Princess Celestia stepped through the open entrance, nodding her thanks to Blazing Ash. The wind greeted her, brushing past her fur as she exhaled slowly. She looked up at the moon and smiled as its light shone down on her and the others. Celestia felt a nudge on her right foreleg, bringing her gaze to meet Aqua’s. “Everypony is ready, Your Highness.”

When she bowed, Celestia chuckled. “There’s no need for such a kind gesture.” Aqua stood up with a faint smile. “There’s much that needs to be done. We must not focus on the pleasantries at the moment.” Celestia took a step forward. She stopped and tilted her head when she noticed Daring Do, ears strained forward while she was pulling out one of her daggers. “Daring Do?” Celestia called to the mare.

Daring Do took a step back. Her gaze never left the forest in front of the group. “There’s something in there. I’m getting a bad sense of deja vu here.”

Celestia had never seen her so frightened before. When Daring saw the Xenomorphs, she was frightened, but never like this. “What do you think it is?”

Daring went to answer but paused, ears flicking forward again. She returned to the forest, only to look up. She yelped and jumped back, dust flying up from where she once stood. Celestia strained her eyes to get a better focus on what it was. She could see the outline of the invisible object but couldn’t put a hoof on what it was. The object in question flickered with a electric aura surrounding its structure. When the item was finally visible, she didn’t need a moment to recognize what it was. “A spear?”

She yelped as a sudden pressure pushed her back, hitting the wall as the air was knocked out of her. That sudden force quickly sent a pain through her entire body. Holding back a cry, she turned towards the source of the pain centered around her left shoulder. The object was invisible at first before it too manifested in the form of a bladed disc.

“Princess, look out!” She heard Daring Do’s warning and threw a shield around herself at the sight of a light blue orb of energy. The light gold barrier lit up when the orb exploded upon impact. The force was enough to make Celestia flinch.

“Princess Celestia, no!” Twilight yelled. She made it only a few inches but was pulled back by Rainbow and Thunderlane before an orb nearly hit her, exploding against the wall of the Medical Building.

“What is going on in your head!? You were a step away from being dead,” Zecora scolded her. She helped Rainbow and Thunderlane pull Twilight back into cover.

Celestia did her best to ignore the stinging sensation that coursed through her right shoulder. Her eyes widened when the unknown presence attacking them laughed, the noise echoing all around them. “Where the heck is it!?” Aqua yelled, scanning the treetops.

“I-i-it’s one of them…” Daring Do muttered, shaking a little. “It’s one of those Predators.” Daring yelped and jumped back again when a blue orb came crashing towards her from within the tree line. She skidded back as the force sent her farther back. “Everypony, don’t go into those woods. It’s exactly where it wants us to go.”

“Then how’re you guys supposed to fight that thing?” Gilda hid behind a tree perched far from the treeline.

“I don’t know. It’ll have to come out sooner or later,” Daring said as she jumped back again as another blue orb was shot towards her. She was sent sliding back all the way to Aqua’s side. “We better take cover!”

“What about the princess!?” Babs Seed cried, pointing to Celestia.

Celestia’s vision blurred for a brief moment. She turned to the disc in her shoulder. Her horn glowed in a light gold aura, the same with the bladed circle. She let out a gasp as she pulled it out, the blood freely draining down the side of her chest and right foreleg.

“Twilight, get back here!” Rarity called out.

“Princess!” Twilight ran up to her shield, mouth agape. “I’ll help you.” As she came closer, lights flared towards the treeline. Branches snapped and a trail of smoke fluttered upwards as Aqua and Sparkdust fired into the trees. Blazing Ash pointed his crossbow and fired indiscriminately. All three of them were taking cover behind a cluster of rocks. Everypony else found something to hide behind.

She nodded but caught a glimpse of light. Celestia saw the incoming orb and yelled, “Twilight, get down!” Twilight looked up; just as the shield began to form, the orb impacted, Twilight crying out as she was sent hurtling into the wall next to Celestia. “Twilight!” Celestia yelled, eyes wide with fear.

She was hurt. There was a black mark across her shoulder. There were small cuts that bled slowly. Twilight blinked her eyes a couple times before murmuring, “I-I’m o-okay…” Celestia expanded the shield, forming it around Twilight.

Twilight stood up slowly before returning her attention towards Celestia. Her magic formed around her horn, as well as the wound on Celestia’s shoulder. Celestia flinched at the uncomfortable sensation. The stinging tingled for a moment later until it disappeared. She looked down at the wound and was happy it was reduced to only a small gash. The blood on her fur, however, was not washed away.

