//------------------------------// // Chapter the Third - Getting Parole // Story: The Betrayed // by Thadius0 //------------------------------// Twilight was glancing over the transcript that the interrogator had passed to her, noticing there was a time period she may want to ask about, but she would need one crucial frame of reference first. “So...Abel. When did you arrive in Ponyville?” Abel looked wistful at that. “Oh, I'd say three years ago. Don't know the exact day, but I do know that, for once, Pinkie didn't greet the new pony. No, that's an interesting story as well. It involves me stalking through the treeline, at least to start...” ----- Okay, this is interesting, there was no town of ponies here mentioned in the Archive. So either Chrysalis doesn't believe in keeping up-to-date on the ponies, or this is a recent development. “What a thing to see, a changeling of unusual hue. Tell me now, should I trust you?” Abel was snapped from his thoughts by the unusual rhyming. Turning, he saw what could only be called a zebra in a cloak, but the hood was down, and she was gripping a nearby staff like it was a deadly weapon. Then again, considering she just snuck up on me while my passives were going, she's not to be taken lightly... “And I could say something similar to you, but to compare you to a pony would not even be close to as big an insult as the one you just proffered me, ma'am.” The zebra winced at Abel's insult, and Abel caught a whiff of sympathy radiating from the zebra. So this emotion-sensing thing does work after all...just on ponies, though, it'd seem. Or pony-shaped life-forms. “My apologies, then, for insults I did not intend. If you mean no harm, then my regrets I send.” Abel blinked, only just now catching on to the zebra's mannerisms. “Okay, if you're going to attempt to rhyme every sentence with its precursor, then this is going to be an...interesting conversation.” “My rhyming, does it bother you? It is merely something that I do. To amuse my friends, or confuse my foes, it does have its highs and lows.” Abel waved a hoof at the zebra. “I didn't say that. It's actually the first conversation I've had in years. I can handle a little weirdness if it means talking with something that can talk back.” The zebra smiled. “Well if you want, I can talk like this. Granted, I don't do so very often, but we probably have a lot of questions to ask of one another, and it'd be faster if I didn't rhyme. Normally, we zebras rhyme to any other nonzebra, save for...very close friends.” Abel caught the hidden meaning behind her statement and winced. “Yeah, you can go back to rhyming once we get past this awkward question-and-answer bit. Hello, my name is Abel, I'm an Albino changeling.” The zebra nodded. “I am Zecora the zebra, I live near this town and act as a...deterrent against ponies being fools and entering the forest.” Abel shuddered. “Yeah, no kidding, that thing is massive and filled with horrors. I've lived there for the past twenty years. Frankly, I'm surprised I lived through it all. I want a nice, peaceful life now.” Zecora nodded towards the town. “You could do worse to chose Ponyville, but you should probably change into some sort of pony disguise first. The ponies may have forgotten what a changeling is, but my people have not. Which is why, if I catch a whiff of ponies being drained of their love and left mindless...” Abel held up a hoof. “Slow down there. Albinos are throwbacks, we're an entirely different branch of the tree. I'm pretty sure I don't eat emotions. I can still sense them, mind. I have a different diet.” The zebra raised an eyebrow. “And that is?” “Magic. As in, the very magic in all living things.” Zecora let out something close to a growl, and Abel knew he would have to clarify. “Yeah I mean I COULD go and suck the entire town dry of magic...or, I could do as I have been for the past twenty years, only do it in a way I know you'd approve of: discouraging the monsters from attacking this town. By sucking enough magic out of them to leave them woozy and disoriented.” The zebra paused for a moment, before nodding. “So long as you adhere to that role, I see no problem...except the ponies will want to know why you leave town so often.” Abel put a hoof to his chin. “Well, so long as I make it both infrequent enough to avoid suspicion, but frequent enough so that I don't have to worry about starving...and do it at night, so that none of them will see me leave...I think I can get by on once a week. Plus, so long as there are unicorns in town that don't know proper control, it'd help me get by.” Seeing the zebra's eyes narrow, Abel clarified. “I wouldn't be sucking any magic out of them, just the excess they sling about levitating things. It'd fade away on its own, most likely, unless I put it to better use. Heck, since coming into Equestria proper, I haven't really been starving, ever. Celestia just sits in Canterlot for the most part, save for the rare excursion to the outlying towns. Her very presence just radiates power. All of Equestria is covered in the excess from when she raises the sun and moon!” The zebra blinked a few times before shaking her head. “You never cease to amaze. First you prove peaceful, then you prove to be attuned with the magical plane. What wonders lie in that head of yours to make you this way?” Abel's voice literally dripped with sarcasm. “Gee, I dunno. Does getting chased by an angry mob of your own kind