Extraterrestrial

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Planet
Chapter 2: The Ship
Chapter 3: The Crew
Chapter 4: The Creature
Chapter 5: The Plan
Chapter 7: The Nest
Chapter 8: The Queen
Chapter 9: The Silence
Chapter 6: The Message

Chapter 1: The Planet

The capsule hissed open, small swirls of steam escaping as the seal was broken. The young, purple unicorn inside slowly opened her eyes, but quickly squeezed them shut once the bright light above her hit her retinas. She waited a few seconds before opening them again and slowly climbing out of the hyper sleep capsule. She stretched and looked around, seeing that all the other capsules were already opened. She rubbed her forehooves over her violet eyes and saw the cylindrical computer connected to the eight hyper sleep capsules surrounding it. Several tubes and wires hanging between the capsule and the computer that kept those inside alive.

She turned around and saw the eight computer screens built in to the circular wall that made up the hyper sleep chamber, and noticed that hers was still on. She magically levitated her keycard-which was laying on the desk in front of the screen-into the slot and pulled it out. The screen displayed in bright green letters:

Twilight Sparkle: Signed in.

She stood up and set the ID back down on the desk, then floated a white lab coat which was hung on a coat rack around her forelegs and torso, zipping it up to just below her neck. She walked out of the room and headed down the hallway to the mess hall. Passing several doors as she walked. She stopped only to let a pair of stallions hefting a large metal plate between them pass her. She then continued to the door that led to the mess hall, which slid upwards as she approached it.

Inside was a round table surrounded by three long, curved benches. On one of the benches were three mares, two of which were holding each other warmly, the other was sipping from a cup of coffee which she had suspended in the air with her magic. Twilight sat down next to the white unicorn, who also had a dark purple mane which was in several curls, along with a pair of red glasses perched upon her nose and said;

"Good morning, Rarity."

The white unicorn groaned in response and said: "Good morning, Twilight. Though I very much doubt that's the actual time of day..."

Twilight nodded, realizing that Rarity probably wasn't as used to hyper sleep as the rest of them were. She turned to face the other two mares, who were seated across the table from her and Rarity, and said to the orange earth pony; "Morning, Applejack."

"Mornin' Twi'," she replied, nudging the cyan pegasus with a rainbow coloured mane who was nuzzling into her shoulder, "Dashie's jus' a bit tired. Ain't been in hyper sleep for a while."

The pegasus raised a hoof tiredly to her forehead, and dropped it back onto the bench. Applejack nuzzled her marefriend affectionately, and Twilight had to stifle the 'aww' that was threatening to escape her throat. She got up again and left her friends to find the food dispensers.

On one of the curved walls were four plastic containers attatched to the ceiling. The bottoms of which bent inward like an upside down pyramid to a nozzle which was used to release the food within to drop into the pony's bowl or plate, whichever he or she desired. Twilight used her magic to float one of the bowls from the stack of them and placed it under one of the nozzles. She then turned it and a steady stream of oatmeal fell into the bowl. Closing the nozzle, Twilight levitated the bowl next to her as she sat back down at the table and placed it in front of her. She began eating as another pony entered the room, taking the seat next to Rarity.

Twilight looked up with her eyes to see the light yellow mare with a long, pink mane sitting there, sneaking a quick kiss on Rarity's cheek before they could be caught. Twilight smiled to herself and sat back to look at the pair.

"Morning, Fluttershy," she said.

"Oh, um... good morning, Twilight," Fluttershy said, barely above a whisper.

Twilight smiled to Fluttershy and went back to eating, silence taking over as the other four poonies in the room did the same. She noticed Rainbow Dash getting up with Applejack and then going to get food together. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of them, they were just too perfect together. She heard the door open as another pony trotted in and took a seat next to her. She turned her head to see the bright pink face just inches from her own, light blue eyes staring daggers into her. She dismisses this and shakes her head lightly, a small smile forming on her face as she chuckled silently to herself.

"Hi Pinkie," she said, causing the pink earth pony beside her to finally look away.

"Morning Twilight," Pinkie Pie replied, kissing Twilight on the cheek before heading over to get her own food.

Twilight went back to her oats and smiled again, happy that the gang was all together for breakfast. Even if it was probably the middle of the night for all they knew.

***

The six ponies stood side to side in the bridge, awaiting their briefing from the captain. Twilight stood with Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash to her right, and Fluttershy and Rarity to her left. She stood at ease, her head slightly tilted forward. Pinkie was babbling on and on about different types of frosting, which she had gotten too bored of to listen to anymore and was simply letting her marefriend drone on about it while she tried to figure out just what they were going to be doing.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were leaning on each other, Rainbow's wings draped around Applejack as they nuzzled together. normally they wouldn't be so affectionate around others, but they were all friends here, they knew that they'd be accepted for it. Rarity was levitating a cup of coffee next to her while she rubbed her eyes with a hoof, still trying to wake up, while Fluttershy just stood silently with them.

A bright yellow mare with an orange and yellow mane and tail approached them. The firey look in her yellow eyes seemed to be enough to melt ten buckets of ice within seconds and the colours of her mane made her head look like it was on fire. She stood in front of the six mares and they instantly stood at attention, awaiting whatever orders the captain had to give them.

The captain drew in a long breath and cleared her throat before speaking, looking each of the six mares in front of her over before saying; "Good morning, ladies. Thank you for joining me at this time," she looked at them to make sure they were all listening before continuing,"we are here for a basic mining operation. Our objective is to retrieve as many valuable items, minerals, elements, and anything else we can find, and head home," she took a breath before asking; "Any questions?"

None of the six raised a hoof. Instead they all looked like they understood perfectly... then the beeping started. Faint and slow, at a steady pace, and coming from one of the main consoles. Seated in front of it was a light blue stallion with a darker blue mane, who was furiously tapping on controls to figure out what the problem was.

The captain looked behind her and said; "What's the situation, Soarin?"

"Working on it, captain," Soarin said, his button pressing coming to a stop once he had it figured out. He looked at the monitor to make sure he was seeing what he was, and looked back to the captain. "Spit, you're gonna want to look at this."

"Put it on the main monitor," she replied, and the large monitor which was attached to the front wall of the bridge, which was currently showing a picture of the planet, zoomed in on a particular area of the view.

