Dhey had been gone for three days now, and his friends at the club had begun to worry. It was not uncommon for him to leave unexpectedly; he had done it many times before. Usually that meant he would pop up, bringing some rare edition of The Power Ponies with no word on how he got it or how much he had to pay for it.

While he was gone, Bass Canon, the Club’s resident economist, was in charge. The white unicorn mare was a very meticulous pony, with her mind always on the ball, and her money on her mind. She was the only reason this group of ponies managed to pay their rent for the meetings, or even go to conventions as a group. She would always tease Dhey about this fact, and the two shared a very warm friendship.

That is why his absence hurt her the most. Sure, she acted like her usual stoic and calculative self, but even the other ponies could see her exhibiting a very nervous demeanor while the meetings were going on. She would chime in with approval or lack thereof, but as a whole, she seemed very distant.

Once the meeting was over, she headed towards her cozy apartment, not aware of a nimble hair-powered mare that was silently stalking her from the rooftops. A sly smile escaped Maneiac as Bass opened her front door.

“Oh Bass, you are going to enjoy this, I made sure of it.” she mused to herself, drunk on her own ego.

Bass dropped her satchel, and after a quick shower, she got to her working desk. As usual, her white magic was floating some papers around, when the doorbell of her apartment rang.

“Who could it be, at this hour?” she mumbled, looking at the clock on her wall. It was way past midnight, and the unicorn made sure she used her spyglass before opening.

The sight was clear, and she opened the door. Nothing but the hallway light greeted her, apart from a package. It certainly bore a resemblance to what could be a Power Ponies comic, but with the brown paper all around it, it was hard to tell. She took this late mail in and closed the door, locking it once more. As Bass unwrapped the sealed package, a wide smile began to surface on her face.

“Sweet Luna! Zapp Issue #1! Yes, yes, yes!” Bass beamed, hugging the copy and jumping in place from sheer joy. Only once she began to lose her breath did she notice a sticky note on the sealed copy.

“Hey Bass!

I am alright amazing! I came across this Zapp Issue #1 on my mission, and the pony was kind enough to give me it, after some convincing, of course. I figured you would enjoy this gift more than anyone else, you Zapp addict!

Your friend, Ma Dhey”

There were words crossed out in the note, which was odd since Dhey was if anything a good writer. He was the resident fan-fiction writer among the group, which gave Bass a little blush as she suddenly remembered a pretty explicit version of the issue “The Ropearound” a few years back that had her hooked for months. However, her curiosity beat her concern, and she proceeded to look at the gift closer.

“That lovable oaf. At least I know he is okay now.” Bass said to herself, in a joking manner.

The copy she had was not really properly sealed, as she soon noticed. It was just a regular see-trough piece of protection that she quickly removed, eager to see the state of this rare copy that she was so grateful to receive.

Her joy quickly turned to shock, as the comic began to levitate, and small sparks began to emanate from its pages. She fumbled backwards, but something was pushing her on to see what Dhey had sent her.

Bass pulled her hoof to it, only to be struck by one of its many little bolts soon after. The sensation was warm, and Bass quickly turned her hoof away. She looked at the burned place, seeing it become teal before her very eyes, making her unexpectedly moan in the process.

“What the...” she screamed, both in shock and shame.

The coloring of her hoof was all too familiar to the biggest fan of Zapp in Equestria. It was impossible, yet as a faint voice began to echo from within her, a forbidden magic was revealed to her. She moved back, hoping to phone someone, the police or maybe even the Royal Guard. Someone would know what was going on. She moved to towards her phone, a faint wind that circled around the comic making it very hard to move away from the object.

“What is it Bass... Chicken?” a raspy voice teased the unicorn from the comic, only for her to turn around, and not finding anyone behind her.

Those astral words hit a little close to home with the mare. She was always in the back, never tacking risks, never going for broke. Sure, it was the smart and safe thing to do, but there was no thrill or fun in it. She felt that she herself was not fun—she never was.

“Wow, such a wimp.” the voice struck with its lashing tongue once more, causing a feeling of rage to start building up within Bass. She would show this voice; she would show them all.

Bass proceeded to close in on the book, more small bolts and sparks hitting her body, forcing her backwards, and giving a new patch of teal fur in kind. She would quickly jump back up, her horn shrinking each time and her magic fading with it. The guilty smile she wore, however, only grew more and more prominent. These new patches of fur were quickly covered with a blue shiny liquid that began to form Zapp’s signature outfit, making Bass even more eager to undergo this forbidden transformation. Her mind was getting hazily was well, with only the challenge of reaching the book staying clear. After all, a challenge is all that mattered to Zapp, right?

The infectious desire to overcome this electric foe was eradicating any sense of reason or doubt the poor mare had, and only once her whole fur had changed did she manage to grab the covers of the comic book, gazing into it as though it were the abyss.

The lightning was now burning into her very eyes, its magic trapping the last of her former self in a tornado of arousal, adrenaline and raw electricity. The mare crashed to the floor as the intense winds surrounded her subdued form, and with that, the ritual ended. Her new blue eyes closed wearily as she lost consciousness.

It would take hours for the new Zapp to recover from her fight with this otherworldly ritual, but with a sudden raspy cackle she got to her feet, a new shiny dark blue outfit, fit with a purple Mohawk gracing her toned pegasus frame.

“Now this is more like it!” she screamed, a faint spark emanating from her body.

The mess the flat was subjected to meant little if anything to Zapp, so she did not bother to clean it. Instead, she flexed her toned wings, and flew through the open window, into the Manehattan night. There was crime to fight, after all.

“Remind me sister, how this benefits us.” the real Maneiac asked her copy.

“Simple my sister. The more copies exist, the closer this world comes to ours, and if my hunch is connect, our minds will merge forever as a result.” the copy replied, her voice full of eagerness.

“That is a truly insane idea. I like it!” the original replied closely after.

The villain moved quickly from the scene of the crime, more comics hidden in her hair, as Zapp herself flew into the slums, eager for a fight—and a challenge.

Author's Note

Another day, another hero copied over a young mind. What will happen next? Well I think you already know...