Chapter Seventeen: Suspending The Darkness

A small chatter of hoofsteps and hisses rung throughout what used to be a forest in the shadow of the mountains. Though with the occurrence of changelings and their queen, that forest had changed from a beautiful green landscape to a horrid sight for anything’s eyes. In the course of only a day and a half from the first changeling born, more than one hundred had followed afterwards, the number increasing with every hour. As the number of changelings increased, however, the quantity of plants and other such organisms and resources dwindled away. The vast forest that had been thriving with all sorts of life had been stripped of its pulchritude, replaced by a barren and dry wasteland slowly distorting its own shape. Flat land forming into hills in some parts and craters in others, the rocklike substance that made the floor of the wasteland slowly shaped itself into what used to be known as The Hive, the home of the changelings. The only thing that was missing from The Hive’s completion now, though, was order.

Chrysalis lowered herself down to the floor of the clearing that seemed so familiar, despite the alterations that made the forest seem like a desert. Though the green light from the developing changelings in their bubbles off in the distance provided enough light to see, the moon radiated peacefully from the night sky, allowing The Hive’s inhabitants to see even in the latest hours of night as if it were twilight. The trees that Tranquility and the mares that Augury had taken still stood as lively as ever, even the three that Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie had come out of. Two other trees also stood tall and healthy, awaiting the arrival of the last of Augury’s targets. The standing trees were the only thing for quite a while that was naturally green, the slowly building land of changelings beginning to fill the lost greenery with its own hue. The area Chrysalis stood in used to be a clearing surrounded by trees, but was now only a large flat portion of the land on top of a hill, though the contents that were held within the clearing still remained. Chrysalis didn’t mind that changes under her hooves, considering that it was forming into a replica of what was once her home.

The changeling queen scanned the raised clearing, seeing no other changelings in the area besides a certain general standing in front of a newly inhabited cocoon.

Chrysalis cleared her throat and tapped her hoof on the ground. “Augury. I assume that’s Luna in that cocoon.” Chrysalis said as she slowly walked forward to the changeling general.

Augury didn’t move an inch from where he was, his mouth barely even moving as he spoke. “...Yeah. Yeah, it’s her.” Augury mumbled.

Chrysalis lifted an eyebrow at Augury as she stopped at his side, taking a glance into the cocoon Augury stood in front of. “Ah, your princess of the night that indeed is. Fantastic work, Augury. I never would have dreamed of one of the natural changelings completing a task such as this. Speaking of natural changelings, I don’t see the two that you brought with you to Canterlot. They didn’t make it?”

“No... they didn’t.”

“What happened?”

“Killed. Both of them...”

“Considering you don’t even like changelings, your tone seems a bit sad. I would think that you would be happy that you got them off your back.”

“I could care less about them. It’s just... Luna.”

“What about her?”

Augury paused for a second, recollecting his thoughts as he tilted his head up from the ground. “On the way back from Canterlot, I had to walk for a little while. Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, and the captain of the honor guard put up a fight before I was able to take Luna. Given their strengths, I was on the verge of passing out by the end of the fighting. I was lucky to even counter Celestia and Luna’s attack back into them.”

“You’re sad that you got out alive?”

“I’m not sad that I got out alive, I’m a little upset because of what Luna did on the way here.”

“Go on.”

“Since I didn’t have the energy to fly or cast a teleportation spell, I had to walk quite a way in between Canterlot and here. It was kind of nice, actually. Though that changed fairly easily. The sleep spell that I put on Luna once I got out of Canterlot was weak, barely enough to keep her down. She was talking in her sleep.”

“And?”

“She was... crying. For her sister. The princess of the night... partial leader of Equestria... crying for her sister.”

“You can’t be serious. This is what you’re complaining about?”

Augury stomped his hoof on the ground and turned to Chrysalis with an enraged look across his face. “Don’t you see!? I did this. A pony that not only a week ago was perfectly fine with his marefriend is now causing pain and suffering in his own home. Do you know why this is happening?”

“Augury-”

The changeling general interrupted Chrysalis before she could even speak another word. “This is happening because of you! All of this! All I wanted was to have time away from the heartbreak, the pain, the mental suffering I had to go through in that hospital. But you just had to bring it back!”

“Augury, I order you to calm down.”

Augury only grew angrier as he continued on. “You just had to take away the happiness that I had left in me and destroy it because you failed to do all of this yourself! Why did you have to bring me into this!?”

“As your queen, you are subject to my orders! Now calm down!”