merely because you were born an albino count? Cause I totally was, and they really wanted me dead. As for the being attuned to magic bit: albino, it's my food source.” Zecora's eyes widened in shock, and – is that sympathy again? She feels for me? Damn. “I...I did not know...and I apologize for touching on a topic of that nature.” Abel waved a hoof lazily in the air. “Not a big deal. You couldn't have known. Albinos...we're kinda seen as a threat to Chrysalis, along with a bad omen and a reminder to the way things once were. And...do I have to take a disguise?” The zebra nodded. “I go into the town once a month, to try and look for rare herbs for my potions. The townsfolk lock themselves inside for fear of me, because I look so different. I dread to think of what they will do if you go in looking like that.” Abel whined. “But changing hurts. Oh well, if it's for the sake of blending in...” Just as he was about to turn on a disguise, Zecora waved a hoof in front of his face. “Did I hear you correctly? Changing brings you pain?” Abel nodded. “Normal changelings have a gland that gives them a shot of painkiller. I don't have that, so every change hurts. I might even curse.” Zecora shook her head. “Come back with me to my hut. I have many a brew there, perhaps one can at least alleviate your pain.” ----- “And once there, she and I struck up a deal. I would come by once a month, the day after she shows herself in town, where she'd give me some painkiller potion, and I'd give her a jar of gel with magic infused in it. She said she could use it in her potions to give it an extra kick when needed, and believe me, I noticed in my next batch of painkiller, when she tried it.” Twilight merely cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Gel?” Abel blinked before replying in a deadpan voice. “The organic material I ingested all those years did have a purpose, Twilight.” “But if you ate normal...food...Oh. Oh my.” Abel merely laughed as Twilight blushed a deep crimson through her fur. Turning to the brother, Abel decided to at least try to be civil. “And you, Shining Armor? Any more questions for the nefarious changeling who actively tried to keep Ponyville - and by extension, your sister - safe, on a regular basis?” Shining thought for a bit. “If Chrysalis sees you as a threat, can you tell us why?” Abel grinned that manic grin again. “Once again, a member of the Sparkle house asks the right question. It's because albinos don't feed off of love. We don't need her controlling us in order to function.” Shining and Twilight gasped, but Abel wasn't done. “Albinos are the free-thinkers, and dear Queen Chryssy is the tyrant. In fact, my mere presence inspired a good number of changelings to break free. Oh, they were always capable of doing that, but I inspired them. Spend too long away from Chryssy's Hive Mind, and your connection fades. Scouts go missing more often than most, and she doesn't realize it's 'cause she botched her spell up. And once they're disconnected, they begin thinking for themselves. Sometimes they go back, are re-integrated, and either forget about it all together, or have niggling doubts all their lives...or sometimes, they stay out, on purpose.” Shining frowned. “That's not quite a complete answer, though...” Abel laughed again. “Too true! I present a very real threat to Chryssy! Not only do I undermine her authority merely by living, but I've started my own Hive!” The two unicorns gasped, before asking the same question, with slightly different intonations. “How?!” “Lemme show you!” And Abel's horn lit up, covering a wall in light, as though he were a projector, and the wall was the screen. Immediately, a circle appeared, along with five symbols inside it. Twilight frowned, looking at it like a scholar. “That looks something like an ancient unicorn spellframe, but it's missing a good portion of the frame...” “That's because it's a changeling spell. One of the last ones ever developed. It was really the last one they ever needed. Every other spell the changelings have, they stole from you. This one was written in symbols, with the intent behind each one held firmly in the caster's mind, along with the extra meaning spoken at the appropriate time.” “Extra meaning?” “Getting to it. This spell was meant to bring changelings of the same Hive together, no matter the obstacles that could or would stand between them. This is the spell of making a Hive Mind. Once the correct meanings were held in the mind of the ruling changeling, he would speak the word, the ideal that the Hive Mind would revolve around. He would speak 'Unity.'” The two unicorns nodded, and the diagram shifted a little. Now there was a tiny, second circle in the middle. “And when Chryssy learned how to make Hive Minds, she decided to bring them all together under her. Except she didn't speak of Unity, then, nor did she hold the right meanings in her mind. She only spoke of Domination, and she has it, and hungers for it. In her Hive Mind, she is master of all she surveys, but those that go far enough away for long enough are disconnected, and named exiles...” The light shut off, and the two unicorns looked at the changeling, who waved a hoof at them. “I found enough exiled changelings in my time in Ponyville to make making a Hive Mind seem worthwhile, since the same ponies always going to the same clandestine meetings behind closed doors would seem suspicious after a while. But I spoke