Author's Notes:

Hope you like the new changes!

The train’s whistle screeched in signal of its arrival. Sparks from the metal wheels lit up the underside as it came to a slow halt before stopping in Ponyville’s train station. Steam shot out from underneath the engine, and the doors opened on the right side of the car. A small group of ponies exited the train before Twilight emerged with Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy in tow. When Twilight glanced back, she looked up to Canterlot where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were currently at.

‘My friends… I hope they’ll be alright.’ At least since they were far away from Ponyville, she felt some of that weight lift off her shoulders. Turning to the town, she let out a sigh and felt that stress return to her. The danger was too close to the village, a place that already felt like home to her. She knew quite a few ponies here, as that was her duty as the Princess, even if she still had no clue what she was the “Princess” of yet. ‘I’ll have to remind myself to ask Princess Celestia or Princess Luna sometime later.’

“It certainly seems a bit calmer than I expected,” Rarity said as she and the others walked down the steps of the train station.

“Yeah! I almost certainly thought they’d have some kind of worried crowd of ponies standing at town hall.” Pinkie giggled while she bounced alongside Twilight’s left side.

“Umm… girls?” Fluttershy murmured, but nopony else seemed to notice her.

“Oh, it’s always dreadful when everypony does that. It makes the whole situation even more drastic. Although we have no idea what Mayor Mare needs; her message could have meant anything, really,” Rarity added, turning her gaze to Pinkie.

“Girls?” Fluttershy spoke a little louder. Twilight turned to her friend and watched as she pointed a hoof towards Town Hall. She moved over to her friend’s right side and looked down the direction Fluttershy was pointing towards to see a small group of ponies standing at the steps of the building with Mayor Mare addressing the ponies in front of her.

“Huh… guess it’s the usual routine,” Rarity deadpanned. The group of mares walked together side by side as they approached the crowd of ponies.

Mayor Mare’s voice slowly became discernable as the girls walked up to the side of the group of ponies and listened. “...and I know that you are all concerned about the recent incident with Berryshine and Kettlepot. As of now, Kettlepot has been put away in the Ponyville hospital until further notice.” Twilight watched as she turned to meet her gaze along with her friends, acknowledging the princess with a nod before she returned her attention to the small crowd of ponies. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to attend to another bit of business. Just be assured that everything is under control.”

Twilight walked past the group of ponies as they dispersed, hearing whispers and hushed talk. She stood in front of the steps with the other girls behind her and asked, “Mayor Mare. What was all that about? And what did your message mean?”

“Not to be rude or anything, but you did kind of leave us in the dark a little tiny bit,” Fluttershy murmured, kicking a bit of dust on the ground beneath her hooves.

Mayor Mare sighed and slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry I wasn’t very detailed in the letter, girls. But I was in sort of a rush to get a message to you all pronto.” She blinked once and scanned over Twilight and the others. “Speaking of which, you do not seem to have Applejack or Rainbow Dash with you. Do you know by any chance where they are?”

Twilight bit the inside of her lip. ‘Right… I don’t think that she or many of the residents of Ponyville know about their injuries.’ That information would have spread like wildfire if word had gotten out. Twilight let out a soft breath, slightly glad Ponyville didn’t have another mess to worry about. “They’re… doing alright. But they were both hurt while doing some farm work. We had to bring them to Canterlot’s hospital.”

The Mayor’s eyes widened slightly, and she brought a hoof to her chest. “I do hope that those two get better soon.” She brought her hoof back to the wooden floor and continued, “But at the moment, the matters are certainly pressing. We have a missing pony case in the works.” Twilight felt rigid, stuck to the ground as her wings tightened at her sides. “Nopony really knows what happened, but Berryshine has gone missing.”

“Missing?” Rarity took a step back. “So has anypony else seen her leave town? Maybe she was hiding from whoever was after her?”

“Or she disappeared. And only unicorns can do that tricky trick,” Pinkie Pie also pointed out.

“I understand the confusion. But this is no joke. We’ve found a trail of blood leading from an alleyway to nearby the Everfree Forest.”

Twilight felt like the breath had left her body. ‘Blood? She means pony blood?’

