//------------------------------// // Chapter the Fourteenth - To the north // Story: The Betrayed // by Thadius0 //------------------------------// "So Princess Celestia gave you an assignment." "Yes." "To go to the frozen north where the Crystal Empire is." "Yes." "Where your brother and sister-in-law, who have no love for changelings, already are." "Yes." "And you want me to come with you." "Yes." Books just stared at Twilight from inside his house. The lavender mare and her friends were on his lawn, wondering what the purpose behind the statements were. Books stood still for a few moments, then, not breaking his gaze, stepped back a few paces, and began shutting the door. "Boooks!" Books sighed and opened the door again. "Twilight, no. Changelings and cold don't get on very well. It tends to induce hibernation." Twilight tilted her head to the side. "Is that why you're not very active in winter?" Books nodded. "It's a survival adaptation. If we get too cold, we enter suspended animation. Too long like that, and we can't be rescued. One season is easy enough. Longer's pushing it." Twilight sighed. "Getting you there isn't going to be easy, is it?" Books shook his head. "We have a few small spells for keeping warm, but nothing ready for such extreme temperatures. Though...Y'know what? Come back in an hour. I'll have an answer for you then." ----- In Celestia's day court, a sudden interruption came in the form of one of her guards leaning in to whisper to her. "White King to White Queen." Celestia nodded. "Day court will adjourn for one hour." The nobles whined, but Celestia and the guard moved to her private chambers. With a quick flare of magic, Celestia secured the room and looked to the guard, whose eyes flared and turned turquoise. "What does Abel want?" "Your student is intending to take our King to the north with her." Celestia nodded. "It may have been dropped as a subtle hint from me." The changeling guard frowned. "Changelings and cold do not get along, and we have no spell ready for the temperatures of the north. He believed you may have a solution." Celestia put a hoof to her chin and pondered. "Similar to how he asked to see how a unicorn would do an illusion spell, he wishes to see how I would keep somepony warm for an extended period of time, so that he could emulate it, correct?" The guard nodded and shifted back into his changeling form. "When you think of one, cross horns with me, and let the knowledge of the spell fill your mind." Celestia lowered her head, carefully crossing her horn with the changeling in front of her. A golden glow lit up her horn, and when it reached the changeling's horn, his lit up green. After a moment, both glows ceased, and the changeling nodded. "He appreciates the spell, and says that he can work with it." ----- Books sighed at the scenery outside the train. As time went on, the landscape had gotten bleaker, and the temperatures had dropped. Fluttershy had noticed the melancholy expression on his face, and her nature kicked in. "Um, if it isn't too much to ask, what's bothering you, Books?" Books looked at her through the reflection in the window and sighed again. "I hate the cold. Don't get me wrong, I love winter. It's beautiful, wonderful, artistic. The fresh snow...Here on Equus, you don't have a fraction of the pollution my old world did, so the snow stays prettier longer. I just never got along with cold, even before I was a changeling." Fluttershy nodded. "I think I understand. A lot of my animal friends sleep through winter too. It's lonely all by myself." Books smiled, glad she could empathize. "Some saw winter as a season of death, of ending. I personally saw it as the world resting from the rest of the year's craziness. I just always preferred to watch it happen from inside my home with a cup of cocoa, a roaring fire, and a nice, big, thick blanket." Fluttershy smiled at that. "Oh, that does sound nice." And then she looked down, scuffing the floor with a hoof. "Um, what do you usually do in winter?" Books turned and looked intently at the door. "I know you're there, Twi. Stop skulking behind the door and get in. I'll still answer, you don't need to use a proxy." Twilight came in, rubbing a hoof behind her head. "Eheheh. Magic sense, right." Books sighed and rolled his eyes. "You could just ask, y'know. I may value my privacy, but information about changelings is something I think I can part with." Twilight nodded and pulled a scroll out from somewhere, along with a quill. "So, what do you and yours do in winter, then?" Books shrugged. "A good majority of us hibernate. When I was on my lonesome, I did as well. But nowadays, each safehouse needs to have at least one active member through the winter, to safeguard the bodies of the hibernating ones. And I don't get to hibernate. I have to stay awake in case of emergencies." Twilight nodded and made notes on the topic as Books continued. "Though, don't get me wrong. Just because we hibernate, doesn't mean we're completely inactive. Our bodies may shut down for the winter, but our minds...well, we have an entire Archive to sort out yet. We've managed to get to Chryssy's long reign, but there's still so much that has yet to be properly gone through. Even though we'd rather not..." Twilight tilted her head to the side in confusion, and Books filled her in. "When Chrysalis took over the old Hive Minds, she sort of stuck them together in one large amalgamation, said 'that's good enough, I'll take over from here,' and bound herself to her creation. That's what I stole, the amalgamated knowledge of my people, and we've been trying to unravel and sort it all out properly. I