TS&F: S1, Ep4: The Mark of a Spider

Whatever it was Gabby and the Crusaders suggested that he should try, they saw him give it his best effort, striving to live to the fullest. The Griffon herself decided to join him in picking up a hobby, whether it be something she previously attempted, or something completely new to her. It seemed that whatever they attempted, the Griffon and Unicorn were undeniably spectacular. It was almost as if the little fillies were holding their own, personal Equestria Games, making it all the more exciting for them to watch. Both were exceedingly skilled at rock climbing, with the stallion's arachnid prowess, and hen's feline capabilities. They even agreed how thrilling it was to enjoy, as well as naturally befitting to their spirit and outlook. It most definitely could be said also of yoga, the poses of which felt entirely normal in their respective movements. What the two did next was swim relays and diving, and both displayed masterful strokes and graceful motions upon their very first lessons. Archery was a breeze. Skydiving, a blast. Kayaks and canoes could both be calm and refreshing, then suddenly enthralling when the river flow suddenly became rapid. They then spontaneously agreed on something totally different.

"How about a little change of pace," suggested the web-head.

"Ooh," she gleamed in reply, "How about something that's not so much adventurous?"

"Something, I don't know, quiet and still?"

"But, at the same time, challenging and mind-blowing?"

"How about a nice game of chess," he asked the Griffon, in an odd, dull, mechanical tone, as if he were a robot. Even more odd was Gabby's mirroring response, "That sounds very nice to me." Everyone had so much fun, and had a wonderful time, to the point in which they lost sight of such a thing to have passed them by.

"Yee-haw," hollered Applebloom.

"Yay," cheered Sweetie Belle.

"Okay, you two," shouted Scootaloo, followed by Babs Seed. "Lunch break!"

"Awe, already?" "It's only lunchtime?"Hearing the respective responses of Gabby and Spidey simultaneously made the foals snigger back, then guided, pulled and pushed them both to the picnic sheet and basket they had prepared. As soon as the yearlings made sure their two newest friends were sitting comfortably, they anxiously brought out the meal they had for everyone.

"You know, that reminds me," he sharply perks up, "I keep meaning to bring this up with Twilight, but it just keeps getting away from me during our Q&A sessions. Are you Griffons carnivores, herbivores, or more omnivorous in nature?"

"Omnivores, pretty much," she quickly answered before taking a bite of her sandwich, "We're starting to renovate our old farms, pen the pigs and chickens, while also caring for our crops. Love a good bag of sunflower seeds every now and then. Or even griffon scones! We're also starting to make pretty good trades with others. Gets pretty hectic sometimes, but the end result makes the effort totally worth it! And this almond butter and strawberry jelly sandwich is so amazing!"

"Yeah, no kidding. The cinnamon raisin bread's a nice touch too. Not too shabby, at all." The sudden gleams of excitement from the four fillies after hearing such approval flourished their movements of giving out refreshments, playing tag, or even lying on the hilltop and pointing out shapes in the clouds. Such a nearly perfect day has transpired, thus far, and it was only past noon. And for them, the best part has yet to come.

"Ooh, look at that one," the little Unicorn beamed, raising her hoof skyward, "Just like a crocodile!"

"Oh, look," followed the Pegasus in kind, "That one's shaped like a bat!"

"Whoa," gaped the tan Earth Pony, as her yellow cousin exclaimed, "A shark!"

"Ooh! Ooh," shouted the Griffon, "A tiger! No, wait! A bear! Or, no! A jaguar!"

"What is this? Cloud gazing, or a trip to the petting zoo?" The whickering and screeching responses of mirth from the Crusaders was only made greater when the web-slinger suddenly pounced on and started tickling two of the foals, having the lion bird join in, and doing the same to the others. "Because here comes a charging rhino!"

"And a hovering vulture!" The Crusaders' tearfully laughing pleads for them to stop were only met with more continuous, delightful torture. "Where's the rebel base?"

