Quietly sitting on the sidewalk were six deeply distraught teenage girls who had recently witnessed something that sucked all the remaining joy out of them. Only three hours ago, they had helplessly watched as a creature born from the bond between an alien and their friend Rarity devouring another human like a wild animal. They had also watched the creature's escape, as well as the torn apart body being taken away by the authorities, and even though the officers gave them blankets and coffee, they were still sitting on the sidewalk with solemn expressions on their faces.

Finally, after three long hours of silence, Applejack finally managed to say a few words.

"That... That didn't just happen, right? It couldn't have really happened. We must all be having the same dream or somethin'!"

"Sorry, Applejack, but only Princess Luna can create shared dreams and last time I checked, she had no intention to visit this world any time soon. Besides, her job is to repel nightmares, not cause them."

"Well, there's gotta be an explanation for this whole darn mess not bein' real! Twilight, you're the smartest one I know. What is your take on this?"

"I... I don't know. We all saw everything that happened clear as day and since this can't be a shared dream like Sunset said, I guess it's all real."

"What? But... but it can't be true. It just can't be! SHE'S NOT GONE FOR GOOD!"

She punched a street lamp in sadness, breaking it down completely. Twilight stood up and embraced her as she continued to sob on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Applejack. I wish that it's not real too, but we have to face the facts. We cannot change the truth, no matter how much we dislike it."

At that point, Rainbow stood up too and turned to the others with a frustrated look on her face.

"No. No! I refuse to believe that! Our best friend is not gone for good! She is still somewhere trapped inside that monster and we have to get her back no matter the cost!"

Applejack turns to her with tears and a small smile on her face.

"You really think so?"

"Of course, I do! We may have led Rarity to be corrupted by that thing, but we are still her friends, and it's our responsibility to make this right and save her life! So, who's with me?"

Everyone looked at each other for a few seconds before Sunset spoke up.

"You do know there's a chance that we won't make it though this, right?"

"Maybe, but if that's what will take to get Rarity back, isn't it a risk worth taking?"

A few more seconds later, Fluttershy stood up.

"Yes, it is. Right now, I want Rarity to come back more than anything in the world. I'm with you until the end."

Then, Pinkie stood up too.

"Me too! No cost can be too costly to pay to save her."

Applejack put her hand on Rainbow's shoulder.

"Well, you already know my answer. Lead the way, partner!"

Twilight did the same.

"I know what I said about truth, but that doesn't mean we can't create a new truth."

They all looked at Sunset who let out a deep sigh.

"Oh, what the heck. This is miles better than giving up."

She stood up as well and turned to Rainbow."

"So, what's the plan, chief?"

"Alright, first, we gotta figure out if the creature has any weaknesses. Any ideas, Twilight?"

"Well, we already know that it's negatively affected by sound, but we still don't know the correct sound frequency that will get it off Rarity for good. I was hoping to get a sample of its DNA to analyze and find a solution, but I think it's a bit too late for that."

"Okay, so, where can we get another sample? There's gotta be something useful around here."

"Not that I can see and if there was any, it was most likely taken away by the authorities."

"Dagnabbit! Now, how are we supposed to find- AAAGH!"

Out of nowhere, a crimson red symbiote with black stripes appeared and jumped on to Applejack's arm, startling everyone. She tried extremely hard to get it off, but the symbiote just wouldn't let go. Fortunately, her friends rushed in to assist her and after countless seconds of significant effort, they managed to get it off her arm and threw it away towards the road. When it began to crawl towards them a second time, Rainbow quickly trapped it inside an empty trashcan and Applejack squeezed it shut.

"What in tarnation was that?!"

"Are you blind, AJ? It's obviously another one of those creatures."

"But, where the hay did it come from?"

Twilight, then lifted the trashcan up with her magic and brought it towards her.

"That's not important. What matters is we now have DNA sample that I can analyze. Come with me!"

She began running down the street with the trashcan and the others ran after her with confusion.

Ten minutes later, a terrible storm had come to the city and the girls had reached Twilight's house. They quickly went upstairs to her room, which also served as a huge laboratory filled with computers, diagrams, and other lab equipment.

