A Conspiracy of Order

Dapper-Drone disconnected from the Nest with a silent slide along the root system, the earth pony released to his tasks for the day. The host was more than ready for the debate later; he knew that the Nest had already prepared his arguments against Mayor Mare, and more than that, he could feel that the plan for isolating her had already been put into effect.

Even though the connection between him and the Nest had already been severed, he could see the beginning work in his mind. The tangled roots of the main Nest and the hospital Nest were only just now beginning to talk to each other, but both were reaching out through the town, following the tunnels that they had carved in different directions and infesting every building that they could touch. They were still unsure where the various hosts actually lived, and it was still a process to untangle them, but that was not the important part.

No, the important part was, due to the infestation of both a city planner and one of the members of Mayor Mare’s staff, the Nests knew where the aides of the older mare lived, and they could take action.

He had seen, through the slow download of the arguments for the night’s debate, that they were being infested without warning and without mercy. He was allowed to replay them in his mind, seeing it happen once more.

A pegasus stallion pushing back, his balls hanging just over the edge of the toilet seat, almost touching the water as he wiggled himself into place for a morning piss. The tendrils seized him when there was no chance for him to pull away, dragging him back and silencing him with a new third tendril that gagged his mouth.

Push.

Thrust.

Fill.

The tendril spread his ring, forcing him wide as the parasite worm was rammed inside. The stiffening, the spasming, the shivering as the connection was established was as universal as the experience of being one with the Nest, with that greater mind and intelligence. The stallion slumped in seconds, then went stiff again, each limb coming back to life bit by bit as the Nest parasite took control.

He stared straight ahead, a mild piece of contentment flowing through his mind. For someone that felt so little so often, it was as good as orgasmic bliss. He needed very little these days to be satisfied.

Dapper-Drone walked through the basement of the library, feeling other memories passing through, the success of the Nest paraded through his mind. It was his reward, the host felt. He had been the first of the drones, the one that had pushed it on Twilight-Drone, the one that had helped organize and push everything to happen. The organization and order of pony society under the Nest was all due to him.

He was allowed some hint of pleasure. He was allowed to feel as if he had done something for the Nest.

A white-colored mare, her hefty rump hanging over the edge of the seat. The last of her urine dribbled down the inside of the porcelain throne, but she reached down with one forehoof to touch herself. The moment of weakness, of that need for personal pleasure, doomed her as she was suddenly speared by the tentacles of the Nest.

Another stallion, red-furred, his cock hanging down as he mounted the toilet in reverse. His cock was long enough that it fell into the water, and he took some dirty pleasure in urinating in the water itself. It was more than enough to give the Nest time to fill him from behind, and to cup his cock in a new, experimental tendril that would milk him to pleasurable release as a distraction.

Another stallion still, this one petite, almost mare-like with thick hips and a small sheath. He sat back, sliding back, his horn glowing as he floated just over the water. He was looking over a list of tasks and plans for the mayor when he was filled, trapped, infested.

And with each memory, Dapper-Drone was allowed some bit of the information gleaned from the new hosts. The earth pony was given information like the mayor’s tastes in wine, her worries for the town, little secrets that embarrassed her but weren’t that bad, so long as nobody had them pointed out. There were a hundred little bits and pieces that would make the debate that much easier for him, so long as he gave it the attention that it deserved.

Dapper-Drone left the basement and the many ponies still connected to the Nest behind, reaching the first floor. Twilight-Drone waited there, his top-hat on her forehoof as she held it out to him. He took it and put it on, tilting his head one way, stopping, ‘thinking,’ and then tilting it the other way.

“Is this host better straight, or angled?”

“Angled,” Twilight said. “This host finds it…rakish that way.”

“Are we going for attraction?”

“There is a portion of the ponies that will find it attractive. And that vote may swing your way.”

“It is strange to work this way.”

“It is strange to do all that we do.”

“…This is true.”

