Chapter Four: Starting Points

“Wait wait wait wait wait, you want me to go back to Ponyville and foalnap other ponies so you can assimilate them too?” Augury asked, hitting Chrysalis’s hoof away from his face and backing up from her.

“No, I want you to go to Ponyville and cuddle with them. Of course I want you to take them and convert them into changelings! I can’t just start an army with one changeling! I need more forces, more assimilated changelings! Your pony magic is bonded with changeling magic, it’s almost like a natural magic amplifier! If I can get more changelings like that, I can create the most powerful army in the entire world!” Chrysalis exclaimed, throwing her front hooves into the air as she hovered above the ground, her wings fluttering.

Augury shook his head slightly. “You’re a lunatic. Ponyville will be on high alert even with the disappearance of one of its residents without warning. What makes you think that I’m going to be able to take multiple?”

“Oh, you’re not just going to be taking from Ponyville, but maybe even Canterlot as well. There are some high priority targets that I have in mind.”

“And those would be?”

“Something that shouldn’t concern you right now. What you should be concern about is readying to begin the journey back to Ponyville. I’m sure your friends will be glad to see your face again. So sad that Tranquility can’t come with.”

Augury kept silent for a second. He turned his head to look behind him, catching a glimpse of the cocoon that Tranquility slept in the corner of his eye. “And what if I say no?” Augury asked as he turned his head back to Chrysalis. To Augury’s surprise, she was already in front of him.

“If you say no?” Chrysalis asked, lifting an eyebrow as she began to walk closer to the changeling in front of her. Augury slowly backed away, trying his best to avert his eyes from the changeling queen. “If, you, say, no?” Chrysalis asked slower. Augury came to a stop at the lining of the clearing, feeling his flank brush up against the trunk of a tree. Chrysalis stopped in front of him and she knelt forward, coming face to face with Augury. The nervous changeling glanced to his left, staring at Tranquility’s cocoon for a moment.

“Well...” Augury started to say, shifting his eyes back to Chrysalis.

“If you say no, then you can say your chances of seeing Tranquility out of that cocoon as a pony, or even alive, goodbye. You will obey my orders and you will not fail my orders. You do either of these wrong...” Chrysalis smiled and she turned her head slightly to her right, giving Tranquility’s cocoon a sinister stare. “...and not only will Tranquility pay the consequences, you will get a special... ‘treatment’. Do I make myself clear?”

“I... uh-”

“Do I make myself clear!?”

“Ye- yes! I understand!”

“Good.” Chrysalis pushed off of Augury, the smaller changeling turning sideways and falling upright against the tree behind him. “Practice what you’ve learned for a little while and come see me when you’re ready. If I don’t hear from you in three hours, I’ll come find you. That’s not a threat, by the way, so don’t get all sissy on me. Until then, have fun.” Chrysalis said. With a small blink of magic, the changeling queen disappeared from the clearing. Augury let out a small sigh, closing his eyes and sitting down in front of the tree behind him.

“Might as well get some practice. No hurt in not.” Augury said quietly as he laid on his side. The changeling opened his eyes and shifted them to look at his side, the insect like wings resting on him laying limply. “I should probably get some practice flying as well. These still feel a little... weird.” Augury thought as he stood up on his hooves. Augury turned to his left slightly, just barely catching the cocoon hanging from the tree a few feet away from him in his gaze. Tranquility’s light breathing barely made its way out of the cocoon’s hard surface, Augury closing his watering eyes gently.

“I promise that you’re going to get out of there. I promise.” Augury said quietly.

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Chrysalis made her way through the narrow pathways between the numerous trees of the forest. The sun strung down in columns through the small gaps in the canopy above, the golden columns moving vividly as a serene breeze blew over the outskirts of Equestria. The sound of the stream flowing into the lake in the middle of the forest slowly drifted away as Chrysalis walked away from the edge of the lake Salvation and Tranquility had landed by. Through the thick forest, Chrysalis could slowly begin to see the clearing she had left Augury in. Strange noises slowly edged their way into earshot as Chrysalis progressed towards the clearing. The sound of magic sparking and flying through the air echoed through the forest, followed by a small explosion and a the bark of a tree flying into the distance.

“What is he doing? I may have told him to practice, but I didn’t say anything about destroying the forest.” Chrysalis said to herself, keeping her eyes at the ground. One after another, the sound of more and more trees splintering into pieces shattered the silence of the forest. Chrysalis stepped onto the edge of the clearing, staying in the shadows as she looked up from the ground. Her eyes opened wider at the sight of what Augury had been doing, words escaping her mouth for a brief moment.

