How things seemed to go wrong in the blink of the eye, Twilight thought, as she followed behind Celestia. Unsteady as her flying skill was, she was happy she hadn’t face planted into the ground; or at least hoped it would not happen during their short trip. She glanced to her right. “Has Markovich been cooperating with you?”

Celestia shook her head. “So far he’s been a stubborn creature to work with — might as well have wasted our time bringing him to the castle.”

Just another issue that wasn’t falling into their favor. “I wish he’d have some common sense. I can’t see why he admires that monster so much, even after everything it’s done.”

“Neither can I.” Celestia’s gaze hardened. “But we’ll get the information out of him. I know we will.” One could only hope — especially with the vice grip of this man’s quiet-lipped attitude. Twilight blinked as the light of the shield grew brighter before she glanced towards the ground. There she could see a handful of royal guards standing off to the side, with a few others situated by the yellow pulsating light of the dome.

Twilight’s ears flattened when she heard somepony yelling, and it didn’t take long to recognize the emphatic tone of Princess Luna. “Why must you be a stubborn fool?” She could see the dagger-like glare situated at Markovich. “What will it take for you to give us the information?”

“I already told you.” Markovich stood with the shield behind him, a stoic expression to his stare. A surprise, Twilight thought, to see somepony unfazed by even Luna of all ponies. “The creature is to remain unharmed. I am to be allowed access to the ship and to contact my superiors to let them know where I am. Maybe then I might divulge my secrets to you and your sister.”

Luna seemed to maintain her icy glare before she growled. “The creature is a menace. A monster that has already killed ponies. You might as well be guilty for your association with it. So unless you want us to throw you into a prison cell for the rest of your life, I advise that you assist us now or pay for the consequences.” Even with that, he seemed unfazed by the princess's threats.

“Luna.” Celestia called. The mare glanced towards the two. “How goes the talks?”

The lunar princess turned back to the human. She stared for a moment before leaving in a huff. She quickly trotted over to the two with Cadance following behind her. “This creature is disrespectful and, and, maddening!” She nearly shouted.

“He hasn’t told us anything since you’ve been gone.” Cadance chimed in. “He’s kept his mouth shut. It’s almost impossible to get him to speak about the alien without him giving his own demands.”

Celestia only gave a sigh. “We’ll figure this out. I know we will. He’ll give us what we want before the end of this day.”

Twilight peeked at the human to see him staring at the group. Her ears flicked for a moment before an idea came to mind. “Princess Celestia?” Her former teacher looked to her. “What information are you trying to obtain?”

“The Xenomorph, of course.”

She then smiled. “I think I have something that’ll work.”

Celestia’s eyes brightened. “You do?” It was then that Twilight could see clarity glaze over her expression. “I believe I remember one of the guards mentioned you found something inside the ship. If I recall, they said some word like, ‘video’, or whatever it was they said.”

Twilight fervently nodded. “Yes. I have them stored on this item called a ‘hard drive’. They have everything you’ll need to know about the Xenomorph.”

“Is that so?” Celestia stared for a moment before she glanced to the group of guards. She gestured for a few and three guards quickly trotted up to her.

“What is it, Princess?” One of the saluting guards asked.

“Take Markovich back to the carriage we came on and bring him back to Canterlot. He’s no longer required here for the time being.” They nodded before they moved over to the human.

Markovich seemed to just survey what was going on around him. He turned to the group and said, “I believe I’m done here then?”

“Yes. Twilight here has information that you’d rather withhold from us. Therefore, you’ll be taken back to Canterlot.”

He held a slight frown before a sigh followed. “Of course, Your Highness.” Twilight frowned as he spoke in an understanding tone, but the intentional placement of his words only irritated her. How he could go and disrespect those who gave him shelter, even while knowing his past deeds?

Twilight watched him being led over to the carriage. Her ears straightened and she turned around to see a couple guards coming their way. “Princess Celestia.” The two saluted before putting their hooves down. “We’ve come to tell you something.” Celestia nodded. The two then continued, “However, we found this filly here who… just went through a lot.”

