Chapter Nineteen: Fire And Ice

The doors of the spire slowly creeped open as Augury pushed them inwards, the echoes of his hoofsteps against the hard floor of the spire’s base traveling through the multiple levels of the tower. Carrying the same theme throughout the entire structure, the base of the spire was not that different than Chrysalis’s quarters at the very top, retaining most of the same color scheme and decorations, without the furniture. The light of the full moon above The Hive barely made it into the spire, as the spire lacked any sort of windows on the lower floors. The eight trees that Augury had put the mares into were empty of their inhabitants, all eight of the mares finished with the assimilation process and standing in a circle, their eyes closed as they kept each other alive. In the middle of the spire’s ground floor, Tranquility’s cocoon hung from the first natural structure that had been manipulated by changelings, the tree still standing tall and healthy as it always had been. Stairs spiraled from the side of the curved walls of the spire, leading higher and higher into the tower until the very top, where Chrysalis slowly descended as Augury waited by the six trees lined in a row off to the side of the spire’s ground floor. Another set of hoofsteps seemed to occupy Chrysalis’s as she walked down the stairs of the spire, Augury’s heart pumping slightly faster as he waited to see if he had made a mistake.

Augury turned his head to the top of the stairs as the hoofsteps became clear, his eyes meeting with an excited Chrysalis’s and another pair of eyes he almost felt he knew. An assimilated changeling walked along side the changeling queen with a partial smile on her face, watching Augury out of the corner of her eye as she walked down the stairs. Though her appearance was that of a changeling, her characteristics were of an attractive and fairly young mare, her crimson, silky mane and tail swaying with every step she took. Eyes bright red and fangs hanging in front of her lower lip, she had a devious look to her, which could have been no more of a fit for what she had used to be.

Taking a deep breath, Augury met the two changelings at the bottom of the stairs. “Two days, huh?” Augury asked. “Want to explain to me why it took me a week to finish my process?”

“You were the first in four years, Augury.” Chrysalis replied. “I was a little rusty at assimilating at the time, but with those ponies you brought back from Cloudsdale, I’ve got the hang of it again. So, what do you think?” Chrysalis extended her hoof to the changeling next to her.

“She seems to be fine. I’m holding your word that she’s going to help me. You kept some of her old memories with her duty as captain in, right?”

“Made sure of it. She’d be useless if I hadn’t.”

Augury nodded and turned his head to the newly assimilated changeling, who only gave him a smile. “...Good.”

______________________________________________________________________

[Two days earlier]

“Augury, back in one piece.” Chrysalis greeted as Augury lowered himself from the air above The Hive, setting his hooves down on the stairs that led up to the base of the spire. “I assume by the amount of cocoons that I saw flying, the mission went well?”

Augury let out a small sigh and fluttered his wings, twisting his neck to stretch it out. “Cloudsdale is a wreck, but the raid went as planned. Have the changelings brought the ponies to the feeding grounds?” Augury asked.

Chrysalis pointed her hoof out to The Hive, Augury turning his head to see what she was looking at. A large structure off in the distance swarmed with changelings bringing in cocooned ponies, the area glowing with a bright green aura. The structure resembled a tidal wave of some sort, an over hang holding all of the cocoons that the changelings brought in. The sun slowly set behind the tall, curved behemoth, the sky an eerie orange through the dark clouds that hung over The Hive.

“The changelings carved it out of one of the mountains.” Chrysalis explained. “With their numbers, we were able to finish it while you were gone. The assimilation grounds are just on the other side of it. For now, the big overhang is the feeding ground.”

Augury examined the feeding grounds for a moment, observing the numerous changelings already using their magic on the ponies inside of the cocoons. “That doesn’t look like it’s going to hold all of the ponies they brought back.”

“Maybe, we’ll have to see. The changelings can always make another one.” Chrysalis turned her eyes to Augury and pointed at the pony on his back. “Who’s this? Why isn’t she with the other ponies?”

Augury nudged the pony on his back with his wing lightly. “Thunder Rend, the captain of the honor guard in Canterlot. The changelings were able to finish her off after I wore her down quite a way. I don’t exactly know how to make a cocoon, so I just carried her on my back.”

Chrysalis scanned her eyes over Thunder Rend. “Captain of the honor guard, huh? Maybe she’s better off not being in the feeding portion of the ponies.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean she could be an excellent addition to the army.”

Augury snickered to himself. “Because she wasn’t just trying to kill me this afternoon. Do you really think that’s going to work?”

Chrysalis shook her head and turned away from Augury, staring out at The Hive. “The changeling with Tranquility’s memories. She was like Tranquility, am I correct?”

“She had a hint of Tranquility in her, yes. Why would that matter?”

“That means I was able to put memories into a changeling. Foreign memories that never had anything to do with her, right in her mind.”

