Author's Notes:

Woo! Ten more chapters to go! (That or eleven. Twelve? I don't even know. XD

Still. Hope you all enjoy the new chapter!

(And before people start complaining. Yes, I killed Flash. Did I do it because of the Twilight X Flash ship? No. It was for story reasons only. Yes I don't like the Twilight X Flash ship. But would I ever kill Flash off because of it in later stories? No. Hopefully that clears things up and I'll see you later).

Twilight levitated the headphones in front of her and slowly twirled it around. She scanned over each item as she had done so minutes earlier. “Why do you keep looking at that thing?” Daring Do asked. “It hasn’t worked since Bishop turned it on.”

“Well… there’s always a possibility that I can get it working here. If I tinker around with it, I could theoretically find a way to get it powered on again,” Twilight said while keeping her attention on the headset. She had tried turning it on earlier again, but there was only static. The white noise had grown annoying after she had listened to it for about ten minutes. So Twilight turned it off in hopes that it’d work if she tried it later.

“Theoretically?”

“There’s always a chance I might accidentally break it.” Twilight chuckled a little. “Really, I’m just working on this thing because it’s distracting me from what’s going on around us…” The smile disappeared as quickly as it came. Ever since they had entered the tunnels, the memories of her encounter with first Xenomorph came back. The thought of coming across one again was constantly gnawing at her from the back of her mind.

She levitated it back onto her head. Twilight felt a little discomfort at the sensation of it rubbing against her horn. It wasn’t totally uncomfortable. It just felt odd. “But if she’s able to get it working again, there’s a chance that we could figure out what’s going on.” Twilight turned towards her former teacher with a smile.

“Well, when you put it like that, I can see what type of advantage we could have.” Daring moved up next to Twilight and continued, “Go ahead. Keep messing around with it. Maybe you’ll accidentally fix it.”

Twilight nodded. She focused on the headset as her magic filled the cord around her horn with life. The static noise came back; Twilight frowned at this annoying sound. “Nothing but static. I don’t know how to fix it or shut it off.”

“Have you tried messing with any of these buttons here?” Daring pointed to the array of little knobs on the right side of the headset.

She had looked it over quite a few times and had noticed them before. Twilight didn’t necessarily want to mess with it, afraid that they weren’t meant to be moved or touched at all. “Well, I guess I can try.” With her magic she focused on one of the knobs she could visualize. Rotating them around, the static noise slowly quieted down. Her ears straightened up when a voice came through. “The c-containment efforts are… um, not going as planned. None of the Xenomorphs have been captured.”

Twilight froze. “Oh my gosh. Guys, I got something!”

“What? Is that thing finally working?” Daring Do moved closer.

Twilight nodded but held a hoof up. “My forces at the front have come back. There’s only so many of us left. The ones who made it back said that the Queen is still coming this way. But Specimen Six and Eight went the other way.” Unfortunately for Twilight, she got confirmation that there were Xenomorphs here. Not just one, though, but three of them. Maybe even more from the sound of it. But that was just part of the bad news; ponies were dying, lots of them, because of these monsters. Even worse, there was a Queen here as well.

“Then it should be easier for you to contain her. Do everything in your power to capture Specimen Zero.” Twilight recognized that voice. It was Bishop Neighland. She frowned at the tone of his voice. It sounded like he didn’t even care how many ponies died. That they would recapture the Xenomorphs at any cost.

“Twilight… is everything alright?” Celestia asked as she too moved closer to her former student.

“W-we’ll try. But, but I’m not sure we can. She’s so strong… she’s killed so many without breaking a sweat. We--” The group flinched at the noise coming from the headphones. They all turned their gaze further down the tunnel. The roar echoed past them, causing Twilight’s fur to stand on end, memories of the Queen she and the other princesses had killed coming back in full force. Now there was another one, alive and heading straight towards their position.

“Hey uh…” Daring Do sat there before she continued, “that was pretty close... “

“Twilight…” She turned off the headset and stood there with wide eyes. “...we should find someplace to hide.” Twilight looked up to Celestia and hesitantly nodded. She hastily scurried alongside Celestia as they hid in one of the crevices. Flash and one of the guards hid on the opposite side. Daring Do and the other guard opened their wings and flew up to the ceiling, hiding themselves in the arches.

