The Parasite

“So you're absolutely sure Sunset's not gonna barge in on us?” Applejack said as she stood guard looking toward the stairwell leading up to this floor.

“Totally sure, she's gonna be in class for thirty more minutes,” Rainbow replied as she worked carefully with her lock-picking tools. “And she has another class after that, I doubt she'll come here.”

On her other side, watching the other end of the hall, Pinkie said, “I think we're being a little silly, sure Sunset hasn't been herself lately but... what happened probably really messed her up.” She lowered her voice, trying not to cry as she thought about it. “You know how close she was to Twilight... she must really be hurting and maybe she's avoiding us because she doesn't want to lash out again...”

“You told us the way she looked after Dean Pillar gave us the news,” Rainbow replied. “You said she was smiling!”

“M-maybe I was wrong, I mean I was crying, and some people... you know, some people actually do smile when they're sad, and she did start crying too, so maybe... I don't know, she could have been in shock...”

There was a click and Rainbow got the door open. “Success! Alright, quickly, come on.” She led the way in and the other two quickly went in with her, closing the door behind them.

They left the lights in the dorm off, as the sunlight coming in through the window across from them was enough to see by. Though Rainbow did turn on her phone's light to peer into shadowy areas.

“But the way she yelled at us out there?” Applejack whispered. “That just wasn't like her, I don't know how to explain it, but there was this... look in her eyes. She looked at us like she hated us. And you've seen how moody she's been since, avoiding us... and I heard her grades have been getting worse.”

“She's in mourning!” Pinkie exclaimed. “We all are, it's only been a couple weeks, maybe she just needs some more time...”

Rainbow opened a cabinet in the desk and pulled out a journal. “Yes! Found it.” The other two hurried over to check. Sure enough, they recognized the thick, embellished journal as the one Sunset has used countless times to talk to her mentor back in Equestria.

“Okay, now let's get outta here, quickly,” Applejack urged. They hurried back out, Rainbow making sure she locked the door behind them, and they quickly made their way over into Rainbow's room.

Once safely inside, they sat at Rainbow's kitchen table and laid the book between them, flipping it open to the last page with any writing on it. It looked like Sunset hasn't talked to Princess Twilight in a long time. Though they knew this was a different person entirely, it still hurt seeing that name on the page, written in such a similar script as what their world's Twilight used.

“Who do y'all reckon should write to her?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow held out a pen to her. “You have nice handwriting, you write.”

“Nah, my writing's not that good.”

“Better than mine, and definitely better than Pinkie's,” Rainbow replied. Pinkie gave her an indignant look but didn't argue.

Applejack took the pen and turned the journal around toward herself. She hesitated. “Um. So, how should I start?”

“Tell her about the monster,” Rainbow said.

“And that we need help,” Pinkie added.

“I'm surprised Sunset hasn't told her what's goin' on,” Applejack commented as she glanced back through the last few pages of conversation. “She's told her about other problems in our world... why not this?”

“I think I know why,” Rainbow said dryly. “She's in on it somehow.”

“There's no way Sunset could be behind such horrible murders, she ain't like that,” Applejack protested.

“She was bad before and she could have gone bad again!”

“Even then, she wouldn't have hurt Twilight,” Pinkie claimed. She shook a little at the possibility of what Rainbow was saying, though. “There's no way she could have done that to Twilight...”

The gruesome details had come out not too long after the announcement of the death. Though the university didn't release the full video footage, there were graphic descriptions available online. As much as Twi's friends had tried to avoid it, they had found themselves reading about it anyway, needing to know. It hadn't been pleasant. They knew about the monster assaulting her with chemicals and choking her with chloramine gas. Throwing her through the lab, burning her, trying its best to crush her. And they knew how it finished her off with the acid.

It turned their stomachs to think about and they refused to even look at the videos people claimed they had gotten of everything. They reported it when they could. Hearing about the death was enough. None of them ever wanted to see it.

“I don't think Sunset could have done that to her either,” Rainbow said. “But there's definitely something going on that Sunset's not telling us. Don't you think it's suspicious that she never wrote to other Twilight about this? And have you even seen her look sad at all since what happened? She just looks... bored!”

“Everyone copes differently,” Pinkie said weakly.

Rainbow sighed and looked back at Applejack. “Go ahead. Just tell the Princess what's been going on. But don't... don't tell her about Twilight's death. We should save that for when we see her in person.”

