//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15: From Predator to Prey, Hunter to Hunted 
// Story: Venomous Uprising 
// by Paco-El-Taco 
//------------------------------//

"So, what's the situation we've got?"
"It appears to be the same from the past couple days."
"Again?"
"Yeah, bodies nearly crushed, slashed, and... well, headless, to put it simply."
The two ponies in the city of Fillydelphia were in an alleyway at the time, except that one was not ordinary, at least not at the time. The entrance and exit of the alleyway was blocked out by yellow tape that read, "Do Not Cross" in a bold and black text. Royal guard ponies were stationed around them, about four to each. Usually, only two were required, but given the circumstances of the situation that had happened, more were needed for safety. Citizens from the outside would try to take a peek, especially those who were working for the press, eager to take photos with their cameras and such. 
The ponies in the alleyway were undergoing a crime scene. There were the ones collecting certain samples and snapping photos for evidence, those who were keeping sharp eyes out to see if they could spot anything that might have given them clues, and the detectives that were trying to asses the situation.
One was a grey earth pony, a stallion wearing a black suit with a short, combed mane. The other was a red mare, a unicorn with a long and blonde mane, and both were to their own devices on the situation.
The stallion took in the image that was presented before him. The alleyway was thin, only about six meters wide, with red bricks making up both walls that were belonging to two skyscrapers. His attention, though, was caught on the more unnerving details. On one side of the walls, bricks were broken off and shattered, like a deep gash in the wall. He also noticed a dull brown-yellow stain on both walls and even the ground itself, that were spread across in streaks as though a foal were playing with a hose in that alley. There was a dumpster, though it was not were it would usually be at. No, it was on its back with all the trash spilled out of it not far from the center of the scene. 
The main attraction of the scene, though, was more gruesome and disturbing than the others. Right in the center was a chalk outline of a pony without the head, and the hooves and body were drawn out with the lines sharply curving in, barely resembling a pony. Being handled by two ponies in hazmat suits was a white plastic covering over a thin metal sheet that was holding the unfortunate deceased victim. Though their expressions were covered by their suits, the detective could tell by their movements that dealing with a corpse, especially one like that, was not something they could stomach all too well. Next to them were different sized trays, tubes, and bags, all collecting various samples from the scene. 
He could see some of the victim's intestines in some of them, though he figured that those had something on them that might have been able to give more clues about the eerie situation. The others were filled with small bits and pieces of anything near or around the odd stains. Some ponies were around the stains trying to figure out exactly what it was, or where it might have came from. 
He took cautious steps toward the bag and stopped right in front of it. He looked over to the ponies in the hazmat suits, they nodded, and he slowly brought his hoof on the cover and reluctantly peeled it back so only he could see the inside. The detective had to suppress a gag as he jerked his head away. After a few seconds, he finally forced his sight back into the bag. 
Inside the bag was was the victim of the scene, a stallion, where the neck abrubtly ended with no head. He noticed that it did not appear to have been sliced off, but as if something had torn it completely off. The hooves and barrel were bent inwards, like somepony tied ropes around the stallion and pulled with all their might. Deep gashes and wounds were decorating the corpse, a clear sign that something had attacked him. 
The detective pulled away from the bag with a shake of his head as he trotted back to the other detective. With a sigh, he tiredly said, "Same thing, never gets less gruesome. This has been going on for what, a few days now?" 
The other detective nodded her head as she confirmed, "Eight cases so far of civilians being decapitated in a brutal manner. Odd and unidentified marks of the same yellowish substance. Slight destruction around the area, all of that."
The stallion pulled out a notepad from the pockets of his suit, then looked over the notes he had recorded. After flipping through some pages, he looked to his partner with, "Well, at least with more of these, we know some more of what could be causing this."
"Could it be something from the Everfree?"
"Unlikely, it's too far from here for its inhabitants to just wonder out. Besides, I don't know anything in there that could've done this."
The mare sighed as she informed him, "The local police have reported the same thing for ponies nearby. They heard him screaming, odd noises that sounded somewhat like growling, and nothing. They tried to exit to the back alley doors to see what was going on, but something was blocking it. Only when he presumably died did the doors give in and they rushed out to see his corpse."  
"I just don't get it," the stallion brought a hoof to his chin as his eyes narrowed in thought, "I mean, this thing is clearly a capable predator of sorts, so a pony doing it is out of the question. Its gotta be some other animal, but why does it do all of this? I doubt the slight destruction was caused by the victims." 
The mare shrugged as she offered, "Perhaps that's its way of showing dominance?" 
The stallion shook his head with an, "I dunno, but there is some good news, though." He flipped through some notes as he continued, "Police have suspected that this might be tied in with the attacks that have been going on lately. Not to mention this is unlike anything they've ever dealt with before. So, they've requested some aid from Canterlot. Some of the royal guards will get here to check things out, see what they can do. We might be seeing one of the princesses themselves, depending if these killings keep up; they don't tolerate that sort of thing."