neither of Unity or Domination when making mine.” There was a pause, and then Abel continued. “I spoke of both Friendship and Harmony.” The unicorns' jaws dropped, and Abel shrugged. “Yeah, but they needed to learn it more than I did. Plus, we use it more for keeping tabs on each other. Every changeling connected has access to the Archive, and if they need extraction from the town they are in, we can bail one another out. If they need a new identity, other changelings can help pitch in ideas for form and cover story. And if we spot any errors in one another's behavior, then we help each other to correct them. They also help with going through the Archive and organizing it, it's a lot of work for any single mind.” Shining finally managed to get out a question. “How...many?” “In Equestria and in my Hive? Only about fifty. We keep tabs on other exiles, though, and there are about...I'd guess at least a hundred other exiles. That we know of. But if you want to know how many are in Canterlot right this moment? None, I sent them away when I got here. Meeting Chryssy scared me, and I didn't want any of them to run the risk of meeting her as well. But there are...yeah, my five finest are waiting outside the shield, because, again, I have a plan if this doesn't turn out well for my own extraction. Oh, and you can come out now, I've said all I need to say.” The two siblings tilted their heads in confusion before the air behind Abel seemed to shimmer slightly. Like a curtain peeling away, the air itself slowly parted to reveal Princess Luna sitting behind Abel. The two immediately bowed, and Luna waved them up. “Please, rise, friends.” Twilight blurted the first thing that came to her mind. “But the interrogator pony I talked to!” Luna smiled. “Was me in disguise. I am rather good at those.” Abel nodded. “She even impressed me when she showed it off before she went for lunch and to fetch you.” Luna looked shocked for a moment. “Truly? I impressed a species who is notorious for its ability to disguise itself?” Abel looked in her general direction and turned his snarkiness up to maximum. “Well considering you have the power to make your transformations painless, then yes. I did ask for either my painkiller or Zecora, you know. How's that coming, by the way?” Luna merely sighed. “Nopony can even get into your house, Abel. And we've tried. The unicorns say that the weakness in the spell is also its greatest strength, because the only way in is to ask your permission and be invited in.” Abel smiled. “It's standing up to them? Hot diggidy, that crazy stallion wasn't joking, that's the most I could ask for in that security spell! Granted, it doesn't stand up to Pinkie, but I've yet to meet anything that can. Still doesn't explain the lack of one zebra, though. She doesn't live that far into the Everfree.” Luna pulled a scroll out from...somewhere, and glanced at it. “She has said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that with one of the town's protectors in the custody of Canterlot, she cannot leave the town with no protection at all, merely to make some painkiller potion for you.” Abel merely sighed. “Well, that sucks. Means if I ever get to go back, it'll hurt.” Luna sighed as well. “There are a few more questions we have to ask of you first, Abel, before we can come to a decision on that.” Abel nodded and relaxed. “Fire away.” Luna pulled out a different scroll and glanced at it. “Hmm...most of these you did touch on...Ah, here's one. Will you ever become a threat to Equestria?” Able rubbed his chin with a hoof. “Who can say? I can't read the future. Now if you're asking if I ever intend to hurt any of your subjects, or allow any in my Hive to do the same, then the answer is no. I've shown them that being friends and living a nice life amongst the ponies is the best way for them to get the positive emotions they need to survive, and I've also shown them how to passively feed off the positive emotions in the air, like I do with magic. Those that agree to enter my Hive must also agree to my ideals of Friendship and Harmony with ponykind.” Luna nodded, then looked to the scroll again. “Will you share the names of the changelings with us?” Abel didn't even hesitate. “Nope. Not happening. Oh yes, the masquerade has been broken, ponies are aware of us. But to betray them like that...it would be like Celestia turning her back on Twilight. It would hurt me that badly.” And shocked silence filled the room as three ponies tried to pick up their jaws from the floor. Luna got her voice back first. “You feel...Loyalty that strongly?” “We've been in and out of each others heads constantly. We share a psuedo-magical-and-mental connection that space can't break. I've given them a copy of my Archive. We've been there to support each other when we need a metaphorical shoulder to cry on, or when one is in town, they help me deal with...everything. And now five of them are waiting on the edge of the shield in case they need to rescue me. You're bucking right we feel Loyalty that strongly.” The other two were still shocked by the metaphor that Abel had used, but Luna nodded and turned back to her list. “And finally...will you ever become as powerful as Chrysalis?” Abel grimaced. “Not gonna lie, that's possible. I don't want it, but the possibility is open to me.” Twilight, her curiosity stoked, managed to croak out a simple “How?” “Well, the spell matrix that creates a Hive Mind sets