"Celestia, I - don't understand. What's going on?" Twilight asked, voice shaking with anticipation of the answer.

Celestia opened her eyes, irises flicking back and forth between raging orange and peaceful violet. "I have fallen," she replied.

Celestia's heart has been emptier still, even with Luna returning, with Twilight rising to princess-hood. A small voice inside of herself had been whispering sweet nothings to her for centuries; now, however, she chose to listen. It was better than nothing.

She realised too late she had made the wrong decision.

Cover provided by MrsRemi on DeviantArt.

Featured on 11/07/2019! I'm so happy! Could've been any story but instead it was one of mine! Thank you so much!

An egg had laid dormant in the Everfree Forest for centuries, basking in magic that it had never experienced before. Then White Lightning disturbed it, and the creature inside was awoken.

The ovomorph - the 'egg' - in turn, held a member of the species manumala noxhydria, known colloquially as a 'facehugger'. White Lightning would find herself waking up after a mysterious gap in her memories, and with a bit of a sore throat and wild hunger.

Heading back to Ponyville, as she had only been in the Everfree on an assignment from the weather team to tackle a few rogue clouds that seemed to be heading their way, she promptly bought lunch and ate five complete hayburger meals accompanied by large fries and a soft drink. Experiencing some minor chest pains, which she assumed was because she had eaten so much (though was still strangely hungry) she headed back home to see if she had some sort of medicine for this.

She collapsed in her home above Ponyville. Something unknown burst out of her chest. Xenomorph XX121 ran away, somehow gliding down to the outskirts of Ponyville lacking any wings or gliders.

It could feel. Magic coursed through it. It felt... different.

FEATURED ON 25/08/2019! WE DID IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH!