//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: The True Monster 
// Story: Venomous Uprising 
// by Paco-El-Taco 
//------------------------------//

Pinkie Pie was at Sugar Cube Corner, serving up a vanilla milkshake to a customer. She wore her usual ear-to-ear grin, and spoke with a voice filled with absolutely no negativity, "Here you go mister! Have a nice day!" The stallion took the cup, and nodded his head with a, "Thank you, miss." The stallion left the shop with drink in hoof, slurping it on the way out. Pinkie sighed in content, and took the time to admire all the treats in the glass counter before her. 
So many cupcakes, chocolate, cake, icing, and more. It was a dentist's worst nightmare, but a dream come true for foals and anypony with a sweet tooth. She noticed that there weren't all too many customers that day, and decided to use it to her advantage and sweep the lobby area. She hummed a tune, as she cleaned in a rhythm, never letting the boredom infect her cheery demeanor. Soon, however, two of her best friends entered the store. The two were bickering about something Pinkie did not know of yet. "C'mon, Twi! I should totally get a rematch!" 
The purple alicorn sighed, and replied in an obvious tone, "Dash, you attacked it...him. It was self-defense."
"Yeah, I admit that's true... But it stuck me in that weird gooey stuff for two bucking hours! I couldn't talk, couldn't move, and everypony was taking pictures! Do you know how much this will damage me if this ends up on the papers?" 
Before Twilight Sparkle could retort, the pink mare working at the establishment instantly zoomed up to her friends, and greeted with a rapid and high, "Hiya Dashie! Hiya Twi!" The two arguing ponies quit their dispute, and looked at their hyper friend with smiles on their faces.
Twilight was the first to speak, "Hello Pinkie. Oh, guess what? Rainbow here had a run-in with the beast earlier." Twilight shot a quick look of disappointment at Rainbow, upset that she chose to fight the one that had saved the guards, instead of being rational about it. She then quickly caught her mistake, knowing that Rainbow wasn't a rational pony. Pinkie jumped in the air, with fore hooves brought to her head, jaw dropped, widened eyes, and floating in the air. During all of that, a loud and continuous gasp came out of her gaping mouth, like that of a dramatic gasp from actors. She quickly went up to her pegasus friend, shoving her face into Rainbow Dash's, and spewed question after question. 
"Did you find out what its or his favorite color is? Cake flavor? A favorite hobby? Favorite games? Social or shy? I figured since it -or he- had a spider design on himself, that he liked spiders, so I was gonna go all spider themed for the party, don't you agree!?!" Rainbow Dash brought her hooves on the party pony's shoulders and pushed her back until she felt she had her personal space regained. 
She sighed before saying, "No, Pinkie. I didn't find out if it liked-- wait! Are you seriously planning a party for it!?!" 
Pinkie bobbed her head up and to, and chirped, "The human too!" Rainbow's mouth was agape, right eye slightly twitching. 
After a few seconds, she blurted out, "B-but, why!?!" 
Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes, still sporting a grin. "Well duh, Dashie! The big guy is new here, and needs a 'Welcome to Equestria!' Party!" 
Before the annoyed pegasus could question that, Twilight took that chance to speak. "Rainbow's right on one thing, Dash here didn't find out anything about him, because she attacked him." Twilight shook her head at that last part, as Pinkie looked Rainbow Dash up and down, now with a slight frown. "Now Dashie, didn't anypony ever tell you not to attack others because we want to?" Rainbow hovered in the air with fore hooves crossed, head turned with thin eyes. "I thought it, uh, he... was attacking guards." 
Twilight came in with a noticeably more excitable tone, "But apparently there were thieves that attacked and disarmed the guards while robbing the bank in Manehattan. They probably would've gotten away with the bits, if he didn't come in, stop them and save the guards and a colt, while spawning this odd black and sticky strings from the back of its hands! Oh I can't wait to find out how this Venom does that!" 
