//------------------------------// // The fury of ponies // Story: Fluttershy's Pet Zergling // by DragonLady //------------------------------// The fury of ponies Rainbow Dash sliced through the air like a knife through butter. Her wings were folded into her sides and her forelegs were leading the decent. The streamlined rocket quickly built up speed, and a rainbow trail was left in her wake. Wind battered Rainbow’s eyes, and she squinted so she could see. The pegasus saw the two running figures growing as she got closer to her. They were also running fast, moving away from her intended course. Rainbow flicked her wings out, slowing her slightly but shifting her position to allow her dive to end near the strange scene. The swift blobs began to focus into clear images – they were strange insect-like creatures with six limbs and sails arching out of their backs. The one being chased had a cream and pink pony-like shape perched on top of it, who was hanging on for dear life. Rainbow zoomed further downwards, seeing the cream pony’s wings being pulled backwards. She looked behind her and up to the form of Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare’s gasp was ripped from her mouth as she realised the pony was Fluttershy. With a wing flick to re-align herself, Rainbow hurtled towards the creature chasing her friend. Everything except her target became an indistinct, multi-coloured blur. “Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash boomed as she turned sharply out of her dive. Her prismatic wake surged into the zergling, causing it to tumble into the ground. The rainbow shattered into thousands of brilliant shards. “That was easy, that’s how awe–” Her gloating was cut short by the guttural roar of the egg-mate. It pounced at Rainbow with all of its claws aimed at her. Swiftly flapping her wings, she shot upwards to avoid the zergling. It landed deftly and turned to face its egg-mate. Padding its way forward slowly, the foe zergling growled softly. Rainbow glared at the zergling she attacked. She spiralled in a dive down towards it. “Don’t ignore me, animal,” she said while smashing her hoof into the creature’s jaw. The zergling pummelled its arching arm’s spikes into Rainbow Dash’s back. Her eyes shrunk into pinpricks as her back burned up in pain. A bloodcurdling scream pierced through the area. The broken pegasus’ body slipped out of the claws, falling to the ground with a dull thud. Swift dashed into its egg-mate claws first, and the two zerglings tore bloody lines into each other’s bodies. Rainbow Dash lay on the ground near the zerglings, forgotten by them. Fluttershy trembled uncontrollably as she watched the zerglings fight. She saw the body of her friend nestled within the grass, blood trickling out of her body. The zerglings were tearing each other to pieces and letting out horrible, agony-filled cries. Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut, wanting it all to end. She wanted everything to stop fighting. She wished that Swift and Rainbow Dash weren’t hurt, and that their blood wasn’t streaming out of their bodies onto the grass and the ground. As she wished that, the scared pony couldn’t deny the screams and the dull sound of claws ripping into flesh that she could hear. “Stop, please stop,” Fluttershy muttered while tears streamed down her face and she clutched her ears with her hooves. It failed to block out the horrible sounds around her. “Stop!” “I wasn’t going to forgive you for hurting me,” Rainbow Dash said, “And I’m definitely not going to forgive you making Fluttershy cry!” The cream pegasus opened her eyes to see Rainbow punch the zergling in the stomach. She bellowed as her hoof tore through the zergling’s flesh and got drenched with blood and organs. The egg-mate shrieked in its final breath, falling into a gory puddle of body fluids. Rainbow gazed into Fluttershy’s horrified visage. The cyan pegasus smiled weakly. “I’m fine,” she said before dropping to the ground, unconscious. Fluttershy dashed across the gap between them to cradle her form in her forelegs. “R-Rainbow, I…” * Twilight held a quill with her magic, and stared at a blank piece of parchment in front of her. A small pile of crumpled parchment adorned her desk with an unusual messiness. She brought the quill into an ink well on the desk, soaking its tip with black ink. It quivered as she brought it in line with the parchment. Twilight knew what she wrote had to be faultless in conveying the message that she wanted to send. Princess Celestia wouldn’t even read it if it was anything less than that. The princess was perfection incarnate, and Twilight had to reflect that with every iota of her being. The unicorn was learning from her, and she wanted to show every lesson was learned