Twilight fell back in fear, waving her hand. She slammed her wrist and her spider flew off. She clutching her sore right hand with her left she stared at the two tiny red marks just under her knuckles. As she watched the dead spider lying on the ground next to her, images from vampire movies began to slide through her head.
A horrible, searing tingling crawled up Twilight's right arm, as the stabbing pain in her hand continued. The lights in the lab went blurry. Looking around her, she realized that her classmates had followed her path. She was alone, confused and scared.
"Home...", she thought. "I have to go home!".
Despite the pain, fear, and strange sensation in his arm that had now spread to the rest of his body, he still managed to formulate this thought: "They will never miss me. Nobody will notice that I'm gone!"
Reeling,Twilight left the lab, she crossed the lobby and out into the clear Manehattan afternoon. His face was pale and sweat ran down his forehead. He thought about taking the subway home, but wondered if he would stay conscious long enough to get to his stop. At that moment, his classmates slammed out the doors of the Institute and ran past him towards the bottom of the stairs.
"Hey, what's the matter, Sparkle?" Trixie scoffed "Did those tiny spiders scare you?"
"Are you okay, Twilight?" Flash asked noticing his sickly and dazed look.
"Huh?" Twilight mumbled "Yeah. I'm fine."
"What's the matter?" Sunset asked, standing next to her "Looks like you've seen a ghost."
"I don't know..." Twilight lied "I guess I'm getting the flu or something."
She joined her classmates on the bus to start the return to Ponyville. She sat alone at the end of the bus and was sleeping most of the way. Her dream was disturbed by nightmares starring giant spiders. When the bus came to her stop, the driver had to shake Twilight to wake her from her deep slumber.
The modest house in the quiet Ponyville neighborhood that Shining Armor and his wife Cadance called "home" was hardly distinguishable from other houses on the block. The green wood shingled deck sloped down to meet the red brick walls. The small front gardens, full of shrubs and flowers, were surrounded by wire fences.
In the late afternoon, while the dogs barked, the children played baseball in the street and the workers, who had lived there for years, returned home after their Jordanian job.
Inside his house, Shining Armor was rocking in a chair, arms extended above his head, reaching for the light bulb he intended to change. Shining Armor was a tall man in his forties. He was in good shape, slim and active. His kind face was topped by short blue hair.
"Why don't you use the ladder, honey?" asked his wife Cadance, shaking her head. The same age as her husband, Candance was thin and frail, although her spirit was that of a strong young teenager "Better yet, why don't you wait for Twilight to come home? She could do it."
Shining Armor and Cadance had been as good caregivers for Twilight as if she were her own daughter. They loved Twilight very much, and she shared that feeling ... most of the time.
Shining Armor screwed on the light bulb and light flooded the kitchen.
"Did you say something?" she commented, looking at Cadance with a triumphant expression.
"Great" she replied, sighing. Shining Armor was a stubborn man. Sometimes she got desperate, but it was also one of the things she loved about him "Now get off of there before you land on your ass."
"That has already happened!" Shining Armor exclaimed, leaping out of his chair "When the plant's chief electrician is fired after 10 years of service and without explanation... that's what I call falling on your butt!"
While Cadance prepared dinner, Shining Armor sat at the kitchen table to browse the job postings in the newspaper.
"You'll get another job somewhere, honey" she stated.
"We'll see" said Shining Armor, running his finger down the ad column "Computer analyst, computer designer, programmer...".
He hit the table with his fist.
"I'm 40 years old! How am I supposed to feed my family in today's world?".
Cadance put down the bowl she was holding in her hands and hugged her husband.
"I love you" she said, kissing him tenderly on the cheek "And Twilight loves you. You are the most responsible man I have ever known. We have been through this before and we have managed to survive".
Cadance looked at his watch.
"Anyway, where is Twilight? She's late".
Immediately afterwards, the front door was thrown open and Twilight entered the house, trying very hard not to discover her condition.
"Here you are" Shining Armor said, closing the newspaper so Twilight wouldn't see her looking at the job posting section "How was the field trip, Twilight?"
"You came just in time for dinner, honey" Candance announced.
Twilight headed for the stairs, leaning on the railing.
"I'm not feeling well" she mumbled her "I'm going upstairs to sleep".
"Don't you even want a bite to eat?" Cadance asked.
Twilight whirled on her, the image of the mutant spider's bite still in her head. She then she realized what her sister-in-law was saying.
"No, thanks" she replied, staggering down the stairs "I'm not hungry..."
"Did you take any good pictures, Twilight?" Shining Armor asked.
"No" muttered Twilight "I mean... yeah. I mean... I have to go to bed. I need to sleep. Don't worry, everything is fine".
Then she crawled up the stairs and disappeared into her room slamming the door.
"What was that about?" Shining Armor asked, as he got up from the table.
"She's a teenager" Candance replied, following Shining Armor.
"She's depressed" Shining Armor said, as he walked up the stairs. She thought of all those times when Twilight came home from school crying because none of the kids wanted to play with her. Shining Armor was still able to distinguish her sister's mood from her "I think I'd better go up and talk to her".
"She's a teenager," Candance repeated, putting her hand on her husband's shoulder "Don't go upstairs. She will ask us for help when she needs it".
In her room, Twilight fell to her knees, overcome by a stomachache. The searing daze that had once flowed through her body had transformed into terrible chills, like those of a high fever. She was dizzy and nauseous; she felt like she was going to pass out. But she didn't get any flu.
Examining her right hand, Twilight saw that where she had been bitten by the spider there was now a reddish swelling. Drenched with sweat, she was shaking violently and her teeth were chattering. She paled and her eyes went blank. After her her eyelids closed and she Twilight collapsed on the rug next to her bed, passed out.
A moment before she lost consciousness she sputtered only one word:
"Help..."