Starcraft: The Equestrian Resistanceby NeutralParasiteChaptersPrologue: AwakeningChapter 1: The StenchChapter 2: SentinelChapter 3: History LessonPrologue: AwakeningAs most nights were in Ponyville, everypony was quiet and settled in their homes, and the town was filled with peace. From orbit, a small, meteor, practically the size of a colt, could be seen hurling towards the planet at an alarmingly fast rate. This meteor had a very peculiar look to it; rather than having a hard, rugged exterior, it had looked like it was covered in flesh. Tentacles were visible, flailing in the rear of the object as it continued on its path towards Equestria. When the meteors long course had finally come to an end and crashed on the pony filled planet, it was deep in the heart of the Everfree forest, making a somewhat audible sound in the surrounding area. It mimicked a fleshy sound, almost as if a slab of meat had hurled downwards towards Equestria with a force to challenge the gods. A small crater circled the impact zone, but even with all of the chaos caused by this one small meteorite, one could immediately notice the materials that had detached from the fleshy meteor upon its contact with the massive planet - it seemed to be an insignificantly small area of grass unlike any flora in all of Equestria. Creep, a grass that consumes the land around it starting from its source, the Creep Tumor. Along with the Creep was a small egg and a group larvae with abnormally large size. Strong shells surrounding their body gave them protection from power difficult to match. They have small fangs, but vicious intent; they could tear through the most durable of bone, though the larvae were not yet intelligent enough to know how to actually use them effectively. And the last thing was the egg, it was like a cyst; cold, soft to the touch. Almost like a balloon, it looked as if one could pop it with a simple pin.There appeared to be an organism inside of the odd formation, which looked like a parasite crawling inside of it, with dark and evil intentions to lash out pain with great prejudice. It was undoubtedly a site to behold - though none were around to see it - it was the beginning of a society for an unknown life form. Such an amazing site, yet none were there to see. When Princess Celestia was just beginning the sun’s rise, all the way in Canterlot with no idea of what was happening just outside of Ponyville, the cyst had finally exploded. It made a sound so vile, it could make the strongest stomach shudder. It had erected an obscure structure, that possessed the shape of a pentagon. Every side had a sharp, rugged claw pointing roughly at a ninety degree angle. The base of the structure had a small hole, in which there was the shape of a circle. The sides were infested with bubbles oozing from the flesh like structure, as well as undefinable markings. Everyone in Ponyville, though not knowing the source, was cringing over the intolerable smell that had carried all the way from deep in the forest. The whole building had a sickly purple color, like a bruise from a generously painful beating. Out of the base came three more of the disgustingly large larvae, nearly identical to those that had appeared previously. Cocoons began to form around the sickening larvae, which had a similar framework to that of the larvae shell. The cocoon’s lime green exterior had made it difficult to see the inside of the egg, to see what they were transforming into, but that didn’t matter. Not even the sickening smell disturbing everpony in Ponyville was a problem that day compared to the beginning of a new Era for all of Equestria, for ALL of the known world. A new era, of danger and despair. Author's Note Many thanks to my friends for proof reading & proof editing. For the most part, I think it's coming along nicely, although constructing a smooth story for this kind of subject can be a bit tough. So far the experience has been exhilarating and I am definitely looking forward to creating a hopefully flawless plot to this fanfic. ~NeutralParasite Chapter 1: The Stench“And why are we going to Zecora’s again?” The Cutie Mark Crusaders were doing what they were normally doing on any weekend commute; trying to find their cutie marks. Applebloom sighed, “Ah’ told ya’ Sweetie Belle, we need ta see if makin’ fancy potions will get us our Cutie Marks!” Applebloom had just finished her sentence when she stuck nose into the air with a disgusted look on her face. “It’s nah’t just me smellin’ that, right?” as Applebloom attempted to cover her nose with her hoof. “It’s not just you,” Scootaloo said before her expression changed to that of disgust. “Where is that coming from?” “I dunno, but it maht be from Zecora’s. We better get there fast.” The Cutie Mark Crusaders hastened their speed to their destination. Each one of them held their breaths as they travelled towards Zecora’s house, occasionally taking quick deep breaths to gather more air, trying not to gag during the process. The forest looked no different than any of the other times Applebloom had come to the Everfree Forest; dark, populated with trees, and on any other day absent of the terrible odor. As they arrived at Zecora’s hut, Applebloom nearly tore off the door upon entering, trying to close it as quickly as possible. “What is this? The source of the Stench? You must have come from the deepest trench,” Zecora turned to see the three small fillies, she had immediately grinned, “Ah, Applebloom and her friends, what do you need me to lend?” she said as she was retrieving a flask from her cabinet. Applebloom approached Zecora, having a minor frown on her face, “Well, we were gon’ come to your place tah help you out, but this smell is jus’ too much for mah nose to handle,” Applebloom was scanning the already-known area around her, noticing nothing different, no foreign materials that she hadn’t seen before. “Do you know waht’s causin this horrible odor?” Zecora frowned, “Sadly, I do not.” She had gotten some materials and proceeded to crush them, followed by the mixture to be poured into the flask. “Man, how can something smell this bad?” Scootaloo wanted to leave the forest as soon as possible, but she was also curious what the source of the scent was. Sweetie Belle was starring out the window, pondering the awful stench, “I can’t stand this smell any longer. Let’s get back to Ponyville where it’s a bit less severe.” The other Cutie Mark Crusaders couldn’t agree more. With a quick goodbye to Zecora, the trio had left the stench-filled forest and back to the clear air in Ponyville. The sun had started to disembark to the other side of the planet, making the sky a vibrant orange. There was never enough time to appreciate the little things in life, and even when there was, nopony ever realized how the little things made the more important things much more beautiful than they were. The three had made it back to the town in one piece, still sick to their stomachs due to the smell that lurked through the forest. The sun had finally departed, and nightfall soon followed. In the Everfree Forest, the green cocoons had hatched into evolved beings. They had the same shell, though less durable, unimportant compared to the newly made legs. They had extended from the original form’s thorax, with a total of eight legs. In between the legs there had been skin connecting all of the legs, like a wing would on a dragon. The mouth was replaced with two sets of somewhat sharp fangs and two rows of 8 eyes. Claws had also been formed near the upper region of the body, as if they were designed to easily do harm, although they did not use their claws for fighting, but for collecting resources. After the evolution, the newly made organisms had started to rid the area of useful minerals, such as trees, rocks, and water. After retrieving the minerals, they had stored it inside of the base they had once come from, to which it would stay there, unknown what it would be used for. The morning was greeted with the same vile smell as the Everfree Forest had the day before. Everypony in town was wearing something to protect their sense of smell, ranging from scarves, to medical masks. Scootaloo groaned, “That awful smell is here too?” she had covered her mouth with her helmet, which blocked the horrid smell only slightly. “We need to go back into the Everfree forest to find out where it’s coming from!” Sweetie Belle said as she gasped for a breath of air before holding her breath. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had returned to the Everfree Forest, where the smell was unusually bearable; most likely due to their nostrils finally getting used to the smell. “Ah’ don’ know about this, maybe we should jus’ turn back,” Applebloom said as they passed by Zecora’s, who was most likely looking for the source as well. They had finally reached a small clearing of trees, which looked like they were chopped down just recently, followed by a strange trail of slime. It had an unusual tint of purple to it, although not many animals left such a trail, especially not purple slime. “What is that stuff?” Sweetie Belle said with a look of disgust. “Well, whatever it is, it looks like the trail to something!” Scootaloo said with confidence, as the other two Crusaders looked at her as if she was crazy. The trio had followed the trail for quite some time before stopping in complete surprise. Applebloom was the first to speak, “What are these things!” as her mouth stood open. “Whatever they are, they don’t look like anything I’ve seen before,” Scootaloo replied. She was staring with an eyebrow raised; she suddenly grinned and continued, “They look cool!” Sweetie Belle was behind the other two, looking as if she were staring at Nightmare Moon herself. “W-we should leave, I don’t think they’d like it if we were found in their territory.” They continued to stare in fright as the unknown entities slowly destroyed the world around them. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had fled the forest with breakneck speed, going to tell the other ponies what they had seen, but they hadn’t had a clue what kind of animal or organism the unusual creatures were. It was the Equestrian Brood; the first group of Zerg on the Known World. Chapter 2: SentinelThe Cutie Mark Crusaders had made it out before the sun was just above their heads. How could they explain what they saw? Each of them looked at each other, not having a clue what to do first. Without noticing, they realized they were right in the plaza of Ponyville, directly in front of Town Hall, when Sweetie Belle was the first to speak up. “How are we going to explain this to somepony?” Sweetie Belle said, still shaken by the unknown species she and her colleagues had just recently encountered. “I dunno abaht you girls, but ahm goin to tell Applejack.” Applebloom replied with a sense of eagerness. They all agreed to tell whoever they could and all split up in separate directions. The day had passed by as each of the trio had attempted to convince ponies they knew to go, which narrowed it down to Twilight, Spike, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Many others denied as many others were too busy working, with friends, or just sleeping. They had gotten to the outskirts of the Everfree Forest before questions had started to break out. “I don’t understand. So, what are these ‘things’ again?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know, but what I do know is that they looked... Unreal!” Scootaloo said with a bright smile, she seemed unfazed by the looks of the Zerg. “From the way you described them on the way here... They’re nothing like any animal I’ve treated or seen before. Are they... Dangerous?” Fluttershy said as she started to fill her mind with fear. “Lahk we said, we don’ know. We din’t get a good look aht them the first tahm, nor did we come in contact with them. Enough talkin’, let’s just git ovah to where thah critters are!” Applebloom expressed with a sigh, the look on her face clearly looked like she was getting annoyed by the questions they couldn’t answer, due to the fact that they only got a quick glimpse of the creatures. “I can’t believe I stopped working on a dress for this...” Rarity, sharing the same emotion with Applebloom, but for a different reason replied as they headed into the dark shroud of the Everfree Forest. “No, it was over here!” Scootaloo replied angrily as they headed into another part of the Everfree Forest. “Bah, horseapples. Ah sure you three know whar it is?” Applejack replied with an arched eyebrow. “We’re really close, we just got a little.... Lost.” Sweetie Belle sighed. “Little? We must be on the other side of the Everfree Forest by now!” Rarity had pouted, as she did throughout the entire trip. They continued to travel until they had reached Zecora’s hut - for the third time, when they stopped to hear a joyful greeting by Zecora. “Hello friends! What brings you here, on a day that has almost come to an end?” She spoke in a cheerful tone. “Hello Zecora! these three said they had found... something in the forest, but I don’t think it’s here anymore.” Twilight said with a pleasurable greeting. “We aren’t lying, we swear we saw them!” Scootaloo said as she hung her head in defeat. “Oh? And what exactly are you looking for?” Zecora said in response. After the Crusaders had told the attributes of what they saw; the structure, the organisms, and whatever else they remembered, Zecora’s eyes widened at least triple the size of what they normally are. “We need to find them. Now.” Zecora was now clearly nervous and wanted to find the area of the species as fast as she could. “Beg your pardon?” Applejack said with a puzzled look, but before she could even get the first word out of her mouth, Zecora was already in a full on sprint into the darkened Forest that had seemed to swallow her. The others followed suit, having no clue why Zecora was acting unusual, like the world was in grave danger. Why did Zecora want to search for these unidentified “animals”? Was the civilization going to do harm to the ponies in Ponyville? Or maybe even Equestria? The Everfree Forest looked a lot more threatening after nightfall; the leaves and branches blotted out the sky, making it a pitch black, the noises of the forest’s nightlife sounded violent, like a swarm of insects just waiting to crawl up your entire body, leaving chills up a pony’s spine. The constant encounters of animals scurrying across the dark carpet of grass on the ground, or the bats and moths floating in the air would make a pony pass out if they were alone; the Everfree Forest had it’s own way of saying ‘Do not come here at night’. They had finally arrived to the first clearing of trees before the clearing of the Zerg, Zecora now scouting the base slightly above a row of bushes. After a small argument of the trio that had once found said clearing, everypony was crowding Zecora, eager to hear answers to their millions of questions. “Will everypony be quiet for a short second!” Zecora said in a hushed, but loud enough to talk over all ponies surrounding her voice. “So it is true, the Zerg have started invading once again.” She hung her head in shame, like she had let down everypony in the world. Everypony had finally seen the Zerg after fully adjusting the darkness, there was a mix of reactions. Rarity was looking at them with a nasty look, like she would when she wasn’t satisfied with one of her dresses. Applejack had an unreadable face, almost like she was still trying to process what she was seeing. Fluttershy was looking in impenetrable fear. To her, these creatures looked like demon spawn from Tartaurus which almost made her pass out; she didn’t care how they acted towards the environment, she only based what she was comprehending on their looks. Spike had a look of excitement, being a complete contrast to Fluttershy. He looked at them with amazement, as if he and them would get along greatly. Twilight was studying them, she looked at the aspect of the Zerg species; their texture, structure, how they acted towards the environment, and what they were doing once they have corrupted the environment. “I don’t understand, what do you mean by once again? Have they invaded before?” Zecora looked at Twilight, her face more serious than she had ever been in Ponyville,”It is too long to explain, we need to get rid of this infestation-” Before she could finish her sentence, the workers had finally spotted the group and had started to burrow into the thick, corrupted ground below, all but one. The worker had transformed into yet another cyst, but much more smaller than the structure before. The object had been created in great speed, forming a tentacle with a sharp tip. It was frightening to the ponies and one baby dragon, as they had never seen something this unusual in the