//------------------------------// // The Flash // Story: One Little Drone // by Etriax //------------------------------// Twilight stifled a yawn as she looked up from Bees: The Anthology, seeing the wall clock reading a lovely 4:54 AM. She'd gone without sleep for the last several hours and it was getting to her at last. She couldn't be happier for it, either. She wanted nothing more than to pass out right there and then, but she just couldn't. The thought of those things spreading around Equestria unchecked was unbelievably unnerving to the bookworm. At the very least, though, she knew Princess Celestia knew of their find. Twilight had received a reply letter about an hour after her own was sent, and it helped to put her mind at ease. Only a little, mind you. Dear Twilight Sparkle, I must agree with you on this matter. From what I've seen of your notes, these aliens must be watched carefully. Come tomorrow morning, I will send a group of ponies to this site to monitor it at all times. In the meantime, I am having your notes copied for our own use, but until that is finished, I will need to keep them. I must ask that you do your best to learn more about these creatures yourself, and that you also notify me whenever a major discovery is made. Not only is it important that I know, but the few other ponies I have informed about this matter are very eager to learn more. The group of ponies I have sent will stop in Ponyville to pick you up and escort you to the site themselves. I am sure they will appreciate your help. You did the right thing in sending your letter, Twilight. While I do not enjoy the prospect of treating these aliens as... well, aliens, the security of Equestria is too important to allow these visitors to remain unchecked. Thank you. -Yours Truly, Princess Celestia Another sigh escaped her lips as she turned a page, her eyes scanning the text rapidly as she tried to make connections. Her eyelids were becoming heavy as lead at this point, and she knew that all the coffee in Equestria couldn't keep her awake much longer. She shook her head out and marked her page, then forced herself to climb the stairs to her bedroom and to collapse on her bed. She could barely form a complete thought before sleep took its hold on her for however long it could. --- Two large, bulbous figures hovered about the White Tail Woods' canopy line in the very early morning, moving slowly and seemingly aimlessly. By this point, the two Overlords were watching a group of seven Drones at work while an eighth hatched from a newly formed egg and promptly joined its brethren in their mining efforts while another Larva burst apart to form a new egg. They needed something to scout with, after all. This site did not have a nearby Vespene geyser, after all, and in order to build a "sufficient" defensive force, they would need the precious gas. Thankfully, Overlords did not take long to hatch. With the added control, they ordered all of the current Larva to begin morphing into drones, while they also willed one particular drone to break off of mining to move to the edge of the Creep. The dark purple growth had since ceased its expansion, but that did not do much for the vegetation that was unlucky enough to be growing too close. The Creep had long since smothered the grass and the trees that the Creep touched were either dead or in the process of dying. The Drone hovered to the very edge of the Creep, only stopping for a moment before it turned around and moved back towards the center of the clearing. It stopped halfway there, lowering itself onto the fleshy ground and shutting its many eyes. Its body then began to expand into a cocoon while the Creep began to work. It actually began to eat away at the ground directly beneath the cocoon, preparing it for the structure that would soon form in its place. One of the newly hatched Overlords began to float off to the south, its control-free mind directing it there. Even without their Queen, a Broodmother, or a Cerebrate to direct them, the free group of Zerg knew what needed to be done. First order of business: a fuckton of Vespene gas. --- The hoofpaths out of Las Pegasus were generally empty, as everypony who wanted to leave went by train. The few who did go on hoof rarely had a reason to be taking the north path unless they just loved the outdoors that damn much. Especially this early in the morning. The one pony on the north road was not one of these ponies. One unicorn mare let out a deep sigh and shook out her head, her hat jostling around uselessly upon her head. Her fur was a brilliant blue while her mane and tail took a paler version of the color. Both were somewhat hidden violet cape and hat, both spangled with blue and yellow stars and dots. Behind her was a large cart, the cart she both lived in and used for her work. Every magician needs a stage, after all. The Great and Powerful Trixie sorely wished her last show had gone better... or just plain gone. It wasn't that her reputation was ruined after two ignominious fiascoes in Ponyville. No, those were her fault (well, the first one was Snips and Snails, but nopony cared). This was just plain