Chapter 2: I Reveal. I Unveil.
Location: Outskirts of Ponyville
The walk was long due to the thickness of the forest but Zeratul and his newly acquired equine friend arrived at a small bridge by afternoon. They exchanged little dialogue during their travel due to the uneasiness of the events that occurred recently. Zeratul still couldn't believe how calm his surroundings felt compared to the horrors he has been during his travels. The sky was for once in his lifetime not cloudy and black and he has never heard birds chirp in happiness until now.
"It is as if this planet was created to be a sanctuary of peace" he thought, walking on the bridge. Suddenly, he felt something. That something wasn't the usual menacing feeling. It was above as he looked only to see a cloud passing by. He simply decided to warn his new pony friend.
"Friend Fluttershy" he grabbed her attention "Up there!" Fluttershy looked up as she saw the cloud. She giggled at her invisible friend's surprise.
"Oh don't worry. That's just my friend Rainbow Dash." And it was in fact the multicolored pony herself. As the latter heard her name, she looked down only to see Fluttershy covered in a swarm of frogs and spots of blood. Her eyes widened as she redirected her cloud towards her.
"Fluttershy!" She exclaimed as she held her "What happened to you? Are you okay? What is all this?"
"Oh this? Do not worry! None of this is my blood. In fact, I don't want to talk about it, Rainbow. Could you please do me a little favor and gather our friends at Twilight's castle? It's really something urgent." Rainbow just nodded as she flew as fast as she could towards Sweet Apple Acres.
"Excuse me! Mr. Zeratul." she said, not knowing which direction he is "Could you please go to that castle over there? I need to take care of this... bloody mess... and the little ones here... if that's okay with you?" She pointed at the crystalline tree-shaped castle at the horizon. It wasn't that hard to miss due to it being flashy.
"By your will." he bowed out of respect as Fluttershy flew towards her cottage. Zeratul was alone again, but this time he knew where to go. He walked slowly, looking around him only to see something that the Protoss have striven to achieve and still are trying to until now: Peace. Ponies of all kind, regular ones like the ones Raynor used to tell him about, winged ones like Fluttershy and even horned ones he never saw before were chatting, laughing together, living in harmony without any racial differences, unlike the Protoss who only resulted in wars and bloodshed in order to only achieve separation and more bloodshed. The horned equines in particular piqued Zeratul's interest: They use some sort of energy to do their manual labors, just like the Protoss used psionic energy to do theirs. For every pony he passes by, he could never feel any malice iminating from their spirits. This feeling was unknown to Zeratul. It was even unknown for the common Protoss, who knew nothing but living to battle all their lives. That feeling was innocence.
"What did the Xel'Naga want so that they guide me to such a pure, untouched place?" he thought, putting his palm on his face, thinking about his Protoss brethren. He stopped at the castle's front door. He visualized the interior of the castle as he blinked in.
"I swear I saw her with my own eyes, Rarity" shouted Rainbow Dash "Fluttershy had big spots of blood all over her body. What was she doing in the Bog alone anyways?!"
"I honestly don't know, darling" Rarity answered back with her posh accent "But something big enough happened to require all of us at the castle." Bouncing at the distance was Pinkie Pie in all her bubbly glory followed by Applejack.
"Listen guys! I've had this doozy since Rainbow Dash called us until now and it didn't stop until we reached Twilight's castle. Who or whatever it is, it's going to happen here. I'm so excited that I can't stop talking about it."
"Ah fer the love of Celestia, girl, can you simmer down a bit?" asked Applejack, obviously annoyed by the pink mare's antics. Fluttershy came last to the castle, galloping as fast as she could.
"I'm sorry I am late. Shall we go inside?" As she knocked the door, she remember something "Um, Mr. Zeratul, are you here by any chance?"
"Zera-wha?" asked Applejack, as everypony was looking around.
"He said he would be here. Maybe he's a little shy about his appearance." replied Fluttershy "Anyways, let's go in."
Moments ago
The castle's purple decor caught Zeratul's eyes as he walked into the empty hallways. There were so many doors, so many rooms to explore but one room in peculiar caught his attention: A room with seven chairs (let's not forget Spike), six of them had different symbols embroidered on them. One of the symbols was recognizable from Fluttershy's posterior as the three pink butterflies. Zeratul had his questions concerning those symbols but he decided to leave them for later. The circular shape was actually a map of some sort. As Zeratul went to touch it, he heard a noise coming from the other side of the room. It was a purple equine with a long flowing mane of matching color, carrying a book via that strange unexplained energy. The equine did not only have horns, she had wings as well. Zeratul deduced that this one must be their leader of some sort. As she sat down, five other figures came into sight.
"Hello Twilight!" the five said in unison.
"Hey there, girls. Rainbow told me to be prepared for a meeting and here I am" answered Twilight "What seems to be the issue?"
"I think we should let Fluttershy explain what is going on. After all, she's the one who called the meeting." Rarity suggested as everypony's eyes were locked into Fluttershy.
"Alright, it's not going to be pretty at all" started Fluttershy, knowing little that Zeratul was watching them. "I went to Froggy Bottom Bog to retrieve these cute little froggies. W-when suddenly, the hydra appeared again."
"Wait, that same hydra we ran away from when we were with Twah and Pinkie? Didn't it learn to forgive and forget?" asked Applejack.
"I think he was quite hungry so he decided to make the frogs and I his lunch. Anyways, I was about to be eaten when suddenly, one of his heads fell in front of me." All ponies gasped at the sheer horror of the scene.
