//------------------------------// // (Outdated Prologue) (non-canon) // Story: The Awesome Spider-Dash: Origins // by Flufux //------------------------------// (Attention: This is an outdated version of the first three chapters, and is no longer considered canon. Feel free to skip this one if you just want to get on with the story. However, if you, for whatever reason, want to read the original version, or read the comments I got on that version, feel free to do so) Episode 1 And along came a Spider…Part 1 An eight-legged stowaway A new dawn was approaching for Canterlot City. With the opening of the CelestiaCorp Tower, the forward-thinking research company known as CelestiaCorp was on the brink of revolutionising the city...if not the world. While the company had always been one of the greatest pioneers in the scientific community, it had never been as successful as it was now. As surprising as this may be, the company owed its recent success to a High School student named Twilight Sparkle. Despite being no older than sixteen, she managed to solve an equation that most people would consider to be impossible. And that was just the start of it. After gaining the attention of Miss Celestia, the president of CelestiaCorp, she invited Twilight to work for her for a while. During the short amount of time she was there, Twilight came up with so many new ideas and solutions to the table that CelestiaCorp gained a massive boost in its success. And after seeing her potential in action, Celestia recruited Twilight to be her personal protégé at the company while its influence continued to grow. As a personal favour for all of her hard work, Celestia had agreed to Twilight’s request that she’d be allowed to bring her best friends to see where she worked. And that…was where our heroine came in. In a perfectly ordinary suburban house at the edge of the city, Rainbow Dash was having a pretty good dream that Saturday morning, one that she had no intention of ever waking from. However, the universe had other plans and her peaceful sleep was suddenly disturbed by the alarm clock she had next to her bed. While the girl was completely under her covers, an arm reached out and lazily tried to find the button to turn off the buzzing clock. Those attempts instead resulted in her accidentally dragging the irritatingly loud object down to the floor, far away from her reach, and that did not make it stop ringing either. Finally deciding that she had had enough of that horrible noise, Rainbow Dash threw the cover off of her, picked up the clock and finally turned the noisy machine off. The second after it stopped ringing however, she fell back on the bed and let out a loud groan. With the cover no longer hiding her, one could see that she was a 16-year-old girl with a very athletic frame and well built muscles, and since she, at the moment, wasn't wearing anything more than a tank top and a pair of panties, that was very obvious. She also had messy shoulder-length hair that had almost ever colour of the spectrum, giving it the resemblance of a rainbow (guess where she got her name from). With the morning pretty much ruined for her, Rainbow slowly took in the sight of her unruly mess of a room. Clothes and a lot of other various objects were scattered all over the floor and just about every wall in it were covered by posters. Most of those posters were either of the world-famous ace pilots known as the Wonderbolts or the fictional character Daring Do. She had reserved a shelf for her big collection of model airplanes, right above her even bigger collection of Daring Do books. After letting out a big yawn, Rainbow slowly and reluctantly got out of bed. Getting up at eight on a Saturday was not something Rainbow Dash particularly liked, especially if she had to hear that infernal alarm clock on a day where she was supposed to be able to sleep how long she wanted. But…that visit to CelestiaCorp was today, and not on any of the available schooldays that she could easily do without. However, as soon as she tried to take a step toward the door out, she tripped on something hard and fell face first into one of the many piles of clothing on the floor. After groaning again, she turned around to see what exactly it was she tripped on. It turned out to be her pet tortoise Tank, who was groggily waking up after his owner accidentally kicked him. After realising what just happened, Rainbow sheepishly said, “Morning Tank…” Tank just gave her a deadpan glare, which was apparently something tortoises could do, or…at least Tank could. “Yeah…sorry about that.” The sound of someone calling “Dashie, breakfast’s ready!” gave her a convenient escape from the awkward staring contest she was having with her pet. After putting on a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, Rainbow headed towards the kitchen downstairs where her parents Firefly and Rainbow Blaze were waiting for her. Firefly was the one who most closely resembled her daughter in physical appearance, and had a similarly messy haircut, a similarly well-trained athletic body, and