bad luck. She had gotten a gig in the "2 Princesses Hotel and Casino" as a nighttime act, and everything was looking up for the magician. She had come straight from Ponyville to this adult pony's paradise a week ago and spent the next several days trying to get a show. She was running out of bits, so for a stallion named Sharp Eye to come to her rescue and get her a gig was a godsend. So it was a great shame that a careless mare (a mare that had evaded Trixie's gaze ever since) accidentally destroyed all of her props and a lot of the main stage's lighting (somehow). That setback hadn't delayed the show, it cancelled it. To say the least, Trixie Lulamoon was outraged. She had demanded that they call a ponyhunt for the guilty one, but they had refused. The casino refunded everypony's tickets, which meant no bits for Trixie. Now officially broke, she elected to get out and spare herself the added embarrassment of being recognized as the Great and Powerful Trixie That Probably Messed Up Her Own Show... or something equally humiliating or utterly stupid. Letting out another sigh and straining a little to turn her cart slightly to the right in order to stay on the path. She continued to mull over the possibilities for another show, where to get new props - and most importantly - the venue. Appleloosa? Nopony there appreciated a good show; they had their cider and dancing and Celestia knows what else. Vanhoover? Probably an option, but she'd have to do quite a bit of traveling to reach it. She'd need extra bits if she wanted to get there, and she was already rationing her money for food. Cloudsdale was out of the question. Canterlot... well, Trixie wasn't sure if she wanted to visit the City of the Sisters after tossing Celestia's student out of town. By all accounts, Princess Celestia was merciful, but... No. Manehatten was probably her best bet, though it was on the other side of Equestria. Their appreciation for the arts had gotten her out of a few monetary binds and she did have a friend or two there. Ponyville? Trixie suppressed a frustrated grunt. Granted, she had come out and apologized for her admittedly heinous actions (calling herself the "Great and Apologetic" Trixie was quite the effort on her part), but even if Twilight Sparkle forgave her so easily, she knew she couldn't go back. Not everypony was as forgiving as her, and they'd definitely remember her. No, Ponyville was a last resort. Besides, just because she had been forgiven didn't mean that she liked Twilight Sparkle. Not in the slightest. Even if her opinion had gone from "Trixie despises you with every fiber of her being" to "Trixie no longer wishes to associate with you," the thought of being anywhere near the purple unicorn didn't sit well with her. Shaking her head out again as she bowed her head and began just focusing on where she was going. She knew she had a long trek ahead of her, and thinking about past mistakes wasn't going to speed things along any. --- Corporal Summer Blossom stifled a yawn as she followed the rest of her squad and the ponies they were escorting out west, rubbing one eye with a hoof as she lazily flew over the aforementioned ponies. She wished she knew why the Princess had ordered them to the White Tail Woods. Granted, she knew about the "meteor" that had fallen there, but what she didn't understand was why there were researchers in the carriage below her. Or why they needed so many cameras. Or why the researchers wouldn't speak to her. Why were they being so secretive? Of course, she was just a guard. Once a pony dons that golden armor, they represent the defenders of Equestria. To misrepresent them was to bring great disgrace upon that pony... Or at the very least, that pony would earn the ire of their brethren for a week or two. But surely this was a waste of time! Aliens or not, Equestria was a place of peace. Sure, there had been incidents with the Return of Nightmare Moon, Discord's escape, and the Changeling Invasion, and those were terrible things indeed. But other than that, there were no wars. And she liked it that way. She wasn't like her foolish brother who wanted nothing more than to kick some flank. But at least in Canterlot, she could be bored around ponies she knew. These nerds were strangers... and nerds. She didn't like nerds. Most of them were boring, and she could tell with a glance that the unicorns in the carriage were no exception. One was even called Eureka. It could be an explorer or a treasure hunter, but no, that stallion was a neeeeeeerd. This wouldn't be so boring if there were other pegasi to talk to. But no, she was the only one, and this cart was being pulled along by earth ponies on the ground. On the ground. Summer Blossom wondered briefly why her superiors hadn't given her a straight answer as to why they couldn't take a flying chariot to the White Tail Woods, but dismissed the musings quickly. It would just make her angry. She gazed down at the three accompanying guards, then at the four unicorns/neeeeeeerds in the carriage, emitting a long sigh. "... Buck this..." she muttered under her breath, doing lazy rolls in the air as she followed her