The Reprieve
After the untimely, ghastly, deadly end of Trixie Lulamoon, the town of Ponyville instantly descended into chaos. Ponies ran all around, screaming and crying for their loved ones and yelling drowned orders to each other. Many made beelines for their homes. Many scooped up their young and tried in vain to comfort them. Many began to frantically scrape blood and bits of the former magician off of themselves. And those unlucky enough to be close to Trixie or in the path of her two victims limped or lay in the streets, groaning and screaming from various levels of pain.
But there were a few that had it far worse.
"Bon Boooooooon! Noooooo!!" Lyra Heartstrings cried as the lifeless body of her best friend/marefriend laid limp before her, hot tears streaming freely from her eyes. She stooped down to lay her head atop Bon Bon's rapidly cooling form, cradling her close and allowing her grieved, frightened, and helpless shrieks ring out amidst the deafening squalls.
"Miss Cheerilee!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders collectively called, breaking away from their siblings and idols to rush through the crowds to their teacher's side. Upon reaching her, they found their teacher on her side, but very much alive, her eyes open and her breaths staggered and heavy.
"Miss Cheerilee, are you okay?" Scootaloo cried. "Girls, help me get her up!" The fillies moved to the mare's back, trying to use their entire bodies (and a tiny, failed attempt at magic on Sweetie Belle's part) to lift the magenta earth pony.
"... Hah... Hah... Ngh.... I'm al-... I'm alright..." Cheerilee painfully managed, shutting her eyes as the three youngsters tried to lift her. She attempted to raise her head, but a sharp, spearing pain stopped her with an accompanying yelp.
"Cheerilee!" another voice piped in from nearby, courtesy of a very grim looking Pinkie Pie. The now "deflated" party pony ran over and forced the teacher onto her hooves, The magenta mare staggered a bit upon standing, the fillies and Pinkie Pie moving to get her stable. It was startlingly easy.
"Ooohgh... where's... urp... Nurse Redheart...?" the teacher asked weakly, trying to look around for the nurse. She wasn't difficult to find. The mare was hard at work already, coming to the aid of anypony that needed her, despite her own fears.
"She's over there!" Scootaloo declared, pointing in her direction just as Cheerilee began to sway. Pinkie Pie quickly sprang to stop the mare's fall, laying her back down and then running for help without missing a beat.
"Stay with her, girls!" she called in an unsettlingly neutral tone of voice, leaving the Cutie Mark Crusaders to watch over their injured teacher.
All the while, Twilight Sparkle stood stock still in the middle of the plaza with a repulsed and unconscious Rarity, a now-nauseous Rainbow Dash, and a... surprisingly stoic Applejack, trying to process the scene before her. She found herself suddenly very grateful for the fact that Fluttershy had been absent; Twilight didn't want to think about how it would affect her friend, but she had a very good idea.
Still... she needed to be here... "... A-... Applejack... Rainbow Dash... go get Fluttershy...." she uttered in an absent tone, catching both mares off guard and making them jump.
"... There really a point, Twi?" Applejack replied after a few seconds of silence (between them), her tone seeming... hopeless. "Ah wouldn' want her to see all this..."
Twilight turned to look at her friends, and they all looked back at her, sorrow and fright etched into their features. "... I don't know what to do..." she admitted, fighting back tears as the sounds of terror began to fade, ponies beginning to flee the town square. Some were following the procedure that Twilight had given them, others were/had made beelines for their homes, planning to hide from the attack they were sure was coming.
---
"... What do you eat, Mister Zerg?" Fluttershy uttered in an exasperated manner, hiding her frustration behind a meek, kind-hearted expression and demeanor. "Do you eat meat? Is that it?"
The Zerg Roach she had been attempting to entertain was proving to be a difficult guest. It didn't help that she was having difficulty understanding the creature, either. She compared it to attempting to understand a native Neighponese pony while having only a very basic grasp of the language. It also didn't help that she could faintly hear what sounded like a very high pitched birdsong in the distance... It sounded vaguely like screaming.
