Author's Note
Writing a little short story (prolly 25k words at the most) about Aliens in Equestria. No one can save the ponies except the Predator!
Feedback is greatly appreciated, and thank you in advance for reading!
Enjoy!
Part 1: Unleashed
TING!
The sharp sound rang out through the tunnel, drawing everypony’s attention to the ringing sound. A brown earth pony stallion lifted his pickaxe, seeing the tip of it completely broken off by whatever he had hit. Looking back to where he was mining, he saw a weathered-looking slab of metal engraved with some form of old writing he could not read. It appeared ornate despite its worn look.
“What is it?” his foreman eagerly asked after shuffling over to him through the nearby rocks. He looked down at what his worker had hit, seeing the strange piece of metal that appeared to be pony-made.
“I don’t know, sir. I was minin’ away as normal when I broke my pick on this here,” the worker answered.
The foreman called over one of his helpers, his eyes still locked on the metal. He turned to the bulky mare, his mind running at incredible speeds.
“Tell our investor their patience has finally paid off, and arrange a meeting with the princess; we just struck gold.”
“But, sir, that’s not gold.”
“I know,” he calmly replied, “it’s so much better.” A large grin grew on his face.
Princess Cadance was attending her normal royal duties, such as meeting with diplomats and regulating legal proceedings, when a mare she had seen around before came up to her. The princess remembered her scurrying through the castle, begging banker after banker for more money to fund their expedition.
Her boss, the infamous brother of Filthy Rich, Richie Rich, had been trying to find support to launch an unorthodox search beneath the Crystal Empire. He believed that the crystalline caves had to have some form of old artifact buried within them, so he set out to find it. Unfortunately, the public thought his claims to be outlandish, so he found himself lacking in capital.
Eventually, the mare had found a single investor who was interested and viewed it as a new opportunity. If he lost some money, so be it, but if he found something, he would be famous. So, after acquiring some permits, Richie Rich took his group of miners to the Crystal Empire’s caves, starting their excavation.
That same mare who had been key in starting the operation stood before Princess Cadance now, a massive smile on her face.
“What can I do for you, my little pony?” Cadance kindly asked.
“Mr. Rich found something in the caves—something huge—and he wants to meet with you,” the mare rapped out.
Cadance put a hoof to her chin as she thought of when she would be available. “I should be free next week; is that good for him?”
“Sadly not. He should be arriving—” she trailed off, looking at her wristwatch, “—right now.”
At that moment, the lustrous doors to the chamber opened, three ponies decked in suits trotting through them. The one in the front was a grey-colored stallion with black hair, his dark suit accenting him. He pulled off his shades as he came up to the princess.
“Good day, Princess Cadance.” He grabbed a briefcase from one of his bodyguards. “A moment of your time, please?”
“Sure,” she hesitantly said, “let’s go to my office.”
“All right then.” Richie Rich followed the princess through the castle, his bodyguards and assistant going with him.
“Here we are. If you’ll take a seat, please,” Cadance told him, waving towards the entourage of chairs in her large office.
Richie Rich decided to take the chair directly in front of the princess, his assistant sitting to his right. His bodyguards stayed outside at the door, closing it for privacy.
“So,” she started, “what can I do for you? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you so… cheery.” She tried to flash a genuine smile.
“Well, all my determination and hard work—my workers' hard work, I mean—has paid off. Today while mining, we came across an archaeological artifact that I think you will find most interesting.” He put the silver briefcase on the crystal table, clicking it open and lifting the lid.
He pushed a button on the side, and a small projector rose out of the interior of the briefcase. Blue lights danced from the device, making a floating image in front of him.
Cadance leaned forward, taking in the image in front of her. Outlined with the blue rays, a small square pyramid floated in the air. It had one gaping entrance that led into the structure, but she could not see what was inside.
“What is it?” she asked.
“This, princess, is an ancient tomb.”
“A tomb?” she asked in confusion.
“Yes. My experts believe it is thousands of years old. Inside of it is a single chamber that has giant statues of strange animals, but more importantly, we believe an artifact of our history is within the chamber.”
“I don’t understand,” the princess started, “who made this? The pony tribes were barely stable enough to manage the creation of small towns on their own.”
