My Little Pony: Nine Elements

Book 4

Written by Brandon Nell and Blake Hawkins

Chapter 6: Power Ponies

Four days passed since the Cutie Mark Crusaders won the contest for the Ponyville flag-carrying team. On this particular night, Sunset, Phoebe, and Wallflower were spending the night at the Golden Oak Library. Why, you ask? Well, during the four days leading up to this one, Sunset had managed to convince the Royal Sisters to let the Guardians renovate their old castle. Spike, however, was occupied with something other than sleeping. Twilight noticed.

“Spike,” Twilight yawned, rubbing one of her sleepy eyes. “I know it’s good to read, but, you need to get to sleep.”

“Just two more minutes?” Spike pleaded.

Twilight couldn’t resist Spike’s pleading eyes. “Okay, two more minutes,” she conceded. “Then, it’s lights out, okay?”

“Thanks, mom!” Spike said. “I'm just getting to the really good part! The Mane-iac is about to—”

“Excuse me for interrupting,” Twilight interrupted. “But, who’s the Mane-iac?”

Spike realized that Twilight was lacking in context and decided to explain. As he explained, he showed illustrations from the comic book that he’s reading. “The Mane-iac is the Power Ponies’ most powerful and evil nemesis. She was the power-mad owner of a hair-care product company. A tragic accident at her shampoo factory gave her mane strange powers and it caused her to go completely insane! She and her henchponies are planning to break into the Maretropolis Museum and steal the Electro Orb so that she’ll use it to power up her Doomsday Device! Of course, the Mane-iac wouldn’t have known if Hum Drum hadn’t slipped up and told her all about it.”

“Hum Drum?” Twilight asked.

“He’s this guy wearing the blue boots and pointless red cape,” Spike explained as he pointed to this earth colt. “He’s the Power Ponies’ powerless sidekick. The Power Ponies have to stop the Mane-iac or Maretropolis is doomed!”

“Okay,” Twilight said. “But, don’t stay up too late. If we’re going to make any progress fixing up Celestia and Luna’s old castle tomorrow, we all have to do our part. We don't want to be too tired to lend a hoof, hand, or claw.”

“Okay,” Spike said. He set his comic on his nightstand and turned off the desk lamp. “I’m turning in. Goodnight, Mom.”

“You still have those two minutes,” Twilight said.

“Okay,” Spike smiled, turning his desk lamp back on and grabbing his comic book. He then opened it to the page he was previously on.

As Twilight went back to sleep, she was unaware that Sunset heard what she said.

The next morning, Spike resumed reading his comic book while eating breakfast in his bed. The mares had finished their breakfast downstairs a few minutes before and were waiting for the other Guardians to arrive.

“Hopefully, everypony will show up soon,” Twilight said. “We’ll want an early start to get there and figure out the best course of action.”

Just as she said that, the other guardians entered, all of them carrying buckets, brushes, sponges, and liquid soap bottles.

“Howdy, y’all,” Applejack smiled.

“Hey, everypony,” Twilight said. “We’ll have a busy day ahead of us.” They all began leaving when Sunset blocked the door.

“Hold it, everybody,” Sunset said. “Aren’t you all forgetting something?”

“We have buckets, brushes, sponges, and liquid soap bottles,” Pinkie said. “We have pretty much everything we need.”

“Supply-wise, yes,” Sunset said. “However, Twilight here seems to be forgetting what she said to Spike last night about all of us needing to do our part.”

Twilight gasped, realizing that Sunset was right. “I’ll be right back.” And with that, she ran upstairs to fetch Spike.

“I’m pretty sure we can manage fine without him,” Rainbow said.

“Twilight promised Spike that he’d get a chance to help,” Sunset lectured. “If we left without him or worse, brushed him off if he offered to help, let me ask you. Would it be honest? Would it be loyal? Would it be kind?”

“It wouldn’t be either of those things,” Fluttershy answered.

“That’s right,” Sunset said. “From what I understand, Spike doesn’t take broken promises well. Much less ones made by Twilight. None of you want Twilight to break a promise to Spike, do you?”

They all agreed that it wouldn't be right.* A moment later, Twilight and Spike walked down the stairs to meet with the others. Rarity noticed Spike squinting as he read his comic book.

“I say,” Rarity piped up. “Are you having some vision problems, Spike?”

“Well, something like that,” Spike admitted. "There's a huge blank page towards the end of the comic, just when things are getting to the good part!"

“Man!” Rainbow griped. “I hate it when stories end on a cliffhanger!”

“Indeed,” Sunset said. “That’s one reason I didn’t particularly care for the Adventures of Cliff Hanger segments on Between the Lions.”

“The what now?” Applejack asked.

“Well,” Sunset said. “There was this show called Between the Lions, which largely focused on a family of lions that lived and worked in a public library that was made to teach reading skills to young viewers and they have this segment called the Adventures of Cliff Hanger, which is about a man named Cliff Hanger. The Adventures of Cliff Hanger segments follow this formula: it starts with the titular character holding onto a branch sticking out of a cliff and saying he can’t hold on much longer, he sees something unusual and checks his survival manual to figure out how to deal with it, he follows the instructions and gets off the cliff for a brief moment, and it’s back to square one.”

“I see,” Fluttershy said.

“But,” Spike continued. “I see some text in the bottom corner over here and I’m having trouble reading it because it’s so small. That’s why I’m squinting.”

“Hang on,” Sunset said before she reached into her Item Box and pulled out a magnifying glass. “Try this.”

“Thanks,” Spike said, carefully taking the magnifying glass. “‘You can return to where you started when the Mane-iac is defeated. Take a closer look to join the adventures in this book.’”

Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise and horror upon hearing those words. "Spike, wait, don't!" she shouted, but, it was too late.

Suddenly, a strange dark blue astral portal appeared from the page. It grew wider and started to absorb Spike.

“Help~!” Spike exclaimed.

“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed, grabbing hold of him. But, the others started getting pulled in, too.

"What's happening?! What's going on?!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Oh, I don't like this! I don't like this at all!" Fluttershy said nervously.

“Like it er not!” Applejack exclaimed. “We better hang on ta somethin’!!”

The light grew brighter and brighter as Spike and the girls tried in vain to avoid being sucked in. In a matter of seconds, the light completely enveloped them, and they could see nothing. Once they had been pulled inside the comic book, it slammed shut with a thud. You never would've guessed that anypony was trapped inside it.

Inside the comic book world, Spike woke up to find himself on top of a skyscraper at night. He looked over the edge to observe his surroundings.

“Where are we?” Spike muttered. “Is this… Maretropolis?”

“What the hay is goin’ on?” Applejack’s voice said.

Spike turned his attention to Applejack’s voice and gasped in surprise and amazement.

“Holy new personas, ponies!” he exclaimed. “Mom, you’re the… Masked Matter-Horn!”

Twilight saw that she had a suit that stretched from her legs up to her chest that was a majestic shade of magenta, except for the neck collar which was an icy blue in color. Her face was covered by a mask the same shade of magenta as her suit, with a pair of yellow colored goggles to match.

“Whoa~” Twilight gasped.

“Pinkie,” Spike continued. “You’re Fili-Second!”

