//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Hail Hydra 
// Story: Venomous Uprising 
// by Paco-El-Taco 
//------------------------------//

"Alright, Pinkie. Everypony's out of Poniville, lets go help our friends and the guards dealing with these ruffians." Spoke the Element of Generosity, Rarity. 
"Okie dokie lokie!" Piped the Element of Laughter, Pinkie Pie. The two ponies had just gotten finished helping evacuating the citizens out of Ponyville, whether via the train or carriages pulled by royal guards, heading to the next town or city depending which transportation the citizens were on. When the Everfree creatures had attacked, Twilight ordered Pinkie and Rarity to get the other ponies out of there, as the other elements had their own tasks. Since they were done, they could help their friends fight back against the aggressive invaders, but they would have to find them first. 
As they were galloping through the streets, avoiding the rummaging creatures and sometimes giving an outnumbered guard a hoof, Rarity asked, "Pinkie, where do you suppose they could be at? We have to find them, and fast!" 
Pinkie, still managing a smile despite the mayhem, replied in a cheery voice as per usual, "Twi should be at her palace! Maybe she knows where the others are as well!" Rarity nodded in agreement, and changed course to their friend's palace. As they were running, they noticed three long necks towering the buildings, heading in the direction of the palace. They quickly realized with dread that a massive hydra was on its way to Twilight and her palace, so they quickly made haste. Rarity shouted, "Pinkie! We've got to get there before that hydra does!" Pinkie was then rapidly bouncing to the palace, surpassing the galloping Rarity with a look of determination on her face. "Gotta stop the meanie-weanie! This is already ruining the party I had planned for Venom and the human!" 
Rarity decided to simply ignore that last remark, not thinking it was worth it to question such a thing, especially during the time. Despite being faster than the hydra, the hydra was taking much larger steps, covering more ground in a single step, making things a pretty intense race. By then, Pinkie Pie was already a few yards ahead of Rarity, and rounded the corner to the street the palace was on. Before Rarity got there, she heard one of Pinkie's dramatic gasps. Fear quickly overtook her heart, wondering what was so horrendous that her pink friend saw. Were her friends in danger, getting eaten possibly? What could be going on? 
She quickly rounded the corner and saw that Pinkie stood still, a bad sign to her. She galloped to her friend, not looking ahead in fear of what it could be. "Pinkie, what's wrong? Should I look, or is it to horrendous?" But when she saw her friend's face, she saw the same wide grin that forced others to shine a smile, and her big blue eyes staring ahead. 
Rarity furrowed her brows, but before she could speak, Pinkie practically squealed whilst pointing a hoof, "Yaaay! Venom's here! And he's helping us!" Rarity was really confused then, that was the second time Pinkie brought up this 'Venom' pony, a rather odd name to her, and decided to see for herself what was going on. When she looked, her jaw slowly  receded, eyes wide in bafflement at the sight close to her. 
She saw her friends Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and her little Spikey-Wikey, and the enormous hydra looking down on them. But another figure was there that her attention was on. It wasn't like the hydra in height or size, but still very tall and large, especially compared to a pony. Large muscles, white spiders, clawed-hands, white and unblinking eyes, and that outrageously long tongue that was out of the mouth and curving and twisting behind the head. It didn't take too long for Rarity's mind to click, she realized this was the thing Twilight was talking about, the creature from the Everfree. Was this Venom? Is that who Pinkie was on about? 
Pinkie wasn't sitting for long, as she quickly zoomed over to join her friends, and the new one, Venom. When she came, she saw all her friends gawking at Venom. Applejack shook herself out of her state, and nearly shouted to the Lethal Protector, "Are you cray!?! You can't seriously think you can beat this hydra, do ya?" Venom's eyes never left the hydra, as its gaze never left him as well. 
"We don't think, we know." 
Applejack groaned and shook her head. "Oooh! Cool voice!" Twilight quickly swiveled her head right to see Pinkie sitting next to her, looking up at the black being with a grin like a foal would have on Hearth's Warming Eve. 
Twilight stuttered, "P-Pinkie! When did you get here!?!" Pinkie merely waved a hoof at her, her eyes never leaving Venom. 
"I just got here, silly-filly!" Rarity then caught up, huffing and regaining precious air to her lungs. 