They stepped aside and Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw Silver Spoon. “Silver Spoon?” She then saw the tears that streamed down the filly’s muzzle, sniffling as she tried to regain some composure. “What’s wrong?” But before she could get an answer, Silver Spoon ran to her. Twilight took a step back as she had the filly wrapping her hooves around her. Twilight’s frown softened before she returned the gesture. “It’s okay.”

At least she had practice for this kind of situation. “It’ll all be okay.” She pulled away just a little, looking Silver Spoon in the eyes. “Just take a few deep breaths.” Twilight breathed in deeply, and the filly followed her example, and she breathed out in tangent with Silver. “Now… what happened?”

Silver Spoon’s breathing quickly came again, but not as labored. “M-me and Diamond. W-we were just walking down a path. Just trying to hang out together. B-but then this stallion he… he came out of nowhere.” Twilight’s eyes widened slightly but she urged Silver to keep going, “Th-then he called Diamond a different name. B-Berry Punch…”

‘Kettlepot.’ Twilight frowned.

Silver Spoon’s lips quivered as she continued, “Then he… th-then he…” Her unsteady words only halted with another bout of crying, and she tightened her grip.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything else.” Twilight murmured, letting the filly cry into her shoulder. She felt a hoof on her shoulder and glanced to Celestia. “What should we do about him?”

Celestia looked to the ground for a moment. “We’ll have a small patrol go look for him.”

Twilight nodded before she turned back to Silver Spoon. “Do you want somepony to take you home?” Silver Spoon shakily nodded.

“Guard.” Celestia called to another pony. She saluted like the others. “Take this filly back to Ponyville. Find her parents and then come back. Then, I want you to take another small group and…” She paused for a second before she leaned in and whispered the rest of her sentence.

The guard quickly nodded. “Of course, Your Highness.” The mare then walked over to Silver Spoon, whispering a few words of comfort before gently leading her back to Ponyville.

Twilight stood up and sighed. First the Xenomorph and now a stallion who seemed to be losing his mind. Didn’t they already have enough problems? The princesses turned back to the two guards from before, and Celestia addressed them. “Now, what is the main reason you’re here?”

The guards blinked for a second, and they shared a uneasy glance with each other before the mare on the left spoke. “You see… we heard your concern where Shining Armor went earlier this morning.”

Twilight’s eyebrow rose at the mention of her older brother’s disappearance. She turned to Celestia who, while acknowledging her former student, returned her focus to the guards. “Yes, I did. And you two know where he is?”

The two nodded. “Yes.” The stallion on the right took his turn. “You see… he came into the barracks last night, and we could tell he was angry about something. The oddest thing was that he made mention about doing something that would get most of us in trouble. Of course, he also said that anypony could back out if they didn’t want in.”

“Which led the two of us to not take the risk.” The mare breathed for a moment. “We overheard him making a plan to head to the Royal Sisters’ Castle.” Twilight felt her heart skip a beat. She turned to Celestia, and while she did not outright show it, the fury in her gaze could have scared the even the most fearless dragon. “We… we didn’t know what to do at first. Before we could do anything, he left for the castle in the middle of the night.”

“I know we should’ve reported in earlier. But…” Celestia held up a hoof and closed her eyes for a brief moment.

She seemed to be in deep thought until she opened her eyes. “While I am disappointed that you simply did not wake me… I understand why you did what you did.” The two guards’ nervous demeanor softened a little, but even then, Twilight could see their hesitation. “You two are dismissed.” They quickly nodded before joining in with the other guards.

Celestia raised a hoof to her head, rubbing the right side of her temple. “One complication after another. I can’t believe he’s actually done this. What made him think any of this was a good idea?”

“Maybe he has some merit to his choice?” Luna murmured. Even as Celestia stared at her with disbelief, Luna continued, “Do not get me wrong. Shining Armor is a fool for having committed such an imprudent act. But I can see why. He wants to kill the creature and be done with it.”

