//------------------------------//
// Aftermath and Confrontation 
// Story: The Amazing Spider Mare: Sinister Secrets 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Donning her Spider Mare outfit, Pinkie quickly swung back around to Town Hall, ready to lend a helping hoof! "Never fear, everypony! Your friendly neighborhood Spider Mare is here!" She immediately swooped down toward Mayor Mare, helping her to stand. "My friend Pinkie Pie told me you need help."

Coughing and stumbling a bit (due to still being disoriented from the blast) Mayor Mare replied. "You must hurry! Town Hall looks like it could collapse at any moment! Please, you've got to get everypony out before it's too late!"

"No worries, Mayor Mare! Spider Mare is on the job!" Spider Mare gave a salute and then swung forward into the building. The mask helped to shield her from the lingering red cloud that filled the air. "Okay, everypony! Time to put those emergency evacuation plans to good use," She instructed. "You know the drill. Remain calm and proceed to the nearest exit. Those who can stand, try to help those who can't."

"Spider Mare!" A young, raspy sounding voice called out. "Over here! Help!" The web slinger rushed to the source of the voice, and even after all that she'd seen over her many years of crime fighting, she was still not prepared for the sight that greeted her eyes!

There was Sandbar, conscious but covered in bruise and scratch marks that stained every inch of his coat. Dust from the rubble had gotten into his mane and even his face a bit. And he lay pinned beneath a support beam that had collapsed in the explosion, unable to move.

"Hold on, Sandbar! I'll get that pillar off of you!" Spider Mare declared as she carefully kneeled down before the young colt and put her hooves under the massive beam. With her enormous strength, lifting it was no trouble. But she couldn't just toss it aside and let it fall. "There's no telling what this beam's holding up! If I'm not careful I could bring the whole building down!" She thought, before eyeing her web shooters. "Guess it's a good thing Starlight upgraded them not too long ago. Time to put the rapid fire option to good use!" So with just a flick of the wrist she had activated the rapid fire function, and was firing off several bursts of webbing to encase the beam and hold it in place. "There, that oughta do!" She declared as she then pulled Sandbar free.

Sandbar tried to stand, and immediately upon doing so pain surged through his body. He kneeled down and whimpered, struggling to keep from crying. "My hoof!"

Spider Mare inspected the aforementioned appendage. It looked like it bent in ways hooves weren't supposed to be bent. The beam collapse must've broken it. Normally, she knew the procedure for such cases was to not move the patient until the injured limb was set in a sling. But something told her that simply staying put with Sandbar was not an option. "Sandbar," She instructed in a serious tone of voice. "I need you to do me a favor and hold still. This is gonna feel really strange, but I promise you it's for your own safety."

Sandbar adopted the best brave face he could. "I trust you, Spider Mare. With you by my side, I'm not scared of anything. Because I know you aren't," Then he gave a raspy chuckle. "It's funny. I always wanted to be just like you and to meet you. Now I see why my parents always said being a superhero's harder than it looks."

Spider Mare quickly webbed up Sandbar's injured hoof, molding the webbing into something that loosely resembled a gauze cast. "That should protect your hoof for now. We'd better get you out of here, there's no telling how long we've got 'til this place collapses!" She instructed, before scooping up the young colt. "Hang on tight, kid!"





Spider Mare brought Sandbar outside and set him down on the ground just as paramedics were starting to arrive at the scene. Town Hall hadn't collapsed yet, and it seemed like most of the ponies that had been inside had already gotten out safely (though many of them were coughing, no doubt due to the dust and the lingering red cloud).

At that moment, who should show up but Black Cat with Officer Copper Top? "Hey, Tiger," Black Cat greeted. "Seems like you've been awfully busy today."

"Black Cat! Oh, you don't know the half of it!" Spider Mare exclaimed as she rushed forward and hugged Black Cat with all her strength. "Long story short, Mr. Negative attacked Town Hall! He set off some kind of bomb, and the whole building looks like it could collapse at any moment!"

"Not if we can help it!" Black Cat declared. "Looks like you've already gotten just about everypony out. I'll do a quick sweep of the building, then I'll see if there's anything we can do to secure the building. Maybe we can't stop it from collapsing, but at least we can buy time for everypony to clear out."

"What about Mr. Negative?" Spider Mare wondered. "It turns out he's been stealing files on Martin Lee, no doubt to use as black mail or some other kind of leverage."

Officer Copper Top gasped in realization! "That must be why we couldn't find anything on him! And that probably explains how Martin Lee was able to get custody of the Shocker. Mr. Negative must've played in a role in it," She hung her head. "I can't believe it. He was right under our noses the whole time, but we never thought to check for the obvious. He even had me unknowingly being played for a sap."