Within the screen, clearly in orbit of the planet below, was a ship. It was shaped like a cylinder, with several protrusions extending from the main hull, along with several antennas sticking out on one side. Toward the ship's bow, it narrowed down to a single, rounded point, and there was a large, glass window at the front of it. Clearly the ship's bridge. It clearly wasn't of pony design, and the captain was speechless to say the least.

The six mares behind her were also staring in shock at the ship, their jaws hanging from their hinges like they had seen a ghost. Nopony spoke, until Twilight regained control of herself and asked;

"What... what is that?"

"A... ship, I think. But I don't recognize the design," the captain said.

"Then that means..." Twilight started, "we've found aliens."

Author's Note

Oh, just you wait, Twilight...

Chapter 2: The Ship

"A...aliens?" the captain murmered. "What do we do?"

"I don't know, captain. But it might be best if we scan for life forms, just to see how many there are," Twilight suggested.

"Good idea, Twilight. Soarin, get on it," Spitfire said.

"Aye, Captain," Soarin said, activating the ship's scanner.

The scanner beeped several times as it scanned every part of the alien vessel, and once the scan was complete, the number of red dots that appeared throughout the ship was astonishing, considering its size. Six. There were only six life forms scattered around the massive ship, save for the lowest deck, which appeared to have dozens of life forms crowded in it.

Two of the six blips were located near the front of the ship, at the bridge. Possibly where coms equipment may feed to. Spitfire waved to Soarin.

"Hail them on all frequencies, let's try and make peaceful contact," she told him.

"But captain, they may not match any of our..."

"Do it, Soarin!"

"Aye, captain," he said, annoyed at her disregard for reason. He activated the comms equipment and said: "Alien vessel, this is the ESM Luna. We come in peace. Identify immediately if you can hear this."

They waited several seconds, hearing nothing from the transmitter. Soarin was about to shut it down when the speaker burst to life in a wave of static, followed by a voice.

"Attention Luna, this is the USG Evangellion responding to initial contact. What do you mean 'alien vessel'?" It said. The voice sounded male and somewhat deep. He also sounded nervous. "You know what? Never mind that last part. I don't really care. Can you help us?"

"Help you?" Spitfire asked. "With what?"

"There's... something on my ship and it's... Oh... Oh god," he said, panic creeping up in his voice as the sound of something thumping to the ground followed by a low hissing could be heard in the background.

"What is it, Evangellion?" Spitfire asked.

"Oh, oh god! No! Please! Please don't kill me! AAAAHHH-!!!" The communication then cut to static.

"Soarin, get them back!" Spitfire ordered.

"The signal's dead. I can't," he said.

"Shit," Spitfire said under her breath. "Okay, Twilight and team! Prep for EVA, you're boarding the alien vessel."

"But captain..." Twilight started.

"That's an order, Twilight!" Spitfire yelled.

Twilight looked at her for a few seconds before finally saying: "Aye, captain."

She spun on her hoof and motioned for the other five to follow her. They all turned and followed one by one, Applejack being the last to leave. Once the door slid shut behind them, Twilight slumped against the wall and heaved a sigh. She rubbed a hoof over her eyes and sucked in a deep breath.

"Y'okay there, Twi?" Applejack asked her, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

"It's nothing, AJ," Twilight said. "Just a little stressed is all."

"What about?" Applejack pressed, she knew that it probably wasn't a good idea, but Twilight couldn't keep it in forever.

Twilight took in a deep breath, put on a quick smile and said; "Nothing." She then motioned for them to follow her to the airlock to prepare for EVA. Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged a look before following her.

***

Twilight stood in the center of the large, circular room that served as the airlock chamber. Four large, glass containers made up corners of the room, each having two of the bulky, constricting space suits that she was wearing one of. Her friends were all putting their suits on. Fastening the straps, making sure the seals were secure, and locking their helmets in place.

The suits looked something akin to diving suits, with round, bulky shoulder pads and thick fabric around the joints to allow for minor flexibility. They were constricting, but they were all that ponykind had come up with so far. Rainbow Dash helped Applejack fasten several straps before attending to her own suit, and before long they were all suited up and ready to go.

"I still can't believe Spitfire's making us board the ship after what we heard," Rarity said.

"I hear ya," Applejack agreed. "But orders are orders. Can't go disobeyin' her unless ya wanna lose yer job."

"Still," Rarity said.

"Look, we'll be fine," Twilight said, "I'm sure of it."

The overhead speaker burst to life as the captain prepared to give them their final orders. "Alright team, prep for decompression. Good luck," the speaker then shut off and the air in the room was quickly sucked out, leaving them in vacuum.

The door then hissed open, revealing the alien vessel less than five-hundred meters away.

"Follow me," Twilight said over the commlink, stepping out into the zero g environment known as space.

The six used the small thrusters built onto their suits to travel to the nearest airlock, floating to the ship in relative ease. The distance was closed within a few minutes and the team was preparing to enter the airlock. Twilight found a lever which she assumed opened the large, metal door, and turned it clockwise. Per her expectations, the door slid open, revealing a room large enough for ten ponies to stand in full EVA suits.

She entered first, then came Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack and, finally, Rainbow Dash. Twilight then hit the second lever which was attached to the wall, closing the door and pumping the room full of oxygen.

After a quick scan to make sure the air was breathable, the six took their suits off and prepared to explore the vessel.

The room was circular, with four doors and four glass container-like areas which held two space suits each, similar to the ponies', only they were clearly meant for something bigger and on two legs. As Twilight examined one of the suits, Rainbow Dash hit a button next to one of the doors.

The door opened, revealing a sidelong hallway. She nearly shrieked at the sight of what was leaning against the wall, however.

"Uh, Twilight?" Rainbow said, her voice shaky.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Yer gonna wanna look at this, sugarcube," Applejack said, the same look of awe and disgust on her face as Rainbow's.

Twilight looked into the hallway and saw what was wrong. A tall, bipedal thing with pink coloured skin, covered in strange clothing and with short, light brown hair coming from its head was leaning against the wall. Its skin was pale and its eyes were rolled back into their sockets. But that wasn't the most disturbing thing. There was a hole right in its forehead, a thick, red liquid oozing out of it. Blood.

Author's Note

Ooooooohhhhhhh!!!

Chapter 3: The Crew

Twilight stared at the dead alien in both horror and curiosity. Sure, it had been murdered in a horrifying fashion, but it still begged the question of what could have killed it in such a manner. She walked up to it to get a closer look, and was shocked to see that whavever had punctured its skull had gone all the way through, and bits of brain matter, bone and blood were splattered on the wall behind it.

