“Okay, so, we haven't run into Dash yet. We should probably fix that...if we knew where she was.”
Books and Gilda were on the road from Fluttershy's place. The timid mare had even walked out the front door and seen them on their way with a small smile and wave.
“She's probably napping, still. That, or practicing her moves. In which case, I don't think you can keep up your disguise and find her.”
Books nodded. “Fair enough. She likes to nap over Sweet Apple Acres eight times out of ten. We should probably go see AJ...actually, we should have added that onto our route plan to begin with.”
Gilda cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Why?”
Books sighed. “That old mare you frightened and that apple you stole?”
Gilda gulped. “Oh. Well, uh...yeah, I remember that.”
Books nodded. “Both can be apologized for at the Acres.”
Gilda looked at Books with a small frown. “You're really serious about this, aren't you? This whole, me making amends with the whole town thing. Why?”
Books looked off to the distance. “Well, I'd really appreciate it if you weren't looked at with hostility every time you came around town. And I also really care about these ponies. Plus, if it all goes well, I might even offer you a small business proposal.”
Gilda was confused, to say the least. “What sort of proposal?”
Books grinned and looked up at Gilda. “See, ponies don't exactly go to the griffon lands all that often. And I can only imagine what'd happen if one of mine were exposed there.”
Gilda shuddered. “Yeah, not anything good.”
Books nodded. “But you...”
Gilda gasped in realization. “So you don't have any griffon contacts. So I'm just a means to an end. You don't actually care.”
Books shook his head violently. “Gods, no. I do actually care, both about the town and your standing with it. Whether or not you take my proposal is secondary to whether or not you'd be run out every time you wanted to visit Dash! Frankly if you don't take me up on my plan, it's not that big a deal. Helping you out is my primary goal, for now.”
The duo continued to walk in silence until the Acres came into view. Gilda whistled softly. “Now that...is a lot of apple trees.”
Books nodded. “Yeah, and AJ and her brother Big Mac take care of all of them.”
Gilda looked at the trees incredulously. “Two ponies, taking care of that many trees?”
Books shrugged. “I don't ask how. All I know is they do it somehow.”
The farmhouse slowly came into view, with AJ sitting under one of the nearby trees, her hat covering her face. Books nodded and wandered over to the orange mare. “Howdy there, partner. Gotta question for ya.”
AJ tilted her hat back and looked up at Books. “Oh, howdy there, Numbers. What can ah do ya-”
And then she noticed the griffon. She was silent for a moment, as various degrees of anger played over her face. “Numbers, what is that darn griffon doin' here?”
Gilda looked away in shame while Books chuckled. “Settle down there, cowpony. She's done a lot since she left, and she's here to apologize, both to you, and to Dash. She's already made up with every other pony she's wronged.”
AJ nodded and looked thoughtful. “Well, while ya are a bit of a snake-”
Books grinned. “When I need to be.”
AJ continued. “-I kin tell she's at least a little sorry fer what she did. Tell ya what. Dash is over behind the barn, recoverin' from our little hoof-wrastle. Y'all go get her ready fer this griffon, while she and I have words.”
Books tilted an imaginary hat and nodded at the cowpony. “Much obliged, miss.”
Books tuned out the conversation playing out behind him as he wandered behind the barn, finding a panting and wincing Rainbow Dash near a table. “Oh, hey there Books. How's it hangin'?”
Books shrugged. “Eh, it's alright. We're nearing completion of a few connecting tunnels, we're making a few interesting spells work, oh, and your old friend Gilda is back.”
Dash seized up and looked at Books. “Run that last one by me again?”
“Gilda's learned some anger management, came back, and apologized to the Pinkster, Flutters, and is even now apologizing to AJ. The only one left is you.”
Dash opened and closed her mouth a few times before she managed to make actual words come out. “Gilda?”
“Yep.”
“Thinks this town is full of lame-o dweebs Gilda?”
“That's the one.”
“Learned how not to blow up at every little thing?”
“Indeed.”
“And actually apologized to every other pony?”
“Sure 'nough.”
“And wants to apologize to me?”
“Yeah, but to be fair, I think you should apologize to her as well.”
“What do I have to apologize for?!”
Just then, Gilda rounded the barn and looked at Dash. Both of them seized up, locked eyes, and didn't so much as twitch. Books knew a potential problem when he saw one, and sighed.
Thinking quickly, Books coughed to get their attention. The two stared at him, and Books pointed at Gilda. “You should apologize first, be the bigger griffon.”
Books then pointed at Dash. “And you should apologize afterwards, because you KNOW that doing all those pranks at the party was not awesome, especially while laughing at her the whole time.”
Books looked between the two of them and nodded. “I don't care how you two go about it after that, but once you're both done acting half your ages, lemme know.”
Books nodded once and walked off, leaving the two former best friends to sort out their differences. Gilda called out to him before he was entirely gone. “You can't just ditch me like this!”
“Not my issue anymore! I'll be at the Corner when you two are done!”
The two fliers eyed each other warily.
-----
“So you just left her there, Bookie?”
