//------------------------------// // 72. Go Go Power Ponies! // Story: My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// It was only recently when Star Twinkle and his friends visited the Castle of the two Sisters because of different reasons. After their visit, they came to the conclusion that it was neither haunted nor inhabited by a so-called "Pony of Shadows". Knowing that they all decided to give the castle an overall makeover so that it would not rot. Twilight originally came up with the idea and asked her friends to join in to help. Star Twinkle and Steel Hammer were there as well. Because of their job, it only felt natural to ask them for help. Luckily for Star Twinkle, the work was done while on his usual work time, meaning that he didn't have to do work on top of doing more work afterward. It was more like going to work with his friends around him. This made it actually a little bit more fun. Twilight did her best to assigning everypony to do some work while also helping here and there. Applejack fixed the decoration on the walls, Rarity fixed the banners and the pictures of the castle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy took care of the higher places of the castle, and Pinkie Pie cleaned the whole place. Star Twinkle and Steel Hammer were responsible to repair some broken walls in the castle. A lot of them had holes to fill or bricks to replace. The two Earth Ponies were busy replacing some of the bricks and did their best to make it look as good as new again. As usual, Star Twinkle was not too excited to do this. "Say...why exactly are we repairing an old castle where nopony lives anymore?" He asked as he was attending the wall in front of him, his eyes practically revealing how bored he was. "You are always looking for reasons to avoid a little bit of hard work, huh?" Steel Hammer said as he shook his head just by the thought that they were both doing the same job in the same workshop. "Yeah...that's the plan..." Star Twinkle thought. He could obviously not say that out loud or else his boss would scold him, something that he rather wanted to avoid. In the middle of their work, Spike occasionally wandered from one pony to another to offer his help but nopony seemed to be in need of that. Eventually, he came across the two Earth Ponies. Star Twinkle noticed the little dragon approaching him and stopped for a moment to see what he wanted. "Do you two need any help?" Spike asked immediately with wide eyes, like a little colt who was just about to get a present at Hearts Warming Eve. "We're all good, Spike, don't worry," Steel Hammer replied as he was attending the wall in front of him, not even bothering to look at Spike. Spike reacted with a frown. It could have been because of how Steel Hammer replied to his question but Star Twinkle had a feeling that this was not the reason. "What's the matter, Spike?" He asked in order to find out why he was so depressed all of the sudden. Spike let out a sigh. "It's just..." He looked over at the other as they were doing their work in the castle. "Everypony is doing something and they don't need my help at all...Twilight even wanted me to sit somewhere quiet to finish my comic..." Star Twinkle had trouble to understand the problem and tilted his head to the side. "So...nopony needs your help and you are free to just relax and read a Comic Book?" Star Twinkle asked to which Spike nodded. Star Twinkle then narrowed his eyes in confusion. "I'm not seeing the problem here..." Steel Hammer only shook his head for a moment, behind Star Twinkle's back and then returned to his work again. Spike's mood didn't seem to be affected by Star Twinkle's words and he continued to frown. He couldn't just leave the little dragon like that so he tried to change the subject in order to cheer him up. Star Twinkle then noticed the backpack that Spike was wearing and saw a comic book sticking out of it. "What comic are you reading?" He asked, hoping that talking about it would make him forget his worry. Spike forgot his worries as soon as Star Twinkle mentioned the comic book and excitedly pulled it out. "The Power Ponies!" Spike exclaimed happily. Star Twinkle heard the name before. It was a popular comic book series featuring ponies with superpowers. Spike actually went to the trouble to explain almost every single detail that happened in the comic so far. Something about a villain called "The Maniac" and some kind of doomsday device. He also complained how there was this guy called Hum Drum who always messes up things and is just there for comic relief. All those information went way above Star Twinkle's head but at least Spike was so caught up in explaining the comic that he forgot not being able to help anypony in the castle. "Well, don't you want to know what happens next?" Star Twinkle asked. Spike looked at his comic and figured that if nopony wanted his help, he might as well finish his comic now. "Guess you're right..." he said, still with a slight hint of disappointment in his voice before he left the room to find a quiet place. Star Twinkle smiled a little. "Maybe the reading the comic would make him think about something else," he thought. It was at least better than feeling left out here, something that Star Twinkle actually understood. After realizing that he should get to his work before