The Superiffic Spider-Mare

The Superiffic Spider-mare

By Aczom

(AKA, Cerulean Spark)

It was warm, sunny day in Canterlot. The birds were chirping and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. But it wasn't just any day. That day was the first day of the Twilight Magic Exhibition, named after the unicorn herself.

"So, what are we doing here again?" asked Rainbow Dash, doing the backstroke through the air beside Twilight.

"Well," she replied "Princess Celestia invited me to present at the exhibition. I wish I could have invited the others, but I'm lucky I even get to bring you two!"

"Don't feel bad, Twilight." said the pink mare hopping up and down beside her "I'm sure they won't mind! We'll bring them back some souvenirs and two of them can come tomorrow!"

"You'd think if it was named after you, you'd be allowed more guests." said Rainbow.

The three were walking down a purple cobble path which lead to the Canterlot University for Unicorns. It was a large white building, resembling one of the castle towers.

Ponies of all kinds were walking along the path too. From earth ponies to pegasi to unicorns.

The three entered into a large, shiny room and let out a long "Woooow!" in unison.

It resembled the stained glass room of the castle, with bright and colourful windows showcasing some of the university's finest moments. From the roof dangled 3 golden chandeliers.

Next to the mares stood a white unicorn stallion. He had a pastel blue mane and a cutie mark of a scroll.

"Good morning, miss Sparkle." he said. Like most of the staff there, he had a thick Canterlotian accent.

"Hi!" responded a very excited Twilight "I haven't seen you in so long!" she turned to her two guests with a huge grin spread across her face.

"Girls, this is professor Paper Back. He was my tutor when I started school." she turned back to the stallion "Professor, these are my friends-"

"Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, the elements of loyalty and laughter, respectively" Paper Back interrupted "Miss Sparkle, I'm afraid you need to come and get ready for the presentation. We can't leave the audience waiting."

As Paper Back escorted Twilight up a set of marble stairs, another white stallion, almost identical to Paper Back, trotted over to the two mares remaining.

"Shall I escort you two to the tour group?" he said "It will be some time before miss Sparkle will be presenting."

"Sure." said Rainbow "Sounds like fun, I guess!"

"Remeber when I said this sounded fun?" whispered Rainbow.

"Yeah?" replied Pinkie.

"I was wrong."

The two were in a group of ponies gathered around a trophy case.

At the front of the group stood a thin, yellow unicorn colt with a red mane and a freckled face. He was a only few years younger than Rainbow and Pinkie from the looks of him, but somehow he lacked a cutie mark.

"Here are the trophies and awards won by students at this school." he said flatly, gesturing with a hoof.

The crowd let out some "ooh"s and "ah"s, some taking photos.

"Now, if you follow me, we'll see the hall of books."

"What kind of books?" yelled Rainbow from the back.

"Educational!" replied the colt in annoyance.

"Hey Pinkie, wanna ditch these guys and look around?" whispered Dash as she leaned towards the pink pony.

"But we are looking around." she replied.

"Y'know what I mean. C'mon, let's go in here!"

Rainbow slowly trotted into a large doorway as the crowd walked away. Above it was a sign that read "Genetics Lab".

Pinkie followed on and the two found themselves in a room full of cages and odd tools. From the roof hung a metal device similar to ones used by dentists.

The two mares looked through the cages at the colourful creatures they held inside.

"Look, it's a Parasprite!" said Rainbow, gazing into a cage in awe "I didn't know they could have three eyes..."

"Look, Dashie! I think this one escaped!" yelled Pinkie. Beside her was an empty cage, door wide open.

"How do you know the cage wasn't empty to start with?" asked Rainbow.

"Because I accidentally opened it and let the spider out!" replied Pinkie, beginning to panic "Quick, we've gotta find it!"

The two started looking around, under desks and atop of cages, but there was no spider to be found.

After a few minutes of searching, Pinkie looked at the documents next to the empty cage.

"It says it's a vampire spider." said Pinkie.

"Warning. If bitten, consult a medical professional. The venom produced by these genetically enhanced spiders may be fatal in ponies. Unicorns confirmed. More testing required." she read.

"That's great Pinkie." said Rainbow, who was floating near the ceiling and inspecting it for spiders. "Could you look underneath that bookshelf?"

Pinkie trotted quickly over to a large shelf which held many documents and photos.

Pinkie shoved a hoof underneath and began to rummage around. Suddenly she felt something soft and hairy.

"I think I got it!" she yelled.

"Oh did you?" said a familiar voice. Pinkie turned around to see a tall white stalion with a blue mane standing there, looking down at her.

"Um... Hi Paper Back! Is there a problem?" said Pinkie. Suddenly her hoof began to sting and she leapt upwards, knocking most of the documents to the ground.

"AH!!" she squealed "It bit me!"

At this point, Paper Back stared at Pinkie, his face burning with rage.

"You two are banned from ever coming here again!" he yelled, lifting them with his magic and 'escorting' them out the doorway.

"Hey!" yelled Dash "You can't just levitate us out! What are you- Ouch!"

For a second the glow intensified, before returning to normal. Paper Back dropped the two onto the dirt outside.

"Fine! Keep your magic!" yelled Rainbow Dash, feeling not only annoyed but slightly violated.

"Boring in there anyway." she muttered.

Pinkie sat on the floor and stared at her hoof. It look normal, and it felt normal, but something just seemed off.

Pinkie shook her head and looked at Dash.

"What about Twilight?" she asked.

"She'll be fine." replied Rainbow "Let's just get back to the castle. It's getting dark."

As they walked away in the orange light of the sunset, they heard the crowd inside cheer for their friend.

"Maybe we should've stayed with the group." said Dash.

