The Amazing Spider-Man: Wrath of the Night

by Themagicspoderman

The Hivemind

After they had all set up their initial idea Celestia, Shining and Cadence had left to secure the helmet while Spider-Man had been almost forced to return home and rest for the rest of the night to try and relax. Celestia had done her best to heal his arm before she had left and in it's current condition he was no longer worried about it suddenly giving out on him. He made his way to the residential area of Canterlot before midnight and after checking the house to make sure nobody was awake he slipped into his bedroom window. He jabbed the switch on his bedside lamp and with an electric pop the lamp's bulb lit up and illuminated his room. He turned to face the wardrobe-mounted mirror he had in the room to examine his condition. The bats had caused even more damage to his suit, having torn chunks out of his hands, the legs and the stomach.

"I look like I've just been beaten up by moths" he growled quietly. His mask had a long cut in the right cheek which he couldn't remember getting. He sighed loudly before pulling the mask off his face and looking deep into the mirror, seeing the smudge of the pink lipstick still on his mouth. The more he tried to avoid thinking about the kiss the more guilt he felt for it, for not doing anything to stop her. Whether Cadence had kissed him for the reason she said, as a heartfelt thank you, or whether she had developed an adultery-based infatuation for Spider-Man he didn't know but what stung him was the most was that he allowed his hormones to delay his thinking to the point of a standstill. It would've been fine if Peter Parker had been stunned to the core, he could accept that because he was just a seventeen year old with little experience with women, especially ones as beautiful as Cadence. But the fact that angered him so much was that it wasn't Peter Parker that had been kissed it was Spider-Man. Spider-Man was supposed to always do the right thing no matter the pain it caused or no matter the fear he felt. That was the entire meaning behind Spider-Man to begin with to stand for justice with an incorruptible will. But he had let his emotions and secret desires get in the way of Spider-Man's code of honor. When he put on that mask Peter Parker disappeared, his cares, fears, regrets and hopes are all gone and are supposed to be replaced by the determination to look certain death in the eye and charge in head first without second thought. And Spider-Man himself had succumbed to second thoughts. It enraged him to the core.

"I'll fix this damn thing tomorrow" Peter spat, taking off the costume and stuffing it behind a box in the wardrobe without a second thought. He punched the switch on his lamp before throwing the covers over himself as he slammed his head down on the pillow. He tried to fall asleep as quick as possible but the only thing his mind would focus on was a frozen image of Cadence's face the second before she had kissed him, the glint in her eyes as she was closing them, the pink of her lipstick glinting in the light and the feeling of her hands on the sides of his face.

"I am never going to be able to look at her the same way again" Peter growled as he stuck his head under the pillow.

The alarm clock buzzed extremely loudly with it's droning electronic tone. Peter lashed out of his bed and punched straight through the plastic box and silencing it instantly. He ducked back under the covers and groaned angrily, having done the same thing when he first got his powers. He grabbed his phone off the floor and checked the day.

"Yay, Saturday" he weakly crowed from under his bed sheets. He threw off the covers and walked with heavy steps to the bathroom, stripping off his boxers and ducking into the shower, washing his hair thoroughly off all the product before using his thicken up shampoo and rinsing his hair clean. He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around himself before sorting out all of his hair products by the side of the sink, using a hairdryer to blast the water from his hair before using his usual ton of mousse and wax to get his hair back into it's large style. He tidied all of his products away before opening the drawer to grab his toothbrush and toothpaste. He looked into the enormous mirror that was installed in the bathroom and examined the scars on his body. He still had the three deep cuts from the lizard as well as other ones he had gained in fights with criminals with knives. He had one from the side of his right shoulder that slashed across to the left side of his elbow joint he had another one from the top of his rib cage on the left side down to the back of his left hip and he had three from other cross species on his left shoulder, in between his collar bone and his shoulder joint. He also had new healing cuts from the Nightspawn's claws, the selection of scabbing cuts on his forearms were quite noticeable at any distance as well as the gashes he had across his defined abdomen. Peter looked at his body in general and could easily the size increase from when he had first become Spider-Man, he now looked as if he had been working out for a few months and a lot at that. His pectoral muscles had increased in size as well as density and his stomach had developed a very strong set of abdominal muscles. His arms had increased in size with more definition due to using almost all of the muscles in his arms regularly to hold his own body weight. He applied the toothpaste to his toothbrush and ran it under the tap for a few seconds before beginning to scrub his teeth. He opened the drawer that usually contained his pile of boxers only to find out that he didn't have any more left.

