Chapter Twenty One: Overcome

“General, are you feeling alright?” The changeling captain asked as he and Augury flew slowly up the side of the mountain.

Augury replied with silence, staring blankly in front of him.

“General?” The captain edged further.

“What?” Augury snapped, giving the captain a stern look from the corner of his eyes.

“You shouldn’t be leading the battle like this.”

“Like what?”

“I heard what made you attack Ruin, and it has obviously taken quite an effect on you. It isn’t wise for someone so troubled as you to be leading the attack.”

“You don’t know if I’m troubled or not. I suggest you keep your mouth shut unless its something important next time.”

“It’s not that hard to tell that you’re-”

“I said keep it shut. Besides, we’re here. Keep talking to a whisper.”

Augury and the captain flew closer to the side of the mountain as they reached the snowy tip, trotting along the curve to the very top with their wings still flapping. The cold air rushing through the mountain range quickly blew against the two changelings peaking over the summit of the mountain, both of them trying their best to stay on their hooves. Their eyes squinting against the wind, Augury and the captain stared off through the snow picking up around them. Despite the obstructions in the view, Canterlot was no single drop in the ocean. Large, spherical, purple force field surrounding the entire city, royal and honor guards roaming the outskirts of Canterlot, and barricades set up by the military, the royal city stood out more than it ever had in the afternoon sun from the mountains near the trail leaving Canterlot.

The captain lifted his hoof up in front of his face as the wind picked up again. “It doesn’t look like they’re taking any chances of letting changelings in. How are we going to take this one, general?” The captain asked.

Augury took a moment to further survey the area, stopping his eyes on one of the towers overlooking Canterlot. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to sneak our way in and we sure aren’t going to be able to take any other tactical way in. It’s not like it would matter, anyways.” Augury said.

“Why is that?”

“They’re looking at us.”

The captain lowered his hoof from his face and peered at the force field around Canterlot. Sure enough, a few of the royal guards out of the city’s boundaries had their eyes fixed on the mountain the two changelings stood upon. The presence of the changeling didn’t just attract the attention of the royal guards, honor guards, and military, however. Upon further inspection into the higher places in Canterlot, Celestia herself glared at Augury and the captain along with Shining Armor at her side. The captain shuttered slightly as he felt the entire city of Canterlot stare at him and Augury, barely managing to take his eyes off of Celestia.

“It seems that they were expecting us.” The captain said.

“They always have been. It’s just now that they’re really pissed.” Augury replied.

“Why aren’t they attacking?”

“They would be at a strategic disadvantage. We have more pairs of wings than they do, which allow more maneuverability through the mountains. Looks like they’re just going to wait until we make a move. Are the others close?”

The captain tilted his head sideways and took a quick glance into the mountains. “They’re just about here. Closing in on the last marked mountain.”

“You told them to wait once they got here, right?”

“Yes, general.”

“Good. We don’t have time for motivational speeches, so once they get here and get ready, we’re heading in.”

“Just out in the open?”

“It would seem that we don’t have any other choice. Captain, I’m expecting you to lead a portion of the army over Canterlot and break away the force field. I’ll stay up here and move in once the field is taken down. If this works out right, once the force field is gone, it should be a breeze. Chrysalis is expecting this one to go good.”

“Do you think it was a good idea to make Ruin stay behind in The Hive?”

“She’s done enough for one raid. If anything, she would just mess up the plan somehow. She’s better of back at The Hive for now.”

“If you say so, general.”

A loud hum of buzzing wings quickly approached Augury and the captain along with a small chatter, the two changelings standing atop the mountain turning to see the rest of the party. Stretching on for quite a ways into the mountains, the army of changelings came to a stop in the mountain range and stared at Augury. Almost each and every one of them held a look of eagerness and determination in their eyes, almost piercing Augury’s head with the thousands of eyes on him.

“At least they know how to follow markers right.” Augury muttered to himself.

“General, come here.” The captain spoke from further onto the mountain’s tip.

Turning to the changeling standing with him, Augury trotted over to his side. “Something happen?” He asked.

“I think they’ve noticed the buzzing. Look.”