The mare nodded her head with, "Yeah, whatever this is, we all could definitely use some help stopping it." 
As the ponies below spoke to each other, they were completely oblivious to something perched on one of the buildings that made up the alleyway. Its claws gripped the building as the thing's head bent below, listening in to the ponies. That thing was the alien, the one who had eaten the dead pony's brain and head from below, as well as all the other mentioned ponies. The alien licked its teeth in anticipation; everything was going to its liking. 
More attention was being brought to the city. The local authorities were of no concern to the alien. They might have had an odd energy, magic, which helped them in many areas, but they weren't sufficient to tracking ones such as itself down. As for a princess, what it assumed to be a ruler or some higher power of the land, could possibly have been coming. It didn't think much about the princess, though. If anything, a princess could be an appetizer before it would have its main course of symbiote meat and a host. 
Satisfied with the information, the alien spun around and dragged its tendrils along with near silent strides as it searched for a good hiding spot until it would become hungry yet again. The ponies had various flavors, the alley one having been a dull flavor, but its disappointment was drowned out by the juicy, sweet, watery, guarantee that the alien would have its meal.  





"Wow... actual bio-organic webbing, just like a spider's...." Twilight stared in awe at the small patch of black webbing on a glass dish before her on a table as she continued jotting down notes.
"You scientists sure have a lot of fun with so little." Spoke the buff man across the table, who held a filet sandwich in his hands as he took a bite out of it. He swallowed as he looked from the fish to the curious alicorn across the table, who was fondling with the webbing within her telekinetic grasp. "I thought ponies were herbivores, but...."  Eddie raised a hand with the filet sandwich in it, shaking it lightly to emphasize his point. 
Twilight stopped examining the webbing to look at the human who had a raised brow. She saw the sandwich, and she waved a hoof as she returned to studying to strand of webbing below her. "Fish are an exception, sometimes. I don't usually eat them, but Fluttershy has a ton for her animals. It's a good thing I had some, though. Otherwise, you'd have to hold over on salads and such."
They were in the dining room again, with Spike outside for his day off of doing chores. Eddie hadn't done much, he stayed inside the palace for the couple of days he was there. He was either in his room resting or thinking, or in the library of the palace and browsing through the books. He wasn't much of a reader, but he did find himself a bit curious of the land of Equestria. He had learned of other creatures that were thought to be mythological at Earth, locations with names like puns he simply ignored, and other interesting information. 
The times he was outside was for simple strolls through paths and the edges of Ponyville. The ponies of the town still had mixed feelings toward him, all gave him plenty of space like he had the flu on him. Eddie did not care much. In fact, he thought it was a nice break from the public issues at Earth. While his name was somewhat known, it was overshadowed by other higher powers, and the police usually didn't have Venom as their number one priority to deal with. When he was in public, people wouldn't know about the symbiote within him, and he could do all his daily needs. 
If police and authorities were after him, though, then he would hide and lie low until the police moved on to threats that were of real concern to innocents. He and his other half could fight the cops, but that would not have done good. The police were still innocent, and if they killed an officer of the law, the cops would be on their tails for longer periods of time. So being in a place where Eddie did not have to worry a bit about police coming after him or someone out for revenge brought comfort to him. He still wanted to return to Earth, no doubt. Equestria was not a place that had grilled steaks, and Eddie and his symbiote really liked grilled steaks, and pretty much all meats for that matter; and though magic had its uses, he preferred human technology in the end. He knew it might have taken awhile until the princesses found some way to Earth. He figured they were more concerned about the smoke attacks during the time, which he understood. 
Eddie did not see much of the other mares as well. Most of them were up to their jobs or duties, but Pinkie Pie seemed to have been a different case. He would notice that sometimes she would stare at him from a distance, trying but failing to suppress a grin. She had something planned, that was for certain. 
As the two were up to their own tasks, they heard the pattering of foot steps quickly approaching. Twilight looked up and Eddie turned his head around to see a panting Spike jog in with a scroll in a claw. He dragged his feet to Twilight as he managed to say in between breaths, "Letter from... princess." He handed her the letter as she picked it up with her magical grasp while raising an eyebrow. 
"A letter from one of the princesses? Why would they send one of these?" But when she looked up she saw Spike already exiting, and waving a claw and a mumbled good bye before heading back outside. She shook her head with a sigh as she unrolled the scroll and glued her eyes to it. Eddie watched with increasing curiosity as he saw Twilight's various expressions. First, her eyes widened as her pupils receded to a much lower size. Then, her brows shot up with a loud gasp, as she started to mumble the rest of the letter to herself. When she finished, she put the letter down on the table and shook her head, rambling about, "Oh no, no, no, no... this isn't good."
Twilight seemingly reread the letter again as if she hoped she had read wrong. After a moment of dead silence, Brock finally spoke up with, "Is everything alright, Twilight?" He knew something was wrong, but he was curious as to what the problem was. His brows furrowed a bit as he followed up with, "Is it the smoke again?" 