Steel Hammer would scold him again, Star Twinkle turned around to focus on his wall. "Sorry, but I just couldn't leave the little guy like this," he apologized. "He seemed to enjoy this comic quite a lot, don't you think Steel Hammer?" He asked. But Steel Hammer was nowhere to be found, much to Star Twinkle's confusion. His working place looked like as if it was abandoned. He was clearly not done with his work, which was pretty unusual for Steel Hammer. Star Twinkle had no idea how exactly he should react to that but he continued his own work again. His boss would probably turn up any second again. In the library of the castle... Spike did what Star Twinkle and Twilight suggested and actually went to the library to finish his comic-book. It's not like he was needed elsewhere anyway. "Let's see..." he said as he opened up the book at the page where he last left off. "Mane-iac breaks into the museum... Okay, here we go. ...Ugh, what a surprise! Hum Drum is in the way again while the Power Ponies do all the work! I guess I know what that feels like..." he said, feeling really himself in a similar situation like that character in the comic-book. "Don't be so hard to yourself," Steel Hammer said as he walked into the room, much to Spike's surprise. "Steel Hammer? What are you doing here?" Spike asked confused. Steel Hammer walked up to the little dragon. "I just wanted to check out how the Power Ponies will save the day," he said as he sat right next to him. Spike raised his eyebrows in confusion. "You are interested in the Power Ponies?" He asked almost in disbelieve. "Interested?" Steel Hammer replied. "As a colt, I was a huge fan of their adventures!" He claimed proudly. "But enough of that, we are wasting important reading time!" "But aren't you supposed to help to fix the castle?" Spike asked. "I'm sure, Star Twinkle will take care of my part," Steel Hammer replied, even though Spike was highly doubting that. The stallion glanced over the book and read through the page that Spike was on right now. "Hey, looks like the Maniac is about to win! What will happen next? Come on, turn the page!" "On it!" Spike replied. He actually felt a little happy to see someone being interested in this story as well. He flipped the page and looked at it to see what was about to happen but much to his confusion, there was only a blank page left. "What!? How is this the end?" He asked confused, making sure that there was no page in between this one and further inspecting the page. But the only thing that he could find was something written on the bottom of the last page. "I can't quite read what is written here..." Spike said as he focused on the words, however, he was unable to read them. "I'll get a magnifying glass!" Steel Hammer said determinedly. "We can't leave this adventure unsolved like this!" He added before he went to the other side of the room to find a magnifying glass in order to read the words written on the last page. ... In the meantime, Star Twinkle's favorite time was about to begin. The break. Still, with Steel Hammer being away for quite a while, he couldn't help but get a little worried that he was left with all of his boss's work. But not only Steel Hammer was gone for a while, Spike was nowhere to be found as well, causing the girls to look for both of them inside of the castle. "Spike! Steel Hammer! Where are ya?" Applejack shouted through the hallways. "We're breaking for tea and biscuits!" Rarity added, hoping that that would lead them out of wherever they were hiding. "Spike is probably reading his comic book somewhere but where is Steel Hammer?" Star Twinkle asked as he helped the girls to find the two. "I sure hope we find them," he said worriedly. "Or else...I am left with all the work on the walls..." he thought. "Yes," Twilight agreed on. "I hope they are not in trouble or something," "Oh! Yeah! That too!" Star Twinkle said nervously with a grin on his face. ... Back into the room, where Spike and Steel Hammer were in, Spike was about to find out what was written on the last page of the comic-book. "I think I can read it now!" Spike said while he was holding the magnifying glass in front of his eyes. "Then let's hear!" Steel Hammer said excitedly. He had to admit that he got quite curious about what was written there himself. They both got so caught up in reading this little text that they didn't even realize that their friends were about to walk into the room, finding them. Spike concentrated further with the magnifying glass in front of him and read the text written in the comic-book out loud. "You can return to the place you started when the Mane-iac is... defeated. Take a closer look to join the adventure in this book?" He said confused, looking to Steel Hammer for advice. But the stallion only shrugged his shoulders in confusion. "Maybe it's important for the next issue?" He guessed though it was highly unlikely that this was the case. Then suddenly, a bright light came out of the little book that was sucking both Spike and Steel Hammer in it. Luckily, Star Twinkle and the girls were close by and noticed the light coming from the room and quickly investigated. As soon as they saw the two trying to not getting sucked into the comic, they all jumped to the two's rescue one by one. Unfortunately, they couldn't prevent them from being