The next morning brought a slight surprise to Twilight Sparkle as she came down for her coffee.
Abel, in all his changeling king glory, was sitting at the table drinking a cup of aforementioned liquid.
What passed for a mane and tail were red again, but his wings were still missing, for some reason. And all the cracks were gone, but faint lines, like scars, crisscrossed his chitin.
Abel's eyes flicked over to Twilight as she descended, and with one hoof, he motioned towards the kitchen.
"Spike's working on some more, along with breakfast for you. I think I might've scared him a bit."
Twilight slowly worked her way over and sat at the table, keeping an eye on Abel's back all the while. After a few minutes, Abel noticed the staring and coughed, causing Twilight to jump. "What?"
"Ummmm," the lavender unicorn eloquently stated, then pointed a hoof at his back. "Where did your wings...go, exactly?"
Abel sighed, and suddenly, streams of red light shot out from his back, taking the vague shape of wings that moved in an unfelt breeze. "They're more magic than physical now. If I want to use them again, I'll have to put effort into it."
Twilight looked askance for a moment, recalling that it was her fault that had happened. "I'm sor-"
Abel held a hoof up to her mouth, then turned her head to look at him. "Don't. Don't even go there. Under the circumstances, you did the best you could. Frankly, if I could choose anyone to go poking around in my head, I would choose you all over again."
Twilight blushed a bit, and that was when Spike came out of the kitchen with a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee for Twilight. The dragon eyed the changeling king warily as he placed the food down in front of Twilight, who began attacking it with gusto.
The two males exchanged glares. "So," Spike started.
"So," Abel rejoined.
"You're a changeling."
"Yup."
"But not a black one."
"Indeed."
"So...what's different about you from them?"
"Mostly, I feed on magic. But I also HATE Chrysalis."
Spike blinked a few times. "Really."
"Yup. All the ones she's cast out? Mine. We all hate her."
Spike looked around nervously. "How many..."
Abel chuckled. "Not sayin'. That'd be part of giving it away."
Spike nodded slowly. "But...there are some in Ponyville, then."
Abel tilted his head to the side. "Technically, the only place we don't have a permanent presence yet is Appleloosa, but I have a few agents on their way even now to finalize the safe house there. Every other city? We've got a presence in."
Spike blinked a few times. "And I've heard that changelings have some sort of hive mind."
Able nodded. "One of the 'perks' of kingdom is that now, I can never turn it off. It'll always be in the back of my mind, providing live commentary and feedback on my every action."
Spike's eyes widened. "What other perks are there?"
Abel grinned. "First, I've finally ditched my pink color scheme. Second, I've given myself a gland that'll make changing forms a lot less painful. It'll take a few days before it fully kicks in, though. And third, I have a greater capacity to store magic, along with increased sensitivity to it as well. Everything else is obvious, though it will take me flippin' forever to get used to being so large, I can tell."
Of course, Spike had latched on to the first perk and chuckled. "Pink? So you looked girly, then?"
Abel merely nodded and grimaced. "I hated that color..."
Twilight had been taking notes off to one side while finishing off her pancakes. Abel and Spike glanced at her, and she took notice, rubbing a napkin along her muzzle. "Eheheh...pardon me."
The two males chuckled at her expense, while she started to drink her coffee. "Abel, I have a few questions about some of the things I saw in your head..."
Abel's head and whole body rotated to face Twilight so fast, it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash. "Proceed."
"Well, when I was in your head, the landscape seemed...odd. Odd's a good word for it. There was a part of you that said it was a highly ordered city born of your memories."
Abel groaned and slumped forward a little, but Twilight pressed on. "And I may...have incapacitated that part of you and taken a peek at some of your memories..."
Abel's head shot up and focused on her. "You're the reason that my memory failsafe failed?"
Twilight merely nodded, and Abel groaned again, letting his head hang loose for a moment. "Note to self, fix that..."
Twilight decided to continue in her questioning. "And I saw two weird objects in your memories."
Abel once again raised his head and looked intently at Twilight. "Describe them."
"The first was a weird sort of mask. Oval shaped, it didn't look like a pony, nor did it look like it was meant for a pony. The second was a red quill."
And at that, Abel hissed. His whole face contorted for a moment into a mask of rage. "You saw that vile thing?!"
Twilight moved back a few feet. "What was so bad about that quill?"
Abel sighed and looked off into space. "So you'll want to know about those objects. And you won't stop pestering me about them."
Twilight shook her head slowly, and Abel sighed before being consumed by a burst of red flame, leaving Balanced Books in his place.
"I'm only doing this once. Get the Bearers, tell the Princesses. That grove you found me in? I'll do this, there, in one hour."
Books was on his way out before Twilight could speak up. "Where are you going?"
-I'm going to see a doctor about a box.-
-----
Books knocked three times on the door to the mailmare's house.
He'd never had reason to come here before.
Then again, he'd never had to explain himself before.
And if he were going to do so, he'd want the only other trans-dimensional entity he knew about to stand by his side for courage.
A moment passed, before Derpy opened the door. "Oh, hi there Books!"
Books nodded. "Morning, Derpy. Is Time Turner in?"
Derpy nodded. "You here to see him?"
"If he doesn't mind."