“You could’ve chosen any other pony! Why me!? Why the one pony that was on the verge of breaking down!?”

“Augury!”

“Why!?”

Chrysalis bit down on her lip to try and hold back her voice, but only found her rage boiling over as she separated her teeth. “Enough!”

The booming release of frustration echoed throughout the entire area that The Hive covered, the changelings not even near the heated argument stopping what they were doing in surprise. Augury and Chrysalis stared at each other angrily in a sudden silence, both of them breathing a bit heavier than before. The chattering and hissing of the changelings spread across what used to be a forest had dimmed down slightly, Augury able to see a few cyan eyes off in the distance staring at him and the queen.

“Upset as you may be, you are still under my rule.” Chrysalis started. “Therefore, you are to do as I say when I say or else you know what will happen.”

Augury only stared at the changeling queen standing in front of him, his breathing calming down ever so slightly. “You could at least pretend like you have some sympathy.” Augury said quietly.

“If I pretended, it wouldn’t really mean anything, now would it?”

“To you it may not, but it sure would make a difference to me.”

With his last statement, Augury slowly turned away from Chrysalis, the changeling general walking off to the center of the raised flat land.

“Augury, I’m-” Chrysalis began.

“Forget it.” Augury said quickly as he scratched at the solid ground beneath him. “I don’t care what you have to say, just forget it.”

Chrysalis closed her mouth and bowed her head down slightly, yet kept an agitated glare on the changeling facing away from her. “Can we put this behind us, now? I’d rather not start another argument in the first minutes that you return.”

“Sure.”

“Then I’ll take my leave as for now. We’ll discuss the matter of Celestia later. I’ll be near the-”

“Can we just get it over with right now?”

Chrysalis stood silent for a second before she sighed and walked over to Augury, staring at him gently from his side. “Why is that?” Chrysalis asked.

“I’d rather not have to see your face another time tonight. I also want to talk about something else before Celestia, if it’s alright.” Augury said.

Chrysalis sat down as Augury lowered himself to the ground as well. “Spit it out, then.”

“The landscape. I’m assuming this is what the last changeling settlement was like before. Am I wrong?”

“No, no you’re not. What about it?”

“I just want to know if it’s going to change any further. The forest... well, the wasteland that the forest is now is starting to look like a miniature version of the mountains. Well, a more disturbing and chaotic version of the mountains. How much more is it going to change?”

Chrysalis giggled partially. “Much more than you can imagine. What you’re seeing right now is only the beginning of what is to come. Soon enough there will be over passes and walkways and all sorts of changeling structures that stretch on for the entire Hive.”

“Hive?”

“The home of the changelings. This is what this all is, Augury. A resurrection of what I lost.”

“Uh huh. What about Tranquility? Will she be in a safe place when ‘The Hive’ is done forming into shape?”

“She and the mares you have brought back will be fine. This little platform that that clearing has been turned into will soon grow into a larger area, which will in time become my spire. They’ll stay in the bottom floors of the spire and never move until you give them the word.”

Augury smiled a bit and let out a small sigh of relief. “Good. The changelings can’t get into your... uh, spire, can they?”

“Not without my permission, no. Is that what you’re worried about?”

“Well...”

“You’re going to have to learn to trust changelings, Augury, whether you like them or not. You’re a changeling yourself, if I must remind you.”

“I’m not a changeling. I never will be.”

“Keep telling yourself that, see how much it does for you.”

Augury shook his head slowly. “Whatever. As long as Tranquility and the other mares are out of sight of the changelings, I fine with them being in the spire. So, how tall is this ‘spire’ going to be, exactly? And what is it for?”

“The spire will be tall enough to see across the entire Hive, so it’s going to be fairly tall. Not only is it for watching for any potential threats coming to the spire, it is also my home within the Hive.”

“I see. Where do the changelings stay then?”

“Anywhere they want that’s not in the spire. They’re loyal to me and they always will be, so I don’t have to worry about them wandering off.” Chrysalis lightly nudged Augury on the side. “I only wish I could say the same about you.”

“Wish all you want. You know that’s never going to happen.”

Chrysalis sighed frustratedly and followed Augury as the changeling general stood up and walked over to the edge of the platform, staring out at the changelings that had returned to the their work after Chrysalis’s outburst. Formations of spikes were slowly being built one by one in random areas throughout The Hive, the changelings constructing the spikes trying their best to break the solid ground and reshape it. The changelings that weren’t working on the menacing spikes were either wandering around The Hive, flying around on patrol, or making the best of their time by practicing changing forms. In less than a week, The Hive had grown to half of the capacity that the original Hive once was. The development was more than anything Chrysalis could have dreamed of, but it was only a growing nightmare for Augury.

