Three months ago...
The sound of air flying rapidly by her ears wasn't an unfamiliar sound, nor was the feeling of weightlessness provided by flying so far above the ground so fast. The initial shock of being thrown had long worn off by now: Queen Chrysalis opened her eyes to check on the ground..... nope, it still wasn't getting any closer. Several of her swarmlings filled the air around her, a few trying to stabilize and fly but failing because of the velocity they were moving at.
A part of the situation wasn't new, surprisingly. She and her swarm had been ejected, thrown out of, and otherwise expelled from kingdoms before, though fairly infrequently compared to their usual rate of success. Usually it was done via an extremely powerful banishing spell though one or two occasions actually involved the kingdoms' inhabitants physically seeking out and either killing or sending away her swarm.
But this time was different. The Queen, thinking back to the exact events that lead to this banishment, was disturbed by the nature of said events. Love can power magic? The thing they feed on can be a powerful source of energy for beings OTHER than changelings? It was hard to believe, and it infuriated her. They were forced out of an extremely love-rich kingdom by the very thing they came for in the first place, and it's not hard to understand how this would anger somepony such as she and her changelings.
Queen Chrysalis closed her eyes again for a moment, shaking away the thoughts of her defeat. The only thing to do now was wait, since the banishing spell seemed to have a lock on her and her swarm: they could still feel it pushing them away from Canterlot, indicating that they will keep flying until they are out of its effective range. Until then, all she could do now was watch as her swarmlings struggled to regain control over their trajectory and repeatedly fail.
It was painful to watch, especially since some of the younger ones didn't have any idea what had happened in the first place. Most of the newer members of the swarm didn't know what a banishing spell or a ward was; all they knew was that they were feeding one moment and then all of a sudden being thrown violently through the air before the next. It was a startling process for even her swarm's strongest warriors, much less young swarmlings with barely any grasp on the concept of magic. The thought of how they must feel right now refilled her rage, burning at her insides for several moments before she managed to calm herself again.
She could sense in the swarm that they had all survived at least; the banishing spell was a benevolent-natured one after all, and was thankfully entirely non-lethal. However... her swarm was sent flying in all directions. They were largely separated, and it could take a long time before they could regather, during which period of time virtually anything could happen to any swarmling that got separated from whatever siblings they may have landed near. Just then, a thought crossed Queen Chrysalis' mind: could she use a telepathy spell to locate her lost swarmlings? Perhaps a simply scrying spell would suffice, depending on how far away their landing zone was to be from their origination in Canterlot. Maybe... maybe even now...
Chrysalis focused some of her barely-returning strength into her horn. It began to glow with a faint green light... her magic was returning. It wouldn't be long now before she had enough strength back to try and counteract the banishing spell, if only partially. By now, she would be thankful just for an early landing: she'd had her fill of Equestria and had every plan to avoid it from now on, even if it involved leaving of her own volition in the case that she landed somewhere still within its boundaries.
*SHWOOM*
A powerful wave of magic flew across her and her swarm, originating from the direction of Canterlot. Her horn immediately lost its glow and the magic she'd gathered in it faded. A nearby changeling began screaming, all of the pent up fright from the initial trauma of being thrown finally finding its way out of her by way of her throat.
"Oh no, no, no, it's alright Mima!" Chrysalis called out to her swarmling. All of her hatred of Equestria suddenly took a backseat to her panic at seeing one of her swarmlings so utterly terrified. "Mima! Mima, look at me..."
Mima stopped screaming and looked to Queen Chrysalis, tears trailing down her face. "It's okay, Mima, I'm here. We're going to be alright," Chrysalis continued in as soothing of a voice as she could maintain over the roaring wind. Mima sniffed and then nodded. It was obvious she was still scared, but having the reassurance of her queen seemed to help her calm down.
"Okay, momma. I believe you," Mima answered before tucking her head between her hooves. Hm..... "momma". It had been a while since Queen Chrysalis had had any of her swarmlings call her that. She had forgotten what it was like for a moment; forgotten that they were each her children, and that they relied on her for their strength in more ways than just for leadership. But... what was that wave?
...oh. That must have been them managing to complete the actual wedding. Considering the intense love between Cadence and Shining Armor, the very reason she chose Cadence to replace, it very well could've reinforced the spell. That would explain why it re-nullified her magic. Suddenly, her anger returned to her stronger than ever.
How DARE they do this to her and her swarm!? They couldn't tell that there young changelings in the swarm, just barely old enough to accompany her on the raid on Canterlot? This was supposed to be an easy raid: she had a better hold than usual on their ruling government, she had taken Cadence's place at the perfect time, nopony suspected a THING. And then they go and pull something like.... like THAT!?
Chrysalis attempted to calm herself down again, knowing that at the moment being filled with fury wouldn't do her or her separated swarm any good; the fury was for later, when revenge could be taken. Right now, she just had to once again thank lady luck that none of her swarm were immediately harmed by the banishing spell that was STILL pushing them. In an attempt to distract herself, she looked down towards the ground again. They seemed to be over the Everfree Forest now. Wow... had they flown so far already? They must be traveling really fast. Not that, you know, the howling wind, distance to the ground, and blurring scenery would give that away...
