There was the saying that there was nothing to fear within the darkness, that it was your mind playing tricks on you; it could make you see things that weren’t actually there. Pinkie Pie was an advent believer of this. She knew that laughter was the best medicine for being scared. However, this time things were different. The air had lost its tense feeling. Instead, as Pinkie shakily scanned the now-darkened room while hidden underneath a chair, she knew that something was amiss.

She moved her gaze to Fluttershy, who trembled underneath the table she shared with Soarin. Poor Fluttershy, Pinkie thought. Her friend had been whimpering for the past ten minutes. Pinkie knew it was not because of the lights going out. Of course that had surprised her group. The reason why they were hiding was because Pinkie had flinched when a sharp pinch in her knees had caught her attention. She let out a quiet gasp and turned to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy!” She had whispered as loud as she could. “My knees are pinchy!” Following her lead, they took cover behind whatever they could and waited for whatever it was that was coming.

The source of this fear was coming closer, yet her Pinkie Sense did not need to warn her. Pinkie only had to take a quick glance at the blood staining the walls adjacent to the hallway outside this room. The screams of the mare behind the receptionist desk intermingling with the roaring of that horrible creature gave her the heads-up. It wasn’t the first time Pinkie had seen a pony die right in front of her. She was already witness to the devastation that a Xenomorph could cause. But this? Watching it while it was “live” was the worst thing she had ever gone through.

Heavy footsteps echoed closer and closer. Pinkie stopped shaking and watched Fluttershy and Soarin do the same. She held her breath. A growl came first before the Xenomorph’s head came into sight, blocking the bloodstains from her view. It turned into the room and slowly took a couple steps. The fact that it was taking its sweet time entering the room only made this worse. Pinkie didn’t have to be an animal expert to know that it was looking for something. And by that “something”, she meant them.

It growled again and slowly scanned the room, making its way past the chairs she was under. The impact from its feet hitting the ground shook Pinkie a little. She shrunk even lower as its left foot landed only inches away from where she was. Pinkie rushed her right hoof over her mouth. If she knew anything about this creature, it was that its hearing was spot-on. If any of them made one peep, it would find out where it had come from.

And this was the closest Pinkie had ever come to seeing one. Unlike the first one at the Sisters’ Royal Castle, this Xenomorph was literally inches away. It waited, observing its surroundings before it hissed. It turned towards the table where Soarin and Fluttershy were hiding. If it found them, she’d have a front row seat to the alien’s horror show. It took one last step. However, it growled and grabbed at its head. Was it injured? Pinkie didn’t see anything that resembled some kind of wound. It stopped and quickly ran back the way it came.

Once it was out the door, Pinkie Pie came out from underneath the chair. She stood there for a second before turning her gaze towards the others. “Okay… that was too close,” Soarin whispered. “I say we move before it comes back.”

“A-a-are you sure?” Fluttershy shook, voice trembling. “Maybe we could j-just st-stay here. There’s no r-reason why it’d come back h-here right?”

“We don’t know that,” Soarin said. He didn’t move his attention from the entryway the Xenomorph had come through. “If it does come back, we won’t get a chance to run. It’s best to move now before it decides to show its ugly mug again.”

As Fluttershy whimpered, Pinkie wrapped a hoof around her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. Although this party is looking down, you can’t let it get to you.” But the assurance fell on deaf ears as Fluttershy’s frown remained. “Aww… Fluttershy…” This was something Pinkie hadn’t come across too often. Fluttershy had a right to be scared. Same as Soarin, the guards, as well as herself. But she couldn’t make her smile. Then again… did the situation really call for laughter? ‘...This party sucks…’

“I-it’s okay, Pinkie. I… understand that you’re trying,” Fluttershy murmured, but she spoke away from Pinkie, not giving her a single glance. Pinkie’s ears flattened. Nothing seemed to be going right at all. Soarin pointed to the opposite entryway and waved the others to follow. Pinkie and Fluttershy went first as the Royal Guards followed behind.