sucked into the comic and even ended up getting sucked into it as well. This only left the comic book inside of the room. They all vanished to the other side...of the comic-book... Somewhere else... It was quiet. Whatever happened after Star Twinkle and his friends tried to help Spike and Steel Hammer was over now. Star Twinkle was not hurt so he managed to get up pretty easily. He was no longer in the castle but instead on top of some building. He was clearly no longer in the Everfree Forest or even Ponyville, that's for sure. It was a city, filled with big skyscrapers, nothing he had ever seen before. "What is this place?" He wondered as he kept looking around. "It's Maretropolis!" A voice said from behind Star Twinkle. He quickly identified it as Steel Hammer's voice, however, it sounded a little muffled. "Maretropolis?" Star Twinkle asked while he turned around to face Steel Hammer. The green Earth Pony got a little confused to not see a brown coated and silver-maned pony in front of him but instead a pony dressed in some kind of orange armor suit that covered all of his body. There were also some green hammer symbols scattered on his armor, one of them being directly on his chest. "What are you wearing?" Is the only thing that Star Twinkle could ask after seeing Steel Hammer in this get up. But he was about to get even more confused once he saw the rest of hit Friends standing nearby, all of them wearing a completely different attire. "Somepony wanna tell me what the hay is goin' on?" Applejack then asked confused, practically speaking for everypony else. "Holy new personas, ponies!" Spike then said in shock, standing next to Star Twinkle and Steel Hammer, wearing a black mask, blue boots, blue gloves, a blue belt and a red cape. "You're the...Power Ponies!" He said in shock once he looked over to everypony. "Awesome!" Steel Hammer exclaimed excitedly. It was only just now that Star Twinkle realized that he was wearing something else as well. "Wait a minute! You mean like those ponies from your comic?" He asked confused "Yep! We all look exactly like them!" Steel Hammer replied, somehow not being fazed by all this at all. "Let me give you a little run down," Steel Hammer then pointed over to everypony and explained who they were. Twilight, who was wearing a cherry red colored and light blue suit, a cherry red colored mask with yellow goggles and white boots with her star Cutie Mark on it. According to Steel Hammer, she was "The Masked Matter-Horn". Next was Pinkie Pie, who was wearing white bodysuit with some light purple lines on it, which covered all of her body except her face. She was "Fili-Second" Rainbow Dash was wearing a night blue suit, white boots with yellow lightning bolts on it and a lightning bolt shaped necklace. Steel Hammer called her "Zapp". Rarity wore a dark blue suit and a blue mask. There were light blue and pink diamonds scattered all over her clothes and her mane, and one big pink one on the yellow necklace around her chest. Her name was "Radiance". Steel Hammer then pointed to Applejack. She was wearing a red suit, a black mask that only showed her eyes and mouth and black boots with yellow apples on them. She was also wearing a black saddlebag that had a golden lasso and golden horseshoes inside of it. "Mistress Mare-velous" was her name. The last of the girls was Fluttershy. She was wearing a turquoise colored suit with yellow butterflies on her legs, a purple scarf with a pink flower on it, and a purple mask. Her name was "Saddle Rager," Steel Hammer then introduced himself and showed off his orange armor that had green hammer symbols all over his body. "I myself am...Metal Hoof!" He proudly said as he was posing and showing off the armor that he was wearing in front of everyone. Star Twinkle didn't really pay attention to what he was wearing up until now but he was also wearing similar clothes like the rest. His suit was yellow and he had a big white star on his chest with a green "U" inside of it. He was also wearing green boots and had a long green cape on his back. "And...who am I?" Star Twinkle asked confused. Steel Hammer explained. "You are...Ultra Pony!" Needless to say, this was all a little to much to take in. According to Steel Hammer and Spike, they were inside of a comic book and took the place of the Power Ponies. Some ponies in the group had a hard time believing that but they didn't have another explanation for their new get up so what they were saying might as well be true. But before the group had any moment to even comprehend all this, an explosion went off in front of their building, down on the street. A giant smoke cloud came out of a hole from the building across the street and a mare came walking out of it. Or rather, she used her extremely long green mane which could move on its own to pull her out of the bank. "Power Ponies! How kind of you to join us!" She said excited followed by an insane and maniacally sounding laugh. She had a grayish blue-violet colored coat, a malachite green colored mane, and emerald green eyes with red pupils. She was also wearing a purple suit with black boots. She also carried some kind of orb with her. As soon as this pony referred to the group as "Power Ponies" it was pretty much confirmed that what Spike and Steel Hammer told them was actually true. "So lemme guess...That's