team. At the very least, she could see Ponyville in the distance, as well as the first rays of light from Celestia's coming dawn. They were halfway there. --- The cocoon erupted in a shower of blood to reveal a new... pool. Its... waters(?) were green and the sides of this pool were lined in strange teeth. The very same second that this new structure burst into existence, all of the Larva surrounding the Zerg hatchery burst out into new eggs, rapidly changing within their cocoons... It wasn't long at all before the first Zerglings took steps upon Creep covered Equestrian soil. Two eggs burst to release a total of six Swarmlings, all of them looking fearsome and ferocious. They were bipedal, sporting appendages that closely (and nightmarish-ly) resembled the arms of a mantis and were likely purposed for ripping and tearing. Sprouting from the first segment of hardened carapace armor were two more appendages, each adorned with three bone spikes that could only be meant for violent use. And the orange webbed set of bony growths lining their spines was sharp, appearing similar to the stabilizing membranes of their Drones while actually serving no obvious purpose. Immediately, the Overlords willed them to begin searching around the base's perimeter, senses piqued to search for trouble and resources. What they found instead was quite intriguing. --- Trixie Lulamoon was having a less than tolerable time with her cart. The path that cut through the White Tail Woods was seldom traveled and never maintained, allowing roots and rocks of various sizes to liter the dirt path. The magician had to constantly make maneuvers around such obstacles, but was not always successful. She sometimes heard the scraping of wood or stone upon the underside of her cart while she avoided obstructions. It was only a matter of time, though, until she messed up. While attempting to pull the cart around a particularly sharp looking rock, her cart got caught on two larger ones, leading to a foolish tug and a very broken wooden wheel. The unicorn looked back and uttered a series of curses as she took off the harness she used to pull the cart, walking back to examine the damage. The wheel was now lying in at least five big pieces, with a few smaller ones scattered everywhere. A frustrated sigh/groan escaped her maw as she pushed the cart off of the rocks with a combination of her own strength and magic. Then she propped the wheel-less axle up on a loose stone as she entered the cart, looking for her wood glue. --- "What are they?" "They're hideous..." "Bucking gross..." "What are they doing to those crystals?" "No, what ARE those crystals?" "Weren't we supposed to pick up Twilight Sparkle?" The above statements were strewn about the researchers' conversations as they reached the site of the Zerg base, watching the organisms move about in odd, meandering, somehow purposeful manner. The guards escorting them had set about to unloading equipment from the carriage and handing it off to be set up, some sharing the researchers' curiosity and awe at the aliens' ways while others merely didn't care. "Do you think they're dangerous?" one guard asked, a light blue earth pony wielding a spear. He was staring cautiously at the hatchery as another Overlord burst from an egg, as well as a trio of Zerglings. To him, the massive floating monstrosities and the much smaller, yet carnivorous looking Zerglings seemed very much dangerous. "I am inclined to agree, Private," one of the researchers agreed - a male, snow white unicorn in a lab coat - using his magic to set up a camera and to begin to aim it at as much of the area as possible. "Those little ones have got to be some sort of soldier or hunter." The Private glanced at the unicorn stallion, eyeing the white lab coat he was wearing and spotting his name sown into the right side of it. Then he turned his attention to the well developing mineral mining operation, noting the working Drones and gesturing in their direction. "And those are workers, Mr. Tracker?" he asked, getting said unicorn's gaze to follow. "I believe so. Twilight Sparkle's notes definitely support such an idea, although I am surprised that Miss Sparkle would have forgotten such a detail..." Of course, Tracker had never met Celestia's student himself, and had just heard about her from other ponies. He knew she was a studious pony with an eye for detail and a penchant for meticulousness and checklists. Another researcher - a unicorn mare with a maroon coat and yellow mane - approached them. "She may not have encountered them at all. Her notes claimed that these creatures start as a larva, then rather violently explode to become an egg. That egg rapidly hatches into various creatures like the ones we can see now... Judging by the fact that that..." The mare paused, looking towards the relatively new spawning pool and grimacing at the color of the liquid within. "... cespool is not mentioned in her notes either, it's possible that they can change and grow very rapidly." Both Tracker and the Private nodded, the former finally finding a good place for a ground camera. The Private then heard rustling to his left, looking