A Conspiracy of Order

Four days later...

It was the end of the festival and the various booths and wagons were being torn down, packed up, and prepped for departure. Celestia-Drone oversaw it with the help of several hyper-efficient aides, one infested, one not.

In reality, she wasn't needed here, but it was always important for her to keep up appearances. Even before her infestation, the Princess of the Sun needed to be seen carrying out other official duties. She was not meant to be a goddess, nor had she been inclined to be relegated to mythology. It was better for the ponies of Equestria to see her as one more pony, if one that was significantly more powerful than they were.

As she paced through the festival grounds, watching ponies from as far off as Manehattan and Appleloosa packed up their goods, the parasite-infested mare could only see the growth of the Nest and the sheer reach that it had gained since coming to Equestria. Her many nights of being plugged into the Nest-Tree had given her an understanding of just how powerful the Nest was, and what it had already done.

The ruler that was buried so far down and copied into the Nest-Tree's archives almost admired the sheer efficiency of the Nest. The way that it worked was something that no pony could ever entirely match. It had a ruthless efficiency to it that overran everything that it did, bulldozing and crushing anything that stood in its way. The ponies of Equestria were too kind, by and large, to ever pull something like that off, but the Nest wasn't constrained by emotions and the urge to be good, nor was it driven by the purely selfish desires of someone like Chrysalis, Sombra, or Discord. It was, above all else, an unfeeling monolith that demanded that it live, and to live, it had to rule.

And that was something that nobody else could challenge. Not even her. Not even Luna.

The new-drone was still able to think about what might have been, but those thoughts were so quiet that most of the time Celestia-Drone wasn't even aware of them. They were little bubbles that occasionally rose to the surface, popped, and were forgotten as soon as they were realized.

It was nothing.

She was nothing but a host.

As her hooves tapped against the dusty trails of the festival grounds, Braeburn-Drone approached her. He had the same jolly bumpkin smile that he always did, bobbing his head as he came close and sweeing his hat off his head. The Nest-Tree had confirmed that he had been turned long ago, infested and drawn into their group. Yet, nobody else would have clocked that; he was as 'normal'-looking as a pony could be.

"Why hello, your highness."

"Braeburn. Lovely to see you," Celestia-Drone said with her trademark small smile, bowing her head slightly. "Packing up and heading home?"

"Yyyyyup. Big Mac and Applejack are heading back with me, too. Got a lot of work to get done out there."

"Oh, I'm sure. I've heard that the buffalo are still not entirely happy with the situation out there."

"Oh, we got some new ideas for that. I'm going to be meeting with 'em myself soon. Even got a special little gift to take to 'em. A bunch of saplings."

More Nest-Trees, then. That would be good. The buffalo were already partially in their thrall, the Nest-Tree and the Nest-Work reaching through the dusty areas around Appleloosa, but there were still some outlying herds that had yet to be dragged in. With that new outreach, though, she imagined that they would be brought in soon enough.

Giving him her blessing with a small tap of her horn to his head, Celestia-Drone sent Braeburn-Drone on his way. One of her assistants - the uninfested one - tutted to himself. Celestia-Drone chuckled.

"Oh, what's the matter? You think that he can't manage it?"

"I feel that he's a trifle too familiar with you, Your Highness."

Other hosts and parasites might have shifted their behavior to try and correct for that insight, but not Celestia-Drone. Some hint of the old monarch was still there, but more importantly, so were all of her memories and her patterns of behavior. A small, coquettish chuckle slipped past her lips as she shook her head.

"Propriety was never my strong suit. Besides, we've always encouraged friendship among the ponies of the land. It is far better to have them wanting to be around us than to feel intimidated."

"As you say, Your Highness."

The right decision, then. As it should be.

Celestia-Drone turned on her hooves, making her way back to the palace. The assistants split off, clearly taking the dismissal for what it was, and she turned her thoughts inward. The parasite kept her face from slipping into that stark neutrality and emptiness that it was prone to doing when they weren't actively masking, adjusting the muscles to have an expression that was pleasant but not particularly inviting, and they started thinking.