Pinkie saw that she wore a suit that was white with pink streaks all throughout it and for some reason, she couldn't stop herself from prancing.

“Hee-hee-hee~!” Pinkie excitedly giggled.

“Rainbow,” Spike continued. “You’re Zapp!”

Rainbow saw that her mane had been styled into a mohawk while she wore a black suit with a lightning bolt shaped pendant that hung on her neck.

“Awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed.

Spike then saw Rarity, who had a costume that was a dark blue in color and covered in diamonds. Heck, even her mane and tail had diamonds in them. She also had a dark blue mask that was not covered in diamonds and a small yellow collar with a light purple diamond on it. And on her front legs rested two purple diamond shaped charm bracelets.

“Rarity,” Spike gasped. “You’re Radiance!”

“This does indeed look dazzling,” Rarity gasped with a smile.

Spike then saw Applejack, who had a suit that was dark red in color, which matched nicely with her dark brown boots and mask, as well as her dark green harness that held a gold colored lasso. The back half of her mane and all of her tail were protected by a green tube.

“Applejack,” Spike continued. “You’re Mistress Mare-velous!”

“Well, ah’ll be…” Applejack said.

Finally, Spike saw Fluttershy. She had on a forest green suit with butterflies stitched onto the front legs. Her face was protected by a purple mask, which matched the purple collar she was wearing.

“Fluttershy,” Spike continued. “You’re Saddle Rager!” The six mares looked each other over when Spike noticed something. “Wait, where are Sunset and Wallflower?”

They looked around for any sign of the two absent mares. When they found them, Sunset was dressed only in a trench coat and reporter’s hat while Wallflower was the only one with no difference in her appearance at all.

“Sunset’s become… Phoenix Quill**?” Spike said.

Sunset looked over herself, noticing her new attire.

“So I am,” Sunset said.

The other mares looked confused.

“How come she’s in that getup?” Applejack asked.

“Phoenix Quill is a reporter that the Power Ponies get their information from,” Spike explained.

“Is Wallflower Blush a character, too?” Fluttershy asked.

Spike looked closely. “No, doesn’t look like it.”

“What are you all meant to be anyway?” Wallflower asked.

“Well, the others except Sunset are the Power Ponies,” Spike said. “Though, the Power Ponies are short one useful member, which makes sense because the six main members haven’t gotten into a situation they can’t work themselves out of yet.”

“So,” Wallflower continued. “Do you have an explanation for the costume you're wearing, Spike?”

“Costume?” Spike asked before turning to Pinkie. “Pinkie, did you use your distraction technique on me again?”

“No,” Pinkie admitted. “You were always wearing a costume, but, you were so focused on our new costumes that you didn’t notice yours right away.”

Before Spike had a chance to look at his own costume, there came the sound of a wall being demolished. Spike and the girls spun around in time to see the wall of the museum across the street come tumbling down and from the wreckage emerged a purple coated mare with a green colored, tentacle-like mane. "Power Ponies! How kind of you to join us!" the mare greeted, laughing wickedly. "At last, you'll have a front row seat to your own destruction!"

“Destruction mah Aunt Brown Betty!” Applejack snapped. “Who’re ya ta say that?”

“That’s the Mane-iac,” Spike warned. “She’s the Power Ponies’ most fiendish nemesis! My comic book somehow zapped us all in here!”

“So,” Rainbow said. “Somebody zap us out of here! We've got better things to do than play superheroes and super villains! Though, the mohawk is a nice touch.”

“I heard Spike read that the way to get back to where we started was to defeat the Mane-iac,” Sunset said. “So, until Mane-iac’s beaten, we’re basically stuck in this isekai story.”

“Isekai?” the others asked.

“It means in another world,” Sunset summed up.

“Well, that shouldn’t be too hard,” Rainbow said. “I was already awesome, but, now, we have superpowers!”

“But, do you know what they are?” Sunset asked.

“Time for the mane event~!” The Mane-iac quipped.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow said. “Have our back with this-” But, she noticed that the pink mare was nowhere in sight. “Hey, where’d she go?”

“She could be anywhere in the city,” Spike explained. “She’s Fili-Second, the fastest pony in Maretropolis!”

“WHAT?!” Rainbow exclaimed. “But, I’m the fast one! Why’s an Earth Pony faster than a pegasus?!”***

“That’s how it is in the regular comics,” Spike said. “If it’s any consolation, Zapp has the power to control the weather through her lightning bolt pendant.”

Rainbow looked at the pendant around her neck. “Yeah, that helps,” she admitted. “I’m still calling BS on an Earth Pony being faster than a pegasus, though.”

“You’ll just have to swallow those for now,” Spike said. “You’ve got a supervillain to defeat!” He turned to Twilight. “Mom, freeze Mane-iac’s mane!”

“Do what?” Twilight asked in bewilderment.

"You're the Masked Matter-horn! You can shoot all kinds of crazy power beams from your horn!" Spike told Twilight. "Come on, freeze her mane!"

Twilight concentrated and, to her surprise, she quickly discovered that she had no trouble at all building up energy for the freezing shot. But, before she had a chance to fire it at the Mane-iac, her concentration was broken by a smack from a lasso. This caused the energy beam to fire off in a random direction and accidentally hit Fluttershy.

"Twilight!" Fluttershy said angrily.

"Oops! I am so sorry about that!" Twilight said with a blush. "Applejack hit me with her lasso and it made me misfire. Why did you do that, Applejack?!"

Applejack began to sweat. Nervously, she gulped and told Twilight, "Ah don't know what came over me. All ah know is, somethin' inside me felt like ah couldn't let ya have all the glory n’ the next thing ah knew, mah lasso developed a mind o’ its own."

"That's because you're psychically connected to it!" Spike said to Applejack. "Will it to where you want it to go and it'll obey you!"

"But, that still doesn't explain why Applejack would get mad with Twilight for trying to save the day," Rarity replied, as she tried to thaw out Fluttershy.

“Maybe we can worry about that when we don’t have a supervillain to deal with!” Sunset scolded.

“I didn’t think getting away with my crime would be so easy~” Mane-iac chuckled.

Meanwhile, down below, Pinkie had finally shown back up at the scene of the crime. She was just in time to see the Mane-iac start to leave. "Well, this has been quite the experience. But, I really must be going," the Mane-iac boasted. "I've got what I came for."

"No, you don't! You're not getting away that easily, not on my watch!" Pinkie said angrily, rushing forward to block the Mane-iac's path.

"Get out of my way, Fili-Second, or I'll destroy you!" the Mane-iac shouted angrily.

"You and what army?" Pinkie taunted.

As if to answer Pinkie’s question, the Mane-iac’s henchponies appeared on the scene. There were mostly stallions with expertly coiffed manes and tails.

“Pinkie’s in trouble!” Rainbow said before pointing her hooves out. The look of surprise on her face clearly illustrated that whatever she was expecting to happen didn’t. “What’s going on? I thought this pendant would let me control the weather!”

“You have to unholster it and hold it up to do that,” Spike explained.