“I’m glad you asked that. Remember how I said it was built thousands of years ago?” he asked her.
“Yes.”
“I believe it was built before the three pony tribes were unified as one. This may very well be the first structure made by all three tribes together.”
“That can’t be right. They hated each other, so why would they work together to make a tomb—of all things?” This story started to sound weirder and weirder to the princess, but she could not ignore something so important in understanding more of ponykind’s past.
“I don’t know, but I think the answer is in that chamber. And, the tomb is in a large open area, so we can easily get to it.” He closed the briefcase, handing it off to his assistant.
The mare cleared her throat. “Richie Rich Archeology is requesting a royally financed expedition into the newly discovered tomb beneath the Crystal Empire’s caves to explore said tomb in an effort to uncover archaeological artifacts.”
Cadance leaned back in her chair as she pondered what to do. While the whole thing seemed a little crazy, she had to admit she wanted to know more about this “tomb.”
“All right, Richie Rich,” she said while looking at him. “I’ll fund your expedition. I’ll even expedite the process so you can start the day after tomorrow.”
Richie Rich smiled, finally about to make history.
“On one condition.”
His face fell as he focused on the princess again. “Of course, your highness.”
“I will be at the front lines with you.”
He let out the large breath he was holding, his smile returning. “No problem. Thank you for your time and generosity.”
Richie Rich and his assistant stood up, swiftly exiting the door with one last thank you gesture.
It was time to make history.
“All right, everypony,” Richie Rich shouted out to his group of workers, “let’s make this quick and easy. Remember, Princess Cadance will be accompanying us on our expedition, so make sure she is taken care of.” He clapped his hooves together. “Blast away the last rock!”
With a thunderous clap, an explosion blew away the thin layer of stone between the miners and the chasm.
Cadance shielded her face with a wing, pebbles scattering around her. She moved it from her face and clapped her wings together, sending dust flying away from her and the group. The air cleared, light pouring into the area and revealing the glorious temple that was the tomb.
Everypony looked in awe, their jaws dropping, as they saw it. Giant slabs of once shiny metal created the pyramid, weird masks jutting from its corners. There was also a strange spike extending from the top of the structure. It looked similar to a spine in the way it had bony segments shaping it. At its end was a sharp tip.
Princess Cadance had never seen anything like it; its entire exterior was made of metal. While dulled, she started thinking of how much mining had gone into creating this place.
“Amazing!” Richie Rich shouted. “Let’s go in.”
The team gathered their equipment and started moving. The princess was at the center of the group, and they moved as one until they reached the mouth of the tomb.
They were about to head in when a stallion stopped them.
“Wait! There is some form of writing on the entrance.” He looked up at the large figures, trying to decipher them. “It’s older than any form of writing I’ve seen, but it has similarities to modern Equestrian.
“It says something along the lines of, ‘You may enter if you…’” he trailed off.
“What is it?” Cadance asked him.
“I-I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before. It might be some kind of warning or right of passage.”
“Well, I’m not too worried about a long-dead civilization’s messages,” Richie Rich announced.
They carried on, heading into the depths of the tomb. Cadance felt a little uneasy because of the ominous statues of bipedal creatures wearing the same masks as the ones on the tomb’s exterior. They held spears in their “paws.”
They eventually reached the single chamber, climbing down a set of stairs to reach it. There was a stone door with three handles on it, keeping them from the inside.
“The door has more writing on it,” the same stallion from before said. He went over to it, feeling the edges with his hooves.
“‘The prize lies here.’ That’s what it basically means.”
“Huzzah!” Richie Rich shouted. “The prize is inside this room. Now, who wants to open it with me?”
Princess Cadance and the worker who discovered the pyramid came forward, gripping the handles and getting ready to pull. Together they turned them, forcing the handles around and causing the door to slowly rise up and into the ceiling.
They all went inside, looking around at the circular chamber. There was a hole at the center of the ceiling that went all the way to the top of the pyramid, illuminating the room a little. The floors had writing engraved over them entirely, the walls and ceiling covered as well.
Richie Rich shot ahead of the group, looking down the hole in the center. He gasped as he saw a small golden box hanging by a chain that branched into four points. He pulled a small pick from his side, yanking the box up.
