VENOMOUS GENEROSITY

The next day, all students were back in Canterlot High. The classes were about to start in 10 minutes and everyone was nervous about the science exam they were going to take that day. Rarity's friends, meanwhile, were more worried about her well-being than they were about the exam. They were all gathered around her locker waiting for her while discussing her recent behavior.

"Y'all got any luck findin' her?"

"Nope", Twilight replied. "All the calls go straight to voicemail and not a single respond to any of the messages."

Fluttershy asked, "Do you think we were a little harsh on her yesterday? I mean, she did get the promotion she deserved the other day and maybe we should've supported her instead of criticizing her."

"Maybe", Sunset suggested. "But, the way she went about it was wrong and we had to tell her that."

Rainbow inquired, "I know, but she was pretty mad when we asked her to be less egoistic. What if we somehow made it worse?"

"It's not worse. It's WAY worse! Look!"

Everyone looked at where Pinkie was pointing towards and what they saw caused them all to leave their mouths hanging wide open.

It was the human version of Punk Rock Rarity from "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You". As she walked through the hallway towards the girls, everyone around her gasped with shock and admiration. After giving a few poses to the crowd surrounding her, she reunited with her friends and gave them a warm smile.

"Hello, darlings. Ready for the exam? I know I am."

"Uh, Rarity, what's with the fancy new look? Are ya sure Principal Celestia will let you walk around the campus lookin' like this?"

"Why, I was just heading out of her office to ask about it, Applejack. She not only approved it, but she also said it was simply magnificent to look at. Wouldn't you agree?"

Before Applejack could answer that, Rainbow swooped in.

"Are you kidding? You look amazing! Now, I wanna look just like you. You can come up with something for that, right?"

"Well, of course, Rainbow Dash! I'm terribly sorry I said all those cruel things to you, by the way. I really should've been more careful with my word choices."

"Oh, it's okay. I could use a few lessons on choosing the right words for too, actually."

They both chuckled.

"Well, then, who’s ready to get an A plus on the exam besides me? Oh, and also you Twilight."

"Uh, are you sure you're prepared for it, Rarity? You don't look like you've studied enough during the weekend."

Rarity then stopped smiling and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And so what, Miss Sparkle? Do you honestly believe that someone who looks this fabulous won't possibly get a perfect score in science?"

"No, I didn't mean that! It's just the fact that you focused more on improving your looks rather than increasing your knowledge can cause a huge problem for you during the exam."

Rarity gave her a weird look.

"Really, now? Well, I simply can't wait to see the look on your unremarkable little face when I get a score equal to, if not better than, yours. Now, if you girls will excuse me, I need to fetch a few things from my locker."

They let her pass and she continued walking though the hallway as soon as she grabbed a few books from her locker.

"I wouldn't call that worse", remarked Sunset. "Just unchanged."

Rarity was just about to enter her class when she began talking to the Symbiote with whispering.

"Okay, let's go over this one more time."

"Put the textbook in your backpack, place the backpack under your chair, and leave it open."

"And you're sure this will get me a score high enough to make up for my failure in English?"

"Honestly, Rarity, when have I ever led you down the wrong path?"

She briefly thought about it before answering.

"Alright, let's do this!"

She entered the classroom and followed his instructions before Miss Cheerilee handed out the exam papers. Once Rarity took a good look at her paper, she couldn't remember the answers of even the shortest questions and thus, she panicked a bit. However, as exam went on, the solutions kept coming to her mind and by the time the exam was over, she was able to answer every single question.

About ten minutes after the exam's end, Cheerilee re-distributed the papers and Rarity let out a ear-piercing scream when she saw her score. Just as the Symbiote had promised, it was an A plus and just as she had hoped, Twilight couldn't believe her eyes that Rarity managed to receive a score equal to hers without studying at all. She was given a smug look by Rarity, who promptly headed for the next class with great enthusiasm and communicated with the Symbiote through whispering.

"Did you HAVE to cheer that loud? A simple 'thank you' would be enough!"

"Oops, sorry about that. I simply can't thank you enough for this, darling. I don't know what amazing feat you pulled off this time, but I certainly see that it was worth it. Actually, what DID you do, anyway?"

"Remember the instructions I gave you before the test? While you were reading the questions, I secretly came out of your ankle and sneaked into your backpack in order to search the textbook for answers. I'll admit, the book's contents were undoubtedly boring, but I can assure that nobody saw a single molecule of me and I successfully sent the solutions to your head."

Rarity was a bit disgusted by this revelation, but managed to get over it as the rest of her classes went on.

As soon as the school day ended, Rarity headed towards Miss Hemline's shop, eager to start her new job. From now on, she was to be Hemline's personal assistant in every business deal that she made and furthermore, the shop's substitute manager whenever Hemline was unavailable.

She was just about to reach the store, when suddenly she heard a woman's scream coming from a nearby alleyway. She rushed there to investigate and saw her friend Sweetie Drops cornered by three muggers with knives and baseball bats. They seemed to be after her purse and she looked really scared. Rarity became appalled by this sight and prepared to throw a diamond towards the muggers before the Symbiote came out of her shoulder,

"Where's the fun in that? Let's use our new abilities, instead."

"Hmmm, not a bad idea."

She made the diamond disappear and shouted behind the muggers.

"Stop right there! Why don't you cowards pick on someone your own size!"

They turned around and laughed really hard when they saw her.

"You heard the lady, boys. If she wants some of this too, then how about we indulge her."

They nodded in agreement, but before the nearest thug could strike her with a bat, she grabbed it with a tentacle and swung it towards the rest of them. Before he could understand what was going on, she got a hold of his head with another tentacle and slammed it against a wall, making him writhe in pain. Then, one of the remaining thugs got back up and tried to attack Rarity with a knife before she dodged every single strike and kicked him towards a nearby trashcan. The last thug pulled out a gun; but Rarity grabbed it with a tentacle, crushed it with her bare hands and punched the thug with a giant black hand. Finally, the Symbiote came out of her face and gave them a roar so vicious that they all screamed in terror and ran away without looking behind.

With the threat neutralized, the Symbiote went back into Rarity's body and she helped Sweetie Drops get back up.

"Are you hurt, darling?"

"A little, but it's nothing, really. My gosh, Rarity, you were amazing! How did you manage to do all that?"

"It's quite a long story. What did these ruffians want from you, anyway?"

"These 'ruffians' are working for Wilson Fisk, the biggest industrialist/gangster in the city. I was supposed to cover his visit to the Red Spider Casino tonight for a local newspaper, but he obviously didn't like my curiosity and sent these goons after me to teach me a lesson."

"I see. Go home immediately and tell no one about what happened here. I'll have a talk with this Mr. Fisk!"

"Good luck, then. You'll need it."

As she ran away, the Symbiote came out.

"Looks like we have a casino to crash tonight."

"But I'm not old enough to enter or drink."

"Will you seriously let that stop you?"

"Of course not! Red Spider, here we come!"