The more that the Nest grew, the more that it felt the differences between the Ponyville infestation and some ancient memory. It had always known how to move forward, how to take control of a population and spread its young through them. That was just keyed into its genetic make-up, somehow giving it the power to do it without thinking about it. No need to plan, just do.

But there was a memory of some other Nest doing something similar, of being the offspring of something far off, something that had conquered other places before. Not forever, failing at some point, but it was still aware that it had happened.

How?

When?

Why?

The Nest did not know, which meant that the drones and hosts were clueless, as well. What mattered was that it was growing, understanding, and it might be able to succeed where its past Nest selves had failed.

Dapper-Drone adjusted his hat once more, doing it in slow, mechanical motions until the positioning of the hat was mathematically perfect. The angle was right, the tilt was just perfect, and everything was as calculated as possible. His hide, likewise, had been as well-groomed as they could manage to make sure that he presented someone that was wealthy but relatable, successful but not too far beyond the bounds of the rest of the ponies in town.

For all that the plan was to infest the current mayor so that they had no chance of losing, they were hedging all their bets. He was running a real campaign, financed by Westin-Drone, advertised by Applejack-Drone, and advised by Twilight-Drone. They were all working together under the Nest to make this happen, one way or another.

He left the library, walking casually through town. The parasite inside took control once more, adjusting his steps to make him less hoity-toity, less practiced, and a little more casual in his steps. A smile pulled its way along the sides of his face, and the parasite made him nod genially at the various ponies that he passed.

No need to think.

No need to hold back.

Charm.

Kindness.

Knowledge.

Experience.

The parasite had been given the knowledge of how to present oneself from the hundreds of different hosts that connected to the Nests on a daily basis. There was nothing that it didn’t know about how to sell oneself to the populace. They were perfect. They were ready for this.

As they walked through town, the parasite started opening up some of the information downloaded. The debate for mayor would be simple enough; Mayor Mare had to defend her position as the mayor, and he had to show that he was the better option than continuing with the status quo.

The hard part, the Nest had realized early on, was that the current mayor had been able to hold her position for years because nothing bad had happened. She had been a fine option for a place where nothing happened at all, and she would push that.

He had to push back. And that was where things would get interesting.

The host knew that the mayor would be floundering once confronted; the early morning infestations of her aides meant that she’d have nobody passing her notes or other bits of information to help her when she was confronted with something new. She’d have to improvise, and according to what they had drained and gleaned from the new hosts, that was not one of her strengths. She would fumble, and then she would look pathetic in front of the various ponies watching the debates.

Dapper-Drone knew that the Nest bloc of voters was not enough on its own to elect him. It was getting close, yes, and there were quite a few of them that would vote for him, but it would be a minority compared to everything else. Perhaps…perhaps a trifle more than a third by now, but that was not enough compared to the remaining ‘free’ ponies.

A third. They are getting close. Very close.

And once they had an infested mayor…well, things might very well speed up with a few official orders.

For now, though, he would wander around, spend his time talking to other ponies, and build up a rapport before the debate.

Evening came. Pinkie-Drone had escorted him to the bathroom at the back of the shop, and Dapper-Drone had connected to the Nest in the toilet to see if there were any further updates. It was a connection to the hospital Nest, rather than the main Nest, but it was enough to get him something.

Mayor Mare was running scared.

Dapper-Drone was only vaguely aware of that as the Nest and his parasite communicated with each other, but there was just enough pulsing up and down his spine for him to get some information on the peripheries while his cock twitched and spasmed against his belly from the excitement of the connection. Pulse, throb, pulse, throb went his shaft, dribbling more corrupted pre-cum into a container that was set aside just for this purpose.

He could feel the parasite talking, and he waited patiently, knowing that whatever information the Nest deemed necessary for him would be passed along, but the knowledge that the mayor was not ready made him feel…

Feel something. And in an empty space like a drone normally had, anything was something incredible.

The pulsing continued, an extensive download of information coming through. The tendril pulsed one last time in his rump, then pulled back. No little ‘pop’ announced its departure; all hosts were modified and trained to accept things back there as soundlessly as possible.