an attitude that she had kept since she served as a Wonderbolt pilot in the airforce. In contrast, her husband, Rainbow Blaze, was a bit older but a lot more down to earth. And while he could quite often show sings of being extremely lazy, he was actually a very good athlete, who, once upon a time, could compete with the best of the best in world championships. He never won any though. Firefly had spent most of the morning preparing a breakfast of toast and eggs, but Blaze seemed to have found his issue of the Daily Bugle to be too interesting to even notice it, much to his wife’s annoyance. The front page of his paper had the headline ‘STARLIGHT GLIMMER AND CELESTIA DISAGREE OVER CITY'S FUTURE’ with a picture of two women, both in expensive suits, arguing with each other in a rather uncivilised manner. However, as soon as Firefly caught a glimpse of her daughter coming down the stairs, she criticised, “That’s a bit slow, Dashie. The airforce doesn't tolerate slackers, you know.” “But I’m not in the airforce now, am I?” Rainbow quipped back. “I’m just giving you some helpful advice. You do want to join the Wonderbolts one day, right?” The teenager took a seat at the table while she answered, “Sure, but right now I’m going to enjoy my days of free napping as much as I can, or…unless some lame rule demands that I have to wake up this early…on a Saturday!” “Complaining won’t get you anywhere either, you know?” “Mom, can you stop acting like a drill instructor for five minutes?” Firefly answered that with a witty grin, making it pretty clear how much she enjoyed making fun of her daughter. Blaze chose this time to get his attention away from his newspaper and ask, “Did you say it was CelestiaCorp you were going to?” Rainbow answered “Sure, why?” after taking a bite out of a slice of toast. “It’s just that I’ve heard some interesting things about that company lately. It says here that CelestiaCorp’s next discovery will lead to a new golden age for the city. It's only a matter of time until someone there wins the Nobel Prize I wager.” “Yeah, whatever. They can make their own version of Jurassic Park for all I care, it’s not like any of that affects me or anything.” Blaze raised an eyebrow, “Then why did you agree to go?” “Because all that egghead stuff is something Twilight really cares about…for some reason. Look, Fluttershy, Pinkie and even Applejack decided to go, so that means either I go, or I’m the jerk of the group…again.” “Rainbow Dash, you are not a jerk. Don’t even think that.” Firefly sternly reminded. “Sure…and I guess making Fluttershy cry her heart out was because I was a good person?” “You did no such thing, Dashie. It was Gilda who did that, not you.” “Yeah, but I let it happen! I should have believed her when Fluttershy told me what Gilda said to her, but, what-do-you-know, I just ignored her instead.” Blaze started, “It was only natural for you to side with your girlfriend-“ But the moment he said that particular word, Rainbow reminded, “Ex-girlfriend.” “You know what I mean. Still, if you ever did something wrong, then you simply made a mistake, we all do mistakes.” “I guess…but I promised that I would never let anyone hurt Fluttershy, and breaking a promise is so not cool. Heck, Pinkie always kept saying that that was the fastest way to lose a friend.” Immediately after saying that, Rainbow Dash could have sworn she heard a distant voice shout “Forever!” but wrote it off as just her imagination getting the better of her. Firefly assured, “You know Fluttershy forgave you for that. Maybe you should too.” “Yeah, maybe I should. Anyway, I’ve just woken up on the wrong side of bed. Can we change the subject?” Blaze took the opportunity to ask, “Sure thing. So how are you going to get to CelestiaCorp Tower?” “Applejack got a truck. She’ll pick up Pinkie first, then stop by here and pick up me and Fluttershy. Twilight is already there as far as I know. So…there you have it.” “Right, and when are-” The sound of someone ringing the doorbell stopped him from finishing his question. Rainbow immediately said, "That's my cue. Gotta go, bye!" before she hastily put the rest of her breakfast in her mouth and began to run for the door. Firefly just sighed at her daughter's antics before she turned to her husband and asked, "Why must that girl always be in such a hurry?" Blaze just shrugged and turned his focus back to his newspaper. When Rainbow reached the door and opened it, she saw a timid and very skinny girl with long wavy pink hair held away from her eyes by a butterfly-looking hairclip and wearing a white sleeveless shirt and a lime-green skirt decorated with more butterflies waiting patiently in the doorway. Knowing very well who she was, Rainbow greeted, “Morning, Fluttershy, you ready to go?” Fluttershy answered, “Oh, um, yes. Applejack texted that she and Pinkie will be here any second and that we should get ready to go. That is…if you don’t mind, that is.” in her usual extremely shy and timid voice. “Sure thing, just give me a sec.” After putting on her sky-blue jacket and a pair of