//------------------------------// // Of Trains and Tangents // Story: Spiders and Magic: Edge of Time // by MetalJrock //------------------------------// "Why the shock are we on a train again?" Miguel asked impatiently. At this point, the ponies were used to his distasteful outbursts. Twilight rolled her eyes. "We're going to Canterlot to warn Celestia and Luna of Sloan and his sudden idea to bring in villains from your time." Peter explained to his successor, 'Weird. My Spider-Sense is weakening the farther we get from Ponyville. I wonder why that is.' he thought. "That, and the Spider-Mobile, despite being faster, wouldn't be able to hold all of us for a drive. Well, that and I wanna make a few adjustments to it anyhow should we need to in case of an emergency. But I'll worry about that when we get back." "We sent the girls to stay at Sweet Apple Acres until we get back," Rarity said, "Just in case we end up facing another one of your foes, Miguel. We don't plan on staying long anyhow." Twilight sighed, "I'm just glad that Mayday will most likely stay safe. Sloan would most likely be near Canterlot and would send somepony there to get us. Luckily she was asleep and missed the battle against Venture and his army." "Yeah." Peter agreed, "So far we found two rifts. Who knows how many more there are?" Trixie spoke up, "There actually wasn't a whole lot. Twilight and I managed to find at least six so far. And you managed to close two of them with one of them being near Canterlot anyway. Trixie did her research." she gloated. "Yeah. That's good. It means that Sloan can't do a whole lot while we're on his trail." Miguel crossed his hooves. "He'll pay for all of the crimes he's committed." "Heh. You're starting to act like the 1930's Spider-Man." joked Peter, "In fact... It's weird. You kinda sound like him now. From what I remembered, you sounded a lot older and sounded like Bumblebee from that old Transformers cartoon." "Shut up, Parker. You're not much better! You sound like the younger Peter wearing the black suit now, when your voice was similar to that suit-wearing guy from that old early 21st-century sitcom How I Met You Mother!" "Hold on! Y-You mean, Barney Stinson? Neil Patrick Harris?" Peter blurted out in disbelief. "Wait a minute, how do you even know about that show in your time? Is there future DVR where you can just watch whatever you want on some awesome hologram screen? Cause if so, I want one when you get back." "Yeah! No one ever shocking told you that before?!" Miguel practically shouted. "No... But then again to prove your point..." Peter held up his costume, "Nothing suits me like a suit. The girls can tell you that much." he teased, earning a few glares from the others, except from Twilight who giggled, and Fluttershy who blushed in embarassment, remembering the 'wing-incident' she had when she saw Peter at the gala. "Can you two cut out the references?" Rainbow Dash groaned. "It's making my head hurt hearing all lf these things that just don't make sense to us." "O-Oh my..." Fluttershy muttered, hiding her face behind her long pink mane. "So... Do you actually have future DVR?" Peter repeated. Miguel smirked, "Maybe... When I have some downtime when I'm not fighting crime or working." "Good to know. I guess I'll be heading to 2099 to watch TV once all this is said and done." Peter replied, putting his hooves behind his head. "I have a lot of shows to catch up on. Mainly because there is no television here and I could use somethings to binge. By the way, can you tell me who wins the next the eighty Super Bowls?" "What the shock is that?" Miguel blurted out. Peter sighed, "Well, at least I know football will fade into obscurity. My teenage self will be glad to hear that." he chuckled, 'And Flash Thompson would hate me forever should he find out. Luckily, I don't have to deal with him anymore.' "Can I come?" wondered Pinkie. Peter chuckled, "No offense, Pinkie, but I don't think any of you are ready to see the future." "I think I can handle it." Dash assured. "So, are we doin' that, O'Hara? Let's all crash at your place and just watch every show on your holograms." Peter laughed. Shaking his head, Miguel replied, "Nope. You're all better off here. My apartment is off limits." "Aw..." moaned Pinkie. Trixie chuckled and sarcastically said, "And I was so looking forward to that. Oh well..." "Do you even know what a TV is, Trixie?" asked Spike. "They're so cool! Peter, Twilight and I watched so many shows while we were on Earth! Even though I still regret watching Barney just to understand what Aunt May was talking about." he grumbled that last part, earning a laugh from Peter. "Yes, Spike, I've heard you talk about at least fifty times when you came back from Earth." Trixie rolled her eyes. Peter slouched in his seat, "I would've never thought the Helicarrier or Strange would have televisions. Then again, I could see the carrier be used as a superhero squad base when the Triskelion isn't being used or Avengers Tower gets destroyed." Miguel looked out the window and ignored Peter's tangent, seeing a city up in the mountains, "What the shock? That city is on the side of a mountain!" he observed. "That's not