Aliens: Consuming Equestria

Aliens: Consuming Equestria
Chapter 6

As Ripley stormed through the streets of Ponyville towards the towering treehouse in the distance, she could sense the odd stares the citizens were giving her; she didn’t care, she only cared about making sure another living planet didn’t get fed to the Xenomorphs. Meanwhile Dwayne was walking directly behind her – occasionally trying to calm her down from the distraught state, but even he felt the need to exterminate the threat at all cost. Newt was clutching onto Ripley’s leg in embarrassment and Bishop was unwillingly riding on Pinkie’s back.

Twilight was behind with Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash apologising to ponies that had nearly been stepped on and explaining what was going on briefly.

Pinkie had conveniently blurted out the Xenomorph’s location, and Ripley planned to rip it in two before it got too big. Twilight had on several occasions tried to reason with her, saying it would be locked away in a secure quarantine and kept under close observation, but Ripley paid no attention to the unicorn and simply marched onwards to her target.

As Ripley reached for the library door, Twilight jumped in her way and blocked her from the library.

“Ripley,” she began in a stern tone, “Listen to me. I know what you want to do, but please hear me out. I can understand what you have been through was horrible and traumatic, but please put aside your hatred for this creature’s kind. It hasn’t done anything to you, so why should it suffer for what its predecessors have done? Maybe we can domesticate it, give it a safer, more productive and meaningful existence. It doesn’t deserve this.”

“That’s exactly what everyone else has tried to do,” she sharply replied. “Everyone else who has tried to tame or study them has been annihilated by them. I’m not getting rid of it because of some grudge. I’m destroying it to prevent it from killing everybody on this planet.”

A choir of mumbling began instantly and more ponies joined the crowd, including Rarity and Fluttershy. Whispering in the crowd transitioned from being about the group of humans to the carnivorous alien in the library that was prepared to wipe them off of the face of the planet. Twilight knew what risks were implied by the holding the Xenomorph for study, but the scientific potential and curiosity far outlived any danger. Besides, Neighland Yutani was well prepared in the ways of containment, so Twilight barely saw what there was to worry about.

“She’s right, Twi. That critter’s dangerous. Plus, i’s responsible for the death of Turner. It ain’t nothing but a filthy varmint that gotta be put down!” Applejack was crossed off of Twilight’s mental list of ponies that might side with her.

“She’s right; it’s been nothing but trouble. I have no sympathy for a creature without a heart.” Fluttershy also saw a line drawn through her name on the list.

“I agree! We can’t let it just kill Turner and get away with it!” There goes Rainbow Dash.

“Yea! It killed our friend!” And Pinkie. Twilight’s list was getting surprisingly short for a change.

“Quite right! We’re with you Ripley. It should be put down!” And thus, Rarity disappeared from the list too. Twilight was helpless from here; she had to delay the now rowdy mob of ponies and humans trying to budge past her – likely to put the Xenomorph’s head on a spike.

“Listen, all of you. I know you really want to the specimen’s neck, but this doesn’t have to happen. Neighland Yutan will be here any minute to pick it up and contain it, and you all know what–”

“Wait a minute,” Ripley interrupted. “Did you just say... Neighland Yutani?”

Twilight had no time to answer as Dwayne had found an adequate distraction to barge in through Twilight to kick open the front door. Once inside, he, Ripley, and a large group of ponies searched for the Xenomorph’s container. At that moment, Spike returned from the Boutique to see what all the commotion was about.

“Twilight?” he called worriedly to the purple unicorn trying to conceal the metal box from the intruders. “What’s going on? Is this about that alien you found?”

Twilight turned to the familiar face of her assistant. She silently beckoned him over to the door to the basement which had a large shelf stack pushed in front of it. She had initially done this to prevent the Xenomorph from getting out if it broke out of the metal box, but now it served as a nifty disguise. As he approached her side, Spike looked up expectantly at her, but received no order or even any notion of why he was here all of a sudden. He just assumed he was here for his own safety in case he was trampled.

Without warning, a group of four unicorns in blue sagging Hazmat suits – complete with gas mask – parted the crowd outside and marched towards where Twilight was sitting. They then pushed the shelf stack aside and opened the door before throwing active incapacitating gas grenades into the basement. A moment later – another two Hazmat unicorns with a large metal container, considerably larger than the container Twilight had trapped the Xenomorph in – charged down the stairs confidently to capture the specimen.

A long while had passed since the capture team had disappeared behind the now reputably ominous, closed door, and the library had remained silent. Soon, it was too much for Twilight’s patience and she swung open the door. As she did, the limp lifeless body of one of the Hazmat ponies flopped to the floor splashing a pool of blood into the library. All but the humans flinched in horror.

The fully grown Xenomorph crashed down from the roof above the deceased pony, saliva dripping from its ravenous jaw. When it had regained its stance, it directed its full attention to Ripley. It locked with her eyes, despites its lack thereof. She did not see the usual hungry expression in its stare, but rather a submissive, relaxed one. It didn’t even seem to notice the either tense or running and screaming ponies around it. It didn’t even seem to have any intention of getting even close to her; in fact it almost looked to her like a maternal figure of sorts: a Queen.

It was at this point that Ripley noticed a cold stream of blood running from her nostril. Everyone still around her looked on in awe, taking the blood as a sign of some psychic ability or connection the alien.

