Author's Notes:

A little note. There has been a slight change to a character's name in this chapter. (No, not a Canon character.) However, it is a slight change, almost unnoticeable.

Edited by DiabloGuapo

A gentle wind breezed through the forest, shadows moving across the floor as branches swayed slightly in the wind. The songs of birds chirping was almost nonexistent in this haunting and unnerving place, the Everfree Forest being rightly named. Twilight scanned the foliage around her as she moved further into the wilderness of the Everfree. Glancing behind her shoulder, she smiled as she saw her friends, Pinkie Pie and Rarity, moving at the same slow pace.

Noticing movement behind the two mares, she saw the three Royal Guards that accompanied them. Even with their presence, that protective feeling didn’t encompass her thoughts at all, knowing what happened to the last five that were with them. Her ears flicked to Rarity, hearing her friend groan as she gazed at the plant life around her.

“Oh… this forest never felt peaceful in the beginning.” Rarity raised a hoof, scrunching up her muzzle as she stepped over a mud puddle. “Or clean for that matter. But with this new fiend prowling about, this place doesn’t feel secure anymore. Not that it was in the first place.”

Raising a hoof to her eyes, Twilight looked up to the sun. Noticing the change in its position, she estimated that an hour had passed. That passage of time was a little too much for her liking, especially knowing that the unknown organism was possibly wandering the forest, an encounter Twilight hoped would never come to fruition.

“Ah, cheer up, Rarity.” Pinkie Pie wrapped a hoof around the fashionista’s crest, pulling the mare closer as she optimistically said. “That big scary monster isn’t going to find us. After all, this forest is a big place and that means the chance of meeting the meany pants out here is very teeny-weeny, itty-bitty.”

“I hope you’re right, Pinkie.” Twilight glanced at her friends, her eyes glimmering with a hint of fear, one she was hoping her friends wouldn’t notice. Although knowing how worried they were, she didn’t believe that her trepidation of something happening was unnoticeable. Adding to the fact that they had not found a clue during the span of an hour, that fear of stumbling upon the creature or it ambushing them became more apparent.

Twilight sniffed the air, her pupils shrinking as she gagged at an awful smell. “Twilight, is everything alright?” Rarity inquired, watching her friend choke unexplainably. The scent wafted up through her nose, retching violently as well, bringing a hoof up to her mouth. “Oh, what is that atrocious odor?”

Gulping the bile back down, Twilight breathed in and out. The smell was definitely the same smell the carcass of the deer from yesterday gave off; the same vile stench of death. “I don’t know for sure. Possibly be a dead animal. But whatever it is, it doesn’t smell good at all.”

“I’ll say.” Pinkie spoke, a hoof muffling her voice as she held her nose.

Eyeing her friends and the guards behind them, Twilight noticed them holding their breaths as well, glad in an odd way that she wasn’t the only one noticing this awful smell. Turning to face the guards, she inquired. “Can any of you guess where it’s coming from?”

The stallion guard in the middle of the three nodded. “I got a good enough whiff to guess it’s coming from the northwest, that way.” He answered, pointing to the right side of Twilight.

Nodding her thanks, she moved turned herself around again to face the direction. “Come on everypony. Let’s follow the scent and discern its location. This could be a possible clue that we’ve been looking for.”

“Or something no longer alive that we shouldn’t investigate.” Rarity griped, hoping that this awful smell wouldn’t lead them to something dangerous.

‘Let’s just hope that isn’t the case.’ Twilight shivered, nervously hoping beyond hope that it wasn’t dead, whatever was causing that awful smell. With a silent motion, the group of six made their way to whatever was the cause of that disgusting scent. Everypony was on their guard, their eyes slowly and warily scanning the foliage around them. It was a worrying thought that they were possibly about to find yet another victim of the mysterious creature, but it had to be investigated.

Pushing the bushes aside, Twilight looked to her right and froze. The gray stone structure of the Royal Sisters’ castle greeted her sight, surprised and frightened that they wandered so close to the building. She glanced to her hooves, her eyes widened and she quickly jumped back from the edge of the fissure a few inches away from where she stood that separated them from the castle. The smell was definitely coming from somewhere nearby, but she wondered if it came from inside the structure on the other side of the ravine. She gazed back at the others, seeing the fearful glimmer in her friends’ eyes.

“We’ve wandered too close to the castle. If the smell is coming from inside, then we will just have to abandon the search and regroup with the others.”

