Leavin Sweet Apple Acres took strong willpower and much determination from Manuel. The many sugary treats that Applejack's family kept delivering to them were as delicious as they were addictive. Manuel felt the warmth from the freshly-made pie seep into his bones as his troubled mind found solace in the comfort of a full belly. Twilight Sparkle had been wise to bring him there. It was definitely the right call to calm his racing thoughts and put an easy smile on his face.
Applejack's family was big, loud, and welcoming. Everyone was willing to offer their best dishes to them, along with their brightest smile. For a moment, Manuel felt like he didn't want to leave at all. He knew Twilight wanted to return to the library to do some research, but Manuel was so comfortable that his feet refused to move. Everything around him, from the scenery to the ponies was homey and radiated comfort. Still, when Twilight got up and began to say thank you to everypony, he couldn't help but do the same.
"Thank you so much, Applejack," Manuel added to his goodbye. He was truly grateful for the food and the company, and he wanted to let her know. Even though his words would never be enough to convey the warmth that was still irradiating from his heart.
"Don't even mention it, sugarcube," she said with a dip of her hat. "We're happy to help y'all in any way we can. Feel free to stop by whenever you're craving some good ole apple pie!"
The walk back was slower and quieter than before. Manuel was happy for probably the first time since he had woken up beside Twilight and Spike. His headache was almost gone and forgotten, turned into a distant memory and a dull annoyance instead. He still didn't know the reason behind the sudden pain that had assaulted him earlier, but he was grateful that it had gone away.
"What do you want to research about, Twilight?" He asked as he moved closer to her down the road. There was no reason to get caught up inside his head in an infinite loop of questions he had no way to answer.
"Well, I'd like to know more about you," she began. "Not that there's going to be a book about all things Manuel, of course, but maybe something else."
"Like, others like me who might have ended up here," Manuel was genuinely curious. He wanted to help her in her research as much as he could.
"Exactly!" She was pleasantly surprised about how smart Manuel turned out to be, and she didn't hesitate to show him that through a heartfelt smile filled with pride. "Even if I cannot find anything about someone else that looks just like you, I might find something about ponies, or people traveling from one realm to another."
"Do you think this has happened before?"
"I don't know," she replied honestly. "But, considering the evidence, and the fact that you are here, I can only assume there must be some extra information about it. That's unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless your coming to Equestria was such an anomaly that it never existed before, nor was it documented by anyone due to lack of evidence."
Manuel gathered his thoughts on the subject. Twilight was brilliant, and she was right. Even if Manuel was the first of his kind to come into this world, maybe there could be some information about traveling from one realm to another. Maybe Manuel would be a little bit closer to understanding who he was.
Suddenly, there was a strong wind going through the streets of Ponyville. It was not cold, to Manuel's surprise, but it was fast. Its force almost knocked him back, and Spike had to fight hard not to be blown away by the leaves around them.
"That was strange," Manuel said as he held his hoodie over his head. "Is the wind always so strong around here?"
"I don't think so, no," Twilight pondered the question. "But don't worry about it, the weather ponies will get everything under control."
"The weather ponies?" Manuel never ceased to be marveled at the wonderful details that made up that magical world.
"Yes! The weather ponies are very important," Twilight began to answer. "I can tell you all about-" There was a loud crashing sound somewhere nearby. It was strong enough to interrupt Twilight's train of thought and make them look in the direction of the crash.
When Twilight looked back at Manuel she realized he was already running toward the source of the sound. He was clutching his head with one hand, as the other pushed forward in the air as if to make room for himself without hitting anypony on the way.
"Manny, wait!" Twilight shouted behind him, but he kept on running. She chased him, taking Spike with her, running at full speed toward the boy. "Where are you going? It could be dangerous!" She was surprised to realize how worried she was for his well-being. In a pretty short time, Manuel had already become someone she would protect from all harm, at all costs.
When she finally caught up to him, Twilight found that a big sign had fallen down, probably due to the wind, and a lot of ponies were gasping in surprise around the site. As soon as she got closer, she noticed something under the fallen structure. "Oh no!" She exclaimed.
