Chapter 4: Battle at the Orchard (It Cannot Be Stopped)

Twilight stood in a field with her friends, her brother, and her sister-in-law. It was sunny, not a single cloud could be picked out of the large blue sky. She laughed as Pinkie jumped into a pit of mud, splashing it everywhere. However she noticed something was wrong very soon afterward. Rarity was jumping into the mud without a second thought, Applejack suddenly had wings, while Fluttershy was missing her Cutie Mark and in its place was a salamander, then it hit her. This was all a dream! Yes she was asleep, most likely having crashed while researching the Zerg. She would have to enjoy this, for when she woke up back to work she would go. The dream continued to change dramatically and drastically, for very strange things had happened, Fluttershy grew an extra head, and Pinkie had four mouths.

Her friends, and brother acted like nothing was wrong often attempting to make conversations with her which usually ended with one of them shouting "CHEESE!" or flashing various colors. However this happy dream would soon turn much darker and fearful as the ground was slowly covered in a purple goo. Several sets of red eyes appeared in the nearby forests and slowly revealed their owners: Zerglings. The Zerglings approached with short steps, each had a pause between them of about five seconds. The Zerglings pounced, one digging its teeth into Fluttershy's neck, piercing the flesh and causing blood to spray out like a fountain. Twilight screamed as the Zerglings attacked, when Rainbow Dash took off several Zerglings began to violently shake, Hydralisks burst out from the Zerglings skin and began to fire their spines at her. She was knocked to the ground in a matter of seconds. Twilight watched as her friends were torn apart before her very eyes, they all were dead. Soon only her brother and she remained, but he too was slaughtered. Twilight watched as the Zerg approached but one figure stood out to her, it was almost human, but so far from it. Its wings were pointed on the ends, razor sharp. This was when Twilight knew she had to wake up. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" She shouted, shaking herself around violently, even ramming herself into trees all in a vain attempt to rise from her slumber. The human, who she began to slowly realize as the Queen of Blades approached her, and finally snapped her fingers, the Hydralisks and Zerglings jumped at her and began to tear off her flesh and bone.

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Twilight snapped awake, she was in bed, meaning that she hadn't been working at all. She felt scaly arms wrap around her, as Spike cried. "Twilight! I'm so glad you're awake!" he shouted. "Spike, what happened?" She asked, rising out of the bed. "Don't you remember? The Golden thingy? You were so excited to see it, but when you did, for some reason you passed out. We've been worried, you've been out for hours!" Spike shouted, he hadn't let go of her once. "Oh… The Golden Comet… Whatever did happen to it?" She asked, while Spike had let go of her. "It landed somewhere… But as for where… I'm not sure…" Spike replied, he helped Twilight out of her bed and began to get ready to share the good news with Ponyville.

The two walked through town and many ponies were very happy to see Twilight was alright, but not even the multitude of happy faces could wipe this feeling of foreboding doom from the pit of her stomach. She had to put on a smile and try not to worry about it. Twilight however saw something that made her unable to hide her fear and worries. Several other ponies saw it too, Creep had begun to edge towards Ponyville, and where there was Creep there are Creep Tumors, which led to the possibility of a Swarm Queen having found their way to town. It may have just been spreading from Creep Tumor to Creep Tumor, but it didn't matter, the Zerg would find them either way now. It continued to spread, so ponies backed away, some ran, others like Twilight stood there staring at the substance knowing that their safe little world has just been destroyed.

Twilight stood there for what seemed like a lifetime, before Spike pulled her away. They ran, heading for the library, but Creep had begun to surround that as well. The tree's trunk began to blacken, and leaves rained down. "Twilight!" She heard somepony yell. Twilight turned to face Rarity, who had Sweetie Belle with her, along with Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Scootaloo. "We need to get somewhere safe! I see the Zerg heading right for us! They aren't too far off and I don't think they're handing out cupcakes!" Rainbow Dash shouted, swooping down from the sky. "They're not! Why?" Pinkie asked, before realizing the answer to her own question. "Right… Evil aliens…" She said sheepishly. The eight of them ran for the only place they could find as safe, which was Sweet Apple Acres. They noticed that Creep had too begun to spread around the apple trees, the fruit died and fell from the branches, while the leaves did the same. Twilight noticed what appeared to be a moat dug around the house, but somehow Creep had spread underneath the water and layered the floor of the moat. Not even water could get rid of the foul substance, meaning that the invisible Creep Tumors would need to be destroyed in order to get rid of it all.

"Quick come across!" They heard Big Mac shout, he had pushed a large wooden board to be used as a bridge to cross the water. They ran past without a second thought and watched as he yanked the board back just as a Zergling fell into the water, however it had not been expecting this and began to panic, its quick struggle and jerking movements caused it to sink under the water and drown. Several Zerg stood across the moat, luckily they were out of their range. The Hydralisks fired spines, but they fell harmlessly into the water or on the ground, the Roaches did nothing while Zerglings paced around in anger.

Big Mac smiled and opened the door to the house and allowed them inside, but Spike stayed outside glaring at the Zerg. "Girls! Y'all all right? The Zerg didn't do nothin' to yah?" Applejack asked, concerned for her friends. However a loud roar broke them from their conversation as they rushed outside, Spike stood frozen in fear. Something large trudged towards them, it had no visible eyes, but that didn't mean that it was blind. Twilight knew what this creature was but she hoped that she was wrong. The only Zerg known to strike fear into the hearts of other Zerg for it was larger than the Ultralisk, the Brutalisk. However it had not been sent for them, it moved past the moat, deeper into the orchard apparently searching for something. Twilight now was scared beyond her mind could even register fear. If they had Brutalisks then this was a war that they could never win.