"Yeah," Gabby exclaimed, "Where's your secret hideout?"

"We'll never tell," Scoots and Sweetie gasped shakily.

"Not in a million moons," Applebloom shouted, followed by Babs, "Not for all the apples everywhere!"

"We have ways to make you talk! Gabby, I'm getting tired of juggling with these two. Trade?"

"Hold on to your bows, little ponies," she smirked in reply. Suddenly the four fillies found themselves being tossed into the air and exchanged between the Unicorn and Griffon. First they soared from one, then were passed to the other, and then gliding weightlessly upward before being caught to be tossed again. This carried on for a few brief, yet exciting moments, until Scootaloo looked up, and instinctively flapped her wings to try and maintain her position. Her gaze towards the sky prevented her from seeing Babs Seed and Sweetie Belle coming at the hovering Pegasus. All three collided against each other, as the yellow Earth Pony came up from underneath, knocking them apart like bowling pins. Poo-blblblble!

"Whuh-oh!" Snatching Applebloom and the white Unicorn in midflight, Gabby looked down to see Spider Bite catching the tan Earth Pony with his front hoof, and Scoots with his hind leg. Gently lowering the foals down, they both asked, "Are you okay?"

"Spidey," Scootaloo dizzily exclaimed, "Spidey, look!" Her hoof pointed up for the web-head to follow her line of sight, noticing a small, white puff of vapor making a peculiar shape in the sky. "There's your Cutie Mark!"

"Wowzers," exclaimed the Griffon, "You're right Scoots!"

"Whoa, Nelly," Applebloom gasped, as did Babs and Sweetie Belle, "Wow!" For indeed, the form in which the cloud took was that of a prowling arachnid, striking awe and amazement from the spectators below. Then they all faced the wall-crawler, and observed his response to be somewhat downcast, but then quickly offered a smile in turn. He nodded his head, as he spoke, "Yeah, that's pretty cool. Hey, before we forget, how about we head over to Twilight's Castle now, and start making webs?"

"Oh, yeah! C'mon, Crusaders! What're we waitin' fur?"

Thinking that was the thought that occurred to Spidey, the four Crusaders hollered and cheered once more, as they galloped ahead of him and Gabby. However, the Griffon became fully aware of something troubling him slightly, if not deeply, and watched the arachnid stallion trot onward with a smirk.

"Better hurry up, Gabby," he shouted back, "We don't want to lose them!"

Realizing she remained in her hovering position, she stuttered as she then carried on, "Oh, yeah! Definitely! Hard time to keep up with those little fillies!"

No further time was wasted in reaching the Tree Castle just on the other side of town. Nor were the Cutie Mark Crusaders taking any chances to catch their breaths until they at least reached the main entrance. Once they all did so, that is precisely what the four fillies had done. Panting for a few moments, they watched as Spider Bite went to one of the twin doors ahead of him, and biting his lip in concentration, activated his scarlet aura to open it. However, once the matching glow that engulfed the door failed to move it, the wall-crawler frowned slightly. He attempted to repeat the same technique, only causing it to wobble and shake in front of him as before.

"Strange," he remarked, "They must've locked them from the inside."

"Maybe nopony's home," Babs Seed offered.

"No, that shouldn't be the case," answered the web-head, "Twilight wanted at least two of her friends to stay here and watch the place. And they'd be sure to let somepony in through the door, knowing that they got a way of preventing entrance to any unwanted company."

"Maybe somethin' came up," said Applebloom, "and didn't want nopony to disturb 'em."

"They'd still put up a sign for that," Scootaloo responded, "Wouldn't they?"

"That's something Rarity would suggest they'd do," added Sweetie Belle.

"Well," shrugged Gabby, "Only one way to find out!"