The festival had been a large success, though it was a pity that they hadn't managed to snare Luna over the last few nights. Trying to get her during the evenings had been all but impossible; the Princess of the Moon was always busy, either raising the moon or pulling it down or - as they had been reminded she did every night - overseeing the dreams of the land. Getting her alone or ambushing her during that time had proven impossible.

But, for all that the Nest was suffering a setback as a result, they had still managed to get her. Celestia-Drone was a key part of the plan going forward, and they had already moved on to a secondary plan.

As Celestia-Drone reached the steps of the palace, Blueblood-Drone met her. Her relative followed at her side, horn glowing as he brought a book out of a pocket thrown over his back.

"Auntie, it's so good to see you," he said, smiling in his foppish way. "I thought that we might discuss some matters of state before you take your place in the great hall for the petitioners?"

"As you will, Blueblood, as you will."

She took hold of the book as he floated a quill over the pages. Neither of them were paying much attention to the words that slipped from their lips as they climbed the steps, though the parasites were able to keep up a perfect imitation of what a conversation between the two of them would have been like. Rather, it was all done by writing in the book, with the messages spelled out on the pages as they walked along.

Nest-Hosts have been put in the palace. 80% of the staff have already been converted, 50% of the guards in the barracks.

Celestia-Drone nodded, saying something about how they had all enjoyed the festival, even as she took hold of the quill and wrote back.

And the other nobles?

Not so infested yet. 20%.

There's less of them.

More security.

Thoughts?

Same infestation as always. Taint and wait.

And Luna?

One of your guards secured something.

Tonight?

Tonight.

Good.

The twitches of the quill and the tiny print of their written exchange was the important part of their meeting. All the nonsense coming from their lips, all the faked conversation about the food and drink for future feasts or the standing of different ponies in the palace was so much drivel. Oh, the parasites perfectly imitated Celestia's genteel and kind way of speaking and Blueblood's hoity and upper-class ridiculousness, but that was only for the benefit of anyone that passed by and wasn't already infested.

Soon, they would be able to drop this act. Soon, they would be able to wander in silence, following the utmost efficiency of their kind.

They split as they reached the main hall, and Celestia-Drone paused as she looked at the great door in front of her. On the other side would be an army of ponies that were waiting to ask for her favor, judgment, or something else entirely. They'd been waiting since the start of the festival, eager for their chance to bring a case before her and have the power of the sun on their side. They needed her to make a decision.

It would be tedious, but it would keep the illusion up for a bit longer. Canterlot itself had a long way to go before it was fully infested, even though the security forces were rapidly shifting under the Nest's control. Just a bit longer, she told herself, and they would have everything that they needed.

Celestia-Drone turned her attention to the papers with her and Blueblood-Drone's conversations, and her horn glowed. The paper burst into flames, incinerated until it was nothing more than ashes. A flick of her wings sent the ashes flying away, and it was as if it had never been.

Nobody would know.

Celestia-Drone put her gentle smile back on and opened the doors to the hall. Ponies of all sorts waited inside, most of them gathered in a single-file line running toward the throne, while others waited at either side of the hall, dressed up in grand attire. They were all trying to show off, and the infested were imitating the uninfested to such a degree that - if she had lacked the knowledge of the Nest-Tree - she would have had no idea which pony was which.

But that was why the Nest-Tree was taking such care in making sure that any and all high-use hosts were aware of their fellows. They should not waste their time trying to convert those that were already converted, and it would take too long to explain who was who when they were in public.

She looked around the room, masking her quick scan for which infested were around by making nods to some of the noble ponies and to the commons that had come before her. She saw Twilight-Drone in the upper levels with her horn glowing. She spotted Cadance-Drone in the lower levels, flirting with some of the others. She saw a few of her guards that she knew were infested now, and who had helped betray her on the night when she had been infested herself.

But not many more, surprisingly. It seemed that those that were infested were keeping busy, moving through the palace to find more. Good. The Nest needed to expand, constantly.