"Do you know that pony, Twilight?" Manuel asked without taking his eyes off the accident.
"Yes," Twilight's voice trembled as she gathered her words out of the shock she was feeling. "Her name is Rainbow Dash, and she's my friend."
Manuel crouched down and tried to see something among the debris. "Rainbow Dash, can you hear me?" He said, loudly towards the little frame of sky-blue that could be seen from around the site.
"Yeah!" A raspy voice came back. "Loud and clear," she was trying her best to be funny, but Manuel could tell that her voice was breaking with either fear, pain, or a dreadful combination of the two.
"Are you hurt?" Manuel asked, doing his best to try and see more of her. There was so much debris and dirt that it was almost impossible to see beyond what was closest.
"I- I don't know. I mean, I don't think so. Maybe a little bruised, but nothing more serious." Her voice was calmer, even though it still held the edge of fear in it. Maybe she was fine, but the other possibility was that the pony was in a state of shock that forbade her from feeling the extent of her injuries and feeling unharmed.
"Great, that's good. Stay calm, Rainbow, we're all doing our best to get you out of here soon." Manuel wanted to reassure her, to calm her nerves in order to make it easier on her. He didn't know where all that knowledge about handling a crisis came from, but he was sure that he was doing the right thing.
"Please," he said, talking to the gathering audience. "Help me lift this thing so we can free Rainbow from the sign."
Everypony nodded and they started to enthusiastically lift the wooden sign. There were a lot of them trying at the same time, Manuel included. Even Spike placed his little hands on the edge of the sign and pushed up adding his bit of strength to the communal effort.
"It's useless," a jaded voice came from near Manuel, but he didn't even see who it belonged to. "It won't budge!"
"Come on, people!" Twilight was still trying and she also encouraged the rest not to give up. Manuel felt grateful to be under the care of such a strong-willed pony. "We can do it, just a little bit more!"
The structure cracked but it didn't move. The sound might have scared Rainbow because her breathing increased in speed. "Hmm, guys… I don't like it here. I don't want to sound pushy but… help me, please? I- please, help!"
Maybe it was due to Rainbow's cries for help, or maybe something else in the whole situation made it happen. But the truth was that something inside Manuel clicked. He got such a strong pang of pain that he doubled over on the ground holding his head and trying to breathe. He thought Twilight was probably talking to him. Her voice was reaching his ears in a way, but he couldn't make out her words. There was nothing but white noise ringing in his ears, and the constant buzz of it made everything around him equally fuzzy.
Just like last time, when it had happened at the boutique, Manuel started to see things before him. Instead of Ponyville, he was in that cold, gray place again, surrounded by glass and metal structures. What he noticed was that he was sort of flying but not quite. His body was soaring through the air, but he was falling. Just before the fall could get too low, he would extend his arm, and something like a thin rope would come out of his wrist. The rope stuck to the next surface and he swung like an old Tarzan movie on a tree.
Suddenly he knew. That was not just a vision; that was him. Manuel was watching his own memories unfold before his eyes. He didn't understand exactly what they meant, but there was something in his soul telling him that it was true, that he had to remember.
Manuel snapped out of his shock all of a sudden. The pain in his head was gone, and the ringing in his ears had subsided enough for him to focus on the task at hand. The images in front of him dissolved and he saw Ponyville again. The first thing he noticed was Twilight's worried expression as she crouched in front of him. She was holding his shoulders trying to make him come back from wherever it was he had been drifting away to.
"Manuel! Are you ok? Can you hear me?" She said as she tucked a loose strand of his hair behind his ear. She looked painfully worried and hurt on his behalf. Manuel didn't want to see her suffering like that ever again in his life.
"I'm fine, Twilight," he answered as he stood up from the ground. "Thank you for worrying about me."
With a new sense of security, Manuel stood next to the sign. Apparently, what had seemed like a very long time for him as he had the visions of his memories, had only been a few couple of seconds for everyone else. He could feel the distress coming from Rainbow, and Manuel knew what he had to do.