They opened the trashcan and dropped the symbiote to a box with a tiny hole on top. As it tried to crawl back up through the hole, Twilight immediately cut a piece of it and sealed the hole up with a pile of Quantum Physics books. Then, she put the piece on a microscope slide, placed the slide on her gigantic microscope, and began to analyze it.

Meanwhile, her friends began exploring the lab and looked at numerous projects that she was working on. Most of them were related to robotics and genetics, and the ones that the girls were the most intrigued by included the utilization of animal DNA in curing illnesses or restoring damaged body parts.

Pinkie, meanwhile, took a particular interest in the plans that depicted a humanoid robot with a head resembling that of an ant. She, then, turned towards... me?

"Oh! So, this is secretly a prequel to "I've Got No Strings"? Well played, author! Well played."

Um, anyway...

Sunset also took an interest in a piece of metal located on Twilight's worktable.

"Hey, Twilight! Can you tell me anything about this metal on the table? It's quite beautiful."

"Please don't touch that, Sunset. My brother brought it to me from a trip he took a few years ago to Africa. He said that it's the most unique metal on the planet and, after running countless tests on it, I now believe him. It's chemical structure is unlike that of any metal that I know of. Plus, it's harder than steel, only one third of its weight, and it’s extremely reactive to sound waves."

"I see. So, what's it called?"

"Uh, I can't really remember. I think it was 'vibrantium' or..."

Just then, Rainbow swooped in.

"Wait! “Highly reactive to sound waves”? That's it! We just found the perfect weapon to use against that monster! It was right under our noses this whole time!"

While everyone approached this plan with suspicion, Twilight actually supported it once she finished analysis and turned towards the girls.

“You know what, Rainbow, you could be right. The creature’s molecular structure is composed of bonds that can only be broken by either fire or vibrations with at least 5000 Hz freqıency. If I could find a way to utilize this metal as a power source for something like a sonic cannon, it should create sound waves powerful enough to get that thing off of Rarity.”

Everyone except Pinkie looked at her with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

“Did any one of y’all get what she just said?”

“We’ll, duh! She’s gonna turn the Deus-Ex-Machina into a sound gun!”

"Uh huh. If you say so."

She turned to Twilight.

"Anything else we need to know about the creature?"

"Well, judging from its molecular structure, I can say that its primary source of energy is phenethylamine, a chemical found in chocolate and brain matter. That would explain Rarity's obsession with brownies and pudding, as well as Suri's head being devoured by..."

Her eyes suddenly widened with horror as she came to a realization.

"Oh, dear! I just figured out why that thing looked at me that way. It consumes brain matter and I'm the smartest person that Rarity knows. This means I'm its next meal!"

While everyone reacted to this with shock and horror, Rainbow remained calm and determined as ever.

"Not on our watch, you aren't! Just work on that sound weapon and leave your protection to us. Am I right, guys?"

They nervously agreed while Twilight took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"In any case, we're gonna need a backup plan in case the one I'll be working on fails. Applejack, I want you to gather every single welding machine, oil container, lighter, and match that you can get your hands on."

"On it!"

"Sunset, you and Fluttershy will pay a visit to Vinyl Scratch and ask if you can borrow new guitars and a few large 26 inch sound speakers."

"Will do!"

"Pinkie, you'll stay here and keep a look out for Venom while I work on the sound gun."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Rainbow, run around the city and search for any clues regarding Venom's whereabouts. If you manage to find it, make sure to just observe and report from a distance, and NOT engage unless it's absolutely necessary."

"You got it!"

"If everything goes well, we should be able get our friend back by this time tomorrow. Everyone understands their job?"

They all said "Yep!" in unison.

"Great! Then, let's get down to business and meet here in twenty hours. Good luck to us all."

Author's Note

I'm so sorry that this took way longer than expected. My grandfather was visiting for the week and I was busy showing him around town.

Also, I know this could potentially set up another story involving Black Panther, but I'm not sure if I'll be able write it any time soon due to my plans for crossover stories involving Transformers.

If I do decide to write a Black Panther crossover, then I'm going to need some help.