lands of Equestria. The tentacle had attached itself to the corrupted ground, like a magnet would with metal. Before the group could think, the tentacle stretched out to attack Applebloom, who was immediately pushed back by Zecora. After a set of screams, Zecora responded quickly, “There’s no way we can stand against that thing without protection, we need to flee!” And with that, everypony had sprinted towards Zecora’s hut, all of them were frightened that this new species that had come to Equestria was here to assault and possibly take over the continent. “What was that thing?” Spike said, trying to take a breath. “I don’ know, buht whatever it was, ah don’t think it’s here to give a happy greeting.”, Even Applejack was having trouble catching her breath. “I-I don’t see why we should go there anymore.” Fluttershy was on the verge of passing out. Zecora glanced at Applebloom, noticing that she was in complete shock at the events that had just occurred. With a sigh, she had looked out at the full moon that was in the violet, starry sky. “You all should get some rest, I will tell you what you will need to know for tomorrow. If we can contain this threat, then we can prevent the apocalypse of this planet from happening.” apocalypse Something about that word just didn’t seem right. It was a word that strikes fear into ones mind, like staring into a void leading only to darkness, giving one shivers down their spine. “But will you be fine here alone?” Twilight responded,”What about those... Zerg?” A warm smile came from Zecora,”Don’t you worry, I will be fine. If anything, I will fall back to your town, which should be very unlikely.” Twilight had nodded and headed off with the crowd. All of them took Zecora’s advice and headed back to the safe haven of Ponyville to rest, for tomorrow they would be prepared for anything. The workers had come back to the surface, still observing the environment around them. The tentacle had returned to an idle state, not having any hostility towards the workers. After realizing that the animals had left, the workers had returned to their normal routine; depleting the world of it's natural resources. The clearing had been much greater than it had been the first day of the Zerg's arrival, at least twice the size as it had been. More workers had been hatched from their larvae state and had continuously destroyed the world around them. At the rate at which the Zerg was being produced, they would need more than the forest to supply their units. One of the workers had travelled to one of the edges of the clearing and had transformed into another bubble, this time a structure almost as large as the first structure. As usual, the parasite was swarming inside of it, attaching things together, like a mindless drone. After some time, the Earth blister had exploded, forming an object that had looked similar to a bath filled with acid. It was a pool that was bubbling abnormally fast, like there were a thousand jets blowing through the base of it. It was forming something, but what? Chapter 3: History LessonTwilight had awoken from the sound of rain sprinkling her window, like small insects landing on a surface. She had gotten out of her bed sheepishly and was greeted with an antsy Spike, who must have been awake all night, as he had bags under his eyes and his conjunctivas were deeply bloodshot. He had possessed a look of anxiety. “My Celestia, Spike! Have you been up all night?” Twilight said with a worried look. “I couldn’t sleep last night. Every time I had tried to go to sleep, I’d end up having nightmares of those... Zerg? I think that’s it.” His voice was weak and stuttered. Spike had a look of horror in his eye when he had said Zerg, like it was a poison threatening him if he had ever said the word. “I know it was frightening, but don’t worry, we will be fine. It’s not like they can attack us from here, they would be completely outnumbered. If we got enough ponies, I believe we could remove them entirely from the Everfree Forest, and everything will be back to normal.” Twilight had smiled, showing no sign of doubt. Although, in Twilight’s mind, there was in fact some doubt. What if they couldn’t succeed in purifying the forest? The thought made Twilight have the urge to shiver. “I guess you’re right, I just hope they won’t come here.” On their way to Zecora’s, the ground was covered in mud, like it had been raining for quiet sometime now. The forest was completely saturated in water, and the brightness of the area was close to that of last night. The two had reached Zecora’s hut, where she was still in one piece. The rest of the witnesses had arrived in Zecora’s hut, along with the extra Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, both eager to know what happened the night before. “It sounded like super duper fun last night! Why didn’t anypony invite me?” Pinkie Pie had a look of sadness. “Because, you wer’ too busy workin’.” Applebloom had answered, as she had attempted to tell her the day before to come along.” After the group of ponies had told the two mares of what had occurred the night before, there was already almost immediately a breakout of questions. “So, I don’t get it, a ‘tentacle’?”, Rainbow Dash was completely confused about the entire situation. “Spine Crawler.” Zecora had corrected her, followed by a group of surprised faces by the name of the now known structure. The name of the organism gave them shivers down their spines, as the name even describes. “Doesn’ see, raht, the way it was actin’. It could have injured one of us bahdly.” Applejack had a look of anger and sadness, of what could have taken place. “It could have done more, it would poison you, leaving you quiet sore.” Zecora had changed her mood over the past day. The once known happy Zebra was now a deep in thought wreck that hadn’t had a clue what to do. “What do you mean, sore? Do you mean like we’d get sick?” Pinkie Pie had tilted her head, still full of happy emotion. “The Spine Crawlers have a poison they apply, for it could even make the strongest colt die.” She had started to shake, almost like she was about to burst into tears. “I have a story, of one with Zebras and all of there... Glory.”, Her face had an emotion of disgust, like defining her own race as ‘glorious’ was like saying Pinkie Pie was the worlds most serious pony. “A story? Is it a story of happiness?” Rarity had questioned, but Zecora’s eyes said it all. Zecora had a dark chuckle, like she had lost some of her sanity,”Far from happiness, my stylish mare friend. It is more like my origin’s end.” The sky was a dark tinted orange, the ground, aside from all of the rotting corpses, ravaged and destroyed. There was a complete onslaught of Zerg rallying towards the Zebra’s frontal region, which had been repaired numerous times. “We need more frontal defense!”, Zerul had shouted, he was in deep panic. He had scouted the defense;, only several hundred Zebras as opposed to the thousands they had before the attack. “Goddamnit! If we can’t hold them off quick enough, we will all be slaughtered in seconds!” The Zerg army came in large waves; many different mutations had rushed to the front, trying to destroy the fortified wall, which was almost completely destroyed. They ranged from small to large, flying to ground. Zerul was just about to give up before a few other Zebras had come to aid their lone Commander, ammunition at hoof. “Sorry for the delay, Boss, we were tending to the numerous injureds scattered across the defenses.” This Zebra was a well-built, but short stallion, he had several injuries but was still in good shape; Zebras were strong, they did not give up without a fight for sure. His voice was deep, and had a thick accent, one that you would find in the tropics. “No times for apologies, General, we need to defend as long as we can!” Zerul was the Commander of the forces, he was tall, vicious, and a straight out brute. He had a short greatcoat, representing all of his achievements and accolades while being in the battalion, which were covered in a thick, purple liquid - the blood of the Zerg he has vanquished. The defense was a large, round open area, with a few huts here and there. The surface of the base was covered in many Zebras that were injured, dead, and medics that were healing the injureds. In the center was an unusual structure, one of which you would see in a science fiction movie, was powering