“That is a wonderful idea. I’d rather not have to wander the dark hallways with the beast running about.” Rarity murmured, shifting a little as she warily eyed the castle.

“What is this animal you three keep talking about?” The mare guard standing to the stallion guard’s right asked, raising her eyebrow as she stared at the princess. “If you don’t mind me asking, Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight glanced over her shoulder, her eyes darting back and forth across the ground. Returning her gaze, she answered. “This creature is a… a monster of unknown origin, possibly extraterrestrial even. At least that is what the other princesses speculated after encountering it the other day.”

The three guards looked to one another. Surprised that the creature they were looking out for could be an alien. Feeling that the answer gave them enough information, the guards nodded.

Seeing them gesture their acceptance, Twilight spoke, “Alright. I suggest we walk around the castle’s boundaries while we continue to look for whatever is making that smell. Let’s just hope it doesn’t lead to the castle.” Twilight took in a breath as she thought to herself, ‘Please, don’t let it be coming from inside the castle.’ Bracing herself to press onward, she said, “Alright everypony. We need to remain quiet while we make our way to the location of that foul smell. Considering how close we are to the castle, we need to remain on alert. Any slight noise could draw that thing out, and that is the last thing we need to happen.”

Moving alongside the fissure separating the ponies from the castle, Twilight guided the group to the left, keeping to the open crevice of the earth. Looking down to the ground below, she recalled that the Tree of Harmony was located in a cave under the Royal Sisters’ Castle. In the situation they were in, she wished that the Elements of Harmony were an item they could use against the monster. However, since they were returned to the tree, that idea was immediately shot down.

Making their way along the perimeter of the fissure, the group kept a wary lookout. Twilight scanned the grassy ground before her hooves, taking careful steps as she looked for any twigs or objects that would create the slightest of sounds. Taking a quick glimpse back to the others, she noticed that everypony else was also treading lightly. With progress like this, no matter how slow they went, meant that the monster inside the castle wouldn’t hear them. ‘At least I hope so,’ Twilight thought.

As the agonizing slow pace continued on, Twilight noticed that the trees began to thin out. She sniffed the air again, shuddering as she realized how pungent it was. 'Ohh… We’re on the right trail at least.’ When she finally broke free of the trees, she moved her gaze to the right and saw that they had made their way around to the castle’s far side, looking at its backside now. Returning her stare to the front again, she gasped, her eyes widening at the sight of a large metallic structure sitting a few yards away from where she stood. The ground surrounding it had been upheaved and a line of trees had been knocked down in its wake.

Swerving her ears, she heard hoofsteps stop at her left and right, glancing to see Pinkie Pie to her right and Rarity to her left, seeing the same surprised look shimmer in their eyes. “Is… is that a spaceship?” Rarity murmured, sounding like she was out of breath.

“I’m not the only pony seeing this, right? Because I might need glasses.” Pinkie Pie tilted her head, a frown forming on her muzzle as the group of ponies stared at the alien spacecraft.

“No, Pinkie Pie. You’re not the only pony that sees it.” Emotion after emotion flooded Twilight’s thoughts. This was the find of the century! An actual spacecraft from an unknown alien race sat right in front of her. There was so much ponykind could learn from this discovery. This confirmed Princess Luna’s suspicions; the creature was indeed an alien. She shivered at the sight, but shook in excitement at this find. Shifting her wings, she ruffled them, hoping with this movement that she could contain her excitement. Without evening realizing it, she stepped forward, slowly walking closer to the ship.

“Excuse me, Your Highness.” Broken free from the ship’s luring power, she shook her head before turning to face the stallion guard. “But you mustn't venture too close to that craft there. We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

“It’s alright.” Twilight assured, smiling as she gazed at the guard. “I’m not going to head directly into the ship. That would be a little too reckless of a decision.” Moving to face the ship again, an object caught her attention at the corner of her eye. Taking a moment to assess the item of interest, her eyes widened at the sight before her. “Hey… I think I’ve found something.”

“And what would that be?” Rarity inquired, moving a hoof forward as she cautiously moved forward.

“I… don’t have a clue yet.” Making sure each step was slow, she gradually moved forward. Her heart leapt when she made out it had limbs, meaning that it was an organism of some kind. She hesitated for a moment, fearing that this thing could be dangerous like the other alien they encountered, but continued to move forward when it made no sign of moving. When she stood over the figure, she gasped at the sight of dry blood crusted beneath its frame. “Everypony… it’s an extraterrestrial being… It’s dead.”

“Wait, there are more aliens?” The mare guard inquired, the others slowly surrounding the dead being.