the caster as the leader or ruler over all others in the Hive. Even though in my Hive, all are equal, as befits the concepts I founded it on, the others do tend to either rib me with or purposely call me their Prince. Funny thing, there's a threshold. If my Hive doubles in size in one day, or we ever pass three hundred, then I begin the process of becoming like Chryssy. And they're all under pain of humiliation to never do that.” “Well,” a powerful voice intoned, “I do hope the humiliations will at least be tasteful, and spread out over several days.” All eyes turned to the door as Princess Celestia walked in. Shining bowed, while Luna and Twilight went up to hug and nuzzle the immortal sun raiser, sister, and teacher. Abel merely raised a hoof in greeting. “I'm not sure if I should bow, but I'd like to, seeing as how I've been a citizen for three years. Granted, a citizen under an assumed identity, but a citizen nonetheless. Unless you're here to refund my taxes, cause I could totally get behind that idea.” Celestia giggled once, briefly, before restraining it, and Abel smirked. “Buuuuut, seeing as how the dastardly changeling is a bit tied up at the moment, why don't you explain that last comment of yours. Because I could swear you just said something to the effect of, 'Abel, become an ageless ruler of a Hive whose concepts I agree with! Oh, and work for me, because otherwise I'll reduce you to ash with a thought.' Cause I know you wouldn't say or even imply something like that.” Celestia let loose a few more giggles while every other pony looked at Abel in shock for his flippant attitude. “Oh my, you do cut to the core, don't you? And you're not entirely wrong. I do agree with your concepts for your Hive, and I find it admirable that you are so loyal to them. And yes, you would be reporting to me. But I wouldn't harm you. Or even force this on you. I would merely ask you to ask your Hive if they want this. For themselves and you.” Abel sighed. “They want it, yes. I don't. And, y'know, now that you've said you want it, they're considering going out to the more amenable exiles and asking them to join all at once.” Everypony's eyebrows raised while Twilight managed to blurt the question out first. “Your Hive Mind has been active all this time?” Abel shrugged. “It's always there, I've just allowed them access to what I'm hearing and saying since you and Shining walked in. Basically, for the purposes of this conversation, consider me not the only one you're talking to.” Celestia and Luna nodded briefly, understanding the sense behind the action. Shining wasn't exactly the most trusting of the changeling. Celestia decided to ask the critical question. “Why don't you want that power?” Abel stared at her, blinking twice, before responding to the immortal sun ruler. “There are so many ways for me to answer that question, and the Hive is screaming for me to be well-mannered about it. I'll start with a few quotes on the topic.” Abel's horn glowed with a red light, and words formed in the air. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. The best leaders are those that do not seek the position. All other things being true, power corrupts the mind, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Annendum: With great power comes great responsibility, and absolute power confers absolute responsibility. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. The words faded, and the ponies looked at Abel, who merely hung his head. “Not to imply anything about you or Luna, even with that...incident. But I have always abhorred the thought of being in a similar position. And every day that I wake up still knowing that the thought of power and responsibility on that scale scare me to death is a day that I know that under my disguise, I am still me.” And then the two rulers did something unexpected to everyone else in the room. Celestia and Luna took up positions on either side of Abel, unlocked the chains binding him to the floor, and wrapped him up in a hug. Faintly, Twilight could hear the words 'You have no idea' being said by her mentor. The hug lasted long enough for Abel to get his wits about him and start trying to get the rulers to stop. “Okay, this is getting awkward, m'ladies. Had I known my views on power would get you both to hug me, I would've spoken my mind about it the moment I arrived in your presence.” The two blinked, blushed slightly, and let Abel go, not bothering with the chains anymore. Abel looked at them both quizzically, and before Shining could protest, asked the question. “Letting me leave? What's the catch?” Celestia and Luna nodded, and Celestia spoke first. “The stipulations to your release are simple. You will return to Ponyville as Balanced Books, and live your life as you always have. If you see fit, you may inform the rest of the Bearers as to your origins.” “However,” Luna cut in, “By the end of the year, you are to begin the process of becoming a king to your Hive, and you must swear fealty to us, and inform us if there are any of Chrysalis' operatives within our lands. Should you ever decide to have a more permanent structure to your Hive, you are to tell us where it is, so we can mark it as some sort of forbidden ruin on our maps, to discourage ponies from finding it.” Abel merely shook his head. “We prefer to have safe houses in the major pony cities, and no, not telling right now. The deal isn't concluded, and if I were to reveal