Pinkie then did another quick dramatic gasp as before, and shouted," Now I have to throw another party for the act of heroism! Yipee! And Venom? Sweet name!" At that moment, Pinkie had what others might think to be a seizure. First, her left eye rapidly twitched. Then, her back left leg kept on thumping. Finally, her mane deflated, inflated, deflated, and inflated again. "Yikes! My Pinkie-sense is tingling!" The two other mares in the room stared with large eyes, for they knew what dangers could happen when the Pinkie-sense predicted it. 
Pinkie's face scrunched up as she tightly closed her eyes, bringing a hoof to massage her temples. "Ooh... that was a big one... and not good." The other two gulped, and waited to see what Pinkie had to say, if any more were to be said. But, the pink mare quickly galloped out of the shop, into the streets of Ponyville. Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other curiously, before joining their friend out side. When they caught up, they saw their pink friend staring directly into the Everfree forest, eyes wide and jaw loose. 
Twilight grew a concerned look, and asked, "Pinkie, what's wrong?" She looked to Rainbow Dash for support, but her face perfectly mirrored Pinkie's. Twilight slowly looked towards the Everfree, and the trio all wore the same face. For out of the dark woods, dangerous creatures of all kind, big and small, started to pour out. The three could tell one thing from that distance; they were coming directly towards the town, and they looked pissed. 





Venom had been swinging via webs through the dark forest for some time. Eddie and the symbiote were thinking of what to do when they got out of the woods. The symbiote made its suggestion, 'We could always try to go back to the train tracks, there is a chance that train or another could be heading in that direction.' Venom nodded his head for Eddie's understanding, but countered, "That would be good if there are any trains there, but if not? It would not be the best idea to wander out in the open, the pegasi could spot us, and lead us into more trouble." The two were still deciding on what to do when the time came the forest would not provide cover for them, when the symbiote noticed something. 'These woods... so empty. No creatures like before, why could that be?' Eddie couldn't help but look around as well, and notice there were barely any animals around at all. 
"...Odd. But at least we don't have to waste our time dealing with annoying pests." So the two stayed silent, as Venom swung forward. 





Some time later, Venom noticed the area had started to light up, and the trees were growing fewer and far between. He grinned, as Eddie and the symbiote knew they would be out of the woods, and closer to Canterlot. When they made the great final swing out of the woods, they were greeted to a grassy plain, with an orchard not too far off, with a town a bit further off. Curious, Venom went up to the orchard. When he approached, he saw it was vast with rows of apple trees, that went as far as the eye could see. Down to the left, was an old wooden farm-house, with a red barn not too far from the right of it. The apples reminded Eddie that he hadn't eaten in a while. The symbiote technically could keep his hunger at bay for long periods of time, possibly permanently, but it left an odd feeling in his gut, and changes on his body would be noticeable to anyone. Venom looked around himself, and when the coast was clear, they symbiote retracted in Eddie, leaving only the buff man. 
Eddie wasn't a fan of stealing, but he needed to keep his hunger in check. Besides, he doubted the owners would seriously notice one apple missing. Eddie strode over to the nearest tree, and plucked a fat and red apple from a low branch. He bit into the fruit, and started to eat his small meal. It wasn't anything special, just a regular apple, but he wasn't about to complain. "Figures, they're all herbivores after all." 
The symbiote projected itself as a snake-like strand hanging on a branch, looking at Eddie. 'Could use trees here for cover, could work for a bit.' Eddie nodded in agreement, and dropped the apple core to the ground. He walked towards the path and took a quick glance to his right, to see the town of what he assumed to be Ponyville. He would've continued towards through the orchard, until he noticed black smoke coming from the town. 
Eddie squinted his eyes and furrowed his brows, as he mumbled to himself and the symbiote, "Is there a fire or something?" It was then that he heard three shrill screams not to far off in the direction towards the orchards trees. 
Eddie was now concerned, and the symbiote told him, 'Something is wrong. Should check it out.' As the symbiote finished, it came out and wrapped around Eddie, turning them into Venom, as they sprinted off where they heard the screams. 
