The Hunt Shall Begin
It's been 3 days since the party, and everyday Twilight adjusts to life with Peter, she wishes she could be out more, but since the world probably isn't ready for talking ponies, she decided to just hang back for the time being.
Peter loved coming home to Twilight, especially after getting yelled at by his boss every work day, she usually had food ready for him, and she always greets him with her charming smile.
Little do they know, a man had been combing the streets of New York, mostly at night, through allies, rooftops, every location, a man dressed in some tribal clothing and had a set of hunting items & his trusty blades.
"If this pony exists, I will find a trace of it, while Shocker's story sounded too odd, I do detect an odd aroma like I've never seen before", he said, he continued his search around New York, checking every possible place, "If need be, I could try and draw out Spider-man, to do so I need good bait, and that's no issue for Kraven the Hunter"
Meanwhile at the apartments, Peter had come home from work, "Hey Twilight, you here?"
Twilight put down her book, "Hi Peter...wait you're home? Oh no, I didn't make anything for you, I'm so sorry"
Peter waved it off, "Don't worry, it's not a big deal, looks like you were reading"
"Yeah, I just couldn't put the book down"
"Don't worry, you're enjoying yourself, that's all I care about"
Twilight flew to him and hugged him, "You're so caring, I feel guilty for burdening you"
"You're not a burden, if you were I'd send you to live with The Fantastic Four"
"And I'm grateful you kept me around", Twilight said, still hugging.
Rumble noticed this after looking away from his comic, he simply rolled his eyes and focused on the comic again.
Twilight smiled, "I should thank your Aunt and Uncle, they raised such a fine young man...if your uncle was still alive, he'd be so proud of what you've become"
Peter nodded, "Yeah, probably"
Twilight glared a bit, "Why do you constantly put yourself down? You're such a great person, I'm not asking you to be boastful but accept a compliment once in a while, too much modesty isn't a good thing"
Peter sat down, "I'm just being honest with myself, once you learn the mistakes I've made-"
"So you made a few mistakes, big deal, who doesn't make mistakes? I've made many mistakes and I press on"
"But Twilight-"
"Look, I understand you, I know maybe you're hesitant to acknowledge your talent, that happened to me once, I remember the day a Unicorn named Trixie came to town and how boastful she was, all the ponies hated her, I too was hesitant to show off my skill or acknowledge it because I didn't wanna come off as Boastful, even as a Princess I never like to think I'm better than any other pony, I earned everything I had just like anypony else would, but once in a while it's ok to acknowledge your talents, and to be grateful when your friends acknowledge it"
Rumble looked up, "You have weird adventures"
Twilight shot Rumble a glare before turning back to Peter.
Peter looked away a moment, "Twilight, what's the worst mistake you've made?"
"If I tell you mine, will you tell me yours?"
Peter pondered, "I'll tell you one of them"
Twilight nodded, "Ok, one major mistake I made was when I was so paranoid about getting my weekly letters to Celestia on what I've learned that week I caused a problem so I can fix it, I put a 'Want it, Need it' spell on my old doll and any pony that saw it would want it badly, soon just about every pony in town, well at least the mares wanted my doll badly, plus my the older brother of my friend Applejack, but I couldn't fix it, Celestia had to step in and do so, I thought I was gonna get sent back to Canterlot, turns out she was just fine with me not delivering a letter each week, she was happy with my work either way, so that's it"
Peter just stated, "Seriously? That's not that bad"
"I put a spell on an entire town, it was originally supposed only be 3 little fillies"
Rumble looked up, "Was it Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle & Scootaloo?"
Twilight nodded, "Yeah, they ended up fighting over the doll"
Rumble chuckled, "I don't think you need a spell to get those fillies to fight over something, they're pretty wild, though I like that about them"
Twilight grinned, "You have a crush on them?"
Rumble blushed, "Uh...weren't you just talking to Peter? I'm gonna leave you to talk now", he focused like hell on his comic, hoping Twilight would drop the subject.
Peter spoke again, "Still, 3 fillies to an entire town, was anyone hurt?"
"Uh...no not realy"
"Then big deal, nothing compared to what I've done"
Twilight looked to his eyes, "What did you do? Please tell me, I promise I won't judge you or think any less of you, whatever bad thing you say you've done obviously has no affect now, you're really kind-hearted so I won't think differently of you"
Peter looked back to her, especially her eyes, they beamed with honestly and understanding, Peter figured he could trust her with this, "Ok, it's about what happened to my uncle"
Twilight's ears perked up and she listened closely.
