//------------------------------//
// The quest for the zergling's egg-mate 
// Story: Fluttershy's Pet Zergling 
// by DragonLady 
//------------------------------//


The Quest for Swift’s egg-mate


Later in the day that she had found the zergling, Fluttershy went to the library to find Twilight. She needed to find out more about Swift and his kind if she was going to take care of it long-term. Fluttershy stared down the shut door of the library. The large tree, hollowed out yet still alive, was imposing. Butterflies began to dance around in Fluttershy’s stomach. She didn’t want to interrupt Twilight if she was doing anything important. Fluttershy stifled a giggle at the fact that a wooden door was constructed into the tree – which itself was made of wood. She knew she was nervous if silly things like this amused her. Fluttershy sucked in a deep breath, stepped forward and tapped on the door lightly. 

Fluttershy waited tensely for several seconds. “Um, Twilight must not be home at the moment so I… I’ll just go now,” she murmured to herself. Fluttershy turned around and trotted off, and was about to make her escape when Twilight called out to her.

“Fluttershy, what a pleasant surprise it is to see you. Come in.”

Fluttershy turned around slowly to look at Twilight. “Um, Twilight, I wasn’t interrupting anything important… was I?” Fluttershy replied, hesitating.

“Of course not,” Twilight said, smiling warmly. She trotted inside, and Fluttershy meekly followed her. “Why have you come to visit today?”

“I’m sorry, but I wanted to ask a question, about, um…” Fluttershy trailed off. The silence lasted for several seconds before Twilight replied to the fidgeting, anxious mare.

“About what?” Twilight asked patiently.

“You see, I found an animal today,” Fluttershy began, “It, um, told me it was a zergling, and I don’t know what that is, so…” Fluttershy trailed off weakly as she saw Twilight’s concerned look. 

“Spike!” Twilight called out, “Find the library’s copy of the Compendium of Zerg Creatures, I need to look up something for Fluttershy.”

“I was just about to have a nap,” the two mares heard a certain dragon groan. Spike reluctantly rose, and dragged himself over to the bookcase. He traversed up a teetering ladder, and searched through the books. He pulled out an ancient, tattered, thin book out of the bookcase. Twilight enclosed it in her magic and brought the book down to herself.

“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight said as Spike toppled off the ladder and landed on the floor with a loud thud. Twilight opened the book, unperturbed as the ladder fell on him with a crash. “Let’s see,” Twilight muttered, “Zerglings… there they are. Now, let me read the passage from this book out to you.”

“Zerglings. Basic Description.

“Zerglings are a staple unit of any Zerg Brood. They are relatively small, weak, but voracious creatures. Zerglings are massed in vast numbers by the Brood to overwhelm any opponent. Zerglings always hatch in a set of twins out of their eggs, and they hatch quickly. This enables large numbers of zerglings to be produced in a short period of time.” Fluttershy shuddered at the description of zerglings. Swift didn’t seem to be a bloodthirsty killer – but Fluttershy conceded the book may have a point when she thought about it. She knew that Swift had sharp teeth, and claws that arch over its back; allowing it to stay sturdy on four legs when attacking. Twilight continued reading out of her book, “a zergling is slightly smaller than a pony. Its distinguishing features are the claws that originate from its back, and its sleek, streamlined appearance,” Twilight continued, “There are several mutations that zerglings can undergo to increase their usefulness in battle. These will be outlined further in the next two sections.

“In-battle mutations.

“Zerglings have two in-battle mutations. The first and most common, Zerg Wings, cause a pair of wing-like, membranous structures to erupt from their lower back. These wings enable the zergling to run faster, at approximately the double speed of regular, unmutated zerglings. The second in-battle mutation, the Adrenal Glands, is rare and was only documented once in the Great Zerg Invasion. This mutation was not thoroughly studied because of the lack of occurrences, and its effects were never confirmed. The dominant theory is this mutation greatly increased the attack speed of the zergling.

“Set mutations. 

“There were three observed set mutations. The first to be discussed are the mysterious Finned Zerglings. This mutation is distinguished by a large fin trailing down the back of the zergling. The fins themselves provide no obvious benefit to the zergling. However, these zerglings were almost always present in overwhelming numbers in town sieges. This fact, and an unsubstantiated account of a soldier, caused the spread of the unconfirmed rumour that Finned Zerglings hatch in batches of triplets instead of twins. The second type of set mutation is the Armoured Zerglings. Armoured Zerglings are generally distinguished by a lack of any other visible set mutation. On close inspection, a thickened carapace is revealed to the shrewd inspector. These zerglings are tougher and able to withstand more damage, especially from aerial assault. Finally, but arguably the most dangerous of the set mutations, are the Sky Flight Zerglings. These zerglings have modified Zerg Wings. The Zerg Wings are larger in size, which enable small bursts of flight. This flight is used to hasten close combat engagement, leap up cliffs and barricades, and bring low-flying pegasus ponies out of the sky. Extra care must be taken to engage this type of zergling.”