Eventually, as they came through more trees, they spotted a tree house in the distance, with stairs unattached and left at the base. It was light brown with wooden planks, and a window on each side. The roof was a classic triangle-slant style, and a darker brown than the rest. But what surprised them was that it was surrounded by some of those wooden wolves from the day prior, and a manticore. The wooden wolves were clawing at the tree and looking up at the tree house, growling ferociously. The manticore stared at the tree house, visibly seething with rage. Venom got closer, but not too close to reveal himself. He wanted to see what exactly was going on before he intervened. 
Unknown to Venom, on the inside of the tree house, were three fillies huddled together; an earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn. These three were close friends, younger sisters (one being a younger surrogate sister) to three of the Elements of Harmony, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The earth pony was Applebloom, the pegasus Scootaloo, and the unicorn Sweetie Belle. "We're trapped!" shouted Applebloom. She was sweating profusely, her eyes darting for any way out of the predicament she and her friends found themselves in. 
"But there's going to be a way out, or somepony to save us, right?...right?" Sweetie Belle said that last part in a low and broken voice. 
"C'mon girls! We just gotta think of something!" The little orange pegasus that was Scootaloo scrunched her face in deep thought, searching her mind for any spark of an idea that could get them out of this. The manticore, however, had different plans. It stalked towards the tree, eyes never leaving the tree house, as it pushed the timberwolves out of the way. Using its upper body, it rammed its mass into the area of the tree underneath the club house, starting to have made creaks and noticeable dents. The trio screamed again on the second ram, the clubhouse now being forced to the other side, slightly tipping. 
Sweetie Belle started crying, Applebloom on the verge of tears and visibly shaking, and Scootaloo then started to sniffle. They didn't want to think what the timberwolves or that manticore would do to them when they would be forced down. It appeared as though they were wrong, nopony would save them. 
As the manticore got ready for the final ram to send the tree house crashing down, something gripped its tail. Before it could have looked at its assailant, it was lifted off the ground, over its attacker's shoulders, and landed on the ground hard on its wings. It growled in anger and pain, and looked at its attacker with a fierce glare, ready to tear it to shreds. But when it saw what had attacked it, the rage was then quickly replaced by fear. For the thing that attacked it was the same thing that quickly took the manticore down and threw in the distance a day ago, and that time it looked cocky and happy. This time however, the face was in a scowl, and it looked pissed. 
Venom had seen enough when he heard the screams coming from the tree house; judging from the sounds, they sounded like only little fillies, innocent. So Venom decided to show the manticore what he does to those who seek harm among the innocent. As he looked down at the manticore, with the white eyes as thin as pencils, he spat out with disgust, "You and your kind, always harming innocent who have done nothing wrong. You may just be an animal, but we will see to it that you never do such a thing like this to the innocent again, especially the young. You may act all big and tough, but when you come across a real monster, you're nothing."
"Wait, did y'all hear that?" asked one of the young fillies, and three heads stuck out of the door to take a peek. The looks of hope on their face were quickly replaced by panic, as they saw Venom over the manticore and staring it down. Venom heard, but paid no mind as he was about to deal with these creatures. Venom placed a clawed hand over the top of the manticore's head, and another on the chin. With one quick motion, Venom yanked the head off, decapitating the creature as blood poured on the ground and himself. The girls gasped, and made a mad dash back into the safety of the tree house. Venom then turned his sight to the wooden wolves, whom looked on with their large yellow legs, slightly shaking. 
Venom's usual eager grin returned, with eyes widened in excitement. "Now its your turn!" Before the wooden wolves could so much as whimper, Venom went on all fours, and leaped with a mix of a hiss and growl, immediately smashing one to pieces when he landed on it. Venom quickly leaned forward and opened his jaws, scooping up one of the wooden wolves, and closing down with a loud 'crunch!', as the debris flew in all directions. The two remaining ones tried to flee, but Venom shot a thick black web string from the back of each hand. "Oh no you don't!" When the webs connected, the wolves tripped and landed on their chins. Venom then yanked his arms upwards, bringing the wooden wolves sky-high. With a grin as always, Venom pulled down on the webs, re-introducing the wooden wolves to the cold, hard ground, where they shattered completely upon impact. 