The Queen sighed and turned her eyes to the sky. She felt like she was forgetting something... She glanced over to Mima and saw that she was being comforted by a fellow swarmling that had somehow maneuvered over to her. No, Mima was going to be alright. What was she thinking of? Did they leave the food pods back at the hive open? If so, that was going to be hard to clean up... it suddenly dawned on her that she was going to have to gather all of her swarmlings over the course of what was likely to be several months before heading back to the nest. Great...... but that wasn't what she was forgetting. What was..........
Chrysalis' eyes widened when she realized that she still had a faint connection to something unusual. A connection that she sometimes forgot about, but was still present nonetheless. A connection that she felt was still in Canterlot.
She turned her head and looked towards the direction of Canterlot in surprise. Did she really bring it on the raid? She couldn't remember, since it mostly operated in the background on raids, receiving its orders on its delayed entry and not reporting back unless a massive setback was encountered or its missions was completed. She couldn't feel it anywhere else so it wasn't just a mixed signal due to the banishing spell... hm. Either way, she couldn't communicate with it right now. She would need to land in order to set up a communication spell with it, and even then she still has to gather her swarm first.
The sound of changeling fire igniting drew Chrysalis' attention from the thoughts of Canterlot. She turned and saw that the members of her swarm that were in view were going into a dive like they did when they bombarded Canterlot. Sure enough, she could feel her speed lessening and her body descending towards the ground; they had reached the edge of the banishing spell's range.
Chrysalis herself did the same, cloaking herself in the signature green flames that indicated a changeling's dive. Her trajectory changed from a gentle slope downwards to a rapid, intense fall head-first into the ground, just barely clearing the trees of the far-end of the Everfree Forest. The impact was jarring, but no more so than any other dive she had ever done and a quick glance around after recovering proved that it was the same for the swarmlings that surrounded her.
Once they recovered, each of her swarmlings ran over to her and formed a crowd. More were arriving from the distance, due to knowing at least the general direction they had flown from their Queen. She looked around at them: now that they had landed, it was back to the usual procedure that they took when they were unsuccessful in a raid. She nodded to them and they began setting about their work, making a structure of some kind out of nearby wood and plants.
When she was sure the construction of the beacon was going along well, she called one of her commanders over as he arrived with another small group. "Commander Dapul," she said, commanding his attention. He immediately stood at attention and saluted.
"Dapul, I need you to check on the hive. You know what direction it is in, and you know I wouldn't send just any of the swarm to make the journey. You've got the highest chance of success out of all the swarmlings here at the moment, so the responsibility falls to you."
Dapul saluted again and nodded, a small deformation in his armor presumably caused by the rough landing causing his helmet to fall off a bit comically. He quickly re-donned it and then set off flight to the north. Queen Chrysalis watched him until he disappeared on the horizon before turning her eyes upwards: it was getting dark. She looked back over her swarmlings as they finished building the beacon and formed a path for her to approach it.
She walked up to the beacon, a structure made of varied plant matter overall resembling a large bowl or urn. She concentrated on what magic she could muster, noticing that she was regaining it faster since she was out of the banishing spell's range. She shot a beam of magic into the center, which then spread to the rim of the structure before shooting upwards and into the sky on a much larger scale. The spell done, there was now a large green beam of energy flying straight up into the sky. It remained for several moments before fading away. The beacon now set, Chrysalis looked around at the swarmlings that once again surrounded her and looked to her for guidance. The beacon's signal would reach the rest of the swarm wherever they were, but it could possibly be months before they actually managed to regather in entirety and maybe even longer for Dapul to report back...
"My swarm," the Queen addressed those surrounding her, "...we have lost battles before. You all know this, and this time is no different. We shall remain here until the rest of our swarm manages to regroup with us, and united again we shall set out for the hive to make plans for our next raid. Know that we did at least manage to store enough love from Equestria to give us considerable stored power for our next raid! Though we might never return to Equestria, we assuredly took our fair share of it with us! For now, I can see that you are all tired..."
Chrysalis looked among the small swarm's ranks. Most of them did indeed look tired, as it seemed the banishing spell had a draining effect on them for the flight. All they needed for now was rest. "We shall make our camps here until the return of Dapul. Make yourselves comfortable, and always be on the lookout for your siblings on their way here. I shall sleep next to the beacon: if there is anything that must be said, say it now."
There was silence.
"...Very well. Then for now, your queen wishes you good night so that we may put this event behind us."
As the crowd dispersed and Chrysalis found some bedding set out for her near to the beacon, she thought back to Canterlot and the signal she was feeling from there. Did she really leave it there rather than at the nest? Was the swarm's Devourer still in Canterlot, carrying out its orders? Did it get the signal from the beacon? And if not..... what would it do in absence of new orders or capability of reporting to its Queen?