“I believe so. But this creature appears to have a different structure than the one we encountered in the Royal Sisters’ Castle.” The ponies stood over the corpse, most of them covering their noses from the awful smell. Without out a doubt, this was the source of the odor that they had been following. As they observed the body, Twilight felt like she had deja vu. There was something uncannily familiar about this creature. Maybe it was its bipedal frame, the digits on the end of its hands, and its hairless body.

Twilight gasped, suddenly realizing what she was looking at. Slowly, she encased its body in magic, turning it around carefully. Her eyes widened when she saw the organism’s face, the aura fading away as it gently landed on the ground.

‘That’s… how is this possible?’ It was the same creature that she saw in the world located inside the mirror in the Crystal Empire; a polar opposite world filled with creatures like these. Although, this particular specimen did not share the colorful skin and hair tones of the beings in the mirror. Its hairless body was tannish brown, but the color had become pale after death. It had an armor like clothing strapped to its chest, a dark grayish green in color and surprisingly, it appeared to be a little unrefined. She looked away, gagging again as she saw a hole in its chest. Breathing in and out, she mustered the strength to face it again, frightened that it died in such a way. ‘Did… that alien kill this one?’ “This creature… these are the beings I saw when I went to retrieve my crown from Sunset Shimmer. Humans if I recall correctly.”

“So does that mean these things came from that world?” Pinkie Pie asked, turning her gaze to face her alicorn friend.

“I… I’m not sure. I don’t exactly recall their world to contain any technology this advanced.” Even though that world had electronic items far superior to their own, she didn’t believe they had any machinery this developed. She turned to face the ship, seeing how big it was. She squinted at the ship, estimating that it must have been a hundred feet long. That was definitely too big for the mirror. “Besides, the mirror is far too small to allow a ship that big to come through.” Then a thought crossed her mind. Could these beings that she visited in the world through the mirror actually exist in her own universe? The concept of this idea certainly sent chills down her body, a thought she imagined to not be totally impossible.

Bringing her gaze back to the alien below her, Twilight noticed a small metal object gleaming in the light of the sun. Encasing the metal object in a raspberry aura, she pulled it up and recognized the oval and rectangular shape. It was a dog tag, similar to the Royal Guard’s metal identity tags, same going for the Wonderbolts. Pulling it closer, she looked over the engravings.

“What does that say?” The mare guard inquired, leaning a little closer, as did everypony else.

Surprisingly, the engravings were something she could read. An odd thought, but nonetheless convenient. On the tags were a few words and identification numbers, but she read aloud what she supposed was the creature’s name. “Miller, John. First Lieutenant.”

“Poor creature.” The stallion guard murmured, gazing over the deceased lieutenant. “Seems he didn’t make it very far.”

“Looks like the poor thing died a few days ago, judging by the stench and the state of the body.” The second stallion guard mentioned, rubbing his chin with his right hoof.

“So that other alien killed this one, then?” Rarity gazed to the castle, thinking about the creature within. Seeing how ferocious it was, it wasn’t too unbelievable.

“I… believe so. But…” Twilight turned to face the ship, looking at the damaged alien vessel. “if we’re to find out what happened, then I suggest we take a look at what’s inside the spacecraft.”

“You sure that’s such a good idea? What if some of them are still alive?” The female guard inquired, moving in front of the princess.

“Yeah. What if they’re hostile?” The first stallion guard added to the concern, hoping that their princess would see reason. “After all, the dog tags do confirm it was military.”

“But think about all the information we could obtain.” Twilight, annoyed by the guards’ attempt to keep her safe and brushed past them. This was too good of a chance to find out where the remaining alien came from. “I’m not going to let this chance slip by. We need to find out what kind of knowledge and data these beings carried on their vessel.”

The others looked at the alicorn, knowing that this may be their only chance to obtain any information on what happened. “Let us just take this carefully, Twilight.” Rarity cautioned, moving up to her friend’s right side. “After all the guards are right. If any of the aliens are alive and indeed, aggressive, then we should be careful.”

“Duly noted.” Twilight murmured, walking up to a hole in the side of the ship. Looking into the interior, it was filled with a darkness, one similar to the inside of the Royal Sisters’ Castle. She breathed in and out, reassuring herself that the creature was not here. Stepping into the ship, her hoof echoed with a soft metallic ‘clang’. She flinched, hoping it wasn’t too loud. Her breathing increased as she took another step, gazing down the dark corridor of the ship.

