> We're Done being rejected > by White Dragon Emporror > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > We have Suffered > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Venom was running across the rooftops of New York City late into the night. They were severely injured from their last encounter with Spider-Man and needed time to rest. Suddenly they were kicked off the rooftop they were currently on. Quickly looking in the direction the kick came from they saw Spider-Man in the Iron-Spider armor, not really prepared to fight they shot a web to a distant building and swung away with Spider-Man following close behind. All of a sudden they felt something stick to their back. Next thing they knew a surge of electricity shot through them causing intense pain for the symbiote and it's host. The symbiote was forced to take control sense it's current host was rendered unconscious by the blast. Swinging into a nearby abandoned building it searched for a hiding place it couldn't afford to lose its host at the moment. Finding a boarded up room that had large gaps in between the boards it snuck in trying not to make a sound wich was almost impossible with its large stature. Sitting down on the ground to try to think of a plan. But suddenly something broke through the wall and grabbed them. "Its over Venom nowhere left to run!" Spider-Man stated holding Venom in place with his mechanical spider arms. ”Let us go!!“Venom roared trying to break free from Spider-Man's hold but they were to weak to fight back. Spider-Man fired a taser web shocking the symbiote. After repeating this process a few more times the symbiote was forced to remove itself from its host. But before it could escape a glass container was placed over it. "You're not getting away this time." The glass container let out a hissing sound slowly the container was filled with a mist that froze the symbiote in place. Spider-Man picked up the glass container while gently putting down an unconscious Eddie Brock. He tapped the intercom on his wrist. "The Venom symbiote has been contained." "Good bring it back to the lab for departure." A male voice spoke through the intercom. "Got it!" Spider-Man said tapping his wrist to turn the intercom off. He placed the container that held the symbiote in a secret compartment on his suit. Turning to the still unconscious man Spider-Man lifted him up and exited the building. Before heading to the lab he dropped Eddie off at a hospital to be treated. Once that was taken care of he headed to an off shore base near the bay. As soon as he landed he was greeted by a tall bald dark skin male with an eye patch over his left eye. He wore all black and he seem to have a permanent scowl on his face. He was accompanied by two scientist in long white lab coats. "Spider-Man do you have the symbiote?" The man asked. "Director Nick Fury I have the symbiote right here." Spider-Man said retreiving the container from the compartment he placed it in and handed it over to the man. "Excellent just in time too the rocket is ready. The launch sequence will begin in ten minutes." He said taking the container and handing it to one of the scientist who quickly took the container and walked off alongside his associate. Once they were alone Nick Fury dropped his scowl and gained a kind smile. "Parker will you be sticking around for the launch?" "I might as well nothing seems to be happening in the city. Well nothing the NYPD can’t handle. " He shrugged following Nick Fury into the base. Eight minutes later Spider-Man, Nick Fury and about twenty S.H.E.I.L.D. Agents were in a observation room through the glass was a rocketship. A scientist who was holding a digital monitter in his hands walked over to Nick Fury looking up from the monitter and gave a small nod. "Everything is secure the coordinates for the sun have been put in and the specimen has been placed securely in the capsule cell." The scientist informed. "Good. So we can begin the launch." He stated pressing a botton on a control panel. “LAUNCH WILL BEGIN IN 30 SECONDS" "Well Parker looks like all the symbiotes have all been taken care of." Nick Fury said. "Yeah finally ." He sighed. “LAUNCH SEQUENCE WILL COMINCE IN 5..4..3..2..1" *BOOM!!* The rocket blasted off into the night sky. Flying through the atmosphere with relative ease. Once it broke through the atmosphere the rocket broke away from a large capsule with its own rocket. It was flying towards the sun. Suddenly a meteor smashed into it sending it completely off course causing it go towards a distant galaxy. In Equestria It was late at night in the city of Ponyville a green scaled and purple spike winged dragoness walked through the streets in nothing but a pair of black shorts and white t-shirt she lazily carried a sleeping baby dragon who had purple scales and green spikes he was sloppily wrapped in dirty blanket. The dragoness looked down at baby with annoyance. "Ugh!" She groaned. The sound caused the baby to wake up and let out a yawn casing the dragoness to look down at him. "Grreeaat your awake." She mumbled. The baby looked up at her with curiosity. "Don't look at me like that." She growled wich only caused the baby to giggle. She raised her claw up and slapped the baby across the face wich only made it laugh harder. "You're mocking me aren't you?" She asked. Suddenly she saw a dark black and brown building. "Finally I'll be rid of you soon enough!" She stated power walking towards the building. Once she got to the building she walked up the steps and banged on the door. After a few minutes a dark red elderly unicorn mare with a grey mane and tail with her mane put up into a bun wearing a pair of reading glasses and white bathrobe opened the door. "Hello?" She asked. Suddenly the dragoness shoved the baby into the mares hands. "Heretakethismonsterawaythanks!!" She said quickly opening her wings and flying away. The mare blinked a few times before looking down at the baby dragon who stared back with gleaming emerald eyes. "Hey little guy." She cooed rubbing his head causing him to giggle. "She didn't really give me a name to call you so I guess I'll just call you..." She gently touched the small green spikes on his head. "Spike." She walked back into the building and headed towards the bathroom. After running some hot water she started cleaning him. Once he was cleaned and dried off the elderly mare wrapped the baby dragon in a soft towel. She picked him up and carried him to the donation box and took out a purple baby pajama top and a pair of green baby pajama bottoms she dress him in the clothes, but the spikes that went down his back and his spider tipped tail ripped through the back of them. The mare then carried him to a room that has eight cribs four on each side each crib held a sleeping foal. Looking around she saw that all the cribs were taken. "Sorry little guy guess we'll just have to find somewhere else to put you." She said carryin him out of the room.After about twenty minutes the mare walked up to a door that was on the ground floor. "Sorry this is all we have." She said opening the door revealing a wooden staircase thst led down into a basement. Before going downstairs the mare flipped a light switch alluminating the basement in a dim blue light. Walking down the stairs the mare turned on another light making the basenent brighter. It wasn't like most basements it had wooden floor and wooden wall making it feel alot warmer than a normal basement it was also semi furnish like a bedroom there was a large table with a lamp over it a small T.V. sat on the corner of the table. A tall dresser that sat in a corner. Finally there was a crib and a full size mattress. Everything else in the basement was random peices of metal ,tools, and other building materials. "There you go nice and comfy." The mare said tucking Spike into the crib. She looked around the basement before looking down at the baby dragon with a sad smile. "Hopefully you won't be here to long." 14 years later It was early in the morning in Ponyville City when in the basement of an orphanage is where a tall teenage dragon rose up from his bed and stretched his arms. He turned on the light then got out of bed and popped a few joints back in place. Walking over to his dresser he took out a green t-shirt that had holes cut out for his spikes that went down his back. and a pair of black jeans that had a hole for his tail next he threw on a pair of worn black sneakers. After he got dressed he grabbed his purple hoodie wich also had holes cut out in the back and the hood. He started walking towards the stairs when he tripped over his bookbag. Groaning he stood back up and tossed his bookbag over his right shoulder and headed out of the basement. Walking towards the bathroom. Once he was in the bathroom he grabbed a green toothbrush with his name written on it. Opening the cabinet he took out a tube of toothpaste out and squeezed a bit on the brush he started brushing his sharp fangs. He took his time because he knew noone else was up at that time. After brushing his fangs Spike grabbed a wash cloth and ran some warm water over it and washed his face waking him up a little bit more. Looking at himself in the mirror he noticed all the changes that have happened to him over the years. His purple scales seemed to have grown a few shades darker than when he was younger his fangs also senned to grow longer and sharper the green spikes that were on his heard had grown longer as well. His snout was also longer now resembling a crocodile or a alligator. Leaving the bathroom Spike grabbed his backpack he left outside the door the bag itself was old and ragged. He left through the front door without anyone noticing. No one ever noticed when he leaves. Starting his morning walk he passed several vendors preparing their stands for the day other then an occasional 'good morning' it was usually quiet and peaceful aside from one factor. "Hey you!" An elderly mare who stood at an apple based conssession stand called out causing Spike to let out a sigh and turn to her. "Yes?" He asked. "Think fast!" She stated throwing a red apple at him wich he caught. "Aww, ya caught it again!" "Well, Yeah what you thought I was gonna let you hit me in the face with an apple?" She didn't answer and just crossed her arms. "Well see you later Miss. Smith and thanks for the apple!" He waved to her before walking away. He continuing on his way while eating the apple. After about twenty minutes he arrived at Ponyville High School. The building was white and blue there were four floors one for each grade level. He walked up to the main entrance and walked in he walked passed the main office and went to the main staircase. The teenage Dragon started climbing the stairs all the way to the seniors floor. Walking down the halls he stopped at a locker with a busted pad lock opening the locker he tossed his backpack into it and only took a green notebook and a pen. Looking up at a clock he saw it was already 7:00 am. Seeing that more students will be arriving soon Spike walked down the hall to his first class wich was AP Science and get the day started. Once he got to the room he saw the teacher sitting at her desk. She was an Alicorn with a lavender coat with light purple eyes and a dark purple mane and tail with a pink stripe through it her mane was done up in bangs. She was wearing a white blouse with a pair of purple pants with matching shoes with a lab coat over all