Starcraft: The Fate of the Artifact

Ponyville Park: Time until the Raiders arrival:

6 days: 20 hours

Rainbow Dash pawed at the ground impatiently. Scootaloo was supposed to be here to practice her flying an hour ago. Normally she was the first of the two to be at the designated practice spot, so when Rainbow flew over the park to find it empty, she was slightly confused. She turned her head to the sky, the sun had only just risen, and Rainbow didn’t have to work today, so she told herself to be patient. Scootaloo would be here any minute now….

*Tick Tock*

Rainbow was starting to get worried. She told Scootaloo to be here early right? It wasn’t like the pegasus filly to just miss out on flight practice, or anything that had to do with the cyan mare. Still, she shrugged it off. Maybe she was sleeping in? They hadn’t spoken at all the other day, so she might have been tired or something. Yes, that was it, Dash assured herself. The poor filly was simply exhausted from all their exercises. She would be here soon….

*Tick Tock*

The athletic mare was quickly growing paranoid over the absence of her… “sidekick”. Normally she cherished the time she got to spend AWAY from the annoying little squirt, but when they planned a practice session, she was never late. She looked once again at the all-powerful ball of heavenly light. It was about 8:20. Rainbow started panicking, jumping into the air and hovering around in tight circles. What could possibly have kept that foal away from her hero for over four hours? Rainbow held her head high, and took off for Twilight’s house. She always knew what to do in these situations.

Meanwhile, at the Everfree forest:

Three young flies were marching about the edge of the deadly, forsaken sea of trees and undergrowth. Scootaloo had seen a comet crash inside the forest, and after creating a plan, had subsequently told her best friends about it. Her friends were eager as always to go exploring, but not so excited to venture into the nightmarish woods.  Nevertheless, Scootaloo was able to convince them with her “perfect” plan. They would sneak out around six in the morning, find the comet, and be back at home before anypony knew what was wrong. It worked, to an extent. Applejack and Big Macintosh always got up very early, and had to question where the three were going so early. They said truthfully, that they were going crusading to find a comet. Applejack figured that they were just goofing around; you can’t just find a comet. Still, she only let her sister leave after all her chores had been completed. And by the time that had been finished, it was practically eight!

Scootaloo quickly rounded up her friends and they dashed of to go crusading. Because they left on such short notice, they didn’t bring much in terms of equipment. Scootaloo did make sure they brought three crucial items. They packed an emergency flare; a few apples for the three to enjoy and most importantly, a gallon jug of water?

“Scootaloo, ma back’s tired! And ah though we weren’t gonna do any more crusadin’ in the forest. Not after what happened LAST time.” The southern, red-maned filly whined. Her name was Applebloom. She was an earth pony, and usually the leader of the three “Cutie Mark Crusaders”. But since Scootaloo saw the comet crash, she got to be the leader this time.

“Hey, it’s not my fault there was a cockatrice on the loose that day! And I don’t care how tired your back is! We need that water in case we get covered in tree sap! And because you’re an earth pony so you’re the only one strong enough to carry something so heavy!” Scootaloo retorted. In many of their quests to obtain their cutie marks, they somehow got covered in tree sap, which worried Scootaloo especially because tree sap is difficult to remove from feathers.

“I don’t know, I think I agree with Applebloom on this.” The final filly commented. Her name was Sweetie belle. She was a unicorn with white fur, and a curly pink and purple mane. She was probably the smartest of the three children. After all, she did read an entire dictionary once. “And last time Rarity found out I was in there, I got grounded for a week! Or maybe that was because I knocked over all of her dress-making supplies?” She pondered; bring a hoof up to her chin as she contemplated the reasoning behind her punishment.

“Come on, you guys, I know where the comet landed! It’s not to far away from Zecora’s hut. And we go there all the time! We can just go in, get it, stop by Zecora’s hut, and leave before any of YOUR family knows were we went.” Scootaloo’s comment made the other two flinch. It was known that Scootaloo was an orphan, and whenever the other two talked about having people that worried about their well being she became defensive. Sweetie walked over to the pegasus and gave her a friendly embrace.