With a clang, he easily broke the withered chain, holding the pure gold box in front of his face. He saw a hole at the top where he put his pick, wiggling it around to pry off the lid.
“We’ve almost got the prize!”
The translator had been looking around the room, piecing the story of the tomb together. The more he read, the more he worried about what the place actually was.
“Sir,” he said, “I don’t think this is a tomb.”
“What are you talking about?” Richie Rich ignorantly said.
“There is no body or sarcophagus, and the writing on the walls call this something like a prison.”
Richie Rich started to get the lid off, the corners starting to pop off.
“The ‘prize’ isn’t a treasure as we thought. According to this, it’s a…”
Richie Rich grinned as he felt the last corner of the box come unlatched. He reached to pull the lid off completely.
“Stop! It’s a trap!” the translator yelled. It was no use because the lid popped off with a final pull.
Thick foggy mist spewed out from the golden container, falling onto the ground. The room shook, dust falling from the ceiling. The translator rushed to the door as it started to slide down. He was not nearly fast enough because the door slammed onto the ground, sealing them in.
The shaking had distracted everypony from the box Richie Rich still held in his hooves. The fog had cleared from it, and a fleshy egg that rested inside started to split at the top.
He turned back to the box, seeing the grotesque egg.
“What the hell?”
Cadance came over, looking down at the egg, its top completely opened. Inside was a fleshy-looking mass.
“What is that?” she asked in disgust and shock.
“I don’t know, but it almost looks like it’s ali—” Richie Rich tried to say, seeing the tiniest of shifts in the mass, when suddenly it unrolled itself and leaped towards him. It had eight legs like a spider, but two sacs and a tail hung from its body as it shot towards his face.
He tried to move out the way, but it wrapped onto his face, gripping tightly at his neck and jaw. He felt his mouth get forced open, and then something large and living was put down his throat.
Cadance saw the horror unfold, and she charged her horn to try and blast the creature off of him. After a moment of precise aim, she burned it with a bolt of energy. It fell from his body, shriveling up as it turned to ash.
“Is everypony okay?” she said aloud.
Everypony looked over themselves, making sure they were in one piece and nodded to her. Richie Rich fell over, slamming onto the stone floor. She came over to him, checking to make sure he was okay. He was still breathing, so he had just passed out.
It seemed she was now in charge.
“Okay. We need to find a way out of here. At least we should be getting air from the opening in the ceiling.”
“The only way out is the door we came in,” the worker who had found this place said. He was now the Chief Miner. “But we do have the picks we brought with us. If we all start chipping away the stone, we can get it thin enough for you to blast a way through.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
They started right away, unaware of what was going on inside of Richie Rich. The creature forced into him was already devouring his insides and growing larger by the minute.
After about half an hour of chipping away at the door, everypony stopped when they heard Richie Rich take in a large gasp. He quickly tried to stand, falling back over as he did. The Chief Miner went over to him.
“Are you all right, sir?”
“Yeah, just give me a min—” Richie Rich responded before erupting into a scream. He felt his ribs crack as something pushed against him. The Chief Miner saw his boss’s chest moving as his skin stretched, making the worker recoil.
With one last push, Richie Rich’s chest exploded open, his blood and guts flying everywhere in a brutal spray. To everypony’s horror, a snake-like creature emerged from the hole, screeching loudly. It propelled itself from his breast, flying towards the Chief Miner.
The creature latched onto his stomach, chomping down on his flesh as it burrowed inside. Bloody screams echoed through the room as he thrashed around, desperately trying to throw the thing off.
It continued to chew, now entering his stomach fully. Making a push through him, it came out the other side of his back, jumping onto the ground. The worker’s lifeless body fell over while his eyes rolled back.
The serpent was bigger now, its tail starting to form while its body had turned black. From pony to pony it jumped, devouring everything it came in contact with as it continued to grow.
Now equipped with claws, it dragged a pony to the center of the room, jumping down into the space and crunching on the poor stallion. It threw his body up, covering the hole that lit up the room.
Cadance heard scuttering as the room went dark for a second. She looked left and right all around the room when the light returned, seeing nothing. She felt something drip on her nose, then another drip after that. She slowly looked up, hearing a hissing sound.
