Author's Notes:

The event you've all been waiting for! Here is the final struggle!

What will happen will definitely shock. All I have to say is... it's all my fault!

So much has been left unsaid. So much mystery as to what the future would hold. But this concern was to be left unnoticed. Twilight Sparkle’s thoughts flew a thousand miles an hour. Racing through the research building, they were trailing behind Bishop and his band of guards. Nopony had spotted them yet, but it seemed that Celestia at least had some idea what direction they were going. Wherever he was going, Twilight had assured herself that they’d stop him before he got away.

Once they did capture him, would Celestia keep her promise? Would she actually take Neighland’s life? She heard the scream of the guard she had killed reverberate through her thoughts. It had been her or him in that situation. But that did not mean that Twilight enjoyed taking that guard’s life. From the very start of this mission, everything had been so grim.

And as serious as this was getting, the danger was now setting in. She feared for her friends’ lives. If any of them got so much as a scratch, then there’d be nopony that would save the pony who hurt them from her fury. A loud crash of metal echoed in front of her, and she watched Celestia charge through the doors and into the moonlit night. She quickly scanned the treeline in front of her. Seeing glints of armor in the bushes, she yelled, “Neighland!”

When she finally passed through the door, Twilight saw what her teacher had seen. She could see faint outlines of ponies making their way through the brush. Celestia followed but took the cleared pathway, everypony else quickly following behind her. This full moon night felt like it signified something more, Twilight thought. Night was always the end of the day. The moon was always the last object to light the world. It only brought to the forefront that they or Neighland would fall this night. And hopefully it was Celestia’s group that would see this night through.

“Where is this stallion going!? He’s got nowhere else to hide!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew above Daring .

“Remember the landing platform?” Daring glanced up at Rainbow. “There’s still other carriages and possibly other pegasi guards. If he gets there, then he could take off and escape again.” Her frown only deepened. “We can’t allow that to happen!”

There was an echo of magic being fired; Pinkie Pie yelped and ducked as it flew right over her. It was only a second before Neighland’s group of guards were firing on them as they ran. Twilight threw up a barrier, stopping the barrage of magic, but felt her shield straining with each hit. When the onslaught of magic and metal stopped, she lowered the shield, watching Neighland’s guards quickly making their escape. “Hurry everypony! We must not let them get away!” Celestia ordered.

The treeline thinned out as they continued to run until their hooves echoed against marble. The group had finally made it back to the admissions building, but their attention did not waver from Bishop’s group. He was now visible in the middle of his group of guards, heading right towards the bridge. “Stop him! He must not get awa--”

A screech cut her off as an Xenomorph launched itself from inside the admissions building and onto one of the guards. He screamed in pain as it tore into him, blood spurting out and staining its dark brown chitinous skin. The guards backed up, some pointing at it with crossbows. “No! Don’t shoot it!” Bishop ordered; his guards stood still but did not lower their weapons.

One of the guards was violently pulled from the group, screaming as she was dragged into the building by a dark olive-yellow haze. Twilight’s eyes widened at the sight. She knew all too well which Xenomorph it was. Eyes on the building, they saw how damaged it was. There were small fires here and there, and most of the glass windows were broken. The screams of the mare were quickly snuffed out. Moments later, her Xenomorph killer came out and roared at Bishop’s group. Behind it shadowed a much taller Xenomorph. “Seriously!?” Rainbow Dash said as she floated above Daring, mouth agape as she flapped her wings. “I know we knew that thing was here, but seriously. Come on!”

When the Praetorian roared, Twilight flattened her ears, feeling a chill run up her spine. When it lowered its gaze at Bishop’s group, it charged them with terrifying speed. A shield formed around their group, auras illuminating from many of the guard’s horns. The Praetorian crashed into it, sending a large ripple through the shield itself. The smaller Xenomorph without magic jumped on top of the shield and then the Xenomorph with magic struck the shield with its tail.

It was an all-out assault on the shield protecting Neighland and his guards, one that Celestia and the others would not go anywhere near. “Whah do we do?” Patchy asked, hiding behind Aquafrost.

“Taking three Xenomorphs on at once is suicide.” Celestia glanced back to the group, ushering them ahead of her. “We have to keep out of sight for now.” If Bishop Neighland would relent and kill one or even two of them, if his guards could manage it at all, it would make this day so much easier. Twilight, however, didn’t have so much faith in him to follow such an idea.

If he had stopped his guards from firing, then there was no way he’d hurt the Xenomorphs. She would only guess that it’d come to bite him in the rear. The group hugged the rock wall behind them, moving as slowly as they could without bringing attention to themselves. They froze when a much louder roar echoed from within the admissions building. The ground shook under their hooves. Twilight didn’t need but a second to figure out what… or who it was.

A black claw-hand wrapped its bony fingers around a column until a eyeless head peeked behind the column to its right. It hissed as it gazed over at Bishop’s shield. It exploded in a flash of light, the three Xenomorphs jumping on guards unlucky enough to be in their path. The whole group of guards scattered, but one guard was wrapped around in a dark blue haze and immediately lifted off the ground. He cried out in fear as he was pulled right towards the Queen. Twilight looked up and saw that the Queen’s crest glowed brightly, her hidden skull now lit up by a light blue light; a sick parody of Rarity’s own magic.

