//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 2 
// Story: Start Of A New Life 
// by Madox 
//------------------------------//

The Everfree Forest - The day after the attack

A lone dark creature made its way through the thick cacophony of the forest, it's eyes darting back and forth looking for possible dangers. It was not afraid of the many predators of the forest, but every interruption costs time, which it was already short on.

It finally reached its destination, a small cave hidden behind the vegetation. The creature waited a few moments to regain its breath before entering. For the first meters there seemed to be nothing of importance in this cave, only darkness, but soon enough the flickering lights of torches could be seen. 

Turning the last corner the creature entered a big cave, barely illuminated by a few torches along the walls. Near the back of the cave, hidden in near darkness, stood a simple throne made out of stone with another entrance hidden behind it. Another dark creature, much bigger than the other one, sat nearly invisible in the darkness on the throne.

"You are late..." it said in a feminine voice, her slitted green eyes narrowing.

The smaller creature flinched and cowered down. "I-I apologize, your majesty, I-"

"It doesn't matter. Report!"

Shaking slightly the smaller took a deep breath and gathered its courage. "The Ursa caused huge structural damage to several buildings, and it will take months to repair everything. The civilians managed to evacuate much faster than expected, with mostly only minor injuries caused to themselves in their panic to flee. The guard took the most damage, with many of them injured severely enough to be out for weeks, in a few cases months. No fatalities, not even that blue unicorn that lured the Ursa away from town."

"So another failure... It appears I once again underestimated these ponies. I was sure that the monsters of the Everfree could destroy that town. And that my former pawn was the one to ruin this plan is another strike against me." She rose to her hoofs and trotted up and down in front of her throne, lost in thought.

The small scout sat still and waited, but after several minutes of silence, he dared to speak up. "What are your orders, my queen?"

The queen stopped in front of her throne. She turned towards him and stepped forward into the light, showing her black body, her gossamer wings, and her dark cerulean mane. "You will go back to Ponyville, keep an eye on everything that happens and report back to me immediately once something happens you consider as useful," Queen Chrysalis said.

"Yes, my queen!" The small changeling said as he bowed down before he turned and ran out of the cave.

Chrysalis followed him leaving with her eyes before she turned around and sat back down on her throne.

"It seems just guiding some pawns or monster indirectly to do the dirty work is not enough..." she whispered to herself. "A more direct approach might be necessary for my revenge. But for now, I will wait until an opportunity shows itself."

She grinned a fang-filled smile. "I just need to wait..."