"What the hell is that...?" Applejack managed to ask.

"Not sure," Twilight replied, "but we're going to find out."

"Um, Twilight," Rainbow Dash started, "I'm not one to back down from a fight, but don't you think that whatever did this could still be around here?"

"I know that, Rainbow," Twilight said, "but I also know that the blood on the wall has been here for some time. Which means that whatever killed this one probably isn't in the immediate vicinity." She let that sink in before continuing. "We should split up."

"Why? Don't you think we're safer together?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I know, Rainbow. But we'll cover more ground if we split up," Twilight said. "Rarity, you're with me. Applejack, take Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy will go with Rainbow Dash."

"Rainbow Dash?!" Rarity exclaimed. "Shouldn't Fluttershy be coming with..."

"Someone who can protect her, Rarity," Twilight cut her off.

"Yeah. No offense, Rares, but you aren't exactly the best fighter," Rainbow said.

"Twi has a point, Rarity," Applejack said. "She needs someone who can keep 'er safe. I know full well that Dash or I are equally qualified, and it makes sense to divide us by race." She took a breath before continuing. "The pegasi can fly through air vents and whatnot to get around faster, you two unicorns'll be better off together since y'all can both use yer magic, and we'll have the Pinkie Sense on our side."

"But, AJ..." Rainbow said.

Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash and looked her in the eyes. "I'll be fine, Dash. I promise," she said.

"I don't doubt it," Rainbow said, "just... come back to me, okay?"

Applejack pulled her in for a hug, kissing her on the cheek as she did. "Always."

Rainbow hugged her back and planted a kiss on her shoulder, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Applejack replied, pulling away so they could share a quick kiss.

Twilight looked to Rarity, who was tearily hugging Fluttershy as they watched Applejack and Rainbow Dash's little goodbye. She draped her leg over Pinkie's shoulder, and turned her so she could look in her eyes. "You gonna be okay with Applejack?"

"Of course I will, Twilight. With my Pinkie Sense and her apple bucking legs, I'm sure we'll be fine," Pinkie said cheerfully.

"Okay," Twilight said, "just be careful, okay?"

"We will," Pinkie said. "Twilight?"

"Yeah?"

Pinkie kissed her on the cheek. "I love you."

Then the time came and they were splitting up. Twilight and Rarity took the hallway where the alien had been killed, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash headed through the right hallway, and Applejack and Pinkie Pie headed through the left one. Twilight led Rarity through various halls and corridors which, if she was completely honest to herself, looked very similar to those on the Luna, only bigger. They kept moving, heading for what Twilight assumed was the bridge.

There was blood splattered on several of the walls, below which laid even more dead aliens, but they were somewhat few and far between. Eventually, the two mares came across an overhead air vent. They had seen several of them before, but this was the only one to have a thick, viscous fluid dripping from it. Twilight inspected the dripping vent carefully, but was surprised when it suddenly stopped followed by a rustling in the vents above them.

"What was that...?" Rarity asked absently.

"Not sure we want to find out," Twilight said. "Come on, the bridge should be just up ahead if these signs are right."

Rarity hadn't noticed the various signs on the walls, she just figured that Twilight was making guesses as to where the ship's bridge would be, but she both was and wasn't shocked to see the grey, rectangular indicator on the wall with the word BRIDGE on it in bold writing. What surprised her more, however, was that it was in the same language as equines wrote. She didn't give it a second thought, however, as Twilight gestured for her to follow down a right turn. She followed without question.

***

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy headed down another corridor. This one had several doors strewn about the sides along with an air vent in the middle. Rainbow motioned towards the first door on the left side of the corridor and Fluttershy followed her inside.

In the room was a tall floor-to-ceiling locker, a desk with what looked like a computer terminal on it, and several sheets of paper scattered on the floor beside a filing cabinet. Rainbow headed for the terminal to see if she could get it to work. She pressed several buttons on the keyboard with a pencil she found on the floor, since she knew her hooves were too big for it, and punched in several commands.

The computer, the screen of which only displayed a black background and green lettering, beeped several times as it processed what Rainbow had asked for. Seconds later it flashed several logs on front of her and she began reading.

She had just started the second log when a rustling in the vents above them startled her away from the computer. She then heard something drop to the floor from the vent right outside the door, followed by a low growl and a high pitched hiss. She could hear whatever it was heading for the room she and Fluttershy were in, and she gestured to Fluttershy to hide in the locker.

Rainbow herself hid under the desk upon which the computer sat, and was shocked beyond disbelief when the creature stepped through the door.

Author's Note

Cliffhangers. Gotta love em.

Chapter 4: The Creature

It was big. It had something of a cylindrical head with no facial features save for its dripping mouth full of silver, shining teeth. It's black skin seemed to be covered in a layer of natural fluid and it had a large, smooth dome on its head from right above the mouth all the way to the back of its skull. The dome itself was slightly translucent, and Rainbow could see the faint, white outline of a skull underneath it.

She pressed against the desk even harder, hoping that it wouldn't see her, and she knew that Fluttershy was probably screaming internally at the moment.

Attached to the end of its long arms were hands with six fingers, sharp claws at the tips. It had a tail that looked too long for it's body size which was tipped with a long, clearly sharp blade. Four short, tube-like appendages sprouted from it's back near the shoulders, and it had large, round protrusions from the shoulders themselves. Rainbow could see several strands of tissue attached to either side of it's jaw as it hissed loudly, and inside it's mouth she thought she saw the silvery glint of a second set of teeth, but the creature closed it's mouth too quickly for her to get a better look.

She watched as it circled the room once. Twice. Until it walked toward the locker in which Fluttershy was hiding. Please, Fluttershy, keep quiet... she silently prayed. And then, the worst possible thing happened.

Clunk!

Fluttershy had knocked something over inside.

The monster let out a deafening shriek and tore the locker open with one arm. Inside, Rainbow Dash could barely make out the cowering form of Fluttershy as the monster completely blocked her view. She also noticed that the door was still open. She considered flying past it before it noticed her, but she knew that she'd probably end up putting herself in more danger than necessary. She also knew that she had to help Fluttershy before anything happened.