The captain extended his hoof out to the field in front of Canterlot. Large groups of military ponies ran through the field to the barricades they had set up, lifting their swords out of their sheaths and aiming the magic synthesizers on the handles toward the mountains. The royal and honor guards stayed back further back near Canterlot, their spears and swords ready at their sides. Prepared for the attack at any moment, Canterlot only waited for the signal to fire.

“They seem a bit hyped up.” Augury noted, staring at a particularly shaky military pony near the front of the barricades.

“Against almost two and a half thousand changelings, fear should be in their hearts.” The captain added. “We’re waiting for your order, General Augury. We’re not going to hold anything back.”

Augury shifted his gaze from the brigades at Canterlot’s gates back to the tower Celestia stood at. Shining Armor gone to join the royal guards, Celestia was left alone at the very tip of Canterlot, locking her eyes with the changeling she had been anticipating to show up. Almost feeling the anger burning in her eyes and vice versa, Augury smirked as he stared at the princess.

“And neither will I.” Augury whispered. He turned his head to the changelings awaiting to attack and raised his voice. “Prepare to head in. We’re not going to have cover, so do your best on trying not to die. Our numbers are greater than theirs, this should be a trot in the park. On my mark, rush in as far as you can. The objective is the same as before.”

Slowly, Augury looked back at the royal city. Aside from the buzzing of the changeling army’s wings, silence took over any other sound that would normally inhabit Canterlot. Each side staring at each other with nervousness pounding in their chests, the battle was imminent.

“Go.” Augury ordered.

The wind that kicked the snowy mountain top was quickly overrun with the rush of air that the changelings created, each and every one of them dashing forward as fast as they could. Augury stood still as the changelings maneuvered themselves around each other, the changeling general’s mane waving back and forth with every passing changeling. The captain that had accompanied Augury at the head of the pack, the two thousand and a half strong army began the raid. It didn’t take long for the military and the royal guards to act in defense, the sky over the field in front of Canterlot becoming a multicolored mess. Timed explosions of magic shots erupted in the air around the changelings as they raced toward the royal city, a few changelings being caught off guard and falling out of the sky. Slowly but surely, the ground the intruding changelings covered grew slowly as groups separated from the crowd, taking a curve around the central tunnel their allies flew in and diving toward the ground. Close quarters quickly closing in on the military ponies, royal guards, and honor guards, the battle almost instantly took a drastic turn.

Augury could almost feel the rumble of the fighting under his hooves through the cold of the snow. The explosions in the air had been minimized greatly, though they were only directed closer to the ground now. Stray shots of magic streamed through the sky above Canterlot as the military ponies were overrun one by one by the advancing changelings, the royal and honor guards doing their best to help with the fight. The large group that the changeling captain had taken were already chipping away at the force field around Canterlot, and quite surprisingly, the shield looked as if it were almost going to break already. Though the changelings had made a lot of progress, the battle between them and the ponies stayed neutral, waiting for the change in power.

A loud bang echoed through the mountains, causing Augury to jump slightly. A large crack had chipped into the force field surrounding Canterlot, the changelings slamming their bodies against the force field letting out a howl of laughter that sent chills down Augury’s spine.

“Already, huh?” Augury thought to himself. “They’re more productive than I thought. A crack that big in the shield should be enough for a few more big hits for it to break. Now would probably be the best time to head in.” Sighing, Augury stepped forward and spread his wings out. “Sorry. I’ll try to get us out before we do too much damage to the city. Besides... I only have one target in mind.”

With a large kick off of the snow and the fluttering of his wings, Augury headed toward the peak of the force field. Preoccupied with the changelings at their level, the military ponies and guards paid no attention to the changeling making his way across the sky, though they wouldn’t be able to even if they tried. The changelings at ground level let nothing get in their way as they plowed through the barriers and towers that the ponies inhabited, a few cocoons already made with ponies inside of them. Canterlot seemed to be at a losing battle with the changelings, and with the soon loss of the force field around the city, Canterlot would lose all hope.

Augury stopped in the air above the force field, staring down at the damaged and on the verge of breaking dome of magic. The changelings hovering above the protective cap on Canterlot continued to ram themselves into the surface repeatedly, increasing the size of the cracks already in the shield even further. The captain accompanying the group tearing away at the shield focused on the changeling general flying high above Canterlot. Against the light of the sun, the captain could see a slight movement of Augury’s head, a motion of warning.