She shivered at the cold air that filled this place, surprised it was like this when the weather outside was much warmer. Twilight lit the darkness with a raspberry light, looking down the hall. Glancing behind her, she moved a hoof to block the light of Rarity’s own light blue magic aura. “Alright, everypony. Let’s stick together, and whatever you do, just be quiet about it.” With that said, the others nodded, turning back to stare into the darkness.

Taking slow and cautious steps, she gazed at the design of the walls, intrigued and amazed by the look of this ship’s interior. It had a more industrial design to it, pipes exposed and with a light gray color to it. She flinched, gasping at the sound of electricity sparking next to her head in a flash of light. Realizing that there were live wires, she had to be cautious about where she moved her head.

Moving with a greater care to where they stepped, Twilight and the others slowly moved down the hallway. That same stench of death hit her again, gagging once more. “I… I don’t think anypony made it in here either by the smell of it.” Once they reached the end of the corridor, she gazed into a dark room. Her eyes widened at the sight of more alien bodies, moving a hoof to her mouth as she stared at the scene. Eight alien bodies were strew across the room, dry blood splattered against the walls and floor.

“Yeah… I think they’re all dead.” The mare guard murmured in a muffled voice as she held her right hoof to her mouth.

“I guess we can spread out then since there seems to be no threat on the ship.” Twilight suggested, a frown forming on her muzzle as she gazed at the bodies. It was a sad thought, knowing that she would not be able to learn what these creatures knew. Moving over to one of the dead aliens, she examined it, sympathetic as she saw that its left arm had been torn of, most likely during the crash. Encasing the body in magic, she turned it onto its back and flinched, seeing its neck had been broken and dangled in grotesque way. She could see the spine poking out of its neck, covering her muzzle as the taste of bile rose up into her mouth. ‘This is so disturbing. How awful that they had to go through such tragic deaths.’

Seeing another dog tag, she gently grabbed it with her magic, seeing the illuminated engravings and murmuring them to herself. “Tyler, Issac. Lance Corporal. United States Colonial Marines.” Another member of the same group. If anything, she guessed that the term “marine” probably meant something close to the Royal Guard, but she wasn’t truly sure. Putting the metallic tag down, she looked down another corridor. Glancing behind her, she saw that everypony else was gazing at their own finds.

Seeing how that the aliens in here were deceased, she believed that she would be fine on her own. Slowly, she walked down the next corridor, looking around as she made her way farther into the ship. This spacecraft was big, surprisingly so for just eight of these marines. She wandered further along, her eyes widening a little as she reached what appeared to be a mess hall. It sure wasn’t too big from the looks of it, but appeared to be comfortable all the same.

Twilight glanced down the hall, seeing light from the outside world illuminate an area behind the round table. Tilting her head, she walked around the table and into the hallway leading to the new room. She blinked as the natural light stung her eyes, rubbing them as they quickly adjusted. Looking to her left, she jumped, gasping at the sight of another dead marine. Covering her mouth, she breathed in and out, retching at the sight of a headless corpse. ‘This… poor alien.’ It was just another reminder for how terrible these marines had died. She noticed another dog tag on this one, picking it up and examining the engravings. ‘Truman,.... Technical Sergeant. United States Colonial Marines.’ “What the heck is the United States?” She asked out loud, tilting her head again.

So not only were they apart of the military, but these citizens of a nation called “United States” as well. Looking at the alien again, she remembered that the beings in the mirror had no wings either. Flying by a space or aircraft was possibly the only way they got around, reminding her of the Wonderbolts.

Turning around, her eyes widened as she saw another. This one looked to be intact, much more than the others, but seeing the metallic pole lodged into its chest, she knew it wasn’t alive anymore. Nearing the being, she saw something that reminded her of the friends of the other world. Remembering how each being looked, the other aliens she saw were only male. Yet this one resembled more of the female version of these creatures. Realizing what gender this one was, she felt a pit form in her stomach. To see a creature of her own gender but different race die in such a terrible way was something that hurt more than the others.

Gently, she grabbed the dog tag of this one with her hoof instead of her magic, looking at the engravings on this metallic tag. “O'neil, April. Staff Sergeant. United States Colonial Marines.” Curious, she moved a hoof to the alien’s head. Hair covered the creature’s face, and she moved it out of the way to see what she looked like. A sad frown formed on Twilight’s muzzle as she saw the color of the female’s skin was close to a pale white, her facial structure seemed to be a bit rounded out, but not in a bad way. The hair on her head was a dark auburn color, put back into a ponytail.

