//------------------------------// // Chapter the Twenty-Second - Lessons // Story: The Betrayed // by Thadius0 //------------------------------// "Twilight, I could really use your help with something." Balanced Books was standing in the library, looking at the lavender unicorn in question, who merely raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Books nodded. "I'm...sorta self-taught in magic. I mean, with the Archive as a thing, I know changeling ways of spellcasting. And I've done some experimentation to determine where my strengths lie. My problem lies at the intersection of 'I never learned unicorn ways of spellcasting' and 'I'm horribly deficient in these attributes.'" Twilight tilted her head to the side. "That's an...interesting description. So, I'm guessing part of it is, you'll be wanting to borrow books on magic?" Books nodded. -Come in.- "That's half of it. The other half..." Three unicorn mares walked in the library. One was blue with a violet mane and a cutie mark of a fire, the next was orange with a yellow mane with a cutie mark of a lightning bolt, and the final one was red with a green mane and a cutie mark of a snowflake. All three of them had green eyes, Abel's subtle clue to Twilight, and anyone else who knew what to look for, that these three were changelings. It had been a small concession he'd made with the townsfolk. Granted, a lot of ponies had green eyes, and previously existing disguises did not have to change to include said color. But frankly, he had to give them something to get them off his back. So he'd agreed to the green eyes. Or rather, what he said was, "If I give them some distinguishing characteristic, will you all get off my back about it?! What the Tartarus would you want, anyways? Tri-colored manes? Bright neon coats? Or maybe matching eyes?" Since none of them had actually stated a preference, Abel took matters into his own hooves. Only those who needed to know and knew what to look for would be able to tell, anyways. And that was assuming that he made his changelings outside Ponyville do it. Twilight's eyes widened as she clapped eyes on the unicorns. They went from the eyes to the marks, and then back to the eyes, before landing on Books once again. "Really? No elemental affinity? At all?" Books nodded once. "I'm good at layered spells, I can really think outside the box with Enchantments and Active spells. Mentally, I'm a bit unsound." "As that whole Cain episode proved." Books winced once. "Yes. Which also brings up Dark and Chaos as things I just cannot mess with. I'm decent with Physical, Transfiguration, and Divination, only a bit more than the average unicorn in those aspects. Necromancy, I refuse to touch. Harmony magics I can fiddle with. I haven't had much chance to mess around with Soul magics, but I am dynamite at Space and Time magics." Twilight nodded along. "As your Gateway proved." Books nodded and pointed back to the changelings in disguise. "But I have absolutely no affinity for elemental spells whatsoever. Which is where these three come in." Twilight looked back at the changelings. "Well...I suppose I could teach them the basics..." Books nodded. "And while you do that, I'm gonna read up on how unicorns do these things." ----- Books had managed to make a good bit of progress on the tome full of Mental magics, when his stomach growled at him. Stupid survival adaptation forcing me to get hungry while I'm changed... "Hey Twi, I'm gonna grab a bite to eat at the corner, d'you mind if I borrow this tome?" "Not a problem, just bring it back how you found it!" Books made his way through the streets, nodding at the passerby. Gah. That twinge of fear. I loathe it...but at least there's calm acceptance making its way into the populace... "Mister Books!" The ting of the bell at Sugarcube corner had barely faded when Books was assaulted by a trio of cute. Sweet gods above protect me from this trial, for lo, the CMC have set their sights on me once again... "Ack!" Born down by the crusaders, Books had no option but to fall. "Girls. Seriously, what have I told you?" "But we couldn't just not thank you for what you did!" "Yeah, it was so cool!" "Applejack done told me all about it! Right after you revealed yourself an' all. Said the cat was outta the bag, or somesuch." "And then she told us, and I asked Rarity about it! Said she wouldn't go into detail, that such things were unladylike." "And I asked Rainbow Dash about it, and she told us aaaaaall about it!" Books struggled to his feet after he pushed the fillies off him. "Seriously? That was weeks ago! You gotta stop doing this to me! What