“The only other pony with her at the time was a stallion. When we questioned him earlier he gave us his name; Kettlepot. Unfortunately, all we’ve gotten from him was that she had met him in his home city of Baltimare. She had brought him over here, and they had arrived during the evening before nightfall. Some ponies have come forward and said that he was screaming something. When I asked the hospital staff, they found him with blood staining his muzzle.” Twilight watched as Mayor Mare shivered visibly. “I… hate to admit this. But I feel as if there might have been some foul play in this scenario.”

“So… you believe Kettlepot might have had something to do with Berryshine?” Rarity inquired further.

A tingling sensation crawled up Twilight’s body. She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘But… that’s impossible. Murder has rarely ever been reported here.’ She had gone through quite a bit of public information during her new role as princess, and she had learned that murder was practically nonexistent in these times. ‘Why now… of all times?’

“Unfortunately all the evidence we have points towards him. There was no weapon found, and the trail of blood led to the edge of the Everfree Forest before it just disappeared. But with all that he’s explained, we fear he may have done something to her.”

“But… you haven’t sent ponies into the Everfree, right?” Twilight asked.

Mayor Mare shook her head. “How could I? We all know how dangerous that forest is, during both day and night. I can’t risk the lives of other ponies.” She breathed in before she continued. “However, I’m glad that you have come, Twilight Sparkle. I was hoping that with your princess authority, you might get something more from Kettlepot.”

Twilight stood up straight at the mention of the stallion’s name. “If you could, then take me to the hospital, please.” Mayor Mare nodded and quickly trotted down the few steps, then ushered the girls to follow. Twilight took the lead in front of her friends and walked along Mayor Mare’s right side, about a hoof’s distance away.

“You have no idea how glad I am you came when you did. Something like this hasn’t happened in such a long time. Most ponies have completely forgotten about such a thing as murder.”

“And what of Kettlepot? Has he told you what happened to Berryshine?”

“Well…” Mayor Mare frowned as she turned to face Twilight. “He hasn’t really been… cooperative with us. But it’s not just that. He’s in and out of a conscious state, and he has this odd mental instability about him. One moment he’s fine, and then the next he’s cackling like some lunatic.”

“So what you’re saying is that he’s lost his coco locos and needs us to find them, right?” Twilight turned to Pinkie with a raised eyebrow. Her friend tilted her head with a faint frown. “What? It’s what I would ask you guys if I lost my marbles.”

“Well, marbles aside. Did you learn anything else about this stallion, Mayor Mare?” Rarity walked up to the mayor’s left side when she asked her question.

“Nothing else.” Mayor Mare shook her head. “This stallion is just too shaken up. He barely even talked to us the last time we questioned him.”

“How do you think he’s doing now?” Fluttershy asked from the back of the group. “Because I can certainly help. That is, if you want it.”

“Of course, Fluttershy. If we want Kettlepot to talk to us, I think we’ll need all the help we can get.” Mayor Mare nodded before she turned back to Twilight. “Would you be willing to help Fluttershy talk to Kettlepot?”

Twilight nodded. “Certainly. I’d be glad to help get a few answers from this stallion.” When she turned back forward, the Ponyville hospital loomed ever closer. ‘It would definitely help get my mind off of Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s condition.’ And for her own sake, to keep the thought of the captured Xenomorph from troubling her mind as well.

Mayor Mare walked up to the hospital’s front doors and opened them. She ushered Twilight forward, who nodded her thanks and stepped through. She waited near the front entrance for her friends, watching them all respectively give their thanks to Mayor Mare before she trotted back up in front of Twilight. As they continued to follow Mayor Mare up the stairs, Twilight returned her attention to the thoughts that swam in her head.

Twilight could only imagine what might have happened to Berryshine. ‘Whatever that stallion did, I just hope Berryshine is alright.’ There were more scenarios than she could come up with. Even then, was Kettlepot to blame for her disappearance? That question circled and circled in her head like a shark around its prey, except for the fact that the thoughts floated further and further away.

Twilight sighed and left the thought alone. ‘Why can’t things be simple? We already have a killing machine trapped in the Royal Sisters’ Castle. That’s enough to worry about already.’ She shook her head and put the dreaded creature in the back of her mind.

She stepped up the last few steps and continued to follow Mayor Mare until she stopped at the third door down the right side of the hall. Two security guards stood at both sides of the door. “Here’s Kettlepot’s room. We had to move him up here for safety reasons.”