The alicorn kept her eyes directed at the paper before her but answered with, "It's Fillydelphia... there's been--" she gulped as she choked out the accursed word, "murders. Multiple of them." Eddie didn't respond, so Twilight took that as a signal to continue. "According to the evidence collected, police ponies suspect it wasn't a pony or other sapient race, but some sort of animal, one they haven't seen yet and have no idea about it." 
Twilight was still appalled about the death of the ponies while Eddie and the symbiote were discussing among themselves. 'Should ask her about it, Eddie. Help innocents, be heroes.' 
'I don't think we're needed for this. If it's just some animal, the police here should be able to find that thing and stop it.'
'Still best to ask more details.'
Eddie supposed there was no harm in that, so he did just that. "I know this isn't my business, but could you tell me some details about these killings?"
Twilight flinched at the word 'killings', but complied as she looked up at Eddie with worry etched over her face. Her tone matched her expression as she said, "Well, to put it in a way that I won't lose my lunch, the victims were headless, as well as many cuts in their bodies, and some even bent inwards." Eddie listened intently to the information given to him. It sounded like an odd animal indeed, but he was about to pass it off as some other mythological creature from some place far away from the city of Fillydelphia. He would have done just that, but his entire body paused as Twililght gave off one important detail. "It was also reported that there was an odd liquid substance stained on the areas around the scenes, possibly the saliva or dribble from the creature itself."
It came to Eddie swiftly. Ponies with no heads, with the brains having been likely eaten. Tears likely caused by claws. Dry stains like colored saliva. Eddie looked over to his right as he thought to his other half, 'This sounds like a symbiote, but...'
'How could one get here?'
'Well, if it is a symbiote, it must have bonded with a lunatic or taken control of some animal.'
'If it's a symbiote, need to stop it!'
'Hold on. We suspect its a symbiote, but it could be something different. Still, we need to be sure....'
Twilight had taken notice of Brock's silence, so she looked up from her letter again to see the man staring at his shoulder, appearing to have been lost in thought. She tilted her head in confusion as she asked, "Uh, Eddie? Are you all right?" 
The man's gaze drifted to Twilight as he spoke with a brooding tone, "My other and I have a guess of what this killer might be."
"You do?" Twilight was surprised, she didn't think Eddie would just have an answer for that, especially when it was so soon. 
He nodded as he clarified, "With what you said, it sounded like the ponies who were killed and had their heads torn off got their brains eaten, as well as the head. Claw marks all over their bodies, and some liquid you think might be the drool of this thing. From my experience, it sounds like you've got a symbiote on your hooves."
Twilight's eyes widened upon hearing that and nearly shouted, "What!?! B-but how could another one have gotten here? What if--"
"Twilight." Eddie interrupted, having placed his food down by then. "I said might. I could be wrong, it could just be another animal or something." 
She seemed to have calmed down a bit by that, but she asked Eddie after she slumped back into her seat, "Okay, it might be just an animal. If it is one of these symbiotes, though, well... what exactly do the bad ones do?" she looked to Eddie curiously, awaiting an answer.
Brock brought a hand to his chin as he looked down in thought, speaking on his thoughts, "If it is a symbiote, its one of the more wild ones. It either bonded with some crazy pony or a weak-willed one, possibly some other animal. Then, it might have went around feasting on the brains of the victims." 
Twilight took the information into her mind, thinking it over and all the possibilities. Eventually, she spoke up with, "Assume it is a symbiote. You know more about these things than anypony here, what would be the best thing to do about it?" 
Eddie exited his thoughts, and looked to Twilight, asking, "Well, you said none of the ponies saw this thing?" when she shook her head, he continued, "Again, if it is a symbiote, it sounds like a sneaky one, one that doesn't want to be found out. They can remain hidden if they really want to be." 
"Well, how would one go about finding it?"
He looked down to his shoulder again, as the alien within him spoke optimistically, 'Can do it, Eddie. Could track it down.'
'Again, we don't know if this thing is a symbiote.'
'And if it is?' 
His other half won out the debate with that. While Eddie still was not sure if it was a symbiote, the risk was too great. He and his other had seen many times what a crazed symbiote-enhanced person could and would do, and he knew the ponies have never faced a threat like that before. He looked over to Twilight, some uncertainty leaking in his voice but continued regardless, "If this is a symbiote, we could find it." He saw the confused look on her face, and kept up with, "Me and my other have a sort of... sixth sense, so to speak, when it comes to other symbiotes. Its led us to symbiotes before, and if this is one, we could track it down." 
Twilight sighed as she looked down at the paper again. Assuming the killer was bonded with a symbiote, they would have had trouble defeating it. Not only did ponies know almost nothing of symbiotes or their capabilities, but if she were to base the rest of them off of Venom's capabilities, she did not like their chances. She did not want to bring Eddie out for something that might not have existed, he and his symbiote had already been through some action during their stay in Equestria; however, if it was a symbiote in Fillydelphia they were dealing with, then they would need help to track it down. 