Books nodded and took a bite of his cupcake. Delicious, as always. “I figured Gilda had enough guidance for one day. Plus, Dash is loyal to her friends, and Gilda once was one of her friends. There's probably enough leftover loyalty from that to let Gilda at least make her case before Dash becomes irrational.”
Pinkie put a hoof to her chin. “Hmm...Does this mean I get to throw another party?”
They were answered by the sound of the door crashing open, and the aforementioned pegasus and griffon landing inside SugarCube Corner in a tangled, panting heap. Rainbow Dash spoke up first.
“Told...you...I wasn't...rusty...”
“Yeah...but...who won?”
Pinkie and Books exchanged a look, and Pinkie pulled a camera out from behind the counter. A bright flash reminded the two on the floor what position they were in, and they immediately screeched in embarrassment. Pinkie pulled the photo from the camera, and Books came over to look at it.
“Nahbad, Pinks. Think I could get a copy?”
To be fair, Books thought as he and Pinkie Pie were chased through Ponyville by an enraged griffon and pegasus, this is totally worth it.
-----
Princess Celestia, mover of the sun and co-ruler of Equestria, was displeased with two of her subjects.
The subjects in question had been apprehended in a border town selling strange magical trinkets, ones that they could not explain the exact inner workings of.
Oh, they could explain what their wares were meant to do, but not how they did it. And every pony admitted that they seemed to run on 'some weird sort of green flame magic.'
Instantly, Celestia thought that the trinkets were of changeling make. And seeing as how her new ally had said nothing regarding this, she believed the two to have had contact with the other main changeling Hive.
Princess Celestia walked to the dungeons, towards the cell that was supposed to contain the two unicorns who had...strayed.
Only to find it empty, with a single piece of parchment inside.
And on it was written these words:
Your chambers are lovely this time of year.
-Abel
-----
Flim and Flam were ever so slightly terrified that their business partner had broken them out of the dungeon in Canterlot Castle.
They were even more terrified that he'd managed to escort them to Princess Celestia's rooms without being stopped, even by the guards.
When pressed for how he'd managed this, he merely held a hoof up to his snout, winked, and said 'trade secret.'
And now he was enjoying some tea.
Granted, they could be enjoying it too. He'd made four cups.
However, they were far too worried about what they thought Celestia might do to them.
So it was quite understandable that when the doors were coated in a golden aura and slammed open that they would squeak and attempt to make themselves appear to be smaller by curling up in fright.
Books, meanwhile, merely sipped at his tea and raised an eyebrow at the princess.
“Princess, wonderful of you to join us. Tea?”
Princess Celestia looked at Books, looked at the brothers, looked back at Books, looked behind her at the guards, sighed, and looked back at Books.
“So, how badly infiltrated are we?”
Books merely pointed a hoof at the brothers sitting opposite him, as though that would be answer enough.
Celestia sighed again. “Fair point. So what they were up to was something you were connected to, then.”
Books nodded and set his teacup down. “I don't have too many who can do a good 'mad inventor' act, so I needed somepony who could sell what we come up with, to draw attention away from ourselves. Do you have any idea how much adoration there is for somepony who comes up with a new device that actually makes your life easier? And there are so many ideas bouncing around in this noggin of mine, and I have so many who are willing to at least try, and some have even learned to ask the most crucial question.”
Celestia thought for a moment, and then smiled. “Let me guess. The question is not, why did you make this, but rather, why not?”
Books cracked a grin. “Exactly! We push the boundaries constantly, figuring out what does and does not work. We question ALL assumptions until proven, we accept NOTHING as fact until we prove it! Last count, we had half a dozen working devices, some of which is what you caught these two with, and we were working on a dozen more.”
Celestia merely shook her head. “Those instant communication devices were ingenious, I will admit, and I don't have to look far to see where you got the inspiration for them. But I really can't see the point behind the magical firestarter. Or the dowsing rod.”
Books grinned. “The firestarter is useful for ponies besides unicorns who are camping and need a source of flame that won't falter, ever. Plus, we're working on a different version, that blends the two concepts. A dragonfire lighter. Matched pairs, so that you can send messages between them. That's one of the more tricky ones. And the dowsing rod actually works to find water, useful in the badlands or anywhere where dying of thirst is a real concern. Plus, our first foray into divination spells provided us with all the experience necessary to make more complex devices.”
Celestia merely sighed and turned her attention to the unicorn brothers. “I suppose, in light of your business partner here, all the charges I was going to press against you have been dropped.”
Flim spoke up then. “But we overheard one of the guards on our way in.”
Flam continued with the thread. “He said we'd been charged with 'consorting with changelings.'”
The two looked at each other, and then at Books.
“Are you...”
“Brother, I think he's...”
Books grinned and peeled his disguise away. The unicorn brothers shrieked and huddled together.
“Your majesty! A changeling!”
“We had no idea, honest!”
Abel smiled. “Boys, calm down. She already knew. I always was a changeling, and you were always working for me. I could recite what happened when I cornered you after that Cider Season nonsense, if you'd like...”
The duo shook their heads. “Perfectly all right. We believe you.”
