The Amazing Spider-Mare: A Long Way From Home

by SuperPinkBrony12

"Something of a Scientist Myself"

So it was that Spider Mare and Black Cat were forced to return to Sugarcube Corner, largely to get their wounds tended to but also to get their bearings and consider their next move. Now that they had an idea of just what they were up against, hopefully they could be better prepared for the next encounter. And there would be a next encounter. They very well couldn't leave Starlight down in the sewers in her current condition. She was far too dangerous to be left to her own devices. She had to be stopped one way or another.

Once the superheroes figured out how, that is. And right now, that was something they didn't know. It was kind of hard to think of a plan when you were sore all over and in desperate need of rest.

Mrs. Cake did her best not to frown, tsk or shake her head as she went about patching up Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich up in the loft in which they lived. This wasn't the first time she'd been pressed into service as a makeshift nurse, and it was almost certainly not going to be the last. Even so, she was anything but pleased with the state she found her charges in. "The two of you, in the sewers, fighting a giant lizard creature," She lightly scolded. "If not for the fact that I myself was once a victim of those crazy happenings, I wouldn't believe it."

Cheese Sandwich winced a bit as a cold compress touched his back. "For a lizard, Starlight sure hits hard," He groaned. "It's like I blinked and it was all over. One minute I was standing up just fine, the next I was on the ground."

Pinkie Pie let out an impatient sigh as she looked out her bedroom window, her tail fidgeting and swaying back and forth. "We got caught off guard that time. But next time we'll have our guard on for sure. We have to go back down there! Starlight's not thinking straight, and we're the only ponies who could possibly get her to see sense. Hopefully, without having to knock it into her."

Cheese nodded ever so slowly. "Right, I hear ya. Probably would've helped if we hadn't split up the way we did. Safety in numbers and all that."

Pinkie nodded back. "Yeah, definitely won't wanna repeat that mistake," Then her thoughts turned to matters more pressing (at least in her mind). "But I'm more worried about that blueprint I saw in Starlight's lair. Whatever it is, I'll bet my webs it can't be anything good. It's just got to be another 'experiment' of some kind, just like the one that turned Starlight into The Lizard. If only I'd had more time to get a good look at it, or even snap a picture of it."

At that Cheese stood up and began to smirk. "Funny you should mention that, dear. Because, well... probably better to show you rather than tell you."

The pink party pony playfully grinned and teased. "No, you didn't."

"Oh, but I did!" Cheese insisted as he reached into his mane with a hoof. Seconds later, he produced a slightly wrinkled and crumpled blueprint. "Tada! Managed to snag it just before we left while Starlight was distracted. Figured it must be important. You don't just leave blueprints lying around for no good reason. I mean, who does that?"

Pinkie quickly snatched up the blueprint and carefully unfolded it, trying to get a good look at what it was and what it detailed. "You're a lifesaver, hon!" She told her husband, briefly giving him a kiss on the cheek. But then she turned her attention to more pressing concerns as she turned her blue eyes back to the blueprint. In silence, she looked it over once, then twice.

"What is it?" Cheese Sandwich asked when what felt like minutes (but was probably only seconds) ticked by without any kind of response from his wife. It wasn't like her to be quiet for no reason at all.

Pinkie Pie just replied. "I'm not sure. It's some kind of weapon, but what it's for I can't possibly even begin to understand," Then her eyes lit up! "But I'll bet my webs that Twilight will know! She can see things even I can't see, blueprints especially."

"Are you two really going to head back out so soon?" Mrs. Cake asked with concern as she saw Pinkie and Cheese grab their costumes and slip into them. "It wouldn't hurt to rest for a little bit and let your wounds heal. You're not invincible."

"I know, Mrs. Cake," Spider Mare firmly replied as she pulled down her mask. "We'll do our best to be careful. But there's no telling how far along Starlight is on building that weapon of hers. We have to know what we're up against so we can start building a plan of attack. One way or another, Cheese and I have to cure her!"