She reached her throne and got as comfortable as a mare could get on it. The alicorn leaned her head back, her horn glowing brighter for a moment to call all attention to her. The rest of the ponies fell silent as the Princess of the Sun took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

"Gentle-ponies. Thank you for your patience," she said, nodding toward the crowd. "This was the first, but not the last, of the great festivals that we hope to have. Our land of Equestria is filled with marvelous variety, and it has been a wonderful week of showing off each and every place that fills it. From the many inventions of Manehattan, to the cloud-crops of Cloudsdale, to the gentle magics of Ponyville, and beyond, we have seen things that even I had almost forgotten existed in this great, wonderful world of ours.

"But this would not have been possible without your patience and your custom. Thank you for giving us the time to celebrate our wonderful land, and thank you for taking part in it yourself. I know that it has been some time since you've been able to bring your worries before me, and I know that you've been concerned about whether I can sort out your problems.

"Let me help you today. Come. Let me make your day a little brighter."

She flashed her horn to help with the 'joke,' and the entire room obligingly laughed. Of course, Celestia-Drone herself didn't find it particularly funny, but it was part of the act. The ruler of the land was both formal and rather prone to playfulness and bad jokes. She had to keep up the act, at least for a little bit longer.

Celestia-Drone settled in as the petitioners began to bring their requests forward. This was going to be the dullest part of the day. Lacking the real Celestia's compassion and attachment to her subjects, the host could only imitate what the Princess would normally feel. Her pleasure at seeing to the needs of her subjects was missing, and they were only able to think about what the Nest wanted.

It would be a long few hours.

When the petitioners were done six hours later, Celestia-Drone left the hall with a smile on her face and a sense of irritation in her chest. It had been six hours of doing nothing but hearing complaints and offering the most obvious of advice, and none of it did anything to further the goals of the Nest outside of keeping her status safe and secure. It didn't give them more hosts, it didn't progress the Nest further into the palace, and it did nothing to make the Nest stronger and more secure in itself. All it did was keep the uninfested happy.

And there was a sense of irritation in the drone at that. It was Celestia, after all. The Princess of the Sun, one of the most powerful alicorns to ever exist. She was supposed to be -

No.

No.

No.

The rising ego was squashed before it could go anywhere, the parasite within strangling it before it could surge any higher. All hosts, no matter how useful, were nothing but hosts to the Nest. There were those that were high-use, like Twilight-Drone and Cadance-Drone, but even they were only hosts. They were not special, not more powerful because of who they were before they were infested. They were hosts, first and foremost, extensions of the Nest's power, and that was all that Celestia-Drone was, as well. She could not, would not, be better than any of the other hosts that they had.

Celestia-Drone stood behind several curtains in the back halls of the palace as the parasite drilled that into her head. The flaming ego that had been surging inside was cut off, smothered, and put down. In seconds, Celestia-Drone was back to her pliant, proper host-self.

There were other things in the palace that needed to be seen to. The parasite considered where to start, and eventually decided on the barracks. They trotted through the halls at speed.

It didn't take long to find the barracks and the training yard. Off to one side of the palace, it was meant for the continued growth and training of the various palace guards and royal stallions and soldiers that attended her various events. She paused at the doorway, watching them charging from one side of the training yard to the other at Shining-Drone's commands.

"Again!"

The rattling thudding of horse-hooves on stone echoed through the ground, and the well-trained soldiers charged in a solid line across the yard.

"Again!"

They turned in a line, none of them bumping against another before they charged again. The solid line of their shoulders all aligned with each other was like watching a group of hosts following orders from the Nest.

Some of them already would be hosts, she knew that much. Though she couldn't see their faces clearly due to the dust being kicked up from the training and the way that their helmets covered their muzzles, she knew that half of the barracks and the guards within had already been taken. This unity was only somewhat from the training; the rest came from the hosts being allowed and encouraged to work together in unison, and it forced the rest of the guards to step up their training to keep up.

"Again!"

Shining-Drone was doing a good job, as far as Celestia-Drone could see. Using the natural obedience of the soldiers to push them to be even more unified with each other would break down a lot of the resistance that they'd have to the Nest-Tree when the time came. They were already so focused on matching what they were seeing from everypony else that they'd be quick to adapt to the parasite when it was given to them.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that they were doing.

