//------------------------------//
// Chapter II: Great Power 
// Story: The Spider of Two Worlds 
// by dragonfang33 
//------------------------------//

Location: Sunset’s Apartment, Canterlot City, Earth 621413, morning

To say that Sunset’s night had been uncomfortable would’ve been an understatement. Throughout the night her entire body had felt as if it had been on fire, her mind racing at a nearly unbearable pace, as the enhanced spider venom raced through her bloodstream changing her very DNA. It was only when her cell phone rang that her mind finally snapped back to reality. Groggily, Sunset reached over to her nightstand and grabbed the phone.
“Hello,” Sunset said, as she sat up, “Oh hey Twilight. Yeah I’m actually feeling a lot better. Yeah, I’ll meet you girls at school.” Smiling Sunset sat her phone down, it was at that moment she noticed something off. It felt as if her senses had been dialed up to eleven, she could sense the presence of everything in her room, right down to the individual threads in the bed sheet. At first Sunset chalked this up to her having had a sound night’s sleep, yet when she looked at her dresser she was surprised to see that her phone was missing.
“Huh? I could’ve sworn,” as Sunset lifted her hand, she saw her phone still in it.. At first Sunset tried to brush it off as her having simply forgotten to put the phone down, as she sat her hand on her night stand to her surprise the phone refused to come off.
“Okay that’s,” Sunset said, as she pulled on the phone trying to free it from her hand, “Did I get something sticky on my hand last night?” With one final grunt she managed to finally get her phone free of whatever was holding it in place. Only to find that it was now sticking to her other hand. 
“What the did I spill soda on my hand or something?” Sunset said, as she once again tried to pull the phone free of her grip, however this time it proved to be much more difficult. After five minutes of trying to free the phone Sunset began to get panicky, there was nothing that should’ve made her hands this sticky. She had become so caught up in trying to free her phone, that she failed to notice herself coming close to tripping over her bed. Stopping only when she felt a sharp tingle in the back of her head. What she did next shocked her, leaping over her bed and suddenly finding herself sticking to the ceiling with nothing but her feet and free hand.
“WHAT IN THE…” Sunset was so shocked by what she had just done that she lost focus for just long enough that whatever it was holding her up faded, sending her careening into her bed. 
“My head,” Sunset moaned, as she pulled herself out of her covers, only to find that the covers were now sticking to one of her hands
“This is getting ridiculous,” Sunset said, as she pulled the covers free. Once she had managed to get herself untangled she grabbed her phone and fired off a text to Twilight. 
“Twilight I need you and the others to meet me in the music room at school. Urgent.” As soon as she hit send she tried to put the phone down only to find it sticking to her hand once again. 
“OH, COME ON!” 

Location: Intersection of Atlas Avenue and Faust St, Canterlot City, a half hour later