Mrs. Cake reluctantly sighed, sensing that there was little she could do to change the mind of the power couple. "Well, just try to keep your time in the..." She coughed into a hoof. "Muck down there to a minimum. The souvenirs you picked up from Ponyville's sewers are best left where they come from."

Black Cat nodded back. "We'll do our best," And then, after grabbing his baton he said to the plump baker. "Thanks again for all you do, Mrs. Cake. I don't know what Pinkie and I would do without you." Then he and Spider Mare left through the window at the other end of the loft.

Mrs. Cake waved a hoof to the departing superheroes, then sighed and headed back downstairs. The situation was out of her hooves now. All she could was hope for the best.

---

A little bit of web slinging later, Spider Mare and Black Cat were back on familiar ground once again. For only the second time in less than twenty four hours, they were at Princess Twilight's castle. By this point, the yellow police tape had been removed and the earlier police presence had vanished. But there were still signs of the disturbance from last night that had not yet been patched or addressed.

Spider Mare walked up first with Black Cat following close behind. She quickly knocked on the door as hard as she could.

Spike answered the door but a moment later, and quickly invited the guests inside. "Oh, hey guys," He greeted. "Let me guess, you're here to see Twilight?"

"Yes, Spike. And it's all got to do with Starlight," Spider Mare replied as she and Black Cat trotted inside. "Has Twilight told you yet about what happened?"

"To Starlight?" Spike guessed, and then nodded back. "Yeah, she has," He couldn't help but comment. "For the record, I tried to tell Starlight that what she was doing was a bad idea. But she just wouldn't listen. Then again, that's Starlight for you, unfortunately. She's never one to take 'no' for an answer. And where other ponies might stop and reconsider their actions, she just charges ahead with whatever idea's in her mind."

Spider Mare could only frown. "I just wish she would've listened, just this once."

Spike simply replied. "Well, we can't change the past. We all know what happens when we try to do that," Then he promised. "I'll go get Twilight now. You two just wait here." And he departed without another word.

The little dragon returned shortly with Twilight in tow. "Oh, hey you two," She greeted Spider Mare and Black Cat. "Did you manage to find Starlight down in the sewers? Is she okay?"

Spider Mare hung her head and unhappily sighed. "We did find her. But it seems like that transformation did more than just alter her body. It turned her crazy. She was talking about building a new society, a better world."

"And it gets worse," Black Cat ominously added as his lips quivered. "Apparently, some other ponies came in contact with traces of that serum. They turned into lizards too. In fact, Starlight took to calling herself The Lizard Queen or just The Lizard."

Twilight put a hoof to her face and groaned. "It's like she's gone back to how she was when she ran that village. I guess there really is no substitute for crazy."

The wall crawler promptly made a fist with one of her hooves as she vowed. "Which is why we need to find a way to change her back, now! There has to be a way to reverse the effects of that serum, a way to engineer a cure! There has to be, and we need to find it!"

Black Cat then presented the blueprint he'd obtained earlier to Twilight. "While we're at it, you should probably take a look at this. Pinkie thinks it's some kind of weapon, though what kind of weapon it is she can't say for sure."

Twilight took hold of the blueprint with her magic. "I'll do my best," She then waved a hoof. "In the meantime, there's something I wanna show you two. I found it after the police left. It was buried in some of the rubble in Starlight's lab, so it was easy to overlook. But I think it might be useful in helping us develop a cure."

---

The two web slinging superheroes promptly followed the young alicorn princess back down to the badly trashed lab. Everything was still the way it was when they had left, no repairs had been made as of yet and the tracks were still there.

Situated on a table, however, was a rather strange looking device. It was almost like a long tube, except for a narrow and flat part on the end that resembled a scanner. It seemed like, if you wanted to, you could press it up against an arm or leg and shoot whatever was in the tube part directly into yourself.

