Twilight Sparkle woke with a start and a shriek, panting heavily as she shot up. Eyes wide and pupils shrunken, she shifted onto her left side and directed her darkness-adjusted gaze downwards at her sheets. "... Sweet Celestia..." she managed, shaking her head and shivering.
She had to curse her imagination at this point. It was bad enough that she could come up with such asinine consequences for things like not writing a letter, but for her brain to cook up such visceral, gut wrenching, spine chilling, faith shaking visions... It disturbed her greatly, even more so when she - of course - continued to dwell on it.
Twilight eventually made herself glance at her clock and cursed herself, flopping back onto the mattress with a deep groan. Or, at least, she would have, if she hadn't noticed a set of green reptilian eyes watching from the other side of the room. Spike's quiet vigil got her to jump a little, her breathing quickening once more as she regarded the approaching dragon.
"Are you okay, Twilight?" he uttered in a tired, obviously-fake-brave tone while scanning the room. "There aren't any monsters in here, are there?"
The unicorn looked at him for a few seconds, trying to gain her composure, before she pulled him onto the bed and hugged him lightly. "... No... No, it's fine, Spike... It was just... j-just a dream..." she panted, looking around the room and unconsciously mouthing the words "I hope."
Spike took a moment before responding, not doing so until he was certain that the room was safe. "That didn't sound like "just a dream," though..." he stated, eyeing his caretaker intently. Twilight had to both praise his perceptiveness and curse it.
"... It's the Zerg..." she admitted, apparently to Spike's non-surprise. "I know that what they did to Trixie was horrible and disgusting and... so unbelievably wrong, but I can't help but feel that's just the tip of the iceberg..." With these words, the pony shuffled slightly towards the edge of the bed and stood up from it, beginning to stretch her limbs in place. "We don't know enough about them to appropriately defend ourselves. And even if we did, I don't even know if we could!" Spike opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when Twilight continued. "I mean, I know I... might be worrying too much... but if I don't, who will?"
"Princess Celestia?" the baby dragon posed, shrugging slightly. Twilight glanced back at Spike after she lit a candle, sitting on her haunches. "She'll protect us, right?"
"Of course!" the unicorn affirmed without hesitation or volume control, internally scolding herself for shouting. "Princess Celestia would never let them hurt us! She must be planning right now..." Twilight turned her gaze to the floor, her eyes idly finding patterns in the wood grain.
Spike, meanwhile, had a lot he wanted to say, but was trying to hold his tongue. Most of what he would try to say basically boiled down to one simple question: why hadn't Princess Celestia done anything yet? Spike knew better, though. Baby or not, he was smart enough to not express doubt over Twilight's idol; it would go nowhere. "So... what about us, then?" he quipped, crossing his arms and sitting on the bed.
Twilight didn't stop watching the floor, barely moving beyond her breathing motions and the slow angling of her ears downwards.
"... We can't just sit here and wait for Princess Celestia to send a letter, can we?" he pressed, uncrossing his arms and letting them speak with him. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to wait for that."
The bookworm didn't respond immediately, looking around the room and avoiding the dragon's eyes as she searched for an answer. "... I... I guess not..." came her reluctant agreement, looking down at her hooves again with a deep sigh. "Any ideas?"
Spike raised a claw and opened his mouth, but said nothing, lowering his claw and putting it to his chin instead. "... Not... really..."
The two sat in relative silence for a long time after, the room gradually lighting up as Twilight's mentor raised the sun, deep in thought.
---
The early dawn's illumination did little for the Ghastly Gorge, the lowest points of which were still shrouded in near total darkness. Not that it mattered too much for the aliens it housed. Drones worked tirelessly to extract that precious gas from the... infested geyser. For better or worse, that was extent of activity. Everything else was relatively still and unchanged, apart from two new structures placed at both the north and southernmost edges of the Creep.
These new structures were roughly 4 meters high, nestled on a round, fleshy orange base and anchored to the ground with six armored "legs." Some ponies might compare its appearance to that of a multi-tiered cake, with spike-laden rings separating its three other levels and an odd opening at the very top. These structures remained rooted in place, mostly still save for a gentle swaying from side to side and what could be interpreted as a breathing motion.
Spore Crawlers aside, the Hatchery in the center of the Creep was oddly inactive. Larvae skittered around the base of such, but were not being made to morph into anything at the moment.
That is, until a group of five Roaches emerged from the rocky ground nearby, crawling onto the Creep with a pack of Swarmlings approaching behind them. The larva burst apart into eggs and began to mutate, rapidly changing within their confines.
Before long, a new trio of Roaches had hatched, with new larvae being immediately made to follow suit upon spawning...