“Dear Celestia,” she whispered in fear as she saw the fully formed Xenomorph above her. Its wicked teeth and slicked bony form looked alien in every way.
It jumped down, opening its jaws as it prepared to bite. The translator jumped in the way of the princess, sending the creature hurdling back as he rammed into it.
“Get out of here! Warn Equestria so they can kill this thing!” he shouted to her. With a tear falling from her eye, she turned towards the door and blasted it open with her horn.
She opened her wings and took flight, fleeing the prison.
The Xenomorph stood back up, growling at the ten ponies left in the room. They gripped their picks, ready to fight off the alien.
It charged, thrashing its tail over the ground wildly. It jumped, whipping its tail through one pony’s chest before shooting its second mouth through the head of another. A pick cut through part of its side, causing it to screech in pain.
Its tail whipped the attacker away, but another stabbed it in the back. Now weakened, it could not hold off the assault. The ponies stabbed and stabbed at the creature, eventually killing it.
They looked down at their weapons, seeing them wither apart from the creature’s acidic blood.
They looked all around the room as parts of the wall pushed outward as they became mantles. On each of the dozen parts, an egg like the one in the golden box started to open up.
Ever since the expedition into the ancient tomb, the aliens had multiplied a thousandfold. Like rats, they spread, taking over the entire Crystal Empire. Princess Cadance did not have enough time to mount a defense against them, so her empire was overwhelmed. The citizens had to relocate to Equestria’s other major cities for the time being.
So far, the infestation had been contained to just the empire, but they were starting to spread further. The four alicorn princesses had gathered an army to fight off the swarm while they tried to find a solution, but the aliens were merciless creatures that were breaking through due to their suicidal assaults.
All eyes fell on the new princess, Twilight Sparkle, and her castle that had just recently formed in Ponyville. Everypony hoped it was not just a coincidence her castle appeared days before the invasion.
Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Twilight Sparkle, and her five friends were gathered in the room of the castle with the Friendship Map. So far, it had done nothing but sit idly, but everypony in Equestria hoped the map held a secret to their survival against the aliens.
“I still can’t believe this is happening to us,” Twilight said in dismay.
“Yes,” Celestia answered coldly, “it is still a shock. One day we were all enjoying ourselves, and then they awoke.”
“I cannot feel but that I am to blame for all this,” Cadance said. “I am the one who helped release them after all.”
“Thou cannot blame thyself for mistakes that thou were not responsible for,” Luna told her. “It will only make you more bitter, and that is a dark path to go down.”
With silence hanging in the air, they contemplated. Their thoughts were broken as a purple pulse came from the Friendship Map, the sound going through the room. They all looked at it immediately, seeing six figures appearing on the map.
They were the symbols of the Elements, and they danced over the map as they started to single in on a location. Everypony cocked their head when they saw where they had stopped. The Elements hung in the ground below Canterlot castle.
“That can’t be right, can it?” Applejack asked.
“I doubt it was a mistake,” Twilight answered. “Whatever it is, it may be the secret to our survival.”
“It’s settled then,” Luna started, “thou and thy friends shall go beneath Canterlot in search of our last hope to vanquish our foe.”
“We won’t let you down princesses,” Twilight proudly said.
“I trust you won’t. Best of luck, my little ponies,” Celestia finished, wishing them all good luck.
They set out immediately to Canterlot in search of whatever the map wanted them to find. Little did they know, the aliens were headed to the same place in search of the same thing…
“We’ve got to hold them off!” a commander shouted to his men. An alien charged at him, but the pony quickly spun his spear around, stabbing the raging alien with its sharp end and lifting the creature into the air. With a final screech, it went limp, dripping its toxic blood onto the ground. “We can’t let them get through The Boundary!”
“We can’t hold ‘em for much longer,” one of his soldiers told him while trying to fend off an alien. “We need backup; we need the princesse—” the soldier was saying until he was impaled by the spear of a tail.
The commander looked around, seeing the carnage that had unfolded. Countless bodies of aliens were scattered on the ground, each of them leaking acid everywhere. At least thirty ponies laid on the ground, their bodies torn apart by the things they tried to hold back. His group had dwindled to only a few ponies, but they could not afford to retreat.