There was a sickening squelch as the stallion was forcefully speared through on the Queen’s tail. Rarity cried as she witnessed the monster that was born from her killing another pony. It growled as it turned its attention towards the noise, its eyeless gaze piercing through each pony, like it could see into their very souls. But as it scanned over each pony, its gaze stopped directly on Rarity. She whimpered as each second passed--those seconds with the Queen staring at the pony who birthed her. Rarity was certain that it knew who she was. The Queen hissed at them and flung the dead stallion from its tail.

Rarity’s Daughter took a step forward and then another. “Don’t run. It’ll pick us off one by one,” Princess Celestia ordered, glancing over at the rest of the ponies behind her. “Just back up as quickly as you can.” As the group did as she instructed, the Queen hissed again, and swung her spear-tipped tail upright, pointed at them. It seemed that the Queen too was pondering her next action against such a large group of ponies.

The Queen growled. Moments later did, its aura reignited again. The whole group was covered with its dark aura as she pushed them all backwards, separating them all by a few feet. “It’s so not cool that this freak gets to use magic!” Rainbow Dash yelled, flat on her back and trying to get up.

Before they knew it, the Queen was charging them. With each step, the ground shook. It roared in unbridled fury, then with incredible aim, thrusted its tail straight towards Celestia. A bright light flashed as Celestia blocked it with her halberd. Dust picked up and the ground was upturned as she skidded backwards, the tail pushing against the halberd’s blade.

“Princess!” Twilight called out. With a quick flap, she flew into the air. She unsheathed the scythe and kept flying towards her target. Of course, she did not know how to hold this weapon, but even with this inexperience, she did not waver from her goal. A screech echoed as Twilight swung the scythe, the Xenomorph’s acidic blood laced onto the blade after slashing its left arm. The Queen quickly turned on Twilight. She yelped as it tried to claw her out of the air. As she tried to ascend to the sky, a force pulled her back down, and she screamed on the way to the ground.

Upon impact, her eyes widened, breath all but lost to the air above her. A shadow moved over top of her, the ground shaking but Twilight felt the wind pass her by as Rainbow skidded across the ground, clutching onto Twilight. “You okay!?” Twilight hesitantly nodded but held focus on the terrifying giant in front of them.

It roared and took a step forward, pivoting on its heel and sweeping its tail across the ground. Daring and Crystal jumped back in time, but Applejack and Rarity went flying across the open field. “No!” Twilight cried and quickly stood up. She ran towards them but stopped as the ground shook again. But the Queen had stopped moving and seemed to notice this as well.

The Queen turned her head and hissed in the direction it was coming from. Twilight flattened her ears at the sound of a new roar. Yet, it somehow seemed familiar. Trees crashed and cracked as this thing ran towards them. When the line of trees were knocked down, a new and larger beast stood before them. It roared at the Queen and charged her, Twilight yelping as she hastily ran out of the way. The Queen screeched as this new beast rammed into her, sending her crashing into the admissions building.

Her screeches of pain were drowned out by metal being crushed and falling onto the ground. Dust flew up into the air, hiding the building from their view. Twilight could still see everypony else, but also heard the cries of terror as the other Xenomorphs were killing one guard after another. “Quickly, everypony. Gather back together befo--” Her voice was drowned out by the new creature as it turned its glowing green eyes towards them.

Twilight lit her horn up, the light reaching this new, much larger beast. Her eyes widened when she recognized it as a dragon. But the color pattern, its lavender and pale green scales, brought tears to her eyes. “S-Spike…?”

“W-wait a minute. That’s Spike!?” Rarity took a step back as her pupils shrunk.

The dragon in question turned his gaze toward her, growling as he opened his mouth. “Spike! It’s me, Twilight!” But she yelped as he lunged for her, roaring after her as she quickly ran from him. “Spike! Snap out of it!” He only growled in response before rushing her again. She quickly dodged his bite but hastily unfurled her wings and flapped them upwards and onto his head. “Please! Don’t you remember us?” The tears only trickled down at a faster rate. “Don’t you remember me?” Her horn brightened until she rested it against Spike’s head.

His eyes widened. As he stood still, Twilight could see the flash of all her memories flowing through, each as vivid as the last one. “P-please… I know you’re in there somewhere. You have to remember…” She did not know what Bishop had put him through here, or why, but it brought a rage that she had not felt in a very long time--the same one that she had felt after Shining Armor had died.

She could not let that get in the way now. Twilight had to get Spike back. After a couple moments, he only seemed to stand still, Twilight standing upright and into his eyes. “Spike…?”

His much larger pupils met hers until he blinked. “T-Twilight?” The much deeper voice was unmistakably Spike’s, but it sounded so grown up! Twilight’s smile grew all the same.

