Spiders and Magic (Alternate Rise and Fall of Spider-Mane)

A Lesson in Heroics Part I

Peter was no stranger to early starts. Back on Earth most of his teenage years were spent waking up before sunrise; though mostly for one purpose - training.

Considering that he was in an entirely new world, and had no idea how long he would be staying, Peter reckoned it was crucial to find a place where he could train in piece. It wouldn't be easy, now that any locations or equipment Peter normally used were unavailable. Fortunately, Twilight had been teaching him several basic spells, one of which happened to be a gravity spell.

Peter quickly recalled the discussion he had had with Twilight regarding the limitations of the spell. It turned out he was more limited magic wise than he originally presumed.

***

“So, how much extra gravity can I apply to myself? I want to be able to keep in shape for when I fight that dragon again!”

Twilight couldn't believe how one track Peter's mind was. He had only just recovered from a near fatal experience, and now he was gearing up for a second try. But, deciding that it was pointless to argue, the lavender mare just sighed and gave Peter the details.

“OK, well, if you keep your concentration, you should be able to keep the spell up for about an hour. After that, you'll have exhausted your magical reserve. Unfortunately someone of your magic level can only produce about 10x the standard gravity. And even then I don't understand why you would want to attempt such a thing”.

Peter chuckled, remembering that Twilight hadn't been given a crash course on Saiyan biology. Something that had been practically a godsend for the stallion his entire life, helping him keep up with even the toughest of threats.

“I'll be fine, Twilight. Trust me. I've trained in even higher gravity than x10. It's a little unfortunate that I can't go any higher than that. Ah well, it should suffice to keep me going until the dragon shows up. Heck, I'll have to get used to fighting in a new body anyways, so x10 gravity should be a good start”.

Twilight was in disbelief. “How does that even work? Being in anything higher than x10 gravity should have killed you!”

Peters chuckle became more sheepish, considering the lavender mare was giving him the look of ‘you are crazy’.

“Look, Twilight, it's simple. Let's just say that my species has a very unique genetic trait. We evolved with the ability to adapt to any environment, no matter how harsh. So basically, I've trained my body to the point where it can withstand high amounts of gravity. And the best part is I get stronger as a result. Last time I checked I could take 100x gravity and still be in one piece”.

This left Twilight speechless - not even the best trained mages in the history of Equestria could make a gravity spell go 100x normal gravity, and the stallion in front of her apparently was treating it like he can just skip in it.

Then again, how strong must Peter be if he's been through such intense training?If this were true, then Equestria had a great hero in its corner, just as the book had stated.

“Well, if you're sure, let's begin….”

***

Looking up at the sky, Peter could tell that it must have been around mid morning, so everyone else would be waking up and getting ready for breakfast. Fortunately, Peter had a sizable breakfast packed and waiting for him, courtesy of Twilight's assistant/friend Spike, who had some trouble believing that the same masked hero from a few days ago was now a pony.

***

“Twilight! There's some weird stallion sleeping on the couch!” Spike shouted as he assaulted Peter with a newspaper, which only served to annoy the groggy stallion more than hurt him.

“Hey, could you please give that a rest, kid? I'm still beat from being… well, beat. I'd like to have a few more minutes of shuteye if you don't mind?”

The stallions blunt comment only made the baby dragon more irritated. Before he could continue his assault however, a lavender aura formed around him and levitated him away. It turned out that Twilight had heard the commotion and decided to investigate.

“Spike, I wouldn't like to think that you've been hassling our guest?” Spike shook his head in disbelief. Apparently the mystery stallion was meant to be here. The question was why.

The drake decided to find out. “So, who is he then if he's staying here? We never normally have somepony stay over... at all”.

It suddenly struck Twilight. Of course Spike wouldn't recognise Peter - he was in his human form the last time Spike saw him, and this was the first time the two had seen each other since that night.

