//------------------------------//
// Mist and Shadows, Part I 
// Story: Spiders and Magic: Rise of Spider-Mane 
// by Maximus_Reborn 
//------------------------------//

Chapter Twenty-Three "Mist and Shadows, Part I"

A bright flash of energy appeared at the doorstep of Twilight Sparkle's house before dissipating, revealing the lavender mare alongside her stallion. Whereas Twilight bore an innocent smile, Peter appeared rather exasperated as his brow twitched involuntarily. Only a couple of days had passed since he awoke from his coma, but thanks to the good, natural state of his recovery (and some persuasion from Princess Celestia), the doctors allowed the patient to return home on the grounds that he refrain from applying any pressure on his broken leg until his boot was ready.

Sadly, this meant Peter was going to be confined to either a wheelchair or a bed for the next few days. Even though his vision had fully recovered, the same could not have been said about his physical being. Unfortunately, while his healing factor was far greater than the average human's, it paled in comparison to the likes of Wolverine. Plus, his super powers had not fully returned, meaning his spider-sense, strength, agility, and ability to stick to walls were still lost. Peter scoffed. It was irritating. There was nothing he could do for the time being to earn his gifts back.

Yet, the majority of his frustration was not in the fact that his powers were gone. On a personal level, Peter would have settled for crutches, something far more subtle, but Twilight insisted otherwise, figuring a wheelchair was the best and safest mean of transportation. Sitting with a furrowed brow and scowl, the stallion tapped his hoof feverishly on the arm of the wheelchair. The cast on his leg and bandages around his head were more than enough for Peter to look and, more importantly,feelridiculous.

"Seriously, Twilight. The wheelchair is a bit much," Peter groaned, resisting the urge to stand under his own power. If not for the excruciating pain that would ensue or the scolding Twilight was sure to unleash, he certainly might have tried it. "I'm only going from one bed to another. I don't want to become a spectacle on wheels."

"We're only following the doctor's instructions," Twilight calmly countered, paying her stallion's annoyance no mind.

Herstallion. Twilight's smile grew in width at the sound of those lovely words. It felt so nice to call Peter that. Unfortunately, she could not relish the feeling for long, thanks to the groans that escaped from the male. He had been like this since last night, begging that the wheelchair be left behind, but his whining was on par with the usual ones Peter exuded whenever he was woken up early (by his standards), making it easy for Twilight to ignore him for the most part.

The mare's horn began to sparkle with bright, violet energy, a slip of paper levitating from her knapsack and maintaining a position in midair inches away from her face. "He was very specific that you avoid putting any weight on your leg whatsoever. You may not like it, but the wheelchair is meant to help you." She paused, causing the paper to disappear from sight in a flash, and gave the stallion a stern glare. "And it will."

Peter groaned, folding his hooves in defeated fashion. Twilight was already impossible to argue with under normal circumstances, but now that she was his girlfriend (marefriend by Equestrian definition), Peter knew that from the day forward he would have to bite the nail to keep her happy. Yet, despite his irritated state of mind, the stallion managed a smile, allowing the mare to respond with one of her own. Sure, he'd be immobile for days or weeks, depending on the full return of his powers, but it would not be so bad with the quirky librarian by his side.

"All right, Twilight," he said, reaching out until his hoof fell over the mare's shoulder. A late realization came into mind, prompting a serious expression to form on the stallion's face. "Looks like you can finally tell me what I've been missing over the week."

"That's going to take a while. So much has happened." Nodding, Twilight's horn glowed, causing magical energy to engulf the front door. Once it opened, the lavender mare took a step to the side, clearing a path, but before Peter could hope to decipher what was transpiring, a pink blur sped into him, nearly knocking the stallion out of his seat. Twilight shook her head and eyes widened, reality striking her with the force of a meteor. "Huh?! Pinkie?! Be careful! You might hurt him!"

Pain coursed through Peter's body, some of his wounds having been aggravated, but he managed a smile at the sound of stifled cries that escaped from the mare. Pinkie's hooves wrapped around the stallion's neck, and her face remained buried in his chest. Peter managed to squirm one of his hooves free before running it through her poofy mane.