“Okay calm down Sunset,” Sunset said, as she raced down the street. She was already running late, having spent the better part of the last half hour trying to get dressed, yet her clothes had kept getting stuck to her hands. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for this. I mean Applejack’s super strong, right? She probably rips door knobs off all the time.” Sunset kept running the events of the morning through her head, since when did she get new magic? Were the others experiencing these same events? Sunset was so lost in thought that she failed to notice the signal change from red to green, at least not until the strange tingling she had felt in the back of her head returned, this time much stronger than before. Sunset turned just in time to see a large truck begin to make its way through the intersection. Acting on pure instinct Sunset jumped out of the way just in time, what she didn’t expect though was to jump a full two stories in the air, and latch onto the wall of a nearby building. For the first time in years Sunset was stunned into silence, at what she was seeing. 
“What in the name of Celestia is happening to me?” Sunset shouted. It was at that moment though, an elderly man, with a greying mustache and wearing dark glasses opened the window next to Sunset.
“Keep it down will you,” the man said, “I’m on the phone,” it was then the man noticed that Sunset was actually clinging to the wall with little more than her fingertips and feet, “Wait, how are you doing that?”
“Sir,” Sunset replied, “I honestly have no idea.” 
“Hang on a second,” the man said, as he grabbed his phone, “Jack, Steve. It’s Stan stop the presses I’ve got our Power Ponies killer.” 
“Trust me I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else,” Sunset said. It was at that moment she heard a loud thwick. Before Sunset had a chance to react, the strange tingling in the back of her head returned this time far stronger than ever before.
“Having fun there rookie,” a female voice said. Sunset looked up to find herself face to face with a girl clad in a black and white bodysuit with a white hood and mask covering her face and hair, and like her she was sticking to the wall. 
“What? Who are you? How did you…” Sunset stammered.
“Climb up,” the girl said as she proceeded to make her way up to the roof.
“Wait climb,” Sunset said, “I can barely move.” 
“It’s easy rookie,” the girl replied, as she pulled herself onto the ledge, “one hand and one foot in front of the other. Sheesh, it’s almost like you’ve never done this before or something.” 
“Well until this morning I wasn’t pulling doorknobs out of their sockets and sticking to walls,” Sunset replied. 
“Well you can hang there all day, or climb up here. Your choice,” the girl said. Breathing in Sunset slowly detached one of her hands, and moved it upwards, followed by her other hand, and then her legs, a process which she repeated, slowly at first. But to her surprise she soon found herself to be enjoying it.
“I can’t believe I’m actually doing this,” Sunset said, as she climbed up the side of the building, almost as easily as she could walk. After some time Sunset finally made it to the roof to find the girl lounging on some air vents. Earbuds in her ears and the sounds of faint music in the air.
“What kept you?” she said.
“I just,” Sunset said, looking at her hands, “I can’t believe I just did that.” 
“Welcome to the club,” the girl said, leaping from the air vents, and landing perfectly in front of Sunset. 
“So who exactly are you,” Sunset asked. “And how did you do that web thing?”
“Web Shooters,” the girl replied, “a gift from an old friend. As for who: just call me the Amazing Ghost Spider!” There was an awkward silence as Sunset stared dumbfounded at the girl in front of her.
“That is quite literally the most ridiculous name I’ve ever heard,” Sunset said, trying to muffle her laughter.
“This coming from the girl named after a time of day,” Ghost Spider said “Look rookie, just think of me as your friendly neighborhood spider woman ok.”
“That’s even worse,” Sunset replied, “Wait a second I never told you my name? How do you?” 
“Your friend talks loudly.”
“Wait you’ve been following me?” Sunset said, in shock. 
“Let’s just say Spiders have to stick together rookie,” Ghost Spider replied.
“Ok, let me rephrase that: why were you following me?”
“I wanted to know if you’d develop powers.” 
“I think that’s a given,” Sunset said, folding her arms, “So why are you here?”.
“All you need to know is that I have a job to do,” Ghost Spider said. “And you, rookie, seem like the type to put her nose in places it doesn’t belong. As you’ve probably noticed you can sense me. All I want you to do is ignore me. Got it?”
“Wait, if this is about some sort of dark magic, my friends and I can help.”
“And that is exactly what I was talking about. Besides, I don’t do friends.” 
“How can you….” before Sunset had a chance to finish her statement, Ghost Spider cut her off. 
“I have my reasons,” Ghost Spider replied, as got on the edge of the roof, and fired a web line, “see you around rookie.”
“Wait,” Sunset said, but before she could finish Ghost Spider swung away, “how do I get down from here?” 

