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// Of My Darkest Day 
// Story: The MMDW: A symbiote in Equestria 
// by Comet Burst 
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I sobbed so much, I lost track of time. The tears just wouldn't stop, no matter how hard I tried to make them. I was vaguely aware of Luna's words as she tried to console me, giving garbled responses to her. I had never cried like this before, not even when Strattos left. The memory tormented me as I watched his face yell at me after I had interrupted them. The filthy pegasus whore was screaming at me too, but I was focused on the stallion. I didn't remember much of what was said, but I knew I was angry enough to sock him in his muzzle. That's when the tramp jumped on me and wrestled me to the ground. I remember feeling my nose break, me tearing her mane out with my teeth, kicking her in the gut so hard she threw up and Strattos finally breaking us up.

He yelled at me like never before. He claimed the situation was my fault because I was too distant, too commanding and expected too much from him. He pushed me back and I tripped onto the bed. While still shocked he would actually try to hurt me, he aided the tramp to her hooves and left without a single goodbye. I felt my insides melt into an uncomfortable pile of mush as the door slammed. He had left me all alone and had drilled a false thought into my head. What if he was right? What if I really had brought this upon myself? The idea of Mare Do Well seemed pretty bad to me now that I was convincing myself that she was the reason he left. I didn't dare touch the costume until months after he left. I don't remember why I had put it on again, but I could feel its stare, a never blinking entity in my own mind claiming I was weak, selfish and pathetic. Inside, I knew it was right.

I remembered the first night I returned to being Mare Do Well. I felt exhilarated like never before. The wind, the adrenaline, everything about the costume was inviting. It was as if I had been reunited with a missing piece of myself. It felt so good to be Mare Do Well, I preferred it over Trixie. I was hooked on her high, and now I sat here in front of my mentor crying like a foal. Remembering my rush at becoming Mare Do Well had calmed my emotions and I looked over to the night princess. She was smiling gently to me and I nuzzled her neck. I didn't care if she wasn't related to me, she was my mother, big sister, best friend and favorite teacher all in one. She patted my mane and said "There, that's the Trixie I remember."

After calming down, our discussion turned from Mare Do Well to the monster Venom. It was difficult to explain everything, but I gave Luna all I knew about him. I told her of where we first met, the couple fights and my theory of what he was. Luna listened intently and only asked questions when I was unclear. "So, yeah..." I said "I think he's not from here if what that one pegasus said is true. I can only assume he's from another planet." Luna mulled it over in her mind, culminating into one question. "Does this mean there's an invasion?" she asked in her typical voice. I couldn't answer that, but I spoke up. "It could be true." I said. She shook her head slightly and said "And this need for hosts, does he only need ponies or can he use other creatures?"

At that, I was silent. I had no idea if Venom could use other animals or beings as hosts. The thought of him overtaking a dragon crept into my mind and I shuddered. The conversation ended there, though, since a Royal Guard burst into the room. "My princess!" he shouted in a worried tone "The creature has shown himself again! Just like you said he would, he is rampaging across Manehatten!" Luna's mood became incredibly solemn as she rose to her hooves. "Has the city been evacuated?" she asked. The guard fumbled for a second and said "The guard stationed there has already ordered the evacuation of the city's north district, but the monster is attacking anypony who tries to run." Luna's eyes widened and she said "Has there been any deaths?" The guard lowered his head and said "We have seventeen confirmed civilian casualties as well as eight guards."

I suddenly felt extremely ice cold inside. Twenty five dead? I looked away from the two down to my Mare Do Well hat. I knew why he was doing this. He wanted me to come to him. It was his way of calling for me. My stomach had degraded into its usual sense of decaying guilt as Luna spoke. "Very well, I will go to help the guard there. Trixie, remain here. I will not risk you getting hurt again." She turned to look at me, but my head stayed down. She galloped out of the room, leaving me and the guard all alone. He turned from the door to face me, but a swift upperhoof to his chin made him pass out. I set him on the bed carefully and walked over to the dark corner of the room. My body ached unbelievably, but I felt my heart beat faster as I layed eyes on my costume.

It took me longer to get to Manehatten from Canterlot than I thought, but me teleporting several miles each jump made it only take forty minutes compared to the several hour train ride. However, upon arrival at Manehatten I promptly fell over out of exhaustion. Using teleport spells required little effort, but the repeated use tired one out quickly. After taking a couple of minutes to regain my stamina, I got up to the rooftops and headed to the northern part of town. It didn't take me long to find a mass of black thick tendrils reaching out and swiping at several armed guards and a midnight blue alicorn. I saw it smack one across the face, knocking him unconscious before it wrapped around his legs and dragged him into the black mass. The mass shuddered and two pale and limp ponies at the guards. One was dressed in armor and the other was a pinkish pony. My stomach churned as they hit the other Royal Guards and hit wetly on the ground.

I locked my eyes on the alicorn, princess Luna as she shot bolts of dark blue energy at the familiar face of Venom. He was at least three times his normal size, trying to grab Luna with his tongue or bite her. I saw him take a small bit of her mane and I leapt into action. The guards hardly reacted as I charged in, grabbing a dumpster with my magic and smashing it into his main mass as I dodged the tendrils. He roared and his face turned from Luna to me. I couldn't normally tell, but his enthusiastic roar let me know he was happy to see me. Four large tendrils slammed around me and clipped me in the rear left leg. I winced in pain, but I kept on moving.

I landed between Venom and Luna and braced myself. Luna shouted "Trixie?!" and Venom laughed. I growled and said "This is between us. Leave them alone." Venom grinned at me and replied "Oh, I know this, but since I failed to eat you, I'm going to ensure I win this time." He roared at me, spraying saliva at me, but I didn't even flinch. I heard a scream from behind me and I spun to see Luna being wrapped up in black tendrils. I screamed as well and charged at her, but was nearly bitten by Venom. A tendril shot over as I dodged and smacked me away and into a brick wall. I blacked out again and got back to my hooves shakily as a pulse of black energy exploded outwards, knocking back the guards but I kept where I was.

I opened my eyes and saw a tall black pony with huge wings made out of a squirming black material. A large horn shot up from the head and it opened its eyes too. They were white and asymmetric with no pupils. A large mouth opened and rows of needle like teeth were revealed, followed by a long tongue. I gazed in horror as it reared back and flapped its wings, giving a blood curdling scream. Venom had bonded to Luna. 'No, not Luna.' I thought. He was too big for Lun's size.

I suddenly knew. He had bonded not just to Luna, but Nightmare Moon as well.