An eerie laugh echoed from the forest. It felt like it was surrounding them, the one presence somehow multiplying. “Where is that creature? How can we fight something when we can’t see it?” Celestia murmured to herself. Her horn lit up once more. Celestia pursued the first thought that came to mind. ‘If it will not reveal itself, maybe I can find it using a detection spell.' She closed her eyes and saw a wave of energy flowed towards the treeline. Nopony else would be able to see it except for her.

There was nothing in the tree line. ‘B-but… where is it?’ Her horn pulsed. She turned her attention to the sky and saw the outline of the creature as it was heading right towards her. One blue orb after another came from the creature’s plasma cannon in a short, slow burst. Each impact, Celestia flinched at the tiny pain coming from her horn. The Predator stuck the landing on top of her shield. She flared her horn; the shield flashed briefly as it launched the intruder back. “Everypony! It’s in front of the shield!” Celestia warned the others.

Aqua, Sparkdust, Crystal Rune and Blazing were the first to fire in Celestia’s direction. The Predator growled as an arrow struck its arm. Its cloaking device turned off, giving them all a good look at this Predator. Daring Do noticed it was slightly different than the one she had faced before. Its mottled skin had a red color to it as opposed to yellow, and its armor was black instead of silver. Tiny horns adorned the edges of its mask.

The Predator pulled the arrow out and swerved towards the ponies, firing its cannon at them; the three ponies dispersed while continuing their barrage of magic and arrows.

The Predator jumped from spot to spot, avoiding the ponies’ volley with a scary ease. Sparkdust was the first to charge forward, an ethereal sword at her side. She jumped up into the air and swung downwards. The Predator swiftly blocked it with its right gauntlet, grabbing her with its open hand and lifting her into the air. With a quick strike, it slashed its gauntlet across her stomach, the mare screaming in pain before it chucked her into the medical building. Glass shattered as her body hit a window, disappearing into the darkness. Aquafrost cried out and increased her rate of fire.

The hunter jumped up and shot its cannon again, knocking Aqua, Crystal and Blazing into the trees. When it landed back on the ground, it swiftly turned its attention back to Celestia. It laughed again and unsheathed the gauntlet on its left arm.

“Hey!” It glanced over its shoulder at Daring, who had both daggers out. “Remember me? I’m the one who took down one of your pals.” It stared at her for a moment before it roared and jumped high into the air.

She slid to the side as it landed and struck it with the dagger in her right hoof, piercing its shoulder as it growled in pain. Daring jumped in the air as it tried to kick her and slashed at it with the dagger in her mouth across its chest. Its blood glowed brightly as it stained the ground and Daring’s daggers. It grabbed her with its right arm, but she pierced it with her right hoof’s dagger, causing it to drop her as she flew back. “Anytime anypony else wants to jump in, that’d be really appreciated!”

It growled in annoyance as Spitfire and Soarin kicked it, the Predator skidding across the ground while still standing. When Spitfire flew at it again, the Predator caught her left leg and slammed her into the ground. It raised its right gauntlet, and as it went to strike her, Soarin kicked it again. Spitfire screamed as the gauntlet pierced the left side of her barrel. Soarin went to kick the Predator again, but it caught him as well, slamming its metal mask into Soarin’s face. As it stood up and went to kill Soarin, the Predator was again kicked across the ground, dust flying up as its feet were dragged across the grass.

“Leave them alone you monster!” Thunderlane yelled as he charged the Predator.

“Wait! Don’t do that, you idiot!” Daring yelled and charged the Predator. It swiftly turned on her first and punched her out of the air, sending her across the ground and impacting a tree hard. She gasped loudly, the air knocked out of her.

It growled in satisfaction before turning to the incoming pony, standing its ground as Thunderlane charged. As the kick landed, the Predator was forced back, but it grabbed Thunderlane by the neck. In one move, it rammed its right gauntlet straight into Thunderlane’s neck. Celestia was already horrified by the display she saw, but she was now watching a second pony die. It growled and ripped Thunderlane’s head off with ease, taking the first trophy from this group. “N-no w-way…” Trixie murmured, eyes wide at what just happened.

“No!” Celestia let her shield down and fired a wide beam at the Predator. It roared as it was finally knocked to the ground.

She quickly flew right towards it and raised her hooves into the air. As she hit the ground, it rolled out of the way. “How dare you harm these ponies! They don’t deserve to lose their lives. None of them!” Celestia fired another beam of magic. The Predator quickly dodged and shot a blue orb of its own. Celestia hastily flapped her wings and shot up into the air before speeding straight towards the Predator. It stood its ground, Celestia flying straight into it. It growled as it was pushed back towards the trees.