The Roach made a guttural noise in response, making the shy mare smile nervously as she looked around. She wasn't sure, but that sounded like a "yes".
"Well, I'm sorry, Mister Zerg, but I don't keep meat here... You'll have to go hunting..." she apologized, subconsciously tensing up at the thought of how this strange organism would hunt... Her exaggerating imagination made it into something very... gruesome.
Another throaty hiss sounded from the Roach's strange maw, but before it could do anything else, it tensed up randomly. It became stock still, making poor Fluttershy even more nervous. "... Um... Mister Zerg?" she quipped, taking a single step towards the static creature.
She immediately jumped back when she saw the Zerg creature starting to tear away at the ground, burrowing into it and then starting to tunnel away. "W-Wait!" she called into the hole uselessly. A deep sigh left her mouth and she turned away from the hole. "... Was it something I said...?"
---
With a slimy, gory spray, the Zerg's first Hatchery finished its rapid mutation into a Lair, now sporting a thicker and taller structure with larger "teeth" and, in some spots, a hardened carapace. Meanwhile, another cocoon was pulsing and wriggling at the edge of the Creep, their mineral gathering was as efficient as it would ever get, and beside the newly mutated Lair, a fresh egg burst open to unleash the White Tail Woods' newest resident.
This new one stood roughly four meters tall with a body like a centaur... but that would be where easy comparisons would end. It stood on six legs, each leg connected to the next by a membrane not unlike that of a Drone, and each leg tipped by a spike similar to a Roach's, but not as functional. Its back was covered in orange bulbs, and it ended in the back with an ovipositor and a pair of pincers. As for the more "human" part of its form, its torso was slender and feminine by human standards, and it sported two arms that ended in a pair of long talons. Its head was elongated, the top portion covered in a segmented and singularly spiked carapace while its tusk adorned visage was simple and not conspicuously armored. Long "hair" made of tendril-like nerve cords, perhaps a remnant of the old Queen of Blades' influence, grew from the back of its armored skull. From its humanoid back grew two long, bladed appendages, most similar to the trademark "wings" that the Queen of Blades sported.
The newly hatched Queen narrowed its glowing orange eyes as it examined its surroundings, reaching out with its psionic abilities to the nearby Overlords for information. Then it reached out again, and a moment later, it "skated" to the eastern edge of the Creep. It stood there for a brief moment, its head turning from side to side before a bulge began to form in its lower abdomen. This bulge then began to move down towards the opening in its "tail", the protrusion swelling up slightly during its journey before finally being unceremoniously deposited on the fleshy, dark purple Creep.
This lump of strange flesh was short, covered in orange mounds and short, toothy spikes. As soon as it appeared, it began to pulsate faintly, rooting itself to the Creep. Almost immediately, that fleshy purple mass began to expand slowly, immediately sapping a great oak tree that stood perilously at the edge of the Creep. The Creep Tumor's creator then skated to another edge of the Creep ring, preparing to create another Tumor.
Meanwhile, even more Overlords filled the airspace over the Zerg base while more and more Roaches and Swarmlings hatched from their eggs, beginning to patrol around the base before a number of them congregated in the northern portion of the base. A group of eight Roaches and twelve Zerglings stood waiting at the edge, waiting until a freshly hatched Zerg Drone hovered over.
Said group then began to move to the north, being tailed at a moderate distance by a single Overlord.
A few moments later, a group of five Roaches burst out of the ground near the Creep, skittering onto the growth and approaching their Lair. They stood at it quietly for a few seconds before stiffening up and beginning to tear away at the Creep below them to reach the rich soil below. Simultaneously, a newly hatched batch of Zerglings began to dash to the southeast towards their expansion in the Ghastly Gorge.
---
Twilight Sparkle sniffled quietly as she sat in the shower, her eyes shut and her mind in turmoil while hot water rushed over her form. The events of that morning now haunted her relentlessly, making her shiver and shake her head in a desperate attempt to ward off those terrible thoughts and to get her brain back on task. She still hadn't written a letter to the princess, after all.
