Rarity winced as her right hoof pulsed with pain. She turned to it and saw part of Spitfire’s Wonderbolt uniform covering the damage. The pain of that brute’s acidic blood eating away at her hoof and the thought of almost losing it was terrifying. She shivered from the ghastly sight. The day’d had enough problems as it was, yet those nuances felt foalish now compared to the trouble she and her friends were currently in.

Shuffling alongside Applejack on three legs, Rarity was consumed by worrisome questions. Why did they deserve this? Why had this company brought these frightening monsters back? Wasn’t it enough that they had lost so many ponies to this already? How many were dying now? Their trip to the chamber that might hold other hostages had taken some time already. There were no windows to the outside world. Whatever time it was now, she figured it must’ve been past evening.

Nightfall was a scary time a month ago when that first one had come to their town. If memory served them right, these creatures were more active during these hours. “How much farther?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It shouldn’t be much longer now,” Trixie answered before continuing, “I just hope they’re all still there.”

“How safe is that chamber you were in anyway?” Applejack asked.

“Well, it’s safe at the moment. But there’s only one way in. If one of those things found them, then… the--”

“Hey.” Rainbow Dash brought a hoof to her shoulder. “Don’t worry. You weren’t gone for that long. I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Rarity thought she heard some odd tone in Rainbow’s voice. She could empathize with why Rainbow tried to be optimistic. These creatures were relentless in their pursuit of killing other ponies. If one had found its way in, then it was possible that none of them made it out alive. She couldn’t let that blind her, though. The other hostages could be alive.

They had to see for sure. Trixie stopped as did Rainbow. Trixie swiveled her gaze down a doorway to their far left. “This way.” She picked up her pace, just slow enough that Applejack and Rarity could still keep up. The group turned down another left. As they passed through the corridor, Trixie made a right until they all could see a door at the end of the hallway. “There it is.” Trixie and Rainbow moved a little faster, while Rarity and Applejack lagged behind by a bit. The two reached the door, and Rainbow lifted Spitfire’s unconscious body to the floor. As she gently laid her down, Trixie knocked on the door.

It opened to a circular room. Trixie eye’s widened, not out of fear but for joy. When Rarity could see over Trixie, her frown reversed to a faint smile. She could see Rainbow’s frown when she saw her former friend, Gilda, who also averted her attention to the ground below her taloned hands. But for Rarity, the sight of a familiar zebra, Zecora, brought forth a happy feeling.

“It is good to see you all. For our day has had many a fall.” Zecora nodded, but that smile disappeared. Rarity looked past Zecora and gasped at the array of lifeless bodies hanging on the wall, from a couple ponies, a diamond dog, a buffalo that she didn’t know to Bulk Biceps and Flam, all with gaping chest wounds. It was the same with the familiar minotaur, Iron Will.

Her eyes centered then on Suri Polomare. ‘S-she’s here too…’ No matter what anypony had done to her, even if Suri Polomare had stolen her clothing ideas that week during the fashion contest in Manehatten, Rarity would never wish such a terrible fate on her. But there was something she didn’t know. Was Suri infected like she had once been?

“Bulk…” Rainbow murmured, a frown on her muzzle. “I can’t believe it. He didn’t deserve this.” She scanned the rest of the familiar ponies. “None of them deserved this.”

“Zecora, where’s Thunderlane and Babs Seed?”

“Babs Seed is here too? Why in Equestria would these ponies kidnap a filly!?” Applejack stomped a hoof on the ground. “Have they no shame!?”

Zecora let Applejack say her peace before she began. “Thunderlane worried for Cloudchaser’s fate. But Babs Seed desired not to wait.” She pointed towards the door the group came in. “After their banter came to an end, they left to go save our mutual friend.”

“Why did he let her go with him? Those two could be hurt fer all we know.” Applejack’s frown deepened.

“I told him the same thing before they left.” Gilda blew some of her feathery bangs from her beak. “They’re probably dead by now.”

“You’re not being helpful, Gilda,” Rainbow Dash said, a tone of frustration. “Why’d they drag you here anyway?”