even possible!" "Says the guy from the time where buildings reach near space and cars fly past his apartment window and he talks to his computer program." Peter teased. Miguel gave his predecessor a deadpan stare in silence, "...Shut up, Parker." "You have an AI? Is it like JARVIS?" Twilight wondered. Rainbow pointed a hoof upward, "Oh yeah! I think he used it when I wanted to go with them to find that portal in the Everfree Forest! What'd ya call it again, Lylat?" "Lyla." corrected Miguel. "Lylat sounds like some kind of solar system." he added. Shrugging, Peter said, "It sounds like something you hear in a video game." "You mean like a game about a group of space pilot animals that fight a giant alien head?" Pinkie questioned. "Uh... Sure." "Anyway... you said it was JARVIS? How the shock did you end up with Iron Man's old computer program?" wondered O'Hara. "Tony gave us a solar-powered laptop with voice commands since us ponies do not have fingers to type." Peter explained. "Twilight uses it all the time for research purposes." Trixie teased. Applejack put a hoof on her chin, "I'm still tryin' to figure out what you actually do with it, Twi." "Like Trixie said... Research. Mainly about the human world and information already stored on it." "Right. How much longer until we reach this shocking town?" "It's not just a town, Miguel. It's Canterlot," Rarity began to say, "One of the most prestigous cities in Equestria. Where all of the high-class citizens reside and where the finest of businesses are found, and one day I shall expand my business there." "See, O'Hara? You got Rarity on one of her fancy tangents!" Rainbow Dash mocked. Rarity rolled her eyes, "I thought it'd be best if we inform Miguel on the location." she replied sternly. "Sure, Rares. Ah think he can figure it out once he meets the Princesses." Applejack commented. "Princesses? What's next? You're gonna tell me about the 'Magic of Friendship'?" groaned Miguel, who scowled upon seeing the glances the girls, Peter and Spike were giving one another worridly. "Jam it!" he shouted through gritted teeth, slamming his hooves softly on the leather chair. "Is there anything else I'm missing?" "Yeah, Celestia and Luna control the Sun and the Moon." Peter laughed. Miguel raised a brow, "Are you shocking kidding me!? That's ridiculous!" he yelled. "Again. Coming from the time-travelling man with spider powers disguised as a horse. Seriously, O'Hara, you should just stop while you're ahead." Peter responded with a smirk. "Um... Are you done O'Hara?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah, I'm done. It's just- All of this is bizarre! I'm still adjusting to be a shocking pegasus." O'Hara pointed to his wings, "I mean, I can fly now, but I still needed to learn how to move like a horse." "I know where you're comin' from, O'Hara. Heh. It took a lot of time to get used to this world, even if my spider powers were fading from me." Peter agreed. "Well, we'll help you every step of the way, Miguel." Twilight said calmly. Suddenly, they all felt the train stop. "It looks like we finally made it." "Great. Hey, Twilight? Can I ask you a question?" Peter trailed off. "Yes, Peter?" Holding in a chuckle, Peter continued, "Is it true that you have FAIRY GODPARENTS?!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, bouncing in place as he did. He got a reaction, just not the one he was expecting, but it did make the others chuckle, even Miguel. Twilight slapped Peter on the back of his head. "That is some strange architecture." Sloan and Serena looked up at the mountain in which Canterlot was built off of. "There should be a rift somewhere within that town. All of the other ones we've been to did not add up and pointed us here. This must be Canterlot." said Sloan. "Once we're there I'll bring my small army. I managed to bargain with our next slave." Patel chuckled. Sloan raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? What was that?" "To be turned back to normal. By the time Spider-Man stops him, your little wild card should be ready to face him, and that's when you shall harness the energy of the final rift." Doc Ock replied. "Excellent." "Strange..." Walker trailed off, "My tracker is pointing me right... Here." the two stopped and Sloan used his magic to open the rift. "That wasn't there earlier when I began my search." he stepped in, and left Ock for a moment. He came out after she waited for about a few minutes. "Did it take you back to the Gateway room like the others?" Serena wondered. Sloan shook his head, "It did not. It looked like this very spot. Except the plantation was growing back from withered remains and the town over there appeared to be under reconstruction, and the castle that towers over it appeared to have been replaced. It was as though they suffered a war that they had just won." "That rift must have taken you to this world's future." Ock suggested. Sloan put a hoof on his chin, "Perhaps you're right. We'll send the Professor there to do more research for us once we open the portal in Canterlot. For now, we must make haste. Spider-Man could already be on his way there and if he is then we lose our headstart in harnessing the rifts."