Location: Wallflower’s Garden, that morning

Wallflower slowly regained her composure, her mind awash in half finished thoughts. The night before was just a blur. All she could remember was coming to her garden, the one place in the world where she truly felt at peace, to vent her rage at what Sunset and her friends had put her through. She remembered the rage that filled her, and as she looked around, seeing the uprooted plants. Plants whose care she had put her whole life into, lying on the ground the very life snuffed out of them, her heart sank seeing them like this.Then there had been that strange voice, the one that had claimed to be her friends. For the first time her heart soared at the thought of finally being accepted by someone, anyone. Yet there was no one to be seen.
“Where are you?” Wallflower shouted, no answer. She shouted again, and still no answer. 
“Guess I must’ve dreamed it” She said, feeling like her heart had just been ripped from her chest. She should’ve known better. It was at that moment, from the corner of her eye, she spotted Sunset’s friends, and once again she could feel her rage build. All she wanted at that moment was to strike back. Yet something seemed to hold her back. Something she didn’t fully understand. Slowly she attempted to stand up, yet for some reason found it incredibly difficult, she’d never felt so weak in her life.  
Dazed, Wallflower slowly made her way into the school, heading for the girl’s bathroom, as more students began to make their way into the building. And, like always, she was largely ignored by her fellow students. Maybe it really was her fault she was so alone, she never really tried talking with anyone. No, every time she’d tried to make friends it always ended badly, and almost always Sunset was around. As far as she’d been concerned all her misfortunes were Sunset’s doing. 
“It’s not fair,” Wallflower said, trying her best to hold her tears in, “She’s always the center of attention. What did she do to win them over when they hated her for so long?”  Her thoughts turned back to the previous afternoon, how that masked figure had intervened on Sunset and her friends behalf.
“What gave her the right,” Wallflower said, as she rubbed cold water on her face, “she stood up for those girls, for everyone who ignored me, and acted like I was the one who was in the wrong,” her thoughts began to turn to that strange voice that had spoken to her in the garden, it claimed to be her “friends,” and yet it now seemed as if the voice had never existed. Looking in the mirror Wallflower noticed something she had not seen before, around her neck was a black pendit. 
“Where did…” it was at that moment the voice that she’d heard from earlier once again echoed in the head.
“Hello friend,” the voice said. A look of shock came over Wallflower’s face. 
“You’re real?” Wallflower asked, as she looked around the bathroom for the source of the strange voice. 
“We are very real. We see you have recovered from our bonding.” 
“Bonding,” Wallflower inquired, “I don’t understand.”
“We need a host to survive, and have chosen you friend. We thank you, and we will repay your kindness in time.” Wallflower simply smiled, “but we need to feed. We must become stronger.”
“Well if it’s food you want we can go get breakfast.” As Wallflower made her way to the door, it suddenly opened knocking her down, as another girl with bright orange hair and glasses made her way in, completely ignoring her due to the earbuds in her ears. Once again Wallflower felt her rage burning. Once again she had been completely ignored. 
“Excuse me,” Wallflower shouted, trying to get the other girl’s attention. Yet the girl continued to ignore her. “I said EXCUSE ME!” The moment her hand touched the girl’s shoulder,  black, shadow like tendrils emerged from her fingers, and dug into it. 
“Hey what…” before the girl could finish her statement, she suddenly felt incredibly weak, and collapsed to the floor. Wallflower pulled back at what she had just done, she suddenly felt stronger. Looking at the girl lying on the floor, she truly felt afraid of what she’d gained. She wanted to get even with those who she blamed for for her years of loneliness and isolation, she never wanted to hurt any one.
“Wha… What was that?” she said.
“Breakfast.” the voice said. 
“Is… is she…”
“No,” the voice said “only unconscious, she will awaken soon, and with no memory of what just happened.” 
“What did we do to her?” Wallflower said, her voice shaking.
“There is a magic that permeates all living things in this world. Most of your kind go their entire lives never noticing. Never realizing the true power at their fingertips. We have...  “borrowed” some of this magic, and are using it for a greater purpose. We can assure you friend, there are no lasting damages. This one will be fine.” 
Wallflower couldn’t think of anything to say in return, it felt like a nightmare.
“Nothing less than what they deserve for ignoring you for so long,” the voice said, “Now, they nourish us.”  Wallflower raced out of the bathroom. Trying her best to put what she had just done out of her mind. That was until she spotted an all too familiar sight: Sunset Shimmer.
“You want nurishment,” Wallflower said, her anger once again bubbling up, “I’ve got the perfect second course.” 
“No, not her, not yet!” the voice replied, “we are not strong enough.” Suddenly Wallflower felt an entirely different emotion mixing with her anger: fear. Yet what did she have to be afraid of? What did her new friends have to be afraid of? Absolutely nothing. 

