The wind was the only consistent noise surrounding their group. Twilight had kept time for how long their group had been flying. Nearly half an hour had passed since they left that island--the blood-soaked island of the dead. While she had not been carrying anypony, the exhaustion from flying for so long had finally set in. They had been awake since early morning yesterday, arriving at the island during the afternoon hours and fighting constantly as soon as the Xenomorphs had broken from their supposedly “locked” rooms.

But that wasn’t even the tipping point. There had been so many ponies that had died today, mostly the innocent. She had seen what was left in the wake of the devastation that nine Xenomorphs could bring. Nine Xenomorphs had killed hundreds of ponies. Who knows how many more were now dead? She glanced over at Aquafrost and then Sparkdust.

The mare they had thought dead had, in fact, survived. After their tussle with the first Predator they had encountered, they had thought it had killed her. Now with an open stomach wound, they had to fly as fast as they could across the Celestial Sea. However, Sparkdust was only a minor concern to Twilight. She had not taken her eyes off the now large version of Spike.

‘He’s going to make it. I know he will. Dragons have a greater endurance than ponies.’ Since Spike now considerably larger than anypony else, he’d have a little more blood to spare than the rest of them. While this was true, one possible factor kept circulating around Twilight’s mind: how much blood had he lost to the Queen during his fight? The cries Spike had made when the Queen Xenomorph had ravaged through his scales were all too clear. The Queen had fought with the same strength and ferocity as the first one she and the other princesses had battled, and Spike had been the recipient of that brutality.

Another horrifying matter had been clear: Spike’s wounds were great. She could see the blood dripping from and staining the scales of his stomach, his chest and shoulders. His breaths were short, shallow and raspy--he was quickly losing strength. It was clear now that they had to keep hurrying. It was only a miracle that the winds had taken a westerly direction, boosting them to a faster rate of flight.

Hopefully, this increase was enough to shorten the gap between the island and Equestria. Twilight scanned the rest of the group and, at that moment, noticed that everypony else was showing signs of exhaustion: slow wing flaps, heavy panting, and labored breaths. It was a miracle at all that none of them had keeled over during this flight.

Lady Luck had finally granted a wish that Twilight sought as she saw something in the distance. There was a light far to their right. Not only that, but she could see the dark yellow of sand marking the long width of beaches covering the shoreline. “Everypony!” Celestia announced loudly as she held Crystal Rune in her forelegs. “We’re almost there. We mustn't stop now. Not yet.”

“I don’t know how much longer we can keep going!” Daring Do spoke in between short breaths. “We-we’re all pr-pretty tired right now.”

“Maybe… we could head towards Baltimare?” Rainbow Dash glanced around at everypony. “Don’t they have a… have a hospital there?”

“Yes, but it would not be able to attend to Sparkdust’s wounds. Not even Spike’s, for that matter,” Celestia said, turning her attention to Spike.

Twilight had not taken her eyes off of him. She monitored his every move, every breath. Twilight would not rest until she knew he was fine. He breathed in deeply but let out a loud coughing fit. As he did, Spike slowly began to descend. “Spike… Spike!” Twilight cried out. “You have to keep flying straight. Don’t dive downwards!” But as he continued to fall down, his wings stopped flapping up and down. “Spike!!”

He was heading straight towards the beach. But with his speed, he passed straight over the the sandy shore; a loud crash echoed from the ground. Dirt was upturned and grass uprooted. Rarity, Aquafrost, Patchy, and Sparkdust were thrown off, screaming in panic as they rolled across the grassland. Spike’s body kept turning up dirt until he finally slowed to a sickly halt. “Spike!!!” Twilight’s wings flapped harder, adrenaline kicking in once more.

She quickly landed on the ground with great haste, if not sloppily. While Celestia and the others went to check on everypony thrown off Spike's back, she picked up her hooves and sprinted around his body. Twilight skidded to a halt when she reached his snout. “Spike!!?” Twilight breathed heavily. His eyes slowly met her own before he coughed up blood. “No… no, no, no, no!” She wrapped her hooves around his muzzle, trying in vain to pull him forward. She fell backward, and the world rolled with her.