"Years ago I competed in a wrestling match, if I could stay in the ring for 3 minutes with a guy I'd get like $3000, however the person booking the event cheated me, since I beat the guy in like 2 minutes I only got like $200, then suddenly a burglar came and stole the money, and instead of catching him, I simply let him go, mainly cause I was mad at the booker, so I figured he deserved it"
Rumble looked up, "That wasn't very heroic"
Twilight used her magic to zip his mouth shut, "Go on Peter"
Peter ignored what happened, "Anyway I let the burglar escape with all that money, I figured it wasn't my problem, boy what I wrong"
Peter rubbed his head a bit, "Later that day I found out that my uncle had been shot by a man attempting to rob him, so in my guise I tracked down the bastard that killed my uncle, when I found him, I beat him down, very hard too, I so badly wanted to kill him for taking away my uncle, but I knew that would make me no better, so I left him for the police, then when I got a good look at his face, I saw that the burglar, the man that shot my uncle, was the same man I let escape when he robbed the wrestling booker"
Twilight looked surprised at the cruel irony Peter had been dealt.
"So the man you let escape...he's the one that killed your uncle?"
Peter nodded, "My uncle died because I was selfish and stupid, I could never forgive myself for allowing the closest thing I had to a father get killed, all over some money that I was probably gonna blow off on something stupid anyway"
Twilight noticed a tear come to his eye, this story was really bringing back some hurt memories for Peter.
"What's worse is that the last time I talked to my uncle, I got angry at him, I yelled at him, the last thing I told my uncle was that I didn't need him...I'm never gonna get a chance to say I'm sorry for that", Peter wiped away a tear, "The least I can do is uphold the one thing he tried to teach me, 'With Great Power..."
"Comes Great Responsibility", Twilight finished, Peter looked to her eyes, they also had tears in them, she then hugged Peter, "I'm so sorry to hear that, that is a horrible burden to bear, but you shouldn't constantly bring yourself down for it, I'm sure your uncle knew you loved and cared for him, even in your moment of anger, I'm sure if you knew he would get shot, you would've stopped him"
Peter nodded, "Yes, I would have...but I didn't, because I was selfish"
Twilight glared, "You made a mistake Peter, with all due respect I don't think your uncle would like seeing you beat yourself up over this"
Peter glared back, "What do you know? You don't know my uncle!"
"I know that if I were in his shoes I would like someone grieving over my death in the way that you do, I'm sure he only wants what's best for you, and that doesn't include treating yourself like you're this horrible person, you saved so many people, you took me in without a second thought, the night Rumble got lost you so desperately wanted to find him! You're not a horrible person! You're a great person who made some bad choices, that's all, we've all made bad choices, some worse than others, but that doesn't make you bad, so stop insisting you're a bad person, because I refuse to see you as such!"
Peter was surprised at how angry Twilight had gotten over this, and more surprised when she hugged him again, even harder, "Peter I haven't known you that long but from my time here, you've shown that you're a compassionate person who always thinks of others, you're always there to help others, but you need someone to help you", she looked into his eyes, "And that's exactly what I'm going to do!"
This time Peter hugged Twilight, somewhat sobbing, "Thanks Twilight, that means so much to me"
Twilight nodded, "You're welcome Peter, as the Princess of Friendship, it's my duty and my privilege to help others, and the best way to do so is just by being their friend"
Peter chuckled, "That's a little sappy, but it's also sweet"
Twilight smiled, "You're really quirky sometimes, but I like that about you", she turned to Rumble, "Rumble, do you wanna tell Peter something?"
Not too surprisingly, Rumble was in no mood to speak, he was sobbing due to Peter's tragic take
"Wow, he really took that hard", Peter said.
Later in the day, Johnny Storm arrived at Peter's Apartment and knocked on his door, "Yo Peter, you in there?"
Peter answered, "Hey Johnny, what brings you here?"
"Reed needs to see Twilight, he has someone over there that might provide some assistance for her situation", Johnny said.
Peter nodded, "She'd like that", he turned into the apartment, "Hey Twilight! We're going to The Baxter Building!"
Twilight's ears perked, "Did Dr. Richards find my way home!?"
"He has someone that can help, come on", Peter said.
Once everyone was out the building, Peter switched to his Spider-man guise and swung off while Twilight, Rumble & Johnny flew behind him.
