"You want me to what."
Abel sat up from the couch Celestia had insisted he lay down on for his first psych appointment. His expression was one of disbelief as Celestia repeated her previous statement.
"I want you to go around without even a modicum of the power you normally do. Acting like everything can go wrong and preparing for it by over-preparing for everyday situations is no way to combat paranoia. Attempting to live like a normal pony is the only way anypony can ease back into a normal life. Therefor, I want you to channel most of your power into your Hive, give them a jolt for a few days, and keep only what you'd need to survive and blend in for one week, until we meet again. At most, you can keep four bins worth. And no feeding in the Everfree, either. If you do these things, I will know. I'll ask your agent, and I have a lie-detecting spell."
Abel blinked once.
Then again.
And finally threw up his hooves. "Y'know, if the Hive didn't agree with you, I'd have told you to take your demand and stuff it where your sun doesn't shine. But for them, sure. I'll try."
-----
That had been six days ago.
Books...wasn't doing too hot.
Living amongst ponies as a magic-devouring monster meant that every day was an exercise in self-control.
The hunger pangs had started on the third day.
By the fifth, he had to resist the urge to grab Pinkie and cocoon her like any other changeling would when she somehow appeared in his house (again) to check up on him and make sure he was doing alright.
But today.
Today was especially difficult.
An old face had rolled back into town.
One with an especially powerful amulet around her neck.
One that pulsed with dark magic.
Dark magic powerful enough to change her own magic's color.
An enhancer...most interesting...
Books sat in the nearby crowd and observed the interactions between Trixie and Twilight.
He wanted to speak up. He wanted to tell Trixie how wrong she was.
Hunger and fear kept him silent. Fear mainly because he saw something finally get the better of Pinkie.
The magnitude of spells she was casting and the variety also served to make him stop and think.
She was just talented in illusion, last time...illusion and stage tricks...
A growl from his stomach cut off his train of thought, and he turned a baleful eye towards his midsection.
Twilight being banished from Ponyville caught his attention again.
And then the dome crashed down.
Am I to starve, then? After all, my promise to Pinkie...
And then Books' eyes widened.
I...only promised not to eat the magic out of ponies...those tests, that spell...yeeeeeees...
Books had never run home so fast in his life.
He had a spell to cast.
-----
-Lord Abel, this does not seem wise...-
-The princess will know, she'll find out!-
-Please, m'lord, give us more time! We can find a way!-
-Don't do this!-
Abel heard none of them clearly.
The only thing that mattered was the formula in front of him, his scattered notes, and his ever-gnawing hunger.
It seems only logical. Black changeling are an offshoot of the white version, and the white ones researched a spell to be able to feed them. If I apply similar concepts from this spell to my own feeding ability, I should be able to change it, to focus on emotions, like the black ones! I'll be able to feed without breaking the letter of my promises!
Abel didn't even hesitate.
There was a red flash from his lab, and silence for a few minutes.
Were anypony near Books' home, they would have heard maniacal laughter faintly coming from it.
-----
Vinyl Scratch walked into the home she and Octavia shared.
Nopony came to the club tonight.
Hay, she didn't even want to be there. Not with this Great and Annoying Trixie character that rolled into town.
Still, a job was a job, and bits were bits.
Vinyl frowned, looking around the house. It looked like the same sort of mess it had been when she left it this afternoon.
Normally 'Tavi cleaned up at least a little.
Then she noticed the trail that led upstairs.
Realizing that she was probably walking into the plot of every horror book ever, Vinyl charged her horn and walked up, noticing that the debris had been intermingled with a sort of pink gel.
When she got to the hall that led to the bedrooms, Vinyl paused for a second.
That's...an awfully big piece. And it looks like it hit the wall at a preeeetty fast clip...
Noticing that the trail led into Octy's room and was now almost entirely gel, Vinyl carefully pushed the door open.
What she saw stunned her for a second.
Sitting in one corner of the room was a huge mass of the gel. And in the middle of it, barely visible, was a pony.