Landing on her stomach, she quickly got up and returned to Spike. Twilight’s horn brightened as her aura wrapped around his right arm. “Come on! You can’t stop now! Get up, Spike!” Tears flowed freely from her eyes in rivulets. “Spike! Please… please, just get up. You have to move… you have to make it to Canterlot…” Every sign was indicating that Spike wasn’t going to make it.

Blood stained the grass surrounding him. His breathing began to decline, slowing in pace as his eyes began to pale. “No… you can’t die…” Twilight then thought of one last plan. Her magenta aura wrapped around his body; her horn brightened as she tried to heal him. The wounds slowly closed, but only by inches. Beads of sweat accompanied her tears, the spell taking its toll on her. She gasped and breathed in quickly. Despite her efforts, it was not enough. She had simply used too much magic.

The wounds were still great. Even those inches only healed so much. “Twilight… I’m sorry, but… Spike… it appears that he won’t--”

“Noo!!” She turned on Celestia and glared at her former teacher. “He can’t die!! I won’t let him!! I can’t lose him… I c-can’t lose another family member…”

“T-T-Twilight…” Twilight froze at Spike’s voice. She did not hear the deepness that he had gained from his growth. To her own ears, it was the same one that greeted her every morning. Slowly did she turn around until her eyes met his. “D-d-don’t… w-w-worry…” Twilight hiccuped. She tried all her might to hold back, but the dam broke with ease as she cried out loudly. The pain and weakness in his voice only confirmed what Celestia had tried to tell her.

“Is… i-is…” It was too much. She barely could meet Spike’s eyes. It was such a simple action. Just turning her head towards his would have been nothing but a menial task, yet trying felt like it was impossible. But Twilight, in this moment of weakness, gathered what she could of her courage and met his gaze with her own. When their eyes met, Spike began once more. “Is it… o-over, Twilight?”

Twilight’s tears only multiplied, yet she couldn’t help but smile at Spike’s voice, that familiar child’s tone. The voice that she had known forever. The dragon that she had hatched and would now, in this moment and forever more consider as a son. Twilight brought a hoof to the side of his muzzle and held it there, and in reply, she simply told him, “Y-yes, Spike. I-it’s over… i-it’s over…” Even with the difficulty it was in holding her smile, she held on. “W-we’re t-together n-now… we’re together, Spike.”

That smile faltered when the dragon smiled as well. A faint and delicate smile. At any moment, Twilight thought it would break. It only shattered more of Twilight’s already broken heart. His moderate lime green eyes continued to pale until they completely clouded over, the light leaving them. He took one last breath, one that seem to last forever, until Spike’s head lowered to the ground, chin down to the grass below his body. As his breath ceased and his eyes closed for the last time, Twilight screamed out into the starlit sky in anguish.

She fell onto his muzzle, resting her forelegs against his snout as she cried. When she closed her eyes, she could see every memory she had of him. So many moments had come to pass. When he accompanied her during the Crystal Empire. When he helped her solve the mystery of Star Swirl’s spell. When he was there during her first time managing the Sun Summer Festival. She let out another loud cry when the last memory she saw was him after he had hatched. She, as a filly, holding the cooing dragon hatchling in her hooves for the first time.

Such a small dragon he had been, but also the kindest Twilight would ever have known. And now he was gone. Another family member’s life had been extinguished, taken away like Shining Armor’s. The wounds he had received from the Xenomorph Queen had been too great to recover from. Twilight did not cease in her crying. This was too much to take in all at once.

Twilight opened her eyes and lifted her gaze to her friends. Pinkie’s mane and tail had deflated, her color graying as she had seen before. “Sp-Spike… th-th-there’s no way…”

“M-my Spi-Spi-Spikey Wi-Wikey…” Rarity’s voice cracked as she covered her eyes with her good foreleg.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash too cried at the sight. But Rainbow Dash slammed her right hoof into the grass. “That s-stupid freak! It’s all that Xenomorph’s fault!”

“Ah can’t believe it… Spike’s gone…” Applejack murmured, hiccuping a little.