up as he saw Summer Blossom and a third researcher (also a male unicorn) named Long Lens attempting to set up a camera in a tree. A part of him was glad that he lacked magic or wings; if he had the ability to, he'd probably be up there, trying to steady that heavy contraption in the branches and being barked at by his bored superior. He then glanced around at the Creep, having to quietly marvel at the near perfect circle it made around the hatchery. It only stopped being perfect when it reached a tree, whereupon the offending vegetation was choked. The once strong oaks were now weak looking, thin, and very obviously dead. Meanwhile, the maroon mare was hammering a series of stakes into the ground, each marked with the date and time. They knew that the Creep was spreading quickly. They needed to know how far it would/could spread and how fast it could do so. After all, the dark violet growth had expanded to an unnerving 54.2 yards in all directions from the hatchery. If it could kill the trees with its touch, who could say it wouldn't do the same to ponies? It was true that Twilight Sparkle claimed she was able to walk upon the Creep without harm, but her notes explicitly stated that long term effects were unknown. Corporal Summer Blossom sighed and slowly backed away from the now steady camera while Long Lens cautiously released his telekinetic hold on it. It stayed. They let out hushed, triumphant cheers, the pegasus guard landing and bumping hooves with him. It was as she did so that she noticed all of the Larva around the hatchery exploding into eggs, tapping Lens's withers and gesturing with an outstretched wing. Long Lens gazed out at the hatchery with a frown. "I imagine they're just creating more workers," he then dismissed, leaving the Corporal standing there with a worried expression. She didn't like the fact that all of those larvae suddenly began morphing, even with what little she knew about them. Either way, the time they had spent setting up the camera in the tree had been enough for the other two to be set up around the site, a researcher standing ready at each one with an amount of flash powder ready to be magically ignited. With four of them aimed at the site, they all hoped that four photos would be enough for their research. They knew it wouldn't. Oh well. There'd be time for a game of cards later to decide which of them was going to be developing the results. The now ready cameras were focused and aimed to capture as much as possible, with the exception on one that was trained directly on the Zerg hatchery itself. The pony manning it was yet another unicorn, a mare named Good Point with a lime green coat and slightly darker mane and tail. She aimed and zoomed at the hatchery, trying to find the most detail while capturing the entire structure in her lens. She quietly muttered to herself as she tried to find a good view. She was never good at this. She had tried to convince Long Lens to do it for her, but he had said they wanted to get these shots taken quickly so that they could end this excursion soon. She began to lose track as her annoyance got the better of her, trying to rush it and constantly having to resteady her camera's aim. At the very least, she got a good view of a group of nine Swarmlings hatching from their eggs, beginning to scamper around the site seemingly randomly. It got all present to stare at them with fascinated, nervous, and/or fearful expressions. Some of the Zerglings appeared to be looking at them, their scary looking, sharply lined maws open and leaking drool upon the Creep. The Private nudged Tracker and whispered. "Aren't you supposed to get photos of those things, too?" he quipped, getting the lab coat wearing unicorn to nod and to shift his aim towards the Swarmlings... He made a few adjustments... and ignited the flash powder as he took the picture with the old camera. The resulting flash of light caused all of the Zerglings to whirl around to face the group, their intentions unclear. For a moment, they just stared, and it put every single one of them on edge. Summer Blossom grit her teeth and lowered her head, preparing to fight with the blade attached to her armor. The Private leveled his spear at the Zerg. The other guards readied their weapons. The researchers all froze, as if the slightest twitch would spell their doom. The following minutes were spent on tenterhooks, the ponies warily watching with slow or held breath while the Zerg just stood there and eyed them, not moving from their positions, but clearly unafraid. It wasn't until an errant twitch of the Private's spear that the anxious staring contest was broken. Their speed was incredible. The Zerglings suddenly darted forward, their legs carrying them swiftly towards the ponies while the Creep gave them the extra strength to move that much faster. By the time the guards realized what was happening, these creatures were nearly upon them. Corporal Summer Blossom spread her wings to get airborne and began to flap them, pushing off of the ground as hard as she could while trying to draw her sword with her teeth. The Zerg had other ideas. Two Zerglings reached