Celestia gasped as it stopped her charge. The world blurred out as it punched her in the muzzle, choking as another connected into her chest. Everything spun when it kicked her, sending her straight into the outer wall of the Medical building. It roared, beating a fist against its chest, and leapt straight towards her.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight yelled as she charged the Predator. It turned its cannon on her and let out another round, blasting Twilight back towards Rarity and Applejack.

“Twilight, are you alright!?” Trixie yelled, helping the others pull her back to cover.

As Celestia tried to catch her breath, she looked towards the others, seeing their eyes wide with fear. She understood why they didn’t move. This Predator had shown that it was capable of killing anypony within a few moves. And even with all the punishment that was given, it still shrugged off its wounds and bruises. It raised a gauntlet into the air and growled at her. Celestia thoughts ran at a fast pace. She had to find some way to defeat it. When one idea came up, she knew she’d have take a huge risk.

When she saw the gauntlet get closer, she caught it in her magic. But as she tried to resist, the gauntlet came closer and closer. Celestia screamed in pain as the blades pierced the right side of her chest. A sudden thwip echoed out, blood spurting out from the Predator’s right shoulder. She thought it was Blazing Ash, only to be surprised to see the Royal Guard pointing a crossbow at the Predator. But as the Predator tried to raise its gauntlet again, she grabbed it in her aura once more. Even with the agony that her body was facing, she stood up and refused to let it pull its gauntlet out. An ethereal object appeared by her side before she jabbed it at the Predator, the hunter roaring as Celestia thrust the halberd into it.

Celestia lifted it up and, in a quick fashion, pulled the halberd out and sliced the hunter three times in a blinding speed. It stood there for a moment before two fatal cuts sprayed its bioluminescent blood from its chest. It didn’t seem to notice these wounds. The reason why made itself known as its head slid off its shoulders and tumbled to the ground. As the decapitated creature fell, Celestia cried when the gauntlets came out of her, stumbling back to the outer wall of the medical building. “Princess!” Celestia slowly looked up and saw Aqua running towards her. Crystal and Blazing Ash quickly followed behind as they exited the brush. They walked around the Predator’s body and stopped a few feet away from her.

Aquafrost moved closer, horn glowing in a pale scarlet light. “You’re going to be okay…” Celestia flinched again as her wounds were mended, the pain much worse this time. When the sensation went away, she glanced down at her new wound. It was not fully closed; blood continued to trickle out. “I-I’m sorry… I can’t heal it any further.”

“It is alright, Aqua.” Celestia stood up, shakily at first. Her legs buckled but she caught herself, grunting as she struggled to stand upright. She felt somepony support her right side, turning to see Twilight with a frantic frown. “Don’t worry, Twilight… I’ll make it through this.”

“What about Sparkdust?! We need to go see if she’s okay!” Aqua took a step towards the open door of the Medical building but was stopped by Blazing. “What are you doing?”

“We don’t know if she survived that. You saw what happened to her.”

“I’m not going to accept that!” Aquafrost yelled. “I lost Taciturn. I don’t want to lose Spark, too!” Tears slowly trickled down her muzzle. She took a step forward but stopped in her tracks at the noise that echoed from within the building. It was like some high-pitched screech, sending shivers through everypony.

“Unfortunately… I must agree with Blazing Ash.” Celestia saw Twilight’s shoulder wound, the cuts on it continued to bleed, if at a slower pace. Spitfire too was hurt during the fight, a stab wound going through the left side of her barrel. Soarin and Rainbow Dash helped her up. “We’re too injured to fight a Xenomorph. We must take our leave immediately.”

“Sparkdust…” Patchy murmured, looking down at the dagger Taciturn gave her. Celestia understood their pain. They had just lost another friend from the sound of it. But they had to go on.

“Come, everypony. We must go.” Celestia moved forward, helped by Twilight as she limped onward. The others followed suit, Aqua hesitantly at first until Crystal guided her forward. This battle had cost them two more ponies. Two more lives that Celestia couldn’t save. She was ashamed of herself. Ashamed that she wasn’t able to protect them. But there were still more lives being lost. At this rate, the island would be nearly deserted by the time they found Bishop. He was going to answer for his actions. These creatures should not have come back. And she would make sure that he would be punished.

A sudden beeping echoed inside the Predator’s face mask. It followed the trail the marker made, going onto the surface where it had previously been. He had already been following another lead as to the whereabouts of his captain, but he knew in what condition he would be. These alarms only sounded when a fellow hunter had died, a thought that brought sorrow to his heart. Yet he would not dare show any emotion. This was to be expected on the hunt.

These hunts were always laced with danger. It wasn’t uncommon to lose at least one or two hunters on a trip. Some weren’t ready for the challenges these hunts faced, or were boastful and let their pride in their skills blind them. However, even experienced hunters were sometimes killed. It did not matter whether any other hunter had experience or were just beginning a new hunt, they always had to be on the alert and aware of their surroundings.