The group quietly shuffled along. The silence in the air was unbearable. Pinkie flinched when she heard the scream of a pony in the far distance, accompanied by the roar of the Xenomorph. Her pacing increased, as did the others. She shook as her knees pinched her again. “Guys!” She whispered loudly. “My knees are pinchy again!”

“I-I-Is it another one of those m-m-monsters?” Fluttershy’s voice shook. She trembled as she walked alongside her pink friend. Pinkie nodded. “O-oh… g-g-great…”

“It’s all going to be okay, guys.” Soarin’s stern gaze didn’t waver. “Sure, we have a bunch of these monsters around us, but we can’t let that get to our heads. As long as we keep moving, we should be fine.” Pinkie was glad for the reassurance. Or at least she should’ve been.

Pinkie’s recollection of the original nightmare wasn’t a fond one. That last Xenomorph had killed so many of her friends. If these ones got out, how many of her friends would make it? That was an answer that she wasn’t looking forward to. The pinch in her knees came back. The vents above them creaked. Soarin waved for them to stop moving. Pinkie already figured out what was hiding up there. It still baffled her that they could fit into these vents. How they could was beyond her.

The movement stopped right over Soarin. They kept still as possible. The creature shuffled inside the vent again before moving past the group and further onward. Soarin turned to Pinkie and said, “You sure it was that one? It wasn’t that bad.”

Pinkie shook her head. “No, it wasn’t that one.” She flinched as the pain from this pinching increased. A loud boom of metal echoed far behind them. The floor vibrated as something landed far from their position. Pinkie saw the tip of the tail and quickly turned to Soarin. “It’s right there.”

Soarin nodded and got the group moving quickly. They rounded a corner and hid as the Xenomorph turned towards the hall they were in moments ago. It growled and walked closer. Pinkie hugged the wall as tightly as she could. If it came this way, they’d all be found out. ‘Well… at least we're safe for the moment.’ She then turned to the floor and glared. ‘Seriously. What's this thing's problem!? You'd think this creature would be gone since that lady got rid of it the first time!’

The Xenomorph hissed as the tip of its muzzle came past the corner. The group kept sliding back, hugging the wall like it would keep them out of sight. It took another step forward and stopped. The Xenomorph turned the opposite direction, which prompted the group to quietly move as hastily as they could. When they reached the next corner, Pinkie loosened up a little. She heard Fluttershy sigh. That relaxed sound quickly turned into a gasp.

When she glanced that way, the guards with them pointed their spears. At the end of the tip was another group. One of the stallions had a crossbow pointed at them and another that was oddly hiding behind a pegasus mare with an odd sword that was split in half. It coursed with electricity, and Pinkie thought that it would definitely give ponies a bad hair day. The other two mares held weapons of their own. One had a funny glow to it and looked like it was see-through, floating next to the darker-blue-colored mare.

The other mare was at the front with her own spear floating in a pale scarlet aura. But Pinkie only had to take a quick scan to see blood covering parts of her body . She froze. Was that her blood? “Who the heck are you?” Soarin asked.

“I could ask the same,” Aquafrost replied. “What’s a member of the Wonderbolts doing here?” She turned her gaze toward the others. “Why did you bring civilians here? Are you out of your mind?”

“I’m already aware of the situation at hoof.” Soarin’s frown grew. “But the better question is, whose bright idea was it to keep creatures like the one responsible for the death of thirty-eight ponies about a month ago?”

Aquafrost stared at them for a moment longer before she looked away. “We didn’t know…”

“...Y-y-you didn’t know?” Fluttershy quietly asked.

“Apparently so,” Sparkdust said. The cyan aura surrounding her horn disappeared as well as her sword. “Aquafrost, our group’s leader here, got us together after she heard what happened to one of our prisoners. Guessing she wanted to speak with Bishop about a couple personal questions. But as soon as we got up on our way, the lights went out. Pretty soon, we’re running around blind as bats with those freaks running around as well.”