“Ah guess if Applejack wonders where ah am ah could say we were with Zecora.” Applebloom spoke up to reassure her friend. Zecora was a Zebra. She was friendly enough, and she got along well with everypony. But whenever she talked, it was in rhymes. This made communicating with her somewhat tricky. Scootaloo returned Sweeties embrace, and slowly but surely regained her energy.

“Thanks girls. It’s nice to know that I have friends like you. That I can lean on when times get tough. No matter what.” The two separated and turned their attention toward the looming Everfree forest.

“And before we go,” All three fillies took in a deep breath and screamed at the top of their little lungs.

“ CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS COMET FINDERS GO!!! ” They then quickly galloped into the forest.

Meanwhile, at Zecora’s hut:

Zecora’s hut was filled with the sounds of…nothing. All was quiet at this hour, and the foreign mare was happily sleeping in her bed. Zecora had no big plans for today. She had preformed her weekly rituals yesterday, and she didn’t have to find any more ingredients for any potions. No, she was just going to relax and enjoy her morning… Until a sharp rapture pierced her home and almost scared the poor creature out of her skin.

“Zecora? Are ya in there?” Applebloom asked from outside her hut. Zecora wearily opened her door to greet them, still trying to fight off the sleep they had robbed from her.

“And hello to you, young Applebloom.” She said with a yawn. She smiled warmly, but she was angry about this encounter. Why are they even here at this hour? Did their parents know about this?

“Hey, Zecora, did you notice the comet fall into the forest two days ago?” Sweetie asked politely, like always. The gears in the zebra’s mind started turning, grogginess leaving in turn for alertness and attention.

“This object, I did see fall. But what makes it so special for you all?”

“We wanted to try and find our cutie marks in treasure hunting!” The three of them said simultaneously. They looked they were about to burst with excitement with what they might find. “Can you come with us, Zecora? It would much safer if you did.” Sweetie still didn’t want to be in the forest, but Zecora was a responsible adult, she wouldn’t let anything bad happen.

“That comet holds something dark, I can tell. To venture there would not end well.” It is best to ward off the fillies from that place, she told herself. She had seen the comet crash as well. (She was in the neighborhood at the time) Even though she had not yet seen it, it gave off an aura. A dark, flowing energy that somepony with a stable mind would not dare touch with a forty-nine and a half foot pole.

“But Zecora, we just want to see it once!” Scootaloo begged. “We can look at it, and then go home, okay?” Her eyes began to fill with tears as she pleaded with the zebra.

Something inside the zebra knew that to dissuade these children from whatever they have their sights on is like trying to argue with a manticore: Tedious and it might get you killed. Looking back at their faces, still filled with undying conviction, she released a sigh of defeat. It was far too early for her to deal with this; surely a glimpse of the comet would not be a bad thing?

“Before we go, I must prepare some tea. I cannot venture with my stomach empty.” Zecora let them inside her hut while she drearily lit a fire in her fire pit, pouring the water the crusaders brought with them into a kettle to get it to boil, letting a very grateful Applebloom rest her back. As the water begun to heat up, the fillies wandered around, trying to occupy themselves. Applebloom helped prepare the tea and some breakfast for the zebra, while Sweetie was checking out some of the wooden masks from Zecoras homeland. Even though the zebra had told them that they symbolized good will and hospitality, they still looked unsettling.

Scootaloo had seen a jar hanging precariously over the edge of a shelf. She tried to hover using her tiny wings, and thanks to the practice time with Rainbow dash, she actually managed to fly up to the jar.She grabbed it with her fore hoofs, cheering to herself in her head. You ROCK Scootaloo! She imagined her hero saying. At this rate you’ll be as fast as me! Well maybe not that fast. Still hovering, she pushed the jar back into its proper place on the shelf, before descending to the floor. Her orange face almost split apart as she grinned with more sheer joy than ever before.

