Starcraft: Queen and Country

by Wanderer D

Chapter 030: Never Let It Go

2505, Equestria █

Ever since Sweetie and Gallus had disappeared, both the Crusaders and the rest of the Student Six had isolated themselves from everycreature as much as possible. So, whenever they weren't at school, Gallus' friends would retire to their own little private space provided to them by the Tree of Harmony.

The Treehouse was right in the middle of the Everfree, where the Castle of the Two Sisters used to be, and while it was certainly not exactly safe to get there, they knew their way around well enough to reach it without problems, and the upside for them was that, outside of Zecora and Twilight's friends, very few creatures would venture out there to bother them.

Thus, Twilight had flown over in hopes of discovering more details that could help her understand Sweetie's transformation, and with the similarities she had to a certain species that lived in Equestria, she figured she could both, pass on the good news, and get some insight into possible connections.

She landed in the open yard in front of the Treehouse, which glistened with crystalized magic that contrasted with the broken, gray rock of the crumbling castle. Taking a deep breath, Twilight approached the tree house, wondering how best to tell them all that Gallus was alive.

"Ocellus," Twilight called finally, knocking on the door. "Ocellus? It's Twilight Sparkle. I have some questions for you… and some news."

The door inched open, and the changeling's eyes were barely visible through the little crack. Out of all of her students, Ocellus had isolated herself first from just about everycreature. And it was Twilight's understanding that outside of her friends, which she had let get close eventually, she still refused to stay around any creature that had known Gallus and Sweetie.

Twilight could understand why, too. Changelings, especially the reformed ones, had an especially tough time dealing with loss that affected many others. 

As a species intimately aware of everyone's emotions, everycreature that suffered around them compounded on their own feelings, creating a dangerous cycle that could end up with very real consequences if they didn't monitor themselves carefully… or removed themselves from the area.

Thankfully Ocellus was not in any danger of falling into a self-destructive depression. While her friends suffered too, they also loved and cared for each other more than enough to be supportive of each other and therefore her. They still grieved, but they were not lost.

"What… kind of…" Ocellus's dull eyes slowly regained light as she stared at her. "Hope… happiness?" She fluttered her wings. "T-they're alive?"

Twilight smiled. It wasn't a full-fledged grin of victory as she would've displayed if things were not… different, but it was enough for the changeling to grow excited.

"I-I can't believe it!" Ocellus cried. "Come in! Are they back? They're not hurt are they?"

"Ah, that's… complicated," Twilight said, following Ocellus in as the others slowly walked into the living room, having heard the commotion. "And that's what I want to talk about to all of you, but you specifically, Ocellus."

"Yona heard Ocellus!" the Yak said, staring straight at Twilight. "Is what Yona heard true? Are Gallus and Sweetie Belle alive?"

"Yes, they are."

Twilight couldn't help but soften her smile as the group cheered. Sandbar and Yona hugged tightly, while Smolder picked up both Ocellus and Silverstream and held them close. The dragon quickly hid her face in Silverstream's mane, but Twilight had spotted the tears of joy.

Not that she'd bring it up. She knew dragons generally had a tough time dealing with feelings.

"Alright, everycreature," she said, loud enough to draw their attention. "Let's talk." Once all their eyes were on her and the hugging groups had separated, she took a deep breath. "This is going to be tough to hear, but please let me tell the whole story first."

She walked over to the table in their living room and projected an image of Sweetie Belle as she was now. "Gallus and Sweetie Belle were transported far away…"

"Well," Smolder summarized. "That sucks."

"It's awful!" Silverstream added. "They're both in a war! And on opposite sides!"

Twilight turned to look at Ocellus, as the changeling studied Sweetie Belle's form. "What do you think?"

"I can see why you would think to check with me," the changeling said, sitting back and shaking her head. "But we changelings are not these zerg you speak of. Sweetie's legs having holes in them is a bit similar, but nothing else about her matches us, or what I know about our species." She gave Twilight a cautious look. "As far as I know, we are a species native to Equestria, and she's unable to change shape, right?"

Twilight nodded. "From what she told me, yes." She gazed sadly at Sweetie's image, unable to hide a shudder when her eyes drifted up to the split horn.

Ocellus followed her eyes. "It's a lot of… transformation."

"I know," Twilight said firmly. "But she's herself. That much I know. Different, perhaps more dangerous, but definitely herself."

"Change happens to us all," Ocellus said. "It's unfortunate she suffered so much when it came to her."

"But she's alive!" Smolder declared, crossing her arms and nodding sagely. "And that's enough to fight for a way home. Have you told the Crusaders?"

Twilight shook her head. "I've barely managed to explain things to Rarity and the others." She sighed. "I… don't know how they even feel right now. I do feel like the Crusaders will be more welcoming and understanding, but Sweetie might not receive a very positive welcome from everycreature here."

"You can say that again," Silverstream mumbled.

"Ponies afraid of different species or creatures from different places are dumb," Yona declared. She shook her head. "Too common." She glanced at Twilight and a small smile formed on her lips. "But they better now than before."

Twilight nodded. "We have time to pr—"

[Twilight.]