impeccably. Dear Princess Celestia, I implore you to peruse and consider this message I have sent you. It is not a friendship report, nor an immediate crisis, but it is an important issue that is troubling me enough to personally write this letter to you. This morning, my friend Fluttershy came to me and told me that she had befriended a zergling. Upon my inspection of the alien, I found it odd that an unknown force was supressing its killer instinct. After thoroughly reading all sources the Ponyville library has on the Zerg race, I have not found an iota of information into this phenomenon. Therefore, I request permission to acquire additional sources about the Zerg that Ponyville has not stocked, either by transmission of books or consent for me to travel to Canterlot library. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. She smiled as the quill left the paper for the final time and clattered onto the desk. Double and triple checking the letter, Twilight was finally satisfied with this version. Rolling up the letter and sealing it as she trotted down the stairs, she called out to Spike. “Spike, can you send this letter to the Princess?” “I sure can,” he replied, grabbing the letter and engulfing it within the green tendrils of his flames. When those tendrils faded into the air, the letter was sent. “Thank you, Spike,” Twilight said before she trotted off and resumed her planned activities for the afternoon. * The letter flashed through an inter-dimensional space before floating in front of Princess Celestia in Canterlot. The calm she exuded into the room and her neutral composure didn’t shift as the letter from her student appeared. She was in the active Solar Court, debating her policy of higher taxes for the rich with a noble. Secretly she welcomed the distraction from the blabbering fool. “Please excuse me for a moment.” “You wish to interrupt our vital session for reading some letter?” the noble daringly jeered. The princess did not hesitate in removing the ribbon clasped around the letter. “It is from my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia explained, “I won’t be a moment.” “It’s still some letter,” the noble grumbled under his breath. Celestia ignored him as she began to read. Her composure cracked for a second when she read there was a zergling. She struggled to calmly read the rest of the letter, but she did – anything Twilight wrote would be vital to understanding the situation. It didn’t take the princess very long to finish the letter. “I must apologise to you, sir, but my faithful student has brought a pressing matter to my attention that must be attended to immediately.” Having excused herself, Celestia regally trotted out of the Solar Court. She no longer cared about the noble and his opinion of her. As soon as she was out of the noble’s sight, golden energy trimmed the horn of the Princess. It sparked and grew, glowing strongly. Engulfing her entire body, the magic let out a brilliant flash, and Celestia was no longer there. * Shortly after she had sent the letter, Twilight spotted golden light in the corner of her eye. She turned and came face to face with regal and beautiful form of Princess Celestia. The alicorn smiled warmly at Twilight. “I have read your letter, Twilight Sparkle, and I believe it held important news. I wish examine this zergling personally,” Celestia explained. Twilight gaped with shock at the Princess standing directly in front of her. She had expected a couple of books to arrive, not Celestia herself. Withering under the calm and collected gaze of her mentor, Twilight’s mind buckled. She glanced back and forth, from the white alicorn, to her library. The scrutinising unicorn zoomed in on the flecks of dust scattered on every surface and every book, item and miscellaneous objects that were out of place. Her right eye twitched as she stretched her muzzle with a wild grin. “I haven’t even cleaned up the library!” “It’s ok, my faithful student,” Celestia began, “You don’t need to worry about the state of your library. All you need to tell me is where Fluttershy – and hopefully the zergling – is.” Twilight calmed down quickly, aided by her mentor’s words. “I saw Fluttershy at her cottage a few hours ago.” “Thank you Twilight, this will not take–” The door of the library burst open with a crash. Celestia turned around and stepped out of the way, allowing Twilight to see their visitor. It was Pinkie Pie and her pink mane looked more frazzled than usual, if that was possible. She didn’t appear to notice the Princess as she wildly gazed directly at the unicorn in the room. “Twilight, you need to come immediately with me. Fluttershy had this strange creature that I’ve never seen before – it was like an alien – but that’s not what I came to tell you. She