"Hey, Pinkie. I missed you, too," he strained, respecting the mare's tightening grip. Thankfully, Pinkie eventually broke her grip, using her hoof to wipe the tears away from her eyes. Raising his brow, Peter stared at the mare questionably. "What are you doing here? This isn't the Cakes' place, unless it's been seriously renovated and moved to a new locale."

Tears continued to pour from her eyes, but Pinkie held a smile on her face. She shifted her gaze to the opened door, prompting Peter to mirror her actions, but the stallion stammered, finding an unusual sight inside the abode. Brightly colored streamers rested across several of the bookcases, and a large cake sat on a table in the middle of the room, its vanilla icing design and chocolate body too tempting to not notice.

Yet, it was not the delicious looking treat that surprised Peter but rather the ponies that surrounded it.

Rainbow Dash floated high above everypony, using one hoof to hold a banner highlighted 'Welcome Home' against the wall and used the other to wave at the pair outside. Rarity trotted over to their position and fortunately exercised caution, gently wrapping her hooves around Peter's neck for a brief yet affectionate embrace. Fluttershy followed the unicorn's example, remaining as gentle as possible as she hugged the stallion.

Spike ran through the door and stopped directly in front of Peter. Clenching his claws, the baby dragon brought his fist into the stallion's extended hoof, cuing both individuals to give each other a friendly smirk. Applejack was not as gentle as the others, but while her grip was sound, nothing but affection could be felt. The farmer broke away, managing to give the stallion a friendly wink before anypony could notice.

Pinkie, unable to quell her happiness, wrapped her hooves around Peter's neck for a second time from behind, allowing her warm yet wet cheek to brush against his own. Trembling, her grip tightened, as if desperate to not let go for the fear something might be lost. Peter sensed this feeling and responded by gently rubbing his hoof over the mare's pair of limbs.

"Pinkie, I'm fine," he chuckled, his smile saddening. "You know I don't like making you cry. Cheer up! How can we party if the main party girl's crying?"

"He's right for once."

Peter's widened upon spotting a blue figure standing behind the door. Despite keeping her distance, the stallion could clearly see the subtle yet warm smile under the unicorn's silver-blue mane and half-closed violet irises. Extending her hoof, the unicorn hesitated, unsure whether to press onward, but Trixie shook her head and turned back inside. Keeping her gaze fixed on the ground, she took a seat near the bottom of the stairs, making certain to keep her own tears at bay.

"I believe you should let Parker inside already," she waved her hoof dismissively and glanced off to the side. "It'd be easier to explain what's been transpiring that way. I'm very certain he has a lot of questions."

"Plus, I'm starving. Please tell me that cake's as good as it looks," Peter added, his stomach concurring with a low growl.

Everypony within the vicinity giggled while the stallion scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Pinkie eventually broke her grip and shared an understanding smile with Twilight, who allowed her friend to take her position behind Peter's wheelchair. Slowly but surely, the pink mare carefully guided the injured pony inside, prompting the others to follow along. However, Twilight remained behind, pausing to stare sternly at the clear sky overhead, and her brow furrowed, an unsettling disturbance seeping into her being.

"Twi'," Applejack called out, freeing the unicorn from her self-induced trance. The farmer glanced at the sky, only to immediately turn her emerald, puzzled gaze back to her friend. "What's going on? You were staring at the sky like you saw something."

"It's just... I thought," Twilight murmured, trailing off as her mind struggled to recall the bizarre fixation it felt moments ago. Yet, the muscles in her body relaxed, as if nothing had ever occurred. Twilight's frown deepened. "I could have swore I..." Shaking her head, the unicorn paid her rattled nerve no mind and turned to Applejack with a small smile. "It's nothing."

Placing her hoof on the unicorn's shoulder, the farmer returned her smile with one of her own, and both ponies scurried after the group, closing the door in the process. However, a shadow seeped underneath the doorway, silently joining Twilight and the others. A voice within murmured, knowing its time was near and limited. For now, all it could do was listen and wait for its opportunity.





"There's no way," Peter mumbled, his voice filled with disbelief.