of it. When she first introduced herself everyone except Spike were shocked. He didn't see why to him she was nothing special just a unicorn with wings who was given a bunch of fancy titles such as 'Princess of Friendship' and 'Elenent of Magic' he really didn't know what the fuss was about. At first they would address her as 'Princess' except Spike who just called her 'Ms. Sparkle' wich was her name Twilight Sparkle. He saw no point in addressing her any other way. After awhile she had the rest of the class call her that as well. Spike got the impression that she didn't really like him. He didn't understand why he turned all the assignment she gave ahead of time and passed all his test with flying colors. He guessed it was because he never paid any attention to her lectures and still had the best grades in the class. Spike walked in the classroom and took a seat he opened his notebook and began to write in it. Twilight noticed him and gave him a small wave for him to come to her desk ,alittle confused Spike obliged and walked over to her. "Yes Ms. Sparkle?" He asked with a look of confusion. "Spike take a seat please." She said looking at her computer monitor. Still a bit confused Spike pulled a chair up and took a seat. She looked up from her monitor and leaned back in her chair. "Spike I'm sure your confused about why I called you over here. Well I've been looking through your file and I must say you're quite academically gifted." She stated with a almost nonexistent smile on her face. "Thank you ma'am." "However, I've also noticed that you never attend school activities or events and you're never seen hanging out with any students outside of school or anyone for that matter." She said causing Spike to frown and turn his head away he saw a few students walking in some staring at him. Making the already slight irritated dragon to bite down on his bottom lip to avaid saying anything. "Look I'll just cut to the chase I want you to try and make some friends if you don't I'll have to fail you and I've talked to your other teachers and they have agreed to do the same." Spike's eyes widened in horror. "W-w-what!? Why!? I'm not failing any of my classes or have broken any rules I don't understand!" He exclaimed he could hear some of his classmates whispering to each other while others were chuckling to themselves which only serve to make him angrier. Growling in annoyance smoke started leaking out of his mouth causing everyone to go silent he neve been so openly mad bofore. Sure he had somewhat of a temper,but he did his best to hide it. But at this moment he didn’t care anymore. This wasn’t fair what was her problem. "I advise you to calm yourself down if you don't I'll be force to call security and have them escort you off school grounds." She said in attempt to to calm down the young drake. Unfortunately, Spike wasn't listening he wanted to know why she was threatening to fail him just because he didn't have friends. Why was it any of her buisness how his social life was anyway? "Tell me why does any of that have anything to do with my overall grade!" He growled. "As you know this year the school started the 'Study Buddy Program' where all students are required to have someone to help them with their work and such and you're the only student in the entire school that hasn't registered in the program and the program isn't optional so either try to find friends or fail and get held back." Twilight said crossing her arms. Spike also heard her mumble under her breath that really pissed him off. “Maybe that’ll teach you some humility.” "This is bull crap!" Spike said standing up and slamming his fist on her desk. Suddenly the door to the classroom swung open and two large stallions walked in with a mare in the middle. The stallions were wearing security uniform while the mare wore a beige business suit. "Mr. The Dragon you will show restraint or you will be exp-" The mare was cut of by a loud growl. "You can shove your dumb ass expelulsion up your ass!!" He walked over to his desk and grabbed his notebook and walked out of the classroom but before he could one security guards grabbed him by the shoulder Spike grabbed the security guard by the collar of his shirt and flung him over his shoulder slamming the stallion to the ground he walked over to tthe guard and stomped on his arm breaking it. Spike walked down the hall to his locker where he threw the locker door open causing it to rip off the hinges he grabbed his backpack slinging it over his shoulder. He quickly exited the the school with rage. It wasn't fair. What if he tried to make friends but nopony wanted to hangout with him? What if almost everysngle pony in town did their best to avoid him? Did she ever think that he likes being alone and didn't need anyone? Or maybe he did and no one would give him a chance? What gave her the right to accuse him of being arrogant. Spike walked through the front door of the orphanage. He could hear the younger kids who weren't enrolded in school yet playing in another room. Ignoring the noise he walked down to his room in the basement. Once Spike reached his room he tossed his backpack, shirt and hoodie to the side and took a seat at the table he turned on the the light that hung over the table illuminating the entire makeshift desk. On the table were a pair of metal mechanical gauntlets with exposed wiring and a pair of mechanical boots with a little less exposed wiring. Taking his green notebook he propped it up open with blue prints and mechanics neatly written on the page. He reached under the table and placed down a toolbox. He popped it open and went to work. After eleven hours of nonstop tinkering Spike was finally done with the gauntlets and boots. He stood up and stretched popping a few joints he glanced at a clock and saw it was around seven in the evening. Walking over to his dresser he took out a black T-shirt with holes cut out in the back. He was about to put it on when he noticed himself in the mirror. He was tall for his age at a height around 5’10 with a slim build with a little bit of muscle but the thing that was really eye catching if you saw him without his shirt were the countless surgical scars across his body. Turning his body around so his back was facing the mirror turning his head he looked at the reflection he saw two deep scars where his shoulder blades where. Sighing Spike turned his head away and slipped his shirt on. Walking over to where he threw his hoodie he grabbed it and put on. He zipped it all the way up and threw up the hood over his head. Spike walked back over the table and grabbed the boots. Sitting back down he carefully put them on. Once they were on he stood up and tapped his left foot surprisingly there was no sound when bis foot hit the ground Spike didn't seem to surprise by this though. He then tapped the other foot again no sound was heard. "Perfect the padding I installed within the soul of the boot reduced the sound made by a hundred percent. Now let's see how everything else is working." Spike crouched down then launched himself high he swung his legs up and did a back flip landing back on his feet. "Everything seems to be fine but lastly let's see how well the acceleration works." He got into a running position. Suddenly visible electricity started circling around the bottom of the boots in burst of electricity he was at the top of the staircase and in another burst of electricity he was back to where he stood originally. "Alright everything seems to be working perfectly in the boots now let's see how the gauntlets turned out." Grabbing the left guanlet Spike slid on his hand. The gauntlet was slim fitting and went all the way up his forearm with two-inch long claws on each finger. Spike made his hand into a fist then relaxed it the gauntlet felt comfortable on his hand curling his fingers the claws extended to six-inches long he then snapped his finger straight causing the claws to collapsed all the way into the fingertips. Swinging his hand to the side the claws popped back out. Smirking Spike reached for the other one before he could he froze he stared at his clawless hand for a second before he shook his head and grabbed the gauntlet and slid on his right hand and stared at himself in the mirror. Deciding to show off his gauntlets he tucked the sleeve of his hoodie jnto the gauntlets after straightening his sleeves out he rushed to the basement door careful not to activated the acceleration feature of his boots. Spike opened the door to the basement and walked out. He headed to the front doors ignoring all the curious looks the younger children were giving him, and strangely looks of disgust from the workers. Before he walked out the same elderly mare that took care of him as a child walked up to him. Spike believe it was miracle the mare was still alive. She now had a lot more wrinkles evident in her features with her mane and tail turning completely white. Spike didn’t really know her name he just grew accustomed to calling her “Gramma” or “Nan”. She usually wore a night gown with a white bathrobe over it with black slippers and a pair of reading glasses that rest on the briddge of her muzzle. “Hold on Spike I have something to give you.” She said in a weak and tired voice as she reaches into her robe pocket and pulled out a small wrapped box. Spike looked confused and she must’ve seen this and just smile weakly and sighed. “ You forgot today is your birthday this is just a small present for you.” She said handing the gift to the somewhat surprised drake. “Thanks Nan.” He said accepting the small box. He gently unwrap the box. When all the wrapping paper was off he saw it was a watch but it seemed extremely old, and use Roman numerals. The band was made of a black metal but more metallic.the face of the clock was dark purple with the numbers being white. Spike recognized it as a watch he seen a stallion wore in picture th mare would show him as a kid. He reamember her referring to him as her father. “Are you sure you want me to have this?” He asked a bit hesitant, but the mare just gave him a smile. “Of course it’s a family heirloom, and as far as I’m concern you’re family.” She said warmly. She noticed the gauntlets and boots, but didn’t give them much thought. “If you’re going out please be careful and try not to stay out to late.” “I promise I’ll be back before the sun rises.” He says adjusting the watch on his right wrist. “Thank again for the gift Gramma.” He leans down give her a gentle hug before leaving the building. The elderly mare stared at the back of the fleeing teen dragon and sadly sighed. “I guess I was wrong.” Outside Spike walked along the sidewalk until he reached analleyway. Checking to make sure noon was around he walked deeper into the alley. Turning to one of the walls of the two building he was standing in between. Stretching his arms up he his artificial claws into the brick of the wall and yanked himself up he maneuvered his body so it’d look like he was squatting down sideways. Slowly he lifted his hands of the wall and launched himself to the other wall and sunk the claws of his right gauntlet into the opposite wall. Spike brung his feet up to make it look like he was crouching on wall but with just his right hand on the wall he rotated his torso to the wall he previously on. Launching himself of the this time with his left hand extended. Once he landed the young drake maneuvered himself in the way he