The captain turned back to the changelings around him. “Get out of the way; General Augury is going to finish the shield. Once the shield breaks, rush in and take as many ponies as you can. Canterlot is ours.” The captain commanded.

Augury took a deep breath in as the changelings above the force field scuttled away from the very top of the shield, tilting their heads upwards to watch the general after they got a safe distance away. A dark blue dot slowly emerged from the shine that the sun pelted down on Equestria, strands of stray flames waving from the center of the ball of fire. As Augury leaned forward and began to dive towards the force field, the ball of fire collected at the tip of his horn was slowly pushed into that shape of a cone, the sides of the drill of fire spinning rapidly. Shield already weakened to the point where a small tap would break it, the force field covering Canterlot shattered violently as the fiery drill descending on it made contact. The changelings standing atop the gradually breaking shield quickly maneuvered their wings in the air as they let gravity take them over, each of them forming a cone of their own magic similar to the approach Augury had taken.

The royal guards racing through the streets of Canterlot stopped in their tracks as their eyes focused on the hoard of changelings falling from above, their mouths partially opening in awe. A tremendous eruption of dark blue flames bursted from the collision of Augury and the streets of Canterlot, the blast sending debris and the royal guards standing near the impact point off in various directions. Numerous other craters were formed as the other changelings rammed into the city’s roads, sending the ponies that had been trying to suppress their panic into madness. The center of Canterlot was left with a cloud of dust hanging in the air, the ponies outside of the shops lining the streets running blindly through the haze.

Using a small air burst spell to clear the area around him, Augury opened his eyes and stood up straight. The crater he had made had the radius of the intersection he landed in, though a few other craters made from the changelings behind him added to the destruction. The terror of Canterlot rung in Augury’s ears as he shook his head to get the dust out of his mane, the general already missing the silence that the city used to be in. Recovering from his assault, Augury fluttered his wings and lifted himself out of the deep crater he stood in, coming back to street level with Canterlot. The solitude in the war zone didn’t last long for the changeling general, however, a familiar and furious face meeting Augury’s as he set his hooves down at the edge of the crater behind him.

“You should have realized that this would be the end of your petty changeling reign, ‘Augury’. You never should have thought about attacking your own home.” Shining Armor threatened as Augury came into his sight.

“Waiting for me, huh? You’re so inclined to get revenge on me that you left your royal guards to handle the changelings by themselves?” Augury retorted.

“They can hold their own.” Shining Armor quickly drew a sword from its sheath at his side, pointing it directly at the changeling general in his sight. “What matters is that you don’t get out of this city alive. You’ve taken so many lives from Equestria already, I think it’s time you returned the favor by giving yours.”

Augury furrowed his brow and slowly levitated a few chunks of debris laying on the ground into the air, casting spells on them so each individual rock flowed with dark blue flames. “You should realize now that I’m not so willing to give up. If you want my head, come and get it.”

Growling quietly, Shining Armor slowly took a step forward, but quickly stopped as a voice called out from above.

“Shining Armor. That’s enough.”

Both Augury and Shining Armor adverted their attention to the origin of the voice, Augury smiling partially as he recognized the tall figure lowering herself to the ground.

“Princess Celestia herself. Have I become that much of an issue that you need direct interference?” Augury asked as Celestia settled next to Shining Armor, her wings still fully spread.

“You have destroyed two cities and stripped them of their citizens. You have taken those dear to me and others. This needs to end.” Celestia spoke boldly. “Shining Armor, stay back. He is of no importance to you anymore.”

Shining Armor stepped forward and stared at Celestia. “But... that fiend took Twilight! And Cadence! I can’t just stand back and watch!”

“You will do as I say.”

“What about Luna!?”

Celestia sighed quietly. “As triumphant as you have been in combat before, Augury is not your target any longer. Leave him to me.”

“Princess!”

“You’ve done enough. Stand back.”

Biting his lip, Shining Armor slowly walked back to Celestia’s side, sheathing the sword he had taken out.

“Listen to the princess, Shining Armor.” Augury taunted. He shifted his eyes to the princess. “After all, she always knows best. Isn’t that right, Celestia?”