Applejack nodded and began writing. She introduced who she was first, apologizing for using the journal but explaining that this was important. Then she began explaining what has happened. She talked about the strange red creature that has been responsible for so many deaths, who at first seemed to focus only on criminals and other 'bad' people, but has recently taken a much more violent turn to what seemed to be meaningless attacks on whoever it could get. She described how it would eat its victims and how no weapons used against it seemed to do anything. It was fast, strong, and merciless. And they needed help figuring out what it was and how to destroy it.

She then went on to say that Sunset has been acting strange too and perhaps Twilight could help bring her out of her shell and find out what's going on, since she always trusted her deeply.

With all that written, Applejack set down the pen and they waited for an answer.

It took a while for it to arrive, but when it did, it was lengthy.

Thank you for writing to me about this. It sounds like a very bad situation and I'm shocked it has gone on for so long without Sunset telling me about it. That is very unlike her and I'm not sure what reason she could have for keeping it to herself. If I had known, I would have come to help you all much, much sooner.

Going off of the description, it sounds to me like you may in fact be dealing with a Klyntar, or a symbiote. It's an alien species that survives on other worlds by bonding with a native, and they are able to benefit their host in many ways, improving their reflexes, making them stronger, more resistant to disease and injury, often even enhancing their senses themselves. These creatures are very, very difficult to harm or kill. And if it is a red one, I believe I know exactly which one it is, though I will have to cross over to your world to make sure. I know this all must sound very confusing, but trust me, I will explain it to all of you in person once I arrive. I know many of you are in college right now, so I will come over at about 4 PM so you can all meet with me. You'll find me at the usual place, in front of the statue at Canterlot High. If the creature is what I suspect, I will be able to handle it. I will also speak to Sunset and see if she's okay.

See you all soon.

With care,

Twilight Sparkle

Applejack waited for the other two to finish reading and then said, “An alien! Well how do ya like that.”

“I don't like it at all. So it's something that bonds with a person... not sure what exactly she means, but that thing could be connected to Sunset,” Rainbow said.

“I'm telling you guys, Sunset is innocent!” Pinkie declared. “I'm sure she's just been super stressed, final exams are almost here and then this tragedy happened, I don't blame her for being off. I think we should just keep giving her space.”

“Either way, we definitely need Princess Twilight's help,” Rainbow said. “Without our Twilight, well...” She sighed, looking away as her eyes watered. “I don't think we'll be able to deal with that monster.”

The other two moved over to hug her as she broke into silent tears, and after a few moments she grew frustrated and tried to wipe them away, but they just kept coming. “I'm sorry, I still... it still gets to me...”

“Ssh, it's okay, we're all still hurting,” Pinkie said gently, nuzzling into her neck.

“Yeah, I still cry too. All the time. Ah darn it...” Applejack rubbed a fist against one of her eyes, letting out a dry chuckle. “You went and got me crying now.”

After about a minute of just holding each other, exchanging gentle words of comfort and reassurance, they were able to separate and get back to business.

Applejack wrote another quick message into the journal asking Twilight not to write anything more about this, as they didn't want to tip off Sunset that the journal had been stolen. Twilight agreed and then said no more. Applejack carefully ripped out the page they had written on and Rainbow took it and shredded it. They used scissors to cut out any remnants of the page still inside the book until they could hardly tell there had been a page there at all. And considering that Sunset hasn't been using the journal lately, they were confident she wouldn't notice.

Rainbow hurried the book back over to Sunset's room. Meanwhile, Pinkie texted Rarity and Fluttershy to let them know that everything went well and when they would be meeting Twilight, and do not under any circumstances tell Sunset. It was hard leaving her out of things but right now they just weren't sure they could trust her. If it turned out they were wrong, they would all apologize later.

Once Rainbow returned, they all agreed to go their separate ways for now, saying they would meet back up at the statue. Applejack headed home to get back to work and Pinkie went home too, as she didn't have work today but also didn't have a class scheduled.

Rainbow, however, had been ditching her geology class. But she had felt this was more important. She quickly raced back over to the class and slipped into it, opening her textbook and catching up to where the professor was. He cast her a dirty look but didn't say anything, just continuing on. It wasn't his style to kick a student out if they show up late, but he did expect them to learn whatever they had missed on their own time.

It seemed to take forever for 4 PM to arrive, but finally it was time and everyone went to Canterlot High to meet Princess Twilight. Luckily class was done for the day in the high school, but there were still a few students lingering around. The older girls waved casually to them and then turned their attention to the statue.