shoes, Rainbow followed Fluttershy to the street just outside her house and began to wait for their ride to take them to CelestiaCorp. Only…Applejack seemed to be taking her sweet time before coming over. Growing slightly impatient, Rainbow turned to Fluttershy and asked, “When did Applejack say she’d come?” Fluttershy picked up her phone from her pocket and checked the text Applejack sent her before answering, “Um…she said any minute…half-an-hour ago.” “Ah man! What is taking her so long?” “I guess it might be a little tricky to find your way in this area.” “Well, she better come soon. I did not wake up this early just to stand here and wait.” Fluttershy put a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder and assured, “She’ll be here, don’t worry.” Rainbow would in any other situation argue that she was not worried, just annoyed, but…the soft touch of timid girl’s hand had a soothing effect on her and stopped the words from coming out. For years now had Rainbow seen Fluttershy in a bit of a…different light, so to speak. She really had no idea how or why it happened, but that small change soon turned into a crush that she kept hidden even when she was still dating Gilda. However, she didn't really know what to do with that crush. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had been friends for a long time, and if there was one thing Rainbow could never lose above all else, it was her friendship with Fluttershy. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to risk making it awkward or uncomfortable between them if Fluttershy didn't feel the same. Groaning for the third time that morning, Rainbow took a few steps back and sat down on the front porch of her house before saying, “I’ll try to be patient then. But if this takes an hour or more, Applejack is buying me a soda or something.” Fluttershy took a seat next to her and spent a few moments to just...take in her surroundings, look at the sky, or the trees, or the houses. She did that on occasion, especially when there was even the slightest chance that some animal might pop up somewhere. After sitting there for a few minutes in a comfortable silence, Fluttershy asked, “Dashie…” Rainbow looked at her, “Yeah?” “Why are you coming with us? I mean, I thought you hated all these advanced science things.” “It’s not just the egghead stuff. Going to town with my best friends is pretty fun in itself…right?” “Oh, sure. To be honest, that’s mostly why I’m going too.” “Really?” “That and getting a chance to see those strange and adorable animals Twilight mentioned.” “Now, that I can believe.” “Am I really that predictable?” “Sometimes…but that's mostly me knowing you so well.” After a few minutes of waiting, the familiar sound of Applejack’s old truck finally made itself known. And when the slightly rusty car pulled over to her house, Rainbow Dash stomped over to it with the intent on getting some answers. Two other teenaged girls stepped out of the car as soon as it stopped. One of them, the driver, had blonde hair that was tied up into a ponytail, with noticeable freckles on her face, a pair of worn out jeans, and her trademark Stetson that she probably never left home without on her head. Her sunburned skin and well-trained body made it pretty obvious she was used to hard work. The other one was a slightly pudgy but overly energetic girl with a chaotic mess of pink hair that almost resembled cotton candy. Even though it wasn't cotton candy, her hair did have some very strange properties that completely defied any logical explanation. And that didn’t only apply to her hair. Her white T-shirt with a heart logo and pink skirt decorated with balloons only brought home how much of an out-of-control party animal she was. Rainbow Dash quickly got in the Stetson-wearing girl’s face and asked, “What took you guys so long?!” “Well, howdy to you too, Rainbow.” She answered in her southern country accent with a hint of sarcasm. “Uhm...hi Applejack. So why did you take so long?” “I asked…Pinkie for directions.” The messy-haired girl apparently called Pinkie explained, “Jackie, you said I should tell you the way I used last time I went to Dashie’s house, you never said the fastest way. The last time I was kinda lost and tried to buy some ice cream on the way but the store was closed and I looked for another one but that one didn't have any strawberry-flavoured ice cream and I really wanted strawberry but not a single store in town had my favourite flavour and nobody and I mean nobody could come up with a single explanation why and that was when I realised-” Applejack put a hand over Pinkie's mouth to stop her from talking, mostly to prevent her from going on forever. Then she looked at Rainbow, “I think you get the idea.” “Yeah...I guess." Rainbow answered. “Anyway, we best be goin’ before Twilight wonders where the hay we are.” “Way ahead of you!” Rainbow declared before she entered the back seat of Applejack's truck. Applejack looked at Fluttershy, who was still sitting by the porch, and asked, “Ya coming, sugarcube?” Fluttershy scrambled to her feet and