Should the aliens get through The Boundary, they would run rampant through Equestria, feasting on anything in their way as they reproduced even more. The Boundary was the last stand against them, but things were looking grim.
Coming from the distance, waves of them charged towards the front lines, equally willing to sacrifice themselves for the end of Equestria. All they saw was prey, and they hungered.
The commander charged his horn, creating a spell within his mind. Worry overtook him as he saw an alien sprinting towards him, saliva dripping from its jaws as it prepared to strike. It never could because he finished the spell, hurling a massive fireball towards it.
It skidded on the ground as it tried to turn around but was quickly consumed by the flames. The fireball went past it, scorching at least five more to the bone.
He was rammed on the side of his armor, shattering the piece and sending him tumbling on the ground. Swiftly getting up in a roll, he saw an alien leaping at him, claws outstretched. The commander closed his eyes as he awaited the strike, but he instead heard a whimper come from the creature.
He slowly opened his eyes, seeing a pile of ash falling into the wind where the alien once was. Four hooves landed on the ground with a clanging sound, making him look to where it came from. Standing before him was Princess Celestia herself, equipped in her battle gear.
A golden chestplate covered her barrel, leaving only the base of her wings exposed. Her legs were covered in similar plates while her hooves had steel horseshoes on them, thick enough to be dangerous. Her regalia was still on, but it glowed with a furious glow of white.
“I hoped to never wear this again, but it seems I must,” she said aloud. Her armor and stature intimidated even the commander. She trotted forward, seeing the failing defense firsthand. He could hear her let out a sigh, one that sounded sad almost.
She flapped her wings, sending her into the air with a powerful beat. Rising over the battlefield, she spoke to her ponies with a voice of authority never heard before.
“Shield your eyes!”
She extended her wings to their full extent as her fur ignited with a white glow, her entire body being engulfed by it. She clenched her eyes closed. The sun was behind her, and she channeled its power through every fiber of her body as she called down its glorious fury.
She opened her eyes with a red light, unleashing the sun upon her enemies. The aliens looked up just in time to see the beam of fire coming towards them. Their screams rose into the air as the battlefield was consumed in scorching heat that seared the flesh from the beasts, utterly destroying them.
The commander saw the scene, truly understanding the pure power the princess held. He was thankful he was on her side.
The area grew silent, every last alien wiped out by Celestia. The glow around her faded as she lowered back onto the ground, landing with a gentle tap.
Her face instantly fell as she saw another wave of Xenomorphs peaking the hills in the distance, all of them charging towards the ponies without hesitation.
“Oh no,” she said as barely a whisper on the wind, but it spoke volumes.
They all got up from the ground, getting their weapons ready and charging their spells as they saw the horde nearing. The pegasi shot into the air, holding spears out in front of them and diving towards the aliens. Fireballs flew, and cries of rage erupted as the two sides clashed.
Metal cut through flesh, and talons cut through bone as blood sprayed everywhere. Celestia clapped her wings together, sending a group of aliens flying back. She shot a ball of inferno at another group, burning them alive. An alien came up behind her, but her clad hooves crushed its chest.
Ponies fell as they were overwhelmed by the reckless force. As things looked near their end, a high pitch trill thundered over the land. The Xenomorphs froze as they heard the harrowing sound. They whipped around, sprinting away from the ponies and towards their mother.
Twilight and her five friends went through tunnel after tunnel in search of whatever the map wanted them to find. Their spirits fell further as they exited another cave, still finding nothing. They returned to a large chamber that branched out into dozens of caverns, deciding to take a break.
“This place still gives me the creeps,” Twilight said to her friends.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash started, “being taken prisoner by a freaky bug queen can do that.”
The group chuckled at that, sitting down. Their bodies ached from how long they had been walking and they had nothing to show for it. Twilight stood up, stretching her wings since they were sore from staying closed all day. She walked around a little, trying to get the stiffness out of her legs.
“There’s gotta be something here that we’re missing. The map wanted us to come here; we just need to find whatever it is that it’s trying to show us,” she said.
“Why can’t these things ever be easy?” Rarity rhetorically asked.
“What fun would that be?” Pinkie Pie responded.