“Wow Scootaloo, you’re getting better at flying all the time!” Sweetie congratulated her friend. Zecora stepped back into the room. Having finished making the tea, she set aside some for all of them, motioning for them to sit down. She had to tell them that this desire for adventure was best left unfulfilled.

10 minutes of futile pleading and begging later:

The Cutie mark Crusaders and their escort Zecora, were finally ready to find the comet. Zecora had tried to make the little ponies see the danger they might be in here in the forest, but they were as stubborn as a brick wall. She tried explaining that the comet was giving off an aura that scared off even the most fearsome of Everfree predators. Scootaloo simply laughed at the supposed fearsomeness of said creatures. The monochromatic mare tried to tell them that it was too early for this kind of journey, but the sun had to say otherwise, judging by the way it lit up her house with its radiant glow a moment later. Defeated, she led them outside to begin this hopefully short venture into the forest depths.

“All right, little fillies follow me. If this exciting comet, you wish to see.” Zecora then began trotting off deeper into the forest. The cutie mark crusaders followed suite.

The Hyperion: Jim Raynor’s Bedroom:

Time until arrival:

6 days: 17 hours

Jim bolted upright in his bed. He was panting heavily, beads of sweat ran down his forehead. His white shirt was glued to his chiseled chest by his own perspiration. He glanced at the bedside table and flipped the lamp on. With the room filled with light, he reached out to grab his most cherished keepsake: a picture of Sahara Kerrigan before she became infested. He ran his finger over the small photograph, reveling in the times they shared, and the future they hoped for.

His thoughts turned darker, now that she was this monster, she had committed atrocities far greater than anything he had experienced. The casualties resulting from her control of the swarm measured in the billions. And though it hurt Jim to do it, she had to die. Or did she?

An old ally had recently visited Jim: Zeratul, a wise, old, protoss Dark Templar. They fought the zerg swarm alongside each other many times, and had developed a strong companionship. This was cemented when Jim helped defend the protoss home world from what was almost the ENTIRE swarm. Even though the planet eventually succumbed, his contributions were invaluable in the evacuation of the protoss.

Zeratul had appeared suddenly on the ship one night, giving Raynor a memory crystal, and instructions to study its contents. For within it lay the key to the galaxy’s salvation. At first Jim didn’t know what to think about this ordeal, but Zeratul seemed to be in pain, and he told him that Kerrigan was involved in the destruction of the universe.

James placed his hand on his heated forehead and shook the grogginess out of his system. He wouldn’t sleep. Not until he lived that final memory from the crystal. It was a vision of the future that the Zerg Overmind saw. A future in which, Kerrigan was dead. He rose from his bed, putting on a clean shirt, his cargo pants and boots, and begun making his way slowly to the lab. The previous visions from the crystal flooded his mind as he walked down the empty corridors.

A terrible fate was soon to befall the galaxy. Through the messages, Raynor had discovered the presence of a Zerg and Protoss hybrid. It wasn’t natural; it was as if something took the greatest traits of both races and forcefully twisted them together. And if Jim was correct, then there were a lot more where that one came from. And whatever was controlling them was not going to mess around….

Meanwhile in Ponyville:

Dash flew over to the Library where Twilight lived and knocked loudly on the door. No answer. She tried calling to her instead. “Helllooooooooo? Twilight, you in there?” There was still no answer. She backed up a few steps, thinking to herself. ‘What’s with Twilight today? She usually gets up pretty early. Maybe something important happened.’ She looked at the position of the sun. It looked to be about 9:30. So she should definitely be awake by now. And if not her, then her assistant Spike would have opened it instead. Quickly losing all uncertainty about her course of action, Rainbow did the next thing that came to mind.

Dash quickly turned around on her forelegs and bucked the door right off its hinges. The sight before her Dash had seen many times before. But it still made her uneasy. Twilight and Spike were both asleep in the middle of the library, which looked like she had just randomly tossed every book off the shelves without a second thought! And given how well she treated books, this was a shock.

