Spiders and Magic: Rise of Spider-Mane

by Maximus_Reborn

Trial By Fire

Chapter Thirty-Three "Trial By Fire"

Nineteen Days Remain

The setting sun touched the horizon, leaving the sky stained a dark shade of orange. The land looked as if it had been set ablaze, the bright alicorn burning at its center. The stallion stood in the courtyard, his blank lenses staying locked on the princess. The crowd continued to gather, joining the herd after word spread of Luna's defeat and Celestia's challenge. Above the castle, a pegasus soared over until she reached a good vantage point, her bright orange irises and mane matching the fiery sky perfectly.

Smirking, Spitfire perched herself on one of the castle's rooftops, folded her limbs and watched the fight ready to unfold. "Looks like I made it just in time," she said, pulling her goggles back behind her ears. "Let's see what you got... Peter."

The nobles and guards went into an uproar, cheering wildly for the two adversaries as Princess Celestia engaged Spider-Mane in combat. Her horn emitted a bright light before firing several beams at the costumed stallion, who quickly charged the alicorn in an upright, two-hooved sprint. Increasing his speed, Peter ducked underneath the first beam, dashed to the side to avoid the second, and spun his body to dodge the rest, all in smooth, rapid succession.

Princess Celestia huffed, vanishing instantaneously in a bright flash, but she returned a few hoof-lengths away from Spider-Mane and brought her flaming glaive to bear with authority, threatening to impale the stallion. His spider sense blared profusely, forcing Peter to skid to an immediate halt and launch himself away with a backflip before the weapon could meet with his body. The glaive melted through the stone, flames erupting from underneath upon impact and creating a blazing shockwave.

The force pushed the stallion further into the air than he would have liked, but Spider-Mane shot a strand of webbing from his hoof and yanked hard, shifting his momentum toward the side of the arena. Breaking away from his webbing, he flipped with his limbs stretched out with the grace of an acrobat and landed perfectly on his hind hooves on the magical barrier where a group of nobles stood.

"Such grace!" a blue mare gasped, pressing herself further against the shield the Canterlot guards held.

Her brow furrowed behind her pair of rose-tinted shades as she kept the stallion locked in her crosshairs. It was easy for the snow-white maned mare to grow so enamored with the specimen. His movements were fluid, resembling pure poetry in motion. Spider-Mane's body was not bulky in the slightest, but underneath the colorful attire was a slender, perfectly athletic figure, the details of his ripped muscle structure easy to spot thanks to his skin-tight Spandex.

As Spider-Mane leapt from his position, closing the distance between himself and Princess Celestia, the mare slid her hoof into her jet-black dress and retrieved a handkerchief. She dabbed the cloth against her forehead, wiping away the perspiration that formed due to her heightened body temperature and the flaming armament of Princess Celestia, before pressing the button on the side of the large camera next to her. Imbedded on a golden tag above the lens was the name 'Photo Finish,' and before long, the mare found herself taking what seemed like dozens of pictures of Spider-Mane.

"You astonishing arachnophile! Allow me to capture your magnificence!" she exclaimed (much to the annoyance of the ponies around her), begging that this asset be as marvelous as she hoped.

Flipping high into the air, Spider-Mane landed directly behind Princess Celestia and dove forward to deliver a straight punch to her seemingly vulnerable side, but the alicorn's glaive spun around and parried the attack, shifting Peter's momentum until he completely rolled past his opponent's body. The stallion managed to cartwheel his way from the ground, spinning around to throw a wide kick aimed for Celestia's neck.

However, like before, the princess deflected his attack and directed Spider-Mane's momentum skyward, causing the stallion to flip head over hooves with no chance to recover. Rather, that's what everypony in the castle believed before he quickly recollected his sense of balance in midair and flipped into yet another perfect landing. Spider-Mane shot a strand of webbing into the ground, sprinting for his opponent without severing the thread from his hoof.