Before any of the ponies or dragon could greet her, Venom turned his head to look at them, and said mildly, "It would be wise to back up, this might get messy." The hydra saw its opportunity as its opponent looked away, and quickly sent the central head down upon Venom, jaws opened wide with the plan to gain a quick snack. 
Applejack tried to warn him, "Look out!" but there was no need.
The symbiote had warned Eddie of the attack, and so they took a leap backwards, avoiding a jaw that chomped empty air above the ground where they once were. Venom took this advantage by raising both arms, fists lowered, as quick spurts of black webbing shot out of the white squares, covering the central head's eyes. Despite the quick maneuver, the ponies were still worried, all except Pinkie, of course. 
"Go Venom! Kick the big meanie's butt! We can have an even bigger party after this!" 
Twilight, with Spike on her back, tried to formulate a plan, as the blind head started shaking around as the other two looked on at Venom in rage. They hissed, before swerving around the flailing central head, straight towards the Lethal Protector. 
Fluttershy hid her face behind her mane, with a quick, "I can't look!" Venom however, was not panicked. Quite the opposite, as he wore that confident grin of his, a grin that could quite possibly rival Pinkie's. As both heads came from his left and right, Venom made a massive jump in the air, as his arms were outstretched at both sides, aiming for both heads. The webs connected on the foreheads of both heads, and with a great tug of both arms, sent the heads going faster than before, ramming into each other. A loud 'crack!' was heard, as the heads retracted and winced, hot blood seeping out of the nostrils. Most ponies gawked at the display, whereas Pinkie was whooping, and Spike looked with excitement etched all over his face. 
"Hey, that was actually pretty awesome!" 
"Yepper-peppers!" 
The hydra was too distracted to stop two more strands of black webbing to coil on the central head, being wrapped around the jaw, forcing it shut. Venom then yanked himself onto the chin of the flailing head, still managing to stick to the amazement of the ponies. As Venom was crawling atop the head, Twilight wondered aloud, "How does he do all of this? the stuff that sticks, crawling, seeing things even before looking? Its like he's a... spider..." 
Venom, still grinning, taunted, "Awww... you look hurt, allow us to distract you of the pain." Hearing that, Fluttershy peeked out of her hairy pink shield, curious as to what the Lethal Protector meant by that. She first thought that Venom would have mercy, ease the pain and subdue the hydra. 
"I-is he... going to help it?" She asked with a bit of hope, happy to see this protector wasn't planning to annihilate the hydra. Fluttershy was always a pony who felt sympathy for others, even the 'bad ponies' and creatures like that hydra. She saw Venom grab each fin on the central head with both heads, despite it squirming around so much, trying to launch Venom off. The others looked on too, wondering why Venom was gripping the hydra's fins. Applejack with trepidation, for she knew what was about to happen. 
"Uh, y'all might wanna look away--" A loud 'rrriiipppp!' was heard, and any hope that the ponies had of Venom being a bit merciful was crushed, as he held the ripped off fins in each hand. The central, fin-less head was then screaming in pain, as the ponies looked with disgust, and some bits of fear. Fluttershy started shaking, before gulping, and turning around to hurl. Spike and Pinkie seemed less enthusiastic than before, and Applejack and Twilight looked with disgust at the brutality. 
Venom placed a hand down, and his other stretched and ready for claws ready to sink into the skull. Unfortunately for Venom, the left head got a lucky hit, as its nose rammed into him, launching him off the head , soaring through the street, and into the wooden wall of a house. The front wall crumbled due to the force and size of Venom, leaving a house with only three walls. Venom quickly got back up, and shook his head while saying, "That was unexpected. We ought to be more careful." 
The ponies were surprised at how Venom shrugged off a blow that would put many other ponies in the hospital, possibly the morgue. Applejack leaned into Twilight's ear, Fluttershy having recovered from her sudden sickness, "Uh, Twi, we might not agree with Venom's... way of dealing with these critters, but do ya think we should help and... not sit and watch?" 
Twilight's face flushed, disappointed in herself for letting the stranger do the protecting part, instead of her. She was the Element of Magic, and Princess of Friendship. If anything, she should be protecting that stranger, instead of the other way around, despite how capable Venom seemed to be. So with gritted teeth, Twilight commanded, "Right! Pinkie, Rarity!" She turned to the two ponies. "I need you to distract the hydra!" The two nodded, as Pinkie pulled her Party Cannon out of her mane, and Rarity started using magic to shoot gems, none of which would be able to pierce the hydra's scales, but gain its attention. 
