War is a pretty good course in public relations.
Audie Murphy

Princess Dorylus wept at the state of the hive.

Having been given the order by her mother, Queen Formicidae, to leave and never return, she had attempted to fly to the nearby frontier town of Appleoosa. She had only traveled a day, the small farming community in sight, before deciding to fly back. She could not, in good conscience, abandon her mother and hive.

By the time she returned, it was clear that the worst had come to pass. The once thriving hive with its several hundred changelings now lay deserted, with not even a body left behind. Splatters of dried changeling blood covered the walls and streets.

As she strode wearily through the streets towards her mother's palace, Dorylus felt a crunch under her hoof as she accidentally stepped on a piece of broken pottery. She paused and looked around at the hive's now abandoned small marketplace. Stalls and carts that were once filled with changelings' hard work now lay overturned, their contents spilling out. She fought back tears as she remembered sneaking out as a hatchling to wander the streets, playing with other hatchlings that were likely as much a handful to their respective guardians as herself. And, of course, getting scolded by her mother for disrupting the hive's activities.

Dorylus swallowed past the lump in her throat and continued on, finally arriving at the spiral staircase built into the very walls of their sanctuary canyon. Her hoofsteps echoed off its stone walls as she ascended, the sound that once frightened her as a hatchling now reminding her of just how alone she really was. She could only hope that her mother anticipated her disobedience and had left a message for her in case she came back.

Beholding the splintered remains of the once magnificent wooden door, a scarce commodity this close to the desert, Dorylus gasped involuntarily. No sign of Queen Formicidae was to be seen inside her bedchamber. A part of her was morbidly pleased to see splatters of crimson blood, no doubt from the monsters that had struck as her mother fought them back, but neither her mother nor the creatures' bodies were present.

Questions roiled in Dorylus' head. What were these monsters? Why did they attack? Where did they come from? How did they know the hive was here? Was someone controlling them? She suddenly felt sick knowing that she knew absolutely nothing of her enemy besides a willingness for atrocity unmatched by anything imprisoned in Tartarus.

Slowly, Dorylus approached her mother's desk. She'd always spent countless hours here, poring over letters to and from the other hives, various reports from their patrols and collector drones, as well as newspapers from all over Equestria. She spied a small pile of letters her mother seemed to have drafted. Most of them were balled up and discarded missives to King Thorax, who technically was her cousin.

But centered on the table was a tear-soaked letter addressed to Dorylus herself.

Dear Dory,

If you are reading this then I am most likely dead, and that I was right you would disobey me. I only hope that you were gone long enough to avoid the fate that befell us all. I have already sent word to King Thorax about everything that has transpired, but I fear that there is little he can do to help this far into the frontier. If you can, try to join him. There at least I hope you will be safe.

But if there is one thing I've learned over the past 20 years it is that you will disregard that instruction entirely. More likely, you will seek revenge, and I agree that such action is warranted. I must remind you then that there is still some of our hive in Appleloosa, as well as the surrounding buffalo tribes. Now, they are your subjects to protect, guide, and care for.

From now on, you are Queen Dorylus. Remember that I loved you with all my heart, and that I made sure you were prepared for the role you would one day inherit. Bear your title gracefully, and the changelings shall follow your leadership.

Your Loving Mother,
Queen Formicidae

Tears streamed down Dorylus' cheeks as she read the letter. She was queen now? Was she truly as prepared as her mother thought she was? Whatever her own thoughts were, her mother seemed confident that it was so.

She was about to set the letter back down when she heard a soft click behind her.

Whirling around on instinct, Dorylus found herself staring at five imposing creatures that had somehow snuck in behind her. A far cry from the horrific bug-lizard hybrids that had killed her mother, these were tall, bipedal beings not too different from a minotaur and garbed head to toe in black armor with tortoiseshell-like helmets atop their heads. Their eyes were obscured behind an angry looking red visor built into their masks, looking not unlike a pair of snow goggles. Huge packs stuffed to bursting like blood-filled ticks were strapped to their backs, and a web of straps and pouches were wrapped snugly around their breastplates.

They clutched long, boxy devices in a similar manner as a minotaur would wield their crossbows sans a bow, suggesting to Dorylus that these were clearly foreign weapons of some sort. That sudden realization made her forget everything that had recently transpired as she saw that the one nearest her pointed its weapon directly at her face, its threatening posture making its intent abundantly clear.