"Right," nodded Spidey, "Let's ju-" Whoosh! The Griffon soared up in a blur before the stallion could even raise his hoof to the door. She zipped and zoomed along, over and throughout the foundation, to which he simply sighed and knocked. He gave it a few seconds before repeating his attempt onto the entrance, upon which, immediately, several clicks emanated from inside, then the creak of the door shortly followed. The familiar face that peaked through the small gap that was allowed brought everypony some sense of relief. "Hey, Princess. Hope we're not intruding on a delicate situation. This a bad time, or something?"

"You might say that," quickly came Twilight's blunt reply, "What brings you here?"

"I…kind of room here," squinted the web-head, "That, or I left all my bags at the doorway for me to grab. Didn't know I was moving out, to begin with."

"Oh, well," she stuttered, then looked back briefly, "No luggage in sight. So, I suppose your previous supposition was accurate."

"Okay, good," he smirked, "Because I thought you got angry at me for a little misunderstanding that I have yet to be aware of. Sending me to the dog house. Or owl house. Seriously, Twilight, I think we should see a counselor. Or, you know, at the very least communicate better." Her furrowed brow and stiff silence were as loud as a blaring bugle.

"Yeah," shrugged Spider Bite, rubbing his neck, "I was afraid I might've rehashed some of my old jokes there. So, if you don't mind letting the Crusaders and myself in to use the lab for a bit, we'll stay out of your mane. Well, try to, anyway."

"I don't see the harm in that," Twilight hoarsely grunted, widening the gap with reluctance, "My friends and I are in the Map Room, so be sure to restrict yourselves from near there, at best."

"Wow. Must be a really serious issue." The four fillies watched this exchange with slight discomfort, as they and the Unicorn stallion followed the lavender Alicorn into the foyer. "Or did Spike forget to clean up after himself, again?"

"Actually," she lowly huffed, "He should've been at the door."

"Nothing too bad, I hope," he then shifted to a gentler tone, "I mean, you didn't even say 'Hi' to the Crusaders."

"Oh. Hello, Crusaders."

"Is there anything I could do to help out? What we've got planned can definitely wait, if this is a really big-"

"No," snapped the Alicorn Princess, her eyes narrowed and demeanor wooden, "I-I mean, there's nothing to worry about. Just trot along now, and enjoy whatever it is you have on your agenda for today. Just be sure not to disturb me and my friends until further notice, that's all."

"Maybe we should just leave," Sweetie Belle warily spoke, "Is that what you want?"

"No, of course not," Princess Twilight stiffly offered, placing her hoof under the foal's muzzle, "You're always welcomed here. We just have a lot to handle, at the moment."

"Still," said Spidey, squinting further into unease, "Don't hesitate to holler if you or your friends need anything. I'll head straight down without hesitating."

"I'm sure…you would," she rigidly answered, sweat beginning to slide down her forehead, "Now…I need to return to the Map Room…get back to work. You know, princess duties!"

"Yeah, I hear you," he nodded, "We'll be sure to knock before entering."

"If we ever need your help, that is." She then trotted along, leaving the four yearlings and stallion at the stairway. Spider Bite sighed, saying, "Guess when you got to go, you got to go."

"Didn't anypony think Twilight was acting strangely, there," Sweetie asked.

"I don't think 'strange' is the right word," Scoots replied.

"More like," Apple Bloom muttered, "Downright unhappy. It was like she didn't even know who we were."

"I only met huh once," Babs joined, "But she wasn't on edge like that. Not even close."

"What do you think, Spidey?" The fillies looked up to see the web-slinger cringing, as he rubbed his temple with discomfort. His eyelids rapidly flittering as he made a hard swallow down his throat. "Spidey, what's gotten into yah?"

"Sorry, Scoots, Applebloom," he answered, shaking his head, "Got a throbbing in my head, all of the sudden. Just a small headache, but still weird. Anyway, I don't think there's anything too off-putting about Twilight. She's usually like that when she's not in the mood for any of my quips. I think whatever they're dealing with right now really got to her, is all."

"Are you sure," the small Unicorn asked, "Because she didn't say anything nice to you when you talked to her. And she always tries to say something nice to everypony, no matter what."

