Applejack struggled up what seemed like a never-ending steep hill. It didn’t help that she was in a suit that weighed more than she did. But as much as she tried, she couldn’t get out of it. Finally cresting the height of the hill, Applejack nearly collapsed at its peak until she noticed a sight she hoped she wouldn’t see: a base of Terran origin. Various buildings such as supply depots, starports and factories stood tall on the flattened ground. Earth ponies in SEV suits were scattering amongst the base on their businesses, but perhaps the worst of all sights adorned her eyes: Pinkie Pie.

------

Four hours earlier...

------

“Consarnit!” Applejack muttered as her Terran base was quickly overrun by flocks of flying Mutalisks - their barrages of attacks easily taking out building after building on the computer screen. “Mind giving me a hand, Rarity?!”

“It’s about time you asked for help, my dear!” chirped Rarity’s voice through Applejack’s headset. “Help should arrive just about... now!” As quick as the Mutalisk horde had appeared before Applejack’s undefended base, a decently numbered squad of Stalker ground units came to aid, quickly laying waste to the hovering Mutalisk mass. It wasn’t long until the Mutalisks turned around and fled back to their base, leaving Applejack’s base half in tact.

“Consarnit, Rarity - ya could’a sent help a bit earlier!” Applejack barked through her mic.

“Well, I came to help, didn’t I?” Rarity replied, smug as ever. “With that taken care of, it’s time I move in for the kill!” As the squad of Stalkers quickly followed the fleeing Mutalisks, Applejack began to re-build her base... until she noticed where Rarity was heading.

A legion of Rarity’s massive Carriers descended upon the Zerg base, quickly decimating the biological buildings into rubbles of flesh and entrails - her Stalkers arriving in time to aid in taking care of the remaining Zerg forces. It wasn’t long until Rarity and Applejack read the word ‘Victory’ across their screen.

“Rrrgh! No fair! I was the last one alive - AGAIN!” moaned Rainbow Dash through the voice chat.

“WEEE! Let’s do it again!” squealed a high-pitched voice, irritating her rainbow-maned team mate.

“Good game, girls. But as much as I’d like to play another game, I must get back to my orders. Those dresses won’t sew themselves!” Rarity sung, signing off not a moment afterwards.

“Heheh, that’s another win for me, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack said through her mic, smirking.

“RARITY won that for you! I would have totally scrapped you and your tin-can race if SHE hadn’t come to your rescue!” complained Rainbow Dash.

“Fine. How’s about we settle this in a one-on-one?” Applejack asked as a look of determination spread her face.

“You know I wouldn’t turn down a challenge!” Rainbow Dash replied, equally as sharp.

“What about me?!” squealed the high pitched voice, again.

“Pinkie Pie, this is something I HAVE to settle with Applejack,” Rainbow Dash moaned.

“B-but - “

“Girls! Good to see you online,” said Twilight’s voice in their Trotspeak server, the other mares seemingly not noticed her entrance.

“Oh - howdy partner,” Applejack greeted.

“I have a surprise to show you all... Come over to the library at once!”

“Oooh, I like surprises!” Pinkie Pie eagerly answered.

It wasn’t long until everypony arrived to the library. But Applejack somehow knew that when Twilight summoned the five mares, trouble would somehow ensue. And this time was unfortunately no different.

Twilight screwed up another spell.

------

Four hours later...

------

“P-Pinkie Pie! Oh mah, am Ah glad to see you!” Applejack gasped, out of breath from her climb in her heavy suit.

As she stumbled towards her pink friend, other earth ponies in similar gear like Applejack’s walked about the base. An airport - starport - was stationed to the left of Applejack; a parked Banshee aircraft resting on top of the landing pad. Siege Tanks and anti-air turrets were stationed at the perimeter of the base, serving as sentries to ward off oncoming threats. But despite all of the activity going on, she couldn’t take her eyes off the only thing that was physically familiar to her - Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie was at a table surrounded by a few other earth ponies, some armoured and some not. Pinkie herself, however, was in attire different from the rest: she wore a neat black coat with several badges and a gold trim adorning the coat, accompanied by a naval-officer hat and... a pipe in her mouth. But shortly after Applejack’s remark, a stallion with a shoulder-mounted rifle approached the newcomer.

“That’s Admiral Pinkie Pie, for you!” he spoke with a rusty deep voice.

“Admiral?” Applejack questioned, her eyes squinting in confusion.

“APPLEJACK!” Pinkie screamed, followed by a pink blur and Applejack on the ground with Pinkie on top. “You’re here! I thought I was dreaming but I wasn’t and I found myself here with this funny looking hat and everyone always listens to my orders and - “

“T-that’s mighty fine, Pinkie Pie... Where are we?” she modestly spoke, knowing that despite her babbling, Pinkie always heard what others were saying to her.

“OH! We’re in our base, of course - Terranville!” Pinkie answered, crawling off Applejack and getting back onto her hooves. Applejack followed suit, the other ponies around them staring in some sort of confusion.

“Uh, you’re... Admiral Pinkie Pie?” Applejack asked, hoping to not hear what she already knew.

“Uh-huh! And I have my own ship!” Pinkie exclaimed. Almost on cue, a massive aircraft rose from behind the many buildings. Applejack stared at it in utter disbelief - it was a massive Battlecruiser, almost the size of the base itself. And it was painted pink.

“I call it: The Partycruiser!”

------

Rainbow Dash woke up; her mind vaguely remembering the events prior to going unconscious. But she soon found that she wasn’t in any bed nor any sort of floor below her.

“Wha-,” Rainbow Dash gasped before she found herself tumbling down a... slimy hill. Not a moment after just waking up and realizing she was falling, she hit the ground which was covered in a grey-ish purple muck.