“Salvation, either you give up now or this ca carry on longer than it should. You know how this will end.” Celestia said.

“So he told you who I am? I figured it would come out after a while. Remember me? The little colt, so helpless, broken down, and pleading at your hooves? Remember him?”

Celestia squinted her eyes. “I remember, but I never thought you would have come out like this. I suppose it was for the better, seeing your true nature as one of them.”

Augury dug his hoof into the ground. “I’m not one of them, and I never will be. Do you see this form? Do you see what happened with Equestria? What happened with the mares that I took? It’s all because of you. I could have been fine as a magical expert, but you just had to get in the way and hold me out.”

“I knew where you would take magic and how you would use it. I wasn’t going to let a psychopath through into one of my schools. Those military books taught you things that no pony should know.”

“You knew, huh? That would explain why you held a poor, defenseless, young colt out of the thing he had dreamed of for so long.”

“Stealth wasn’t your area of expertise. If you wanted to be accepted, you never would have set eyes on those books. Stealing property from military grounds was where your chances of getting in were cut.”

Augury gritted his teeth and stepped forward. “I always had the means to get into the school. It was just you who saw otherwise, and because of that, changelings have risen again. Unfortunately for you, Chrysalis picked a stallion that knew how to handle himself in combat.”

The tip of her horn radiating with a bright light, Celestia slowly lifted herself a few feet off of the ground with her wings flapping. “We have yet to see that.”

A large beam of magic quickly shot out of the tip of Celestia’s horn, heading directly for the changeling standing out in front of her. Acting as fact as he could, Augury kicked off to the side to avoid the attack, just barely moving out of the way before the beam made contact with where he stood. Dirt flew from the pin point spot where the beam of magic crashed into the ground, leaving a small burnt hole in the street. Another quick beam soared through the air toward Augury, the changeling general jumping off of the ground and hovering over the area in which Celestia’s attack implanted into the dirt.

“Damn, she’s fast.” Augury thought to himself. “I’m not going to last out in the open. I’ll need some cover, if it’ll do anything.”

Augury maneuvered his way through the air above the street as Celestia continued to fire prolonged beams of magic at him, though each one just barely missed the changeling frantically flying around. Seeing an opportunity to take cover as Celestia lost track of him for a second, Augury threw his wings down and launched into a second story window in one of the buildings lining the street, the glass shattering inwards. Not too long after the cover of the building concealed him, a beam of magic shot through the broken window of the empty hotel. The collision of the beam against the ceiling of the hotel room created a small explosion of magic, tearing apart the floor of the room above the changeling taking cover. The destroyed contents of the hotel room quickly fell down into the room Augury stood in, a large part of a bed crashing down the disoriented changeling. Augury straightened out his back and threw the debris on his back off of himself, coughing profusely.

“This isn’t going to last. Give up.” Celestia called out to the changeling in the hotel.

Breathing heavily, Augury stumbled along the floor of the hotel room aimlessly. “Damn it... that didn’t feel too nice...” Augury whispered. “She is a princess, after all. Maybe I can fla-”

Before Augury could even finish his sentence, a large beam of magic interrupted his train of thought. The pain of a beam of lethal magic struck straight into Augury’s stomach as it pierced through the wall of the building, destroying the outer shell of he hotel room completely. Force greater than that of a charging buffalo, the beam of magic exploded as it made contact with the changeling caught of guard, jolting his body to the wall off behind him. Augury felt all of the air in his lungs rush out of his mouth as his back hit the wall of the hotel room. The changeling general lightly bounced off of the abrupt stop to his travel through the air, falling back to the floor of the hotel room. Decimated and torn apart, the floor of the room barely held the almost unconscious changeling laying on the carpet. Slowly, Augury slid along the edge of the slanted and exposed floor he laid on, eventually coming close enough to the edge to fall from the height of the room.

Celestia and Shining Armor kept their eyes on Augury as he fell back into the streets of Canterlot, letting out a small grunt of pain as his side planted against the street. A small drop of blood ran out of Augury’s mouth onto the ground, the changeling making no effort whatsoever to mend his wounds, though even if he tried, he wouldn’t have the strength.

