Chapter 5: Crystal's Fall (Rainbow's Mission)

Twilight sat in the Apple Family's cabin for she had nowhere else to go, or rather nowhere else she could go. The Zerg had been sitting around the crudely dug moat and had not moved an inch. However she just couldn't wrap her head around something. They hadn't moved for several weeks how are they still alive, they should have starved to death by now. Hydralisks and Roaches left and returned, but the Zerglings remained, only occasionally drinking from the water. "Flying is out of the option, there are too many Hydralisks, and one might get a hit on you Rainbow Dash, besides you can't fly as fast carrying all the supplies we need." Twilight said to her friend, but Rainbow Dash had made up her mind. "I have to do this, we ran out of food two days ago! I can probably fly over to Ponyville and get something. Besides, we don't really have a choice." Rainbow Dash said in a quiet voice.

She walked outside of the house and instantly noticed the lack of Zerg. While there were a few Zerglings and a roach or two, most of them were gone. Not a single Hydralisk meaning that this would be easier than she thought. She took off just out of the Zerg's reach as a means of teasing them, for they could not attack her, however this would prove to be a mistake, several Hydralisks burst out from underneath the surface, and took her by surprise. They fired their poisoned spines, but she was able to avoid each one and stuck her tongue out tauntingly, but was only met with a screech from directly behind her. She looked and saw that not too far off were Mutalisks, moving at their speedy rate, but they couldn't keep up with her, after all this was nothing but a slow speed for her. She began to accelerate and left them in the dust. She flew above the now deserted Ponyville and landed on the roof of a building. She needed to see exactly what would be stopping her and how she could get around it.

There were about six Zerglings, two Hydralisks, nine Roaches and twelve Spine Crawlers. She might be able to get past a few of them, but it would risky going deeper into town, so she decided to check some of the buildings around the edge. She entered one building and found a few jars of food, which she quickly shoved into her saddle bag and continued her search, anything that can be eaten would help them, but it doesn't matter what. She stopped moving when a crash was heard from the next room over, she slowly opened the door enough to peek in and saw several Banelings fighting each other, which was never a good thing. They slashed at each other with their tiny legs and screeched and roared, however one was sitting in the corner of the room. She noticed something was wrong when the single Baneling began to pulse and throb, she slammed the door shut and flew off as the acidic explosion melted down the building. "Are these… Feral Zerg?" Rainbow Dash asked herself as she continued to scavenge food and any other useful supplies. However during her search she was only able to conclude that these Zerg were indeed feral, whether they found a way to resist the Queen of Blades or she found them useless was unknown, however it meant that they were bit more dangerous, after all these Zerg have free wills. She had made it so far without being detected by any Zerg but now found herself nearing the center of town, where she saw several Drones collecting bubbles of green gas, and taking gems from Rarity's boutique. Which meant that they were using them somehow. She was curious and it overwhelmed her, so her better judgment was quickly pushed away.

Rainbow Dash flew into the building and got into a secure spot where she could still see the Zerg. Drones moved inside and knocked over mannequins before ripping the dresses to shreds while getting the small and large gemstones. She noticed the destroyed chest with several Drones taking turns grabbing gems of any size and then bringing them back to the Hatchery. "Why would they need gems? Do they use them somehow?" Rainbow Dash asked herself, but her curiosity having been filled left to continue her search for food. However she found nothing more of use and began to fly back to the orchard where she would share her findings, both the food, the knowledge of Feral Zerg, and the strange gem collecting behavior, with her friends. She approached and noticed that not a single Zerg was waiting outside of the building, but she kept flew at a higher level and made her back over to the house, as soon as her hooves hit the ground the hidden Zerg burst out from the ground and growled in anger and annoyance. Rainbow Dash laughed as she entered the building and began to share what she had seen with the others.

---

The Queen of Blades had summoned those who followed her, after all they each had a mission now that would be completed without mercy and as quickly as possible. Zagara, one the Queen's first Broodmothers, who had rebelled against her, but then followed in hope to one day lead the Swarm. Dehaka, the Primal Zerg Pack Leader that had assisted her in defeating the other Pack Leaders on the planet Zerus and helped to destroy Mengsk's Psi-Destroyer. Finally was Alexi Stukov, once an enemy of hers that had been infested, cured, and infested again, he helped her to destroy Skygeirr Station, the breeding ground for Protoss/Zerg Hybrids, and also assisted in killing Dr. Narud. She found herself flooded with memories as the three of them approached her. "You have need for us, my Queen?" Zagara asked, she was eager to serve and learn from the Queen. However Dehaka had other plans. "I wish to feed on their essence. You have forbidden me from doing so. I followed to collect essence!" The Primal shouted, clicking each "kah" in the sentence. "Quiet Dehaka, I'm sure Kerrigan has something important to say." Stukov silenced the Primal, but Dehaka still had a look of anger. "Stukov is right. I have missions for each of you. Zagara, you are to attack the Crystal Empire, in the south, kill the Princess and spare no one." The Queen of Blades spoke, and Zagara nodded before moving off to attack.

---

The Zerg massed around the Crystal Empire, after all this was their next target, but what they didn't know was that the Princess and her husband had already left, with no choice in the matter they fled to Canterlot where they would assist the royal Sisters in defending their land from this threat. The Zerg however were being led by the Brood Mother Zagara. Who would allow nothing to leave this city alive. The exits were being guarded by fifty Spine Crawlers each and forty Spore Crawlers each to prevent anything from escaping. Zerg ran around in circles, slashed at the air with their claws or shifted in anticipation of the attack. After the last few cocoons burst open, allowing the Zerglings to join in the ranks, Zagara pointed forward and the Zerg charged forward and they were met with the weapons of the guards who remained to fight. Zerg clashed with metal as the weapons pierced their skulls and skin, knocking them away, but they continued to flood into the city and fight.

Zerg were dying left and right, but for every one of their losses a thousand took its place. Hydralisks, Zerglings, Roaches, Mutalisks, Aberrations, Swarm Hosts, and Banelings rushed forward to meet their enemy in combat and die fighting. The guards had the same intentions, to either repel the enemy or die trying, however they were being slaughtered by the sheer amount of Zerg entering the Crystal Empire. They continued to fight, but were soon overwhelmed and the Zerg broke into the castle. Zagara led the forces and searched each and every room, but her attempts were in vain as she finally located the throne room and found it filled with nothing but guards. "Enough games! You will tell me where your Princess is, or you will all die under the Swarm!" Zagara yelled in anger, but the lead guard smiled. "You won't find the Princess or her husband here, they've escaped." He said, but was silenced by a spine tearing through his throat. "KILL THEM ALL!" Zagara bellowed in fury and the Zerg rushed forward to end each of them.

---

Hello, I have a few quick updates about several of my stories. First of all would be my Sonic/MLP crossover "Chaos and Discord: Infection". It is the third installment of the Chaos and Discord series and I need you to help me write it. I need ideas, so either PM me or leave a review on the story, if you leave your review on this story I will not use it. Secondly will be my Metroid/MLP Crossover "Dark Samus Returns". I have not been working on that one for a while and I will soon get back to it. Finally this story, I will be working towards more chapters of the original, so next chapter I will deal with Dehaka's mission, then Stukov's mission. Thank you for taking the time to read this author's note and please leave me a review.