“Aah... Ew! What is this stuff!” she said with disgust and fatigue in her voice. But before she could raise any hoof, however, she found that she didn’t have any.

“Wh-WHAT’S GOING ON!” Rainbow Dash screamed, realizing she wasn’t a pony anymore. She was instead a long linear-shaped creature with several exoskeleton armor pads that adorned her back; she was some sort of worm.

“Oh.. H-hi Rainbow Dash,” came a voice beside her.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow gasped - the poor former pegasus pony only having seconds to process all that was going on. It only took a second for Rainbow Dash to realize that Fluttershy was like her: an armored worm creature.

“Hi...” Fluttershy meekly spoke back. Surprisingly, the two kept their original pony faces, it was only their bodies that were different. Surrounding the yellow and sky-blue worms were various other worms, but they were all a brown colour and took no notice to the two out-of-place larvae that were conversing with each other.

“What the hay is going on?” Rainbow Dash hastily asked, hoping that it was all a dream. Beside the worms was the strange slimy hill that she found herself falling from - it was a tall dome-shaped mass of flesh and bone; a living structure. “Why are we worms?!”

“I don’t know... I kind of like this shape, even if everything’s kind of sticky,” Fluttershy replied, her mouth-pincers happily clicking together.

“This isn’t good... It can’t be real!” Rainbow dash screamed.

“Look!” Fluttershy squeaked as a brown worm beside them began to shriek, quickly curling up into a ball and somehow encasing itself in a ball of green slime.

“Oh my - this can’t be happening!” Rainbow Dash yelled even more, finally giving into her realization: they were Zer-

“AAH!” Fluttershy screamed as more worms around them began following what the first one did, forming into translucent green eggs. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, however, remained worms.

Splat!

“Rrrghghh!” growled the figure that exploded out of the first egg. The worm that had encased itself came out with even larger pincers on its face and sported two web-like wings on each side of its body. It had also grown legs that seemed to allow it to move across the ground with decent speed.

“Ohmygosh what the - “ Rainbow only screeched as the Zerg drone quickly ran off.

Splat! Splat!

More of the drones burst out of their respective green encasings, all running towards the same direction.

“Aaw, such gentle creatures,” Fluttershy smiled.

“Gentle?! GENTLE? Really, Fluttershy?!” Rainbow Dash scowled, not knowing if she felt panicked or... excited.

------

“My life, for Celest - what?” Twilight interrupted herself, quickly gaining consciousness. The last thing she remembered was a large flash of blinding light - and only now, recovering from the incident, she found herself able to see again.

“What the hay,” Twilight slowly spoke, realizing her surroundings: plenty of very ornate buildings in a very orderly fashion were placed among the ground around her. They were mostly made out of a golden material, decorated with accenting trims and large gems. Blue light seemed to radiate from the several monuments and structures, which also hummed in a gentle forboding purr.

“Oh my, it can’t be,” she muttered under her breath, noticing that a rag was covering her muzzle.

OUR BASE IS UNDER ATTACK, screeched a strange piercing voice that seemed to originate from nowhere in particular.

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash asked, startled by the voice. It was then that she noticed groups of various Zerg soldiers around the base run - or fly or squirm - towards a single direction, presumably the place of conflict.

"Do... Do you hear that voice too?" the yellow larvae beside Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, Fluttershy," the cyan coloured worm replied.

"Oh, so I'm not going crazy."

"Well, I would guess that's the Overmind."

"The Overmind?"

"Ugh," Dash grunted, attempting to face-hoof but settled with a face-pincer. "Did you not play the campaign?"

"Oh... I haven't gotten very far..."

"Didn't you even play the first Ponycraft? The Overmind is the hive-mind of the Zerg. It pretty much - "

"Controls all of the workers, soldiers and so on. I get it now," Fluttershy interrupted, her knowledge of animals sparking. "Oh... Sorry..."

"Well, yes," Rainbow responded, busy paying attention to all of the activity going on around the base. She couldn't help but feel... Useless, as a simple larvae. As the endless waves of larvae exuded from the slimy organic building beside them, Rainbow Dash watched them quickly encase themselves in gooey cocoons and re-emerging as various evolved creatures.

She could spot each of the different types of Zerg: from efficient worker drones to agile Zerglings to sinister Hydralisks. But as quickly as they all moved towards the direction of the conflict, they ceased. Presumably, the conflict had subsided and the Zergs were victorious.

It was then that she felt her body twitch, until she found herself curling up into a ball and drifting off into unconsciousness.

-----

"So let me get this straight," spoke Applejack at a grinning Pinkie Pie, "you... These ponies, they see you as their commander?"

"Yes-a-roonie!" the pink admiral hopped in place. "Isn't this exciting? Admiral Pinkie Pie! I'm important!"

"Yeah, yeah," Applejack spoke, uninterested and concerned. "How do you suppose all of this happened? How do we get back t' our world?"

"I'm not sure, silly! You should ask Twilight."

"Twilight? She's here?" Applejack spoke, her gaze quickly falling on her friend and away from all of the technological doo-hickeys going on around the base.

"I dunno, but you're here. I'm here - so maybe they're in this world too!" Pinkie spoke, still hopping in place.

"Ah guess we'll jus' haveta find 'em," Applejack sighed, looking up at the massive pink Partycruiser as it hovered above the far side of their base. "D'ya suppose we could use your ship to do some scoutin'? You're Admiral, maybe you could tell 'em to muster all of the aircraft for a search party."