was with Rainbow Dash, but that’s not what I wanted to tell you either. I saw, I saw – I saw… She, she was hurt, Twilight…” Pinkie trailed off, losing her steam. “Fluttershy was rushing her to the hospital, and I – Twi, it looked pretty serious, I think you should visit Dashie.” Two faint tears escaped out of Pinkie’s eyes, trailing down her face and dropping to the floor. She looked over to Celestia, finally realising she was there. “We will go visit Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie. From your description, this isn’t good; and the reason I have come here personally is also there. I’ll teleport us to the hospital,” Celestia said. “Oh that’s right, I need to tell Applejack and Rarity still, I’ll be at the hospital in a jiffy, don’t worry,” Pinkie replied before zooming off into the distance. Twilight regarded Celestia, worry splayed on the unicorn’s face. The Princess enveloped herself and Twilight in a bubble of her magic and teleported them to the hospital. “Why don’t I get to go?” Spike wondered to himself, before shrugging and resuming the duties that Twilight had handed to him. * Celestia and her student materialised in the waiting room of the hospital, to everypony’s surprise. The ponies working there all suddenly attempted to appear as if they were working harder than they already were. Or that they were working at all. The other ponies waiting appeared suddenly flustered; most of them fell out of their seats and bowed to their Princess. Celestia had to supress a chuckle at their ridiculous behaviour – she had to put up with endless shenanigans from her citizens whenever she went somewhere unannounced. “There is no need to stress, my dear ponies. Continue your business like I’m not here, I have come here on personal business, nothing more.” Her words only went so far in calming everypony in the room. Celestia wanted to get into the ward with Rainbow Dash as fast as she could. “Which ward is Rainbow Dash in?” Twilight demanded from the receptionist. “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash is currently in surgery and no visitors are allowed.” “I’m her friend! I need to be there for her in her times of need. I’ll find Rainbow myself,” Twilight replied as she swung around and began to gallop to the wards. The princess let a soft smile reach her face. She reached out with a hoof and brushed it lightly against Twilight. The student skidded to a stop and gazed into Celestia’s eyes. Patience, young one, they would say if eyes could talk. Twilight nodded and trotted over to a chair, proceeding to sit down on it so hard that it snapped with a crack. Splintered wood stabbing into her flank did nothing to help her mood. The door to the hospital opened, and three mares trotted inside. Two of them looked dishevelled, but the third looked stunning. “Oh dear, the Princess herself being here wasn’t just one of Pinkie’s tall tales,” Rarity said, bowing with perfect form to Celestia. “That’s what ya worried about, now at all times?” Applejack asked, disgusted. “A lady must always be prepared to impress, even in bad times like this.” “You should be more worried about our dying friend!” “I am worried about her,” Rarity huffed. “That was a bit mean-spirited, wasn’t it, Applejack?” Pinkie asked. “It was just the truth.” “Girls stop fighting, Fluttershy just came out of the ward,” Twilight said. The four friends and the Princess formed a concave around Fluttershy. The cream pegasus looked worn and frayed; her fur was fluffed up and dirty in places and light gashes covered her hooves. Her mane was wild and tangled. “Is Rainbow Dash alright?” Pinkie asked, tears beginning to brim in her eyes. They all waited for Fluttershy’s response tensely. A whisper on the wind that sounded like Fluttershy reached them, and then it was silent. “I’m sorry dear, none of us caught that,” Rarity said. “R-Rainbow Dash should recover. I’m sorry…” Fluttershy replied. “I’m sure there’s nothing to apologise for. Show us the way to Rainbow Dash’s ward, please,” Celestia said. “Eep! This way, everyone… if you don’t mind me leading the way.” “Of course we don’t mind,” Twilight answered with a smile. The group followed Fluttershy until they entered Rainbow Dash’s ward and saw her crumpled form on the bed. Bandages wrapped around her back, from just under the neck to a little bit past her wings. Those wings poked out of the bandages. She was still unconscious. Her friends rushed to her side and looked at her anxiously. Fluttershy had gone over to Swift and hugged the zergling. Celestia watched over the entire scene, until she noticed what brought her to Ponyville originally. “So, this is the zergling,” Celestia said coolly. She took a step forwards and gazed down at Fluttershy. The pegasus broke her hug and