them, then I'd have to have the agreement of the ones using it. But there is a reason I'm not concluding this deal right now.” Abel stared right at Celestia, and she stared back, the both of them unblinking. “If I am to agree to become a king to my Hive, then you must swear, on your life and magic, that should dear old Queen Chrysalis ever come for me, no matter the circumstances, unless I tell you it's fine, then you will stand between her and me.” Luna gasped while Twilight and Shining looked on, confused. Shining actually beat his sister to the question this time. “What does that mean, swearing on your life and magic?” “I think I read about it in a history book, something about how unicorns made promises a long time ago...” Celestia finally broke the staring contest by blinking rapidly. “She scares you that much?” Luna interjected then. “Sister, no! To make an Unbreakable Vow puts you in a vulnerable position unlike any other!” “Unbreakable vow? What are you asking her to do, Abel?” Abel turned his head to Twilight. “A thing I pulled from the Archive. Unicorns, Alicorns, and Changelings alike can make Unbreakable Vows if they put their magic behind seven simple words. That they swear on their life and magic. It is literally a promise you cannot break, it's more accurately a Geas. You are compelled to fulfill your promise to the letter.” Shining nearly growled. “You're asking the Princess to put herself in a position where you can-” Celestia interrupted his rant with a raised hoof. Shining glared a while yet, but relaxed himself, slowly. Celestia stared at Abel, and as she opened her mouth, her horn was coated in a golden aura. “I so swear on my life and magic that should the one known as Abel become a king to his Hive and swear fealty to me and Equestria as a whole, that I will protect him from the one known as Chrysalis. No matter the circumstance. Should she come to steal him away, I will secure him. Should she come to seduce him away, I will hide him. Should she come for his blood, I will raise my shield to defend him.” There was a small explosion of light, and all the motes gathered around Abel, who grinned slightly. “Adding a clause that requires my own Vow, very nice. Very well then.” Abel's horn lit up with a crimson glow, and he began to speak. “I, Abel, leader of my own Hive, do hereby swear that I will begin the process of becoming a king to it by year's end. I also swear that so long as I rule over my Hive, that I and it will be loyal to Equestria and its rulers, so long as they proffer us protection from Chrysalis. This I vow, on my life and magic. So be it.” This time, the light faded, and the two nodded at each other. Celestia turned to Shining and nodded. “He is no longer a threat, Guard Captain. He literally can no longer be one.” Abel merely smiled. “Not...quite. I could be, if I were devious, you know. And if there's one thing I am, it's devious. The letter of the agreement stated that I would start the process of becoming a king to my hive by year's end, and that so long as I ruled, I would swear loyalty to you. Technically not a king yet, and the process takes time, depending on if I resist it or not. So long as I'm not a king yet, I'm not exactly 'ruling' over my Hive, now am I?” The full implications hit everypony in the room, and Abel merely laughed as he saw their shocked faces. “Like I'd do anything of that nature! Sheesh, you think the worst of me, merely because my mind works fast to find loopholes and avenues of escape from every situation. But this is a thing I want to do. Because the sooner I'm a king to my hive, the sooner Celestia has to protect me and mine from Chryssy. She technically doesn't have to do a darn thing until I am! Letter of the agreement, ponies!” Twilight got her voice back first. “Then why did you-” “Point that out?” The ponies in the room nodded as Abel continued. “'Cause you lot are terrible at thinking deviously. Changelings have practice, I moreso than most. I plot and plan for every situation, including impossible ones, or ones that are just plan...dark. And besides, it's not being paranoid if someone is out to get you. The only thing to elude my ability to plan is Pinkie, and we all know that mare's a special case.” Celestia smiled. “Well then, while I technically don't have to, allow me to send a few guards with you to escort you to your home, to ensure that you are safe.” Luna then frowned. “Though, we will need a good story as to why they are there...” Abel grinned. “Easy, they're not there for me, they're there to escort Twilight home, who decided to look after Balanced Books, who was injured grievously in the changeling attack. He's spent all this time here recovering, and it took a specialized spell from Twilight to fix the last bit of damage. So long as she tries to make sure I'm comfortable in my home before going on to hers, the story will hold. And it's not even lying, really! Being blasted out of my disguise hurt like you wouldn't believe, and I have recovered my faith in ponies.” Twilight merely asked, in a faint voice, “And the bit about the spell?” Abel turned to her and replied in a voice just as quiet, “Your friendship with me, of course. I can feel it, even now. Despite all that's happened, because I've shown you that all along, it was always me, you still thought of me as a friend. And wasn't it a certain studious lavender unicorn that discovered that friendship is its own type of magic?”