"That's a wonderful idea! We could have a party in the skies and... and... SERVANT!" Pinkie yelled, gaining the attention of all ponies within ear shot. A single, light-armoured stallion trotted up to the pink Admiral.

"Uhm, yes, ma'am? And uh... I don't think we're technically servants..." he spoke.

"How many - "

"How many functional airships do we have at our command, squire?" Pinkie interrupted Applejack, sporting a spontanious royal accent as she held her chin high with her eyes closed.

"Uh... Two Banshee helicopters, two Viking fighter jets and the Battlecrui - "

"PARTY."

"Partycruiser," the stallion spoke, losing his masculinity by the second. Pinkie remained silent in her 'regal' posture. "... Your majesty."

"Good! I expect you to expend ALL OF OUR RESOURCES into making more airships, young padewan."

"R-right away, ma'am!" the stallion blurted out, quickly trotting away.

"Um, Pinkie?"

"Hi Applejack, when'd you get here?"

"Maybe you could appoint me as your, uh, economic advisor? Y'know, 'cause I run a farm an' all."

"OH Applejack, that's a GREAT idea!"

------

"Um, hello?" Twilight spoke as she entered what she assumed was the Nexus - the main building that served as a hub for the Protoss.

"Greetings, Zealot. What business do you have here?" came a 'voice' from behind her. The protoss did not communicate with physical sound, but rather by telepathically 'speaking' to each other. Twilight already understood this, and the concept already felt natural to her.

Quickly turning around (and careful not to swing the dangerous energy-psionic blade attached to her head carelessly) she found the figure that stood before her was a unicorn pony, dressed in very elegant armour-robes and seemed to be floating in place instead of standing.

"Oh, um, I want to know... Uh. Who's in charge... Here?" Twilight 'spoke', trying not to seem too much like an outsider; the High Templar unicorn pony did intimidate her.

"Ah... You seek Rarity."

"R-rarity?" Twilight's telepathic voice stuttered, "I mean, where is Rarity? I must see her at once!"

"Follow me, Zealot," said the unicorn stallion, turning around and floated down a hallway. "What is your name, Zealot?"

"Oh, my name is Twilight Sparkle," she responded.

"Twilight? Have you a link to the Twilight Council?" he asked, his curiosity only slightly shifting his seemingly god-like figure.

"Oh, no. I'm only a... Uh, Zealot," Twilight quickly blurted out from her mind. Wow, telepathically speaking is difficult without sounding stupid.

"What do you mean, stupid? Unintelligent? I cannot make sense of what you had just said to me."

"Oh, nothing. Just... thinking," Twilight thought-spoke, trying not to think of anything else. She couldn't help but feel her privacy violated, as he could hear anything that went on in her mind. "Uh... En taro, Rarity!"

"Yes, en taro Rarity," he returned, raising an eyebrow.

-----

"Bluah!" spat Rainbow, quickly gaining consciousness as she crawled out from her cocoon.

"Rainbow! Are you okay?" an eager Flutterworm asked, trying her best to look concerned rather than helpless.

"Blah... Eww, it's... Everywhere... Ugh," she spoke, struggling through what seemed to be one of the strangest experiences she had ever faced. The liquid that had been encased with her in her cocoon had quickly emptied out, and she could feel her eyes being able to focus again.

"Ah... Whoa!" Rainbow exclaimed, finally getting a good look at herself. She had changed from a useless larvae into a Zergling: a simple Zerg not very large in size, but extremely fast and definitive with its two extra arms sprouting from its back that sported razor-sharp claws. Despite her fierce figure, Rainbow still had her regular face and even her rainbow coloured mane... Just on a cyan coloured Zergling body.

"This is... awesome!" Rainbow said, leaping around to test her new body.

"This is... awesome!" Dash said, leaping around to test her new body. "Hay, wait a minute..."

"Whoa!" said the first cyan coloured Zergling.

"Wait, WAIT. You're, ME?" exclaimed the second cyan coloured Zergling.

"No, YOU'RE me!"

"This is so cool!" the two clones said in unison. Zerglings, being one of the more simpler Zerg variants, normally spawned in twos from a single larvae.

"Oh... My..." remarked a quiet Fluttershy, trying to absorb what was going on in front of her.

"HAH! Tell me what you're thinking?!" said one.

"That's easy. I'm thinking about how AWESOME I - we are," replied the other.

"So am I!"

"Wait. So how do we uh, distinguish?"

"Oh... Right."

ZERGLINGS, spoke the piercing voice of the Overmind, YOU TWO MUST CLAIM THE XEL'NAGA ARTIFACT.

"Huh, the whatnow?" wondered one of the Rainbow Dashes aloud.

"I dunno, but my instincts are telling me to go that-a-way," pointed out the other, both cyan Zerglings looking towards the same direction off in the distance. In addition to the command they've recieved, they also felt an overwhelming emotional urge to persue the objective. Both decided that it was part of their Zerg instincts in connection to the Overmind.

"Um... Rainbow?" spoke the yellow worm beside the twins.

"Oh, Fluttershy. You still haven't evolved, yet?" asked one Rainbow Dash.

"Um no... I kind of... like being a worm... But, what's telling you to go that way? Did the Overmind say something to you?"

"Oh, yeah, we think so," answered the other one.

"Er, you'll be alright here, right?" asked the first one.

"Um, I guess so," she answered, squirming a bit to allow her a better view of both of the Rainbow Dashes. "But, how will we tell you two a part?"

"That's easy! Call me Rainbow."

"I guess I get to be Dash."

"Wait, I want to be Dash!"

"No, you called Rainbow first, meaning I called Dash first."

"Well, do you want to switch?"

"Eh? Sure. I'll be Rainbow, you'll be Dash."