Multiple of the trees at the edge of the forest had been shattered into pieces, their remains scattered throughout the lining of the clearing. Some had been reduced to a small stump, the top of the broken tree trunks burnt. Other trees had all of their bark stripped away, and upon further inspection, the interior of the stripped trees had ‘Chrysalis’ carved into them. A small section of trees stood untouched at the other side of the clearing from Chrysalis, but soon enough would meet the same fate as the others. Each of the still standing trees had ‘Chrysalis’ carved deeply into them, a seemingly infuriated Augury standing in the middle of the clearing. His eyes seemed to radiate with a hatred Chrysalis had never seen before, a fiery dark blue aura surrounding Augury’s eyes. With a quick swing of his head upwards and a spark of dark blue fire, a spell erupted from Augury’s horn. The tree standing at the edge of the clearing Augury stared at was quickly surrounded in a dark blue fire, the sight of it bringing a smile to Augury’s face. The fires receded after a few seconds of being submerged in the destructive spell, revealing a burnt and twisted tree beaten beyond recovery. Branches snapped, bark peeled off, and leaves vanished, the spell had done its job. Augury tilted his head back down horizontally to the ground, what seemed like excited breathing coming from his mouth escaping through his closed teeth.

Chrysalis cleared her throat loudly. “Getting some extra practice, are we?” Chrysalis called out as she slowly stepped out into the clearing. The small smile on Augury’s face disappeared and the fiery aura around his eyes faded, the changeling coming back to his normal state as the queen of the changelings came into his view.

Augury laughed subtly. “I was just getting started. Did you know there was a spell that can make ponies see things? I can be useful sometimes. Watching all of those Chrysalises burn into a crisp was nice. It’s a little disappointing, though. It was more fun when they weren’t trees.” Augury spoke calmly, wiping the ashes clinging onto his coat away.

“You seem to be a little more experienced in magical combat than I have suspected. I doubt they would have taught that in the Canterlot schools. Where did you learn such a... disturbing spell?”

“Fundamental combat books printed by the Equestrian Military. They generally weren’t allowed to have been read by students my age, more or less be kept in the public libraries, but I have my ways.”

“So you stole them?”

“Not necessarily. I left the book rental fee on the counter when I returned them unsupervised. They were quite useful for the time I had them. Granted, I didn’t use the more...” Augury looked back at the trees lining the edge of the clearing. “...violent spells on the ponies that irked me, but the nonlethal ones seemed to come in handy if I ran into trouble.”

“You’re a little more darker than I had expected.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t go using the spells I had learned just for ‘fun’. I read the books for protection, a sort of comfort knowing that I had something that would give me an edge in a fight or something.”

“Did they have anything about tactics?”

“A few parts mentioned some tactics, yes.”

“Then they weren’t such a waste after all.”

“Hmm?”

“What? Did you expect to just go in magic blazing and ruthless? You’re going to need to use wits to carry out these missions, not just brute force.”

“I never said I was going to. I was just letting off some steam. Besides, with your performance in Canterlot, what would you know about wits?”

“I had everyone fooled that I was actually the bride, didn’t I? Everything was going perfect... if it weren’t for that little lavender unicorn.”

“Letting some unicorn get the best of you? She was one of the wielders of The Elements of Harmony, I believe. Twilight Sparkle, I’ve seen her around Ponyville before.”

“Yes, as have I. She will be one of the last.”

“The last of what?”

“The first group of your assimilation targets. If I’m going to have any success in this changeling civilization, I’m going to need some of the more powerful ponies. The six mares that possess The Elements of Harmony would prove a great loss to Equestria and a huge gain for my army. Yes... they’ll be that start of it.”

“You can’t be serious. I’m not going to be able to take six mares from Equestria without any sort of security taking notice. Within a few captures I could have the entire Canterlot Royal and Honor Guard on my flank. How do you expect me to do this?”

“You’re a changeling, remember? Deceive them. Make them think that you’re one of them, and when they don’t expect it, take them. Or just take them when they don’t expect it, your call. You have gotten practice with changing forms, haven’t you? You weren’t just destroying trees the whole time?”

“I’ve changed forms enough.”

“Prove it. Surprise me.”

Augury sighed and rolled his eyes. A small wave of fire emerged from the ground and engulfed Augury, disappearing into a small cloud of smoke above his head a second later. Augury stood still, staring at Chrysalis with light pink eyes. His mane flowed around elegantly, blue, green, and pink waving through the air slowly. A decorative necklace attached itself tightly against his neck and a crown rested on top of his head, both of them golden with a purple gem fitted into them. A simple sun, yet ornate sun stood out upon his flank, the pink-tinted white coat beyond it seeming to glimmer in the sun light. His horn stood tall from his head and a wing sprouted out from each of Augury’s sides, feathered and light.

