small forest hut where Fluttershy made her home. She avoided most others; she knew that she was working off a small script that was meant for Fluttershy alone, and that meant that she would have a hard time hiding her droned-self from the rest of the ‘free’ ponies. She was better than most recently-infested drones, and could have pulled it off, but why risk it when she didn’t have to?

She alighted outside the hut and pulled her wings in tight. The whole place was quiet. Most of the animals that the host remembered being present were gone. Where they had disappeared to, she didn’t know, and the Nest had no information on that. It was strange, and the Nest didn’t like strange things.

But there was a task, and the task would be done. Rainbow-Drone put a smile on her face and trotted up to the door. Energy, vim and vigor, eagerness: those were the traits that the host was known for, and she had to keep embodying them.

Rap, rap. Hoof against the door. The silence that followed, however, wasn’t quite right. Rainbow-Drone waited, put on a face of concern, then hit the door again.

“Hey, Fluttershy, you there? Come ooooon, don’t keep me waiting out here.”

“R-Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah, yeah, who else would it be?”

“I – I – sorry, I’m just – let me get the door.”

What followed was the sound of who knew how many tons of furniture being moved out of the way. The Nest parasite and the host were both surprised; there shouldn’t have been any security like that, unless something had gone rather wrong in the forest lately. They didn’t let it show on the mare’s face, however, and the door opened to reveal a more nervous than usual yellow pegasus.

“I’m sorry, I was just…I hear so many things lately.”

“Heh, you’ve been hearing ghost stories or something?” Rainbow-Drone asked as she walked inside.

“It sounds like it. All the animals have been talking about ponies acting strange lately. Some of them almost like those old stories we used to tell around the campfire, as if someone’s…controlling them.”

The Nest parasite was shocked, but the host kept up the slack. It had a script, after all; it was already chuckling, shaking her head as she acted the same as she always did.

“Heh, trust you to be the one jumping at ghost stories. If you really think that’s real, then I have a cloud to sell you. Fluttershy, everything’s fiiiine.”

“You sure? I mean, Angel was telling me –”

“Hey, who’s the Wonderbolt here?”

“…You are.”

“And who’s the one that goes flying all over Ponyville to take care of the weather, the clouds, and everything else?”

“…You are.”

“Do you really think that I’d miss something like that if it was really happening?”

“Well, um…maybe not…”

Fluttershy kicked the ground quietly, looking more embarrassed than usual. That was to the benefit of the Nest, of course; the more that she doubted what others said, the better for their cause.

The Nest parasite was likely going to have to make a report to the sapling back at the farm, though. Rainbow-Drone could tell that it hadn’t expected or thought about the possibility of Fluttershy getting information from the animals all around Ponyville about what was happening. If that was a risk for other ponies doing the same, they’d have to round up all the other friends that Fluttersy had and make sure that they didn’t have the same sort of skills. Natural eyes on them was not something that the Nest needed.

“Come on. You got anything to eat?” Rainbow-Drone asked. “Or drink?”

“Oh, um, I have some tea on the windowsill, and I can get us some food.”

“Awesome! You get some snacks, I’ll get the tea, and you can tell me all about these stupid little ghost stories you’re hearing. Can’t have my best friend all weirded out, right?”

“Heh…right.”

She was smiling. That meant that she was feeling better, more sure of herself; a Fluttershy that was more suspicious would have been more nervous, looking for ways to excuse herself.

As Fluttershy went to the kitchen, Rainbow-Drone pulled the pitcher of tea from the nearby windowsill. She dragged it along behind her, keeping it just out of view as she leaned around the corner of the doorframe. She kept talking as she slowly adjusted the pitcher between her hind legs.

“So, why are you still out here if you’re so sure about the ghost stories?”

“Well, um, I’m not completely sure, but…well, if they’re right, um, about the things happening in Ponyville, then, um, it’s kinda…kinda dangerous out there…”

“Heh, so why not come to me? Or Twilight?”

“They’re talking about Twilight a lot, Rainbow Dash. And –”

“Everyone talks about Twilight, though. She’s almost as big as the other princesses, remember?”