As soon as Dash kicked the door, Twilight woke up with a screech. She then started running back and forth from bookshelf to bookshelf, mumbling incoherently to herself. While she was putting books back on the shelves, Dash could only make out a few words like, “re-shelving day” and “oversleeping” and “banishment” while Spike tried desperately to calm her down. Dash normally would have tried to snap her friend out of it, but she was in a hurry.

“Meh, its Spike’s problem now.” She said with a shrug as she flew off to Applejacks farm. “Maybe AJ knows where Scoots is.”

The Hyperion’s Lab:

Jim looked down upon the alien crystal, its final memory waiting to be relived. He shuddered slightly, not wanting to know what horrible fate awaited them. He looked around the lab once more. Stettman had left for his own bed a while ago, but he might return at any moment. Turning back to the table at his waist, he sighed.

“I don’t think I want to see any vision of the Overmind’s. But if Kerrigan’s involved, we need to know.” The crystal began glowing brightly as Raynor watched the prophetic vision. The Overmind’s deep voice echoed through his mind as he saw the Protoss prepare themselves for their ultimate destiny.

“On a distant, shadowed world, the protoss will make their final stand. Their heroes will gather. Their forces will be marshaled. And they will die, bravely. But still, they will die. And my zerg will become slaves, to the hybrid.” The Overmind’s voice faded as a new scene came into focus.

An army of protoss warriors had bunkered themselves inside an enormous fortress. Shining phoenixes patrolled the skies, providing support for the hundreds of void rays and carriers that made up the impressive fleet. Imposing colossi stood ready at each of the fortress’ three bridges, ready to burn anything in their field of vision to ashes with their thermal lances. Lastly, Raynor saw Zeratul, standing tall and proud in front of a legion of protoss warriors, High and Dark Templar alike, standing shoulder to shoulder with their psionic blades high above their heads. The end had come, but they sure as hell wouldn’t go down without a fight. Raynor absorbed as much of this scene as he could take, for it was truly a battle of life and death.

Back to the Cutie Mark Crusaders:

The four of them had been marching along the path quietly for while now. Applebloom looked up at the now completely awake Zecora. She seemed to be shuddering, like a cold wind was blowing past her back. She asked what was wrong, and the zebra simply told her she was all right, but that they should not linger in this place. Scootaloo tripped over a rock when they arrived at a sharp turn in the path; tumbling into Sweetie in the process. The white filly got up and turned to her friend.

“Would you watch were you are going?” She asked while brushing herself off.

“It’s not my fault there was a rock in the way!” Scootaloo shouted back angrily.

“If you weren’t so clumsy, it wouldn’t have mattered!” Applebloom and Zecora kept walking, there was a clearing up ahead, once they arrived, they could rest and get the two to stop fighting. Then they arrived; and their jaws dropped in awe of the sight before them. Scoots and Sweetie kept walking and bickering the whole time, not noticing that the other two had stopped moving until they walked right beside them.

“What are you looking…at?” Sweetie’s white face grew even paler as she saw the hideous wreckage that lay before them.

The remains of the carrier were charred to a dark black. The pieces of the hull that still retained its gold coloration were twisted into horrifying caricatures of what they once were. The impact of the hull on the ground had created a massive crater, with some smoke rising from the flaming carcass of the mighty spacecraft.

The ship had landed in two distinct, equally gargantuan pieces that lay not too far apart from each other. The parts that show they used to be connected sparked with electricity occasionally. And there was no doubt that any creature that was on board this ship was certainly dead. Many of the nearby trees had been snapped in half, or crushed under the ship’s enormous weight. As the four of them stood in disbelief, Scoots noticed something at the bottom of the crater. Peering downward, she could barely make out a small, glittering object, seemingly untouched by the carnage around it.

“I think I can see something down there!” Scootaloo called out to her friends. They were all mesmerized by the strange ship, so her words did not reach them. Rolling her eyes, she called out again to get their attention. “I’m going to check it out.” Before anypony could react, Scootaloo had jumped into the crater, flapping her wings as fast as she could to slow her fall. Her friends called out to her, but they realized she couldn’t hear them from down there, so they began the slow decent to the bottom of the impact site.