the Mane-iac?" Star Twinkle figured based on how obviously insane and evil she was already acting. "Yes! And you have to stop her!" Spike replied. "My comic book! It said the way to get back to where we started was to defeat the Mane-iac! Your arch-nemesis!" He explained. Since defeating the Maniac seemed to be the only way to get out of this comic the group pretty much had no choice to stop her, especially after the Mane-iac decided to throw some stuff right at the group, causing them to dodge out of the way. However, Pinkie Pie didn't seem to have moved in time and actually got hit by it. Surprisingly, Pinkie Pie didn't seem to be there anymore. "Pinkie! Where'd she go?!" Rainbow Dash asked confused, causing her and the others to look around in order to find her only to find out that a pink flash accompanied by a shrieking voice yelling "Wheeee" was running all over the city. "Wait...is that Pinkie Pie!?" Star Twinkle asked confused, following the pink flash all over the city with his eyes. "She could be miles away from here by now!" Spike explained. "Pinkie is Fili-Second, the fastest pony in all of Maretropolis!" Pinkie Pie may be gone for now but there was still a hoof-full of ponies left to deal with the Mane-iac so Applejack took it upon herself to stop the villain. She pulled out her golden lasso and swung it right at the Mane-iac in order to capture her. But the Mane-iac dodged to the side in time, causing Applejack to hit the street lamp next to her. Applejack tried to let go of it but surprisingly, she was practically drawn to the lamp and managed to strap herself right on it, much to the Mane-iac's enjoyment who just continued to laugh maniacally. "Well, that didn't work..." Star Twinkle thought. It was kinda weird how Applejack messed up that much, considering how good she usually was with a lasso. Spike turned towards Twilight and asked her to step in now. "Twilight! Freeze her mane!" He asked of her. "Do what?" Twilight replied confused. "You're the Masked Matter-Horn! You can shoot all kinds of crazy power beams from your horn!" Spike explained, prompting her to take action to save the day. Twilight concentrated her magic. She didn't seem to be able to use her usual magic spells and had to do what Spike was asking of her but all she managed to do was shooting an embarrassing small spark out of her horn. Definitely not what she was supposed to do. The Mane-iac's reaction was...rather unimpressed. "You know, I'm beginning to enjoy this," she said, followed by her usual maniacally laughter. Shortly after, a fire hydrant came flying towards the group, causing them to dodge out of the way again. "Would somepony tell her to stop throwing stuff at us!?" Star Twinkle exclaimed. Spike then widened his eyes. "That's it! Star Twinkle charge right at her!" "Well, it had to be my turn someday..." Star Twinkle mumbled. "What is my superpower?" He asked. "You're Ultra Pony! You can fly, you have super-pony strength, speed, and durability!" "I have?" Star Twinkle asked confused, not really feeling that different. "That actually sounds pretty powerful..." "Come on, Star Twinkle! Just go down there and attack her!" Spike said to finally deal with the Mane-iac. Being on top of a building didn't really help Star Twinkle out much because of his fear of height. Spike said he could fly which didn't help out much either since he was afraid of flying too. Quite a bothersome situation he was in now. Still, Star Twinkle tried to ignore that and just jumped towards the Mane-iac with his eyes closed, hoping that he would hit her. Shortly after Star Twinkle jumped, the next thing he knew was that he crashed into something and that he was suddenly inside of a building. His head started to spin a little and he didn't seem to be in any condition to fight due to being a little disorientated about what just happened and just slowly walked out of the building. He found himself next to Applejack and The Mane-iac who didn't seem to be to impressed by his performance. By now, Spike just slapped his forehead and was heavily disappointed by how his friends were dealing with the whole situation. Steel Hammer was the next one to show off his superpowers. "Let me show you all how a real superhero takes care of things!" He said confidently and determined. There was fire coming out of his legs that made the stallion fly up into the air. Steel Hammer then pointed his front hoof towards the Mane-iac. "What's he doing?" Star Twinkle wondered, wondering what his boss was about to do now. As if Steel Hammer heard the question, he immediately explained his own superpowers. "Metal Hoof doesn't have any superpowers but his armor is filled with all kind of cool gadgets! Like rocket launchers or energy beams!" He said, probably having a big grin under his helmet at this point. Having Steel Hammer in charge of destructive weapons like that was not exactly what Star Twinkle thought would be a good combination, however, Steel Hammer knew a lot about this comic and the Power Ponies so maybe he would actually be capable to do something helpful now. The leg pieces of his armor began to change and it looked like some kind of laser cannon. He pointed towards the Mane-iac and started his assault. "EAT DIRT, criminal scum! Ahahahahaha," He shouted followed by a maniac laugh. The Mane-iac saw how