up. The nexus was glowing a pure white, almost like it was near full power. “We just need to hold on for a few more minutes!” The other colt had said; he was tall and skinny, like he hadn’t eaten in days. The three had just barely held them off before there was a shout coming from the Nexus. “It is at full power! We need to leave now!” There was a young colt, he must have been at least 16 or 17. He was standing right outside of the Nexus, his eyes fully bloodshot. The survivors had all filed into the large structure known as the Nexus. It had taken at least ten minutes, due to the injured ones that had limped or dragged themselves into the building. The three defenders had leaped right off of the platform leading to the enclosed bunker that held them throughout their barrage. Right before the three could make it, the Nexus had formed a sealed force field. “What in Tartaurus, why did you secure the Nexus before everyone was finally in?” Zeraul had shouted in frustration and panic. The Zerg had breached the defense and were now rushing towards the Nexus at full speed. It was all hopeless for Zerul and his two colleagues. They all had kept shouting until the Nexus had finally vanished into thin air, it all seemed so surreal. The three had stared at the swarm that was sprinting towards them. This was it, they had watched their final seconds in complete fear. The Zerg had kept at it as they travelled towards the trio. “Boys.” Closer. “It has been a pleasure knowing you.” Closer. “I am sorry that you won’t be able to say your goodbyes to your loved ones on this day, but know that you will see them again soon.” A tear had escaped the Commander’s eye. A young mare had awakened in a small room, one of many inside of the Nexus. She had looked about the age of ten, her hair in a small Mohawk, with earrings in both ears. She had travelled down the stairs and into the main area of the Nexus. She had spotted a few Zebras arguing in the main control room, where she had eventually heard her father’s name in the dispute and she had finally walked into the room, with unknown whereabouts of her father. “Where is Papa Zerul?” Zecora was streaming in tears after the explanation. Hundreds of questions lurked through the minds of everypony, as it was all so sudden. How could this have happened? Where did they get the technology to construct the Nexus? And how did Zecora end up in the outskirts of Ponyville after living in that wasteland? After a horde of chattering, Twilight had decided to ask the first question,”What exactly happened? Did they just come in with the massive waves out of no where?” She had pretty much just taken one of the questions out of everypony's mouth. Zecora sighed,”Sadly, no. We had thought they wouldn’t do much, as they had been very secretive about their society, we thought they wouldn’t grow. We had once thought they were the peace bringers of worlds, but we were sadly mistaken, as they had taken over our home in a swirl, it didn’t make much sense.” She had finally stopped sobbing and had a serious face like she had before on, like a sergeant preparing for war. “And that Nexus thing? How did you zebras make a thing so... advanced?” Rainbow Dash had raised an eyebrow, almost as if she though Zecora was making the entire thing up. “Your guess is as good as mine, my mare friend. But however, it did save us from the end of our Zebra existence.” “And how exactly did you descend onto our, might I add lovely, planet?” Rarity came out of no where after being so quiet for so long. Zecora had been patient answering these questions, as the Zerg had already started to build hostile defenses,”According to the Nexus, it had landed on whatever near inhabitable planet it could reach, In which it had landed on a nearby beach. The Zebra civilization is located on the other side of the Quiet Sea. But-” “Why did you leave them then?” Sweetie Belle had interrupted, which was followed by a sigh from Zecora. “I left them because... because” Zecora was starting to tear up,”Because they are selfish nobodies!” She had already erupted in tears, which had seemed so sudden. It was like a cloud had suddenly come over her head, blocking all of her happy thoughts and replacing them with depressing, sad ones.”They didn’t care about any of the casualties they lost, the Zebras had just did what they had once done before on the unoccupied planet before; Extract the world of it’s resources and kill the animals that had scurried around the surrounding area.” With a gasp and near faint by Fluttershy, Zecora had continued. “If anything, the Zebras is worse than the Zerg, and I am ashamed to be one of them. I ran away five years after our landing, after finally knowing the fate of my father. I had the idea of it, thinking it was a misunderstanding, that he was just scouting the area. But for five years? I think about it now, and I can’t believe how unintelligent I was back then, trying not to follow my beliefs in my own fears. What matters now, is that we need to deal with the Zerg before they infest this planet too.” “So how exactly do we deal with these meatbags? They don’ seem too strong in their current form.” Applejack was determined on exterminating the Zerg as soon as possible, not aiming for unknown consequences and waiting. “We need to armor to protect us from the Zerg’s vicious sting, and we will need some strong offense to bring.” “Oh man, I can’t wait to do this!” Scootaloo was filled with adrenaline, this was a moment in her life that would be one of the greatest, or so she thought. “I don’t think you four should help us, better safe then sorry, right?” Twilight replied with a small grin, talking to the Crusaders and Spike. “Aww, c’mon! Ah think we can help lots! We can handle ourselves.” Applebloom had argued in reply, as she had wanted to help them in their attack. “I’m sorry Applebloom, but you can be absolutely sure that this infestation will be over soon.” Zecora had smiled, something she hadn’t done in the past two days. “But we’d be more support!” Sweetie Belle had added to the disagreement, saddened by the fact that adults had always tried to ruin the fun. “Girls, please, we don’t want to take anymore risks than we are already taken.” Fluttershy was trying to persuade them into agreement, but their child minds would not quit without a fight. Fluttershy tried as much as she could, until she had finally done something that even the strongest colt would be frightened at. The Stare. The four looked at Fluttershy, now much more aggressive than she was a few seconds ago. They all had come to an agreement and decided to leave the hut and retreat back to Ponyville, all having angry faces. “Ah you really comin’ with us Fluttershah? You sure you don’ want to stay here?” Applejack said with a worried glance. She had never seen Fluttershy as an offensive type, let alone a participator in a battle. It was all too unusual to Applejack to see one of her shyest best friends going and engaging into battle, let alone playing an offensive role. “I think I’ll be fine... Maybe.” Fluttershy didn’t realize what she had gotten herself into; she or her friends could get hurt. And who knows what is in the poison inside of their stingers, it placed fear into her. “On second thought, I think I might stay here.” The Bubbling inside of the pool of acid had stopped just as something emerged from the green liquid, It was a Queen. The Queen had a row of large spikes resting on her head, along with a column of scales, one spike on each column. It had two large claws coming from the back sides of it’s head, looking to that of skeleton bone. Her eyes were a glowing yellow, like an inferno burning in her eyes, and two small sets of fangs, and durable skin. Her body was covered in glowing green bubbles, most likely from the pool of acid still having effect on her skin. Finally, her six legs had the same durable bone as her claws; strong as hardened lava and dry as a desert. She had made an ear busting howl as she had descended from the pool. She rallied herself towards the original structure where she had placed a few eggs inside of the odd building. It was made for birthing larvae; a hatchery. The Queen had successfully birthed a set of larvae, to which she had just planted a few moments ago. The few larvae had formed into sickly green cocoons, but this time they were much more unstable inside of their cocoons than the norm worker mutation. What torture were the larvae going through? And what were they mutating into?
