Spectacular Spider-Mare

by spideremblembrony


Terror from the Skies Part 2

After allowing her little sister to beat her to the bus stop, Pinkie Pie made her way to Midtown High. As she trotted down the street, her mind was consumed by what she had overheard at home. Her mother worked at a grocery store. It was never a job she enjoyed, but she didn’t have the educational opportunities Pinkie and Limestone now had. The one their father worked all his life to ensure they had.



Limestone was too young to remember, but Pinkie Pie remembered the old rock farm. How her father, mother and her big sister, Marble, would toil day in and day out in the field. Her father had finally made the decision to move out of the country and into the city.



Ever since moving into the city, her father would take up two jobs just to keep them in the city. It wasn’t a perfect living, but they had each other. Marble graduated college on a scholarship and financial aid. She was always busy, but when she wasn’t, she made time for the family. They were happy. All of them. At least until…



“Hey, come on! Give it back!”



The familiar voice caught Pinkie Pie’s attention. She looked up to notice she was in front of Midtown High. She had been so distracted by her thoughts, she didn’t even realize what was happening around her until she heard the cry.



In the courtyard, a pale green Pegasus and a dark brown Pegasus were tossing a brown bag back and forth while a short green unicorn attempted to grab it from the air.



“Come on! This isn’t funny!” Snips shouted as he leaped into the air, barely missing the bag.



Lightning Dust started to laugh. “Aw, come on. We’re giving you a workout. Celestia knows you need it.”



Pinkie looked over to the left to see her friend Snails, a yellow unicorn, being given a noogie by a much bigger stallion. A stallion named Slink. Nearby, a skinny stallion named Slim started to laugh, urging Snails to break free. Snails fought against his tormentors, but failed to free himself.



Pinkie took a step towards Slink and Slim. “Hey, why don’t you two leave him alone?”



Slink and Slim looked up as Pinkie called out to them. They gave a big smile as they saw her. “Well, well, well.” Slim stepped forward. Slink let go of Snails, allowing him to pick up his books and scurry behind a tree. Slim looked up to the sky, “Hey, L.D, Puny Pinkie’s back.”



Lightning Dust turned towards him. She gave a cruel smirk. “Hey, Pink. Miss me much?” She tossed the brown back towards Hoops before Snips could reach her.



Pinkie rushed towards where they two were ‘playing’ keep away.



Hoops caught the bag as Snips quickly approached him. Before Snips could get their however, he tossed the bag back to Lightning Dust. However, Pinkie Pie leaped into the air, catching the bag in her hooves.



Snips turned around to see Pinkie holding his bag with a smile on her face. “Thanks, Pinkie.”



Pinkie Pie’s smile got even bigger. “You’re welcome.”



“Hey! Pinkie Pie!” Lightning Dust made her way to ground. “What was the big deal? I was just catching up on my old pal, Snips. He missed me.”



“Like a toothache,” Snips grumbled under his breath as he tied his bag to his back and slithered away.



Hoops and Slim came to Lightning Dust’s side as she stared down Pinkie Pie. Lightning gave a smirk. “So, Puny Pinkie finally decided to grow a spine, huh?”



Pinkie smiled as she glared at Lightning Dust. “Things have changed. And things are going to change around here.” Pinkie Pie took a step forward. “I won’t let you pick on anypony else around here.”



Pinkie Pie was finally face to face with Lightning Dust, but she didn’t seem worried. In fact, Lightning just kept on smiling.



“Got it?” Pinkie asked.



There was a moment of stillness as if the words Pinkie had said had stricken the world around them. Without warning, Lightning shoved Pinkie forward causing her to tumble backwards. Before she could regain her balance, she tumbled over a large object behind her, flipping her onto her back.



The group began to howl with laughter as Pinkie Pie replayed the image in her mind, seeing the large object as Slink, one of Lightning Dust’s groupie. When she looked up, Lightning Dust had grabbed a paper bag from the air, tossed to her by Slink.



Lightning dug through it and pulled out a loaf of bread. Her jaws ripped into it with a moaning satisfaction. She then turned to Slim who was still laughing. “Did you hear her threaten me?” she asked, food deposits ejecting from her mouth as she attempted to chew and speak at the same time. “Pinkie, here, thinks she’s Spider-Mare or something.”



Slim followed Lightning’s example and dug out an apple and celery sticks from the bag, biting into the fruit with a smirk on his face. He tossed the emptied paper bag aside.