"Got me there," said the arachnid stallion, "She didn't even bother to ask what I got planned for the lab, either. Yeah, I should probably keep a close eye on her, just in case there really is something wrong. I doubt you four want to go the lab right now, huh? Want to go back to your clubhouse? You and Gabby can wait for me ther-" Zoooooom!

"After we made it all the way over here? Are you kidding?!" The gleeful enquiry quickly after the Griffon hastily swooped in and snatched them off their hooves, and flew directly into the intended room was hard to ignore. "Come on, Crusaders! Let's get started!"

They all looked intently at the beige Unicorn, awaiting his response. He then pondered, "Well, just as long as you little rascals stay put, in case I tell you to…and since we're not close to the Map Room, where the others are, they won't be bothered…so, I guess there shouldn't be any real reason to worry just yet."

"Whoo-hoo," exclaimed Gabby. She then made the conscious effort to lower herself as carefully as possible, for Spidey caught a beaker that she knocked off the counter with an outstretched wing. "He-heh. Oops."

"And so long as we don't break anything," he muttered, "My webs will be a mess, in and of themselves."

After Spidey jotted the chemical formula of the webbing on the chalk board, and used the typewriter for the proper steps and instruments needed, Gabby was more than able to follow everything with complete understanding. She helped the yearlings in answering whatever questions or issues they might have, while the Crusaders gave the stallion a task of their own to do.

"I still can't believe ponies use typewriters. And with hooves, no less. And Gabby, you understood every single thing I wrote down on the board?"

"Yep!"

"She taught our class Calculus one time," the orange Pegasus said, "Some of it I didn't quite get, but she actually made it fun to know more about."

"And now we get to make our own spider webs," gleamed the white Unicorn, "This makes chemistry a whole lot of fun too!"

"Makin' somethin' that sticks to your mane's not exactly a trot in the pahk," Babs Seed smirked, then turned to her cousin, asking, "What numbeh's he at?"

The yellow Earth Pony with the red ribbon looked up from her own work, seeing the web-head lowering himself for another repetition, "One hunderd eighteen…" then another, "One hunderd nineteen…" then another, "One hunderd twenty…"

"And I'm hardly breaking a sweat," he spoke up evenly as he lowered himself once again. At first glance, one would expect him to perform pull-ups, hanging on to the bar. But instead, he placed himself over the bar, lowering himself, then pushing up from it, having such great balance and stamina.

"Still surprised I managed to talk myself into this," he muttered, "So, Gabby. You can do all these different things, know how to perform various jobs and tasks, and with great efficiency and proficiency. And you're still a mail Griffon?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded with vigor, "I always enjoyed trying to brighten everyone's day at Griffonstone, and I thought delivering mail to everyone everyday would let me do that. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. But it does make photography for a living not sound so bad."

"It's not always about what you're great at," said the Griffon, "It's important to enjoy what you do, too. And knowing what you do is a really great thing to do. No matter how small the job."

"Yeah, I know," he responded, as he lowered himself again, "And I really like taking pictures and figuring out the right angles and lighting for that kind of thing." Then again. "Then there's the smell of chemicals and chalk in a laboratory I savor." Then again. "I especially have fun when I go around, swinging and going after baddies," then again, "saving the day, and stuff like that. In fact, I wouldn't be able to do all those things," and again, "without my spider powers. I really think they have quite a few perks," and again, "that I can appreciate, despite their numerous…"

The fillies and Griffon turned back up to face Spider Bite, seeing him remain still, his forelegs locked into place. He seemed to be looking past them, as if something were there that they could not see. His brows furrowed with great unease, as he lifted one hoof from the bar, and placed it against his temple. As he did downstairs, Spidey slightly grunted with discomfort, and sent a lump up his throat. The leg that still held on began to wobble and shake, as he seemed to be losing balance. Just then, he sent himself directly downwards, releasing his grip entirely, and landing squarely onto the floor on all four hooves with a pant.

