//------------------------------// // Chapter the Ninteenth - The airing of grievances // Story: The Betrayed // by Thadius0 //------------------------------// Celestia blinked, expressing a rare moment of shock. "You...planned for this?" Abel snorted again and shook his head. "I wanted this. I wanted your attention, I wanted you out of the castle. You and I have issues with each other, though we keep them hidden. Come in, Celestia, and we can air them. Or, if you prefer, you can stay out there and hold me under house arrest for the rest of eternity." With that, Abel walked back into his house. The guard turned from the door, to the princess, and back to the door. One of them dared to ask. "Princess, would you like us to-" Celestia cut him off. "Abel may have done many a thing. We may have come here to arrest him. But we've already tried breaching his security once. He's also a planner, a schemer. I have to believe he means what he says. He wanted to talk to me, and this was the most direct method to get me to do so. Therefor, I shall. Wait here, my guards. I shall return." And with that, the solar diarch walked into the lair of the changeling king. ----- "Tea?" Celestia merely sighed and shook her head. "What am I going to do with you, Abel?" Abel paused and lowered his cup back to the table. "Well, normally I would say 'nothing, I hope'. But this isn't a normal situation, is it? I was corrupted, and I've been made aware of my actions. Every last one of them." "So Cain?" "Sealed within a crystal, bound by bonds forged of the lingering Harmony in your old castle. Any magic used on it strengthens said bonds." "The Crystal Ponies?" "Reversed my feeding ability, gave them a jolt. They'll recover, some quicker than others, depending on how close to me they were." "That construct?" "Remind me to teach you the re-tuning spell. Then you can teach it to Cadence. Anyway, Twi purified it." "The Elements?" "Recovered by Twi. Probably. Neglected to ask." "That stallion that was hospitalized?" "Returned his stolen property. Gave him my well-wishes. Least I could do." "My SISTER?!" And finally Abel sighed. "Yeah. Not gonna lie. I was developing that spell for extreme scenarios in which somepony with your sort of strength came at me. Cain managed to piece together the last few bits of the puzzle, and used it on her. And frankly, I'd rather burn the knowledge of that spell from my brain with a branding iron, but I know it now. I at least have a countermeasure, and helped her. She should be fine when she would next awake." Abel looked at Celestia and sighed again. "But that's not the reason Cain was born. Oh, we can all point the hoof at Sombra. Him and his dark magics. But it had to have an anchor, a seed, a thing to latch onto, something in me to grow from. And if you look at me, Celestia, it's about as obvious as the horn on your face." Celestia sighed as well. "You are afraid of being alone, even though you have so many friends. This sort of thing is ir-" Abel slammed a hoof down on the table. "NO! Don't you DARE say my fear is irrational! I'm AGELESS now, dammit! Every pony, every changeling I know, will die, and time will pass me by! So long as I keep myself fed, I will not age at all! And YOU of all ponies should know what sort of fear I'm facing!" Celestia was for once silent, and Abel continued, but now he was staring at the table. "Oh, but my agelessness comes at a price, unlike yours. Should I ever designate an Heir Apparent within my Hive, then once he has finished ascending, I will feel all my years come at me. I can still die, Celestia. And that's not counting just raw damage. I can still be killed, Celestia." Abel looked up to Celestia, his eyes brimming with tears. "Tell me. Tell me why. Tell me why I don't just let that happen when the time comes. Why I should bother living on, when I know my heart will always be rent asunder. Tell me why you're so interested in the health and well being of what has to be just a bucking plaything to you!" Abel slouched forward, the tears flowing freely and staining the wooden floor. Celestia walked over and laid a wing over the weeping king, waiting for the blatant crying to stop. Once Abel had calmed down a notch, Celestia began to speak. "Few know this, but there is a monument atop the mountain on which Canterlot resides. It is made of simple stone, but enchanted to never wear away. And on that stone, I have engraved all the names of the ones that I hold dear who have passed. Every year, the day after the Summer Sun Celebration, I fly up there, and I read every name. I recall all the times they and I had. The good, and the less than spectacular. Every. Last. One." Abel looked up at the solar mare, and she continued her statement. "And in this way, they live on, in my memories. That is all that one can ask for: to be remembered." Abel sniffed once, and then began talking again. "I...the only one that knows about the entirety of my past life is Ferrix. I let him look once. But...here's a bit of my life, and maybe now you'll understand what Cain came from. When I was born, my mother decided she didn't want to give up her freewheeling lifestyle, and left me with my father. And then left herself. My father was an upstanding businessman, and he did his best to raise me right. Try growing up when everyone else teases you for not having a mother, it tends to cut to the core real quick. Children can be vicious monsters. Nonetheless, I absorbed the knowledge and ideas my dad threw at me, at least, until he realized I was turning into a proper little copy of him. Then he gave me the last real lesson he ever would: Gave me a computer and unrestricted internet access and a phrase. 