It was odd to feel upset for a creature she barely knew about, her face looked very refine, her eyes closed shut. The female alien appeared to be more at peace, even though there was no smile or frown on her lips. It was hard not to admit she looked pretty. “I… I know I don’t know much about your race. But… I’m sorry that you had to die this way.”

A red flash of light reflected off the dog tag, leaning in closer as she wondered what was causing this. Turning to her left, she realized it was a red flash coming from a small object lying on the female alien’s hand. Encasing the object in her magic, she brought it closer and examined the item. Analyzing the metallic object, she scanned every small indentation, wondering what the device did.

“What are you doing?” Twilight yelped, flaring her wings as she twirled around to see the mare guard in her group.

Sighing, Twilight’s eyes flashed an annoyed stare, refolding her wings onto her back again. “I’m just observing and examining this part of the ship. This part I believe to be the area where they drove the spacecraft.”

“Then what’s that in your magic there?” She pointed to the small device, Twilight returning her gaze back to the metallic object.

“I… am not sure. But I was going to bring this back to the others and see what we could decipher.”

“Alright then, let’s regroup with the others.” The guard turned around and made her way back to the exit. Twilight stepped forward, but couldn’t help to look back at the female human known as April. She decided to stash thought away in the back of her mind, knowing that she would only be able to act when she had free time. Returning her gaze to the guard, she quickly caught back up with the mare.

It was only a few moments before the two met back up with the others. All of this had been overwhelming, Twilight thought as she reunited with the others, but seeing her friends and the other guards, she announced. “I found something everypony.”

“What did you find?” The stallion guard asked, the others making their way to Twilight as she lifted the device with her magic.

“Well, I don’t exactly know myself. But it seems to be some electronic device. Whatever it does is a complete mystery to me.” Turning it around, she noticed a small little button. Using her magic, she pressed the button down, a three-dimensional text appeared next to the button, surprising her as she felt it slip from her hooves. Gripping onto the device, she felt energy course through her body. This was an exciting moment for her, but possibly not only her, but her friends and the guards as well.

Everypony looked at the text, surprised like Twilight that they could read it. “What’s an audio log?” Pinkie Pie asked, leaning closer to the device.

Twilight rubbed her chin with a free hoof, discerning the two words as she tried to see what the two terms meant when put together. “I… I think it records whatever you say into the device.”

“How though? Because if it works like the phonograph, then it must record the voices on a record, right?” The female guard inquired this time, tilting her head as she eyed the object.

“Again… I am not sure.” The text changed after Twilight spoke, again, another surprise for her as she wondered how such a device did this. Carefully scanning the text, she murmured. “One recorded transmission.” There was another text below it, with the words, “Play”. ‘Huh… so do I just press this word here?’ When she moved her hoof to the text, the words flashed brightly. Two lines appeared to the left and right of a dash in the middle, and the dash showed a number above before the time on it began winding down.

Coughing was heard from the device, and everypony leaned in closer to hear the voice that came from the object. The coughing sounded feminine, causing Twilight to think of the pilot at the front of the ship.

“My name… is A-April O’neil, S-staff Sergeant with the USCM dropship unit. Number 7210523.” More coughing erupted from the audio device, Twilight folded her ears as she heard the being choking on something. It stopped, her breaths coming in heavy gasps. “I am… or was apart of a group t-that was tasked to save a c-colony in sector 2-4TI.”

“A colony on a planet?” The mare guard looked to Twilight. “Is that a sector we have mapped on our star map?”

“I… I’m not sure.” Twilight murmured, half listening to the mare as she focused on the audio recording.

“The mission… to recover the colony of E-Erebus w-was a failure. There were… heavy casualties. We lost two e-entire squads. Only nine of us were able to make it. We encountered these… hostile organisms. There were just so many of them…”

Twilight shivered at the thought of what they encountered. But then she thought about the alien in the castle. Was that what she was referring to? If that was true, then she was frightened that there were so many more. “We were forced to r-retreat. That nuclear meltdown should have exploded by now, ending the existence of those monsters… but something was aboard the ship with us. A-an alien… almost spider-like attached itself to Lieutenant Miller’s face. We couldn’t get it off, not if we wanted to rip the skin of his face off."

“Lieutenant Miller? Wasn’t he the one we found outside?” Rarity murmured, casting a glance out of the hole in the hull to the body of said Lieutenant Miller.

“Yes, but if that happened then where is the spider?” Twilight inquired, remembering that there was no such thing on his face when they found him.