"Sweet apple cider," exclaimed Applebloom, "One hunderd fifty-sev'n!"

"Spider Bite, are you okay," Sweetie Belle gently asked, as she, Gabby and Babs Seed went to his side and checked on him.

"Yeah, Sweetie, I…" he huffed in reply, taking a deep breath, "Yeah, I'm…I'm fine. Must be getting a migraine, or something. This doesn't happen often, let me tell you."

"Shouldn't we take you to see a doctor," asked the Griffon, "You know, just in case?"

"Nah, I don't think it's that bad," he shook his head answering, "Starting to settle down now. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Yah sure," inquired the yellow filly, as she and Scootaloo went close to his side also, "Sure yah don't need a rest, or nothin'?"

"Come on," he scoffed with a smirk, "I've taken worse hits from those Changelings than a couple of small headaches, and they hardly even touched me. Which is actually true, now that I think about it. So, whose webbing's ready to go first?"

It hardly took the fillies and lion bird a minute to gather their own chemical concoctions and meet on the rooftop balcony. Seeing the wall-crawler perched on the edge, perfectly balanced on the railing, he asked them, "What took you so long?"

After they all shared a momentary laugh, he then continued, "Alright, here's how we'll do this: each of you, one at a time, will give me your cartridge of webbing. I'll load them into one of my shooters, and the other will have my own, just in case. I'll test each one, and see which of you made the perfect spider web for swinging around. How's that?"

"But how will you find that out," Scoots asked.

"I'll just dive down, give myself enough momentum and distance to allow for the web line to stretch, and then spring myself back up. No problem."

"Ooh," beamed the Griffon, "Just like bungee jumping!" "Right. Exactly."

"Awesome," the orange Pegasus pumped her hoof with excitement, "I'd totally want to that."

"Me, too," said Babs in kind.

"How about when I'm done here, okay? Might need both shooters to do this, you know."

"Okay," both shrugged.

"But how would you know you won't fall too far to use it anywhere," inquired Sweetie.

"Hey," Spidey replied with a grin, then rubbed his hoof playfully against her mane, "Don't worry about me, kiddo. I've done this enough times to do it in my sleep. In fact, I think I might've done so, once upon a time." Viewing the quizzical and concerned looks from her, Applebloom and her cousin still, he added, "But if it makes you feel any better, you can count alligators for me. How's that sound?"

According to plan, as soon as the foals felt more comfortable about this situation, Spider Bite leapt straight down with a flip. They hastened over to view from the railing, and saw him make his rapid, vertical descent. Seeing his forelegs outstretched, and his hind legs pointing straight up, as he did on the diving board earlier today, the foals counted. "One alligator, two alligator, three alligator, four alligator, five alligator…" S'doijh.

Once they completed their fifth alligator, the Crusaders witnessed a white line of adhesive attached to the bottom of the balcony, directly below where they stood. The line stretched, and extended, though it reduced Spidey's fall to the point of halting him entirely. Just then, it sprung him back upward, which gave him the momentum required to soar back and flip onto the rail. Startled at first, the foals reared back as he landed. Then seeing his crouched form precisely where he was before, they hooted, hollered and cheered along with Gabby.

"Alright," he announced grandly, "Great job, Babs! That was an excellent batch of webbing. I'll definitely consider you for part-time."

"Can I take the notes back home with me, an' share 'em with the othuh Crusaduhs back in Manehatten? Please?"

"Well, just be sure to have a grown pony with you who knows this kind of stuff, and can check your friends' work. I'll write a letter to your folks, and let them know. Make sure it's also in a contained area. Just not at home, or shoot it off in your house. Worst mess to clean up. Ever. Trust me. Scoots, you're up!" Replacing the tan Earth Pony's sample with Scootaloo's, he took a great leap straight down, once again. "One alligator, two alligator, three alligator, four alligator, five alliga-" Sh'dew.