“Why should we believe you?” Soarin continued. “You’re working with the madpony behind all this.”

Aqua turned to the others. Pinkie couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she smiled all the same. She hopped over next to Soarin and murmured, “Y’know, I don’t think they’re all that bad.”

Soarin raised an eyebrow. “They were ready to fight us. What are you talking about?”

“Come on. If they really wanted to hurt us, they would’ve done it by now.” Pinkie’s smile only grew brighter.

Soarin stood there staring back at her. He sighed. “Well… okay, fine. But I hope you're right about this.”

“Of course I’m right, silly. I can tell when ponies are good.”

He stared for a moment longer before moving his gaze to the other group. “So… where are you guys heading?”

Aquafrost glanced over her shoulder before she turned around. “We’re trying to find somepony. Last time we saw her, she was running from something. Yet there wasn’t anything behind her. I think she’s just scared. She needs our help.” The concern Pinkie could hear was real.

“I know it’s important, but we have to get out of here.”

“But she could be hurt. The last time she was alone with this thing, it was for a week. Who knows how much stress she’s going through?” A week alone with the Xenomorph? Pinkie didn’t have to be an expert to tell how stressful that could’ve been. “Even if this company didn’t stand for the right reasons, there’s one thing I do believe in. We follow the Royal Guard and Wonderbolts creed of never leaving a fellow pony behind.”

Soarin turned his gaze to the ground for a few moments. He sighed and shook his head. “This will probably get us killed, but it’s the right thing to do. Alright, we’ll help you find this mare.” Aquafrost’s mood, even in this dark situation, lit up. Pinkie was grateful to see somepony smiling. “So, the pony we’re looking for. What does she look like.”

“She’s a unicorn with dark green fur. Eyes are a icy blue.”

“What’s her name?” Soarin asked.

“Crystal Rune,” Aquafrost said. There was something about that name that sounded familiar, Pinkie thought.

Pinkie slid next to Fluttershy and whispered, “Hey, isn’t that the same mare that Daring Do and Princess Celestia was talking about?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Y-yeah. Then… that’s good, right?”

“Of course it’s good. It’s fantastic!” she whispered loudly. “Daring Do has her best friend back, and Celestia will be super happy to see her!”

“Alright, we should get moving again before something finds us.” Soarin turned to the new group. “You guys know this place better than we do. Where should we go?”

Blazing Ash took a step forward. “There’s a hallway behind us that will lead to a stairwell. When we go down the couple of flights, we take the first door and down towards the tram tunnels. That’d be our best bet to avoid those monsters around us.”

“You're certain of that?” Soarin raised an eyebrow. “Because there was an Xenomorph tailing us a couple minutes ago, and one that was inside a vent too.”

“The tram tunnel we’ll take won’t have any vents. If they approach us, it’ll have to be out in the open.”

Soarin stared at him for a brief moment. “Alright then. We’ll follow you guys.”

Aquafrost nodded before taking lead of the group. As they began their trek, Pinkie looked at all the new ponies she could meet. Certainly this shouldn’t have been the time for her to make more friends, but she had to at least keep everypony’s spirits high. But at the moment she couldn’t do much. The pinch in her knees returned. Pinkie stopped and flexed her legs. “G-guys… my knees are pinching again.”

“Your knees are what now?” Sparkdust turned around and tilted her head, but her gaze quickly changed to what was behind them, her eyes widening as her horn lit up in a cyan aura. The others in front of her did the same, to which Fluttershy gasped in fright.

Pinkie turned around and trembled in fear. Now in front of the Royal Guards, whose spears were drawn, on all fours, were four Xenomorphs. One was crawling on the ceiling, two slowly approaching on the floor, hissing as they showed their teeth, and the last one was on the right wall, tail pointed towards the the group of ponies. Pinkie had heard how difficult it was to put down a Queen. Pinkie had even seen how difficult it was to kill the first Xenomorph they came across. But four?