“I’m so happy that you’re all right!” Twilight hugged his snout. She thought that she’d never let go, that she’d somehow feel safe. A screech interrupted that hope as the Queen burst through the pile of rubble. She shook herself and turned towards Spike, roaring loudly at this new and much larger challenger. He hesitated for a moment but roared right back as he took one step forward, shaking the ground around the ponies.

However, this fighting was going to get them nowhere fast. This Queen did not seem fazed by Spike at all; a frightening fact indeed. She looked at the admissions building. She knew it went down even farther underground since that was where…

“The generators!” She glanced down at Celestia and the others. “Hey! If we can overload the generators, there’s a possibility that the Queen won’t survive the explosion!”

“That’s dangerous, though!” Aquafrost called back. “The whole facility will blow up! We could end up killing ourselves as well!”

“That’s a risk we should be willing to take!” Celestia said, glancing between the others and Twilight. “I have faith that Twilight’s plan will work!”

Twilight nodded and said, “Okay! Rarity, Patchy, Pinkie! I need you down there by the generator. If I remember the details, it's a valve system. You just need to turn some valves far enough to the point where the pressure will build up inside the generator and cause it to explode. The rest of us will keep you protected!” The group nodded in unison and quickly made their way towards the admission building.

The Queen roared at them but stood her ground as Spike took another step forward. “Do you think you can hold her off?” Twilight asked Spike.

He only smiled. “I’m bigger than her. This should be a cinch!”

“Don’t you dare get cocky!” Twilight warned Spike, knowing all too well how dangerous one single Queen was. “Just be careful!” Twilight flapped her wings and lifted off his muzzle, Spike roaring as he charged the Queen and crashed into her. The ground shook as the two tried to out-muscle one another. As the Queen thrust her tail forward, the spear-tipped tail bounced off his scales. She tried scratching with her claws but met the same resistance.

The Queen screeched as Spike bit around her neck, not penetrating the chitinous armor, and tossed her towards the treeline. She skidded across the ground but got back up quickly and charged Spike again. As Twilight watched, she shook with worry. She had to have faith that Spike would survive this fight. This battle had only begun. By the end, they’d all find out whether they could stop the Xenomorphs and Bishop or fail and be killed trying to protect Equestria.

Crystal had never thought she’d ever get involved in a scenario like this. Fighting alongside one princess was a dream that most ponies could only ever imagine, but with two princesses? One famous for her magic and the other famous for her one-thousand-year rule? It was hard not to be excited by this whole prospect. She glanced to her left and saw Princess Celestia nearby, running with long strides as Retrospect kept up with her.

To her right, she saw Aquafrost and Daring Do, and everypony else was behind her. She felt the ground rumble and watched as Spike tossed the Queen aside again, the Xenomorph roaring in fury. She already knew that these creatures had highly acidic blood. Spike could not actually harm the Queen without risking injury as well. It was the least he could do to keep the Queen distracted for them.

They passed through the broken glass walls, quickly entering the building with all haste. “Here’s the idea.” She glanced over at Celestia. “Twilight. You and Rainbow Dash keep survey of what’s going on between Bishop’s guards and the Xenomorphs.” The two nodded and unfurled their wings, quickly ascending up into the large exposed interior circle. “Applejack, I want you right here. You’ll be the last line of defense if anything gets past us.”

“Can do, princess.” Applejack gripped her axe and held it out.

“Daring Do, Aquafrost, Crystal. I want you three to be the first line of defense. I’ll stay in the middle in case you require assistance.” The three nodded before Daring and Aqua ran up to the front. Crystal took a step but felt her former teacher’s hoof rest upon her shoulder. “Please… do take care, Crystal.”

Crystal glanced back with a small smile. “Of course, Princess.” Crystal quickly ran forward. When she caught up with Daring and Aqua, she looked back to see Celestia lowering Rarity, Pinkie, and Patchy down to the generator. That wasn’t important at the moment. She could worry about them later. Another couple of steps and the three hid behind the right side of the entrance. “Alright, where are the guards?”

“There they are.” Daring pointed towards the large group of guards hiding behind the rock formation.

“Wow,” Aqua murmured. “There’s at least… forty of them. Bishop’s really packing a lot of power there.”

“It’s a wonder why he doesn’t have any earth ponies. It’s just a bunch of pegasi and unicorns,” Daring noted. “That’ll play into our favor, at least. He doesn’t have any muscle. Just speed and magic.”

“Right, but even without physical strength, we shouldn’t get too overzealous. Magic and speed are just as dangerous. But as long as they don’t notice us, we should be fine.” Aqua turned to the other two.

A screech echoed in front of them as the smaller Xenomorph jumped onto a fleeing guard. The guard’s scream was short-lived as his head separated from his body, the Xenomorph’s tail slicing violently downwards. The stallion’s head rolled away, and then the Xenomorph looked in the three mares’ direction. It hissed as it crouched down in preparation to pounce.

Crystal and Aqua’s horns lit up as they charged their magic. When it jumped, there was a flash of blue behind it before the Xenomorph blew up into chunks. The girls quickly backed up as its body parts skidded towards their direction. They knew they had an anti-acid field on, but without any sort of tests on its effectiveness, they didn’t know how well it would protect them.