Another adhesive attached onto the balcony's floor underneath them, hanging next to Babs Seed's own web. The same results occurred, only it did not stretch as far, and did not send the web-head high enough. However, he ejected a quick batch from his other band, pulled onto it, then soundly landed back onto the rail. "Nice one, Scoots! In fact, that's way better than my first two batches, ever. Just need to work on getting its stretching proportions right next time, okay?"

"Sweet!"

"Speaking of which, Sweetie, would you like me to try yours next? Or you want to give Applebloom a turn, first. It's fine with me, either way." Although slightly uncomfortable about this, seeing Spidey using Babs' and Scoots' webbing first gave her enough confidence to nod firmly, "Yeah, I think it'll be fine."

As before, the arachnid Unicorn loaded the filly's container into the same brace as the others previous. Then, he jumped down. "One alligator, two alligator, three alligator, four alligator, five alligator, si-" F'joih. A third line stretched from the veranda's base, sending him straight up, like the last two times. Though not as high as the first, he was able to simply place his hind hooves onto the edge. "Perfect! Just exactly what I'm looking for in my web shooters!"

"Thanks," she gleamed with a modest blush.

"So," Spidey continued, "Which of you is brave enough to be last pony, or Griffon standing? Or hovering? You know what I mean."

"Ah know Gabby's is definitely gonna work," Applebloom smirked, prompting a similar response from Gabby, "Ah'd like to see how mine fairs."

"Sounds good to me," came the Griffon's chipper response. The cartridge was loaded into the web shooter. Then the web-slinger made his swift descent. "One alligator, two alligator, three alligator, four alligator, five alligator, six alligator, seven…"

They all paused as they looked on, seeing Spider Bite then sharply turn and spin webs from both his braces. One line managed to make contact with the veranda, while the other only missed its mark by mere breadths. The first extended, then recoiled, allowing for the web-head to spring back up, but only slightly. He then shot a third web line, and hoisted himself up. Relief was felt throughout the frightened foals, as they witnessed him return to the balcony. However, they saw him sail over their heads, then skid roughly onto the balcony floor behind them, collapsing on all fours with a huff.

"Whoa," he gasped, as he shakily began to rise, but fell again, "Okay. That came out of left field."

"Spidey!" All were immediately tending to him, gently taking a hoof to help his trembling frame back up. Gabby sharply asked, "Oh, are you okay? What happened down there?"

"Not sure, exactly," he heavily panted, cringing as he tended to his cranium once more, "Guess I packed…passed…blacked out there, for a sec. Could only respond…in time like that…before I could…even…" Just then, he slipped away, closing his eyes behind his blue shades as he fell completely into the Griffon's talons.

"Oh, no," Sweetie fearfully muttered, "What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?!"

At the moment, all anypony could ever do was sit and wait outside the bedroom door, as Gabby quietly held Sweetie Bell and Applebloom closely to comfort them. The tan Earth Pony and orange Pegasus leaned against the wall, opposite from the doorway, with Scoots ruffling her tiny wings and Babs puffing her banes aside. No words were spoken. There was no such need for them, as they all shared a bit of fear, uncertainty and confusion, all with their own, different levels of each. None were wary of how much time had passed, though they would have thought it was dragging on much too slowly, for their taste. It felt extremely uncomfortable. Before they knew it, however, they heard the door creak, and saw the Zebra calmly step out, closing it from behind.

"How's he doin'," softly asked Babs Seed.

"Is he okay," followed Scootaloo, then Sweetie, "What happened?" Gabby and Applebloom simply rose and quietly listened.

"As far as I can tell, he seems to be doing fine now," the physician gently answered, "It was my first time checking his pulse. I doubt any doctor ever gave him a full examination before now. It was kind of hard to get a good reading of it, at first, being so fast. But since he's been breathing normally, I'd say he's alright in that regard. As for what happened, let me ask all of you: you said he was performing several activities today, correct?"

"Yeah," nodded the Griffon, "I was too. We did rock climbing, kayaking, yoga, archery, chess…"

"And before that, what did he do?"