Shining Armor quickly walked to the edge of the hotel and stopped by Augury, lifting his hoof up and pressing it down gently on the helpless changeling’s neck. “In your condition, I suggest that you stay on the ground. You should have known you wouldn’t win against a princess.” The white unicorn warned.

“Be careful, a direct hit from such an attack is enough to put him on the verge of losing his life. Leave him be for now.” Celestia suggested as she walked from the middle of the street to Shining Armor’s side.

“Nice one... managed to catch me off guard...” Augury managed to wheeze out as Shining Armor took his hoof off of his neck.

“You’re going to answer some questions right here and right now. Where are Twilight and Cadence!?” Shining Armor yelled.

“You would like to know that, wouldn’t you?”

“Answer me!”

“I’m assuming ‘no’ isn’t a viable answer in this.”

Shining Armor slammed his hoof down on the ground in front of Augury’s face. “Where are they!?”

Augury focused his eyes on Shining Armor’s hoof. “You know, every time someone has slammed their hoof at my head they always miss.”

As the captain of the royal guard lifted his hoof up in the air and moved it forward slightly, Celestia gently tapped him with her wing, the white unicorn stopping his hoof in the air.

“Enough. He’s not going to cooperate.” Celestia said, retracting her wing back to her side. “We’ll need to-”

A thin streak of bright green magic soaring past Celestia’s head distracted the princess from her speech. Augury weakly lifted his head to see what had happened, coughing a small bit of blood up as he turned his head. More and more bright green magic bullets soared past Celestia and Shining Armor, both of them bringing up large shields to protect them from the bullets that raced straight for them. A large group of one hundred changelings slowly advanced from the end of the street Augury had made a crater in, each and every one of them firing relentlessly at the princess and the stallion at her side. Realizing they were outnumbered even for Celestia’s power, Shining Armor and the princess slowly backed down the street as the changelings walked forward at the same pace.

A changeling separated from the pack as they got close to the middle of the street where Augury rested, the captain taking off his damaged helmet and setting it by Augury’s side. “General Augury, we have to leave.” The captain spoke.

Augury stared at the large gash across the captain’s closed left eye and the numerous slash marks on his legs. “What happened? Why... why are we are leaving?” The general asked confusedly.

The captain’s voice seemed a little too calm given the situation. “Reinforcements. They were hiding in the buildings and surprised us. There were to many of them, they overran our offensive groups and slaughtered them. We lost the majority of the army, we have to go.”

Adrenaline pupping into his veins, Augury managed to lift himself to his hooves with the help of the captain. “Where are the rest of the changelings?”

“This is all that’s left. We came to find you. Come on, general.”

Nodding only slightly as Augury did the same, the captain called back to the changelings continuing to fire at Celestia and Shining Armor. Barely hearing the call to retreat by the captain over the sound of the magic bullets they fired, the changelings quickly began to fly up into the air above Canterlot as soon as they seized their fire. As the changelings raised higher into the sky, their cover within the city streets disappeared completely, and with all of Canterlot’s eyes on them, escape appeared hopeless. Magic bullets flying past them and some of the bullets striking them, the changelings flew across the sky as fast as they could, trying their best to return fire. One after the other, changelings fell from the group from exhaustion or defeat, the group of changelings thinning slowly. Eventually, however, the changelings grew out of range of the attacking ponies below in Canterlot, the magic bullets that had been firing at them halting all together.

Augury looked back at the city as he and the small group of changelings with him passed over one of the mountain peaks near Canterlot’s outskirts. Though visible damage was inflicted on the city, the changelings had barely captured any of the ponies successfully, some of the royal guards already breaking open the cocoons that their fellow guards were trapped in. Canterlot had proved triumphant.

“General, we can’t stay here any longer.” The captain spoke as he floated over to Augury’s side. “They’ll kill the rest of us without hesitation. Let’s go.”

Panting, Augury only shook his head as he turned away from the royal city. Approximately two and a half thousand changelings during the beginning of the assault, only forty remaining alive and out of Canterlot. Defeated and exhausted, Augury could only accept his loss, but the question that stuck in his mind was far more daunting than dealing with the outcome of the mission.

Could Chrysalis cope the failure as well as Augury could? Next Chapter: [22] Agonizing Departure Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 45 Minutes