Silently, he trekked through the tramway. Each step he took was as quiet as could be. He figured that the serpents had killed both of his brothers. Or maybe one of them was unfortunate enough to be killed by one of these equines. He could not doubt those ponies. One had already shown that they were enough to take down his brother. But he could not assume. He had to see to his captain first. He strode onward further and further into the red-lit world of this underground tramway. He took one last step before he stopped.

There was an eerie sound; he thought of bones and flesh. When he took a couple more steps, he could see two serpents feasting on a body. The light green glow on their muzzles gave away who it was. He aimed his cannon at one of the Xenomorphs and fired off a round. When it made contact, the Xenomorph blew up into a spray of acid and chunks of chitin and organs. The second serpent quickly turned towards the Predator and roared, leaping onto the left wall.

He let out a growl of excitement. The Predator reached for a sheath on his left side, pulling out a refined and sharp blade. When the serpent leapt, he jumped back. But the Xenomorph was already on him, jumping on top of him and knocking him to the ground. With a quick kick, he knocked the serpent off of him. It screeched as it was sent backwards. He stood up and hastily ran towards it, watching it roll off its back and onto its feet. It growled and struck with its tail. The Predator moved to his left, dodging the quick strikes of the serpent. When it thrust its tail again, he caught it and with one fast swipe cut off the tip of its tail.

The Xenomorph screeched and took a couple steps backward. But it went from shaking in pain to hissing at him in an instant. It jumped at him again, but as it was almost on top of him, he grabbed at its neck and held it in the air. It tried to claw and bite him, but all it was hitting was air. With one quick upward thrust, the sword stuck out the top of the Xenomorph’s head, going through its mouth. There was no more screeching.

The Predator growled in satisfaction. It had not only surprised one serpent but was able to kill the other in one-on-one combat. He kneeled down to the one he had just killed and pulled one of his mask’s restraints off. He did the same for the next one and pulled it away from his face. His mandibles clicked together in pride. The hunter reached down and grabbed one of the serpent’s fingers. He ripped it off with a quick tug before bringing it close to his left cheek. He growled as he marked himself with its blood, the acid stinging until he pulled it away after making his last mark.

He stood up with his mask under his arm, turning towards the next serpent. Like before, he reached for one of its fingers and pulled it off. He barely flinched when he pressed the acid blood to his right cheek this time. With the same mark on both sides, other Predators would now know that he had killed two serpents. A great honor would be placed upon his kin this day. He glanced up and saw his dead captain. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, praying for a safe journey to the afterlife.

The Predator stood up and put his mask back on. It hissed as the mask turned back on. He turned towards his dead brother and reached for his wrist pad. No sentient creature would obtain his captain’s technology. They weren’t ready for the responsibility just yet. He flipped his brother’s wrist pad open and pressed a sequence of buttons. It flashed alive with red symbols in each square. He turned around and quickly took his leave, running in the opposite direction towards the next marker.

He had found his first deceased brother. All that was left was the other one. He would discover what had happened to him. But he could only assume that his brother was unlucky like their captain. A luck that he hoped would not affect him as well.

With each step she took, the pain in her chest and shoulder worsened. Celestia breathed in and out, but each gasp of air was labored. “You’re going to be okay.” She glanced down at Twilight, a deep frown on her muzzle. She shouldn’t have worried her so. Their predicament couldn’t have been avoided. That fight with the Predator had done a number on her. She was surprised how lethal that creature truly was. “We’ll find something in this next building. I know we will.”

“It’s okay, Twilight. I won’t succumb to these wounds.” If Twilight and Aquafrost hadn’t studied any type of healing spells, she may have not counted herself so lucky.

“I wish we could’ve taken Thunderlane’s body with us,” Spitfire murmured, walking a little unsteadily. Aqua had done her best to heal Spitfire’s wound. Thankfully, it had shrunk in size, but it still continued to bleed at a slow pace.

“I don’t think we could’ve. Like you said earlier, it’d only slow us down,” Trixie said as walked next to Zecora, helping her hold Cloudchaser’s limp body. However, as morbid that truth was, it was a truth that they couldn’t ignore. They’d only be slowed down by having to carry another pony’s body. Not to mention, as of now, most of the group was injured. It’d be much more difficult to deal with all these threats on the island. They had to find another building.

“Hey, I think I see something up ahead,” Daring Do called out. Celestia looked up to where Daring was pointing. There, just a small distance away, was another tall building. Glass adorned the whole exterior of the tall building. It was wide too, much larger in appearance than the Medical Building was. “There’s a place we could rest for a while.”