She considered a plan of attack, but it was too late. The creature had Fluttershy dangling by her neck in its hand. It levelled her face with it's mouth, and opened it's jaw wide. Rainbow then watched in horror as her guess about it having a second set of teeth was confirmed in the most violent way possible: a long, tongue-like appendage shot out of it's mouth, a small set of silver teeth attached to the end, and went straight through Fluttershy's skull. The impact sent bits of bone and brain matter, along with whatever blood was in her head, splattering against the wall of the locker behind her.

Rainbow Dash had to hold a hoof over her mouth to keep from screaming and/or vomiting all over the floor in front of her. She watched in horror as the creature dropped Fluttershy's lifeless corpse to the ground, and then stalked it's way back into the hallway. Seconds later, she could hear it jumping into the vent above, and rustling away as it crawled off.

***

Applejack and Pinkie Pie headed through more desolate hallways. A few malfunctioning lights made the trek partially dark, but nothing too threatening was found by them. The came across a set of doors which led to, as the sign above the door said, a medical deck.

"Why are we here, Applejack?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"To grab some supplies if one of us needs it," Applejack replied almost monotonically, her eyes slightly downcast.

Pinkie noticed this and asked; "What's wrong, AJ? Are you alright?"

"I just... got a bad feelin' is all. Like somethin' bad might'a happened," Applejack explained.

"I'm sure everything's fine," Pinkie chimed, trying to cheer Applejack up. But the truth was, she wasn't sure at all. Whatever killed the crew of this ship was bound to still be around somewhere.

"Let's just keep goin'," Applejack said, not waiting for Pinkie before heading through the door to the medical deck.

Pinkie waited a few seconds before following her friend through, watching her back as she headed inside.

***

Rainbow Dash slowly crawled out from under the desk, being careful not to make any noise. She scanned the room, and stuck her head into the hallway slowly, looking for any sign of the creature. There was none.

She let out a sigh of relief and walked back to Fluttershy's lifeless body. There was blood dripping down from the hole in her forehead, getting into her still-open eyes and travelling down her neck and body. Rainbow stifled a sob and closed Fluttershy's eyes delicately.

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy... I'm so sorry this happened to you..." she said quietly.

She then heard her earpiece crackling to life, followed by Twilight's voice.

"Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, status report," Twilight said.

"Dash here," Rainbow replied, "I found several logs filed by crew members of the ship, but we met the... thing that killed the crew."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"It came in here, and it... It killed Fluttershy..." Rainbow managed to get out. "I recommend we pull out before anyone else gets hurt."

There was silence on the line for a few seconds, then Twilight came back with; "Acknowledged, Rainbow. Meet Rarity and I back at the airlock, we still haven't heard from Pinkie or Applejack, so we'll wait until we do before making any decisions."

"What do you mean? Can't you just call them and tell them what happened? We need to get out of here!" Rainbow almost screamed into the microphone, but kept her voice level in fear of attracting the monster.

"I just did. There's too much interference for us to reach them right now, plus Rarity wants to have a word with you," Twilight explained.

"There was nothing I could do to save Fluttershy," Rainbow said dully. "Tell her that."

Twilight was silent before saying; "Okay... Just meet us at the airlock. I'll keep trying to reach Pinkie and Applejack."

"Alright," Rainbow said.

Author's Note

Well... Things are happening... Why was Fluttershy first? Because somebody needs to yell at Rainbow Dash for something. I know that in that situation she probably would've tried something (getting herself killed in the process, mind you) but considering that Jim both isn't from Equis and the fact that he killed pretty much the entire crew of the ship, it's reasonable to assume that even she would be scared out of her wits. Anyway, see y'all in the next chapter.

Chapter 5: The Plan

Applejack filled a saddlebag with various medical supplies. Bandages, hypodermic needles, antioxidants, etc. She knew that they may not work the same way on equines than on whatever the indigenous crew of this ship was, but she also knew that she had to take her chances. While she got to work filling her bag, Pinkie was on watch for anything unknown.

Nothing unusual happened, until Pinkie's tail started twitching. Pinkie looked up at the air vent which was on the ceiling, closer to Applejack than to herself, and got a strange feeling in her gut.

"Uhh, Applejack?" she started. "Heads up, my tail's twitching."

"Got it, Pinkie. Thanks for the warnin'," Applejack responded.

She closed up the saddlebag and started walking back towards Pinkie, going right under the vent. She felt something dripping onto her hat and back as she passed under it, and looked at Pinkie incredulously.

"Come on, Pinkie. Really? A little water ain't gonna do mu--"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as what looked like a tail flew down from the vent and straight through her back, causing her to spit out a mouthful of blood. She looked up at Pinkie Pie, fear in her eyes, and dropped the saddlebag right as the tail contracted back into the vent, taking her with it.

Pinkie could only watch in horror as her friend was dragged away, and winced as she heard Applejack's terrified scream which faded away quickly. She hadn't noticed Applejack's Stetson lying on the floor next to the saddlebag, which must have fallen off when she was dragged away, and picked it up gently. She placed it inside the saddlebag and looked back into the vent.

She waited several seconds before leaving the room, making a break for it back the way they had come.

***

Rainbow Dash headed through the door as it hissed open, revealing Twilight and Rarity standing there waiting for her. Rarity had obviously been crying, streams of mascara were flowing down her cheeks with tears for Fluttershy. Rainbow's ears drooped and she hung her head in shame.

Twilight stopped pacing the room and looked at Rainbow with sad eyes. Rarity, on the other hand, started towards Dash with rage in her eyes. She got close to her and smashed her hoof across the unsuspecting pegasus' face. Rainbow took it with ease, and let her head fly back as she was struck. She knew it was coming, anyway.

"You dare to call yourself the Element of Loyalty? You're just a lowly coward," Rarity spat at her.

"You weren't there, Rarity. There was nothing I could do," Rainbow said. "If I had tried to intervene, we'd both be dead!"

"I don't give a fuck!" Rarity screamed. "Fluttershy is dead and you did nothing to stop it!"

"You weren't fucking there!!!" Rainbow screamed back.

"Rarity, leave her alone," Twilight said.

"Oh, you're one to talk, Twilight. You led us into this mess!" Rarity said.

"I hope you realize that if I knew that any of this was going to happen I wouldn't have obeyed Spitfire's orders, Rarity. Because there is no fucking way I would let this happen to us," Twilight defended herself. "If you want to blame anyone for Fluttershy's death, blame Spitfire when we get back. We're leaving as soon as we hear from Pinkie and Applejack."