---
Princess Luna closed the door to her chambers with a soft groan and a yawn, hearing her sisters hooffalls proceeding down the hallway as she prepared to take over for the morning. Utilizing her magic to draw her curtains closed, she moved to her bed and collapsed upon it with a sigh. Her eyes immediately drew shut, but she did not allow sleep to take her yet.
Pain wouldn't let her.
Luna was never one to allow a simple headache to bring her down. There was usually a fix for that in either the royal doctors or in simple healing magic. This pain, however, was one that Luna hadn't experienced before. It was about as bad as a migraine without any of the light sensitivity, and no amount of medicine or magic was helping. To say it irritated the Princess of the Moon would be a vast understatement.
"Confound this headache..." she muttered in a weary tone, lying there listlessly on the bed with her eyes tightly shut.
---
Twilight Sparkle sat in the main library with her head on the book she had been trying to read, but had given up on, now instead peering through a new copy of the The Unicorn's Guide to Combat - Volume 1. It wasn't a book that she was happy to read or that she had ever wanted to read, but suddenly, the prospect of learning to fight seemed important to her. It was all she thought about now: how could she fend off the Zerg when they came? Not "if" they came, "when."
As she read it, though, she began to consider the prospect of making a point of purchasing a weapon. Assuming that the shopkeepers hadn't jacked up the prices in response to the... incident... Perhaps it would be wise to try to convince her friends to do the same... For as much as the thought of teaching her friends - the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, no less - to fight didn't sit well with her, what would happen if they couldn't? Something told her that the answer would be very slow and painful...
She picked her head up from the now unused copy of The Gryphon Wars and stood up, taking the guide with her to a stash of bits she had tucked away in a cupboard in her kitchen. Removing the stash and counting through it, she nodded out of satisfaction and deposited them in a pouch before hanging it around her neck and leaving the library with a quick word to Spike about her destination.
---
Fluttershy watched with no small degree of confusion and anxiety as she saw random bits of clothing and small travel items flying around the living room as their manipulator floated in the center of such. The Bearer of Kindness had been getting used to Discord's odd antics after having the chaotic creature living with her, but to see him in... a floral Hawaiian shirt, straw hat red tinted sunglasses, and entirely too many leis was a new one. Never mind the fact that he seemed to be packing.
Finally, though, the being of pandemonium took notice of his observer, lowering his rosy shades and grinning a silent "welcome" at the mare. "Ahhh, Fluttershy! You caught me in the middle of packing!" he chimed warmly, watching and cringing as a flying basket narrowly missed the pegasus' noggin.
"Packing?" she replied, shaking her head out and approaching him. "I don't think Princess Celestia wants you to go anywhere..."
He waved a paw dismissively. "Oh, nonsense! Besides... I have to." Suddenly all the festive, tourist type objects he was manipulating ceased to exist, and his shirt and accessories had become a suit, tie, and hat. "I've got some business to take care of." He held a claw up to silence Fluttershy as she tried to say something. "Doooon't worry, Flutters~ I'll be back before you know it~!"
Fluttershy looked down at the ground, thinking about what he had said before nodding slightly. "... A-A-Alright... But please don't be gone long, okay?"
"Fluttershy, please~ When have I ever wronged you? Don't answer that. Bye!" And just like that, he was gone in a puff of smoke, leaving a slightly befuddled Fluttershy behind.
I didn't even get to ask him where he was going, she thought.
---
The town of Appleloosa was bustling with late morning activity. The few vendors brave enough to be out in the sun viciously tried to sell their goods. Construction ponies pounded away at the frame of what would become a small hotel. The orchards that supported the town were being tended carefully by many, many farmhands... or hooves, if you prefer. And the train station provided a temporary berth for a locomotive intended to carry both ponies and produce to Ponyville and beyond.
All in all, picturesque life in the little desert town.
---
Bronze Bar wiped his brow after driving another nail into lumber, looking down at the other ponies below him. "Toss me another bag o' nails, will ya?" he called, flying a little lower to make the catch a little easier. In response, a yellow furred, violet maned pegasus colt picked up a bag in his mouth and spread his wings, flapping hard. The colt rose several feet before making the throw, watching as Bronze Bar caught it and set it down on the beginnings of the second story. "Good throw, son!"
"Thanks, Dad!" the foal called back proudly, a big grin appearing on his face. "Anything else I can do?" Before the little one's father could answer, though, a string of cursing rang out from the other side of the build site.
"... Uh... just wait there a moment," he instructed, flying over to the source to find a red faced earth pony stomping around in what he perceived as a temper tantrum. "What's wrong, boss?"
The raging pony turned his attention on his pegasus employee, frowning. "Course you wouldn't know! It's these dang tremors! They keep shakin' the foundation! A stupid toolbox jus' fell on me an' broke my hard hat!" Sure enough, the dented remains of the protective headgear laid discarded at his hooves.