With nothing but his bare hands and his stern sense of determination, Manuel grabbed the edge of the old heavy sign. In what looked like an effortless move, he lifted the sign and tossed it away, far from where its landing could harm anyone else.
The street was silent for a split second until the cheering began. Everypony was quickly congratulating Manuel and moving forward to assist Rainbow Dash. Some ponies were stunned by Manuel's strength and the display of power they had just witnessed. Even Twilight was in shock. She was staring at the discarded sign and then back at Manuel like she couldn't believe her eyes.
"Manuel… how?" She asked, but he only smirked back at her as he approached the injured pony.
"Are you ok, Rainbow?" He asked her, holding her hoof as the medical team gathered around her.
"I am a-ok! As I said, just a little bruised, but nothing broken. I'll be flying around the clouds again in no time!" Manuel was surprised by her strength, and the optimism she irradiated. Even after going through such a frightening, life-threatening experience, Rainbow was still willing to smile to reassure him about her well-being.
"Rainbow!" Twilight came running towards her to give her a hug. "I'm so glad you're ok! I was so scared!"
They laughed before they both turned their attention toward Manuel. "Rainbow, this is Manuel. He's the one who saved you."
"You saved me? That's so awesome! And you look so small and skinny too, wow! I can't believe you did that!"
Manuel was a little bit flustered by her enthusiastic comments, but he was also glad to have been able to help. She was perfectly fine, maybe a little sore for a few days, but that would be all. Manuel didn't even want to think about what could have happened to her if he didn't remember about his super strength in time.
"Manuel, this is Rainbow Dash," Twilight introduced them properly. "She's one of the pegasi who are in charge of the weather here in Ponyville."
"It's really nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash."
As everypony celebrated Manuel's feat and helped clean up the remains of the broken sign, Manuel had a sense of security that made his heart go warm. If only he had known that the calming, cozy days were about to end, maybe he could have been more prepared to face what was about to come.
Meanwhile, in a completely different realm known as Earth, someone was already brewing trouble. The villain known as The Goblin was still in New York, but Manuel's disappearance was still a thorn in his side. He didn't want the spider boy harmed, he wanted him dead. But, even though he was weakened and thought he had succeeded, after the battle, his body was nowhere to be found.
That had been bothering him for some time now, and he had scoured the city for clues, only to come up empty-handed.
That had been the case until someone contacted him, implying that they had information about something he was looking for. The mystery informant had been the strangest creature he had ever laid eyes on, but she was as intimidating as she was stunning.
"Are you saying that Manuel is alive, then?" The Goblin asked the informant who remained partially in the shadows.
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
"Who are you, again? And why should I trust you?"
"My name is Chrysalis, and I come from a faraway realm called Equestria." She was obviously not from Earth, so The Goblin considered what she said to be true.
"And what do you know about Spider-Man?" He asked, taking a tentative step forward. He didn't want to show weakness, but he didn't want to risk getting hurt either.
"I know that he's not in this realm anymore, that's why you can't find him."
"Do you know where he is?"
"I do, as a matter of fact, he's in my land. The little pest arrived in Equestria not long ago, and he had been running around the place as if he belonged to it. It's disgusting." She was completely stunned by the facts she was recalling.
"I'm guessing you know how to get to that place, considering you've managed to reach Earth on your own." Osborn was sure that she was about to ask for something, after all, no one ever gave away something as precious as information for free.
"Yes, of course, I know how to get back there." She smiled, wickedly and full of intention. "I'm willing to tell you, for a price."
"What is it that you want?"
"What else could I possibly want?" She said, stepping away from the shadows, showing him her ominous presence. "Power. If you take down Equestria, I want some of it for myself. I am willing to help you get to your long-time foe if you help me get what I want."
Osborn huffed out a laugh. He wanted to find Manuel more than anything. The fact that the boy was still alive after their fight was preposterous. There was nothing he wouldn't do to get exactly what he wanted. If the alliance didn't work out, he could always betray the pony in front of him and take all the power for himself.
"Very well, Chrysalis, you got yourself a deal."
