“AAAAHHHH!” The regal alicorn awoke, screaming in terror and bolting upright in her bed. She breathed heavily, feeling cold beads of sweat run down her forehead and body. It wasn’t real. She was sleeping in her room. Her mind came to that conclusion as she scanned the eerily illuminated room, bathed in moonlight. ‘It… felt so real…’ Shaking uncontrollably, she sobbed quietly into her hooves. Tears of pain freely escaped, staining not only her cheeks, but dampening her coat as well.

For weeks, even though the nightmare was gone, it haunted her every waking moment. The creature may have died, but in the long run, it was still lurking, still casting the shadows of fear across the minds of the ponies who experienced its nightmarish effects. The noise of her door creaking open caught her attention.

“Sister… is everything alright?” A voice whispered from the darkness as a dark blue alicorn stuck her head through the crack in the doorway.

Celestia looked up at her younger sister, her tear-stained face already giving Luna an answer. “Luna… it happened again.”

“The creature?” The younger mare asked, walking up to the bedside.

“Yes… it was worse this time.”

“Shhh… you do not have to go into detail.” The darker alicorn spoke softly. As she sat upon the bedside and ran her hoof through her sister’s hair, the elder sister moved closer to the dark alicorn and nuzzled her cheek, closing her eyes while her quick and uneven breathing started to slow. “I felt your fear and terror as I patrolled the dreamscape and quickly made my way to you.”

“It… it was awful. I saw… Ponyville in ruins. Canterlot met a similar fate, and when I went to see what had taken place… I…” Celestia choked up , silently sobbing at the memory of everypony she loved either being killed by the nightmare or hanging against the wall, awaiting the cruel fate of giving birth to more of the terrible monsters. Her younger sister wrapped her hooves around her elder sister, gently embracing her.

“Everything will be okay, the creature is gone now. Maybe not from our minds, but from existence.” In the aftermath of the incident in Ponyville, Luna’s patrols in the dreamscape had become more tedious as the Princess of the Night was busy trying to help those who dreamed of this terrible creature find peace and comfort. Luna herself spent countless hours filled with restless sleep. Although she wasn’t physically affected, her mentality was wearing thin.

Celestia sniffled, a sad smile forming across her lips. “Y-you're right.” The regal alicorn, however, could not help but think about the creature. When she and her friends were waiting in the hospital to hear the outcome of Rarity, the doctor told them that the Xenomorph embryo had been taken care of. That’s when a terrible thought came to the Princess of the Day. She hadn’t actually witnessed the death of the last Xenomorph. At the time, she was more concerned about the wellbeing of Rarity and the others that had been wounded, physically, mentally, or otherwise. As she reflected back to that day, she became more and more paranoid. The rational part of her mind tried to tell her that the beast was dead and there was nothing to worry about. However, an overwhelming sense of dread nearly drove her to a state of panic. She had to be sure.

The alicorn wiped her tears away and pushed her younger sister aside before getting off her bed and standing up. “Sister…?” Luna murmured, seeing a look she hadn’t seen for a long time, not since Discord ruled in terror.

Celestia looked down to her younger sibling and said, “Luna… I want to pay the doctor a visit.”

“You mean the stallion from before? He told us that the creature was dead.”

The regal alicorn walked away as Luna spoke, before turning around to speak in a low tone. “Yes… he did.”

Luna quickly trotted to her sister’s side, matching the quickened pace as she stared in worry. “And when we visit this doctor… what do you plan to say?”

“I just want to talk to him, nothing more and nothing less.”

The younger sister looked away, wondering what her dear sister was truly planning. After a couple of minutes, the two princesses strode through the doors of the hospital, followed by a squad of stern looking royal guards. All the ponies inside bowed down to their unexpected entrance. As the regal alicorns proceeded to move towards the check-in desk, the pony behind it smiled brightly as she greeted them. “Good morning, Your Highnesses. What brings you here?”

“Where is Dr. Needle Pin?” Celestia spoke in a low, almost scolding tone.

The mare cowered under the gaze of the beloved Princess. Lowering herself behind the desk, she muttered, “Umm, he’s on f-floor two, Y-Your Highness…”

“Thank you.” The white alicorn simply stated before turning away and headed towards the stairs. Luna hastily followed behind her.

