//------------------------------//
// Flashback 1: Along Came A Spider 
// Story: Equestria Girls/Spider-man Book 1: Amazing 
// by Equestrian Defender 
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Journal Entry #1

I'm not entirely sure why I'm writing this journal.

Maybe it's because I know that what I do is dangerous and that I could very well end up getting myself killed, so I want to write this to explain why it is that I dress up in my silly costume and fight crime on the streets of New York City.

Maybe it's to make all this crazy stuff feel more real, and hammer home that all that crazy stuff actually DID happen.

Or, maybe it's to remind me of the mistakes I've made and what they cost me, so I never make those mistakes again.

Introspective aside, sometimes it feels like it was only yesterday that it happened.

The day my whole life changed because of one itsy-bitsy spider...





The freshmen class was on a field trip to Oscorp Tower, one of those rare moments where we can get out of the school, away from the tedious slog of common core education and learning about cutting-edge science that could help change the world. Everything from nanotechnology to Artificial Intelligence would be on display.

Okay, for those of you who know me, Flash Sentry, you're probably wondering why a guitar-playing cool guy would be interested in learning about this kinda stuff. 

Well the truth is I've always been pretty smart. Some people would probably call me a genius. I've just been hiding it because bullies and jocks have it out for smart kids.

I'm not kidding. Ever since I revealed I was smart in elementary school, I was the subject of constant teasing because of it. The usual names like "nerd" or "geek" or "dweeb", that kind of stuff. 

When I got to middle school, that become a lot more physical. Needless to say I spent a lot of time being beat up or shoved in a locker. Or both. Usually both.

So after 8th grade I started learning how to play guitar from my uncle, convinced them to switch me from thick glasses to contact lenses (Yeah, my eyesight wasn't the best back them), and I started dressing a lot cooler. Once school started they barely recognized me as the guy who could list the entire Periodic Table off the top of his head. 

I still did all my homework and studied for my tests, I just asked my teachers not to comment on my intelligence. And thanks to my new image, I got to spend a little more time socializing with the other kids my age. Nobody knew that the cool-guy was also a "genius prodigy" as our science teacher, Mr. Discord, would call me.

Really, the only thing that could still be considered "nerdy" about me was my photography hobby. I can't help it, I just love photography. Hell, to this day I still keep the first camera my Aunt May bought for me. That thing's so old it still uses film. I use a new digital camera nowadays, thanks to my share of the profits from the gigs I do with my band.

Anyway, back to the field trip.

We were currently in the Bio-Labs Division, being led by a lab assistant who sounded slightly less bored than a tour guide at a zoo. Considering Oscorp does these field trips with multiple high schools around New York, I could understand why. He's probably given this tour over a hundred times.

He led us to a collection of glass cages with an assortment of various spiders. But these spiders looked different from your usual spiders. While most of them were the same size as your typical Wolf Spider, with a few being the size of Tarantulas, most of them weren't typical spider colors. There was one that was a bright scarlet, another black with red legs, and one that was a mix of red and blue. 

The lab assistant said "These spiders have been genetically engineered using DNA from other spiders, as part of our Cross-Species Genetics program. They're essentially a new breed of 'Super-Spiders' with unique abilities most normal spiders in nature don't have. One common trait they all seem to share is an enhanced awareness of their surroundings that several scientists have dubbed a 'Spider-Sense.'"

I had to roll my eyes at that, since it was clearly a bad pun. Coming from a guy who nowadays constantly makes bad puns, that was saying something.

And yes I know I use the term for my own enhanced awareness superpower, but I'd like to see them try and sue me. 

Anyway, since the usual photographer for the school newspaper was out sick for the day I was asked to take some pics of the trip. I snapped a few pics of the spiders, and I noticed the red and blue one looking at me. I smirked and said "Smile for the camera" before holding up the camera and taking the picture. The spider blinked its eight eyes from my camera's bright flash, quickly rubbing its eyes with its two forelegs. I winced at that. "Sorry little guy."

The tour guide's phone buzzed, which he looked at and sighed (though whether it was in annoyance or relief was anyone's guess.) He looked at our chaperones Mr. Discord and Ms. Harshwinny, and said "I need to take care of something real quick on another floor. You and your students are free to look around the lab, just please stay within the lab and PLEASE don't touch anything."

Once he ran off to do whatever Oscorp thing he had to do, the class decided to spread out and look around. I stayed by the spider-cages, deciding to look through the pictures saved on the camera's memory.

And the first one to pop up was one that I haven't looked at since a month ago, after the Battle of the Bands. 

It showed Rainbow Dash's band, the Rainbooms, after they beat the Siren Sisters (which now that I think about it actually sounds like a cool name for a 70's band.) and freed the school. Sunset was in the center while Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity Belle, Fluttershy Breeze, Jacqueline Apple (who prefers to be called by her childhood nickname, Applejack) and...

I sighed, placing a hand on top of one of the spider cages. 

My attention was drawn to the indigo-haired girl who in the picture had been the first to hug Sunset Shimmer. Her name was Twilight Sparkle. Just like Sunset Shimmer, she was from this other world called "Equestria" which was inhabited by sentient ponies that could use magic. Wonder if they ever had a run in with the Asgardians?

Unlike Sunset Shimmer though, she and I didn't have a chance to so much as go on a date. Sure, we shared a dance at the Fall Formal but that was about it. But...