those lasers were about to hit her and she dodged, seeing that Steel Hammer might cause her some problems. "Yes! It's working!" Star Twinkle said after seeing the Mane-iac actually being in some trouble now. However, he quickly took those words back once he was almost hit by one of those beams himself. After looking up to the stallion once more, Star Twinkle noticed that Steel Hammer was too excited about his newfound powers to aim properly. He was just shooting randomly at the Mane-iac. "Nope, it's not working..." Star Twinkle corrected after he saw this. Only a few moments later, Steel Hammer hit the building that Star Twinkle was standing in front of, causing some debris to fall directly at the green stallion. "Nope...not working at all!" He said before he was buried under the rubble. "Star Twinkle!" Twilight yelled in her concern before she was about to fly towards him if Spike wouldn't have stopped her. "He's fine! Ultra Pony won't be defeated by something like that," he explained. Twilight still seemed worried but she trusted Spike's words who was still focusing on stopping the Mane-iac again. "Dash! Quick! You're Zapp, and your superpower is controlling the mighty forces of nature! Unholster the lightning bolt!" Rainbow Dash seemed confused but she gave it a try and flew up in the air, pointing her lightning bolt necklace towards the sky. Moments later, lightning bolts appeared in the sky and a tornado started to form in front of her. The tornado headed right at the rest of the group who was still on top of the buildings and tried to hold on to something. "Lightning, not a tornado!" Spike yelled at Rainbow Dash. Again, things were not going according to plan. The group was then sucked into the tornado and were even more helpless than before. Pinkie Pie eventually, decided to come back to the group as well, only to be caught by the tornado as well. Rainbow Dash and Steel Hammer who were still in the air were shortly sucked into it too, leaving only Applejack and the Mane-iac outside. The latter one making herself comfortable to enjoy this show in front of her. Despite swirling around inside of the tornado, Spike continued to explain the girl's superpowers in order to take care of the situation. "Fluttershy! You're Saddle Rager! Lose your temper, and you'll turn into a huge, super-strong monster!" "Oh, gosh! That wouldn't... be very... polite!" Fluttershy replied confused. Again, Spike slapped his forehead in frustration before he turned towards Rarity. "Rarity! Use your jewelry to create attack constructs!" "What's an attack construct?!" Rarity replied confused. "Just think of something, anything, and your bracelet makes it appear!" Spike explained. Rarity then took a glance at her diamond-shaped bracelet and focused. Something then did appear in front of her, however, it was just a bunch of tea cups that flew right at Spike and shattered. "Something useful!" He exclaimed frustrated. The tornado continued to rage through the street without nearly stopping the Mane-iac and with the group being inside of it. Spike was the only one who managed to fall out of the tornado and landed next to the Mane-iac. His head was still spinning but he clearly saw how the Electro-Orb, that the Mane-iac was carrying was right in front of him. The Mane-iac was too busy to look at the tornado in front of her and didn't even notice him so he decided to take the orb without her noticing. It actually worked and Spike was able to snitch it away from her unnoticed but as soon as he tried to sneak away, he slipped on his cape and dropped it, causing the Mane-iac to pick it up again. "Why, thank you, Hum Drum!" The Mane-iac said, followed by her usual evil laughter. She then left the group in their misery and was probably on her way to continue her evil plans. It was only now that Spike actually noticed that he was also wearing a superhero attire. Unfortunately, it wasn't one he was too impressed with. "I'm Hum Drum...?!" He realized in shock. But he had no time to worry about this right now since there was still a tornado raging through the streets that had to be stopped. Applejack was the only one who was up now so it was up to her to take care of it. "Applejack! You gotta help stop the tornado from destroying the city!" Applejack still tried to break free from her own lasso, that tied her up on the street lantern. "But every time I move, this darn lasso gets tighter!" "You're psychically connected to it! Will it to where you want it to go, and it'll obey you!" Spike explained. Applejack then closed her eyes and concentrated. The lasso opened up and she was finally released again. She then swung the lasso around and threw it right at the tornado to make it stop spinning. It actually worked and shortly after, everypony was with their hooves on the street again. It finally gave them time to discuss what exactly was happening right now and how to deal with the situation. "Wait!" Twilight then said after realizing that somepony was missing. She turned her head to where Star Twinkle was buried under and was about to walk up to him. However, the rubble began to move and Star Twinkle emerged from under it shortly after. "Wow! That was...not as painful as I thought it was..." he said in surprise after realizing that he only felt some very slight pain from something that should have