Chapter Twenty Four: Bitter Return

The flow of the small river that floated down the steady decline of the plain dripped and bubbled gently with no rush. The water, crisp and clean, offered a clear view of the blue early morning sky above the land of Equestria, reflecting the rising sun’s rays with utmost elegancy and tranquility. Peaceful and serene as the river was, Augury couldn’t help notice how miserable he looked in his own reflection. The dark blue circles that made his eyes hung drearily and tired, his mind starting to wear away at itself with thinking too much. The decision to leave The Hive was that of the highest desire in Augury’s heart, and with Chrysalis’s sudden affection, leaving was the best possible choice Augury had, but at what cost? Losing the one you love? Letting go of the only other being that doesn’t treat you like a monster? Executing the pony that has been with you for so long because he couldn’t control himself?

Augury tilted his head down to the bank of the river as he felt his eyes contribute to the water flow. So many sacrifices in just a short amount of time made, and for the hope of retrieving the mare he loved most to be withered away with time and realization, the journey of Augury’s heart felt as if it were all a waste of time. The former general could only guess what Chrysalis had done with Tranquility, and guesses he figured they should remain. Her sorrowful, pain stricken dark cyan eyes when she muttered what she wanted Salvation to do, they made Augury wonder if leaving her behind was what she really hoped for.

A small shuffle of the leaves in a tree switched Augury’s attention from the soothing ripples of the river to the sudden noise, the changeling lifting and turning his head to see what Twilight was doing. Her hooves stretched upwards and her body leaned against the trunk of a tall tree, the lavender mare stared up at an apple on the lowest branch of a tree near the edge of the river, trying her best to grab onto the fruit with her hooves. Still under Augury’s containment spell, Twilight Sparkle’s use of magic remained incapacitated for the time being, Augury making sure that she wouldn’t try anything. Twilight didn’t seem to noticed the changeling staring at her, her purple eyes too focused on the bright red apple hanging from the branch she tried desperately to reach. The long walk all across Equestria built up an appetite in the petulant mare’s stomach, her hunger growling for satisfaction even as she reached up in desperation for the what seemed to be the most delicious apple ever in her eyes at the moment. Augury smiled partially as he watched Twilight struggle with her hooves constantly twisting along the apple’s surface. Her determination was almost that of Tranquility’s stubborn attitude, and the similarities of both of the mare’s coat and mane colors only drove Augury to admire the lavender unicorn.

Twilight gasped slightly as she saw the bright red apple her hunger cried out for engulf in a dark blue haze. Before she could say anything, the stem of the apple severed gently from the branch that it had been attached to, the lavender mare watching the apple levitate past her head and settle in the air. Her eyes still focused on the apple, Twilight almost didn’t notice Augury staring at her with a subtle smile on his face, his horn glowing with the same aura around the apple. For a brief moment, Augury and Twilight’s eyes locked and remained unmoved. The brief stare quickly faded as Twilight snapped her head forward and bit down on the apple floating in front of her, the lavender unicorn turning her head away from Augury as fast as she could and sitting down.

Augury chuckled to himself and looked back down at the river. “Getting a bit hungry, now are we?” Augury asked, poking one of his hooves forward and dipping it in the flowing water.

Her mouth occupied with an apple, Twilight remained silent as she chewed, keeping her line of sight away from the changeling.

“You know, a simple ‘thank you’ isn’t much to ask for.”

Twilight swallowed the bit of apple in her mouth. “Thank you for what? Taking me and my friends? Turning us into changelings?”

Augury sighed quietly. “For the apple.”

The lavender mare only grumbled slightly as she took another bite of the apple in her hooves.

“I’m getting the hint that you don’t want to talk right now.” Augury assumed as he lifted his hoof out of the water, tilting his hoof sideways to empty the water out of the shallow dents in it.

Twilight looked up from the apple she held at the trunk of the tree she sat next to. The chirp of a bird chimed in as Twilight thought to herself in silence, almost bringing a smile to her face after going for so long without the sounds she had been so used to. Breeze blowing the leaves on the apple tree beside the river, Twilight almost lost her own train of thought in the atmosphere of Equestria.

“So that’s a-?” Augury began.

