Elsewhere, changelings were living their lives. "What we must remember," gently counseled the leader of their little circle. "--is that whatever form we take, we are still ourselves. Even were I to look like one of you, I would not be you, anymore than this apple could be made a pear by coloring it green."
They made soft considering noises. Identity issues were one of the more common themes among the reformed changelings.
Thorax was in attendance, nodding lightly. "I've been a pony, and a rock, but I'm neither of those things. I'm Thorax, your leader and friend."
"Hello Thorax," one of them eagerly greeted, waving a brightly colored hoof at him.
"Brother." Pharynx landed with a frown, though that was hardly unusual. "We have a problem." He gestured with his head for Thorax to come with him and the two withdrew from the circle to speak. "We're under attack," he hissed, wings buzzing on his back.
"Attack?! What?" Thorax glanced towards the circle that was continuing without him. "What kind of attack?"
"Stuff is falling from the sky, eating everything in its path, and it's headed this way! One of the scouts... didn't make it." He leaned in closer to his royal broodmate. "This is not a drill."
"D-does it eat everything?!" blurted Thorax, eyes wide with horror. "Poor scout..."
"He died for the good of the hive," stated Pharynx, looking proud of his fellow changeling. "That's a negative. It wants what most creatures want, plants and meat. Lucky us, we're one of those."
"Are we safe here then?" Thorax pointed up at the stone ceiling above them. Their hive was not made of wood or living things.
"I couldn't say with certainty. Are you willing to risk the hive on the answer?" Pharynx pointed at Thorax directly. "You have a responsibility. Give a command, and do it quickly. It will be here soon."
"How soon?" He glanced off, but he didn't know what direction it was coming from.
"Minutes?" Pharynx shrugged softly. "It's coming in fairly quickly."
"Then it's too late to evacuate." He turned away from Pharynx, back towards the circle. "Everyone! Gather what you can get quickly and head to the brooding chambers!" He pointed the way. "Tell anycreature you see on the way to join you there. That's an order!"
"He doesn't have to be so loud," sniffled one of the changelings, but most of the others were already moving, obeying the command of their leader.
They would have to face their own early-morning attack in their own way.
Twilight paced on legs that refused to move exactly right. "Is this... everypony?" Before her were all the ponies that had made it to the castle, and the few, all too few, she could find that had hidden successfully in the town. "Not a single other pony?"
The filly from before was sniffling and trembling, the older stallion holding her with one arm. It had become crystal clear that her mother would not be found, another fatality on a list that felt so long as to baffle Twilight's ability to even comprehend it. Even the worst disasters she had faced had seen fewer ponies ended. Tirek had been terrible, but surprisingly non-lethal, especially in comparison to... this. "I will keep looking," she sighed out, sitting on her haunches. "But we need shelter first. Who actually owns that castle?" She tossed her head towards the bunker that had seen many of those left to safety.
A mare wearing glasses took a moment to adjust them. "Technically, nopony does. It's considered a historical monument."
"Correction." Twilight pointed at herself. "As a princess, the use of a historical artifact falls under my purview. Until such time as we have more permanent lodging, I do formally declare that it is to be used to house the survivors." The filly suddenly began to wail and Twilight flinched back. "Maybe su... that was a bad choice of words. The declaration stands. The castle is your home until we have better." She rubbed behind her head. "Whatever this attack was, it stood against it, and I don't imagine it will suddenly fail if called upon again."
"It's coming back?!" blurted the same studious mare. "Dear me!"
"I hope not, but I don't have enough information to speak with certainty one way or the other, and I'd rather not take chances." She turned to the castle. "Gather any food you can find and bring it there for storage as well. All supplies should go there before being distributed to ponies in need."
"What in Equestria happened here?" asked a new voice as Gabby landed next to Twilight, her wings folding. "Hey Twilight, do you... know a 'Sun Spot?'"
Twilight blinked in surprise at the sudden presence of the griffon. "Ah, that's right, we are close to the griffon lands. Gabby, good to see you. Tell me, were the griffon lands attacked?" She gestured to the destruction with a waving hoof. "Like this?"
Gabby quickly shook her head, watching the ponies start to disperse. "Not that I heard of. Hey, any of you know--"
"They're gone," reported one stallion, head low. "May as well return that letter."
"Oh..." Gabby sank to her haunches, digging out the letter that had no one to deliver it to. "That never happened before."
Twilight reached for Gabby's shoulder. "Thank you, for trying. Look, we'll need all the help we can get. Can you send a message for me?"
Gabby perked right up, tucking the letter away. "Delivering messages is one of many of my jobs," she proudly reported with a crisp salute. "How can I help?"
Twilight couldn't help but smile just a little. The griffon's zeal was infectious, and chasing away the crushing reality of the day, just a tiny bit. "I need you to go back to the Griffon Lands and gather any help you can get. Come back as soon as you can. We need all the hands we can get, and griffons have so many more hands than ponies."