Spider Mare shook her head. "You didn't know, none of us did. You were just following the law, and I don't blame you for doing it," She then commented. "But Mr. Negative can wait. Right now, I need to make sure innocent ponies don't get hurt. Being Spider Mare means it's my responsibility to put others before myself. Besides, it shouldn't take long. I got most of the top priority targets out."

Spider Mare and Black Cat then rushed back into Town Hall, inspecting each room and every nook and cranny for any sign of survivors who might still be trapped. A few workers who had escaped the blast unharmed had chosen to huddle down at their desks, terrified and frightened to an unbelievable degree. Fortunately, it didn't take much for them to be convinced to leave.

Black Cat and Spider Mare then inspected the source of the blast and its surroundings. Right where the bomb had been detonated there were left over metal fragments and a strange, red powder like substance that coated the blast marks.

Black Cat reached out a hoof, but Spider Mare swatted it aside as her body twitched all over! "Don't touch it! I don't know why, but I have a very bad feeling about it! My senses tell me it's dangerous, perhaps even fatal!"

"Fair point. Not sure why my senses didn't kick in, guess they're not quite as fine tuned as yours," Black Cat declared. "Still, Twilight will definitely want a sample of this. Never know, may come in handy." He took out a vial and used his staff to brush some of the powder into it.

Meanwhile, Spider Mare was inspecting the surrounding structure. "I'm no engineer, but it looks like the blast just barely avoided the main support beams. If they'd been taken out, the whole building would've collapsed right then and there!" She commented, breathing a sigh of relief that such hadn't been the case. "It looks like Mr. Negative did that on purpose. For whatever reason, he didn't want to crush everypony inside. He just wanted to use the explosion to get into the archives and steal Martin Lee's file."

"Even so, this building looks unstable," Black Cat frowned. "I think our webbing could prop it up for another hour or two, but the support beams have been weakened beyond repair. They'll need to be replaced. And that means Town Hall's gonna be out of commission for a while."

"Well, at least with our help we can give everypony time to clear the area and make sure no one tries to go back inside," Spider Mare declared as she and Black Cat shot their webbing at the support beams, thoroughly encasing them. "There, that should hold for now."

Black Cat then looked across to her partner. "You worry about Mr. Negative. We can't let him get away with this! I'll spread the word, and stay to assist the rescue workers. I'll join you as soon as I can, but we both know you're a faster web slinger than I am."

Spider Mare nodded in agreement again. "Good thinking. But join me as soon as you can. And give me a shot if something comes up. For all we know, Mr. Negative might still be lying in wait to ambush one or both of us."





With Town Hall secured for the time being, Spider Mare reluctantly parted ways with Black Cat and set off in pursuit of Mr. Negative. "I won't let you get away with trying to hurt Ponyville, or threaten Martin Lee," Spider Mare vowed to herself. "You can run but you can't hide, Mr. Negative! I'll find you, and I'll make you regret ever deciding to show your face in the town I call home."

But Mr. Negative had left no trail behind for Spider Mare to follow. No hoofprints, no marks, not even traces of red dust. It as was if he'd turned invisible and disappeared. But that couldn't be! Could it?

Spider Mare shook her head. She was way overthinking things. Mr. Negative was clever, but he wasn't that clever. "Think, Spider Mare!" She thought to herself. "Where would he go now that he has that file on the ship wreck in Baltimare?! It's obviously incriminating for Martin Lee somehow. So there's only one place he'd go, straight to Martin Lee himself!"

With that, Spider Mare began to pick up speed! Bound for Martin Lee's shelter that was all the way across time. "Hang on, Martin Lee! I'll save you from whatever Mr. Negative's put you up to! I see now, you were acting so aloof and distant because you couldn't mention he was blackmailing you. Of course Mr. Negative would want you to detest me, I'm the one who poses a threat to his plans."

The web slinger kept that thought at the forefront of her mind as she reached Martin Lee's shelter. To her surprise, Aunt Suzanne was outside and appeared to waving to her. "Pi-er... Spider Mare!" She quickly corrected herself. "Oh thank goodness! I thought something awful had happened to you!"

"No worries, Miss. Suzanne," Spider Mare replied in as heroic a voice as she could manage. "Your niece is just fine, I saw to that myself. I wish I could chat, but I need to stop a certain Mr. Negative from blackmailing a certain Martin Lee."

"You'd better be quick, then!" Aunt Suzanne quickly blurted out. "I didn't see Mr. Negative, but Martin Lee looked to be in an awful hurry after he heard about the attack on Town Hall! He said he'd be in his office and didn't want to be disturbed. Which is funny considering today was the first time in a long while I've seen him leave his office for anything. And he didn't give a reason, just said he had some business to take care of."