He jumped high into the air and dove with the speed of a missile to deliver a kick, but Princess Celestia sidestepped and used her glaive to direct the stallion's momentum into the ground, planting him soundly. The alicorn spun the blade, driving it into where Peter landed, but Spider-Mane yanked his webbing, sling shotting himself away from Solaris's flame. Before Celestia could recover, Peter threw his weight forward, extended his lower hooves, and lunged with a vicious double-kick, but the alicorn's wings spread, lifting her from the ground and out of Spider-Mane's range.

Peter recovered, chuckling as he watched the sun princess float gracefully in the air. "Oh, right. I forgot you could fly."

Through labored breaths, Princess Celestia managed to smile at her opponent. "I must admit, it's been too long since I last pushed myself like this," she said as vast amounts of magical energy escaped from her horn, emitting a light potent enough to shine throughout the entire courtyard. The color in her eyes disappeared, replaced by that same light, and Celestia's voice echoed with a calm and firm tone. "Now I believe it is time we get serious. Don't you agree?"

Spider-Mane nodded, lowering his body as he retook his defensive stance. "Likewise."

Meanwhile on the balcony, Cadance's eyes hadn't left Princess Luna, who had yet to regain consciousness, but she stole a glance at her husband and sister-in-law out of the corner of her eye as she continued to heal her aunt. Multiple tremors coursed through the castle, nearly breaking her concentration on each occasion, but Cadance stayed the course, ignoring her curiosity, which begged to see what was transpiring. The 'oohs' and 'ahhs' of the crowd weren't helping, either.

Her Auntie Celestia was always such a benevolent figure, displaying only love and tolerance to those around her. The idea of such a calm, caring pony fighting like a warrior seemed surreal, but with her longevity, wisdom, and daily duty of raising and lowering the sun, it was easy to sense how powerful Princess Celestia possibly was. Yet, considering the feats Peter had accomplished at his age, there was a better than even chance he was one of the most extraordinary beings in Equestrian history.

Cadance sighed despondently. It was truly a shame she couldn't watch the spectacle, but injuries to the central nervous system, even those as mild as a simple concussion, were delicate things, and any lapse in concentration could be catastrophic. The alicorn closed her eyes and whispered a prayer, hoping both her aunt and friend avoided serious injury.

Princess Celestia aimed her horn to the ground in mid-flight and fired several bolts of white-hot light at the stallion, but Spider-Mane jumped straight into the air, fired a strand of webbing onto one of the castle's high walls, and swung past any beams that neared his position. The resulting explosion blinded all the ponies down below, who were quite lucky to be shielded from the ensuing shrapnel. Circle-strafing to keep her distance, Celestia anticipated Peter's movements and shot a beam directly for the path he was heading. Using the strength in his legs and core, Spider-Mane hurled himself from his webbing and vaulted clear over the bolt before swinging with a new strand.

Once the princess fired another beam, Peter severed his strand in reaction to his spider sense, managing to latch a thread of webbing onto Celestia's golden chest plate that same moment. In a swift motion, Spider-Mane yanked on the thread and zipped over the beam, but the alicorn took aim with her flaming glaive as he approached her at near-supersonic speed. However, the stallion maneuvered his body at the last possible moment, avoiding the blade by grabbing the glaive's handle with his hooves and swinging around, before landing atop the alicorn's back.

Peter bit down on his lip as he grimaced in pain, feeling the flames of Ignus Solaris scorch his hooves, but he did his best to ignore it. She swung at him using her fiery glaive, missing by a mere hair's breadth as he ducked behind her barrel and wing, using her larger body to shield him from her attacks, while firing a number of strands of webbing to various anchor points along her back and side. She kicked and bucked and chased him with lightning-fast stabs of horn and blade, but he had a number of major advantages in close quarters combat.

Before the princess and solar goddess knew how it had happened, she found herself engulfed in a thick cocoon of fire-resistant webbing several times stronger than steel, her wings bound and her body unable to move. Before she could even hope to break free, Spider-Mane leapt high into the air, one thick strand held in a hoof, using his inertia and a mighty yank to swing his prey around him in midair before launching her into the ground, creating a billowing dust cloud upon impact.