“The ends don’t justify the means.” Celestia argued. “Those two said he went into the castle last night. But he hasn’t returned from this foolish venture.” Her frown deepened. “This means he’s either injured as well as those who followed him or…” She glanced to Cadance and Twilight — mouth agape as she left the sentence incomplete, before she gave a short sigh. “Now we have to allocate soldiers to go in. I hoped getting rid of this creature would not be so complicated, but now Shining Armor has made it so.”

“Then let us send in soldiers. Let us bring a regiment over and surround the perimeter so it has no way of escaping.”

“But this is exactly what I wanted to avoid, Luna.” Celestia stomped a hoof into the ground. “I wanted to avoid further loss of life. But the action Shining Armor’s taken is going to make us use other ponies lives to save his.”

Luna blinked for a moment and slowly nodded. “I understand, Celestia. I hate that this is the only sensible choice we have at our disposal. But Shining Armor has not left us with many options.”

Celestia took a few breaths before she seemed to retain her calm gaze. “I know… we don’t really have an option but to just leave him in there for the time being.” She glanced towards Twilight. “Take Cadance and I to the library.” Celestia turned back to Luna. “Go back to Canterlot and gather a couple regiments. We’ll go into the castle the first chance we get.” Luna smiled and opened her wings, Twilight covered her eyes as the winds from her takeoff billowed past the trio.

As Luna sped towards Canterlot, Celestia looked to the shield — her horn briefly lit up in a pale gold aura and the shield followed suite. “The shield should be fine for a while.” With that she returned her gaze to Twilight. “Now then. Please take us to the library.

Twilight nodded and turned towards Ponyville. But the very thought that her brother was hurt and or injured plagued her thoughts. She gulped at the thought of a more uncomfortable outcome. But she blinked the terrible thought away and put it into the recess of her mind. ‘Not now. I’ve got to focus on the here and now.’ Even still she did not feel convinced by her false attempt at a distraction. ‘Shining Armor… you idiot. I hope you’re okay…’

Loud footsteps crashed through the brush, thickets and small trees crashing to the forest floor. All minor and momentary obstacles to the Xenomorph. She had a single minded plan to populate as fast as possible; there was enough meat and flesh in that place not far from her home. She began to slow her pace and took a quiet but long breath — inhaling inwards she let out a soft hiss.

She lowered herself to all fours and slowly scanned the town through the treeline. The equines were out from their hiding places, all with their own goals for the day. Motionless, she simply took her time to survey the motions of these equines. She slowly rattled her tail — the creatures scents were different. She parted her lips; a combination of drool and slime dripped from her metallic teeth.

Were they looking for her? The tension in the air was almost overwhelming, but they did not seem to be on alert. She jerked her head a little to the right and gave a deeper hiss. A group of equines, similar to those that invaded her nest — all armed with those pointy sticks, their scent was squirming and drenched in caution. Something was wrong.

She slightly raised her head, arching her back. She had to find other equines. Slowly she trudged through the brush, keeping the treeline in sight but a good distance away from her. She was too big to hide in the town and these equines would spot her without trouble in this light. She kept watch on the patrol at the edge of the town in interest to see where they’d move their group.

They walked with a few other equines across a bridge, only then did she see a few familiar equines. The leaders of these creatures, at least she thought. But then another scent caught her attention. She crawled the opposite direction and to the left before she could hear the slow and gentle ease of moving water. She moved as far as she could without breaking from the treeline.

She slowly stood up on her back legs and could see a river. With a coarse growl, she watched them and waited for the group to look away, keeping a lookout for other wary eyes. She quickly but quietly crawled out from the treeline and slipped into the water with a gentle splash. The Xenomorph reached the bottom and felt the water pass over her spikes.

She froze when a shadow passed over the water’s edge. With a slow turn of her gaze upwards, she could see an equine looking directly at her. Had she made too much noise getting into the water? Did the equine spot her leaving the treeline? But it was just the one that peeked over the river’s edge. The equine seemed to stare and stare until it looked away and disappeared just like that, leaving her to loosen her muscles and swim downstream.

The Xenomorph stopped for a second and straightened herself in an upright position. Slowly she poked her face outwards and saw ponies far from the edge. None of these equines seemed to venture closer to the water. It was a bit of a nuisance but she dared not to rush or risk herself getting caught in such a vulnerable state. She kept her focus on the right side before gently positioning her gaze to the left.

