Augur Of Friendship Part 1: A Wrong Turn
I, Nightmare Moon, will cause the sun to never rise again; the moon will be all the ponies ever see, and I will lead these ponies into a new empire!
Nightmare Moon, I Punish you to the place you love most and where you can’t cause anymore damage…The Moon!!!
“I’m sorry, Luna.”
Luna woke up from another night of sleep, if you could call it sleep. She had been in isolation for so long, the days no longer held any value to her. All she knew she was asleep for years, but it always seemed that the poor princess had the same nightmare every time she closed her eyes.
A thousand years changes a pony, and the mare known as Nightmare Moon was no exception. Hate turned to anger, which turned to grudges, which turned to self-pity, then remorse, then genuine guilt. Luna knew now that she was wrong and all she wanted was to return home.
“Home”, she uttered in her daze.
A place where you were always safe, comfortable, and well fed, a place that she missed more than almost anything. But even more than home, she missed her elder sister, Celestia. The pony that taught her love and kindness, who never doubted her little sister even when she doubted herself, the pony that she let down in a way that was unforgivable.
She came from time to time to visit, not in the last hundred years, but she would come by. But that was back when Nightmare Moon still had a hold over Luna. Princess Celestia would come, and determine if her sister was ready to come back, and wait for an answer. Every time it was a ‘no’. But Luna still remembers her sister’s face every time she came. It was a look of disappointment and disgust, a look that conveyed to the now remorseful alicorn that she could never come back. The worst part was she didn’t even blame her older sister.
“Sister… I’m sorry… can I please come home? Luna whimpered.
If there was even the slightest chance that her sister was out there, she would scream her loudest, in her official Canterlot voice, begging for Celestia to take her home. But that was far-fetched as no amount of wishing could save her. she had to stop dreaming that something or someone would just be with her and keep her sane. Luna got up, and decided to go for a walk. It was the first one she had in at least ten years. Most of her solitude had been spent immobile.
After spending the day, or it could have been many days walking, she decided to try to find a crater comfortable enough for her to sleep in. She hadn’t taken a step when she heard a noise right behind her making Luna jumped. The moon was always quiet, so this incessantly loud roar was the first real noise she heard in nearly a thousand years.
She turned around to find something had just smashed into the moon, a new crater formed right behind her. Luna was lucky that she was just far enough not to be hit by what she assumed was a meteor. Luna did like this bit of excitement although meteors aren’t exactly rare on the moon, even if none ever hit during her banishment.
Luna was about to walk away from this new crater when she heard a strange noise come from the center of it.
“Hello? Anyone out there? Can I get a bit of help?” An odd muffled voice came from the crater. Luna walked to the voice asking for help to find a wooden chest that fell from the heavens.
Luna trotted to the box and with a bit of fear in her throat opened the chest to see transparent blue skull of some creature in the box. It reminded her of a fancy jewelry furnishing from home, although a bit grimmer.
"Ah, a fleshy, thick-headed organic! Hello!” Luna understandably freaked out.
“Wait! Don't run away...I'm surely not the weirdest thing you've seen Luna.”
“How do you know my name?” Luna creeped over to the chest.
“I'm a traveler. Of sorts, I'm what you might call an aspect, eh? Like an idea's shadow. Don't make a face! I'm telling you the truth. Not my fault your language is so crude!"
“You, and almost all life I meet call me The Augur of the Obscure. Bound to answer any question when directly asked.”
“Oh great...I've finally gone mad here all alone.” Luna rubbed her head.
“Trust me, I've seen crazy and your far from it.”
“Why are you here?”
“Well...had hoped for a longer holiday. I can only manage a leap like this once a century after all. Ah well. Was planning on enjoying myself on a crisp sandy beach but I guess my little leap landed me in your reality”
“I have a few questions first.”
"Of course you do. Everyone has questions and I have all the answers. Fair warning: be specific! I'm bound to tell the truth, but the truth can be a little slippery, you know what I mean?"
“Why are you stuck in a crystal skull?”
"I'm not in the skull. I am the skull—at least here on the Mortal Plane. Over in the Adjacent Places, a fourth dimension realty, I'm shaped like a throw-pillow. Imagine that!
You look confused. It's just a trick of the light, mate. The skull's what you might call a manifestation."
“Are you really smart?”
The Skull laughs uncontrollably for about thirty minutes….
“Are you quite done? Luna went from fearful to confused to annoyed in record speed.”