“Oh!” Rainbow exclaimed. She unholstered the pendant and held it up in the air. “So, do I just think about–” she started before the sky above began to be covered with a series of dark storm clouds. “Okay, it’s working!”

Twilight and Applejack quickly climbed down to the street, Applejack using the golden lasso while Twilight glided, to join the fight against the Mane-iac's minions while Rarity continued to try, to little avail, to thaw Fluttershy out. One of the henchponies noticed.

“Since when could Matter-Horn glide without wings?!” he exclaimed.

“No matter,” the Mane-iac said nonchalantly. “They are still no match for your efforts and myself, my beloved henchpony~!”

“Without wings?” Wallflower asked. “She clearly has wings!” Neither Mane-iac nor her henchponies showed any signs of having heard her.

“The characters that belong in the comic must see us as they know the original Power Ponies characters,” Spike ventured. “Since Wallflower hasn’t become a character in the comic, they must not be able to see or hear her at all.”

“Wh-wh-what do we do?” Fluttershy whimpered.

"Ugh! Rarity! Use your jewelry to create attack constructs!" Spike told Rarity.

“What’s an attack construct?” Rarity asked. “And how do I do that?”

"Just think of something, anything, and your bracelet makes it appear! But, make it something useful," Spike explained.

Rarity took a deep breath and started to think. In a glow of purple light, a small hair dryer appeared.

"Rarity, that's not going to help us!" Spike groaned.

"Oh, but, this is no ordinary hair dryer, Spikey-Wikey," Rarity said with a grin. "This hair dryer has a little bit of extra punch to it." To prove her point, she flicked the switch to turn it on and then pointed the nozzle at the ice that kept Fluttershy trapped. In a matter of seconds, the ice began to melt and Fluttershy was soon freed.

“Oh!” Fluttershy gasped. “Thank you, Rarity! Or, should I call you Radiance?”

“Either way,” Rarity said. “You’re welcome.”

"It's probably best if we start calling each other by our superhero names," Spike told Fluttershy. Then, he turned to Rarity. "How did you melt the ice with just a hair dryer?"

"I told you, it's no ordinary hair dryer," Rarity said with a wink. "This is a portable version of an industrial strength dryer used at the spa. Now, let's go save the city and get ourselves home!"

“Fluttershy,” Spike said. “You’re Saddle Rager. When you get angry, you transform in to a giant, super-strong mare!”

“That must be why I feel so angry for no reason,” Fluttershy reasoned. “Though, it doesn’t sound very polite.”

"Just keep Mane-iac and her henchponies busy," Spike instructed as Rarity brought forth a flying carpet for them to ride on. "I'll grab the Electro-Orb while they're all distracted."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? What if you get caught?" Rarity asked Spike. "This is serious, darling. If you're not careful, you could get hurt or worse!"

“Considering what could happen if somebody doesn’t stop the Mane-iac, it's worth the risk,” Spike nodded. And he hopped off the carpet before Rarity or Fluttershy could say anything else.

"That wasn't what I meant," Rarity said glummy. "Something bad's going to happen to him, I just know it."

"Now, Rarity," Fluttershy replied, putting a hoof around her friend. "We need to have faith in Spike. He's been in tough situations before and he's always come out of them in one piece. This is no different than his trip to the dragonlands or when he risked his life to bring the Crystal Heart to Princess Cadence so she could stop King Sombra."

"You're right, Fluttershy-I mean Saddle Rager," Rarity nodded. "Now, we've got a job to do! It's time we showed The Mane-iac what happens when you mess with The Power Ponies!"

“Did that make sense to you, Sunset?” Wallflower asked, having overheard what they said with her.

“Can’t say that it does,” Sunset admitted. “But, any questions we do have will have to be saved until after we get out of the comic.”

As the fighting raged on just outside the museum, Spike spotted the Electro-Orb resting comfortably on the ground. The Mane-iac was barking out orders to her underlings and thus she did not appear to have her attention focused on the orb. This is almost too easy, Spike thought to himself. I just hope that orb is as light as it looks. So, he went to pick up the orb.

But, just as Spike reached out a claw to grab the Electro-Orb, the Mane-iac spun around and gazed grimly at him. "You shouldn't be taking things that don't belong to you," she scolded as she snatched the orb away with her mane. "Did you really think I'd be dumb enough to not see through your little ruse, Hum Drum?"

“You’ve got a lot of nerve to-” Spike started before realizing what the Mane-iac called him. “Oh no… I’m Hum Drum?”

"I wasn't born yesterday, I know a trap when I see one," Mane-iac said angrily. "You thought that since you had no superpowers of your own to challenge me with, you'd intentionally 'slip up' and tell me about the Electro-Orb, knowing that I wouldn't be able to resist stealing it. Then, when I did, your superhero friends would be waiting. You intended to have them defeat me so that you could then use me as an example of what teamwork could accomplish. Nice try, but, you'll have to do better than that."

"But, but..." Spike stuttered.

"Oh, what? You thinking of thwarting my plans?" Mane-iac asked. "Because I wouldn't if I were you. I own you like I own this city and pretty soon, you'll meet the same fate as it. But, if you get in my way, I won't hesitate to destroy you here and now! So, unless you're in such a hurry to lose, I suggest you keep your nose out of my business, Hum-Drum." Then, Mane-iac turned to her henchponies. "Okay, boys, we've wasted enough time here! Let's go!"

And with that, the henchponies stopped attacking the heroines and made their escape. However, one noticed something. "Uh, we'd love to, boss. But, we can't," he said nervously.

"And why can't we?!" Mane-iac growled.

Another henchpony gulped. "Because of that!" He pointed towards the sky, where a fearsome tornado had just descended from the storm clouds.

“That is a hindrance,” the Mane-iac admitted.

"Zapp! You were supposed to use lightning, not a tornado!" Spike shouted angrily.

"Sorry, this pendant seemed to have a mind of its own! But, you can't deny it's helping to clean up the streets!" Rainbow Dash called as several of the henchponies were sucked into the funnel. Unfortunately, it also managed to pull in some of the Power Ponies until only Mistress Mare-velous and Zapp remained. Sunset and Wallflower had the presence of mind to stay well back.

"Oh my, this is quite the dilemma on your hooves, Power Ponies!" Mane-iac chuckled "You can try to stop me or you can save your teammates and the city you're supposed to protect! What's it going to be?"

Mistress Mare-velous was internally conflicted. She knew how important her friends, but, she also knew that stopping the Mane-iac was also important. However, she realized that it’d be too dangerous for either her or Zapp to face Mane-iac alone.

“We got no choice,” Applejack said. “It's too dangerous fer either one o’ us ta go after Mane-iac alone.”

“R-right,” Rainbow said.

The Mane-iac laughed and, using her mane like a rope, she swung away. The few henchponies who had escaped the wrath of Zapp's tornado followed after her.

Rainbow Dash tried her hardest, but, she was unable to call back the tornado. The pendant would not obey her. Why's this thing being so stubborn? she thought to herself It's just like controlling the weather back home. The only difference is I don’t have to physically touch it.