The Xenomorph screeched suddenly as a sack was thrown over its head and the Hazmat unicorns began shocking the Xenomorph into submission. Ripley’s vision was lost suddenly as a sack was thrown over her head too. She heard the screeching of the alien, the violent threats now being thrown by Dwayne, the uproar of the Ponyvillians, and – subconsciously – she heard the evil chuckle of Twilight looking gleefully at the rich specimen as it was carried away before Ripley blacked out.

Ripley awoke with a hazy vision, but a clear memory of what had happened. The ‘Neighland Yutani’ unicorns had chucked her in a sack, taking her by surprise. She gathered it was because of what happened between her and the Xenomorph, but she wasn’t sure whether Newt and Dwayne or even Bishop had been taken forcefully either. She swore that if they hurt any of them, she would find the pony in charge around her and show him what it was like to be wrapped in a bag – a body bag that is.

She was lying in what felt like a hospital bed with a bright ceiling light right above her, blinding her momentarily.
As she tried to sit up and gather her bearings, Ripley felt queasy and very faint almost immediately. Her head felt dizzy and her vision fooled her into thinking she was falling. As she put her hand out to stop her from tumbling, she felt material next to her. She lay back again and looked over to the side to vaguely see Dwayne asleep on a chair next to her. Next to him was Newt, also asleep. There was no sign of Bishop however.

“Are you alright?” The sudden appearance of the android on her other side startled her. Bishop was in fact in a hospital bed as well, much to Ripley’s brief amusement. “The Neighland Yutani scientists took you and the Xenomorph here. They saw you staring the thing down and thought there was something in your brain that could control them, like a mastermind of some sort. You’ve been here for approximately two days.”

“They didn’t do anything with my brain did they?” Ripley asked, panicked.

“No, but they did perform an X-Ray and find something... extraordinary.” Bishop proceeded to point to Ripley’s chest. Her vision had cleared well enough to see a line of stitches above her stomach. It dawned on her quickly.

“There was an alien inside of me?” Ripley almost screamed.

“Yes, but not just any alien. I identified the Xenomorph in question to be a Queen, the same kind that detached my locomotive components.”

“You identified it? What, were you there with them?”

“Indeed,” Bishop admitted.

“Well, didn’t you tell them to kill it?”

“Of course.” And he wasn’t lying. Logically, the Xenomorph is now property of this ‘Neighland Yutani’, and Weyland Yutani could only acquire it by force, presuming this doppelganger was as stubborn as Weyland Yutani and would refuse any sort of proposition for the Xenomorph’s ‘purchase’. As a result, the doppelganger became a rival which had valuable research material which it must be deprived of. The immediate and most effective strategy Bishop calculated was to destroy the specimens and any samples Neighland Yutani might take. Officially, Bishop was now fully siding with Ripley.

“They refused to harm or dispose of either of the Xenomorphs they now have in their possession.” Ripley groaned in frustration. She had to find some way to either convince them to kill the Xenomorphs – which was unlikely – or she had to kill them herself.

As she successfully sat up at last, a pair of scientists, one male and one female both brown hair and a white coat, came into the room.

“You...” The scientists didn’t expect the venomous greeting Ripley had given them. They looked up at her from their documents they were levitating in front of them with startled expressions. They had halted in their approach, but now advanced cautiously before stopping just outside of her reach – just in case.

“You’re Ripley?” one of them asked pointing to Ripley who held a silent glare on them. “We’ve come to tell you that the surgical operation we performed on you whilst you were knocked out has provided no major side effects or concerning problems and you may go as soon as you are ready.”

“Where is that awful creature?” The scientists were taken aback by her interrogative question.

“Are you referring to the specimen?” the other scientist replied.

“If that’s what you want to call it, fine. Now where is it?”

“It is currently in the main research bay in quarantine. There is absolutely nothing to worry–”

“Damn it, there is everything to worry about!” Ripley shouted at them, her outburst waking Dwayne and Newt instantly. “You won’t be able to contain it, especially that Queen you took. They’re smart, not just animals. They will get out, and then you will be sorry you ever tried to study them.”

“Whoa,” Dwayne interjected, trying to make sense of the situation. “What’s going on? You said there’s a Queen?”

“Yes,” one of the scientists began, “We found a specimen growing inside of Ripley. It was fully developed when we found it, but it would’ve taken several more days still to hatch from your chest. Through extensive study, we found that it takes a larger amount of time for the embryo to hatch from you humans than from ponies.”

“Oh yea?” Dwayne piped. “And how did you figure that out?”

“That is classified, I’m afraid.”

“Of course it is!” Ripley violently responded, pointing an accusing finger. “Because you’ve tested it haven’t you? How many subjects did you impregnate, huh? I can’t believe you could be as heartless as everyone else trying to get a hold of some data that I can’t even imagine what you would do with!”

Ripley’s brief rant was cut short. A rumble from below the building caused a shockwave to erupt all through facility they were in. Everything fell off of the shelves and surfaces, and the beds moved a considerable distance from where there were. Medical cupboards came smashing down after detaching from the walls, the light in the room crashed to the floor, leaving the group blinded. The two scientists lost their footing and collapsed to the floor in a bundle. The door slammed shut with a loud bang startling the group in the room.

When the shockwave subsided, red emergency lighting lit up providing a vague ability to see in front of one’s face. A loudspeaker cracked before a message began repeating itself.

“Security in Quarantine Zone breached: Evacuate all able personnel immediately.”

Everyone but Newt was too stunned to speak.

“Well that occurred rather fast.”