Okay, I know I'd only known her for about three days tops when she first came here. And the second time she came here I spent most of that time under the Siren's spell and was kind of an jerk to her. And Sunset. And just about everyone, really.

Yeah, those Sirens better pray they never get Spider-man's attention, or I'll put so much web-fluid in their hair they'll have to shave themselves bald.

Back on topic; despite barely knowing ANYTHING about her, a small part of me had kinda developed a crush on her. Given how much she blushed around me, I'd say she might've had feelings for me too.

Sadly, the other parts of me knew two very important facts.

One; she lives in another world on the other side of a magical mirror portal. (Do they have a thing for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland?) Long distance relationships rarely if ever work out when you're in separate cities. The chances of it working out when you're in separate dimensions are astronomically slim.

Two; my home's here on this side of the mirror. This is where my family and my friends are. Her home's on that side of the mirror, so the same probably applies to her as well. And if Sunset's not bull$#%%ing me about her being an ACTUAL Princess, she's probably got a whole kingdom to look after. 

Three, and the most obvious one; we weren't even the same species. She's a pony, I'm a human. I don't think I could live the rest of my life with hooves instead of hands.

Ponies are herbivores, humans are mainly omnivores. While some humans can live a vegetarian lifestyle, sad to say I am not one of them. As horrible as it may make me sound, I don't think I could live my life without cheeseburgers. 

So yeah, there was really no way we would have been anything significant. No matter how much that small part of me might have wished it.

Though now that I think about it, if she were a pony in her world then she'd probably never dealt with human hormones. Coming from a teenager who constantly has to deal with them, I know for a fact those things can throw your brain for a loop. So maybe her crush on me was just the human hormones overloading her pony brain?

...

Okay, that just depressed me even more. Back on topic.

Part of me still missed her, but another part of me knew I couldn't keep dwelling on her or else I'd probably spend all my time brooding and wondering "What if?" So since I had already sent the Rainbooms several copies of the picture, I deleted it.

But while I was doing that, somebody (or some-spider) was doing something else.

I hadn't noticed at the time that my hand had been on top of the cage that held the red and blue spider that I'd taken a photo of earlier. I'm guessing one of the scientists forgot to make sure the cage was locked up tight, because somehow it had managed to crawl up the side and slip out through top. And I'm guessing he was still a little miffed about the flash from earlier.

Thus while I was busy with my thoughts, the spider crawled up onto the back of my outstretched hand and sunk its fangs deep into my flesh.

And let me tell you, it HURT.

"YE-OW!"

I immediately pulled my stinging hand away from the cage, unknowingly sending the furry arachnid flying. Bringing my hand to my face, I immediately noticed two marks on the back of my hand and a small bit of blood. I looked around, but apparently nobody had noticed or heard my impression of the cat from Tom and Jerry. What was his name again? 

Yeah, I'm just messing with you. I know his name is Tom. Who doesn't?

I saw the spider crawling away as fast as his little legs could carry him to freedom. Not that I could blame him. Who'd want to be stuck in a cage all day getting poked at and prodded at by scientists. Or possible death by dissection. 

Run for you life, little guy. Don't look back!

Anyway, I wasn't an expert on spiders (something I'd rectify later) but I knew enough to know that if its venom was lethal I'd probably start feeling sick or I wouldn't be able to breathe within seconds. Maybe it was just teething? 

So I wipe the blood on my jeans, rejoined the class and we continued our tour of the building.





Once school was over I headed to the home I shared with my aunt and uncle in Queens.

Oh, I should probably explain that.

My parents died in a plane crash when I was six. So I was raised by my Aunt Mayflower and my Uncle Benjamin. They always tell me to call them Aunt May and Uncle Ben, since calling them by their full names just sounds too formal. They're right.

They're two of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet, and sometimes I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have them in my life.

As I walked out of the subway entrance, I started feeling a little sick. Just a little lightheaded and maybe a little queasy.  I was so out of it I don't even really remember getting to the house. When I got inside, I heard Aunt May in the kitchen cooking dinner. Uncle Ben usually racked up the overtime hours this time of year, so he probably wouldn't be home for a few more hours. 

Despite only being in her early fifties, Aunt May had snow-white hair that she liked to tie back in a bun, save for a bit of her bangs that stopped just above her sky-blue eyes. She smiled, something that always seemed to bring a smile to anyone's face, and said "Hello Flash. How was the field trip?"

I smiled back despite how I was feeling and replied "It was pretty cool." 

"Are you alright, Flash?" 

Truthfully, my arms felt like lead and I felt like I was slogging through a sea of Jell-O. And before I could blink or reply, Aunt May had crossed the room and put her hand on my forehead.

I'm not sure if it's just something the elderly have or if she's secretly a mutant that can detect changes in other people, but she has this uncanny ability to know when something's wrong. "You're running a slight fever," she said. "You head on upstairs and get to bed sweetie."

I would say something along the lines of it only being around six in the afternoon, but by this point my body and mind were both about to crash. So I nodded, said goodnight, and trudged upstairs.

I don't even remember making it to my room, ditching my jacket and my t-shirt, but I do remember my head hitting my pillow and passing out in seconds.

I didn't know it at the time, but that spider's bite had done more than just cause me a ton of pain.

It changed everything...