But what would she say? How could she say it? How would Celestia react? ... Would she even have time to write a letter? The prospect of the Zerg returning in greater numbers had been considered many times and her imagination only made the images more terrifying. With no substantial grasp of what the aliens could really do, her brain was going all out on creating nightmare fuel for the poor unicorn.
All that aside, the bookworm had the idea that she needed to send a letter to Princess Celestia as soon as she possibly could. The Sun's raiser needed to be told about this... terror attack soon, and there was a good reason for this.
Not long after the panic in the town plaza, lots and lots of ponies had scrambled to the train station, buying tickets for the next train to Canterlot. Twilight had no doubt that these ponies would begin spreading word of the tragedy upon arrival, spreading panic as a result. Words from the Princesses could defuse that situation before it began.
With a sigh, the unicorn turned off the water and began to hastily dry herself off, trying to get herself into a "just get it done" sort of mindset as she dried her coat and groomed her mane and tail.
A minute later, she left the bathroom to see Spike sitting there and waiting with paper and quill in claw. The Magic Bearer smiled at him briefly before beginning to dictate a letter aloud.
"Dear Princess Celestia...
---
Discord let out a contented sigh as he rested atop a cloud, his odd eyes shut and his mismatched paw and claw crossed behind his head in a cozy cloud-made recliner. After that little... incident in Ponyville, the ensuing chaos had drawn him in immediately. In a way, the draconequus had enjoyed everypony's fear, and it had give him a great rush of nostalgia. The good old days when he ran the show.
But at the same time, he couldn't shake a nagging feeling of... well, guilt. Discord could never pass up the opportunity to revel in such delicious chaos and disorder, but... well, even the physical manifestation of chaos himself felt he was above such wanton violence. It was enough to get him out of his conjured seat and to assume a "The Thinker" sort of pose atop his perch.
He had pledged to use his powers for good ("mostly")...
"Maybe a little intervention is in order... But what kind...?"
---
Princess Celestia stood on the balcony of her bedroom, looking out over Ponyville and thinking hard about what she should do about the Zerg. Her student's initiative had impressed her, of course, but that also left her thinking of how to implement a similar system for the rest of Equestria...
Twilight Sparkle's plan involved leaving town and either boarding trains to Canterlot, Appleloosa or... basically anywhere except for Las Pegasus; the train tracks leading there cut directly through the White Tail Woods. And while it was a good solution for the safety of her little ponies, it was only a short term one. The flood of refugees would put a strain on resources and cause discontent among some citizens. The stories such refugees would tell would undoubtedly cause panic.
But, perhaps unforgivably, Appleloosa was only a bit further from the Ghastly Gorge than Ponyville. What Ponyville had, though, was the Everfree Forest. That dangerous forest was inhabited by many, many dangerous creatures; ones that were, perhaps, just as or even more dangerous than the Zerg.
She'd be sure to include that in her next message to her student, she concluded, turning from her balcony and standing just inside, thinking. It was as she did so that the familiar sight, sound, and scent of a dragonfire-sent message. Celestia gave the scroll a sidelong glance, her normally neutral, but pleasant expression souring as she saw not only an "Urgent" seal on the letter, but also a hastily scribbled "READ IMMEDIATELY." The Princess of the Sun quickly glanced at and read the letter... and promptly darted to an exquisitely built, hoof-crafted, strong-enough-to-withstand-an-attack-from-an-enraged-Ursa-Major strongbox perched upon a table. She unlocked it with her magic and removed an old looking key from it, sealing the box again.
With key and rolled up letter clutched in her magical grasp, Princess Celestia bolted out of her bedroom. The forceful swing of her door startled the guards stationed nearby, as well as a wandering servant who instantly ran away. A new servant, she idly mused; only a new servant would flee like that.
"Buckin' A... What's the matter, your Highness?" one guard quipped after gathering himself, snapping to attention.
Princess Celestia looked down the hall towards her sister's room, barely acknowledging her guard's presence but addressing him all the same. "Lieutenant Ginger, tell Commander Steadfast I need him in the war room immediately." Gone was her usual, soothing tone, tragically replaced by a concerned, serious, steeled, slightly guarded one. "I need representatives of all Equestrian settlements in the war room as well, and I want chariots prepared for them to return them to their respective cities. Cancel all of today's hearings, tell them that only truly urgent cases will be heard."