“A sad death this day.” Celestia had closed her eyes, a couple of tears come out from underneath her eyelids. “I had hoped that… Spike would survive. It seems that… he died saving everypony.” The others, Daring Do, Aquafrost and her friends only teared up a little. But they did not know Spike like the rest. Retrospect did not seemed fazed, but he still held a grim expression.

This couldn’t have been happening, Twilight thought. None of this was real. Maybe she was asleep at home in Ponyville and just had not woken up from this nightmare. At any moment, she would wake up and find Spike inside the castle like always, reading one of his Power Pony comics or waking up to the smell of his delicious breakfasts in the morning. Maybe even spending time with her and Nyx. However, this new reality quickly set in. She would not be getting Spike back. He was dead. He was gone, and there was no reviving him. The victory that she had taken from the island now soured in her mouth. Wasted was this day, no longer redeemable.

She heard a gasp from her former mentor but did not turn around. She couldn’t. She was not going to dare take her attention away from her dead son. “Celestia!” The voice Twilight heard did not need but an instant for her to recognize. She finally risked a peek, glancing behind her shoulder. Her eyes widened at the sight of Princess Luna standing on top of a hill meters away from them. Behind her was one row of lunar guards.

As Luna hastily ran forward more and more lines of lunar guards reveal themselves. It was amazing to see this many lunar guards with her. Thoughts of Fluttershy came to mind, and it brought a faint smile. Her shy friend had made it after all. Luna ran up to Celestia, and the two sisters moved into a deep embrace. It was a rare scene to see Luna break into tears. She could see those tiny beads of relief falling from her cheeks. “I am so glad that you are all alive,” Luna murmured, resting her head against her elder sister’s right shoulder. “It pains me to see that you have been hurt.”

“Don’t worry, Luna.” Celestia nuzzled her little sister’s left cheek. “There were many deaths today upon that island. Too many to count… and we have lost a few as well, but we have finally stopped the threat once and for all.”

Celestia pulled away. Which Luna spoke again. “We must hurry to Canterlot. Princess Cadance is there in the palace’s medical wing right now. She is giving birth.” Celestia’s eyes widened at this new bit of information.

“When did she get there?”

“About an hour ago.” Luna nodded. “I can teleport us there with your help, but I would also need Twilight’s help as well.” When Twilight heard her name, she only tightened her grip around Spike.

“Twilight?” When she heard Celestia call her name, she closed her eyes and held onto Spike. “Please… we have to go.”

“I know Cadance is having a baby, but I’m not leaving Spike! I won’t leave him alone!” Tears continually ran down her muzzle, a never ending tide of pain.

“I’m sorry, but…” Twilight felt something pull at her. It only prompted her to cry out. She was not going to leave him. She couldn’t. The light gold aura let go, fading as Twilight sobbed quietly to herself. She didn’t feel any resistance, no force trying to pull her back, but she felt a hoof rest against her shoulder. “Please…” Twilight looked up to Celestia, only to see a similar pain as well. “He’s gone… there’s nothing we can do for him now.” Twilight tore her gaze from Celestia’s. She felt her grip loosen. When Celestia pulled her away, she latched onto her former teacher, crying into Celestia’s right shoulder.

“It hurts… I know it hurts,” Celestia murmured, running a hoof through Twilight’s mane. She helped guide Twilight forward, Luna assisting her up the hill. When the group moved up the hill, she felt the comfort of her friends as they wrapped their hooves around her in one big group hug. It was a presence she thought she couldn’t let go of. Yet even with this, she still felt that emptiness only widen.

Celestia’s horn lit up, brightening the area around them. Luna did the same. As Twilight was about to join them, she gazed at Spike one last time. A green fiery glow surrounded his body before his body burst into flames in a sudden spark of green light. Twilight shook at the sight of it. It was almost adding insult to injury; not only had he died, but there would be nothing left of him. She tried to run to his burning body but found she could not, paralyzed by her own grief. “No… S-Spike…” She couldn’t force herself to scream anymore. This pain had taken too much from her. Her heart only sunk deeper and deeper.

After a few moments of watching the green fire consuming him, she saw his body slowly turn to ash, floating away into air. First gone was his head, and then his body. When his tail finally disappeared, Twilight’s cries grew in volume again. The dragon she had raised was now gone for good. Nothing was left except for the burnt patch that his burning body had left behind.