As the stallion sat in Twilight's plush bed with his casted leg over a pillow, he held out a newspaper, his hazel irises scanning over the page several times, but even then, his mind refused to believe the words written across the article.

"Race ends in draw, but Spider-Mane wins the heart of Manehattan with valiant effort and daring rescue."

Peter raised his brow. "I thought the headlines would be so much more negative with me nearly, you know, dying and whatnot. So what happened after I blacked out?" He flipped the page, scrolled through the readings, and turned back to his previous spot in the paper. "It's saying there were no serious injuries to report. Can somepony tell me how are a 'broken leg' and 'deep coma' not serious?"

Applejack, who sat on the foot of the bed, shook her head before taking a bite of the slice of cake on her small plate. "It's because everypony doesn't know what really happened, and you can thank Princess Celestia for that. The moment you crashed through that stand, she used her magic to create a whatchamacallit. A project thingy."

Tilting his head questionably, Peter attempted to understand what the blonde was alluding to, but a small plate holding a slice of cake gently fell over his lap, bringing the stallion's gaze over to find Twilight by his side with a warm smile on her face. His mind hummed, still unable to get over that he was finally seeing the unicorn. As eager as the stallion was to brag, it was agreed for the short time being, that they would tell the others the good news at a more appropriate instant, namely after he was informed on past developments.

Taking a seat on the free side of the bed, the unicorn leaned closer to Peter, while cautiously avoiding to press any weight on his injured body, and placed her hoof over the main picture of the newspaper article. The photo was a simple one of Spider-Mane swinging off into the distance from afar, but that proved to be rather puzzling for Peter considering the picture was clearly taken after the accident, evident by the wreckage caused by the destroyed blimp.

"What Applejack is trying to say is that Princess Celestia used a magical projection image to hide the truth," Twilight stated, closing her eyes and holding her hoof under her chin. "It's a photograph of an interference pattern that, when suitably illuminated through magical means, produces a three-dimensional image."

Pinkie rose from behind the bed, her eyes wide. "Huh?"

Twilight groaned outwardly. "I mean, a negative produced by exposing a high-resolution photographic plate, without camera or lens, near a subject illuminated by monochromatic, coherent radiation, as from a laser: when it is placed in a beam of coherent light a true three-dimensional image of the subject is formed."

The entire room fell silent before nearly everypony responded with a perfectly synced, "What?"

"Something like a hologram or a false image?" Peter suggested simply.

"Yes, exactly." Twilight nodded eagerly, grateful somepony understood her. "It's not an easy spell to perform, but it's nothing for one as powerful and experienced as Princess Celestia."

"Okay, that explains why no one is really freaking out, but I'm curious about something else." Peter's mind slowly pieced together the broken fragments of his memory. "Who managed to pull me from the debris without anyone noticing and how?"

"You can thank Princess Luna for that, Peter," Rarity politely intervened, taking a sip out of her glass. "Fortunately, she was able to use her magic and free you from the debris with a simple teleportation spell. You were the only life form in the area. All it took was a little concentration on her part."

"What about the doctors? Wasn't it weird for them to operate on Spider-Mane?" Peter muttered, scratching the back of his head.

Trixie brushed her a strand of her mane behind her ear. "You're quite paranoid. I can't really blame you though. Princess Luna simply disrobed you with her magic and told the doctors you were attacked viciously by timberwolves." Placing her hoof behind her head, Trixie let out a forced falsetto moan. "It was so tragic. You were beaten within an inch of your life by those beasts. Considering it was Princess Luna who wove the tale, the doctors were quick to operate without so much a second thought."

All of his bases were covered. Peter's eyes remained as wide as saucers while his cynical mind attempted to find some sort of flaw within the circumstances. "So, my identity is safe?"

Rainbow Dash hovered over Peter's position, nodding. "Yep. As far as Equestria knows, you pulled yourself from the rubble and swung off into the sunset." However, the Pegasus paused, folding her limbs as a late realization came into mind. "Well, mostly. Spitfire figured out what was going on. I think it's because she was the closest to the fake you. Probably saw something wasn't right."

Finally, some bad news. Peter's brow furrowed. "So what happened? What'd she say?"

