//------------------------------// // No Longer Ponies // Story: MLP: Kerrigan's Journey // by King Xeno //------------------------------// It had been about a week since the incident, since they were abducted from their homes... Taken from their land of peace... Now all that remained were the ruins of their civilization... They were being changed... No matter how hard they fought... How much they struggled... How they screamed... Nothing would be able to stop it... They each had names and each a new purpose as well... Twilight Sparkle, a very intelligent and magically gifted unicorn, soon to use her intelligence to assist the Swarm with their invasions. Pinkie Pie, an extremely energetic pony with a passion for parties, now she would have a passion for slaughtering those in her path. Applejack, a simple apple farmer with a very strong and honest personality, she will use her strength to crush her foes. Rainbow Dash, very fast and headstrong pegasus, she'll now use her speed to scout and attack in the name of the Swarm. Rarity, a unicorn with a talent for finding gems, she will now locate rare mineral clusters for the Swarm. Finally Fluttershy, a shy pegasus with the unique ability to speak with animals, now she will be able to raise broods of Zerg for the Swarm's use. Each with their mission, each with their loyalty to the Swarm. When they were captured they had six strange artifacts with them... The Zerg had no use for the artifacts, but was able to bond the artifacts with the ponies, making them a permanent part of their anatomy. While the artifacts serve only the purpose of strengthening them and increasing their power... They will still be useful... However the Swarm is facing a terrible loss. Their Queen has been missing and many of their Zerg on Char were now dead. They knew she was not dead, so they would wait for her to return... Twilight gasped for air as she awoke, she found herself in a strange cocoon like object, which frightened her. Although she felt different, she could remember everything. The strange monsters invading from the sky, killing thousands of ponies... She had seen her brother die before her eyes. He was melted to a green puddle of acidic sludge by those monsters, the Princesses were next to die. Princess Luna was decapitated by one of the large monster's long scythe like claws. They had it easy compared to what Princess Celestia went through. She was partially eaten and left alone to die slowly and painfully, with her organs exposed and blood pooling around her mangled form. Twilight tried to push back those memories and thoughts, but she found that no matter how hard she tried they wouldn't go away. She began to weep, and pressed her hooves against her head, but her eyes widened. Twilight needed to find something reflective and quick, for she wised to see why she didn't feel the softness of fur, but instead the hardness of an exoskeleton. However, when she found nothing that could reveal her appearance to her, she knew that she needed to escape her prison. Twilight began to wiggle and squirm, pushing on the edge of the cocoon, but found it was too strong. She kicked and flailed, but the cocoon's walls remained solid and sturdy. She tried to call out for help, but a liquid flooded into her mouth, filling it with an awful taste. However she knew that it had some form of nutritional value, for it must have been sustaining her while she was unconscious. Twilight began to push again, but this time the cocoon felt different. Now it was soft, not quite ready to tear, but it would be soon. Twilight would just have to be patient and test it from time to time. She was just now becoming aware of several voices, not speaking but echoing through her mind. The voices spoke over each other, overlapping, screaming, whispering, and it was starting to scare her. She wanted it to stop, she wanted the voices to cease speaking, she wanted to go home... Twilight pressed her hoof on the side and it began to give, she heard a wet tearing sound and the cocoon split open, sending her forward with the liquid that was inside. Twilight looked up and let out a scream as she noticed several of the monsters around her. She waited for them leap at her with their horribly sharp fangs and curved claws, but they didn't. The monsters stared at her and did nothing else, which confused Twilight. She remembered that she wanted to see her reflection and began to search for anything and looked into the liquid that had spilled from the cocoon. Twilight's eyes widened in horror as she saw what had happened to her. Twilight was no longer a pony, she was one of them... Her skull had been elongated, for a larger brain. She now had a hard carapace where her lavender fur once was, and there were several long spine like objects attached to her. She still retained her horn, but that was the only thing that she had kept. She had a pair of clawed limbs reaching from her shoulders, and her teeth had become sharp and more suitable for eating meat rather than her previous herbivore diet. Finally she noticed the Element of Magic had been fused into her head, now a part of her bone structure. She was horrified, she could no longer be considered a pony. There was nowhere she would be welcomed by her own kind... Then she remembered that there were no more of her kind. She needed to find out where she was, so she turned and bumped into another cocoon, however it was slightly translucent, and she could only see a pony like shape inside. Twilight could only wait until the pony inside awoke, but soon noticed four other cocoons place nearby. "What is going on? Who are these ponies?" Twilight asked, she sighed when no response had given but the voices began to return, so she covered her ears with her hooves to no avail. The voices were once again in her mind... However she noticed something peculiar, as the monsters passed by some of the voices would grow louder, and she then realized what it was. Those voices were the thoughts of these creatures, and the very thought terrified her. She know shared some form of mind link with these creatures. She went to speak again, but was interrupted by the wet tearing sound again. She whipped her head to the left and saw the cocoons splitting one at a time. The figures that emerged let out gasps of fear and shock upon seeing each other and themselves. Twilight wasn't sure if she should feel glad or sad, for they were her friends, but they had suffered the same fate as she had. Pinkie was covered from head to hoof in spikes, with a few tentacle like growths on her face. Applejack seemed to have a harder carapace, meaning that she was more heavily armored. Rainbow Dash had a lighter carapace, much more flexible for quick movements. Rarity seemed to have a variety of sensor organs around her hooves, with several sharp pincer like limbs. Finally Fluttershy, who had a purple membrane between her legs, with a pair of small wings, most likely incapable of flight, and a ridged spine. Perhaps the most disturbing was that now their Cutie Marks were identical: A swirling object, with the outer edge lined with large spikes, and the entire things dripped with a purple liquid. While it was shocking to them, they seemed to understand that they were at least alive, but had no knowledge of where they were. Twilight took a few steps, and she became aware of a wet noise coming from underneath her hooves. She heard Rainbow Dash start giggling and looked back in confusion. "When you walk the ground makes fart sounds." Rainbow Dash said, trying her best to stay quiet. However they didn't have to move far to find that they were blocked in. Before them was a door, if it could even be called that, for it appeared to be a pair of muscles or some kind of defensive system pressed together, the crack between them lined with tiny sharp spines. While it was obvious that they could not leave at the moment they at least knew that they were inside of some creature, but perhaps something would come along and open the way, but for now they would have to wait.