“I don’t understand how you can live with this.” Augury muttered as he stared out at the network of changelings.

“You’re forgetting that this was once my homeland. At least, what it looked like. This is one of the most magnificent things I have seen in a while.” Chrysalis said.

“I don’t care what it used to be, I just want to get it out of my sight as soon as possible.” Augury cleared his throat turned his head to Chrysalis. “Celestia, the last of the princesses. I’m going to need more than just two changelings to get to her through the amount of security that’s building up in Canterlot.”

“Ah yes, Celestia. Capturing her might be more of an issue than the other two. I suppose you wouldn’t be able to handle it by yourself, would you? I need all the natural changelings here to keep up the work on the landscape and spire.”

Augury returned his gaze back to The Hive as Chrysalis met her eyes with Augury’s for a small second. “Considering I barely got out of Canterlot alive with the assistance of two changelings, I think you know the answer.”

Chrysalis sighed and poked at the edge of the platform in front of her. “Well then I guess we’re going to have to take the long route.”

“The long route?”

“The changelings here in The Hive are ready to go out into battle, no doubt, but The Hive itself isn’t ready for a full scale attack. A lot of the defenses aren’t set up and the spire isn’t even started yet. When Celestia is taken from Equestria; the military, royal guard, and honor guard aren’t going to be happy about it. They’ll start searching for her, and they will find her. They’ve probably started searching a while ago for the six mares, Luna, Cadence, but not as much of a search if all three of the princesses are gone.”

“You’re saying that you don’t want me to capture Celestia?”

“Yes. The Hive needs to be fortified before any actual battles form.”

“How long will that be?”

“Two to three days, maybe more. With the number of changelings already born, a lot of work can be done. Just to think, Augury, you’ll be leading them into battle yourself. Such numbers of changelings at your hooves.”

“They don’t even know my name except for a small group of them. They’re not going to follow any of my orders if they don’t know who I am.”

“Augury, you’re a changeling general by my word. They’re going to have to follow your orders even if they don’t want to. Besides, you shouldn’t have any problems with them in battle. Once they get opportunities to capture a target with your permission, they’ll be all over the pony they’re after.”

“Wait, what?” Augury gave Chrysalis a confused look. “What are you talking about?”

Chrysalis smiled as she saw the expression on Augury’s face. “When I say you’ll be leading them into battle, I mean that you’ll be leading raids on the cities in Equestria. Your objective, along with the changelings you bring with, is to capture ponies throughout Equestria and bring them back here for assimilation and feeding. You will meet resistance, but your primary focus is not to eliminate the resistance you find. Defend yourself, of course, but do not make it your purpose during the raid.”

“So you want me to lead an army of changelings into the cities of Equestria... and take innocent ponies back here for food and assimilation?”

“It’s what you have been doing before, isn’t it?”

Augury shook his head and backed away from Chrysalis. “No! This is not what I was doing before! I was taking ponies out of Equestria for a purpose, to make Equestria have less power! This... this is just sheer terror!”

Chrysalis stayed where she was at the edge of the platform. “It’s life as a changeling. We need love to feed off of, and Equestria has the most in I have ever seen before. If we succeed in taking over Equestria, changelings will last forever!” The changeling queen curved her mouth into a smile and turned her gaze to Augury. “And it’s all thanks to you, Augury.”

“Chrysalis! I... I don’t...”

Augury’s quiet cries were shut out of Chrysalis’s ears as the changeling queen flew away from the platform, heading off towards the rest of The Hive to inspect the progress the changelings were making with their fortifications. Augury growled lightly and kicked at the ground beneath him, glaring off into the wasteland that had become The Hive. A quick thought raced through Augury’s mind, a thought of leaving, taking Tranquility’s suggestion and making it a reality. Tranquility would be left behind, deserted and surely in harm’s way should Chrysalis find out that Augury was gone. Though the thought was only a split second, Augury shook his head and slapped himself in the face, shaking his head violently afterwords and breathing heavily.

“No! Don’t even think about that!” Augury thought to himself. “She’s the reason you’re doing all of this. You’re doing this for her! You can’t let her go... you...” Augury swallowed lightly and turned his head to the platform, stopping his gaze at the tree holding up Tranquility’s cocoon. “...can’t.”