With a quick nod from Mayor Mare, one of the guards gave the same response and levitated a key from his pocket. The keys clinked together, and the door’s hinge opened with a gentle crack. Mayor Mare said, “You and Fluttershy must be careful, Twilight. We don’t know what he’s fully capable of.”

“Of course,” Twilight said. She took the first few steps into the room. She heard a whisper to her left and turned to see a stallion huddled on the left side of the room, slowly rocking back and forth as he visibly shook where he sat. She tilted her head and just sat there watching the stallion do this over and over. Leaning close to Fluttershy, she whispered, “Wow… I mean we haven’t met this stallion, but from what I’m seeing, I think this guy has lost a few of his marbles.”

“I don’t want to judge too harshly since this is the first time we’re meeting him. But… I’m afraid I agree, Twilight,” Fluttershy murmured back. Both winced slightly at the whispers coming from this stallion.

With that being said, Twilight returned her attention to the stallion. She cleared her throat and asked, “Excuse me, sir. But your name is Kettlepot, correct?” The stallion stopped his rocking motions and the whispering.

He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes wide and a frown etched onto his face. “Y-yes. My name’s K-Kettlepot.” He slowly turned himself around and tilted his head when he gazed in Twilight’s direction. “A-are you a princess?”

Twilight rubbed the back of her head with her right hoof and smiled bashfully. “Yes. But you can just call me Twilight.” She turned to Fluttershy and nodded to her before the two moved closer to the stallion. He slightly shrunk backwards, so Twilight promptly sat down a few feet from him, a silent gesture that assured him they wouldn’t get any closer. “So… I’ve heard about what happened last night.”

“O-oh… I uh… I… um, I see.” Kettlepot shivered, shifting where he sat. What she had said definitely put him more on edge than Twilight hoped it would have.

With a warm smile, she followed up by saying, “I understand that this might be a tough time for you. You see, Mayor Mare has asked me to come here and help you out as much as I can. And I was hoping to ask you about what happened last night.” She let the question sit before she continued, “We’re looking for Berryshine. And we want to make sure that she’s alright.”

His gaze never left her own. Twilight breathed in and out, concealing a shiver as she kept her attention on his. “I… I don’t know where it’s taken her.”

“What do you mean by that? If you don’t mind me asking,” Fluttershy asked.

“I… I don’t know. It was so dark… so very dark. I don’t even know what it was. All I could see was its face… that horrible gaze.” Kettlepot’s eyes brimmed with tears. “That eyeless gaze… so horrifying.”

‘W-what?’ Twilight froze in place. The definition he gave matched only one creature. ‘Th-that can’t be… no. Princess Celestia told us it was trapped in the Royal Sisters’ Castle. It couldn’t’ve escaped.’ There was just no possible explanation for it. No reasonable scenario on how it could have freed itself. From what it showed, it seemed to have no concept of magic and no ability to interact with it whatsoever.

“Berryshine… she was hanging in the air… like some kind of puppet. I don’t know how she could do that… but her eyes… they scared me. I feel like she was dead, but that can’t be possible… can it?” Kettlepot murmured, pressing his hooves against his cheeks.

“It’s alright,” Fluttershy said. She stood up and slowly moved closer to the stallion. “We’re here to help in any way possible. I know we’ll find Berryshine sooner or later.”

With what Kettlepot had said earlier, she did not know if it was true. ‘I… don’t know if it can be true. How can it be?’ She quickly shook her head and put the distressing thought in the back of her mind. She took a few steps up to Kettlepot as well and rested a hoof on his right shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll find Berryshine. I promise.” She watched his gaze move up to hers, and she smiled in an effort to assure him she was going to be true to her words.

But that smile slowly faded when his eyes widened at her own. She took a few steps back, but he slowly began walking towards her. Twilight couldn’t avert her gaze from his, the unnerving way he kept his gaze focused solely on her. “Umm… you can stop now.” She felt her tail brush against her legs, and a cold wall greeted her rear. She looked back before she returned to Kettlepot, watching as he came closer and closer.

Twilight pressed herself against the wall, feeling pinned like a mouse caught by a cat. He stopped inches away from where she stood, his mouth agape, before he uttered, “B-Berryshine?”