Her mind and body were suddenly overwhelmed by fear at this new, unknown force and her legs gave out beneath her as her vision went dark.

Dorylus awoke to the sound of a heated debate spoken in foreign tongues. Her eyes blinked open and she realized she was lying on her mother's bed, looking up at the ceiling. Had these creatures moved her here? They looked like they had wanted to kill her just a moment ago, but here she was, unrestrained.

She held as still as she could as she observed her surroundings, hoping to go unnoticed by the five beings circled in the center of the room. Under better examination, Dorylus saw that their black armor was more of a charcoal gray, and that the plates covering their upper arms were a crimson red. On each of their right shoulders was a hexagonal insignia with a downwards facing chevron below a five-pointed star. Squinting a bit, she noticed the chevron was actually a stylized arm holding a whip that wrapped around the star and back under the arm to its hand. Was this the crest of some nation she'd never heard of?

Small lines of blocky lettering in an unknown alphabet were stenciled on the right side of each of their breastplates, possibly their names. On the front of their domed helmets were upwards facing chevrons with varying numbers of stripes. Dorylus thought they looked a bit like the rank hashes the Equestrians used. That would suggest then that these were soldiers of some kind, especially considering their uniformed armor.

The one bit of non-uniformity she could see were small rectangles on their left shoulders, each bearing unique designs and symbols like a flag. From what Dorylus could see from her position, one was a simple blue with a white torch flanked by an open book and microscope, another being a blue X over a red field with a single white star in its center, and another a golden yellow with what looked curiously like a black rattlesnake with four pairs of legs.

Dorylus quickly noticed that they had discarded their packs and lined them up neatly next to each other near the door. Unidentifiable bits of equipment were strapped to or resting against them. Most prominently were a long, square box with four holes in its smallest side like the face of a die, and what looked like a segment of pipe with a tapering cone on one end, and a curved pad and two handles sticking out of the side.

The "soldiers" still had their strange weapons in their hands, though they appeared more at ease as they hung from thin straps over their shoulders. Three held identical shorter ones, with a wide tube attached to their undersides. Another held a longer variant, but with a small telescope on top in lieu of the tube on the bottom. The last, whose height and bulk would put a minotaur to shame, carried a long, heavy-looking version. Strapped to each of their right thighs were small L-shaped devices, and the three with the shorter weapons carried a pair of odd binoculars on the left. Amidst all the strange devices was, curiously, a small spade attached to the back of each of their belts.

As Dorylus observed them, one of the figures leaned slightly to one side and locked eyes with her through its visor. It promptly interrupted two of the others that were in the middle of a discussion, no doubt about her. She shrank against the bed's headboard as the five beings turned to face her. One that had had its back to her, with three stripes on its helmet, carefully stepped over to the side of the bed nearest her face, its heavy boots eerily quiet as it did so. Another with two stripes stood close behind.

Thankfully it stopped a comfortable distance from her, but she still felt its towering frame looming far taller than even her mother's. Now visible, she saw its "flag" was primarily black with a strange horned wolf howling at a crescent moon on a red ground. The one with two stripes bore a blue one with a gold border and a red silhouette of the arm and whip making a circle in its center.

A stream of words in their foreign language emanated through its helmet. Though Dorylus had no idea what it said, the slight rise in pitch at the end sounded like a question.

"I can't understand you," she said, tired and slightly annoyed. She quickly cast a translation spell, something every changeling worth their disguise knew. The creature tensed and started to take a step back as her horn glowed from the spell. "There. Can you understand me now?"

The creature turned its head sharply to its comrades, each of whom shrugged their red shoulders in unison.

"Yes... I can," it said in a deep, controlled male voice. "What did you just do?"

"I cast a translation spell. Every changeling knows how to do that."

"A spell?" He sounded skeptical. "As in, a magic spell?"

"Exactly. Why, do you not use magic where you're from?"

"No. Well, I guess psionics come close, but nothing like what you just did."

Dorylus cocked her head. "'Psionics'?"

"Psychic powers?" he offered, but sighed and shook his helmeted head as he saw her blank expression. "Never mind, it's not important."