said “I’m coming!” before entering the car as well. However, when it was Pinkie’s turn to go back inside, she suddenly froze on the spot while her hair started to twitch, her ears flopped uncontrollably, her eyes fluttered followed by her fingers twirling, and that was followed by an enormous gasp of pure shock. Applejack raised an eyebrow at her friend’s unusual antics, “What is it now, Pinkie?” Pinkie immediately grabbed Applejack’s shoulders and warned, “I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but my ‘Pinkie Sense’ is telling me that something totally and absolutely unexpected is going to happen to someone in our immediate vicinity within the next 24 hours that will change that person’s life…FOREVER!...Or I forgot to feed Gummy again. I can never really tell which is which.” “Suuure, if you say so…” Deep in the more central parts of the city was the hard-to-miss skyscraper with the words ‘CelestiaCorp’ written in big all-caps letters. As one might guess, this was the place where most of the work in the company was done. However, at the bottom floor of the building, there was a simple cafeteria set up for employees and guests alike to take some time off in case they needed it. Twilight Sparkle was a dark-skinned girl recognised by her dark blue hair with pink and purple streaks in it that was tied up into a bun, as well as her over-sized glasses and lab coat that she brought to work. She was currently sitting at one of the café tables with one of her colleges and close friends, Sunset Shimmer, another girl about her age with flame-looking red and yellow hair who was also wearing a lab coat. “So why did you turn him down?” Sunset asked. Twilight took a sip of a cup of coffee before answering, “Don’t get me wrong, I'm flattered that at least someone thought I was dating material, but Flash isn't really my type. Besides, I'm not really looking for boyfriends right now.” The other girl had a teasing smile when she suggested, “Does that mean you’re looking for girlfriends then?” Twilight gave her friend a deadpan glare. “Sunset…” “Well, are you?” “I am not even going to indulge that question with an answer.” Sunset’s grin faded at that, and she took on a more serious tone when she asked, “Are you ever going to let loose, Twilight?” “And if by ‘let loose’, you mean ‘get drunk, have wild parties or smooch people you barely know’ like the stereotype of my age-group would suggest, then no, I'm not.” “No, what I mean is 'hang out with friends and have a life outside the lab', because you really don’t seem to be doing that a lot.” “I have friends, and I'm going to show them what I've been working on today.” “Yeah, show them the things you’re interested in. When was the last time you did something they wanted to do?” Twilight tried to answer that, but couldn’t come up with anything to say in her defence. She then spent a few seconds thinking it through. When she had reviewed her past behaviour thoroughly, her brain suddenly went into overdrive. Then she started to rant, “This is a disaster! How could I not have noticed it sooner?! I turned down most of Pinkie’s parties just because I was too busy studying, the same with nearly all of Rainbow Dash’s sport matches, then I didn't help Fluttershy at the animal centre because I was too busy with my research, and I couldn't even spend one day helping Applejack with her family’s apple trade! They must all think I'm a geeky, unsocial nerd who cannot even bring herself to care about anything besides my research, that I cannot even bother to care about what they want, what they think is fun! What if they won’t forgive me?! What if they all decide to…” Sunset, in an attempt to stop Twilight from rambling on, said, “Twilight.” “…And then I’ll get too distracted at work thinking about what a terrible friend I am so that Celestia will have to fire me for not doing my job! I cannot…” “Twilight.” “…But what if I can’t?! I have to-” “Twilight!” That immediately shut her up, and she soon noticed that her rant had gained the attention of just about everybody in the cafeteria. A blush appeared on her cheeks while she nervously faced them and said, “Sorry.” She then looked back at Sunset and asked, “I…had one of my episodes, right?” “Pretty much.” Twilight sighed, “Sorry, I know I shouldn't overreact like that all the time, but…it’s hard not to at times.” “It’s just your OCD playing up, no need to make a big deal out of it.” “Wait, are you saying I shouldn't worry about my unhealthy worrying?” Sunset just now realised the irony of her advice and awkwardly answered, “Uhmm…something like that.” “All right, but about my friends…” Suddenly, Pinkie literary appeared out of nowhere, sat down on an empty chair at their table and asked, “What about us?” All in less than four seconds. Both Twilight and Sunset jumped at the sudden arrival of the hyperactive girl and let out a simultaneous scream of “Aaaaaaah!” “‘Aaaaaaah!’ yourself, but that doesn't really answer my question, silly.” After taking a moment of careful breathing to recover from the unexpected encounter, Twilight answered, “Well…we were just talking…about…things. So are the others here or is it just you?” Pinkie ran back to the entrance to the cafeteria where Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack were standing before hugging all three of them very tightly while shouting, “WE’RE ALL HERE!” “Oh, good, I’ll be with you in just a moment.” Twilight said before looking back at Sunset, who could only stare at Pinkie blankly with a slack jaw. “What…how…what?” Sunset mumbled while trying to comprehend exactly what she just witnessed. Twilight simply shrugged and explained, “She is just being Pinkie Pie. Don’t even bother trying to understand it. Believe me, I've tried.” Sunset blinked a few times before finally saying, “I’ll take your word for it.” Twilight then looked over to the new arrivals, “So you guys want a cup of coffee or something?” Rainbow answered, “No, I'm good.” “Sorry, sugarcube, but I'm rightly anxious to get this thing goin’.” Applejack replied. Fluttershy added, “I…had a cup just this morning.” Pinkie Pie revealed, “My family forbade me from drinking coffee.” The others gave her a weird look and Applejack questioned, “Uhmm…and why is that, exactly?” “They just didn't want a repeat of what happened last time. I don’t really see what the big deal is though…” Twilight then rose from her chair and walked over to her friends before saying, “All right then, I suppose we should get on with the tour, I guess.” Sunset followed suite and took a moment or so to inspect the group in front of her with an analytical eye. After working out who was who, she greeted, “Welcome to CelestiaCorp. I'm Sunset Shimmer, Twilight’s lab partner. And if I had to guess, you would be Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkamina Diane Pie.” Pinkie immediately corrected, “It’s just Pinkie, only mom and dad call me Pinkamina.” “Good to know…Pinkie.” Rainbow questioned, “How exactly do you know our names?” “Oh, Twilight has told me all about you guys, and I've been looking forward to meeting you all in person.” Applejack declared, “Well, it’s rightly nice to meet you too, Sunset. Any friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine.” “Likewise, Applejack.” Twilight suggested, “So…should we begin the tour?” With quick agreements from the guests, Twilight and Sunset began to show the group some of the various labs and operations in the building. The first area they visited was the mechanical engineering storage, filled with various state of the art machines that could revolutionise everyday life in a lot of ways. Mechanical prosthetics to replace lost limbs far more flexible and usable than ever before, the ability to fly at high speeds without the need of a plane or helicopter, and even full-body suits capable of increasing the strength of the one wearing it. Applejack shared some sort of interest in those applications, especially with how they could make working at her farm so much easier, especially for her ageing grandmother. Pinkie was more interested in the potential ‘fun’ one could have by using them, which quickly lead to Twilight making it very clear that the inventions were not to be used carelessly. Fluttershy however, wasn't particularly interested in machines and quietly waited for them to move on. Rainbow Dash was a bit interested in knowing how the flight tech could be used, especially since her lifelong dream was to be able to fly…as a pilot or otherwise. However, that was the only thing she found moderately interesting in this place. She honestly just wanted the tour to be over, but she kept that opinion to herself. As they moved on to the Bio-labs, Fluttershy very quickly regained her excitement. After Twilight told her about the numerous animals and other life forms CelestiaCorp were studying, Fluttershy couldn't wait to see them up close. The Bio-labs were filled with glass cages containing everything from mutated animals to unidentified plants to…whatever the mysterious black goo in one of the cages was. Sunset Shimmer was standing next to the glass dome that contained the odd black organism when she explained, “This strange black slime must be my favourite specimen in this room, I guess that might be because I really cannot explain just what on earth it is. While it lacks all the traits associated with the animal kingdom, it is confirmed to house some sort of direction or even intelligence. Best of what we can tell, it is some form of…symbiote creature. It bonds with another living being and shares traits both to and from the organism it bonds with, and it seems to actively seek out potential hosts.” Applejack questioned, “Doesn't that mean that the darn thing could try to infect one of them scientist workin’ here?” Twilight clarified, “It is a possibility, yes, but we've made sure that the symbiote is kept inside a sealed container at all times. However, there was that one time it escaped into the spider enclosure and came into contact with one of the super-spiders.” Sunset continued, “We got them separated by using the creature’s apparent weakness to loud noises, but it