"So what's the trip for anyway?" Twilight asked.
"Reed has a friend over, someone with more experience when it comes to magic and different realms", Johnny said.
"He get Dr. Strange or something?" Spider-man asked.
"Yeah, he's really excited to meet Twilight", Johnny turned to Twilight, "I think you'd like him too, he studies magic like you do"
Twilight smiled excitedly, "That's so amazing, I didn't think this world had magic"
"Normally it doesn't, very few can do magic, such as Dr. Strange, some evil jerks use magic, like Loki", Johnny said.
"Loki? Oh right, the Thunder God's brother, the one that's similar to Discord", Twilight analyzed.
"Bingo", Johnny said.
The group occasionally had to duck low so no one noticed Twilight or Rumble, then go for the flight & swinging again.
However due to them occasionally having to land, eventually the ponies started leaving a few clues of their existence, including a string of Twilight's tail hair, which was found by Kraven.
"This is an unusual color...perhaps this pony does indeed exist, my hunt resumes"
The group arrived at The Baxter Building a while later.
Johnny brought them in and introduced them to Dr. Strange, "Twilight, this is Dr. Stephan Strange, Dr. Strange, meet Princess Twilight Sparkle"
Twilight approached Dr. Strange, "Pleasure to meet you"
Dr. Strange bowed, "Likewise", he noticed Rumble, "I take it that's her Pegasus friend"
Johnny nodded, "That's Rumble"
"Hi", Rumble said.
Peter approached Strange, "So you know how to get Twilight home?"
"I might be able to get her home, but first I need some extra info from Twilight Sparkle herself"
Twilight approached him, "Ask me anything Doctor"
"Very well, I need to know the name of your realm, and any source of magic I can trace from it"
"My world is called 'Equestria', our magic is based off Harmony, be it from love or friendship"
"Harmonic Magic, tell me are your species generally peaceful?"
Twilight nodded, "Yeah we are, I mean there's a few that are different and a little meaner spirited but for the most part we're peaceful"
"Any negative magic I should beware?"
Twilight pondered, "There was Chaos Magic, but that may be from our ally Discord, his magic is similar to the villain Loki, and there's dark magic from King Sombra, he's likely taking over so don't be surprised if there's a clash", Twilight explained.
"I see, now who is the leader of your world?" Strange asked.
"Princess Celestia is the leader, her sister Luna is a co-leader", Twilight explained.
"They use harmonic magic as well?"
Twilight nodded, "Mostly Celestia, she knows more about it than I do, she was my mentor"
"I see, are ponies the only creatures of your realm?"
"No, there's also Dragons & a land of Griffons, but ponies are more of the Dominant Species for the most part"
"Interesting, well I shall do my part to explore these realms, should I find your realm, I can get you back home"
"Really? That'd be great...though if you happen to see my friends that would help, they also got scattered but I don't know where", Twilight said.
"I'll see what I can do young one"
Twilight nodded and bowed, "Thank you so much, if there's any way I can repay you..."
"Not necessary, I am just interested in your world, it's no trouble, I do enjoy looking for new types of magic to study"
"Just like me, I love studying magic"
Strange smiled, "Yes, Reed told me you do, and unlike him I understand and appreciate magic more than he does"
Reed looked annoyed, "Right"
"Still, much appreciated Doctor, maybe you can visit my world, there's a lot of great things to behold there", Twilight said.
"Think we all can visit?" Johnny asked.
"I don't see why not, the ponies of my world may be a bit jumpy on occasion but I'm sure they won't mind seeing the heroes who helped a princess"
"Sweet", Johnny said.
"So anything else or..." Peter was saying.
"You both came all this way, why not just stay a bit and chat?" Sue said.
"Right, we can tell Twilight about Civil War", Johnny said.
"I'd like to hear the story", Twilight said.
"Take a seat, it's a long story", Johnny said.
So time went on, they explained the Super Hero Registration Act, the big dispute between Captain America & Iron Man, the villains used for mind control, The Thing & The X-Men staying neutral, Spider-man, Susan Storm & Johnny Storm switching sides, and the big climax which lead to the Death of Captain America, then they explained his revival.
"Wow, amazing story, you were very brave Peter, and so were you Susan", Twilight said.
"Hey what about me? I switched sides too!" Johnny said.
"But Peter went through a lot after he switched, and Susan had to leave her husband, that must have been hard for you both"
"It was, but we reconciled, this world leaves everyone so heated so things like this happen, you gotta be stronger", Susan said.
