It turned out that Starlight and Spike just wanted to know about the wave of magic that had resulted from Twilight’s flying earlier. She simply explained what she had done, to impressed stares.
“Wow, you think you could teach me to fly like that?” Spike asked.
With that wing surface area to body ratio? Yeah right.
“Heh, just keep practicing and I’m sure you’ll be able to do it one day too,” Twilight replied.
“Rainbow is going to be so jealous,” Starlight said. “I think she’s training with the Wonderbolts today but I’m sure she saw that. She’ll probably be bursting in to ask you about it any minute-”
The front doors to the castle burst open and a multicolored blur shot in. “Twilight!”
“Called it.”
Rainbow Dash, still clad in her full Wonderbolts uniform, slid to a stop in front of Twilight and lifted her goggles. “Twilight, was that you? That burst of purple and the sonic booms?”
Twilight laughed. “Yeah, that was me. Just felt like pushing myself.”
“You did two sonic rainbooms in a row?” Rainbow grabbed her shoulders, grinning. “Dude, that’s awesome!”
“We- I was pretty awesome, huh?” Twilight replied.
“Yeah! Think you could do that again? I want to see it up close.”
“Sure, I should be able to. Whenever you’re available.”
“Great. I’ll get with you, but uh… I need to get back to training, haha. Just, that was so cool! Okay, later!” She flew back out.
I like her, Venom commented.
“Well, since that was just you and not some weird magical explosion, I guess there’s nothing to worry about,” Starlight said. “I’m gonna head back to my room, I gotta organize some of the notes from my last few counseling sessions.”
“Alright, let me know if you need help,” Twilight replied. Starlight nodded and headed back to her room.
Spike, meanwhile, apparently had an Ogres & Oubliettes game to get to and today it was being hosted at the castle. Things were getting pretty intense, but once their current campaign was over, perhaps Twilight could make a character and join the next one. Apparently, they could really use a sorceress in their party.
“Maybe,” she replied. He grinned, hugged her, and headed for the library to get things set up. Twilight followed him, wanting to grab some books.
It wasn’t long before Big Mac came in, and Twilight greeted him before returning her attention to the shelves.
What are we looking for? Venom asked.
We're going to take down Blazing, right? Well, even though we'll have the other princesses to back us up, I still want to improve our physical and magical strength. Just in case things really get nasty, I want to be able to protect all of us. So I’m going to put together some workout routines.
Sounds good. But I think there’s more to it. Amusement came from Venom when Twilight lingered at a storybook. You’re trying to come up with a cool superhero name for us, aren’t you?
...Yeah, she admitted, blushing.
Just call us Venom. It’s a good, powerful, frightening name that our enemies will fear.
Will Blazing recognize it though?
Nope. Never told him my name. I don’t think he realizes we have names.
Hm. Guess that’ll work. And there’s no real need for a costume since you can completely disguise me. Twilight flew back down to a table a good way away from where Spike and Big Mac were discussing their upcoming game, stacking her books out of the way and unrolling a length of parchment so she could write to Celestia. But she found herself just staring blankly at it, not sure where to even begin.
Try, Dear Princess Celestia.
She snorted, and started writing, mentally narrating to herself as she went.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Please make sure you're alone before you read this.
Per your request, I investigated the Life Aura Center. And what I found was more than I ever expected. On the surface, they seemed great. They have cutting-edge technology, things I haven't even seen make it out to the rest of Equestria, like computers! To say nothing of the amazing things they were researching in their labs. I disguised myself as one of their scientists and went to look downstairs, and that's when I realized just how horrible the center really was.
She stopped to collect her thoughts, idly scratching at her chin with the feathered end of the quill.
You want to talk about Rock Break dying or do you want to dive right into all the ponies infested with aliens?
Twilight kept writing.
They have patients kept down there in horrible conditions. Venom helpfully flashed his memories through her mind. His view of other ponies through the clear glass of his host's cell. Watching them pace or bang themselves against the walls, crying or screaming until finally succumbing to depression and falling silent. The ones that were successfully matched with a symbiote would seem to become healthier, their illnesses disappearing... only for them to die when their symbiote turned to consuming their organs for nutrition. It was horrific, and Twilight's horror at the memories even seemed to make Venom uncomfortable.