As she finished speaking, Lieutenant Ginger hesitated for a few seconds, unable to believe what he was hearing and already fearing the implications. But then, a surprisingly terrible glare from Celestia reminded him that he should have been gone the second she stopped talking. "Yes, your Highness!!" he yelled in a voice louder than intended, gesturing for another guard on the other side of the hall to follow and ordering her to carry out the second portion of the Princess' orders.
Celestia let out a deep sigh and started to gallop down the hall towards Luna's room, flinging its door open to find the Princess of the Night a few feet from said portal with a startled expression. It seemed that had heard the white alicorn's frigid voice and was already prepared, minus nearly having her horn taken off on her way out.
Regardless, Luna fell in next to Celestia and the two Princesses dashed down the halls, much to the surprise of many a servant and guard. Before long, they had reached a wing of the castle that housed a few of the less-used rooms of the castle, though that meant little. The only room that had fallen out of use was one that was placed at the end of a long, well guarded hallway. Its door was not as ornate and well crafted as the rest, but was instead brown and... normal (if massive). Celestia and Luna approached this door, the old key floating to the lock and turning within the keyhole to open the huge doors.
Inside, a long, chair-surrounded, moderately dusty table dominated the middle of the room, free of any papers or garbage. Disturbed dust particles reflected the colored light that shone through a set of three stained glass windows, each depicting one of the three ponies responsible for uniting the three races: Private Pansy, Smart Cookie, and Clover the Clever. The cool stone floor was littered with minuscule bits of debris (courtesy of the room's disuse and helped along by a certain invasion and a certain draconequus) while the walls were well covered with maps of Equestria. All of them were old and out of date, their paper already having begun to yellow. On further inspection, a few of said maps had already begun to fall apart and were resting uselessly upon the ground. There was a noticeable lack of luxury when compared to the rest of the castle.
Princess Celestia let out a deep, sorrowful sigh as she set the key on the table, looking around the room with a similar expression. "... It has been so long since I have entered this room..." she mused aloud as her younger sister asked a guard to summon a group of ponies to - at least - make the room presentable. "... And still, not nearly long enough... I had hoped this room would crumble to dust before I opened those doors."
"Sister, when will thou tell us the issue?" Luna emitted in her habitual Old Equish, having to remind herself to alter this for the sake of their soon-to-be guests. "We cannot help if we do not know." The dark furred alicorn then watched as Celestia turned to face and approach her, closing the gap with a neck nuzzle and a brief hug.
"... I don't want to repeat myself... I will tell you once everypony is present," came Celestia's rather alarmingly emotionless tone, the Sun Raiser breaking away from the hug and immediately addressing a servant that had arrived to clean up the place. "Please send somepony to the royal library and bring as many up-to-date maps as they can carry."
The servant in question nodded and galloped away to fulfill his orders, leaving the Princesses alone in the war room for very nearly a minute. Very quickly, the room began to fill with ponies, servants working on dusting and sweeping and generally making it look nice while the ponies that she had sent for started filing into the room. Several well dressed ponies of all different colors, race, and cutie marks gradually entered, each representing each of Equestria's various cities/towns/settlements/etc.
As they did so, seven armor clad equines also entered all at once, being led by a powerfully built blue pegasus in especially ornate armor. As soon as he entered, he stood before the two Princesses and his six other followers lined up on either side of him. They all saluted their leaders. "I apologize for the wait, your Highness. I erm.... I had to chew out my squad."
His greeting and apology was met with chuckles and head-shakes from the rest of the ponies with him. One mare in particular, an orange earth pony with a white mane and tail and a campfire cutie mark spoke out of line. "He got us lost!" she blurted out, not seeming to care that her commanding officer was giving her a death glare to end all death glares.
Commander Steadfast deeply sighed and nodded. "... Yes. I got lost," he admitted, drawing a soft chuckle out of Princess Celestia and a slight grin out of Luna before glaring at the mare who ratted him out. "You. 200 laps around the barracks. Now."