“When you said you weren’t much different from me, back in The Hive, what did you mean?” Twilight asked, setting her half eaten apple on the ground and rotating her head to look at Augury.

The changeling continued to look at his hoof, only small drops of water remaining in the dents strewn throughout it. “I meant what I said. We’re more alike than you think, Twilight, even if I have the appearance of a changeling.”

“Appearance?”

Augury set his hoof back on the ground. “A while back, I made a horrible mistake. It cost me so much, and only gave me despair in return. You see, I’m not a changeling. Naturally, at least. The process that I put you through, the cocoon, the assimilation magic, the control over your friends, I went through the process as well.”

“So... you’re not a changeling?”

“Technically, yes, I am, but when you look past my outer shell, you’ll see that I’ve kept more of my pony personality rather than my changeling one.” Augury laughed quietly. “At least, I think.”

“But, why didn’t you just leave? It’s what you did in the end, isn’t it?”

Lowering his eyes, Augury felt his lip quiver slightly. “There were some things that I didn’t know when I first became a changeling. There still are, but they’re all gone. I can’t go back to change them, I’ve made my choice, but I can at least try and make up for them. That’s why I’m trying to come back to Equestria, to fight against the changelings, to stop this. This war never should have happened, and it was my own idiotic self that was too foolish to realize that some things are better left alone.”

“And you took me with why?”

“You act as if that’s a bad thing. You’re out of The Hive, you should be happy. I needed something to convince the ponies back home that I’m not an enemy, and even with you as proof, I still don’t feel as if it’s going to be enough.”

“Why’s that?”

“One life doesn’t exactly make up for a million others, now does it?”

Twilight bit her lip lightly and returned her gaze back to the apple on the ground. He was right in the matter of one life against so many more. The lavender unicorn wondered to herself if she would even make a difference back in Equestria, considering her friends remained in The Hive, unmoving without Augury’s control. The Elements of Harmony would be useless without them, but the happiness that Celestia and Shining Armor would have might just bring them to keep on fighting.

Her appetite suddenly gone, Twilight focused back on Augury. He remained staring into the water of the river, and with his fangs just about digging into his lower lip, Augury seemed to be trying to hold something back. The changelings at the attack on Canterlot during the royal wedding were so cold and bitter in their personalities, and seeing a changeling that had feelings other than hunger almost made Twilight sorry for Augury, despite what he had done. The things that had been taken away from him, the events that he had seen, they both pushed on Augury to keep his old self intact. After going through so much and just barely making through it all without losing too many parts of his mind, Augury still managed to keep a hold on what was important, though he may not have realized it just yet.

Taking a deep breath in, Twilight Sparkle slowly stood up and trotted quietly over to Augury’s side. She looked down at his reflection, the dark blue circles shifting from looking at themselves to the lighter figure standing beside them. Whether the running water distorted Twilight’s figure enough to resemble Tranquility or seeing Twilight actually come near him, Augury couldn’t tell which one of the two made him smile, but he knew that he had at least gotten through to Twilight to make her see that he wasn’t her enemy.

“You’re not going to finish your apple?” Augury asked.

“I’m not so hungry anymore,” Twilight replied. She looked further up the river, leaning her head to see around the apple tree she had been sitting by. “Besides, we’re close to Canterlot. I guess I can wait until then.”

“Well then, let’s get going, shall we?”

Rested and ready to return home, Augury and Twilight Sparkle begun the walk back to Canterlot once more. The river that flowed through the plain the changeling and pony walked along curved around a large mountain in the distance, the familiar mountain ranges causing Augury and Twilight to pick up their pace slightly. Canterlot awaited them both. The only thing that worried Augury was what the reception of a changeling would be.

______________________________________________________________________

Sunlight projected the stained glass paintings in the hall attached to Canterlot Tower onto the floor, displaying their elegance even further with the crystalline patterns of the glass. Six mares stood upon a circle of green in one particular painting, six separate beams of magic streaming from each of the mares towards a peculiar creature centered near the top of the painting. The creature, shocked, only stood in fright, his fate sealed in stone. About five years had passed since Discord’s entrapment, the works of art in the hall of Canterlot Tower keeping the memories tight and making sure they would last forever. Everlasting, however, they lately were questioned to be so, and with changelings letting loose destruction throughout Equestria, the conditions of the present threatened such relics with the downfall of Equestria itself.