could traverse it when it was just me, but you'd better believe it hurt. With more changelings, we can go through it faster and actually organize it. I'll be surprised if we get anywhere near done in the next few decades." There was silence for a few moments, until Dash burst in. "So how much of an alien are you?" Everyone groaned and facehooved. ----- "Ha! And you all made fun of me for packing so many scarves!" Books walked out behind Rarity, taking note of Spike carrying all her things. The boy is smitten... "Didn't say a word." That was, of course, right before Spike slipped and dropped Rarity's things, causing one to pop open. A few scarves got free and began to blow away in the wind. Books sighed, took a hold of them in his magic, closed it up again, and levitated them back to Spike. "Here you go, buddy." "Heh, thanks Books." "Twilight!" "Shining Armor!" Books took note of the reunion happening a few feet away and nodded. They are really happy to see each oth-GAH this increased emotional sensitivity I wish I could stooooop! "Twily, you made it!" Then Shining Armor looked around, though his gaze did linger on Books. "We'd better get moving. There are things around here we really don't want to run into after dark." "What kinds of things?" Shining looked back and glared at Books. "Let's just say, the empire isn't the only thing that returned." And then Books felt it. Dark magics. Hatred. Massive. Powerful. Books walked up to Shining and nodded. "Hello again, Guard-Captain. I do wish we stopped meeting under circumstances such as this." Shining nodded once, stiffly. "As do I, changeling." Twilight interjected then. "Books, how's that spell working out for you?" "Doing fine, Twilight! I stored enough magic for at least a few hours worth of it!" The group began to move into the tundra then. "Spell?" Books responded to Shining. "When Celestia was informed that changelings and the cold don't get on well, she taught me how she'd keep somepony warm. I managed to modify it and make it work with changeling ways of spellcasting. Now you won't have a frozen statue where I would be." Shining nodded. "And...She doesn't have such a spell?" Books shook his head. "I'll tell you later, but no. So what's going on up here?" Shining raised his voice so that the others could hear him as well. "Something keeps trying to get in! We think it's the unicorn king who originally cursed the place!" "But Princess Celestia said I was being sent up here to find a way to protect the empire! If King Sombra can't get in, it must already be protected." Maybe not well enough...wait, is that him? Oh goodness. Moaning echoed around them, sending them all into a searching frenzy. "It's one of the things, isn't it?!" "We have to get to the Crystal Empire! Now!" Books turned in the direction of the disturbance and saw a massive cloud of black smoke appear behind them. Red, slitted eyes with a green sclera that trailed purple smoke opened in the cloud. Shining pulled Spike along, and the entire herd ran for their lives. When a blue bubble was visible in front of them, Books realized they were missing Shining. The changeling king turned around to see the unicorn staring down the smoke cloud. There was no thought behind his actions. Books reached out with his magic, grabbed a hold of Shining, and flung him towards the bubble, taking charge to take Shining's place. Books shed his disguise and ignored Shining's screams of likely profanity as the smoke cloud turned its attention to him. Only now realizing how completely outclassed he was by this thing in front of him, Abel did the one thing that came to mind. He charged his horn and smirked at the cloud. "Come at me, brah." And next, all was darkness. ----- "Is everypony okay?" Twilight looked around at her friends, noticing her brother was missing. "Shining! Where's-" A scream cut her off then, as Shining Armor landed nearby. "That blasted changeling..." Twilight looked back at the shield. "Books is still out there?" Shining shakily got to his hooves. "I was trying to buy you all time to get here safely, but he decided launching me into the empire was a better use of resources." Twilight glared at her brother. "If he's still out there, then we should try to save him, from the cold if nothing else!" Shining shook his head. "Sombra was powerful even when he wasn't shadow. If he's got a hold of your friend, then we'll have to wait for-" And that was when they heard the screaming. ----- You...are an interesting one. Your fears are unique...your hatred, targeted... Abel spun around in the darkness, realizing he was in a shared mindspace. The voice of Sombra echoed around him, causing him no end of confusion. Nonetheless, he responded to the shadow. "I am Abel, King of the Exiles! The knowledge of my kind is at my command! You will not best me, shade!" Bold words...but words are all you have. Tell me, why do you not even fear death? "I have traveled beyond and between, without and within! I have died before, it holds no fear o'er me! And after a lifetime here of being in various kinds of pain, fear of pain is gone as well!" A traveler? Interesting. Breaking you will be involved... Abel felt the tendrils of darkness grip him. Listen to me, maggot, and listen well. I cannot enter there. But YOU can. He felt his mouth being forced open, felt...something slip down his throat. You will carry a part of me, you will break eventually, and you will deliver to me the city. Then I may grant you the mercy of death. Then something touched his horn, and all was pain. But you will not remember this. The next thing he knew, he was staring up into the face of a familiar lavender unicorn.