"Dear Peter,

I know that I haven't written to you in an awfully long time and I would like to apologize for that. I'm also going to apologize for the fact that this letter isn't going to be a very long one. I'd just like to tell you that I'm going to be in town for a few days and I'm going to be visiting the Oscorp research tower in Manhattan and I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me on my trip?

Regards,

              Twilight Sparkle.

Peter set the letter down on his desk and ran a hand through his mop of brown hair. He sucked in a breath through his teeth before whistling loudly.

"Is that an offer for a date?" he asked himself, kicking his feet up on his desk as he rocked back and forth on his chair "Nah... Twilight's definitely not into me like that, I don't think girls like me to begin with" There came a loud knock at the door that caused Peter to jump in surprise, nearly costing him his balance as the door swung open, revealing his Uncle Ben.

"Hey kiddo, your Aunt's making Sunday dinner for us tomorrow and it's your choice this time-" the ageing man said with a smirk "So what'll it be, pork or beef?" Peter dropped his feet back onto the floor and straightened his shirt.

"Uh, I think I'll go with beef this time" Peter shrugged.

"Good choice, we haven't had beef for a while" Ben nodded "Right-" Ben patted his hand on the door and looked around the room, filled with strewn clothes, posters and books that hadn't been organized yet.

"You thinking of givin' this place a bit of cleaning Pete?" Ben asked, drumming his hand on the door.

"Yeah-" Peter said, looking around the room and making his decision "I wasn't a moment ago... but you talked me into it"

"Good" Ben nodded. The two met eyes for a second and nodded before Ben left the room and closed the door quietly. Peter whistled quietly, drumming his hands on his legs while he sorted out which task needed to be done first.

"Right, I'll write back to Twilight after I clean this place up" Peter sighed, getting up out of his chair and stretching his legs. He scoured the room briefly for a spot to begin his clean-up session and upon finding one he took off at a good clean speed.

The skinny teenager packed clothes into the laundry basket, wiping a scuff of his Ramones T-Shirt as he carefully placed it in the basket, before moving on to clearing the clutter off his desk.

His hand stopped over his glasses, debating whether to trade his contacts for lenses instead, reaching the conclusion that his style looked better than his blocky specs.

The next thing to pick up and put away would be two of his jackets, a sleek black one that constantly needed brushing to remove fabric that kept getting caught on it, and the second being a green jacket, this also being his favourite.

He carefully hung both jackets up in his wardrobe before moving onto the disarrayed pile of comic books that lay on his desk. There were issues stacked high f the famous DC superheroes ranging from Batman to the Justice League, Nightwing to Wonder Woman.

Peter had to mentally stop his raging inner nerd from grabbing an issue he hadn't finished reading and just plonk himself down on the floor and start reading it there and then. So far in the comic, from what he had read, Batman had been summoned by Commissioner Gordon into the Gotham City police department to confront him on the death of a senator he had failed to rescue.

"C'mon Parker" Peter mumbled to himself, tearing his eyes away from the tempting piece of print and continued stacking up his favourite series' in an orderly fashion.

Peter's mind was able to quickly analyse each serial number on the stray comic books that he hadn't managed to collect their brethren for and pair them up in the closest matching order before putting them in a set of drawers that were labelled with his own improvised Dewey Decimal System.

Despite the small size of the room he inhabited it took a good thirty minutes to fully tidy as he knew how picky his Aunt was when it came to everything being folded, hung up, dusted and vacuumed. This all had to be checked off before she would deem it as 'clean' and it drove not only Peter but also his Uncle up the wall.

"Peter!" he heard his Aunt call, catching his attention as he clambered out from underneath his bed to retrieve his glasses case that had fallen off his bed during his cleaning adventures.

He stood up and dusted off his blue shirt, electing to ignore the dust underneath his bed as something that didn't need to be seen or mentioned. He ducked out of his door and headed down the stairs, leaning into the turn as he gripped the door frame causing him to swing into the kitchen.

"Holla" Peter said as he walked over the tiled floor and dragged a chair out from underneath the dinner table they had.

"Hold up a second there Coolio" Ben said with a chuckle "You're not supposed to sit down before the food's at the table, makes it harder for your Aunt to set the table with hands and arms in the way" Peter gave his an Uncle a bemused look as he noted that his Uncle was already sitting while reading the paper from earlier that day.