"It's settled!" said Dash, pulling a baseball cap out of nowhere and putting it on her head. Rainbow pulled out a pair of shades and also equipped her accessory, effectively helping distinguish between the two.

-----

"Alright, so we've got a good amount of pony workers working th' mineral fields and th' vespine geiser factories. That should help keep a steady income of resources, while we make them fancy aircraft-a-ma-jigs," spoke Applejack at the strategy table, acting as both Admiral Pinkie's advisor and spokesmare.

"Also, Tuesdays will now be known as Fudgeday where the cafeterias will serve fudge for lunch!" added Pinkie Pie.

"Yay, fudge!" cheered an earth pony marine passing by.

"Also, we should make a Medivac aircraft or two. Always good to have first-aid in a search party; who knows what we'll come by out there," finished Applejack, ignoring Pinkie Pie's statement.

"Yes, ma'am. But," spoke one earth pony at the table, "It will take us some time to gather the required resources and even more time to build the aircraft fleet."

"How long?"

"I'm not sure. From what we already have, plus what we can harvest for the rest of today, perhaps we can have a good fleet by one or two days."

"One or two days? Mah friends might not have that long, soldier!" barked Applejack, eager to begin searching as soon as possible. "What about our current aircraft?"

"There's a problem with the Vikings, ma'am. Both are in maintenance, and the Battlecrui - "

"PARTYCRUISER," screamed Pinkie Pie, glaring at the marine with a death stare.

"P-Partycruiser... U-um..." the soldier's voice cracked, feeling like Pinkie Pie was an entity not to mess with. "Uh... The Partycruiser is not yet complete construction. I-it may take some time to - "

"MAKE SURE the party-deck is well stocked with cupcakes, balloons, streamers - "

"PINKIE! Now's not the time," interrupted Applejack, quickly losing her nerve. "Look, we can start an on-foot search party right now before the sun... Suns, set. Maybe if I take Pinkie Pie, we will be harder to detect if anything should be on our way."

"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Pinkie Pie quickly added in, blowing a few thoughtful bubbles from her pipe.

"Are you sure about this, Admiral?" asked a mare at the table who was clad in white armoured tights and armed with a very large shoulder-mounted sniper rifle. "Maybe you could send us Ghosts; it is our job to excel at these tasks, anyways."

"Nah, trust me soldier. You don't know what you're lookin' for out there."

"Ooh, ooh, also, we need new carpets for the party floor in the Partycruiser!"

"Yeah, new carpets!" cheered another earth pony marine passing by.

------

"Of all the worst things that could happen... This is the. Worst. Possible. Thing!" spoke a very familliar voice, albeit in a telepathic sense. Twilight quickly ran past her High Templar escort into the room he had stopped in front.

Twilight severely underestimated the room, however, as it turned out to be a hangar that was many dozens of feet wide and high. A great and elegant Protoss Cruiser rested in the middle of the hangar with many robot worker drones tending to the aircraft. But sure enough, among the worker drones, there was a red, elegant misplaced couch with a weeping white unicorn mare on top. Beside Rarity was a worker drone looking guilty, holding a paintbrush with its telepathic blue aura and hovering above a can of metallic paint.

"Out, out, OUT! You have done enough damage, as t'were," Rarity quickly regained her composure, shooing away the drone.

"Rarity!" Twilight called, excited to see a familliar sight. Rarity, still resting on the couch, quickly turned her head and noticed the quickly approaching purple unicorn. Rarity was clad in very elegant and long robes trimmed with gold, similar to the High Templar. However, she was not floating above the ground.

"Twilight! Oh, my, how glad am I to see you!" Rarity responded.

"Oh my gosh, Rarity, I'm very glad to see you too."

"Twilight, where are we?"

"Um... I was hoping you would tell me."

"Well, it was your spell that brought us here," Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Hey - it wasn't my fault! I didn't think Trixie would come back for revenge at that very moment to throw pinecones at me while I was casting the spell."

"But I know, dear. Except, I was just hoping you'd tell me why we are Protoss now, and why I am in charge of this big beautiful piece of aircraft!"

"Huh? You're in charge of this Cruiser?" Twilight asked, watching a worker drone hover by.

"Well, yes. I woke up in this room, and then a mare - presumably my advisor - came up to me and begun to ask me what her duties were. I told her to go fetch me some... refreshments, since I don't know what it is we eat here. After she left, the worker drones waited for me to tell them what to do, and it seems their job is to work on the aircraft. So I decided that while I'm here, I might as well as make this aircraft look fabulous. And then you came along, of course."

"Oh... Well, I was lead here by a stallion who told me you were in charge."

"I've figured that much, darling! Isn't that amazing?" she batted her eyelids.

"There is one problem, though," Pinkie thoughtfully pointed out.

"Huh? What would that be, Pinks?" asked Applejack, fiddling with the many gadgets attached to her suit. She paid most of her attention to the shoulder-mounted rifle in particular. Her helmet had a visor that she often liked to flip up and down for the sake of it being retractable, and it also digitally displayed various information such as ammo count, suit health and Flankbook updates.

"Well, if we're going to go look for our friends, where do we start? I mean... We have no idea where we even are!"

"Good question - "

"I have a solution, ma'am," a stallion at the table quickly spoke. "In the middle, there is a Xel'Naga artifact."

"Huh? A Xel-whatnow?" Applejack asked, feeling very much confused. "And the middle of what?"

"The Xel'Naga artifact. You know, the - "

"Is it this?" Pinkie budded in, pointing to an out standing mark at the very center of the map on the table. The mark was a roughly drawn eye shape, the only blue symbol on the map itself. "Come on Applejack, I thought you played the campaign!"