'You've got to stand for something, son, and nobody else should make up your mind for you. Only you can decide what you stand for, but you shouldn't be uninformed when you make up your mind.' I absorbed information, learned what I could about what I wanted to. I went to college for accounting, wanting to show father that I could be useful in his line of work. I went away for one week on a vacation... And I come back to find he's died in the middle of it. So yeah, that was when my worldview broke. I hired a lawyer to sort out the estate so that his company kept going, I got a tidy sum and could live comfortably, and I would only need to be minimally involved. And then I developed a fear of being abandoned, of getting close to anyone because then they would cut my heart out. I took to writing to dull the pain. It helped, sometimes, to write with passion in what I was doing. Helped me...express my emotions through my stories. And then the day came when I found The Quill. And we know how this story goes." Celestia eyed the king beside her, sighing softly. "You need help. Mental help. You need to open up to ponies, to have good relationships with them. Only then will the things that spawned that spirit ever truly go away. I'm not saying you need to put your past behind you, but you need to accept that it is the past, it is a part of you, and while it can affect your actions, you shouldn't let it define you." Abel nodded absently. "I'm not sure if there are many ponies who would know how to deal with this sort of problem, though." Celestia chuckled. "I think I know of one. She knows exactly what you're going through, save for the parents bit, and is willing to listen whenever you need a shoulder to cry on. And she's sitting right next to you." Abel sighed. "Celestia, you've done so much for me already. I don't want to shove my problems onto your table." And then Celestia prodded him with a hoof. "I just told you to let me help, didn't I?" ----- The small crowd that had gathered outside of Abel's house couldn't help but whisper to one another about what they thought was going on inside the changeling's home. Much of the speculation was clean, hinting that the changeling had only acted out to get Celestia's attention because he wanted to talk. Some of it was a bit dark, the horrors of the invasion still fresh in their minds, speculating that perhaps the changeling was seeking to replace Celestia. And then there was the teenaged colts and mares, who could come up with all sorts of applications for a changeling, and wondering if their ruler was...partaking in said applications. It did surprise them when the door opened and Celestia walked out, closely followed by the changeling. "The charges against Abel have been dropped," she said, much to the crowds' shock. "In return, he has agreed that he requires mental help, and will come to Canterlot for weekly sessions, until I deem him functional again." Abel nodded at Celestia and spoke up as well. "My lifestyle, my species...it has left me over-paranoid about everything. And that is not how a healthy pony lives. True, I'm a changeling, and you could argue this is healthy for me. But me and mine...our Hive was founded on the ideals of Harmony, of Friendship, so that we could live amongst ponies. And I don't know about you all, but I'm pretty sure there's not an Element of Paranoia." This earned him a few chuckles, even from Celestia, who then retook control. "Fair enough. And Abel has promised to share what magical discoveries he can with us, such as the one that led to the Crystal Gateway." Abel shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, it was just a basic understanding of the structure of the universe, along with making a tunnel to connect two points in space-time, and anchoring it to the planet. Not a big deal. Wait until the day comes when we can get a whole network of 'em up, then you'll be impressed." Celestia nodded. "Well, I think my business here is concluded. Twilight, if you will accompany me back to Canterlot?" Twilight gulped, realizing now she would learn if she passed her test or not. ----- Abel sighed as he looked around his vault. "So much for secrecy. At least I still have a few." "What troubles you, master?" Abel turned and glared at one of his artifacts, even though it was out of sight. "Nocturnus Requiem, I told you NOT to call me that." "Sorry, ma- Abel. I'm getting better, honest." Abel nodded. "Yeah, but every so often you relapse. And to answer your question, I went around unmasked today." "That seems like a horrible idea. And that's coming from me." "Yes, well, you also have a brother, after a sense." "...Say what." "I went up to the Crystal Empire recently and Sombra infected me with his dark magic. Thus bringing forth an...alternate personality. Cain, it called itself. Born of my fears, it went on a slight spree across Equestria. I've spent the day making right by those he wronged, but I got Celestia's attention, and she and I have agreed on something. That I need mental help." "I could have told you that, Abel. I mean, granted, you did make a wonderful rehabilitation cell for me." A dark blue mist came from within the cave, forming vaguely into the shape of a pony. Slitted cyan eyes opened on it, and it flashed a wicked grin towards Abel. "But only a madpony would have even thought to try and redeem the Nightmare." Abel grinned back at the spirit. "I'm not a pony, your argument is invalid."