"You're already sitting down" Peter said with a cocked eyebrow.

"I know, I never said I wasn't allowed to sit down, just you" Ben chuckled as he went back to reading. Peter crossed his arms, tapping his foot as he waited for his Aunt to set down the delicious smelling food.

Peter sat down on the chair and tucked himself under the table. The plate of spaghetti had been prepared just like Peter wanted it and had a former chef's professional touch onto it.

The sauce was plain and tomatoey with delicious pasta beneath it that made Peter's stomach rumble. The family began to tuck into their food, several minutes passing before Peter's Aunt spoke up.

"I noticed you got a letter from your friend earlier today, what's she up to nowadays?" Aunt May asked in a soft tone.

"Well, from what I know she said that she recently finished her tutelage with Princess Celestia and is going to be going to public school now" Peter said after finishing a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Seems like a bit of a downgrade don't you think?" Ben asked "Going from a teacher like Princess Celestia to some balding forty year old history teacher teaching sex education to a class of immature fifteen year olds"

"I don't think I'd like it" Peter nodded "But then again... I'd think I'd much rather have a more mature lesson of sex ed with Celestia" The joke Peter made got two very different reactions from his relatives.

"Peter!" May snapped in a stern tone. Peter lowered his eyes for a brief second before his Uncle gave his thoughts on the piece of humour.

"Now, now May, Peter's fifteen now and he's bound to be thinking like that" Ben defended "Besides, the kid's got good taste it seems" Peter looked at his Uncle across the table and as soon as the older man raised his fist above the table Peter knew what he meant. The two bumped fists and nodded at each other, causing May to roll her eyes with disapproval.

"You're a bad influence on him Ben" May sighed.

"I try my best dear" Ben said before turning to Peter with a grin "Now, if you were ever to get a go with Celestia, you do know how to handle a woman don't you?"

"Alright, alright!" May exclaimed angrily "That's quite enough!" The two boys looked at May before they burst out laughing at her reaction.

"Just checking" Ben chuckled before returning to eating his food. There was a long moment of silence before May continued speaking.

"So, now that we've got our little discussion out of the way, can we get back onto the topic of Twilight?" May asked, looking back and forth between her husband and her nephew.

"Sure, anyway, she invited me to tag along on a trip to Oscorp sometime soon" Peter explained "I haven't been there for a while and I figured it would be fun to go and see how much has changed.

"Right" May nodded "This is going to be the first time you meet Twilight, right?"

"Yeah" Peter said.

"Just make sure you wear something nice" she said absent-mindedly.

"Don't... don't I usually?" Peter asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"I'm not saying that you don't... it's just that, I'm sure you want to make the right impression" May shrugged.

"So you're saying that I should rock up in a tuxedo and flowers in hand?" Peter asked.

"If you feel that would help boost your relationship with her" May said slyly. At this point Peter put down his fork and held up a hand in front of him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there Aunt May" Peter said with a surprised chuckle "I'm going on a trip to Oscorp to meet my friend for the first time, I'm not going to try and score or anything"

"Well I never said you were-" May spoke before being cut off by Peter.

"So then why did you suggest that I go all decked out?" Peter asked.

"You're the one that said that, not me" May defended.

"You thought that I was serious though!" Peter exclaimed.

"Alright Peter calm down, you can go in your skater scrubs if you want-" Ben said to Peter before turning to May "And Peter can try and get a girlfriend whenever he wants, May, so stop trying to rush him into a relationship" May looked at her food briefly before sighing with a small nod.

"Fine" she agreed.

"Besides, with the way Peter's going I think he's going to be fending them off with a stick by the time he gets to twenty" Ben said jokingly. Peter suddenly glanced up at the wall, hovering his gaze on it for a second, before looking back down at his plate.

"You OK Pete?" Ben asked.

"Yeah-" Peter nodded "I just got this really weird feeling of... foreshadowing"

"Right" Ben nodded "Any idea why?"

"Not a clue" Peter shrugged before a smirk appeared on his face "But I think I'll find out when I'm twenty" Ben chuckled before continuing on with the conversation by asking Peter a question.

