While Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich slept peacefully for the most part, they had no way to know that their troubles were about to deepen.
In the city of Manehattan, a routine prisoner transfer was about to take place. Several of Spidey's past rouges were being loaded into an armored carriage for transport to an unspecified maximum security prison elsewhere in Equestria.
One of the inmates joining them, was one that had previously eluded capture at Spider Mare's hands, The Rhino. The stallion was anything but happy to be practically forced into the back of the carriage like a caged animal.
"This ain't right! You can't keep me locked up like this, you filthy cowards!" The Rhino roared. "This is brutality!"
One of the prison guards just groaned. "Yeah yeah, says you and every other criminal lowlife that comes into this complex," He sighed. "I'm just glad we don't have to deal with the likes of you anymore. Now you're somepony else's problem."
The Rhino banged furiously but futilely on the doors as he was thrown into the back of the carriage! "You wouldn't be laughing if I were free! I could wipe the floor with you all in the blink of an eye, and they'd have to scrape you off the ground with a shovel!"
"Oh give it a rest, already, Rhino!" A female voice hissed, said voice belonging to The Scorpion. "They can do whatever they want to us. They've taken all our powers, thanks to these stupid shock collars."
"Yes," The Mane-iac grumbled. "Even my beautiful mane has been tamed. And these collars aren't coming off anytime soon. Believe me, I've tried. It's like they're made of a metal you can't find in this realm."
Electro just moaned, banging his head against the side of the carriage. "Must you moronic low lifes insist on prattling on and on?! What did I ever do to be stuck with a bunch of simpletons like you?! I was smart, I went to college."
The Rhino growled, turning his attention towards Electro. "Oh yeah? Well if you're so smart, how come you're locked up in this carriage with the rest of us?"
The Scorpion just hissed. "Silence, Rhino! You don't talk to the boss unless The Mane-iac and I say you can talk to him! Though I'm starting to wonder why we ever agreed to work for him in the first place. Even he couldn't stop that cursed wall crawler who busted us and sent us to this prison we're about to leave."
"Wait, you mean you've all battled Spider Mare too?" The Rhino questioned. "I hate how she tricked me! Turned my own horn into a lightning rod!"
"Oh, you got off easy," The Scorpion coldly remarked. "She was able to get my tail stuck in the ground and rob me of the chance to get revenge on that stinking ex-husband of mine, who then had the nerve to go and re-marry that Spoiled Milk! She's a gold digger if I ever saw one."
The Mane-iac just grumbled. "It wasn't enough for Spider Mare to beat me. Oh no no no, she had to play the big darn hero while she was at it. Rescuing me from my own exploding, underwater fortress and leaving me tied up for the police."
From the front of the carriage came an angry voice that shouted. "Shut up, inmates! You're not supposed to speak unless spoken to! Be thankful you're not in cages," The voice proceeded to threaten. "If I have to, I will use the shock function on you all. Even you, Electro! And I can assure you it will hurt!" That was enough to silence the super villains, at least for the time being.
The armored carriage rolled along, soon leaving the streets of Manehattan and bound for a destination known only to the guards overseeing the transfer. All the inmates knew was that it wasn't Tartarus, that was a sentence that required the princesses approval and was reserved for the absolute worst of criminals. They hadn't gotten there, yet.
Suddenly, out of the corner of their eyes the guards saw something up ahead! Laying in the street was a pegasus mare of medium build who couldn't have been much older than her mid 20's. Said mare had a light turquoise coat and a brilliant amber mane with brilliant gold stripes.
The guards stopped the carriage and one of them got out to investigate, while the other stayed to make sure the prisoners didn't try to escape during the commotion.
The guard rushed right up to the mare, who seemed to be unconscious. "Madame?!" He called, hoping to get a response. There wasn't one! Frantically, he grabbed her and shook her, hoping to shake her awake! "Madame?! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" But there was still no reply. The guard turned to face his partner. "Something's wrong, she's not responding! I think she's still alive, but I don't know for how much longer! Call an ambulance, she needs medical attention ASAP!"
The other guard quickly grabbed the radio of the carriage. "This is Manehattan Police Unit 459, Officer Mitch reporting! Come in dispatch, over!"
The radio crackled to life. "Dispatch to Officer Mitch, you are clear, over!"
Officer Mitch frantically shouted into the radio! "My partner and I were enroute to Baltimare Correctional Facility with four prisoners, but we've stumbled upon a pegasus mare who looks to be in her mid twenties. She appears to be unconscious but there's no sign of external injury! Requesting immediate medical aid at the following coordinates: Just off of Luna Avenue, to the South."
But then suddenly, the pegasus mare stood up and her eyes fluttered open!