“N-no way.” Daring stared ahead. “It’s another one of those Predators! How many of them are there?” All three of them could not see where this Predator was, but they knew it was somewhere close by. Some distance in front of them came a blue flash of light. “Get out of the way!” All three of them ducked as it sped past them, exploding behind them in a flash of blue. They glanced back to see that Princess Celestia and Retrospect were okay, a light gold shield protecting her from the blast.

“Is everything okay up there?” Celestia called to them.

“We’re fine,” Crystal responded, getting up slowly before helping her friends up.

“Hey!” They looked up to see Rainbow Dash floating next to Celestia. “You three got some guards heading your way. I think they’ve found us out.”

“Got it. We’ll make sure to stop them,” Daring said. Rainbow Dash flew back up after the acknowledgment.

“And girls?” Crystal, Daring, and Aqua turned back to Celestia again. “This time, it is unnecessary to stun or incapacitate them. I want you three to… to use lethal force.”

The words that Celestia uttered sent a chill down Crystal’s spine. Never before did she ever think she would hear such a command from her former teacher. They hesitantly nodded before quickly turning towards the entrance. “Hey, Daring,” Aqua asked.

“Yeah?”

“I want you to go up a floor above us. If any guards get past us, then you’ll have the element of surprise.” Daring Do nodded and hastily flew up to the next floor. “You ready, Crystal?”

Crystal glanced at Aqua, the two holding each other's gaze. Both knew what they were about to do. As a former mercenary, Crystal was used to taking a life. But Aquafrost was not. “I-it has to be done, right?” As Crystal finished speaking, a bolt passed by her head, the two ducking as a pegasus guard floated six meters away, unloading a barrage of bolts towards them. Aqua and Crystal took cover behind adjacent walls across from each other.

Before long, magic echoed out as it hit the walls they took cover behind. ‘Great. We got crossbows and magic being fired at us.’ It only brought horrible memories from her earlier experience in such a firefight. ‘This time, nopony is dying on my watch.’ She peeked from her corner and saw half of Neighland’s forces meters away from them, taking cover behind anything they could and firing at them.

When one broke cover, she fired at the pony. They tripped up, the magic barely missing them as they made it to the other side. She quickly took cover, the vibrations of magic hitting her location only increasing. “I’m going for a different location!” Aquafrost nodded before returning fire. The mare flinched when one of her bolts hit its mark, a stallion crying out in pain. Crystal took her chance and moved around a corner and to another broken window.

When she peeked out, they were exposed to her sight. “Perfect. A flanking position.” She charged a beam of energy up before peeking out again and firing it at the lone flying pegasus. A hole exploded through the guard’s chest before they fell down to the ground. But her position was compromised as soon as one of them spotted her. She could hear orders from their side until a barrage of bolts and magic hit her position.

Quickly she changed positions, heading back towards where Aquafrost was. She saw her firing a beam of magic towards the guards and quickly hiding behind cover. “There’s just too many of them!” There was a rumble underneath their hooves; she was all too aware of the dragon, the one that Twilight had called Spike, as he was fighting the Xenomorph Queen.

Such a dangerous task. Yet their predicament wasn’t any better. A stallion’s cry echoed to their right; she watched as the Predator was now visible, ripping the pony they heard in half with its left gauntlet blade. It was followed by a screech as the Xenomorph with magic pounced towards it, only to be knocked away with a swift kick by the Predator. They heard the crash and bending of metal but held their focus on the large group of guards in front of them.

A sudden explosion knocked the two back, and they skidded across the marble floor. When they looked up, five pegasi guards flew right towards them. Both rolled away from each other as metal bolts met marble floor, clinking off the ground. Crystal looked up and saw them pass by quickly. “Daring Do!” Crystal called out.

As she did, Daring Do appeared over top of one guards. The stallion yelped as she drove both daggers into his back, crashing on top of him onto the floor. Three were left as they charged right towards Celestia and Retro. But this tactic was just so sudden. Were they throwing their lives away for some meaningless charge?

A sudden gush of blood erupted from the far-left guard’s head. The far-right guard spun as Celestia swiped at her with the halberd. A shield materialized in front of Celestia as the guard retaliated, only for a quick yelp as the halberd appeared above and straight into the mare, knocking her to the ground as well.

The last one was flying right towards Applejack, and it quickly came to Crystal as to why. “They’ve figured out what we’re doing.” She turned to Aqua and Daring. She then shouted towards Celestia. “Princess! They’re trying to stop the others from overloading the generator!”

Celestia’s eyes widened as she watched the guard slowed their pace. “Applejack! You have to keep him from stopping our progress!” Applejack nodded, holding the axe with her left foreleg. But the guard, as they slowed down, increased their speed suddenly. Applejack was fired at with a barrage of bolts, to which she awkwardly lifted the weapon up and slammed it down onto the ground. A black wave of energy pushed the bolts back and threw the guard backwards.