As Venom dashed over to return to battle, Eddie and the Symbiote noticed the pink pony apparently named Pinkie Pie fire off a colorful cannon, launching a cake into the left mouth, stuffing it completely. "A...cake?" Venom curved an eye at the odd choice of weaponry, as they also saw the white unicorn release a shower of gems, crystals, and other jewelry to the right head, only achieving to annoy the head as that head turned its attention to her. 
The symbiote informed Eddie, 'Rarity. The sister to Sweetie Belle. We must protect them.' 
"Yes, these ponies don't seem to have much in weapons anyway. They're gonna need us." 
With the central head having already been blinded by the webbing and jaw shut, Twilight looked over to the farm mare. "Applejack, do you have enough rope to tie all the necks together?" 
"I think, but how can I do that when they're squirmin' constantly?" Twililght lowered her head until her horn was pointed directly at the chest of the hydra. She stood there for many seconds, her horn glowing brighter by the second. With the three-headed monster too distracted, it could not see, stop, or avoid the large purple bolt Twilight fired at its exposed chest. When the shot connected, the necks of the hydra all went straight from the effects that were happening in itself. The spell Twilight used was one that would slow blood flow and circulation. The hydra would still live, but reduced blood circulation and blood flow resulted in increased tiredness and sudden loss of energy. 
Everypony and everyone noticed the effects immediately, as the necks stopped wriggling, and started to sink to the ground. The eyes were becoming heavy, as the beast went on its knees. "Now Applejack!" The farm mare wasted no time as she went on a full gallop to the heads, lassoing all three at once, and quickly pulling. The rope pulled until it was covering the necks, then she tied it in a knot. Fluttershy shuffled a little bit closer to the hydra, still feeling sympathy for it despite the destruction it was causing. 
Spike had gotten to the ground, and looked the hydra up and down, mumbling, "That's a huge one..."
But, it seemed the hydra had some fight left in it, as with its remaining adrenaline, the three necks all pushed in different directions, and went to pound the nearest pony, Rarity. Spike went wide eyed, while shouting, "Rarity, look out!"  
She looked to the fast approaching heads, and tried to backpedal out of there. Twilight would have used her telekinesis to quickly yank Rarity out of there, but Venom beat her to it, as a line of black web attached itself to the side of Rarity, and suddenly lifted off the ground right as the three heads collapsed. She was screaming from suddenly being off the ground, until she felt herself being caught by hands. She was placed down, as she saw Venom rush past her to the hydra. Before the heads could do anything else, Venom squirted more webbing around the necks, trapping it down. "Now, don't you think its time you took a little nap?" 
The ponies stared in awe, as Twilight went to the subdued hydra to examine the black webbing.  Looking at it curiously, like a foal would examine a new toy, she reached a hoof to touch it, but pulled back as she thought she would likely get herself stuck as well.
The ponies and dragon stared at Venom, as Venom looked around. Spike eventually spoke with awe, "Dude... you're strong." 
Venom replied to the obvious fact, "Yes, indeed." Venom looked over to Rarity and asked, "Are you all right, Ms. Rarity?" 
Rarity broke out of her stagnant state, cracked a small smile at Venom's mannerism, "Yes, quite all right, thank you." 
Eddie and the symbiote didn't know what the one called Twilight exactly did to the hydra, but it was down for the count, that was for sure. They looked around, but didn't notice the pony they were looking for. Venom turned to Fluttershy and Applejack, and asked, "Do you know where this Rainbow Dash is? We promised to make sure she was safe as well." 
Fluttershy silently shook her head, eyes on the ground, as Applejack started to look around as well. Twilight did not know what Venom was talking about, and started to trot over to him. As she started to notice how sharp and how many teeth he had, as well as the toxic saliva drooling off the enormous tongue, she was hit with a small wave of fear. It quickly passed, as she mentally scolded herself for thinking of the one who helped take down the hydra being a threat to them. His face certainty didn't paint that picture, though. She noticed how large Venom really was, being up close to him for the first time, as she asked, "Why do you need to look for Rainbow Dash?" 
Venom exited his glancing around, and looked down at Twilight. Eddie and the symbiote both noticed that this one had horns and wings. They didn't know what that meant, but passed it off as they answered her question. "We promised the fillies known as the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' to make sure their sisters were safe, one of them being this Rainbow Dash." 
"Wait, you met the CMC?" 