"Ah, we killed them off rather easily." Venom's gaze hovered over to the tree house. "But we should make sure the little ones are alright." Venom approached the tree house, noticing that the door was too small to hold his form, he didn't even think the tree house would hold with him standing in it. He crawled along the tree itself, and peered into the open window. He saw the three little fillies huddled together, shaking more than leaves on a windy day in autumn. Venom spoke in a loud enough voice so they would hear. "Are you alright? Do any of you require assistance?" The three fillies shot their eyes towards the window, and saw the face of Venom peering in. They screamed in fright and backed to the furthest corner they could; they thought the timberwolves and manticore were scary, but Venom was on a whole other level.
They whimpered, as Sweetie Belle pleaded, "Please don't eat us! We don't taste good! Pinkie Promise!"
"Please don't hurt us!" Applebloom joined in on the pitiful begging. Venom frowned with his face a bit crestfallen, as his eyes took on a sad expression. Eddie and the symbiote have encountered this from children before. They knew they didn't look like the cuddliest thing in the world. Eddie thought of something that might calm them down, but at a cost. Seeing the fillies in the state they were in, and needing answers, it was worth the risk. 
Venom's upper lip pulled up and back around the head, as the bottom jaw molded to the symbiote, leaving Eddie's head where Venom's once was. Brock then spoke in a calm and soothing voice, "Hey, its alright. I'm not gonna hurt you." The three fillies paused their shaking to take a look. The CMC slightly gasped at the reveal of the other face. They were still spooked, but much less so, for Brock's face was not a nightmare like Venom's. "I'm only here to help." There was a sort of peace and safety the crusaders saw in Eddie's eyes, like they could trust him. 
Being the daring one of the group, Scootaloo slowly shuffled about halfway over, eyeing the man somewhat suspiciously, and managed a barely audibly, "Wh...who are you? What are you?" 
Eddie replied with the same calm and warm voice as before, "You can call me Eddie, and I'm a human." All the girls gasped at the revelation that Eddie was a human, a creature thought only to be myth and legend, and quickly did a one-eighty from scared to happily curious. 	
Applebloom was the first to ask with glee, seemingly forgetful about the whole ordeal that had just happened. "What's it like having fingers and toes?" 
Sweetie joined, she too with gleeful curiosity, and all the fear gone. "Is that your suit? Do you have super powers?" 
Scootaloo gave a squeal, and nearly shouted, "Are you... a super hero!?!" The three fillies looked up at him with wide eyes, waiting for an answer. 
Eddie blinked a couple of times, before shaking himself out of his stunned state. Children would be children, he supposed. Plus, he'd prefer them in that state than fearful. Eddie didn't quite know how to answer the question, as someone like him would likely be categorized as and anti-hero. Despite using brutal methods for the worse criminals, he and the symbiote still wanted to protect the innocent and to stop those who seek harm upon them. But he needed their absolute trust then, so he told them an answer that was still the truth. "I do my best to protect innocent like you, and to stop those who seek harm upon them." 
The girls were silent for a few moments, until simultaneously, they each shouted, "Awesome!" 
The girls decided to quickly introduce themselves to the new hero. 
"I'm Applebloom!"
"I'm Sweetie Belle!"
"I'm Scootaloo!" 
They then spoke all at once, "And together," they all stood on their hind legs while shouting to the top of their lungs, "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" They got down on their hooves as each rushed to the door, and went out on the deck to get a better look at the hero. Eddie chuckled at their antics, and how quickly their thoughts changed on him. The fillies came up to the deck before the tree where Eddie was on, only being around his shins in height, and looked him up and down, with a continuous, "whoa..." Eddie webbed the slanted tree house to the tree so it would stick and hold his weight, to the surprise and delight of the CMC. When he got on, he stooped to one knee to be closer to the three fillies, and asked with the calmness and patience still in his voice, "Can you tell me what exactly is going on? Why is there smoke coming from the town?" 
Scootaloo was the first to speak up, panic in her voice again, "The animals from the Everfree... they all came out and just started attacking! None of us know why, though. Our sisters told us to go here to safety, but we were chased by timberwolves, and barely made it to the club house!" The other two fillies nodded in confirmation. 
Applebloom picked up where Scootaloo left off. "Yeah, and we would've been goners!" 