“And you’re suggesting what?”

“That you let me deal with Thunder Rend.” Chrysalis faced back to Augury. “I could forge memories and fill them over her hate for changelings. She would be on our side, another leader that could help you on your missions. She was captain of the honor guard, wasn’t she? She has to have some experience with commanding an army.”

“You’re forgetting that she destroyed part of Cloudsdale in an attempt to kill one single changeling. What’s stopping her from doing the same with The Hive?”

“A considerable thought, yes, but you have to remember that you are the only changeling general right now. And if changelings fail...” Chrysalis shifted her eyes to the spire, but quickly snapped them back to Augury. “...you know the consequences. With another general by your side, you can ensure that changelings will make it through this, and with that, you can ensure that Tranquility does as well.”

Augury lowered his eyes and shyly peaked at the spire. Chrysalis had a point. The only thing discerning Augury from the idea of assimilating Thunder Rend was the variable of memories. Until Augury said anything that related to Salvation, the replica of Tranquility had thought nothing of him. Thunder Rend’s memories could be the same, in which something would need to happen for them to take effect, but with forged memories formed from nothing, they could never activate at all. The only thing that Thunder Rend would become would be a pony with a changeling’s guise, waiting for the perfect moment to act on her true nature and take what was hers.

“So? What’ll it be, Augury?” Chrysalis asked.

Augury lifted his head up and stared the queen in the eyes. “She ends up as a hindrance, I execute her. She ends up as support, I let her live. I don’t like her and she doesn’t like me. You better do a good job in patching up her memories.”

Chrysalis chuckled and levitated Thunder Rend onto her back, Augury keeping his eyes on the unconscious pony. “You know I can’t afford to let you start killing my subjects. Try and take her life, I will not punish you, but you will meet resistance by the changelings if you even think about it. Should you succeed, then that is your loss. She’ll be ready when she is, so don’t count the hours.”

With that, Chrysalis made her way up the stairs to the base of the spire.

______________________________________________________________________

“Her name, Thunder Rend, is no longer.” Chrysalis stated. “From now on, she’s known as Ruin, a changeling general.”

“General Ruin, ready to stand by your side... Augury.” Ruin spoke at last.

“You kept her memories on how to talk. A flaw in my eyes.” Augury said coldly, squinting slightly as Ruin batted her eyelashes at him.

“Unless you wanted her to stand there and talk through hoof-signals, you’re going to have to deal with her voice.” Chrysalis said. “She’ll be accompanying you on your missions, Augury, so I hope you two get along. I’m going to go check on the feeding grounds, why don’t you two get warmed up in the meantime. I’ll tell you the next town to raid later. Until then, try not to tear each other apart.”

Augury and Ruin kept their eyes on each other as Chrysalis walked out of the spire, not moving a muscle until they heard the large doors of the spire shut completely.

“Ruin. The name fits after you destroyed three fourths of Cloudsdale. Strange how you did more damage to ponies than changelings.” Augury taunted.

“A changeling with the name Salvation. Your name couldn’t be any more ironic.” Ruin retorted with a smile.

“So you know who I actually am.”

“Chrysalis may have implanted memories in my head, but no one ever said I would abide by what they tell me. No one ever said that she could get rid of my memories, either. My true memories are only overlapped by pathetic excuses of caps on my mind. You were a fool to even think for a second that this would play out well. The changelings have my trust, they’ll follow my order as a general.”

“What are you going to do, order them to kill themselves?”

Ruin let out a maniacal howl of laughter. “Oh Augury, you obviously don’t know anything about me.” She stood up straight began to walk around the room. “I had quite the record in Canterlot for... ‘misbehavior’. You see, I never cared for my guards, nor the royals. I loved the sound of battles raging on, the sound of my lightning striking pegasi out of the sky and hearing their bodies crack against the ground, the sound of earth ponies and unicorn struggle as they had electricity coursed through their bodies. Honor guards, royal guards, enemies, they were all the same.”

Augury watched Ruin carefully. “So you were a traitor, in essence.”

“A traitor, a loyalist, I was both. The only reason I was kept was because, well I don’t want to brag, but I was the best there was. Equestria was protected against plenty of threats under my order, whether the enemy be an Ursa Major or a lost dragon. The honor guards knew that I could order them into victory, and they stayed by my side out of fear for their lives.”

“But what side are you going to be on this time? A changeling? A pony? Or neither?”

“Changelings bigger in number, I would naturally side with ponies. More targets to electrocute.” Ruin stopped and tilted her head, smiling. “But the chance to stick by the side of the changeling that humiliated me, stripped me of the title of captain of the honor guard, and turned me into this?” She chuckled and slowly turned her head to Augury, who gave her a blank, yet furious glare. “How could I resist?”