Venom nodded his head. "Yes, they were trapped in a tree house on an orchard surrounded by 'timberwolves' and a manticore, but we disposed of them." Twilight had a sinking feeling in her gut, figuring she knew what he meant by 'disposed'. She regained her determination, and continued with questions. "So, what's with the 'we'? And do you know of a human that could be around?" Venom stood stock, before answering only the last message cryptically, "Yes, we do. He is always near." Before Twilight, could ask anything else, Venom spun his head around, seemingly looking for something. 
Then all the ponies and dragon heard a faint shout, slowly getting louder, as they looked in the same direction Venom was looking to. "Aaaaaahhhhhhh!" They all saw a cyan pegasus twirling in the air, seemingly trying in vain to regain control of flight. 
"Ah, there she is." Venom seemingly not bothered by her twirling flight path. 
Fluttershy looked on with fear for her friend's safety. "Rainbow!" 
Venom looked to her, and calmly said, "Do not worry, Ms. Fluttershy. We will catch your friend." Fluttershy didn't see how that would happen, but her doubts melted when she looked to Venom. Those same eyes that  might look malevolent, evil, and bad to others. But to her, she saw the same kindness and reassurance of their safety in them as before. And despite the oddity to his voice, it also sounded reassuring. She may not like his brutal methods of having dealt with the Everfree creatures, but trusted him while nodding her head. 
Twilight either didn't see that happening, or ignored Venom as she hovered in the air, mentally planning. 'Alright, if I use just enough force, and the right amount of magic, I--' Her thoughts were caught off, as right as Rainbow was just above the Lethal Protector, two thick, black, smooth tendrils sprouted out of Venom's shoulders, wrapping themselves around the mare, stopping her twirling flight. 
The ponies looked shocked at this, while Pinkie hopped towards Venom and Rainbow Dash. "Wowie! Neat trick, Lemon Venom!" She looked up to the disorientated pegasus. "Hiya Dashie!" 
The tendrils gently placed the mare on the ground, as she rubbed a hoof on her head. Venom looked down at the rainbow mare, asking, "What happened, Ms. Dash?"	
The pegasus groaned, as she started to open her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I was beating the hay out of those punks, until--" She stopped as she saw two black legs in front of her. Slowly looking up, she saw the white spider on a chest, and the constantly grinning face of Venom, with the continuous tongue and green drool seeping down it. She groaned again and brought a hoof to her face. "I had to get saved by you of all ponies..." 
"We're not a pony."
"And with the 'we' again."
Fluttershy trotted up to her friend, worry clear in her expression, and asked. "Rainbow, are you okay? What happened?"  
Rainbow flashed her usual cocky grin to her friend, gloating, "Of course I am, Flutters! Just that, one of those things got a really, really, lucky hit, and I ended up here." She finished by rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof, smiling sheepishly. 
Fluttershy looked up at Venom, with her lips curled into a peaceful smile. "Oh, thanks for catching her... Venom is it?" 
Venom grinned down at her, while replying, "Correct, madam. And please, there is no need to thank us. We were just doing our job." 
Before the ponies could ask what he meant on that, they all heard a rumbling in the distance. They looked in the direction Rainbow came from, to see a massive amount of timberwolves and manticores rushing to them, anger in all their eyes. Rainbow Dash groaned again, "Looks like they came to try and finish me..." Fluttershy squeaked, and started to tremble. It looked as if the Everfree creatures broke the chain of guards keeping them at bay, allowing them to get further into the town. The six mares (Spike having stayed at a safe distance) voiced their thoughts. 
"Well, they aren't gonna finish me!"
"It'll be like applebuckin' trees!"
"O-oh my..."
"Time to stop these party poopers, and get that party for Lemon Venom and that human rolling!" 
"We must stop these ruffians from trashing anymore of the town! For honor! No... for fashion!"
"We can do this girls!" 
Eddie and the symbiote saw the oncoming attackers like the others, and thought to themselves of how to deal with this efficiently. Eddie thought to themselves, 'We could easily fight them off, but we should get a move on. There's got to be a faster way.' Venom looked around, until his curious gaze rested upon the barely conscious hydra. The symbiote spoke with eagerness, 'You know I can do it, Eddie! Finish this!' 
Venom grinned eagerly, and stalked over to the hydra. Spike was watching the fight about to have gone down between the elements and animals, but noticed Venom going towards the hydra. Despite some fear he still had for the Lethal Protector, he managed to ask, "Hey, what're you doing?" 