Prologue: AwakeningAs most nights were in Ponyville, everypony was quiet and settled in their homes, and the town was filled with peace. From orbit, a small, meteor, practically the size of a colt, could be seen hurling towards the planet at an alarmingly fast rate. This meteor had a very peculiar look to it; rather than having a hard, rugged exterior, it had looked like it was covered in flesh. Tentacles were visible, flailing in the rear of the object as it continued on its path towards Equestria. When the meteors long course had finally come to an end and crashed on the pony filled planet, it was deep in the heart of the Everfree forest, making a somewhat audible sound in the surrounding area. It mimicked a fleshy sound, almost as if a slab of meat had hurled downwards towards Equestria with a force to challenge the gods. A small crater circled the impact zone, but even with all of the chaos caused by this one small meteorite, one could immediately notice the materials that had detached from the fleshy meteor upon its contact with the massive planet - it seemed to be an insignificantly small area of grass unlike any flora in all of Equestria. Creep, a grass that consumes the land around it starting from its source, the Creep Tumor. Along with the Creep was a small egg and a group larvae with abnormally large size. Strong shells surrounding their body gave them protection from power difficult to match. They have small fangs, but vicious intent; they could tear through the most durable of bone, though the larvae were not yet intelligent enough to know how to actually use them effectively. And the last thing was the egg, it was like a cyst; cold, soft to the touch. Almost like a balloon, it looked as if one could pop it with a simple pin.There appeared to be an organism inside of the odd formation, which looked like a parasite crawling inside of it, with dark and evil intentions to lash out pain with great prejudice. It was undoubtedly a site to behold - though none were around to see it - it was the beginning of a society for an unknown life form. Such an amazing site, yet none were there to see. When Princess Celestia was just beginning the sun’s rise, all the way in Canterlot with no idea of what was happening just outside of Ponyville, the cyst had finally exploded. It made a sound so vile, it could make the strongest stomach shudder. It had erected an obscure structure, that possessed the shape of a pentagon. Every side had a sharp, rugged claw pointing roughly at a ninety degree angle. The base of the structure had a small hole, in which there was the shape of a circle. The sides were infested with bubbles oozing from the flesh like structure, as well as undefinable markings. Everyone in Ponyville, though not knowing the source, was cringing over the intolerable smell that had carried all the way from deep in the forest. The whole building had a sickly purple color, like a bruise from a generously painful beating. Out of the base came three more of the disgustingly large larvae, nearly identical to those that had appeared previously. Cocoons began to form around the sickening larvae, which had a similar framework to that of the larvae shell. The cocoon’s lime green exterior had made it difficult to see the inside of the egg, to see what they were transforming into, but that didn’t matter. Not even the sickening smell disturbing everpony in Ponyville was a problem that day compared to the beginning of a new Era for all of Equestria, for ALL of the known world. A new era, of danger and despair. Author's Note Many thanks to my friends for proof reading & proof editing. For the most part, I think it's coming along nicely, although constructing a smooth story for this kind of subject can be a bit tough. So far the experience has been exhilarating and I am definitely looking forward to creating a hopefully flawless plot to this fanfic. ~NeutralParasite
Chapter 1: The Stench“And why are we going to Zecora’s again?” The Cutie Mark Crusaders were doing what they were normally doing on any weekend commute; trying to find their cutie marks. Applebloom sighed, “Ah’ told ya’ Sweetie Belle, we need ta see if makin’ fancy potions will get us our Cutie Marks!” Applebloom had just finished her sentence when she stuck nose into the air with a disgusted look on her face. “It’s nah’t just me smellin’ that, right?” as Applebloom attempted to cover her nose with her hoof. “It’s not just you,” Scootaloo said before her expression changed to that of disgust. “Where is that coming from?” “I dunno, but it maht be from Zecora’s. We better get there fast.” The Cutie Mark Crusaders hastened their speed to their destination. Each one of them held their breaths as they travelled towards Zecora’s house, occasionally taking quick deep breaths to gather more air, trying not to gag during the process. The forest looked no different than any of the other times Applebloom had come to the Everfree Forest; dark, populated with trees, and on any other day absent of the terrible odor. As they arrived at Zecora’s hut, Applebloom nearly tore off the door upon entering, trying to close it as quickly as possible. “What is this? The source of the Stench? You must have come from the deepest trench,” Zecora turned to see the three small fillies, she had immediately grinned, “Ah, Applebloom and her friends, what do you need me to lend?” she said as she was retrieving a flask from her cabinet. Applebloom approached Zecora, having a minor frown on her face, “Well, we were gon’ come to your place tah help you out, but this smell is jus’ too much for mah nose to handle,” Applebloom was scanning the already-known area around her, noticing nothing different, no foreign materials that she hadn’t seen before. “Do you know waht’s causin this horrible odor?” Zecora frowned, “Sadly, I do not.” She had gotten some materials and proceeded to crush them, followed by the mixture to be poured into the flask. “Man, how can something smell this bad?” Scootaloo wanted to leave the forest as soon as possible, but she was also curious what the source of the scent was. Sweetie Belle was starring out the window, pondering the awful stench, “I can’t stand this smell any longer. Let’s get back to Ponyville where it’s a bit less severe.” The other Cutie Mark Crusaders couldn’t agree more. With a quick goodbye to Zecora, the trio had left the stench-filled forest and back to the clear air in Ponyville. The sun had started to disembark to the other side of the planet, making the sky a vibrant orange. There was never enough time to appreciate the little things in life, and even when there was, nopony ever realized how the little things made the more important things much more beautiful than they were. The three had made it back to the town in one piece, still sick to their stomachs due to the smell that lurked through the forest. The sun had finally departed, and nightfall soon followed. In the Everfree Forest, the green cocoons had hatched into evolved beings. They had the same shell, though less durable, unimportant compared to the newly made legs. They had extended from the original form’s thorax, with a total of eight legs. In between the legs there had been skin connecting all of the legs, like a wing would on a dragon. The mouth was replaced with two sets of somewhat sharp fangs and two rows of 8 eyes. Claws had also been formed near the upper region of the body, as if they were designed to easily do harm, although they did not use their claws for fighting, but for collecting resources. After the evolution, the newly made organisms had started to rid the area of useful minerals, such as trees, rocks, and water. After retrieving the minerals, they had stored it inside of the base they had once come from, to which it would stay there, unknown what it would be used for. The morning was greeted with the same vile smell as the Everfree Forest had the day before. Everypony in town was wearing something to protect their sense of smell, ranging from scarves, to medical masks. Scootaloo groaned, “That awful smell is here too?” she had covered her mouth with her helmet, which blocked the horrid smell only slightly. “We need to go back into the Everfree forest to find out where it’s coming from!” Sweetie Belle said as she gasped for a breath of air before holding her breath. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had returned to the Everfree Forest, where the smell was unusually bearable; most likely due to their nostrils finally getting used to the smell. “Ah’ don’ know about this, maybe we should jus’ turn back,” Applebloom said as they passed by Zecora’s, who was most likely looking for the source as well. They had finally reached a small clearing of trees, which looked like they were chopped down just recently, followed by a strange trail of slime. It had an unusual tint of purple to it, although not many animals left such a trail, especially not purple slime. “What is that stuff?” Sweetie Belle said with a look of disgust. “Well, whatever it is, it looks like the trail to something!” Scootaloo said with confidence, as the other two Crusaders looked at her as if she was crazy. The trio had followed the trail for quite some time before stopping in complete surprise. Applebloom was the first to speak, “What are these things!” as her mouth stood open. “Whatever they are, they don’t look like anything I’ve seen before,” Scootaloo replied. She was staring with an eyebrow raised; she suddenly grinned and continued, “They look cool!” Sweetie Belle was behind the other two, looking as if she were staring at Nightmare Moon herself. “W-we should leave, I don’t think they’d like it if we were found in their territory.” They continued to stare in fright as the unknown entities slowly destroyed the world around them. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had fled the forest with breakneck speed, going to tell the other ponies what they had seen, but they hadn’t had a clue what kind of animal or organism the unusual creatures were. It was the Equestrian Brood; the first group of Zerg on the Known World.
Chapter 2: SentinelThe Cutie Mark Crusaders had made it out before the sun was just above their heads. How could they explain what they saw? Each of them looked at each other, not having a clue what to do first. Without noticing, they realized they were right in the plaza of Ponyville, directly in front of Town Hall, when Sweetie Belle was the first to speak up. “How are we going to explain this to somepony?” Sweetie Belle said, still shaken by the unknown species she and her colleagues had just recently encountered. “I dunno abaht you girls, but ahm goin to tell Applejack.” Applebloom replied with a sense of eagerness. They all agreed to tell whoever they could and all split up in separate directions. The day had passed by as each of the trio had attempted to convince ponies they knew to go, which narrowed it down to Twilight, Spike, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Many others denied as many others were too busy working, with friends, or just sleeping. They had gotten to the outskirts of the Everfree Forest before questions had started to break out. “I don’t understand. So, what are these ‘things’ again?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know, but what I do know is that they looked... Unreal!” Scootaloo said with a bright smile, she seemed unfazed by the looks of the Zerg. “From the way you described them on the way here... They’re nothing like any animal I’ve treated or seen before. Are they... Dangerous?” Fluttershy said as she started to fill her mind with fear. “Lahk we said, we don’ know. We din’t get a good look aht them the first tahm, nor did we come in contact with them. Enough talkin’, let’s just git ovah to where thah critters are!” Applebloom expressed with a sigh, the look on her face clearly looked like she was getting annoyed by the questions they couldn’t answer, due to the fact that they only got a quick glimpse of the creatures. “I can’t believe I stopped working on a dress for this...” Rarity, sharing the same emotion with Applebloom, but for a different reason replied as they headed into the dark shroud of the Everfree Forest. “No, it was over here!” Scootaloo replied angrily as they headed into another part of the Everfree Forest. “Bah, horseapples. Ah sure you three know whar it is?” Applejack replied with an arched eyebrow. “We’re really close, we just got a little.... Lost.” Sweetie Belle sighed. “Little? We must be on the other side of the Everfree Forest by now!” Rarity had pouted, as she did throughout the entire trip. They continued to travel until they had reached Zecora’s hut - for the third time, when they stopped to hear a joyful greeting by Zecora. “Hello friends! What brings you here, on a day that has almost come to an end?” She spoke in a cheerful tone. “Hello Zecora! these three said they had found... something in the forest, but I don’t think it’s here anymore.” Twilight said with a pleasurable greeting. “We aren’t lying, we swear we saw them!” Scootaloo said as she hung her head in defeat. “Oh? And what exactly are you looking for?” Zecora said in response. After the Crusaders had told the attributes of what they saw; the structure, the organisms, and whatever else they remembered, Zecora’s eyes widened at least triple the size of what they normally are. “We need to find them. Now.” Zecora was now clearly nervous and wanted to find the area of the species as fast as she could. “Beg your pardon?” Applejack said with a puzzled look, but before she could even get the first word out of her mouth, Zecora was already in a full on sprint into the darkened Forest that had seemed to swallow her. The others followed suit, having no clue why Zecora was acting unusual, like the world was in grave danger. Why did Zecora want to search for these unidentified “animals”? Was the civilization going to do harm to the ponies in Ponyville? Or maybe even Equestria? The Everfree Forest looked a lot more threatening after nightfall; the leaves and branches blotted out the sky, making it a pitch black, the noises of the forest’s nightlife sounded violent, like a swarm of insects just waiting to crawl up your entire body, leaving chills up a pony’s spine. The constant encounters of animals scurrying across the dark carpet of grass on the ground, or the bats and moths floating in the air would make a pony pass out if they were alone; the Everfree Forest had it’s own way of saying ‘Do not come here at night’. They had finally arrived to the first clearing of trees before the clearing of the Zerg, Zecora now scouting the base slightly above a row of bushes. After a small argument of the trio that had once found said clearing, everypony was crowding Zecora, eager to hear answers to their millions of questions. “Will everypony be quiet for a short second!” Zecora said in a hushed, but loud enough to talk over all ponies surrounding her voice. “So it is true, the Zerg have started invading once again.” She hung her head in shame, like she had let down everypony in the world. Everypony had finally seen the Zerg after fully adjusting the darkness, there was a mix of reactions. Rarity was looking at them with a nasty look, like she would when she wasn’t satisfied with one of her dresses. Applejack had an unreadable face, almost like she was still trying to process what she was seeing. Fluttershy was looking in impenetrable fear. To her, these creatures looked like demon spawn from Tartaurus which almost made her pass out; she didn’t care how they acted towards the environment, she only based what she was comprehending on their looks. Spike had a look of excitement, being a complete contrast to Fluttershy. He looked at them with amazement, as if he and them would get along greatly. Twilight was studying them, she looked at the aspect of the Zerg species; their texture, structure, how they acted towards the environment, and what they were doing once they have corrupted the environment. “I don’t understand, what do you mean by once again? Have they invaded before?” Zecora looked at Twilight, her face more serious than she had ever been in Ponyville,”It is too long to explain, we need to get rid of this infestation-” Before she could finish her sentence, the workers had finally spotted the group and had started to burrow into the thick, corrupted ground below, all but one. The worker had transformed into yet another cyst, but much more smaller than the structure before. The object had been created in great speed, forming a tentacle with a sharp tip. It was frightening to the ponies and one baby dragon, as they had never seen something this unusual in the lands of Equestria. The tentacle had attached itself to the corrupted