Two ponies stood in the painting’s colorful splendor, one princess and one captain, but both heavy with heartache. Standing side by side, Princess Celestia and Shining Armor stared up at the pieced together artwork, their eyes slightly dampened. With the troubles of repairing the homes of ponies across Equestria, stress found its way into the princess of the sun’s heart, eating away at her mind with so much to take care of, so much to tend to. His sister and wife taken away from him, Shining Armor felt as if he had nothing to fight for anymore, and the royal guards that he commanded were not much different from their captain. The Equestrian military, though powerful, had taken heavy losses throughout the battles in the cities and towns the changelings attacked so far, and the looming thought of another raid wore away at the military, pushing the ponies that protected Equestria itself to start to question whether they were ready for what was ahead of them. All of Equestria trembled in paranoia, shaking in their homes while they waited for what would happened next.

“Do you think things will ever go back to the way they used to be?” Shining Armor asked quietly, focusing his eyes on the lavender unicorn on the stained glass painting.

Princess Celestia lowered her eyes to the bottom of the colorful glass. “It’s hard to be sure of the outcome of this war.” Celestia said. “The changelings have already attacked Equestria three times, and two of the attacks were successful. Canterlot may not have come to the fall that Ponyville and Cloudsdale had, but there were losses that have yet to be fixed. While we may have found the changeling home, their numbers are greater than ours, and I’m not certain that we may be able to stand up against them.”

“We defeated them before, haven’t we? Surely... surely we can do it again.”

“Yes, we have, but they didn’t have the organization that they have now. Their attacks have been planned out, they know what happens in Equestria.” Celestia tilted her head toward the floor. “Augury, he isn’t like them. He leads them with the knowledge of Equestria. As long as whatever is restraining him from coming back to Equestria persists, the changelings will have an advantage.”

Shining Armor clenched his teeth at the sound of Augury’s name. “It’s not only him, princess. There is another.”

“Who?”

“Thunder Rend, the captain of the honor guards. The royal guards that came back from the attack on the changeling home reported that they saw a changeling similar to Thunder Rend, and the electrical magic that she was using was the exact type that Thunder Rend used to use. The changelings... they were following her orders. She’s with them now.”

Shaking her head, Celestia slowly turned away from the stained glass painting and walked into the middle of the hall. “Then it would appear that the changelings are stronger than before. Thunder Rend was no ordinary commander, and her ways were not that of mercy. If the changelings were able to take her, I’m not sure of what more they are capable of.”

Shining Armor sighed and faced Celestia, who had her head sunken close to the floor. “Princess... what’s going to happen to Equestria?”

Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, sniffling slightly afterwards. “I don’t know.”

The slam of the pair of large doors at the other end of the hall echoed as two royal guards rushed through the doorway, Shining Armor and Celestia quickly standing up straight and looking at the two guards.

“Princess, captain, there is something that needs your attention!” One of the royal guards said as the two slowed to a stop in front of Shining Armor and Celestia, both of the royal guards panting slightly.

The captain and princess exchanged a quick glance before focusing on the two guards. “What is it?” Celestia asked.

“It would seem that Twilight Sparkle has arrived at the Canterlot draw bridge. She passed through the identification barrier and the force field, we think it’s actually her.”

Shining Armor’s eyes quickly lit up and a smile formed on his face, the white unicorn leaning forward slightly. “My sister? Twilight? Where is she?” Shining Armor asked frantically.

“She’s waiting at the closest military tower outside.” The royal guard rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s just one other thing that you need to know, as well.”

“What? Is something wrong?” Celestia asked, her voice worried.

“Well... she was lead here by a changeling, and not just any changeling. Augury is with her. He says he wants to speak with you... princess.”

A sudden feeling of suspicion rising in her, Celestia squinted slightly and looked passed the two guards in front of her. “Augury, is he restrained?”

“Yes, ma’am. He didn’t put up much of a fight, either. He and Twilight just walked right on up to the drawbridge and stood there until we came out to restrain them.”