Gilda chuckled. “I’ve been asking the same question since I got put into here. You ponies are so random sometimes.”

“Let us all be at peace.” Zecora spoke up. “If we separate ourselves, the danger for us shall increase.” She took a step forward, the frown on her muzzle deepened. “There is much we have seen today. We must not let these events lead us astray.” Rarity had to agree with Zecora’s point. This situation they were all in was unfavorable to all parties. Even if Gilda had not been that great of a griffon in the past, they had to work together.

“Well…” Rainbow began. “I guess we're in this together. For now.” Gilda only nodded before looking away from the others.

Rarity’s ears perked up at the sound of a groan. She swiveled her gaze towards Rainbow Dash and saw Spitfire rubbing her head as she sat against the wall. “Ow. My aching head.” She slowly opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow when she saw everypony staring at her. “Where are we?” Her eyes widened before she quickly stood up. “Where’s that Xenomorph!?”

“We took care of it,” Applejack assured her. She winced before turning to her wounded leg. “But we didn’t get ta leave unscathed.”

Spitfire looked from Applejack and Rainbow Dash to Rarity. She saw the patches of her uniform covering both Rainbow and Rarity’s injuries. She looked down at her uniform and sighed. “Well, this thing’s not that great for protection. It’s more for show if anything else.” She unzipped it and threw it to the side. She flexed her wings and nodded. “Other than this migraine, I feel fine.”

“Spitfire?” Rainbow grabbed her attention before pointing to Bulk Biceps. Spitfire’s ears lowered. She flapped her wings and took off from the ground. Floating next to him, she lowered her eyes halfway. She brought a hoof over each open eye, closing them as she whispered something. Spitfire descended to the ground and folded her wings again.

“Thunderlane is still alive.” Spitfire seemed to perk up at the stallion’s name. “He said he’ll be back. I think he and Babs Seed went to go find Cloudchaser.”

Spitfire, even through what she had seen, still was able to crack a smile. “Glad to hear that. It’ll be nice to see him again.” She then walked to the center of the room before speaking up. “Okay. Since Thunderlane is not here, I’d say we wait for him and this Babs Seed. Anypony else agree?”

Trixie was the first to nod. “I know I’m anxious to go, but… Babs Seed is only a filly.” Spitfire’s eyes widened at the revelation. Rarity felt the same way towards this truth. “We should wait for them.”

“I’m with yah there, Trixie.” Applejack spoke up next. “Ah’m not leaving my cousin behind.”

“Yeah! We gotta stick together on this one.” Rainbow flapped her wings as she ascended above Applejack. Spitfire then moved her attention to Rarity, who nodded in agreement.

Spitfire turned her gaze to Gilda and asked, “What about you, griffon? You with us?”

Gilda rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall as she crossed her forelegs. “Fine. But as soon as this is over, I’m heading back to Griffonstone.”

“Fair enough.” Sptifire nodded and scanned over the group in front of her. “It’s settled then. Let’s wait for Babs Seed and Thunderlane. Once we regroup we shou--”

A scream pierced through Rarity, jumping in place as she turned to the source. It was Suri Polomare. Her chest bulged outwards, blood trickling through her pink fur as it flowed down her body. What Rarity was watching was too much. Tears trickled down her eyes profusely. She screamed as Suri let out one last terrified cry, replaced quickly by the high pitched squeal of Suri’s “daughter” as it broke through the mare’s sternum. The scene that played out in front of Rarity only brought forth those horrid memories from before.

It slithered out of Suri’s chest and crawled across the floor as fast as it could. “Quick! Kill it before it gets away!” Spitfire yelled as she quickly flew towards it. It dodged Spitfire as she tried to grab it, causing her to crash into Gilda. It squealed as it was shot at by Trixie until Rainbow Dash quickly caught it in her hooves. She threw it against the wall, and Trixie fired another shot, watching as it blew up right in front of them.