As if in response, the door on the left side of the room opened, revealing a flat-maned Pinkie Pie standing there, huffing and puffing as though she had just ran a marathon. Rainbow's ears perked up at the sight of her, but dropped again when she realized that Pinkie was alone.

"P-Pinkie Pie? Where's Applejack?" She asked, fearing the answer.

"I..." Pinkie started, a sob catching in her throat. "I'm so sorry, Rainbow..."

Rainbow's eyes shrunk, and she collapsed onto her flank, sorrow clouding her mind as she realized what Pinkie meant. "You mean she's..." she didn't even want to finish the question.

Pinkie gave her a solemn nod in response, and pulled something out of the saddlebag: Applejack's hat. She layed it down in front of Rainbow Dash, who collapsed into a fit of sobs at the sight of it. She clutched the hat up against her chest and wept, tears pooling on the floor beneath her eyes.

Rarity, who had been looking at Rainbow Dash with nothing but contempt up until Pinkie's arrival, softened up at the news of Applejack's death. She realized that there truly was nothing Dash could have done to save Fluttershy if even Applejack had been killed by the same creature.

Twilight didn't know what to do. She wanted to comfort Rainbow Dash for her loss, and do the same for Pinkie for the amount of emotional trauma she was probably experiencing after witnessing such a thing. She was also very curious about the creature itself; what did it look like, how big, the questions ran on and on inside her head. She wanted to question Rainbow Dash about the creature, but, seeing that Dash was in no fit state to discuss it, left it be for the moment. She had to think of a plan.

Twilight looked at her communicator and checked the strength of the signal between her and the ship. It was fairly strong. She tried contacting the captain, and was relieved when she heard Spitfire's voice.

"Twilight?" she heard the captain ask. "Is that you? Give me a sitrep ASAP."

"I'm here, captain. The situation isn't good," Twilight said.

"Understatement of the century..." she heard Rainbow Dash mutter through her sobs, which had died down somewhat.

"We've lost Applejack and Fluttershy and need to evac immediately," Twilight continued.

"Negative," Spitfire said.

"What?!" Twilight gasped. "Captain, two of us are dead and you're denying our evacuation? Why?!"

"I'm not authorized to tell you," Spitfire said, sounding way too calm for the situation.

"Bullshit! We need to get out of here, and I don't care whether we're authorized to or not. No one else is dying on my hooves," Twilight said defiantly. There was silence on the line before Spitfire came back.

"Your team is to be considered KIA and we are leaving the system. Fare well."

The line went dead after that.

"So that means," Rarity started.

"We're fucked," Rainbow said dully.

Pinkie started hyperventilating as the gravity of the situation sank in.

"That's it, guys... Game over... The fuck are we gonna do?!" She panicked.

Twilight grabbed Pinkie by the shoulders and held her as she panicked, stroking her back lightly. "Easy, Pinkie. We'll be okay," she said.

"How the fuck do you know that, Twilight?!" Rainbow yelled. "We're totally fucked and you know it. Pinkie's right. Game over. We're done."

"Shut up, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity blurted out. "You're not helping the situation, here."

"Oh, and do you have any bright ideas, Rarity?! Didn't think so," Rainbow retorted.

Twilight didn't know what to do. She knew full well that the situation was dire, and the fact that even Rainbow Dash was loosing her cool meant that she had to do something. Fast. She quickly thought up a plan. It was probably risky, but it might work.

"We need to get to the bridge," she said, gaining everyone's attention. "It's the only way of possibly getting a distress signal out."

"But Twilight, how do we know anyone's gonna come for us? Spitfire had us declared dead, so who would respond to a distress beacon?" Rarity asked.

"I can't say that they will, but it's worth a shot," Twilight said.

"Okay," Rarity said, nodding.

"Might as well," Pinkie said, her mood returning to normal.

The only one who was silent was Rainbow Dash, who was staring at Applejack's Stetson in her hooves. Twilight approached her cautiously, and watched as Rainbow slowly placed the hat on top of her head.

"Okay," Rainbow said. She then looked at Twilight, fiery determination in her eyes. "Okay, let's do it."

Author's Note

Even the strongest of us can be broken... Trust me, I feel really bad for doing this. But the story called for it. See y'all next month!

-Devs

Chapter 7: The Nest

"Who the hell was that...?" Rainbow said once the scream had died down.

"It sounded like..." Pinkie didn't want to believe it.

"A-AJ...?" Rainbow didn't know what to do.

"Rainbow, don't even think--"

Rainbow was gone before Twilight could finish, zooming through the vents and following the scream.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called after her, but it was too late. The remaining three exchanged a glance and immediately followed their rainbow haired companion through the vents.

Rainbow flew downward, the rungs of a ladder beside her as she flew down, then pulled up as the vent turned in front of her. She flew as fast as the cramped space would allow, and eventually found an opening in the floor of the shaft that led to a dark room. Applejack's scream had stopped long ago, but she knew she was through there. She dropped through the opening, and landed in cold water up to her knees. The walls were not like the rest of the ship; they were black and looked... strangely natural, which made no sense in a ship like this. It reminded her of a spider's web, and the walls were slick with a slimy substance that shone a little in the dim light.

"Applejack?" she called into the darkness.

"R-Rainbow?" came the response, and Dash instantly bolted in the direction of her voice, splashing a little in the deep water.

Rainbow Dash turned the corner, and saw Applejack's weakened body. Restrained to the wall by the spiderweb-like black substance coating the walls. She went to her and jumped to hug the orange mare whom she thought had died, only to stop in midair when she realized she was unable to get her hooves around her. She slowly lowered herself to the watery floor, and looked at Applejack sadly. Applejack looked back at her, and tried to free herself from the hardened, black material surrounding her. She was stopped only by the pain in her gut, which caused her to cry out in pain.

"Rainbow..." Applejack started. "Y-ya gotta kill me... I can't leave... and..."

"No way! I'm getting you out of there!" Rainbow started prying at the stuff holding Applejack down, and got one of her front legs free.

As soon as her leg was free, Applejack slowly and gently put her hoof to Dash's cheek, stopping the mare in her tracks. "Dash, it's too late for me," she said sadly. "Look around, at the walls."

Rainbow did, and saw several of the aliens restrained in a similar fashion to Applejack... all of which had huge, gaping holes in their chests. The weird thing was, it looked like something had been getting out of their chests, instead of something going in. She also noticed several round, leathery things on the ground around them, all but two of the few dozen had four triangular flaps opened on top of them, revealing the emptiness inside.