crushed him. It was obviously his superpowers that caused that. He shortly joined the group again and tried to find out what was going on. Spike explained once more, that they were trapped inside of his comic-book and the only way to get out of there was to defeat the Mane-iac and stop her from using her so-called doomsday device. Despite, messing up on a big scale so far, most of the ponies were confident to take care of this. Everyone except Spike who was sulking a little. Rarity walked up to the little dragon and inspected his outfit as well. "What are your super powers Spikey-boo? Your character is wearing a cape too!" "I don't have any...I'm Hum Drum..." he replied with a frown on his face. "He's pretty much useless..." he added. "Good thing you're not really Hum Drum, then," Twilight said, in order to cheer up the little dragon. "Yeah, good thing..." Spike replied though it was obvious that it didn't help much to hear those words. The group then asked where the Mane-iac went to so that they could stop him and go back to Ponyville. Spike explained that she must be in her top-secret headquarters by now. The Orb that the Mane-iac was carrying around is used to power up her doomsday device so they had to hurry. "Alright! Lead the way, Spike!" Applejack said. "Then leave the rest to us!" Rainbow Dash added. Spike only sighed after Rainbow Dash's words and led the way to the Mane-iac's hideout. Later... With Spike leading the way, the group eventually arrived at the hideout. Or rather...the shampoo factory which was supposed to be the Mane-iac's hideout. "Comic-book logic, huh?" Star Twinkle thought with his eyes narrowed. Twilight advised that this time, they should come up with a plan but Rainbow Dash insisted to provoke the Mane-iac by shooting lightning at the building, accompanied by Steel Hammer who was randomly shooting at the building with his laser cannons. "So much for "element of surprise"," Twilight expressed after seeing the two ruin the plan that she had prepared for the situation. Of course, those attacks were no unheard and a gate opened up in front of the group. A bunch of henchponies showed themselves all of them with stylish mane styles and ready to take care of the Power Ponies. But little did they know that the eight super-ponies were ready for them now. Like in true superhero fashion they all posed next to each other and to make themselves look more amazing. "Time to Power Pony up!" Applejack then said, pretty much making their appearance complete. "Ooh! Nice catchphrase!" Pinkie Pie complimented. The group then split up and dealt with those henchponies with their superpowers. This time they all seemed to get their powers down and managed to take care of everypony that came towards them. Twilight used her freeze ray to freeze rays to freeze ponies in her track, Applejack used her lasso and her golden horseshoes, Rainbow Dash struck lighting down on her enemies, Pinkie Pie used her speed to outmaneuver everypony, Rarity summoned several things with her bracelet to defeat the henchponies and Steel Hammer actually aimed before he shot at somepony. Fluttershy was the only one who stood back in the rear and was hiding from everypony since she wasn't angry enough to use her own powers. Spike also stood a little further away since he didn't have any powers to deal with the Mane-iac's goons. Star Twinkle was also not fighting yet which eventually made him end up being surrounded by a whole lot of henchponies. "Okay...easy. The last time I tried to charge at somepony, I landed face first into a wall..." he whispered to himself, trying to come up with some strategy. But he didn't get any time to think since all of the ponies around him began to charge at him. "Here we go!" He then said before he swung his hooves at his attackers. The next thing he knew was seeing the pony in front of him flying away from the impact of Star Twinkle's punch. The green coated stallions jaw dropped after he realized how strong he was and he had to admit that this was pretty awesome. He continued to deal with everypony coming closer to him and managed to fight them off like it was absolutely nothing. "Hehe! I have the power!" He then screamed in his excitement through the street after he knocked out the last pony that attacked him. The others were done fighting as well and decided to regroup again in front of the shampoo factory. "Nice work, Power Ponies! Now let's take care of the Mane-iac and get ourselves home!" Twilight said, boosting the morale of the group further. "Yeah!" Steel Hammer exclaimed excited. "She doesn't stand a chance against us now!" He said, readying his laser cannons. "I don't think so!" Speaking of the mare, the Mane-iac showed up in front of the Power Ponies to deal with them herself, using her mane to lift her up over the ground. "I have a city to destroy, and I'm not about to let the Power Ponies stop me! Not this time!" She said, with her eyes rolling in pure insanity. "Just watch us!" Rainbow Dash returned, being completely unimpressed by the Mane-iac's words and instantly charged right at the villain. But the Mane-iac came prepared and pulled out a big spray can, something that Spike quickly recognized. "The Hairspray Ray of Doom! It stops you in your tracks and renders your powers useless!" He exclaimed. But for Rainbow Dash, it