Venom raised a clawed hand in the air, "This." Before bringing it down on the webs connecting to beast. He then gripped the webs around the jaw of the central head and pulled it off, as well as the ones on the eyes. 
Spike's eyes popped open wide. "What are you doing!?! Why are you freeing it!?!" 
"Trust us. This is going to help us, a lot." The central head's neck craned upward, as the head looked down at the black being, the hydra having much more energy than before. Venom spread his arms out wide, still grinning, and shouted, "Come get your dinner, you overgrown-mutant snake-thing!" 
The elements heard this, and spun their heads around to see the central head of the hydra about to eat Venom. They gawked at what they were seeing, Fluttershy galloping over to try to stop it. "V-Venom!" Venom looked to her, smiled with a raised thumb, and winked. She was too late however, as Venom was scooped up in the jaws, and the central head closed. Fluttershy came to an immediate stop, as her heart yanked. The one who, despite the rather bloody methods, saved her, Applejack, possibly Rainbow, Rarity, and the CMC, was just devoured before her very eyes. The others could only stare as well, with Fluttershy's eyes starting to leak tears. They had just witnessed the death of Venom.
Or so they thought. 
To the shock of the ponies, and bafflement of the hydra, black, thick, liquid started to ooze out of the hydra's mouth, like syrup out of a bottle. More of the odd stuff came out, and started to wrap all over the central head, and some forming above the head. The ponies could only stare, momentarily forgetting the approaching horde. The hydra shook its head to try and get it to stop, but to no avail. The other heads seemed to have gone blank, as they could only stare ahead. 
The ponies gasped as they saw a familiar black figure forming atop the central head, the black substance almost covering the whole head. 
Eddie and the symbiote have performed this tactic before. Because of the symbiote's ability to shape-shift, shifting the host's body as well, they would not have been crushed. The symbiote then had internal access to the hydra, where only a small, skinny slither entered the central head; but that was all that was needed. That small strand connected directly at the brain stem, having complete control over the hydra. When the symbiote finished wrapping around the head, it was much different than before. It was now larger than before, with much larger teeth, all black head, with white patches around the now yellow eyes. Grinning,  Venom held strands of the symbiote he used as reigns, and cheerily commanded, "Mush! Onward!" 
The ponies could not believe what they were seeing. Venom seemingly surviving the jaws of a hydra, without a scratch no less.  
Twilight could only stammer, "H-how... what is he?" 
Rainbow with a lowered jaw, admitted, "Okay, I admit. He's pretty awesome."
Pinkie bouncing on her tail, with a grin as big as Venom's, "Yipee! Lemon Venom's got his own hydra!" 
Rarity could only stare dumbly, as Applejack muttered under her breath, "Holy mother of apples..."
But Fluttershy was the only one not gawking or staring oddly, just smiling. Venom wouldn't go down like that, and he said he had his promise to keep, and he seemed like the type to never go back on their word. 
At the symbiote's mental command, the central head stretched outward, the other, smaller two as well, releasing a mighty roar that was amplified due to the buff of the symbiote, thundering in the sky. Venom shouted to the ponies, "You might want to move!" The ponies didn't need to be told twice, as they quickly scurried out of the way. 
As for the Everfree animals, the sight of the black creature riding a massive, upgraded hydra straight towards them had them slow their charge, becoming more unsure of themselves, if the concern and fear in their eyes was anything to go by. The hydra charged to the animals, much faster than before, ready to utterly annihilate the pests. Some of the rather brave and/or stupid creatures charged regardless, but were met with a large black jaw shoveling them in, and meeting a devastating end with a loud 'chomp!' 
'Just like the time with that Devil Dinosaur!' the symbiote gleefully shouted within Brock's mind. 
Venom agreed, "Yes, yes! Except this time, we have three heads instead of one!" As Venom finished, the left and right head curved and rammed themselves into the animals they were gaining on, shattering timberwolves, wounding manticores, and other wounds one would not want to wake up with in the morning. The fleeing animals tried to outrun the hydra that was mounted by the black being, but the central head stuck close to the ground, and a massive tongue slithered out, whipping the animals off the road, into the awaiting mouths of the other heads. The animals knew this was a battle they could not win, and despite the rage they held for reasons even they didn't know, retreated to the Everfree. Venom still had the hydra chase and devour most of them, teaching the survivors a valuable lesson; don't prey on the innocent. 