Yeah... it's pretty disgusting, and I don't say that often. Fuck, your sympathy for others keeps rubbing off on me.
Twilight continued with, There's a very experimental procedure Blazing Aura puts them through. He has been trying to cure them of life-threatening illnesses by bonding them with aliens. She set the quill down, furrowing her brow at just how ridiculous it sounded. And she was there.
Okay if you're going to keep stopping just give me control of your horn, I can make sure she knows just how urgent this is.
No, you're gonna scare her is what you're going to do.
So? Being scared is a great motivator.
I don't need her to teleport over here screaming and ready to go full commando on that place.
Why not? That sounds like fun!
Have you seen Celestia angry? It's very not fun!
I'm looking at your angry Celestia memories right now and I'm loving what I see! Tell her that we're all gonna die if she doesn't destroy Blazing Aura right now, haha!
Okay now that's way too dramatic, I'm not-
“Wow, whatever you're arguing with yourself about must be a doozy!” a familiar voice exclaimed.
Twilight shook her head and looked over to see that Discord had showed up for O&O as well. She gave him an awkward smile, casually covering her letter. “Haha, yeah, just thinking about some stuff.”
“I can tell! Anything you want to share?”
“Uh…” No! “No, just personal stuff.” Twilight idly moved some of her books around.
“Any other time I'd insist you tell me, but I really need to get to my game. But know that you can always confide in me, because that’s what friends are for.” Discord patted her head and flew over to join Spike and Big Mac.
Twilight uncovered the letter and looked back at what she's written so far.
So that’s Discord. What an interesting creature.
Yeah, he is.
A reality warper. Hm. Now that can benefit us.
Twilight looked over at where Discord was already using his powers to make him and his teammates look like their characters. She could see the possibilities going through Venom’s mind. Yeah, he could help us. If we can convince him. He tends to only do what he wants.
Just frame it so that he feels like Fluttershy is threatened, and then he’ll do whatever you say.
Twilight smiled at how true that was. Then she got serious and got back to the letter. She needed to get this sent out as quickly as possible.
These aliens were part of a scouting party that crashed here and were captured by Blazing. I'm not sure how he did it, or how he kept anypony else from finding out, but he did. And since they have remarkable regenerative abilities, he's using them in his tests. I was caught and taken to save a stallion who was dying from cardiac arrest due to one of the creatures cannibalizing him. When I was unable to save him, the alien left his body and joined with mine.
I know it sounds crazy, and I'm afraid I don't have any pictures. But I saw all of it, and the alien is still with me, right now, as proof of everything I'm saying. Luckily I was able to escape from the facility without being recognized, but I did a lot of damage to the building and hurt several guards in the process. I don't want to describe it all here. Please, I would like to meet with you to talk about this in more detail, and would like for you to keep this just between us. Luna and Cadance should also be informed, but we can't let this get out to the public yet. We have to approach this carefully. Ponies' lives are in danger and we may be the only ones who can save them.
Please respond soon.
Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle
Twilight signed her name, and sat back. That would have to do.
Looks good to me. So what do you want to happen to Blazing Aura exactly? I take it you don't want to kill him despite the horrible things he's done.
I really don’t want to kill him, no, but I don’t mind imprisoning him. Tartarus is the perfect place for scum like that.
Tartarus? Boring. We should tie him to a wall somewhere and keep him on the brink of starvation. Maybe break his horn off to keep him from doing magic.
That’s awful! Also, breaking a horn doesn’t entirely stop a pony from using magic.
Yeah but it will certainly hinder them. But if you don’t want to do it the fun way, there are those rings that block magic. Put one of those on him, haha.
I will certainly see to it that he’s punished. But the main thing I want to do is free his victims. Both the ponies and the symbiotes. Then we can reform the company. And you and I… Twilight hesitated. Part of her wanted Venom to leave and go back to his planet. But the other part wanted him to stay with her.
Warmth glowed in her chest, and he said, Me and you can…?