"Stand back, sugarcube," Applejack said kindly. "Mah lasso n’ ah’ll take care o’ this! That there twister's about ta get hogtied!" Applejack hurled her lasso at the top of the funnel and held on for dear life as she pulled the noose tight. The tornado spun faster and faster as it began to expand. At last, it grew so big that it could not maintain itself, the energy it needed used up. It burst open like a balloon, hurling the henchponies over the horizon. It would've done the same for the Power Ponies, were it not for Rarity's quick thinking. She had managed to encase them inside a protective case and levitated it safely to the ground. Wallflower used her plant magic to make a vine to carry herself and Sunset down.

“Are you girls okay?” Wallflower asked.

“We’ve been better,” Twilight said.

"Whew! That was quite a ride!" Pinkie remarked.

"I thought I was going to be sick! I hate getting spun around like that!" Fluttershy said, stumbling around in a dizzy trance for a minute or two.

"I'm just glad we're all okay," Twilight replied, then she noticed that someone was not with them "Hey, has anybody seen Spike?"

"Over there!" Rarity cried, pointing a hoof towards the rubble that used to be the museum wall.

They all saw Spike looking at his reflection in a large chunk of still intact glass. But, the reflection didn’t show the dragon they recognized. Instead, they saw an earth pony colt in the costume Spike was wearing. Twilight knew from the night before that the colt was known as Hum Drum.

“So,” Twilight said. “That would explain why neither the Mane-iac nor the henchponies didn’t notice the fact that you’re a dragon, Spike.”

“I’m…” Spike said with his voice breaking. “Hum Drum?”

“Only temporarily,” Twilight said.

“What’s he so sad about?” Rainbow asked. “He’s a superhero with superpowers, just like the rest of us."

“Ahem!” Wallflower cleared her throat.

“Sorry,” Rainbow corrected herself. “Like most of us.”

“Hum Drum doesn’t have powers,” Spike said sadly. “That’s why I’m so sad. I’m the Power Ponies' bumbling and totally useless sidekick. He never ever stops the villain, he's only there for comedic relief. He always gets in the way!”

“But, surely you must have powers, Spikey-boo,” Rarity said kindly. “Your character’s wearing a mask and cape.”

"Yeah, for absolutely no reason at all," Spike complained. "He used to have powers way back when. But, he lost them early in the comic's run and ever since, he's been nothing but a joke they use to extend the plot if need be. He's pretty much useless, just like me in this instance."

“Oh, Spike,” Twilight soothed. “You’re not useless. You could never be useless.”

“Yeah,” Sunset said. “In the human world, do you know how many comics they make about superheroes who have no powers at all?”

“No,” Spike admitted. “Only because mom and I didn’t have time to read any comics.”

“There are several of those,” Sunset said. “Iron Man, Batman, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain America, Nick Fury, and a bumper crop of more. They don’t have a single superpower to their names, but, they’re still considered to be great superheroes.”

“Sunset has a point,” Twilight said. “You prove to be very helpful to us with or without powers and we know you’ll always be here to help us and we’ll help you, should you need it.”

“Touching as this is, I have a question,” Rainbow said. “Is it just me or did we suck eggs as a team in that fight?”

“It’s not just you that noticed,” Twilight said. “We’re usually better as a team than this.”

“It’s the narrative,” Spike said. “It's trying to force you to act like the real Power Ponies. And in the comics, Matter-Horn and Mare-velous are often clashing over leadership. Some of Mare-velous' rivalry must've gotten a hold of Applejack.”

“Ah’m mighty sorry, y’all,” Applejack apologized.

Pinkie then noticed that her reflection was also different. “Whoa! I’ve gone from Pinkie Pie to key lime pie!” The others looked in her direction and saw this reflected in the glass:

“That’s what Pinkie looks like to this comic’s characters?” Rainbow asked.

“I suppose so,” Fluttershy said. She then looked at her own reflection:

“This is wild,” Applejack managed to say. Again, she looked at her reflection:

“This is so weird,” Rainbow said. Then, she got a look at her reflection:

“Oh, my!” gasped Rarity. She quickly turned to see her reflection:

“Your mane wouldn't really change,” Twilight observed. She then looked at her own reflection:

“It’s surreal seeing your reflection without wings,” Sunset said. When she looked at her own reflection, all present saw no detectable difference aside from her flame-like phoenix wings looking like regular pegasus wings.

“Wow!” Wallflower gasped. However, when she looked at her own reflection, she didn’t see anypony looking back at her. “Whoa… I’ve become invisible.”

“No you didn’t,” Pinkie said. “We can see you just fine.”

“Hmm…” Sunset said. “Let me try something.” She removed her hat and lit up her horn to emit a focused beam of sunlight on Wallflower. Wallflower shielded her eyes until Sunset canceled the spell. “Well, she didn’t become a vampire character.”

“Ha ha,” Wallflower laughed flatly.

“But, how are we able to see and hear her,” Rainbow asked. “When the characters from this comic can't?”

“Well,” Sunset reasoned. “Given the fact that we're not native to this world either and are basically stand-ins for characters who are, the idea that we can see and hear Wallflower makes sense.”

“That is a good theory,” Rarity admitted. “But, that doesn’t explain why your reflection looks so much more like you than ours.”

“Well,” Spike said. “Phoenix Quill already had a pretty strong resemblance to Sunset to begin with.”

“Weird that they were able to replicate my appearance with my exodus from Equestria,” Sunset said. “Let me try something else.” She then removed her trenchcoat to look at her reflection’s Cutie Mark. Instead of a red and yellow shimmering sun, the reflection’s Cutie Mark depicted a phoenix feather used as a writing quill that had a trail of embers in its wake. “Fascinating.”****

“Well, now that we know what we look like and what our powers are,” Twilight said. “We’ll need to figure out the best course of action to stop the Mane-iac from going forward with her plan. Spike, you’re more familiar with this comic than any of us. Can you tell us where we can find the Mane-iac’s hideout?”

“Hold on a sec, Twilight,” Sunset said as she put her costume back on. “Let’s try to work out a plan this time.”

“You’re right, Sunset,” Twilight said after considering this.

“Stance up!” Sunset said before pressing the button on her anthropomorpher and changing into her anthro form (which the trenchcoat adapted to surprisingly well). “Okay, let’s recap the situation so far,” she said as she began sticking out fingers as she listed the relevant points. “We’re in a comic book world.”

“Maretropolis, yes,” Spike added.

“The only way we can get back is to defeat a mare with a bad mane day that the Joker would see as–” Sunset continued before remembering Spike’s presence and promptly correcting herself. “--absolutely crazy.”

“That sounds about right,” Pinkie said.

“And she has a Hairspray Ray of Doom,” Spike said. “It can immobilize the Power Ponies and render their powers useless.”

“The narrative’s making the large majority of you squabble like children over a cookie,” Sunset listed again.

“And it’s still weird that Pinkie Pie, an Earth pony mare, has super speed and I don’t,” Rainbow griped.

Sunset wore a flat expression. “That’s not really an important issue,” she said.

“Still,” Rarity said. “With all of this knowledge under our belt, what is the plan, Sunset? Or, Phoenix Quill, I should say.”