Rainbow-Drone pitched her voice up a bit, a little louder with the end of the sentence to cover the sudden clench of her inner muscles. The squeeze around her bladder, the sudden insistent pressure that ran down her insides, the sudden soft hiss of her piss exiting her urethra: it was all so vivid, something that she’d never felt so strongly before. The drone suddenly understood why the taste of the Apple family urine had been tinted with more sensual juices. It was hard not to feel excited when all of this felt so good.

“Come on. Ever since she got her wings, Twilight was going to be talked about all the time,” Rainbow-Drone continued.

“I guess. But I thought…I don’t know. I was scared she might be part of it. You know. Because of all the things that she gets so…curious about.”

“Well, curiosity never killed the cat.”

“Yes, it did. That’s the whole saying.”

“But what brought it back?”

“Satisfaction – oh.”

“Uh-huh, heh.”

It was oddly satisfying to hold a conversation while her bladder was slowly emptying itself into the pitcher of tea. The flavor would be mild enough that it wouldn’t affect the drink itself; if anything, it might make the tea just a little stronger. And the constant stream from between her hind legs was…very satisfying to let out. Following orders, relieving herself, doing what was needed to convert and corrupt another pony: all of those things brought a reward of pulsing pleasure up and down her spine.

“So, you didn’t want to talk to Twilight. I guess I can get that, but why didn’t you go to Celestia or Luna or something like that?”

“They’re, um, very far away, and…and I thought…”

“You thought what?”

“I thought…maybe…if there’s something wrong with Twilight, maybe I should talk to Cadance, instead. The big sister thing, you know?”

Nest parasite and host alike were shocked by that. The only thing that kept them from having an awkward silence was that pre-prepared script. Rainbow-Drone’s bladder had finally been drained, and she was able to reach down and nudge the pitcher along. Not much fuller than it had been, and she doubted that Fluttershy would notice a difference. Not when she was this out of it.

“Heh, going for the Princess of Looooove, huh? Wow. I didn’t think that you kept in touch.”

“Oh, um, I took care of some of the crystal animals while we were there last time. She wanted me to keep in touch, just in case something went wrong. I thought – well, I hoped – that she’d be interested in what was going on with Twilight.”

That was a potential problem, but also a potential solution. The Nest would need to take care of the more powerful Princesses eventually; having one of them arrive sooner than later would mean that they could handle the situation sooner than later, and more to the point, they would be able to do it and ensure that they got a ‘clean bill of health’ from someone in power. Nobody would suspect them, not after that.

A host mayor.

A host princess.

And nobody would have a clue that anything was wrong.

Of course, if Rainbow-Drone hadn’t been sent to Fluttershy to take her into the Nest, then the whole thing might have gone completely off the rails. The princess would have arrived and started an investigation without any of the Nest knowing she was even on her way, and then they might have been discovered. The power of the Princess of Love was not to be underestimated; she had enough power to push other great beings away, and she had a powerful husband, as well.

There would be much that they had to take care of. But first, Fluttershy.

Rainbow-Drone poured a couple of cups of tea and put them on the table. Fluttershy joined her with a few platters of baked goods, and they set to talking. The first sip that the yellow pony took made it clear that she’d get tipsy very quickly; Rainbow-Drone doubted that she’d need to keep Fluttershy talking for long before they were ready to head back to the farm.

Nonetheless, Rainbow-Drone kept the face of a friend on. It was easy enough; her body still remembered how to do that.

“So, feeling a bit better now?” Rainbow-Drone asked.

“Oh, a lot better, yes. Thank you,” Fluttershy said, a little red in her cheeks as she giggled. “The tea tastes better today, too. I guess you came at just the right time.”

“I guess I did, heh. But then again, I’m always right on time.”

“20% cooler, 20% faster.”

“You know it.”

Fluttershy giggled as she took another drink, and then another. She seemed to take more of an interest in her tea the more that she sampled of it, her head rolling slightly from side to side as she got deeper into her cup. She almost started to act a little drunk, giggling more and slumping forward. Her forelegs were less coordinated than usual, and she started to slur her words.

