//------------------------------// // Experiments // Story: The Amazing Spider-Mare: A Long Way From Home // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// Spider Mare kept on running, and running and running some more! Now that Starlight wasn't the only pony who had been affected by the serum, either intentionally or unintentionally, it was all the more imperative that the web slinger track down her transformed friend as soon as possible. Suddenly, up ahead the path split into two tunnels. One going to the left and the other to the right. It was anyone's guess which led to where. And that was time the superhero didn't have. So she made a split second decision, our hero rushing into the right tunnel as fast as she could. Black Cat wasn't too far behind, but still struggled to keep up with his crime fighting companion and love of his life. Then, before his eyes, he saw a door slam shut! The right tunnel was sealed off! Frantically, he rushed to the door, knowing full well who was on the other side! Spider Mare, for her part, soon realized her mistake. "Locked!" She spun around and fidgeted with the door, but to no avail. There was no handle or knob to be found anywhere, and despite her enormous strength she couldn't get the door to rise. She kicked at the ground! How foolish of her to rush ahead without thinking! "Spider Mare!" Black Cat frantically called from the other side! "I... can't get the door to budge! It's locked tighter than... well... something." Spider Mare let out a sigh. "Just forget it, Black Cat. Looks like we're splitting up. Take the other tunnel. Hopefully, we'll find a way to meet back up," And she was quick to instruct. "Keep your eyes open. No telling who else we might run into down here." Black Cat reluctantly nodded. "Alright. Just be careful. And from now on, no running off without me." Then he turned and headed for the other tunnel. Hopefully, this one wouldn't slam shut behind him. Meanwhile, the web slinger couldn't help but think to herself. "Why didn't my 'Pinkie Sense' warn me about that door? First my web shooters jam up unexpectedly, and now my 'Pinkie Sense' stops working?" She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I'm overthinking it! I can't worry about that right now! Got to stay focused!" And she slowly but surely trudged her way through the muck. Despite having been down in the sewers before, she wasn't exactly familiar with the layout. It wasn't long before neither Spider Mare or Black Cat could hear each other. The sewer walls were too thickly lined to allow any kind of communication between tunnels. The two were alone with just their thoughts for company. Black Cat found it hard to keep his thoughts from drifting back to his wife. The more he tried not to think about her recent behavior and some recent developments, the more he found himself thinking about exactly those circumstances. It just seemed so odd. And it troubled him greatly to think that something might be wrong with Spider Mare, but what that might be he didn't know. Those thoughts were soon interrupted, however, when the superhero heard a low, guttural roar fill the air! He jumped back a bit, peering into the murky darkness in the hopes of making out the shape of whatever might be up ahead. He untucked his baton and brandished it, maintaining a pose to be ready for combat. Black Cat tried his best to be brave. "Whoever you are!" He warned! "You don't wanna mess with me! Surrender now and you will not be harmed, I promise!" The guttural roar was heard once again, this time growing louder. And now it was possible to hear the sound of hoofsteps rapidly approaching! Come to think of it, the roar sounded awfully familiar now that Black Cat thought about it more in depth. But where had he heard it before, and why? Too late, realization hit Black Cat just as he saw a giant lizard like creature emerge from the shadows, ready to strike! Spider Mare had no way to know what was happening to her partner right now. If she did, she might have had more of an urgency to her movements. As it was, she was just casually trotting along and trying her best to keep at least her head above water. "Ugh! Dry cleaning this suit is gonna take forever!" She complained to herself! "And just when I finally got the smell out from my last trip too." Then, up ahead, there was what looked like a light. That struck the web slinger as odd. It wasn't a natural light, but artificial light in the sewers should be almost non-existent since nopony ever really came down into them (except for the occasional maintenance work). Spider Mare trotted forward, drawing closer and closer to the light until it was almost blinding her. Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the light source, and when they did they took in a sight the wall crawler could hardly believe. It was enough to make her gasp! The ground had been covered over with tiles that restricted (but did not completely block) the flow of water. A large, wooden bench of some kind had been set up almost like a table. Gears could be heard churning on in the background alongside the occasional dripping of water from a pipe. Empty beakers and vials lay scattered around in a clumsy fashion. Most noticeable of all though, was what looked like a blueprint of some kind. The web slinging, wall crawling superhero crept closer and unfolded the blueprint. It seemed to be highly detailed even though it was little more than a glorified sketch of some kind of weapon. What exactly it was for was impossible to tell, there were no written words to describe what the object was going to be. Was it for some kind of experiment? Perhaps this was the source of those lizard creatures from earlier? Before Spider Mare had