As Pinkie Pie and Rainbow walked through the streets of Canterlot, they realized how different it was at night. The only time they had been there at night was during the wedding from earlier that year.

"How about we get a drink?" suggested Dash "Do you drink, Pinkie?"

"Of course I do, silly!" she replied "If I didn't drink, I'd always be thirsty!"

"No, Pinkie, I mean alchohol." said Dash, rolling her eyes "I don't really. Just every now and then with some friends from Ponyville."

"Oh." said Pinkie "Nope. Never have before."

Rainbow Dash stopped in place for a second before continuing forward.

"Really?" she asked "Never? I thought partying was your special talent!"

The two entered a large grey building with neon lights above the door, reading "Club Vinyl" The place stunk of alchohol and vomit.

"Y'know what, Dashie?" said Pinkie, cautiously backing out the door "I think I'll just wait outside for you."

"Suit yourself." said Dash "Hey Berry! Give me a Jersey Lightning!"

Pinkie began to walk again, her hooves clopping on the hard stone ground. The moon was getting higher in the sky. Pinkie guessed it was about 11 or so.

"Hey, look what we got here." said a gruff, male voice "It's a little pink filly. What'sa matter? You lost?"

Pinkie turned around to face the owner of the voice, but it was too dark for her to see.

"Who's there?" she said nervously.

"Ooh, it's that element of harmony girl!" said another voice, also male "This'll be fun."

The two strangers stepped forward into the light. One was a dark grey unicorn with a short red mane. The other was a murky yellow-brown earth pony with a black and blue mane. Both where about the same size and age as Big Mac.

"Don't come closer!" yelled Pinkie, remembering all the stories she and Dashie had made to scare the others.

The yellow stallion took another step toward Pinkie while the unicorn used his magic to levitate a sharp knife from behind him.

"GET BACK!!" Pinkie screamed, thrusting her front hoof towards the earth pony.

CLANG

She opened her eyes to see the two ponies staring at her, mouths agape. Her eyes drifted down to the end of her hoof, which was laid on a lamppost. The post had been completely bent out of shape.

She'd bent it over without even trying.

"Run!" yelled the unicorn, dropping the knife from his magical grip. The two turned and ran from the pink mare, back into the darkness.

Pinkie continued staring at her hoof. Maybe it was already bent? She lifted her hoof away and the lamppost fell to the ground with a loud clang. The glass holding the flame had shattered.

Not only had she bent it, she snapped a metal lamppost in half!

"This is incredible!" said Pinkie, staring down at her hooves.

She was in a large bedroom with tall pink and gold walls and a pearly white floor covered by a large red rug. This was her bedroom in the 'Harmony Suite' of Canterlot Castle, built specifically for her and the other bearers of the elements.

She touched one of her front hooves with the other, rubbing up and down slowly. On the end were small spines. So small that they were unnoticeable from even just inches away. Pinkie could retract them at will.

Everything around her seemed more clear too. She could feel each individual fibre of the rug below her hooves. She could see much further than before. She could hear Rarity arguing with a drunken Rainbow Dash in the other room, despite the magical sound dampening walls.

At the back of her head was a small tingling sensation. Without even being near it, she could feel that there was a fly crawling on the red drapes covering her window. She could sense it.

Suddenly the tingling got stronger, and something told Pinkie that she had to run.

Before Pinkie had time to launch herself out of her window and into the fountain, the room flashed pink and a very angry purple unicorn stood before her.

"Oh, uh, Hiya Twilight." stammered Pinkie. She'd forgotten that she and Dash had been thrown out of the university.

"RAINBOW DASH!!" yelled the unicorn, using her magic to increase her volume ten fold.

"GET YOUR PLOT IN HERE!!"

Pinkie heard the door in one of the other rooms open as Dash started walking. She dragged her hooves across the carpet as she did so.

The door open and Rainbow entered, supporting herself on the doorframe.

"Hiya Twilight." she slurred "How'sit goin'?"

"What do you mean 'How's it going'?!" yelled Twilight, snapping the cyan mare to attention.

"You deserted me! You released a dangerous animal into a pony-packed university! You got thrown out!"

"Oh yeah." said Rainbow, standing up straight "I forgot abou' that. Sorry Twi."

Pinkie gestured to the mare to stop, before the tingling in her head got stronger.

She ducked, just in time for a magically lifted flower pot to fly past and smash against the wall beside Rainbow.

"Hey!" yelled Pinkie "That was mine!"

Twilight shot her a glare, and Pinkie retreated a few steps behind her.

"Geez, it's just'a spider." said Dash, resting her front left hoof on the door knob "Pinkie got bit 'n she's jus' fine."

With that, Twilight's mood changed entirely. She look back at Pinkie, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Pinkie!" she yelled "Are you alright?! You aren't hurt, are you?!" She had a concerned tone.

Pinkie stared at Twilight for a few seconds, processing her thoughts.

Maybe it would be best to tell Twilight about the things she'd noticed. They could be the first signs of death. But what if nothing bad happened? The spider venom had only been tested on unicorns. Was there a difference?

She decided it would be better (or at least more fun) to see what the other effects were first and tell Twilight if things went downhill.

"Uh, I'm fine!" replied Pinkie in as cheerful a tone as possible "Just a little tired. Could you two please leave so I can get some sleep?"

She jumped onto her queen-sized bed and scurried under the pink silk covers.

"Um, sure Pinkie." said Twilight, clearly still worried "I'll just be outside then."

She turned her head to Rainbow, who once again straightened up "As for you," she said, once again in an angry tone "we need to chat!"

And so begins the journey of the spider-mare. What other effects will the spider bite have on Pinkie? Will Rainbow Dash escape certain death at the hooves of her angry friend? Who will Twilight bring to day two of the exhibition? Find out next time!