Chrysalis landed in the Everfree with an ungraceful crash, face planting in the dirt. She panted, grabbing at her chest. His heart was racing, as if she was seconds away from a heart attack. She let in a deep inhale trying to calm herself, but it was close to useless.
She heard a series of similar crashes around her, quickly flopping onto her back to see a small scattering of about eight armored changelings land at random around her. At least the armor implied that they were high ranked, and thus, responsible for cataloging numbers. That'd be useful, using them she could possibly get an account of losses, and thus an idea of what to do next.
Chrysalis sat up and let out a guttural growl. "Which of you is in charge?" She hissed, attempting to stand up on shaky legs.
One of the changelings, his armor slightly shinier and thicker than his compatriots, quickly stood up and saluted in a disciplined and rigid manner. "My Queen! General Mandible at your service!" He yelled.
Chrysalis frowned. "Status report, now. I want to know if we can bounce back from this." She said looking the changeling up and down. To be honest, she didn't even know she had a general.
"Hard to say Ma'am, judging on a cursory glance of what happened during our retreat-" He started.
"It was a tactical withdrawal!" Chrysalis instantly hissed, raising her hoof to backhand the ignorant ling. She stopped herself when the general flinched and let in a deep inhale, lowering it back to the ground.
"- R-right my queen. Our tactical withdrawal has left us scattered. Between the Equestrian army catching up to us, and that... green guy disintegrating a good chunk of soldiers as collateral during his fight, casualties are likely high. If I had to guess, at least fifty percent of our forces have been wiped out in this engagement. That is of course, the optimistic assumption." The General spoke, keeping a firm stuffy tone throughout. The other seven changelings the in clearing visibly grimaced, one of them even looking sick to the face. Chrysalis's mouth merely dropped.
"We had a force of eighty five hundred changelings, are you telling me that this single battle killed as many as four thousand of them?" Chrysalis asked, stepping towards the changeling, her slack jaw quickly turning into a snarl. A single bead of sweat dropped from Mandible's forehead.
"Killed or captured my queen. In which case, the prisoners would likely end up starving to death in Equestrian prisons." The guard responded without a second beat.
Chrysalis hissed. "That or converted into brainwashed traitors like my hive." She spat when she finished, the general merely nodded in response, but several of the other changelings in the clearing couldn't help but raise their eyebrows in confusion. Converted? Whatever did the queen mean by that?
"My best assumption is that the remaining members of the army are scattered in the woods surrounding town. With how exhausted we, and likely they, are my best advice would be to return to the mountain and hole up and hope at least some of our forces think to regroup there. Alongside hoping that the Equestrians don't find it." Mandible said with a slight frown. "We will likely have the abandon the rest if we want to survive."
Chrysalis let in a deep inhale, looking away and gritting her teeth. She had all that power, and now she was back to square one. She closed her eyes and shook her head. At least now she wasn't alone. Tiny blessings.
Chrysalis suddenly let out a roar of anger and stomped her feet. Her soldiers flinched and quickly stepped back as she approached a nearby tree and punched it.
"That bastard! I knew it was a trick! He was probably sent by Thorax to convince me to attack Ponyvile on purpose! It was obviously a trap!" She roared as she slammed her forehead into the tree.
"A very paranoid way of thinking." A voice rang out. Her soldiers instantly spun around, sticking their glowing horns in the direction of the sound. Chrysalis hissed as a single pure white eye appeared in the darkness. "Or have you forgotten that one of my soldiers died in the fight too?"
Two platinum guard stepped out of the underbrush, flanking the changelings, their halberds at the ready. Chrysalis grimaced, she held up her hooves for the changelings to stand down. They quickly did, especially after just witnessing what only one of those things could do.
"Oh, now if the perfect time to show up Mr. tall dark and mysterious? Let me guess, you've come to gloat?" She hissed.
The silhouette of the changeling stepped out, his single eye narrowing. "On the contrary, I've come to offer some help and at least attempt to improve your situation." he waved his hoof and the two platinum guard quickly looked to their master, hesitated for a second, before turning and leaving the clearing.
"Where are they going? Back into town to get slaughtered like 'Tza'ak' was?" Chrysalis said eyebrows furrowed. The one eyed changeling shook his head.
"I've sent them to attempt to round up the rest of your followers. And your assumption was wrong, Mandible. 70% of your army was captured or killed in that battle, and the Equestrian guard are already moving through the woods to finish off the stragglers. Thankfully, my platinum guard are stealthy enough to dispatch any guards in their way without being noticed." He said stepping forwards.
Chrysalis hissed with a smile. "So you just sent away your only protection to go patrolling the woods to find my army? Hah! Good!" She roared green magical fire igniting in her eyes as magic danced around her horn. Her wings buzzed as she rose into the air. "That means I can take my revenge for getting my army killed!"
With a roar of energy, a bolt of magic zapped from her horn, lancing like a lightning bolt directly toward the antlered changeling's single eye.
The young changeling felt pain as the roof collapsed on top of him, but he quickly realized that it wasn't his own pain he was feeling. It was his mother's, just as he had felt the pain of the disintegrated guards before. In an instant, he felt his every bone crack and shatter and then, he felt nothing. He awoke what he could only assume were hours later.
There was a weight on him, like nothing he had ever felt before. The six-year-old came to regret his people's monolithic architecture, for now the entire weight of one such building was pressing down on him. With a groan of pain, he felt the weight shift, alongside the sound of stone hitting stone. Another section of the roof had fallen, likely directly on top of the ones pinning him.