"What campaign?" asked a curious mare officer.

"Er uh, no, Pinkie. But yeah, Ah see that thing-a-ma-jig in the middle there. What does it do?"

"Yeah. I suppose you are unsure of the situation here, newcomer?" the stallion questioned.

"Eh, yeah Ah guess. Um, mind briefin' me on what... Everything?"

"We are stationed in this base as a strategic point between the Zergs and the Protoss, who are stationed in - for some reason - very similar positions throughout the valley. And there is a Xel'Naga artifact in between each base; if one were to approach the artifact, they will gain a sort of mind-omniscience view of the majority of the valley."

"Omni-wha?" Applejack hopelessly asked.

"You know, the ability to see and know everything. Like in a fiction: a third-person perspective is considered omniscient because the viewpoint is from an outward figure! The veil between the audience and environment in the story is called the fourth-wall, which - "

"That's sure to help! Come on, Pinks, let's get a move on before sundown!" Applejack cut the babbling pink pony off, for the safety of the author and readers.

"Wait! It's only going to be you two?" asked the mare at the table.

"Yeah, is something the matter?"

"Uhm, you see, it's placed in the exact middle of all three bases. No-pony's land," the mare told Applejack.

"...So?"

"Come on Applejack, I thought you were good at Ponycraft!"

"Ah keep forgettin' this is a video game, alright!"

------

"So, you're sure you'll be alright?" asked Rainbow, lifting her shades with one of her back-protruding mandibles.

"Yes, I should be fine," responded Fluttershy, squirming slightly.

"Well, okay then. Let's get to it, partner," announced Dash as Rainbow lowered her shades.

"Wait!" spoke the yellow worm.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe our friends are in this... place, too. Maybe you could look for them, while you are out there?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course - but I think the Xel'Naga artifact could help us with that," Dash said, eager to get going.

"Oh, that thing that lets you see a lot, right?"

"Yep."

HURRY UP.

"Shut up!" Dash yelled into the air. The two cyan Zerglings turned away and began to run in the direction their Zerg-instincts pulled them towards.

Running past the many bio-organic Zerg buildings, Rainbow and Dash couldn't help but run their curious eyes over everything. Small groups of Zerg drones ran about while the many Zerg soldiers kept a lookout: flocks of Mutalisks patrolled the skies, groups of spine-shooting Hydralisks were stationed at perimeters and dozens of Zerglings stood ready for a quick charge. But perhaps the most intimidating sight was the occasional behemoth of an Ultralisk; giant Zerg creatures the size of buildings with four massive razor-sharp mandibles at their mouths, which were lined with dozens of sharp teeth and mounted on powerful jaws. Rainbow and Dash held comfort knowing such monstrosities were on their side, but they kept their distance nonetheless.

The last Ultralisk they had seen on their way, however, was a grey-ish colour with two glazed over eyes... Feeding on muffins.

Finally reaching the exit of the base, their goal came into view: the Xel'Naga artifact. Even though it was far off in the distance, they could easily pick it out from where they were standing due to its out of place nature. It appeared to be a lone pillar with runic-like carvings, accompanied by debree made of the same material that floated around the main pillar. It rested atop a lone hill amidst a vast valley, dotted with many thick forests that stood between Rainbow and Dash.

Nodding to each other, the two began to sprint. However, as they left their base, they found that the distinctive purple goo which coated the ground was limited to the base itself. Stepping onto the solid dirt, the two Zerglings found it slightly harder and less comfortable to run. But despite the sudden change of the ground beneath them, they did not stop their efforts.

------

"You know, I used to think this outfit on me was a bit garish, but I've been growing on it... So elegant!" sung the pearly-white unicorn with her distinctive curly purple mane.

"Rarity, I think we have more important things to worry about," said Twilight Sparkle, helplessly following her now leader around the base of the massive Protoss Carrier airship. "You know, like find out what happened to our friends. Let alone, how to get back to our world."

"Oh, I know, dear. But I do support you! I am not one much for, you know, meddling with dimensions."

"I didn't mean for it to happen! I think one of the pinecones flew in front of the beam of energy from my horn, distorting the connection between me and the microwave," Twilight desparately tried to justify the accident.

"Um, well, what exactly was it, that you were trying to do again?" Rarity asked, admitting her obliviousness to the reason Twilight called them all to the library.

"I found a spell that would make the microwave know exactly what you put in it, so it heated it up perfectly well."

"How did that get us into Ponycraft?"

"I don't know!"

"Madams...?" came an ethereal voice from the entrance of the room. A female protoss servant had entered the room.

"Oh, hello," Rarity greeted, bowing her head slowly.

"High Templar Dyn would like to speak to you," the servant spoke, as the High Templar entered the room. This one looked very much like the one who escorted Twilight to Rarity, but instead this one was female.

"Greetings, Rarity. En Taro Tassadar," the High Templar spoke, bowing very slightly as she floated in mid air.

"Oh, uhm. Greetings High Templar Dyn. En Taro Tassadar," Rarity struggled to keep her composure, unused to Protoss customs as she bowed in return.

"I have come to inform you that our scouts have detected activity from the Terrans and the Zergs."

"W-what? Oh my, I should have seen this coming. But, nothing bad's going to happen? They are not attacking, are they?" Rarity began to panic, the gory virtual animations of violence displayed in the video game flashing in her head. "What do we do? WHAT DO WE DO? MASS UP EVERYPONY, MAKE AS MANY CARRIERS AS YOU CAN! No, how many resources do we have?! Maybe we should make Stalkers instead! DO THEY HAVE AIR UNITS? WHAT - "

"RARITY!" Twilight screamed, snapping Rarity out of her fit. "Let her speak!"