Augury sighed and adjusted himself to face towards the wasteland again, staring off sorrowfully into the bland and horrid landscape that, unfortunately, was his home.

For now.

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Celestia shifted her eyes to the entrance of the hall connected to Canterlot Tower as the doors opened slowly, hoofsteps echoing in the large building. With a few motions of his hooves and a salute to the stallions following him, Shining Armor continued into the hall alone as the guards that had escorted him to the building exited through the closing doors of the hall. The princess of the sun and Shining Armor met each other in the middle of the hall, nodding to each other briefly.

“I hope you know why I called you here.” Celestia started.

“The issue of Augury.” Shining Armor stated.

Celestia nodded her head and walked over to one of the windows along the hall, Shining Armor standing where he was and watching her. “As you may have heard, Luna was taken yesterday.”

“Yes. I’m... sorry, princess. I tried my hardest to-”

Celestia coldly cut Shining Armor off. “You started sending groups of royal guards out of Canterlot to look for your sister and Cadence a while ago, correct?”

“Uh... yes. I did.”

“You know that we need all of the defense we can get in Canterlot and out in the cities of Equestria.”

“I know, but I just thought that I could-”

“Enough. I am permitting you to keep sending out those groups, however. We can’t just sit in Canterlot and hope that we can capture another changeling for interrogation. Am I clear?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Now, about Thunder Rend. I assume that her honor guards have found her?”

“Beaten badly at the midway of the mountain. She’s in the hospital near the palace recovering.”

“When will she recover?”

“She... fell down about half of a mountain, princess. She won’t be able to walk for a day or so.”

“I see. When she is released from the hospital, make sure she sees me immediately. I have something for her.”

“I’ll make sure of it.”

Celestia sighed as she stared out at the morning landscape of Equestria she had started earlier, watching the edge of the sun’s light move slowly across the hills and mountains in the distance. The princess of the sun turned herself to face Shining Armor, who patiently waited in silence until Celestia said something.

“I know that you got some more information out of Augury yesterday.” Celestia said firmly.

“I did, yes.” Shining Armor nodded.

“Tell me what you know.”

Shining Armor bit his lip and adverted his eyes from Celestia, but quickly adjusted his position and centered his eyes on the princess. “An assimilated changeling. He was a stallion before he was what he is now. His true identity is... Salvation. I think you remember him.”

Celestia gasped slightly, but not enough for Shining Armor to notice the sudden hint of surprise. “Salvation? The colt that...” The princess trailed off as she dug into her memory.

Sure enough, the picture of a crying light-grey colt on the ground in front of her popped into Celestia’s head. Though it had been so long ago, even the oldest of minds remember such resentment from one single colt grown up. Celestia remembered the other times that she and Salvation had crossed paths in Canterlot, the glares that Salvation ever so clearly portrayed in disrespect, the rude remarks that he made when coming face to face with the sun princess. For what Celestia had done to the light grey colt, nothing could have repaired Salvation’s opinion of the ruler of Equestria. Even if his life depended on saving the princess, Salvation would have made an exception of his cutie mark just for her.

Celestia stood quiet for a moment as she absorbed the information. “Shining Armor, you are sure that this is the name Augury told you?” Celestia asked as she recovered from her slightly catatonic state.

“I’m certain. Even I remember him.” Shining Armor confirmed.

“I... see.”

“Salvation, er- Augury, he’s not going to be quite the happiest or merciful when he... you know.”

“Then we’ll just have to find the changelings before they come back. Until Thunder Rend is recovered, I am putting you in charge of the honor guards.”

“Princess?”

“Have a few groups of royal and honor guards head to the outskirts of Equestria and search for any landmarks or landscapes that have hints of changeling activity on them. If the queen is coward enough to send her changelings in to wither away at Equestria’s population, we’ll have to find her.”

“Princess Celestia... I don’t think I’m capable of being in charge of-”

“I just need you to do this until Thunder Rend is healthy again. When she recovers, you may return the command of the honor guards back to her.”

“I...” Shining Armor shook his head and looked at the floor beneath him. “...I’ll take command of the honor guards. The search groups along with the groups that had been going out of Canterlot before will take duty of finding the changelings sight.”

“Thank you, Shining Armor. You may leave now.”

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Not too much action in this chapter, though there will be quite a bit of battling coming up very soon.

(I wonder if lightning made of fire can exist?) Next Chapter: [18] Inferno Of Sparks Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 21 Minutes