Location: Near Music Room, Canterlot High, a few minutes later

Sunset had remained lost in thought, still finding what she had been able to accomplish coming to school nearly impossible to believe. Sticking to walls, climbing the side of a building as easily as she could walk, and then leaping from rooftop to rooftop with nearly no sense of vertigo or even missing her mark, until she found a building with a fire escape. Despite all of it, she hardly felt tired. 
“Gah,” Sunset said, as she put her hands over her ears, her senses were still heightened beyond what she was use to, she could literally sense where everyone and everything in the school was, and what they were doing. At first it seemed to be convenient but now it was starting to wear on her nerves. 
“WHY CAN’T I TURN THIS OFF?” Sunset groaned, placing her hands over her ears. Opening the door to the music room she was greeted by the first welcomed sight she had seen all day.  Her friends had gathered in the music room earlier, waiting for Sunset to arrive.
“Bout time ya’ll showed up sugarcube,” Applejack said, “we were about to send someone out to look for ya.” 
“Sorry I’m late,” Sunset replied, “You have no idea what kind of morning I’ve had,” 
“You woke up this morning with new insect powers after that spider bit you yesterday,” Pinkie said, “and some old guy named Stan showed up out of nowhere while you were stuck to a wall?” Sunset simply stood there with her mouth agape, but then again this was Pinkie Pie it was as if the normal laws of the universe didn’t apply to her at all.
“Yeah, that’s terrifyingly accurate.” Sunset replied.
“Uh what do you mean Sunset?” Dash inquired. 
“I guess it’s easier to show you,” Sunset said, before leaping into the air, twisting her body around, and sticking to the ceiling
“Um, surprise.” Sunset said meekly. Her friends were left stunned by what they were seeing, even with magic what Sunset had just done didn’t seem possible. 
“You just jumped ten feet into the air, and are sticking to the ceiling defying all known laws of gravity and momentum.” Twilight said, stunned,  
“I think what Twilight’s trying to say,” Rarity added, “is how are you doing that?” 
“To be honest,” Sunset replied, as she crawled across the ceiling and made her way half way down the far wall, before pushing back flipping onto the floor, landing perfectly, “I have no idea.”  
“And since when did you become so athletic?” Applejack inquired. 
“Like I said I have no idea,” Sunset replied, “have any of you experienced any, I don’t know, new powers?” 
“Nothing like that darling.” Rarity said.
“Can’t say any of us have developed new magic,” Twilight added
“But still that was,” Dash replied, “SO AWESOME!!!” 
“Focus Rainbow,” Applejack said. 
“Wait,” Dash added, “You don’t think that spider that bit you yesterday might’ve had something to do with this?” 
“Isn’t that what I said?” Pinkie asked, the others simply looked at Sunset with confused looks. 
“What spider?” Fluttershy asked. Sunset struggled to find words. As outlandish as the thought that her new found powers came from something as trivial as a spider bite, there really wasn’t a better explanation.
“It wasn’t anything serious,” Sunset said, “it was just a small spider. I mean the only thing odd about it was that it was from Equestria.” 
“Wait you’re telling us there is potentially an Equestrian spider running around biting people and giving them superpowers?” Twilight replied, in shock, “Too many variables, too much to process.” 
“Relax,” Sunset said, “it’s dead.” Fluttershy put her hands to her mouth, as tears filled her eyes.
“Oh dear, the poor thing.” 
“But what about portal in statue,” Twilight added, trying to process what she’d heard, “more spiders get through.” It was at that moment Sunset remembered her encounter from earlier that morning. 
“I don’t think Twilight’s that far off,” Sunset said. 
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Fluttershy added. 
“What do you mean sugarcube?” Applejack replied. 
“There’s someone else,” Sunset replied, “who has powers like mine. Calls herself Ghost Spider.” 
“Oh you must mean the girl in the mask and hood who I saw climbing the wall of the school yesterday,” Pinkie said. “Also, that’s a pretty goofy name.” The others simply looked at their friend, with confusion. 
“Wait you knew about this,” Twilight inquired, “WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SOMETHING?” 
“I did,” Pinkie replied, smiling, “but she swung away so it wasn’t that big of a deal.” 
“This is a big deal,” Twilight said, “IT’S A VERY BIG DEAL!!!! we need to find her, and help her. We need to find that other spider, and any others that might’ve come through the portal.” 
“That’s the thing she made it pretty clear she doesn’t want our help.” Sunset said “She said she had a job to do and that I should stay out of it.” Rainbow simply shrugged her shoulders. 
“Well she’s going to get our help whether she likes it or not,” Rainbow said, “So any ideas on how to find her?”
“Apparently I can sense her, or something like that.” Sunset said. 
“Well what are we waiting for,” Rainbow said, “Time to go spider hunting,” she looked at Sunset with a goofy grin, “Uh no offense Sun-Spider.” 
“None taken,” Sunset said, sighing. “Wait a second Sun-Spider?” 
“We may have to workshop the name,” Rainbow replied.
“So what do you intend to use those new powers of yours for anyway Sunset,” Applejack asked, but before Sunset had a chance to respond Rainbow cut her off.
“Simple she’s going to try out for the soccer team,” Rainbow said, “and with me in charge the Wondercolts will be going to the State finals.” Sunset rolled her eyes. Typical Rainbow Dash bravado. 
“I’ll think about it,” Sunset said, smiling. 
Wallflower crouched down beside the door, at first she had been ready to burst through and confront Sunset and her friends, but what she had just seen changed her mind. Since when was Sunset able to do anything remotely like that? How could she do anything like that?  
“Was that what you were afraid of?” Wallflower said, under her breath. 
“Those abilities are troubling, yes. But they are mere trinkets compared to our true power. No, we fear something much greater in that one. A power yet untapped.” What the voice had said, only made Wallflower’s blood boil. Once again Sunset was showing her up, well she was about to change that. As she was about to grab the door handle, she suddenly found herself unable to move her arm.
“No,” the voice said, “We wait until we are stronger. Then we strike.”