“By forgetting what I did and letting go of the grudge you have on me. Holding onto your anger only agitates it from a candle into an inferno.”

“Oh but why would I let that chance go? The more hatred, anger, fury inside of me, the more fuel I have when I want to unleash it.”

“And when you unleash it, that little puppy that it used to be turns into a feral timberwolf starved for a week. You lose control of what you barely had a grip on, only leading you to harm yourself rather than your targets.”

Ruin sighed and slowly walked over to Augury. “Such a killjoy. Even out of battle you’re a bore.”

“War isn’t a game, and yet you toy with me like it is. I hope you can take full scale battles seriously without making any casualties on our side.”

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see where we’re going to find that out.” Ruin gave Augury one last smile and walked past him. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Augury shook his head as the doors of the spire opened and slammed shut, the lone changeling moving from where he stood during the conversation to the tree in the middle of the room. He stopped at the clear side of the green casket hanging from the beautiful tree within the horrid landscape, staring through the glass-like wall at the mare inside. Tranquility remained as untouched as when she had been placed in the cocoon so long ago, her hooves still crossed in front her chest. Her peaceful sleep was on a timeline now that a new leader had come into The Hive, and that timeline was short on Ruin’s account.

______________________________________________________________________

The streets of the Ponyville scurried with ponies running in a disorganized fashion, groans and displeased grunts echoing through out Ponyville. Frost examined the subtle chaos from inside of his home, watching as ponies were quickly drenched by the scheduled rainfall. Despite the rain being scheduled, nopony seemed to have even remembered the news. Chuckling quietly, Frost turned himself away from the window next to the entrance of his home, returning back to his studies in the middle of his living room. The house that Frost called home wasn’t the best sight in Ponyville, though it provided two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, and basement. According to anypony’s standards, the interior of Frost’s home was normal. However, normal was a bit of a stretch, because even in the middle of summer, Frost kept a small collection of icicles that never seemed to melt in numerous cases throughout his home. Ice being his specialty in magic ever since he figured out that he could manipulate the properties of magic with the magic itself, Frost grew an attachment to everything cold.

The rain pouring down on Ponyville didn’t take long to grow into a large downpour. Thunder rumbled, yet not too loudly, through the air every once and a while, providing a nice atmosphere for the icy blue stallion as he sat down on the floor of his home. Frost ran his eyes across the book on the floor in front of him, absorbing a bit of knowledge with every word that crossed his vision. Pictures, spell instructions, and a few comments of the spells littered the book, making for a quality study section for the blue stallion digging into the tome. The rain pattered on the window of Frost’s home, making a sort of crystal formation as the icicles on the windows chilled the raindrops running down the glass.

A sort of buzzing noise slowly edged its way into earshot of Ponyville, creating a strange and eerie feeling in the ponies that heard it. The buzzing grew louder with every passing second, though it seemed to be quite far away from the town of ponies. Despite the distance between Ponyville and the noise, the ponies seeking shelter in their homes trotted over to the windows lining their walls and peered out into the stormy sky, questioning if the storm that had rolled in was a normal storm. From the perspective of the ponies in their homes, nothing seemed to be wrong, though the buzzing continued to strike a sense of weak fear into their minds as it crept closer. With every passing second, the pouring down on Ponyville appeared to lighten up, though the rain drops fell heavier and more collected. The light that had been getting through the clouds dimmed slightly as the buzzing noise came to its loudest point, some ponies stepping outside to see what was causing the strange phenomena. The royal and honor guards kept light on their hooves, ready to take action if what they thought would happen actually happened. They squinted into the haze that the clouds formed. Figures and silhouettes showed themselves in the grey clouds above the town of ponies, stretching themselves across the storm sky, and in a certain pattern, unleashed a fury of devastation.

Blotches of bright green rocketed their way towards the muddy ground of Ponyville, gasps and screams flinging into the air as the ponies in the streets met eyes with the wrath bestowed violently onto them. Group by group, changelings rammed into the muddy ground of Ponyville, their magic splashing along with the mud that flew from the impact they made with the ground. Panic didn’t take long to strike within Ponyville, for within a few seconds of the first appearance of the changelings, the ponies of the town were already running for their lives. News of Cloudsdale had reached all across Equestria, and soon enough, news of Ponyville would follow.

Two changelings slowly made their way across the hills on the outskirts of the panicking town. One excited, the other sickened, they watched as the assault on Ponyville grew into an all out battle between military, royal guards, honor guards, and changelings. Magic bullets flew through the air of Ponyville, streaks of bright green exchanging paths with multicolored bolts of magic.

Ruin squealed with joy as a terrified scream rung from Ponyville. “Isn’t this great!? Oh, I missed this so much! How are you holding up? Having fun?” Ruin asked smugly.