faced the Princess. “Yes Princess, this is Swift. If you don’t mind me asking… do you want to see the zergling?” “I do,” Celestia replied, taking another step forward. Her horn glowed and her golden magic encircled Swift. Pumping more magic into the spell, an arc of magic linked the two. “Feel the pain of my ponies,” Celestia growled quietly, “Feel what you did to them.” She sent a pulse down the link. Swift let out a tortured, bloodcurdling scream. The zergling struggled and thrashed, but it could not move from the spot it was in. “Hurt like I was hurt!” the Princess boomed. The friends were all looking at the commotion, except for the unconscious Rainbow. “No!” Fluttershy shouted as she flapped her wings and flew into the golden thread. “If you’re going to cruelly harm Swift like this, hurt me instead!” Celestia gasped, and her magic faded away. She was shocked, and she saw her lapse of judgement. “But it’s a Zerg! It can’t be like this,” she stammered as she tried to justify her actions. Fluttershy landed on the ground and took a step forward towards the Princess. “That doesn’t matter. Every creature deserves a chance, no matter what they are, or where they came from. All Swift has ever shown me is that it’s a kind animal, willing to protect the ponies it loves, even if it has to fight its own egg-mate. I won’t let you harm the zergling.” Celestia was surprised; she hadn’t been spoken to this passionately or sternly by one of her citizens since – since ever. The gutsy pegasus stumbled backwards and gasped, her eyes shrinking with terror. “Eep, I just… I-I-I-I…I talked back to a Princess. I’m so, so sorry, Princess…” “Fluttershy,” Celestia said, “Apology accepted. It was I that was in the wrong. I shouldn’t have let my anger get in the way of fair judgement.” The Princess then bathed Swift within her magic again, but instead of hurting it she examined it. “Twilight was right – the magic of Equestria itself is blocking and reducing its innate instinct. As it is experiencing acts of friendship, that magic is affecting the zergling.” “Um, if you don’t mind, I want to ask a few questions, Princess…” Fluttershy asked. “Go ahead, Fluttershy,” Celestia answered as she released her magical grip on Swift. “Well, um… if the magic of friendship affected Swift, why didn’t it affect its egg-mate? The other zergling is what hurt Rainbow… and it didn’t seem nearly as nice as Swift.” “Good question, Fluttershy. I don’t know myself, the Zerg race holds many great mysteries. Were there any differing circumstances surrounding Swift when compared to the other zergling?” Swift barked at her. Fluttershy looked at her pet and smiled. “Swift says upon hatching it was hit with some force. That, um, might be what was different,” Fluttershy said. “Maybe that difference is the reason. Maybe Swift is susceptible to the magical forces of Equestrian soil. Maybe your presence upon its awakening is what made all the difference. We might never find out the truth,” Celestia responded. “What happened to the other zergling?” “I… killed it,” Rainbow Dash said weakly, “Am I not awesome enough to be noticed when I regain consciousness?” “Rainbow Dash!” everypony in the room cried out in unison. “Of course you’re awesome,” Pinkie replied, relieved. “My ponies, there is one thing I must do, please don’t be alarmed by my magic,” Celestia said. Her magic once again reached out of her horn, but instead of engulfing Swift, it formed a golden, glowing rune under her feet. The princess closed her eyes, allowing the glow of the runes to travel up her legs. Slowly, her whole body was consumed by the glowing light. Celestia herself stretched her mind outwards. She detected the zergling strongly next to her and she began to seek out any further Zerg signatures. She didn’t find anything in Equestria and broadened her scope. Finding nothing on the planet, she once again extended her spell – this time as far as it could go. Still, the Princess detected nothing. She reduced the scope of her spell, powered it down safely until she couldn’t even detect Swift and her spell ended. Celestia swayed a little after she opened her eyes. “Swift is the only Zerg around – thank me?” “That’s a relief,” Twilight said. The girls were all together, another small adventure over. “Dear Twilight, today I have learnt an important lesson in friendship. It is important to give every creature and pony an equal chance to show you their friendship. You shouldn’t judge anypony for who they are or where they come from before you have met them. You shouldn’t let your past emotions cloud your judgement about who a pony really is. Your faithful mentor, Princess Celestia. Is that how you do it?” she asked Twilight. She and all the girls shared a laugh at Celestia’s expense. “Yes, it is.”