Twilight breathed in and out as quietly as she could. Her chest expanded and contracted quickly as she felt the footsteps of the Queen rumble underneath her. The screams of ponies in the distance soon followed after, along with the booms of magic being fired, bodies hitting the walls, and crossbows being fired. She could only wait beside Celestia as the two sat still. A unicorn appeared in front of them, shooting magic beams at some hidden figure.

Soon he was followed by a panicked line of ponies, each one firing at the creature chasing them. Twilight held her breath as the floor trembled beneath her, getting worse by the second. A body flew past the crevice. The next line of ponies was running for their lives and then the other. Twilight nearly screamed when she saw a tail burst through a pegasi mare’s back.

The mare was lifted up in the air, her scream cut short as her head was ripped off by a clawed hand. Finally, the Queen Xenomorph stood in front of them. Twilight froze at the sight of this horrifying beast. Its chitinous color was different, unlike the familiar similar midnight black that she had seen before. This Xenomorph took on a light gray appearance. That’s what made it so odd. She stared at it for only a moment longer until her eyes widened. ‘That color… that reminds me of Rarity’s fur. Is this… her… “daughter”?’ It was a morbid way to classify it. But the doctor, Makoy Markovich, said it was Weyland-Yutani's way of classifying where these abhorrent monsters came from.

The Queen Xenomorph roared again and took after the retreating Neighland-Yupony guards. The floor kept shaking. The screams of ponies dying still continued. A cacophony of death and destruction. When the floor stopped shaking underneath her, Celestia stepped out from the crevice. Twilight followed moments after. “You too must know whom that Xenomorph belongs to, Twilight.” It was a truth that Twilight was afraid of coming true, but her former teacher was right.

“That was odd… I thought Xenomorphs weren’t so light-colored. Or that big to be honest,” Daring Do pointed out. “Is there something wrong with that one?”

“No… that was the Xenomorph that came from Rarity.” Daring sat in stunned silence. Twilight didn’t blame her.

“That was the thing that came out of Rarity? You mean they can get that big?” Daring’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

“W-what you saw was the Queen…” Twilight shivered. “It’s supposed to be the biggest of the Xenomorphs. The normal ones aren’t that big, but they’re still quite larger than we are. About twice our height.”

“Wow…” Flash murmured, shaking where he stood as he scanned the few dead ponies around them. “It laid waste to those guards like they were nothing.”

“That is the horror of these vile creatures.” Celestia shook her head before she turned to the others. “We must leave as quickly as we can. The more distance we can put between us and the Queen, the better.”

“But… what about the other ponies?” Celestia flinched when Flash brought back the dying ponies to everypony’s mind. "They're still your subjects. You should be saving them."

Celestia glanced over her shoulders with a frown. “I know that they’re still my little ponies, but… unfortunately, I cannot help them. They are dealing with a creature that even I cannot handle on my own.” Twilight wasn’t so sure about what she had said, but even Celestia had her limits against a creature built to kill any type of sentient and non-sentient creature.

The group picked up their pace again and continued onward. However, the stench of death was all around them. Twilight gagged, but not at the smell. The sight before her--bodies torn apart, blood sprayed on the walls and floor, the innards and intestines of ponies--was too much. She didn’t blame these ponies for trying to contain the Queen Xenomorph. What was wrong was the fact that they had kept this thing alive for however long.

Through the red-lit tunnels, Twilight could still hardly see. The colored light not only made it hard for her eyes, but it didn’t light up much of the surroundings anyway. If any of the other Xenomorphs were to surprise them, then they wouldn’t be able to see them coming. It was just another reminder of how precarious their situation was. “Twilight?”

She turned to Flash Sentry and frowned. “What?”

“I… I’m sorry about what happened earlier. I was out of line.” Flash’s frown softened, eyes fully focused on her own. It was hard to meet his gaze directly. “I’m not asking for any forgiveness. And I… I should have been more sensitive about how you were feeling.” Twilight stared. She held her frown. “I… well… you didn’t deserve what happened.”

Twilight looked away. She drew in an unsteady breath. Should she forgive what he said? Part of her felt as if she didn’t, that she felt better being mad at him. Yet how long would such a petty feeling like this last? Maybe she felt that because of what had happened, because of the losses she held deeply, that she had a right to feel this way, a right to hold this selfish feeling of hurt. Wouldn’t it be better to forgive? Of course that was the right step. Yet could she now? The moment didn’t feel right. It was too early to make a decision. Twilight returned her attention to Flash. “T-thanks…” It was better to say something at least, instead of nothing at all. The reaction? A smile, thankful in appearance.