“It’s the Habitation Building,” Aqua spoke up, glancing between Daring and Celestia. “It’s where most of the guards on the island stay. With this alert going on, there shouldn’t be anypony inside the building.”

“I can imagine why they’d call it that. But why is it so big?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Aqua glanced over her shoulder. “Because it’s like a home away from home. You have baths and showers, a huge cafeteria where they serve almost all types of food you can think of, and even a practice range out behind the building for crossbow users like Blazing Ash here.”

“Not to mention that, as Aqua mentioned, this is where most of the guards stay,” Blazing Ash added. “The barracks set up here have at least four to five beds in one room. They’re also pretty spacious, so nopony is stepping on each other’s hooves.”

They certainly made it sound like they were treated like noble ponies. The Royal Guard was not as fancy as this place, but they made a point to treat each other well. Speaking of that group, she took a brief glance at the one next to her. He kept his gaze forward, but with the time she had, she took a better look at the stallion. Celestia firstly noticed that he wasn’t as well-built as most of the Royal Guard. He was skinnier, lankier compared to the usual guard. That’s what was so unusual. His armor even looked different. Shape-wise, it didn’t appear as bulky as the normal wear of the Royal Guard. It was fairly reminiscent of another type of guard armor. “Excuse me?”

The guard met her gaze with his own. “Yes, Your Highness?”

“How did you meet the requirements for the Royal Guard?”

“I’m a lot heavier than I look.” The lie was hard to notice at first, but Celestia could tell that he wasn’t being truthful.

She took a moment to consider all the possibilities and thought of one pony in particular. “Really? So why didn’t you join the Lunar Guard?” Celestia caught the hesitation in his eyes. She found the crack in his resolve.

“...I thought the hours would be better in the Royal Guard.” His act certainly did not waver, but Celestia had found him out.

“Well, that’s too bad. My sister wouldn’t enjoy hearing somepony so close to her saying that.” He fully met her gaze as Celestia spoke. The guard sighed.

Before he could speak, Daring’s voice caught her attention. “We’re here. Crystal, you, Aqua, and I will go check things out. Blazing, I want you and everypony else to follow us inside, but don’t come upstairs. We’ll have to do a thorough search just to make sure that we’re not stumbling into any unwanted company.”

As Twilight helped Celestia along, she returned her attention to the guard. “What were you going to say?” The guard didn’t speak at first, but his horn lit up in a deep blue aura. His armor flashed for a moment. When the light died down, Celestia finally caught on. “So, you are a part of my sister’s Lunar Guard.”

The guard nodded. He waved to his dark green armor. “I’m her guard’s lieutenant. Name’s Retrospect Saxon. At your service, Your Highness.”

Celestia couldn’t help the smirk on her expression. She knew the answer to her question, but she was still going to ask anyway. “So why did she have you infiltrate the Royal Guard’s ranks?”

“I was ordered to protect you at all times, Your Highness. Special request from your sister, Princess Luna.” He bowed after he spoke.

She was quiet at first. Celestia giggled once before it turned into a few chuckles. Celestia did not care if it hurt. “What’s so funny, Princess?” Twilight asked, glancing between Retrospect and Celestia.

Celestia took a breath after her small laughing fit. “I knew the answer I would receive. However, it was still good to hear. I knew Luna was going to try something.” The small smile on her muzzle didn’t budge. It was a breath of fresh air instead of all this violence and bloodshed.

“If we are to move to that solution, we must catch up with our friends,” Retrospect suggested, standing up and moving to Celestia’s left side.

He helped Twilight guide her along, but as they looked forward, Blazing Ash pointed at them. “Hey, look out! There’s an Xenomorph behind you!”

The three quickly turned themselves around to face the creature. When they did, Celestia’s eyes widened. It was the same size as the Xenomorph with magic, yet its chitinous skin was light gray in color. ‘Just like the Queen…’ It roared and jumped towards them. Celestia’s horn sprung to life as a light gold shield appeared in front of them. The Xenomorph landed on top of it, jumping back and hissing in annoyance. It paced back and forth as Celestia, Twilight, and Retrospect slowly backed up.

As they did, Celestia thought she could see something shuffling along the Xenomorph’s back. There were two objects flattened against its sides, yet she couldn’t figure out what they could be. The shield flashed as the Xenomorph struck with its spear-tipped tail. The impact left a small pain in her horn. The pain only intensified as it lashed out again with its tail. Celestia quietly gasped as her horn’s aura flickered. She had already taken a lot of damage in her previous fight, and it was finally affecting her magic’s strength.