‘Seriously… why can’t this be about something fun? Why does that… creepy alien thing have to always frighten everypony?’ It was a question whose answer she already knew. From what Twilight had told them, Weyland-Yutani had theorized that these creatures were bioengineered to take over planets, killing off all life so that the beings that created them could use the planet as their own. Even though it was just a theory, Pinkie wasn’t going to doubt the idea about them being used to kill.

“Why aren’t they attacking?” Soarin whispered, the group slowly backing up.

“I… t-t-think they’re… siz-sizing us up,” Fluttershy answered, tears trickling down her muzzle.

“S-she could be right… they’re animals after all.” Pinkie knew that Aquafrost was right, but even then she didn’t consider these things as animals. To her, these were monsters, like the ones that were told to fillies and colts at bedtime so that they’d be good. They were the darkness taken form in these malicious and merciless creatures.

“Everypony…” one of the Royal Guards said. “We’re going to hold them off as long as we can.”

“B-but you can’t win against them,” Pinkie argued. “They--”

“We know… but our sacrifice won’t be in vain. We know you’ll make it. Now… go!” The Xenomorphs jumped as he yelled. They rammed into a shield that the three conjured up. They screeched in frustration and surprisingly pushed the guards back. Aquafrost’s group quickly took off, as did Soarin and Fluttershy. Pinkie quickly followed behind but glanced over her shoulder.

The shield broke. One guard went down with an Xenomorph tearing into him. The other two blasted two Xenomorphs back as the other one jumped onto the second guard. She couldn’t handle it. The screams of the dying were too much. She turned her gaze back to the group in front of her as they ran as fast as they could. They made a left down the next hall before turning to their right. Pinkie stopped and caught her breath.

Fluttershy was whimpering quietly, wiping her eyes with her hoof. “Th-that w-was awful… it w-w-was just like when Echo got killed.”

“Those things… they’ve been tearing through the N-Y guards here like they were nothing,” Sparkdust said, breath heavy with anxiety. “I… I thought the Royal Guard would stand more of a chance.”

“No… unfortunately. I don’t know if us Wonderbolts are capable of taking them on alone,” Soarin admitted. “We lost thirty-eight ponies to just one of those creatures. With four of these creatures… I don’t like the chances we have.”

“Those chances will improve if we keep moving forward and keep quiet,” Taciturn said. “Sure, those monsters have acute hearing and a sense of smell. But as long as we keep ourselves well hidden, we should stand more of a chance.”

“Buh did yah see all thah? Dhis is crazy!” Patchy whispered loudly. “I don’h know abouh you all, but dhose dhings ripped dhem all da shreds!”

“Pipe down, will you?” Taciturn shushed the terrified nurse. “If you’re really that freaked out by those things, then here.” She reached a hoof to her right barrel and pulled out a knife. “I know this won’t do much, but if there’s a need for it, use it to defend yourself.”

“I uh… okay…” Patchy shook as he held it, eyes glued to the tip of the short blade.

“I-I-I d-don’t want to be th-the bearer of b-bad news… bu-but those th-things have a s-strong acid for blood.” The stares that greeted Fluttershy’s revelation were that of fear. “Any type of m-metal can b-be melted by it… including any-anything else… e-even our own skin and… bodies…”

“...Oh dhad’s jush greah!” Patchy exclaimed.

“Will you just give it a rest already?” Sparkdust scolded Patchy. “We’re already in a lot of trouble. If you just stay behind us, you’ll be absolutely fine.”

“Wait, hold on.” Blazing shushed the entire group. “Do you hear that?” Pinkie didn’t hear it at first, but the creaking of metal quickly grabbed her attention. She looked up at the vents. She already knew what was possibly up there. She glanced over at Aqua, who mouthed a phrase. She already figured that being quiet was the right idea, all too wary of how fast the Xenomorphs could react to the tiniest sound. The echo of its feet stopped as soon as it came.