As the group walked up the stairs, Luna couldn’t help but ask, “Celestia… I know that these nightmares have hurt many of our subjects, but I know you are going to do more than simply ‘talk’ with the doctor.” Her sister stopped mid-stride and looked back. “There is another way for this to be resolved without intimidation. He did say they disposed of the embryo.”

“But we didn’t see the body… did we?” Celestia reminded the dark alicorn.

“Well, no… but he wouldn’t lie to us… right?”

“We shall see…” The white alicorn continued up the stairs with her sister and the guards following closely behind. When the two sisters came to the doctor’s door, Celestia raised her right hoof and knocked against it.

A voice came from within and the sound of hoofsteps could be heard drawing closer to the door. “Just a second!” The door unlocked and swung into the room, revealing a unicorn stallion. “Welcome to my humble… abode…” He froze under the gaze of Celestia. His knees began to tremble as his sight swept across the other regal sister and their entourage of guards.

“Hello, Doctor Pin. We would like to have a word with you.”

He gulped silently before saying, “Sure, sure, come on in.” He waved his hoof, inviting them in before turning back into his office. When the alicorns entered the office, the guards immediately stood guard outside the room, closing the door behind them. “Please, please, uh, take a seat. I wasn’t expecting company this morning. Rather, I wasn’t expecting any business of this significance this early, your Highnesses.” The two mares sat in the chairs he pulled forward for them. He took his own seat and clapped his hooves together before saying, “So… what brings you here?”

Celestia continued to gaze upon the stallion before quietly inquiring, “Where is it?”

“Where is what?” Needle Pin murmured, looking at the door past the two.

“Where is the embryo?”

He stayed silent for a brief moment before chuckling, “Oh, that thing. We disposed of the embryo weeks ago.” His eyes darted between the two before asking. “… Why?”

“I want to see it.” Dr. Pin hesitated. When he didn’t answer her, Celestia spoke louder. “Where is it? I need to see it!”

“But… it’s gone… we threw it away.” He laughed a little before saying, “We can’t recover the specimen. It’s gone, dead, kaput. You do not need to worry so much, Your Majesties.”

Celestia leaned a little closer to the stallion as she watched him lean back away from her, beads of sweat running down his brow. Her magenta eyes narrowed and her voice lowered to a menacing whisper. “You’re lying to me.”

“But, sister he must be telling the truth. Why would he lie to us?”

“Where is it?!” She demanded, the volume of her voice rapidly rising.

He flinched under her furious gaze and trembled. “I… I can’t show you it…”

“Why not?”

“B-because… it’s not here anymore.”

Celestia’s calm and composed manner was replaced with a desperation and rage as she sprung up from her chair and leered over the stallion, making him shrink back. “What do you mean?”

“I… I…” He stuttered, losing his composure under the piercing gaze and demanding questions until he faltered under the pressure. “Alright! It’s not here anymore because it’s gone! I sold it!”

Luna stood up quickly and walked over to Doctor Pin. “You what!?”

“You… sold it…?” Celestia murmured, her eyes widening at the horrible revelation.

“I sold it… to a pony named Dr. Caballeron. He paid handsomely for the embryo, about five thousand bits. He even threw in another five hundred just to make sure I kept quiet.”

“Do you have any idea what you have done?!” Luna knocked the chair from under the doctor. He fell to the floor in a heap and scurried away from the regal sisters. “You have not only jeopardized the safety of Equestria, but lives are now in the most immediate danger!”

Celestia was frozen, as all those nightmares came crashing into her mind all at once. Each and every terrifying moment she experienced with that horrible creature felt that much closer to becoming reality. She lit her horn in a golden-yellow aura and pulled the stallion up by the collar, glaring at him. “You… how dare you! Ponies’ lives have already been destroyed by this creature once, I will not let it happen again!”

“You're a traitor to all of ponykind, Needle Pin!” Luna yelled, casting her own glare at the doctor. “We lost a Prince to this monster! And you sold it… I cannot believe that a pony such as you would give in to their own greedy desires!”

“B-But...Your Majesties! I can…” he began to stutter, but Celestia silenced him with a growl.

“You can explain?” She finished for him. “Guards!” At her command, the soldiers waiting outside the door burst in and rushed to the Princesses’ side. Celestia dropped the doctor on his flank, and before he could react he found himself surrounded by spears. “Dr. Needle Pin, you are under arrest for treason.”

“Treason!?” He squeaked in terror. “No! I…” The tips of the spears circling him drew closer to his neck, silencing him.