“Well, let’s do a headcount,” Sunset said. “We have a mix of Cyclops and Iceman from the X-Men, the Flash, Storm of the X-Men, the Green Lantern, the love child of Batman and Wonder Woman, the Hulk, and early days Robin. Guess that basically makes me a mix of Lois Lane and Commissioner Gordon in this roster, but, there you go. There’s the headcount.”*****

“When we get back,” Applejack said. “There’s a lot that ya will need ta explain.”

“I’ll do you one better and explain while we work on the castle,” Sunset said. “Now, we’ll let Spike lead the way to Mane-iac’s headquarters and ambush her and her grunts.”

“Right,” Spike said. “Though, I’ll try to stay out of the way.”

“Hold on, Spike,” Sunset said. “Mane-iac and her grunts see you as an Earth Pony colt instead of a dragon just like they see Twilight as a regular unicorn. That means we can still use our natural abilities here. So, you can use your fire breath to fight them.”

“You’re right,” Spike smiled. “I’ll show them useless!” No sooner had he said that than he found a foot of his in a bucket that wasn’t there before. He glared at Pinkie.

“I didn’t put that there, honest,” Pinkie said.

“She’s tellin’ the truth,” Applejack said. This prompted Spike to glare at Rainbow.

“What?” Rainbow said. “I didn’t do it, either! I learned my lesson when one of my pranks got you in trouble!”

“She’s also tellin’ the truth,” Applejack said.

“Looks like the narrative is forcing Spike to be a butt monkey,” Sunset reasoned.

“Knowing Hum Drum from the comics,” Spike said in an annoyed tone, getting the bucket off of his foot. “I can believe that.”

“Spike’s not a monkey,” Pinkie said. “He’s a dragon.”

“A butt monkey is a character in any form of media that has bad stuff happening to them all the time,” Sunset explained. “Whether they deserve it or not.”

“And Spike certainly does not deserve it,” Twilight said gently.

“Stance down!” Sunset said before reverting to her regular pony form. “Now, lead the way, Spike.”

Spike saluted and led the mares towards the Mane-iac’s lair.

Soon, they arrived at what seemed to be an unassuming shampoo factory. The neon in the lights hummed.

“Here it is,” he said softly on the off chance that anypony inside could hear. “We need to be quick. That Electro-Orb she just stole is what she's going to use to power up her Doomsday Device! It's like a super battery that never runs out of energy!"

“It’s a shampoo factory?” Applejack asked.

“Given her origins,” Twilight said. “It would make sense.”

Spike nodded. "The Mane-iac is many things, but, subtle isn't one of them."

"Thank goodness for that." Pinkie Pie chuckled, Rarity and Fluttershy couldn't help but join in.

“So, what’s the plan, Sunse-I mean Phoenix?” Rainbow asked. “Your plans haven’t failed us so far.”

Sunset analyzed the situation carefully. “You’ll have a much better chance of defeating Mane-iac if you can somehow sneak in without being noticed. A direct approach is out of the question. Rainbow-I mean Zapp, you fly around that factory. See if you can find some kind of back door or secret entrance you and the other Power Ponies could use."

“And what of the rest of us,” Rarity asked.

“Just stand down for now,” Sunset instructed. “Radiance and Mare-velous, your help may be needed if the group has to climb up a story or two. Saddle Rager and Fili-Second, you may be needed to create a distraction. And Hum Drum, you're with Matter-Horn unless she or I say otherwise.”

“What if I get in the way?” Spike said.

“You won’t be in our way,” Sunset said. “You’re an important part of our team. Don’t you dare let the narrative make you think otherwise.”

“I’ll try,” Spike said.

“Besides,” Twilight said. "You know more about that factory than any of us. That makes you the best one to point us in the right direction once we get inside."

Just then, an alarm sounded followed by the sound of evil laughter. Rainbow flew back to join the others, looking quite embarrassed.

“What did you do?” Sunset asked sternly.

“I may or may not have tripped an alarm when I tried to sneak in for the element of surprise,” Rainbow explained sheepishly. “I couldn’t see where it was. Sorry. Mane-iac definitely knows we’re here now.”

“So much for ‘element of surprise,’” Twilight said, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

“This is okay, this is fine,” Sunset said more to calm herself down than anyone else. “This can still be salvaged, you girls will just have to fight your way in.”

“We can do that,” Applejack nodded. Sure enough, the factory's front door rose up, and all of the Mane-iac's henchponies emerged from it. “Come on, y’all! Time ta Power Pony up!”

“Ooh, nice catchphrase,” Pinkie smiled.

Despite the encouraging words from Sunset, Spike found himself compelled by the narrative to get out of the way. I’m really starting to hate that narrative, he said internally.

"Alright, time to rain down swift justice!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she unholstered her lightning bolt pendant. Storm clouds began to gather in the sky, as electricity surged out from the pendant.

Meanwhile, Twilight was busy focusing on taking down whatever henchpony was foolish enough to approach her. "Freeze ray!" she shouted out, as she fired a freezing blast. Unfortunately, she didn't pay attention to where she was aiming it and ended up hitting Rainbow by mistake.

“Hey!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Watch it! Whose side are you on?!”

"I'm on your side, Zapp!" Twilight protested. "That was a mistake! Besides, you're the one who got in my way!"

"You got in my way, you mean!" Rainbow hissed, turning her attention to Twilight.

"I think you'd better remember who wields the power to freeze, burn, or magically strike whoever she wants!" Twilight warned.

"You couldn't hit straight if your life depended on it!" Rainbow taunted. "You just got lucky with that last hit!"

"No, what are you doing?!" Spike commented, hiding behind a mailbox. "You're supposed to be fighting Mane-iac, not each other! Come on!"

Unfortunately, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were not the only ones fighting. The other girls (minus Sunset and Wallflower) were having their own issues as well.

Rarity was enjoying the seemingly unlimited possibilities that came with her superpower, as she brought forth a set of plates and hurled them at a goon, causing him to trip up and stumble to the ground. "Ooh, I do so love a functional accessory!" she said to herself. "I can do anything in this little number!"

But, when she turned her attention back to the fight, she saw Pinkie Pie zipping back and forth amongst the various underlings, using her super speed mostly to annoy them.

"Fili-Second, are you ever actually going to fight? Or do you want me to do all the dirty work for you?" Rarity groaned.

"Hey, I'm just getting warmed up," Pinkie Pie replied. "I could clear out these goons in the blink of an eye, but, that wouldn't be any fun. If you had my super speed you'd understand."

"Speed isn't everything!" Rarity insisted.

That comment made Pinkie Pie angry. "Shows what you know, that's what slow ponies say!"

"Sounds to me like the only thing that runs faster than you is your mouth!" Rarity complained. "Why don't you put your money where that big mouth of yours is and make yourself useful?!"

"Fine, if it'll make you happy, I'll take out all five of these guys at once!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "And I won't even break a sweat doing it. On the other hoof, you're just going to waste your time using your powers to throw tea sets at these no gooders! Bring something useful to the fight and make things more interesting, maybe give yourself a nice bow and a few arrows to go with it."

"You'll be lucky if I don't turn you into a pin cushion with one!" Rarity hissed, but, did as Pinkie Pie had suggested.

“Girls, stop!” Spike exclaimed angrily.