Dapper-Drone stood there, still and silent, until his parasite chose to allow some information through, passing it through his mind and getting some information back from the reactions of his subconscious.

Mayor Mare had been seen rushing about in her campaign headquarters, begging everyone to give her something to work with. She was trying to find something wrong with Dapper-Bit Twist other than the fact that he was an outsider. She was trying to find something positive that she could push besides her record. She was trying to find anything beyond the bland phrases of a campaign to use.

And she was coming up with nothing.

The new hosts in her campaign building were sabotaging things left and right, ‘losing’ some of the donations that she had gotten from other ponies in town, making sure that she didn’t have the information that she needed about Dapper-Drone’s past, and everything else that they could do to make tonight harder for her. Everything was going wrong for the aged mare, and the hosts in her campaign reported that she was losing her composure and her confidence, and quickly.

It was the perfect ground for the debates.

Dapper-Drone stepped out of the bathroom. There was no conspiratorial nod to Pinkie-Drone or the Cakes. There was no need; none of them needed an update that they wouldn’t get from the Nest, anyway. He walked out of the empty bakery, only putting a smile back on his face when he was back in public.

The pull of those muscles still felt strange. He had spent so much time in isolation that the natural expressions of his face were just…blank. Completely limp and relaxed, without any smile-pull, or frown-tug, or anything that moved the muscles on his face at all. He had become used to that slightly slack feeling, and whenever he felt the muscles tighten in a new expression for the sake of his disguise, it almost felt…wrong.

With the moon starting to shine down on the town, he made his way to the debate stage in the town square. Other ponies were doing the same, some looking at him and muttering under their breaths, but most of them were just talking to each other.

“Do you think there’s a chance she can lose?”

“Oh, please, she’s been the mayor for decades. She’s going to keep it.”

“I don’t know. It’s been weird…the town feels…wrong, lately.”

“What, those rumors of ponies disappearing? Name one.”

“Well…”

“And besides, Princess Cadance will be here for the vote; nothing bad’s going to happen while she’s watching over the whole thing. And Shining Armor, too.”

It was a piece of information that the Nest had deemed unnecessary for the debate, but it was a piece that was worth remembering. Princess Cadance and her husband were coming to Ponyville for the election, and that meant that there would be someone else looking in on the doings of host and ‘free’ pony alike.

More to the point, from the infestation of Fluttershy, she was aware that something had already started happening in Ponyville, and that a trusted member of the town had noticed it. She would be conducting an investigation –

Dapper-Drone felt the surge of mild worry that accompanied any merchant at the thought of an investigatory audit, and his mind immediately started recalling the ways that one might obfuscate or delay the probes that would uncover the evidence of wrongdoing. His parasite indulged it for a few seconds, then shut him down as it continued marching him up the street. A few seconds later, the slight fear was gone, replaced with the reminder that there was no need to feel, worry, or anything else.

The Nest would take care of everything.

The Nest would use him to make it work out right.

The Nest knew how to handle this.

Dapper-Drone believed that, though he had no reason to. It was comforting enough to know that things would be alright, and he went with that.

The stallion finally reached the debate stage, mounting it from the right while his opponent stepped up from the left. They met in the middle of the stage, exchanged nods – his with a small smile, hers with a slightly more nervous one – and then took to their podiums. Another mare – sadly uninfested – sat in front of the stage as the moderator, and held a series of cards between her forehooves.

“The debate for Mayor of Ponyville will start shortly. You’ll each have five minutes to answer each question that I have for you, and time for a closing speech at the end of this. Is there anything that you would like to say before we get started?”

“Mayor Mare, I cede the floor to you for first speech,” Dapper-Drone said, the parasite using his voice and the learned eloquence of the salesman perfectly.

“Well, thank you for your kind manners,” Mayor Mare said. “Mares and gentle-ponies, I wish to remind you that, as your mayor for the last twenty years, I have done nothing but good things for this town. Ponyville has flourished, growing bigger and more diverse, more inclusive and more wonderful with each passing year under my tenure. What few issues we have faced have been dealt with in short order, and nobody has ever had anything much to complain about.