Sweetie Belle wore a smile and finished, "But then you came and saved us! I don't know how I feel about killing them, but thanks, Eddie!" Eddie smiled down at the foals, hearing the thanks from Sweetie Belle. "But... there's so many animals from the Everfree attacking Ponyville! Our sisters could be in danger!" She suddenly gasped and brought a hoof to her mouth. "And what about Fluttershy!?! She lives right next to the Everfree!" 
The crusaders were then panicking, thinking what do to help their sisters. Eddie looked off to the town, thinking what was going on with more of those creatures in the area. He wanted to get to Canterlot as soon as he could, but he and the symbiote both knew they could not leave innocent life in danger when they had the power to stop it. He looked back down to the crusaders and asked, "What do they look like? I'll make sure they're all right." The girls quickly looked upon Eddie with large eyes, breaths hitched in their throats. 
"R-really? You would do that?" Asked a previously disheartened Applebloom, then with spirits raised higher.
"I help protect innocents, remember?" 
Scootaloo stuck her tongue out at Applebloom, and stated, "Well, duh, Applebloom! He's a super hero, its what he does." 
Eddie wanted to get their fast, but needed to learn what their sisters looked like to make sure they would not be harmed, as well as the other ponies in the town as well. He asked with a stern, yet soft voice, "Can you tell me what your sisters look like? I need to know who to look for, after all." 
Applebloom was the first to speak up, "Mah sister is Applejack. She's orange with a blonde mane and tail. She usually wears her stetson as well." 
Sweetie was the next to give her description. "My sister's Rarity, she's white with a blue mane and tail all stylish and curly." 
Scootaloo finally told Eddie of her surrogate sister. "Mine's Rainbow Dash, the coolest and fastest pegasus ever! She's like a light blue and a rainbow mane and tail!" 
Eddie's eyes lidded as his brow furrowed, that pony sounded familiar to him. "...Does she have a cocky attitude and brash voice?" 
"Yeah! Wait... you know Rainbow Dash!?!" Scootaloo stared at Eddie in amazement and awe, a grin plastered on her face. "Isn't she the coolest pony ever!?!" 
"Yeah... awesome..." Eddie actually chuckled at the prospect of protecting one who tried to defeat him and the symbiote a day earlier. Emphasis on tried. 
"I'll go and stop those creatures, but I need you three to promise me something." The three nodded in agreement, they'd do anything for their sisters. Eddie brought a clawed hand near his face, and pointed at his face. "Promise me that if ponies ask you about this, you won't tell them about this face." The three tilted their heads, eyes squinted. 
Sweetie voiced the crusader's thoughts. "But why? whats wrong with people knowing about your face?" Eddie knew telling them everything would take too long, so he decided on something simple any young one would believe. 
"It's my secret identity, can't have everyone knowing it, can we?" The tree let out a long 'ooohhh' in understanding. "Tell them," the symbiote covered Eddie's face, leaving only Venom. "You saw this." The three were a bit spooked at that face returning, but not scared, as they knew a kind and great hero was underneath it all. 
The three nodded their heads with smiles equipped, and gave a quick, "We pinkie promise, Eddie!" 
Venom smiled at the girls, eyes twisted in determination, and got ready to leave before he told them, "And don't tell the others we are Eddie. Tell them we are Venom." 
Applebloom looked at Venom with a confused expression riddled on her face, "What to you mean 'we' and 'Venom'?" 
Venom leaped off the tree, turning back to them to call out, "Venom is our other name. As for we, that is a good question... for another time. I promise we will make sure your sisters are safe." As he finishsed, Venom web-shot a tree to slingshot himself towards the smoking town of Ponyville. The crusaders looked on in awe of the hero leaving. 
Sweetie muttered loud enough for the others to hear, "Thank you for saving us, and them... Eddie."





Fluttershy was not expecting any of what happened that day to happen at all. She was just out and doing some shopping. Getting supplies for the house, including food for the animals. But those plans changed when an army of Everfree residents came out and decided to attack Ponyville. 