Pinkie looked down to bag and saw a large ‘P’ marked on it. “Oh no. My lunch.” Pinkie moaned as her head sunk into her shoulders. As Pinkie made her way back to her feet, the bell for class to begin had rung.



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Flim sat in his office on the phone with an important client. Flim-Flam Security Systems Plus was among the best security systems in Equestria. Many ponies within the community already had a basic package. Few could afford more. But the recent crime rate, especially with the mysterious flying thief, more ponies began to demand a much larger package, fearing that they would be next. And after the media attention the flying figure received, there would no doubt be calls to improve their security.



“Yes, Mr. Noise,” Flim spoke into the phone to his recipient. “My brother and I are very interested in expansion. I can see our business going nationwide. All we need is the support of the west and the deal will be done.”



A creaking of an opening door diverted Flim’s attention to his brother, Flam, as he entered the room. “Yes, sir. We are always seeking out new opportunities for business.” He urged his brother to step forward.



Flam came forward and sat in the chair in front of the desk.



“Wonderful. I will hope to discuss further details at a later date. Tomorrow perhaps.” Flim stated as he gave a smile. “At lunch? Perfect.” He gave a wink to his brother, which caused him to give a grin of his own. “Until then, Mr. Noise.” He placed the phone back on his desk, shutting it off. He then turned towards Flam with a big smirk. “Great news, brother. White Noise has agreed to our terms. We are going into more than just security systems.”



Flam nodded. “That is extravagant news. And I have some wonderful news as well.”



Flim leaned back in his chair. “No doubt about the Spotlight robbery?” His horn started to glow as one of the drawers in his desk slid open. Two empty glasses and a bottle appeared from the drawer and placed themselves on the table.



“Indeed. We received a call from him only an hour ago. He practically begged for the platinum package.” Flam watched his brother poured the contents of the bottle into each of the cups. Flam engulfed the glass with his magic and drew it towards him.



Flim nodded. “Of course he did. That flying criminal is a dangerous pony, nonpareil. Like a flying predator.”



Flam took a sip of his drink. “A predator? Yes, we are like vultures, swooping from the heavens and taking what we want.”



Flim raised his eyebrow. “Vultures aren’t predators, brother. They are scavengers.” He tipped up his glass, allowing the liquid to slither down his throat.



Flam shook his head. “The point is we are untouchable. No Pegasus can outfly your ingenious device.”



Flim smiled. “Yes, but our teamwork has always been the backbone of our work.” He looked at the clock upon the wall and slowly got to his feet. “Speaking of which, I think we will be expecting another call from another wealthy customer.”



Flam raised his eyebrow. “Are you sure this is wise, brother? Going out so soon after our recent job?”



Flim nodded. “You don’t know how much you miss flying until you are earthbound.” He made his way to the door. “You are in charge.”



Flam lifted his glass. “Aren’t I always?” He gave a quick laugh as Flim shut the door behind him.



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Pinkie Pie, Snips and Snails made their way to the lunchroom after class. Pinkie Pie stomach was grumbling. Not loud enough to be heard except by her.



“I’m really sorry they got your lunch, Pinkie Pie,” Snails apologized. “You can have some of my lunch if you want.”



Snips nodded. “Yeah, mine too.”



Pinkie just smiled. “It’s okay you guys. I’ll be just fine.” They made their way into the lunch room and sat themselves down. Snails opened his lunch box and drew a banana from it. Snips pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.



As Pinkie watched them eat, she sort of regretted not taking their offer. Her stomach roared at her, begging for something.



“Well, it’s good to see the gang is all here,” a familiar voice came from behind them.



Pinkie Pie smiled as she turned around to see her friend Red Gala, a pink mare with a green mane. Pinkie Pie stood up quickly and gave Gala a hug. “Gala! I’ve missed you!”



Gala gave a slight chuckle as she wrapped one of her hooves around Pinkie. “I’ve missed you too, Pinkie Pie.”



Pinkie Pie then released Gala from her embrace and the two joined Snips and Snails.



As Gala sat down, she greeted Snips and Snails with a smile. “Hey, guys.”



Snails took a swallow of his banana and gave her a genuine smile. “Hey, Gala. How was your summer?”



Gala heaved a sigh. “Busy. That summer job kicked my flank.”