Augury closed his eyes and shook his head. “You’re twisted, I can give you that. I think I would feel right in calling you a psychopath.” Augury commented.

“Lighten up, this is exhilarating! Should we head in now? Should we wait for the changelings to soften them up? Oh, the possibilities! What tactic are we going to use!?”

“The one where you shut your mouth. You’re a changeling general too, Ruin, don’t forget that. Your word is just as big as mine. Try not to make the changelings think they can do whatever during this.”

“But isn’t that just what this is? Go in, grab some ponies, fight off some guards and soldiers, that’s it! Simple. Easier than what I did with the honor guards.”

“No, it’s not that simple and you’re and idiot for thinking so.” Augury pointed out toward Ponyville. “That is an hour of my contemplating of how to start of this damned thing. The storm in Cloudsdale was enough cover for us to roll in secretly and the ponies don’t seem to have to picked up the approach yet. Heading in uncovered and with brute force is no way to do this.” Augury set his hoof down back on the ground. “That said, I’m leaving this to you.”

Ruin turned herself to face Augury as he began to walk away from Ponyville. “Wait, hang on a second. Where are you going?”

“The Hive. You’re a changeling general, you command them. I’ve set up the plan, carry it out. Think back to the honor guards. I’d... rather not stick around to see my home crumble.”

“But... you’ll miss everything! You can’t just leave me here!”

“I can, and I am. Try not to disappoint Chrysalis.”

“...Augury.”

Grumbling slightly, Augury turned sideways to face Ruin. “What?”

“You’re not leaving until I’ve established something.”

Seeming to come out of no where, Augury felt his head lighten. His vision quickly reduced to a blur as he tried to focus on the changeling general slowly walking towards him, her giggles muffled as Augury’s hearing faded. Darkness edged its way from the corners of Augury’s eyes as his head continued to drift away, Augury finding himself swaying to keep himself on his hooves. Efforts proving useless, Augury’s legs lost all feeling and he fell over onto the wet grass of the hills, his vision just about filled with nothing.

Muffled, Ruin spoke one last time before Augury slipped into sleep. “I always get my way. Sleep tight.”

______________________________________________________________________

“Hey Salvation, check it out.” Frost said, extending a hoof out to the ice sculpture at his side. “Made it just for you!”

Salvation took a quick glance from the book levitating in front of him at the sculpture Frost presented. An awkwardly posed mare stood about Frost’s height with her head leaned towards the ground, the ice she was made out of already melting in the hot summer air, which only added more provocativeness to the already obscene statue. Her tail was lifted out of the way, her eyes looking back at Salvation suggesting something he would rather not think about with the cold of ice.

“You’re disgusting.” Salvation muttered as he leaned back into the book he was reading.

Frost chuckled lightly and walked up to the sculpture, planting a hoof on the mare’s back. “Come on! Tranquility doesn’t have to know.”

In an instant, the ice sculpture turned from a solid figure into a puddle on the ground beside the icy blue stallion, the fires that Salvation sent out with his magic extinguishing in the water.

Frost frowned and kicked at the puddle spreading at his hooves. “Do you have any idea how long that took me to make?”

“Is that seriously what you were doing for the past twenty minutes? I was wondering why you had that stupid look on your face.” Salvation asked.

A little bit of laughter escaped Frost’s mouth. Despite the abnormally hot conditions that the summer brought with it this time of year, Ponyville continued to be as lively as it always had been. With a clear sky and the sun beating down from directly above, the town had become a temporary water park for the day, most of the ponies out in the pools or running through sprinklers to cool themselves off. For Frost and Salvation, their only way of taking away the heat of day was Frost’s ice, which slowly melted in a large circular formation around them in front of Sugar Cube Corner. As a new group of doctors had arrived in the hospital, Salvation found himself with a bit of free time for the afternoon, and with Frost so eager to see his friend, Salvation couldn’t resist but spend some time with him.

“Hey, I’m just trying to have some fun while I wait for your slow flank. How’s the spell coming along?” Frost asked as he walked to Salvation’s side.

“It’s a bit complicated, but I think I have the gist of it. Now, what is this supposed to accomplish?” Salvation questioned, setting the spell book down on the ground.

“Well, I have to say, it’s not exactly good for anything, but it’s a nice trick. Stay here for a second, I’ll be back.”

Salvation sat quietly as Frost jumped over the low walls of ice around them, watching a group of colts and fillies play around in sprinklers they had set up in the street. The laughter from the ponies was a nice break from the atmosphere that the hospital gave off, Salvation finding himself leaning back against the wall of ice around him with a smile on his face. Salvation lifted his head off of the ice as the door of Sugar Cube Corner rung open again as Frost walked out, followed by a cheery ‘goodbye’ from a pink pony inside.

“See ya!” Frost called out before the door shut completely.