Spider Mare quickly rushed into the shelter. "I have to put a stop to this, once and for all!" She was fully prepared to confront Mr. Negative and free Martin Lee from his influence!





Inside the shelter, Spider Mare ignored all the glances and aside comments that were directed at her. She simply made a beeline straight for Martin Lee's office and flung it open! "Okay, Mr. Negative! This ends here and now! I don't know what your plans are for Martin Lee, but you're not carrying them out on my watch!"

However, to the surprise of Spider Mare, the desk chair spun around and the familiar presence of Martin Lee greeted her. "Spider Mare?! How dare you burst into my office like this! I thought I told you already, I have no relation to that Mr. Negative fiend! If you're here to make me release The Shocker, you can forget it! He's getting the help he needs, and he's free from your destructive impulses!"

"Zip it, Mr. Lee!" Spider Mare vowed as she slammed her hooves on the desk. "I know for a fact that Mr. Negative's blackmailing you! I saw him steal a newspaper clipping from your file at Town Hall! Whatever kind of leverage he has over you, you can tell me. I can help you!"

But at that moment the office door suddenly swung shut! And was it Spider Mare's imagination, or had a cold wind suddenly started blowing through?

Martin Lee seemed to be laughing as he sat back in his chair, flashing a rather unnerving grin at the web slinger.

"Mind telling me what's so funny, Martin Lee?!" Spider Mare demanded. "This is not a joking matter!"

"Oh, I think it is," Martin Lee declared. "I thought you were smarter than this, wall crawler. But I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, this is a secret I've gone to great lengths to maintain. So you should feel privileged."

Spider Mare stepped back. "What are you talking about?! Where's Mr. Negative and what does he have over you?!"

"You really wanna meet Mr. Negative so badly?" Martin Lee suddenly commented in an eerie tone of voice. "Well, I believe we could arrange that. Give me just a second, if you wouldn't mind." As soon as he'd spoken those words his eyes began to flash, almost like someone had taken a picture with a camera. In the blink of an eye, Martin Lee's entire body began to change, taking on the appearance of a pony in a photo negative!

Spider Mare gasped in surprise! "No, it can't be! Y... you were Mr. Negative this whole time, Martin Lee?!"

Mr. Negative nodded. "Of course, Spider Mare. After all, there are two sides to everypony. A good side, and a bad side. One positive, the other negative."

"But... but that can't be! How could Martin Lee ever be connected to you?! It makes no sense!" Spider Mare stuttered in shock.

Mr. Negative flashed a creepy smile. "I don't see why I can't fill in the gaps on your knowledge. After all, you won't be escaping to tell a soul," As he trotted towards Spider Mare he added. "Don't bother with the door, it's locked tight! No one is coming to save you this time! Not even your precious husband, the Black Cat! Yes, that's right! I've been keeping tabs on the both of you, I know all. Even that which you have gone to great lengths to hide. It wasn't hard to notice. Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich are never in the same place at the same time as Spider Mare and Black Cat. That's hardly coincidence," Grabbing Spider Mare and throwing her into the desk chair (which toppled backward), he explained. "The actual Martin Lee perished long ago! He was one of the prisoners lost at sea in that ship wreck."

"But if you're not Martin Lee, who are you really?!" Spider Mare demanded.

Mr. Negative shook his head. "I have no name besides Mr. Negative. I can't remember who I was before, for I too was aboard that ill fated vessel. I don't even remember how I survived, the entire accident has become a blur. I suspect the entire event was so traumatic I blocked it out," Then he added. "Martin Lee just happened to be the first name I came across aboard the ship's log, the only thing that survived the wreckage. I originally wanted to make it big in Baltimare, but when I started learning about your super powered exploits and all the foes you'd taken down, I knew I'd have to adjust my plans."

"What plans?!" Spider Mare growled as she tried to swing at Mr. Negative, only for him to block the blow with minimal effort.

"Like I'd tell you!" Mr. Negative firmly vowed. "This is the end of the line for you, Spider Mare! Even you will succumb to your negative side, just as I did long ago! And don't worry, I'll be visiting your precious Black Cat very soon! His nine lives of luck are about to run out!" He then began to shoot energy shockwaves at Spider Mare!

Spider Mare struggled in vain to keep them from overwhelming her! Negative thoughts of anger, rage, and sadness started to envelop her mind. "You... I will... This isn't..." She began, only for the rest of her words to fade before they could make it out. Her eyes grew heavy and she collapsed to the floor of the office.

Mr. Negative cackled with glee. "When you wake up, Spider Mare. You will be mine!"