She blinked, and suddenly she was back in the vast, empty and alien place she had been before when she had searched for Sweetie.

"Sweetie?" she asked, turning around in a circle, until she spotted the other… well, the zerg-unicorn hybrid. "You… look different." She stepped closer to the younger mare, admiring her crystal-fused horn. And it wasn't just the horn, Sweetie's carapace was more streamlined… thinner, even if it gave her the sense that it was somehow stronger than ever before.

"Yeah," the young queen said, smiling. "My friends really did come through… Gallus, Ariel, Lasarra, Nerath and Selendis… I even heard that Zeratul had helped too. I was really close to not making it."

"You're with Gallus now?" Twilight asked.

Sweetie sighed. "I'm trying, but the dumb gryphon keeps saying that Rarity will skin him alive if he touches me."

"That's… not what I meant," Twilight sighed, blushing a bit and shaking her head. "I keep forgetting you're both old enough now to think about… that." She glanced at Sweetie. "You know how close he is to Silverstream, Smolder, Yona, Ocellus, and Sandbar, right? Particularly the first two."

Sweetie shrugged. "They can all join my herd." She grinned when Twilight stared, her shinny white pincers clicking in amusement. "I like them all too, and I wouldn't want Gallus to feel bad about choosing if we could all have fun."

"I'll let them know," Twilight deadpanned. "But I'm sure you didn't bring me here to talk about relationships."

"Oh. I know. Sorry, I didn't mean to throw it in your face," Sweetie said. Then, before Twilight could figure out if the apology was actually offensive, she continued, "I do actually have an emergency, or I wouldn't have risked this… I don't know how to control this dream realm well, and I need help with some spells, and… I don't have anyone here to teach me."

"We might have to consult Luna on this, but…" Twilight studied the younger mare's face. "What do you have in mind?"

"Twilight?"

Twilight blinked and stared at Ocellus and the others for a moment. The group had gathered anxiously around her. She then frowned, rubbing her hoof on a sore spot on her cheek. "What…"

"You suddenly spaced out and wouldn't answer!" Silverstream said, her worried eyes studying her teacher intently. 

"Why does my cheek hurt?"

"Oh," Silverstream smiled. "Smolder said that she'd watch ponies wake up after a couple of slaps, so I did!"

"A few times," Sandbar provided, rather nervously.

"You woke up before it was Yona's turn," the yak said, sounding a bit put down. "Yona was looking forward to slapping pony princess."

Twilight turned to glare at the dragon, who shrugged and smirked. "Hey, it worked in the movies."

"Y—you know, never mind." Twilight took a deep breath, extending her foreleg in a slow, sweeping arc in front of her, just like Cadance had taught her. When she was feeling better, she rolled her shoulders. "I was contacted by Sweetie… it seems not much time has passed here."

"Only a few minutes," Ocellus said, leaning in with interest. "How long were you with her?"

"A few hours, I think," Twilight said, thinking back on the training. "She's a very diligent student now."

The others exchanged glances, so Twilight smiled. "Gallus is with her. He's not been transformed into a zerg, I asked. But it appears Sweetie would like to talk to you all at some point about something."

"Oh, did she finally confess her love for him?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yes bu—" Twilight teleported to the other side of the room, while the others backed away very quickly from the sudden appearance of the pink menace.

"Pinkie!"

"Hi Twilight!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Rarity is feeling better and she wanted to talk to you about what you told us," Pinkie said. "And if Sweetie is getting her own herd with everycreature here, then I'm sure she'll want to talk to all of you about it too!"

Smolder blinked. "Wait. Herd?"

2505, Koprulu Sector, Planet Agria █

Tosh had arrived a few hours ago, and had been led to a large room protected by several Protoss and zerg, where Selendis was discussing something with a human…ish woman named Ariel.

He could sense the latter was no longer fully human, but it appeared that his contacts were right about the rumored Zerg Queen not being the same kind of monster as other queens. He was never really happy about third-hand information such as what he had received from communications that came mainly from Raynor's group… and even his people weren't one-hundred-percent sure about the strange zerg.

Gallus trusted her, though. And that said something, although he suffered from the same ailment as Raynor and had some sort of bug fetish going on. Tosh shook his head, pushing those thoughts away.

These were not his enemies. In fact, they could very well be his friends moving forward. No one here reacted to him in the way terrans did when his Specter history came up, and he had a mutual interest shared with the young queen.

Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to meet her in person yet. She was sequestered inside a room, meditating, or something. He could feel the psychic energy emanating from that room… and something else. Something that tugged at the edge of his consciousness and his familiarity with the spiritual world.

Magic was happening, whether the scientists wanted to believe and quantify it or not, and he wasn't able to witness it. He grimaced internally, being careful to keep his expression neutral while waiting. There was so much he could learn from the young queen.

Apparently she had resembled an actual unicorn, like the Terran legends of the long-lost past before being transformed into a zerg. What else did they need as a sign that there was more to the universe than the sad obsession over science to the exclusion of other wonders?

Either way, Tosh waited eagerly for her to come out, and for the fate of everything to change.