She finally looked back to the patient Eddie with a small sigh, saying, "We don't know what this is, and I don't want you to have to go to Fillydelphia just on a hunch. If it is one, though, well-- I can't just wait for more ponies to die until this thing is discovered. If it is what you think it is, and you're willing to make the trip, then I could send a letter to Celestia about this, and then get us there as fast as possible; though, it still might be awhile." 
Eddie stood up from his seat as spoke with certainty, "Twilight, if this is a symbiote that we're dealing with, it'll be over quickly." 
She responded by quirking a brow with a curious, "How so?"
"I've been bonded with my symbiote far longer, and mine's already more powerful than the average one." Eddie began to exit as he turned his head around and called, "I'm guessing you'll need Spike for the letter?" 
Twilight's downed expression had turned to a smile by then as she levitated a sheet of blank paper and a quill, and began writing. "Yes, I do. Oh, and Eddie? Thanks. Thanks to your friend, too." 
"It's not a problem at all. We'll get this situated." With that, Eddie went searching for Spike. 
He and the symbiote both thought it was a symbiote they were going after. They thought it would be a minor situation to deal with, something small for a change. They thought they would go to Fillydelphia and out without trouble. 
They were after an alien, all right. But not another symbiote. 
They were prey unknowingly going after their predator, one who eats hosts and their symbiotes. 





"Good news. Princess Twilight Sparkle is coming soon, and she's bringing some help." 
"What kind of help?"
"That human. The letter said he might have a way of tracking this killer down."
Two police ponies were trotting up a flight of stairs inside of the police headquarters of Fillydelphia. They were on their way to one of the upper floors of it. When they reached their floor, they entered through a set of double-doors into an office area. There were cubicles in a uniform position with only a few decorations in and out of it. The color scheme was a bland one, consisting of only whites, grey, browns, and blacks. The floor was carpeted, and the far end of the area were glass walls and doors, leading to meeting rooms. On both sides of it were cabinets, counters, papers, and various other utensils among them.
As they were trotting to one of the cubicles, one of them asked, "The human? What's he going to do?" 
The two entered the cubicle, the curious one waiting at the edges, while the owner of the cubicle entered into one of his filing cabinets and started to shuffle through the organized files and papers within it. "Apparently, he might have a way to track it down. Oh, and it's suspected to be something called a symbiote."
The stallion tilted his head as he said, "A what?" 
The other pony pulled a file out the filing cabinet, then turned to his pal as he answered, "Some weird alien goo, that's all I know. You'll have to ask the human about it if you want to know more." 
When they trotted back out, the curious one looked around to notice they were the only ones on that floor. He turned to his friend with a, "Hey, Cane? Where's everypony else at?"
Cane looked to his friend with a file in a hoof as he answered, "Either working on these recent cases outside or they're in a meeting in the briefing room. We should head down there, actually." 
He nodded his head as they continued, but his stomach rumbled in demand to be filled all of the sudden. Cane looked to his friend with a huff and an amused look as he quipped, "Hungry, Cannon?"
Cannon answered with a chuckle, changing his sights from the doors to the vending machine at the far wall. Without answering, he went over to the vending machine and readied up some bits. Cane sighed and shook his head, but followed with a light smile regardless. As Cannon browsed through all the food choices on the vending machine, he muttered, "Well, I could go for something. A pony's got to eat when they're hungry, pal."
Cane approached from his right as he drew out some of his own bits. "Yeah, I could probably get a snack or something, too." 
"I will eat as well." 
Both ponies jumped up startled, and zipped their eyes from left to right to identify the voice. When they found nopony, Cane shouted out, "Who's there!?! Show yourself!"
Both ponies continued to look around, but they were glued to place when they heard a voice from the vending machine reply, "I'm right here." Both of them shot their sights back on to the vending machine, only to yelp as the sides busted and exploded into a dozen or so wriggling tendrils that shot out towards them. They could only scream and shout for help as the purple tentacles and tendrils wrapped all over their forms, the alien's jaw leaking more of its golden saliva all over its prey and the floor. It crushed its victims with glee and joy, for it had heard them speak the news. 
The symbiote and its host were going to arrive soon near that time. The alien would then have its long awaited meal, but it only had to wait a bit longer for the prey to have come to the city. It who eats would be waiting patiently. 





"Is that Fillydelphia up ahead?" 
"It is. Though, we obviously can't look around once we arrive." Eddie and Twilight were gliding across the clear blue Equestrian skies in a small carriage being pulled by a pair of royal guards. The city Eddie was peering at was indeed Fillydelphia, the city coming closer by the second to them. Twilight was fidgeting nervously in her seat, but she tried to maintain a calm exterior upon herself. Eddie was not nervous about the murders like the princess next to him was. No, he only stared ahead with a look Twilight couldn't identify, but he was thinking about much. He thought about how to handle what could have been a symbiote, and what to do. Each Klyntar seemed to have their own unique ability, sometimes two. Nearly all could shape shift, some more than others. He wondered if the possible symbiote could have some unique ability, and if so, what it would be. 