"Um... Yes..." High Templar Dyn nervously said. "It appears that each faction has sent out two soldiers, and only two, in the direction of the Xel'Naga artifact. Nothing big, however - two Zerglings and from the Terrans, two footsoldiers."

"That doesn't sound aggressive at all," Twilight wondered. "I wonder what it is they want?"

"Well, that is why I have come to you, Miss Rarity. What do you say we shall do about it?"

"BLOW THEM ALL UP!"

"AHAHAH, Rarity, you are so silly sometimes," Twilight covered up. "Uhh, I say we should do the same? I am her advisor, after all. Right Rarity?"

"Oh... Yes. When she's not sending us to other dimensions against our will, Twilight is a very trustworthy advisor."

"Very well. I will make sure to see you two off with fully charged energy cells," the High Templar turned to leave.

"Um, what?" asked Twilight.

"It was your idea, was it not? Is that not the policy around here - to enact your own contributing ideas?"

"Oh... yes, of course! Ahahah, I can't believe I forgot about that..." Twilight twitched, feeling very empty in the gut. The Templar quickly exited the room.

"WHAT?! We're - I'M going out THERE?! TWIIIIIILIIIIIIIGHT!" Rarity whined, fainting quickly afterwards.

"Twiiiiiiliiiiiiiight," moaned Rarity's ethreal Protoss voice for the hundredth time.

"WHAT?" Twilight grunted back. The two Protoss unicorn ponies were traveling through a moderately-densed and moderately-lush forest that stood between the Protoss camp and the Xel'Naga artifact. "We still have a long way to go, and we have to keep up the pace if we want to meet... whatever else is going to be there."

"How much further? I'm getting very tired, can we take another break?" Rarity complained, her form slouching behind Twilight. But before Twilight could respond, Rarity paused for a moment as a realization came to her. "Can you carry me?"

"No! I'm sure you're tired enough as it is but - "

"Please?"

"I can't just - "

"Pleeaase?"

"B-but - "

"Please, please, please, pleeaase!" Rarity begged, her form lying on the ground upside down and her eyes looking up at the very annoyed form of Twilight.

"I..."

Rarity pouted her lips.

"...Fine."

A few moments later, the regal-dressed Rarity was lying on the armoured-clad Twilight's back. Rarity was laying her head on Twilight's mane with her forehooves dangling off each side of Twilight's neck.

-----

"My little ponee~, my little pony," Pinkie Pie sang as she bounced beside her fully-armoured earth pony friend.

"Pinkie Pie, Ah appreciate your good will to singing but for the love of cinnamon swirls, please stop," said Applejack who was galloping as fast as her armoured hooves and body could take her. Despite the weight of the armour and her equipment, Applejack still kept a fairly quick pace which Pinkie Pie surprisingly could keep up with from her hopping.

"Oh lighten up, cowpony! I always like travelling, as it's the best time to indulge in some musical jams to keep you distracted from the fact that you're travelling long distances," the overly-pink mare said, still with a slight sing-song attribute to her voice.

"Can you sing without words, then?" Applejack said hopefully, still galloping at full speed.

"All the time! LA LALA, LALALA~" Pinkie Pie sang with an even louder voice than when she sung with lyrics.

"Ah was thinking more along the lines of, you know, quiet humming!" Applejack yelled, hopefully to get through the whipping winds and Pinkie Pie's excessive volume.

"Okie dokey lokey, HMM HMMM MMHMMMHMMM~" Pinkie Pie hummed, seemingly not any lower in volume than her previous try at lyric-less singing.

"Ah said QUIET humming, Pinks!"

"You're no fun," Pinkie Pie glared, quickly resuming her hums in a much quieter tone with her eyes closed in (seemingly endless) Pinkie-Pie enduced happiness. Despite the fact that her eyes were closed, she somehow kept up to pace with Applejack who began her ascent up a steepening hill.

"Ah think we're gittin' close, Pinkie Pie," Applejack noted, not caring if Pinkie Pie was listening or not.

After galloping (and hopping) for a few moments, the very top of the other-worldly Xel'Naga pillar came into view for the two mares as they cleared the last stretch of forest. The hill they were now ascending was the only clear space from forest for several miles in each direction; the Xel'Naga artifact sat on the very top which overlooked the whole valley. Eventually, on their ascent up the hill, the ground beneath their hooves steepend close to vertical, which forced Applejack to begin to actually climb instead of gallop. And to her surprise, Pinkie Pie still bounced beside her as if the steep hillside were still horizontal.

Finally, after a few moments of climbing (and, still, hopping), the two found themselves on even ground at the top of the hill, staring at the towering pillar of the Xel'Naga artifact. The main pillar seemed to stretch up to approximately thirty feet high, while large chunks of its "arms" levitated slowly around the pillar two-thirds its length up. Glowing runic carvings were on every surface including the floating fragments, giving off a very forboding hum that seemed to travel through the earth ponies. The structure was so strange, even Pinkie Pie stared with a gaping mouth.

"H-how do we activate it?" Applejack asked, hoping Pinkie Pie somehow broke the rules of logical sense and knew how to operate it.

"I dunno, maybe we should get a closer look?" the pink mare shrugged.

"Ehm, maybe you should go first - since you're Admiral, and all," Applejack remarked.

"Hey! I'm supposed to be ordering YOU around!" Pinkie Pie giggled. But before either mare could give another thought, they began to hear a scratching sound nearby. And, panting?

-----

"C'mon, Dash, we're almost there!" said Rainbow, climbing up the steep hillside beside her clone Zergling.