When she returned her gaze to the front of the group, she closed her eyes halfway. The words of that captain’s conversation she had overheard came back to light. The piles of Neighland-Yupony guards were growing in size. “This is… crazy…” Daring Do scanned the mess around her. “H-how is one creature responsible for all of this? That seems impossible…”

“What you’re seeing, Daring Do, is the horrifying capability of the Xenomorph,” Celestia answered. Twilight too understood the horror that this being brought. All of this was a sight she had hoped to never see again. “This is what could be if these creatures make it to Equestria. The amount of those who’d be killed by these Xenomorphs would be unfathomable.” What wasn't mentioned was the fact that these things could potentially take on all the other civilizations on Equus. None of them would be able to stand a chance against the terrifying power of the Xenomorph.

Twilight stopped when she heard a noise behind them. She glanced over her shoulder and tilted her head, but there was nothing there. She carefully examined the tunnel behind her. Nothing on the walls. Nothing on the ceiling. Maybe she was imagining it? “Is everything alright?” Twilight turned to the voice and met Flash’s gaze.

She shook her head. “I… thought I heard something.”

Flash nodded. “Well, let’s just stick together. It’s better if we all stay in one group.” He quickly caught back up with the others, walking next to one of their two guards. Twilight followed behind by a couple hoofsteps. She flattened her ears when the noise came back.

Twilight took another glance over her shoulders and still saw nothing. ‘Where’s that noise coming from?’ She slowly returned her attention back to the group, straightening her ears again. Twilight caught up and was walking next to Daring Do. The sound of metal breaking caught her attention, but she felt herself leave the ground and hit the wall adjacent to the group. The world blurred out for a brief moment, Twilight groaning as she rubbed her head.

She lay there looking at the group but couldn’t make out what it was standing over one of the pony guards. When she heard the familiar growl, the image cleared and she saw one of the other Xenomorphs, a Praetorian. She hyperventilated as it moved its eyeless gaze right towards her. It hissed loudly before jumping into the broken hole it came from, dragging one of the guards with it. Even with it gone, her horn lit up with a magenta aura.

Slowly, Twilight stood up and inched closer and closer. Celestia, Daring Do, and the last guard rose up. When Twilight took another step, she gasped, eyes wide. There lay Flash, eyes wide with his throat severely bit into. He didn’t flinch, his eyes faded out. “O-oh m-my go-goddess…”

She didn’t react when Celestia moved next to her. “Such a shame.” Celestia stared at the body, a small frown when she turned to Twilight. “I understand that you and him were close...” Twilight nodded. She would admit that she had such feelings for him, yet after coming back home from her second trip to that other world, one where her friends were humans, she had seen the pony version of Flash less and less. There wasn’t enough time to set up a trip with him.

For all the feelings she had for the human Flash, she knew that was impossible. And the same going for the Flash in her world. That falling out had done a number on her, not to mention what Kettlepot had done to her only a month ago, she didn’t idealize him anymore. “S-still… he was only the Captain of the Guard for such a short time. B-barely a month in and he’s already…” The reality was quickly set into stone. “...Dead…”

Death had already made itself aware to Twilight. She was literally surrounded by both the stench and sight of dead ponies. Even still, she felt like she had to force the words out.

“Okay… so is anypony going to tell me what the heck that Xenomorph was? I know it’s not that Queen we saw earlier, but why was it still so big?” Daring Do shouted.

“That was a Praetorian,” Celestia spoke up. “They are similar in role as to the Royal Guard. They’ll protect their Queen with their life.” Speaking of the guard, she moved her gaze to the last one and watched as he slowly stood up. “Are you okay?” The guard simply nodded. He turned to the dead captain and stood in silence, giving him his respects.

“W-what now? We’ve probably lost our first guard since he stayed behind, now a second one has been killed, and Flash Sentry, the Captain of the Royal Guard is dead.” Twilight shivered. “We don’t even know if that Xenomorph will come back.”

“Then we’ll hurry and be on our way,” Celestia affirmed. She took one step but returned her gaze to Twilight, eyes wide. “W-what is that?!”