"Dash... I have one inside me..."

"Wh-what?" Rainbow looked at the strange, spider-like creature next to Applejack, its legs curled up and still. The long tail that started between two strange sacs was also curled into a tight spiral next to it. "What do you...?"

"It's how they're made, Dash... That thing... put somethin' inside me..." she looked down at her chest. "It's only a matter o' time, now..."

"No..." Rainbow couldn't accept this. Applejack couldn't die. She couldn't. "No, I-I can't believe this..."

"Rainbow..." she looked up at Applejack, and the sad smile told her it was true. "You know I love you, so please... get outta here... for me..."

Rainbow didn't know what to do. She heard what sounded like splashing in the water from where she had come, and she turned to see Pinkie, Rarity and Twilight turning the corner.

"There you are!" Twilight almost yelled, making her way over. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I..." Rainbow looked down, and then the others saw Applejack.

"Oh dear," Rarity gasped. "Look what they've done to you..."

"Get outta here, all of you!" Applejack said.

"Not a chance!" Pinkie started to think of a way to get Applejack out of her predicament, only to be shoved off by the orange mare's hoof.

"Pinkie, stop... I'm already dead anywa-AHH!"

All eyes went to Applejack as she started shaking and convulsing, gritting her teeth and groaning in pain as her chest started to bleed. Rainbow could see something pushing against the skin in Applejack's chest, and she simply watched in horror as the beige head exploded its way through Applejack's ribs and skin, spraying the four with blood as a high pitched screech could be heard. Applejack's body went still, and the small, beige head resembling that of the bigger monster that they had managed to avoid poked out of the gory hole it had made. Applejack's eyes had rolled back into her skull, and a steady stream of blood had managed to make its way from her mouth down her neck and chest... and all Rainbow could do was stare at the creature that had killed the one thing she had.

The smaller creature had silver teeth, much like its older counterpart, and it hissed at them before slithering its way out of Applejack's destroyed chest and disappearing into the cavernous tunnels that the monsters had created for their nest. Rainbow's eyes didn't leave Applejack's body, she was completely numb. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. She wanted nothing more than to join her lover in death.

Author's Note

welp.

Chapter 8: The Queen

Twilight stepped forward, not wanting to startle Rainbow Dash as she absorbed what had just happened. Applejack was now truly dead. The damage that the tiny creature had done was enough to confirm that. She looked at the blood, slowly making its way down Applejack's still body. Rainbow was completely still, utterly in shock. She didn't know why she felt the emptiness in her heart. That wasn't Applejack, it couldn't have been. Even she wouldn't give in to death that easily... right? She looked at the strange, orange mare's body, and found it was an exact copy of the mare she had loved. But she couldn't accept that it was her. She knew... she knew that Applejack must have had a quicker death than that. But no matter how long she kept her eyes closed, the body was still Applejack. Nothing was going to change it, and nothing was going to bring her back.

"A-AJ...?" her voice cracked as soon as she tried to speak, "AJ...?"

A hoof landed on her shoulder, gently, and she heard Twilight's voice next to her. "I'm sorry, Rainbow... she's gone..."

"No... Th-that wasn't Applejack..." Rainbow still couldn't accept it. "It can't have been. She died long ago..."

"Rainbow..." Twilight pulled her into a tight hug, and finally, she broke.

Her sobs were long and loud. So loud that Twilight had to put a sound protection spell around them to keep the aliens from hearing while Rainbow accepted that Applejack was dead. Her body shook with each sob, and Pinkie had joined the hug to comfort her friend. Rainbow couldn't handle it. She had watched her oldest and closest friend die, and she had just watched as the one mare she wanted to protect most in the world died. It was too much. Nobody was supposed to die. It was supposed to be a mining trip, nothing else. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Rainbow's sobs slowly died down, and she pulled away from Twilight as she lowered the sound spell. The other two mares said a silent goodbye to Applejack, Rarity's mascara dripping down her cheeks again as Pinkie was, once again, flat-maned and silent. The four started to walk along the cavernous nest that the creatures seemed to have built themselves, and they heard the feint hum of the ship's engines as they felt the air around them become more moist and warm. They hadn't encountered any of the creatures, which was a good sign. Though being in their territory didn't make anyone feel any better.

The four entered what appeared to be the engine room, and saw dozens of the leathery eggs all around them. Surrounding something big hanging from six long struts attached to the walls. It looked like a bigger version of the creatures, but with a huge, sort of crowned head, and two tiny arms between two much larger ones. At the base of the massive creature was a long, translucent sack which ended in a small tube. Said tube was slowly ejecting one of the eggs onto the floor, slime and a slight film of tissue connecting it to the ovipositor as it moved away from the egg.

The head of the creature started to move, and a large mouth with clear teeth slid down from the crest at the front of its head. This seemed to be the monster's true head, as it turned to face them, letting out a long hiss as it spotted them.

"My god..." Twilight said, as wide-eyed as the other three as they examined the creature. "That must be the mother..."

"Or their queen, look at that... somehow marvelous headpiece..." Rarity said, dumbstruck by the odd beauty of the creature before them.

The four heard what sounded like cracking around them, and they turned to see that the four nearest eggs around them had opened their triangular flaps, and something was moving around inside them. Everyone backed away from them... except for Rainbow Dash, who watched them with angry eyes as what looked like fingers started pulling the small body out of the leathery egg it was born from.

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?!" Twilight yelled at her.

"I'm done, Twilight," she replied, looking back at the purple unicorn sadly. "I can't save you. I couldn't protect Fluttershy, I couldn't save Applejack... This is it for me..."

"This isn't up for debate, Rainbow," Twilight's horn started lighting up, Rainbow Dash being wrapped in a magenta glow as she started being lifted off the ground. Then she was dropped as one of the beige, spider-like creatures leaped out of its egg and latched onto her skull, it's spindly legs and long tail creating a vise-like grip around her head and neck. Twilight struggled for a second before going limp as the creature shoved something into her mouth, past her teeth and down her throat. She passed out while the other three watched on.

Rarity screamed and turned, running away as fast as she could. Right into the path of a passing xenomorph. It grabbed hold of her, screeching loudly as it opened its mouth and using the tongue-like appendage to put a hole through the side of her head. Her body went limp as her blood and brains splattered against the slimy wall. Rainbow lay on the ground, crying to herself before one of the spider-creatures latched itself onto her head, as well.