We can… She sighed. I don’t know. If your people are freed, what are the odds they’ll change their ways? Be like the rest of your kind, and be peaceful?
Unlikely. Many of them have been in this sect for their entire lives. But perhaps, after being stuck in pony hosts all this time, some of that kindness has rubbed off on them. Perhaps you could convince them to be peacekeepers. But I can’t say anything for the other groups like us.
It’d be a start. I’d like to rescue them, and let them either stay here, or help fix their ship so they can go home. And if you want to go with them, you can.
What if I want to stay with you?
You’d stay with me, even if you were able to leave?
There’s nothing for me back home. I’m not well-liked, in fact I’m a bit of a loser. So… I’d rather be with you. You actually like me.
Oh. Twilight found it odd that he was so attached to her already. But then again, she was starting to like him too. Well, then… you can stay as long as you want.
Yess, thank you.
Alright, so it’s settled. We work with the princesses, and maybe Discord, get Blaze arrested and out of the way, tell everypony what the Life Aura Center has been up to, and then reform the place once we’ve freed the symbiotes. We may need to move the center and give it a new name to distance it from its crimes, but we can cross that bridge when we get to it. Still, it’ll be easy, right?
Of course. Or, we can easily fight our way in, neglecting all this stuff about getting the princesses to help you, and grab Blazing by the throat and choke him until he does what we want. No problem!
Uh… doesn't choking seem a little... barbaric?
Listen, threats are the only language he’ll understand. Plus, come on, a direct frontal assault, just the two of us taking down an entire corporation ourselves? Imagine how epic that would be!
I’d like to get in with as little collateral damage as possible. The facilities can still be useful.
You’re no fun. Come on, imagine Blazing screaming as we burst in through this office window, doesn’t that sound fun?
Twilight had to admit, that did sound fun. She may be overthinking things. She had Venom, she could easily just break in and get this taken care of. But she still wanted to make sure Celestia and the other princesses knew, and letting them help her was a far more rational choice.
She levitated the scroll up and teleported it to Celestia. Venom accepted it, albeit begrudgingly.
Very well, we'll do things your way. But after you talk to Celestia and we get this taken care of... how do you feel about trying that superhero thing?
I would love to.
I checked to see if any stories updated to see nothing, so I decide to scroll through my notifs and while doing that accidentally refresh the page to see this. Luck is on my side.
Yay
Well. Now we see if Blazing Aura has already managed to inform Celestia of what happened. I wouldn't put it past him.
I'm really curious to see how celestia reacts.
Celestia is going to spit her coffee when she reads this letter.
Twilight should totally join the next Running of the Leaves... She'd just have to be careful not to bowl the other runners over.
I wonder when they plan to reveal Venom to the mane cast.
Good cap. immagine face Celestia when he read letter.
I’m waiting for this to somehow go wrong.
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I don't really see any reason WHY Blazing would do such a thing, mainly because if he did, well, Celestia would want to investigate exactly what happened, and more importantly, the hows and whys of them having the alien/symbiote, and if they had more of them.
That besides, I see no reason why Celestia would possibly think to side with him over her own personal student.
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I never said that Celestia would side with him over Twilight. We all know she wouldn't. And all Blazing would have to tell Celestia is that someone broke into the Life Aura Center and made off with one of their top secret research projects. A potentially dangerous top secret research project. He wouldn't be obligated to tell her anymore than that. Considering that the Center is in Equestrian waters, and most, if not all of its employees are Equestrians, this is the kind of thing he is probably obligated to tell her something about.
looking forward to the next chapter.
While I can't see this being a really long fic, this story is proving none the less fun to read. Can't wait for the next chapter.
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Indeed. I think the time Bigmac uproots and pulls a whole house is not to be taken seriously and is just for comedy.
I love how this story is going and the future possibilities that it holds. While I don't think that there will be too much contest with Blazing aura, even if he got a Symbiote, there are so many things that could be written about with Twilight and Venom that would be cool.
Twilight and Venom going around and fighting crime and how Twilight friends, if they found out, and the general public reacts to it. Will Twilights friends be supportive and maybe even help? Would the public like that something is out there stopping crime, but also sometimes stepping out of the legal system?