There was a set of movements from two equines as this very light aquamarine furred equine waved to another one with a more white coat. She kept watch until the white furred equine disappeared into a building — she kept watch on the other equine who had a horn on its head, similar to the other ones, yet it had no wings. It sniffed a little and this didn’t share the anxious scent like the others.

Or at the very least, she could detect a bit of fear. But she hissed a little when she saw the equine heading near one of the bridges she passed, and, without delay, swam upstream. She positioned herself just so below the bridge and waited; grabbing a hold of the stone edge without making much noise.

She could hear hooves clacking on the stone. Without warning, she rose up above the edge and as the pony turned her way. And as it opened its mouth to scream, she grabbed hold and quickly ducked back into the water. She swam as fast as she could — paying no heed to the struggles of this equine in her grasp. Soon she could see trees above the water and saw fit to exit her hiding place.

The Xenomorph tossed the equine onto dry land and crawled up a moment later — she watched the creature go into a coughing fit, slowly approaching the equine until it turned to look at her.

The equine; its scent giving way to a female, opened her mouth again, but the Xenomorph hissed and clamped its hand over her muzzle. The mare closed her eyes shut and let out a muffled scream as the Xenomorph continued to produce its low and guttural growls. But the Xenomorph, she simply watched as the mare began to cry uncontrollably, but she did not care about her overwhelming distress.

With her hand still clenched over the mare’s mouth, she turned her around and opened her metallic jaw. With a quick thud the mare’s cries deafened, but she did not taste flesh. Her second mouth remained closed, only for it to retreat now that the mare was unconscious.

Now that she would not be hampered, she picked the mare up and pressed her against her chest. With a step forward, she hurried back towards her nest. The thicket again came alive to the sound of her crashing through the brush, remaining alert to any other noise besides her footsteps. It took her some time, but she found the entrance, the hole now a much bigger size to compensate for her new width.

She slowed her pace and walked into the tunnel. Now without prying, eyes she could be a bit more careless. The scent of flesh stirred a rumble in her gut, but not yet, those corpses could be eaten later — this equine had to be added with the others. The Xenomorph walked into a larger room and put the equine against the wall. She opened her mouth and secreted a putrid ooze: dousing it over the mare’s forelegs and back legs, and across the shoulders and the hips.

It took its time, and after a matter of minutes, the equine was secured firmly against the wall. She turned to the mare’s left and heard a few more sets of slow breathing, and softly hissed at her small collection of hosts. Even with a few equines, she still knew that more would benefit her. And more she would get if she wished to help her newfound hive thrive on this world. She turned to the smell of corpses and made her way to another room.

The ripping of flesh filled the halls of this former castle. The hive would grow. It would spread. But even she had to sustain herself. Soon she would go out again and find others. That was all she would require — and there were plenty more creatures she could use to fulfill her goal.

Hoofsteps was one of the few gentle sounds around Twilight. Alongside the breeze of the wind and a few chirping birds, there was a moment of comfort in this silence. Her heart beat a little faster as the tip tops of buildings slowly rose over the horizon. But she held back the urge to hurry forward — responsibilities came first and she couldn’t just abandon her fellow princesses. “Twilight?”

She turned to Celestia. “You’ve already used this device before. Will it reveal to us what Markovich keeps to himself?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. It’s given me valuable information about the Xenomorph. Everything you’ll need is on the device.” She winced a little at the passing memories; the horror that came from its contents. ‘I’ll warn them before they get a chance to view it.’ Something she wished somepony had done for her.

“Then let’s hurry. We need to be there when Luna returns with the garrison.” The three quickened their step and slowly trotted towards a bridge. Twilight’s ears straightened at the splash of water and turned to see nothing at the river behind them — the fact that this happened did not make any logical sense. She walked up to the river’s edge and stared at the rippling waves.

Odd and unexplainable were the words that best described this circumstance. She couldn’t find a reason to why this could’ve just happened, especially seeing that there was no cause to disturb the water. “Twilight?” She turned back to Celestia and Cadance.