Twilight let out an exaggerated sigh, going to one of the cave walls and leaning into it. Something audibly clicked as she did, making her turn around in surprise. Her friends looked as well, seeing the chunk of stone slide back further into the wall.
The ground rumbled as a massive section of stone that made up a large part of the wall separated into two pieces, opening outwards like a pair of doors.
The Elements stepped back as a cloud of dust floated out from the newly revealed area. The inside was dark, and the air was absolutely dry compared to the cave air.
“I-I-I think w-we found it,” Fluttershy managed to stammer out. The ominous room and its entrance shook her to her core.
The dust cleared, letting the group of friends look into the strange chamber. Darkness blanketed the room, making it impossible to see what was inside. A slight chill came from it, making the friends’ hair stand up. Twilight started to walk forward when Fluttershy stopped her.
“D-do we have to go… in there?”
“Yes,” Twilight said, “the map led us here for a reason.”
Fluttershy acquiesced, understanding the truth of her friend’s words. Steeling herself, she followed Twilight with the others. They fully stepped in, the sound of a mechanical device roaring. They looked up in surprise when light appeared around them.
A panel above their heads was illuminating the room, and another one lit up after it. One after another, they lit up, going in a line down what they realized to be a long hallway.
The final light lit up, the room then becoming bright as the extra lights kicked in. The ponies awed what they were looking at.
On both sides of the hallway, weapons of some sort were encased on the walls. Some were long and sharp like a spear, but others were blunt with a large hole at the end. At least a dozen different weapons lined the room.
At the end of the hallway was a door, so they went towards it. As they reached the end of the hall, said door opened, retracting into the sides of the wall.
The Elements continued into the chamber, instantly feeling the severe chill from inside. This room was made entirely of grey metal, but the large pod at the center was what drew their attention.
White fog clouded the glass of the tube, constantly shifting around. As they tried to peer into the thing, they saw parts of a strange creature, but it was too hard to tell what it was.
Their eyes moved to behind the pod as they saw something that made Fluttershy gag instantly. On the back wall, “trophies” were mounted everywhere.
“What are those?” Rainbow Dash asked in a fearful tone.
“I don’t know,” Twilight answered lifelessly. “They look like some kind of prize or trophy, maybe.”
Everypony gulped at the sight. The skulls of various foreign creatures covered most of the wall, and another section had skulls that were still attached to spines decorating it.
“What have we found?” Rarity thought aloud as she continued to stare at the wall.
Suddenly, a pedestal rose from the metal grate floor in front of the pod. On it was a single, large metal button.
Everypony realized that it likely would open up the pod of the creature that called this place its home. None of them made a move towards the button.
Twilight gulped and told her friends, “We should go.”
Suddenly, the sound of claws grinding sharply on stone came through the hallway and into the chamber where the six mares were. They snapped their heads in the direction of the horrendous sound.
At the end of the hall, four of the creatures the friends had only heard of came skulking in towards them.
“What is that?!” Rarity screamed.
“I think those are the aliens we have heard of,” Twilight said with fear.
The aliens snarled, dripping puddles of saliva from their jaws before breaking into a crawl on all fours.
Twilight charged up a bolt of energy in her horn, weaving a blast powerful enough to almost kill a pony. “Stand back!” she shouted to her friends before letting the spell fly. To her horror, the bolt whipped one of the aliens, simply causing it to squeal and slow down slightly. “We need a plan!”
“Throw them a ‘Please Don’t Hurt Us’ party?”
Everypony said, “No, Pinkie,” in unison. Now was not the time for parties—not that the creature would care.
“I can fly up and kick their flank,” Rainbow Dash offered.
“If these things are anything like I’ve heard, they might kill you!” Twilight told her.
The pegasus pointed at the center of the room. “What about this?”
“Why would we wake that up?” the alicorn asked, surprised her friend wanted to do such a thing.
“Whatever it is, it seems far more prepared to fight these things than we are right now. And, you said it yourself: the map led us here for a reason.
“I don’t want to wake it up, but if it is going to save us, then I’m willing to do it.”
Rarity cut in, saying, “I hate to say it, but I agree. We must do everything we can to save Equestria.”
