In one of the many caves in Equestria (And seriously, there were hundreds of random caves in the oddest places) a monster burst forth from a rift in the air. Standing nearly seven feet tall and resembling a horrific mix of man, spider, and–oddly enough– stained glass window, the creature known as the Spider Fangire came once more into the world after its two thousand year banishment. However, while it had indeed been a fearsome creature back when Discord reigned and order was a thing of imagination, it had not aged gracefully, nor had it borne the weight of two millennia very well.

In short: what was once a psychopathic, obsessive, yet strangely coherent and functional spider monster, was now a snarling, drooling beast capable of only basic communication and was a slave to its instincts.

And now, its instincts told it to feed.

Snarling and groaning, the Spider Fangire loped off into the depths of the swamplands, filling the air with a sense of dread.

Natsumi and Haruka woke in the hollow of a large tree. Said tree was easily over a hundred feet tall, and about twenty feet wide (31 meters by 6 meters). Natsumi woke with her characteristic energy, while Haruka trailed behind, once more disguised as a flesh eating undead corpse.

“Honestly Haruka, you really need to learn how to wake up better.” Natsumi chided, already on her feet.

“Fuckoff….” Came the reply, Haruka stumbling from the hollow while scratching her backside.

Natsumi turned and dragged her twin to a nearby river, dumping the near-comatose woman in, clothes and all.

“Ack!” Haruka spluttered, flailing about in a waist deep section. Natsumi stripped down, tossing her clothes to the side for later, and jumped in as well, tackling her sister with a malicious giggle.

“Natsumiiiii!”

Several hours of play fighting later, Natsumi and Haruka hiked through the unnamed forest, still slightly damp, even after drying off in the 75+℉ sun.

“I still hate you for pushing me into the river.” Haruka grumbled, wincing at the uncomfortable wetness in awkward places.

Natsumi made no reply, instead opting to fish a flustered Kivala out of her pocket. The tiny bat-like creature unfurled and took to the air with a light whistling noise, lightly bopping Natsumi on the head.

“What’s the big idea keeping me in your pocket for so long!?” She cried, fluttering angrily around Natsumi’s head.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Natsumi panicked, usual intelligence fading away at her partner’s anger.

Haruka stood back and giggled at her sister’s antics, that is, until a loud growling overtook the clearing.

“Sis? Was that you?” Haruka asked, slowly spinning around.

“...Nope…” Natsumi circled around until both sisters were back to back, Kivala resting in Natsumi’s palm, ready to henshin if necessary.

The growling echoed through the clearing, seemingly coming from multiple sources. Natsumi, raised Kivala in worry, prompting Haruka to hold her henshin card near her belt.

“Natsumelon?” Haruka prompted, causing Natsumi to reply with a quick, “Yeah?”

“On a scale of one to ten… how close are you to full power?”

“Two and a half. You?”

“Three.”

“Shimatta.”

“Mhmm.”

Then, loping from the bushes, came a whole pack of timberwolves, each wolf approximately five feet high at the shoulder. Snarling and growling, the entire pack circled around the two nervous sisters. Said girls spun around each other, trying to keep all the wolves in sight.

“Haruka? I think we should…”

“Henshin? Let’s.”

Twin cries of “Henshin!” rang out, two dazzling displays of light filling the clearing. When the light cleared, Kamen Riders Kivala and Larc stood, weapons ready.

The timberwolves charged, wooden paws clattering against the ground, filling the air with a dizzying cacophony of wood against dirt.

Natsumi and Haruka spun into action, beating away the wolves as they came with a fierce flurry of punches and kicks, Natsumi taking the occasional slash against the wolves with her saber, Haruka taking potshots when she could.

Five minutes of attrition fighting later, seven wolves out of a pack of thirty lay dismantled and both Kamen Riders were perched in the highest branches of the tallest nearby tree. As they gasped for breath, Haruka turned to Natsumi and reverted back to normal.

“Seriously… this… hah… this sucks…. We used to be able to take on the princesses for chrissakes!” She panted, drenched in sweat and barely clinging to the branches.

“Hah hah… hold it together, Haruka…. we’ll be back to normal before you know it! Just need to outlast these stupid wolves.” Natsumi tried to reassure her sister, but her own disheveled demeanor betrayed her exhaustion.

“Right… just gotta outlast these fucking wolves….” Haruka muttered, trying to keep still. “Like that’s really going to work on a bunch of living sticks… and the sun’s going down too… shit.”

The sun slowly descended, turning the blue sky into a brilliant orange.

The timberwolves kept circling around the tree.

Night fell.

The tiny town of Roanikstead boasted a population of one hundred and five ponies, enough to run a general store, a post office, a small hospital, a few farms, and a small inn. It was, unfortunately, located approximately two miles from the cave the Spider Fangire was freed from. The creature crept into the hamlet as the sun fell, ponies returning home from their jobs tired and unwary.

Night fell.

The Spider crawled off of the thatch roof it had hid on some hours prior, descending into the home of Alfalfa Green and his family.

Their bodies wouldn’t be found until the next morning, when Alfalfa’s friend, Iron Plow, realized that Alfalfa hadn’t shown up for work.

The town of Roanikstead descended into a panic, never noticing the unobtrusive white-coated and brown-maned hobo living in an alley.

Princess Celestia tossed and turned in bed. In her own tower, Luna stared out over Equestria’s sleeping citizens. She felt the pervasive worry filling her sister, and resolved to find some way to reassure the primary diarch of the land.

“Sister… What ails you so?”

Author's Notes:

I'll just leave this here.