Chrysalis smiled at the tall and thin alicorn form standing in front of him. “Good work. In all honesty, that disguise could possibly allow you to get away with all of the captures, but some suspicion would probably arise. Anyways, with that amount of detail, I think you’re ready to get the details of your missions.”

Augury let out a sigh of relief and changed back to his changeling form. “As much I like the feel of being the ruler of Equestria, Celestia’s form is a little slender for me.”

“Get used to being in your non-changeling form. You’ll be seen as an enemy the instant you’re identified as a changeling. Now, as before, your first targets will be the six mares of the elements. I have just two specifications for you with these six. One, do not take more than one at a time. Security will get too tight and you’ll end up getting noticed the moment you come into eyesight. One at a time. Two, whatever you do, do not go after Twilight Sparkle until you have captured the other five.”

“Why not?”

“If you haven’t noticed, she is Celestia’s star student. If anything happens to her, it’s almost a guarantee that Celestia herself will have some intervention, which may cause it to be harder to capture the other mares.”

“Seems fair enough. What should I do with the... targets once I have them?”

“Take them out of where they are without being seen. Also, do not present yourself as a changeling. However, if there is some bizarre reason that you do, make sure that you take them, no matter the consequences. I can’t have anypony knowing that changelings are still around.”

“Alright. I do want to ask you something, though.”

“What is it?”

“How do you know about Twilight being Celestia’s star pupil? Only a handful of the ponies in Ponyville know about that.”

“Are you that dense? I’m not just going to send somepony in to capture some targets without knowing what goes on. I did some research in Canterlot and its surrounding cities and towns as a ‘citizen’ before the attack on Canterlot. I know enough to be sure that this will work out perfectly.”

“You sure about that? It didn’t seem to work out very well during the wedd-”

Chrysalis quickly dashed to Augury and kicked his legs out from under him, stepping on his neck as he landed on the ground on his side. “You crack one more joke about the Canterlot incident and I will make sure that Tranquility suffers more than you will. Got it?”

“Yes...” Augury managed to force out. Chrysalis lifted her hoof off of Augury and turned away from him, slowly walking away.

Augury stood up and rubbed his throat. “What’s with you and my neck?”

“It shuts you up for a good while. You have three days to complete your first mission, which starts about... now. If I don’t hear from you in three days, Tranquility is as good as gone. Good luck.” Chrysalis disappeared into the forest with a teleportation spell. Augury gave the area where Chrysalis stood an angry look, putting his hoof back on the ground.

“Three days to take a mare. It would take... what, ten hours to get to Ponyville from here? Flying, of course. Maybe once I get the route down I can use teleportation.” Augury said quietly to himself, staring off in the direction of Ponyville. Over the canopy, the tips of the mountains in the distance barely showed themselves, the snow caps shining in the sunlight. Augury sighed and he turned his head to his left. The tree that Tranquility hung from still retained its natural look, a few trees around it still left untouched by Augury.

“I’ll do this as quick as I can. I’ll make sure to tell the ponies in Ponyville you said hi, alright Quil?” Augury said quietly. Silence. Augury looked down at his hooves. “...Right. I’ll be back, okay?” Silence. The changeling sighed and he slowly lifted off of the ground, his wings fluttering by his sides. With one last glimpse of the forest, Augury began the journey back to Ponyville.

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Darkness slowly receded as light pushed its way gently into the black sky, returning warmth and comfort to Equestria for another day. Clouds slowly cleared their way out of the large abyss resting above the land of ponies, pegasi awaking from their slumber and beginning to clear the sky. In the large plains that rested between the mountains of Equestria, Ponyville slowly came to life. Yawning and rubbing their eyes, the ponies of Ponyville met the light of day in their homes, awaking for another joyful day in the peaceful town they resided in. Unbeknownst to them, however, a threat roamed within Equestria, his eyes set on the very town they rested in.

Augury panted slowly as he came to the near tip of one of the lower mountains on the outskirts of Ponyville, his wings aching and throbbing. The changeling let out a sigh of exhaustion and flopped onto his side, shifting his eyes from the ground up to the sky. The light of day radiated throughout the sky, the sun only just rising above the mountains past the town of ponies in the distance. Ponyville was not far away from Augury, the town just a mile or three away from the base of the mountain he laid on top of. Ponies already walked out of their houses, greeting each other and having small conversations as their foals ran outside to meet their friends.