“Take him away.” The white alicorn ordered. The doctor kicked, screamed, and sobbed as they dragged him out of the office. He tried pleading for mercy, but Celestia and Luna remained silent. Luna watched as the condemned doctor was taken away, but Celestia stared into the distance, too preoccupied by her own dread to even care about Needle Pin’s plight.

Luna turned to face Celestia and saw the horror in her sister’s eyes.“Sister… are you alright?”

The regal alicorn came out of her daze and murmured, “I… will be…” She turned to look back to her sister and said, “You realize what this means, right? The nightmare that we once thought was dead is alive.”

“Yes… it is horrifying to hear of such a return.” Luna paused before asking, “Who is this Dr. Caballeron he spoke of? I do not recall hearing about this subject of ours.”

“I have not the faintest clue either. But whoever he is, we need to find him and retrieve the embryo before this creature falls into the wrong hooves.”

“But where do we even begin?” Luna inquired as she and Celestia walked out of the Doctor’s room. Once outside the hospital, they discussed possible courses of action during the trip back to the castle. “Equestria isn’t such a small place, Tia. How will we find this pony?”

“We will enlist the help of one pony I know of.” Celestia replied as they entered the castle.

“You know somepony who could provide assistance?”

“Yes, I know of a certain-”

“Auntie!” A whining voice interrupted her. The two Princesses turned to look towards the door and sighed as a white unicorn with a golden mane walked into the room.

“What is it, Blueblood?” Celestia asked half-heartedly.

“What is it? Oh, I’ll tell you the problem. These servants are so useless. Sometimes it’s like I’m talking to a dog or a deaf pony. They can’t even hear my needs or even get what I actually want when I have perfectly given them every detail.”

“And how is it such a big problem?” Luna inquired, quickly losing her patience.

“Well, you need better ponies that can actually understand what I need and get it to me at a moment’s notice.” He closed his eyes and then chuckled before saying, “Oh, and I also want a raise in my royal allowance.”

“How could you possibly need a bigger allowance?” Luna asked with a roll of her eyes.

“I need a new yacht. The latest model is coming out soon and I want to have enough to purchase it and fund a christening party for it.” He explained, looking proud of himself and his “brilliant” plan.

“Blueblood, you receive an adequate allowance as it is.” Celestia told him.

“But, Auntie!”

“No buts, Blueblood. Now, I suggest you leave.” Celestia ordered. “Luna and I were busy talking about matters that are more important than how much of the royal treasury you drain every week.”

He stuttered as he tried to voice whatever "well-thought-out" excuse he could think up, but with the gaze of both princesses upon him, he didn’t say anything. He threw his head back with an annoyed groan and walked back out the door.

Celestia closed her eyes and sighed, “As I was saying, I have an idea who can help us. She’s a mutual friend we share with the Element Bearers. She is located out in the upper forest regions of Equestria, living in seclusion from everypony else.”

“You don’t mean Daring Do, do you?” Luna asked.

“The same. She is definitely the right mare for a task of this magnitude.”

A thought came to mind, and Luna had to ask, “What about informing the others. Twilight Sparkle and-”

“No!” Celestia yelled, turning her gaze upon her sister. Luna faltered, shivering at the tone her sister had used. The white alicorn shook her head before continuing in a softer tone. “No… they cannot go through this ordeal again. You and I saw how this has changed their lives and how badly it affected all of them. I do not wish to go through it another time.”

Luna nodded, gazing out into the dark sky. “So, who will we send to inform this pony? We need to have somepony we can trust.”

Celestia looked back to her sister and murmured, “I believe I have an idea for who I want to send. I just hope that the mare doesn’t take offense for us disturbing her.”

With the plan set in motion, the Princess of the Day walked out onto the balcony located to the right of the hallway the two were in and lit her horn in the golden-yellow aura again. The sun slowly began to fill the sky with its natural and radiant orange and yellow light. Another dawn had risen, yet the mood had changed drastically. The creature was still alive, and this once again meant trouble, not only for Equestria and its inhabitants, but for the whole world.

Author's Notes:

Hey there everypony! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and do not worry. We'll have another chapter submitted out here soon. Again, thanks to DiabloGuapo and TehSporkBandit for all their wonderful help.

So, I hope you all enjoy your wonderful morning, afternoon, evening, night or whatever and I shall see you all soon. Oh and remember... sweet dreams...