The royal guards were there in the center of town, fighting the ruthless beasts with their spears and magic. They were able to keep them back for the time, but more of Everfree's residents just kept on coming. Most of the residents ran as far as they could from the relentless creatures. She was looking for her friends, the other Elements of Harmony. She knew they would help fight the hordes off, so she would do what she could to help. She was looking around houses, shouting their names, but no response came. She was always a timid pony, so one could imagine the panic she was in during the time. Sweating, shaking, large eyes that were darting around, all the other usual symptoms of fear. 
Two timberwolves came out of an ally, and started stalking towards her, but despite her usual unwillingness to fight, she had her secret weapon with her always; the stare. Her eyes narrowed, brows furrowed but tips raised, and a frown. She mustered as harsh a tone as she could and began to scold, "How dare you! Coming in here and hurting everypony for no reason! Shame on you!" Her scolding always managed to turn the fiercest of animals into a quivering mess, like the timberwolves before her, as they retreated into the safety of the Everfree. Her previous fearful and panicked expression quickly made a comeback, as she returned to looking for her friends. 
She eventually made it to where her pink friend worked, Sugar Cube Corner, where she saw Applejack bucking a timberwolf in the jaw. "Git on outta her ya darn varmint!" Applejack then pulled her lasso out of her hat, twirled it a few times in the air, before throwing it on the neck of another timberwolf, and bringing it down, subduing the timberwolf. When she was done, she noticed the shy yellow pegasus, and shouted with relief clear in her voice, "Fluttershy! Thank Celestia, yer all right!" Guards were continuing to battle as the farm pony galloped over to her friend. "Yer not hurt, are ya?" 
Fluttershy flashed a quick smile at her friends concern, and shook her head with a, "No, i'm all right. But where are the others?" 
"Rarity and Pinkie are evacuatin' the other ponies, Twilight went to get spike for a letter for reinforcements, and Rainbow's somewhere fightin' these critters. Mah Celestia, why'd these critters even come to attack?" 
Fluttershy scuffed her hoof on the road, with a low, "I don't know. They usually stay in the Everfree, but they all seem so angry, but I don't know why." The two elements heard a cry from a guard, and turned to see three manticores barreling through them, their eyes right on the two mares. Fluttershy gulped and shook, as Applejack readied her lasso for another round. The guards tried in vain to stop the three projectiles, but were trampled over as they ignored the guards. Applejack managed to throw the lasso on the legs of one of the charging beasts, managing to make it trip and tumble in a heap. The other two kept coming, but Fluttershy used 'the stare' to put them in submission as they came to a stop and shrunk under her disproving stare. 
"How do ya like 'em apples?" Asked Applejack with a grin and a cocky look in her eyes. Before she could celebrate their victory, a large paw swatted the side of her face, as a fourth manticore appeared. Fluttershy gasped, and looked on and tried to aid her friend, but the moment she stopped 'the stare' and scolding, the other two manticores were free of its control, back to rage, and took the temporary advantage to pin the pegasus on the ground. Fluttershy gave a little squeak, and couldn't look at the two pinning her due to being on her stomach, and was forced to watch what was about to happen to Applejack. The guards were either too injured or passed out to come and help the two elements, thus leaving them in that unwanted predicament. 
Applejack wriggled and squirmed, with a, "Get off'a me ya varmint!" But when she looked up, her eyes widened as she saw the creature bar its lips, showing its teeth, with brows knitted and lowered. The manticore had the other paw raised, claws extended, ready for the finishing swipe. Applejack knew what was about to happen, and the usually strong and confident mare could only get out a weak, "No..." 
"Applejack!" Fluttershy was now crying, tears leaking the ground before her, her captors forcing her to watch on. Applejack closed her eyes, and prepared for the end. The sound of flesh tearing and bones shattering was heard all across the town.
But Applejack still felt in one piece. 
She heard Fluttershy gasp, and decided to crack an eye open to see what was going on. She saw the manticore with a confused look on its face, its breath seemingly caught in its throat. It then slowly looked down, as did Applejack. Her eyes widened in complete surprise, whereas the manticore seemed even more confused. 