There was a sickening cry as he was launched straight towards Celestia’s halberd, halfway stuck onto the weapon’s shaft. The display of violence was nothing short of gruesome; yet more disturbing was the fact that Celestia was participating and purposely striking with the intent to kill. Crystal shook, fazed by her mentor’s willingness to use violence. “Look out!” Crystal looked back as Daring Do called to her, but the world spun, a stinging sensation across her muzzle. Bouncing on the ground, she yelped all the while until she landed on her stomach.

When she stopped skidding, she looked up to see Aquafrost pinned against the wall, a hoof to her throat. “You just couldn’t leave Bishop alone, could you?” Crystal’s frown deepened as she saw Ash, pinning the mare he called captain by her neck. “You and the rest of your friends; none of you are leaving this place alive.”

Crystal charged a beam and let it loose. Ash grunted as he was knocked back, and Aqua fell back to the ground, coughing as the air came rushing back. Ash quickly got back out and held out a spear in his right hoof. “So be it then. If I have to exterminate my own kind to get out of this hellhole, then so shall it be done!”

Aqua hastily stood up. Her spear launched from her sheath, and she pulled it back to her side. He thrusted his forward, Aqua deflecting it before swinging it from her right side. He blocked and followed up with another overhead swing. To Crystal, it appeared they were even, both keeping on their hooves, neither one even getting a scratch. She glanced over her shoulder to Daring. “We need to help Aqua. If she gets hurt, Ash will take advantage of it!” Daring nodded and quickly unfurled her wings, flying towards Aqua with Crystal by her side.

With a quick thrust, Aqua yelped as Ash’s spear nicked the right side of her muzzle. She jumped back, soon replaced by Daring, surrounded by a ice blue aura, Crystal tossing her forward with an added boost in speed. Ash skidded back again, Daring somersaulting in the air before kicking off with another extra boost in speed. She ducked underneath his spear thrust, stabbing him with her left dagger. But he retaliated with an unnatural reaction time, cutting the right side of Daring’s barrel and kicking her to the ground a few meters to his right.

He glanced down at the dagger in his right shoulder and reached it with his left hoof. Ash grabbed it and pulled it out without uttering or groaning in pain. Blood poured out but he didn’t seem to notice and tossed it to the side. Instead he cracked his neck and smiled. “Thought a mosquito bit me.”

“Mosquito!?” Daring yelled, glaring at Ash as she shakily stood up.

“Guess so. Not that I could feel the dagger sinking in anyway.” Ash sneered as he glanced between Daring and Crystal, who stood by Aqua. All three held expressions of surprise. “What? Does it surprise you all that I cannot feel pain?”

It was such a shock. He could not feel pain. It only added to the difficulty of this fight. Crystal turned to Aqua. “If we all attack together, it should keep him on the defensive. And the fact that he can’t feel pain should help us. He’ll only be able to take so much before his body gives up on him.” Aqua nodded before the two quickly ran towards Ash. Daring flew into the air again with a flap of her wings and straight towards the stallion.

Ash ducked as Daring flew past him. He turned towards Crystal and Aquafrost. As Aqua blocked his strike, Crystal let a magic bolt loose, going through the stallion’s left shoulder. But he tripped up Aqua with his spear and slammed it down on top of Crystal. Crystal felt the world spin again until her body slammed into the wall. She watched as Daring came in for another flyby; she scored a mark across his chest, flying under his strike and skidding across the ground. She lifted off again but was slammed into the ground by Ash’s spear.

Daring screamed as he thrusted the spear into her gut, throwing her down the hall towards Celestia. “Daring!” Crystal cried out and shot at him again. Ash flinched as another bolt passed through him, a bloody hole in his right shoulder now. He turned towards Crystal and shook his head. It did not help either that, as this fight was going on, the guards had stopped firing and were chanting Ash’s name.

“I have to commend the effort you’ve put into fighting me, but I think you’re spent. I have enough stamina to keep fighting you three forever.” Ash smirked as he slowly made his way towards Crystal. “You three mares, however, can only last so long.” The butt of another spear smacked him across his muzzle as Aqua came back, hitting him again and forcing him a step back.

“Don’t you dare hurt Crystal!” Aqua yelled and thrust her spear forward. He knocked the attack aside and threw Aqua to the ground with his hooves.

“Just you wait your turn. You’ll get your due here soon enough.” Ash knocked Aqua to the side and returned his attention towards Crystal. “Now… where were we? Ah yes…” He stood a foot away and continued, “this is the part where I believe you die.”

Crystal gasped as the spear was driven straight into her chest. The world darkened around her, but she held on. As he tried to pull the spear away, her horn brightened and in a sudden puff of mist formed an ice shield, stopping the spear from coming out. “What? Let go of it, you stupid mare. You’re only delaying the inevitable.”

“N-no… just the opposite of that.” Crystal smiled as she saw Aquafrost stand up, the spear pointed towards Ash. When Aqua threw it with her magic, Crystal chuckled. “It’s not my time that’s ending; It’s yours!” Ash stood still as Aqua’s spear hit home, pointing straight through his neck. He gasped for air, grabbing the spear with his left hoof. “It’s you who’s delayed the inevitable.” And with that last word, she shot a magic wave straight through Ash’s neck. He stood still until Aqua’s spear fell to the ground. The next thing that came was his head, his body falling to the ground, blood pouring from his decapitated head.