Fluttershy was one of the last to show up, having jogged all the way over from the university rather than driven. It was quite the trip but she liked being outside, especially with the warmer weather. At her heel was Spike, who has been living with her since Twi's death.

“Oh good, she's not here yet,” Fluttershy said as she stopped near the statue, panting a bit.

“Not yet.” Rainbow knelt down to hold out a hand to Spike, rubbing under his ear. “Hey, how have you been?”

“Oh, you know,” he said, smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. “I'm alive.”

Rarity frowned and got down next to him too, petting his back. “Oh, darling, are you sure you want to be here? This might be... difficult.”

“I want to be here,” he said firmly. “She's not my Twilight, but... I want to see her. I think it'll help me.”

Rarity looked unsure but nodded, standing back up.

It was four right on the dot when magic briefly glowed within the front of the statue, then Twilight was stepping through. As used to the world as she was now, she still briefly stumbled, before straightening and taking a few steps to get a hang of things again. She opened and closed her hands, wiggling her fingers, and then looked at the others.

“Hey, everyone,” she greeted them. She was surprised to see every single one of them tear up, their expressions so pained that she immediately realized something horrible must have happened. “Oh no. Did something happen?”

They exchanged looks, a few starting to speak but then stopping, instead sobbing. Spike came up to her leg and leaned against it as he whimpered and she knelt down to pull him into an embrace. He tensed at first, then moved closer, licking her cheek.

“We wanted to wait until you were here to tell you the news,” Fluttershy said softly, stepping up to Twilight and touching her shoulder. Though she was crying like the rest, she pushed through the pain and explained, “Your counterpart, our world's Twilight... she's dead. That's why we think Sunset... hasn't been herself. Twilight was killed by the monster a couple weeks ago.”

Twilight went rigid, a strange tremor moving down her body. “She what?” she whispered, slowly straightening. She looked at the others, who all nodded sadly. Spike raised his nose toward the sky and howled. Twilight started breathing hard, slumping back against the solid part of the statue and clutching her chest. A swirl of emotions went through her, she hadn't gotten to know the other Twilight that well, but she had still admired her and liked talking to her the few times they met. She was a beloved friend to everyone here and learning that she was dead... it was a shock.

There was a comforting warmth that started in her back and then moved around to her chest, and Venom emerged so he could look at her, forming hands to hold her cheeks with, gazing at her with concern. “Breathe, love. Deep breath in, hold it... now release. There you go.”

Twilight got her breathing under control with his help, but she couldn't do much for the tears streaming down her face. “S-sorry, it's just... she had such a bright future ahead of her, she could have done so much, and she was a wonderful friend... and she's gone!”

“I know. I know, but we're going to avenge her. Let's see if our suspicions about that 'monster' are correct.”

Twilight nodded and looked over at the others, who were shocked and a little afraid as they stared at Venom. “I'm sorry. I can't imagine what you all are going through, but Venom and I are going to help.” When they exchanged unsure looks, she tilted her head and said, “Did Sunset not tell any of you about Venom?”

They shook their heads.

“I'm pretty sure Sunset's been keeping a lot from us lately,” Rainbow said bitterly.

“Oh. Well, this is Venom. He's one of the Klyntar I told you about in my letter. An alien. A ship containing several of his people crash-landed in Equestria several months ago. They were all captured and taken to a research facility called the Life Aura Center to be examined. They were called symbiotes by the scientists there, due to how they form a symbiotic relationship with their hosts. I ended up bonded to Venom here while investigating the facility. In the end, we killed the leader of the symbiotes, Riot, as he had planned to conquer the entire world and infest everyone with his people against their wills. He was a dangerous creature that couldn't be left alive. Now the rest of the symbiotes are living peacefully in Equestria with willing hosts.” Twilight ran a finger idly along Venom's head as she gazed into space. “But we think one of them managed to escape and come here. A red, bloodthirsty symbiote known as Carnage.”

“That's quite the story, sounds like an awful thing to have to deal with and I'm glad you came out of it okay,” Rarity said. “But the alien then, Carnage... if we showed you what this monster looks like, will you be able to tell if it's them?”

“Absolutely,” Venom answered. “I'd know him immediately.”

“His eyes are a lot like yours,” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah, and his skin has this slimy look like yours, especially when he uses these tendril things that just pop up out of his skin and then disappear when he's done with them,” Rainbow said.

Venom tilted his head, then said, “Like this?” He whipped out a tendril of his own, shaping the end into a sharp point. The others quickly confirmed that was what it looked like. “I see. Twilight, I think it is Carnage. He did come here.”