“I believe that, should you elect me, you do nothing more than show that you understand how things work in this world. If you want things to continue as well as they have, then please, consider a vote for a steady hand and an experienced eye. I am Mayor Mare, and I hope to see your vote this year.”

The crowd of ponies gave a cheer, though even through the parasite’s control, Dapper-Drone could tell that it was lackluster at best. There was some happiness in it, some relief, but that was as far as it went. There was no excitement, no fervor.

More of the same. Hardly the sort of rallying cry for most ponies. He waited for her to nod to him and cede her time back, then cleared his throat.

“Everyone, I think that we can all agree on what Mayor Mare has done for Ponyville, and that is…nothing.”

The crowd gasped, while the mayor herself whipped her head around toward him. He continued.

“I have been plying these roads for over a decade, and the only growth that Ponyville has ever seen has been at the hands and touch of others. Twilight Sparkle moved here, and there was a greater trade with Canterlot as Princess Celestia indulged her favorite student. The Elements of Harmony kept this town safe, and so more ponies came here to do business and move because they felt protected. The Changelings were banished from Equestria by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and celebrity brought tourism to this small town, growing it to a small city.

“Through all that, what has Mayor Mare actually done? What did she take up? What did she actually offer you besides the deeds of others that she had no part in pushing or gathering? What reward did she offer them, besides to let them do what they wanted – not that she could stop them, if she wanted.”

The crowd was already muttering among themselves. Some were angry, yes, but there were others that were starting to take what he was saying on-board. Some of the infested hosts that he knew were in the crowd moved between the different groups, likely listening to them so that they could have a poll of information to pass on to the Nests at the end of the night about what the ‘free’ ponies were saying to each other.

But he wasn’t done. Not yet.

“And in exchange for doing nothing for you, Mayor Mare lives in a small mansion. She lives on the taxes that the town collects on all of you. She indulges herself with rare wines, and she pushes herself, not for the sake of the town, but for the sake of the status quo that allows her to live out her life in comfort.

“I can only imagine what it would be like to live like that. I have been on the road, chancing my living for years, never knowing if I am going to get paid enough at the end of a trip to make it worthwhile, or even to have enough to make another journey. But I do it, because I have to, and what other choice did I have.

“I understand what you have gone through. Does the current mayor? Or is she too focused on keeping things the way that they are, just so she can stay comfortable?”

Was it aggressive? Yes. Was it effective? It seemed so. The mood of the crowd had shifted, not to more enthusiasm, but to greater discontent. He had taken away all the comfort that the ponies had about the past years and made them think about just who was really responsible for all the good things that they had enjoyed. Not the mayor herself, but just the circumstances that she had overseen.

A very different candidate than she had initially seemed to be.

“Well, um…let’s move on to the questions…”

Dapper-Drone waited until the after-party was almost done and all the other ponies had gone home to emerge from his little stall off to the side. Mayor Mare still sat at one of the small tables, staring down at an empty glass through spectacles that were all but drooping off her face. Dapper-Drone reached back into the stall, pulling out a bottle of wine. The information that the aide had passed on had been sent to another host, who had gone to get a bottle of said wine, which had then been half-emptied, pissed in, and cum in by other hosts, and then brought to his stall during the debates. Now, it would serve its purpose. He popped the cork as he trotted over to the mayor.

“A peace offering?” the black-blue stallion asked.

Mayor Mare looked up at him as he approached. She looked positively defeated already, but she didn’t immediately lash out. Instead, she looked at him, then at the bottle.

“Old Range vintage,” she said, chuckling. “I haven’t seen a bottle of that for a very, very long time.”

“It’s been hard to get, but one has connections.”

“Clearly. Well…fair enough. Pour for me?”

He nodded, biting the bottle around the middle and tilting his head. With a practiced motion, he swirled it to the side right as it was about to overflow the glass, setting it down on the table.

“For someone so aggressive on-stage, you are surprisingly kind afterward,” she said.