Peter checked his watch, "We've been here a while, we should head back home, it's getting late, which means the freaks will be coming out again, so I'll get Twilight home and maybe do a patrol of the city"
"Very well then, it was great seeing you both again", Reed said.
They all said their good-byes as Peter & Twilight left the Baxter building, Reed turned to Dr. Strange.
"Have you encountered a creature like her?" Reed asked.
"Well I did once find a young Unicorn pony named Sunset Shimmer exploring a few dimensions", Strange said.
"Wow, fascinating, what's she like? Anything like Twilight?" Reed stated.
"No, she's a bit more cold, though I don't think she's evil, just misguided"
"Interesting"
Meanwhile Twilight, Rumble & Spider-man are going over the rooftops of Manhatten.
"You've been through so much Peter, I can't imagine what it's like for someone I look up to doing something like what Iron Man did"
"Yeah, he treated me like a son on occasion, so it was a hard choice, but I had to do the right thing", Spider-man said.
"The right thing isn't always easy, but it must be done", Twilight said.
As they went, Rumble felt a something bite him.
"Ow, feels like something bit...me", Rumble started looking a bit sleepy.
He landed on a roof of an apartment building and started to fall asleep, Spider-man & Twilight approached him.
"Rumble, you alright?" Spider-man asked.
Twilight checked him and saw a dart on his side, "A dart, who would-"
"Twilight move!" he grabbed her out the way and the dart narrowly missed.
Twilight looked to see who shot the dart and she saw the culprit nearby.
"Spider-man, who's that!?" Twilight asked.
"It's Kraven the Hunter!" Spider-man shouted.
"I've finally tracked you down winged unicorn"
"Alicorn", they both said.
"Thanks, now I know what to put on my trophy mantle of her head"
Twilight looked freaked when hearing that, "Excuse me!?"
"Who sent you Kraven? How did you know about Twilight!?" Spider-man asked.
"I got a tip from our friend Shocker", Kraven said.
"Damn Shocker, well I won't let you harm her! You'll have to get through me!" Spider-man said.
"All the better, to hunt you as well is always a thrill", Kraven said and got his swords out.
Spider-man stood in front of Twilight, "Be careful with this guy, he's very dangerous, there's a reason he's considered a deadly hunter, he's hunted all types of creatures"
"Wow, my friend Fluttershy would hate him, and she rarely hates", Twilight said.
Kraven jumped to them, "I hope you two put up a fight, I must admit I'm almost glad you stopped me from darting this pony, she would end up like that one", Kraven said, pointing to Rumble.
"What? Make her sleep so you can capture her easier?" Spider-man said.
"My boy, I said I'm here to hunt, that dart, while has sleeping powder, does much more, it contains a decent amount of poison"
Twilight's eyes grew, "Poison!? You poisioned my friend!?"
"Yes, he will likely die soon, with any luck, you'll both be dead long before"
Twilight gritted her teeth, "You bastard!" she shot a blast at Kraven but he rolled out the was and rushed at her with his sword but she used her magic to block the strikes, and Spider-man rushed in with a punch to knock Kraven to a Chimney.
"He's a child Kraven! Why poison him!?" Spider-man asked.
"Orders are orders, perhaps I can kill you both, cure him and sell him for a decent price, however the longer you both delay your deaths, the more harder it will become to save that boy"
Twilight growled and charged at him with her horn but he blocked with his sword and kicked her back.
Spider-man rushed in for some punches but he blocked those and did a few kicks and elbows of his own, which Spider-man blocked and then flipped over Kraven, but he rolled and rushed at Spider-man again, slashing at him and attempting to stab him.
Twilight shot more magic but Kraven dodged and a blast accidentally hit Spider-man.
Twilight gasped, "I'm so sorry Spider-man!"
Spider-man looked up, "Watch out!"
Twilight looked to the side but couldn't react in time as Kraven kicked her mid-section.
Spider-man stumbled towards Kraven but he kneed Spider-man in the gut and hit Spider-man with a forearm smash.
Twilight got up and shot more magic blasts at Kraven but he rolled to the side and tossed a few daggers at Twilight.
Twilight was to block the daggers and shoot more magic, Kraven dodged and ran at her.
She continued to shoot the magic but he went from side to side to dodged and then jumped over her and threw a net at her to make her stumble.