The room was quiet, nopony saying a word. Rarity had not taken her eyes away from Suri’s now-dead body. That horrible feeling in her chest came back. She winced a little, breaths coming in erratic gasps. What she had seen was what would’ve happened to her if her friends had not come to her rescue in time. It was a reality that was too much to accept. Her vision blurred. She felt the world spin before she fell to the floor. She quietly whimpered as the darkness crept around her. She felt somepony shake her.

Rarity turned to who it was. She met Spitfire’s gaze. “Hey. Are you going to be okay?”

She shook her head. “Applejack and Rainbow were right.” She sniffled. “I… I-I hid myself from the world because of what happened. I was too afraid to face my fear. I-It took over my perception. I was afraid that ponies would see me as some unfortunate mare who nearly died to a parasite.”

“Rarity… we all hide our scars.” Rainbow rested a hoof against her chest. “You know how I felt after that fight with that freak. I didn’t want to feel weak. I still was. But you guys helped me see now that training isn’t everything. Hurting your own body doesn’t help you at all.”

“Yah gotta understand that we’ve all tried ta keep our pain ta ourselves.” Applejack took her hat off and pressed it against her chest. “Yah already know how isolated Ah made myself. Ah thought that if Ah didn’t work hard, then Ah couldn’t keep the memories of mah brother.” She shook slightly but stood firm.

Rarity moved her attention to the floor and shivered. “I know… I was afraid for myself. And I was afraid for my little sister, too. Seeing what happened to Suri, it was if I was watching Sweetie Belle go through that awful experience. We were both captured, but I was the one who was… violated. What if it was her? I just wanted to forget that any of it happened. I just wanted to pretend that I didn’t nearly become some beast’s breeding stock.” She already knew the term for what had happened but never did she dare acknowledge it. It was a term that was ghastly in its definition. It was something that she had gone through. It was something that she knew Twilight had gone through as well.

Maybe it was time to let that pain go. However, it felt like a goal that was too far out of reach. “Rarity.” She returned her gaze to Applejack. “Don’t feel like yer alone. We’re here for yah when yah need us.” Rarity slowly nodded as a faint grin formed. It was an expression that Rarity felt like she nearly forgotten: how to smile. Applejack extended a hoof towards Rarity. She reached out with her uninjured hoof and stood up with her friend’s help.

The door behind them opened. The group quickly turned around but sighed when they saw Thunderlane. “Woah. What are you guys doing here?”

“Thunderlane!” Spitfire quickly trotted up to him and gave the stallion a salute. “It’s good to see that you’re in one piece.” Rarity saw something move behind Thunderlane as the little filly, Babs Seed, leaned out in the open.

“Babs!” When Babs Seed saw Applejack, she quickly ran past Thunderlane and Spitfire. Applejack flinched when Babs hugged her and started crying. “There, there. Yer cousin’s here.” She ran a hoof through her little cousin’s mane, holding her tightly.

“What happened to you guys?” Thunderlane asked. When he entered the chamber, Rarity’s eyes widened at the mare on his back: Cloudchaser. She was unconscious, but that wasn’t what scared her. It was the pulsing facehugger, delivering its disgusting child into her.

“We had a fight with one of those creatures. But that’s not important. Is Cloudchaser going to be okay?” Spitfire’s gaze moved from Thunderlane to the unconscious mare on his back.

“She won’t be for long if that thing stays on her muzzle,” Rainbow Dash said. “You saw what happened to Suri. That’s going to happen to her if we don’t get rid of it.”

“But yah can’t just pry it off.” Applejack spoke up as she continued running a hoof through Babs Seed’s mane. “We tried doing that before with Rarity.” The mare in question flinched at the mention of her name and that horrible moment. “It can’t be pulled off. If we tried, it’d tear Cloudchaser’s face off.”

Rarity breathed, regaining her composure before she spoke. “H-how long has she been gone?”

“Only half an hour,” Thunderlane answered.