"That shan't be necessary, Commander. Thou must set an example for thy troops," Princess Luna interjected, shaking her head. "... We think 100 laps for both of thee will suffice." Both soldiers groaned, but with a hoof gesture from Celestia, they took places at the table.
Before long, the room was full and a good number of the chairs surrounding the table were taken, with the two at the far head of the table occupied by the sister diarchs. Princess Celestia made a few dismissing gestures and all the servants began to file to out of the significantly less dusty war room. Soon, it was only the Princesses and their summoned guests.
"Good afternoon, my little ponies," the sun goddess greeted in a mostly neutral tone, drawing friendly and inquisitive returns from those present. "I regret that this meeting needed to be called.I believe this room tells of our purpose here quite clearly..."
A low murmur of acknowledgement and a few deep, oddly weary sighs permeated the air, made slightly louder by one pony's rising from his seat. He was an elderly earth pony stallion, white-furred and grey maned with a cutie mark consisting of two gears linked together. "Has the Griffon Empire finally done it, Your Highness?" he posed, looking in the direction of the leading alicorns. "Have they finally attacked us?"
The sisters shook their heads, and the Princess of the Night spoke. "Nay... We fear it is much worse. We are under attack by a new enemy that has not only infiltrated our borders, but has already taken the lives of several ponies."
Nervousness radiated from some of the room's occupants, but they were hushed by the appearance of a rolled up letter, clutched tightly in Celestia's magical grasp. "... I received this letter less than a half hour ago from my student, Twilight Sparkle."
She cleared her throat and unrolled the scroll, beginning to read it aloud.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I write this to you during a time of ... well, terror. A few hours ago, after the assembly, a pony wandered into the town plaza. She had strange growths protruding from her body and she appeared to be hurt. My friend Rainbow Dash identified her as Trixie Lulamoon, whom I am positive I have mentioned in previous letters.
Upon entering town and accumulating a crowd of concerned ponies, Trixie-
Celestia paused briefly to allow herself a deep breath and a slight, sorrowful alternation to her tone.
... exploded. The blast claimed the life of Bon Bon as well as injuring several other ponies, one of whom is currently hospitalized.
I have no doubt that the Zerg are responsible for this attack; according to Rainbow Dash, Trixie was last seen being taken by the Zerg. While she did not see what was done to her (and I would never make Rainbow Dash go back to find out), the growths on Trixie's body before the explosion were, without a doubt, courtesy of the Zerg.
On a slightly more fortunate note, a lot of ponies have followed the plan that I outlined during the assembly. While many have confined themselves to their homes, a great many more have left the town, and many of them are attempting to board a train to Canterlot.
The reason I made this letter look so desperately urgent is that I wanted you to see this before the refugees arrive. As I'm certain you will have guessed, the stories that these ponies will tell will absolutely spread panic throughout Canterlot, if not all of Equestria. In my opinion, it's best to address this while the populace is still relatively calm.
Your Faithful Student,
-Twilight Sparkle
As she finished reading the letter and set it down upon the table, she scanned the other occupants, seeing looks of disbelief, fear, anger, and everything in between plastered upon everypony's faces. However, silence barely had a chance to settle in the room as the Commander spoke up. "... Your Highness," Steadfast began, his visage clearly angry and ready for revenge, but still in control. "On a similar subject... The squad I sent with those researchers... They haven't returned yet. Are they-?"
"Unfortunately so, Commander..." Celestia replied before he could continue any further. As soon as she said it, one of the ponies accompanying the decorated stallion lost his composure, turning his head to begin to hide his weeping. His response was to emit a simple "damn..." before bowing his head, remaining silent.
"So... now what?" another representative queried, a bright blue unicorn mare with a cutie mark consisting of a nesting cardinal. "What are we supposed to do against these... Zerg things?"