Twilight crumbled to the ground, falling onto her legs, crying at what she had witnessed. This day has gone on for too long. She was waiting for it to be over finally. “Twilight…” She looked back at Celestia and the others again. “We must go. Cadance is waiting for us.” She had not forgotten about Cadance. She could never forget her sister-in-law. But this day had been marred, and nothing of her emotions was left to salvage. Her horn lit up in a magenta aura, using what little magical strength she had left. With one flash of light, they disappeared.

The light only lasted for a moment before all was dark again. Yet above the burnt grass stood an ethereal figure. His moderate pistachio green eyes gazed at where Twilight used to be. The spirit took the form of a small dragon, the same size as a young Spike. His movements were sluggish and sad. However, another ethereal figure appeared and stood by his side. He looked up to the pony and smiled at the familiar presence of Shining Armor. He hugged Shining Armor, spectral tears streaming down his face. They had to have faith that Twilight would make it. The stallion rested his hoof on Spike’s left shoulder, gently guiding the dragon to follow him. As Spike walked beside Shining Armor, the wind picked up, and they disappeared with it, dissipating into sparkling lights as they left this world for the next.

Lights buzzed above Twilight as she sat in the hospital room. This situation was nothing but deja vu. Here she was, sitting in the hospital, waiting for the news of Cadance’s situation. She had gone into labor just over an hour ago. Twilight had been left here in the waiting room. It was completely empty; maybe that was for the best. She winced as the pain in her stomach acted up again. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were inside rooms of their own, getting their wounds mended.

‘I can wait. I know I can…’ Her stomach was wrapped with a white cloth slowly staining red. It hurt, but she could wait. She had also heard that Fluttershy had hurt herself. She had no way of landing at the speed that Spitfire and Soarin had told them. Applejack was shocked at what Fluttershy tried to do with her cousin. Now Babs Seed had a mild level of hypothermia; thankfully nothing worse. The doctors said that she would become feverish, but all in all, she’d survive the trauma she had gone through. Twilight could only hope that Applejack would forgive Fluttershy for what she had done, risking her cousin’s life like Fluttershy had.

Pinkie Pie herself was with Fluttershy at the moment. Twilight glanced around the empty room, glad that Pinkie wasn’t there. ‘I’m glad she let me have my space.’ Twilight still felt completely exhausted, physically wounded, and mentally broken once more. She thought she had gotten over Shining Armor’s death, but now she had one more death swirling over her head. Spike’s most recent passing had done a number on her psyche.

She thought she could save him, that there was some way she could reverse the damage that the Xenomorph Queen had caused to Spike. ‘Maybe if I had stayed with him, he’d still be alive. He wouldn’t be dead. The Queen would not have hurt him if I was there to help him.’ Yet Celestia had required her assistance to get the generator to overload. Now the Queen was hopefully incinerated along with that Predator, as well as Bishop Neighland. ‘Good riddance. He deserved such a death.’

A tear trickled down the right side of her muzzle. She blamed Bishop for twisting their morality. He had forced them to kill other ponies. He had them go through another nightmare. His last moments were a justified and appropriate end for him. ‘How can I think of these thoughts and act as if they’re an ordinary part of me? None of this is okay.’ It wasn’t just her own existentialism that was in jeopardy. Everypony had been changed, all in numerous ways that Twilight dared not to imagine.

And now she was right back to where she was, another crisis that she had to go through. She gritted her teeth together and slammed her right hoof into her chair’s right arm. Hiding her muzzle, more tears came down. ‘Why… why did this all have to happen again?’ The words of Bishop were nothing but poison. He had no respect for anypony but himself. She could not see the good that could have come from his actions. How could there have been any good? The Xenomorphs were far from a positive in anypony’s view.

So why did she feel that part of him was right? The Xenomorphs could never be controlled. Was that a good thing? It shouldn’t have been. Yet why was she questioning her own views? Perhaps it was the scientific breakthroughs Bishop and Neighland-Yupony had made. Maybe under different circumstances, the company could have truly benefited ponykind. The advancement in technology, communications, medicine; all of it went to waste at the hooves of a lunatic. ‘C-curse that stallion. For all of his views. For his whole existence.’