Purged straight through the beast's chest, was a long, black, large, muscular arm, with a clawed hand holding the manticore's heart. It was quiet for but a second, as the hand immediately squeezed into a fist, crushing the organ. The arm retracted through the gap, as the hybrid's eyes rolled into its skull. It stood, then shook, then tumbled over. Applejack looked beyond the deceased manticore to see what had done that, and when she saw what did that, her pupils decreased to small points. She wasn't exactly proud to admit it, but she was pretty scared. 
For the thing that had done that was the massive black creature with a white spider on the front and back, horrendous face, something from the nightmare of foals and adults alike. Applejack released a quick gasp as she realized this was the thing mentioned by the group of ponies the day before, the same one that defeated a manticore so easily, just like the one before her. It looked down on her with its white eyes, Applejack not knowing what it planned on doing. To the slight relief of Applejack, but fear of the two other manticores who had just witnessed one of their brothers get killed, it looked to them. It lashed its tongue with a series of hisses and growls to accompany it, as it balled its bloody hand into a fist, and shot two black lines that came rapidly and connected to the two beasts. Before the two manticores could so much as piss, the true beast brought its arm back, as the two went sailing towards it. The black being caught them by their throats with each hand, eyes narrowed, as is quickly slammed their skulls together, crushing them, leaving the two manticores without a head and blood pouring out. 
Fluttershy was taking in small but fast breaths, eyes with small pupils, just like Applejack had but a moment prior. Fluttershy practically knew just about every animal there was, and everything about them. Rabbits that loved carrots, eagles that loved flight, to the dragons that hoarded their jewels, and cocatrices that turned any foe to stone. But this, Fluttershy knew nothing about. She had never seen anything with eyes like that, with muscles like that, with as many or as large teeth, or anything with a large tongue that seemed to have green toxic stuff on it. She knew one thing, though; this black being, was an apex predator, on top of the food chain. The black being looked down at Applejack, and to the surprise of both ponies, talked. "Are you alright, madam? Hurt in any way?" 
Applejack slowly pulled herself to a sitting position, eyes never leaving the black thing. She could only get a, "Uhh..." 
"Ah, forgive us, we did not introduce ourselves. We are Venom, and you must be Applejack."
Applejack only stuttered, "H-how do you... how can y-you..." 
To the concern of the two ponies, Venom smiled down at her, all his glorious teeth and chompers on display, with his eyes twisted in what might be described as cheeriness. "Ah, so you are Applejack. The three fillies designated as the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' told us about you and a couple others, i'm glad we came on time." 
Applejack quickly took on a shocked look, and sputtered out, "W-wait! Applebloom!?! Where are they!?!"
"They are safe now in a tree house on the local orchard, but some wooden wolves and manticores were attacking it earlier, but we made sure they wouldn't do that again." 
Applejack was appalled at the discovery of their lives in danger, and continued on despite the fact that large beast called Venom was standing over her, "So... you stopped them, saved them? And what's with the 'we'?" She asked in slight hesitation. Venom nodded his head in confirmation, ignoring her second question. Applejack could always tell when somepony was lying or not just by looking at their eyes, but giving Venom wasn't even a pony, and the eyes were unlike others she had seen before, she couldn't quite tell. From what she could tell though, Venom seemed to be telling the truth. Though she didn't agree with his methods of taking care of the animals, he still saved them.
"They told us about you, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. They also mentioned a Fluttershy." Fluttershy, who had been listening to the whole thing with wide eyes, not having left her spot on the ground, squeaked at the mention of her name. Venom heard, and looked over with his usual grin. 
"Ah, so you must be Fluttershy." He approached her, with her shaking more than a foal, shrinking under Venom's unblinking gaze. It knelt down and asked, "Did those manticores harm you much? Do you require medical assistance?" Fluttershy stopped shaking, and looked at Venom's face curiously. She had thought it would have torn into her like he had done those manticores, but instead, the being she assumed to be carnivorous, seemed legitimately concerned for her well-being. It was as if a fox approached a downed rabbit, and asked if it was all right. 