Twilight closed the book, and floated it to a nearby desk, putting it down. She looked at Fluttershy, who was stunned at the description of her new pet. She couldn’t believe Swift was a biologically engineered killing machine – she knew it was a carnivore, but she didn’t know that every part of its body was tuned towards killing. The way Swift barked and chirped at her, the way it communicated with her; there was no way Swift was a killing machine, Fluttershy decided.

“Um… eep!” Fluttershy squeaked, as she backed away and tried to make herself look less substantial.  

“Hmm,” Twilight said; the cogs in her brain turned as she thought about the creature Fluttershy found. “You said you befriended one zergling?”

“Y-yes,” Fluttershy responded, “Swift was nice and friendly, not like how you were describing them in that book…”

“You named it?” Twilight asked. She knew that Fluttershy only named pets she intended to keep. Fluttershy nodded timidly. “Will you allow me to examine it?”

Fluttershy nodded again and led Twilight to her cottage.


*


“Hmm… this is interesting,” Twilight murmured. She was examining Swift with her magic, the purple aura shimmering and shifting over different parts of its body. “I can feel its innate nature, its hunger for bloodshed and death. But that instinct is being supressed by something. However, I can’t discern what that something is. It also appears to be detached from any higher controlling power, such as a brood mother.” Swift barked at the pair of ponies in recognition. It flashed its teeth, appearing to smile. 

“I knew you were harmless, my little Swift,” Fluttershy crooned to the happy zergling. 

“Swift isn’t harmless,” Twilight corrected, “Its instincts are merely being blocked, Fluttershy. If these instincts surface, I don’t think even you can bring the creature to reason.”

“I trust Swift,” Fluttershy stated somewhat recklessly. She glared directly into Twilight’s eyes, her teal orbs burning with an inner fire. “I believe in Swift, that it can overcome its own nature… if Swift chooses to do so, that is.” 

Twilight’s mind whirred, preparing a lecture to Fluttershy about the hive mind. She hit a snag when she gazed at Swift, a zergling that should be tearing them to shreds. Looking at the situation, Twilight realised there was much that they didn’t know about the Zerg. Most of the information was speculation and theory – all of it disproven merely by the sight in front of her. “I trust you, Fluttershy,” Twilight began, “You’re capable of choosing on your own if you want to take care of Swift. Please, be careful. I’ll see you later, Fluttershy.”

“Um… are you going home now?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, I have examined the zergling and my curiosity has been satisfied. I also have a lot of re-shelving work to do at the library this afternoon,” Twilight answered.

“Bye Twilight, sorry for the inconvenience,” Fluttershy said, waving her hoof at Twilight as she turned around and trotted away from the cottage. 

Swift barked at Fluttershy to get her attention. Fluttershy turned to look at her newest pet. As Fluttershy finished her turn, Swift licked her face with a long, thin tongue. The zergling smiled at her, wagging its tail. 

“I like you too, Swift. Even if nopony else ever trusts you… I do, Swift. If you would like that, of course,” Fluttershy told Swift. Swift licked her face again, more enthusiastically. It then yapped to her three times, ruffling its wings urgently.

“Yes, I’m listening, what is it?” Fluttershy asked Swift. 

The zergling barked, yapped, and made many gestures with its body to explain its plight to Fluttershy. She listened and watched Swift, and understood its message. When the Zerg egg containing Swift hatched, there were two zerglings inside. Moments after hatching, Swift was knocked out by some mysterious force, and woke up with Fluttershy towering over it. Zerglings have an innate bond with the zergling it shared an egg with. Such a bond makes the two zerglings that hatched from one cocoon egg-mates. This bond means the egg-mates can feel each other’s presence, and pinpoint their approximate location in their minds through this instinctual connection. Swift told Fluttershy that it was going to find its egg-mate; the feeling of running on the wind with its egg-mate was something Swift wanted to experience. 

“Um, that’s wonderful, but I should go with you; after finding your egg-mate I don’t want you to get lost,” Fluttershy responded. Swift tilted its head to the right, in thought. “If you don’t mind that, that is…” Swift barked and nodded at her. “You’ll let me? Yay!”