The guards were amazed. "Miss, are you alright?" One of them asked. "Who or what did this to you?! Did you get a good look at your attacker?"
The pegasus mare simply cackled, as a red, slimy substance seemed to suddenly materialize beneath her hooves. "We're just fine, but you won't be! You'll make tasty snacks!" Without warning, the slime enveloped her and a horrific, alien spider like monster emerged from it! It let out a piercing scream as its claws seemed to morph into a sharp ax! "Who wants to be first?!"
Meanwhile, inside the back of the armored carriage, the super villains were suddenly startled by a jolting sensation that came out of nowhere! Almost as if someone or something was shaking the carriage!
Officer Mitch became paranoid! "W-who's out there?! What's going on?!" He grabbed the radio, trying to shout a warning! "Mayday! Mayday! This is Officer Mitch! My partner and I, we're under attack!"
But a blackish-blue claw suddenly yanked out the radio and tossed it aside without fanfare. "No one is coming to your rescue, mortal!" The claw's owner commented in an echoy voice. "We'll be taking those prisoners off your hooves, everyone's getting out on bad behavior! And we mean bad!" As if it to make itself heard, the voice's owner swung the claw around, ripping a hole into the back of the carriage!
The inmates were thrown to the floor as the carriage rocked some more! When they looked up they could hardly believe their eyes.
Standing before them was a massive, blackish-blue monster that seemed to have a body made of slime. It almost liked like someone had crossed an alien with a gigantic spider that could stand up. It had razor sharp yellow teeth, two white eyes, and a long tongue. But most interesting of all, it appeared to have a huge, white spider symbol on its chest. And it easily towered over them all.
"Greetings, fur bags!" The monster declared in its echoy voice. "Do not be alarmed, we are to save you!"
"Yeah right! You just wanna eat us!" The Rhino snorted. "Well nopony's making a meal out of The Rhino!" He rushed straight towards the monster, only to phase right through his body as if nothing had happened.
The monster laughed. "Was that your best? It didn't even tickle. Now, allow us to show you what happens when you don't cooperate." It shot out a few balls of an instantly recognizable substance, leaving The Rhino stuck to the floor of the carriage.
"Wait a minute, you look familiar!" Electro declared. "Is that you, Spider Mare?! I thought word on the street was you'd ditched that black suit of yours, not upgraded it."
At the mention of Spider Mare, the monster growled and raised its claws. "Don't mention the name of our rejector in our presence! We are not Spider Mare! We're Venom, poison to Spider Mare and the only one who has ever stood a chance against her!"
"Join the club, pal," The Mane-iac grumbled. "All of us have battled Spider Mare, and all of us have been defeated. What makes you so special?"
"We posses powers beyond imagination, powers beyond this world!" Venom declared. "We're currently sharing them with a new host, one better suited to our objectives. But we'd be happy to share them all with you, along with the secret you'll all be dying to exploit. However, if you insist on opposing us, you will leave us no choice but to take extreme measures."
"Like what?" The Scorpion inquired.
Venom licked its lips. "We're feeling awfully peckish. Our offspring, Carnage, is currently helping itself to the guards who imprisoned you. But we won't be satisfied with a light snack," After briefly sticking out its tongue it warned. "Oppose us again, and we will eat both your arms, then we will eat both your legs, and then we will eat your face for dessert. You will be left as this limbless, faceless thing, assuming you live. Sound good?"
The Mane-iac shrugged her hooves. "Eh, I've heard better."
However, Electro threw up a hoof. "Wait, Mane-iac, let's not be so hasty as to look this gift horse in the mouth. This alien creature, or whatever it is, is our only ticket to freedom. And it's offered us something we all want, revenge on Spider Mare," With a grin, he declared. "So I say we take this... whatever it is up on its offer."
Venom smiled. "Ah, I see you're smart. For the record, we are aliens. But you can know us as symbiotes, because like symbiosis we survive by attaching ourselves to worthy hosts. Now come on, it's time to end this little jail break!" And it gave a whistle. "Carnage, our work here is done! Leave the guards, they are of no use to us anymore."
Carnage held the guards in the grasp of its tentacles, having just begun to start torturing them. "Aw, but we haven't even begun to play with our food," It complained, before turning to the guards. "Well, boys, it looks like it's your lucky night. You shall both live to see another sunrise. But so this isn't a complete waste of our time, we'll just help ourselves to some of your delicious life energy." Making use of its tentacles, Carnage was able to drain some kind of energy from the two guards and render them unconscious.
Venom then led the way, holding onto the webbed up Rhino as Carnage and the rest of the super villains followed. All that remained to signify an attack were the unconscious guards, and the bashed up carriage.