“What are those for?” Salvation asked, pointing limply at the two cupcakes levitating in the air as Frost jumped back over the wall of ice.

“Stimulation.”

“What?”

“You know, you put the icing on your-!”

Salvation quickly lifted his hooves out in front of him. “Whoa whoa whoa, hey there buddy.”

Frost chuckled loudly and moved one of the cupcakes in front of Salvation’s face. “They’re for the spell. Take it, I got one for each of us.”

Still a bit cautious about Frost’s joke, Salvation set a levitation spell on the floating cupcake. “Alright. So what exactly does a cupcake have to do with a freezing spell?”

The icy blue stallion bowed down to the cupcake levitating in front of him and showcased the pastry with a limp hoof. “Observe.”

With a spark of a spell and a twirl of Frost’s hoof, the cupcake floating in front of him gleamed for a second, but quickly transformed into a completely different object that it had been before. A solid ice representation of a cupcake now floated in Frost’s magical grip, Frost tilting his head back up and grinning at Salvation, who only stared at the cupcake made of ice with partially wide eyes.

“Ta da! What do you think? Cool or what?” Frost edged on.

“Do Mr. and Mrs. Cake know that you’re using their food for magic tricks?” Salvation asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Frost waved his hoof through the air. “Pinkie Pie’s taking over while they make a delivery to Canterlot. Some of her friends are in there with her. I don’t think she would mind if I manipulated a cupcake into a little ice sculpture.”

“And what does this spell have to do with anything?”

“I don’t know. Stop asking me things! It’s just a cool spell I picked up on a few months back. I thought it would be cool to teach you a thing or two in ice manipulations, with you being all sophisticated with your fire thing-a-ma-jigs.”

Salvation poked at the icing on the cupcake in front of him and licked his hoof. “They’re not ‘thing-a-ma-jigs’ , they’re spells and basically the same things you do with ice. So, how do I start of this thing? Do I just concentrate on the spell, or what?”

Frost set the cupcake he had turned to ice on top of his head, which almost instantly started to melt. “Set your mind on something chilly. Ice, winter, snow, that sort of thing. Manipulations in magic are the same way with each form, just on a different subject, such as ice, fire, or other another substance. When you feel ready, let go of the spell and the magic will do the rest. Remember the steps to perform the spell?”

“Yeah... yeah, I think I got it.”

“Coolio. Start whenever you’re ready.”

Salvation breathed deeply and adjusted his stance, staring down the cupcake he held with his magic. “Something cold... right.”

Closing his eyes, Salvation begun the process of performing the spell Frost seemed to have mastered. His mind filled with everything he could think of that had a cold sense to it, a chill jittering within Salvation’s spine. A few seconds passed before any signs of the spell showed, which perked up Frost a little as a small gleam formed on the cupcake. Through the laughter of the fillies and colts playing in the street, a cracking noise trickled through the commotion, coming from the cupcake Salvation concentrated on so dearly. Slowly, a strange effect began to take over the cupcake. The pastry slowly developed from the inside, Frost noticing that little crystals of ice formed on the bottom of the cupcake, and within a second, a brief flash of light bursted from the spell.

Frost’s smile grew bigger from the grin it had already been. “Wow! First try and you got it on the spot!” Frost exclaimed, walking forward and poking at the transformed cupcake.

Salvation opened his eyes and winced slightly, figuring that Frost was being nice, but upon closer inspection, it seemed that his friend wasn’t putting sugar on top of his words. The cupcake had been completely turned to ice from the inside, Frost’s distorted face through the clear ice making Salvation laugh slightly.

“Don’t forget that we put ten bits on this.” Salvation said, lifting his ice cupcake to his head and setting it down on top of him.

Feeling the top of his head, Frost tucked in the corners of his mouth. “Then ten bits you shall receive. Not right now, at least. They’ll probably melt in the sunlight.”

Salvation laughed and split the cupcake on top of his head in two, setting one half on Frost’s head. “Alright, later. Come on, Tranquility’s probably on her way home from the school house at this time. She’ll be surprised when I show her this.”

“Well let’s go! I don’t want to be out here when these ice cupcakes melt.”

Nodding his head, Salvation ignited the short walls of ice surrounding him and Frost. Making small talk as they went along, Frost and Salvation made their way through the scorching summer streets of Ponyville. Their friendship seemed as if it would last forever. Fire and ice.