*


“A-are you sure it’s this way?” Fluttershy nervously asked Swift. The zergling growled deeply in reply, discouraged by her questioning it. “Of course… I shouldn’t have doubted you, it’s just…” Fluttershy gulped, looking up the trunk of one of the trees, until her eyes rested on the canopy and the dark gaps reaching into the forest. She began shaking, wings clamped firmly to her sides. “It’s the Everfree Forest!” Swift regarded Fluttershy curiously, a quiet gurgle escaping its mouth. 

“But the Everfree Forest is dangerous! Eep… It’s dark and scary, and there’re monsters in there…” 

Swift’s eyes glowed a little bit brighter for a second as it thought of an idea. Glancing at Fluttershy and grinning, Swift quickly turned around and rushed recklessly into the forest. 

Fluttershy gasped; her thoughts tumbled into a mess of worry for the zergling. “W-wait, Swift!” she shouted – which was nearly as loud as a normal conversational tone. She galloped desperately after Swift, ignoring the branches she crashed headlong into. Swift remained just within sight of Fluttershy as they smashed through tangled vines, branches and leaves. The frantic dash quickly began to wear Fluttershy out; beads of sweat travelled down her face, and through her fur. A few minor lacerations on Fluttershy’s hooves made every hoof fall send stinging pain up her leg. Her muscles started to burn from lactic acid build-up as Swift finally slowed down. Fluttershy panted heavily as she trotted into the small clearing Swift has stopped in.

Fluttershy watched Swift approaching a hunched over figure. The claws arched over the top of its back signalled it out as Swift’s egg-mate. Splinters of wood were splattered in front of the zergling. Fluttershy gasped audibly – the splintered wood was all that remained of a timber wolf. The zergling’s body snapped around at the noise. It growled deeply at Fluttershy, crouching down and advancing like a lioness on the hunt. Its eye’s glow shifted from orange-yellow to red. Swift backed away to stand near Fluttershy, barking at its egg-mate to dissuade it. 

Fluttershy trembled with fear; she gazed into the cold, red eyes of Swift’s egg-mate and found only a hungry desire to kill. Fluttershy squealed as the zergling made subtle body adjustments, preparing to pounce. It roared as it leapt into the air, sharp claws aimed at Fluttershy. The claws were about to sink into the helpless pegasus before they were flung back because Swift pounced the other zergling in mid-air. The two zerglings landed heavily, Swift pinning the other zergling to the ground. Swift was on top of the other zergling, slashing it with its claws.   

Swift and its egg-mate fought in a dead even battle. They were essentially identical in every way – and so were their battle skills. However, Swift had dealt the first blow on the other zergling, and had the advantage. After they traded blows a few times, Swift’s egg-mate used its strike to push Swift off its body. The other zergling flipped over onto its feet deftly and dashed away, deeper into the forest. Swift leapt after it, but was stopped by its belly letting out a resounding, booming growl. With a start, Swift remembered the details of their encounter – the fact that it jumped into battle to protect a certain scared pegasus. The zergling turned to look at her; Fluttershy was attempting to get onto her hooves, her legs shaking as she straightened them. Her wings fluttered slowly to give her extra support, and a determined scowl softened into a weak smile as she noticed Swift was watching her. 

As Fluttershy finished stabilising herself, Swift approached her. It examined her; noticing her dishevelled look, the minor gashes on her fetlocks, and a few leaves in her hair. Swift yapped at Fluttershy with concern. 

“I’m sorry Swift… I’m fine, but you’re…”

Swift had several deep gashes where the other zergling had attacked it – one ran down its chest, ending near the stomach. Another was a small hole, but it penetrated Swift’s neck. Several red lines on Swift’s jaw and a fracture line on the carapace of Swift’s snout suggested that it got bitten. Swift leapt into the air, flapping its wings futilely before landing on the ground and flashing a grin at Fluttershy. 

“Are you sure you’ll be fine, Swift?” Fluttershy asked, worried. Swift nodded at her, and before she could argue, approached her. The zergling was gentle, removing the leaves entangled in Fluttershy’s smooth pink mane with one of its claws. Flicking his tongue, Swift dragged it through cream fur, removing the dirt off Fluttershy’s body. She enjoyed the caring attention Swift gave her, cleaning her up. The dancing tongue then moved to Fluttershy’s hooves, cleaning her minor wounds. They stung a little as Swift’s dry tongue swept over them, but she ignored it. When Swift was done, it pulled back from Fluttershy and smiled.

She smiled back at Swift and thanked it. About to move to clean up Swift’s wounds, Fluttershy gasped as she noticed something. The wounds on its neck had completely closed up, and the other two gashes were less noticeable. Swift’s belly growled at it again, cutting off any comment Fluttershy had. In less than a second, Swift had turned around, leapt at the timber wolf’s ‘corpse’ and began to consume it. Splinters of wood were shattered by zergling teeth with resounding cracks, the shards flying down its throat without a problem. Fluttershy watched Swift satisfy its hunger with fascination. She approached it, and veered around to examine its front. The cuts and gashes were gone – Swift appeared to be in perfect health, even the carapace had been healed. It had completely regenerated its body. The zergling turned to face Fluttershy, wagging its tail. It yapped enthusiastically, and it moved its body energetically. 