It was quiet. An eerie silence. How long did they have to stay like this? What if another Xenomorph surprised them while they sat there? These creatures, after all, were very cunning. Pinkie flinched at the sound of metal breaking. She swerved her gaze to the source but shock gripped her, eyes wide at what she saw. Taciturn stood there. She forced gasps of pain out of her mouth, her voice distorted by the point of the blade through her neck. And just as she stood there, the tail violently pulled her into the vent, and she disappeared into the darkness.

The footsteps scurried away. It was obvious already that Taciturn was far from saving now. But for Pinkie, it still hurt to see ponies die right in front of her eyes. “Taciturn…” Pinkie turned to Aquafrost, the mare on her back, eyes wide at the horrible sight. “N-no… no, no, no, no…” She didn’t yell, but tears trickled down and marked the poor mare’s face. Pinkie had a feeling that Aquafrost cared about her friends, and that feeling now was assured by this.

“No… way…” Sparkdust had tears too, but also bore a frown. “That monster… that freak’s going to pay for what it did!”

“Are you crazy? Do you want to get yourself killed like Taciturn? That thing surprised her. It’ll ambush you too if you let it,” Blazing Ash said. “Don’t be stupid.”

“Buh… Taciturn…” Patchy murmured quietly. He looked at the dagger in his hooves and clutched it tightly to himself. The emotion that Soarin, Fluttershy, and Pinkie saw was real. Maybe they had gone too far in assuming that all ponies working under Neighland-Yupony were bad.

Soarin walked up to Aquafrost and murmured, “C’mon. I know how hard this must be… but we have to go. If we stay, we’re likely to be next.”

Aqua looked up. She wiped the tears away, but they still came. She nodded and stood up. Soarin took the lead this time as the others followed suit. But as Pinkie followed behind, there was one pony that didn’t seem to show as much emotion. Maybe it was just Blazing Ash’s way of containing his feelings? He probably didn’t like showing them in front of others. Her body shook a bit. ‘But… that means there’s going to be a doozy. Is it because of him?’ Whatever this signal her Pinkie Sense was giving her, she had to be cautious of how she interpreted it. She hoped it’d be something good. Everypony could use some happiness right about now.

With a jump, Specimen Six leaped up towards the ceiling. Down below her was her much bigger sister, Specimen Eight. With a command from their Queen, they were sent back to deal with the threat that presented itself to them. Of course this threat was more ponies, but these ones were different. They had the capability to kill one of their own. Whatever threat presented itself to their future hive and Queen would have to be dealt with.

She continued her quick pace on the ceiling. There was no feeling of exhaustion. Specimen Six was bred for a purpose: to hunt and kill. All that mattered was the future of the hive. The Xenomorph slowed her pace as she swiveled her eyeless gaze. There was an echo of hooves. She stood still and hissed to her sister below her. They stopped and waited for the noise to return.

Specimen Six quickly pinpointed the noise and turned in its direction. She hastily crawled toward the sound. She spotted movement and turned towards the source. It was a pony, but not one from the blurry image she had received. It may have not been one of the ponies who killed her sister, but it was still a threat to the hive. The Xenomorph slowed her movements, not even making the tiniest sound as her clawed hands and feet nicked the metal.

But she wasn’t going to attack him just yet. Specimen Six let out a hiss, the stallion jumping at the noise. Flim looked everywhere for the source but couldn’t see it. Six glanced down the hall to see Eight letting out a growl as she approached the pony. He screamed and ran the opposite way. Six landed in front of Eight and turned towards the stallion. An acid-green light appeared from inside her elongated cranium, revealing the hidden skull from beneath her cranial dome. The glow illuminated the multiple pits that ran down either side of the skull and the vaguely equine skull in the front, complete with vacant eye sockets. When she moved her gaze towards Flim, the nonexistent eyes found their mark.