Some of the guards that were still in fighting condition saw the animals retreating with a large hydra on their tail. They could only watch, their eyes glued especially the the hydra's rider. The mares and Spike watched in awe, definitely having questions on what exactly Venom was. They heard many hoofsteps and wing beats behind them, as somepony shouted, "Princess Twilight Sparkle!" The six mares turned to see what they had been waiting for: the reinforcements. 
Twilight let out a sigh of relief, as the commander of that squad bowed, and Twilight trotted over. "Thank Celestia you all got here when you did!" 
The commander had his stern hard face like every good soldier, and reported, "We currently have small groups split to assist the other guards, and chase off the creatures of the Everfree! We also spotted, as you may have, A large hydra chasing those creatures back to the Everfree, but the most interesting thing was that the thing riding it matched the description of the creature guards were sent to search for near the Everfree yesterday!" 
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Yes! It--he showed up about the time after Ponyville got invaded. He said he was Venom, and he is a rather peculiar creature." 
"Shall we contain him?" 	
Twilight shook her head. "Try to convince him to come. If he refuses... we'll think about what to do then." 
The guard nodded, turned to two pegasi, and gave a silent command. The two saluted and took off to the hydra to find Venom. 
As the guards were pushing what few creatures were left back to the Everfree, the six mares conversed on what they just went through. Applejack was the first to speak up, "Well, that Venom feller is certainly something." They each nodded their heads. 
Twilight shared an idea, "You know how he could shoot this stuff like webs? Crawl? Has really good senses? Its kind of like a spider, maybe that has to do with something with the spider he has on his chest and back." Some of them hummed in thought on that idea, while others had more to say. 
Rarity commented, "While his appearance can seem a bit... frightening...but he certainly is polite." 
Pinkie shook like a volcano about to erupt, sporting a grin as per usual, "I can't wait to throw Lemon Venom his party! And get to be really great friends with him! And just think, we still have to meet the human!" The others had completely forgotten about the human during the whole battle, and had time to think about that too.

Fluttershy pressed her two forehooves together, and quietly commented, "While I don't like how he deals with those poor animals, I think he's been really nice so far. Maybe we could be friends." Fluttershy thought more on that prospect, thinking about what that protector does on free time and such. 
The two pegasi came back, with crestfallen faces. They trotted up to their commander, "Sir, the beast... It vanished." The ponies gasped at this, and the commander's face reddened as his brows furrowed. 
"What do you mean?" 
"The only thing left is the hydra... no traces of that creature." 
Rainbow's wings flared, with a loud, "What!?!" She quickly took off towards the direction where Venom had chased off the Everfree creatures. Surely enough, in the open field was an unconscious hydra, no longer having the black ooze on its central head. It was heavily wrapped in black webbing. She saw the Everfree, but there was no way Venom could have gone that distance unnoticed by the pegasi, right? She gritted her teeth, mumbling swears under her breath, as she lazily flew to confirm the news to her friends. 





"I don't think we've ever fought a hydra before." Mused Eddie Brock, munching on fruit he foraged. He was lying on black webbing, from between a face of a tall rock and a thick tree. The symbiote projected itself as a small figure, with the same grin as Venom's, sitting at the edge of the webbing looking at Brock. 
'Don't think so. We were heroes, Eddie! Stopped the darn Greek creatures!' Eddie nodded, as he sucked in another grape. When they saw guards arriving, and chasing off the remaining animals, they knew they were no longer needed. The pegasi spotted them, but that didn't really matter, as Eddie and the symbiote assumed they went to report them to a commander or something. To have remained hidden from returning pegasi, he and the symbiote camouflaged, turning invisible to any pony that might have looked their way. They did not know how the guards may have reacted to them, a seemingly new creature, but the symbiote had plenty of experience in that area; and most of the time it turned out bad. 
So they decided to find in a more safe part of the Everfree Forest, planning to go forward the day after. "You saw that mountain in the distance earlier, with the castle? That was in the direction the leaders are supposed to be at, it has to be Canterlot." 
'But we rest here?' 
"Yes, need to rest up, and to lay low after another encounter with the public. This time, I know this is gonna spread." 
'You were a journalist, you know this stuff.' Eddie finished his last grape, as he and the symbiote planned on what to do once they reached Canterlot and the the rulers of Equestria.