was too late. The Mane-iac used the Hairspray Ray of Doom and Rainbow Dash got caught into it directly. She dropped to the ground and was unable to move at all. After seeing Rainbow Dash unable to do anything, the rest of the group decided to charge right at the villain. On hindsight, this was actually a pretty stupid idea because it ended with all of them being sprayed at too. They must have gotten a little carried away with their powers and felt a little too confident. The group was unable to move and the henchponies dragged them inside of the shampoo factory. "Don't worry," Twilight then said. "Fluttershy is still out of there, I'm sure if she get's angry enough she-" "-got captured..." Star Twinkle finished as soon as he saw Fluttershy being dragged by a pony towards the group. "Oh..." Twilight replied as soon as she saw Fluttershy as well. "Wait...where is Spike!?" She then asked. The Mane-iac laughed. "You mean Hum Drum? Why in all of Maretropolis would I use the Hairspray Ray of Doom on him? Rather pointless, don't you think?" She explained. Hearing those word would probably make Spike feel even more helpless then he already thought he was. It's not like they had time to worry about him though. Right now they were the ones who were trapped and about to lose to the Mane-iac... A little Later... The eight ponies were put inside of a cage that was hanging from the ceiling while still being unable to move. To make sure that it would stay that way, they were sprayed at by the Mane-iac's Hairspray Ray of Doom occasionally since it actually didn't take too long for it to wear off. In the meantime, the Mane-iac, in good old villain fashion, explained her plan to the Power Ponies. "Congratulations, Power Ponies! You shall live just long enough to see me fire the instrument of your destruction!" She then walked up and removed a sheet that covered her Doomsday machine...which looked like a hairdryer. "Comic-book logic, I guess..." Star Twinkle thought after seeing this thing next to the villain. "Once the Electro-Orb has powered it up completely, this cannon will amplify the power of my mane one million times, expelling an energy blast that will cause everypony in Maretropolis's mane to grow wild!" She explained while laughing like crazy again. "You will be my weapon's first victims, and there is nopony who can save you from this fate!" But Fluttershy disagreed with those last words. "Ahem. I don't mean to interrupt, but aren't you forgetting about somepony?" She said. "Yeah!" Steel Hammer agreed. "Hum Drum is still out there and he will find a way to save us!" "Hum Drum?" The Mane-iac replied. "Little guy? No superpowers whatsoever? He's utterly useless!" She said laughing about the thought that Spike could do something to stop her. "Puh-lease. Everypony knows you just keep him around because you feel sowwy for him," Again the group disagreed. Especially Twilight. "Maybe in your world. But in our world, Spike— uh, Hum Drum always comes through when we need him! Always!" There was nothing more to add from anypony. The rest agreed that Spike was not able to use magic, that he wasn't as fast as Rainbow Dash, as strong as Applejack or being able to transform like Star Twinkle. But whenever they really needed him, Spike would not disappoint them. Just like back then in the Crystal Empire or some other occasions. And this time was no different. They just had to trust him. But of course, the Mane-iac wasn't believing a word that Twilight said. "I see dementia must be a side-effect of prolonged exposure to the Hairspray Ray of Doom," The Mane-iac then went on with some kind of speech how she finally managed to defeat her arch-nemesis and how she would soon be in control of Maretropolis. All while not being aware that her plans were about be ruined by one little dragon that was sneaking around the factory. As soon as Star Twinkle spotted him, he smiled towards Twilight, knowing that they soon would be free. Spike managed to set up the big sheet that was on the doomsday machine before and placed it so that it would trap most of the henchponies if it was moved in the right angle. Luckily, Spike managed to get exactly that to work. He was able to strap the sheet to a giant box and threw it off of a railing to trap most of the goons in one swoop. Next, he had to deal with the pony who kept spraying the group with the Hairspray Ray of Doom so he swung via crane over to the pony and kicked him away, knocking off the spray can as well and freezing some more henchponies in the process. "Way to go, Spike!" Twilight said happily, seeing how Spike took care of the whole situation at once. Without being exposed to the giant spray can anymore, the group could already feel how their movements were no longer frozen again. As soon as Rarity could move one of her legs again, she summoned a chisel to remove the bars of the cages and freed everypony. The Power Ponies were heading out and took care of the rest of the goons. The rest went as expected. Freeze Rays, tornadoes, horseshoes, energy blasts and much more were flying all over the place like the one battle in front of the factory. The only one who wasn't part of the battle was Fluttershy who actually tried to leave the factory. "Fluttershy, where are you going?" Spike asked once he spotted the mare trying to leave. "You seem to