______________________________________________________________________

A crack of thunder resonated through Augury’s muffled hearing, the changeling general slowly coming back into consciousness. Though his vision was as blurry as it had been before he fell asleep, Augury could just barely picture his surroundings. A candle flickered weakly on a dark wooden table in front of the waking changeling, flaring every once and a while as the wind picked up from outside. Though the windows were uncovered and cracked open partially, the light that came through the storm clouds still over Ponyville blocked out the sunlight, making the inside of the house Augury stood in dreary and dark. The roof of the house had been mangled from the changelings wreaking havoc outside, letting in rain water into the upper floors of the house, which leaked into the living room Augury examined tiredly. Drops of water pattered on the floor of the living rom the ceiling above, the rain falling as hard as it had been at the start of the storm. Beyond the light of the candle, the room was almost pitch black, only the outlines of a few pieces of overturned furniture visible.

Augury slowly felt his strength ease back into his body, the changeling lifting his head and scanning the room through his blurry vision. Two other figures stood on the other side of the table Augury was set at, one of them seeming to have a cover over his head. Their talking was inaudible through Augury’s distorted reception of sound, so only muffled phrases made it past Augury’s ears. As Augury began to move, something tugged at his hooves, the changeling muttering to himself and weakly tilting his head to the floor. A bright red goo wrapped around Augury’s hooves and attached to the floor, resembling that of a changeling’s magic as it stretched when the changeling it held captive attempted to move. Starting to panic slightly, Augury’s senses recovered at the pace of his growing heartbeat, his breathing becoming tense. As he tried to use magic to escape from the binds, a feeling of emptiness coursed through Augury, a stasis ring place around his horn.

“Augury! So you finally decided to wake up.” A voice spoke from the other side of the table. “So good to see you again.”

The pony with a cover over his head looked around frantically. “What!? Him!? Let me out of here, you bastards!”

The voice coming from the stallion was familiar.

Augury squinted as his vision completely restored, the light of the candle a little bright. “Thunder Rend? What are you doing? Who is that?” Augury asked, lightly tugging at the goo around his hooves.

The stallion beside Ruin stopped moving around for a second. “Wait, that voice.”

Ruin chuckled to herself. “You’re not the only one with the memories of Ponyville, Augury. Not any more at least.”

Augury felt a trickle of anger seep into him, his voice coming out louder. “What is this? Where are we?”

“We’re in Ponyville, Augury.” Ruin said. “Don’t you remember? You fell asleep suddenly out in the hills, so I brought you in here so you wouldn’t get wet! Are you still that sleepy?”

Furiously, Augury pulled at his binds and fluttered his wings. “You bastard, you put me sleep! Whatever you’re doing, stop it this instant! Let me out of here so I can ram your head into a wall!”

“Now now now, Augury, you wouldn’t want to see him go without even getting a chance to say goodbye, would you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Ruin smiled and leisurely paced around the table. “While you were off sleeping the night before we were sent here, I took the liberty of paying Queen Chrysalis a visit. A good leader, she is, but a fool either way. She taught me how to tap into pony’s minds and make copies of the memories. At first it just seemed like a waste of time, but after I realized what could be done with this, I couldn’t help but try it out.” Ruin came to a stop beside the stallion with the cover of his head, locking her eyes with Augury. “You have some interesting memories, Augury, did you know that?”

Augury kept silent, glaring at Ruin.

“Of course you do.” Ruin continued on. “Ponyville, Canterlot, your foalhood, all of it in that little head of yours. It wasn’t easy getting your memories out, but once I did, I saw that I had hit the jackpot.” Laughing, Ruin lifted her hoof to the cover over the stallion next to her. “I think you two know each other quite well.”

With one motion of Ruin’s hoof and the reveal of a unicorn’s face, Augury had never felt as nauseated as he did at the very moment he recognized that stallion across the table from him. Scared, furious, and trapped, Frost’s eyes met with Augury’s. He was no more powerful in the state that Augury was in, a stasis ring hugging his horn.

“Fr... Frost?” Augury muttered, the name barely escaping his mouth.

Frost’s eyes opened wide and he tried to back away, but only snapped back into place as the same substance that held Augury steadied Frost as well. “Let me out of here, damn it! I don’t have anything that you want! Please!” Frost yelled.

Ruin lifted her hoof to Frost’s head and patted his mane, Frost moving his head away from her. “It was hard finding him in the commotion that the changelings were making. Running out of his house to help a mare being attacked by a changeling. Sad, really, all he wanted was to be like you, Augury, but in his defeat, he was only just another pony waiting to be taken.”

Augury clenched his teeth together and tugged as hard as he could at the goo around his hooves. “You let him go, you bitch! I’ll rip to to pieces if you do anything to him!” Augury shouted at the top of his lungs.

“So feisty. Just the reaction I was hoping for.” Ruin taunted. She turned to Frost. “Amazing how in two ponies had such a strong connection, one can’t even recognize the other.”

“Shut up!” Frost spat in Ruin’s face. “How does he know my name!? How do you know who I am!? Answer me!”

Ruin’s smile faded and she wiped the spit off of her face. “I hope you realize that I can do much more to you than you can to me. But, as for answers...” Ruin set her eyes on Augury. “...Why doesn’t the notorious Augury explain?”