But the most odd thing, was what Fluttershy saw in those odd eyes. She didn't see malevolence, hunger, or anger. Instead she saw eyes that showed that of caring, kindness, compassion, and concern, concern for her safety. She dumbly nodded her head, as her shaking started to cease around this protector. "I-i'm alright... thanks." Venom then slowly scooped her into his non-bloodied arm, and went to Applejack to do the same. As she too was in the massive arm, she started to disagree. "Hey! What're you doing?" Venom used his other arm to shoot a thick web from to one of the taller buildings, and yanked himself upwards. 
"We must take you to a safer place. Do you know where those other ponies are I mentioned earlier? Are there any buildings currently guarded?"  Applejack had a rush of excitement as they soared upwards, and swinging downwards as Venom shot another web and swung ahead. Fluttershy screwed her eyes shut and hid her face behind her hooves, while making sure she was packed tightly in Venom's arm as to not be dropped. 
Applejack then regained her train of thoughts after the initial rush of excitement, and said a bit loud so they could hear over the passing wing and 'thwip' from Venom's webs. "We can't do that now! We've gotta stop those darn critters before they tear the whole town apart!" 
Venom turned his head to the farm pony with the same grin, "We will take care of them, but we must get you to safety. Do you know of any place in this town that could suffice?" 
Fluttershy took this moment to voice her suggestion, though could barely be heard. "Well... we could go to Twilight's palace. Its the one that looks like a large, blue, crystal tree. Twilight's there, and she could help us." Before Applejack could interject, Venom already spun his head until his eyes rested on the location described by Fluttershy. 
"There it is." He swung forward to palace, making a final great swing to the fright of Fluttershy. Venom landed on both feet, and gently placed the two mares down. Fluttershy was tumbling around, as she shook her head to get the world to stop moving, while Applejack muttered, "Sure was something..." She then looked to Venom. "So... Venom... What exactly do you plan to do to take care of these critters? You can't beat 'em on your own." To the annoyance of the farm pony, Venom laughed at that remark. 
"Oh, you underestimate us so. Trust me, we can handle this." Before Applejack could retort, the front doors to the great palace busted open, with a galloping princess and number one assistant on her back outwards. Twilight took deep breaths as her eyes locked on to her two friends, not noticing Venom behind them. "Girls! Girls! Reinforcements won't be here until half an hour to an hour! We have to hold out on our own until then!" Spike dug his claws into the back of Twilight's neck, as his teeth started chattering, his eyes large as he stared above Applejack and Fluttershy. "Ow! Spike! What wa--" 
She was interrupted as spike pointed a claw straight ahead, screaming at the top of his lungs. "M-m-m-monster!!!" It was then that Twilight noticed the lethal protector behind the two friends, her eyes slowly widening, jaw unhinging, a small breath exhaling out as Venom stared at her. 
"...Y-you're Venom..." Venom rose an eye at her statement, until he recalled that perhaps the ponies of Manehattan likely told others and news about him.
"Correct, madam." Twilight was silent for seconds, but felt like minutes to her, taking in the thing before her. She had one thought though, 'How did Rainbow hope to defeat Venom if he's like this?' 
Spike pointed and screamed again, "Monster!" 
Twilight huffed and turned to her assistance and spoke with an irked tone, "Spike, you already said that." 
"No not that one," Spike pointed behind Venom. "That one!" Everypony and Venom turned to see something that surprised them all. Venom was surprised for another mythical creature having popped up, and the others for what it was. It had dark blue scales, four clawed feet, three long necks with heads that had two fins on each side, with narrow, purple eyes.
A Hydra. And one of the largest, as it came to about the palace in height. One head was looking to Fluttershy and Applejack, another on Twilight and Spike, and the central head on Venom. Applejack piped up, eyes never leaving the leviathan. "Uh, Twi, how do we take care of that?"  
Venom looked the thing up and down with narrowed eyes, and commented, "You're big," His sadistic grin, as well as risen eyes returned. "But we've fought bigger." Everypony looked at Venom with dropped jaws, complete looks of disbelief, as the lethal protector brought his arms out, his black claws ready to to shred this thing. All three of the hydra heads now looked to him, ready to squash the puny thing. The on looking ponies and dragon all had one thought. 
Tartarus was going to be raised.