Pinkie couldn’t help but smile. Gala worked at a bakery run by Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Pinkie was one of her frequent customers, but that didn’t mean that Gala and she spent a lot of time together. It was usually busy and Gala didn’t have time to chat. Of course, the whole summer, neither did Pinkie.



Snips turned to Pinkie. “What about you, Pinkie? We didn’t see you most of the summer.”



Pinkie frowned for a moment. She tried to force a smile on her face, but just couldn’t find the urge to. Her summer was spent in depression over the loss of her father. “I was around… just spending time with my family.”



There was a chill of silence in the air as Snips lowered his head, a frown gripping his face. Pinkie knew he didn’t mean to bring up such a painful summer. It just sort of happened. She blamed herself for reacting the way she did.



“Hey!” a voice came from behind them. “Usually awkward silences don’t happen until I get here.”



Pinkie turned around to see a light yellow stallion with a blue mane. Goldengrape. “Grape!” Pinkie leaped out of her seat and hugged Grape tightly. “I missed you!”



Grape gave a slight smile as he fought the urge to struggle against Pinkie’s vice grip. “Yeah, I missed you too, Pinkie.” There was a long awkward pause as Pinkie continued to hug Grape. He looked around and noticed that ponies around them were staring. Some of them laughing.



“You can let go now, Pinkie.”



Pinkie instantly let go and saluted. “Okey dokey, lokey!”


Grape took a moment to catch his breath before sitting down with the others.



Snails gave a smile. “Hey, Grape. How was the world tour?”



Grape shook his head and scoffed. “Sucked. I spent most of my time in hotels or on a plane. Hardly got to see anything. Mom and Dad were on important business meetings.”



Pinkie Pie recalled the first week of summer when Grape said he was going to travel with his parents to see the world. Her heart sank for Grape. She felt sorry for him.



Grape turned his head towards Gala. “But at least, all of us are here again. Right, Gala?”



Gala gave a smile. “Yeah. Just another year of torture for us.”



Pinkie Pie stood up quickly. “Gala!” The whole table turned towards her. “I almost forgot it’s your birthday next week!”



Gala’s smile started to deteriorate. “Oh… yeah… How silly of me to forget?” She shifted her gaze away from Pinkie.



“Don’t worry! I’ll always remember my friend’s birthday!” Pinkie Pie announced. “We are going to have the most super-ginormous-fun-awesomely-sensational-spectacular party ever!”



Red Gala gave a slight chuckle. “Pinkie, I really don’t need a big party. Can’t we just have small quiet party?”



Pinkie raised her eyebrow, not fully understanding what was said. Then it hit her. “Ooooh. I get it.” She glared towards Gala. She made her way next to her, climbing over the table. “Gotta keep the party a secret. So it’s a surprise.” Pinkie whispered with a smile.



Gala shifted her gaze away from Pinkie to see everypony within 15 feet looking straight towards their table. She gave a nervous smile. “Pinkie, I really don’t want a party.”



Pinkie Pie sat back in her chair. “Don’t worry, Gala. I won’t make you any parties.” She winked in Gala’s direction.



Gala took a deep breath and lowered her head to the ground. “Great… Just great…” she silently moaned. Everypony on the table seemed to take note of it. Everypony, except for Pinkie Pie.



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The day continued with class after class until the final bell for school to end had rung. Cheerilee had asked everypony to study for chapter 1 for tomorrow’s quiz. Right before Pinkie Pie left the room, Cheerilee had asked Pinkie to stay behind.



She wasn’t sure what it was about. She had been quiet the whole time in class. She didn’t really like to be her normal bubbly self during class. Not only would she disrupt others from learning, but she was constantly the victim of ridicule. She couldn’t help she was full of energy. She just wanted to make everypony happy and to smile. But that often made her strange and abnormal. A point others, like Lightning Dust, enjoyed bring up again and again.



Pinkie Pie met with Cheerilee as she sat at her desk. “I want to talk to you about your test scores last year.”



Pinkie’s heart started to sink. “What about them?”



Cheerilee placed her glasses on her face and panned through the notebook in front of her. “Most of them were very good scores. In fact, your average is very high. Especially in the vocabulary department.”



Pinkie should have felt a reason to be happy, but instead her head only sunk into her shoulders.