the edge of the Creep and leaped for the pegasus, their appendages missing their mark in a way that would embarrass more thoughtful creatures. And yet, their apparently useless webbed spine became less useless, slashing the guard's front right leg and grazing her underbelly. She cried out in pain, her flight faltering briefly before adrenaline reached her. The Private gasped and turned to attack the offending Zerg, not noticing the hasty magical barrier that Tracker and Long Lens had erected. His spear was thrust at the Zerglings, trying to get them to back off as he yelled such fearsome phrases like "G-Get back!", "Stay away!", and "I'm w-w-warning you!" They were not impressed. With just two Zerglings within the barrier, the rest were left to deal with the other guards. An earth pony and a unicorn, both male, attempted to attack the rest of the group, blades held high. The earth pony was brought down swiftly with a spike through the top of his muzzle, followed by a brutal, gory bite to his neck. The unicorn was stunned just long enough to delay a magical swing of his sword, instead of getting to prepare for a second strike, the sword came down upon the murderous Zergling's head. Despite all the power behind the swing, it only made a dent in its armor. And before he could even think about trying again, a second Zergling pounced upon the unicorn and set about to literally ripping him apart with its spikes, arms, and teeth. Viscera and gore flew all over as his screams echoed through the forest, quickly added to by the dying screams of one Good Point and another researcher whom had failed to fend them off or flee. Long Lens and Tracker didn't dare to look. They had the Private and Summer Blossom to guard them, but considering that the other seven Zerglings were now either trying to break down the shield or running towards them in an attempt to do so, the shield was necessary. The earth pony Private and his airborne superior were frantically dodging attacks from and striking at the Zerglings, though the shield offered little room to do so. The Zerglings within fiercely fought the defenders, one of them quite badly injured from the intense fighting between them. As a last ditch effort, the injured one rushed in Summer Blossom's direction. The wounded, bleeding pegasus ascended quickly to avoid those spines, but quickly realized that she probably shouldn't as a piercing, terrified, scream echoed off the walls of the magical shield. The wounded Zerg had knocked over Long Lens, breaking his concentration and leaving a very nervous, scared, and now straining Tracker to strengthen the shield in hopes of protecting them. "No! Nononono sweet Celestia, n-" he began to cry, tears streaming from his bloodshot, pinprick eyes just before the wounded one bit down on his face, tearing his muzzle from the rest of him with a series of sickening cracks and crunches. "NOOO!" Summer Blossom yelled, diving at it and thrusting her sword down onto the beast and actually managing to kill it. The Zergling somehow burst apart in a shower of blood and innards, covering the walls of the shield. The two guards looked at each other in the corporal's moment of triumph, but then were swiftly reminded of how dire the situation was. Violently. The remaining Zergling lunged at the first pony to ever kill a Zerg, tanking a preventative spear in the side to get to the flier. Poor Summer Blossom didn't see it coming until it was too late. She felt its arms hitting her outstretched right wing and slashing it, a pained yelp coming from her maw as she attempted to take off. And despite the Private's second lunge and her own frantic fighting, It was over for her. The creature's other arm came about to spear her right through her flank, going in right through her flowery cutie mark and emerging easily and gorily from her unmentionables. Her deafening screams hurt the Private's and Tracker's ears, but the former used that opportunity to harshly kick the one Zergling in the side and then to harshly shove his spear through its neck multiple times until he was absolutely sure it was dead. He then turned to the heavily bleeding pegasus, whom was lying on her side and quietly, pathetically whimpering. The Private began to panic, looking around him at the shield bashing Zerglings. He could even see that more had hatched and were setting about to attacking the shield. He then looked back to Corporal Summer Blossom, seeing that her eyes had shut and she had stopped moving. Either she was now the late Corporal Summer Blossom or she was going to be in a few minutes. He now intensely, intensely regretted not speaking up about Twilight Sparkle when they had passed through Ponyville... With her magical prowess, they most certainly wouldn't be in this situation... or, at least, they could be running away right now... The despaired earth pony looked at Tracker. The researcher's eyes were shut and his teeth were grit as he strained to keep the shield up. The magical wall had shrank considerably to allow the two stallions room to move and fight, but little else. It was very obvious that Tracker was running out of magic... "... I don't