Quickly, Frost turned his head to Augury, waiting for him to say something. However, no matter how hard Augury tried, nothing came from the changeling’s mouth. Even if he tried to yell as loud as he could, the presence of his best friend, who didn’t even recognize him, kept Augury frozen in a state of disbelief. Becoming a changeling had taken Augury’s past away from him, everything that he once knew now turned against him. With his best friend staring at him with hatred and impatience, Augury could only let his tears begin to glisten in his eyes. Would he want his best friend to hate him for what he had become by telling Frost who he was? Would Frost even believe him?

“Well? Are you going to say something or what?” Frost asked angrily, staring down Augury.

Slowly, Augury opened his mouth to talk, but only a puff of air wheezed from his throat.

Ruin rolled her eyes and walked over to Frost. “This is just getting to be a waste of my time.” Ruin sighed. “Last chance, Augury.”

Silence.

With a tilt of her head, Ruin adjusted her position next to Frost. “Then so be it.”

Frost moved his head away from Ruin as her horn started to glow with a red aura. “What are you doing? Can I go now?” Frost asked.

A smirk on her face, the changeling next to the trapped unicorn nodded. “Oh you’ll be going alright. Far away.”

A spark ignited from Ruin’s horn. Augury watched as Frost slowly gave Ruin a confused look, Frost beginning to sway side to side ever so slightly. Ruin chuckled to herself and stepped away from the weakening stallion she had cast a spell on, keeping her eyes on Augury as she stepped out of the candle light.

“What... what did you do to me? Why do I feel...” Frost started to say, but trailed from his sentence as a rush of air escaped from his lungs.

“...A lethal spell. It... it’s shutting down your body.” Augury finally spoke, his eyes pointed toward the floor.

“Lethal... spell...?” Frost asked weakly. His legs were starting to tremble, and by the looks of it, his barely audible breathing was slowing down with every second.

“Frost... there’s something I need you to know...” Augury said.

Slightly delusional, Frost could only interpret the question as if it weren’t coming form a changeling. “Yeah? What... what?”

Closing his eyes, Augury was engulfed with a dark blue fiery aura, and as the fires disappeared into the air, a familiar pony stood in his place. Frost’s eyes opened as wide as they could as he recognized the pony across the table from him, Frost trying to speak, but only inhaled repeatedly.

“...I’m sorry. Don’t... hate me.” Serenity said as she looked up from the floor, trying her best to not let her tears loose.

It seemed that Frost was incapable of even reacting properly anymore, as his eyelids slowly closed and twitched. As the binds around his hooves disappeared, Frost slowly let himself down onto the ground, his legs becoming limp as he laid completely still. His breathing had become coarse and shortened, though it was barely audible over the rainfall outside of the house anymore. Suddenly, an ominous silence took over the inside of the house for a second, a certain pattern disappearing from Ruin and Serenity’s ears. Quickly, however, it was replaced by a new pattern; a louder, heavier, and grief stricken song taking over from Serenity.

Ruin walked into the candle light once more, staring at Frost on the ground. “I told you I always get my way.” Ruin said. “Defeat was never an option for me, but when it was, I never took it nicely.” Ruin smirked and turned her head to Serenity. “So? How does it feel?”

Serenity quickly changed back to her changeling form. “How does what feel?” Augury asked quietly, resting his chin on his chest.

“You know, having your friend killed right in front of you. It can’t be easy, I know that, but I want a first hoof answer. So?”

“Take this damn ring off of my horn and gets these binds off of my hooves...”

“That doesn’t sound like a-”

“I said... that this bucking ring and these binds off of me...”

Ruin sighed and used her magic to undo the goo around Augury’s hooves, the ring around Augury’s horn disappearing as well. “I’ll get an answer from you later then, I guess. But, for now, why don’t we get back to Ponyville, huh? I can’t wait to capture my first pony! We’re going to have so much fun! Right, Augury?”

Her question was only met with a table striking across her entire body. Wood splintering as the table shattered into pieces against her, Ruin was knocked straight out of the house she stood in and out into the streets of Ponyville through the wall of the house, even more wood flying into the air as the wall shot outwards along with her. Ruin slid through the mud that streets of Ponyville had become for a moment before she came to a halt against another home, her head slamming into the exterior of the building. Rubbing her head as she sat up, Ruin fixed her eyes on the house she had been sent out of. Augury slowly emerged from the darkness of the house into the grey atmosphere of Ponyville, the rainfall almost instantly soaking him completely. As Ruin began to stand up as she laughed maniacally, Augury threw the pieces of the table he still had in his levitation spell at her, which struck her straight in the stomach and head.