Surprisingly, particularly to the stallion, Rainbow only shrugged and shook her head. "Nothing. She just went along with it." Taking the newspaper from Peter's grasp, the Pegasus flipped it over and pointed at an article near the bottom of the front page. "She was the one who announced to the city that the race was over. Since none of you crossed the finish line, the judges ended it in a draw. There were a few complaints, but that was all cleared up once Spitfire promised everypony there'd be a rematch! Spidey versus Spitfire II!"

More good news. It was almost surreal. "So everything's fine? I don't have to worry about anything? No bad press? No casualties?" Peter's lips curled into a coy smile. "This is probably the best news I ever gotten, like ever. I mean, besides the lost powers and broken leg, of course, but those are temporary! I'm already healing up, and my superpowers will be back before you know it!"

"Ah'm really happy to see you cheering up, Pete!" Applejack exclaimed, turning sharply in her spot on the bed. She reached over and lifted the plate from his lap, waiting until he took the cake in his hooves. "Now hurry up and eat! That cake's not going to eat itself."

Sighing, Peter knew he couldn't argue with the blonde, yet his stomach happily agreed to her demand. Licking his lips, the stallion readied his taste buds for the sweetness that awaited. "You're right, AJ. I'm not used to good news. Something always seems to happen whenever I get my hopes up. I guess today's just meant to be a good one."

'Allow me to change that.'

Everypony's ears perked at the sound of the voice that echoed throughout the room. Peter raised his brow, unsure of what to make of the situation, and Trixie trotted over to the bed, giving the stallion a befuddled expression.

"Parker? Was that you?"

Peter continued to shift her head from one side to another, searching for the source of the anomaly. "Wasn't me. I'm just glad I'm not the only one who heard that. I thought the voices in my head were getting dangerously loud for a moment."

However, Rarity's eyes filled with worry. "Twilight! You don't believe that was-?"

Before anypony could respond, a bright flash of energy erupted, filling the room with light. Everypony shielded their eyes, waiting several moments to open them after the light dissipated, but nopony knew how to react to the being that appeared before them. With the head of a pony, crimson red irises, and a fanged smile, the chimera-like creature stood at the center of the room with his arms, one of a lion's and the other of an eagle's, crossed.

Peter tilted his head to the side. "What the heck is that? Looks like something that crawled out of the Museum of Unnatural History."

"Discord?!" Twilight shouted, cuing everypony to take a defensive stance in front of the bed with the exception of Trixie, who hid behind Peter's position.

"Wait!That'sDiscord?!" Peter blurted out, tempting himself to stand, but a bolt of pain coursed through his leg, reminding him to not take a course of action. "I thought he wasn't supposed to be here for another month!"

"Ah, Spider-Man. It's nice to finally see you face-to-face," Discord chuckled.

Peter's hoof fell over his forehead with a smack. "What?! He knows who I am?!"

Discord disappeared, reappearing with his arm around Peter's shoulder. "Of course, I do. Fortunately, the astral plane allows me to see everything. I just couldn't interact with anypony. It's a privilege and a curse. I'm glad I'm free from that dreadful place for the moment, but unfortunately, I've come with bad news. My time is limited, and we need to talk about important matters."

Landing on an empty seat, Discord poured himself a drink and took a sip from his glass. "Girls, if you would be so kind to bring Princess Celestia and her brute sister here? Make sure they bring Cadance and Shining Armor with them. They need to hear what I have to say, too."

Twilight stepped away from the others with a glare in her eyes. "For what exactly?"

"Let's just say I made a slight miscalculation and need a little help sorting it out. It's just the fate of the world as we know it." Discord nonchalantly replied, eating a slice of cake in a single bite. He turned his gaze to Peter and huffed. "Unless you'd rather have superpowered lunatics annihilate the planet's population? No? Then, hurry and bring everypony here."

"Wait. Who are you talking about?" Peter managed, frowning.

"Your acquaintance, Osborn. He's preparing to take things to an extreme I dread to think about." Snapping his fingers, Discord caused an orb to appear, but it exploded in a flash of light. "All for the sake of a new world order."

To be continued...