had done previously. Spike continued this process each time he aimed a bit higher. After only two minutes he finally reached the top of one of the buildings and stretched his arms out, and sighed pleased with the results of his little exorcise. Glancing up he saw what looked like a shooting-star streak across the sky. Spike wasn’t one to believe in things such as wishing on a star, but the words Ms. Sparkle said resounded in his head. The program isn't optional so either try to find friends or fail and get held back. He did have friends when he was younger. He remember a orange Pegasus filly who road a scooter around town. They would hang out and just play games, but one day she started hanging out with these other two fillies. One of them was a earth pony with a yellow coat with a red mane and tail she also wore a large pink bow on her head. The other filly was a unicorn that had a white coat withe lilac and pink name and tail. At first all four of them would hangout together, but over time the three fillies would gradually stop including the young drake. After awhile Spike would only see them around the city. They wouldn’t even glance at him. “*sigh* I wish I had just one true friend who would stay by me.” Spike said dejectedly. It then occurred to him that the ‘shooting-star’ was getting closer. Something that resembled a meteor zoomed across the sky, and crash just outside the city border near the forest. Curious Spike decided to check it out. Crouching down to a running stance electricity begun course through the boots, and with breakneck speed Spike took off in the meteor went. A few moments ago in the atmosphere It slowly began to regain its setients it was still in the container its original host placed it in, but it also seemed it was in a pod of some sort. It saw a small window on what seemed to be the hatch to the pod. What it saw crush all hope of surviving There was nothing but the inky blackness of space. Nothing but the endless sea of darkness. It didn’t even try to break out of its glass tomb. Suddenly, the pod jolted to the side. It felt the pod pick up speed descend toward something it couldn’t see. The temperature skyrocketed as the symbiote realized that it was entering the atmosphere of a planet. The smallest sliver of hope appear within the mentally broken alien substance. It could potentially find a new host if this planet hopefully had organic life. That is if it didn’t die from the the impending impact on the planets surface. Back with Spike After a few minutes the drake finally reached the crash site of the ‘meteor’ , but to his slight surprise the was scraps of metal with a few medium size fires. He heard meteor could cause slight destruction if at fairly large size, but this was a bit much. Shaking his head the teen dragon press on through the rubble towards the creator. Looking down into the creator Spike saw a severely damage space craft of some kind. Curiously Spike just stared at the slight spectacle of electricity and flames. Suddenly, his eye caught slow movement within the the pod. In shock and curiosity a black mass of goo slowly crept out. Spike noticed how the black goo was trying to avoid the flames and visible electricity. Then he saw it accidentally fell on a small ember of fire. The goo formed a head with white jagged eyes with a mouth as it let out an agonized shriek of pain, not thinking twice Spike lunged forward and extended his hands out in a attempted to pick the sentient goo up. However, as soon as his hands came into contact with it the goo leapt onto him, and began to spread across his body in shock and fear Spike began to try and rip the substance off. Unfortunately, the goo wouldn’t let go of him he closed his eyes tight and passed out as he felt it start to cover his face. It barely survived the a crash, but it still needed to get out of the pod. Luckily the impact shattered the glass of the container it was stuck in. However, it couldn’t move hastily or it might get caught in something. Moving carefully it made its way out the broken pod, but in its slight relief of being free of its would be tomb it didn’t notice a small patch of fire. In extreme jolt of pain coursed through it. Out of habit it formed the head of Venom and shrieked in pain. Suddenly, it felt th presence of a creature. It felt a pair of hands grabbed it without hesitation it leapt on him and began to cover the creature it felt its new unwilling host try to remove it. Unfortunately for him it wouldn’t just let go that easily. It felt him go unconscious and took control. This body felt more advanced than a humans. It needed to leave soon his host couldn’t have been the only one to notice it landing. Hoping out of the creator and looked around. Dammit, there was fire everywhere small and large. It needed to get through the flames as quickly as possible bracing itself it ran through the the flames it waited for pain to occur, but to its surprise there wasn’t any pain. Deciding to worry about that later it press on an ran to wards the city nearby. Leaping onto a relatively tall building and sitting down it decide to see what this world was through the memories of its new host. This was all quite interesting a dragon as a host and the way he acted was similar to Peter in terms of intelligence, but also similar to Eddie in the way he felt outcasted from his peers and everyone around him. It also found slight problems with his body. Specifically there was a strange block in his throat and lungs it wasn’t causing breathing issues, but it decided to fix it anyway. The nerves in his fingertips and a few in his shoulder blades were completely destroyed. Sadly, it wouldn’t be able to fix those problems. Curious it tried to find the memory of when these ‘modifications’ occurred , but for some reason it wasn’t able to. Figuring it wasn’t worth dwelling on for now it got to work on his throat and lungs. 3 hours later “W-what...h-happened?” Spike woke up with a groan. He looked around to see he was on the roof of a building. “Was that all just a dream?” He thought about to brush it off until he heard a deep voice speak in his head. “That was no dream Spike.” The voice spoke calmly. Spike began to freak out. “Who’s there show yourself!” The drake shouted looking around franctically. The voice spoke again but this time outside his head. ”As you wish.” Suddenly, the same black goo gathered on his chest. It formed a long thin neck with a large head on the end. It had large jagged white eyes with no pupils it also had a large twisted sardonic grin filled with razor sharp teeth. Spike was now extremely scared sweat began to roll down the side of his head. “W-who...n-no WHAT are you?!” Spike asked a bit hysterical. The creature’s grin somehow grew even wider. “I was known as Venom and I’m apart of a race known as the Klyntar we are symbiotic species that needs a host to survive, but more importantly you are now my new host.” It stated. Spike’s eyes widened. “W-what? NO!! I dont wan-“ Spike was cut off. “I know your wish.” Spike stiffened at that statement. ”I also know what Ms. Sparkle said to you. Why have me as your friend? I know your dream as well and could help you.” Spike sat there in thought. Why not? The symbiote seemed willing and what did he have to lose? “Fuck it why not you have a deal.” The symbiote grinned even wider. Spike looked around not sure what to do. “So uh.. Venom what do we do now?” The symbiotes face drew closer to his as it spoke. ”As far as I’m aware WE can do whatever WE want.” > The Lethal Protector > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ”Rumors of a strange black creature in the streets of Ponyville have been spreading for the past month. These rumors started when a mare reported being saved from being mugged by creature. Police confirmed this when they found the remains of a stallion dressed in dark clothes with a switchblade and a ripped ski mask not far from where he was found. Disturbingly the stallion’s entire head was removed from his body. Medics reported finding bite marks and traces of saliva where the stump of his neck was. This occernce has been happening more lately within the more decrepit parts of the city. Another report comes from a teenage colt who has reported see a black creature run across the roof tops of buildings all around the city. Police have advised for all citizens to contact the authorities if this creature is seen and to not approach it. In lighter news Princess Celestia and Princes Luna have discovered a strange devices outside the boarders of the city we have even got a personal interview so if we-“The T.V. screen shut off as a metallic hand clicked the power button. “Hey you still hungry buddy?” A voice asked to seemingly no one. “Okay let go hunting.” The voice said as it’s owner stood up and walked over to the stair case exited the basement and entering the dark corridors of the orphanage. He walked out into the open streets of the city and hopped onto the nearest building and started running across the rooftops. The creature continued until he saw a pegasus stallion with a black coat with a cyan blue mane and tail. He had his mane styled in a mohawk. He wore ripped up blue jeans with a dirty white T-shirt under a jean jacket with the sleeves ripped off and hiking boots. The stallion wobbled down the empty sidewalk with a half empty bottle of beer in one hand. The creature noticed the stallion mumbling to himself about dumb mares and not understanding them. Deciding to follow after him the creature stalked the stallion to a relatively narrow alley. It noticed another stallion started following the intoxicated one. This one wore an oversized grey hoodie and sweat pants and sneakers. The unidentified stallion walked quickly behind the blue maned stallion and pulled something out of his pocket as prepare to swing it at his unsuspecting victim. The hooded figure attempted to swing the object at the stallion but his hand was halted by what looked like black spider webs he was then hoisted up and yanked towards a rooftop. The blue maned stallion turned around in confusion after hearings some noise from behind. He then looked at the bottle in his hand before chucking it in the trashcan nearby. “I need stop drinking I’m starting to hear things.” Up on a rooftop the stallion fell on his back. He rubbed his head an looked behind him to only be met with two large white eyes staring at him. Stumbling to his feet the stallion turned around to look at the thing behind him. It stood two foot taller than him it was very large and bulky. It was all black except it’s large white jagged crescent like eyes and huge twisted grin that spread all the way along its alligator like muzzle with dozens of sharp teeth. A few other noticeable features were the hood that hung loosely over its head that had long spikes protruding from the back of and that went all the way down its back. It also had a long reptilian tail that swayed carelessly behind it. The creature stalked closer to him with strangely silent footsteps and its grin growing even wider. Thinking quickly the stallion grabbed the broken bottle he was carrying and threw it at him. Unsurprisingly the bottle shattered on contact the creature’s eyes narrowed as it got closer. It grabbed him and yanked him up to his eye level.The stallion noticed something while the creature’s body seemed slimy and organic it’s hands felt cold and metallic. “You don’t seem that appetizing if we