Pinkie came over with her phone, showing it to Twilight. “I found a video. Here, this is from a while back, it shows him running and then stopping to look at the camera... ugh, I usually like smiles, but the way he smiles in this...”

As the video played, Twilight and Venom both watched closely. As soon as it showed the red creature bounding into the camera's field of view, Twilight felt apprehension go down her spine, Venom's alarm reaching her through their bond. Her partner was definitely afraid, but there was something else there too... regret?

“It's him,” Venom declared when the monster turned to show a wide, sharp-toothed grin to the camera. The video stopped there and Pinkie pocketed her phone. Venom snarled. “That was Carnage. He did make it through the portal. I can't imagine how many people he must have terrorized since coming here, how many innocents have been slaughtered...”

“Like the other Twilight,” Twilight said softly, looking down.

“Yes. Like her. And who knows how many others.” Venom slipped an arm around her to comfort her.

“It's mighty peculiar, though,” Applejack mused. “At first, he seemed to only be killing people that are, well... bad, I guess. Though I don't think people deserve to die that way no matter what they've done, but it was convicted criminals and gang leaders and people that have generally caused a lotta trouble. But then things changed. He suddenly started going after anyone he saw as an easy target. He's been killin' elderly folks, the homeless, people who are sick... it's been horrible.”

The others nodded, murmuring quietly. Twilight rubbed her chin as she considered that. “Hm, that's very strange... Venom and I also started out going after those who were hurting others, but we don't even do that anymore, as I decided it wasn't my place to be judge, jury, and executioner. But for Carnage to start out like that too and then go savage? I have to wonder who his host is. It could still be Light Touch... but maybe not, it has been a while...”

“Whoever it is, I have no doubt he manipulated them,” Venom replied. “Probably got them to trust him and then turned them to thinking like he does. We must hunt him down. We must stop his rampage before he destroys this world.”

“Right.” Twilight nodded, setting her expression. “We should begin looking immediately.”

“Well, before you do that...” Rainbow took a breath, hesitating a bit, then continuing, “Can you please go talk to Sunset? We think she knows something about all this. She never told us about you having that symbiote creature. And apparently she didn't tell you about the attacks that have been happening, even though you could have helped us ages ago. If she had told you right away, as soon as it all started happening...” Rainbow's shoulders shook as she tried not to start sobbing. “Maybe we could have stopped Carnage then. There'd be less deaths. And Twi... our Twilight, she'd still be here.”

Twilight frowned and pulled the other into a hug, and the others came over to join the hug too. “I'm so sorry I couldn't be here,” Twilight apologized. “I did think strange of it when Sunset didn't write to me for a while, but just figured she was busy with school here. I'm sorry I didn't check in. But we can't change the past. We're going to move forward. We're going to deal with that monster. And I'll find out what's going on with Sunset too.” She leaned back. “Would someone like to drive me over to the university? I want to believe that she's innocent in this matter. If she is, and I can get through to her, we can really use her help.”

“Maybe Sunset is Carnage's host, though,” Rarity said uncomfortably as they walked over to Pinkie's van, which most of them had carpooled in. The exception being Fluttershy and Spike, but they decided to get in too.

“Even if that alien guy is a killer, Sunset would never let herself become a monster,” Pinkie said, starting the van.

“It doesn't matter what Sunset would want,” Venom said bluntly. “Carnage... all of us, really... are very good at manipulating our hosts into behaving how we want them to. We can twist their minds. Destroy their sense of morality, drive them insane. I would never do it. But it was Riot's way of going about things. And Carnage... Carnage wouldn't let a host hold him back from what he likes best. He would have told Sunset anything to get her to agree, and failing agreement, would just use her body as his puppet anyway. So don't rule out the possibility that she is under his control.”

The mood in the van was very subdued for the rest of the ride. Twilight's mind was racing as she considered what she would do if Sunset was responsible for all this. And then there was that strange feeling she was getting from Venom, a sort of twisting sensation whenever she thought about Carnage. She tried to get him to open up about it. Was there something he knew about Carnage that he wasn't telling her?

No, he replied shortly. It's just that Carnage is the most ruthless, disgusting member of our team. Riot was always very proud of his work, constantly talking about what an asset he was and how the rest of us should be like him. So. I know exactly what he's capable of and I am not looking forward to trying to take him down.

Twilight still wasn't sure that was all, but she decided to drop the subject, looking out the window as they approached Canterlot University.