A shadow passed over them as they entered the door. The Xenomorph roared and jumped one last time. As it did, Celestia let her shield down and closed the door with blinding speed. The door bulged towards them, the Xenomorph growling in frustration. “Hurry, we must get up the stairs!” Celestia ordered. She had Twilight and Retro back up and let everypony else move up the stairway. When Patchy McHeart was the last to ascend upwards, Celestia made her slow journey up the first flight.

Blazing led their group upwards. “Princess!” He leaned over the stair railing and said, “You must hurry. I don’t know how long that door will hold!”

She nodded. The others quickly picked up the pace, but she had a different idea in mind. “Twilight. Retrospect. I’m going to teleport us to the top. But I’ll need both of you to help me.” She did not like admitting that she would need help to teleport herself up a few flights of stairs, but it was necessary in this case. They nodded before their horns came to life, closing their eyes before Celestia did the same. They disappeared in a white light, reappearing on the top floor as Blazing Ash reached the last step.

“What are you guys doing up here?” Daring Do pushed a door to their left open. “We haven’t given the all-clear signal yet!”

“Too late. We got a Xenomorph trying to bust down the door downstairs,” Blazing Ash quickly informed her. “Everypony is up here, by the way.” There was a loud crash of metal downstairs. Celestia peeked over the railing and saw it standing on top of the broken door. It roared as its gaze met her own, jumping from railing to railing towards them.

“Everypony, through the door now!” Celestia yelled out the order. The group filed through, with Applejack and Rarity being the last ones through. Celestia, Twilight, and Retro backed up to the door. The Xenomorph hopped onto the spot they were previously at. When it lunged for them, Celestia closed the door on it as she had done minutes ago. Another roar of frustration came. They flinched when its spear tail burst through the metal. Quickly as they could, they backed up with the rest of the group.

“What’re we gonna do now?” Applejack asked, shaking a little, Rarity doing the same.

Her thoughts were flickering by at a pace she could barely keep up with. Celestia shook her head. ‘The best thing to do now is survey our area as quickly as possible.’ When she glanced around, her eyes widened. As before, she saw the walls were glass windows. But then the thought of the Xenomorph breaking one of them down with ease came to mind. “This place isn’t safe. We can’t stay here for long. We have t--”

“I can’t take it anymore!” Gilda yelled, backing away from the group. “I’m getting outta of this joint!”

“Gilda, wait!” Rainbow Dash called out to her, but the griffon flew up to the floor above them. A door opened and slammed soon after. Celestia looked back at the door the Xenomorph was at and tensed up, ready for it to come barreling through. But nothing came, only silence.

She tilted her head. “Okay… why hasn’t it busted the door down yet?” Spitfire raised an eyebrow.

Daring Do took a step forward, slowly nearing the door. “Daring,” Crystal quietly called out. “Don’t be stupid!”

When she looked into the hole the Xenomorph had created, she scanned the opening for a moment. “It’s not here.” There was a frantic tone to her voice. “It’s gone.” She pushed the door open and peeked over the railing. “It’s not inside the stairwell either.”

“Then where’d ih g--” Glass broke and interrupted Patchy, followed by the screams of pain as Gilda was pulled back out. The Xenomorph stood above her, dragging her across the glass and out of sight as it went up to the roof. A trail of blood trickled down the window. Everypony stood there in fright, but Rainbow Dash was the first to move, flapping her wings up to the final floor.

“Rainbow Dash, wait for us!” Soarin called out, quickly following after. Daring Do was the next to follow.

Celestia looked down to Twilight. “You must go and help them.”

“But what about you? I can’t lea--”

“You must!” Celestia ordered. “I can’t bear the thought of losing more ponies.” She pushed Twilight away with a wing. Her former student’s expression was nothing but fear. However, she finally nodded and unfurled her wings, following the others outside. But Celestia closed her eyes. “Everypony else, stay down here.”

“But you're in bad condition, Princess,” Aquafrost pointed out. “You should stay down here with us and rest.”

Celestia shook her head. “Even in my weakened state, I have to know how they’re doing.” Her voice was ragged with exhaustion. “Retrospect… h-help me up there.” The guard hesitantly nodded, his horn flaring to life. When Celestia’s aura came, they teleported up to the top floor.

Babs Seed whimpered as she and everypony else stayed downstairs. The filly hid behind Trixie and Zecora for protection. Zecora looked down at the filly behind her, but then saw something scurrying out from behind upturned furniture and across the floor. It was one of those pale, eight-legged creatures, and it was headed straight for the unaware filly! She saw it coil its tail in preparation to launch itself at her.