"Hey! Let me out!"
Kraven grabbed his swords and walked toward her with the intent on finishing her off, but Spider-man rushed at Kraven with a few punches, one of those punches connecting with Kraven, knocking him off the roof, but Kraven grabbed a ledge to keep from falling.
Spider-man ripped the net off Twilight, "There you go"
Twilight used her magic to throw the net away, then she saw Kraven get back on the rooftop.
"There he is again! Stop him!" Twilight continued to shoot magic blasts but Kraven rolled out the way and threw a smoke bomb to disorientate Twilight and Spider-man.
Kraven rushed at spider-man first but his spider Sense allowed him to counter Kraven's attack by knocking a sword out his hand and kicking him back, Twilight used her magic to illuminate the area, when she saw Kraven stumbling, she reared her hind legs back and buck kicked him, knocking him over.
Spider-man approached the downed Kraven, "It's over, surrender now and give us an antidote to Rumble's-", he couldn't finish because Kraven had sucker kicked him in the face.
Twilight rushed to attack but Kraven dodged and punched her down, then he stepped on one of her wings, crushing it under his foot as she cried in pain, then raised his other sword.
"Time to die Alicorn!"
"NO!" spider-man shouted, "I won't lose another girl to one of you!" he rushed at Kraven but he simply grabbed Twilight and tossed her toward the edge of the roof.
Spider-man instantly rushed to Twilight to make sure she didn't fall off the building and grabbed her before she went over the edge.
He held her tight and looked down to her, "I'm so glad you're ok"
Twilight looked up, "Where's Kraven?"
Spider-man turned back to where Kraven last was, only to see him approach them both with his sword and impale Twilight through the back, the sword going through and getting Spider-man through the torso.
Kraven watched in delight as both Twilight and Spider-man were gasping for breath as Kraven grabbed Spider-man and made his sword go through more, some blood trickling down and dripping on the floor below.
Kraven then removed the sword and let both of them fall, both still barely alive and trying to breath.
"Looks like in addition to getting my new prey, I have my old prey at my mercy, lucky day for me", Kraven raised his sword with the intent of striking them both down before a whip wrapped around his wrist.
"What!?" he turned to see Black Cat and her whip.
"Back away from them!" she said and kicked Kraven back, making him drop his sword.
Kraven growled, "You dare!?"
"Damn straight I dare!" Black Cat said and started attacking Kraven but her punches and kicks were blocked and he tossed her aside.
"Foolish girl, I have hunted many dangerous animals, you are but a mere cat", Kraven said as he approached her, but she quickly kicked him in the head.
"A cat that can kick your ass!" she did a few extra kicks to him and then punched him down.
Kraven stood up and went to attack again but another whip caught his hand, he looked to see who it was and saw Daredevil with his rod.
"What!? Another one!?" while Kraven was distracted, Black Cat used it to her advantage to kick Kraven down, she tried to attack but he monkey flipped her, Daredevil went to attack but he judo tossed him, then ran for his swords and grabbed them both, only to kick kicked off the building by both Black Cat & Daredevil.
Kraven used his sword to stab the side of the building and break his fall, then he jumped to the ground and looked up in anger.
"This isn't over, I shall return for the kill, if they don't bleed out first!" Kraven taunted and left.
Black Cat turned to Daredevil, "Where'd you come from?"
"I was patrolling and I sensed some unusual vibrations, good thing I came, who knows what Kraven would have done"
Black Cat turned to Spider-man, Twilight & Rumble, "Looks like he's done enough"
Black Cat approached Spider-man & Twilight, both still wounded from the stab.
"They're both severely injured, their heartbeats are thinning, especially the one next to Spider-man", Daredevil said.
They then approached Rumble, Black Cat checked him, "Looks like he's sleeping, but there's a dart here"
Spider-man coughed and got their attention, "Felicia..."
Felicia removed the mask, "Peter, are you ok?"
"Rumble...poison...hurry"
Black Cat's eyes grew wide, "Oh God, we gotta get them to the hospital! Wait I can't show them Twilight or Rumble...maybe Mr. Fantastic can help"
"What can he do?" Daredevil asked.
"I don't know dammit! But we need to do something, they're dying!" Black Cat shouted.
"Fine, I'll help Spider-man, the other two should be small enough for you to help, let's hurry"
Black Cat & Daredevil took the ponies & Spider-man back to the Baxter Building, their time running shorter by the second.
Time's running short for them.