“Work together, you idiots!” Sunset shouted.

Alas, their cries fell upon deaf ears.

Fluttershy was battling the underlings who thought she would be too easy, all the while fighting to keep her anger in check. I need to save the anger for when it's really necessary. If I get mad now, everypo-no, everybody's in big trouble! she thought to herself.

But, to Applejack, it seemed as if Fluttershy was going out of her way NOT to fight. She was only using defensive moves whenever she was attacked, only occasionally tossing in an offensive attack or two.

This made Applejack furious, as she found herself protecting Fluttershy far more than she would've liked. "Seriously? Ya ain't even just a li’l angry right now?" she angrily asked Fluttershy.

"Oh, I'm getting mad alright," Fluttershy warned. "I've been trying to keep my temper under control, though. I'm pretty sure nopony wants to deal with a raging monster worse than Mane-iac right now."

"Why are ya holdin' back?!" Applejack groaned, deflecting an attack from an underling that had tried to sneak up on her. "Do ya want me ta finish this fight fer ya er somethin'?!"

"You don't need to protect me, I was doing just fine on my own!" Fluttershy protested.

"Then, maybe ya could start goin' on the attack more often n’ stop leavin' me ta have ta guard yer sorry behind!" Applejack insisted. "It would make things a whole lot easier fer the both o’ us!"

“ENOUGH!” Spike and Sunset both shouted.

Despite the setbacks caused by the arguing, the Power Ponies managed to defeat The Mane-iac's henchponies fairly quickly. Sunset, less than pleased with their sloppy performance, decided to literally and metaphorically slap some sense into the other six mares.******

“Hum Drum,” Sunset said in tranquil fury. “Cover your ears and avert your eyes.”

Spike, having a fairly good idea of what’s to come, did as he was told.

After making sure Spike couldn’t hear her, Sunset began giving the mares a tongue-lashing. “What the hell was that?!” she said. “I know that you can’t really help the narrative forcing you to act this way, but, if you don’t at least try f*cking resisting, we may never get back! Try having a little more goddamn sense of self if you want to get back!”*******

“Oh, dear!” Fluttershy gasped. “You’re right, Sunset. I don’t know what’s come over us.”

“Hey,” Applejack said. “Ah’m awful sorry ‘bout gettin’ heated up back there.”

“I’m sorry for accidentally freezing you, Rainbow,” Twilight apologized.

“And I’m sorry, too,” Pinkie and Rarity said together.

“Now,” Sunset said as her anger started to ebb. “Let’s take a moment to cool our heads before one of us has an aneurysm. If you try fighting Mane-iac now, you’ll be more likely to make stupid mistakes.”

“You’re right as usual, Sunset,” Twilight said. “And we’ll also have to make sure that Spike is safe.”

Wallflower gently tapped Spike’s shoulder, signaling that it was safe for him to stop ignoring things.

“Thanks, Wallflower,” Spike said, uncovering his ear fronds and turning back around. “Are we all good?”

“We’re getting there,” Rainbow said.

“It’s a start,” Spike said. “Now, we just need to figure out how to face off against the Mane-iac. She could be anywhere.”

“Like right behind you?” Mane-iac’s voice said. She quickly grabbed Spike before he had a chance to react.

“Spike!” the ponies exclaimed at once.

“Let him go, you menace!” Twilight ordered.

Spike began to panic as he felt Mane-iac put him in a hold that made it difficult to breathe. My neck! My most vital area! he thought anxiously. Come on, Spike! Think! You've got to do something! In a fit of desperation, he did the first thing that came to mind. He sank his fangs into Mane-iac's mane in the hopes of getting a reaction out of her. He most certainly did.

“Yowch!” the Mane-iac interjected. “When the Tartarus did an Earth Pony colt get fangs?!”

“If you think that’s a shock,” Spike smirked. “Wait until you see what’s coming next!”

Mane-iac threw Spike into the air before he had a chance to use his fire breath. In that moment, his fear of heights kicked in and he became paralyzed in fear. Thinking quickly, Sunset used her wings to fly up and catch Spike in her hooves. She then gently brought him back down.

“It’s okay,” Sunset soothed. “I’ve got you.”

Spike momentarily snapped out of his fear to inform the Power Ponies.

"Her mane is the source of her great strength, but, it's also an enormous weak spot for her!" Spike explained. "But, don't try to go for a direct assault on it, she's too smart for that!"

“Got it!” Rainbow nodded. "We can handle The Mane-iac, no sweat." But, unfortunately, Rainbow Dash turned out to be mistaken. Mane-iac easily outsmarted the Power Ponies, defeating them one by one and immobilizing them with a few sprays of The Hairspray Ray of Doom. Soon, she had it pointed at Spike.

“Don’t spray!” he said.

However, Mane-iac laughed arrogantly.

“Why would I waste the effort on a pathetic, powerless weakling like you?” she asked. “What would be the point?”

Spike thought. Wait, if she only sees me as a weakling, maybe I can use this as a way to gain the upper hoof and be one of the only ones mobile to help my friends and Mom. Or maybe I could get Daydream Shimmer! Either way, she’d get defeated! Playing smart, Spike went along with Mane-iac’s assumption that he was weak. “You’re right, Miss Mane-iac~ I am a pathetic little weakling~ Please don’t hurt me~”

“I needn’t bother,” Mane-iac taunted while retreating. “You get hurt by a papercut.”

Once she was out of sight, Sunset and Wallflower went to him.

“Spike,” Wallflower whispered. “Are you okay?”

Spike subtly winked at the two.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m going to find Daydream Shimmer so she can save the Power Ponies.” He then realized something. “Except I have no idea where to find her.” He faceclawed himself as he realized how poorly his plan was thought out.

“Daydream Shimmer?” Sunset asked.

“An extra member of the Power Ponies who shows up whenever the other six are in a situation they can’t get themselves out of,” Spike explained.********

“There’s something familiar about that name,” Wallflower noted.

“Do you have an image of her?” Sunset asked.

“I have a trading card of her,” Spike admitted. He pulled it out of his loose scale folds and showed it to the two present mares.

They looked closely at it.

“Do you have one of Phoenix Quill?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah,” Spike admitted. He pulled it out of the other loose scale fold and showed it to them.

“Hey, the two look kind of similar,” Wallflower noted.

“There’s rumors that they’re the same pony,” Spike said. “Because they’re never seen in the same place at the same time.”

“So, if that is the case,” Sunset surmised. “That would mean that I could potentially be…” She reached into her trenchcoat and pulled out what looked like a compact. On the compact were the words Deus Ex Machina. “Huh… that’s convenient.” She held it above her head and in seconds, she had taken on the appearance of Daydream Shimmer. She was clad in a white dress with a flowing back skirt and an ornamental broach that resembled Sunset's original sun Cutie Mark. She looked herself over. “Welp,” she said. “There’s the obligatory use of Clark Kenting.”

“Wow~!” Wallflower and Spike said, gazing at the newly transformed Sunset Shimmer.

“So, what powers does she have?” Sunset asked.

“Well, she has fire manipulation and mimicry, mind-reading, telekinesis, flight, luck manipulation, and healing powers,” Spike explained.