Twilight tilted her head and looked down at her hooves. A strange luminescence like a mist had begun to swirl around her limbs until it had encased her body. She went to try to shake it off but felt her hooves leave the ground. She screamed as this invisible force began pulling her away from the group. Twilight tried to grip the floor but her front and back legs were firmly pressed against the sides of her body. She heard the hoofsteps of the group trying to keep up with her, yet she couldn’t even move her head to see how close they were.

Eyes facing forward to the long tunnel in front of her, Twilight saw a light in the distance, an acid-yellow light. Her body hit parts of the rail, each one adding to the pain that these new bruises were accumulating. She screamed when she saw what that source was. First to greet her were the two holes hiding behind the creature’s chitinous head. It was smaller than the one they had encountered earlier, about the same size as the one from a month ago. The Xenomorph was pulling her closer and closer with the use of magic. She couldn’t fathom how one could have that ability, yet it certainly brought a new terror upon her.

It screeched, lunging for her. A gold light lit the surrounding area as a beam of magic struck the Xenomorph, bright enough for her to see the dark olive color chitin of the Xenomorph. It hissed and ran away, another beam missed as it zipped past its head. Twilight’s chest expanded with erratic breaths. The moment was all too close to what happened to her during her first encounter with the Xenomorph. “Twilight!” She shakily turned towards her former teacher and felt herself give way. Twilight felt tears trickle down her eyes. She whimpered, but they slowly came. Celestia wrapped her hooves around her former student, into which Twilight’s tears only multiplied. "It's going to be okay." She did her best to comfort Twilight, wrapping her wings around her as gently as she could.

“It… i-i-it used magic…” Twilight breathed out in an unsteady fashion. "I-it u-used magic..."

“What?” Twilight opened her eyes and met Daring Do’s gaze. “How can that be possible? I thought only unicorns and alicorns could use magic!”

“I-I don’t know…” It was all that Celestia could say. Twilight agreed. How did this creature obtain magic? As basic as its formation was, the Xenomorph only ever took the simple genetic code from its host. Was magic such a basic gene that it could manipulate? All Twilight could do was speculate. At the moment, she was ready to call it quits. Unfortunately, she didn’t have such a luxury. Twilight felt the wings tighten around her for a moment until she felt a hoof grab her right one. When she met Celestia's gaze, she knew it was time to go.

She knew there was a job she had to finish. If it meant that she had to sacrifice herself, although she’d still like it if she lived through this experience, then so be it. Celestia helped her up. She stayed still for a few moments before shakily nodding. Without a word the group continued forward, eyes scanning the tunnel in front of them. It was better to be aware now more than ever. With every dark corner, a beast could be lying in wait. And every second wasted, time ran down until they’d finally find out how excruciating the pain of death felt.

Hoofsteps echoed around the group of ponies, bouncing quietly from wall to wall. To Rainbow Dash? It was a nice break after their near-death experience with the Xenomorph. She should’ve felt happy that they didn’t require help from Twilight or Celestia. However, it was only so difficult to admit that it was a fight that could’ve cost them their lives. So then what did this say about Rainbow?

‘I’m no coward. I got payback for what that freak did to me.’ So she should’ve been happy, ecstatic even. She had defeated one of those monsters. Yet why did that fear remain? Why hadn’t the fight helped regain her confidence? She shook her head. ‘No… that’s not right. I showed that thing I’m stronger than it.’ Another lie as that stoic smile quickly receded. She turned her gaze to the wound she had bound with Spitfire’s Wonderbolt outfit.

“Rainbow?” The mare in question turned to Trixie. When she saw the frown, Rainbow did the same. “You alright?”

“What do you think?” Rainbow murmured. She flinched at the tone in her voice. “Sorry…”

“It’s okay,” Trixie reassured her. “The situation we’re in isn’t exactly pleasant.”

“I… I thought things had changed,” Rainbow began. Her frown deepened, and her tail flicked back and forth.

“Is it really that much of a surprise?” She swiveled her gaze to Applejack’s, who slowly limped behind her and Trixie.

“W-well, yeah. I thought that if I trained hard enough, I’d be flying circles around that freak.”

“S-so…” Rarity groaned before she continued, “you understand the point we were trying to make earlier?”

“That point about me hurting myself?” This truth only hurt more. “How was I supposed to realize that nothing changed? All that training… for nothing.”