Celestia focused on Shining Armor in the corner of her eyes, the white unicorn staring at her with an anxious, yet concerned expression. “Valor, Platinum, have Twilight Sparkle and Augury brought to me. To be safe, put stasis rings on both of their horns.” The princess quickly turned her head towards Shining Armor and furrowed her brow as the captain’s mouth opened. “Just to be safe.”

Shining Armor gradually let his lips come back together, his ears falling flat on his head as he looked back at the two royal guards.

“We’ll have them here right away, princess.” Platinum affirmed and quickly whipped himself and the pegasus royal guard along with him around, heading back out of the hall and into Canterlot.

“Princess, do you think its a good idea to let him in here?” Shining Armor asked, staring out at the open doors of the hall.

“It’s a risk... but Platinum said Augury didn’t put up much of a fight against the guards,” Celestia noted. “If he’s not here to fight, he’s here for something else. He’s not a fool, though he may make decisions as if he were. Augury is here for a reason, and with his actions of bringing back Twilight, he may be up to something. I only hope he leaves our past issues out of the matter.”

“Are you sure? He’s not exactly the... safest thing to bring into Canterlot right now.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Princess Celestia and Shining Armor set their eyes on the open doors of the hall as a group of six honor guards walked through the doorway, followed by the two royal guards that had arrived earlier. Behind the two royal guards trotted Augury and Twilight Sparkle, both of them held with stasis rings placed on their horns. Before she could even think of anything to say, Twilight Sparkle formed an immense grin on her face as her eyes fell upon Shining Armor and Celestia, the lavender unicorn just about squealing with happiness. Shining Armor shared the emotion of his sister, but the cold look that Celestia gave her supposed student quickly eased the captain’s excitement into a dull jitter.

“Not taking any chances, huh?” Augury asked as he and the ponies around him came close to the princess and captain, the changeling promptly receiving a jab at his side with the dull end of a spear from one of the honor guards next to him.

“You have some explaining to do.” Princess Celestia asserted.

“Princess! Brother! Oh, it’s so great to see you!” Twilight Sparkle bursted out, not able to hold back her eagerness any longer.

The lavender mare hurriedly started running toward the princess and her brother, but was abruptly stopped as two honor guards crossed their spears in front of her, Twilight sliding to a halt just behind the two spears. Shining Armor reached out his hoof slightly, clenching his teeth at the sound of the spears coming together. Twilight Sparkle gave the two guards a confusing look before setting her eyes on Celestia, the princess partially glaring at her with a small frown.

“Princess...?” Twilight whispered.

“Twilight Sparkle... if that is you, I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s that I don’t trust him.” Celestia said, shifting her eyes toward the changeling giving her a blank stare.

“But... princess, it’s me! I’m not a changeling!” Twilight pleaded, trying her best to get around the spears blocking her way.

Celestia felt a slight pressure on herself as Shining Armor stared at her as well, the princess bit her lip just barely. “Twilight... I need to ask something of you.” Celestia requested.

“What? Please, anything, princess. Please.”

The princess opened her mouth partially, but quickly closed it as she felt a sudden pressure on her chest. The lavender mare on the other side of the crossed spears stared at Celestia with hurt eyes, Twilight’s lip starting to quiver.

Bringing herself to at least put a smirk on her face, Celestia shook her head. “Don’t ever leave again.”

A grin across her face, Twilight Sparkle pushed through the two spears in front of her and rushed towards her brother and the princess, running straight into Celestia and hugging her. Celestia laughed quietly and brushed Twilight’s mane with her wing, looking down at the lavender mare tightly attached to her. Twilight let go of Celestia and quickly switched her focus to her brother, the white unicorn happily wrapping a hoof around Twilight as she hugged him as well. The happiness on Shining Armor and Celestia’s face almost put a smile on the honor guards and royal guards around Augury, though the thought of the changeling in the same room as them quickly put them back into their focused states.

“A reunion that I could only wish for. Make it last.” Augury spoke aloud, watching Twilight as she let go of her brother.

Celestia and Shining Armor’s smiles snapped away at the sound of Augury’s voice, both of them quickly shifting their eyes to the changeling staring at them.