He then thought about the killer being something other than a symbiote. He thought it to be possible that it could have been some odd Equestrian creature, as that was a likely possibility to him; but then he thought about other creatures. Perhaps it could have been something from Earth, he thought. 'Unlikely, Eddie.' Spoke the one who could read his thoughts like words on a page. 'We were brought here by special circumstances. No other thing could come here from Earth.' 
Brock lightly nodded his head in agreement, and was so lost in thought that he didn't know they were in the city until the wheels of the carriage touched down on one of the streets and rolled along, until it finally came to a stop. He brought his head up and looked across the streets and buildings, noticing the abundance of the police ponies and a handful of royal guards. The ponies appeared on edge and nervous, mainly with the fact of the killings. 
Twilight shuffled in her seat as she slowly stood up with her heart beating just a little bit faster, and motioned across the city with a wave of her hoof. "Well, welcome to Fillydelphia...." Twilight would normally greet a pony, or in that case a person, to a new place with enthusiasm and eagerness, but she couldn't bring herself to summon up those bright emotions with the dread that coated the area. Eddie picked up on her nervousness immediately, but he opted to climb out of the carriage and take care of the threat as soon as it could have. 
The ponies on the street looked to and mumbled about Eddie, but he and his other were focusing on trying to track what they thought might have been a symbiote. Twilight was looking around for the best place to observe first. They were brought out of their thoughts when a pony hollered from the sidewalk they were on, "Princess! Princess Twilight Sparkle!" Both the man and the princess looked across to see a royal guard galloping over to them, his attention focused only on Twilight Sparkle. He stopped directly in front of her as he stood firm and straight, quickly speaking in a sturdy tone, "Your highness, I have news for you. It's a good thing you got here when you did." 
Eddie stood at the side and watched the two ponies with interest while Twilight internally hoped that the news the guard would deliver would be good. Her hopes broke like a shattered window that was broken by a boulder, when the guard said, "There has been another murder, not too long ago, in fact. It took place in one of the office floors of the police headquarters." Twilight's legs slightly wobbled as her ears folded back against her head. She was always down heartened when she heard of a tragic death occurring to anypony, especially if it was murder. Fortunately, Equestria rarely ever had killers inhabiting it, and if so, they were contained quickly and effectively. She had hoped that would have been the same case with the Fillydelphia killer, but she had doubts. After all, if it was a symbiote-enhanced pony, it would be trouble. And if it was something else? She hoped Eddie and his symbiote knew what they were doing.   
The guard turned his curious gaze over to Eddie, where his sight met with the guard's as well. Looking back to the princess, the guard asked, "Is this the one you told us about in the letter? The one who could help?" 
Twilight shook herself out of her weary state, then looked back to the guard with, "Yes, this is the one. Could you take us to the... scene?" 
The guard nodded with an, "Of course, your highness. Follow me." With that, he turned around and trotted at a brisk place towards the police headquarters. Twilight quickly followed his lead, but Eddie was walking a bit behind as his other spoke to him. 
'Not right, Eddie. Would have sensed another Klyntar, by now.' 
Eddie's brow furrowed as he thought back, 'Something does feel off... we'll have to see what it is, though.'





"Oh... dear Celestia, what could have done this?" Twilight took the scene before her with eyes that wanted to look away, to close, to look anywhere but the two shredded corpses before her, but just couldn't. The office was completely trashed. Cubicles were broken down, cabinets were busted, chairs were thrown askew, supplies torn and scattered everywhere; it was an overall mess. But, like all the other cases before, the dead ponies were the gruesome highlight of the whole display. Like the other victims, the heads were crudely torn off, as if something bit them off like a dog would a dog toy. Deep gashes were all over the two bodies with cracked and bent bones being exposed. Blood stains were around the two, but there was streak of blood leading away from them. The trail traveled from the two bodies, across the center of the room, and then to the stairwell where the doors were busted, clearly from the inside. 
Twilight could barely hold her meal down, and finally diverted her eyes and screwed them shut. Eddie, however, was not like Twilight during that time. The symbiote was wrapped around him like another layer of skin, giving him the body of Venom. His face was left exposed, though, with only a few small worming black material sticking around his face. 
He was knelt right over the two bodies, taking in their forms with his unblinking, unflinching eyes. His expression appeared blank, though with a frown and furrowed brows adorning his face. But inside, emotions were battling on another. And not all were his, the symbiote was the same as well. The symbiote felt anger towards the killer, to what might have been another Klyntar. It wanted to avenge the two ponies and the other victims. Eddie felt sorrow toward the two before him and the other innocent victims who were brutally mauled. Both of them, though, were resolute in dealing with the killer as soon as they could. He muttered under his breath so only he and his other could hear, "I'm sorry this had to happen to you, something so... unfair. But I promise you, we will get rid of this threat once and for all." Whether they would just catch the killer or deploy lethal tactics would be seen later. 