The fire of Ignus Solaris extinguished, leaving nothing but a smoking spark that quickly went out. Everypony stared at the scene in amazed silence as the stallion gracefully fell from the sky, landing perfectly despite the daunting height. Fortunately, before anypony could contemplate the fate of their ruler, a blaze erupted from the crater, clearing away the dust. Princess Celestia suddenly emerged, a vortex of flames roaring from her body. Even through the shield, the crowd could feel the heat of the flames, and a pink field of force sprang up around the balcony above, protecting the ponies there from the raging heat. The webbing melted and bubbled, and wisps of acrid white smoke hissed and frothed about the alicorn's body as it evaporated.

Celestia leapt with a mighty flap of her wings...

...and face-planted right into the courtyard's cobblestones.

She gritted her teeth and pushed herself upright, suddenly noticing that the webbing had melted into her fur and feathers, leaving her free to move, but plastered in what could only be described as "gunk."

Cursing under her breath, Celestia summoned her magic in a brief burst, and a fine lace of magical energy settled over her body, pulling the melted webbing apart at the molecular level. But just as the webbing started to dissolve and break away, a flash of movement caught her attention. She gasped out loud once she saw Spider-Mane a few hoof-lengths away with his hoof reared back to strike in her moment of distraction. Celestia had to abandon her attempts at regaining flight and reform her glaive in a panic. She knew Spider-Mane was ridiculously strong, and she had no wish to feel a full-on hoof to the face as her sister had.

"Sorry! This is a no-fly zone!" Spider-Mane exclaimed.

She only barely managed to deflect the blow, but Spider-Mane followed with a barrage of punches, aiming for the alicorn's chest, which was, for a moment, left wide open. Swiftly, Celestia shifted her glaive and parried each attack, but it proved rather difficult, leaving the princess to stumble back and resort to blocking directly for a moment, which led to Ignus Solaris nearly snapping in two under the assault, and a moment of dizziness as her magic strained to hold it together. Celestia hopped back, desperate to create some distance between herself and her opponent, but Spider-Mane proved to be too quick, cutting off her escape route and continuing with his assault.

The process of attack-and-deflect repeated between the two, increasing dramatically in speed with each step and blow. Spider-Mane's hooves moved with the speed and destructive power of a turret, the damage taking a toll on Celestia's glaive. Everypony's mouth fell agape as both combatants moved at an unbelievable speed, their images blurring as they fought throughout the courtyard, but Spider-Mane's blows could still be heard and felt, generating a small shockwave with each punch. The nobles looked concerned and amazed at the sheer, unadulteratedspeed, and Photo Finish felt a sense of panic rise from within her chest, her desperate need for perfect photos taking root.

"Slow down!" Finish cried out, snapping photos uncontrollably, much to the chagrin of everypony around her. "It is impossible to capture what the eye can not see!" Yet, the images in her mind gave the mare some comfort, as well as ideas for her next photo shoot. The heat in the blue mare's face rose, evident by her crimson-stained cheeks, once Spider-Mane skidded to a halt a brief second before leaping back into the fray. She giggled excitedly. "Even at such a speed, he is graceful!"

On the balcony, everypony watched the event with both amazement and bewilderment. A majority of the group couldn't fully follow Spider-Mane's and Celestia's movements under their own power, but the few capable of doing so maintained their silence and thoroughly concentrated in keeping both ponies within their sights. Cadance, unfortunately, was still preoccupied with Princess Luna, and the sudden silence from the others made her feel rather uncomfortable.

"Can someponypleasetell me what is happening?" Cadance pleaded, her tone almost whiny.

Shining broke his gaze away from the scene and shook his head. "It's hard to say. They're both moving so fast, it's difficult to make out."

"Spider-Mane has Princess Celestia on the defensive," Twilight said suddenly, her gaze remaining locked on the pair in the courtyard.