“Okay,” Sunset said. “That adds the Human Torch, Professor X, Jean Grey with the Phoenix Force, Scarlet Witch, and Iron Fist to the list of my role in the headcount.”

“So, with this information,” Wallflower said. “How are we going to help our friends and stop the Mane-iac?”

“Well, we can’t just waltz in through the front door,” Sunset said. “Spike, I’ll need you to be brave here.”

“I will,” Spike said with determination.

Sunset carried Spike to the roof of the building, the little dragon covering his eyes. Wallflower was carried by Sunset’s telekinesis.

“Whoa~” Wallflower said softly. “I’m not quite used to this yet.”

Sunset gently set them all on the roof. Inside the factory, the Power Ponies had been placed in a large cage hanging on a crane above the floor.

“It doesn’t look like they escaped,” Spike said as Sunset opened a skylight to lower them to a platform overlooking the entire factory. Various containers holding liquids in every color of the rainbow greeted his eyes, as did the bright interior lights that illuminated the factory floor.

The Power Ponies were trapped inside of the cage, unable to move thanks to the effects of the Hairspray Ray of Doom. To make matters worse, just as the effects of the spray began to wear off, a timer sounded and one of The Mane-iac's goons applied the spray again.

Meanwhile, on the factory floor, Mane-iac was gloating about her victory to her imprisoned enemies. "Congratulations, Power Ponies!" she said with a laugh as she held the Electro-Orb in her mane. "You shall live just long enough to see me fire," she yanked the cover off of a large object, revealing it to be a massive cannon in the form of a hair dryer. "The instrument of your destruction! Once the Electro-Orb has powered it up completely, this cannon will amplify the power of my mane one million times!" she cackled, before she added. "Bet you're wondering what the point of that is. Well, I could tell you, but, I don't want to spoil the surprise! You'll find out soon enough, because the six of you shall be my weapon's first victims. And there is nopony who can save you from this fate! So, say your prayers!"

To the surprise of Mane-iac and her underlings, Fluttershy was the one to speak up. "I don't mean to interrupt, but aren't you forgetting about a certain someone?" she asked, glaring at Mane-iac with a stare that would unnerve most ponies.

Unfortunately, Mane-iac wasn't one of them. "Oh, are you talking about Hum Drum? Little guy with absolutely no super powers whatsoever?" she asked, before letting out an evil laugh. "He's utterly useless!" She then waited impatiently as the timer sounded and one of her goons resprayed the Power Ponies. "Puh-lease. Everypony knows you just keep him around because you feel sowwy for him. Wah. Wah," she taunted in the most condescending tone she could muster up.

“Our Hum Drum always comes through when we need him,” Twilight retorted. “He always will!”

The other ponies agreed with her.

Mane-iac scoffed. “The only one of your missing members that could actually pose a threat to my plan is Daydream Shimmer,” she said. “But, she doesn't know any of you are here!”

“No,” Rainbow said. “But, Hum Drum does.”

Mane-iac remained as dismissive as ever. “A lot of good it'll do him,” she said. “As I said, he's utterly useless!”

“He may not have powers,” Pinkie said. “But, he doesn’t need them to find Daydream Shimmer and tell her where we are!”

“Clearly, dementia is a side effect of repeated exposure to the Hairspray Ray of Doom,” Mane-iac said. “If you believe he’s smart enough to think of that.”

“Yeah,” Sunset said as she smugly hovered before Mane-iac. “Except that’s exactly what he did.”

“What?!” Mane-iac gasped. “Impossible!”

“You made a fatal mistake, Mane-iac,” Sunset said. “Underestimating the little guy. Sic her, Hum Drum!”

On Sunset’s order, Spike swung on a rope and kicked Mane-iac off of her perch away from the controls.

If Mane-iac was surprised, she sure didn't show it, she just laughed like crazy. "Oh, if it isn't Hum Drum, this day just keeps getting better and better! Have you come here to surrender? Beg for mercy? Or maybe even request to join my ranks? I assure you all three of them are useless at this point."

"I didn't come to surrender, or beg for mercy, and I'd rather die than join you!" Spike said defiantly. "I came here to defeat you!"

Mane-iac laughed once again. "You must be a comedian, Hum Drum! You can't possibly be serious! There's no way you can win."

"Maybe, but, we don't know that just yet, do we?" Spike asked in a confident tone.

Mane-iac was surprised, but, tried not to let this fact show. "You have no super powers, Hum Drum. You're just a bumbling sidekick that can never do anything right!"

Those words set off a powder keg inside of Spike. Glaring at Mane-iac, he said to her, "Really? Well you know what I have to say to that?! Forget super power! Forget super heroes and super villains! But, most of all, FORGET YOU!!!" He proceeded to unleash a powerful flame belch from his mouth.

"Aw, that's so ador-WHOA!" The Mane-iac cried, as the belch struck her in the face, knocking her off the seat of the cannon.

“We have to get out of here and help Spike,” Twilight said to the other caged mares.

“Stance up!” Sunset said before transforming into her anthro form and subsequently clenching a fist. “Hououken!” At her words, she launched a flaming aura shaped like a phoenix from her fist at the cage. The heat from the aura melted the bars and caused the Power Ponies to sweat off the hairspray that immobilized them.*********

“Thanks, Suns-” Twilight started before correcting herself. “Uh, Daydream Shimmer.”

The henchpony monitoring the Hairspray Ray of Doom was about to fire it again, only for Sunset to glare menacingly at him before summoning a fireball, silently warning him that spraying it at the fireball would set it ablaze. He backed away cautiously. All the while Spike was fighting back against Mane-iac. Unfortunately, even with his claws and his thick dragon scales, Spike was still no match for the incredible super powers of The Mane-iac. And so, after only a short amount of time, he was defeated.

“Spike!” Twilight called.

"What's the matter, Hum Drum?" Mane-iac taunted as she slowly approached her defeated opponent. "No witty comeback? Cat got your tongue? Run out of quips or cheesy one-liners about how I'm going to pay for my crimes? No more words left to fail?"

"I... can't lose... You must be stopped," Spike stuttered as he tried to catch his breath. "You're evil and evil always... loses in the end."

"Oh, come now," Mane-iac gloated with a sinister smile. "If I'm really as evil as you claim I am, then, may the almighty creator strike me down where I stand!" As if the universe had heard that remark, a sudden magic bolt struck Mane-iac. But, it failed to do anything and it faded without fanfare. "Ha! Nice try, big mare!" Mane-iac taunted. "Perhaps next time that'll actually tickle!"

"Oh, it'll do more than tickle! That was just a warning shot!" a familiar female voice shouted.

The Mane-iac froze in place upon hearing that voice, she turned around slowly. "It can't be!" she thought and yet it was. The Power Ponies had escaped.

“I may not have been able to defeat you,” Spike said. “But, I was enough to distract you!”

“Wha-” the Mane-iac stammered. Regaining her composure, she called to her henchponies. “Well, don’t just stand there! Stop them, you idiots!”

Wallflower used her plant magic to run around the henchponies, tying them up in ropes made of interwoven vines, which confused Mane-iac and her minions because they couldn’t see or hear her.