Pinkie was the last one.

She was alone now, and she did the only thing she knew was right. She ran. She used her Pinkie Sense to avoid the bigger creatures as well as the eggs, and, in effect, the facehuggers inside them. She made it to an elevator, and hit the button as quickly as she had entered.

Author's Note

EVERYBODY'S DEAD NOW.

Chapter 9: The Silence

While the elevator rose, Pinkie slumped against the wall. Her mind was focusing on one thing; she was the only one left. Twilight and Rainbow Dash would suffer the same fate as Applejack. Rarity had been killed by one of those monsters, and Fluttershy was already dead. It was hopeless to get out alive, but she felt she needed to take the monsters with her. If she was going to die, she would go out fighting. Though it was more for Twilight than anything else.

She watched the number on the wall above the door slowly count upward, and memories of Twilight started to flood her mind as the elevator ride went on and on. She didn't want to think about what had happened, but she couldn't help it. She remembered their first date, their first kiss, every single one of their firsts went through her mind as the tears made their way down her cheeks. Twilight was gone. None of her memories meant anything anymore if the pony that was the center of so much of her life wasn't there to share them with. She already missed the purple unicorn. The mare who showed her that there was more to life than parties and sugar. But she knew, somehow, that there was no way to save Twilight from her fate, and so, when the door opened, she bolted. She read the signs as quickly as she passed them, following them to the ship's server room. She didn't know where the self destruct system might be, so she figured that the server room made the most sense.

It was a long walk. The hallway was big and silent, and Pinkie was still emotionally raw from seeing her friends die so quickly. She shook her head every time she thought that it was her fault for being unable to save Twilight. It wasn't her fault. There was nothing she could do to save her because no one had expected such a turn of events. She wished it had been her instead. As an earth pony, she couldn't fly or use magic, and she wasn't nearly as strong as Applejack. She couldn't help as much as anyone else. All she had was a slight gut and too much energy from all the sugar she consumed. She was useless.

"Shut up, Pinkie," she muttered to herself, checking left and right for any sign of the monsters. Nothing. "You're worth more than you're saying. You're just too upset."

She looked at the orange door in front of her, red and white striped tape around the edges and a small window above a control panel. She pressed a button on the panel, and the door slid open to reveal one of the alien crew. It was slumped against the wall, directly across from the door. But this one was different. There was no blood around it, and inside seemed to be a bunch of tubes and wires. There was a thick, white liquid pouring from the several wounds all over its body (including its decapitated head). She hadn't expected that in the slightest.

She was even more freaked out when the head twitched, even though it was impaled on the wall above its body. Its eyes opened, and it looked down at the small pink mare curiously.

"Well, this is odd," it said with an accented voice that also sounded slightly bubbly. Most likely due to the extensive damage throughout its body. "When I heard that there was an alien on the ship, I didn't expect the marvelous specimen that managed to decapitate me. But I'm even more surprised to see that it isn't the only foreign creature here."

"What are you supposed to be?" Pinkie asked.

"I'm a synthetic human. A robot, if you will," he said. "Amazing that we speak the same language, don't you think?"

"Sure, whatever," Pinkie was annoyed. "I've already seen enough alien shit today, and now I'm going to destroy the ship. It's the only thing left for me now..."

"Surely you can't be serious?" the synthetic was dumbfounded. "This is the first sentient alien life that humanity has ever encountered, you must let me question you on your species."

"I'm a pony who can talk and have a society and know what it feels like to lose someone you love more than your own life," Pinkie spat. "Is that enough, mister robot man?"

She stormed past him, and looked around for anything relating to the ship's self destruct mechanism. She noticed a panel on the floor, and it looked like it was attached to hinges. She assumed that might be it, and looked for a way to get it open. There were two levers on the wall, and she walked over to them.

Using her front legs, she found that the hinges were very stiff, but she managed to pull both of them down. She heard a click behind her, and turned to see that the panel on the floor had opened. Satisfied, she walked back to it and looked at the image on the inside of the cover.

She read and reread the instructions, keeping in mind the time limit, and got to work. She did as they said, taking the small bolts and screwing them into the silver cylinders, pulling them up and pushing the buttons in each of them. When the final head was primed, she heard the sound of sirens break out, along with the ship's artificial intelligence saying over the PA system;
"Warning! Self destruct sequence initiated. Ship will detonate in T-Minus... ten minutes. Please evacuate immediately. The option to override self destruct sequence expires in T-Minus... five minutes."

"Not like I plan on stopping it," she muttered as she stood up.

She walked past the impaled synthetic, and into the hallway. She didn't plan on escaping the ship, but she might as well look around before it blew. She walked the empty and bloody hallways, heading in no particular direction and not caring if she was spotted. She knew she would die when she ship blew anyway. But if some alien freak wanted to off her before that happened, she welcomed it.

As if in response to her mind, she saw the dripping mouth of one of the creatures poke through a door ahead of her. But she didn't feel scared. She flinched a little as it screeched, but didn't evade or hide when it ran at her. She knew she was going to die, so she let it happen as the creature used its second pair of teeth to put a hole right through her head.

*****

Twilight woke up slowly. Her vision was blurry, and she felt extremely weak. She could hardly move, and found that she was covered in sweat. As her vision focused, she saw that she was directly across from Applejack's bloodied corpse. She also saw that Rainbow Dash was there, right next to Applejack as the rainbow-maned pegasus started to wake up. They were both restrained by the tough resin that Twilight assumed was secreted by the creatures to keep the hosts for their larvae in place. Rainbow looked up and saw Twilight there, and her ears flopped.

"Uh... hey, Twilight," she said quietly. "Looks like I've gone and fucked us over again, huh?"

"Don't talk like that, Rainbow," Twilight said softly. "It wasn't your fault."

"How?" Rainbow cut her off. "How isn't this my fault? I led us down here. I didn't move when you three were leaving. Now, because of me, we're both gonna die down here..." she hung her head. "Just like AJ..."

Twilight had no response to that. She knew trying to comfort Rainbow wouldn't work. The mare was already beyond repair at this point. The only thing left for them to do was wait until, eventually, the aliens inside their chests decided that they wanted out. So wait they did.

"Warning! Ship will self destruct in T-Minus... Five minutes! Please evacuate immediately."

