//------------------------------// // Chapter 006 // Story: Starcraft: Queen and Country // by Wanderer D //------------------------------// Starcraft: Queen and Country By Wanderer D Chapter 006 2503, Koprulu Sector █ After that first kill, Sweetie had joined the rest of the zerg eliminating the rest of the Terrans. Scientists and soldiers had fallen to her scythes with equal ease, surprising even her as she tore through metal like it was paper. It was bittersweet. On the one hoof, she felt she was getting her well deserved revenge, but with each death, each resolution to bite and feed, she felt like her old self was also torn. Instinctual reactions fought mercilessly inside of her as well. The pony was repulsed, wanted to flee the carnage. The zerg was hungry and wanted more. By accepting Kerrigan, some of that fight had died within her, and she didn't hesitate in her attacks, even though her mind struggled to keep up with the almost mindless need to kill. "Many fall to the infestation," she heard Kerrigan's voice in her mind say, "they abandon all pretense of true sapience, simply content in killing and feeding. No different than the most basic of zergs, unable to recognize former friends or family." Sweetie didn't stop galloping as she twisted to the side, evading the shots from a pair of soldiers, she was on the wall, her hooves sinking into the wall as surely as if she had hooks on the base of her hooves. She never hesitated, stepping on the wall with as much confidence as if she were galloping on the floor, and launched herself like a crazy cat from there, tearing with her scythes. "But sometimes, once every million zerg, an infestation gives breed to new… individuals. New minds to join the swarm. Not too long ago I would have destroyed such minds, and with the coming fate of the universe, I had little interest in shortening my time here. But should I perish I want the swarm to continue, and thus I changed my mind. And I want individuals. I want those who could hold a conversation. Plan. Think ahead. Have vision and hope." The armor tore, exposing flesh underneath. Sweetie dove in, tearing at it with her pincers, which pushed bloody flesh into her mouth. "Will you be one of them, I wonder? Or are you going to be just another mindless drone?" Sweetie stopped. The voice was gone. The Queen was still here, she could feel it. She chittered, her pincers shaking slightly, her scythes twitching. The smell of blood, the sound of an exposed beating heart and the gurgling hiss of blood-filled lungs reached her ears and called her to feast just like the others. But she stood still. Leaning slightly, then back, her whole body tense. A part of her distantly understood the words… the words… of the Queen. Sweetie blinked. Words. Not impulses. An invitation, not an order. A chance to define who she was. Who she would be. Not just what. Hadn't she wanted that back home? Another slight shiver shook her body, her chittering dying as things slowly came into focus. Back home she had wanted to be part of something bigger. She wanted a purpose beyond just finding one for others. Back home. With Rarity. With Gallus. With Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and the others. The home she could never return to. She looked up from the body, her eyes searching the destroyed premises until they settled on Kerrigan, who turned around to regard her silently. Slowly, Sweetie pushed herself away from the bodies, staggering as she tried to make sense of things. But she stubbornly put one hoof in front of the other as she headed over to the Queen of Blades. The base had been completely overrun by Zerg by the time Sweetie had gathered her wits enough to do more than follow Kerrigan around as the incredibly powerful zerg investigated the site. Around them, occasional screams and groans echoed, usually accompanied or followed by the squelching sound of many mouths tearing into muscle and sinew. "Do you understand anything that was being done here, zergling?" Kerrigan asked, glancing at what remained of a computer. "My name is Sweetie Belle." Kerrigan stopped, but didn't turn around. Despite not being able to see her face, Sweetie immediately regretted speaking up. On an instinctual level she knew she was in danger for that act of defiance from her Queen, but Rarity had said that on those occasions, with certain ponies, it was better to simply continue. "No. I'm not sure," she offered in a low, apologetic tone. "They were obviously experimenting on us, but the purpose?" she shook her head. "I don't know, my Queen." Still unmoving, Kerrigan spoke. "How is it that you were captured? Perhaps we can get a clue out of that." "We… arrived here by accident," Sweetie said. "There was another unicorn with me—" "Unicorn?" the question was just slightly incredulous. Kerrigan turned to look at her. "Is that what you call yourselves?" "Our specific kind yes, my species is simply referred to as ponies. The main types are unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies." Her Queen nodded. "Interesting. The terran word for you matches your species. They were creatures of magic." She studied Sweetie intently. "Perhaps that is why you have such a powerful psych presence." "We do call it magic where I'm from, my Queen, but I did not know how to reach out telepathically until I arrived here and I was taught by accident." Kerrigan's lips twitched, but she turned away quickly. "You seem to have a gift for it, if that's the case. You will serve me well before the end." "I will, my Queen," Sweetie replied obediently, wondering at her Queens melancholy. "Very well, Sweetie... " Kerrigan said, almost uncomfortably, as if she had sensed Sweetie's unease. "Follow me." The order was redundant, and they both knew it. But it seemed to Sweetie that Kerrigan was somewhat… happy to talk to her for some reason. They climbed and jumped and in Sweetie's case crawled their way up the crumbled metal shaft that remained of what had been the entrance to the lab. There was a black, gooey substance slowly spreading from several organic-looking holes that had somehow been forced through the metallic walls of the base. The moment her hooves touched it, she felt invigorated and stronger. The wariness from her first kill and feeding faded completely, and soon she was walking behind her Queen with renewed confidence. The metal slowly was enveloped completely, the closer the moved to the exit and Sweetie was fascinated with the sheer amount of life and energy that came with the swarm. Everything was a flurry of motion, and she could see Big Bug stomping off to join other zerg already. Outside of the lab, for the first time in what could have been days, weeks or even months—she wasn't sure, time in there was a blur—she marveled at the efficiency and growth of the zerg swarm. They were unstoppable. She felt a thrill, and consternation. She had been a pony just… hours ago. Her identity, her past, her future at the time, all hinged on her being a pony. Now, thinking of herself as a Zerg came naturally, there was no hesitation, and if she hadn't caught herself in the moment, she wouldn't have even questioned it. "It is disorienting, at first, even after a full transformation, memories, feelings and… attachments remain," Kerrigan said quietly. "Even with the drive to expand, to fulfill the purpose of the swarm... " she shook her head. Sweetie looked up in surprise at Kerrigan, who kept looking ahead as she walked… or was that a saunter? "Do… all zerg feel like this?" "No," Kerrigan replied as they passed a gaping maw in the ground from where a really tall, thin, segmented proboscis emerged high into the sky, ending with a sort of hollowed out, very sharp tip. The tentacle-like extension waved in the air slowly, threatening. "Not every zerg is the result of an infestation, like you or I. They have been created with explicit purpose. We deal with a different level of authority, duty and purpose." Thousands of zergs moved in tight groups over whole areas and new mounds of flesh-like, spiked domes would shiver as they spread the black goo, only to die off as another emerged further away. Above them, giant, tick like creatures that hovered over the swarm. Immediately she felt a connection from them, and she knew instinctively what the others were to do. That the manta-like creatures flying slowly above were Brood Lords, that the rolling, glowing ones were banelings. A wealth of information and purpose flooded through her, and she could only anticipate now what part of this bigger whole she was going to be. "In a matter of days this entire world will belong to the swarm, and to the swarm alone," Kerrigan said as she and Sweetie entered the mouth of the biggest thing Sweetie had ever seen. And even though she was essentially being swallowed whole, the creature felt… welcoming. They went further into it, Sweetie discovering that not only was it as big as a city, but also capable of functioning as one. There were tunnels made of pulsating, warm, humid flesh, feeling so comfortable to her, that she could have just cuddled up to the wall and slept. There were halls, big, fleshy rooms, chitinous areas where other zerg nested. The creature was incredible. Mind-boggling, and even more impressive, it felt almost maternal to Sweetie. The place oozed empathy to her, it shimmered with the light of life and growth in ways she had never seen even in Sweet Apple Acres or any earth pony farm. Fangs, claws, scythes, rows of serrated teeth, chitinous, barbed and spiked shells, glowing eyes… and an indescribable desire to live. To grow. To become more. Sweetie wanted this. She had wanted this since before she had known she did. "The swarm embraces you, and you welcome it," Kerrigan said, glancing at the unicorn. "I can feel your devotion and loyalty already." She stopped turning to gently run a claw through Sweetie's purple and pink segmented hair, so much like her own tentacles. Sweetie leaned into the