Crystal sat there as the sounds of battle still went on nearby. The ground shook as both the Queen and Spike battled it out. She could not see it, and did not know who was winning, but did believe that the dragon would beat the Queen. She unfroze Ash’s spear and watched as it tumbled out of her chest. “Crystal!” She heard two voices at the same time, watching as Aqua ran towards her. A stinging sensation wrapped around her chest, watching as Aqua healed her. “You’re not dying. I saved you last time. I can save you again,” Aqua whimpered.

The pain slowly subsided as Crystal looked down. Blood stained her dark-green fur, but the wound caused by the spear had shrunk. She closed her eyes, slowly breathing in and out. “T-thank you…” Crystal murmured, helped up by Aqua. They turned to their left and saw that a light gold barrier had been put up at the front door. They looked over at Celestia to see her standing over Daring, whom stood up as the light gold aura around her disappeared.

“Di-did we get him?” Daring asked.

Crystal nodded. “He won’t be bugging us anymore.” Crystal turned to Aqua as she felt her own body shake, watching as tears came down her muzzle. Crystal could only hug Aqua, knowing that, even if Ash had lied to them all, Aqua had worked with him for a while. It seemed like she had lost an old friend. There was still so much more to do, and only more death would come if they couldn’t get this conflict over and done with soon.

There was so much that had been going on. Twilight, however, kept glancing back at Spike, watching as he tussled with the Queen Xenomorph. Each second, she prayed that Spike would not get hurt. Each moment that passed was another an instant where she could only hope that the Queen would not find some way to hurt Spike. It was a struggle to stay where she was. If she could, she’d fly right to his side and help him fight that monster with him. Even if he was now a literal adult dragon, he was still her little brother--perhaps even her son.

He was family, and she wasn’t going to let him get hurt. “Hey, Twilight!” She turned to see Rainbow Dash waving her over. “You should come and see this!”

Twilight quickly ran over to Rainbow’s left side and peered over the edge. Her eyes widened when she saw another Predator standing in the middle of the courtyard, adjacent to it only a few feet away was the Praetorian. From the glowing blood stains running down the Predator’s legs, it was obvious that this thing was injured. But the Praetorian appeared in no better shape, considering the cuts running across its chest and shoulders.

The Praetorian growled and thrusted its tail; the Predator quick-stepped to the side. He jumped out of the way again and grabbed its tail before throwing the Praetorian towards the group of guards. They scattered, but three imploded into a bloody mist, causing Twilight to gag and look away from the sight. Even with all the violence she had seen, it was still hard to digest any of the sights she had witnessed.

“Twilight!” Recovering for the moment, she moved over to the hole and looked down towards Celestia. “We need assistance. I can’t hold my shield for any longer.”

“It’s the door facing towards the south!” Daring Do added. Twilight nodded, swerved towards the edge, and crouched behind the wall. She glanced over the wall and saw the group of guards taking cover among the various low walls.

She glanced over to Rainbow, who joined her, crouching to her right. “Rainbow. I’m going to charge up a spell that should knock them to the ground. It’ll incapacitate them long enough for you and Daring to knock them out.” Rainbow grinned when Twilight finished, possibly at the thought of fighting alongside her idol.

With the plan agreed, Twilight’s horn glowed brightly. A ball formed at the tip of her horn, which grew just a little bit as more and more energy was condensed into the magic spell. With one last pulse, she stood up and pointed the magenta ball towards the center of the guards; with a loud blast, it shot towards the ground in a blur of light. The group of guards yelled in surprise as they were all knocked to the ground.

In a blur of rainbow, Dash quickly passed over Twilight and towards the guards. She flew down one line and knocked each guard out with the hilt of her sword. It wasn’t long before Daring flew from the building, slower, but still showing the same determination as she followed Rainbow’s lead. It looked like the plan was working. Everything was going their way for a change.

The building shook, Twilight swerving towards the source. She quickly ran up to the building’s edge and saw that the Queen had been knocked to the ground again by Spike. She roared at him, quickly standing up and hissing at him. He only snorted smoke before opening his mouth. A river of green flames spewed from his mouth. The Queen was engulfed in a matter of moments.

Yet as it passed, the Queen moved right towards where the other Neighland guards were. Twilight could hear screaming; the smell of burning flesh. The stench of the dying was overwhelming. It was too much. “Spike…” Twilight had known he had the power to breathe fire, but his adult form was much stronger.

The trickling of his fiery breath had ceased, but the Queen still stood. There was a barrier in front of her, a blue haze that quickly disappeared. “N-no way…” An explosion rang to her left as the Predator jumped on top of one of the rocks, firing a blue energy pulse at the pursuing Praetorian. But that scuffle only distracted her for so long before she returned her attention to the conflict that Spike was involved in.

The Queen roared and took a step forward. But she did not charge like last time. She moved her eyeless gaze from side to side, examining Spike a little too much for Twilight’s liking. It soon became apparent that this Queen was sizing him up, like she was forming some type of strategy--a way to defeat Spike and move onward. Her tail raised upward, but a screech echoed from the Queen as she punctured herself with her own spear-tipped tail.