“We tried to c-cut it… but the-” More coughing erupted, violently so as she sounded like she was shifting in her seat. “I c-can’t breathe… this stupid p-pole in my chest... Just… whichever military company finds this… please… d-don’t let the company ex-experiment… anymore…” With that, the device clicked off.

Twilight stared at the device in her magic, trying to figure out what April meant. ‘What was with that warning? What company?’ It was just another mystery she did not have enough information about.

“Hey. I found another little flashy light!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, pointing to a green button that continued to flare on and off. Seeing that this button did the same thing as the audio log, she wondered if this device held any information. Walking over to it, she slowly pressed the square object. A light flashed from a glass frame next to her, flinching as she and the others backed away a little. The object had another set of text, the words saying “Video Log” with the text underneath it to asking the group to press play.

Straightening herself, Twilight moved over to the panel under the screen. Looking at the buttons and devices, she wasn’t sure what any of them truly did. Hovering her right hoof over a circular figure, she pressed it and saw the screen flash again. The device reminded her of a film projector like the one Rainbow Dash borrowed to show the pegasi of Ponyville about how to bring water up to Cloudsdale or like the big ones in the movie theaters, but it was much more compact and much more advanced. It operated on electricity and didn’t use film reels.

Images appeared on the screen and one of the “humans” walked onto into view. However, this one looked different from the others on the ship. From the looks of it, Twilight established it was a male and was wearing a white lab coat with very light green decorations on the left side of its chest. The pants it wore looked like sweat pants with a dark spring green color. He held his hands behind his back, and this alien looked much older than the ones on this ship, his dark grayish brown hair appeared to be receding.

“Hello to the viewers of this video.” His voice was slightly pitched but had a deepness to it, his voice sounding similar to the ponies of Stalliongrad but the accent wasn’t too heavy. “I am one of the leading scientists in the company’s field of Biology. My name is Dr. Makoy Markovich.”

‘Leading scientist in biology? But what’s the company’s name?’ Twilight thought, wondering what knowledge they had about this field of study.

“To those of you who are currently watching this right now. I am advised to give you a warning. View at your own discretion; the content of this video can be considered graphic. But after you have seen the progress we have made here today, you will be astounded by what we have come to accomplish here at Weyland-Yutani.”

“Are you sure we should be viewing the contents of this video, Twilight?” Rarity murmured, glancing over at her friend.

“I… am not entirely sure. But this should give us a better idea on who these ‘humans’ are and what that other one is in the castle.” Twilight assured, moving her gaze to the fashionista before returning her attention to the screen.

“Now onto the subject of the video. We here at Weyland-Yutani have been working tediously for hours on end to uncover the mysteries of our latest project. An operation aimed to uncover more information of a little friend we have here at the facility on the colony known as Erebus.”

“Didn’t O’Neil warn us about this colony?” The first stallion guard mentioned, raising an eyebrow at the alien on the screen.

“Yeah… but we still don’t know why.” Twilight murmured, half paying attention to the stallion behind her.

“Currently, the origins of our friend, or friends I should say, as of now are still unknown. But thanks to events leading up to its discovery, the first ever encounter of this creature dates back to a specific date on June the third in the year twenty-one twenty-two.”

“These beings certainly use a different way of keeping track of time.” Rarity murmured, tilting her head.

“Yeah… year twenty-one twenty-two.” Twilight added, wondering how they kept a record of time.

“On that specific date. The commercial vessel, Nostromo, was sent to investigate a distress beacon. However, after June the sixth, we received no word from them. A year after, they were declared missing. And with that there was no hope to discern what they had found. But we were assured that what they came across was a creature. How Weyland-Yutani has found out about such a thing is still unclear to the rest of our staff.”

“What creature are they talking about?” The second stallion guard asked, his eyes never leaving the screen.

“Although our hopes were dashed, Weyland-Yutani sent a colonization team to the planetoid they went to known as LV- 426. After years had passed and with the terraforming process reaching its near conclusion, we received word of a port station positioned in the outer rim with word that they had discovered the black box of the Nostromo vessel. Acting quickly, the company sent a team of couriers to retrieve the recording unit. There were rumors that the creature we were after was onboard the station and so we bought it from the company known as Seegson. Again, however, we were unable to secure any conclusive evidence after the station lost its gravity lines and was sent hurtling into the gas giant it was next to.”