“Coming.” She took a second to rejoin the others. They passed the mayor’s building and it wasn’t long before the trio found themselves at the library’s door. Twilight opened it and smiled when she saw Spike and Nyx both on the couch. “Hey you two.”

The pair smiled and it was Nyx first who got up and ran to Twilight — coming together into a loving embrace. Twilight pulled away and returned the bright expression. “How’re you doing?”

“Good. Spike and I were just reading.” Nyx beamed.

“Everything going okay out there?” Spike asked as he walked up next to the filly.

Twilight hesitated for a moment. ‘Okay’ seemed to be an ideal of peace at the amount of stress that permeated the air of Ponyville. “Everything is alright, Spike.” Celestia gently smiled as she moved next to Twilight. “Nothing to worry about.”

Twilight quietly sighed; at least Celestia was here to help her maintain this ever growing facade of tranquility. Even as much as she disliked keeping Spike and Nyx in the dark, it was for the best. They didn’t and shouldn’t have to worry over the predicaments of both a killer pony and a pony killer on the loose. “You’re here, too?” Spike seemed to finally register that Celestia stood in front of him. He looked over the pair to see Cadance behind the two. “Are you sure everything is okay?”

“Of course.” Celestia kneeled to Spike’s level. “I’m simply here to discuss a matter with Twilight.” She gave a short giggle. “It’s just a simple talk about the progress of restoration to the former castle.”

“Oh.” He simply said and gave a shrug a moment after, “Fair enough. I’ll leave you to it.” Twilight watched him go back to his spot, but when she turned to Nyx, she didn’t seem as convinced as Spike. Twilight leaned forward and nuzzled her daughter. “Don’t worry. I promise this is nothing to worry about.”

“You sure?” Twilight nodded to her. Nyx gave a small smile. “Okay.” She felt like she landed on a dense tree branch stomach first — a pain that persisted with each lie she told the pair.

‘It’s worth it… right? To keep them safe from the truth?’ She reasoned it was for their own good. It had to be this way for their own safety. So why did she have to feel bad for keep them in the dark? She shook her head — now was not the time to worry about half-baked and supposed “truths”. She turned to Celestia and Cadance. “Here. I’ll take us down to the basement.”

The two followed Twilight through the open downward stairway. It took a short second before they descended the last few steps. It didn’t take her long to spot the foreign device on a table a meter away, which she lifted up with her magic and brought it closer to her. “Here it is.”

“That is a rather interesting and odd looking object.” Celestia stated.

“This’ll have everything we need to know?” Cadance added.

“Yes…” Twilight’s gaze hardened. They’d finally get to learn the secrets of this horrid creature. But she wonder if it would cause them the same amount of distress it had done to her. She turned back to the two mares. “Listen… before you watch this. I have to tell you that what’s on this device is… very difficult to watch.”

“What do you mean, Twilight?” Celestia asked.

A description could not put into words of the horrors Twilight faced during her own exposure. “I can’t… really put to words what I’ve seen on here. It’s better if you just watch it.” The two nodded but held a more serious expression this time, Twilight figuring from her own anxious expression. She pressed a hoof to the button and the same holographic image came up, and just like before, she directed it to the ‘play all’ option.

Once the screen came to life and Markovich appeared on holographic monitor, Twilight felt her throat tighten, and she took an uneasy gulp. “If it’s okay… do you mind if I just let you two stay down here?”

The two held a concerned gaze, but the pair nodded. “Of course, Twilight.” Celestia softly murmured. Without any further delay, Twilight quickly ascended the stairway. Just before she moved through the opening, she turned to the room around her. It was covered in a magenta aura for a brief moment. ‘There. A sound proofing spell should keep Spike and Nyx from hearing any of this.’

She closed the door behind her and moved up the remaining stairs until she, again, found herself in the lobby. Twilight quickly noticed that Spike and Nyx were nowhere to be seen, and breathed a small sigh. ‘They’re probably upstairs.’ No questions about why Celestia and Cadance were here or why they were still down in the basement. Her ears straightened as a set of knocks came from the door.