“S-sorry, but I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Swift,” Fluttershy stammered. The reality of being in the Everfree Forest started to close in on her. A resonating, dark animalistic growl slipped through Swift’s teeth and into Fluttershy’s ears. She noticed the usually friendly zergling crouch like its egg-mate – it was ready to pounce – and the glow of its eyes began to shift from orange to red. 

“Eeep! I’m so sorry Swift; I’ll go with you,” Fluttershy gulped. Swift smiled, once again appearing unthreatening. The zergling began to walk slowly and purposefully, apparently on a direct course for its egg-mate, as it did not follow the path sliced through the trees by its fleeing. Fluttershy meekly tip-hoofed after her companion. She was terrified, because of the forest, being separated from her zergling, and a little bit for Swift itself. She had seen the traces of its evolved nature seeping out of the caring exterior. Swift used its claws to clear low lying undergrowth in its path. Methodically and steadily, Swift approached its target. 

After many minutes of trotting, Fluttershy hoped that they were close to their destination. The only thing that stopped her being completely frozen with terror was Swift, confidently walking somewhere that only it knew. Nonetheless, her eyes skittered around nervously, glancing at impenetrable walls of trees on all sides of her, and her wings were plastered to her sides. Swift paused, searching for something unknown to Fluttershy. Preoccupied with her rising fear, she nearly ran into Swift. 

An ungodly scream rang out from the trees nearby on the right. That was followed quickly by crunching grass and cracking branches. Swift turned its head and began to ready its claws; but it was too late, as its egg-mate leapt and crashed through the tree wall at Swift, Fluttershy crying out too late. The egg-mate’s eyes glowed crimson, and its sharp claws were curved over its back, ready to strike.  It slammed into Swift, causing them to tumble into the bushes. The foe gained the advantage, sinking its claw into Swift’s left side. Swift attacked the egg-mate furiously, swiping its claws into its foe’s flesh as fast as it could, while scrambling onto its feet. Pouncing out of the fight, Swift howled out at Fluttershy.

She opened her mouth in terror, but no sound came out. Swift had no time to stop or explain any further, as the enraged egg-mate burst out onto the path, intent on killing its prey. Dashing towards Fluttershy, Swift stooped low as it skidded towards her. It pushed its left zerg wing out, angling it perfectly. The wing caught Fluttershy within its membrane and then Swift flicked it forward. She realised what Swift did as she was soaring through the air. Landing with a thud on Swift’s back, Fluttershy gripped  Swift as well as she could with her hooves and hung on. 

The manoeuvre cost Swift a vital second – which was a second too many, allowing its egg-mate to clamp onto the tip of Swift’s tail. With Fluttershy secure on its back, Swift did the only viable action – it surged forward, the sudden motion tearing the end of Swift’s tail clean off. It then dashed at full speed, careening along the path it had created to reach the egg-mate. That egg-mate was hot in pursuit, rushing after Swift equally as fast. Swift never slowed down, and never faltered from the paths that lead it and Fluttershy into the forest. The rush was both exhilarating and terrifying to Fluttershy – the speed was incredible, but hearing the egg-mate snap and bark behind her was unnerving. She understood, in these moments, why Rainbow Dash loved flying at ridiculous speeds. Adrenaline coursed through Fluttershy, making the speed more bearable to her senses. 

After a few minutes of high speed sprinting, Swift broke out of the forest, with Fluttershy still clinging onto its back, her hooves blanched white from the force of her grip. Her mane, whipping out behind her, was frazzled. Fluttershy was relieved that they had exited the forest, and dared to look behind her. Glowing eyes, bared teeth and gleaming, sharp claws – a machine of death called a zergling awaited her. She forced her head back forward, her terror renewed. Fluttershy screamed, louder than she had ever screamed in her life – the sound exiting her throat boomed like a real scream. She would have been proud of herself, if the circumstances weren’t so dire.    

None of the participants of the frantic dash noticed that the rainbow being formed above them in the sky halted. The prismatic, bright colours faded from the sky, connecting back into the equally prismatic tail of a pegasus mare. She gazed upon the scene, watching two strange animals running after each other as fast as they could. Rainbow Dash noticed a cream blob with two streaks of pink behind it on the back of one of the creatures. Another faint sound reached her ears, like the one that caused her to notice the strange commotion. She angled her wings downwards, diving to investigate.