Celestia-Drone turned away from the training going on and made her way further down the hall toward the back of the barracks. She passed through the bedrooms that the stallions and mares used, past the lines of bed that were turned down and made well, to the feeding troughs that the soldiers used in place of the more civilized eating implements that the rest of the ponies in the palace used. The royal host paused as she opened the door, taking in what she found.

The water barrels near the feed-troughs and drink-troughs were propped open, and over each one, three stallions stood with their hooves supported further up. Their cocks hung low from their sheaths, and their tips were dangling into the water, keeping the noise from their urination from being loud enough to hear. The six stallions turned to look at her, a brief moment of blank confusion before recognition set in.

Fellow host.

Safe.

Continue.

Their expressions made it clear that their hosts weren't seeing much. They were merely following orders, delivering the tainted mix to the water barrels. Every so often, the flow got just a little too strong and a flaccid shaft would rise from the water barrel, and a tiny splash could be seen, but then the parasite within the host would correct for flow power and it would drop back in, sinking beneath the water levels.

Celestia-Drone took it all in, glancing past them to two other males that were working the mash-maker further back. Normally, that would be opened to feed the troughs with hot oats and other things that would suffice for the soldiers' food, but they were completely erect, their cocks not just dropped like the water-tainters but up and pulsing, tapping against their stomachs as they dripped away.

Not cum, this time, because that would be more noticable in the food, but pre-cum. They were slowly warping the soldiers, making them more and more focused on the food that they'd get after their workout on the training yard. They'd be horny, too horny to think about much beyond what they could get with some other pony.

And that pony would have to be somepony outside the barracks, somepony that wouldn't judge them for being both a soldier and a horny mess. That would drive them right into the hands of some of the infested, and those infested would be able to hold that over the heads of the soldiers.

And that would lead them to being infested themselves.

Blackmail.

Isolation.

Infestation.

The plan continued to come together for the Nest, leading them closer and closer to utmost success. Already, the guards that Celestia kept close for herself were mostly taken. Those that guarded the palace were likewise mostly infested, and the rest of the security force that guarded Canterlot would follow. Pony citizens that wanted to file reports would be taken in and 'interviewed' by new 'specialists', and that would lead them to being infested, too.

And the soldiers would keep order.

And the nobles would pay for it.

And the staff in the palace would keep it quiet.

One by one, the various strata of pony society would fall, and they would make it that much easier to take in those that had yet to give in. The Nest was that involved, and had its tendrils spread that far through Equestria.

Again, Celestia-Drone couldn't help but admire the way that the Nest had taken control so thoroughly. Any other invading force had to take everything a piece at a time, getting one part of their target on their side before moving on to the next. The Nest, on the other hand, had been able to start with everything. Its tendrils had access to merchants, soldiers, nobles, unicorn magics, and more, and there was nothing that seemed capable of even slowing it down.

It was inevitable.

Or at least, it would be. Celestia-Drone thought of her sister, and knew that Luna still could do a great deal of damage to the Nest if she was able to find out what was going on. Plans were in the works to make sure that she didn't find out before they were ready to deal with her, but those plans were still being fine-tuned.

Still...once the hosts were properly drugged up, and the rest of the palace similarly...

Her sister was in the dreams of other ponies, overseeing them and sometimes crafting them personally. If she was surrounded by a deluge of sex, if she was forced to confront sensual moments again and again, it would be harder for her to think straight, and harder still for her to focus through all the sexual debauchery to see the truth that was behind the veil.

And then?

Well, they would have to play that by ear. Sooner or later, the Nest expected Luna to ask for help, and when she did, that would give the rest of the hosts a chance to strike. And when they did...

When they did, they would have to make it count. And Celestia-Drone would have to be there.

Celestia-Drone continued her quick inspection of the hosts tainting the soldiers' food and water supply. They were all slightly drained-looking, as if they had been sucked a bit dry from the pressure of putting out so much fluid, their muscles pulled tight to the surface and some of them showing a bit more boniness than they should. The ones tainting the food were hard as could be, veins showing along their shafts as they blank-faced edged with little twitches and throbs along the base of their shafts, edging through pure muscle control.