hand, and Kerrigan seemed almost… comforted for a second before she straightened up and continued. She led Sweetie into the depths of the giant creature, which she identified as Leviathan, sensing the unicorn-turned-zerg's lingering question. Their journey finally ended in a cavernous, fleshy room within the leviathan, full of simmering pools of glowing ooze and unidentifiable liquids. It was humid, and very warm, as if Sweetie was in the middle of a rainforest. "It's kind of beautiful," Sweetie said, the hum of a distant, massive heartbeat just seeming to accentuate the alien nature of this somewhat now-familiar-feeling place. A small smile played in Kerrigan's lips, her golden, glowing eyes flashing as she studied the area. "Abathur," she half-called, half-stated. Sweetie watched placidly as the goo-like lake's surface slurped to reveal a long, maggot-like creature with a bulgy, segmented back and head that contained several pulsating green sacs full of green liquid. It's face was much smaller, with four green, glowing eyes that looked at her hungrily as its long, vertical mouth opened and closed with squelching noises. "My Queen, what do you bring to me?" Sweetie would have normally felt disgusted by this creature, but for some reason, the sight of it didn't repulse her. It seemed… normal. The thought of ponies, however, made her feel uneasy. Was she supposed to consider them squishy? Because she remembered them squishy. "This is my new pet. I want you to finish her transformation into the swarm." Abathur's voice, despite being telepathic, was accompanied by wet sounds produced by his salivating maw as he spoke. "As you wish my, Queen." "And Abathur?" Kerrigan asked, just as she turned away, "I want her personality and mental capacity intact." If Abathur found the request odd, he didn't react. "It will be so, my queen." The pair watched Kerrigan leave before Abathur loomed over Sweetie, extending his long thin arms to touch her mane and horn. "Interesting! I will make you better! I will infuse you with Zerg strains that will make you more powerful! Dangerous!" "But you won't make me look much different, right?" Sweetie asked. "I really don't want to turn ugly… no offense." Abathur paused, clearly perplexed. "There is only beauty in evolution!" "Yes, but I really want to evolve as much as possible like a pony… the Queen was Terran before, right? She still looks a bit like that—" "The Queen chose her own shape!" Abathur hissed. "And it is perfect! It can only be made more perfect if she lets me!" 'But wasn't the definition of perfect—' Sweetie shook her head. "Well, I want to choose my form too!" "You, zerling, are not the Queen! You will take whatever form I want to shape you in, and like it! All that is required of me is that you—" Abathur's slurping voice wavered. Sweetie had sat down, chitinous pony ears pressed back, shoulders, scythes and even her pincers drooping. She was looking at him with deep, soulful, shimmering, borderline-crying eyes, begging silently for his understanding. He had never seen a zerg do this. "W-what is this form of attack!?" Abathur demanded, voice wavering at the end when Sweetie cringed at his tone. "This attack is not going to—" "Please?" Abathur stood silent for a few moments, body trembling with an inner debate about how to respond to this unexpected, undoubtedly psychic, attack. He chittered nonsensically for a minute. "This attack of yours relies not only psychically on your powers, but it also depends on the physical appearance." "Pleeease?" If Zerg could groan, he would have the moment she twitched her ears. He didn't even have the words to describe the chemical reaction her appearance, demeanor and possibly powers invoked within him. "Fine." Sweetie smiled, and it was such a smile of pure bliss that Abathur could do nothing but turn around and motion with his claw at a nearby pod. "In there, zergling. I shall let you retain your… form. As long as it is a proper Zerg shape!" "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Sweetie chittered as she skipped to the pod, making Abathur twitch uncontrollably. "You will stop the use of your attack right now!" he ordered. "What attack?" Sweetie blinked innocently, tilting her head to the side. "Arrgh!" With a swipe of his claw, an appendage emerged from the goop and carefully dragged Sweetie into the pod. She slowly fell asleep, barely visible through the opaque green substance inside. Free of the sight of her, Abathur then proceeded to analyze her strain and to inject more of his own. He twirled his smaller claws, looking deep into what made this new zergling special, and his mind wondered at the Queens designs for her new servant. The creature was supposed to keep her personality and ability to be independent, much like a Broodmother. As such, her armor would need to thicken, and her ability to care for the swarm and help it grow expanded. In such a small frame. Abathur gurgled excitedly. He loved challenges. End Chapter