“Then there’s still a chance she can be saved. We just have to get back to Canterlot.” Rainbow’s frown softened. There was still that chance that Cloudchaser couldn’t be saved. Rarity had seen Suri die. Iron Will and Flam were also dead. Even back in Ponyville, Derpy was left widowed and a single parent when Doctor Whooves died. The likelihood of Cloudchaser sharing that same fate was all too real.

“So what are we waiting for, then? Everypony is here, right?” When the question came up, everypony besides Spitfire nodded. “Good. If we’re to save everypony here as well as Cloudchaser, then we should hurry before more of those monsters find us.” Spitfire turned to Thunderlane. “Did you and Babs Seed come across any more of them?”

“We only ran into one, ma’am. Me and Babs Seed snuck around it to get to Cloudchaser.” Rarity had to admit that she was impressed. These two managed to sneak by an Xenomorph. That was a feat that not many ponies could pull off against a creature like this.

“If there’s one of them, there could be more. It’s not a great idea, but it seems like these creatures are only hiding underground at the moment.” She brought her attention back to Thunderlane. “What’s the building that we’re in right now?”

“I caught a couple signs saying that it was Medical, ma’am.”

“Okay. We’ll head there and see if we can’t find a map. That’ll help us figure out where the heck we are.” Spitfire waved to the group to follow her. Rarity moved next to Applejack, and they took the same position again with her wrapping her bad hoof across Applejack’s shoulders, supporting each other again they followed the group. The door opened for them.

“What about the bodies?” Thunderlane asked, the frown on his muzzle deepened. “Are we really going to leave them here?”

“There’s nothing we can do for them. If we try and carry them, then it’ll only slow us down. And a few of us have already been injured.” Spitfire looked back at Rarity and Applejack. “Speaking of which. How are you guys doing?”

“Mah leg still hurts. Other than that I’m fine.” Applejack nodded.

“I should be fine as well.” Rarity gave the same gesture. When Spitfire returned her attention to the front, Rarity sighed. “I just hope my hoof grows back after all of this is done.”

“If we do make it out of here,” Gilda grumbled, eyes half lidded.

“Don’t be such a sourpuss, Gilda.” Rainbow glanced over at the griffon. “We’ll make it out of this trash heap if we stick together.”

“We ain’t out of the woods just yet. So don’t get your hopes up,” Spitfire began. “Once we get to the surface, things should be a little smoother for us.” That was the idea, at least. It was odd that these Xenomorphs had not gone for the surface world just yet. They had no clue as to why, but it was a positive assurance at least.

With each step, Rarity felt more hopeful. But Spitfire was correct. Until they could see the light of the moon, they were still in great danger. One of those ghastly beasts could surprise them at any moment, and the group was already weak. Rarity didn’t like knowing that she and Applejack were responsible for their situation. Hope was all that they had left to go on.

Spitfire raised a hoof in the air. “Hold up.” She quietly moved to the wall on their right and peeked past the corner to the corridor. “Somepony is coming this way.” She glanced over her shoulder. “You guys stay back. I’ll take a quick peek.” Spitfire disappeared once she went around the corner. It was quiet for that brief moment. No worrying sound. No surprise screaming. Then came a sudden gasp. Not of fear but of exhilaration.

The clacking of quick hoofsteps came closer until they saw Spitfire appear from the edge of the corner. “I think we’re going to be okay, guys. I found some friends... and some new ponies.” Those last words came with an uneasy tone, but the group were glad to hear of some friendly company.

But Rarity saw three ponies who were a sight for sore eyes. “Yay! We finally found you guys! I just knew that itchy back feeling was predicting something lucky!” Pinkie giggled after she appeared from the corner. She bounced to the group as Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack formed a group hug. The group shuffled when Fluttershy joined in as well, sniffling and whimpering.

“I-I-I’m s-so happy we f-found you guys.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened when she scanned the wounds that Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow had. “D-did one of those m-monsters do that to you girls?”

“Unfortunately.” Rarity was the first to speak.

“But we did kick its butt.” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Sure it wasn’t easy, but we did it. We got rid of one of them.”

“Woah!” Pinkie’s eyes bulged out a little.