had already absorbed some of the spider’s DNA. That was also when we realised that it was symbiotic.” “What about the spider, did that creature hurt it?” Fluttershy asked worriedly. Twilight scratched the back of her neck while answering, “Well…we’re not really sure.” “Maybe I can be the judge of that.” “Oh, okay.” Twilight guided the others over to a large collection of small glass cages containing a spider of some kind in each. Then she pointed at a rather large spider that was coloured brightly red and blue, “That’s the one that was affected. She was one of several spiders to exhibit strange aberrations in their genes due to exposure with an unknown form of radiation.” Fluttershy took a good long look at the strange spider to see if it was indeed in good health. Being a veterinarian in training, she could read animals on a level few could even come close to, and the way the spider was just sitting in the corner with its legs lazily lying on the floor sent out a lot of warning signals in her head. “No, this little creature is not okay. She needs some serious help soon. Why don’t I take her home just for one night and she’ll come back as good as new in the morning?” Twilight’s face dropped when she answered, “I’m sorry, but the rules are very clear that no specimen is allowed to leave the building without permission. I’m afraid I have no choice in this matter.” Fluttershy looked down at the floor dejectedly while mumbling, “Okay…sorry I asked.” “Oh no, don’t be sorry. You had a completely valid concern.” “Sorry for saying sorry.” Having no idea what to say to that, Twilight tried, “Uhmm…I forgive you?” “Okay.” A long and rather awkward silence followed, and Sunset eventually thought that it was her duty to end it by urging, “All right, let’s move on.” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “Indeedely! Where are we going next!? Is the next place just as fun as the last ones?!” “I guess it might be. Follow me.” Sunset began to lead the group to yet another part of the building, but Fluttershy was frozen on the spot, and she was still staring at the sick spider with a sad look on her face. Rainbow Dash, who had been too uninterested to listen to the science lecture, became concerned when she saw the expression on Fluttershy’s face. Not willing to see her best friend look so miserable, Rainbow asked, “Fluttershy, are you okay?” Fluttershy suddenly grabbed Rainbow by the shoulders and said, “You have to help me help that spider!” “What are you talking about?” “Remember that time when you broke into the principal’s office to play that prank on her?” “Um, yeah. But what does that have to do with-” “And the time you broke into that shop to-” Rainbow suddenly put a hand on Fluttershy’s mouth before whispering, “I thought we agreed not to mention my…you know…shoplifting days.” Then she removed the hand, “So can you please stop reciting my criminal record and get to the point?” Fluttershy nodded and pointed at the spider’s cage, “All right, I want you to use your lock-picking skills to open that cage so that I can take care of the poor sick spider. That is…if you don’t mind.” Rainbow looked around nervously, trying to see how many eyewitnesses there were around. Most of the local scientists seemed to be too busy to pay attention to them, and Twilight had started some kind of conversation with Sunset while Applejack was trying to keep Pinkie Pie from disturbing the scientists. She then turned back to Fluttershy and asked, “Won’t we get into…you know…trouble for this?” “But we can’t just leave her here and get even sicker. Come on, please…” Any semblance of hesitation to what Fluttershy was suggesting faded when the pink-haired girl just looked at her with those big adorable puppy dog eyes. Rainbow Dash’s only known weakness. With a cocky smile forming on her face, Rainbow said, “All right then, cover me while I get this thing open.” Fluttershy knew what to do and positioned herself with her back to the spider enclosures, simultaneously keeping an eye out for trouble while also standing in the way of Rainbow’s hands while she fished out her secret lock-picking equipment and started to work on getting the lock on the cage open. Eventually, she broke through the lock and began to slowly open the glass wall keeping the spider from freedom. However, just before she could tell Fluttershy that she got it open, a woman’s voice suddenly asked, “What are you two doing?!” That voice immediately made both of them freeze on the spot out of fear of getting caught in the act. And very slowly, the two of them turned to face the one who asked that. It turned out to be a fairly tall woman in her late thirties in a black suit with long dark blue, or maybe purple, hair that went down her back in waves. However, the part about her that made Fluttershy and Rainbow most uncomfortable was the disapproving look on her face. Fluttershy tried to explain, “Well, we were just…looking at the…um…spiders and-” But the woman quickly interrupted, “Please don’t lie to me, young lady. I know how to tell the difference between truth