“What did you think would come out of this!?” Augury yelled as he came close to Ruin. Enraged, Augury lifted his hoof up and slammed it down onto Ruin’s neck, the trapped changeling gagging for a moment before she tried to push Augury off of her.

Augury continued on. “What were you trying to accomplish!? Tell me you bucking bitch! Tell me before I bucking suffocate you!”

Just barely, Ruin lifted the hoof pressing down on her up for a second. “What’s the matter!? He was going to be taken along with the rest of the ponies anyways! He was as good as dead!”

Augury forced his hoof back down. “Why him!? Out of everypony, why him!?” Along with the heavy rain that fell from the sky, tears streaked down Augury’s face.

Unable to help it, Ruin’s mouth grew into a grin. “It feels nice, doesn’t it!? Having all that hate come out all at once! Let your inner instincts loose! Hate me!”

Augury grabbed Ruin with both of his hooves and lifted her up by her neck, only to slam her head back into the ground. “I’ve hated you since I first laid eyes on you! Now I’m just acting on what my first thoughts were! I’ll rip your damn throat out!”

Before Augury could do anything, however, his actions were put to a halt. A sudden force pushed Augury off to the side and tackled him to the ground in a hurry, Augury and the changeling that had stopped him tumbling in the mud for a moment. Coming to a stop, the changeling that had blind sided Augury came to a halt standing over Augury, who looked up at the changeling captain with a look of confusion.

“General Augury, I can’t allow you to kill General Ruin.” The familiar captain spoke, glaring at Augury through his helmet. “She’s our superior, we are sworn to protect-”

Augury began to get up, but was pushed back down with a forceful hoof to his chest. “I know what you’re sworn to do! Get off of me! I order you to let me go!” Augury yelled.

“If your will is to execute General Ruin, I’m afraid I cannot do that, sir. Should you persist, you will be taken back to The Hive.”

In a burst of anger, Augury lifted a loose plank of wood that had flown from one of the houses in the raid and drew it toward himself as hard as he could. The plank of wood struck the captain standing over him with immense power, and though most of the blow was absorbed by his helmet, the changeling captain stumbled away from Augury with a minor concussion. Augury stood up as quickly as he could and began to run over to Ruin, who held her neck with her hooves and stared at Augury with a wide smile. A large group of changelings that had been following the changeling captain quickly landed on the ground in front of Augury, each of them staring at the standing changeling general with determination. Despite the group of changelings preventing him from reaching Ruin, Augury rushed forward with all that he could. A fury of magic and strikes of hooves flew out into the group of changelings, several changelings flying from the one-on-fifteen battle in the middle of Ponyville. Augury’s resistance proved to be useless, as even with his hatred for Ruin fueling him to continue, he found himself outnumbered by changelings coming to assist their brethren. Ruin laughed quietly to herself as she watched Augury struggle with the changelings holding him down, the captain Augury had thrown the wooden plank into wrapping a bright green goo around Augury’s hooves.

“Get your hooves off of me! Let me bucking kill her!” Augury continuously shouted as the changeling around him finished restraining him.

Ruin trotted over to the incapacitated changeling general laying on his side in the mud. “I’m sorry, Augury, but you’re just too dangerous to stay in the mission. You should know better than to attack your own allies.” Ruin said as if she were babying him.

Augury reached his head out and snapped his teeth at Ruin, catching a bit of her mane and yanking it out of her head.

Laughing even more, Ruin patted the back of her head in the spot Augury had taken the chunk of hair out. “Take him back to The Hive. Tell the queen he’s been a naughty boy. She’ll figure out what to do with him.” Ruin ordered to a changeling standing next to her.

With a nod, a few changelings quickly grabbed the binds holding Augury and lifted him off of the ground. Augury’s yells were soon out of earshot as the changelings holding him flew further away from Ponyville, returning to The Hive as Ruin had directed. The slight mishap with Augury now over, the changelings that had accumulated in the area quickly resumed their work around Ponyville, the battle between changelings and ponies restoring back to its full heat.

The changeling captain that had stopped Augury walked over to Ruin’s side, the changeling general examining her hoof as she brought it out from the back of her head. “Are you alright, general?” The captain asked.

“As dandy as I’ve always been!” Ruin said as she set her hoof down on the ground. “How are things going with the raid? I assume that we’ve gotten quite a few ponies, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am. The royal guards, honor guards, and military have put up quite a fight, but their forces are no match to our numbers.”

“Good, good.”

The captain hesitated to look at the house Ruin had been hit out of. “If I may ask, ma’am, what inspired General Augury to act as he did?”

Smirking, Ruin shook her head. “He just overreacted to something. Nothing big.” The changeling general sighed and wrung out her mane. “Enough standing around here. Ponyville isn’t going to capture itself.” Next Chapter: [20] Sleep Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 17 Minutes