Celestia turned her attention to the line of representatives gathered at the war room table, only looking the Fillydelphia representative in the eye. "I want you all to create evacuation plans similar to that of Twilight Sparkle's. The reference she sent me is in the royal library, and you may view it as needed." Then she turned to the Commander, whom was making a concerted effort to ignore his grieving subordinate. "Commander Steadfast, I need you to begin a recruiting campaign. Use whatever resources are necessary, but our forces need to grow if we are to defend ourselves."
"Yes, your Highness."
Princess Celestia nodded at him and glanced towards the very end of the table as a young earth stallion from Appleloosa spoke up while her sister shut her eyes and bowed her head slightly, her expression contorting briefly into one of pain.
"What 'bout Appleloosa, your Highness?" he asked in a slightly-too-loud tone of voice, made comical by a drawl much worse than the Element of Honesty could ever muster. "We're right next ta that Gorge place! Don'cha think we should all scoot on outta there? Ah wouldn't wan' anypony ta get hurt."
"Yes, Appleloosa... I am still considering our options..." Celestia admitted.
"What 'bout Dodge Junction, then? Couldn't we all get onna train 'n move over there?"
"What?!" a middle aged mare piped up, a grey furred unicorn with a carrot-y cutie mark. "We can't possibly accommodate the population of an entire town! Ours is small enough as it is!"
"We can't jus' sit on our rear ends 'n jus' wait for them Zergs ta git us!" the southern pony insisted, gritting his teeth.
"We can't do it! We don't have the space or the resources to support another two hundred ponies!"
"So what? Ya'll'd let us die?!"
"That's not what I meant!!"
"Well then, what did ya mean, huh? What did ya mean, ya little bi-"
"Enough, both of you," Princess Celestia interjected, stopping the Appleloosa representative mid-insult and getting them both to turn their eyes towards the Princess of the Sun. "This bickering will only spell our doom."
"Indeeeeeed~!" The sudden interjection of a certain loud, playful, devious tone startled all but the alicorn sisters, making them all look frantically around the room. It didn't take long for the source to make himself visible, though. Discord suddenly appeared in the middle of the table, suspended off such by about an inch without so much as a puff of smoke or an accompanying "pop" to announce his presence. Ignoring the startled, reactions from most gathered, he continued. "Those nasty little things won't wait for you to get your acts together, after all~"
"Discord?!" Luna cried, the dark-furred alicorn taking a defensive stance and preparing to cast a spell. "What art thou doing here?!"
"Well, excuuuuse me, Princess!" the draconequus retorted in a very grating voice, chuckling briefly at the flinch it elicited from most of his audience. "I wasn't aware I wasn't invited! How thoughtless of you."
"Discord, do not test our patience," Luna stated in a cold tone, her horn's glow flaring up.
The chaotic creature feigned offence and then waggled a paw at the Night Princess. "Luna, Luna! I'm here to help!" he half taunted, half scolded, promptly clapping his claw and paw together and summoning a set of three small boxes onto the table. Discord spared a sidelong glance at Commander Steadfast, whom was no longer preparing to attack, but was instead watching warily. "After all the trouble I went through to get all of this, I would expect more from you."
The commander grabbed one of the boxes before either of the Princess could, opening it and seeing a cluster of dogtags contained within. "... Their tags... How did you-?"
"Discord, how did you obtain these photos?" Celestia asked, not betraying her surprise, but instead wearing a very slight smile as she peered through the other two boxes. Indeed, those two boxes contained several photographs of the Zerg's main base, all up to date. They could see the various types of creatures skittering around on, floating over, and flying above the Creep in great detail.
"Oh, it was easy~ I just walked in and started shooting!" he answered simply, chuckling. "As you can see, they didn't particularly like the flashes, but it's not like they could ever do anything to me~"
Indeed, a lot of the photos of the creatures depicted angry Zerg attempting to attack the immortal camera holder, showing lunging Swarmlings and spitting Roaches. "... Thank you, Discord. The gesture is appreciated," Princess Celestia emitted with a soft smile, regarding the mix-matched collection of creatures that was Discord...
Except he was gone. Discord was nowhere in sight, and after several long seconds of scanning the room for him, they assumed him to have left.