The changeling let out a weak whimper as he tried to wrap his head around a way out of his current predicament. Just then, he remembered his mother. He had seen rubble land on top of her just before he lost consciousness. He let out a sudden roar as his horn and antlers lit up with cyan magic. A spherical burst of energy of the same color flew out of him, flinging the rubble in every direction. The dark of the sky now visible from where the roof had once been told him that it was night. It had been day when he was buried. He didn't even take a second to process what had just happened, how he had managed to do that, before he was up on his hooves, haphazardly scampering across the rubble that covered the floor of what had once been the atashgah.
He kept running across the rubble, ignoring the splinters of stone and wood that stabbed and cut into his hooves. He only stopped when he saw a deep blue hoof sticking out of the rubble in front of him. It looked cracked and broken, like a nearly shattered pane of glass. With a cry of agony, the changeling quickly rushed forwards, coming to a stop next to the hoof. He collapsed to his knees and instantly started trying to dig at the rubble. The small stones and wooden beams cut into him causing him to bleed light blue blood. He didn't care.
He cried out in agony once again as he tried lifting a particularly heavy rock. It didn't budge. He stopped, panting as he closed his eyes and tried reaching out to the same magic that had unburied him. All he managed to do was give himself a headache. He closed his eyes and inhaled, and then thought to do the only thing one of his age could do.
"Help! Please! Help!" He cried. His voice echoed throughout the empty room. At first there was no response, until, he saw something in glittering armor moving around above him. Initially he smiled slightly, thinking they were the same soldiers who had been guarding his family since the day his eyes first opened. Then he saw what they really were as they landed all around him.
They were equine in shape, with fur, spiral conical horns, and bird wings. They wore golden armor that glinted and shimmered in the moonlight. Their eyes seemed to glow a deep white as they powered their horns which were holding up weapons of all kinds, primarily golden-plated swords and spears. The young changeling's eyes widened as he fell onto his back, watching as they slowly encircled him with smiles on their faces. The changeling grabbed his mother by the hoof as one of them came close enough to tower over him.
"Lookie here mates!" He said in a guttural accent, licking his lips. He slowly raised his sword and tapped flat against one of the young changeling's small budding antlers. "Looks like we missed one. And by the looks of it, this one's one of them special types."
"Dibs on the antlers! I found 'im, and I need something to hang above mi fireplace." Another laughed as the first slowly raised his sword. The changeling closed his eyes and whimpered looking away. He should have been more scared, but the only thought that filled his head was that he would soon be reunited with his mother.
"Stop!" A deep commanding voice said suddenly. The other equine fumbled and dropped the blade, quickly retreating away from the changeling and looking behind him. The changeling slowly opened his eyes as a single figure landed where he had once been buried. He was tall, the tallest creature the young changeling had ever seen in his life. He was similarly a horned and winged equine like his compatriots, but both his wings and horn were much, much larger than his compatriots. His coat was a golden yellow in color, and his short stylized mane was a multicolor of silver, gold and copper, which swirled and moved in an ethereal manner.
"Lord Aeternum! Sir!" One of the equines said, dropping into a bow, the others quickly followed suit. 'Lord' Aeternum merely gave them a passing glance before he slowly and gracefully walked forwards, stones in his way being lifted up in a golden aura and merely set aside as he walked forwards, a path cleared between him and the ling.
When he arrived Aeternum bent down slowly, reaching out a hoof and grabbing the ling by the chin. Fear filled it's white compact eyes as Aeternum observed him from every angle, his eyes locking on the antlers before moving on. Suddenly Aeternum smiled.
"Why hello there little one. I am king Aeternum. I own you now." he hissed, his smile widening. He let out a disarmingly kind coo when the changeling whimpered. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not a bad guy. Think of me as.... Think of me as your new father."
Like a meteorite in atmosphere, the green bolt of magic aimed for the one eyed changeling's head ignited, uselessly burning up before it came even close. A deep reverberation filled the clearing as the changeling's single eye widened, his horn and antlers igniting into cyan magic. There was a burst of energy as cracks formed in the ground around him, they spread, snaking across the ground, going up the trucks of nearby trees, which shattered into splinters collapsing to the ground. Chrysalis barely had time to react before she felt a force wrap around her neck. She was lifted into the air and slammed against the trunk of a nearby tree. Her subjects let out cries of panic as they saw their queen choked out, but it quickly became apparent that they could do nothing when the same force grabbed each and every one of them, freezing them in place.
Slowly the one-eyed changeling stepped forwards, revealing his appearance to her for the first time. He was visibly androgynous with a soft chin and snout. His carapace was a shimmering cyan in color with two large, mandible-like white antlers coming from the sides of his head, with what looked like a significantly smaller second set sprouting out just above his ears. His eye was locked onto Chrysalis with a look of pure disgust. An eyepatch covered his left eye.
Chrysalis felt the force on her neck tighten and she let out a wheezing cry. "You seem to have forgotten your place in this arrangement, queen." he hissed, his eye narrowing even further. "I am the single most powerful changeling you will ever meet, and you thought, in your infinite wisdom, you could stand against me? Perhaps I should have taken the advice of my followers and strangled you in that pissant camp I found you squatting in. Spared us all the embarrassment of seeing your attempts at conquest."
"W-who are you?!?" Chrysalis wheezed. The one eyed changeling merely laughed.
"I am U'val. And I am a god."