Meanwhile, at Sweet Apple Acres:

Rainbow and Applejack got along very well together. They were very competitive and could turn almost anything into a contest. Normally, the only reason Rainbow would show up to the farm on a weekend would be to brag about how cool she was. But this was urgent.  Dash didn’t have any free time right now. She saw Applejack just resting against a tree, with her Stetson hat pulled over her eyes. Rainbow flew over to her friend and hovered right next to her.

“Hey, AJ! Have you seen Scoots around anywhere? She was supposed to meet me for flight practice today but she never showed up and I’m really worried because something terrible might have happened and was she here at all today?” Rainbow was frantic, and practically shot the questions out at a hundred miles an hour.

“Yes ah have seen Scootaloo today.” AJ replied calmly, pushing up her hat to get a view of her friend. “She wanted ta take ma sister somewhere, somethin’ about crusadin’ or somethin’. Ya know those three are always up to somethin’.” It was true, the three fillies did have a lot of adventures, and unless they directly needed help, they usually kept to themselves.

“Well, I kind of figured out THAT much!” Dash yelled, still hovering with her wings in front of her friend. “I just need to know where they went. Did they say where they were going?” Dash asked, quickly losing her patience and temper.

“Ah think they said something about a comet. Why? Does that help?”

Dash’s mind suddenly stopped. She had seen the comet fall into the Everfree forest. It was very late, so not many other ponies saw it. But if Scoots did see it, then she was in extreme danger. She should know better than to just wander into the forest like that. “Oh man! Why did she have to go there?” Dash swiftly turned around, and took off in the direction of the forest, leaving her friend in the dust.

At the Impact Site…

Scootaloo had managed to get to the bottom of the crater without sustaining any harm. She was proud of herself for being able to suspend her fall like that. Dusting herself off, she turned back to the mighty craft. Now that she was face-to-face with the hull of the ship, she felt a surge of anger flow through her entire being. The object that she thought she saw turned out to be nothing more than a black rectangle with weird markings on it.

“A BOX? THIS IS WHAT I CAME DOWN HERE FOR!” Scootaloo shrieked in disbelief. This treasure could have been anything. It could have been diamonds, or some rock worth MORE than diamonds! Scootaloo started to leave the wreckage, but as she did, she noticed something odd about the box; there was a huge hole in the side of it.

“Whoa.” Was the only thing she was able to say. It looked like something had burnt right through the black container, but what? What could have made such a massive ship crash like this? As she stood there gawking at it, the other three managed to get down to her.

“Scootaloo!” Applebloom screamed. “What did ya do that for? Ya nearly scared me to death!” She was relived that her friend was okay. But something was off. Scoots kept looking at the black box. “What is that thing?” Everypony just shook their heads. Even Zecora, who seemed to know everything, was unsure as to what this box was holding.

“In this place we should not be, so let us turn our backs and flee.” Zecora said with a worried look. As she glanced around the area, it grew more and more unsettling. This place was giving off a powerful energy, and she was worried about what else it might attract.

“I don’t wanna go just yet.” Scootaloo spoke in a determined voice. “Not until we find out what’s in this box.” The other two fillies tried to get their friend to budge, but she was passionate about this discovery. This was HER adventure. HER treasure.  She saw the comet fall. SHE was going to discover what this box contained. Not even Celestia herself could move her from this spot.

With a defeated sigh, Zecora walked up to the box. “If it will satisfy your curiosity, then the contents of this box, we shall see.” Zecora then pushed against the box with her forelegs. Tilting it until the object inside came tumbling out of the hole in its side.

It was a small, blue triangular prism with light blue markings around its body that had a bright, luminous glow to it. It seemed to give off a certain…. Energy. They couldn’t explain it, but just by looking at it, they could tell that it carried unbelievable powers.