The rise of a Super Villain, either one returning from the show or something new, being dealt with and how Venom changes events. We could see the return of Sombra if he wasn't killed, or maybe something that rises due to or taking advantage of the potential advancements in tech.
Using the advances in technology that the Symbiotes provides and the how the world changes due to it, I suspect that if the whole nation gets on board the idea of going to space, then we could see something like https://www.fimfiction.net/story/327551/changeling-space-program happen. Where it went from basically nothing to first hop into space in about a year. This had also led to advancements and adoption of tech across of all of Equestria, such as using the computers that are in things like arcade machines that Equestria already has.
Going across the stars to see new worlds, maybe in a year or soon due to getting spaceships from the Klyntar, or maybe in a couple of decades if they build their own ships. The Klyntar may be interested in sharing some tech of there, especially if Equestria can help with the divide they have with each other. The tech that Equestria could develop in a few decades is just incredible, just seeing how magic could play a role in solving some problems, such as a magical air filter that can reuse air for spaceships, or a magical FTL drive.
I am sure that there are so many more ideas of where this could go after, whether in this story or future ones. I love how Twilight and Venom are interacting with each other and how good you are at writing them and the other characters. I am loving how they are in this story and can't wait for the next chapter. I would love to see more of them in the future. And sorry for the mini-essay.
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It's no problem, I like long comments. And I don't wanna spoil things but I do just wanna say that it definitely won't be over when Blazing's dealt with. There will be more. :>
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Well, thanks for confirming that, I will be eagerly waiting for the next chapter.
I said I would like some kind of big reaction, but at the same time I hope she doesn't tries to take Venom away for several chapters, at least not succeeding in this task.
I somehow can't stop imaging Twilight giving a speech to either the princesses or the princesses and her friends, but during that Venom just grows a head and starts screeching at them.
Love the story so far, adding to favs
Some people like to say Twilight "isn't a super hero" but get down to it and she is. Powers beyond normal ponies? Check. Fights super villians? Check. Saves the world on a regular basis? Check. Also she adapted to being Mighty Matterhorn pretty fast, being even more powerful that the "real" thing. Then the whole Mare-do-well thing? So she's a superhero in everything but name, so yea she and Venom will work well together at heroics, she's got the credentials.
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Because she's the hero Equestria deserves, but not the one it needs right now.
Because she's not a hero. She's a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a Dark Knight.
Oh, some creature likes cuddly purple-smart book-horse! How adorable
Pss, Venom, I know what kind of song you need to sing to her without looking softy:
Hey that's pretty good
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Awesome
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Thanks. :D
And now I would totally see this scene :
"Oh, please! How could Twilight Sparkle scare the Fearless and Courageous Trixie?"
"Oh, not me, but... a new friend of mine!"
Trixie's quick reaction
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yes
You have received a like. Let's see if you get a favourite.
Hay muy pocas historias sobre Venom y prototype, buenas historias
really don’t want to kill him, no, but I don’t mind
1. Forgot your I at the start here.
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Fixed, thanks
Does this story have a Riot symbiote?
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It will actually, he gets talked about a few chapters from now.
They really are bonding together...
Why? He's been attached to you for hours already.
ohohoho....
Oh wow, venom
Rainbow is going to be so jealous,” Starlight said. “I think she’s training with the Wonderbolts today but I’m sure she saw that. She’ll probably be bursting in to ask you about it any minute-”
The front doors to the castle burst open and a multicolored blur shot in. “Twilight!”
“Called it.”
Lol very predictable but I love it and so funny
Now this is just my opinion he would have work pretty much better with gallus because he's also kind of like that too as well nobody cares about him in homeland and both of them probably have good connection with each other but again this is just me and it just hit me
So basically Twilight is setting an SOS to the princess about what Blaze Aura is doing where's the ponies and Symbiote and finally put a stop to his evil Corporation but now she wants to see if she wants to try this superhero thing now that it's going to be very interesting
Symbiose humor
Proper Princess at day and super hero at night...
Twilight become Batman?
More if a Antihero type if i can chose i guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