Twilight trotted over and opened it, smiling when she saw Pinkie Pie and Rarity. “Hey you two.”

“Is everything okay, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

Twilight’s smile quickly faded to a frown. “At the moment they are. But Princess Celestia and Cadance are downstairs right now.” With another and shorter exhale she continued, “they’re watching the videos right now.”

The bright demeanor on Rarity, even Pinkie of all ponies, faded away. “Oh…” Pinkie murmured.

It was quiet for a moment. Rarity then broke the silence. “How do you think they’ll handle the… grotesque horror of those images?”

“Maybe they’ll do better than we did but… I don’t know.” Celestia was a kind, caring, and compassionate mare. Cadance, too, but where Cadance would have possibly reacted the same way they did, Celestia might hide her reaction to the intense gore of the videos. Maybe Twilight was simply overthinking this scenario. “All I can do now is wait for them to go through the videos.”

Pinkie and Rarity nodded. “Of course, darling.” Rarity said. “As much as I’d like to stay and chat more, I told Applejack I’d visit her later. And, well, um, break the news about Diamond Tiara.”

Twilight’s eyes dimmed — with so much going on she almost forgot about the poor filly. “So you finally heard about it?”

“Heard about it? We were there when the guards brought Filthy and Spoiled Rich’s daughter to them. It was simply devastating to see such a thing.”

“Just another problem we have to deal with.” Twilight murmured.

“Things can’t seem to be simple. These past couple of days have been bothersome to say the least.” Rarity frowned. “But… I figure with Applejack back in Ponyville, I thought I’d go and tell her what’s been happening so far.”

Twilight nodded and turned to Pinkie. “What about you, Pinkie?”

Pinkie Pie’s frown faded rather quickly with a smile on her lips. “With everything right now, I’d thought I’d go and bake some delicious ‘everything will be okay-there’s a brighter future ahead’ treats. I mean… I don’t know what I’ll do for Diamond Tiara, but I know that whatever comes to mind, will help numb the pain that those two are going through right now.”

For a moment there, Twilight smiled, and giggled a little at Pinkie’s hopeful demeanor. “Of course.” With a quick hug, the three separated moments after with a wave. Twilight closed the door and felt the smile fade back into its counterpart. At least for a brief instant she felt a sense of normality. There had to be hope, right? Hope that everything would get better? ‘Of course.’ Twilight thought.

No amount of pain, no amount of worry, no amount of fear should have gotten in the way of her optimism. They’d find a way to bring Kettlepot and the Xenomorph to justice. She felt a few tears trickle down at the word. “Shining Armor… you idiot.” He was okay, she thought. Maybe he was lost inside the castle. Or maybe…

“No…” She hissed to herself. “Don’t think like that. He’ll be fine. He’s the most stupid pony on the planet, but he’ll be okay.” First the carnivorous and destructive Xenomorph, then the unhinged psycho somewhere outside of Ponyville, and now this doubt of her brother’s safety. Things seemed to keep piling up and up — her worries might as well grown to the size of a hydra and just as hard to vanquish.

It almost felt that at any moment this pain would consume her whole. She shook her head and turned to a smaller portion of the library. A distraction, she thought, that would help her. ‘Maybe there’s some books that need to be reshelved?’ She walked towards open doorway and into a smaller chamber. Twilight slowly surveyed her collection. Maybe she could reshelve the assortment of tomes, or maybe she could…

She closed her eyes — a shudder ran through her body. “E-everything will be fine.” She had been doing her best to try and focus on her surroundings. But any lapse in activity, just even a momentary snippet of passivity and she couldn’t help but wonder if Shining Armor was okay; not to mention the scenarios running wild through her thoughts.

Twilight clenched her teeth together. ‘Just… take a few deep breaths.’ With a similar motion she brought her hoof to her chest, inhaling, and exhaling as she moved her hoof outward — she repeated this step a few times. With her last exhale, she opened her eyes and felt a little calmer, a bit more composed than a few seconds ago. She looked at the row of books and blinked as she scanned over each one.