“Um, okay, we saw it. Can we go back home now?” Sweetie asked. Unsure of what the object was and determined not to find out. But even as she said this, Scootaloo, as if possessed by this object, began reaching out for it.

Scootaloo could barely hear her friend’s voices. Their warnings to turn away: to get out of the crater before something terrible happened. Their pleas fell on deaf ears. Scootaloo knew that, just as that rock had been Rarity’s destiny: This object was going to be hers. As she touched its surface, her thoughts were instantly melted away as she plummeted into a dark void.

The Hyperion’s Lab:

The never-ending battle against the swarm was becoming more and more futile by the minute. They were surrounding the protoss base, and it was only thanks to the arrival of hierarch Artanis and his powerful mother ship that they managed to survive at all. They had fought the hybrid back for now, and they were doing the best they could to recover, but it truly seemed that their efforts were in vain. Their powerful fleet had been reduced to almost nothing, the mighty colossi looked as if they would topple over at any minute, and the high Templars had exhausted every last drop of their energy. They had almost nothing left, and soon, they would meet their creators in the afterlife.

Outside of the memory, Stettman walked back into the lab. The nerd stretched out his back and yawned loudly, getting ready to go back to his research. He quickly noticed that commander Raynor was deeply entranced by the crystal, as he did whenever he looked into it. But something was off. He turned his head to see that the three artifacts were glowing. Faintly at first, but slowly increasing in intensity.

“Fascinating.”

****

The inside of Scootaloo’s head became a raging torrent of mindless thoughts. Her mind was bombarded by memories and sounds that meant nothing to her. She thought she would just keep falling forever in this void, but slowly, the feeling ceased. She got up to her hooves; unsure of what exactly she was standing on in this place. She put some pressure on the ground beneath her, and found it to be firm. Satisfied that the earth was not going to break away from underneath her, she gave the darkness around her full attention. The world around her started rippling, like a pool of water that somepony had thrown a rock in. It became more and more intense, until an image formed in place of the darkness.

The image formed in front of her, as if she was looking through a mirror at the violent scene. She saw a massive- no, massive wasn’t enough to describe this army. The numbers of these beings must have been in the millions. The group of aliens lied on a blood stained, ash covered battlefield. The alien beings wore gold plating with strange markings on their clothes, and appeared to be writhing in anguish over something, but she could not tell what. She thought to herself, “Why are these creatures so sad? What’s happening?”

****

A dark, echoing voice pierced through the remaining protoss entrenchments. Coursing through the minds of all that were there. The creator of the hybrid had come at last to destroy them all. And though the protoss stood their ground, all hope had vanished.

“FOOLISH, PRIDEFUL CHILDREN, THERE WAS ONE AMONG YOU WHO COULD HAVE JEAPORDIZED MY GREAT PLAN. BUT IN YOUR RECKLESSNESS, YOU MISSTOOK HER FOR THE TRUE THREAT!” With the realization dawning on him, Zeratul fell to his knees.

“The Queen of Blades! How could we have known?”

****

Scootaloo was completely and utterly confused. Who was this queen of blades? Why was she so important? Who was talking to those aliens just now? What is going on? Why are they fighting these other things? What ARE those other things?  As she pondered, the aliens in her sight were viciously torn apart by yet another race of aliens of all shapes and sizes. Anything from flying, tube-like creatures with bat wings that spewed balls of acid: to hulking monstrosities with four scythe-like blades that tore through bone and metal alike. The heroic, gold-wearing aliens had been brought to extinction before her eyes, and she could not be more perplexed by it all.

The image in Scootaloo’s mind faded, until all that was left was the dark void. She was even more confused. What was going on here? Nothing was making any sense at all! Who were the good guys? It couldn’t be those hideous, purple things, right? They were awful to look at, much less fight!