“Where are these vines coming from?!” one henchpony exclaimed.

“I don’t know,” replied another henchpony. “And it’s freaking me out!”

Spike made his way back to the mares.

“Looks like we owe you one," Rainbow Dash said.

"You sure had some guts taking on Mane-iac by yourself," Pinkie added.

"I know, I can't believe I actually did that," Spike chuckled.

"Neither can I!" Mane-iac said angrily as she once again grabbed Spike with her mane. "And if you want my personal opinion, that has to be the single worst mistake you've made today!"

“You may see it as a mistake,” Twilight said. “But, we see it as a real effort from a real friend to help his friends. Now, put him down! We’re the ones you want!”

"Not just yet!" Mane-iac said ominously, holding Spike in front of her to use as a shield. "It may be a first, but, it's far from a pleasure. I have been made a complete laughing stock. AND I DON'T LIKE IT ONE LITTLE BIT!"

“Your ego made you a laughing stock!” Spike snapped.

"You're a smart alack," Mane-iac growled. "And if there's one thing I hate more than anything else, it's annoying smart alecks like you that don't shut up!" And she hurled Spike across the factory, unknowingly making him collide with Wallflower. Both of them slammed into a wall with a sickening smack.

"Spike!" Twilight cried (momentarily forgetting what she was supposed to call him in the comic book world) as she rushed to his side "Are you alright?" she asked him.

“I’ve been better,” Spike groaned.

“I’m okay, too,” Wallflower sarcastically commented. “Thanks for asking.”

Fluttershy looked at what happened to Spike and Wallflower. Suddenly, something inside her snapped. “Are… you… KIDDING ME?! I know you’re evil and all, but, you would seriously propel a child?! REALLY?!” As Fluttershy spoke, her voice gradually grew deeper and louder. “Well, you’re just a great… big… MEANIE! There! I said it! What makes you think you’re so special?!” As Fluttershy continued to speak, her eyes turned red with fury and her body slowly and gradually grew in mass. “That the rules of common courtesy don’t apply to you?! Why don’t you pick on somepony your own size?!” She had become a massive hulking monster, causing Mane-iac to gulp.

“I’m dead, aren’t I?” she asked the other Power Ponies.

“You pissed off the wrong Hulk, Mane-iac,” Sunset said. “Saddle Rager?” The transformed Fluttershy turned to acknowledge her. “Smash.”**********

The beast responded with a small grin before leaping into action. Mane-iac gulped once again and tried to make a desperate run for it. Alas, she couldn't even begin to put distance between herself and Fluttershy when she was ambushed and ended up on the receiving end of a punch that sent her to the floor. Fluttershy then quickly set to work on taking down the rest of the Mane-iac's goons, even though they were already restrained. This caused the others to become uneasy.

“I think it’s best we let her get it out of her system,” Wallflower said.

“Wait,” Applejack said. “What ‘bout the Doomsday Device?”

“Radiance,” Sunset said. “Try taking control of it.”

“Understood,” Rarity nodded and went to the controls. It wasn’t long until she had control. "Just tell me where to aim and I'll shoot!" she said to Sunset.

But, Spike quickly spoke up and asked Rarity. "Could you do me a favor and aim it at Mane-iac? I want to see what happens."

“Right,” Rarity nodded and she took her aim at the villainous mare.

“Are you crazy?!” Rainbow asked. “That’ll make her stronger!”

"Oh no it won't," Spike said with a smirk. "If the power of her mane is amplified, it'll grow wild and uncontrollable. Just watch."

"I hope you're right, darling, for all of our sakes," Rarity said nervously, as she reluctantly aimed the cannon at Mane-iac and fired. The blast struck her head on, knocking her away from Fluttershy.

“AHHHH~!” exclaimed the Mane-iac. Sure enough, just as Spike had predicted, Mane-iac's mane grew wild. In fact, it grew right to the point where it entangled her as if she were locked up in a straightjacket. "My mane!" she cried and began flopping around as the electricity surged through her like crazy. "My maaaaaane!" She then began to laugh insanely and just kept on laughing.

"Once again, the day is saved by—" Spike said heroically, before there came a strange sensation and a blinding flash of white light.

Once the light died down, the group found themselves in the lobby of the Golden Oak Library. However, they were in a tangled mess on the floor.

“Whoo!” Pinkie exclaimed. “What a rush!”

“Hey,” Rainbow said. “Who’s got their pointy muzzle in my–”

“Uh, that’s not my muzzle,” Twilight said.***********

They all managed to get untangled and separated from each other.

"Cupcakes?" Pinkie asked, holding up a plate of the tasty treats.

Rarity was surprised. "How did you-" she began.

"Eh, we had a good half second before we got sucked back out of the comic and the Maretropolis bakery was only sixty-five blocks away!" Pinkie interrupted.

“What really matters is that we’re back home safe and sound,” Spike sighed.

“We wouldn’t be if it weren’t for your efforts, Spike,” Twilight said, giving him a gentle and loving hug. “We appreciate all of your efforts and your helpful spirit. Even when we don’t always ask for your help, it doesn’t mean we don’t think you’re helpful. You were amazing, my son. All the same, you really had me worried when you took on Mane-iac by yourself. Please try not to do that again, I don't know if I can take another scare like that.”

“Don’t worry,” Spike said. “I’ll try not to. I learned that you don’t have to have superpowers to be a super friend.”

“It was pretty awesome you knew Daydream’s signature move,” Rainbow said to Sunset.

“Actually,” Spike said. “Daydream never used such a technique in any of the issues she appeared in.”

“Sunset made that move up herself,” Wallflower said. “I’ve seen her use it before. She says it means Fist of the Phoenix.”

“Oh,” Rainbow said. “That makes it more awesome!”

“I think it’s time to address the elephant in the room,” Sunset said.

“What elephant?” Pinkie asked.

“Spike,” Sunset asked, making a mental note to go over the term with Pinkie later. “Where did you get that comic book exactly?”

“I just found it laying on the ground the other day,” Spike answered. “I never would've touched it if I'd known it was enchanted."

"Well, maybe there's something on the back of the comic that can tell us where it came from," Twilight suggested, but, when she turned to where the comic had been, she was shocked to find that it had disappeared without a trace.

"An enchanted comic that vanishes into thin air," Rarity remarked. "Forgive me for being paranoid, but, I get the feeling it was no accident the comic ended up in Spike's clutches. Someone or something wanted him to find it."

"But, who could that be?" Fluttershy wondered out loud. Unfortunately, nopony knew the answer. And neither did they know about a supernatural ram was watching them from a dark realm.

“So, the dragon foiled my plot yet again,” the ram said. “He and the phoenix alicorn will need further gauging.”

End of chapter.

Author's Note

Here's the next chapter.

*Take that, canon!

**OC by me.

***That feels like a reaction she should have had in canon.

****Reflections idea by me.

*****Avengers reference.

******Sunset reached her breaking point.

*******Sunset being a good role model to Spike while simultaneously chewing out the other guardians.

********Yes, that's an EqG reference, sue me.

*********Sunset being a badass.

**********Another Avengers reference.

***********It's her horn.

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