Cheerilee lowered her head. “But when it comes to explaining how these are important to real life situations… That is where the grades start to drop.” Pinkie felt her heart sink a little. She tried to do well in school, but she just wasn’t smart. Not as smart as Gala was, who was practically a genius. Or her sister, Marble. She always had the brains in the family. “Do you know why you got these scores?”



Pinkie Pie shifted her gaze and frowned. “Because I have a photographic memory.”



Cheerilee smiled and placed her hoof on Pinkie’s. “And that’s nothing to be ashamed of.”



Pinkie tried to smile, but couldn’t. She felt like she was cheating. Everything she read she could remember with almost no difficulty. When it came to terms and formulas, she could memorize them easily. But when it came to explaining what they mean and why it matters, she was as lost as a hummingbird in a snowstorm.



Cheerilee spoke again, “I know you are smarter than you give yourself credit for. I’ve been speaking with Dr. Moral who is offering an internship with Equestrian State University. She asked for a student who could benefit from it.”



Cheerilee stood up. “I think that is you.”



Pinkie Pie looked up and noticed Cheerilee smiling. In turn, Pinkie Pie found a reason to smile as well.



“I think you could benefit from her teachings. You could not only memorize the subjects, but know what it means as well.”



“You think so?” Pinkie Pie asked a glimmer of hope in her eyes.



Cheerilee nodded. “If you agree, you start this afternoon.”



Pinkie Pie couldn’t have smiled more. She wasn’t in trouble. She was going to learn more about science than she thought possible. And she was going to be paid to learn. That was something she smiled the most about.



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Pinkie Pie made her way down the road skipping and humming as she traveled to the lab of Dr. Moral. The day might not have started off well, with her family’s financial situation or her own situation against Lightning Dust and her cohorts. But this lab job would not only benefit her as a student, but would help her mother pay bills. Those happy thoughts kept her walk towards home into a joyous bounce.



But as soon as ponies started laugh at her and pointing her out, she stopped. She couldn’t help herself from expressing her joy. She was just so happy. And yet, almost everypony out there thought she was … random. She wasn’t random. Everything she did had a purpose. But not everypony saw it that way. She turned her bouncing into a simple boring trot.



Suddenly, an exploding sound that filled the street as a cloud of orange smoke covered a nearby armored car. The sound had caused many ponies to shout to Celestia as to what was going on. Pinkie Pie looked up to the sky to see what she swore was a giant bird swoop into the orange fog. A moment later, the bird ascended out of the fog, carrying two large bags of the vehicle’s cargo.



Pinkie Pie looked back into the fog to see a lone stallion, coughing and struggling to stay up right. He fumbled out into the street. A truck’s tires screeched as the driver slammed on the brakes, praying that the stallion would get out of the road. The squealing caused the dazed stallion to look up to the truck, but was unable to move.



Pinkie used all the power in her legs to leap towards the stallion. She wrapped her hooves around him and dragged him out of the truck’s path. The driver sped past them, but thankfully no pony was hurt. As soon as the stallion was back on the street, Pinkie Pie darted for an alleyway, digging through her mane for a mask.



She slipped the completely red disguise over her head and made sure that the huge white eyes enabled her to see. She then dug through her cotton candy-like tail and pulled out the rest of her red and blue costume. After slipping them on, she leapt as high as she could; clinging to the wall and crawling up it like a giant spider.



Pinkie released a thin strand of webbing from her hoof. With her webs at the ready, Pinkie Pie, now better known as Spider-Mare, swung after the flying menace.



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Flim smiled as he soared through the sky. By the time anypony had called the authorities, he would already be long gone. And the gas bomb would daze the security ponies near the armored vehicle long enough for him to escape. Flim held his head up high, his bags of loot wrapped around his body, so as not to fall as he flew through the air. He felt that his brother was right. They were untouchable.



Suddenly, he was jerked towards the ground slightly, as if something heavy had grabbed onto him. He looked down to his hind leg to see a thin strand of what appeared to be webbing and dangling from it was a red and blue clad pony.



“Hi, there!” the pony shouted. “You know that stealing is wrong, right?”



Flim had heard the rumors, but hadn’t expected to believe them. Let alone run into the infamous Spider-Mare. He dove to the ground quickly, building up speed as he flew. Like a fish on a line, Spider-Mare followed. He had hoped that the speed would be enough to loosen Spider-Mare’s grip, but she was stilling hanging on to her web line tightly.