will the rest of mine think if I keep getting overpowered by your cuteness?" Scootaloo buzzed her wings. "That you're silly for having such a silly weakness?" Books groaned. "Y'know, I could have one of mine transform into a filly and give you a taste of your own pouty-face one day. See how you like it." The three exchanged looks as Books made his way up to the counter. Instantly, Pinkie was there. "Heya Books, the usual?" Books shook his head. "Nah, I'm feeling...nostalgic. Can you make me a mint-and-chocolate milkshake? Heavy on the chocolate?" Pinkie nodded. "Absolutely!" Wait...is that...yeah, that's sadness alright. Those three seem to have had a rough day. "Hey Pinks, d'you think you could make three more?" Pinkie looked over Books' shoulder at the CMC and nodded. "I getcha. They'll be out in just a minute." "So girls," Books began as he turned back around, "What happened today?" The CMC exchanged looks, Applebloom and Scootaloo in particular, before Applebloom spoke up. "Uh, nuthin' much. My cousin's here to visit for the upcomin' festival, though." Books sighed. "Girls. Please don't lie to me. I know something happened." At this, their eyes widened, and Scootaloo spoke up first. "How do you kn-" And then the three of them facehooved after he changed his eyes, then changed them back again. "You three do seem to forget that whenever I call you out on anything, don't you?" "Well, you act so much like an ordinary pony, we just forget sometimes." "Here you are, Bookie!" Books reached out with his magic and grabbed the milkshake. Mmm...my only good memory of home... "So this cousin of yours. Got a name?" "Babs Seed." Books nodded. "Aaaaand what has she been doing to get you all down?" Once again, Scootaloo and Applebloom seemed to stare at each other, before Sweetie spoke up. "Promise to keep it to yourself?" Books nodded. "My word as my witness. Now spill." "Weeeeell...she's been bullying us." Books nodded absently. "Got some experience with that." "How could you? I mean aren't you...well...not from around here? How could you know what it's like to be bullied for being a blank flank?" Books leveled a gaze at them all. "Oh. I don't know what it's like to be bullied for not having something. Not having something that everypony else has or gets. Girls, you could not be more wrong. And to make sure that I don't answer with a hot head, I'm going now before you ask your sisters and role models what certain words mean that I would really like to use." Books tossed some bits on the counter, and the pink wonder came out with the milkshakes for the fillies and set them on a table. As he left, Books caught sight of three more fillies on their way in. Diamond and Silver I already know. This one must be Babs, and they're all a bundle of malice...Ooooh...and insecurity... ----- "Hey Twi, think I'm done with this book on mental magics. I'll have to try some of it out later." "What a coincidence, I finished training your three students here in the various elemental magics that I could think of." Books nodded at them all in the library's lobby. "Okay you three, separate routes, back to the safehouse. Tomorrow I'll stick you with Dash, she'll get us all the flight training we need. For now, once you get there, distribute Twi's lessons." As the three changelings took off and dispersed, Books leaned in to Twi and whispered. "Met the crusaders. Apparently, there's a small family reunion going on, Babs Seed is here." Twilight nodded. "Yes, Applejack said something about her coming to take part in the upcoming festival." Books chuckled then. "That book said something about how you would have to overcome your worst fears to have true mastery over yourself." Twi tilted her head to one side. "That is a typical training method, but why-" "Right now, all I can think of is Babs becoming a Crusader, and then spreading the doctrine far and wide. Creating a nation filled with Cutie Mark Crusaders." Twilight chuckled nervously, her eyes visibly shrinking to pinpoints. "I'm...not sure Equestria could take that many Crusaders..." ----- The next day, Books was trying to get Dash's attention. "Dash." She zoomed on to a cloud, bucking it out of existence. "Dash!" She pushed another one into place across town. "DASH!" She faltered for a moment before taking notice of who was screaming for her. "What? I'm right here." Books sighed as he motioned for Dash to come down. As she did, she took note of the three pegasi mares standing behind him. The first one was white with a two-toned blue and yellow mane and a simple raincloud cutie mark. The second was grey with bright yellow mane