and lies.” Fluttershy tried to hide her face behind her hair and was a bit too scared and embarrassed to say a word. Rainbow meanwhile closed the cage and removed the lockpick she used to get it open as quietly and inconspicuously as she possibly could. The woman took their silence as answer enough and groaned, “Ughh…I don’t even know what my sister was thinking when she allowed a bunch of tourists enter our most secure facilities without anyone keeping any oversight over them. Now tell me what you two were doing to the specimens before I call security.” Her attitude did not sit well with Rainbow Dash at all, and she soon got right in the woman’s face while asking, “And who the hell do you think you are, huh?!” Rainbow’s brash questioning did not faze the woman at all, and she calmly answered, “I am Luna, Vice President of CelestiaCorp, and who, might I ask, are you?” “Listen well, because I’m Rainbow Dash, the one and only, and I don’t appreciate people berating me or my friends!” “You want some piece of advice, Miss Dash: Subtlety. If you keep shoving your face into every single thing that annoys you, you’re more likely to end up with a punch in the face or worse. Besides, that look of confidence is a lie in itself. Better you put on a mask, that way nobody would be able to tell your true weaknesses.” “You’re just making that up! I’m not scared of you, and I don’t need a stupid mask!” “Maybe not a literal mask, but you better learn how to…” she suddenly trailed off when she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass of the spider enclosure. Luna could not put her finger on it, but she definitively noticed something off about the person looking back at her. However, with no intention of making a fool of herself in front of everybody, Luna abruptly said, “Just move along, you two, but don’t let me catch you doing anything suspicious again. Got it?” Neither teen said anything to that and just watched as Luna turned on her heel and left them alone. When Fluttershy gave Rainbow a questioning look, the rainbow-haired girl just shrugged before the two of them went to regroup with the others. However, what they didn't realise was that the spider was no longer in the cage. In fact, during the time Rainbow was preoccupied paying attention to Luna, the spider had climbed out of its cage and up onto her arm. The arachnid was now sitting on Rainbow's back and she had no idea that it was even there. Oblivious to the secret stowaway, Rainbow Dash continued the rest of the day as she expected. They went to see a few more labs, listened to more lectures from Twilight and Sunset, and by the end of the tour, Rainbow Dash was on the verge of falling asleep. Eventually though, Twilight called it a day and they all decided to get some dinner at a restaurant just across the street from the CelestiaCorp building. Admittedly, they all had a great time there. With all the science (or egghead stuff as Rainbow called it) out of the way, Rainbow Dash could finally go back to talking about the things that she found interesting. Namely the one thing she actually had in common with Twilight Sparkle: their mutual love of Daring Do. “No way Ahuizotl could survive that!” Rainbow exclaimed after the news Twilight just told her. But Twilight simply shrugged and said, “A.K. Yearling announced that he would be the main villain of the new book, so he must have survived somehow.” “But it makes no sense. I mean, the guy had an entire pyramid crash on top of him. That you don’t walk away from.” “You wouldn’t expect such an iconic character to just get killed off that easily, did you?” “I suppose not, but what’s the point in having him die in the first place if he’s supposed to come back in the sequel?” The rest of the group was just staring at the two of them while waiting for someone to change the subject. Since none of the others had ever read any of the Daring Do books didn’t they have the faintest idea of what they were on about. Pinkie pretended to understand though…for some reason. Eventually, Sunset got roped into their conversation and said, “I just don’t see what the big deal is. I mean, isn't Daring Do just an Indiana Jones crossed with Lara Croft who is somehow a talking pony with wings?” Rainbow argued, “Not when you put it that way! Daring Do is so much more than that. Daring Do is excitement, adventure and awesomeness. And no, the series is not just for kids.” "I guess you're right about that, but I just can't see why so many adults find that series interesting. I mean, the characters are ponies for crying out loud." And the debate went on. Rainbow Dash and Twilight defended their interest in adventure stories with 'pony-Indiana jones' while Sunset Shimmer kept a certain degree of scepticism about the whole thing. Eventually the subject changed to Applejack's concerns about a pair of business men calling themselves the Flim Flam brothers, who had repeatedly tried to swindle Applejack's family's farm away from them. Apparently, the Flim Flam brothers had been supported by an anonymous benefactor to take over the apple