Twilight took a step back, shivering at this display of self-destruction. Her pupils shrunk when the Queen dug her claws into her chest; her bright green acidic blood spread across both claws and trickled down her tail. ‘What… what is this Xenomorph doing?’ The Queen raised her head up to Spike. She took a step forward, followed by another one. With one last step she charged forward, running right towards the dragon.

Spike stood a few feet above her. Twilight knew he had a chance at winning. A dragon’s power was legendary for a reason. He roared at the Queen and took a step forward. Twilight’s eyes widened as the Queen came to a sudden stop, swerving on her feet as she flicked her tail at Spike, the acidic blood spraying across his chest and shoulders. He retreated back, but smoke began rising from the areas the acid hit. She folded her ears back as she heard Spike roar in pain.

The Queen roared in triumph and thrusted her tail forward. The tail, after so many times being deflected by Spike’s stone-hard scales, pierced him, blood spraying from his chest as the tail hit its mark. When her clawed hands broke through his scales covering his shoulders, the same horrific red liquid covered his chest; a morbid painting of death. “Spike!!!” Twilight cried out as tears trickled down her muzzle.

She lifted off with a flap of her wings. She had to help him. Twilight could not lose another family member. Images of Shining replaced Spike as that same cold sweat returned; the last breath he gave echoing over and over. “Spike, no!!” But the wind pushed back as she came crashing through the window, screaming as she skidded across the floor.

Twilight quickly lifted herself up but was met with the Xenomorph that had surprised her before. Its dome glowed with its pale olive color. “Nooo!!” Twilight ran right towards the Xenomorph with her scythe unsheathed in her magenta aura, yet her hooves stopped in place as she was shoved back, losing her breath as her back hit the wall. The scythe dropped from her magic grasp. The Xenomorph ran on all fours right towards her.

Twilight screamed as its tail pierced right through her stomach, crying in agony at the awful sting. But as it tried to hit her again, her horn grew brightly before a beam of light sent the Xenomorph flying back. She fell down, gasping as the pain worsened. Yet Spike’s loud scream of pain resonated in her ears. The deep voice she heard was soon replaced by the voice she had known forever. The baby dragon she had raised was crying out to her, in need of help that was not going to come.

“Noo! Spike!!” She got up and ignored the overwhelming pain in her stomach. She had to save Spike. Twilight was not going to let him share the same fate as Shining Armor. The ground shook. Looking at the horrific scene, she watched as the Queen picked Spike up and tossed him onto the ground. Her tail and claws flew in a flurry, opening new wounds across his chest and even into his stomach, Spike fighting to push her back to no avail.

Yet the horrific sight was blocked by that same Xenomorph. It screeched and jumped right towards her. She screamed as the aura’s light from her horn intensified. With one wide beam, the Xenomorph’s chest had a huge hole in it. It let out a cracked screech before hitting the floor and slipping over the edge and out of sight. Twilight unfurled her wings and took off as quickly as she could.

With her magic, she lifted up the remaining weapon, the gun that Bishop Neighland had taken from one of those dead human soldiers. Pointing the gun at the Queen she yelled, “Get away from him, you freak!” She pulled the trigger, feeling it kick against her magic. The Queen roared as the bullets penetrated through her armor, acidic blood bursting from the wounds. But she turned around and screeched at Twilight. With her attention away from Spike, Twilight had to lead her away. She fired another burst of rounds at the Queen.

Yet a dark haze caught the bullets and tossed them to the side. Twilight ducked as the Queen thrusted her tail. Yelping, she flew up as the Queen swung her tail this time. Twilight quickly backed off and fired again. The Xenomorph roared as the bullets hit her chest, but still to no avail. Twilight glanced over at Spike and saw him shakily stand up. He shook as he stood, blood dripping from his wounds. The damage, obviously, was very critical and needed help.

Twilight screamed when she felt the wind push her back, a dark blue haze surrounding her body. The Queen charged forward. Twilight quickly shot the gun off, and the Queen stumbled back as some of the bullets hit her crest and growled in annoyance. She took a step forward, but a bright light hit her side, pushing her back a distance. The haze lifting off her body, Twilight quickly turned to see Princess Celestia standing a few meters from the admissions building. At her side was Retrospect, gazing at the Queen Xenomorph. “Twilight.” She held Celestia’s gaze. “Rarity has informed me that they’re almost done with turning all the valves. Go help them finish. I’ll stay here with Retro to keep the Queen busy.”

“But Princess… what abou--”

“Spike will be helped as soon as we can aid him. You need help yourself.” Celestia looked away from Twilight and at the Queen. “Now go.” The Queen roared and charged Celestia, only to be pushed back by a wide ray of light. Twilight did not know the limits of Celestia’s strength. But with all the damage she had taken, it was wise if she hurried to help her friends.

With that said, she quickly took off and landed at the front door. “Wait!” She glanced back and saw Bishop popping out from the rocks. “Let us think this through. There’s no need for rash acti--” Twilight fired a beam at the older stallion, knocking him back into the rock as he cried out. The impact zone glowed but did not penetrate his body.