“That sounds pretty cool,” Soarin pointed out as he moved next to Spitfire. “I can’t believe you got one.” He looked the girls over before sighing. “But I’m guessing that’s only a one-time thing.”

“It certainly takes a lot ta take one of those Xenomorphs down. We barely made it out alive.” Applejack turned her attention to the ground with the last word. Rarity had to agree. There was no way they could take another one down in their condition.

“But you got rid of one.” Spitfire’s group brought their attention to the new voice. There stood Aquafrost and the others. Aquafrost took a step forward, a frown on her muzzle. “That’s something at least.”

“Uh… who are you?” Rainbow Dash asked, but stood rigid when she saw the emblem on their uniforms. “You guys work for that crazy stallion?”

“You might want to check that again.” Sparkdust frowned at Rainbow’s comment. “We don’t work for that psychopath anymore. He hasn’t tried to save any of our hides when these freaks busted out. He didn’t even tell us about those monsters. We’ve been left to fend for ourselves.”

Rarity looked Aquafrost over before she shivered at the amount of blood on her chestplate. “I-is that your blood?”

Aqua glanced down and shook her head until she raised her head again. “No. It was another mare’s. I helped heal her, but she ran off when those creatures escaped.” There was something more to the way Aqua spoke. Her tone. It felt like she was harboring a certain amount of interest for this mare. That amount, Rarity thought, was more than just friends.

“We were heading this way since it was the safest route.” Blazing Ash took his turn to speak. “Those ugly things won’t be able to follow us through the tunnels. There’s no vents the way we were heading.”

“I hate to burst your bubble, but there are vents in that direction.” Spitfire stepped into the conversation. “We passed by two N-Y guards. They both got dragged into a vent. That way is a no-go.”

“But they shouldn’t be able to follow us down that path.” Blazing raised an eyebrow when Spitfire shook her head. “Okay. Where do you think we should go then?”

“After seeing what we have from being down here as long, they’ve only seem to be interested in traveling underground. If we go to the surface, we should have an easier time avoiding any type of danger.” She did have a point, Rarity thought.

“If I can add to Spitfire’s idea. The last time we dealt with these beasts was a month ago. The one that we had, even though it had found a way out of the magic field, stayed under the Royal Sisters’ Castle. If that behavior still holds up, they shouldn’t go up to the surface too often.” Rarity saw the interested gazes from the new group of ponies.

“So whah your saying is dhah we have a better chance of living if we go above ground?” Patchy murmured as he peeked over Sparkdust’s right shoulder.

“Spitfire and Rarity have a point, Blazing Ash.” Aquafrost glanced over her shoulder. “Maybe it’d be best if we followed them for now?”

Ash held his leader’s gaze for a moment before sighing. “Alright. Let’s follow them.”

“What about everypony else? Are we all in agreement?” Spitfire scanned the now much larger group of ponies, and Gilda. Nopony spoke up, but the consensus seemed to be in the affirmative. Rarity certainly was glad Ash didn’t argue any further. They had to get out of this place as fast as possible in order to not only save themselves but Cloudchaser as well. Yet she had to admit that even with those ghastly monsters running around, it gave her a sense of safety to be surrounded by others. More so than when it was just her, Applejack, Rainbow, and Spitfire. “Okay. If everypony is in agreement. Let’s get going.”

The hall echoed with the hoofsteps of the now-fifteen ponies. Rarity returned her attention to Cloudchaser, their sixteenth and yet unconscious mare. She only knew that if they didn’t save her in time, her life would end in a most painful way. They entered through another hall. What was first noticeable was the fact that they had glass rooms. Oddly enough, it looked like a bunch of science labs. The only unfortunate thing was that this red light continued to light up the whole place. “What is all of this?” Spitfire broke the silence with her question.

“These are the medicinal labs.” Spitfire swiveled her attention to Aqua. “I’ve worked half the time I’ve spent here as a guard. We’ve been trying to come up with pharmaceuticals as to help better the lives of ponies with sickness or other horrible afflictions.”