"Hey, I'M the faster one!" shot Dash, sticking one of her back-protruding mandibles into the dirt as she began to lift her other one.

"What- HEY! I'M the fastest flyer in all of Equestria!"

"We're not IN Equestria. Hah-hah."

"Well... I'm the fastest... Zergling? In all of, uh, whatever this... planet, is called!" The two cyan Zergling clones finally reached the top of the hill, climbing over the edge of the hillside as they continued to argue.

"HAH, I won!" said Dash.

"No, I won!" said Rainbow.

"No, I won!" said Pinkie Pie who was riding on Rainbow's back.

"What the?"

"Weeee! Ohmygosh, are you two Zerglings? You're a lot bigger than I thought you'd be - you look so tiny on the computer screen. Wait, why do you have rainbow coloured manes and why do you have the faces of Rainbow Dash? Ooh, why do you sound like Rainbow Dash? Why are there two of you!" Pinkie Pie babbled, now hugging the back of Rainbow.

"Pinkie Pie! Oh my, how glad are we to see you," said Dash, quickly realizing that Pinkie Pie was not a Zerg and was dressed in what looked like an Admiral's attire. To the side, Dash could see the armoured form of Applejack who had a look of confusion and disgust in her face.

"Rainbow Dash?" asked Applejack, furrowing her eyebrows. "Uh... Rainbow Dash's?"

"Uh... Applejack?" Dash asked back while Rainbow began trying to kick the air to get Pinkie Pie off her, who was desparately clinging to the neck of Dash.

"Oh mah..." Applejack stiffled a laugh, realizing what Rainbow Dash had become.

"Yeah, yeah, let it all out," Dash flat-panned, rolling her eyes.

"PFFAHAHAH, oh my goodness, RAINBOW DASH! Y...Yer jokin'! Oh mah, Ah never expected this to happen! A Zergling! Those little things with the ugly teeth and all that!" she squealed. "Bahahahah!"

"Very funny. You do know I have these razer sharp claws and everything, right?" Dash spoke in a monotonious and annoyed voice. "And just call me as 'Dash'."

"Let me guess, the other one's 'Rainbow'?" Applejack asked, trying to keep in her laughs. Dash nodded. "AHAH! OH MAH!"

"Okay! So we've found each other. What happens now?" Dash asked through the laughter. Rainbow approached the two, seemingly to have given up getting Pinkie Pie off her back.

"Oh geez, Ah haven't laughed that hard since... Since the last time Ah laughed at you, really," Applejack said, wiping away a tear. "Wait. If you two are Zergs, where did'ya come from?"

"We came from a Zerg base, where we woke up as... larvae," said Rainbow, shifting uncomfortably under Pinkie Pie.

"Eeeew, so you... went through the transformations and things?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yeah, it was all very slimey."

"You don't feel very slimey," Pinkie Pie looked down at her Zergling steed.

"Oh yeah, Fluttershy's still at the base, too!" Dash spoke up.

"Fluttershy! Is she alright?" Applejack asked, her eyes widening at the prospect of her other friends. "An' what about Twilight and Rarity?"

"It was only me and Fluttershy at the Zerg base. She was still a larvae when me and Rainbow left."

"That's weird! You're referring to your other self as another whole pony. Er, Zergling," Pinkie Pie remarked.

"Wait, why'd ya leave Fluttershy behind?" Applejack began to grow concerned. "With... the other Zergs."

"Don't worry, she'll be fine. In fact, she kinda likes the Zerg creatures..." Dash shuddered. "Besides, we came out here to find this artifact to help us find you guys." The three-and-a-half ponies present all looked to the artifact before them while it gave off its dim blue light and hums.

"So we know where Fluttershy is, that means we gotta find Twilight and Rarity," Applejack said to herself quietly, captured in awe in the strange structure once again.

"Whoa! Is that what pine needles taste like? Minty!"

General Pinkie Pie now stood up next to the Xel'Naga omni-sight artifact. After a quick debate, Rainbow, Dash and Applejack had all voted Pinkie Pie to be the one to approach it first. The notion that all of the chunks levitating around the base tower formed a puzzle was correct; upon getting close enough to the tower, every piece had assembled into a vertical ring. It was then that Pinkie Pie began to feel an overwhelming sensation engulf not only her mind, but her body. Every single sense in her body lit up with absolutely every bit of information that was within a wide radius of the tower.

"Eugh. Let me tell you, most of the things I'm tasting right now are icky," giggled Pinkie Pie, somehow able to still be Pinkie Pie through everything being fed to her. While her eyes were closed, Pinkie Pie could see, hear, feel, smell and taste everything. Applejack tried not to think of what Pinkie could be viewing, until she said, "Applejack! Did you know that Rainbow Dash has the hots for your brother?"

"Er..."

"HAY!" yelled a startled Rainbow and Dash in unison.

"And Applejack reads trashy romance novels!"

"Pinkie! Stop reading our minds!" yelled Applejack, pretending not to listen to Pinkie's last statement or the one before.

"I can't help it!"

"Can you try to find our friends?" the orange mare reassured, trying to seize the moment that they had for finding Rarity and Twilight.

"I'm trying... I can't fin - TWILIGHT WRITES FANFICTION!"

"Twilight?! Can you point us to her direction? Do you know where she is?" Applejack eagerly spoke, desperate to find her friends. She paid no heed to the revelations Pinkie Pie was unfolding of her friends.

"Yes! And... And she's with Rarity, who really loves bubble wrap and can spend hours rolling around in it. Ohmygosh, we can be bubble wrap buddies!"

"Consarnit, can you tell us where they are?"