"So Pete, when are you getting your hair cut again?" he asked "I think your Aunt and I both quite liked the whole quiff thing you had going and we kinda miss it, you gonna get it back any time soon?"

"Yeah, I think so" Peter nodded, twizzling several strands of spaghetti on his fork "I just haven't had time to get a hair cut yet"

"Well you better get it done quick Peter, you're going to meet your friend soon aren't you?" May asked to clarify.

"Yeah, I think I should be able to get to Oscorp on my board in decent time" Peter said "But, I need to write back to Twilight to see when she's going to be getting here"

"Alright" Ben nodded "Now that we're all settled on that we can get back to dinner"

Twilight stood in the foyer of the enormous Oscorp building with a look of amazement on her face. She could hear her older brother talking to his wife, Cadance, about who they thought Peter was going to be when they finally met him.

"Hey Twiley!" Cadance called over to her sister-in-law.

"Yeah?" Twilight asked, not taking her eyes off the large glass elevators that raced up and down through the eighty storey building.

"The friend we're waiting for... what was his name again?" Cadance asked.

"Peter, Peter Parker" Twilight answered.

"And what exactly does he look like?"

"Why?" Twilight asked in a puzzled tone.

"Because-" Shining intervened, stuffing his phone back inside his jacket and taking off his blue Aviators "We're about ready to start the tour and we've got our special tour guide waiting for me to give him the green light to come down"

"Special?" Cadance asked, putting a hand on her hip and shooting her husband a quizzical look "Who did we get, Norman Osborn?"

"Close" Shining said, rolling up the sleeves of his suit shirt and hanging his jacket over his shoulder and leaning up against the reception desk "We got someone else you'd like more: Harry Osborn" Twilight froze in place immediately at the mention of the man she'd had a crush on ever since she'd first seen him on TV. A smirk came onto Cadance's face as she patted her friend on the back.

"Aren't we the lucky ones?" she asked the smaller girl.

"Y-Yeah..." Twilight nodded weakly. There was the sound of a small argument outside the door, something to do with a member of the public wanting to be inside while the doorman insisted that the building was closed off to the public on that particular day.

While the group was busy watching the scuffle between the large doorman and the smaller teen with large glasses and a thick, quiff hairstyle holding a skateboard under his arm, there came a quiet laugh from the stairs that lead to the elevator.

The group turned to look at the sound and, in Twilight's case, a wide grin spread onto her face as she saw the light haired young man with a fringe combed over his right eye standing at the top of the stairs in a suit with his arms folded.

The young man who had been arguing with the doorman had burst through the security and had made his way past Twilight.

"I was delighted to find out that I'd be escorting these fine people through my father's company today" the young man in the suit said with a warm gesture to Twilight and her family, but a look of disgust came over his face when his eyes fell on the teen with brown hair "But I wasn't expecting my doormen to let in this piece of peasant filth" The two teens locked eyes angrily and the teen with the skateboard began to speak.

"If you've got a problem with me you rich snob, then we can just as easily take this outside" he growled angrily. The two glowered at each other for a long second, the others behind them looking at each other with nervous glances, before a smile came onto the teen in the suit's face and he held his arms up alongside him.

"Peter Parker!" he said with a wide grin, walking down the stairs.

"Harry Osborn" the second teen said with a chuckle, the two of them clapping hands together and pulling the other close for a shoulder bump, both of them clapping the other on the back.

"How've you been, you dusty old street dog?" Harry asked with a laugh as he looked up at his slightly taller friend.

"About as well as you, you plumped up rich goon" Peter grinned, stepping aside as Harry turned to address the rest of the group.

"Sorry about that folks, just an old joke my friend and I have going" Harry said "In the name of my father, I welcome you to Oscorp and hope I can show you anything you want to see"

"Right-" Shining said, walking over to Harry and shaking his hand with a polite smile "And what did you say your friend's name was?"

"Uhh-" Peter said, attempting to switch his skateboard to the other arm but ended up dropping it on his foot, yelping loudly before catching it under his foot, returning to shaking Shining's hand "Peter Parker" Cadance eyed the two teenagers up before nudging Twilight with her elbow and whispering to her.