The color of the coat was all she needed to identify the pony inside.
"TAVI!"
As she rushed over to the cocoon, Vinyl's brain started to piece together what was going on as she began looking for a way to get her friend out.
This seemed remarkably similar to changeling cocoons, where they suck emotion out of a pony for as long as they lasted.
But that was silly. This was all the wrong color for a changeling cocoon, and their king, Abel, was supposed to keep them on a tight leash.
The hissing noise behind her was all the warning she got as her darkest fears were confirmed.
"Hello there, DJ. I have a requesssssssssst."
Abel's snapped!
And then there was darkness as something wet and sticky impacted the back of her head.
-----
The girls (and Spike) had just finished coming up with a plan to deal with Trixie when there was a sharp coughing noise from the entrance to the library.
Turning, they saw a violet earth pony stallion with a red mane and a single stalk of wheat as a cutie mark standing in the entrance.
The green eyes clued them in.
"Huh? What's one of Books' doing here? Come to think of it, where is he?"
The pony motioned towards a table, and the group sat.
"Let me introduce myself. Abel named me Adam, after another legend he knows of, I suspect. I was his first real ally eight years ago. I was the first exile he encountered, and together we worked out a system to keep both of us fed. When we first met, he was speaking in an old changeling dialect. Probably because he only had the Archive for company all those years ago. Frankly, it was hard for me to understand him, but eventually he got the hang of talking modern Equestrian."
Rarity giggled. "I've caught him speaking in a few other tongues sometimes, I suppose one of them was this one."
Adam shook his head. "Highly unlikely, he'd need to be in his normal form for proper vowel formation. When we parted five years later, it was for a simple reason: He'd gotten tired of the forest, and wanted to put my lessons to the test. And I never forgot what he taught me as well, especially about our kind's history. A few phrases stuck with me though. The first was simple enough. 'You've got to stand for something, and you can't be ignorant when you do.'"
Applejack nodded. "Sounds like a right good idea to live by."
"The second was something he muttered in his sleep. When he slept, that is. 'We are all of us fallen creatures.' When I confronted him about it, he merely smiled and said 'Just because we are fallen, does not mean that we cannot stand for something pure and good.'
I say this to you now so that you can understand that even when he was extolling virtue to me, there was one thing he valued more. His own survival."
Fluttershy spoke up, barely. "Oh...so even though he's all nice on the outside...on the inside..."
Adam pointed a hoof at her and nodded. "Exactly. And like his mother failed to scan her own blood, he too never did something for himself that he did for all of us. Switching over from a near-feral state in Her Hive to his civilized version is hard. Sometimes, a changeling snaps. But Abel or one of his was always there. Always ready to help us get back together, put our minds back on the civilized set. The problem is hunger. Doing things his way is civilized and better, but those of us fresh from Her are used to either constant feeding from prisoners, or semi-constant feeding from their loved ones."
Pinkie muttered a bit while making hoof gestures, and Adam blinked at her antics.
"Well...yes. Whatever. Look, his method makes sure that we're all taken care of, and we survive, and once we're fully adapted to it, we even thrive. But the adaptation period is more than a little tense. Our bodies make us think we're starving because they aren't used to such regulated meals."
Dash yawned. "Look, what's the point of all-"
"Abel snapped."
And instantly Adam had their undivided attention.
"Under the order of Celestia, Abel cut his intake and reserves drastically, basically putting himself on his own plan. He could have managed...if he were not a king. Royals have a higher consumption rate, they have more to maintain. But the hunger got to him, and in his hunger, he's stopped listening. Oh, he can always hear, but he isn't paying us any attention. And now we fear. Because the last bit of coherent thought we got from him were of him trying a spell to alter his own feeding ability, so that instead of magic, he'd feed on emotions, like us. We think he succeeded, and may even now be doing that which She does."
"You mean...sticking ponies in cocoons and draining their emotions?"
Adam nodded, and they all gulped.
"Okay, step one, get Fluttershy out of the barrier so she can get word to Twilight. Step two, find Abel."