“Mmmph…this is good tea,” she said. “Mmmph…feels like…like that time I had that shider…down on the farm…”

“Heh, you sound ridiculous, Fluttershy.”

“Feel…good…”

“Yeah?”

“Feel…Um…feels…”

“Feels what?”

“I dunno…”

The host recognized the sheer need that was already building up. She didn’t know that Fluttershy would be this receptive to the chemicals that had built up in the infested host’s urine, but clearly, she was eager for more. She drained one cup and got another, almost like she was trying to hide her face in the cup rather than admit what was going on. It was kind of cute in an odd sort of way.

And at the same time, even the Nest parasite admitted that it was hungry to see the yellow pegasus brought into the fold. Each little shift in the mare’s needs brought a little more satisfaction to the parasite. It wasn’t the arousal that some free ponies would feel at the corruption of another, but it was satisfaction of a different sort, and it served a similar purpose for the host body. Rainbow-Drone was soon just as wet between her hind legs as their prey likely was.

“Is it, uh, is it a bit hot…hot in here, or…”

“It isn’t really that warm. It’s cool.”

“Oh. Um…maybe I should stop –”

“One more cup, huh? Just one more.”

“Okay, um…I guess…One more…”

It was a nearly catatonic Fluttershy that was carried back to Sweet Apple Acres. She could barely stay in the air when Rainbow-Drone had her follow alone, and the near-crashes confirmed that she was ‘drunk’ on the piss-tea. After rescuing her from four different near-impacts, Rainbow-Drone ended up carrying her rather than just flying along with her. It was slower, but it raised less questions that she might have to answer.

They set down just outside the forest, and the Apple family, blank-faced as Rainbow-Drone herself had become, came out to meet them. The same rhythmic, almost military march of the blank-faced mares and stallions was almost reassuring to the parasite inside of the host, and Fluttershy was too out of it to really understand what was going on.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“At the farm.”

“Oh. Which farm?”

“Applejack’s.”

“Oh. Why?”

“Because you need some help.”

“Help? What…what – nngh…”

As Rainbow-Drone threw Fluttershy over Big Mac-Drone’s back, it was impossible to miss the slicked-up slit beneath the other pegasus’s tail. She was drenched, deep in the grips of a heat and a brain-fogging warmth that Rainbow-Drone was all too familiar with. The heated memory of her own infestation was still strong, and rather enjoyable to have in her head. She was treated to it by her parasite before Big Mac-Drone wandered off to the barn. It was going to be a long day for Fluttershy, she was sure, but it would be useful.

And particularly as the sapling was able to sync with her and get more information about the impending visit.

Rainbow-Drone turned to Twilight-Drone as the librarian joined her. The hosts were able to pass information with a glance that most ponies would have needed full expressions for; the minute shifts of an otherwise blank face were easy to pick up on.

“There’s more?” Twilight-Drone asked.

“Visitor coming. Princess.”

“Which?”

“Cadance.”

“Hmm. This host is aware of that one. There are connections. Useful, perhaps.”

“We should return to the main Nest. Sync this information.”

“Fluttershy has the same?”

“Yes.”

“That will suffice for her. Fly.”

The two winged hosts took to the air. Rainbow-Drone already knew what waited in Ponyville: syncing with the main Nest, dealing with her first download, and then waiting for the rest of the drones to come ‘round and take the information back to the hospital Nest. There was a great deal to plan for, a great deal to take care of, and a lot of updating for all the drones involved. Spreading information from one Nest to another was the greatest downside to the drones’ need to communicate quietly; there were just enough of them now that they couldn’t be sure who was and wasn’t a host without extensive secret signs, and it meant that updates like this could be delayed for anywhere from forty-eight hours to a week, depending on the host.

But it was what they had. Until they had a stronger base, where an entire town was taken in and they didn’t have to keep up a pretense, it was what they had to deal with. And with the mayor soon to be one of them, and the possibility of bringing the Princess of Love into the fold…

Well, there was a real chance that Ponyville would belong to them, completely to them, sooner than later. And then they could really begin their expansion.