have everything under control," she returned which was actually not too far off from the truth. The Mane-iac overheard the little conversation between the two and decided to take the chance to test her little Doomsday Machine on Fluttershy. But luckily, a little firefly was flying right in front of the machine and managed to block her sight. Because of that, the Mane-iac slapped away the little bug with her mane, knocking it against the wall next to Fluttershy. Something that she soon would regret doing... "Oh, goodness! Are you okay?" Fluttershy said once she saw the little firefly hurt on the ground. She then turned towards the Mane-iac with an angry expression on her face. "Are you kidding me? I mean, I know you're evil and everything, but you hurt a teensy, little, harmless firefly?! Really?!" Well, you're just a great, big, meanie!" She continued, much to the Mane-iacs surprise who noticed how Fluttershy's voice kept getting deeper "There! I said it! What makes you think you're so special?! Like the rules of common courtesy don't apply to you?!" Her voice kept getting even deeper and as if that wasn't scary enough, the little and slender mare suddenly grew bigger and more muscular, causing her suit to get ripped apart and shortly being almost the same size of an Ursa Major. "WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEPONY YOUR OWN SIZE!?" She said before she let out a ground shaking roar that sent shivers down on everyponies spine. "Well. She is angry now," Steel Hammer pointed out after seeing Fluttershy like this. The Mane-iac didn't like the sight of this monster of a pony in front of her and pressed some buttons on her Doomsday Device and shot right at Fluttershy but the mare only let out another roar that completely reflected the beam right back at her, knocking the villain of the ground. Fluttershy then jumped up to the machine and literally ripped it apart, smashing it with only her hooves and biting out pieces of it. It took her some time to notice how everypony was staring at her but when she did she quickly got embarrassed. The focus was then back to the Mane-iac who was now suffering from the effects of her own Doomsday Device that made her mane go even more crazier. "My mane! My maaaaaane!" She just screamed before she got completely tied up by her own mane and continued laughing insanely while jumping up and down on the ground. Star Twinkle had mixed feelings seeing that in front of him. "You know...I am starting to think that she is a little crazy..." he expressed. With the Mane-iac defeated there was only one thing left to do for the group. "Do you wanna say it?" Steel Hammer said as he walked up to Spike. The little dragon nodded since he knew exactly what the stallion meant and struck a pose with his pony friends behind him. "Once again, the day is saved by—" But before Spike could finish his sentence, the same light that brought the group into this world appeared next to them and sucked them into it, probably sending them back to Ponyville. Back in the Castle of the Two Sister... As expected, the group found themselves back into the castle after their victory over the Mane-iac. The group was glad being back in the real world again but at the same time, they seemed to have fun having superpowers for a short amount of time. "Did you see how I was raining down a storm of justice at the end there?!" Rainbow Dash asked. "You catch how I was wieldin' that lasso?" Applejack asked. "Cupcakes?" Pinkie Pie asked having a plate of cupcakes in her hooves. Of course, the group was wondering where she got those all of the sudden to which Pinkie Pie explained: "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!" Spike seemed to be the only one who was exhausted after this whole adventure. "I'm just glad to be back," he shared with the group. "We wouldn't have made it without you, Spike," Twilight said, speaking basically for the rest of the group. "And I hope you realize that just because we don't always need your help, it doesn't mean that we don't think you're helpful," she explained. "And that you don't have to have superpowers to be a super friend," Spike said, proving that he learned something from this whole trip into the comic-book. "You're darn right!" Steel Hammer added. "I wish the comics that I read back then were as eventful as this one," "Yeah, that brings up one more question," Star Twinkle then said after he realized something. "Where ever did you get a comic-book that could literally send us into it?" Spike then explained. "This one I got in Canterlot at the House of Enchanted Comics." Hearing that made everyone except Steel Hammer roll their eyes. "Well, I didn't know it meant they were literally enchanted! I thought it just meant, like, the comics they sold there had really enchanting storylines!" He explained, trying to not get on the bad side of everypony now. Steel Hammer then walked up to the little dragon and whispered something to him. "Soooo...where exactly can one find this comic shop?" He asked, trying to not let anypony hear that. But that didn't work... "You are coming with me..." Star Twinkle said, dragging his boss behind him so that he wouldn't do something stupid. "Come on!" Steel Hammer plead as he continued to get dragged by Star Twinkle who clearly thought that an adventure like that was enough.