“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.