"They're both cute, but if I were you, I'd go with Harry"

"Why?" Twilight asked.

"He seems much smoother than Puny Parker over there" Cadance shrugged.

"Be nice" Twilight snapped "He seems nice enough"

"Yeah, and that's about it to be honest" Cadance nodded before walking back over to her husband. The two adults introduced themselves to Harry before Twilight made her introduction. At this point the two teens locked eyes, both of them catching themselves off-guard upon doing so, and they both grinned widely.

"We ready to go?" Shining asked as he began to walking to the elevator. It was at this point that Twilight walked over to Peter and extended her hand.

"Nice to finally meet you Pete" Twilight said, looking up and down "Nice outfit" Peter looked down at himself and ran a quick critique of his own style: His classic faded green jacket and blue hoodie with thumb holes cut into them, a simple Rolling Stones 50th anniversary T-Shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans and a pair of black hi-top converses. Peter looked at Twilight, studying carefully what she was wearing: a pair of dark jeans with a white shirt and a thin, purple jacket with thick cuffs.

"Thanks, you too Twi" Peter nodded, shaking hands with her "Funny... somehow I thought you'd be taller"

"I can say the same thing about you" Peter chuckled, walking up the stairs to the elevator where the others had gotten to.

"Alright!" Harry said, thumbing a button on the control pad before turning to the group "I wanna take us to the recent developments lab but first I need to make a stop up at an older laboratory to pick something up for my dad... and I've got something for you to try out Peter" The elevator began to move and as it set off at a quick pace an announcement came out over the intercom.

"While at Oscorp we would like to remind you that the Sector Seven Bio-Engineering labs are currently on lock down due to a recent escape of Oscorp experiments" the voice called out over the speakers "If you are to see any signs of a suspicious looking animal or machine then you are advised to report it to any Oscorp employee you find and you are to avoid approaching or touching the creatures at all costs as they are highly dangerous"

"Escaped experiments?" Cadance asked with a worried expression "We're not in danger are we?"

"None at all Your Majesty" Harry answered with a confident smile "The sector is completely locked down, they're not getting out of there" harry smiled at the princess before his eyes drifted over to Peter who was staring down at the floor with an intense gaze.

"Wassup Pete?" Harry asked with a gesture to his friend "What's eating you?"

"Sector seven" Peter murmured under his breath before his eyes rocketed up to Harry and he took a small step forward "That's where my dad used to work before he disappeared isn't it?"

"Yeah, Richard Parker used to work there when we were kids" Harry nodded, patting his friend on the shoulder before looking around at the others and explaining "Peter here is the son of one of the brightest minds this company has ever seen work on its projects... a brain that good ol' Pete here has definitely inherited, right pal?"

"Well..." Peter mumbled with a scratch of the back of his head and a sheepish chuckle.

"C'mon Parker, there's nothing wrong with being Midtown High's smartest student is there?" Harry asked teasingly "I mean, all that happens to you is you get relentlessly bullied and ignored by just about every girl you talk to... and rely on your best friend Harry to bail you out of the fights you're thrown into, but hey, the grades are totally worth it, right?" Peter glared at his friend for a second before clapping jokingly on the side of the head with a smirk that was breaking through his anger façade, and the two of them started laughing as they got into a mock fight in the elevator.

"Oh, big man are we now?" Harry asked as the doors slid open to reveal an impatient looking man in his mid forties. He glared at everyone in the elevator before clearing his throat, getting the attention of Peter and Harry causing them to break up their scuffle.

"Harry" he said in a dry tone.

"Oh... hey Dad" Harry murmured, moving away from Peter and straightening out his suit. Mr Osborn stood with an extremely expensive looking suit on and a large black box tucked under his arm.

"I asked you to take these people around with you on a tour, not to scrap in the elevator with your friend here" Norman growled as he walked into the elevator. He looked over at Twilight, then to Cadance and finally to Shining before thumbing a button.

"Good afternoon Cadance" Norman said coldly, meaning none of the pleasantries he was exchanging "I'm surprised your Aunt let you off on your own to come here today"

"Well, she can't keep me locked in my room all the time now, I am twenty five after all" Cadance said with an equally bitter, false-pleasant tone as Norman's. Norman then turned to Twilight before asking her a very direct question.