and a lightning bolt as her cutie mark, and the third was dark blue with a black mane and a wing as her cutie mark. Once again, the three shared the green eyes. Dash looked at the mares, taking note of the eyes, and looked back to Books. "So..." Books sighed. "A while back, I borrowed a book on Pegasus flight from Twilight." "Pfft, that is how you'd do it. Normal pegasi don't need books! We have flight camp!" Books nodded. "I mean, it's not like I've ever used my wings for anything. So I got to thinking, who better than the best flyer out of Cloudsdale to teach mine about the finer points of Pegasus flying, especially stunt flying?" Rainbow Dash puffed her chest out. "Nopony, and don't you forget it! But the question is..." Dash walked to Books and poked him in the chest with a hoof. "Can they keep up?" Books smiled at her. "That's for them to know, and you to find out." Dash smirked at him. "Oh really? I bet I find out in the first ten minutes if they can keep up or not!" Books laughed. "Okay, you do that, I-" -M'lord, Cadence has re-tuned the Gateway to focus on Ponyville. She requests you here at your convenience.- Books' eyes widened. "I apparently have a thing to do. Be back later, Dash. And try to make sure they can at least walk." "No promises!" ----- "But he was so hostile last time! I don't know why you'd want him back." "Shining, honey, he and I have some bad blood between us. We need to settle it before it becomes an all-out feud." From in front of the two, the Gateway rippled once, twice, and then Balanced Books came walking out. Glaring at them both, he nodded briefly. "I'm assuming I am to walk around in this form?" Cadence nodded once. "If you don't mind. Walk with me?" Books hesitated for a moment. Then, he stood next to her. "I can do that." There was silence for a few minutes. "Abel, can I ever apologize for what I made you do?" Books just shook his head. "You made me take away another changeling's sense of self. For those few minutes, that changeling ceased to be. I made a promise, thankfully not an unbreakable one, that I would never do that to my own Hive members. If she ever forgives you, then I can consider it." There was silence for a few more minutes. "We're beginning to pick up mining. Your changelings are showing great interest in the crystals. As is the rest of Equestria, thanks to the Gate." Books nodded. "Crystals are great for spellcasting. I'm pretty sure that the only way to make a Gate is to use crystals." "What would you do with the crystals?" "Truthfully?" Books paused for a moment. "Research. See what spells react the best. I also have a few personal projects that would probably react well with crystals. We'd also probably set up a few private Gates." Cadence nodded, and Books only now realized they'd come full circle. "If you can talk to your Hive, see if you can find the one that I forced you to wrong, I will attempt to apologize to her in whatever manner I can." Books nodded, the hint of a small smile tugging at his mouth. "I can ask, that's all I can say." -Oh, Perfect Facet?- -Yes, m'lord?- -Drag this out. I want her humiliated until she physically cannot take any more.- -M'lord?- -The pranking is allowed to begin in earnest!- ----- Abel sat in his lab, smiling at the crystal his operatives had gotten to him. When he said he'd wanted at least one for his own personal use, they'd managed to get him one. Too bad it wasn't going to remain whole long. Charging up a spell into his horn, Abel charged the crystal with a light dose of magic. And then he crushed it into many small chunks. And then crushed those chunks. And kept crushing until he had a small pile of crystal dust in front of him. Sweeping it all together, Abel reached into a desk and pulled out a small jar labeled 'Toadstool spores'. Carefully placing the magically charged crystal dust in with the spores, Abel focused a new spell onto the jar. One that would combine both traits. One that would produce, hopefully, crystal toadstools. Granted, that would be unorthodox. But, and here Abel's eyes flicked to a parchment, normal ones hadn't quite worked, had they? Even when they all grew in the perfect circle formation, it hadn't worked. Perhaps magically charging the toadstools would help him get their attention. There was a flash, and Abel waited a moment before opening the jar. Satisfied that the insides were now magical and glowing an eerie glow, Abel nodded to himself and resolved to try it out when he next went to the disconnected clearing. If a ring of crystal toadstools that were magically charged didn't get the attention of the Fae, nothing would.