Starcraft: Queen and Country

by Wanderer D

Chapter 023: Changes

Starcraft: Queen and Country
By Wanderer D
Chapter 023: Changes

2504, Somewhere█

Sweetie.

Sweetie, where are you?

Can you hear me, Sweetie Belle? Can you sense me?

The voice was so familiar. Sweetie Belle stood and turned, her wings fluttering, her pincers twitching.

Sweetie Belle?

"I-I can hear you! I can hear you… but who is this? Your voice sounds familiar, but I don't—"

What had happened? The last thing she remembered was… Char!

She looked around wildly, trying to sense her Zerglings, the Queen… to spot Gallus, or the Terrans. She braced herself for the impact of the Xel'Naga Artifact's wave of destructive, burning energy against her shield.

But there were no echoes in her mind from her Zerg.

There was no comforting presence from her Queen in the back of her mind.

Gallus was nowhere to be found.

She had no shield up, but there came no burning energy.

Sweetie Belle!

The voice… that familiar, distant voice. It was calling her from somewhere nearby, but her Queen…

A flash in her mind. An escape route… a-a portal! Burning memories; her shield shattering like thick glass into shards that evaporated into the aether as the energy slammed into her… but no, not the energy! It was Gallus!

The energy had seared into her, burning away her senses and her powers and her identity and her purpose.

Sweetie gasped, eyes wide as she turned around in place. Hadn't she died? Hadn't the Xel'Naga Artifact destroyed her like it had destroyed the other Zerg? Like it had erased the Queen from her mind?

Who was in charge now?

Sweetie Belle!

That voice. That… annoying, nostalgic, constantly-calling voice! Why wouldn't it let her think?

Sweetie Belle can you hear me?!

"I'm trying to think, Twilight!"

Sweetie almost stumbled back when she shouted, eyes even wider. "Twilight?" It felt like centuries, like the life of someone else, but the voice of the alicorn clawed its way from the recesses of her mind where she had stored all of her precious innocence and hopes…

"I can hear you, Sweetie! Where are you?"

"I'm here!"

Sweetie Belle suddenly found herself standing on a gigantic structure of some sort. It extended far in front of her for quite a distance before it met a wall and a gigantic door. The whole place was made of metal and green-blue energy, with wisps of the latter following unseen circuit routes.

The whole thing was incredible. Who could have built it? Surely not Terrans or even Protoss. It extended high above into some sort of rhomboid, and she imagined it might hold a similar shape under her… although she wasn't going to risk flying out there to find out for sure.

Beyond the edge of the platform where she stood, she could see space… but space like she had never seen before. Light expanded all around, barely allowing her to see the stars in the distance between small gaps in the rolling energies surrounding her. Novas and energy clouds rolled around the area around her, distant and yet close, as if trapped in some sort of current she could not feel from where she stood.

"Sweetie!"

She turned around, blinking. Right in front of her was Twilight Sparkle herself.

"Twilight?" Sweetie shook her head. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Never mind that, Sweetie… what… what happened to you?" Twilight's voice was low. She slowly walked around Sweetie Belle, studying her new form, but somehow didn't recoil in horror.

Suddenly remembering who she now was… what she was, Sweetie cringed. "A lot has happened, Twilight. Not all of it good."

The princess—no, her friend and teacher trotted closer, cautiously. "You… look very different, your aura signature is there but, it's changed." She shook her head. "Not to mention your looks, you kind of look like…"

"A changeling?" Sweetie asked. "Yeah… I wondered at some point if they were some sort of Zerg subspecies, but it doesn't make sense."

"Zerg?" Twilight asked, tilting her head.

"That's what I am now, Twilight," Sweetie sighed. "Enemy of all who live. Queen of the hive. We live to feed and to evolve." She snorted. "Or that's what they tell me. I think there's other ways."

Twilight considered her for a moment, stopping at leg's length. "It sounds like you've had it rough."

Sweetie sighed and sat down on the gray metal floor. "Not just me. Gallus too. And… Quarts."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Are they okay? Did the same thing happen to them?"

"Thankfully not… Why don't you sit, Twilight? I have quite the story for you."

2504, Koprulu Sector, Agria's Moon█

"And you did these calculations on your own?" Despite the inherent incredulity of the statement, Nerath couldn't hide the respect in her voice, which Lasarra appreciated with quiet dignity.

"Indeed." She summoned up another diagram for the Nerazim to observe. "With the assistance of the Terran-Zerg scientist, Ariel from planet Agria, I was able to obtain scans and information prior to her current circumstances. As you can see the damage from the Xel'Naga Artifact was not as absolute as we had feared."

She gestured and brought up one of Ariel's earlier scans to appear next to a current one. "Rather than destroy Sweetie Belle," she continued, "it eliminated the contamination of the Zerg in her, leaving behind what I can only describe as dormant, pure Zerg biological components."

"This is amazing." Nerath started pacing, considering the information. It was… odd, seeing a Protoss do such a thing not out of frustration or anticipation of a fight, but rather out of excitement.