But he knew what would shake her. He continued to dive to the ground and at high speed pulled up at the last second. Spider-Mare was traveling just as fast, but wouldn’t be able to turn with the speed he did. Spider-Mare let go of her web line. She used the momentum of her fall to dart across the top of the cars until she had control of her own speed. With that, she fired a web line to the air, chasing her opponent once again.



Flim’s horn glowed as his heat gun appeared from his suit . He turned his body to fire upon Spider-Mare. The orange beam headed straight for the costumed hero, but she was able to avoid it. Flim fired again and again, but never would this Spider-Mare stay still long enough for him to aim perfectly. And her movements were so unpredictable and fast.



“That’s a fancy weapon! “ Spider-Mare shouted as she shot another web, leaping over another blast from the heat gun. “Where’d you get that?”


She quickly fired her webbing to Flim’s right hoof, but Flim quickly pulled away, forcing Spider-Mare to release his hoof. However, Spider-Mare then shot a web line at the bags, tied to his back, as he turned around. The bags were jerked from his back and into the hoof of Spider-Mare.



Flim quickly turned around as Spider-Mare changed direction, holding the bags of loot tightly. “You were going to give this back, right?” She held out her hoof and fired another web line. “Don’t worry; I’ll do it for you!” She glided through the air on her new web line, soaring back to where Flim had stolen it from.



Flim gritted his teeth and dove after her. “Get back here!”



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Spider-Mare swung through the city at a high speed, dodging the heat blasts from her opponent’s gun. She looked below her to see the police station and fortunately for her, two officers were trotting out of the station. Spider-Mare descended to the ground, shouting to the officers.



“Heads up!”



The officers tilted their heads to the air, seeing Spider-Mare coming straight for them. Spider-Mare tossed the two bags at one of the officer’s knocking him to the ground by the weight of the bags. She swung passed them at a high speed, not even bothering to land on the ground. “Take care of those, will you?” Spider-Mare shouted.



Following not far behind was the flying menace. He seemed to be ignoring the loot and focused solely on her. He fired another blast from his heat gun, which Spider-Mare leaped out of its path, firing another web line to keep her distance. She turned around firing another. “So, what’s your name?”



Spider-Mare then spoke again, not even waiting for an answer. “Oh, I know. Sparrow!” She narrowly avoided another blast of heat by changing her direction. “Raven?” She pointed her hoof at the bird-like enemy and fired an orb of webbing at the menace. The aerial enemy proved too nimble to be hit by it, as he evaded it with ease. “Oh, wait! I got it! The Turkey!”


The flyer’s face grew intense as he fired his beam again. “The name is Vulture!”



Spider-Mare leaped off her web line allowing her to fall downward. She shot her webs at Vulture. As they struck his body, she pulled with all her might, dragging the Vulture towards the rooftop directly below them. The Vulture quickly fired his weapon at the webbing, dissolving it quickly. With him free of the webbing, he corrected his course and pulled up before he could collide with the rooftop.



Spider-Mare landed on the roof with ease, looking upward as the Vulture came for another attack. She fired another strand at her opponent, but the Vulture moved out of its path. He fired his weapon at Spider-Mare, but a simple backflip put her out of harm’s way. She fired another strand of webbing as the Vulture kept firing his weapon.



To avoid the webbing, the Vulture quickly shifted to the side, causing his weapon to fire off in a bizarre direction. The beam slammed into a metal support for a billboard sign. The intense heat began to cause the support to melt. The other support began to bend and crack under the sudden weight as a crackling filled the air.



Spider-Mare quickly turned her attention to the billboard as it began to tumble over the edge roof and threatened the bystanders below it. She leaped towards the ledge and dove off the side of the rooftop. She firmly planted her hind legs on the side of the building, firing strands from her hooves. After they were securely tied on one side, she leaped to the building on the other side of the street, firing two more strands. She quickly connected them to the wall. The webbing held the billboard from crashing into the street below, like a fly in a spider web.



After feeling certain the ponies below were safe, Spider-Mare leaped to the rooftops again, scanning the area for any sign of her opponent. She looked around and noticed that nopony else was around. She searched the skies, but there was no sign of the Vulture.



“Oh, man. I let him get away,” she moaned to herself. She fired a strand of webbing, giving up on chasing the Vulture. Without any other leads or any idea where he could have flown off too, what else could she have done? She decided it was best to change back to her alter ego and pray that things couldn’t get any worse.