"And who are you exactly?" he asked "Celestia's little pet project I assume, judging from the hair colour"

"Yes sir" Twilight nodded, being the third person to fake a pleasant attitude "My name is Twilight Sparkle"

"Forgive me if I don't remember your name, I've got a lot of things on my mind at the moment" Norman shrugged, turning to Shining with a simple nod "Armour"

"Osborn" Shining responded. Norman's tune changed completely when his eyes finally fell on Peter, a smile forming on his usually limp mouth.

"And you must be Peter Parker?" he asked, holding out the only hand he had offered anyone in a very long time to shake.

"Yes sir" Peter nodded with a nervous look in his eyes.

"I've heard a lot about you Peter, a lot of things about you hot on your father's heels in terms of intelligence" Norman chuckled "And from a few more sources that you may be indeed surpassing your father in terms of brilliance"

"Well, I wouldn't go quite that far sir, but, thank you" Peter nodded. The door opened and Norman went to step out of the elevator before stopping in the doorway, turning back to Peter.

"Oh, Peter, when you finish school, you bring your results to my office and we'll see if we can't get you a job somewhere in here, okay?" Norman asked.

"Oh, um, thank you sir" Peter nodded "I'm looking forward to it"

"That's good to hear Peter" Norman said before finally departing. The doors slid shut slowly and the elevator began to rise up once more before coming to a stop at the floor they desired. Nobody said what they were feeling, but everyone except Peter was feeling a strong resentment towards Norman for the way he had treated them.

"Right, where shall we start?" Harry asked, gesturing to any of the corridors that lead throughout the building. Cadance quickly put her hand up as she began to slowly bounce back and forth between her feet.

"Where's the bathroom?" she asked.

"Peter, you remember where the bathroom is on this floor don't you?" Harry asked.

"Harry... I haven't been in here for nearly eight years" Peter said with a cocked eyebrow.

"So, just close your eyes and use that memory of yours" Harry shrugged. peter nodded quickly and shut his eyes, seemingly mouthing directions to himself before opening his eyes and pivoting on his heel to the right with a whistle before pointing forwards.

"Good man" Harry said with a grin "You take Cadance and I'll get us set up in the dinner hall... try not to take too long OK?"

"Right" both Peter and Cadance nodded, catching each others eye and smiling.

"Lead the way Monsieur Parker" Cadance said with a wave of her hand.

"This way Frau Cadance" Peter responded, taking off at a decent speed.

"So Peter-" Cadance said as he walked alongside Peter "How did you and Twilight first get to know each other"

"Well..." Peter said, stuffing his hand in his jacket pocket while holding his board under his left arm "There was a little assignment we had to do in social studies where each of us were assigned a pen-pal that we had to write to for a month, and I got assigned Twilight as mine"

"Did you two hit it off well or were the first letters a little awkward to get going with?" Cadance asked, swerving out of the way of an oncoming trolley being pushed by a scientist who looked in quite a hurry.

"Well, it's always been awkward for me when it comes to talking to girls when I first try it, written or in person, so I did have to rewrite the letter a few times before I finally found something I settled on"

"You know, I never would've thought you had trouble talking to girls, you're talking to me now just fine" Cadance pointed out.

"I know, but usually I'm not talking to girls when I'm in my element" Peter nodded.

"Your element?" Cadance questioned.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Peter asked "I'm one of the missing Planeteers and I'm the element of science" Cadance blinked a few times before chuckling quietly, enjoying the dated but comedic reference.

"Science isn't an element Peter" Cadance said.

"Yeah?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow "Neither is heart, but they still let him be one"

"Touché Parker" Cadance nodded "You got me there"

"Thank you, that's the line I try out when I meet new people" Peter said "It works all the time, sixty percent of the time" Cadance chuckled once more before recognizing the joke.

"Isn't that a joke from the first Anchorman?" she asked "That's plagiarism Pete"

"So?" Peter queried "Why innovate, when you can replicate?"

"You're quite the bank of quips, aren't you Peter?" Cadance asked.

"I always make jokes when I get nervous, it makes me feel safer as it really annoys people who are trying to hurt me" Peter explained.