ground, like a magnet would with metal. Before the group could think, the tentacle stretched out to attack Applebloom, who was immediately pushed back by Zecora. After a set of screams, Zecora responded quickly, “There’s no way we can stand against that thing without protection, we need to flee!” And with that, everypony had sprinted towards Zecora’s hut, all of them were frightened that this new species that had come to Equestria was here to assault and possibly take over the continent. “What was that thing?” Spike said, trying to take a breath. “I don’ know, buht whatever it was, ah don’t think it’s here to give a happy greeting.”, Even Applejack was having trouble catching her breath. “I-I don’t see why we should go there anymore.” Fluttershy was on the verge of passing out. Zecora glanced at Applebloom, noticing that she was in complete shock at the events that had just occurred. With a sigh, she had looked out at the full moon that was in the violet, starry sky. “You all should get some rest, I will tell you what you will need to know for tomorrow. If we can contain this threat, then we can prevent the apocalypse of this planet from happening.” apocalypse Something about that word just didn’t seem right. It was a word that strikes fear into ones mind, like staring into a void leading only to darkness, giving one shivers down their spine. “But will you be fine here alone?” Twilight responded,”What about those... Zerg?” A warm smile came from Zecora,”Don’t you worry, I will be fine. If anything, I will fall back to your town, which should be very unlikely.” Twilight had nodded and headed off with the crowd. All of them took Zecora’s advice and headed back to the safe haven of Ponyville to rest, for tomorrow they would be prepared for anything. The workers had come back to the surface, still observing the environment around them. The tentacle had returned to an idle state, not having any hostility towards the workers. After realizing that the animals had left, the workers had returned to their normal routine; depleting the world of it's natural resources. The clearing had been much greater than it had been the first day of the Zerg's arrival, at least twice the size as it had been. More workers had been hatched from their larvae state and had continuously destroyed the world around them. At the rate at which the Zerg was being produced, they would need more than the forest to supply their units. One of the workers had travelled to one of the edges of the clearing and had transformed into another bubble, this time a structure almost as large as the first structure. As usual, the parasite was swarming inside of it, attaching things together, like a mindless drone. After some time, the Earth blister had exploded, forming an object that had looked similar to a bath filled with acid. It was a pool that was bubbling abnormally fast, like there were a thousand jets blowing through the base of it. It was forming something, but what?
Chapter 3: History LessonTwilight had awoken from the sound of rain sprinkling her window, like small insects landing on a surface. She had gotten out of her bed sheepishly and was greeted with an antsy Spike, who must have been awake all night, as he had bags under his eyes and his conjunctivas were deeply bloodshot. He had possessed a look of anxiety. “My Celestia, Spike! Have you been up all night?” Twilight said with a worried look. “I couldn’t sleep last night. Every time I had tried to go to sleep, I’d end up having nightmares of those... Zerg? I think that’s it.” His voice was weak and stuttered. Spike had a look of horror in his eye when he had said Zerg, like it was a poison threatening him if he had ever said the word. “I know it was frightening, but don’t worry, we will be fine. It’s not like they can attack us from here, they would be completely outnumbered. If we got enough ponies, I believe we could remove them entirely from the Everfree Forest, and everything will be back to normal.” Twilight had smiled, showing no sign of doubt. Although, in Twilight’s mind, there was in fact some doubt. What if they couldn’t succeed in purifying the forest? The thought made Twilight have the urge to shiver. “I guess you’re right, I just hope they won’t come here.” On their way to Zecora’s, the ground was covered in mud, like it had been raining for quiet sometime now. The forest was completely saturated in water, and the brightness of the area was close to that of last night. The two had reached Zecora’s hut, where she was still in one piece. The rest of the witnesses had arrived in Zecora’s hut, along with the extra Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, both eager to know what happened the night before. “It sounded like super duper fun last night! Why didn’t anypony invite me?” Pinkie Pie had a look of sadness. “Because, you wer’ too busy workin’.” Applebloom had answered, as she had attempted to tell her the day before to come along.” After the group of ponies had told the two mares of what had occurred the night before, there was already almost immediately a breakout of questions. “So, I don’t get it, a ‘tentacle’?”, Rainbow Dash was completely confused about the entire situation. “Spine Crawler.” Zecora had corrected her, followed by a group of surprised faces by the name of the now known structure. The name of the organism gave them shivers down their spines, as the name even describes. “Doesn’ see, raht, the way it was actin’. It could have injured one of us bahdly.” Applejack had a look of anger and sadness, of what could have taken place. “It could have done more, it would poison you, leaving you quiet sore.” Zecora had changed her mood over the past day. The once known happy Zebra was now a deep in thought wreck that hadn’t had a clue what to do. “What do you mean, sore? Do you mean like we’d get sick?” Pinkie Pie had tilted her head, still full of happy emotion. “The Spine Crawlers have a poison they apply, for it could even make the strongest colt die.” She had started to shake, almost like she was about to burst into tears. “I have a story, of one with Zebras and all of there... Glory.”, Her face had an emotion of disgust, like defining her own race as ‘glorious’ was like saying Pinkie Pie was the worlds most serious pony. “A story? Is it a story of happiness?” Rarity had questioned, but Zecora’s eyes said it all. Zecora had a dark chuckle, like she had lost some of her sanity,”Far from happiness, my stylish mare friend. It is more like my origin’s end.” The sky was a dark tinted orange, the ground, aside from all of the rotting corpses, ravaged and destroyed. There was a complete onslaught of Zerg rallying towards the Zebra’s frontal region, which had been repaired numerous times. “We need more frontal defense!”, Zerul had shouted, he was in deep panic. He had scouted the defense;, only several hundred Zebras as opposed to the thousands they had before the attack. “Goddamnit! If we can’t hold them off quick enough, we will all be slaughtered in seconds!” The Zerg army came in large waves; many different mutations had rushed to the front, trying to destroy the fortified wall, which was almost completely destroyed. They ranged from small to large, flying to ground. Zerul was just about to give up before a few other Zebras had come to aid their lone Commander, ammunition at hoof. “Sorry for the delay, Boss, we were tending to the numerous injureds scattered across the defenses.” This Zebra was a well-built, but short stallion, he had several injuries but was still in good shape; Zebras were strong, they did not give up without a fight for sure. His voice was deep, and had a thick accent, one that you would find in the tropics. “No times for apologies, General, we need to defend as long as we can!” Zerul was the Commander of the forces, he was tall, vicious, and a straight out brute. He had a short greatcoat, representing all of his achievements and accolades while being in the battalion, which were covered in a thick, purple liquid - the blood of the Zerg he has vanquished. The defense was a large, round open area, with a few huts here and there. The surface of the base was covered in many Zebras that were injured, dead, and medics that were healing the injureds. In the center was an unusual structure, one of which you would see in a science fiction movie, was powering up. The nexus was glowing a pure white, almost like it was near full power. “We