“That’ll be kind of hard with you around.” Shining Armor said.

“Oh should I just leave and wander around Canterlot then?”

“I suggest you-”

Celestia nudged Shining Armor on his side with her wing. “Enough. I don’t think the changeling that is wanted disposed of by all of Equestria came here to argue. You told my guards that you wanted to speak with me. It had better be worth while, Salvation.”

Augury chuckled quietly. “Even as the changeling that has done so much to Equestria, you still address me as a citizen of Equestria.”

“I address you as a pony, not a changeling. Despite your actions, your homeland is here. Whatever has made you defy your home, I hope it’s over. What is it you want to discuss with me?”

The changeling cleared his throat. “I want to help you.”

“Help?” Shining Armor asked. “You’ve taken my sister, my wife, the princess’s sister, and you want to help? What could you possibly give to us?”

Augury tilted his head to the captain of the royal guard. “I’m a changeling, remember? I have the knowledge of The Hive, of Queen Chrysalis, and of the ponies that I had taken from Equestria. That was what the attack on The Hive was for, wasn’t it? To retrieve the Elements back?”

Shining Armor growled quietly. “That’s nothing of your concern.”

“Concerned to me or not, The Elements of Harmony are Equestria’s greatest weapons. The point of taking your sister and her friends was to disable the weapons, make them unusable. It worked, obviously. The war is tilting towards the changelings during this time. You’re going to need all you can get to overcome their numbers.”

“We’ve defeated them before, we can do it again. Equestria doesn’t need a traitor like you on its side.”

“No, Shining Armor. We... do.” Celestia interrupted.

The captain of the honor guard turned his head to the princess of the sun, Celestia giving him a slightly stern look. “What!? Princess, you can’t do this! How do we know he’s telling the truth? For all we know, he could be making all of this up!”

“He’s not, brother.” Twilight said. “What would be the point of bringing me back if he wasn’t trying to help Equestria?”

“But- but he’s not-!”

“Shining Armor.” Celestia asserted, quickly halting the captain’s speech. “Equestria is in dire need of assistance. We have lost thousands of our own ponies, many of them taken by the changelings. Queen Chrysalis cannot rise again, and we’ll have to take every advantage that we can to make sure of that. A risk it might be letting a changeling into Equestria, Salvation knows more about what goes on in the changeling’s home than anypony.” The princess centered her eyes on Augury. “I only want to know why you’re doing this.”

Augury sunk his head down slightly. “Passed having to kill my best friend, my marefriend being taken, and my growing want to see Chrysalis’s head roll... I just want this all to end. Suffering, destruction, losses, all of it. I want things to be the way they were before any of this. I... I just want to go home.”

“You are home.” Twilight Sparkle said, giving Augury a reassuring smile. She turned her head to Celestia. “And now that we have the knowledge of a changeling, we can end this. Right, princess?”

Celestia continued to stare at Augury, the changeling just barely hanging onto a tear gathering in his eye. “I hope so, Twilight.” Celestia said.

______________________________________________________________________

Augury opened his eyes as a gust of wind rushed through his mane. His chin resting on the raised ledge of the overlook of Equestria, the changeling stared out at the large valley in view from the city of Canterlot. Grass and trees replaced with the sight of a wasteland and the structures within it, the lone changeling admired his home once again knowing that he was away from The Hive. The sound of the wind rather than the constant chattering and fluttering of changelings and wings lulled Augury slowly, bringing him into exhaustion after he realized he had not slept in quite a while. With the complications of coming into Equestria and escaping The Hive, Augury knew he didn’t have time to relax, and the impending battles he would have to partake in wouldn’t give him any more rest. For now, the city of Canterlot was a haven for the former changeling general, despite the constant feeling that he was being watched every second of the day.

Subtly, Augury shifted his eyes to the side, focusing on two pegasus royal guards looking out at the valley further down the ledge Augury stood at. Though they constantly bantered with each other rather than keeping an eye on the changeling they were told to look after, Augury felt as if he were being treated like he was going to set all of Equestria on fire. The concerned looks of the ponies of Canterlot that walked by Augury, the persistent work of the guards to make sure he wasn’t up to anything, and the slight mistrust of Celestia herself, all of it pushed the changeling to feel alone. Though the announcement to Canterlot earlier in the day informed the ponies within the city that Augury wasn’t here to cause terror, the attitudes of the inhabitants of the royal city stayed static towards Augury. The changeling couldn’t even get close to one of the ponies without being ran away from, and the fear of changelings wouldn’t be washing away any time soon.