"There!" Pinkie stuck her right forehoof in one direction through the surrounding forest at the foot of the hill they were on.

"I-I don't like Big Mac, nope!" said Dash, both her and Rainbow having been silent for the past while. Ignoring her remark, Applejack moved towards the direction Pinkie pointed towards but stopped at the edge of the cliff.

"Pinkie? What is that in the distance?" Applejack pointed towards what looked like a dark cloud that seemed to be moving towards them quickly. It was also in the direction Pinkie Pie had pointed towards.

"Zerg rush!"

-----

"Aaaah!" Rarity continued to scream very loudly as she galloped along side her purple unicorn counterpart.

"Rarity, we can't out-run them!" Twilight said through gasps of air. Behind the two unicorns galloping for their lives through the forest, half a dozen Zerglings gave chase with a desire for kill that burned in their eyes and showed in their swiping claws.

"What should we do then!" Rarity ceased her screaming to say.

"We have to fight! Look!" Twilight yelled, gesturing to the edge of a cliff that was rapidly approaching them ahead as they ran.

A Zergling was quickly catching up to Rarity, leveling its speed out as it came within a few feet from her. It looked like it was about to pounce, but Twilight quickly shot a wave of energy from her horn at it. The Zergling was swept off of its talons and was thrown backwards into a tree, while the rest of the running Zerglings passed it by.

Twilight and Rarity had left the tree line and the cliff edge was just ahead of them, forcing them to slow down and finally stop before falling off.

"What do we do?!" Rarity screamed.

"Get behind me! I-I'll handle this..." Twilight said as she positioned herself in front of Rarity from the approaching Zerglings. They had just cleared the treeline and began to run even faster towards their now stationary targets.

"One..." she counted as one of the Zerglings let out a loud screech. They moved at a frightening speed, and their sharp claws left holes in the ground everywhere they stepped.

"Two..." she counted again, watching as they tightened their formation. Rarity was shrinking behind Twilight, unsure of what was going to happen.

"THREE!" Twilight screamed right before the Zerglings entered jumping distance. As they began to pounce, Twilight teleported herself and Rarity behind the pack. The Zerglings could not stop in time, and one of them let out another screech as they all sailed through thin air. Twilight, a little dizzy from the teleportation, let out a small laugh as she watched the Zerglings disappear under the cliff edge.

Behind her, a dazzled Rarity was sprawled out on the ground, heaving for air from the workout and the panic.

"I... can't believe... that worked..." she spoke through her breaths. Having just gotten out of a life-threatening situation, Rarity could care less that she was lying in dirt at that moment.

"We need to get to safety. There's bound to be more where that came from," Twilight grimly said, wanting more desperately than before to get out of the world they were stuck in.

"Where should we go? Back to base?"

"It's the only safe place we can be right now. But we have to move now if we don't want to encounter any more of th - " Twilight was cut off as the ground began to shake. Rarity quickly got to her hooves, her pupils shrinking in panic once again.

At the base of the treeline before them, the ground erupted and a massive shape emerged. First, four massive razer-edged mandibles swiped through the dust-filled air it had created from unburrowing itself. Then, a loud thud as it slammed the solid ground it stood on with its grand feet, supporting its massive body. And finally, it let out a very loud roar from its mouth, lined with rows of razer sharp teeth.

"An Ultralisk!" Twilight squeaked, thousands of images on how the massive beast could kill her filling her mind. Rarity stood petrified, unable to even scream.

The Ultralisk swiped its mandibles through the air again, the dust having settled already. Seeing the two unicorns, it cried out another earth-shaking roar and began to move towards them. Every step it took sent tremors up the hooves of Twilight and Rarity, as its massive form grew closer relatively quickly for the size of the beast.

Twilight tried to find a way out, but the two of them were hopelessly backed to the edge of the cliff. There was almost no way they could fight it either, especially with Twilight being the only armed one of the two unicorns. Neither could she think of any spell that would assist them, and she was much too tired to attempt another group teleport spell on Rarity and herself without the risk of having it backfire. Were she to fail the teleport spell, the two of them could end up in mid air a few feet behind their current position, right over the death-fall from the cliff.

It was then that the massive beast stopped in its tracks, its posture suddenly upright and frozen as though it had been shocked. Next, one of its mandibles suddenly snapped through the middle as though some sort of blade had severed it through thin air. The Ultralisk let out a cry, but was interrupted as an invisible blade sliced right down the middle of its face. The beast collapsed on its legs, lying immobile and innate of life.

Whatever had killed the Ultralisk was invisible and apparently was standing on top of it, indicated by the hoof prints it made on the dirt after jumping off. Ominiously, the being approached the stunned Twilight and Rarity who were unsure that they should be relieved or remain panicked. While it was invisible, the hoof prints it left suggested that the invisible being was approaching them slowly.

"W-who are you?" Twilight asked, desperate to get answers as to who their saviour was and what their intentions were. She raised one of her forehooves and showed the gauntlet where her blade could unsheath, trembling. "I h-have an energy blade, and I'm not afraid t-to use it!"

The approaching invisible form remained silent. The hoof prints on the ground clearly indicated that this was a pony like Twilight or Rarity, but a bitter tension could be felt through the air. Twilight knew that this pony should be friendly, shown by the fact that they had saved her and Rarity. However, Twilight couldn't help but believe that she was being glared at with some sort of hatred.

"Twilight. Sparkle," spoke a female ethreal voice with bitterness in every syllable. This invisible pony was a female protoss unicorn, just like them. The fact that she was invisible quickly indicated that this mare was a Dark Templar, but the voice was all too familliar to Twilight.

"T... Tr..." Twilight tried to say.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie. Demands. Answers."