The office floor was devoid  of life other than the princess and the buff man. The police had already gathered their data and Twilight requested them and the royal guards to scavenge the city for the murderer, as the killings were then getting far too frequent. Twilight eventually spoke out, "So... do you sense this thing, at all?" 
Eddie got up as his head turned to the wall closest to the corpses. "No, not a thing." He spoke absentmindedly, mainly because an odd, dull, gold liquid splayed on the wall and floor took his attention. At first, he thought it was saliva or dribble from another symbiote. But he thought otherwise when he brought his large and black arm to the glop, and dipped a clawed hand slightly into it. His eyes widened and his mouth became slightly agape when an odd feeling entered to the hand that was in it. No more than five seconds of physical contact with the odd liquid did his hand start to feel numb. He lost the sense of touch with it soon afterwards as well. He quickly retracted his arm and held it in front his face, inspecting the dull liquid on it. His other spoke to him wearily, 'Feels odd, Eddie. This doesn't belong to a Klyntar, yet I felt it before.' 
"Where? Who or what did it belong to?" Eddie questioned quickly. If it wasn't a symbiote, then he wanted to know what exactly it was as soon as he could. He doubted it was an ordinary pony who was responsible for all the killings. 
'Don't know yet. Need something more than this to identify our killer.'  
Twilight waited for their conversation to end. Having had Eddie as a guest to her palace for some days, she got used to him talking to himself, or rather, his other half. "Do you have any clue of what did this or where it's at?" 
Eddie turned and looked at her as he shook his head. "It's probably not a symbiote, but that's all we have right now." 
"Then, what could it be?" She dreaded the thought of what kind of monster it might have been. 
"That's what we're trying to figure out."
With that information, the princess released a tired sigh and drooped her head a bit. She thought of the next best thing to do, and when she did, she looked up at Eddie with, "Okay, lets go back to the city. I'll check with the guards to see if they have anything new. You do whatever you can to help track this thing down." Eddie nodded, and the two went to the stairwell and back to the city.





Eddie and Twilight were just on the outside of the police headquarters with a dozen or so royal guards and police ponies accompanying them. The police had put up police tape around the entrance and sidewalks around the headquarters, seeing as there was a scene that had occurred there not long before. The princess was discussing with some of the higher ranking officials of what the next course of action should have been. Eddie, at first, was just standing in the sidelines and thinking with his other of what the whole big thing could be. Eventually, though, he figured it best to see if there was at least some sort of witness that could give him more details on the killer. He turned to the nearest officer and called out, "Excuse me, officer?" 
The pony who was called was an earth pony, who had an intense coat of indigo, a thick black mustache, blue eyes, and a cutie mark of a pair of flashing red and blue lights. He was startled when the silent man suddenly called out to him, but he composed himself. He, like the others working with him, were informed of the human, Eddie Brock, also the one known as Venom. He didn't know how he would have helped, but he did not deny the extra help; it was clear they needed some. He looked up to the man, replying to his call, "Yes, sir? How may I be of help?" 
"Was there anyone who's seen this thing at all? Any sort of witness?"
The officer shook his head before replying, "Afraid not. The only sort of witnesses we have are the ones who heard 'em.   They're pretty much the same for all: loud and weird noises, busted area, all that stuff." 
Eddie was upset that there was no eye witness, but he pressed on regardless, hoping that any of the ponies at least saw something. Eddie's face almost appeared pleading, asking one more time, "There wasn't any sort of eye witness at all? Nothing?" 
"Heh... well, there was one. Problem is, it was reported by a pony who had large amounts of alcohol in his system." 
While that did not sound like the best of witnesses, Eddie would take it. "What did he say?" 
The officer brought a hoof up to his chin while looking down to the ground in deep thought. After only a few seconds, he looked back up at Brock and delivered the description, "Again, the pony was seriously drunk. But, if you wanna, know, that's fine. He said something along the lines of it being huge." His tone switched to one of amusement rather fast as he accounted more of the pony's so called description.  "Stallion said it had something like tentacles on the lower half of it, really long an thing arms on the midsection with claws at the end, and a head with something like horns on it." The officer finished with a hearty chuckle as he commented, "Honestly, it's crazy on what alcohol can do to a pony. That thing sounds more like some sort of retarded octopus or something." 
Though the officer dismissed the description as crazy nonsense, Eddie and the symbiote did not share the same thoughts. The officer turned to discuss some other matters with his partners, but the man and the Klyntar were having uneasy thoughts about that description. To both of them, it sounded oddly familiar, like something they had seen before. 'Whatever it is, it's not another symbiote.' 
Eddie turned his head to his left shoulder, his face plastered with signs of concentration and deep thought. 'But what is it then? It sounds so familiar... yet I can't put my finger on it.' 
They were cut off from their mental talk when Twilight approached Eddie with a look of concern and a shake of her head. Eddie put his attention to her when she sighed and spoke with a hopeless tone, "We've been trying everything, but still no closer than from the start. Not even a description of what it looks like." 
"Well, there was one description." 