“Berryshine? I’m Twi--” Then it hit her. She looked down at her own fur. From her previous encounters with Berryshine, she noted the similarities in their color. ‘He think’s I’m her.’ A desperate idea came to mind. She turned to him and smiled nervously. “Uh… hey. How have you been, Kettlepot?” If she could play along, she could only hope he wouldn’t do anything rash.

“I can’t believe you're alive!” He jumped up and down, laughing before he reached for her. Twilight stiffened as she felt his forelegs wrap around her chest, pulling her into a hug. She, however, kept smiling. “I thought you were dead! That creature… I thought you had died…”

“Well… I’m here now, right?” Twilight answered him nervously. She breathed a sigh of relief when he let go. She looked over to Fluttershy, who was staring at her with wide eyes, obviously scared at what he might do. Twilight shook her head--she just had to keep this charade going for a little bit longer. ‘Even if I’m… well, messing with Kettlepot’s mind, I have to keep him convinced I’m Berryshine.’ However necessary this might have been, she had to admit that she did not like doing this. But he had mentioned something related to the Xenomorph. She had to know if it had somehow escaped. “By the way… what did you see last night? I couldn’t see it from where I was.”

He stood there and blinked his eyes once before continuing, “I… could hardly see it. I saw the face, but I remember something on your chest… something dark. But I don’t remember what it was. You were… hanging in the air…”

‘He could be describing the tail… but how? There’s just no way this could be true.’ It went against her belief in Princess Celestia. Her former teacher had assured her that they had captured the Xenomorph. ‘There’s just no explanation for how it could have gotten out.’ She looked back to Fluttershy, then turned back to Kettlepot. “Well… I need to get going here s--”

“No!” He slammed a hoof inches away from the side of her muzzle. Twilight stood still, not even making a single twitch. A light flashed on his horn, creating a dark blue wall of the same color around both herself and Kettlepot. “You’re not going anywhere.” That frightened and nervous glimmer in his eyes was completely gone. He began to chuckle, quietly at first, then slowly growing in volume. “Don’t worry. I know it was probably scary when you almost died, but I’ll keep you safe… I’ll bring you to your home. I’ll keep watch… I’ll keep you comfortable.”

Twilight’s pupils shrunk at what he said. The manic gaze in his eyes. The eerie chuckle he laughed. She glanced over to Fluttershy, watching her friend shake where she stood. With a slow nod, Fluttershy tiptoed past Kettlepot and towards the door. While she waited for help, Twilight looked back at Kettlepot and smiled. “I-I’m sure I’ll be fine. C-could you please let me go?”

He shook his head. The shield disappeared around the two. She raised an eyebrow at why he suddenly did that, but then she turned and saw his horn alight again. The world grew darker around Twilight, and her eyes felt heavy. She wobbled in place, groaning a little from the sudden sensation of exhaustion. ‘Wh-what… what’s happening? Why am… s-so sleepy?’ The world grew dimmer with each waking moment. She heard the door open, and then the sudden grunt of ponies. A scuffle from the sound of it. Even with the darkness surrounding her eyes, she could see outlines of one pony on the ground, his screaming reverberating in her ears like a long-distant echo.

The dark world passed by her in a quick motion. Voices swirled around her, and barely discernable. Yet Twilight could hear the voices become louder and louder. The light grew brighter as well, until the voice she heard, her friend, Rarity, was clearer. “Twilight! Come on, you have to wake up!”

Twilight gasped and looked around her. She took a couple breaths more before she finally calmed down. Looking up to her friends, she asked, “W-what happened? Everything was a blur for a moment… I thought I was going to pass out there.” She turned to Fluttershy. “What happened, Fluttershy?”

“H-he… I saw him create that shield… and when you signaled me to go get help, I did so. But when I turned around, you were lit up in his aura and suddenly falling asleep. I… I think he was trying to force you to sleep.” She sat there, disturbed by the news, her pupils shrunk to two small dots.

“Well… I think I’m done asking him questions for the day.” She stood up quickly and walked past her friends, glancing at their unnerved gazes for only a second. It was a blur after that. She walked downstairs in a horrified daze, simply keeping her eyes pointed ahead of her as she passed a few other staff members of the hospital. The front entrance was just feet away from her now.