She held her head in her hooves, trying to make head or tails of anything that she just witnessed in that horrid event. She suddenly got the feeling that the temperature around just dropped twenty degrees. She began shivering uncontrollably, and she felt a presence behind her. She slowly turned her head to see a gargantuan pair of glowing, red eyes. Her jaw dropped in fear as the monstrous figure loomed over her miniscule form. It did nothing, only glaring at her fiercely, like she was a fly buzzing around somepony’s face.

She bolted up in fear, adrenalin pumping through her veins as she fled for her life from this monstrosity. As she galloped away as fast as she could through this infinite darkness, she turned head back to see that the pair of eyes had not moved away from her in the slightest. Her own pupils dilating in fear: she let loose a bloodcurdling scream and stopped running. Scootaloo covered her head with her legs in a vain and desperate attempt to hide her tiny form, only to hear the phantom’s bellowing laugh.

“YOU HAVE NO PLACE TO HIDE, AND NOWHERE TO RUN!” The cruel, merciless laughter of this monster echoes powerfully through the void, consuming the frightened filly completely. Then suddenly, it stopped. She moved one hoof from over her eye to peer into the shadows, and the monster was no longer there. Breathing a mighty sigh of relief, she fell onto her back, panting and sweating. She lay on the cold blackness for some time, content with not having random visions flung into her mind.

After a while she sat upright, waiting for something to happen. Then it occurred to her, “What if I can’t get out of here?” she asked out to the darkness. And in response, a bright flash of light pierced the veil of shadows. It was blindingly bright, like staring at the sun for too long. When it faded, the darkness had been replaced with a calm, white room. She looked at the ground again, it seemed like there were blue carvings in the white reflective floor. She could not make out a singular pattern, but they were glowing faintly, just like the artifact had been.

She looked around the room, seeing golden pillars than ran up and up, until a fog-like substance swallowed them up. It lingered near the floor as well, just under her heels, but it was a soothing sensation that she welcomed heartily. This place did not appear to have any walls, just a long stretch of pillars that formed a sort of half-circle. At the center of this circle was a massive throne. Made of gold and adorned with the same glowing runes everything in this place seemed to have, it sat in silence.

Noticing something out of the corner of her eye, she looked at the carvings on the floor. The blue trace marks glowed brightly, and the pillars lit up as well. Each sending forth a ray of light that impacted the seat of the throne until the glow became so intense that the filly had to shield her eyes.

After the light had settled, Scootaloo heard a voice. She tried to find the source of the voice, but it seemed to come from all around her. Whipping her head around, she saw that there was a hazy, blue figure in the throne. This creature seemed familiar almost. It was very tall, wearing a long, flowing cape that came down to its feet. It had its legs crossed, and the creature was resting its chin on the palm of its hand. Then she realized; this was one of those creatures she saw in that earlier vision! But what did it want with her? After looking her over, this creature finally spoke, uncrossing its legs and sitting up straight.

“I am Nyon, Protoss executor and leader of the Tal’Darim. I am communicating with you via these artifacts.” His voice was deep and commanding, yet the filly wondered how it could talk without a mouth. It gave Scoots the impression that those under this creature’s command would follow his orders without a second thought.

“You who have touched our holy relic shall be given a task to prove your worth. If you are unsure of the task at hand, allow me to shed some light on the situation.” The apparition clapped his hands together, and the white world around them turned into a lush jungle. With flying birds and animals and plants the likes of which she had never even dreamed of. Large waterfalls dotted the landscape, and massive structures were scattered here and there. They looked to be altars, and there was something at the center of each one.

A mysterious purple gas was flowing freely from the altars. The Tal’Darim were worshiping it, as far as the filly could tell. And they clearly sought to protect it, judging by the army they had stationed at each one. One of them stood up from his position at the altar. It was Nyon! Scoots turned to the apparition, who had a grim look on his featureless face.

In this vision, Nyon marched over to a clearing in the jungle, and saw several humongous structures. Scoots could tell that they were not the buildings of the protoss; they were completely different in design and coloration. There were several creatures standing guard, they were huge, blue monsters and they carried what Scoots assumed was a weapon in their claws. She noticed that one of these other creatures was taking the gas from the altar! Nyon psionically projected his voice to the leader of these trespassers in an attempt to drive them off without the use of force.