‘He’ll get what’s coming to him.’ But she couldn’t focus on that now. She took a step forward but flinched as a fiery pain pierced through her stomach. Twilight struggled with each step as she moved down the hall. As she moved further down the hall she heard a gasp from Aquafrost, who hastily rushed towards Twilight.

Twilight felt a hoof wrap around her shoulder as Aqua helped her along. “Where are you hurt?”

“My… stomach…” Twilight breathed both words out. A dark orange aura formed around her body, Twilight squirming as the pain on her stomach grew, yet it slowly subsided as the aura disappeared. “Thank you.” She nodded her thanks to Aqua. “Celestia told me to come and help Rarity and the others. You, Rainbow Dash, and Daring. Keep watch up here.” The three nodded before Twilight flew down the open middle of the admissions building.

It wasn’t long before she landed on the metal ground. “Rarity!” When Twilight called her friend’s name, Rarity glanced behind her.

“Oh, thank the heavens you’re okay. Is everypony else safe?”

Twilight shook her head. “Celestia’s holding off the Queen. Spike’s been hurt as well.” Rarity brought a hoof to her mouth at the mention of Spike being injured. “Are there any valves left?”

“Just a couple more and it should be set,” Rarity said.

Twilight looked up and watched as Pinkie and Patchy were turning a couple valves. Her magenta aura surrounded the valves until they began turning. As she did so, she could hear a moaning behind them, looking back to see a bloodied mare lying on the ground not too far from their position.

“Sparkdust!?” They heard Patchy’s voice, and before they knew it, he was running towards his friend. He helped her up and wrapped his forelegs around her. “Oh! I really though thah you were a gonna!”

“C-careful…” Sparkdust weakly murmured. The happy moment was interrupted as the generator emitted a loud beeping noise. The ground shook beneath their hooves. It was now a matter of time before this building blew up.

“We need to get out of here now!” Twilight formed an aura around everypony until they disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared up on the main floor. When Aquafrost saw Sparkdust, she cried.

“Sparkdust! You’re alive!” She hugged the injured mare, backing up as her eyes widened. “Oh no. I’ve used up all my magic. I can’t heal her!”

“Don’t worry!” Daring Do said. “Let’s get out of here first. We’ll get help for Sparkdust once we reach Equestrian soil!” It wasn’t long before the group quickly took off, running down the hall as debris fell down around them. Once outside the building, they ran the opposite direction, hoping to avoid the Predator and Praetorian. They heard a cry of pain and saw Celestia as she was knocked out of the air and crashed down before them.

“Celestia!” Twilight called out as she rushed to her mentor, looking up to see that Spike had remained where he was moments ago.

“The generator…?” Celestia opened her eyes and looked up to Twilight.

“It’s about to go off. We need to get out of here!” Celestia nodded before returning her attention towards the Queen. Her horn’s light gold aura intensified until a beam hit the Queen. She stopped in her tracks as she went to strike Retrospect.

“There. I put a slow spell on her. But it won’t last long. We’ll need to hurry right now!” Celestia unfurled her wings and floated into the sky, picking up Crystal Rune before taking off. Rainbow Dash lifted off next, carrying Applejack in her hooves. Daring Do flew up with Pinkie hanging from her hooves. Twilight then took off behind them as Rarity, with Aqua and her friends, running towards Spike.

Retrospect soon joined up by Celestia’s side. They glanced back to watch as Rarity and the others climbed aboard Spike’s back. He spread his wings and, with one mighty flap, lifted up into the air. With a bit of difficulty, he caught up with the others. As they flew over the research and development building, they could hear the roar of the Queen for a brief second.

The Predator watched as they fled. He returned his attention to the Praetorian climbing over the rock wall behind him. There wasn’t much time left, from the looks of it. If they were leaving, then something was about to happen. He looked down at his wrist-pad and flipped it open. Pressing a sequence of buttons, a high-pitched noise echoed over and over.

The Predator gazed up at the sky as the Praetorian fell right towards him. He unsheathed his gauntlet and jumped back. The ground shook slightly, but he leaped forward and shoved the gauntlet into the Praetorian’s neck. It roared in pain until he pulled it to the right, creating a large gash across its neck. The Xenomorph struggled as it fell to the ground, screeching as its acidic blood poured from the horrific wound. The Predator roared, swiftly cut off as the admissions building blew up in a orange plume of flames.

As the noise filled the air, a bright flash of blue light went off. The detonation grew in size until it lit up the night sky as though it were midday. The lightshow did not last long until darkness returned once more. Once the brightness passed, it finally hit Twilight; they had escaped the island. She and her friends were alive, and as an added plus, Spike was found and with them as they headed back to Equestria.

But his wounds were severe. They had to get to Equestria soon. They had to. Spike was in danger. Twilight was not ready to lose another family member. She couldn’t lose Spike. He had to survive this night. They just had to make it back to Equestria, and back to Canterlot in time to save him and Sparkdust. It would be a miracle if time would allow such a happy ending. If only they could make it.