Babs Seed gave a startled cry as Zecora abruptly shoved her, causing her to fall to the ground. Before Babs could ask her why she pushed her, Zecora shouted, “Babs Seed, beware! There’s-”

Her words were cut off when the creature landed onto her face with an audible slap. Zecora shook her head as she tried to pry it off with her hooves. Immediately, the facehugger wrapped its tail around Zecora’s neck and squeezed. The sudden lack of air caused her to gasp involuntarily, allowing for the facehugger’s slim ovipositor to slide in her mouth and down her throat. She gagged at the awful taste and tried to scream, but all that came out was a muffled yell. The creature began to produce a sedative, and combined with the lack of air, Zecora’s eyes rolled back as she slumped to the floor. With its target subdued, the facehugger began to pulsate, breathing for the zebra while impregnating her.

At the top of the stairs, Celestia reappeared with a flash. With Retrospect’s help, they moved towards the door. Soarin came flying past the door, yelping as he landed on his back. When she could see out the doorway, there stood the Xenomorph.

However, those things on its back she had saw earlier had unfurled. Eyes wide with surprise and horror, Twilight staggered back. ‘I-it has wings?’ It flapped them at Twilight, Daring, and Rainbow Dash. But they only flinched, not backing down, their own wings unfurled. Yet she could see something struggling underneath it. It was Gilda, blood slowly pooling from underneath her body. She let out a scream which was swiftly silenced as the Xenomorph’s tail pierced through her chest.

“Gilda!” Rainbow Dash cried. She took off, flapping her wings in a swift manner. The Xenomorph swung its wings downward and flew straight into the air. It quickly charged towards Rainbow Dash. The speed Celestia saw from this creature was phenomenally frightening.

‘It’s flying at nearly the same speed as Rainbow Dash.’ This creature was only recently born, and here it was, already faster than most pegasi. Rainbow swerved downward as it nearly hit her. She flew back up to the roof and skidded to a halt. Twilight fired bolt after bolt at the flying monster. It dodged each bolt with ease before it turned towards its attacker. Twilight jumped as soon as it was nearing her, the Xenomorph almost hitting her as well. ‘This creature’s agility is just too fast for other ponies. They have to kill it here and now.’

Twilight returned her fire at the Xenomorph. One of her beams hit it in its side. It screeched in annoyance but didn’t go back to attack her. It circled once before flying to the ocean. The direction it was going, however, only frightened Celestia. “Absolutely not!” Twilight yelled, flapping her wings as hard as she could. It seemed that Twilight had the same realization as she did.

Celestia didn’t take her eyes away from Twilight as she ascended higher and higher into the air. Twilight’s horn came to life, the light grew greater in intensity as the seconds passed. When she pointed it towards the fleeing Xenomorph, a much wider beam of energy came out. The Xenomorph disappeared within the magenta light. The remnants of its body fell down towards the ocean and vanished within the giant pool of water.

Twilight slowly flapped her wings as she returned back to the ground. She breathed in and out, a couple beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. “Not… a single one of these monsters is returning to Equestrian soil. Not one!”

With a sigh, Celestia closed her eyes. ‘We’re lucky to have her here. Her strength is necessary for what will soon come.’ She opened her eyes and said, “Come back in, everypony. It’s safer inside the building for now.”

As Celestia turned around, Crystal was running up the stairway towards them. “Princess! Zecora she’s… she’s been… she has one of those things on her face!”

Eyes wide with fear, she nodded to Retrospect. He helped her down the stairs as fast as she could go while Twilight and the others flew down to the next floor. When Celestia reached the final step, she could see Zecora on the floor. Once she saw what Crystal Rune had said was true, Celestia quietly gasped. To see another one of her subjects in such a precarious situation only added to that pain.

Watching the facehugger implanting its terrible embryo into her hurt to even look at. “What’re we gonna do?” Applejack asked.

“Yes. How are we supposed to keep Cloudchaser and Zecora from dying? We can’t go back to Medical. I can’t operate any of the doctor’s tech; it’s too complicated for me. And they didn’t train Patchy with any of that knowledge either. And even if we could use any of the tech there, all of the doctors ran away with the other ponies. Most of them could be hiding in the safety chambers,” Aquafrost added.

Celestia stood quiet. She closed her eyes again and thought of a solution. They couldn’t remove the facehuggers; that much was obvious. If Aqua and Patchy couldn’t work any of the devices over in the Medical building, then that option was out of the question as well. ‘Not to mention that there could be more of the Xenomorphs roaming that area as well.’ She would not risk anypony else’s life. There were too many lives being lost already.

Then a thought came to her. The idea itself held a lot of risk. Not for the ponies saving them, but for Cloudchaser and Zecora; their lives would be held with a high uncertainty. But it was the only option Celestia could see working. “Spitfire.”