The alien looked down, closing his eyes as a smile formed on his lips. “But there was hope yet. It was fifty years later did a deep space salvage team discover a shuttlecraft, one that contained the last survivor of the Nostromo, Lieutenant Ripley. It was also sometime after we questioned her that the colony on LV- 426 had gone dark after a year of activity. Believing that the creatures were in fact on this moon, the company sent a team of marines from the second battalion, ninth regiment, along with the survivor to the colony known as Hadley’s Hope.”

“It sounds like they certainly had quite the trouble.” The mare guard spoke up, shaking her head at the alien. She nodded to the other guards, watching them walk out the hole in the ship. “We’ll be outside protecting the entrance. See what else you can gather from this.”

Twilight turned to face the guards, nodding before focusing on the screen again. “There was no further evidence we gained. Although we did find the military vessel, the Sulaco that Weyland-Yutani had sent to discover what happened to the colony. All we could find was the lower half of a Hyperdyne System Model 341-B Android.”

“An android? What in Celestia’s name is that?” Rarity inquired, staring at the alien as she waited for an answer.

“However, thanks to the Sulaco’s position. We descended down to the planetoid and made the discovery of a lifetime. We thought that the eggs were completely destroyed after the thermonuclear explosion. But thankfully, a few managed to survive. With our capture units ready, we encased a few of the creature’s eggs in a containment field. With careful movements we transported the eggs and brought them back to Erebus for study. Unfortunately, one scientist forgot to contain one of the eggs and had the parasite attach to his face, a being in this creature’s life cycle known as a facehugger.”

“A facehugger? That’s a silly name for a creature.” Pinkie Pie commented, giggling a bit at the odd sounding name.

“Within hours of exposure, the facehugger fell off of the scientist’s face and died. More time had passed as we awaited to see what would happen next. The man woke up sometime later, but began to have violent spasms not long after he awoke. His chest bursted open and then we finally realized what the facehugger was needed for. It was to insert the parasite and now, we have a creature of our own. Finally, after all this time.”

“Do you two feel like we should know what he’s talking about?” Twilight inquired, glancing over her shoulder at her friends. They looked to each other, nodding before turning back to face their alicorn friend. They remembered how Lieutenant Miller’s chest had a gaping hole in it and how O’Neil said a creature attached itself to his face. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.

“The creature grew to full size in no time at all, going from a larva only a few feet only to standing eight feet tall in a matter of hours." Markovich smiled as he glanced over his shoulder at something, returning his focus shortly back to the camera. "And now, ladies and gentleman, is the reason for our excitement.” Markovich stepped out of the way, bringing one of his hands from his back gesturing to a dark room behind where he stood. The lights turned on, Twilight and her friends gasping at what they saw. Standing in the room was the creature they ran into inside the Royal Sisters’ Castle. It turned to face the screen, its blank gaze felt like it was looking right into her soul, and Twilight shivered as she met its eyeless stare.

“It’s the alien!” Pinkie Pie murmured a little loudly, her pupils shrinking as the three stared at the frightening creature that was separated from Dr. Markovich by a pane of reinforced glass.

“This my friends is the creature we have been seeking. The name given to the species of this fine specimen is Xenomorph XX121, or Xenomorph for short.” With a name now, Twilight mouthed the creature’s designated title. “Internecivus Raptus, its scientific name, is a creature of unparalleled perfection. It is a being that is completely pure. Free from guilt or virtue and it does not hesitate to attack any creature other than its own on sight.”

“So that’s why it attacked the guards? It only saw ponies as a threat to its own safety?” Rarity frowned as she looked at the creature. “Such despicable behavior.”

“These creatures are the most interesting of any other species we have come across. They're biological structure is easily different from any other creature home on Earth." Makoy closed his eyes, chuckling for a moment before opening his eyes again. "As for how many adult specimens we have. This is the only one Weyland-Yutani has, sadly. There was a time when we found a bio-scan of the survivor, Lieutenant Ripley, sent from the EEV of the Sulaco. We were thrilled that she managed to not only endure another encounter with these magnificent creatures, but held one of these Xenomorphs inside her. Once the scan was verified, a capture unit accompanied by the CEO of Weyland-Yutani, Bishop Weyland went to obtain the specimen. However, we lost her when she jumped into the furnace of the prison on Fiorina 161. Even though we lost something valuable in her, we still had the facehuggers and adult specimen. But for now, that is all that is needed.” Makoy frowned at the camera as he said. “To those of you watching. These videos will be separated into different sections. As of now, you have learned about the history of the creature’s discovery. But that does not mean we will not give you a taste of what it is capable of.”