I am. I am. Phew! I had no idea you were so funny! We're going to have a really good time, you and I. Yes, in answer to your direct question, I do know a lot. And by a lot I mean basically everything."
“So last question for now….Why are you called the Augur of the Obscure?”
"Well, an Augur of the Obvious wouldn't be very useful, would it? For what it's worth, I lobbied for something way more impressive—the Resplendent Skull of Hexagonal Wonders! It was forcefully vetoed. No accounting for taste, I guess. Everything has a name. Names give a thing its shape. Birds, snowflakes, tea kettles … you get the idea.”
“I'd tell you mine, but you'd need about six more tongues and a pair of cymbals to pronounce it correctly, so let's not bother."
Luna felt this was going to be...an interesting development.
Augur Of Friendship Part 2: A Friend's Goodbye
It had been an odd but interesting banishment since Augur arrived on the moon. Luna had company that was rather lively in a almost ironic way. Augur told jokes, answered any random questions Luna had thought of, and her favorite part was Augur’s tales about heroes, villains, and worlds beyond hers.
However soon her banishment would change unexpectedly as Luna awoke from her nap, Yawning lie a foal she turned her head to Augur.
“So Augur, what are your plans today?” Luna asked.
“Oh nothing substantial...going to see you turn into your gloomy alter ego and return to Equestria.” Augur replied.
“Wait WHAT?!”
“Yep, your be free of this questionable banishment in about a hour, granted your be a demonic show horse but take what you can get.”
“I..I don't understand…”
“Didn't anyone tell you? Your be free soon and terrorizer some ponies for a night, don't worry your be fine when six heroes blast your with harmonica energy, disrupting the evil in your physical meat shell...and ‘bob's your uncle’ your back to normal.”
Luna had to really rap her head around this information.
“I know you are supposed to know everything but this is a different realm from the one you were in when we meet. How do you know this?”
"You know I can see time in all directions? I see you as you are now, as you were before you were born, and as you'll be after you're dead all at once! You're an adorable baby, mate. Less charming as a corpse."
“That's bit creepy but I should have known better then to ask for details.” Luna smiled.
“But wait, if i leave the moon won't you be stuck here? I have no faith that Nightmare Moon will take you with her.”
“Right on the money, she won't as I'm a positive influence on you, but you just have to think of me after your free of her and I'll ‘jump’ right too you.”
“Thank goodness, as you've really be quite helpful in keeping me sane.”
An hour later Luna did turned into Nightmare Moon and the stars aligned to free her from the moon. Augur could now check off ‘see darkness take over a pony body’ off his list of stuff he'd like to see in the current timeline. Sometime later in the privacy of Luna’s room in Canterlot Castle she did think of Augur for a moment and in a flash he appeared on one of her throw pillows.
“Augur? Is that you?”
“Of course it's me, wait. How long did it take you to think of me?”
“I did think of you all the time since I was free of nightmare moon...but you never showed, it's been several years.”
“Hmm….that's not good.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well...let me check something out real quick.” Augur glowed bright blue for a minute.
“Ah I see the problem...Good news I can get back to my holiday soon...bad news If you don't make a decision your reality will be doomed.”
“WHAT?!”
“Its like this…so bear with me. Apparently you reality isn't ready for me, quite literally in fact. Your realm is to young to understand the complexity of a fourth dimensional aspect. So i have to ‘jump’ into a reality that can handle me.”
“Oh my, so you'll have to leave? Forever?”
“Yes, also I have to take away all your memories of me...sorry about that but I'd rather not be the cause of your realm turning into ethereal jelly.”
“But I thought of you everyday...all the friends we could make and….”
“I know but I'm going to do what a good friend would do and save you...your decision is to let me take your memories.”
“If you know everything, don't you already know what I'm going to do?”
"Ha! I knew you were clever. In answer to your direct question, yes, I know what you'll do. But I want you to look at me when you say it. So you're also saying it to yourself, see? A moment of truth and self-reflection! How exciting!"
“I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet.”
"Ah, the hero demurs. Well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough. But enough of that. This might be our last farewell, mate! What's the custom? Lifting a vessel full of that swill you pour down your face-hole and saying something saccharine?"
“Ok...take my memories of you...but know my heart will always remember.”
“I know...funny little things, hearts...so small but so miraculous. Goodbye Luna.” In a blue flash Augur was gone into his box and ‘jumped’ into another reality. Luna blinked, not knowing who she was talking to...but as she looked out at the moon a feeling of friendship filled her heart.