“Well Spike, remember the weird creature I summoned with the book to fight the dragon? - That's him”.

Spike did a double take. If what Twilight was saying was true, then the stallion currently sleeping on the couch… was the being named Spider Man. “So, how did he turn into a pony then?”

A still groggy Peter butted in with his own theory, albeit just a bunch of sarcasm. “Wibbly Wobbly, Magicky Waggicky, or something like that…”

Peter's less than accurate description of what happened to him caused Twilight to give off a slight huff. In her opinion, magic was no laughing matter, especially when it pertained to something like this. “It is not ‘Magicky Waggicky’ Peter, it's a little more complicated than that”.

Hearing the annoyance in her voice, Peter decided to push a little further. “Well, according to you and Celestia, it was the magic of this world that transformed me, hence Magicky Waggicky. It's not as complicated as you make it, Sparklebutt”.

Now the line had been crossed. Making light of magic was one thing, but making fun of her name was something else entirely. Noticing that Peter was completely oblivious to his surroundings, Twilight quietly went into the kitchen, filled a jug with water, added a spell that lowered the water’s temperature to freezing level, snuck up to Peter and dunked the whole jug on him.

The shock of the water quickly woke Peter. As he leapt off the couch, the force of his jump sent the piece of furniture straight into one of the many bookshelves in Twilight's library, causing a domino effect on the other shelves. One by one they toppled over until there were none left standing. All that was left was a broken couch, several broken shelves, and several hundred books on the floor in piles.

Spike huffed and crossed his arms. “You two can clean that up”.

***

In hindsight, perhaps Peter shouldn't have teased Twilight. True enough, it was magic that transformed him, but the ‘how’ and ‘why’ were still unknown. However, in a gentlemanly fashion, Peter had volunteered to clean the mess while Twilight used her magic to repair the items that were broken. Afterwards they both apologised and laughed it off for the rest of the morning.

Looks like I've ended up with some good people here. And heck, Twilight had every right to object to me staying at hers, but she let me. I'll have to thank her one day.

Checking the sky again, Peter noticed it must have been quite late in the morning. Next time he would have to fly just to get to a decent spot - and he hadn't even found that yet after hours of walking.

Suddenly, up ahead he noticed what seemed to be a canyon. He ran over for a better look. It was indeed a canyon. And a pretty big one at that to. Ideal for training.

Perfect! Not only will this give me the ideal space to train, but I'm pretty far off from Ponyville to cause any hassle. Plus I can go a little gung ho if I feel like it… but just to be sure, I'd better put on my suit (what's left of it).

Using a simple levitation spell he had been taught by Twilight, Peter removed his knapsack and began to rummage through. In amongst the food and other supplies, was the tattered remains of his Spider suit. What hadn't been torn apart by the dragons assault had been ruined by his new horn and tail poking through the material. Unfortunately it was all he had until he could get a replacement more accustomed to his new anatomy.

Once the suit was on (and double checked for security), Peter looked over his training ground. Mapping out a flight pattern and some targets, he decided it was time to begin. Focusing as best as he could, Peter willed whatever magical energy he had to work.

Suddenly his horn began to glow a faint white as the spell was cast. Peter felt the weight of his body shift, but not so much to cause him duress. With everything ready, Peter peered over the edge of the canyon… and fell.

***

Back in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was busy going about her daily routine. As Ponyville’s weather manager, it was her duty to keep the weather patrol in check and on time. She would also deal with the weather herself from time to time, but it was mostly up to the other ponies.

Most days were pretty mundane, as they only consisted of either sunshine or mild rain. Occasionally there was the odd storm to prepare, but apart from that it was rather boring. As there wasn't much to do today, Rainbow was spending her ‘free time’ taking a nap - something she did quite a lot at work.