had a choice we would just take an arm, but we aren’t in the mood to be picky so you’ll do for now.” It said opening it’s mouth. “Wait I can give you-“ The stallions was silenced by the creature chomping down on his head killing him instantly. The creature swallowed the hunk of fur and flesh in its mouth.It then spat out the cloth of the hood it bit off while carelessly tossing the corpse down to the ground below not caring if someone saw it. “Ugh. That tasted foul. We need to find something more apatizing then that let’s try somewhere else.” The creature sighed and began to move on to somewhere else. In Canterlot castle a tall black coated alicorn mare with a dark blue mane and tail sat in front of a large window staring at the starry night sky. she wore a form fitting black dress and a moon necklace around her neck. She just stood their and stare at the sky. She was broken from her thoughts by a knock at her door. Walking to her door she opened the door to see a guard there he bowed to her with his spear in one hand. “Princess Luna, Princess Celestia has requested your presence.” He said. She just nodded and teleported to where her sister was. “Dear sister what is the reason that you’ve requested our presence?” She asked appearing in the throne room which her sister sitting on her throne, Celestia was considerably taller than Luna. She wore a somewhat tight white dress and a gold necklace with a purple gem in the center. The sun Princess had a pure white coat with a pink, blue, green, and purple mane and tail. Her head rested on her fist and her tired cerulean eyes were drooped. “Remember that strange craft that was discovered a month ago. Well I had Twilight take a look at it and she was able to reverse engineer it to a near exact replica of what she assumes to be what it was before landing. She informed me that the craft seemed to be a container of sorts.” The sun princess stated. Luna took her seat next to her sister while processing the information. “Do you believe it’s related to the creature that has been suspected of terrorizing Ponyville as of late.” Luna asked. Celestia sat up and nodded. “Most likely, however, the craft seemed a tad to small.” She stated straightens her mane. “So what should we do?” Luna asked. “There’s nothing to worry about Twilight has informed me that her and the other elements will handle the creature.” She said with a tired smile. Luna sighed and looked out the window. “We guess but we have a feeling it won’t be that simple. We’ll shall take over for now you should get some sleep Tia.” Celestia gave her sister a thankful nod before teleporting to her room, and then collapsing on her bed. Next Day It was mid morning and Spike was relaxing on his bed with a black T-shirt and jeans on. He was just messing with his gauntlets. Even though the school didn’t outright say it to him he knew he was expelled or at least suspended for a very long duration of time. You’re not typically welcome back to school after you break a security guard’s arm plus yelling at your teacher and principal. It didn’t matter to him either way he was confident in his intelligence and his new friend that he’ll be fine. Suddenly , Venom’s head formed on his chest. “What’s up bud?” The teen drake asked sitting up placing his gauntlets to the side. ”Why do you insist we only eat thugs and lowlifes?” The symbiote asked. Spike just shrugged. “If we ate random civilians we definitely be in way more trouble than we are now from just simple fact that we killed someponies period, and while most of the population of the city hide their distaste for me rather poorly there are handful that are at least tolerable.” Spike explained. Venom just nodded before asking another question. ”What should we do today?” He asked sinking back into Spike’s body. Spike got off his b and threw on his purple hoodie and his black sneakers. He grabbed a pair of green headphones and a mp3 he ‘borrowed’ from a sleeping colt in school. “I guess we’ll walk around and see what’s happening around town. From our new found popularity it’s only a matter of time before we have some fun.” He said making his way out of the orphanage. Walking down the street while listening to music Spike ignored the looks ponies passed him. He sense someone follow him thanks to Venom. Deciding to act oblivious he walked to the park.He made his way there and took a seat on a somewhat secluded bench. He felt whoever was following him approaching from behind. Once he thought they were close enough he swung his arm back and grabbed the collar of the pony behind him he pulled them over his shoulder and threw them on the ground. The pony following him turned out to be a teen filly with a orange coat and a short dark purple mane and tail. She wore a dark hoodie with black basketball shorts and white sneakers. Spike just stared blankly at her “Scootaloo why are you following me?” He said annoyed. Scootaloo stood up and dusted herself off while giving Spike an annoyed glare. “Me and my friends were trying to get our cutie marks so we joined the school newspaper, and I was assigned to find out what happened to the ‘Dragon Freak’ that flipped out on the princess and the principal. So?” She said taking out a notepad and pencil while taking a seat beside him. “Tell me what happened.” Inastead of responding Spike stood up and walked away. “Hey get back here!” Scootaloo shouted after him. The teen drake ignored the Pegasus and continued on his way. Later that night Spike was just relaxing on a rooftop looking up at the stars with his Venom suit on. He was having a conversation with him in his head just talking about the past more specifically Venom’s. Suddenly, Venom shouted for him move, not giving it a second thought Spike rolled to the side and leapt up to his feet. He saw a white sneaker landing right where his head was. He saw a short cyan coated pegasus mare standing where he was previously laying. She had short scruffy rainbow mane and tail she wore a dark blue track suit and white sneakers. She had her arms crossed over her chest while glaring at him with her scarlet eyes. “Hey! We were laying there!” They exclaimed in annoyance. Rainbow Dash just glared even harder. “Your the guy that has been causing trouble around town.” She growled. They just grinned wider. ”Oh, do we have a fan.” They chuckled mockingly. The mare just scoffed. “As if!” She sneered. “Oh, then what do you want fro us?” They asked narrowing their eyes. “Egghead wanted me to see if I could find the bastard that’s been eating ponies.” She scoffed. ”Well here we are. What now you’re gonna glare us to death?” They snickered. “No, she wants me to bring you in.” She said. “Eh, sorry but you know how it is. Ponies to taste and idiots to mess with.” They laughed backflipping off the roof. Rainbow Dash groaned and took off after them. Venom swung from building to building. They landed on a rooftop and began to run at breakneck speeds. Soon Rainbow Dash was on their right. She seemed somewhat impressed but not by much. Grinning wider they inhaled some air and blowing out a small stream of green fire with small traces of purple. Startled the mare pulled back avoiding the flames. Taking advantage of her confused state the symbiotic duo spun around and grabbed her with their webs. They quickly yanked her towards them and wrapped her up in black webs. Dropping down into a alley they stuck her to a wall upside down. “Hehehe, you should’ve just back off. You smell sweet, but lucky for you we’re not hungry. The webs should dissolve in a few minutes.” They snickered. ”Catch you later!” They laughed leaping away. “Hey get back here!!” She yelled after him. Unfortunately, the unknown duo were far gone. > We.Are.VENOM!! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “So it should happen in about two-and-a-half months?” Spike asked sitting on the ledge of a building with Venom’s head protruding from his chest. It was late into the night and they weren’t worried about being spotted. ”Precisely, however I’m confused on why you’re concerned about this.” Venom said narrowing his eyes. Spike just shrugged. “After going over what you have told me the main reason that they caused problems for you and your previous host is because he wasn’t prepared for them cause you neglected to inform him of them at least for the first one. The others was due to your stubbornness to cooperate with them. Especially the one with the wings.” Spike shoot a look at the head of his partner who just looked the other way. “I admit it was a bit of a brash decision on our part, but at the time it seemed nessecary.” The symbiote defended. Spike just shook his head. “No reason dwelling on it now. Let’s go swinging around for abit.” Spike said standing up as Venom spread across forming into their suit. They dropped of the roof and shot a web at a distant building and began to swing from building to building. After awhile they swung on the side of a tall office building and took a look at them selves. An idea then popped up in Spike’s head. “Hey can you put the spider symbol back on our chest I kinda liked it, but make a few changes.“ Spike asked his partner in his mind. “Sure.” He said as their chest began to twist and convulse a little. “Will this work?” He asked settling on a strange white spider design. “How’s that?” Spike grinned. ”It's perfect.” He grinned as they crawled up the side of the building. Reaching the top, Spike decided to mess with ponies of the city a little, and with Venom’s help they let out a blood chilling roar that caused everyone to wake up. They laughed uncontrollably as they heard shouts of irritation and fear from all the ponies of the city. Getting their laughter under control The ‘pair’ made their way back to the orphanage. Before they could get there they stopped as a bright purple flash appeared to reveal six agitated mares. The duo recognized two of them. One was the Pegasus they ‘raced’ a few days ago. The other was someone Spike wasn’t very pleased to see. His old teacher stood their with a frown and calculating eyes. Deciding to ignore her for now they turned to the other four. The first was a tall orange coated Earthpony with a blonde mane and tail. Her mane was tied in a loose ponytail. They also noticed she wore a red flannel shirt coupled with a pair of blue jeans, and brown work boots.They also saw she had a brown stetson on her head. Next was a short light pink coated Earthpony with a dark pink puffy mane and tail she wore pink footy pajamas with apron over it.To their surprise she seemed to be happy to see them. They noticed a cream colored Pegasus with a light pink mane hiding behind the tall one they couldn’t tell what she was wearing but if they had to guess a forest green sweater and white sweatpants. They noticed she seemed terrified of them which only served to make their grin wider. Finally, they saw a white coated Unicorn with a curly royal purple mane and tail she wore a scarlet red blouse that was ruffled she also had a pair of white yoga pants and purple heeled shoes. Spike vaguely recognized her he might’ve had crush on her when he was younger. It must not had been that deep because he barely remembered her. They stood up straight and crossed their arms over their chest. “Well hello little fillies what are you doing out so late I believe it’s past your bed time.” They teased at the mares. Twilights eyes narrowed at the creature as it chuckled to itself. “Who are you and what is your business in Ponyville?” She demanded the creature as it put its hand to its chin. ”Well we could tell you or...” Quicker than the mares could see the duo shot a web at the frightened Pegasus and pulled her towards them while wrapping her in a cocoon of black webbing. Slinging the thrashing cocoon over their shoulder they stared at the mortified faces of the other mares. “We can all play a friendly game of capture the butterfly.” They laughed. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and charged them but stopped herself as they had their arm extended with their claws prepared to impale her. The hotheaded Pegasus flew back in panic. “Uh uh uh. The game hasn’t even started yet. Now let me explain the rules. We’re going to take the little butterfly here and hide somewhere you heave until dawn to find us, and if you don’t then she’ll be our breakfast.” They grinned wickedly. Unknown to the group the last part was a lie they would never eat an innocent. This was just a way to pass the time a bit. Before Twilight could say anything the pink Earthpony jumped in. “What do we get when we find you!?” She said bouncing in place. The ‘pair’ chuckled pleasantly. ”IF you win then you get the butterfly...” They dangled the still thrashing cocoon to emphasize their words. “And we’ll answer any question you have.” They said slinging the cocoon back over their shoulder. Four of the remaining mares seemed a bit hesitant. While the pink one seemed excited. After ten seconds Twilight spoke up. “Fine, we’ll play your game.” She sneered. The pair chuckled as they crouched down. “It’s cute that you think you had a choice.” With that said they dashed past the group with a flash of electricity. After registering what they said Twilight began growl in anger until Applejack place a hand on her shoulder. "Now calm down Twi we'll find that varmint and save Fluttershy too." She said with the others nodding in agreement. Twilight sighed deeply. "I don't know what it is about that thing but it annoys me." She says while tapping the side of her horn. Trying to figure out her unusually hostile interactions with the creature. Her thoughts were halted by Pinkie. "Come on guys if we don't move now we'll lose the game." She said before quickly bouncing away in the direction the creature went. The other four mares eyes widened in panic remembering they were on a time limit quickly they all followed Pinkie. A few blocks away the duo were swinging from building. Spike had told Venom to shrink down to about his normal height. His reason was that while their large form is good for intimidation it isn't good for speed and maneuverability. "Hey have any idea where we should hide.” Spike asked his secret friend. He heard Venom hum to himself before speaking up. ”How about that old apart build we used to train in. It’s practically abandoned and it has a pretty big parking garage.” He suggested. ”Not a bad idea. Let’s go!” Spike sard swinging faster. Vermont silently wrapped a few tendrils around the cocoon so it wouldn’t fall and Spike could use both hands to swing. Said drake noticed this and removed his right hand from the cocoon and started swing even faster. After a good while they arrived at a apartment building that seemed to be empty but there were lights on in certain windows. Quickly they mad it to the underground parking garage. They swung up to a support beams and stuck the cocoon to it. They swung to the entrance. They began to string a large black spider web that would be invisible from the outside due to how dark it was. They then made their way back to where their ‘guest’ was. Silently, the duo hung themselves over the cocoon that had finally stop thrashing. Reaching down they tore off the webs where the mare’s face was. They were admittedly startled when they saw her ocean blue eyes just staring at them. They had honestly thought she tired her self out. Shaking their head to clear their thoughts they turned bac to the mare who was still staring at them. ”Well little butterfly we weren’t expecting to see you still awake.” They chuckled mockingly. They expected her to become scared again, but she just kept staring. She seemed....worried? “A-a-are y-y-you o-o-okay?” She asked timidly. This startled the pair. ”Huh?” They asked8; genuine confusion. “Y-y-you’re h-h-hurt.” The Pegasus continued. The duos eyes narrowed. ”What are you talking about?” They scoffed a mixture of confusion and annoyance edvident in their voice. Before the Pegasus could answer. They sensed someone approaching their location. They snapped their head towards the entrance. Their head turned back to the mare slowly they placed their finger against their snout and began to acend back up to the ceiling. Fluttershy was confused. When Twilight told her and the others they were going after the creature that has been eating ponies she was terrified. This was justified when she saw it for first time. It grabbing her and wrapping up in a cocoon didn’t help. However, once she felt it place her on something cold and hard she began t o calm down a bit. Her fear almost came back as she felt something hover over her. Suddenly, the webbing that covered her face was torn off. The first thing she saw were it’s big white eyes. It’s eyes they were so...cold. So......sad. Her fear was somewhat suppressed by her concern for the creature. Despite her mind telling her to keep quiet her heart had other plans. Once she expressed her concerns for the creature it showed genuine confusion. She then noticed the way it spoke. There was a thick veil of playfulness and mockery in every word it said. It’s voice was also strange it was definitely male it sounded like a mixture of a deep gruff gurgle like voice. It scared her quite a bit. Suddenly, it’s head snapped to the side she wanted to know what it was looking at, but didn’t want to provoke it anyway. Then it slowly turned back to her. It raised its hand up and place a finger on its snout imply that it wanted her to be quite. Not want to disagree Fluttershy silently accepted it then began to rise back up the ceiling into the darkness. The remains Elements of Harmony were searching all over the city trying to figure out where the creature to their shy friend. They were all getting a bit nervous since it’s already been an hour and they still had no clue where to look. They tried to ask ponies if they seen anything. However, every pony seemed more interested in finding out that the creature actually existed. Quickly deciding to change tactics the group of mares decided to regroup and figure something out. Rainbow Dash opted to check the Everfree Forest convinced that’s where the creature came from therefore where it lived. The other weren’t sure and didn’t want to go off on a guess. Pinkie Pie was somewhat distracted not really taking the situation seriously she just mumbled to herself questions she was going to ask the creature. When the others expressed their annoyance she just brushed them off. Applejack suggested checking the sewer systems as a possible place the creature could have gone. This idea was quickly shot down by Rarity who claimed it was too moist and humid. Twilight had no clue where to look and was the most panicked out of the group. Rarity suggested checking abandoned and run down places in the city despite their “horrid” they were. The others took a second to think about it before agreeing. This is how Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie found themselves outside the entrance of of a parking garage of a really rundown apartment building Rainbow Dash and Rarity went to check the rest of the building. The three mares seem to just stare at the entrance for a second with a sense of uncertainty. The silence was broken by Pinkie jumping up. “Come on girls let’s go!” She cheered running towards the entrance. Suddenly, she was halted by something she nor the other to could see. “Pinkie! Hold on Ah’ll get ya down.” Applejack said quickly walking over to the stuck party planer. She reached out and grabbed Pinkie by the shoulders and yanked her of what ever she was caught on. “Hehehe. Thanks Aj I owe you one.” Pinkie chuckled sheepishly. She noticed#(3 was covered in sticky black ‘string’. ““Hey what’s this stuff?” She asked pulling the ‘string’ off her body. Twilight walked over to her pink friend and grabbed some of the ‘string’ she began to stare and poke at it before her eyes narrowed. “It’s spider webbing. This is definitely where it is hiding. Now all we have to do is find it.” She concluded. Her horn flashed a bright lavender color causing all the webbing to disappear.“Pinkie go find Rarity and Rainbow and tell them to come here.” “Okie dokie lokie!” She exclaimed dashing off in a puff of smoke. Twilight just sighed and shook her head. “Lets head in.” She stated Applejack agreed with a quick nod. The two mare began to make their way into the dark parking garage. Twilight cast a small light spell that illuminated the dark area a bit. They looked around a bit try to see if they could spot the creature or Fluttershy. After awhile Pinkie came back with the others. They all looked around. They were about to give up assuming the spider web at the entrance was from awhile ago and not recent. Fortunately, they heard a familiar voice call out to them. “G-g-girls up here-AHH!!!” They looked up to see a black cocoon falling from a high support beam. Suddenly it was caught by two black tendrils. Then a large figure dropped from the ceiling. The tendrils seem to come out of its back. It began to laugh while walking towards the mare. ”Hahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! Well we should’ve known the butterfly wouldn’t keep quiet for to long.” They laughed to themselves approaching the mares. The tendrils lowered the cocoon to the the creature’s outstretched hands. ”Well we’re no sore losers so....” Swiftly they ripped the cocoon to pieces. They held Fluttershy gently in their hands. Said Pegasus had a terrified and dazed look on her face. ”You get the butterfly.” They held her loosely by the back of her sweater. Quickly Rainbow Dash rushed over and grabbed her friend and rushed back over to the others. “Okay we won your game now time to answer a few questions.” Twilight sneered. The ‘pair’ just grinned and placed their hands behind their head. ”Well what you wanna know?” Twilight was about to open her mouth until Pinkie beat her to it. “What’s your favorite cake flavor?” The duo stared at her for a second. ”Uh, we never had cake before so we don’t have a preferred flavor.” They said still a bit confused. “WHAT! You have to come to Sugarcube Corner for a party then!” She cheered. The ‘pair’s’ eyes narrowed in confusion. ”We guess we could stop by. It might be fun.” They shrugged still a tad confused. “Pinkie now is not the time.” Twilight mumbled. She then addressed the creature in front of her. “On a serious note. What is your business in Ponyville?” She sneered. ”What do you mean this is our home we’ve been here for fourteen years granted we were asleep a good deal of the time but still.” They shrugged with a grin. All the mares eyes widened in disbelief before narrowing. “Is that a joke.” Rainbow growled out. The duo laughed. ”What would we gain from lying it’s Just how it is.” They weren’t really taking this seriously. Twilight caught on to this and began to grow irritated. “Next question why are you eating innocent ponies.” She asked with a growl. The pair began to laugh hysterically. ”Innocent!? Remind me Princess who have we eaten that has been ‘innocent’ don’t tell me your referring to one those muggers. Maybe you’re talking about the wannabe killers. Please Princess enlighten us who are you talking about?” They mocked. Twilight had enough of this creature’s antics. Her horn lit up in a lavender light and sent a bolt of magic directly at the creature. It didn’t seem fazed however. Once the bolt of magic was only about a foot away it disappeared in a burst of electricity. ”Tsk,tsk,tsk. Need to be a little faster Princess.” They mocked. Honestly that was a gamble to see if they were faster. “If you think your fast then your wrong!” Rainbow Dash shouted charging at the creature. Said duo didn’t even acknowledge the Pegasus and crossed their arms over their chest. Suddenly, a single tendril sprouted from their back and wrapped around her body. ”Yawn. Is that the best you have?” They ask theoretically. Effortlessly they flung her back to the remaining mares. This knocked Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy over. Out of nowhere a rope was wrapped around their body they looked to their side seeing Applejack holding onto the end the rope. This only caused them to chuckle to themselves. ”You fillies really are adorable y’know.” With that said they began to spin dragging Applejack along for the ride. They then turned their body in a way that made the country pony to to slam into her scientist friend. ”Too easy.” Twilight was the first get to her feet. Her horn was blazing with magical energy and her eyes were narrowed to a death glare. “Who the hell do you think you are?!” She shouted. The creature put a hand on its chin in a thinking position before grinning widely. They then crouched down and slid into a fighting stance. Their claws seem to extend quite a bit. ”Last we checked. We were Venom.” > Pancreas, Eyes, Lungs, Face. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- With a flare of her horn Twilight sent a magic bolt at the now named Venom. They quickly dashed to the side and leapt towards the Princess claws poised to attack. Twilight was barely able to dodge the ferocious barrage of slashes that followed. She may have been a prodigy when it came to magic, but she was completely useless in physical confrontations. Abruptly, Venom stopped their assault and leapt back. Only a second later when what looked like a huge wad of cake batter and confetti zoomed by and splatted against a pillar nearby. Twilight turned her head to the side and saw Pinkie Pie with her party cannon aimed at where the duo were standing a moment ago. ”That wasn’t very nice little filly. You shouldn’t launch desert ingredients at people that’s just rude.” Venom Chastised standing straight up crossing their arms and shaking their head in faux disappointment. However, Pinkie being Pinkie took this as guine disapproval and became very sad. “I’m sorry.” She said bowing her head in shame. Venom just gave a ‘tired’ sigh and shook their head while grinning. ”Aww. We can’t stay mad at you. Just don’t do it again.” They say with a sigh. Pinkie perks up with a smile. “Okie dokie lokie!” She cheered. Off to the side the other five mares were just staring at the exchange with deadpan stares minus Fluttershy who was still too scared to look at the unknown duo. Twilight groaned in annoyance. “Pinkie! Now is not the time for this!” The Princess of Friendship shouted. The party pony turned to her friend with a confused look on her face. “What do you mean?” She ask with a slight tilt of the head. Twilight facepalmed at her friend obliviousness. “We’re FIGHTING that thing not befriending it!” She exclaimed. The hyper pony just look even more confused. . “Why not look at them!" She shouted appearing next to the aforementioned pair with her arms in an outstretched position as if presenting them to her friends. "It's so cool looking!" This caused the pair to pause in a mix of confusion and slight amusement. They understood if a few found their appearance appealing in a strange way. However, they weren't expecting someone to be so open about their opinion. They assumed ponies would either be to scared or to embarrassed to say anything about them. "Why thank you little fillie that's sweet of you to say." They thanked her with a head pat. Meanwhile, the lavender alicorn that was watching from the side groaned in agitation. Her patience long gone. "Pinkie, get over here and watch Fluttershy; we'll deal with this." Twilight commanded. The pink mare turned her head to her friend and gave a thumbs up. She then disappeared in a cloud of smoke before appearing next the timid pegasus. Who for some reason was still wrapped in the black cocoon. Twilight sighed in exasperation. She focused herself on the task at hand. The alicorn glared at the black and white creature in front of her. It stood there nonchalantly with it's ever present jagged grin. "Alright girls let's try this again. Remember to try to atleast immobilize it." The princess ordered. Her othe three friends nodded in understanding. Slowly the four mares approached the creature cautiously. They were trying to think of a plan. Suddenly, Rainbow charged at the pair. Without a hint of surprise Venom leaped up out of her way while sending a tendril to wrap around her leg. They spun in the air thereby slinging the cyan pegasus around; before slamming her against a concrete pillar leaving her dazed. Landing on their feet the duo glanced in the direction of the three remaining mares. Only, to see an angry earthpony charging them. Tsk, they clicked their tongue in disappointment. With a flick of their wrist a strand of black webbing shot at the farm pony and latched onto the front of her shirt. "Gotcha." Venom jeered yanking her towards them. When she was close enough they grabbed her by the head. Swiftly, they turned around and threw the Element of Honesty at a surprised unicorn that was trying to sneak attack them. After the two ponies collided knocking each other out the pair turned to the last obstacle. "Guess it's just you and us now Princess." Twilight narrowed her eyes as she started building up magic in her horn. Slowly, Venom and the Princess of Friendship began to circle each other. The symbiotic pair began to to click their metallic claws together. After a mont of sizing each other up; the Element of Magic made the first move with a paralysis spell aimed at the duo's head. Fortunately, Venom ducked under the spell befor dashing at her with a hint of electricity. With a front swipe of their hand they slashed at her stomach; luckily, for the lavender pony she was able to avoid getting cut resulting in only the from of her shirt and part of her lab coat being cut. However, the duo didn't stop their barrage of slashes, not having much of a choice the alicorn unfolded her wings and flew up out of the pairs reach. Taking a few breaths to gain her bearings; glancing down she watched as Venom looked up at her with a gleam of amusement in their eyes. The unknowns spread their arms before shooting two web strands towards the ceiling. The duo began to back up while still holding their webs and prepared to launch themselves at their opponent. Figuring out the pairs plan, Twilight began to charge up a magical blast. Seeing this, Venom hissed lowly; suddenly, an idea popped into their head. Inhaling deeply, the symbiotic duo launched themselves at the princess. Twilight prepared to launch her spell; however, before she could release it the pair unleashed a large torrent of green flames with a few traces of purple within it. Caught off guard, Twilight quickly converted her original spell to a shield. Unfortunately, her shield wasn't strong enough to prevent her from being hit with force of the surprise attack knocking her back. This caused her to slam against a wall knocking her out. "Well that's that." They stated landing in a crouch. If anyone was paying attention they would've heard a slight strain in their voice. It was due to Spike inexperience in using his flames in such a high degree. Standing up straight they glanced outside to see it was still early morning. Grinning they shot a web to a nearby building through an opening in the parking garage. Turning their head towards the downed mares and waved at them. "Well it's been fun. Let's do it again" And with that they swung away. If they looked back they would've seen the hyper pink pony waving back at them. "Well we should get the others back to the castle. Right Flutters?" Pinkie asked turning to her shy friend. Who was sitting on the ground still wrapped in the black web cocoon. Noticing this, the party pony tilted her head to the side. "Um, Shy don't you want to get out of there?" The cream coated pegasus shook her head with a blush causing Pinkie to raise an eyebrow. "Why not?" "It's cozy." > Other Side of a Coin > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To say Twilight Sparkle was frustrated would be an understatement. For one, there was an extremely dangerous creature out in the city cannibalizing ponies. On the other hand, it seemed to only be targeting criminals; however, that was no excuse for murder. She didn’t know why but when she first encountered the creature she had a strange sense of familiarity with it. Another problem is the absence of one of her students, Spike the Dragon. She sighed deeply and laid her head down on her desk. I\t wasn’t that she didn’t know were the drake was it was what the drake was doing that worried her. She stopped by the orphanage a few times and talked to the elderly caretaker that acted as the teen drake's guardian. Apparently, Spike was constantly in his room tinkering with something. The caretaker said he seemed to only go out in the late evening or practically at crack of dawn. From what the elderly unicorn said he really didn't eat much nor does he interact with other inhabitants of the facility. The caretaker would always ask the Princess of Friendship if she could help him. The Element of Magic never really had a proper response for the old mare on small "I'll try"s. Abruptly, Twilight's head snapped up with an idea. Honestly, she didn't want someone with such a gifted mind to isolate themselves to such a degree. Knowing she had a part to play in the situation also didn't help. Up until that fateful day, the two interacted very scarcely and mostly positive with a few moments of tension. Mostly due to the drake's introverted personality and his reluctance to participate in certain activities. In her opinion, he kinda reminded Twilight of a younger version of herself when she was still a student of Celestia. Anyways, an idea began to brew in her head. Lately, she noticed the library has been getting more and more disorganized and messy. While her friends and Starlight help on occasion they are usually busy with their own things. Plus Starlight was technically her student, so she was too busy studying the materials she gave her. She needed someone specifically to help her with all her work and studies. Or in other words an assistant. > Moving Web > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike, in a rare sight, wasn’t in his room but sitting in his Nan's office. Apparently, she had something exciting to tell him. He was just sitting in a chair sketching a few modifications to his gear in his notebook. He heard the door creak open behind him. Smiling, the drake turned to see his Nan walking in. He noticed