Shining Armor furrowed his brow and started to question his sister, but he stopped in his tracks, having noticed Twilight's eyes were blank and glowing brightly. Through her magically enhanced vision, Twilight watched the clarified image of Peter continuing his relentless assault on Princess Celestia. Although she was able to hold a steady defense for a time, the sun goddess struggled to deflect even a few of Spider-Mane's attacks and was forced to block the wave of super-powerful punches with her glaive directly, which obviously put strain on her.

Her teacher was one who always remained in control of even the most dire of situations, but throughout the majority of her battle with Peter thus far Princess Celestia was under severe duress. Even from their distance, Twilight could see the signs of stress and fatigue clearly in her beloved teacher. Her beautiful snow-white coat was plagued with dust spots, crimson scrapes, and violet bruises (one on her side and the other across her back), evidence that Spider-Mane's attacks were actually taking a toll.

Whereas Celestia´s defensive efforts were slowing, Spider-Mane's grew more aggressive, the aches of fatigue failing to affect him in the slightest. Twilight felt a strange tingling sensation course throughout her chest. Peter had wildly exceeded everypony's expectations, and at this point, all he needed was to stay the course and finish the fight. She wanted her stallion to win for so many reasons, both personally and professionally, but her chest tightened, the tingling growing exponentially in volume.

Twilight's senses as an alicorn were more acute even than they had been as a unicorn, specifically her ability to feel the magic from others, and the mare's breathing shallowed as a massive surge of energy swelled within Celestia, stinging Twilight's overly sensitive eyes. She cut off the energy to her Super Sense spell, and the color in Twilight's eyes returned. She forced the lump in her throat down with a swallow.

'It looks like Princess Celestia is gathering her magic for one final attack.'Twilight knew the battle was approaching its climax. She placed her hoof over her chest, holding on to the faith her heart placed in her love.'I know you can still win this, Peter. I believe in you!'

Spider-Mane drove his hoof forward, forcing a drained Celestia to swing her glaive's handle up to block the attack, but Ignus Solaris could not withstand any more of the stallion's assault. The singular crack echoed across the courtyard. Celestia's weary violet eyes widened as her trustworthy weapon snapped in two, the lower half falling to the ground, while the blade spun madly and imbedded itself into the castle wall, but she couldn't react, the air having rushed out of her lungs suddenly, as Spider-Mane slammed his hoof into the alicorn's chest, shattering her golden chestplate and creating a shockwave potent enough to whip up a strong gust of wind.

Celestia drew in rough, ragged breaths as she slowly fell to the side, her eyes glazing over, but before her body could meet with the ground, the alicorn vanished in a bright flash of light. Peter's sixth sense blared, but the stallion failed to react in time. Celestia reappeared in the span of a split-second, her horn shining with blinding light which transferred into her golden-shod hooves. She reappeared in a bucking stance directly in front of her opponent. Using the last of her strength, both physical and magical, Celestia bellowed as she drove her hooves right into Peter's forehead.

The energy slammed into Spider-Mane, and the stallion glowed as bright as the noonday sun, his body engulfed in a massive explosion. The force from the blast knocked Celestia to the ground, leaving her to roll for several meters before coming to a complete stop on her stomach.

Spider-Mane, however, absorbed the vast majority of the blast, his body a meteoric fireball as he flew across the courtyard with the speed of a bullet. He came to a violent, immediate halt when his back slammed against the magical barrier, shattering the entire force field like glass upon impact. The castle fell silent, everypony watching the flames dissolve from Spider-Mane's prone body with their eyes wide. Everypony's mouths fell open as the stallion performed a simple kip-up and nonchalantly patted the small traces of fire from his costume - what remained of it, anyway.

Celestia's flame had burned away several large holes in his full-body suit, and the patches of fur that were revealed were charred black. At the very least, nopony could recognize his coat, but aside from his tattered costume, much to everypony's shock, awe, and amazement, Spider-Mane was still in one piece, conscious, and standing tall, while their beloved leader had not yet made it back to her hooves. She watched as the stallion trotted to her position. She had yet to tap into her deepest reserves, but Princess Celestia shook her head, knowing that portion of her power was saved only for extreme circumstances. And given the fact that her opponent wasn't even winded yet...