Makoy looked to the Xenomorph, facing the other way as he signaled to something off the screen. “The reason for Weyland-Yutani’s acquisition of this creature is to harness its abilities as a Bio-Weapon. One that everyone would pay through the nose to obtain.”

“Bio-Weapon? What does that mean?” Pinkie Pie inquired of Markovich on the screen again, her eyes darting on the floor as she seemed to be thinking of something else. “Also, you can’t put bits in your nose. And how does somepony make bits with their nose?”

Twilight shook her head, returning her gaze to the screen. Whatever this term “Bio-Weapon” meant, it did not sound good. “As for the example. A little test to show off a sample of its capabilities.” The camera moved its view from the scientist to a room separated from the Xenomorph. Lights flickered from the ceiling as they filled the dark room with their bright luminescence, white walls intersecting and creating barriers that resembled a maze. A door opened up with a what looked like a female of Markovich’s species. The female human wore a simple white shirt that had “8B” printed on the front with matching white pants. “Subject 8-B. Please proceed into the room.” The female did as he asked, the door closing behind her. “Now… I want you to make your way through the maze. If you are able to perform this task in an orderly and quick fashion, you shall be sent home early.”

The lady nodded, holding her hands together as her eyes darted across the maze filled room. “What are you up to, Markovich?” Twilight murmured, lowering her eyes as she frowned at the scientist.

Markovich looked to the Xenomorph, pressing a button that activated a door to the room. “What is he doing?” Rarity’s eyes widened as she and the others realized what the scientist was up to. “Sweet Celestia! Is he insane!?”

“What’s going on?” The guard's hoofsteps echoed in the hall to their left, running back inside as they heard Rarity yell. “Why are you yelling?” The female guard inquired, her eyes wide as she looked between the three ponies in front of her.

“This scientist of the alien race is using that… monstrosity for a test!” Rarity shivered, pointing to the screen.

Twilight turned to face the screen, her eyes widening as she saw the creature slowly round a corner as it approached the female from behind. It slowly stood up on two legs, towering above the human a good few feet. She watched as the female human turned around, flinching as the lady screamed at the top of her lungs. The Xenomorph’s roar overpowered hers as it pushed the human to the ground.

Twilight brought a hoof to her mouth, tears running down her muzzle as she cried at the horror she saw. It ripped her stomach open, clawing and pulling her intestines and organs out, blood splattering against the surrounding walls. The female’s screams of pain and terror echoed around the room until the Xenomorph roared, overpowering the human's wails of agony. Rarity gagged as she looked away, bringing her right hoof up and covering Pinkie Pie’s eyes.

“Dr. Markovich. You are loco in the coco!” Pinkie declared, frowning at the screams she heard.

Twilight blinked her eyes, tears dripping to the ground in front of her as she watched on. The female’s screams finally died down, her body laid motionless as the Xenomorph opened its mouth, crouching lower as its head sat inches away from the human's stomach. A second mouth-like appendage shot out and took chunks of flesh, the body shaking and moving as the female’s corpse was eaten. Sympathy was all Twilight could feel for this poor female. How could Markovich subject one of his own kind to such torture?

The camera focused back on the scientist, Markovich staring at the scene before him. He turned to face the camera with a smirk. “Now you see… what happens to traitors of the colonies. And to any of those who disobey the Colonial rules, this is all I have to say; I cannot fabricate the statistics of survival. You all have my condolences.” The video cut out in a flash of light, white bar moved inside a rectangle appeared with the text above saying “Loading.”

“No!” Rarity yelled, pressing a button that stopped the process. “Please… no more. No more...” She breathed in and out, her chest expanding and contracting in an erratic motion.

The screen flashed again, a circle rotating in the center of the glass. A device lit up on the table as a gear revolved in the middle of the smaller screen. Twilight sniffled, whimpering slightly as she moved to the electronic item. The gear disappeared, more text appearing as it said “All files downloaded.” She realized that she had a way to look at the rest of the videos, but decided that one was enough for the moment.

Rubbing her eyes, she turned back and said. “Okay… I want you five to find Applejack's group. I’m going to teleport back to Canterlot and tell the princesses what we found and bring them here to contain the Xenomorph.” Her eyes scanned over the others as a sad frown formed on her features. “Please… be careful. All of you.” She closed her eyes, activating her magic and disappearing in a flash of raspberry light. The ponies left behind realized what this information held. And that information, they believed, felt like it was better left unknown.