She opened the doors and walked out into the open world. Hoofsteps echoed behind her, and a voice spoke up. “Twilight? Are you alright, darling?”

The question was rather… difficult. ‘I am alright… he didn’t hurt me physically.’ But he had come close to doing so, from the looks of it. He was going to keep her there and bring her “home”. ‘He saw me as Berryshine. That’s probably what he meant. To bring her to back to her home. But if that was the case…’ With the psychological meltdown he’d had when she tried to leave, could that have happened to her before he went running to the hospital?

“Twilight? Are you there?” Fluttershy asked. “You seemed really dazed… maybe you should just rest for a while?”

She shook her head. “I… I’m sorry I’m being quiet, girls. That was all just so fast.”

“It’s okay, darling,” Rarity said, walking up to Twilight’s right side. “That stallion seemed to have lost his mind if he was going to force you to sleep. Heaven knows what he was planning to do to you. Of course you need some time to breathe and get that awful moment out of your system.”

“But it’s not just that.” Twilight turned around and addressed her friends. “I think he was mentioning something else. Something that happened to Berryshine… but from what I’ve just experienced, I don’t know if I can trust Kettlepot’s word.” Maybe his description of an eyeless monster was nothing more than ramblings of a deranged mind. The scenario of it being the Xenomorph was just too full of holes. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would have let them know if it had escaped or not.

“Well, what about Mayor Mare?” Pinkie chirped up. “I don’t mean to change the subject, but we did leave her hanging. Not floating in the air of course, but we just left her back up there. Should we go back and tell her what happened?”

Twilight opened her mouth but stopped when she heard hoofsteps behind her. Turning around she smiled at the pony, or in this case the zebra, she saw. “Zecora!” they all said, turning to face her.

“So glad you all could be here. So that you could lend an ear. I’ve heard Mayor Mare has received your request. Thankfully you’re all here, like little eggs in their nest.” Twilight looked from Pinkie Pie to Rarity and raised an eyebrow. “If I recall correctly. How are Rainbow Dash and Applejack respectively?”

Twilight frowned and shook her head. “They’ve… had some accidents. We had to bring them to Canterlot Hospital.”

Zecora’s smile disappeared into a faint frown. She closed her eyes and nodded her head. “Certainly, a tale of woe indeed. Goods friends like you will help them when they’re in need.” She regained her smile and continued, “I’ve a problem, I’m afraid. Could you come and give me aid?”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“It’s not a matter of my own personal strife. But for a matter such as yours that may require this one’s life.” Zecora turned around and waved ushered them with a hoof. “Follow me, if you could, so we can help this creature be understood.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Zecora’s cryptic message. Despite all the time they had spent with her, she always spoke with this sense of vagueness. Turning to her friends, she said. “Come on, girls. We can talk with Mayor Mare later. Let’s see what Zecora has to show us.” With that, she and the girls trotted up behind Zecora and slowed to a walk, following their friend as she exited Ponyville.

Moments into the walk, Twilight could see the Everfree Forest come closer, and she frowned. Even with the knowledge of the Xenomorph’s capture, this place still held an uneasy air to it. She glanced back to her friends and noticed the same thing: they were scanning the dark shadows even if it was unnecessary. Returning her attention to Zecora, she walked up to her left side and murmured, “So what is it that you have to show us?”

“There is not much I can say. So little information and yet this being takes my emotions for some sort of play.” Still Zecora continued with her vague words. Twilight turned away and frowned. ‘She’s still being so mysterious. Why? What’s so difficult for her to explain?’ Even though she wanted to learn the answer more than anything, she would just have to trust Zecora.

Once they arrived at the hut, Zecora opened the door and ushered them in. Twilight was the first to step into her friend’s hut. As she glanced back to Rarity and the others, she saw Rarity’s eyes widen. Rarity turned her head back forward just as she was about to open her mouth, but what she saw standing in the middle of Zecora’s hut was something she really hoped was an illusion. “N-no… it can’t be.”

The being turned around, eyebrows raised in a curiosity-filled expression. “So you’re the beings that this zebra has told me so much about.” And that voice! Twilight could not believe it, but it was the insane doctor from the video she, Pinkie, and Rarity had witnessed just a day ago: the human known as Dr. Makoy Markovich.