"Well, as for what is important... Who are you? For that matter, what are you?"

The figure glanced back at the other four briefly before turning back to Dorylus.

"We're called Terrans. My... comrades and I are Marine Corps scout troopers of the Terran Dominion. I'm Sergeant Matthew Hobbes, and this is my, uh, second-in-command Corporal Stuart Archer," he said, gesturing to the one with two stripes, who simply nodded to her. "The other three are Specialist Sergei Ivanov, Private First Class John Clay, and Private Michael Connelly." Sergeant Hobbes pointed to the other three respectively, who each gave a small wave.

Dorylus was intrigued, albeit confused. She'd never heard of such a people, or such a nation. "Where is this 'Terran Dominion'? I've never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have. It's an interstellar empire that's currently the dominant power in a region of the galaxy we call the Koprulu Sector."

Dorylus' jaw dropped. Interstellar empire? Galaxy? These Terrans were aliens! She had always thought such things were the work of science fiction, yet here they were, as real as could be! Suddenly, she felt very disturbed in their presence as she wondered at their motivations.

"So then... why are you here? You're not planning to invade, are you?" she asked, panic seeping into her words.

"Relax, we're not here to conquer or anything like that," Sergeant Hobbes said, gently raising a hand. "We're here to track down an enemy of ours. Judging by the damage of this place, I'd say that it was responsible for what happened here."

Dorylus jumped to her hooves and closed the gap between them until they were almost nose to nose. The Sergeant jumped back with a start and the other troopers raised their weapons, only to lower them as he gave a wave of his hand.

"You know what these creatures are? Please! You have to tell me! They... they killed everyone, i-including my... my mother."

"Hey, hey, calm down," he said soothingly. She blushed a bit and sat back down on the bed, eliciting an odd head tilt from the Sergeant. "They're called the Zerg, a... species? Collective? What's the technical term for the Zerg?" he asked the other troopers.

"I think 'species' is the closest you'll get," Corporal Archer said, his voice slightly higher and smoother than his Sergeant's.

"Right, a species of aliens that're entirely biological in nature. They're a hivemind that has the intelligence of entire civilizations, but they're so fundamentally different from us that it's hard to really understand them entirely. That said, they have the ability to mutate themselves into whatever form is best suited for the environment or task, and can assimilate the genetic material from other species. That's... about the simplest way I can describe them; any more than that and we'd be sitting here until next year."

Dorylus' mind spun at the Sergeant's words. They had at first assumed these were simple beasts, possibly a thrall of some cruel being. The thought had never occurred to her that they were actually all a part of some vast intelligence.

"But then... what are they doing here? You said they could assimilate genetic material so..." her words died in her mouth as a thought more horrific than what she had just experienced came crashing down on her. "So they must want to assimilate all of Equis then... And that would mean what happened here is going to be repeated the world over..."

"I'm afraid so," Specialist Ivanov said sadly in a booming voice. "I saw entire planets fall during the Great Wars."

"We have to stop them," Dorylus said, finally finding her resolve. "I'm not just going to sit here while these monsters run around doing who knows what."

"And that," Sergeant Hobbes said, "Is what we're here for. Granted there's only five of us right now, but our plan is to figure out where these bastards are hiding and kill 'em all if we can."

"And if you can't?"

"Then we slow 'em down long enough for reinforcements to arrive. 'Til then we stack bodies like we're playing fucking Jenga, right, Marines?"

"Rah, Sar'nt!" the troopers shouted in unison.

Dorylus couldn't read his mind, but she could read emotions as well as any changeling. Though Sergeant Hobbes did an excellent job of presenting a stoic, confident front towards his subordinates, she could sense overpowering anxiety and uncertainty radiate from within him. The others exuded apprehension as well, but theirs was at least tempered by their trust in the Sergeant.

They sound confident, but they're almost shaking in their boots, she thought, and wondered at what they had seen before meeting her. Gee, doesn't that sound familiar...

Despite the concealed turmoil that raged behind their masks, Dorylus was shocked at how casually they spoke about war and killing. No civilized species on Equis enjoyed death and violence; not even the griffins with their penchant for "honorable combat" sounded as bloodthirsty as these Terrans. The only other creatures that did were the Zerg. Were the Terrans always like this, or had their own conflicts with the Zerg bred this into them?