Nerath was around the same age as Lasarra herself, but comported herself much differently, and while she could feel the slight amusement from the other Protoss in the room at the Nerazim's antics, to her it was… endearing to see one of her own people being so… openly alien. And yet, familiar.

Fascinating.

"I see you kept the nerve endings from fusing shut," Nerath noted. "Good… also good that she's unconscious since the pain would probably break her mind in a second." She ran some scans humming to herself as report after report was generated under her parameters.

Curious, Lasarra edged closer to take a look. "Is this… accurate? Queen Sweetie Belle is currently engaging with Void energies even though she is unconscious?"

"What a fascinating species, isn't she?" Nerath answered with a playful undertone, not exactly addressing her question, but yet confirming it at the same time. "Thousands of open nerve endings that exclusively connect to different wavelengths of void energy, each specialized yet complimenting the other."

"This must be how her original species is able to alter the world so much more than we are," Lasarra whispered. "If the Griffon Gallus' explanation earlier of their capabilities is true, these 'unicorns' are able to manipulate reality itself."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Nerath said, shaking her head. "It's good that you contacted me… a normal Phase crystal wouldn't be up to the task of handling these energies. We'll need to find a Khaydarin crystal of sufficient quality to adapt to this energy."

Lasarra blinked, then nodded slowly. "We cannot use a processed crystal… it has to be designed into a perfect fit for this purpose."

"That is correct," Nerath said, exuding satisfaction. She then visibly sagged as she considered the images and information. "This will require my full attention, and I must start now to work on the nerve endings, cataloging each for function and design so that we can create the proper power foci."

It struck Lasarra again as odd. The body language of the Nezarim was different from that of the Khalai, but familiar enough that she could recognize signs of approval. To think that those not part of the Khala would have to rely constantly on the observation of these minor shifts of body language and tone of voice to further understand each other, such as Terrans did with different species, was… humbling in a way.

This learning experience was very rewarding in itself, even if this aside was completely outside of their current experiment. Learning never ended.

"I will leave you then to your Phase Smithing, Nerath," she said, reining in her thoughts back to the matters at hand. "I shall consult with Executor Selendis to find the appropriate Khaydarin crystal to bring it to you."

Nerath nodded, then hesitated. "You are welcome to come back and… assist, if you so wish. I will only ask that you allow me to keep my secrets when needed."

"Of course."

2504, Somewhere█

To say that Twilight looked horrified was an understatement.

"Oh, Sweetie, I'm so sorry you've been through all of this!" Twilight hung her head low.

"It wasn't your fault, Twilight," Sweetie responded, reaching out to gently brush the other mare's mane out of the way. "I've learned that easily manipulated conspiracy theorists exist all over the universe." She snorted.

"I can't say that that brings me any comfort," Twilight chuckled between tears. "But after what they pulled off at the university, their movement lost momentum, and eventually was rejected by society as a whole… I just wish that epiphany hadn't come at the cost of your lives."

"I'm still here, you know, and Gallus is alive too."

Twilight nodded, her smile growing slightly. It was comforting to see that her friend and teacher still cared so deeply for them.

"If you think Unicorns First was bad, you should see what Mengsk and his cronies have done over here," Sweetie said, turning to stare at the stars with a visible shudder. "I was unfortunate enough to watch one of Vermillion's videos and the level of anger and idiocy was enough to make me feel like my neurons were wilting."

Twilight laughed at that, looking up at her with some warmth. "I can't say I'm not still horrified by your transformation… and I can't understand your, um Zerg nature. It seems too prone to violence and voracity for me to do so… I can't understand many of your changes, Sweetie Belle, but I can see you have grown, and I am proud of you for how far you have come, and how much you have survived. Not many could."

"You should be proud of Gallus too," Sweetie replied, allowing herself to smile fondly at the memory of the griffon. "He's taking things a bit too seriously—"

"Can you blame him?"

"I guess not, but my point is that he learned a lot of engineering from the Terrans, he learned to fight, and learned to survive as well. He's grown into a fine specimen."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I think I have some gossip for Rarity now… well, gossip that she might appreciate."

"Ha, I wish." Sweetie grinned, leaning forward. "He's interested, but he's holding back. I think it might be my mandibles." She clicked them together, making Twilight's smile turn a bit sickly. Sweetie sighed. "Scared?"

"If I didn't know Thorax that would probably freak me out more than it does," Twilight admitted, "but no… when I found you here, I knew it was you, and after talking to you I was able to accept that you had changed. But I still feel the magic of Friendship in you, and I also feel the heart of someone that I grew to love as if you were my own little sister." She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "It will take some getting used to."

"Thanks, Twilight."

The alicorn sighed. "It's going to be hard explaining this to the others, Sweetie."

Sweetie Belle shook her head. "It's enough to know that you are all still looking for us. I'll tell Gallus that I met you here in… um, wherever we are."

Twilight looked around curiously. "You don't know where this is?"