"Good!" Rainbow yelled. "And take every single fucking one of these bastards with you!"

Twilight smiled a little. "That must've been Pinkie. She's blowing the ship."

"I hope it was her..." Rainbow smiled a little at the thought. "She knows what happens now, she's seen what these things can do." Twilight nodded. "See ya, Pinks... Never forget your pal, Rainbow Da-AGHH!!!" Rainbow could feel the pain in her chest, and her body convulsed involuntarily. But she didn't scream. She accepted this fate. She was going to see Applejack again, no matter the cost.

The small creature ripped its way out of her chest, splattering Twilight with blood as she watched on and the small screech broke out. It didn't take long for her own chest to start hurting as the monster inside her readied to make its violent escape. She shook and cried out as the pain overcame all of her senses. Her final thoughts being; Burn in hell, monsters. And thank you, Pinkie... I love you...

Author's Note

And so, all good things must come to an end. I hope you all enjoyed my first finished crossover. And, in fact, my first Alien crossover as well. This was an adventure for me to write and I'm so grateful for the support from fans of not only myself, but of this story as well. I hope to see more of you in the future.
Thanks for reading!!!

-Devs

Chapter 6: The Message

They headed for the bridge, moving as quickly and quietly as they could to avoid attracting the monster. Rainbow Dash and Rarity had managed to accept their lovers' fates, and were now determined to make sure that they would not die in vain. Twilight and Pinkie had the lead, neither one wanting to leave the other's side should the creature return.

Twilight still had a million questions to ask about the creature, but Dash wouldn't talk about it. She knew that it had killed her best friend and the love of her life, but she needed Rainbow to focus on the mission. Right now, she seemed more focused on destroying that monster.

They rounded another corner and continued to follow the signs leading them to the bridge, determined to get there and hopefully send a distress beacon. The vents overhead were silent, and not one of the openings in the ceiling showed any sign of the creature's presence. But no one let their guard down, just in case the creature did show up. They rounded another corner, and spotted something that hadn't surprised any of them: one of the dead crew members of the ship. The sight of him didn't surprise any of them, what did were his wounds. He had a small, circular hole in his forehead, and from what they could see, the back of his skull was blown outward.

"What the hell...?" Rainbow spoke up.

"Was this the creature?" Twilight asked.

"No, it couldn't haver been... Its tongue... Thing was square. Or at least it looked like it was from the hole in Fluttershy's head." She cringed as the memory hit her, hard, and she could hear Rarity gasp in horror.

"Then what could have done this?"

"Not sure. Don't care, let's keep going," Rainbow said as they continued on.

Before long they reached a large door that slid upwards as they approached, revealing a cramped cabin with several stations and computers around it. Clearly the ship's bridge. Inside were a trio of dead aliens, and it was clear that they had been killed by the creature as their heads all had the same, square shaped holes in them. Twilight looked around the room, and saw what looked like communications equipment... Smashed beyond repair. She frowned and closed her eyes.

"Oh shit... Is that seriously the...?" Rainbow didn't want to finish the question.

"Yep... That's the comm equipment..." Twilight said, falling to her flank in defeat. "That was our shot... Our one damn shot..."

"We're fucked... We... We are totally fucking screwed..." Dash was losing her cool again.

"But... But isn't there another way, Twilight?" Pinkie asked, her mane falling flat.

"We have nothing to call for help with..." Twi hung her head and her ears went flat.

"Maybe there's a distress beacon?" Rarity finally spoke up.

Everyone was silent.

"Yeah... Yeah, she's right," Rainbow's voice rose a little. "All ships are supposed to have at least one onboard, maybe these aliens have the same protocols?"

"It's worth a shot," Twilight said. "Let's go..."

Beep... Beep... Beep...

"What's that beeping?" Pinkie's ears perked up and she looked around.

Everyone else heard it, too, and Twilight looked for the source of the beeping. At the far end of the room, a red light flashed at a steady pace, on par with the beeping. Twilight teleported over to it, and inspected the console. It had a curved, glass screen -not unlike their own on Equis- and the red light was a button. She pressed it down with the tip of her hoof, and heard as the message started playing.

It was full of static, but the words she could make out were enough to send shivers down even Celestia's spine;

"Emergency.....cast to all crew memb... Evangelion, we have encountered an........tile alien life form and it is killing anyo....... Those missing are to be presum........ven otherwise. If this life form is encountered, run. Don't stop for anything and don't let it see you because if it does, it's already too late. From my experience, it seems to retreat from........xtremely dangerous... Godspeed..."

The trasmission cut out after that.

"Fucking perfect, it cut out when we could've found out what that thing runs from," Rainbow said, annoyed.

"Calm down," Twilight replied, "it can't be that hard to figure out."

"Yeah? And how do you know?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity spoke up. "This is not the time to panic."

"Really, Rarity? It isn't? Well let me catch you up on current events; Applejack and Fluttershy are dead, our ship abandoned us on an alien vessel with a creature that is killing on site, we have no way to contact home, and we're probably all gonna fucking die here!" Rainbow spat out. "It's the perfect time to panic!"

"Everyone calm down," Twilight said. "The situation may be dire, but this is no time to lose our heads. We can still get out of this, I know it."

"And what happens if we don't?" Rainbow asked, monotone.

"If we don't... then... we take that bastard with us," Twilight said.

"Agreed," Rarity nodded. "We need to find the distress beacon, we can send it out and warn anyone who finds it about the risk. Even if we don't survive, we can make sure they destroy this ship and that monster with it."

Twilight nodded her agreement, along with Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, and the four started away from the ruined and bloody room. They stayed close together and went as silently as their hooves would allow, checking every corner and stopping by or going around every overhead air vent they saw. Even Rainbow Dash kept her hooves on the ground, not wanting to abandon the others.

They walked until they heard a strange, metallic scraping off to their right, and when they turned they saw a circular opening in the wall that seemed to lead into the air shafts. They could easily all fit in if they went single file, but none of them moved for it.

"That might make moving around easier," Rainbow said.

"But the creature uses the air ducts to move around, as far as I can tell," Pinkie said.

"Right..." Rainbow lowered her ears. "But we don't know if we'll run into it."

"We don't know that we won't, either, darling," Rarity said. "It's probably best that we don't use them."

"Uh huh..." Rainbow started to continue their journey, as did the others... Just as the scream resonated from the opening.

Author's Note

Derp