"Well... maybe it's Chief Thunderhooves stampeding again?" Bronze offered, seeming curious. His boss shook his head.
"Nope! We wouldn't feel that all the way over here!" his boss expressed once more before turning his angry gaze over the site. "... I hope for your sake that that boy of yours is staying outta trouble..." he then uttered meaningfully.
"What, Juni?" he replied, frowning at his boss. "He's been fantastic! He's having a great time helping out!"
"If you're coverin' for somethin' he did, ya'll better spill it now!"
"I'm no-!" Bronze began to yell before being stopped by a particularly long, powerful tremor. "... Whooooa... That's not good..." he then continued, looking up and backing away from the unfinished building.
"Daaaaad!" a young voice called, getting Bronze Bar's attention. Without hesitation, the pegasus spread his wings and took off, flying around the site to avoid anything that could potentially fall on him. Upon reaching his son, he saw the colt hovering a foot off the ground, staring intently at something.
"Juni! You alright?" his father quipped, making the child glance back, then point in the direction he had been looking.
"Look Dad! There's a big bug out there!"
"... Big bug...?" Bronze repeated, trying to find whatever his son had been staring at, and to no avail. "... You sure, kiddo? I don't see anything."
"Well, it came out of the ground and then went left," Juni explained, landing and folding his wings while smiling up at his dad. "I didn't follow it because you told me to stay here." The colt seemed oblivious to the surprised look on Bronze's face.
"... Ehehe... atta boy..." the father emitted, stepping forward and messing up the foal's already messy mane. "... Hey, wanna work up on the second floor with me?"
"Yeah! Cool!" Juni exclaimed, jumping once with glee before looking back at the "bug's" location. Then he gasped. "There! There!"
Bronze looked down the alley... and subsequently felt something hot and sticky hit his face. Juni chuckled a little, then started laughing uncontrollably. "Hahahahah! That's so gross!" he cheered, his laughing managing to drown out what had really happened for a single second.
His father was screaming. The liquid that had hit him was causing his father immense pain, making the appropriately bronze furred pegasus flail and wipe desperately at the goop. "D-Dad!" he yelled, rushing to his father's side as another glob of the strange, dangerous liquid hit Bronze in the front right leg.
"J-Juniiiii! Aghhhhh! B-B-Burning! BURNING! Help!" came his wails as the colt started trying to remove the acidic goo. No matter how hard he tried to wipe it off, though, it wouldn't come off. In fact, he couldn't really touch it; it hurt!
"I can't!" he cried with a distressed tone, looking back at where the goo had come from. The bug was there... and it had brought friends. "Dad! DAD!" came the colt's panicked cries, drawing a lot of attention from nearby ponies. Several of them came forward with chisels and scissors or other such tools to attempt to help Bronze Bar, but...
Well, the sight of a group of Roaches rapidly approaching with acidic saliva being propelled from their strange mouths does a lot to deter such attempts. Those brave enough to try and help him ended up with acid on their faces, falling to the ground along with Bronze as the corrosive liquid ate away at their flesh.
Seconds later, Roaches were in the town, streaming past their first victims and targeting other ponies seemingly at random.
Bronze Bar was still as the acid began to finish its work, his son now desperately trying to wake him up and avoiding looking at his ruined, exposed face. "Wake up, Dad! ... Dad!! DAD!!! W-Wake up!!" he cried, paying no attention to the rampaging Zerg behind him.
The Roaches attacked any pony they saw, though they did have a few that escaped their caustic loogies. The town's pegasi generally followed a procedure of sighting the aliens, screaming, and taking to the air as soon as they realized they were next. Much to their relief (and to some, amusement) this seemed to be a safe act; the Roaches occasionally hissed angrily at them, but did not spit.
Everypony else had to fend for themselves. Any that tried to fight back were cut down with a barrage of burning mucus, while those courageous enough to be trying to protect others or help them flee had their efforts greatly impeded by the sudden, hither-to unnoticed, and undeniably unwelcome arrival of a veritable conga line of Zerglings. These new arrivals immediately set about to indulging their ferocious instincts, attacking ponies left and right and killing them in quick, but gruesome fashions.
Juni suddenly found himself being wrenched away from his deceased father by another pegasus - one whom he was not familiar with - and carried skyward. "Nooo! NO! NO! Put me down!" he screamed, squirming and struggling and flapping his wings in an attempt to escape his savior's grasp. His gaze remained firmly fixated on Bronze Bar's body as he was carried further and further away, paying no attention to the dozens of escaping pegasi, the occasional fleeing earth or unicorn pony, or the Zerg.
The sounds of screaming and destruction lasted only 34 minutes thereafter, re-erupting again occasionally as the aliens rooted out survivors.