“What would a company like this want with medicine?” Rainbow took a turn with her question.

“Easy; to make a profit.” Blazing Ash smiled. “But the ponies here have taken the time and care to make sure these products are safe for consumers. We aren’t throwing them medicine that could poison them.”

It really was an odd sight to behold. She had seen the odd weaponized magic items they held over at the Research and Development building. To see how many avenues this company was exploring astounded her. It was only a shame that these ponies tried to bring back those ghastly animals. “Hold up.” Soaring raised a hoof. When the echoing of the group’s hooves stopped, another set of them came to life. “You guys hear that?”

They quickly receded away. They saw a flash of movement and a glint of yellow light. The pony in front of them stopped. Rarity’s smile grew a little more as she saw Daring Do standing in front of them. It unnerved her, however, when she saw the two daggers she had at the ready. Her eyes wide, Daring put her weapons away and chuckled. “Well, well, well. I was wondering when we would find each other.”

Behind her, the group let out a gasp. There stood Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight. It was a silent reunion, but Twilight quickly ran to her friends, the mares joining in their fully complete group hug. Rarity could hear her friend crying. She couldn’t stem the tears either. When they separated, she raised a hoof to her muzzle. “Rarity… Applejack… Rainbow Dash? You’re hurt…”

The attention that was brought back to her hoof did not help Rarity. It only verified the pain that she felt every now and then. Rainbow Dash said, “We had a run-in with one of those freaks. But we managed to get rid of it.” She smirked, boasting about their success. “Yeah, I’d say we’re pretty cool.”

“You managed to kill one by yourselves?” Princess Celestia took a step forward, standing next to Twilight.

“Yes. It was a difficult time… but, we survived, at least.” Rarity toned down the bragging. “We barely made it out alive. Rainbow got nicked by its tail. Applejack suffered after we killed it when it made a last ditch effort to bring one of us down with it. And I…” Rarity lifted her bad hoof “...unfortunately did not move out of the way in time after it bled its acidic blood.”

Celestia’s gaze did not move from Rarity’s hoof. “Everypony.” She scanned the now larger group of ponies and said. “Please gather around me for a brief moment.” Rarity noticed the uneasy stares that some of the ponies gave her, but they moved closer to her. She did the same, limping with her bad hoof off the ground. Celestia closed her eyes and her horn lit up in a light gold aura. A similar aura surrounded Rarity, and she looked to see the same happening with the others, including Celestia herself.

It was tingly, not unpleasant. Yet she did feel a little cold. The aura disappeared moments later. “There.” Celestia opened her eyes and added, “I have surrounded everypony’s equipment and bodies in an anti-acid spell. Unfortunately I am unaware of how much protection you all will have, but it should suffice in keeping the Xenomorph’s acid blood from doing any damage.”

‘Now if only that spell had been put on me earlier.’ Rarity frowned when she looked at her injured hoof. She sighed and shook her head.

“So everything’s protected, huh?” Spitfire asked as she glanced over her wings. “Nice. Too bad we don’t have any armor spells with us. I’m pretty sure those things could pierce one with ease anyway.”

“There are some stronger spells like that,” Twilight said before continuing, “However, calculating the strength of an Xenomorph while adding its velocity and impact, an even stronger armor spell could potentially only last two to three hits. Given that they’re quick in attacking as well, the spell would last only a few seconds before it’d break.”

“So we’re pretty much screwed either way, huh?” Sparkdust shook her head, chuckling. “That’s great. I bet yah that the stronger spells can’t be cast easily either.”

“That’s not the worst of it, either.” Twilight shuddered before she continued, “We came across three other Xenomorphs. One was in its second stage, a Praetorian.”

“Are you serious?” Rainbow Dash’s mouth dropped. “We’ve already got seven of these things running around, and one of them’s gotten bigger?”

“What’s a Praetorian?” Rarity noticed some of her friend’s gazes meeting Aqua’s until Twilight cleared her throat.