No pony else contested, so Twilight gave in. “I hope we’re not making a mistake.” With that, she slammed a hoof down on the button, causing it to click into place. The fog from the tube released into the air as the lights flickered for a second.
The aliens were close now. They had been stalking the ponies like a predator would its prey, but they were tired of playing with their food.
“Come on, come on,” Fluttershy absently said. She started to bite her hooves as the monsters got closer.
The glass on the pod opened into two halves as compressed air spewed everywhere. Joints that had not been used in a long time shifted as the creature inside moved. The pedestal with the button opened up, revealing a bracer. Clicking noises echoed through the chamber, catching the attention of the aliens. They sprinted toward the ponies, quickly closing the distance left in the hallway. Two of them took the lead, the ponies staring at them in fear.
Twilight put a magical shield around her and her friends as the aliens jumped, but the creatures did not jump at her. Instead, they jumped towards the center of the room.
A thunderous roar erupted from the awoken creature as it wrapped its thick hands around the necks of the two aliens, catching them off guard. His grip tightened before he twisted his hands, snapping the aliens’ necks in one violent motion. He let their limp bodies fall to the floor.
The two other aliens came forward after a moment of hesitation, thrashing their tails around. As one tried to strike him, he grabbed the tail and yanked it hard, causing the tail’s owner to fall onto the ground.
The other alien jumped onto him, throwing them both onto the metal floor. They struggled with each other, dodging sets of jaws and punches to the face. The other Xenomorph gained its footing, approaching the downed pair.
Seeing this, the freed creature gestured to the pedestal with a hand, roaring at the ponies who were watching in both terror and gratitude.
Twilight shot into action, diving under one alien and spinning around to the pedestal. Held within it was a metal gauntlet. She quickly grabbed the device, tossing it through the air to their savior. He put out his hand, letting it slide over his left arm and lock into place.
If he could grin, he would because two crooked, long, curved blades extended from the bracer. With an upward thrust, he stabbed the blades through the alien’s head, watching as its mouth twitched for a moment.
He threw the body off of himself, jumping onto his feet and facing his last enemy. Taunting it with a snarl, he rolled out the way of a claw swipe, returning in kind to its side.
Acid sprayed from the wound, burning some of the floor away. He looked at his blades, making sure they were still intact. They were. He slid on the ground, wrenching his blades through the legs of the Xenomorph, causing it to stumble. He grabbed its tail, driving it through its own head.
He lifted a foot and slammed it onto part of the tail, making sure the vermin was dead.
After a quick look around, he collapsed onto his knees. His body was still recovering from his supernatural sleep, and he just fought two of the most agile creatures in the universe, making his body ache.
It was then that the six ponies got a good look at what they had awoken.
He was a large creature, to begin with, far bulkier than even Princess Celestia, but he also stood on two legs, which made him tower over everypony. His muscular build was something to be admired. His skin was a flush brown, and pieces of dark green scale covered parts of his legs, arms, and chest. They made his skin look like that of a reptile’s. He had lengthy fingers and toes with tiny talons at their ends.
His head was a spectacle in itself. Where he should have lips, there was a mandible that stretched outward, revealing the fleshy interior of his mouth. Four fangs pulled the skin out, twitching occasionally. His eye sockets were deep, making his eyes sink into his face. The top of his head went back in a flat bony plate, partially divided at its top. Dropping from the sides of these features was hair resembling dreadlocks with beads on parts of them. They were not too long, only reaching his shoulders in the back and his upper chest in the front.
Wrapped around his body was a black net of some sort that hugged his features tightly.
He looked at his bracer, tapping the device with his fingers as the ponies continued to watch him in a stupor from the corner of the room. A small part of the ceiling was lowered by a metallic arm, coming down to his face. Mounted on it was a mask.
Made of some of the strongest metal in the universe, the mask was brown with curved plates making it fit to his face perfectly. Covering the entire surface, an array of characters was engraved into the large plate that was the top of the mask—each of them representing his skill as a hunter.
The warrior lifted the mask from its place, slowly lowering it onto his face until it sealed onto him. The technology hidden within it came to life, flashing infrared light into his vision. The glass in front of his eyes lit up, becoming yellow on the outside.
The ultimate hunter—the Predator—had returned to Equestria.