"That's right, it's Saturday and I used them already" he growled, spitting out the foam from the toothpaste as he opened the bathroom door and walked down the stairs. He opened the kitchen door to find his Aunt May sitting around the table and drinking coffee with Cadence, Twilight and Star Sparkle. They all heard the door open so it was too late to back off so he merely asserted confidence and walked into the kitchen. He had to smile a little thought, the looks on their faces were priceless.

"Peter, where did you get those cuts from?" May asked.

"Skateboarding" Peter called from the laundry room "That's what I get for not wearing my jacket"

"Peter, your skateboard broke earlier this week" May said slowly "Those don't look more than a few days old" Peter walked out of the laundry room with a pair of white boxers in his hand, grabbing a donut off the plate as he walked past and taking a large bite out of it and heading back upstairs.

"I dunno then" he yelled back down as the bedroom door slammed.

"Does, does he normally do that?" Star asked.

"I actually think that's the first time I've seen him walk around without his shirt on since he was eight" May answered "He was always getting picked on for being skinnier than the kids his age... but I guess things change with time" Cadence looked at Twilight who caught her sister in law's glance before they both just smiled behind their mugs of coffee. Back upstairs Peter had dug his costume out of the wardrobe and began to look over the damage to it and see what he would need to repair it.

"I really hope I can afford this stuff" Peter sighed as he grabbed the old checklist of everything he used to make the suit the first time so he would know what he would need "If I remember right the stuff cost about fifteen bucks last time but since I don't need as much this time I should have more than enough" He opened his drawer and grabbed his light-feeling wallet and got dressed into his usual attire before hiding his costume in his bag which he hung over his shoulder and pulled the strap to tighten it to his back. Peter opened his bedroom door and hurried down the stairs but instead of walking around the entire spiral he merely placed his hand on the metal railing and running his feet up the wall before jumping over the side of the railing and dropping the six foot down to the floor, landing in a low crouch while placing the tips of his fingers on the floor. One thing he failed to notice was that his Aunt May was standing in the doorway with the others standing behind her.

"Peter!" she snapped angrily.

"What?" Peter asked as he stood up, grabbing his shoes and pulling them onto his feet before tying the laces tightly.

"Don't do that ever again!" she growled "You could've hurt yourself!"

"Nah I'm too good for that" Peter said "Anyway, I'll see you later"

"Where are you going?" May asked as Peter ducked out of the door.

"I need to get some stuff" Peter called back as he took off down the streets, hopping over a fence and sprinting through someone's garden.

"That boy is making me go grey, I swear" May sighed, turning around to talk to the other women "What can you do though?"

"Shining was exactly the same at his age" Star chuckled "They're always off getting themselves into trouble in any way they can"

"Too true" May nodded.

Peter sat down with all of the materials he had bought and began to stitch his suit back together, doing his best to avoid the making the suit look patchy. It took him several spools of red military grade string, designed for extra strength, that had cost him one dollar a spool, the whole thing having set him back another fifteen bucks and took him well over four hours to completely fix the suit as well as many pricks from the tip of the needle and six stupid moments when he stabbed himself in the leg after going too far through the suit while stitching. He held up the costume and admired his handiwork, smiling at his good job.

"Just like new" Peter smirked "And now to see how well the helmet thing is going" Peter suited up in the costume and pulled the mask over his face once more. He opened his bedroom window and jumped out, web zipping along the rooftops until he was able to swing from the buildings in the larger areas of the city. As he swung through Canterlot his spider-sense warned him of something but it wasn't as specific as it usually was. The feeling kept with him as he made his way to the castle, never settling down but never worsening. He merely shrugged it off as his spider-sense having an off day or something. As he made it to the balcony he stopped on the railing, crouching on the tips of his toes as he turned around to look out over the city. He felt like something was trying to talk to him, words he didn't think sometimes jumping into his mind and quickly interrupting his thoughts.