Augury shifted his eyes back to the small flattened portion of the mountain he laid on, brushing his hooves against the soft and green grass. “Tomorrow already?” Augury thought to himself. “That took a little longer than expected. I’m going to want to find these mares fast.” Augury closed his eyes and let his hooves fall limp onto the grass, listening to the gentle wind blowing across the mountains.

“So close to home... yet so far away.”

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Augury stared at the town out in front of him intently, making sure that nopony had their eyes focused towards him. The edge of Everfree provided enough cover for Augury not to be seen from Ponyville, the thick canopy next to the trail leading further into Everfree blocking almost any direct sunlight from reaching him. The ponies at the edge of Ponyville continued to play with a small yellow frisbee, tossing it back to each other in a triangle with a quick swing of their head. Augury grunted frustratedly, one of the ponies keeping their gaze at their friend, making it impossible for Augury to make any large movements without being spotted. Impatience growing, Augury began to move subtly, using the shadows to cover his movements as he slowly made his way further back into Everfree. The three fillies went out of sight as Augury backed further into the darkness of Everfree, the changeling letting out a small sigh of relief.

“Damn it.” Augury spoke quietly to himself, taking any precautions to not give himself away. “It doesn’t look like they’re going to be moving any time soon. Looks like I’ll just have to change here. Let’s just hope they don’t get suspicious of my coming out of Everfree. Well, here goes nothing.” Dar blue fires flashed around Augury and receded, revealing a completely different pony than the one that stood there only a second earlier. A pale pink mare occupied the patch of grass Augury used to be, her violet eyes opening slowly to see if she had done the right transformation. Her stature stood thin, measuring about the average mare’s height. A horn jutted out from her forehead, the mare shifting her eyes to her horn and poking it gently a few times. Her sides stayed clear of any appendages, Augury making sure that no suspicion arises, as it would be quite peculiar if another alicorn suddenly appeared in Equestria. The tips of her pitch black mane and tail hung far from their origin, the mare lifting her tail up in the air slightly to prevent it from dragging. She adjusted her mane gently, leaning up against a tree as she tied it into a ponytail and let it drop against her back. On her flank rested three red crosses, each one bigger than the other, Augury finding it easier to explain his cutie mark if he kept it close to his. The mare cleared her throat, a gentle, more feminine tone coming from the impostor mare’s mouth.

“There. This should be a fairly good disguise. I’ll name her... uh...” Augury trailed off of his sentence, drawing a blank in his mind. He lifted a hoof up to his head, a disgruntled expression slowly forming on Augury’s face. “...I’ll just come up with one on my way. It’s not like the ponies are going to notice me too much.” Augury took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, still getting used to his new form and voice.

“Here goes nothing.” Augury said quietly and he began to walk towards the edge of Everfree. Ponyville revealed itself bit by bit as Augury passed the trees on the outline of the Everfree Forest, trying to act as natural possible as he walked into the daylight. The three fillies playing in the small field between Everfree and Ponyville halted where they were, turning their heads to look at Augury as if he were some sort of monster. Augury felt the three fillies’ eyes pierce directly through him like needles through water, an intense feeling of paranoia taking over him. Beginning to sweat slightly, Augury gave the three fillies a friendly smile. As if they had saw Queen Chrysalis herself, the fillies dashed off into Ponyville as fast as they could, the smile on Augury’s face wiping away as quick as the fillies ran.

“That can’t be good...” Augury said quietly, swallowing a small lump in his throat. Despite the sudden wave of feeling like he was being watched from every corner of Ponyville, Augury continued on into the town of ponies. The friendly atmosphere gave Augury a nice break from the hostile environment of the forest with Chrysalis, the hidden changeling feeling an actual smile come across his mouth. Ponies waved to him, some even nice enough to have a small conversation, but spending time in his home wasn’t what Augury had come to Ponyville for. He had a mission to take care of, no matter how much he didn’t want to.

“Alright... six mares. I’ve seen them around Ponyville before, I just need to find them. Now, where would they be?” Augury thought to himself as he strolled through Ponyville, scanning the town from side to side. Without a moment too soon, Augury found his answer. Not paying attention to what laid in front of him on the street, the changeling bumped into another pony. The two ponies stumbled from the small collision, a rather elegant accent gasping as she regained her composure. The white unicorn turned around with a slightly angry look upon her face, Augury moving his mane out of his face to see who he had ran into.

The unicorn, her eyes shut, gently swung her mane out of her face with a small motion of her head. “Do pay attention to where you are walking, would you? I would rather not have this new hat washed ag-” The unicorn cut her sentence off as she opened her eyes, Augury staring at her with a confused, yet surprised look.

“Well that didn’t take long...” Augury thought to himself. The unicorn continued to stare at Augury, the changeling beginning to think that he had come out of his new form.