It took nothing from the current situation, considering Peter, like herself, held back a portion of his strength despite agreeing with Celestia that he would fight seriously. She did not take this as an insult or sign of disrespect. Rather, Celestia saw this trait as something that strengthened her belief in the young stallion. Despite having such extraordinary powers, Peter almost never used them to their fullest capability out of concern for his adversaries.

Instead, he always sought for a way to defeat his enemies without resorting to lethal force or injuring them too badly. Celestia, planting her hooves into the ground, forced herself to stand once Spider-Mane was a mere few hoof-lengths away. It was very possible for the alicorn to continue the fight, but there was no need, for Peter had already proven himself her better (for today). There would come a time to push Peter further in the very near future.

"Your skills are extraordinary," Celestia said between heavy breaths. Gasps of surprise escaped from the audience at an astounding sight: Princess Celestia lowering herself in a bow to the stallion, holding the stance for several moments, but the crowd erupted at their ruler's following words. "You have bested me this day, Spider-Mane... I yield." She closed her eyes and smiled warmly. "The fight is yours."

Shining Armor lost his grip, nearly falling over the balcony's railing, but Twilight's magic engulfed his body, levitating the stallion back to solid ground. He quickly recollected his senses, facehoofing out of sheer disbelief. First, Sombra the King of Shadows. Then, the princess of the moon, Luna. Now, Peter, the goofy kid with the motor mouth, just defeated the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, conceivably one of the most powerful beings on the planet. With Princess Luna, it was arguable if Spider-Mane's victory was luck, but with Celestia, the result was irrefutable.

They'd fought on even grounds, and in the end, Spider-Mane's endurance and durability proved to be the tipping point. Twilight and Cadance were right. Peter was more than capable of holding his own. Shining's ears lowered into his mane. His little sister had proven him wrong about her coltfriend (again). He slowly turned to face Twilight, only to be greeted by her confident grin and strategically arched eyebrow.

Shining rolled his eyes. "Fine. I was wrong." His hoof fell over his eyes with a clop. "Geez, Twilight. You're worse than my wife." He glanced off to the side.'Good luck with her, Peter. You'll need it.'

"At least I didn't have to say I told you so," she giggled before turning back to the courtyard and breaking the crowd's arguing by stomping her hooves in applause.

Her friends followed her example, cheering wildly as they leaned over the railing. The Crusaders bounced in place, screeching,"Spider-Mane!"with all of their might (with 'younger sister' Applebloom and 'biggest fan' Scootaloo competing for who could scream the loudest). The Canterlot guards, though hesitant, showed the newcomer their respect, as did the nobles. The one notable exception was Photo Finish, whose unrestrained screams of "Marvelous!" and "Spectacular!" echoed from the crowd.

Twilight felt her chest grow tight and her smile widen.'Peter, I knew you could do it!'

"Listen to this, Spider-Mane," Celestia said softly, making certain her voice could only be heard by the pony beside her. Everypony's cheers increased in volume, echoing across the whole of Canterlot. "You have become a beacon of hope for our world, and you are a positive influence to those around you, especially Twilight Sparkle." Celestia paused, shifting her violet gaze to the group on the balcony. "I can earnestly say you and the wielders of the Elements of Harmony are our greatest champions. Which is why I believe it is time for you to take the next step." She turned to face Spider-Mane with a warm smile. "I ask that you disregard your secret identity and become something more."

Peter's eyes widened as Celestia proceeded to reveal to him exactly what she meant by that; he felt light-headed and wavered on his feet as she talked. That...couldn't be right. Him, a...? No. No, that wasn't right at all. He could accept the official title of "hero," maybe, since it did seem to fit Spider-Mane's job description, butthat...? How could he ever hope to live up tothat?

Celestia's soothing voice broke into his rising panic. "After all of your sacrifices, you deserve nothing less. Twilight believes this with all of her heart." The alicorn placed her hoof over her chest. "I do as well."