On the ground just below Rainbow’s sleeping cloud was Pinkie Pie. From the looks of things, the pink earth pony was after the pegasus’s attention, as she seemed to be surmising a way to reach her. For most ponies this would be impossible (unless they were also a pegasus), but Pinkie had a reputation around Ponyville for being able to defy the laws of physics somehow. So reaching the slumbering Rainbow Dash should be easy.

Rainbow was enjoying her snooze, when she suddenly began to stir at the sound of hooves on wood. She started to become roused from her slumber, picking herself up in her otherwise sluggish state.

“What's going on?”

Looking around she tried to investigate the source of the sound, to no avail. It wasn't possible for any wood to be near her up here.

Just as Rainbow was about to look over the edge of her cloud, Pinkie popped her head through, bringing her face to face with Rainbow, all the while wearing a massive smile.

“Hiiiiiii, Rainbow Dash!”

The sudden appearance of Pinkie startled the blue pegasus, causing her to jump backwards and off her cloud. However, Rainbow quickly regained her composure. Being an experienced flyer enabled her to recover from precarious situations.

Once Rainbow began to hold a steady hovering position, she quickly noticed the extremely long ladder that led from the ground to her cloud. A ladder Pinkie somehow acquired.

Speaking of Pinkie, the pink mare was descending the ladder by sliding down the sides. Rainbow descended at a quicker pace to meet her on the ground.

“A warning would've been nice, Pinkie. You popping up out of nowhere half scared me out of my fur!”

Rainbows slight outburst caused Pinkie to reel back, her mane deflating slightly. But just as quickly as Rainbow was mad, she became calm. Pinkie never meant any harm - it was in her nature to be hyper and random.

“Sorry Pinkie. I'm just a little cranky from lack of sleep. What's up?”

True to her nature, Pinkie livened up again as quickly as she had went depressed. With her smile back, Pinkie reached into her knapsack and pulled out a flyer. Rainbow examined it, her own face being the first thing she saw.

“Well, the Rainbow Dash fan club is hosting a party for you today. And it starts in about half an hour. You wouldn't want to disappoint all those fillies and colts by not showing up, would you Rainbow? All your loyal fans, heartbroken by their idol not -”

“OK, OK, I get it! C’mon then, let's get moving”.

As much as Rainbow wasn't up for parties today, Pinkie did have a point. She had a reputation to maintain and ditching the party was the last thing on her mind. She was the Element of Loyalty after all; that meant being loyal to her fans as well.

On the way through Ponyville, Rainbow and Pinkie noticed there seemed to be a lot of excited ponies gathered around some wooden boards. Deciding to investigate, the two friends decided to check out one of the less crowded boards. A picture of the dragon from last week took up most of it, but it seemed that the main point of interest was a red and blue blur rocketing towards the dragon.

Above the board, a banner read in big, bold lettering - MYSTERIOUS HERO SAVES PONYVILLE.

“Must be pretty tough to take on a dragon that size”.

Rainbow and Pinkie turned to see Lyra Heartstrings, the local lyre player, but was just as known for her eccentric ideals on the existence of mythological species. If only she knew about what Peter really was - she'd go crazy.

“Well of course you'd have to be really strong to fight a dragon! They're really big and scary. Besides, from what I saw, Pe-” Rainbow Dash cut off Pinkie before she could blather out Spider Man's real name. This got Lyra’s attention however. Noticing this, Rainbow thought quickly on the spot to try and cover for Peter.

“What she meant to say was that… Spider-Mane is quite tough and brave, but even he needed a little help”. This seemed to get Lyra’s attention more than Pinkies rambling. So this mystery hero did have a name. And seeing as Rainbow was privy to this knowledge, Lyra decided to get her to tell the other towns ponies.

“Everypony! Come quick! Rainbow Dash knows who the hero was that saved the town!” The declaration got to everyone in the nearby area, and the chatter spread fast. Soon an entire crowd surrounded Rainbow, with the expressed intent of hearing about the new hero - Spider Mane.