"Well," pondered Applebloom, "Same as the days before, Ah recon. Said he was workin' different jobs. At our farm, yah know that, helpin' Rarity and Fluttershah, and even delivered stuff fur the Cake family."

"Said he was saving up for a camera," joined Scootaloo. Just then, they all noticed another pony silently strolling down the hallway. Her head lowered in deep, perturbed thought, upon returning from her abrupt trip to her village.

"Hey, Starlight," croaked the Pegasus filly.

"Hi, Starlight." "Howdy." "Hey."

"Hi, Crusaders," she answered in kind, "Hello, Doctor Bromwel-Doctor Bromwell!" Then she sharply turned her full attention to all gathering at Spider Bite's bedroom. "What's going on? How come you're here?"

"Gabby brought me here as quickly as she could," the Zebra answered, "Saying Spider Bite fainted for no apparent reason. Had a couple migraines before, but nothing else."

"Is he okay?"

"He's perfectly fine, so far. Has he still been learning how to use his horn?"

"Y-yes," she stammered in thought, "He joins me and Twilight, early every morning for lessons. What do you think's the problem?"

"My diagnosis," Nick said, "I'd say he's spent too much of his mind, heart, body and spirit that he forgot to give himself a proper rest, causing his system to collapse. Not to mention still adjusting to…well, whatever happened to us when we first came here. Took him a month to finally give in, I think. I'd say he needs to stay still for a day, at least. Recover. I'll see if I can pay Miss Zecora a visit for her assistance, as well. And make sure he's in good company. Don't let him exert himself any more than he needs to."

"Of course." "Sure thing, Doc. Toodles." After the light violet mare and Griffon spoke, and Nicolas began to depart, Gabby offered to take the fillies back home, and call it a day. However, through their insistence, and after she and the Zebra went to inform their families, the Crusaders remained with their Griffon friend in the Tree Castle. Starlight, herself, decided to turn in for the night.

"I still can't believe you let that annoying, pesky creature inside to begin with," hissed Fluttershy, or who seemed to be her.

"And those noisy, little brats too," rasped the pony who appeared to be Rainbow Dash.

"Alongside a Griffon, no less," snapped the supposed Rarity.

"Yep," a snide AJ seemed to remark, crossing her hind legs onto the table, while reclining in her throne, "Might as well tell 'em who we really are. Spoil everythin' too, why don't yah?"

"Yeah," snapped the apparent Pinkie Pie, "You heard Queen Chrysalis tell us how he took on a whole bunch of our buddies the last time! Or did you forget how easily he got under her exoskeleton?"

"It was the best means of reducing his suspicion of us as possible," flatly answered the supposed Princess of Friendship, "And you don't need to tell me what his love can do. I felt it. Worse than she described, I thought. But from the looks of things, I doubt he'll be much of an issue, at the moment."

"Only because he caught a little bug," the rainbow Pegasus spoke irritably, slamming her hoof onto the Cutie Map, "What about after he gets better?"

"If the Queen gives the word, and I mean when she does," she grinned, "We won't have to worry about that for long."

"And what of the others," evenly asked the white Unicorn.

"As planned, we'll take a bit of their love for each other, and their friends to feed. The little things will hardly notice anything wrong."

"And…how about that Starlight character?"

"Ha-hah, please," the apparent Twilight scoffed at Pinkie, "She's as gullible as her teacher. If not more so. Trust me. She won't be too much of an issue, either."

Unbeknownst to the sneering ponies in the Cutie Map Chamber, was something that nopony had ever anticipated. As the arachnid stallion continued to toss and turn with utter discomfort, hooves constantly rubbing his head, while the four fillies gradually succumbed to uneasy slumber under the Griffon's wing as they watched him. Somewhere, down the hall, in another chamber, Starlight awoke. The Unicorn Mare sharply rose from her bed in beads of cold sweat, gasping, "They're back!"