Though he tried to scurry away from it, a misty aura the same acidic green as the monster’s glowing skull engulfed the stallion. Flim cried out in fear as he felt himself get dragged backwards by the unknown force towards the nightmarish entity. It was a familiar magic to what the unicorns had. Specimen Six’s gaze never strayed from the stallion that she reeled in closer to her. When he was only a couple feet from her, she held his gaze with her own. His eyes were wide with fright, her empty eye sockets emotionless.

She didn’t move when Eight approached her. She growled along with her sister. Flim’s breathing increased at the sight of the much larger Xenomorph towering over Six. He waited with awful anticipation of what the larger creature would do. However, it snarled at him briefly before turning away, leaving him to the devices of her smaller sister.

As Six kept the stallion in her magic grip, she grabbed the sides of his head and pulled him closer. Bearing her teeth, she opened her maw, slime dripping from her mouth and onto Flim’s face. It dawned on Flim that this was thing born from his brother’s chest. His last thought was to realize that he was looking into his dead brother’s empty eye sockets before the Xenomorph’s second mouth shot out of its gape jaws and pierced his skull.

Flim’s body hung limply in Six’s grip, and then she tossed him aside. It may have not been one of the ponies she and Eight were looking for, but one less pony was good for them. She picked her pace back up and moved further into the tunnel. They were on a mission to find more ponies. And the more she and Eight found, the safer her Queen’s future nest would be.

Breathing. It was all that Crystal Rune could hear. Her own breaths came in quick and unsteady rhythms, eyes wide with fear. She swiveled her gaze from wall to wall. The red illumination was everywhere. Even with the red lights on, these tunnels were so dark. But that was the least of her concerns. She could hear screaming just north of her position. Then again, she could still hear the screams of others all around her.

They kept coming, the terrified shrieks of dying ponies, letting the last echo of their voices be heard. When one would end, another would replace it every four to five minutes. And then there was the awful screeching of those terrifying monsters. There was more than one of these things running around. She had thought it was just that dark olive one that they had bred in addition to the other one she had seen. It seemed like that theory had been proven wrong.

She kept moving. She hadn’t stopped since escaping from that doctor; there was no point in stopping. She had to find someplace safe, a place that was secure and where the Xenomorphs couldn’t get to her. Although the idea was sound in her mind, she still was unsure that there was such a place. She didn’t and could never escape that reality. What she had seen on the ship was proof enough. The Xenomorph that had hunted her down showed her what it was capable of.

Smashing through metal doors and killing a group of ponies right in front of it, she was astounded that she could keep the magic barrier up herself against such a creature. It had clawed, bit, and rammed into the circle she had enclosed herself within. That previous encounter was enough to let her know that this being was nothing to laugh at. It would do everything in its power to kill anything that dared to threaten its own existence.

Crystal stopped, ears forward. Hearing hoofsteps, she scanned her surroundings and hid in a small crevice to her left. She could hear the hoofsteps getting closer. Crystal wasn’t ready to get caught by some random Neighland-Yupony patrol. If she did, they would take her back to her cell, or worse, kill her on the spot. ‘H-have to s-survive… m-must stay out of sight.’ A part of her was lost in survival mode, but it was something that she wasn’t aware of. She was lost to the fear that had overwhelmed her own psyche.

She tensed up at the sight of five ponies. Yet something was wrong. One pony seemed like she was unconscious, being lifted along by two mares, one with a rainbow mane and the other with a purple cape. The other two were limping behind them, the two mares walking along with just three hooves on the ground. To Crystal, they did not even come close to looking like ponies working for Neighland-Yupony. But still, she couldn’t trust them.

When the group moved farther into the tunnel, she came out of her hiding hole. Crystal stood there for a few moments before turning around and took a couple of steps. Crystal glanced at her right and saw somepony standing there. “So… why are you in such a hurry, Sestrenka?”

That voice. The name hastily came to mind. “R-Rugged?” The large stallion stepped out from the shadows. “B-but… you’re dead. You can’t b-be real.”