A book lit up in her magenta aura and she brought it closer. She opened it, pages crackling, and looked over the title. “Something Gained.” She murmured to herself. “Mindfulness for…” Her voice cracked as she began reading the rest of the title. Without another word, she closed the book and hastily put it back into its former slot. She took a moment more and looked out the window.

Was there some reason that particular book was there, like some kind of warning about that particular somepony? “It’ll be fine. Shining Armor is okay. He’ll be fine.” Did she really know that for sure? Even though he was still Captain of the Guard, and even though he was a prince — not to mention a rather powerful unicorn — was she really certain that he’d be fine on his own?

Her ears flicked and she turned towards the opening to the basement. Another but more important diversion. She walked closer to the sound of horseshoes clacking against wood. But when she saw the expressions of the princesses, she could see herself from yesterday’s vulnerability. Cadance’s eyes had a reddish hue to them, her muzzle stained from tear marks. Celestia did not seem any better, but even with a similar appearance she did not seem as disturbed as her sister-in-law.

It was all too easy to relate to their horrible experience. “So… did you two finish?” Celestia nodded and Cadance shakily mimicked her.

Celestia looked up to Twilight as a deep frown replaced the sorrowful expression. “Markovich… he’ll not only pay for what he has done, but I’ll make sure to lock him away for the rest of his life after we find Shining Armor and get rid of the Xenomorph.” She walked past Twilight and towards the entrance. “I’m heading back to Canterlot. Luna needs to know this information now.”

Without glancing back, she continued, “Cadance…” The princess slowly turned towards her aunt. “Go to the shield and maintain it. I’ll be back with Luna and a few regiments of guards.” She opened the door and closed it behind her. Twilight had not seen Celestia ever in such a disturbed state. She thought it was impossible to see her affected this way by some outside force.

Twilight turned to Cadance. “Are you going to be okay?” Cadance shakily shook her head.

“Twilight… when Celestia and Luna get back… we need to find Shining Armor.”

“I know…”

But Cadance quickly closed the distance between them. “I don’t mean ‘after’ if we find the other guards. I mean right as soon as we get into the castle.”

“B-but wh—”

“He’s more important than… than the other ponies. You should know that as well as I do.”

Twilight frowned. “What are you trying to insinuate? That Shining Armor isn’t important to me? Why would you ever dare say some—”

“Twilight, I’m pregnant!” As the words were uttered, her eyes widened, that pained ache returned with a sharp pang.

The world was a little uneven at first and Twilight felt her head spin and she quickly sat down on the couch. “P-pregnant…? Y-you’re… Cadance, you’re pregnant?” Fresh tears streamed down Cadance’s muzzle. Her own eyes watered a little and Twilight felt her mind ache as she processed this new information. “If you’re… if you’re… t-t-that means I’m an… aunt?”

There was a momentary and joyous smile from Cadance, but it died just as it appeared. Cadance rubbed her eyes. “Yes… I wanted to tell you. We were going to tell you in some sort of fun activity. But n-now that he’s not here… I’m worried that something’s going to happen to him.” She gave a small hiccup. “Twilight… I-I don’t want to lose him.” Without warning Twilight was pulled into a tight grip; Cadance quietly whimpered. “I d-don’t want to lose him…”

Twilight found it hard to breathe, not because of Cadance’s hug, but at the revelation of this new bit of information. She returned the gesture and shook just a little. “I-I know…” She pulled away just for a moment. “We’ll find him… he’ll be okay. I know he will…” Twilight then embraced her sister-in-law, and she tried to be strong as Cadance began to cry a little more — the weeping of a distressed wife and expectant mother.

It was almost too hard to handle, Twilight only crying a little moments later, as she too had a reason to be worried about her brother. And it too was almost too easy to empathize with Cadance, for a very similar reason that only gave rise to her more overwhelming worries. ‘Shining… y-you better be okay. Cadance needs you. I-I need you…’

Author's Notes:

Oof. Just... oof. This definitely made me feel... the emotions. But anyway. I'm happy to be back and writing again — as such I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. See you all later!