Books made his way into Derpy's house and sat down in the living room. It was a minute or so before the brown earth stallion made his way into the room. "Ah, Balanced Books! Derpy's told me about you. How you helped quite a bit with the post office's financials. I must say, good show!"
Books motioned to the couch across from him, and the stallion sat. "Hello, Doctor."
The pony across from Books froze for a second before making a quizzical expression. "Doctor? No, no doctors here."
Books sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll say three other things. And if you don't react, if you aren't curious at all, then I'll be on my way, and we'll pretend this never happened. But if I detect so much as a flicker of curiosity from you, then you lose, and will have to hear me out and join me for a little session I have planned later today."
The pony said nothing, and Books took that as his cue. "Okay, first. EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"
Surprisingly, Books did a very good impression of a Dalek, and he saw the pony across from him flinch slightly.
Books nodded. "Second. Hostile elements will be deleted!"
The pony across from him put a hoof to his chin at Book's impression of a cyberman.
"And finally. Don't blink. They are fast, faster than you would believe. Don't turn your back on them, don't look away, and don't blink!"
And finally the pony across from Books jumped to his hooves. "I said that! How can you know about something I said?! What are you?!"
Books grinned. "I'm much like you, I'd suspect. Someone who slipped between. You probably did so physically, and I'm not sure where on your timeline you are compared to what I know about your timeline. But me, the way I got here was simpler."
"How can you know about my timeline?"
Books waved a hoof around. "Your world and mine were close enough that the very concept and idea of your timeline became, well, popular. Popular enough for a show."
The Doctor chuckled. "But how did you know that I was, well, me?"
Books grinned again. "Well, the accent, the mark, the way you said certain things, over the years they all helped me piece it together. But really, it was two very different things. The first was your eyes as you walked into this room. I looked in and I saw all the pain and regret and sorrow and fire behind them. You've done so much, changed so often, yet your eyes are still the window to your soul, and it terrifies me."
The Doctor slowly nodded. "And the second?"
Books grinned and dropped the disguise, revealing his changeling form. "Boo."
The Doctor didn't react, merely looked at the changeling across from him. "Interesting. So you sensed my emotions?"
Abel, disheartened, changed back and nodded. "More often than not, you're carrying around this...weight of sadness and regret. The only time a pony is even close to being as sad as you are in this town is before they meet Pinkie."
The Doctor chuckled a bit. "Yes, well, I admit defeat to your little game, so why did you come here?"
Books grinned. "From one traveler to another...Twilight stumbled across some of my memories. And now she wants to know."
The Doctor paled a bit. "And you came here because..."
Books waved a hoof about. "I was hoping for moral support. I was going to reveal most of my history to them in the Whitetail woods. There's a grove I...accidentally disconnected in there. It's a useful spot."
The Doctor nodded slowly. "Yes, well, I'm not sure I can-"
"Plus I was going to explain the nature of the Multiverse there. Along with the Aetherial Veil, the Flux, the Branches, the whole shebang. Frankly, I only know enough to get in trouble."
"Yes, well, typically, most don't even get that modicum of knowledge. And I only know about the science aspects of it."
"Does that mean you're out?"
"Oh goodness no." The Doctor grinned. "Watching Twilight Sparkle try to wrap her head around the concept of infinity? That alone will be worth the trip."
-----
It was an hour later, and the Bearers had arrived in the grove again. Abel was sitting there, looking at something in a wooden box that sat at his hooves. He looked up sharply in their direction, noticed it was them, and nodded once. "Hello girls, I don't suppose Twilight told you anything in particular..."
The other mares shook their heads, and Twilight chuckled weakly. Dash interjected then. "Nah, she didn't say much. But clearly, part of your treatment was becoming cooler."
Abel looked down at himself, and then back up. "A forced ascension is 'cool' to you?"
Dash nodded. "Yeah! I mean, you look kinda like Queen whats-her-name. At least, in terms of size. But the fact that you're on our side turns it from slightly scary to cool."
Abel chuckled. "Well, I'll keep that in mind. Anyways...This is a more...intense interrogation. Twilight saw a few things in my head, and I'm here to explain them. We're still waiting on three guests, though."
Twilight tilted her head to the side. Two could be explained, the Princesses...but three?
"Hang on! Nearly there!"
A brown earth pony stallion came out of the underbrush, panting slightly. "You just had to choose this spot, didn't you? The old girl can't lock on to these coordinates, not when they're disconnected. It's like it isn't even part of Equus anymore."
Abel waved a hoof at the stallion. "Girls, meet the Doctor."
"The Doctor?" Twilight questioned.
Abel nodded.
"Doctor...who, sugarcube?"
"Exactly," The Doctor said.
Before anyone else could interject, there was the sound of massive wingbeats, and Princess Celestia, closely followed by Princess Luna, landed in the clearing as well. "This had better be important, Abel. Day court had quite a few things scheduled, and-"
What Abel did next shut Celestia up faster than can be believed.
With a small burst of magic, Abel opened the box in front of him, reached in with a hoof, and withdrew the same blood red quill that Twilight had seen in his memories.
The princesses regarded it with both fear and hatred, whereas The Doctor regarded it with wonder.
And then Abel described it.
"Girls, meet The Quill. It is my savior...and my murderer."