Princess Celestia shook her head and glanced around at the rest of the gathered ponies, some of whom still wore expressions of unbridled shock while others were now looking over the pictures and getting a real taste for the gravity of their situation. Even Commander Steadfast was deep in thought, trying to figure out what to do about these creatures... and what to do to them. One thing was for sure: the Zerg would not get away with their crimes.
The Princess of the Sun cleared her throat loudly and got everypony's attention, all eyes on her serious, sour expression. "... I believe it goes without saying... But as of this moment, we are at war."
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Why is the last part of the chapter in Italics?
Rambling italics.
The letter said that Lyra died, but earlier, Lyra was screaming about the death of Bon Bon. Looks like that needs a bit of correcting, eh? XD
You forgot to switch back from italics at "Zerg things"
Nice job on the chapter, keep it up.
And seems you didn't end an 'italics' section where you mean to. XD
Ah. Guess peace between them likely won't occur any time soon, unless they can manage to capture one of the more sentient ones, since now that a Queen is made, they might be able to get her to take control, since there's no Broodmother or the like that is currently in control of them.
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5145928 fixed and fixed
5146017 Good to hear.^^ I'm surprised that Discord didn't just revive them so as to have fun watching the chaos of attempting political ties to the Zerg. But, such is life, eh?
All Hail The Queen of Butterflies!
And war has been declared. I expect the ponies to make some major mistakes, with some overconfidence commander thinking that the Zerg are merely just smart animals.
Cue them pulling off complex ambushes, attacking supply lines, using decoys and spies...
Although they could still pull off a victory if they play their cards right but since the Zerg have already made a base so it won't be easy in any way.
As my current favorite story, i have to say that this is epically awesome. The Zerg and ponies are written well, and so far the Zerg haven't been messed with lore/fact wise. If you need some more detail and haven't seen it, blizzard released some biological style facts about the Zerg (maybe a month ago?). Keep up the awesome stuff.
5146017 Very nice chapter
Discord says he wants to do some good
*remembers authors comment on Terran basing far away from Zerg to give them a fighting chance*
Much blood will be spilled... By the Zerg. I'm also wondering, since the Zerg essentially store genetic material, could it also possibly revive Trixie? Possibly.
5146949 Roach/Hydra doesn't pay for itself. :p
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While I agree that the Zerg do store genetic material, I don't think they do so in a way that allows for the recreation of individuals unless specifically geared to, as with the Cerebrates of the Zerg. At most, the Zerg seem geared towards the collection and storage of DNA strands and sequences associated with physical adaptations to specific environmental conditions, and then modify those sequences, rearranging them for maximum effectiveness, and since Trixie was mutated into the equine equivalent of an infested terran, it was most likely that her better genetic traits were sampled, cataloged, and, seeing as she was of no further use to the Zerg, she was made into disposable cannon fodder, leaving no reason to store enough genetic data on her to cause "reincarnation".
5149768 I feel inclined to mention that I haven't watched TOO much of the show; most of season 1, a few episodes of season 2, and just one from season 3.
I'll have to remember that about Luna for later. Thanks.
This is all also before Twilight's transformation, mind you, so she isn't a ruler yet.
In any case, thanks mate! Hope you enjoy the next one! It's well underway!
My this is gettin better and better thanks for sharing
This was great.
And Fluttershy is starting to show signs of Future Brood Queen! I mean she's too friendly with them already!
Looking at this chapter, I think your version of Discord is all wrong. If you think about it, Discord isn't evil. He wants attention, he loves playing jokes on ponies. But most of all, he loves being in control. However, he can't be any of those things if Ponies are dead. I truly believe if a threat like this really did tho up, he would help Celestia as much as he could. Not because it's the good thing to do, but because as I said dead ponies don't pay much attention to his fun.
Having Discord is gonna make this story difficult. I think it's obvious why. If he intervened, then the Zerg are gonna need a major breakthrough, one that would render the ponies meaningless. If he didn't intervene, the Zerg run rampant.
Is this story dead
I absolutely love writing Discord!
His personality is so... Memey that its Uber easy to write and VERY fun to do!