Augury cleared his throat. “Hello.” Augury said quietly, waving meekly at the white unicorn standing in front of him.

The unicorn finally spoke up. “Uh, hello. I haven’t seen you around Ponyville before. Are you new here? Oh! Where are my manners? I am Rarity. What would your name be?”

“My name is...” Once more, Augury’s mind wiped clean. The changeling stood still for a second, staring at Rarity with partially wide eyes.

“Are... are you alright? Is something the matter?”

“Yes! I mean- my name is... Serenity. My name is Serenity.” The pale pink mare spoke, a small feeling of relief coming over her.

“Oh! Well, Serenity, are you new to Ponyville?”

“Yes. I just got here not too-”

Rarity suddenly blurted out, Serenity almost jumping out of her coat. “Oh my goodness!”

“What, what!? What’s wrong?”

“You simply cannot walk around with that mane style! Oh, how am I...”

Serenity watched as Rarity trailed of into thought, mumbling to herself as she stared blankly into the sky above Serenity. “Is she just gonna stand there?” The changeling thought to herself.

“Ah! That’s it!” Rarity exclaimed.

“What’s it?”

“You should come with me to the beauty spa with my friend Fluttershy! It will be just marvelous, oh you cannot miss the hooficures that Aloe gives. Come along!” Rarity, without waiting for an answer from Serenity, quickly grabbed her right foreleg with magic and began to walk away, Serenity dragging behind her.

“Wait, hang on. I don’t want to- I actually like me mane the way it... ugh...” Serenity began to argue, but realized it was useless as Rarity continued to babble on about the beauty spa. “This is going to be harder than I expected.”

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“And we’ll do this. Ooh, maybe a emerald instead of a ruby. Wait, maybe...” Rarity’s rambling slowly tuned out of Serenity’s head, the changeling standing on the small pedestal in the middle of the Carousel Boutique. A glittery, elegant, pink and white dress wrapped itself onto Serenity, the changeling staring at the wall on the other side of the boutique with the look of boredom, hatred, and frustration flaring in her eyes. The time had turned to dawn already, Rarity taking Serenity throughout Ponyville and introducing her to the various ponies of Ponyville. While it may have partially familiarized the changeling with the other spirits of harmony, time began to run short on the deadline for Augury’s return with his target with one day left. Now or never.

“Ah, here we are! Emeralds, sapphires, maybe a diamond? No no no, too flashy.” Rarity continued, rustling through a small chest at the edge of the room. Serenity adverted her eyes from the wall over to Rarity, impatience beginning to find its way into Serenity’s heart. The changeling sighed and she levitated the dress off of her, setting it down gently on the first step of the pedestal.

“Uh, Rarity? Would you mind if I have a word with you?” Serenity called out, turning her head from the dress back to the white unicorn.

“What is it, dear?” Rarity called out. She lifted her head from the small chest and up to the wall in front of her, taking a quick glance at the clock resting on the wall. “That late already? I suppose I could take a break from designing, and I suppose you could take a break from modeling.” Rarity turned around to face Serenity, gasping slightly as her eyes met with Serenity’s not only three feet away.

“Listen. There’s something I need to do.” Serenity spoke. “I’m sorry, in advance. Thank you, though, for the nice time. I only wish we could to this more often.”

“Wha-?” Rarity began to say, but found a strange sensation coming over her. Serenity’s horn radiated with a dark blue aura and a small spark ignited on the tip of her horn, sending out a thin ray of dark blue magic into Rarity’s forehead. The white unicorn’s eyes rolled back into her head and she began to fall limp on the floor, Serenity just barely catching her with her head before Rarity smacked face first on the ground, unconscious. Serenity sighed and a dark blue aura took over her, receding back once again to reveal her true changeling form. Augury fluttered his wings lightly, adjusting back into his natural state.

“Again, I’m sorry. I’m not doing this because I want to. I’m doing this because I have to.” Augury said quietly as he lifted his head up, levitating Rarity onto his back and adjusting her snuggly. The changeling stood up straight and walked over to the window of the boutique. No ponies roamed the streets of Ponyville anymore, the sun’s light just barely visible over the towering mountains in the distance. Augury stayed quiet for a second, listening carefully for Sweetie Belle’s light breathing upstairs in her room.

“I’ll try to keep your sister safe. Don’t worry.” Augury said quietly. With a quick and silent motion, Augury lightly swung the door open and dashed out into Ponyville, lifting off of the ground with his wings flapping and heading further into the sky, carefully balancing Rarity on his back. One down, for now. Five more to go. Next Chapter: [5] Breaking The Grasp Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 15 Minutes