If not for his mask's design to hide his facial features, Celestia would have seen Peter's slack-jawed expression. The entire situation was surreal, and Peter couldn't help but question his own merits. He hadn't done anything that any decent person wouldn't have done in his place. He had power and used it responsibly. That was all. He didn't deserve this. He just didn't. Peter's mind spun, struggling to make sense of the situation, and his heart tightened as a part of him wondered if maybe this wasn't his life's purpose here in Equestria.

Yet, both sides of him collided in a battle of conceptions, raising more questions (and sadly, more doubt). Equestria was certainly safer than Earth, or rather, it didn't have nearly as many super-powered psychopaths roaming about. Plus, the inhabitants were kinder, opening their hearts far easier than the often petty humans did on Earth. In any case, a secret identity prevented the villains from hunting down his loved ones, but keeping the truth from those closest to him also proved to be ill-advised, leaving them surprised when things went awry. And it wasn't as if his friends and the inhabitants of Equestria were completely helpless, wielding their own form of magic - and six of them were the fabled Elements of Harmony, known to friends and villains alike.

Was the mask no longer needed? Was it finally time for Peter Parker and Spider-Mane to be openly acknowledged by everypony as one and the same? It was an ideal situation, to live in a world without that dreaded secret tearing his life asunder, but Peter steered his gaze skyward to the lavender alicorn on the balcony, the beautiful centerpiece of the stallion's fear. A part of him wanted to accept Princess Celestia's proposal, but he couldn't help feeling completely unworthy of everything that path would expect of him. After a moment's hesitation, Spider-Mane extended his hoof and fired a strand of webbing onto one of the castle's many roofs, shaking his head sadly.

"I'm honored, Princess Celestia, but..." Peter trailed off, his mind's doubts meeting with his heart's desire in yet another collision. He couldn't make a decision. Not right now. "I need some time to think," he declared. Jerking his hoof, the webbing recoiled and lifted the stallion with a spring, swinging over the castle's walls and out of everypony's view.

Princess Celestia watched the stallion, holding her ground. "I understand," she whispered, before the nobles, guards, and ponies on the balcony rushed to her side. There was much to discuss with her subjects, and Celestia knew she would have to attend to each question accordingly, despite wanting to comfort Peter and give him a little reassurance. However, as if a late realization came into mind, Celestia's eyes widened at the sight of her student (or lack thereof), who was nowhere to be found amongst the gathering masses, and her lips curled into a smile.

Something monumental was obviously on Peter's mind, and Twilight was already primed and ready to help him talk it through.

---

Several hours had passed since the conclusion of the duel between Spider-Mane and Princess Celestia. The night sky had spread across the land, and the starlit sky gave the inhabitants the silvery light of the heavens to admire. Twilight's friends and the Crusaders returned to Ponyville, most having their jobs to attend to the next day. Cadance and Shining Armor went back to the Crystal Empire after things had settled down, but they agreed to come back tomorrow to review the situation with Peter and other matters.

Peter remained in his quarters in Canterlot Castle. Princess Cadance was kind enough to use her magic to give his natural healing ability a boost and remove a majority of his pain. Though the minor burns were gone and risk of infection was cleared, the stallion's muscles still felt tender in some areas. The best thing he could do was sit tight and hope his fur would grow back. Peter also didn't want to risk aggravating Cadance, who seemed perturbed with her aunt for using a weapon made entirely out of fire, "when a force-construct would've been enough."

Peter rested flat on his back with his hooves placed gingerly over a pack of ice. He stared blankly at the ceiling as his mind attempted to sort things out with his heart. Needless to say, the internal debate was not progressing well, ending with irritated self-recriminations and pulsating migraines.

He shut his eyes, begging that the sweet release of sleep would take him away, but it was for naught, serving only to frustrate the stallion further. Once his brow furrowed, wrinkling the burned spot on his forehead, Peter cringed and cursed under his breath. His gaze lowered from the ceiling to the crimson mask resting over his chest, its bug-like lenses staring intently at the pony. Peter lifted the mask with his hooves and held it high over his face.