“But if you don't mind, we may need a while before we can work for you again. Like a week.”
“Or a month.”
“Or the rest of our lives.”
Able frowned at them. “And I can give AJ the schematics to your Squeezy-6000, and tell her that I can make her her own version for all her family. And we can engineer such devices for who or what ever we want. That is the letter of our agreement, is it not? You keep working, and I keep sitting on the plans?”
The two unicorns gulped, and Abel continued. “I mean, yeah, I can understand. You need a break, a vacation. You've worked pretty hard to show me that you are genuinely sorry for running the racket that you did. But let me make one thing perfectly clear to you two.”
Abel leaned over the small table that separated the three of them and lowered his voice. “I am Prince Abel, leader of the exiled changelings. I have eyes and ears throughout all Equestria. There is nowhere you can go that my Hive will not know about. It's how I knew you were in Canterlot's dungeon, how we got here without being stopped, and how I tracked your movements all this time. I may be sworn to fealty to Celestia and Luna and Equestria, but you had better not try to break our agreement.”
And suddenly Abel was all smiles again. “Now, I think you two have worn out your welcome and the princess's patience, so if you don't mind...”
Flim and Flam bolted from the room so fast, Abel could swear they left behind clouds of dust vaguely shaped like them in their seats. Celestia and Abel shared a quiet laugh, before the princess turned to the changeling. “Is that the only reason you came all the way up here?”
Abel hesitated for a moment, before nodding. “They're a useful asset, and I kinda needed them out of the dungeon for them to be useful. That, and your tea is delicious. Still not as good as Flutter's, though.”
Celestia caught the hesitation, but played along for a moment, taking a sip out of one of the prepared cups. “Indeed. And the reports I'm getting from the border towns has nothing to do with this visit, I'm sure.”
Abel hissed for a moment before catching himself. “What reports?”
Celestia merely sighed. “Don't play coy with me. What was it you said just now? 'I have eyes and ears all throughout Equestria'? You knew about this before I did, I'll wager.”
Abel groaned and sat back in his seat. “Okay, fine, yes. I knew. I knew a week ago. But we're investigating as well. As near as we can tell, what she's doing should be impossible. She shouldn't have nearly as much as she seems to. But all the signs are there that this is actually happening. It's...confusing us. But we have worked out a pattern, so far.”
Celestia nodded. “As have we. And you know where she's going.”
Abel groaned again and put his face in his forehooves. “Rather, where she's coming. I know what she'll be after. We know when she'll get there. And we're working on a plan to stop her.”
Celestia cocked her head to one side. “Working on? Shouldn't you have a few ready? Isn't that how you typically operate?”
Abel merely laughed. “Normally, I'd agree. But the impossibility of this whole scenario...it's throwing all of them for a loop and all my plans out the window. I only hope we can come up with something...”
The two were silent for a moment before Celestia spoke up again.
“By the way, Luna has yet to win a game of chess against me. And she's tried fifty times.”
Abel laughed at that. “I thought I said 'DON'T play it all the time against each other'!”
-----
A few nights later, Abel was wearing a set of saddlebags and standing near the border of the Whitetail Woods, looking back into the sleepy town of Ponyville. All the town was abed, save for those few who knew where the latest party where Vinyl was playing was located. Abel sighed once more, then looked at the ground in front of his hooves.
To anyone else, it would merely appear as though two lines had been cut into the earth, placed very close to each other. To Abel, he was looking at one part of his plan to keep Ponyville safe.
The pattern had held, the black queen was coming here, with an impossible swarm.
Abel had spent the last few days and nights feeding and cutting these lines around all of Ponyville, with separate sets for Fluttershy's home and Sweet Apple Acre's farmhouse.
It'd taken him a bit longer to coordinate the power supply, but once activated, the wards would draw on his magical reserves that he'd left behind.
Two circles each. The inner one would make sure that nothing could get out of the town, or house, while the outer one would make sure nothing could get in.
Either circle on their own was good for a particular type of containment, but both had their weaknesses. If something from outside were to breach the circle meant to contain something in it, the ward would fail instantly. And vice versa for the one meant to keep outside forces out; if something from inside crossed it, the ward would shatter. Abel wanted to be sure of both the town's safety, and their non-interference with what was about to occur.
It was high time he took a stand and confronted his past, rather than continue to run from it.
With a quick flicker of thought, the sets of wards activated.
Ponyville was on lockdown, and would remain as such until this matter was settled.
And worst come to worst, the wards could hold for an entire day until the supply was exhausted.
Abel turned and walked into the Whitetail woods, his saddlebags letting out a soft clink noise as the flasks inside shifted.
-Chambermaid, if you'd pass a message on to the Princess?-
A moment, and then, -What is it, my Prince?-
-Black Queen threatens White King, Check.-

Author's Notes:

The chapter that is to come after this one is, again, not pre-written.
This doesn't mean I don't know what's about to happen. I must have envisioned it a hundred times. I'm still not certain I'll like it, especially its recent change and iteration.
Up next: A fight scene!
(I say that. We'll see if it actually happens.)