Hoofsteps drawing close, Augury lifted his head up and turned his head to the pony walking towards him. A lavender unicorn slowly made her way to the ledge in front of Augury, her face lighting up from the dark of night in the light flickering from a torch on the ledge. She nodded at Augury as she stopped at his side, the changeling only giving her a blank stare. Twilight Sparkle and Augury kept silent for a moment, both of them setting their gaze on the river flowing through the valley outside of Canterlot.

“It’s nice being back home, isn’t it?” Twilight asked.

“If you feel as if you’re being treated like a knife in a small room around a group of paranoid hemophiliacs, sure.” Augury commented, shaking his head and resting his chin back on the ledge.

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t think Equestria was going to be completely the same, considering my being a changeling and the war between us and them. I’m just surprised I’m being let free around Canterlot under the watch of only two royal guards.”

Twilight took a glance over at the two royal guards standing further down the ledge, one of them giving the other a quite stern look. “At least she didn’t make the whole royal guard watch you.” She looked back at Augury. “You aren’t actually going to do anything... are you?”

Augury glared at Twilight from the corners of his eyes. “I would’ve done it by now if I was going to. Those two royal guards don’t know how to watch over anything. Besides, I would be out numbered if I even tried to do something. The only thing good coming out of this is not having my head smashed into the ground by the citizens. They’ve just been avoiding me after Celestia’s announcement. It’s all the same to me, I never liked the Canterlot ponies anyways.”

The lavender unicorn shoved Augury’s side lightly. “I’m from Canterlot, too.”

“I know.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and looked out at the valley. A waning moon peaked out from a dark cloud floating through the sky, though the light didn’t last long as another cloud moved quickly in the moonlight’s way. The stars over Equestria seemed to shine brighter than they had before, twinkling elegantly with luster and radiance.

“Augury.” Twilight spoke, setting her eyes back on the changeling next to her.

“Hmm?” Augury replied quietly, though he kept staring out at the valley.

“What was keeping you from coming back to Equestria?”

Augury closed his eyes slowly. “Tranquility. My marefriend. The one that only ever truly understood me. She was taken by Chrysalis and used as a threat against me to help Chrysalis start the changeling army back up.”

“And you followed Chrysalis’s orders?”

“Of course I did. I loved Tranquility, I still do, and I wanted to do anything to save her, even if it meant taking others away from their loved ones. I couldn’t stand seeing her in that cocoon... I wanted to hold her again. She was the entire reason I did what I did to Equestria. I was so desperate to get her back I didn’t realize what I was actually doing. I caused so much pain, so much suffering, and all just for one mare. I didn’t expect others to understand, so I didn’t tell them. There was no point, they were just going to become changelings themselves. Princess Cadence, as I’m sure you saw her, was the only one I told what was happening. I couldn’t keep it in any longer. I needed to at least tell someone about her. I... I turned down the only chance I had to defeat the changelings just to get Tranquility back. I should’ve listened to Cadence, I was just too much of an idiot to realize... that Tranquility isn’t worth Equestria. No matter how strong one’s love is, it’s not right to save one pony and sacrifice thousands of others in the process.”

Twilight looked at the ground and gently kicked a small stone by her hoof, frowning and her ears dropped at the sides of her head. “Where... is Tranquility now?”

Augury shook his head and pushed himself away from the ledge, giving Twilight a partially upset stare before he turned away from her. “Gone.”

The lavender unicorn followed Augury with her eyes as the changeling walked towards the inner parts of Canterlot. His head sunk low and his ears flat, Augury sulked out of the light of the torch and engulfed in the darkness of night. Twilight shifted her eyes to the ground where Augury had been walking, noticing small glints of moonlight reflect off of dots on the ground. Next Chapter: [25] Self Judgement Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 20 Minutes