she seemed to have a brighter smile on her face, and an air of relief around her as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders. Curious, the teen drake turned his full attention toward the doorway. Standing there was his old teacher in her standard outfit with a few bandages on her face. Instantly, he could feel his Other growing irritated at her presence, and honestly, that was a sentiment they were currently sharing. Noticing his grandmother had a bit of a wobble in her steps he ignored his Other for now, Spike got out of his seat and then went over to help his Nan to her seat once he reached her he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Rosey Heart, the elderly unicorn caretaker, smiled up at her grandson in thanks. She was a bit excited and moved too fast. Ever since Spike decided to "drop out" of school to find his own way she has constantly worried about him. It's not that she doubted him or his ambition; however, she's been around awhile and seen a lot like the drake who've ended up in dark places. Her heart ached at the thought of that happening to Spike. So when Princess Twilight Sparkle came to her with an offer to help him she had to accept. She just hoped Spike will agree. "Thank you, dear. Yes, he's already in here. Princess, please come take a seat right there." His Nan directed the alicorn to the seat next to his. Which only serves to increase the growing sense of dread and hostility within the symbiote. Shaking his head the teen guided his Nan over to her desk before going back to his seat. His emerald eyes shifted to the Element of Magic coincidently the Princess had the same response for only a second emerald and lavender met. Quickly, averting his eyes, Spike adjusted himself in his seat, closing his notebook and sliding it into his hoodie feeling the Other grab and drag the book into itself. The Lethal Protector softly sighed; hopefully, that would distract his partner long enough to get through this. Refocusing his attention on his Nan. He watched as she slowly made it to her seat behind the desk. Adjusting herself the elderly mare smiled brightly as she spoke. "Spike, the Princess here came to me with a great opportunity for you!" The mare practically cheered. "Really!? What would that be, Nan!?" The drake said in faux excitement. As kind and understanding as his grandmother was, Spike, made sure she was oblivious to his less-than-stellar social standing in the city. Sure, she knew he was more of a loner who didn't socialize, but the fact that it was the result of the ostracization he was subjugated to by his peers was a detail the drake was determined to keep hidden from his grandma. Even if that meant he had to hide a few things from her. "Princess Twilight came to me with the opportunity for you to go work under her!" The crimson-coated unicorn exclaimed. Spike's pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks as his jaw clenched. He quickly and subtly jabbed his hand into his chest while bouncing in his chair a little. This was due to his Other attempt to lurch out of his chest. Before he could speak the aforementioned Princess next to him spoke up. "Actually, Ms. Heart, it's more of an assistant position. Spike here, would help me with organizing the library and my work. Also, as we talked about earlier I'd preferred if he moved into the castle, so he doesn't have to move back and forth. It is quite a ways away, especially for those who don't have a mode of transpiration." The Princess of Friendship explained. "Of course, I would help him with any further studies of his own. It could be a bit difficult for his academic level to be validated after his decision to leave school. " Spike could feel the stare of the lavender alicorn burning into the side of his head. "With him as my student, I can guarantee he will never run into any problems like that." She assured. "Right. Anyways, Spike, the reason I called you in here was that while this seems like a great opportunity for you I wouldn't want to make a big decision like this without your consideration." Explained the elderly caretaker. Spike blinked a few times he was completely caught off guard; however, he had a reply ready. Swallowing hard with a slightly forced smile, he turned to the Princess. "I-" "ACCEPT!? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US!? This is like putting the mouse in the cat's cage!" “Calm down and help me pack. I’ll explain as we go.” Lowly spoke the teen drake putting a few articles of clothing into a backpack. The symbiote grumbled in frustration at his host's response to his distress. Spike smirked as he felt tendrils form from his back and sweep the room for items. "Anyways, my reason for going is actually quite simple. Nan wanted me to. Plus it could make a few things easier; such as getting books to further advance our gear, chances to learn more in general, and a surplus of opportunities to mess with Princess and her friend in and out of the mask." The wingless dragon could practically feel the smile of his partner at that last part. Spike chuckled slinging his bag over his shoulder. Turning around to his bare room he saw a medium size cardboard box sealed with scotch tape. The tendrils retracted back into his body, picking up the box, Spike made his way toward the staircase. Fourteen years of his life were spent down here in relative solitude. While he had his Nan and now his Other, nothing will ever be able to replace the hours he spent at that table. Hours spent studying, crafting, designing, and dreaming. He paused once he reached the base of the stairs a whisp of a smile spread across his face as he drew in a deep breath. "Besides… I couldn't stay here forever." And with that, they ascended the stairs. Back upstairs, Twilight waited in the lobby with the caretaker. While on the surface she appeared calm with a smile plastered to her face, but internally she frowned in extreme confusion. The way the wingless dragon interacted and behave around the elderly mare next to her was a bit bizarre to the former student of Celestia. She also expected a lot more resistance from the drake. At the least she expected him to be a lot more hostile, but he seemed a bit more indifferent and closed off than anything. Wasn't he a rude, rebellious, and loud punk? The Princess was in deep thought now mulling over all the information she had on the purple-scaled dragon. A startling realization struck the alicorn, she truly only knew the teen's name and academic talents. Anything else was told to her by other teachers and staff, In addition to that, they've never interacted outside of class excluding his last day at school. The Element of Magic's brain tried to process the information it was generating. Quickly, Twilight calmed her mind down. A more genuine smile slipped onto her face. Maybe this was a better idea than she initially considered. "I'm done!" Spike called out as he was exiting the basement breaking the Princess out of her thoughts. She smiled at him and nodded. "Good, we can go whenever you're ready." The drake nodded. He placed his box on the ground and walked over to his grandmother. He smiled down at her and began to rub the back of his head. “Well I guess this is good-“ the drake was interrupted as the mare wrapped her arms around him pulling the teen into a surprise hug. "Dear, we're far from goodbye. I'll see you when you're off." Rosey Heart spoke softly. Spike just smiled hugging her back. "Yeah, see you when I get off." He affirmed. After a minute he gently pulled away from the hug. Walking over to the waiting Princes of Friendship the teen picked up his box and stood next to the lavender alicorn. Twilight nodded and smile her horn began to glow a light purple. "Alright then let's go." With a flash, the dragon and alicorn were gone. Sighing softly, Rosey Heart walked down to the basement. Sitting down on the neatly made mattress she began to glide her hand across the bed. Tilting her head up she stared at the dark concrete ceiling and closed her eyes. Smiling widely tears started to pour down her face. "I'm glad you finally had a reason to go." > We still don't like You > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- With a flash of lavender light, the dragon and Princess appeared in front of a huge crystal tree that had a castle at the top. Spike craned his neck a bit to stare up at the castle of Friendship in a slight sense of wonder. It was definitely a beautiful sight to behold, the drake honestly did want to visit the castle sometime but never found the reason or resolve to go. Caught up in his musings he wasn't quite prepared for a gentle hand to be placed on his shoulder. With a jerk of his head, Spike looked to see the smiling face of Twilight. "Well come on I got to show you around, right?" Inquired the lavender-coated alicorn. The wingless drake just turned his head away from her as a neutral expression crossed his face. "Uh, right lead the way I guess." Mumbled the purple-scaled drake. The Element of Magic's smile falters ever so slightly at his reaction. Pulling her hand away she just nodded and walked to the entrance of her home. Silently, Spike followed closely behind her inside his head the Other was grumbling about being hungry and how he wondered what the mare's brain in front of them tasted like. Spike mentally sighed at his partner's grumbling. They were roaming the castle in somewhat comfortable silence Twilight occasionally pointing to key areas and rooms and explaining their purposes. Spike only nodded in acknowledgment while taking in the many colors and beauty of the interior. They eventually reached the library where the Princess of Friendship told him this is where they'd most of their work would be done. She showed him where each book section was and how she liked to organize them. Spike also took note that there seemed to be a bit of empty space on the shelves. Pushing that to the side he refocused on Twilight who guided him out of the library and into what he could only describe as a crime scene. "Holy hell! What happened to your kitchen?!" Exclaimed the drake loudly. This started the alicorn, not expecting the outburst. "Oh uh yeah I guess it's gotten a little messy. I just haven't had time to clean up, hehe." She laughed a little embarrassed. Spike shook his head he walked over to the Princess and shoved his box into her hands while slinging his backpack on top. "If I'm going to live here I'm not gonna deal with a kitchen that looks like it's the aftermath of nuclear warfare." Stated the wingless dragon shoving the stunned and confused alicorn out. "You go do whatever you gotta do but I'm taking care of this now." To enforce this statement he shut the door into the still confused alicorn's face. Twilight looked down at Spike's stuff in her hands and sighed. "I guess I'll put his stuff in his room," Twilight whispered to herself still a bit confused. Back in the kitchen Spike was rummaging through cabinets grabbing as many supplies as he could. His Other began to stretch out of his back. ” Y’know, Nan isn’t here to knock us upside the head for not cleaning, right?” Questioned the symbiote halfheartedly. Spike just shook his head while opening a trash bag. "Doesn't matter as I said to Ms. Sparkle I will not live in a kitchen that looks like this," he stated picking up a few miscellaneous items and throwing them into the bag. "Remember this will be our 'home' from now on, so I'd like it to be livable." "I get that, but would we even be in here most of the time? Last I checked you rarely left your room." The drake only hummed in response. "Well back then I had Nan brought me food if she thought I needed to eat. I doubt, Ms. Sparkle is going to do that." The purple dragon explained. "Here, help me with this and I'll make you something later." He said handing over the box of trash bags. Wordlessly, the Other began to spread out and grab the trash and other random objects that were strewn about. Back out in the hallways, Twilight was making her way to the room she was planning to give to Spike. As she moved quietly through the halls she began to think more about the aforementioned drake. The teen perplexed the mare, he wasn't anything like how thE other teachers described him. Honestly, she was starting to regret her dependence on others' accounts of the wingless dragon. The main cause was how difficult he was to find outside of the school. Then again if her talk with Rosey Heart was any indication she was convinced the purple-scaled drake mostly went between his room and school and maybe a late-night walk. Which curiously enough has been happening more frequently lately. At least according to the elderly mare. "Hey, Twilight! What you up to?" Snapped out of her thoughts the lavender alicorn looked up to see her friend and student, Starlight Glimmer. She was a magenta-coated unicorn with a mane and tail that was purple and had pinkish-purple and cyan streaks. She wore a white pullover hoodie dark purple and pink pants with a pair of magenta-colored shoes. 