Spider Mare quickly trotted over and inspected the weird object. "This must've been what Starlight used to get samples of lizard DNA," She realized. "With something like this, with a little bit of magic you could easily retrieve what you needed without having to get up close and personal. And then it would be easy to take out the tube to access the sample."

Black Cat nodded. "Sure seems that way. How fortunate for us that it's still intact," Then he pondered. "You think we might be able to use that... whatever it is against Starlight?"

Spider Mare looked the device all over, examining every little thing that stood out. Then she gave a reply. "I doubt it. Since we don't have magic, we'd have to get right up in Starlight's face to be able to inject her with anything. And from my brief struggle with her earlier, I don't think there's any chance of us physically overpowering her unless we get lucky."

"Then I guess we'll just have to use the element of surprise!" Black Cat concluded. "We know now where her lair is. So we'll just have to create a distraction to lure her out, then sneak in and get behind her before she realizes what's happening."

"Doubt it's gonna be that simple, Cheese," Spider Mare told her partner. "And all of that isn't going to make a difference if we don't develop a cure for her. Magic spells aren't gonna help us. Knowing Starlight, she's bound to have made whatever it is she did to herself impossible to reverse with magic alone."

"Magic is most definitely not what Starlight has in mind now, I can say that for sure," Twilight declared as she brought over the blueprint and unfolded it. "I took a look at this blueprint on our way down here, and I can say for certain that it is a weapon. A weapon unlike anything pony kind has ever seen before! If I'm right, and I'm ninety nine percent sure I'm right, this weapon is no mere ray gun. It's like a fusion cannon."

Spider Mare let out a gasp! "You mean, like it could merge two different life forms into one?!"

Twilight firmly nodded. "Just like that. It could easily create an army of pony/lizard hybrids, just like what Starlight turned herself into. One blast, and any unsuspecting pony would be mutated by lizard DNA. It's something no magic spell could ever undo! The effects would be permanent!"

Black Cat gasped too upon hearing such words! "I knew Starlight had gone crazy, but I didn't think she'd gone nearly that crazy! It's like she's trying to take over Equestria!"

"Which is why we better start putting our heads together now!" Spider Mare firmly vowed as she pushed the blueprint aside. "We need to develop a cure that'll turn Starlight back into the pony she was, and fast! There's no telling how far along she is in the construction of that fusion cannon! Who knows what unsuspecting ponies she's plotting to use that weapon on? I don't think I've come up against a villain so dangerous since I tangled with the Green Griffon." She briefly shuddered at the mental image she conjured up.

The young alicorn princess smiled ever so slightly. "I was able to find some of Starlight's research notes. It's not much, but it should help us isolate what she used for her experiment. If we can do that, we should be able to find something that counters and cures it. I'll be happy to help you both as much as you need it."

The web slinger smiled and hugged Twilight. "You're the greatest, Twilight! I mean it!" Then, she quickly regained her composure. "Now let's stop talking and start doing! We've got a lot of ground to cover!" And with that, the three ponies started putting their heads together, figuratively and literally. They HAD to find a cure for Starlight, and fast!

Author's Note:

The fusion cannon takes inspiration from a similar device that The Lizard uses in Spider-Man: The Animated Series to trigger his transformation.

This chapter's title comes from a quote by Norman Osborn in the first Sam Riley Spider-Man movie, when Norman introduces himself to Peter Parker prior to becoming the Green Goblin.

Comments

[Comickook]

Once again, a very good job on this latest chapter. Definitely liked the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. So, Pinkie and Cheese now have a much better idea what Starlight/Lizard is up to, thanks to Twilight (though it would probably be advisable to call the Fantastic Four for back-up for something this big [too bad Spike isn't Super Dragon in this universe, but then again, given that magic is one of Superman's three biggest weaknesses anyway, that would probably be a moot point]). And, hopefully, Twilight, Pinkie and Cheese will be able to come up with a good plan AND an antidote (I mean, they probably WILL, but it's still not going to be easy).

Anyway, definitely looking forward to more of this.