The mask had always been a symbol, resembling someone he always longed to be, but to those closest to him and who knew his secret, Peter and Spider-Mane were one and the same. That was the problem; theyweren'tthe same. Spider-Mane was who he wanted to be, who he needed to be. Spider-Mane was the mask he'd always worn to hide from who he was. But it wasn'thim. Spider-Mane was the hero. Peter Parker was just...ordinary. Average. A totalloser. He could never hope to live up to Spider-Mane's legacy of heroism, no matter how he tried.

For their sakes, especially Twilight's, he would gladly bid farewell to the mask, but it was debatable whether he even could. Peter sighed, a desolate shadow falling over his hazel eyes. He didn't want to let anypony down, but with his track record, there was a good chance of him failing miserably. And every time he did, someone always seemed to die.

"What should I do?" Peter whispered, as if his mask was listening. A soft knocking echoed from the suite's entrance, preventing the stallion from entering yet another mental argument. Forcing himself into a sitting position, Peter swiftly threw his mask underneath his pillow and faced the door. "Who is it? Come on in."

Magical energy wrapped around the knob, and the door slowly opened, allowing Twilight to peek her head into the room. She stammered upon spotting her stallion in the bed. "Were you asleep?" She blushed, her embarrassment evident. "Did I come at a bad time?"

Peter's lips curled into an earnest smile, filling the mare with a sense of warmth and relief. "You know I always love seeing you, Twilight," he said, shaking his head. "I couldn't really get to sleep anyway."

"You've been here the entire time? I've been searching for you since you left the courtyard," she said, brushing a few strands of her mane behind her ear. "It's always in the last place you look."

"Because you've found what you're looking for. HA!" Peter laughed uproariously before clutching at his side, tears forming in his eyes. "Ow... It hurts to laugh."

"That's not even particularly funny." Twilight stared blankly at the stallion. "Is that another one of your references? If you don't stop, it'll only hurt worse."

"Please, babe. Let's not have aheatedargument." His pain indeed worsened, leaving the stallion to whimper pitifully. "Love me tender... Love me true..."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "...Why do I even try?"

She took the moment to close the door and make her way to the stallion, who scooted to the edge of the bed and embraced her the instant she got close. His hooves fell over her slender shoulders as Peter's gaze fell to the opened window on the other side of the room.

The lavender alicorn examined the extent of his burns, obviously discomfited at how many of them there were, but relieved at how much they'd healed since the fight. "How are your hooves? Can you walk?"

Peter shrugged, mentally taking stock of just how much they hurt. "I can now. Cadance patched me up not too long ago. As long as I'm not on them for too long, I should be fine. It's everything else that's bothering me, really."

"How about we talk about it?" Twilight suggested quietly, placing her hoof over Peter's cheek and bringing his gaze to meet hers. The stallion's mouth opened, but the mare's hoof slid over his mouth before a response could be made. Twilight shook her head. "No. Not here. I was thinking somewhere a little more...private." She smiled as her cheeks gathered heat. "There's a beautiful spot on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres called the Winsome Falls. Would you...mind if we go there right now?"

Relinquishing his hold, Peter edged away, but he reached down and placed his hoof over Twilight's. "Bamf us there, Nightsparkle."

Twilight's horn glowed momentarily before both ponies disappeared in a bright flash of light.

Comments

[Blank Scroll]

"You astonishing arachnophile! Allow me to capture your magnificence!" she exclaimed (much to the annoyance of the ponies around her), begging that this asset be as marvelous as she hoped.

Ok... this made me laugh more than I was expecting

[Alchemystudent]

While the fight is awesome, can't help but feel like it's coming at the expense of Celestia.

[Detsella Morningdew]

9140149
It would have been better had there been previous hints that Peter's actual power was greater earlier on. I mean, we know this with the comics (just his super strength is insane when actually strained to its limit), but in this context it does seem like it is giving him growth at Celestia's expense.

[Progamer]

Good chapter🙂