"What?" Cadance said, patting him on the back "I'm not trying to hurt you"

"Not yet you're not" Pete shrugged "But that's because I haven't busted out my wicked bad puns yet" Cadance looked at Peter for a few seconds before stopping and folding her arms.

"You're actually scared right now aren't you?" she asked him.

"Uh-" Peter said, rubbing the back of his neck "A little, yeah"

"Why?" Cadance asked.

"I'm not used to talking to girls" Peter sighed "Especially gorgeous girls"

"Awww" Cadance said, patting Peter lightly on the cheek "You are just adorable Petey, but you don't need to be nervous, I don't bite... not until I get to know you better at least"

"Yeah, I wish I could just turn off my anxiety" Peter shrugged "But it's set in from years of public humiliation at school"

"Why, is it that bad for you at school?" Cadance asked as Peter continued to walk.

"Yeah, I don't really have that many things going for me at school, I'm mostly a loner, I don't have that much money to buy stuff like clothes and video games, I'm a complete nerd, I'm really not that good-looking of a guy-"

"Alright, lemme stop you there" Cadance said with her hand held out in front of her "You are not ugly Peter, if anything I'd say you're one of the very lucky few teenagers who've grown enough to be considered good looking by adults, and for a teenager who hasn't finished growing I'd say that you're a very attractive young man"

"Y-You think so?" Peter asked with a surprised expression.

"Yeah, and almost all of the things you described to me as negatives are things that a woman looks for in a man: they like nerds because they are smart and know a lot about science and maths, meaning they can fix things and work out money issues and find the most efficient way to spend and save money, you've said you don't have many friends which is a plus for your girlfriend as she'll have nobody else to share you with during the day... see, there's nothing wrong with you Peter, it's just that people just don't accept that you've matured faster then them"

"Jeez Cadance, that's a hell of a lot to say about someone after you've only known them for ten minutes" Peter said blankly.

"Trust me, I'm good at seeing people for who they are, you'd have to wear a mask for me to not be able tell if you're not who you say you are" Cadance chuckled before gritting her teeth "Are we nearly there yet?"

"Yup" Peter nodded, stopping in front of the door that had Sector Seven written on it before pointing to a door with a lady's icon on it "There you go, and try not to take too long, we've got a lot of ground to cover today"

"Sure, thanks Peter" Cadance grinned as she ducked into the toilet while whistling a merry tune. Peter leaned against the wall and immediately felt a draft coming from above him from an exposed vent that lead in from Sector Seven and continued throughout the rest of the building. As Peter looked down at his shoes, noticing a scuff on the white tips of them he felt something cold and hard drop onto his jacket.

"Oh great-" he growled "The vent's leaking" he looked at the spot on his jacket to see a wet patch where the water droplet had hit him. He moved out from under the vent just as another drop his him on the arm, rolling down the material of the jacket.

"I need to ask Harry to get someone to fix that, because that is annoying" He leaned against the large glass window that looked over the main entrance of the building and began to think about what could be in Sector Seven.

It was due to his preoccupation with his thoughts that he failed to notice the second water droplet begin to crawl down his arm and over onto his hand, its light but strong set of legs making it unable to be registered by the occupied teen.

Upon getting a scent of Peter's skin it reared briefly before jabbing its fangs down into Peter's hand, breaking the skin and injecting a small amount of its venom.

Cadance walked out of the toilets, drying her hands on her jeans as Peter hissed loudly, swinging his hand around and throwing the spider to the floor. Cadance squealed as she saw the size of the thin legged, large bodied insect before stamping on it with her shoe and grinding it into the carpet. Peter brought his hand up to his face and stared intently at the bite he had just received.

It was a small bite for a spider of that size but it stung something fierce. He ran his fingers over his hand and brushed out the fangs that had been torn away from removing the arachnid

"Little shit!" Peter hissed, wiping the blood from his hand on his jeans before stuffing it back in his pocket.

"You alright Peter?" Cadance asked with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks" Peter nodded "It was just a house spider, nothing to worry about"

"Well..." Cadance said "If you're sure, we can get back to the tour now"

"Good idea" Peter smiled gently "Let's get going" Next Chapter: The Web Begins to Weave Pt II Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 58 Minutes