Maybe it was his own view juxtaposing with her own. There were some things she could agree to, yet his perspective was so destructive. She shook her head and sighed. Her ears raised at the sound of a door opening. She looked up, freezing up when she saw her parents. “Mom!” When she heard Nyx call to her, she stood up. Nyx ran towards her, Twilight walking as fast as she could to meet her.

Twilight threw her forelegs open and embraced her daughter tightly. Tears streamed down both their muzzles. “I’m so glad to see you,” Twilight murmured, running a hoof through Nyx’s mane when she heard the filly erupt into tears.

“Mom! I’m so happy that you’re okay.” Nyx nuzzled the left side of her mother’s muzzle.

“Twilight.” She looked up as her mother and father trotted towards her. They too joined in the embrace, Twilight Velvet shedding her own tears while Night Light happily sighed. “What happened to you?” Velvet asked as she pulled away. “Princess Celestia told us that Cadance was having her baby. We know you went somewhere dangerous as well, but…”

“What happened?” Night Light simply asked.

Twilight folded her ears and sighed. “We… had to get rid of the same monster that terrorized Ponyville from a month ago.” Velvet and Night Light's’ eyes widened; they too remembered the personal pain the Xenomorph had caused them. “There were more this time, thanks to some madpony who bred more for purposes that would have been self-destructive.” At least that is what she assumed.

“Well… at least you’ve returned home.” Night Light nodded.

“We heard Spike went missing as well. Did you ever find him?” Twilight flinched when she heard her mother ask that particular question.

With a shaky sigh, Twilight spoke. “W-we did find him…”

“Where is he then?” Nyx glanced around. “Is he hurt? Can I go see him?” It hurt so much to hear her daughter say those words. Twilight visibly shook for a moment, breath unsteady as she closed her eyes. Her parents’ ears folded, as did Nyx’s. “M-mom? I-is Spike okay?”

Twilight finally shook her head. When she spoke, the fragility of her voice finally showed. “H-he’s n-not okay. Spike he’s… Spike’s n-not… with us anymore.” When she opened her eyes, her heart felt like it was being pierced by a dagger. To see such pain on her daughter’s muzzle was too much to bear. Nyx whimpered at first until her crying got louder. Twilight wrapped her hooves around her daughter and hiccuped herself.

She could hear the same anguish in her mother’s voice. Looking up, she saw her leaning against her father, whom Night Light let a couple tears trickle down. Spike was as loved as Twilight was; both Twilight Velvet and Night Light considered him a son. And now he was gone, another light snuffed out by the shadows.

Nyx’s crying was unsteady. Twilight could only hold her tightly. She could not bring him back. That was only a dream that would never become a reality. “Excuse me.” Twilight let out a tiny hiccup. She rubbed her eyes with her right hoof and looked up. A doctor stood at the doorway, glancing between his clipboard and the group. “Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight felt her mother and father separate from her, Velvet bringing Nyx into an embrace. “Y-yes. Is this about Cadance?”

The doctor nodded. “Cadance’s baby has just been born. We’ve already checked the foal’s vitals as well as the mother’s. Both are in excellent health.” It was good news. Some kind of light brought back into her life. “Cadance has called you back.” He glanced back at her parents and daughter. “Are they with you?”

Twilight glanced back, returning her attention to the doctor, and nodded. “Yes, they’re family.”

“Right this way then.” He waved them over before walking through the doorway. Twilight quickly trotted forward, her parents not too far behind. Nyx trotted up beside Twilight, whom rested a hoof around Nyx’s shoulders. The doctor turned to his right and up a stairwell, Twilight and the others following him up two flights before he exited into the next hallway. There they continued to follow him until he stopped by a door at the end of the hall. “I’ll leave you all to be with her.”

Twilight nodded her thanks and entered the room. She saw Celestia and Luna standing side by side to the right of Cadance’s hospital bed, and laying there was Cadance herself. While she didn’t look tired in any way, Twilight could at least tell she was exhausted from the slow rising and falling of her chest beneath her bed’s covers. When she saw Twilight, her eyes brightened for a moment, but then a tear fell down. She must have looked a mess. “Are y-you going to be okay, Twilight? I heard about Spike.”

