//------------------------------// // The Multiverse // Story: The Amazing Spider-Man: The Web of Friendship // by Time Pony Victorious //------------------------------// PETER Spiderman’s entire body burned. Underneath his mask, his face was contorted in pain. One arm was outstretched and pinned down by Harry, his foot caught two shifting gears and kept them in place, Harry was tied up by the neck from his web and turning blue from the oxygen deprivation; finally, his other arm was pinned to the edge of the gear and gripped that spider web for dear life. A number of scenarios ran through Spiderman’s mind. He was racking his mind trying to figure out another way to get out of this. There was always a way out! He could feel the structure they were standing on lose stability over time, it would only take a matter of seconds for the whole thing to collapse. “Peter!” she gasped. The web snapped. The gears exploded around him but miraculously it didn’t hit him. Harry was thrown back and slammed into the wall, unconscious, from the momentum. Peter got to his knees and watched as Gwen Stacy fell… “So much misery in such a young soul.” Peter opened his eyes but he couldn’t see anything. Was he dead? “Far from it, Spiderman.” He tried to move his arms and legs but they didn’t respond. It seemed he could only control his eyes, which was good since if he got into a fight he could blink them to death. “There will be no fighting here, young man.” Okay, why can whatever this is read his mind? “That doesn’t matter. What matters is you are here.” And where is here? “The Multiverse Betwixt.” Right, that makes sense. “You’re supposed to be clever, Peter. Really… This is the place between the universes. The beginning and the end.” A light exploded in front of Spiderman that nearly blinded him. He blinked and squinted and what he saw was… really confusing. He was floating in-between a galaxy and a supernova, it seemed, but it felt like he was lying down. Images appeared like television screens around Peter. What he saw in there didn’t make much sense either. One image he saw a pony wearing a bright red bowtie, white shirt, brown twee coat and a strange silver tube in his mouth with a green bulb on the end. Thing is, the pony wasn’t like a normal pony, other than the fact that it wore clothes. It was brightly colored in an almost cartoon manner. His curly mane was chocolate brown and his coat was a shade lighter than his hair. Strangely enough, there was golden hourglass tattooed on his flank. He stood in front of a massive army of strange aliens and robots with a look of defiance on his face. The army marched forward like it was ready to execute him right there but hesitation rippled through the ranks. Even though they outnumbered him a million to one they still didn’t dare fire at him. Peter looked at another image. Like the first it featured ponies but it wasn’t just one. The first pony was a costumed pegasus with a unicorn horn. The costume was pretty well-designed, to be honest, but it was really dark and depressing. It was prominently purple and navy blue with fancy cuffs on her (Peter decided her lithe figure indicated that she was a girl pony) hooves and a large purple hat on her head. She was standing next to another mare who was tan colored with a black and gray mane. She was dressed like Indiana Jones with her green vest and archaeologist-like hard hat. Unlike her costumed friend, her flank was fully exposed and had a tattoo of what looked like an old-fashioned compass but the cardinal directions weren’t specifically named. The two of them stood on the street in a city much like Manhattan looking up at a solar eclipse. No, that wasn’t the eclipse. A large thing was up in the sky, enveloping the sun like a snake curled up protectively. Peter instantly thought it was a snake but it just looked like one with its diamond shaped head with 3 horns protruding from the top. It opened up its infinite maw and swallowed the sun entirely, shrouding the world in perpetual darkness. Another image had a pony like the first one except completely different, if that makes sense. The only similarity they had was their golden hourglass tattoo, other than that they didn’t look a thing alike. This one had chestnut colored hair that was spiked up in a crazy manner with bright blue eyes and a wild smile. He wore a red bowtie, like the first pony, but had a white shirt and a tight brown vest over it and goggles on top of his head. He was standing by a futuristic-looking console with a wide array of buttons and levers and switches and he threw them by random. Peter didn’t understand what he was looking at much less why it seemed to consist entirely of ponies, but before he could ask the disembodied voice spoke again, “This is the Multiverse Hub Network,” he explained. “It connects the various parallel universes and keeps them in balance. Often times things can get a bit hairy and a few things can get… interwoven.” Two images appeared in front of Peter. The first was of the first Hourglass pony he saw but this time he was standing in front of a city made of crystals and diamonds. The second was of an entirely new pony but he looked like a cross-between the two Hourglass ponies he saw before. Like the second Hourglass pony, he had a chestnut mane that was spiked up and a red bowtie but he was wearing a brown blazer and a white shirt that made him look like a professor. The two images combined and brightened to the point where it was like staring into the sun. When the light faded the two images were there but were switched. The chestnut Hourglass pony was now standing in front of the crystal empire while the other was inside a dark corridor of mossy stone and cracked pavement. “For some reason, you have entered here,” the voice continued and Peter felt an intense pressure wash over him. It felt like a million people were now staring at him. “This is unprecedented and frankly rude.” Peter wanted to speak and say something smart like, Shut up, but he found his voice didn’t work. In fact, when he looked down at his body he didn’t see anything! “Oh, no need to fret,” the voice told him calmly. “You are merely experiencing the sensation of being ripped apart in a million pieces so tiny that the only reason you aren’t being scattered throughout the cosmos is me.” That was comforting. “So, what to do…” he hummed playfully, like the prospect of someone being torn apart at the subatomic level was hilarious. “I’m not sure it would be wise to send you back, what with the magical balance thrown into whack. Hm…” Just do it! Peter wanted to yell. He didn’t want to be in this crazy hub whatever-it-is, he wanted to be home with his crappy job and his less crappy college. He wanted to be with Mary-Jane and Aunt May… Oh god, Aunt May, what’s going through her mind now? “Please, watch the language,” the voice chided. “This is a children’s program, after all.” “Send me back!” Peter yelled, he recoiled back in surprise and even the voice paused from shock. He didn’t speak, per se, after all he didn’t actually have a mouth. It felt like thinking but it was more like yelling really loud in your head and it being projected out. “Your mind is resilient,” the voice finally said in an approving tone. “Not as formidable as that cursed Time Lord, but strong enough.” “What? What’re you—“ “There’s no way I can send you back without harm befalling these universes, including your own,” the voice continued. “There’s only thing I can do to ensure the safety of everything.” “And what’s that?” Peter asked. “Nothing you’d enjoy, I’m sure…” All of the other images disappeared and one was displayed prominently in front of him. It was the image of a simple village. Like the other things he saw, it was cartoony and cutesy like an over imaginative kid got a hold of a bunch of markers and went nuts on their white wall. The tiny houses and simplistic aesthetic felt foreign considering Peter was from the big city but one thing felt out of place. A massive crystal-like structure loomed over the town protectively. It was beautiful as it glittered in the morning sun as the first rays of light caught the top of the structure and a rainbow bloomed, arcing over the village. “Ponyville Prime,” the voice explained. “Ironically enough, this is the most stable of all the universes. You’ll fit in fine here.” “No thanks,” Peter snapped, trying to sound brave. “Just send me—“ “I’ve already explained why I can’t,” he sighed. “Try to make friends here, Peter. I hope you like hay.” Peter was going to ask what he meant by that but then his entire body burned. He could feel himself regaining a corporeal form and it felt like getting hit with 10,000 volts of electricity (trust him, he knows how that feels). Peter wanted to cry out in pain but it hurt so much he wasn’t able to, only letting out a weak yelp. He opened his eyes and light blazed overhead with such intense heat he thought he would disintegrate. The last thought that entered his mind was the image of Gwen laughing.