Realising she had dug a hole, Rainbow decided to just go with it, figuring a little publicity for Peter couldn't be that bad. “Yeah, well like I said, he's strong, but I had to help him out. While he distracted the dragon I got everypony to safety. By the time I came back to help with the fight, the dragon had already run off - too scared that I was about to kick his butt!”

Even with her grandstanding tale, the crowd wanted to know more about the mysterious Spider-Mane. Questions such as ‘what did he look like?’ and ‘where does he come from?’ were asked in droves. Questions Rainbow couldn't and didn't want to answer. In the rush to quiz Rainbow about the new hero, several worker ponies had forgotten about the grand piano they were hauling up to a second floor house. With the weight straining on the rope it began to snap.

Derpy was puzzled by the large gathering of ponies that surrounded Rainbow Dash. Curiosity got the best of her and she began to trot over. She was so oblivious that she didn't notice the grand piano dangling above her. Rainbow did and hovering over she cried at the top of her voice.

“Derpy… Watch out!”

Too late as the rope snapped, and the piano was taken by gravity rushing quickly to the ground… and Derpy. As fast as Rainbow was, she knew she was never going to make it in time. The crowd of ponies watched in horror as the grey pegasus was about to be crushed…

Suddenly, a red and blue blur came out of nowhere, and stopped beside Derpy. The mare had her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable. Once It dawned on her that she was still alive, she slowly opened her eyes and looked up.

Standing before her was a pony in a red and blue costume, one his two hind legs, holding up the piano with just one of his front legs. A cheer formed from the towns ponies as they rushed over to thank and welcome their new hero. Derpy was the first to thank him.

“Thank you oh so much! I didn't see the piano at all. My vision doesn't exactly help”. Even though his mask was on, Peter was blushing slightly - he was after all surrounded by what seemed to be admirers. Something he had never really been accustomed to. Seeing as he had the opportunity, Peter felt it was best to reinforce his intentions.

“Not to worry, everypony! As long as I'm around, I'll make sure you're all kept safe!” As the cheers and jubilation peaked, Peter made his exit, moving so fast that no one saw him leave. It took a few seconds for the ponies to even register he had gone. Derpy was slightly flustered. Everypony was a little bewildered - almost everypony.

Rainbow was the only pony that wasn't caught up in the excitement. She knew very well what Peter was capable of, more so than others. Even though she had been told to evacuate with the others during the dragon attack, she had secretly found a good vantage point and watched the remainder of the battle. She had seen fully the power that Pete held.

“Looks like your back on your hooves, dude”.

Some time later, after the town’s ponies had dispersed from the excitement, Rainbow and Pinkie went off to the party being held by the Rainbow Dash fan club at the Crusaders clubhouse. Just as they came in sight of the clubhouse, they noticed the small gathering of fillies and colts standing outside, each wearing a rainbow coloured wig.

One of the fillies ran up to Rainbow. She had an orange coat, and a dark purple tail. Her mane was also covered by a rainbow wig. “Hey, Rainbow Dash! Glad to see you could make it!” Seeing her number one fan made Rainbow smile. Being reminded that there was somepony who looked up to her gave her a boost of confidence  (like she needed it).

“Like I would miss this, Scootaloo. You can never have a Rainbow Dash party without the mare herself!”

Scootaloo began to cheer, along with the other fillies and colts. They're idol was here, and it was time for a celebration. Rainbow walked over and began to mingle with her other fans, while Pinkie went to the nearby table and began to eye the cakes and other treats.

Back over with Rainbow and her fans, the blue pegasus was being quizzed by the children about her flying techniques. Some were even under the impression that she was the one who beat the dragon.

“Well, it wasn't actually me, it was somepony else”.

This peaked the children's interest. Scootaloo ran right up to Rainbow, a determined look in her eyes. “Who was it, Rainbow Dash? Who?!”

Rainbow scanned over the sea of pleading eyes. She had went and done it. She had given all the attention to Peter without even realising it until the damage was done. Might as well give them what they want.