“Of course I’m dead. But tell me. Why is a mare such as yourself so scared? I thought you were stronger than that.”

“R-Rugged… you don’t understand. I’m trying to get away from those monsters… the Xenomorphs. Everypony else in here is screwed. I have to get out.”

“Yeah. Left your friend like yah did us.” Crystal turned around and saw another one of her old teammates take form. Black Arrow raised an eyebrow and tipped his hat. “Good to see yah again. Too bad my favorite sheila’s losing her marbles.” Crystal stared at her best friend. Tears trickled down her muzzle. “C’mon now. Don’t you go and get teary-eyed on us all of the sudden. I thought you were a brumby? Not some soft-skinned filly.”

“B-but… you. You’re all…”

“Supposed to be dead?” A third voice had Crystal swivel her gaze to the left wall. Next to Arrow formed the final pony. “I mean, I know I like to make an entrance and all, but you don’t see us busting down walls.” Roughneck chuckled.

“R-Roughneck…” Her old team was there, at least the memories she had of them anyway. “Wh-why now… why did you all come here now?”

“Isn’t it obvious, mate? Yer losing yer mind, Crystal. And I thought Roughneck was crazy. You ain’t looking so good.” Arrow laughed when Roughneck elbowed him.

“So funny, Arrow.” Roughneck shook his head before he turned his gaze to Crystal. “But he does have a point. You’re in a pretty bad place at the moment. I mean, you just up and left your new friend, too. And I thought Daring Do was right about you.”

“B-but…” Crystal took a couple breaths in. “But you don’t understand. Ponies are dying. I couldn’t find her. She’s somewhere else in this facility for all I know.”

“And you think it is good idea to just run on your own?” Rugged tilted his head. “You put yourself in more danger than you know. Trying to stay alive is important, yes. But without somepony backing you, you are as good as dead.”

“I’d save it if I were you, Rugged.” Roughneck shrugged. “She did leave us all when we died. Maybe her new friend is dead. That’s why she’s running.”

“N-no… I’d never leave her… I’d never leave Aqua,” Crystal argued. “I’d never leave her to die. I didn’t leave Daring Do to die, and I won’t for Aquafrost.”

“Don’t be so harsh, buddy. There’s a lot going on,” Black Arrow pointed out. “Yet Roughneck is still right about you. You left Aquafrost. Daring Do probably came back for you when you got trapped in part of that compound’s debris. Why you didn’t is obvious. But I thought you were past running?”

Crystal Rune kneeled onto the metal floor. She held her head with her forelegs and shook her head. “N-no… n-no, I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t leave her… I wouldn’t leave her…”

“Then where’s Aqua? She’s certainly not behind you. Honestly, I think you’re about as bad as me at this poi--”

“Shut up!” Crystal yelled with her eyes closed. She opened them and Roughneck and Arrow were gone. Crystal turned around and like the other two, Rugged Muzzle was gone. The tears came back again, and she burst into a quiet sob. Seeing all her past teammates from before was too much. They had all died such horrible deaths. She had blamed herself for treating them all so poorly. She felt that if she could have one do-over, that she’d treat the members of her original team with a greater courtesy and have a friendlier approach with them.

Crystal looked back down the way she came. Aquafrost could still be back there. She could be in danger. Aqua had come for her in her most dire need. Crystal could’ve died without her. The thoughts of surviving came back. Crystal felt the world closing around her again. She froze in place, unable to move. She took a couple steps forward, unconsciously moving to the way she had come from. Every step echoed in her mind, replaying over and over. She knew how much Aqua meant to her. She’d been saved by her, and now Crystal had to return the favor. She just hoped she was there for her in time.

Author's Notes:

Hope you like the new ability for a certain creature! Plus, if anybody is good at writing an Irish accent, please feel free to point out any mistakes. I'd really appreciate the gesture. See you all again, soon!