a chance to do any further inspecting, however, her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a scuffle. Without warning, Black Cat emerged from the darkness! In fact, he was outright flying, as though he'd been hit by something! He landed on the floor in front of his partner with a loud crash, looked battered and a fair bit dazed. "Honey, I'm home." He weakly muttered as he tried to stand up, but fell to his hooves. Another voice then cried out from the darkness! "Intruders!" And stepping into the light was a truly massive lizard like creature wearing a white lab coat! But this one looked vaguely pony like, even maintaining a unicorn horn and having a cutie mark. The cutie mark was a dead giveaway as to the identity of this monster: It was a purple and white star accompanied by two-toned bluish-green glimmering streams. "Starlight?!" Spider Mare gasped and removed her mask, immediately revealing her secret identity. The lizard-pony hybrid stepped back a bit. And the familiar voice of Starlight Glimmer spoke up. "Pinkie Pie. Of course. I should've figured you'd show up eventually," She waved one of her new lizard arms. "Welcome to my new lair! My new home!" Pinkie had to force herself not to smile. "It's impressive, Starlight. But you don't belong here. I've come to take you back so you can be cured of... whatever it is you did to yourself." Starlight shook her head from side to side and hissed. "Don't you see? I am cured! I'm better than ever! This is my chance to make a difference in Equestria," In a more sympathetic tone of voice she added. "Surely, you can relate. You're always fond of saying that with great power comes great responsibility. So this is my responsibility, to use my new powers to build a better world. A world without physical ailments or limitations, a world without limits." Pinkie sighed and frowned. "Is that why you created those other lizard ponies? Are they all part of some twisted experiment of yours?" And she tried to plead with her friend. "Please, you're not thinking straight." "No," Starlight firmly replied. "For the first time in a long while, I'm thinking with my heart and not just my mind. Those lizard ponies were like me: Lost and forsaken, forgotten or left behind by society due to their injuries. But now, thanks to nature, I have given them new life. A better life than the world above. A world in which I'm no longer Starlight Glimmer, just The Lizard Queen, or The Lizard for short." Black Cat slowly stumbled to his hooves again. "You're crazy! You're really going to throw everything you have away just to get your hoof back?! This is sounding a lot like that village Pinkie told me you once ran." "The Lizard" only coldly responded. "Shows what you know! You're on the wrong side, both of you! I'm to build a new world, and I won't let either of you get in the way! Those who are not with me are against me!" Pinkie pulled her mask back on and tightened it, surrounding her fists with webbing. "And here I was hoping we could settle this without violence," A reluctant sigh escaped her lips. "Guess I should've known better, Starlight." "I told you not to call me that! Starlight Glimmer is gone, only The Lizard remains!" The Lizard roared! "And you, Spider Mare, are in my way! If you seriously think you stand a chance against me, then all by means go ahead! Let's see how your famous spider strength fares against the power of revolutionary science!" Then she stepped back, only to immediately lunge at Spider Mare! Spider Mare grabbed The Lizard by the hooves and locked into combat with her. Try as she might, though, the wall crawler found that it took everything she had just to keep from being overpowered by this new threat. "Too... strong!" Spider Mare groaned as she strained and struggled desperately to hold her ground. When she spotted an opening, she threw a punch. But to her surprise and disappointment, The Lizard just shrugged it off like it was nothing at all. "Do you see now?" The Lizard taunted as she swung her tail, swatting Spider Mare down like a fly. "You're no match for me in brawn or brains. I am your superior in every way. I will build my new world down here with my followers, don't bother trying to stop me!" Groaning anew, Spider Mare stood up and made her way over to Black Cat. "I know the real you's still in there somewhere, Starlight. The real you would never be saying the things you're saying. Somehow, someway, I'll find a way to bring you back." The Lizard just laughed and hissed. "Yeah? I'd like to see you try. You won't succeed. And soon enough, you'll learn to see it my way." "Tartarus will freeze over first!" Spider Mare bitterly snapped as she helped Black Cat to his hooves, and then said to him. "Come on, dear. We're not gonna solve anything this way. We need to retreat and come up with a better plan." Black Cat was eager to agree. "Usually, I'm the one suggesting things like that," He then turned to look at The Lizard. "We'll be back! You can be sure of that!" "Not gonna happen!" The Lizard hissed anew! "Now that you've seen what you've seen, I can't let you leave here! You two will make excellent additions to my new world! Then you'll see I was right all along!" But just as she stepped forward and prepared to strike again, her eyes began to narrow! Suddenly, she collapsed to the ground in pain and started to scream! Frantically, she rushed for the table! "Where is it?! Where is it?!" "Starlight?!" Spider Mare gasped in horror! The Lizard only roared! "Go! Now! I... can't... stop it!" And then she went back to her frantic search for... whatever it is that so occupied her attention. Reluctantly, the two superheroes obeyed. This was a gift horse they did not want to look in the mouth.