"How does a hydra's head simply fall like that?" questioned Twilight.
"A... green blur that sounded like it could even cut the air itself sliced the head from its humongous body. It didn't only slice one, it cut all four of them with one clean swipe each." Fluttershy cried a little inside as Pinkie and Rarity put their hooves as if they were about to vomit.
"But cutting a hydra's head results in the hydra regenerating and multiplying its heads. That means..." Twilight tried to deduce.
"Yes! I warned whoever was fighting the hydra about that" interrupted Fluttershy "The hydra was biting onto something for sure. I couldn't see what it was biting on but I was sure it was the creature who saved me... by killing it."
"Killing it?" Twilight asked "But killing a hydra requires you to squash its body so that it doesn't regenerate."
"That's why I saw a big green dome. The hydra stopped moving within it as if it was petrified. After it got dispersed, the hydra exploded in bits. Most of its heads and the carcass are covering the swamp in blood right now. T-the poor hydra didn't stand a chance." This time, Pinkie's vomit was literally on the ground as Rarity fainted. Applejack mourned the hydra by putting her hat on her chest and Rainbow was amazed at how some creature was able to take down a creature of that size.
"Look, Fluttershy. I know you care a lot about your creatures, but the hydra was too hostile to be tamed, even by your standards. Whoever saved you really deserves words of thanks for his heroics, despite his methods." Twilight comforted Fluttershy with one of her wings.
Hearing this, Zeratul closed his eyes and nodded silently. He then decided it is grand time to speak.
"I think I shall honor my part of the bargain, friend Fluttershy." his voice echoed in the room. The ponies turned their heads only to see in plain sight what Zeratul looked like: His dark skin, his cut cords, his green eyes, his mask all over his face, his golden armor encrusted with emeralds, his clawed toes and arms. The ponies were a bit terrified by his sudden appearance. Twilight hesitated to approach him but Zeratul decided to speak again.
"I am Zeratul. Dark Templar of the Protoss. I come to your planet in peace."
"D-dark?" Twilight inquired, remembering Nightmare Moon.
"It was destined for my kin to have such an appellation. Let us say that us Protoss have a very grim past, purple one" Zeratul answered with the best he could, not trying to worry his new friends-to-be. Twilight and the others cautiously approached him, except of Fluttershy, who rushed towards him and noticed something.
"You have a bite wound on your shoulder, Zeratul." The latter didn't even care about the wound.
"I thank you for your concern, friend Fluttershy, but it shall heal in time." he reassured in a calmer tone. He then turned to the blue one.
"I sense hostility coming from you, spectrum one" he uttered "Do you perhaps not approve of what I am?" Rainbow decided that the best course of action was not to provoke the newcomer and stay put.
"I for one do not wish you any harm. Please, we can use this opportunity for introductions." he suggested.
"Aw, shucks, where are mah manners? The name is Applejack, proud farmer of Sweet Apple Acres." she shook his hand carefully.
"Your aura, friend Applejack, reminds me of my Terran friend Raynor. Even your mannerisms and attitude do so as well." he remarked.
"Oh... that's Rarity on the ground. She fainted after hearing my story." said Fluttershy, pointing at the fallen mare.
"Hello and welcome to Ponyville, Zerry" the pink one bounced around him "My name is Pinkie Pie and I plan parties for Ponyville. And as you are the newest of new faces here, I shall make you an exclusive party with your name on it." For the first time of his life, Zeratul was dumbfounded. He couldn't find the correct words to reply the pink one.
"Party?" he innocently inquired "I do not understand the concept, pink one." Her eyes simply shrunk into little dots as she stopped bouncing.
"You... never had a party before?" Zeratul shook his head, still dumbfounded. "OKAY, how about cupcakes? Did you ever eat one?"
"Oh! Excuse my rudeness but... it is better that I show you" he removed his mask only to reveal that he has no mouth under it and put it back on "I feed on the planetary energies around me like your sun so-" he was interrupted by the sound of an earthquake.
Upon seeing Zeratul's mouth-less face, Pinkie dropped the cupcake she was carrying in slow motion. She felt as if her own life flashed before her eyes: It was the first time that she encountered a party guest that she couldn't feed or couldn't enjoy pastries. She slammed the ground and yelled a
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
that literally echoed through the entire galaxy.
Spear of Adun
Artanis heard the echo of Pinkie's cry.
"What in the Xel'Naga's name was that, Karax?" the Hirearch inquired.
"Something intriguing indeed, hirearch." the phase smith answered.
The Hyperion
Jim Raynor was having a simple cup of coffee when the coffee mug suddenly shattered.
"What in the devil's name?" he inquired.
"I think you might have angered someone lately, Jim." answered Valerian, jokingly.
The Leviathan
Kerrigan was discussing with Abathur in the evolution chambers when suddenly Kerrigan fell on her knees.
"What is this horrid noise?" she inquired.
"Spinning sequences interrupted! Engaging defensive mechanisms!" Abathur exclaimed.
Planet Slayn
"This noise... someone has angered someone that even the Gods themselves cannot quell." Alarak simply remarked.
Back to our Story
"I think you are the first one to ever break Pinkie Pie, Zeratul!" said Twilight with an air of victory.
"I think out of all the ponies here, I shouldn't anger that one anymore." Zeratul thought while Pinkie was in a corner, being comforted by Fluttershy, lamenting on her fate.