“There’s business, and then there’s everything else. I don’t want to make enemies; I just want to win.”

“And change everything?”

“Hardly, but I do want the mayor to be actually involved. From the sound of things, you haven’t really done much. Maybe you can change after this, but why take the chance?”

“Hmmph.”

She took a sip, then a larger drink of the wine. Her cheeks reddened almost immediately as the drugged drink hit her hard, and she coughed as she put the glass down.

“Stronger than I remember.”

“Age has a way of making something stronger than one would think.”

“My, my. That’s perhaps the first kind thing that you’ve said about me since the night started.”

“I have other things I can say. And they’re even better.”

Mayor Mare looked at him with an arched eyebrow. She was slightly red-faced, but not enough to be completely out of it yet. The pearls around her neck clicked as she shook her head, chuckling under her breath as she took the glass and lifted it to her lips once more.

“I don’t think that I’ve had enough of this to know how to respond to that yet.”

“Then by all means, drink more.”

The flirting was not entirely genuine, of course. In his more free days, Dapper-Drone would never have been attracted to the mare in front of him. He doubted that his cock would have risen to her at any point, even if she was in heat and flaunting herself before him. There would have been no point in sticking it into someone that old, that wrinkled, that beneath him.

But he was Dapper-Drone now, and the host would do what he was instructed. If there was an option to get her infested, then he had to take it. If he couldn’t get her infested, then he needed to get her dosed with infested fluids, as much of it as possible, to start bringing her closer and closer to the point of willing infestation. If that meant flirting with her, getting her drunk, and then using her as hard as he possibly could…then the host would follow the orders of the Nest. There was nothing else that he would do.

They settled to talk. The conversation was bland, as Dapper-Drone knew it would be. The parasite was working off a set script that it had developed with the Nest, using what he and others knew of the mayor to come up with bland conversation that would flatter and soothe the ego of the offended mare.

It worked, too. In short order, she was asking for a refill and pushing to learn a little bit about him. The host responded with little bits and pieces, keeping his exploits reasonably low, always taking his time to offer her the chance to minimize it and not get offended. The push that he made on-stage was kept to the stage; everything that happened here was about Mayor Mare, allowing her to get what she needed to not feel so offended.

And as the cups kept flowing, she started sliding. The formerly huffy, slightly angry mare was replaced by one that smiled, laughed, and started giggling almost more like a filly than an experienced woman of a certain age. She leaned against one forehoof as the fourth cup was drained, taking the bottle instead. She tilted her head back, all but chugging it down as she sucked it away.

It almost looked like a party trick, as a matter of fact, and as she slammed the bottle back down, the host realized that was what it was. She was trying to impress him now.

“So…what do you say…we find somewhere private…”

“Say no more,” Dapper-Drone said.

They ended up going to a back alley. He would have preferred going to a room, but the mayor was feeling ‘nasty,’ or so she said. She didn’t want a hotel room or a place at an inn. She wanted something out of the way, somewhere that was a bit dirty, somewhere that she could feel like a hot young filly again.

And so, an alley it was, too far from anything that would properly infest her, and not worth dragging her through the streets to try and make it happen. Too early for that, and not yet late enough to try and hide her from alley to alley to take her to the library or hospital. He’d have to just settle for dosing her.

Mayor Mare flicked her tail to the side, showing two older, more experienced holes than Dapper-Drone would have cared to see. The host had his distaste pushed to the side, replaced with the requirements of the Nest.

Fuck.

Rut.

Break.

Drug.

He had to bring her down to a horny, needy level for future infestation, and as one of those that carried information back and forth between Nests in the past, he was one of the few suitable for something else: his seed was not just drugged, but capable of delivering a little message, as well. Not hypnotic, not controlling, but something in that vein. It would give her a need to keep seeing him, to keep coming back…

And hopefully, one day, it would lead to her coming to the Nest itself, and being lost to it.