“The Praetorian is the Xenomorph’s second stage of evolution. It becomes larger, and is able to endure a fight for a longer period of time.” Twilight closed her eyes halfway. “There’s still more to it. Another one dragged me a distance away from my group. The worst part of it was… it was using a telekinetic magic.”

Nopony spoke. Rarity couldn’t imagine these beasts with such a ability. “Oh come on…” Patchy spoke as he shivered behind Sparkdust. “One of dhese dhings has… magic?”

“I’m afraid so.” Celestia took her turn to speak. “It pulled Twilight away from us in a matter of moments. It seems to have inherited the capacity magic from its host. It’s the same size as the one from Ponyville. But… unfortunately… that’s not the worst of it.” She closed her eyes and murmured, “They have a Queen.” Rarity sat there, mouth agape.

Part of her felt like she knew already what was coming next. “Rarity.” Twilight hesitantly met her gaze. “We… believe it’s the one that came from you.”

“O-oh…” She had no idea what to say. At one point she would never have given it a thought, that the disgusting creature inside of her was alive. She had always found it comforting to believe that it was dead. But with it alive and roaming the island she was on, she feared that she’d come across it again sooner or later. Rarity shook a little, eyes watering. She felt Twilight wrap her hooves around her; it only sent Rarity into tears.

“So what’s the game plan now?” Daring Do asked. “There’s a Queen here. I don’t have to know a lot about the Xenomorph to know that’s bad. We have to get rid of her and all of her gross ‘foals’.”

“We should be getting out of here,” Blazing Ash argued as he walked past Aqua. “Let Bishop deal with this problem. If he gets killed, then that’s better for us, right? At least it’ll be one less problem to deal with.”

“You know, I have to agree with Ash there.” Sparkdust spoke up moments after. “Let Bishop get killed. We can come back and deal with this monster later, right?”

“I wish it were that simple.” Twilight shook her head, letting Rarity go and moving her attention to them. “If we left these things to thrive on the island, they could potentially build a colony. The more there are of this creature, the more likely we won’t be able to get rid of them all, even with the Royal Guard. And if they get off of this island, they’ll invade and infest every nation in the world. Everyone everywhere will die.”

Celestia nodded at the info Twilight brought up. “And even an alicorn such as myself doesn’t have the power to stand up to an army of Xenomorphs. Even just one Queen is a difficult task for me.”

Nopony spoke afterwards, but from the concentrated looks Rarity saw, everypony was putting forth the effort to come up with some idea. She swerved her attention to Celestia, who took a breath in. “It would be better if we found a more secure space to think about this problem. Let us continue forward before one of these Xenomorphs surprise us.” With that, she nodded to the remaining Royal Guard, who saluted back to her.

Patchy McHeart chuckled a little, but the frown didn’t go away. “I dhink she’s goh a good idea.”

“Well, we are ‘technically’ running away from the problem. It’s not that bad if we think about it.” Ash nodded. When Aquafrost took moved forward, her group followed behind.

Rarity took a step forward, but Twilight quickly walked in front of her. “Wait.” She waved for Applejack to move next to Rarity. Applejack waved Rainbow Dash over, who swiftly flew over and landed on the other side of Rarity. “How long ago did you three get injured?”

“It’s only been about a half hour.” Applejack was the first to respond.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “What’s so important about knowing that, anyway?”

Twilight didn’t respond, but instead closed her eyes. Her horn came to life with a magenta aura. The wounds were slowly encased by the light, and Rarity flinched when she felt a tingling sensation around her hoof. It was uncomfortable as some of that pain came back. As quickly as the aura came, it went away in a fast spark. The pain wasn’t as bad as before, Rarity noticed. She took off the makeshift wrap and saw that part of her hoof had been healed. However, the flesh was still exposed. When she swerved her gaze to Applejack, her left gaskin’s wound had decreased in size.

Applejack tested it out and didn’t limp as much as before. “Was that healin’ magic?”

Twilight nodded, a couple beads of sweat dripped down. “Unfortunately, I only learned the basic healing spell from Cadance. Healing magic is really hard, even for alicorns. I could only mend what the magic could.” Rainbow Dash checked her side and only found a small scar.