“This land was sacred to the Tal’Darim, before Terrans ever reached the stars!” So those other creatures are called Terrans? The filly thought to herself. “You must depart, immediately.” The Terran commander, a black creature who appeared larger than all the rest, stepped forward and looked at Nyon sympathetically. He pushed a button on his helmet, and the gold, skull-adorned dome on its face came up, revealing a face that greatly contrasted Nyon’s own.

He had a nose, ears and a mouth, and a short, scruffy beard covered his mouth. His eyes had a look of compassion that Scoots was not expected. When he spoke, he almost sounded like Applejack.

“Hold on now, we just need some of this gas here. And we’ll be long gone before ya know it.” Nyon instantly became furious, startling the filly with his aggression.

“NO! You shall not defile the breath of creation!” He teleported away from the enemy camp, and the vision faded into a different location. The planet was barren, like everything on it had been dead for a terribly long time. There were more protoss structures, and a gargantuan temple in the distance. There was something attacking the door to the temple, and as the vision turned, she could see it was those same Terrans from before!

“Man! Why can’t those guys just leave Nyon alone! He never did anything to them!” Scoots shouted at the vision. She witnessed the Tal’Darim fiercely fight to protect their artifacts. She saw them give their own lives to defend them, but it was in vain. For in the end, the Terrans escaped with the relic. The vision faded, and she turned to face Nyon. He looked down at her with a powerful resolve.

“We will come to this planet to retrieve the fallen artifact. Until then, it must be you who keeps it away from those who would seek to abuse it. Until I arrive, guard this treasure with your life. Its powers are far too great for this world.” With that, the protoss apparition vanished, and Scoots was violently pulled out of the white void.

“Scoots! Scoots! Snap out of it!” Applebloom was viciously shaking her friend, trying to bring her back to the world. Scoots just hung limply in her friends’ hooves. Her eyes moved around lazily, and her breathing was irregular. Sweetie started crying. Her uncontrollable sobs were long and full of despair. Zecora checked Scoot’s heart rate. She was still alive, just unconscious. Just as Zecora was about to tell the two of them to leave, Rainbow Dash appeared over the clearing.

Dash looked around the Impact site, looking for Scoots desperately. Suddenly she saw an emergency flare go up, just barely missing her left wing. She looked around in shock. When her gaze drifted downward, she could see the Cutie mark crusaders and Zecora. She flew down to the bottom as quickly as she could. When she got closer, she almost crashed into the ground from shock. Scootaloo was unconscious and breathing irregularly.

Dash grabbed Scoots and started shaking her vigorously. “Come on, squirt! What’s wrong with you?” Her voice was shaky, and she wasn’t sure what to do. Nothing like this had ever happened before. “I’ll take her to Ponyville hospital. You three go to Twilight's house. Tell her EVERYTHING that happened.” With that, Dash cradled her unconscious friend in her forelegs, and took off for Ponyville. There were so many questions she wanted to ask them, but none of them mattered now. The only thing that was important was making sure her little friend was okay.

The Hyperion’s Lab:

The last message from the crystal was finished. Zeratul had given Raynor his parting words of wisdom. That was the fate of all things, should Kerrigan die. Utter destruction. He was horrified. After all the atrocities she had committed, that woman would be the one to prevent the apocalypse? He closed his eyes and backed away from the crystal. Jim brought his hand to his temples and applied some light pressure. Without acknowledging Stettman in the slightest, he left to the cantina. No way could he possibly sleep after that.

With the lab empty once again, Stettman began wondering why the artifacts were glowing like that just now. What secrets did they hold? What marvels could be uncovered by it? After thinking very carefully, he decided against it. Raynor would probably go into a rage if he found out he had been messing with the artifacts. Or they would explode or something, knowing his luck, so the nerd walked out of the lab as well, turning off the lights, and leaving the artifacts untouched… for now.