Spitfire turned towards Celestia. “Yes, Your Highness?”

“I have a proposal. However, there is a high risk.” Everypony stood there, staring at her with a hint of alarm. “The idea is if you and Soarin leave right now, you could get Cloudchaser and Zecora back to Equestria and have the parasites removed before they emerge.”

“B-but how could they pull that off?” Blazing Ash took a step forward. “Sure, they’re Wonderbolts, but we’re talking about a three- to four-hour flight. That might be too long. Cloudchaser and Zecora could be dead by then.”

“True.” Soarin glanced over at Ash. “But we won’t know unless we try. I understand it’s a risky idea, but if it means that we can bring them back to Equestria and save their lives, I say we give it a shot.”

“So why don’t you guys just cast some stasis spell on them?” Rarity looked between Twilight and Celestia. “That would work, right?”

Celestia looked to Twilight with an unsure look. Twilight looked back at her and shook her head. “Unfortunately, neither Twilight nor I have the strength at the moment. I’ve used up much of my energy to fight that Predator, and these wounds have sapped me of the rest. And Twilight herself just used about half of her magic to kill that Xenomorph with wings.”

Spitfire glanced at Soarin. “This really is an ‘on-the-clock’ mission.” She shook her head. “However, I believe we can pull it off.” She unsheathed her wings and flapped them, flying over Cloudchaser while Soarin did the same for Zecora. They picked them up and held them within their forelegs.

“Fluttershy.” The mare in question turned to Celestia. “I wish for you and Babs Seed to leave with them.”

“A-a-are you really sure about that?” Fluttershy stammered, rubbing her left foreleg.

“Yes.” Celestia’s muzzle gave way to a faint smile. “I understand your hesitance, but Babs Seed can no longer remain here. If she were to stay, she’d most likely get hurt. That is why you shall follow Soarin and Spitfire as fast as you can back to Equestria. When you return to Canterlot, you must find my sister. Tell her of what has taken place here. She’ll send help.”

Fluttershy hesitantly nodded. “Of course. I-I’m just scared for my friends. Wh-what if any of them is injured or wh--”

Applejack wrapped a hoof around her shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, sugarcube. We’ll be fine.”

Fluttershy stood still for a moment before nodding. “O-okay.” She beckoned Babs Seed over.

Applejack limped alongside Babs Seed. “Now ya’ll take care, alright?” She turned her attention to Babs. “And don’t you worry none. Just let Fluttershy carry you home. We’ll take care of things over here.” Babs Seed nodded, but hugged Applejack one last time. Fluttershy lifted up into the air with her wings and grabbed Babs Seed. She was a little unsteady at first until she could hold Babs up.

As Fluttershy took off with her cousin, Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash. Once she saw her friend holding the dead griffon, her heart sank. Though their history with Gilda wasn’t the best, she was still Rainbow Dash’s oldest friend.

“Gilda…” Rainbow Dash whispered, quietly sobbing by herself. Applejack limped to her friend and place a hoof on her shoulder. Rainbow Dash looked up to her, tears in her dark rose eyes. Normally, Rainbow Dash would try to hide her pain with bravado, but now she could only cry uncontrollably.

Applejack knelt down beside the pegasus and wrapped her forelegs around her. “You have to let her go.”

“...No.” Rainbow Dash said between hiccuping whimpers.

“Come on, sugarcube. Come on.” Applejack shushed her and gently pried Rainbow Dash away from Gilda’s unmoving form. Rainbow Dash offered no resistance, but continued to cry as she was led away.

Fluttershy stayed still for a moment, nearly crying, but she tried to stay strong. When Soarin and Spitfire flew up to the top floor, Fluttershy soon followed after. It was quiet as Celestia surveyed who was left. “The rest of us have one task. We’re going to find Bishop and stop him before anything else happens.”

“I think we have the strength. But we should take a moment’s rest.” Aquafrost glanced around the room. “If we stay here, I could fix everypony’s wounds. Patchy?” He turned towards her. “Do you think you could help as well?” It was only a moment before he nodded.

“Then we shall take the time to rest. We shall regain our strength and then finish what we have started here.” When Celestia finished speaking, everypony dispersed. She glanced towards Twilight’s way and saw her retreating without anypony else nearby. When Celestia thought back earlier to their first rest, she noticed that Twilight was acting strange. Maybe now she could look further into what was going on with her. She nodded to Retrospect and asked, “Help me follow her. But let us stay back a little.” He nodded without a word. She would get to the bottom of what Twilight was concerned about. She had to help her former student, and she wasn’t going to let Twilight run away from her problem anymore.

Author's Notes:

I hope you all are excited. This chapter is going to be nothing but fun!