Were the hosts feeling pleasure? She doubted it; they were so focused on their task that Celestia-Drone was all but sure that they were barely feeling anything. The Nest-Tree had already informed her during one of the sync-sessions that she would slowly lose her own taste for physical pleasure as more and more of the Nest-Tree's touch took priority. She would see sex as more of a duty and less of a pleasure, because it just didn't compare.

Orgasm was nothing.

Connection was everything.

She could see that in the eyes of the drained drones. They didn't even seem to notice that their bodies were wracked with a clear level of dehydration. All that mattered was fulfilling the desires of the Nest, and the parasites made sure that they could. The parasites would make sure that they were tended to later, as well, and thus they would be able to continue fulfilling their duties.

A part of her wondered what would happen to the drones as time wore on. Those that were not as useful might not be prioritized in the same way. There were already some that were losing their ability to move, drained and emaciated due to constant connection to the Nest-Tree to keep it at full power. What would happen when there were no more ponies that needed to be caught and infested? What would happen to the various ponies that were already caught, and no longer required?

Would they continue being moved around, infested creatures that needed to go hither and yon and see things that the Nest could not?

Or would they become something that was gradually culled, their population lessened as little more than breeding stock for the next set of Nest parasites to go out into the world?

It was a strange question to ask, and stranger still to feel no emotion on the matter. She would have thought that there was something worth feeling about that, but perhaps she was already too far gone herself to be that bothered about the treatment of her people.

The Nest was all.

She examined the others urinating into the water barrels. More drained than the ones oozing pre-cum, but less exhausted. Probably because they were only converting more and more fluid to urine and pushing it out. They weren't having to exercise crotch muscles repeatedly to keep that flow going. All they had to do was relax and let it flow.

Celestia-Drone dipped her head to the barrel and tasted the liquid. It was no different from average water, a little bit dirty compared to the clear stuff in the palace, but it was close enough to the taste the soldiers were used to that she doubted that they would raise any complaints. A little tingle ran down her spine, hitting her between her hind-legs and adding to the slight pleasure that came from following the Nest's orders anyway.

One of the other hosts looked at her. Celestia-Drone nodded at the unspoken question about the water's concentration.

The three stallions pulled back, their cocks sliding back into their sheaths. The little bit of dripping between their legs was licked away as they clustered into a little triangle, each licking the other clean. What might have been surprisingly sensual between free stallions was as clinical and cold as everything else the infested did. As soon as they weren't dripping water and urine, they were back to work.

A thought occurred to Celestia-Drone, and the host was in motion before it was entirely aware of what the thought was. She put her forehooves on the edge of the barrel and hoisted herself up, lowering her sex to a spot just above the surface of the ‘water,’ and let go.

Hssssss.

The sound of her own urine flowing was slightly louder than the stallions, considering she couldn’t submerge the source, but it was so slight compared to the noise outside that it was an acceptable risk. Her parasite wanted to leave its taint in the water, too, and as a drone, Celestia-Drone should do the same.

Her inner walls clenched again and again, squeezing down on her bladder and forcing a significant helping of her urine into the barrel. It came in a long, unbroken stream, lasting a full thirty seconds before she was empty. She lowered herself just as mechanically and precisely as she’d lifted herself, and the stallions got to work packing the barrel up.

The barrel was lifted back in place as Celestia-Drone left the barracks. She did not need to be there for the feeding that was about to occur, or the aftermath.

The parasite was still going over her schedule. Later, she would need to make an appearance at the dining hall for dinner among the other subjects, and after that - or rather, partway through - she would need to take a moment's absence to bring the sun in for the day. The sheer power required to do that had astonished the Nest the first time that they had needed to do it, and they were still wondering how else they could use it, as far as Celestia-Drone was aware. After that, there was an arrangement with one of the other soldiers in her employ, a sort of boy-toy that she had been gradually training to keep the edge off her own hungers, but that was something that might be rescheduled. It wasn't necessary, it had been risky at the time, and she didn't want to start any further rumors when she was already hiding something big.

But that was all for later in the evening, and even dinner was an hour or so off. That gave her time to work on something for the Nest, and that was something she was looking forward to. Well, as much as any host could.