She flicked her tail from side to side, fanning pheromones to a mind that was no longer capable of reacting to them on its own. The parasite had to force his cock to drop, then to rise against his belly for what they were going to do. A chuckle that was not his own slipped past his lips as he pushed closer to her, the flare of his shaft sliding between her hind legs as he hopped onto her back.

“Are you ready, Mayor?”

“Mmmph, go on…make me feel like a good mare again…It’s been too long.”

“It doesn’t look it.”

“Well…toys don’t do enough for this pony anymore.”

“Well, let’s see how well you can still take it, then.”

The parasite wanted to rut her rump, but they knew that it wasn’t quite time. She was still too sober, despite drinking almost a bottle of drugged wine, and it made the parasite wonder just how many other substances she had enjoyed as the mayor while out of sight. They’d have to bring more next time, just to make sure that she was sufficiently drugged for further infestation.

Pussy would have to do. The host lowered his hips just enough to line the flared head up with it and thrust forward, the wet squelch of entry loud enough to hear through the alley.

“Mmmph…yeeeeees…”

Mayor Mare’s moans were lewd and soft, the village’s leader bucking her hips back like a mare half her age. Each buck sheathed his shaft in her all the way up to the hilt; for all that the mayor was an old pony in public, looking like she was past her prime, she was taking dick like someone that was built for it. In, out, in, out, moaning for every thrust that she could get, and then pushing for more. Her hips slapped against the base of his sheath again and again, and the hard use was already pushing the host body to its limits.

If it wasn’t for the parasite, Dapper-Drone was ashamed to admit that he might have already cum from just one minute of that eagerness. Mayor Mare panted, her gray mane swaying as she took it hard.

“Yes, yes! Give it to me. Fuck me. Fuck me!”

The host obeyed, ramming forward. Dapper-Drone lost himself in the parasite’s grip, letting himself be made to enjoy it. In, out, in, out, the parasite ramming the mare against the wall to keep some control of the situation, fucking her faster and harder to keep those experienced hips still. It used her, rutted her, oozing more and more of the drugged pre-cum into her sex.

It had to take effect soon. It had to.

In, out, in, out, faster, harder. Dapper-Drone’s body was pushed to its limits by the parasite, turning him into a rutting machine that fucked the mayor under him as hard as it could. The strain on the muscle was more present than ever before, his hind legs feeling like they were on the verge of cramping up from the hard thrusts that they were made to do. In, out, in, out, the wet pussy of the mare under him dribbling down to the ground, his pre-cum soaking her as much as her own juices.

“Give it to me! Cum in me!”

Mayor Mare was lost to lost, but that didn’t mean that she was safe. The host slammed in, keeping up the pace, feeling his balls rising slowly. The parasite was measuring just the right time, humping away, forelegs wrapped around the mare’s belly. She moaned for them, pushing back, trying to clench around them enough to milk them –

“Ah!”

She moaned, cumming before them. The rippling motions of her pussy pushed the parasite’s control to the edge, but it managed to hold out, just barely. It waited, enduring the rippling, milking, squeezing feelings around its cock, before finally pushing in one last time at the end of the mare’s orgasm.

Cum, drugged, corrupted cum shot into her. It carried all the potency of the drugged pre-cum and piss from earlier, except with a twist. It was both stronger, and it had that push to be addicted, to be enamored of the source of that seed. Pulse, pulse, pulse. Each shot squirted a little bit deeper, going right for the mare’s womb, flooding her with everything that Dapper-Drone had.

They held themselves there in the alley, bonded at the hips. They held that pose for nearly a minute before Dapper-Drone pulled back, flared dick slowly popping free, and the mayor moaned under her breath as she collected herself. She wobbled on all fours, nearly falling over before she caught herself.

“Mmmph…you’re so good…I hope we can do that after the other debates, too, hehehe…”

And she still wasn’t entirely drugged or drunk on it. She had some staying power, that was for sure. Dapper-Drone would need some extra help to make sure that she was inebriated enough on this to actually infest later.

“Of course,” he said.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

The mayor giggled as she wandered off. The host shook his head. This was going to take longer than the Nest had planned, but at least they had opened the door.