“There’s no need ta get yerself all frazzled, Rainbow,” Applejack spoke up as she limped beside Rarity. “So what if you were wrong? Me and Rares here…” She gasped when she put pressure on her bad leg, bringing it off the ground. “...didn’t exactly fare any better. You got lucky and only got nicked.”

“Nicked? That freak still hit me. How’s that supposed to make me feel better?” When she stopped, Spitfire fell off, but she caught her before she hit the ground. Resting her gently against the tracks, she turned to Applejack. “I trained so hard. I tried. And all of that was wasted today.”

“Rainbow, darling. You mustn’t let it get to you.” Rarity flinched when her bad hoof bumped against Applejack. “Y-you tried. You certainly have gotten faster. It’s just… you have to remember that this… beast, is far from normal. You shouldn’t get mad at yourself. You helped get rid of it in the end. Aren’t you proud of that?”

“...Yeah. But I don’t feel victorious.” Rainbow’s frown softened. She sighed and shook her head. “I guess I was just too optimistic about being able to fight that… thing.” She should have said that she was happy to still be alive. Yet what was all that extensive training worth? Just so she could go get herself injured again? “I… let my own pride get in the way of things…”

“But you learned, right?” Rainbow returned her gaze to Rarity. “That’s all that’s worth it in the end.”

“Now if only these ponies had any common sense,” Applejack muttered, eyes glaring at the metal rails. “Ah just don’t get why these ponies were so darn stupid. Didn’t any of them think back ta what happened a month ago?” She shook her head and groaned a little.

Rainbow tilted her head and moved her gaze to the leg Applejack kept from the ground, and then to Rarity. “Applejack’s right there. These ponies certainly screwed up this time around.”

“It’s completely irresponsible,” Applejack nearly yelled. “Bishop’s foresight is about as bad as a blind dog. But even a blind dog can find an bone now and then.” She slammed her right hoof against the tunnel wall, leaving a small crack in the concrete.

Rainbow flinched at the sound. She too understood the anger that was directed at Neighland-Yupony, and she couldn’t deny that Applejack was furious about this. When they had first discussed the topic of the Xenomorph’s return, Applejack had spoken the loudest about her dislike of that monster. “Well… at least you got payback for your brother, right?” Rainbow faintly smiled.

Applejack didn’t look up. She continued to stare down at the floor. “Applejack, d-darling, are you going to be okay?”

“What was the point of getting revenge when Ah got wounded again?” Applejack whispered. “Now Ah’m goin’ ta hold my family back even more.”

“Applejack, why would you say such things?” Rarity tilted her head with a weak frown. “You out of all ponies know how hard it is to keep up with that farm of yours. You didn’t let that monster break your spirit back then. You shouldn’t let it now.”

“But… my left leg. It got my--”

“Forget about the injury,” Rainbow Dash said. “Ever since your brother passed, you’ve always filled your time with working on the farm. I know you don’t like us talking about it, but why can’t you just hang out with us? It’s like what we argued about in the carriage. Why was work so important and not friends?”

Applejack glanced Rainbow’s way and shook a little. “Ah… Ah always thought that… Ah… Ah was just afraid of letting go of mah brother.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “It’s been the only thang that’s managed to keep those thoughts away from me. Ah let my pain take control and keep me from enjoying the little things because Ah felt responsible. If Ah wasn’t fast enough to save him, then…”

“Darling.” Rarity gently shook Applejack, whose gaze met hers. “You must understand that we want to help. Twilight is somepony who knows what you’re going through. She lost her own brother, remember? She certainly isn’t over it as I have seen, but that can change. So can your view of your own self.” She brought her bad hoof away, limping as she held her right hoof off the ground before sitting against the wall close to Applejack.

“I… can understand that this isn’t an easy thing to forget or let go… but… maybe it’s time you tried.” Rarity rested a hoof against Applejack’s. “I’m not saying that you should let go of the memories you had, but… let them be that light which keeps you safe.”

Applejack looked down at the floor again before she slowly nodded. “Ah… Ah’m not sure, but Ah’ll try…”

For once, Rainbow was finally able to smile. Even though this nightmare world never seemed to end, she was certain that they’d get out of it somehow. Rainbow picked Spitfire back up, Trixie helping her as Applejack gently brought Rarity’s hoof over her shoulders again. They moved onward, keeping as quiet as possible. Yet there was a new sense of determination. They would get out of this. Rainbow had to have faith. That was all that could get them out in the end.