"So many more," agreed Gabby with a sage nod, looking down at Twilight's handless arms. "You got it. Oh, I mean, you'd have my help just by asking nicely, but the others..."
"They will all be paid for services rendered, you included," cut in Twilight. "Which includes your message delivery and recruitment efforts." She started to walk away. "I'm going to keep looking for other survivors."
Gabby's expression fell. That was not a word she expected to hear, basically ever. "S-s... oh... Ohhh... Oh dear." She took off with a manic flapping of wings. "Oh dear... I'm on the case!" She was gone in a flash, feet moving as if to help somehow run through the air and make her wings work better, as much as that didn't work. She was off on the job.
Several hours later, Twilight lifted an injured elderly pony out of a well. The old mare could barely groan a thanks, but Twilight was smiling. It was one less pony that had died miserably. "You're going to be alright now." She hurried the nag to the castle to receive care in the hooves of the others. "Did you jump in there on purpose?"
"It was that... or..." The old mare sniffled, shivering a bit as they hurried her to a bed. "Or let those things get me... In the well... They kept raining down on the roof, but slid off, and didn't slide in. It was... It was luck, I think. Thank harmony itself! I thought I was going to die."
"Granny!" The little filly Twilight had rescued shot towards the bed like a bolt. "Granny! You're alright!"
"Not entirely," laughed the old mare, reaching to rest a hoof on the little filly's head. "But enough. We both made it. We're tougher than that."
Twilight returned to the city, feeling just a little lighter. It hadn't been the girl's parents, but at least the poor thing wouldn't be entirely alone.
"Found her," came a rough female cry. Gilda landed in front of Twilight, arms quickly crossing the moment her feet were on the ground. "Gabby wouldn't shut up about a big pony tragedy or whatever. Did someone hurt someone else's feelings?"
"It's more important than that," urged Gabby as she landed beside Gilda.
A new voice joined, male, as Gustav joined the proceedings, "the ponies have done well by me. Besides, I am between... This place has seen better days. What happened?" He was looking around at the skeletal remains of the buildings through the town. Twirling his moustache between two fingers, he scowled at the mess. "What did you want us to do with... this?"
Twilight nodded to each of the three, though other griffons were also landing, about ten in total. They all appeared whole of body and able of hand, which was all she needed. "Great, you will be paid for this, to get that out of the way. I need you all to help search these houses." She made a grand wave over the graveyard of homes. "When you are absolutely certain there are no ponies inside, clear the rubble. Your next job will be to construct new habitations for the ponies of the town. If you need supplies, just make a list and I'll see to it it gets fulfilled as quickly as possible."
"All the ponies of Trottingham?" asked Gilda with a perked brow. "That's a lot of houses."
"Not... as many as you would imagine." Twilight sagged, imagining how many fewer houses would be required ultimately. "Use stone, if at all possible, especially for the roofs." She took a slow breath. "You have your jobs, do you accept?"
Soft mutterings rose, though Gabby was more enthusiastic, saluting and marching off to start. The others were slower, but did get moving. They may have complained, but they were doing it. Twilight spread her wings and lifted into the air. "Time for a survey." She had focused on the city exclusively, but with the griffons filling in for her, she has other things to check, namely the path of destruction. She had seen how it affected things leaving the city towards the water, so she headed the other way, further inland.
It was disappointingly clear where the strange stuff landed. It was a wasteland, both animals and plants annihilated as if some great hand had reached down from the sky and wiped it all away, and not even cleanly. The land was a pitted and scoured mess for miles as she flew overhead, as if it had never been fit to harbor life to begin with, rather than the verdant forests it had been not that long beforehand.
She reached the end of the island that Trottingham was on and hesitated a moment. Dare she push forward? It seemed like a straight line, meaning it may have hit land beyond the sea, but that was not Equestrian land. It was technically outside her responsibility. Few would blame her for considering that enough intel gathered.
But she didn't feel satisfied. She moved out over the water, sailing dutifully onwards. The sea seemed entirely unmolested, she noticed. Dolphins jumped, whales breached, and fish danced beneath the waves. The sea was alive, as if the great tragedy simply didn't bother with it. How did that work?
Twilight pushed on past it, hitting the beach where the devastation rapidly resumed over beach and forest land. It went right over the train tracks that had wound through the area, heading into the griffon lands. They were in a lawless place between kingdoms, and the tracks were entirely destroyed. The metal remained, but the wood that held it together was gone, eaten just like all the trees and bushes. It was unfit for use for the trains and several miles of tracks would need to be repaired before any pony could venture in this direction.
Twilight heaved a sigh but flew on. The line was practically following the tracks at first, which made her initial estimate off. It would take months and months to repair all the tracks, to say nothing of the destroyed ecosystems around it.