want to die... I don't want to die... I don't want to die..." the Private began quietly murmuring, falling onto his side and curling up into a little ball of hopelessness. Tracker let out a weary grunt of exertion as he tried to hold the barrier, but his body was feeling the effects of overusing his magic. He feel to his side and panted heavily as his horn's glow intensified one last time... before he fainted. The shield vanished all at once, and the group of ten Zerglings immediately closed in on them to seal their doom. Only one scream rang through the trees as the Private desperately begged them to stop ripping him open and devouring him... A minute later, there was silence, only broken by the squishy sounds of feasting Zerglings. --- Fluttershy shivered as she took a deep drink of the last of her tea, then poured herself more as she sat in her living room with a very gracious Discord. The being of chaos was aware of his dear friend's sleeplessness and figured it was only fitting to help. "Thank you, Discord... This is nice..." the meek little pegasus murmured, watching as the embodiment of disorder chuckled and smirked at her. "You needed it, Flutters~" he said in that playful, light voice of his, willing another cup of tea into existance and his hand for his consumption. "Nopony can simply forget such things..." The draconequus had already been told everything by the gentle pegasus. As much as she knew, at least. "... It was just so horrible, but... I don't see how they're dangerous... Twilight thinks they are, but... um... I think they're harmless..." Fluttershy commented, taking a short sip of hot tea as she sat with her chaotic friend. "... I got to ride on one... It was fun..." She looked down at the floor, embarrassed to admit that, despite the smile now curving her lips. Discord then gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head and then letting out a soft sigh. "Fluttershy, oh Fluttershy..." he began, his mismatched hands clasping together tightly. "As much as I detest being so blunt... you couldn't be any more wrong..." Her gaze snapped to him with an anxious, curious look in her cyan eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but Discord detached an arm to hold it to her muzzle, silencing her. "It pains me to admit that I don't know what they are, but I will tell you this, dear Fluttershy~" He then leaned in to whisper into her ear. "It won't be long before all of Equestria is in chaos..." With that sad, he then reclaimed his arm and arched his back with a hearty, evil laugh. "Delicious, DELICIOUS CHAOS! HAHAHAHAAAHAHA!" he declared, lightning flashing all around him while he slipped. Then he became conscious of Fluttershy's concerned, yet stern glare, rubbing the back of his head before giving her a sort of "I'm sorry, okay!?" look. "Yeah, I let that one slip, but I'll be *bleep* if it didn't feel great!" Fluttershy shook her head and looked down at her plastered leg, wondering about what Discord had said. Sure, he was the physical manifestation of chaos and discord itself, but he was reformed now... surely he wasn't responsible for this... No, if he WAS responsible for the Zerg, then surely he'd keep this to himself... "... I need to tell Twilight..." she muttered to herself, though Discord caught it. "An excellent idea, Fluttershy... Your friends and your princesses don't know what they're up against..." he agreed, leaning in again and grimacing as he made yet another non-cryptic statement. "And alllll of Equestria is doomed if they are not prepared." After hearing those words, Fluttershy darted out of the cottage, rapidly taking to the air to find her bookworm friend... hopefully she hadn't left yet... --- Trixie let out a satisfied grunt as she attached the last clamp to the repaired wheel, which would hopefully keep it together until the glue dried. She was now glad to be as handy with such woodwork as she was. She picked up the wheel with her magic and carried it into the cart with her, placing it down gently as she then sprawled out on her bed... Sure, it was still morning, but after pulling the cart all that way and then having to search for the wheel pieces and glue them together and keep them held together, she would be lying if she said she wasn't tired. So she laid down upon her bed, closing her eyes as her hat fell off. She could continue when the glue dried... --- Twilight Sparkle waited at her window with a deep sigh, saddlebags on, watching the sky and the streets for the carriage that was meant to pick her up. Sure, Princess Celestia had forgotten to specify a time, but a quick letter to ask for one yielded a response of 6:00 AM. It was now 6:10 AM. "Where the hay are they?!" she yelled, promptly taking a long swig of coffee and then a bite of a cupcake Pinkie Pie had left for her in the middle of the night for some reason. She wasn't complaining. It meant that she didn't have to wake Spike. But she WAS complaining as her ride never came. She just kept waiting and waiting for something that wasn't coming. Ever. Not that she knew that. What she DID know is that she could see a familiar shape of a pegasus flying towards