Twilight gave off a dry chuckle, speaking in empty amusement, "You mean from that drunk stallion? Police have looked into him as well, and he's been known for his drinking habits."
"Well, that's the thing." Eddie spoke in a slightly more serious tone, as he continued, "Even though it came from a drunk pony, me and my other almost recognize it." Twilight's sour mood and state immediately shot up and straight to attention and stared at Eddie, practically mentally begging for more details. Eddie brought a hand up to halt the torrent of questions he figured would be coming from her as he quickly stated, "It's nothing solid yet, but we're trying to think of what it is." 
Twilight nearly shouted as she brought herself closer to the man in a begging tone, "One of you two have got to remember it, and soon! This information could be really useful, and we could use it!" 
Eddie held up a finger as he looked down, mumbling, "Just give me a moment." 
While Eddie was thinking and Twilight was waiting with barely contained patience, the symbiote was on something else.  It began feeling something with one of its many senses, something oddly familiar. It thought that a symbiote had shown up, but its senses told it that whatever it was picking up was something else. The symbiote always had basic instincts and senses equipped with it just like any other animal. One of them being the sense to detect others of its kind. And one of those basic senses were coming into play, one that the symbiote hadn't felt in a long time, one it had hoped to never have to feel or sense again. Whatever it was picking up, the symbiote was certain of one thing.
The thing was a predator, and it was quickly approaching. Another emotion unwillingly brought itself into the symbiote, one it has rarely felt in its long existence: Fear. True, absolute, unbridled fear for its own and its host's life. They were in danger, it knew that much. 
'Eddie, not safe here. Need to leave.' Eddie was surprised when he heard his other speak in a panicking tone, one he rarely heard at all. 
'What do you mean?'
'Something is coming, and fast. It's not a symbiote, something is out for us. Eddie, we need to leave now!' 
"Calm down, there's nothing around here. It's just us and ponies right now." Eddie spoke sternly, but also a bit soft for his other. 
Twilight looked at Eddie confused, and asked, "Eddie, what's wrong? Is something... the... matter...." Twilight trailed off at the end, with her eyes looking past and behind the confused Eddie, at something that baffled her. Other guards and police ponies who looked that way stopped what they were doing and stared wide-eyed at the thing. A thing, a creature of sorts, crawled out of an alleyway many blocks back, and was using its dexterous arms and claws to quickly climb on the side of the building. Straight towards them. 
Eddie was oblivious, but the symbiote was panicking more than ever. It even extended tendrils out of Eddie's body and wrapped around him in a blink of an eye, forming the body of Venom, but with Eddie's face still exposed. Brock was caught off guard by the action, and was about to demand his other what it was doing, until he heard the screams and shouts of ponies on the streets and around him. He saw civilians, guards, police, and Twilight look straight up and behind him, either screaming or just staring with a bewildered expression. It took only a second for Eddie to realize a threat of some sorts was inbound, and willed the symbiote to finish the transformation, morphing them into Venom. 
Twilight gasped sharply when she realized that the thing was not heading towards them, but directly and straight towards Venom.  Before she could warn him, the beast, to her surprise, shouted out with glee, "Yummy!" 
Venom's eyes stretched up as a sudden shocking feeling of dread washed over him. All the killings, the ripped off heads, how said killer was never caught, they knew then. It was not a symbiote who did it; it was one who eats them. And that one was right behind them. Venom quickly spun around and shouted, "What the--!?!" He was interrupted when a many thick tendrils constricted themselves under his arms and around his torso and legs, then all but jerked him upwards in the tight grip of the beast. 
Most of the ponies on the street screamed and backed away, and those who didn't could only stare at the beast with fastened breaths and looks of fear and panic. Twilight, too, could only stare at the thing that she then knew was the killer. 
"I am called 'One Who Eats'." Spoke the creature in surprisingly fluent Equestrian. It was hoisted on the side of one of the taller buildings of the city, one claw punctured the wall of the building, the talons gripped firmly in it. Venom was firmly held in the grasp of the tendrils, though he tried to break out of the grip, the alien was strong enough to hold even the Lethal Protector. The alien had him held up just below his face, and finally, the ponies got a good look at the murderer. 
It was without a doubt tall, perhaps around ten or fifteen meters in height, larger than a house. The lower half of the body consisted of one, two, or perhaps even three dozen large, long, slick, thick, rough, red-purple tendrils, each single one performing a precise action by the will of the alien. The top half consisted of many different parts. The torso was also large and protruding in the front and back. What made it different from the other aspects of the body was the fact that there was long, thick, brown hair covering it, with some hairs standing astray from the rest. Sticking out from the left and right of the torso was a pair of long, thin, skinny arms that were also the same color as the tendrils. They appeared so thin compared to the rest of the alien; it was like there was only skin around the bones and no flesh. The skin didn't even wrap around sets of bones, just single bones, so one could see where the bones would be in the arm. In contrast, the arms ended with large sets of claws, five talons to each one. The talons themselves were made up of long, sharp, curving bones unlike the rest of the arms.