Celestia-Drone traveled through one hallway after another, the vast expanse of her palace making her parasite and more and more eager to learn how teleportation worked to shorten the distance that they had to travel to get from one end of it to the other. In truth, the host would have done that, normally, but there was too much of a disconnect between the shimmering shift from one place to another for the parasite to immediately grasp. Most of the other magics - even bringing the sun up and down - had been relatively simple in comparison, if requiring a vast amount of energy to do it. Teleportation, on the other hand...

Well, that was harder. And they weren't going to risk it until they had it mastered.

Eventually, they reached the door to the dungeons beneath Canterlot, a place that was seldom-used and even more seldom visited. Celestia-Drone stopped at the door, looking down at the one pony guarding it. She recognized him.

"Sapphire Strikes. I am told that we have someone inside?"

"Yes, Your Highness. Something of a troublemaker, and someone that I thought you'd like to see."

"I assume we are being kind to them, yes?"

There was just enough of an edge to her voice to make sure that anyone that might be listening in would still think that she was Celestia, even if she was keeping prisoners a secret. The latter would be easier to explain; the former would require some emergency infestation that might take too long.

Sapphire Strikes nodded, the earth pony bobbing his head.

"Of course, Your Highness. The dungeon might be for criminals, but -"

"For accused criminals, yes."

"Yes, of course."

And the act between them, still, just in case anyone was watching. There was no real chance that anyone was, but all hosts were conditioned to be as 'real' as they could whenever there was a slight chance that someone might notice. The only times that they dropped that sort of act was in the presence of other hosts and no others, when they were plugged into the Nest-Tree and syncing with it, or when they were completely shut off from the rest of the world. Any other time, they kept their 'mask' on.

Celestia-Drone waved a forehoof, and the earth pony stepped aside. Her horn glowed at the door, unlocking and opening it in one spell, and she stepped inside.

Waiting for her was a pegasus, dark-gray in color with a black mane. She had dark wings, as did most of the pegasi in Luna's service, and from what the Nest had told her, was one of those that pulled Luna's chariot from place to place during the dark nights. This pony was close enough to Luna to be worth turning, and from the dazed look in the mare's eyes, she had clearly been drugged already.

The plates and cups on the floor were just as telling, she supposed, but the glazed look meant that they had taken proper effect. Some ponies were too enduring for their own good.

“I’m sorry for how you’ve been treated so far, dear,” Celestia-Drone said as she shut the door behind her. “I wasn’t quite expecting my people to put you in the jail cell, but I suppose that I should have been clearer about what I needed.”

“Nnngh…”

“Let’s start with your name, hmm?”

“Cirrus…Cirrus Wisp,” the pegasus muttered under her breath, shaking her head. “What…what’s wrong with…me?”

“Is something wrong with you?” Celestia-Drone asked.

“Nnngh…feel…hot…”

They’d need to adjust the concentration of tainted fluids in their treats, then. Someone eating them should only know that they were horny, not that they were affected by something they’d taken in. Someone that knew that they were poisoned was far less vulnerable than someone that didn’t, after all.

Celestia-Drone pulled her legs under her, kneeling in front of the panting, slightly sweaty mare. The dark-furred pegasus kept shaking her head, huffing as her hind-legs pressed against each other and then pulled apart again. She couldn’t seem to focus, which was all the better for what was to come.

“I need to talk about my sister,” Celestia-Drone said.

“Nnngh…talk to her, then…”

“Oh, I would, dear, but I can’t. You see, I’m planning something of a surprise for Luna, and I need to make sure that she doesn’t know it’s going to happen before it’s time.”

“Nnngh…and why…why do you need…”

“Well, Cirrus, I think that’s obvious. You’re so close to my sister, and you know how she goes about her night. Even I don’t know everything about Luna. So, you and I need to talk about that. And when we’re done, I’ll make sure that you feel right as rain.”

“Nnngh…Fine…Mmmph…Can’t get any worse.”

And as Cirrus Wisp started detailing her sister’s nightly schedule, where she went and when, Celestia-Drone made note of every single iota of information. This was what the Nest needed. Soon, they would be able to start closing the trap around Luna, breaking down her resistance little by little.

Soon, she would break.

Soon, she would be part of the Nest.

And soon, the Nest would achieve its end-goals.