"If you don't mind, I've got some questions of my own," Sergeant Hobbes said, interrupting her thoughts.

Dorylus snapped back to reality. "Oh, um, yes, of course."

"Well for starters, who are you? And what exactly is a 'changeling'?"

"I'm Pri-" She balked, remembering her mother's last words. "Queen Dorylus, though... only because of my mother's death." She felt a soft glow of pity emanate from the Terrans. It wasn't love, but it was a positive enough emotion to feed her at least a little bit of energy. "Changelings are one of the many species of Equis, though we're frequently shunned and banished by the others and have to live in hiding. Hence, why my hive lives in this canyon on the desert side of the mountains."

"I assume 'Equis" is what you call this world?" the Sergeant asked, to which Dorylus nodded. "Why do they reject your people?"

"Because most of the world sees us as parasites," she said with a sigh. "Changelings are emotivores; we feed on the positive emotions of other species rather than food. We also have the ability to disguise ourselves as almost any other species which we use to get close to them. Finding out a loved one has been replaced by one of us is almost a primal fear the other species' have."

"I... see... Do you do that?"

"No! Some of the other, larger hives do, but not mine. My mother always believed it was safer for the collector drones to fabricate an entirely new persona for their disguises rather than to impersonate one."

"Huh." The Sergeant rubbed his chin in thought. "I can see why. Lower chance of being caught if you came up with an entire identity instead of trying to copy one." With a nervous laugh he asked, "So, wait, you're telling me you literally feed off of other people's happiness?"

Dorylus groaned. "In laymare's terms, yes. It's a bit more complicated than that though, since it has to be directed at us."

"Ah. So, love then."

She face-hoofed. "Sure, let's go with that."

"A species that feeds on emotions..." Sergeant Hobbes mused, looking up at the ceiling.

"To be fair, Sergeant, that's not too far off from what the Protoss do," Private Connelly said, speaking up from near the foot of the bed. Compared to the Sergeant and Specialist Ivanov, he almost sounded squeaky.

Private Clay quickly picked up his train of thought. "Right, something about drawing energy directly from the Void right? Like, they don't even have mouths."

"That's just the Nerazim. You know, Dark Templar? The... 'normal ones' get it straight from light. But I mean, they all have the ability to sense each other's thoughts and emotions at all times."

Dorylus cocked her head. "Who are the Protoss?"

"One of the other aliens in the Koprulu Sector," Sergeant Hobbes said. "They're the oldest and most advanced civilization in the known galaxy."

"Even more advanced than the Terran Dominion?" she laughed sardonically.

The Sergeant chuckled and said, "Significantly more. They were exploring space while we were figuring out how to build walled cities. Actually, that reminds me: Do you know anything about some ruins out in the desert? Ancient civilizations, maybe?"

Ruins? "None that I've ever heard of. Though, with how the dunes shift I suppose anything could be out there. There is an old legend about faceless gods giving the gifts of language and reason to the peoples of Equis, but no one really knows where it comes from. Although, I did read a Daring Do book about it, but that took place in the Zebrican jungles so... probably not what you're looking for." Then, sheepishly she added, "Sorry."

Sergeant Hobbes just sighed. "It's fine. I don't think it's important anyway; these 'faceless gods' could have been the ancient Protoss at the height of their empire, but that's thousands of years from any relevance now. Aaanyway, getting this train back on the rails, is there anything else you can tell me about Equis? We'll need all the intel we can get if we're gonna have a snowball's chance in Hell against the Zerg."

"Well, where do I even start?" Dorylus said with a huff. "As far as major powers go, you've got Griffonia up north where all the griffins live, as well as the Crystal Empire, and Labrynthos to the east with the minotaurs. But the largest and most powerful nation is Equestria, which we're technically in the more frontier regions of. Then you've got Zebrica, Saddle Arabia, Canida, the Dragonlands, and the different changeling hives that are scattered all around, among others."

"'Equestria', huh? Who lives here then?"

"The ponies, though technically many other species live within its borders. Like the buffalo, for example, who live in nomadic tribes on the other side of the mountains."

"'Ponies'?" Private Clay asked in surprise. "You're telling me that a bunch of little horses made a country more powerful than griffins or minotaurs?"