“It’s fine, darling. You’ve helped us at least.” Rarity tried to relieve the pressure, but the hoof still stung. She wrapped it up again and sighed. As she went to lift her bad hoof over Applejack, the four girls jumped at a metallic crashing noise behind them. They quickly swiveled around to see what it was, only to see something move to the other side of the hall.

“Hold on.” Daring Do moved up next to Rarity and whispered, “Let’s just act like we’re going to follow the group.”

The girls nodded and turned around, Rarity lifting her bad hoof over Applejack once more. They quickly joined up with the others; however, the pony behind them kept quietly shuffling back and forth. Daring slowly slipped around a corner, hiding behind it with one dagger in her mouth. It was only a second later that they heard her pounce on the pony. The girls turned around and watched as Daring struggled to pin the pony down.

In a swift movement, she finally immobilized the pony. But Daring’s eyes widened at whom she finally saw. “C-Crystal…?” The mare beneath her stopped struggling, a similar expression akin to Daring’s. “Y-you’re alive…” Daring helped Crystal up before she finally gave her a hug.

“I thought you were gone, too…” Crystal’s voice shook-- not with sorrow, but with joy. “I saw the explosion from one of Neighland-Yupony’s ships. I didn’t know if you made it.”

As the two continued, Twilight glanced at her friends. It was an unspoken command, nodding as she quickly trotted towards the others. Rarity held a smile for once, glad to see that there was another pony here to help them. It only strengthened the chance of their survival. There was an echo of hooves behind them. Rarity noticed Aqua had quickly separated from the others, running towards Crystal. When Crystal saw her, her smile brightened as they quickly embraced one another. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” Aquafrost quietly cried, tightening her grip around Crystal.

Aquafrost held her for a moment longer before she hesitantly let go. “I’m happy you’re okay, too.” Crystal returned the gesture. It didn’t take long for Rarity to notice how close the two were. Her smile brightened. This whole day was finally taking a turn for the better.

“Crystal Rune?” Rarity glanced over at the voice, seeing Princess Celestia take a step forward from the group.

Rarity brought her attention to Crystal, who turned towards the voice. When she saw Celestia, her eyes watered up. She took a step forward, followed by another before she practically leapt into Celestia’s forelegs. The crying that came from Crystal was a stinging sensation to Rarity’s ears. It was sad to see such pain coming from the pony who used to be one of Celestia’s pupils. Celestia didn’t seem to cry, but she looked near the brink of it. “I-it’s good to see that you’re alive and that you’ve finally gained some friends…”

“Hey…” Sparkdust quietly murmured. “I don’t want to be a buzzkill or anything, but… shouldn’t we be a little more quiet?”

Celestia glanced towards Sparkdust. Nodding slightly, she returned her attention to Crystal before her horn lit up in a light gold aura. As it encased Crystal, her crying slowed, becoming a soft whimpering. “Don’t worry, Crystal,” Celestia whispered, wrapping a wing around Crystal’s frame. “I will be here when you wake up. It’s time that you got some rest…” After Celestia spoke, Crystal finally quit crying, placed into a deep sleep. Celestia glanced over to Blazing Ash. “Is there a place in this building where we can rest for a moment? It’d only be for five or ten minutes.”

He hummed for a moment. “There’s a large lounge room just a few more flights up. It’s close to the exit. No vents. Should be a perfect place to sit down for a moment.”

She nodded before speaking to the others. “We’ll take a small rest. Cloudchaser is still our top priority, but we cannot help her if we do not rest.” She turned to Crystal, encasing her body again in magic and lifted her up with one wing onto her back before slowly getting up on all fours. “Let us take our leave.”

Rarity turned with Applejack and followed the group. Things really were looking up. Their numbers had risen significantly, and there were more ponies that could help fight and defend each other. Maybe their luck was turning for the better now, and that they didn’t need to worry as they had earlier. But they still had to be wary. It’d only take one mistake, one surprise from a Xenomorph and everything could be ruined.