The most attention-drawing feature, however, was the alien's face. Where his neck ended, the alien's exoskeleton formed its face, a dull yellow shade for the bone material. The bottom jaw was large and wide, protruding past the top jaw, where the left and right sides formed a pair of tusks bending outward and above the top jaw from the same exoskeleton that made it. Between the two tusks was a row of razor sharp teeth that could shred into anything: including symbiotes. In the enormous mouth was a large red tongue with the same dull and golden liquid drooling off of it and out of the alien's awaiting maw. The top jaw was an opposite of the bottom one, bending inward and a smaller one with fewer teeth. The face was slanted inwards, and on opposite sides of the top jaw were two hollowed out areas of the exoskeleton that housed large, bright, green eyes with black pupils and black rings in the eyes. If one were to focus on the eyes, something quite obviously shown would have been noted: Hunger. Absolute hunger. 
Behind the eyes sockets was a pair of antlers --similar to goat antlers-- that curved out then back in before coming to a small point. The back of the eye sockets curved out and thinned out from the face before sharply dropping down, then curving back up; it was an odd set of horns. In between the horns and eye sockets was a chain-link of bones, like the vertebrae and spines of some animals such as humans, that trailed above the head before bending below it and behind his torso, ending in a small but sharp bone that could jab and stab whatever the alien wanted it to. Behind the exoskeleton of the face was the rest of the head, a pod-shaped part that stuck outwards and had to small antennae sticking out of it like that of an ant. It was also colored a red-purple like most of the body. 
"Or as it translates into your language, a Xenophage. And what I eat," the Xenophage brought the struggling Venom a bit closer to its face before stating loudly, "is symbiote meat!" Venom grunted as he tried to wrestle the offending tentacles off of him, but he could not as the Xenophage, faster than any of the ponies thought one like it was capable of reaching, scaled up the massive building with its claws to pull itself up with Venom in its grasp. 
Twilight was the first pony to knock herself out of her stupor from the sight of the beastly predator that took Venom as its meal. She released a sharp gasp as she recounted the alien's words of eating symbiote meat, and immediately knew that Eddie and his symbiote were in trouble. She turned to the guards as she shouted, "We have to stop that thing before it does what I think it's going to do!" The guards that were pegasi responded by spreading their wings and took off after the Xenophage, followed by Twilight. The unicorns and earth ponies opted to gallop to them and try to keep up the best they could. 
The alien slunk onto the roof of the tall building with quick strides of its claws, gripping the edges of the building to boost himself forward. Before the alien could get far, Venom finally broke free from the bundle of tendrils around him with an aggressive shout to accompany it, "You wanna eat so much? We'll give ya something to chew on!" Some of the tendrils were still wrapped around his legs, but he was not as hindered in movement and mobility as he was before. 
The alien ascended another building as he forced the wicked webslinger on the ride, though he turned his head back to regard Venom, "Ah, you are a strong one indeed! That will just make you that much more delicious!" As Venom was being quickly dragged up by the tendrils, he used one arm to try and pry off the remaining tendrils and the other arm that was prepared to connect a thread of webbing to the head of the Xenophage. 
Before he could do either of those, however, a massive claw shot out and grasped his chest, causing him to grunt. The alien paused from scaling the windows of the large skyscraper as he brought the Lethal Protector higher up before unleashing more tentacles that constricted around his limbs like bundled up wires and cords. "Of course, I have ways to stop that." Venom continued to struggle against the tendrils, but he briefly paused when he saw the Xenophage tilt his head back until it was parallel with the ground. It then opened its massive jaws, and Venom saw in the back of his throat a deep orange and red glow that was getting brighter by the moment. Venom didn't have time to react when an intense and bright golden liquid blasted out of the alien's jaws, like a fire hydrant spraying water, directly onto him. 
The shot was powerful enough to force Venom back further into the grasp of the beast with a painful, "Aaarrrrggghh!"
"That, my main course, will keep you down awhile. Now," the Xenophage returned to his task of scaling the skyscraper, with only a few tendrils wrapped around its prey, more loose than before. "Let us find someplace more private, without these ponies to interfere." 
Eddie and the symbiote didn't even resist the few tendrils wrapped around them, because the couldn't. The liquid that the Xenophage blasted them with was a special neurotoxin that completely and effectively paralyzes any symbiote parasite it comes into contact with. Because the Venom symbiote took a full blast head on, it was immediately rendered unconscious. However, it was still wrapped around Eddie, but they were not one at that time. Eddie's face struggled to see through the mouth of Venom as he tried with all his might to get out of that predicament. But that was the point of the neurotoxin. It left the host aware of everything around him, but he was severely hindered by the dead weight of the knocked out symbiote. If Brock wasn't so strong, he might not have been able to move at all. Eddie even felt trapped, almost. He didn't feel like he usually did when he and his other were Venom. No, at that moment it felt like he was wrapped tightly in a wet straight jacket. What had him worried, was that he was nearly powerless to do anything but try to struggle. At that moment, the predator that was Venom became the prey.