Dorylus snickered at the rude description, but confirmed his question. "Yes, but I think it's more because no one wants to be on the bad side of the Princesses who raise the sun and moon."

The troopers fell into a stunned silence as they stared at her in shock. Dorylus looked between them, bemused at their reaction. "What? What did I say?"

Corporal Archer threw his hands up and said, "I'm sorry, I must've heard that wrong. It sounded like you said these Equestrian Princesses 'raise the sun and moon'."

"That's exactly what I said."

Private Connelly sounded almost offended at the thought. "But... that's impossible! That completely violates the laws of gravity and orbital mechanics! And even if it were you really expect me to believe that a couple of people could do that themselves? How?"

"Whoa, easy, killer," Private Clay said as he put a hand on Connelly's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

Dorylus shrank back at his sudden outburst, and even the other troopers seemed surprised by his tone.

"Uh, sorry about that. Science is... kind of his thing," apologized Specialist Ivanov as Connelly ducked his head down in embarrassment.

"He does raise a good point though," said Sergeant Hobbes. "Who exactly are these princesses?"

Composing herself and clearing her throat, Dorylus continued. "Princess Celestia and Luna, who raise the sun and moon respectively. They... aren't like the rest of the ponies, given that they're virtually immortal. They've been around for well over a thousand years and have ruled Equestria that whole time. Well, minus Princess Luna, but that's a, uh, story in itself. There's also Princess Twilight Sparkle, but she was only crowned a couple years ago."

"Immortal beings with power over the sun and moon... The way you describe them makes them sound like gods. No wonder the others don't want to fuck with them."

"There are... those who believe that, yes."

Sergeant Hobbes looked down at the floor. From him, Dorylus could sense a growing sense of dread until it eclipsed his ever-present anxiety.

"Is... something wrong, Sergeant?" she asked, nervous.

He looked back up with a start. "Uh, n-no, I'm fine, just... thinking. If the Zerg were able to acquire that kind of power..." He trailed off, his emotions in deep turmoil.

"... Then they really would be able to dominate the galaxy," finished the Corporal, whose fear suddenly mirrored his Sergeant's.

"'They really would'?" Dorylus echoed. "Wait, what do you mean? Did you know about this?"

"Uh, not exactly," said Sergeant Hobbes with some hesitation. "See, we... may have encountered the creature controlling the Zerg before we arrived here. Before we lost sight of it, it said that this place was the key to their 'ascension' and that they would rule all of creation. At the time I thought it was just taunting us, but now..." He turned to face Corporal Archer. "Sounds like this is turning into more than a search and destroy mission."

"Man, I hate being right..."

Dorylus and the Terrans all fell into a brooding silence.

So that's why they're here, Dorylus realized. Somehow Equis is home to life that violates the rules of the universe as these Terrans understand it, so if these... Zerg manage to control it they would become their greatest threat. Still, it seems the Zerg haven't been here long enough to make use of what they've found yet, so we have that in our favor at least. She eyed the Terran troopers, who were all still lost in thought.

Dorylus stood up and composed herself, drawing the attention of the Terrans. Even standing on the bed, she still had to look up slightly to meet Sergeant Hobbes' gaze. She puffed her chest out and held her head as high as she could like she had seen her mother do many times before.

"Sergeant Hobbes," she began. "By... my title as Queen Dorylus I must formally ask for your assistance in defeating the Zerg. I understand that your numbers and resources are limited, but you are currently the leading experts on our... common enemy, and your help would be invaluable in driving them from Equis." She proffered her hoof to the Sergeant. "Will you help us in this effort?"

He looked down at her hoof momentarily before glancing back to his fellow troopers, all of whom quickly gave a thumbs-up. Turning back to Dorylus, he removed his helmet, revealing a hairless, tanned face with a short black mane, piercing brown eyes, and a short pointed nose. He grinned, showing slightly pointed white teeth as he firmly gripped her hoof.

"On behalf of the Terran Dominon, by the authority of Emperor Valerian Mengsk the First, I, Sergeant Matthew Hobbes of the Dominion Marine Corps, accept your request for aid, and will commit all resources at our disposal to defeating the Zerg that have invaded your homeworld of Equis."