Twilight shuddered at the name. It filled her with so much pain, yet she forced a smile and shakily nodded. “Y-yeah… I-I’ll be okay.” The look Twilight received did not show any reassurance, but Cadance nodded. The foal cooed in Cadance’s forelegs. Twilight could only see the blanket held around the filly, but smiled when Cadance brought a gentle hoof to her baby’s muzzle.

“How’s the baby?” Velvet asked, a small smile on her muzzle.

Cadance turned her attention to Twilight’s mother. “She’s going to be okay.”

“It’s a girl…?” Nyx seemed to brighten up at the news, but Twilight knew that it was going to be a while before she could even get over Spike’s death. The same could have been said about herself.

“She’s an alicorn as well,” Celestia added. Twilight, Nyx, and her parents gasped at the news. “This is a surprise for even Luna and I. It’s been so long since one has been born naturally.”

“Yes, this fascinating news bodes well. It will be good to have another alicorn in this world.” Luna smiled after she spoke.

Twilight had heard the legends that alicorns were at first much like her--Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and Pegasi who had gained the title and transformed into what she and the other princesses were. The only exception was one from a long time ago: the past ruler of the Crystal Empire known as Princess Amore. But to hear from Celestia and Luna that they could be born was a surprise indeed.

“Twilight?” She turned to Cadance, who waved her closer. Twilight did so and stood next to Cadance’s bed. It was then that Cadance extended her forelegs, prompting for Twilight to hold the foal. Twilight smiled and gently picked the foal up in her forelegs. When she finally got a look at the baby filly, a few tears trickled down her muzzle.

From the way she looked, she definitely took after Cadance: Her bright lavender eyes, her pale cerise fur, even the blue-violet-and-lavender-colored mane. But the sapphire blue in her hair had a very uncanny resemblance to her late brother, Shining Armor. While her mane was a little thinner and much more refined, the similarity was unmistakable. “She looks beautiful…” Twilight glanced up at Cadance and saw a couple tears trickle down her sister-in-law’s muzzle as well. “What’s her name?”

“I… tried to come up with something that I knew would honor his memory. So… I thought that her name could be Gleaming Heart.” Twilight’s smile seemed to finally return after so much tragedy. Glancing down at her niece once more, she watched as the foal cooed again, smiling when she saw Twilight.

“It’s perfect…” She heard hoofsteps behind her and saw her mother. She gently passed the baby to her. Velvet smiled as well, tears coming down her muzzle.

“It’s an excellent name, Cadance,” Velvet murmured. The baby giggled at the sight of another pony. It had been so long yet felt so good to feel happy again. Twilight thought that they would lose such a privilege to show that expression. Cadance’s baby, however, seemed to bring back some of that happiness. Twilight took a step back but gasped as the pain in her stomach fired up again.

“Twilight.” She hesitantly glanced up at Cadance. “A-are you okay?” Twilight glanced away for a moment before shaking her head.

“I… was hurt. My stomach’s healed a little, but--”

“Then please, go get help.” Cadance urged her sister-in-law. “I don’t like seeing you hurting so much.”

“Yes, Twilight.” Celestia nodded. “Please let the doctor tend to your wounds.” Twilight looked up and went to speak, but Celestia held a hoof up. “Do not worry. We’ll still be here.” Twilight relented and finally nodded. She walked past her parents and daughter, exiting the door and running into the doctor from before.

“Is everything alright?” the doctor asked.

“Everything’s fine.” Twilight nodded but winced at the pain. He seemed to notice, to which Twilight added. “Are… there any doctors that could help tend to my stomach wound?”

The doctor nodded. “Right this way, Princess.” She nodded her thanks and followed. As she did, that somber mood returned. This day, even as it ended on a happy note, still was overshadowed by the gloom of death. There was only so much that could be healed. Twilight’s physical wounds could be fixed, yet the mental damage she had suffered would only stick with her. Shining’s death would still be hard to get over. But Spike’s untimely demise seemed as though it would stick with her for as long as she walked the face of Equus.