Adam shook his head at Dash. "We already know where he is. The issue is, he's not moving, and the house most certainly isn't his."
"Where is he, then?"
-----
Yeeeees. I don't know why I didn't do this before! I'm breaking no promises here!
Abel ran a hoof over the cocoons almost like one would caress a foal. Sleep, little ponies. I'll bring no harm to you.
Then from downstairs, there was a crash.
Abel turned to the noise before a cyan blur rocketed up to his face.
Rainbow Dash and Abel stared each other for a few moments. Their gaze drifted over to the cocoons, then back to each other.
"Y'know, I would ask what was going on here, but I kinda already knew."
Abel nodded. "I would say, it's not what it looks like, but really, it is."
The two kept staring at each other.
"So. Snapped?"
Abel scoffed. "As if. Doing things this way? Breaking no words, no promises! And I'll let 'em go, once my hunger is sated. They're not even in pain!"
Dash shook her head. "C'mon, you're smarter than that. You've been living off a constant supply for a while now, haven't you? The way your buddy Adam told us, you're always gonna think you're hungry until you stop and adjust. Keep feeding off those two, they'll die in there."
Abel blanched and turned back to the cocoons. "No. No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't do that to any pony."
Dash pointed at the cocoons. "Looks like you are."
"Just...just another minute, please..."
And that was when Dash slapped Abel across the face.
"Wake the buck UP, Abel! You're acting just like Chrysalis!"
The words cut deeper than she knew.
Abel's eyes widened for a moment, then rolled back in his head as he fainted dead away.
-----
When he came to, Abel found he couldn't move.
The sound of him shifting around got the attention of the mouthless Pinkie Pie, who clicked on the light, revealing that he was in Twilight's laboratory/basement.
Abel looked around before his vision was dominated by Pinkie's disapproving glare.
And then he sighed. "Pinkie, I promised not to feed off of the magic in anypony. What I did was alter my feeding ability to be the same as all the other changelings. Technically, I broke no promise."
The glare did not lessen.
"Hay, I was hungry. And even if I did break a promise, I believe walking around unmasked would relieve you of your obligation to hold your promise!"
Pinkie put a hoof to her chin, looking thoughtful for a moment, before blinking a few times, shaking her head, and returning to glaring at Abel.
Abel sighed. "Okay, I admit it. What I did...was wrong. Unbelievably wrong. I was thinking like Her for a moment. I was just so hungry! I tried to resist and ration out my magic, Pinks! But I...I lost track of time while feeding two days ago, and ran out at dinnertime. Assuming this is still the same day, that is."
Pinkie nodded a few times, and this time the glare went away. Abel ran his eyes over the potions. "Think Twilight has a sleep aid? Until she gets back, I don't wanna be awake."
Pinkie pulled out a brown flask from her mane and gestured for Abel to open up. Abel rolled his tongue out, and Pinkie dropped a few drops of the vile-tasting concoction onto it. Making a face, Abel swallowed, and nodded at Pinkie.
"Hey Pinks...whatever you say...I'll do it...to make up fer...thiiiiiiis."
And then Abel was asleep, snoring slightly.
-----
Abel came to some time later to a light shaking sensation. Looking up, he saw Twilight casting a concerned gaze over him. "Is there a reason why you're down here?"
Abel nodded. "I sorta...snapped. I was being forced by Celestia to alter my own feeding schedule so that my constant paranoia would have less fueling it. Problem is, neither one of us did our math right. But I think...yeah. I've...adjusted. At least a little bit. Now I just have to set up a new schedule and stick to it."
Twilight nodded and undid the restraints binding Abel to the table. Abel groaned and stretched, popping more than a few joints. "How long was I out?"
Twilight giggled. "A day, from what our friends tell me. Princess Celestia's here with the delegates from Saddle Arabia, and I have to go put on a show for them."
Abel flashed and was replaced with Balanced Books. "Yeah, I should probably go see her too. Let her know her plan worked."