just need to hold on for a few more minutes!” The other colt had said; he was tall and skinny, like he hadn’t eaten in days. The three had just barely held them off before there was a shout coming from the Nexus. “It is at full power! We need to leave now!” There was a young colt, he must have been at least 16 or 17. He was standing right outside of the Nexus, his eyes fully bloodshot. The survivors had all filed into the large structure known as the Nexus. It had taken at least ten minutes, due to the injured ones that had limped or dragged themselves into the building. The three defenders had leaped right off of the platform leading to the enclosed bunker that held them throughout their barrage. Right before the three could make it, the Nexus had formed a sealed force field. “What in Tartaurus, why did you secure the Nexus before everyone was finally in?” Zeraul had shouted in frustration and panic. The Zerg had breached the defense and were now rushing towards the Nexus at full speed. It was all hopeless for Zerul and his two colleagues. They all had kept shouting until the Nexus had finally vanished into thin air, it all seemed so surreal. The three had stared at the swarm that was sprinting towards them. This was it, they had watched their final seconds in complete fear. The Zerg had kept at it as they travelled towards the trio. “Boys.” Closer. “It has been a pleasure knowing you.” Closer. “I am sorry that you won’t be able to say your goodbyes to your loved ones on this day, but know that you will see them again soon.” A tear had escaped the Commander’s eye. A young mare had awakened in a small room, one of many inside of the Nexus. She had looked about the age of ten, her hair in a small Mohawk, with earrings in both ears. She had travelled down the stairs and into the main area of the Nexus. She had spotted a few Zebras arguing in the main control room, where she had eventually heard her father’s name in the dispute and she had finally walked into the room, with unknown whereabouts of her father. “Where is Papa Zerul?” Zecora was streaming in tears after the explanation. Hundreds of questions lurked through the minds of everypony, as it was all so sudden. How could this have happened? Where did they get the technology to construct the Nexus? And how did Zecora end up in the outskirts of Ponyville after living in that wasteland? After a horde of chattering, Twilight had decided to ask the first question,”What exactly happened? Did they just come in with the massive waves out of no where?” She had pretty much just taken one of the questions out of everypony's mouth. Zecora sighed,”Sadly, no. We had thought they wouldn’t do much, as they had been very secretive about their society, we thought they wouldn’t grow. We had once thought they were the peace bringers of worlds, but we were sadly mistaken, as they had taken over our home in a swirl, it didn’t make much sense.” She had finally stopped sobbing and had a serious face like she had before on, like a sergeant preparing for war. “And that Nexus thing? How did you zebras make a thing so... advanced?” Rainbow Dash had raised an eyebrow, almost as if she though Zecora was making the entire thing up. “Your guess is as good as mine, my mare friend. But however, it did save us from the end of our Zebra existence.” “And how exactly did you descend onto our, might I add lovely, planet?” Rarity came out of no where after being so quiet for so long. Zecora had been patient answering these questions, as the Zerg had already started to build hostile defenses,”According to the Nexus, it had landed on whatever near inhabitable planet it could reach, In which it had landed on a nearby beach. The Zebra civilization is located on the other side of the Quiet Sea. But-” “Why did you leave them then?” Sweetie Belle had interrupted, which was followed by a sigh from Zecora. “I left them because... because” Zecora was starting to tear up,”Because they are selfish nobodies!” She had already erupted in tears, which had seemed so sudden. It was like a cloud had suddenly come over her head, blocking all of her happy thoughts and replacing them with depressing, sad ones.”They didn’t care about any of the casualties they lost, the Zebras had just did what they had once done before on the unoccupied planet before; Extract the world of it’s resources and kill the animals that had scurried around the surrounding area.” With a gasp and near faint by Fluttershy, Zecora had continued. “If anything, the Zebras is worse than the Zerg, and I am ashamed to be one of them. I ran away five years after our landing, after finally knowing the fate of my father. I had the idea of it, thinking it was a misunderstanding, that he was just scouting the area. But for five years? I think about it now, and I can’t believe how unintelligent I was back then, trying not to follow my beliefs in my own fears. What matters now, is that we need to deal with the Zerg before they infest this planet too.” “So how exactly do we deal with these meatbags? They don’ seem too strong in their current form.” Applejack was determined on exterminating the Zerg as soon as possible, not aiming for unknown consequences and waiting. “We need to armor to protect us from the Zerg’s vicious sting, and we will need some strong offense to bring.” “Oh man, I can’t wait to do this!” Scootaloo was filled with adrenaline, this was a moment in her life that would be one of the greatest, or so she thought. “I don’t think you four should help us, better safe then sorry, right?” Twilight replied with a small grin, talking to the Crusaders and Spike. “Aww, c’mon! Ah think we can help lots! We can handle ourselves.” Applebloom had argued in reply, as she had wanted to help them in their attack. “I’m sorry Applebloom, but you can be absolutely sure that this infestation will be over soon.” Zecora had smiled, something she hadn’t done in the past two days. “But we’d be more support!” Sweetie Belle had added to the disagreement, saddened by the fact that adults had always tried to ruin the fun. “Girls, please, we don’t want to take anymore risks than we are already taken.” Fluttershy was trying to persuade them into agreement, but their child minds would not quit without a fight. Fluttershy tried as much as she could, until she had finally done something that even the strongest colt would be frightened at. The Stare. The four looked at Fluttershy, now much more aggressive than she was a few seconds ago. They all had come to an agreement and decided to leave the hut and retreat back to Ponyville, all having angry faces. “Ah you really comin’ with us Fluttershah? You sure you don’ want to stay here?” Applejack said with a worried glance. She had never seen Fluttershy as an offensive type, let alone a participator in a battle. It was all too unusual to Applejack to see one of her shyest best friends going and engaging into battle, let alone playing an offensive role. “I think I’ll be fine... Maybe.” Fluttershy didn’t realize what she had gotten herself into; she or her friends could get hurt. And who knows what is in the poison inside of their stingers, it placed fear into her. “On second thought, I think I might stay here.” The Bubbling inside of the pool of acid had stopped just as something emerged from the green liquid, It was a Queen. The Queen had a row of large spikes resting on her head, along with a column of scales, one spike on each column. It had two large claws coming from the back sides of it’s head, looking to that of skeleton bone. Her eyes were a glowing yellow, like an inferno burning in her eyes, and two small sets of fangs, and durable skin. Her body was covered in glowing green bubbles, most likely from the pool of acid still having effect on her skin. Finally, her six legs had the same durable bone as her claws; strong as hardened lava and dry as a desert. She had made an ear busting howl as she had descended from the pool. She rallied herself towards the original structure where she had placed a few eggs inside of the odd building. It was made for birthing larvae; a hatchery. The Queen had successfully birthed a set of larvae, to which she had just planted a few moments ago. The few larvae had formed into sickly green cocoons, but this time they were much more unstable inside of their cocoons than the norm worker mutation. What torture were the larvae going through? And what were they mutating into?