business from the Apple family. While Applejack was sure they were up to something suspicious, she had no evidence to prove anything. After that, Pinkie Pie decided to lighten up the mood by bringing up yet another party she was planning. Apparently, it was her pet alligator (long story how she got her hands on one of those) Gummy’s birthday next week, and she wanted to invite all of her friends to his party. However, she assured the others that she wouldn't try to throw any last-minute after-birthday parties that could potentially clash with any surprise birthday parties her friends might or might not have been planning for her. No one wanted a repeat of what happened last year. After the six of them had spent about two hours at the restaurant, give or take, they all agreed to call it a night and head home. Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer both lived in the more central parts of the city, so they could easily get home on their own. The rest of them had to rely on Applejack's truck to get where they wanted to be. By the time the sun had set, Applejack had already gotten Pinkie to her home at the edge of the city and was just now reaching the suburban district where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy lived. Though, without Pinkie Pie's guidance, it actually took even longer for Applejack to find the place where they lived. When they finally arrived at Rainbow Dash's house, Applejack turned to her two remaining passengers and announced, “Well, it might have taken awhile to find this place, but at least y’all are here now.” “Well, thanks for the ride anyway.” Rainbow said while she and Fluttershy stepped out of the car. Applejack said “Anytime!” and waited for Fluttershy to close the door before she began to drive home, leaving them at the same place she picked them up that very morning. After spending a few moments not doing anything but just standing there, Fluttershy noted, “Well, it’s been…nice to get out and see all those things today.” Rainbow turned to her and said, “Yeah, I suppose. And…I’m sorry I couldn't get that spider for you.” “Oh, it’s okay. I guess I was a bit wrong in trying to take her away.” “So…now what?” Fluttershy let out a big yawn, “I’m feeling a bit tired. I think I’m going to bed.” “Well, good night then, Flutters.” “You too, Dashie.” With that said, the two of them parted ways for the night. Fluttershy walked over to her mom's house, which happened to be the house across the street, while Rainbow Dash herself returned to her own home. Feeling rather exhausted after everything that happened during the day, Rainbow Dash didn't even bother saying hello to her parents and immediately headed to her room and shut the door behind her. And as soon as she got there, she fell on top of her bed with the intention of getting some much-needed nap time. While she was lying there, her eyes wandering over the posters on the walls, she thought back on the goals she had set out to reach at some point in her life. The Wonderbolt posters were there to remind her of her lifelong dream of one day being able to fly. She knew becoming a pilot would be the most realistic way of ever doing that, but in truth, she wanted far more than that. She wanted to be able to soar through the air without a dome of glass separating her from the outside world, to feel the wind slam against her face while she moved faster than the eye could see. But, what were the odds of that ever happening? Her other posters were of Daring Do, who she admired for being such a fearless and completely unstoppable hero who would go to the ends of the earth to do what she felt was right. That was also something Rainbow wanted, but no matter how ‘awesome’ she claimed to be, she knew she wasn't strong enough to go around being everyone’s hero in the real world. However, the things Rainbow Dash conceived as reality was about to be tested forever. After a while, she noticed a strange tingling feeling on her wrist and curiously moved her arm to eye-level to see what it was. But when she saw a fairly big red and blue spider walk on top of her hand like that, she reacted like any other person would have. She panicked. She frantically shook her wrist to make the invading arachnid hopefully fall off, but her attempts did little more than annoy it. And when a venomous spider felt threatened, there was always one thing it could do. It sank its fangs right through the skin of her hand and poured its venom directly into her bloodstream. It didn't take long before Rainbow Dash began to feel the effects. She started to sweat profusely, an uncontrollable shiver ran through her body, causing her to convulse and spasm like crazy until she felt extremely sleepy all of a sudden. No matter how hard she tried, she could not prevent herself from slipping into the state of unconsciousness. As her forced sleep took hold over her, a massive change was going on inside her very genes, one that was going to change her life forever. That was how it all began…that was the event that would give rise to the Awesome Spider-Dash!