“Well, it's a pony called -”

“-Spider Mane! There he is!” Pinkie cut into Rainbows sentence, causing the attention of the fillies and colts to divert behind them. Turns out Pinkie was correct. Standing not too far from the Crusaders clubhouse was Spider Mane, seemingly doing some exercise. Rainbow took a look while she could, aware of the fact that Peter could move faster than anyone could look.

Something easily noticeable was that his costume seemed to be more torn apart than when she had last seen him. What had he been doing? Perhaps he got in another fight. Those questions were quickly dismissed as Rainbow had now noticed that her fanclub had a new gem in their eyes.

On the other side of the field, Spider Mane was practicing his fighting moves, making sure that his new body was in line with his instincts. It was crucial that he be at peak performance for the rematch with the dragon. He wouldn't be beat again. Unfortunately, Spider Mane was so caught up and lost in his own mind, he hadn't realised where he was.

Bringing himself back to reality, Peter realised that he wasn't alone. Looking on the other side of the field, he saw the small gathering of fillies and colts near a tree house,  with what seemed to be Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie standing with them. Seeing that he hadn't landed in a secluded spot, Peter sped out of the area, leaving a red and blue streak in his wake.

The children were ecstatic. They had seen Ponyville’s new hero - nay, superhero. They began to mingle and chatter about him, some commented about his speed and cool moves, and others gushed over his suit, saying they wanted one just like it. In amongst the chatter however, they slowly began to forget their original intent for being where they were - and who they were here for.

Rainbow was stunned. In a matter of seconds, she had been the centre of attention, and then completely shoved to the side. It was the Mare-Do-Well incident all over again. She was being seen as the inferior hero… again. But this time, she wasn't going to let it stand.

***

Ah, what a day. Not only did I get a fair bit of training done, but I was able to introduce myself to the townsfolk, albeit in a not so formal manner. Good thing I was moving through the town at the time, or that poor mare would've been crushed. Hope she's not too shaken up. Then again, at least she's in one piece - can't say the same for my suit anymore.

Looking over his costume, Peter decided to call it time. His activities throughout the day had taken its toll and had completely ruined what was left of his costume. Then again, he expected this. His Spider Man suit was meant for comfort and flexibility, and some degrees of combat. It was never meant for hours long intense training - back on Earth Peter had specially created suits for such things.

However, for as much damage had been done to Peter's suit, he himself didn't get away without a scratch. The entire day, the stallion had been pushing himself to his limit, as he had done every time he trained. It was pretty much embedded into his being that he had to push himself to get stronger. Not a day went by that he didn't almost kill himself just to become more powerful,  because he always had the incentive, the drive to do so.

But now was the time to relax, and considering Twilight and Spike were out, Peter could take this time to chill out. Throwing the remains of his suit on the couch and then himself, Peter began to fall asleep.

But before he could fall unconscious, he heard pounding on the door of the library. Peter cursed under his breath, but got himself under control. He was tired and cranky, but there was no reason to lose it.

Walking over, rather slowly, Peter wondered who was even at the door. Twilight wasn't home, so it couldn't be one of her friends. Perhaps a delivery. His concentration was thrown off by the constant banging on the door.

“All right, all right! Hold your horses… Ow, bad, unintentional pun. Bad Parker, bad!”

Peter finally (and begrudgingly) reached the door. Just as he began to open it, it was forced open from the outside. Thanks to his quick reflexes, Peter dodged the door before it smacked him. Standing at the door, was a seemingly mad Rainbow Dash.

“Ah, hi Rainbow. What can I do you for?”

However, it didn't seem like Rainbow Dash was here for friendly conversation, as she closed the gap between herself and Peter, so much so that they were nose to nose. Peter noted the glare that she gave him.

“You and me, Parker. Hero off. Now.

Peter was confused.

“Eh… Pardon?”