-----
Books sat next to Celestia, watching Twilight manipulate the animals gently with her magic. "She has gotten really good, you must be proud."
Celestia nodded, and merely said, "Yes, I am indeed, but I already was. Every pony that lives a good life is one that I am proud of."
Books grinned. "Well then, you will be happy to know that, like mine, I, too, have adjusted. And frankly...I already feel better."
Celestia cast an eye towards Books and let a hint of a smile grace her mouth. "Really? Was this before or after the incident involving two mares and an experimental spell?"
Books blanched for a moment, then looked towards Twilight and sighed. "Should known...and after. And I'm not proud of it."
Celestia shook her head. "I made it a point to bring one of yours with me so that if you needed to, you could contact me. She kept me up to date on what was going on. She nearly cried when you stopped listening."
Books looked up to Celestia, who smiled at him. "They all care, Books. They really do. You've made it your goal to lay out a better life plan in front of them and be there for them when they need you. Did you think they would be entirely apathetic when you needed them?"
Books looked back towards the animals and blinked a few times. Celestia leaned in to whisper in his ear.
"Stop thinking of day-to-day survival. Stop thinking of keeping up your mask in public. Stop worrying. And start living. Then you'll find yourself looking at a happier, healthier pony in the mirror."
Books nodded a few times, and then looked up to Celestia. "That's some good advice, and I have...some mixed news as well."
Celestia tilted her head to the side in curiosity. "Oh?"
Books sighed and looked at the ground. "I...there's no counterspell. I can't revert it fully, mainly because it was an experiment I put together while I was mad with hunger. I've...restored a portion of my original feeding ability, though. And maybe, with time and exercise, it'll be as strong as it ever was. But...I think for a while, if I want actual nutrition..."
Celestia shook her head. "Not tonight. Tonight, I think your restriction has lasted long enough. Go on."
Books nodded and walked into the forest, lost in thought and barely dodging trees.
-----
Zecora was about to go to bed when she heard the knocking at her door.
Thinking she knew who this could be, she prepared herself by grabbing her staff and taking a deep breath.
Flinging it open, she was therefor surprised when not a pony greeted her, but Abel.
"Zecora, I know it's here. I sense it."
Zecora shook her head. "Power such as that is dark and dangerous. If you put it on, you would cause such a ruckus. And I know you and your need, but from that amulet, you should not feed."
Abel shook his head as well. "That thing has so many potential applications, if we can but study it. And rest assured, me and mine do not trek in dark magics. Heck, I can't even touch it."
"While your words are wise, I sense they are soft lies. Tell me now and tell me true, what interest is the amulet to you?"
Abel growled. "I have a similar artifact locked away beneath my home in a vault. With the right application, somepony could rewrite reality itself. It is locked away, and I am the warden. Absolute power without absolute responsibility offends me. I would lock it away where nopony else could find it, Zecora."
Zecora's eyes widened. "Such power under your lock and key, what of the security?"
Abel grinned. "Ward spells, keyed to me and me alone. Things too dangerous for the outside world sit in there and are quietly preserved. This amulet would be one such thing. Please, Zecora, let me and mine study it. Let us keep it out of pony hooves."
Zecora let the thought wander through her head a few times. "Down there, it would stay, ne'er again to see the light of day? Never to be worn by any pony, and the world would be in absolute safety?"
Abel shrugged. "Parts of that, yeah. I'd keep it down there forever, none of mine would even be allowed to study it without me present, we'd definitely never put it on, and we might even manage to decode some sort of amplifier spell without the whole corruption bit. World safety though, I can't promise."
Zecora smiled. "Though you have your way with words and phrase, the truth in what you say should never stray. Very well, for a moment I shall blink, after you make a promise of pink."
Abel sighed. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, that amulet shall remain in my Vault, unworn, until such time as we find out how to destroy it, once we're done studying it."
Zecora nodded and looked away, and just as Abel picked up the case containing the Amulet, he got a message.
-Sire! News from the north! We found them!-