"And I keep forgetting to talk to Celestia about that dream" he sighed. Spider-Man was suddenly overcome with a wave of nausea that made him sway slightly. There was a sudden gap in his thoughts were he heard a voice that wasn't his own speak.

"So they're attempting to hide the armor from us?" a male voice said "Good, this should make the hunt more fun for the Nightspawn" Spider-Man put a hand to his face and groaned loudly, the sickening feeling becoming stronger before dying down as quickly as it had arrived.

"Ok... what just happened?" he asked out loud.

"Having trouble?" Celestia asked from behind him. Spider-Man leapt back off the railing and onto the balcony itself before turning to talk to her.

"I just had this weird voice in my head" Spider-Man said, crossing his arms "Now that I think about it... I've heard that voice before in a dream I had the other day"

"What did it say?" Celestia asked.

"I think, whoever's voice that was, knows about our plan to hide the helmet" Spider-Man answered.

"That's impossible, nobody besides us knows about the helmet's existence" Celestia said quickly "What about the dream you had, you said you'd heard the voice before?"

"Yeah, in the dream some guy in a black robe was talking to one of the Nightspawn about their plan to return Nightmare Moon to the Earth, he didn't exactly mention Nightmare Moon by name but he called her something like the Mother, it's kind of fuzzy really" Celestia's face suddenly dropped into a stunned expression, confusing Spider-Man.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"The Mother is a name used for Nightmare Moon by her most devout follows, the Nightmare's Pawns as they started calling themselves, they believe that Nightmare Moon is a true goddess placed on this planet to rule over all with an endless night, they've given up their very existence to serving her" Celestia explained "The Nightmare's Pawns were also behind the creation of the Nightspawn and the Leatherfang just under a thousand years ago"

"Ok, so we've got some guys who are completely crazy, what does me having weird dreams have to do with this?" Spider-Man asked.

"The Nightspawn are creatures that are controlled by a Hivemind created by dark magic, they operate as packs and have no free thinking of their own" Celestia said "And the dream you had had to have been witnessed through the eyes of another Nightspawn"

"So... what?" he asked "You're saying that I can see through their eyes now?"

"No, what I'm saying is that you're now connected to the Hivemind yourself and that's what's letting you see and hear the same things the other Nightspawn can" Celestia corrected.

"How?" Spider-Man asked in confusion.

"Now that is something I don't know" Celestia said with a shake of her head "I never fully understood how the Hivemind worked as no one I knew at the time was ever exposed to it"

"If I found some way to control this thing, could I use it to listen in on their plans?" Spider-Man asked.

"Maybe, I don't know for certain that you're even able to speak to the Hivemind yourself" Celestia said with a thoughtful expression "But if these dreams keep occurring you might be able to glean some very useful information"

"I'll keep an ear out if I can" he chuckled "So how did the hide and seek thing go with the horn?"

"We've put it in a safe and secure location that nearly no one knows exists" Celestia answered "We don't have to worry about anyone finding it at the moment, anyway, how's your back today?"

"I haven't noticed it hurting at all, you did a good job" Spider-Man nodded "Do you know why I felt like my back was being torn in half?"

"Yes, you had a large tear in the muscle in your back and your movement was causing it to tear further" Celestia nodded.

"Oh, well that makes sense" Spider-Man nodded "Thanks"

"Not a problem" Celestia said with a nod and a smile "Are you ready for another week of school?" Spider-Man sighed loudly before shaking his head.

"No, I'm just counting down the days before I get expelled for missing classes" Spider-Man admitted.

"Well, good luck then" Celestia chuckled as she patted him on the shoulder before heading back inside her room.

Author's Note:

So here we go with another chapter, this one detailing the workings of the Nightspawn. I will explain the Hivemind more as the story goes on so if you're confused about it you needn't worry, I'll tell all when the time comes. The next few chapters will return Peter to school so we may miss out on some Spider-Man for a few days, sorry. But the plot must go on and this is the way I want to do it aight? Aight.