the library. Judging by the mane blowing in the wind and the fact that she wasn't a speedy blue blur, she guessed it was Fluttershy. She was right. She saw the mare land outside her tree and approach the door, whereupon she magically opened the door and met her halfway. "Fluttershy? Are you alright?" she quipped, noting the Kindness Bearer's worried visage. "N-No...! We need to warn the princesses! Quickly!" she let out in a panicked tone as she passed her friend and entered the library. Twilight looked on with a concerned, confused expression... as well as one of hope. More specifically, hope that this didn't mean what some part of her thought it might mean. The unicorn swiftly followed her in. "Fluttershy, calm down... warn them about what?" Twilight said softly, if anxiously, coming up next to the pegasus and watching with sorrow as the meek one pulled away from her hoof. "Th-Those aliens... T-Th-Th-They want to hurt ponies..." she stammered, tears welling up in her eyes. "D-D-D-Discord said the princess need to know about them, a-a-" "Discord?!" Twilight groaned. She should've known that darned draconequus was still up to something... Still... "Erm... no offense, Fluttershy, but... I don't think Discord is the most reliable source of information." Fluttershy promptly whirled around to get face to face with the Element of Magic, her eyes now pinpricks. "I know! B-B-But w-w-w-we still have to warn them! What if they come to Ponyville?!" "Fluttershy, calm down!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, frowning at the pegasus, whom was now backing away from her. "... What did Discord tell you?" "H-He told me that they're dangerous and that if we d-d-d-don't prepare, Equestria is... is..." She found herself freezing up as mental images of what a post-Zerg Equestria would look like, shivering and spacing out as she unconsciously finished her own sentence. "... doomed..." At this point, tears were freely flowing from her eyes. Twilight grimaced as she caught that last word, moving in to embrace her friend tightly. She didn't have to be Applejack to detect the utter terror her words and eyes carried. "... Alright... alright... I'll send her a letter, Fluttershy..." "... Can I stay here...?" "Yeah, I guess..." she uttered softly. She'd be waking Spike up after all. The unicorn mare turned around to head up the stairs, only to see the dragon standing there with paper and quill in claw. "Thanks for waking me up, Twilight," he dryly, sarcastically told her, though his quill was ready. Earning a sorry smile from his caretaker, she began to dictate. "Dear Princess Celestia... My friend Fluttershy has serious concerns about the aliens... I am unsure of your knowledge of the situation, but Discord has apparently stated that unless we are prepared for them, these aliens (I can't bring myself to call them "Zerg") will play a part in Equestria's doom. I write this to you to urge you to, at the very least, inform the Guard and - by extension - Captain Shining Armor of this threat. I regret that I can't provide any further information, as the escort you sent to get me still hasn't arrived as of-" She paused to look at the clock. "... 6:18 AM." Twilight then paused again, looking down thoughtfully as she felt as though she were forgetting something, but concluded that she wasn't. "Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle. ... Get all that Spike? Good! Send it!" She didn't even wait for him to nod, but judging by the tell tale sound of dragonfire, she didn't need to. With the letter sent, she turned her attention to a calming Fluttershy talking to a multicolored owl, then to her assi- multicolored owl? "... Discord!" The strange avian looked back at Twilight, than instantly reverted to his normal self before bending down to get face to face with the bookworm. "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees?" "Tell me what you told her." As soon as she said that, a big black box with a glossy surface appeared, Discord pushing a button on its side to make it flicker to life. It then played the scene from Fluttershy's cottage that morning, but Twilight was only half watching it as she saw something through Fluttershy's window: a carriage being pulled by four guards, one of whom was flying in a very "bored Rainbow Dash" manner. She frowned; they'd forgotten her. Once the memory was done playing, the box vanished and Discord leaned against an invisible wall, emitting a simple "well?" before watching the unicorn walk away into another room. She had to think about this... --- Discord willed himself into existence within the White Tail Woods, just on the edge of the Creep where those poor researchers had been. He was floating just above an eating Zergling, and had to chuckle at some of the sounds they were making as they munched. He couldn't help giving that one a light kick in the side, making it hiss and flail about at something it could not see. The physical manifestation of Discord then touched a tree and ripped a perfect wooden sign out of its trunk, hammering it into the ground on the very edge of the Creep before vanishing. It read "No Flash Photography."