"No…" Sweetie walked to the edge of the structure and stared at the galaxies beyond. "It's like nothing I've seen in the galaxy so far. No stars match this. No fortifications that I heard of were comparable to this in any way shape or form. Wherever we are… it's beyond me."

Twilight trotted up to her, joining her in staring at the infinite universe as it expanded in front of them. "I don't even have the words to describe how beautiful this is," the alicorn admitted. "To think… despite all the horror and violence you have experienced, Sweetie, that there are sights like these so far beyond Equestria's system."

"Maybe one day you'll get to see them," Sweetie said. "Once my Queen is satisfied… maybe I can go back."

"I'll wait for you and Gallus here… with Rarity and our friends. We're all waiting for you, Sweetie. And if I find a way to go to you—"

"Don't." Sweetie turned to face Twilight. "I want you to. But, please don't. Not right now. Not until it's… safer."

Twilight stared at her without betraying her thoughts, then, with a deep breath, she nodded.

"How long do you think we have before I'm… back with my Queen, or you're needed back in Equestria?" Sweetie asked.

Twilight seemed to look at something, or someone before turning her attention back to Sweetie. "I have time."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Sweetie said. "How about you tell me about Equestria now?"

Twilight chuckled and sat down next to her. "I guess we princesses can gossip as we want."

"Well, technically I'm a Queen," Sweetie responded, "but I won't pull rank."

Twilight shook her head with obvious amusement. "Well, after you disappeared…"

End Chapter

Comments

[Mister Morden]

So Twilight and Sweetie are 'projecting' themselves into this mystery (most likely Xel'Naga) structure? Interesting...

Good chapter, looking forward to Sweetie finally being awake again.

[UrsaMajor]

Ulnar?

[KwirkyJ]

Awww, a long-overdue, long-sought, long-distance call with Home!

[Black--Soul]

Very lovely chapter. I guess the Protoss make the best restoration on Sweetyling as possible. But it will be probably the First Spawningpool to truly fix Sweetyling. So far Sweetie Belle sure is holding out nicely.

I wonder... How will the Hos campaign play out?
3 Player co-op perhaps?

[dragonus85]

Love this story.

[Black--Soul]

So... If the Protoss can help Sweetybell... Will she become some kind of... HYBRID

11329128
The only place coming to mind. A Tempel-World between realitys...
11329176
Hopefully they can replicate this success in communication
11329116
Wonder if any Xel'Naga is observing or listening in...

[Misdirection]

Excellent chapter!

[Lunar-Flare]

Sweetie Belle stood and turned, her wings fluttering, her pincers twitching

What the? OH RIGHT. It's this story. With the breaks between chapters that surprises me almost every time. I know intellectually what has happened, but the delay is long enough to reset the shock value.

[FanOfMostEverything]

I've learned that easily manipulated conspiracy theorists exist all over the universe.

angry glare at the g5 comics

Still, this is good for Sweetie's soul. And Rarity's mental health. Let's hope Sweetie remembers this time when she comes to. And we'll see just what she'll be capable of when she does...

[Black--Soul]

So... Will Sweetyling snuggel Gallus before or after Zerus?
I totally ship them

[Teraunce]

Darn. I ran out of chapters. Well next time I guess we get to see how Equestria has fared.

[Don-n from 1990th]

How ironic - I wrote a comment to the previous chapter where I wanted to ask if the events in Equestria would be described, when I suddenly saw that this chapter had come out I am looking forward to the news from Twilight and the reaction of the rest of Mane 6, CMC and students. And it looks like the events of the "Heart of the Swarm" will begin soon. I wish you inspiration and look forward to continuing

[CrovaxII]

cataloging each for function and design so that we can create the proper power foci."

I've seen foci used like this in fiction a lot, as far as I'm aware the only for it is the plural of focus, and it's clearly being used as a singular here. Is this just a common mistake or is there some alternative meaning for the word in pseudo-technical magic speak?

[Wanderer D]

11329926 It's actually being used as a plural. She needs to create the proper (plural of focus) so that each do their respective jobs.

[Don-n from 1990th]

It's curious, but I think Sweetie Belle and Alexey Stukov can become really good friends, given the similarity of the trials they had to go through . I would love to read about it

[Black--Soul]

You know the cliche where the villain mastermind is petting a cat? I totally see Sweetie Belle/Sweetyling get pet by Stukov.
In Starcraft Russians gets to pet the mastermind while being the pet himself
Sweetie Belle/Ling/Queen deservs nothing less

[Black--Soul]

With everyone updated hopes will flare, hope can move mountains after all! Or world in this... if not more!
11329381
Indeed
11329398
Indeed
Pretty awesome story
11329403
As long her ability to use puppy eye attacks and snuggeling isn't compromised, I foresee success
11329626
Perhaps we get some new soon.
A long not updated story got recently a lot of updates ♡
11329698
One can hope the HOS campaign is like the multi-player hos campaign. With three commander slots I can see Kerrigan/Sweety for the Zerg, Gallus for a group of Terrans and Selendis perhaps for the Protoss