'Oh, hey Starlight did you need something?" She inquired. The unicorn shook her head and folded her arms. "No, I was just walking around," Starlight stated nonchalantly. Her eyes wandered to the box and bag in her friend's arms. "So, I assume the kid agreed to your little proposition?" “Surprisingly, yes.” The Princess responded simply. "He's cleaning the kitchen now, so I was just going to leave his stuff in his room." Starlight whistled before walking over to Twilight and nudged her in the arm. "Damm, already got the poor kid working his tail off, huh?" The white-coated unicorn joked. The Element of Magic's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "What?! No, no, no, no, it's not like that he insisted to do it before I continued the tour," hastily explained the lavender-coated alicorn. The unicorn tilted her head with a look of confusion spreading across her face. "He WANTED to clean up that mess we call a kitchen?" A look of curiosity began to shine in the mare's blue eyes. "I think I'll go say "hello" to our new 'housemate'." With that, she walked past Twilight and towards the kitchen. The Princess just shrugged it off and continued on her trek. Back in the kitchen, Spike was throwing one of the last garbage bags down the trash shoot. His Other was tying off the last two bags when; suddenly, it stiffened and quickly shot back into the emerald-eyed dragon. This of course caused the teen drake to slightly lurch forward in surprise. Before he could question his partner the sound of the kitchen door opening caught his attention. Turning his head to the noise \he saw a magenta-coated unicorn mare step in. She began to look around the decently clean kitchen with a hum. "Wow, you work fast, huh kid?" In response, Spike only blinked a few times before rubbing the back of his head in confusion. "Yeah, I guess I do, hehe," an awkward chuckle slipped through his snout. "Um, ma'am who are you if you don't mind me asking?" Spike asked politely a genuine curiosity in his eyes. "Starlight Glimmer, student of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you umm-" The blue-eyed mare stated proudly before she stopped and hum a look of realization and embarrassment spread a crossed her face. The purple-scaled dragon just slightly smiled and walked over to her. "Spike the Dragon, I guess it's nice to meet you too, Ms. Glimmer." He said extending his hand out. The mare smiled and shook it. She pulled her hand away and began to look around the room. "While it seems you got most of the place fixed up I could lend a hand to speed things up. I'm sure you don't want to spend the entire day in here alone." She offered kindly. Spike smiles nervously before nodding in acceptance. "Yeah…' alone'," he muttered before speaking up. "Yeah, that'd be great." About half an hour later the dragon and unicorn were walking through the halls of the castle in somewhat comfortable silence. Spike was just walking with his head down and hood up as usual. He would have been talking to his Other, but it seemed to have fallen asleep. While Starlight was just watching the teen dragon unconsciously. After they were done cleaning she offered to show him to his room where Twilight would most likely be. The emerald-eyed drake piqued her interest. The unicorn had only heard his name occasionally in passing from Twilight. Focussing her eyes on the wingless teen to her right she noticed how he walked slightly hunched over and his snout towards the ground. A slight frown made its way to her muzzle as they continued until they reached a door. Starlight placed a hand on the purple-scaled drake's shoulder she caught how his head slightly jerked up and turned to her. "Well this is it I gotta go back to my room to catch up on some reading. If Twi needs me tell her that's where I'll be." The mare informed before turning away and walking down another corridor. She looked over her shoulder towards the drake. "I'll see you around if you need any help I'll be here." Spike didn't respond only really giving a low grunt in acknowledgment. Turning his head back to the door he grasped the knob firmly in his hand before turning it and gently pushing the door in. Walking in he couldn't stop his eyes from widening in wonder at how pretty his apparent new room was. The brightly colored walls and furniture were a stark contrast to his old dimly lit room. He saw his bag on top of the bed and the box on a desk off to the side. However, before he could begin to unpack he heard a soft knock behind him. Turning around to see Twilight standing in the doorframe. “Hey, I see you found your room. While I know you want to get settled in I think we should finish up the tour real quick just so you know where everything is, okay?" Spike just nodded and followed her out of the room. Another half hour passed as they finished up the tour. They ended up back in the library. "So that's about it. I know it's a lot to memorize, but I'm sure you'll catch on quickly." The Princess said sitting down at a table with a few stacks of books. "I have some research to work on you can head back to your room or explore the castle on your own. I'll probably need your help tomorrow though." She informed sticking her muzzle into an open book. Spike blinked as the alicorn seem to immediately be drawn back into her work. Shrugging it off the drake walked out into the hall and made his way to his room. Closing and locking the door, Spike sat at the desk he opened the box and began to pull out his toolbox, gauntlets, boots, and sketchbook. His Other stretched out and went to his bag as he began to tinker. Once again getting lost in his work the o=purple-scaled teen didn't notice that an hour passed. "Hey, I'm hungry. Didn't you say you'd make me something for helping you clean up that crime scene?" Complained the symbiote. Chuckling to himself the wingless dragon just shrugged his hoodie off as he stood up. "Alright, that is what I said. Let's go see what I can whip up." Spike sighed craving his neck and walked out of his room. Making their way to the kitchen the pair began to search through cabinets. "Hmmm. There's mostly instant stuff. What are you in the mood for bud?" "Pancakes!" Internally exclaimed the Other. Snickering the dragon just nodded and gathered the needed ingredients. As he was mixing he felt his partner extend outward before slowly retracting to ignore it, Spike focused on mixing. Suddenly, he felt something slip over his head and tied around his back. Stopping and standing up straight, the drake looked down seeing his partner had slipped a pink frilly apron with a heart on it over his body. "Really?" Rhetorically asked the wingless dragon. "It's important to wear the proper gear when cooking." The symbiote stated matter of factly. Shaking his head in slight annoyance before continuing with the task at hand. Soon his efforts were rewarded with a medium stack of pancakes. Dividing up the cakes between two plates, the deadly duo were about to eat when they both heard the door to the kitchen begin to creak open slowly. Freezing up the drake watched as a very tired-looking alicorn wobbled in. "*YAWN*Oh, Spike I thought I heard something in here," Twilight said drowsily, walking over to the purple-scaled dragon. She was rubbing her eyes trying in vain to wake herself up a bit. Soon, she was standing in front of the drake before her nose began to twitch. "Oh *YAWN*, you made pancakes. Do you mind if I have some?" She asked looking up for her position. Thinking quickly, Spike grabbed one of the plates before offering it to her. "Sure, here you go." Spike smiled wincing slightly as his other screamed in his head. "THAT WAS MINE!!!" Complaimed the symbiote. "Calm down, you can have mine." Spike assured. Twilight took the plate of pancakes with a grateful smile. 'Thanks, Spike, I was so invested in my work I lost track of time and forgot to eat." The lavender-coated alicorn explained before wolfing down Her plate. "No problem," Spike said subtly sliding his plate to his back allowing his Other grabbed the food off it. The emerald eye drake just waited for the alicorn to be finished. "Wow these were really good thanks again, Spike *YAWN*," the Element of Magic yawned finishing her plate before, placing next to Spike's, on the counter. "Well…I…should get back to-*YAWN*” An idea then popped into the drake's head. "Hey, I think you need to get some sleep." He advised. Twilight just waved him off mumbling something about 'just needing coffee'. Shaking his head the teen dragon just gently grabbed the alicorn's shoulders before pushing her out of the kitchen and down the hall. Spike quickly guided the lavender-coated mare to her room. They were soon outside the ornate door designated as the princess's quarters. The mare gently tore herself from the drake's grasp before turning around to him and giving a small smile. For some reason, the purple-scaled drake also felt one tugging at the edge of his snout. Ignoring the feeling for now the wingless dragon turned his attention back to the mare who was still trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "*YAWN* Maybe you're right I should get some sleep. I do have to help you with your first day tomorrow." She conceded. Spike just nodded in agreement. Twilight turned around opened her door and walked she went to close her, but before she completely shut it a slightly wider smile graced her face. "Thanks again, Spike, good night.*CLICK*" Releasing a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding. Slowly, they walked back to their room. Locking the door the pink apron that they wore was tossed to the side and replaced with their favorite hoodie. Gauntlets and boots slipped on seamlessly. With a grin, they walked over to one of the large windows and pushed it open. Looking up at the moon he felt his other begin to spread. "Ready?" "Always."