//------------------------------// // Power People // Story: Tales from Tinies. // by MrAquino //------------------------------// It was another night in Manehattan, and in a nearby alleyway to the tiny village, a group of women waited, each looking a bit impatient. Each of them looked different, almost like they were complete strangers, yet they all knew each other. In what looked to be an old officer's uniform was Barbara, covered in noticeable muscles, but wasn't so noticeable that didn't make her look masculine and not feminine. Next to her, jogging in place and sweating a bit was Cindy, wearing fitness attire that screamed late 80's and early 90's. Fanning herself to keep herself cool was Edith, wearing a suit and looking the most presentable in the bunch. Reading a book to pass the time was Mandy, wearing a dark dress that almost made her camouflage into the alley way. And finally, applying makeup was Abby, who looked like, if given the chance, would live in a Starbucks and have men pay for her drink. "Like, it's been forever!" Abby spoke. "When is she, like, here?" "I told you already," Edith replied. "Hope is bringing her brother with us, and today just happens to be the release of those 'Power Ponies' comic books." "Ooh! Comic books!?" Cindy asked. "I haven't seen those in a LONG time." "How old is he?" Mandy asked. "Because that stuff is only meant for kids, and I'm sure he's supposed to be in high school right now." "Supposed to." Barbara replied "And don't judge him for what he likes, Mandy. He's just… special that way." There was the sound of grunting heard. The five women quickly got up and hid behind some trash (though Edith had a disgusted look doing so). Walking in to the alleyway, dragging a comic book was a more punk looking woman and a teenage looking boy. There was a collective sigh of relief as the rest of the women got out from their hiding spots. "Like, wow, you scared the, like, daylights out of us." Abby spoke. Both stopped dragging, taking a deep breath. "Sorry, Eddie just HAD to get the next issue of those Power Ponies comics." Hope apologized with a touch of salt in her tone. "It's a new series!" Eddie defended himself. "You might like it. It's-" He was quickly silenced when hope put her hand on his face. "Yeah, sure. Unless some other heroes like Iron Man joins, not interested." She took her hand off and approached the other women. "So, what have you all been doing? Gonna arrest us for loitering, Barb?" Barbara rolled her eyes. "You know I'm not a robot. And it was a one time thing." As the women all chatted, Eddie turned around and read his comic, each page having him to get off the book he stood on, and push the page over to read the next panels. An hour had passed, and the women still chatted, and Eddie was near the end. Said issue ended with a cliffhanger. It made him angry as it was getting good,but he noticed something small written on the corner. Curious, he walked to the end and read aloud to himself. "You can return to the place you started when the Mane-iac is defeated." He blinked a bit. "Is there an Easter egg in the beginning of this issue?" He looked closer. "Take a closer look to join the adventure in this book." Confusion took over him. "Wait… is there a contest right now!?" The page began to glow, causing Eddie to stagger back. All of the other women saw what was happening, looking at Eddie who had a frightened expression. "Eddie!" Hope yelled. "What did you do!?" "I don't know!" There was a vacuum formed, sucking Eddie into the glowing pages. He tried to turn and run, but was pulled in a bit. Hope ran and caught his arms, trying to pull him out, but was getting herself sucked in as well. All the other women grabbed onto Hope and each other, all trying desperately to pull themselves away. The vacuum proved too strong, and with a single gust, all 7 people were sucked into the large comic, where it sat in place. Moments later, a stallion walked by, seeing the comic and picking it up. "Wait a minute," he spoke. "They did WHAT to the Power Ponies!?" Everything was dark and blurry to Eddie as he woke up. He felt a bit off, as if he was in a completely different set of clothes. His vision returned shortly, and he was in an alleyway, but everything felt a bit different. He wasn't sure why, but the city felt more… animated, if that was the right term. The place shook, as he could hear maniacal laughter around. "You can run,but you can't hide 'heroes'!" The voice belonged to a woman who continued her maniacal laughter, as giant cars were flipped around, crashing into buildings and causing ponies to flee in terror. Towering over most of the ponies was another mare with a purple coat, wearing a darker shaded costume with yellow edges, using her green, tendril-like mane and tail to navigate the city. "Come out now! You claim to be heroes but you're just cowards!" She laughed hard before moving away. Eddie's eyes widened and pupils shrunk.  "Wait… am I in Maretropolis!? Then… that means-!" "Uh, Eddie?" Edith's voice spoke from behind. "What are you wearing?" Eddie turned and jumped. "Holy crap! You're… you're superheroes!!!" Standing in a straight line was all the women, now in superhero costumes. All their costumes were tight, revealing the shape of their bodies, and since they were all fit, the costumes looked even better. Abby wore a dark violet costume with a metal armor around her neck and back with mechanical wings protruding from said back, a matching mask with goggles over it, and a mechanical horn jutting from her forehead. Edith wore a dark blue costume with light blue diamonds decorated all over her costume, purple diamonds around her wrists, and some of the same diamonds were in her hair, with an elegant looking mask over her eyes. Cindy wore a white costume with a few purple arrows on her chest, hips, and forearms, and had an exposed face. Mandy wore a turquoise costume with some darker patches on her shoulders, hips, the sides of her breasts, and just around her lower regions, and had a simple purple mask on. Barbara had a red costume on with some green on her chest, with some bandages around her hair, she also wore a utility belt with some rope at her side, and had on a black, ski-like-mask on her face. Finally, Hope had a simple dark blue costume with white gloves, a pair of wings popping from her back, and a sort of helmet on her head with a lightning necklace on. All of the women looked at each other in surprise and themselves.  "What the hell are we even wearing!?" Barbara asked. "Great, I feel so stupid while wearing this." Mandy added.  "Like, how do we get out of these?" Abby asked.7 "I don't know about you gals, but I'm LOVING this!!!" Cindy shouted. "Indeed. My costume looks rather nice." Edith added. Hope looked to Eddie . "Uh, Eddie? What's going on?" Eddie stared and had a bit of a nose bleed before shaking himself to normal. "I… think we're actually in the comic book." He answered. "You're all the heroes of this world and-" "Wait, are you saying we're the Power Ponies!?" Barbara asked. "Then why aren't we ponies!? We're still human!" "Well, yes,but-" "Like,how do we get home?" Abby interrupted. Eddie sighed in annoyance. "If what I think is true, then we have to beat the villain of this issue to make it back home." "And who do we have to beat?" Mandy asked. "I'll ask around, dear." Edith spoke, walking out from the alleyway.  "No! Edith!" Eddie shouted. "Hello!? Is anybody around? We have some questions to ask." "Edith! Get back here! You're in danger!" "Danger? There's no one around." "There is! And she's-" he was interrupted again, this time, as an individual tendril wrapped around him and the other women. All were wrapped tight in hair, face to face with the mare with her movable mane. "Ooh! Lucky me! You were all hiding in the same spot." She teased.  "Uhh, do we even know you?" Hope asked, trying to get her arms out but was effortlessly pinned and squeezed by the mare's hair. "Oh,not yet, but you will."  "Who's this mare with the mane!?" Barbara asked. Eddie nervously swallowed. "Sh-She's the Mane-iac." "What a stupid name." Mandy commented. "Stupid!?" The mare yelled. "I don't see how it's stupid like you, Saddle Rager." "Saddle Rager?" Cindy asked. "Ooh! What's my name!?" The Mane-iac lifted her with one of her tendrils and licked her lips. "Supper." "Supper? That's not a good name. I thought I'd be called- AAAAHHHH!!!" The mare flipped Cindy into the air and opened her mouth, ready to catch her for a snack. Cindy fell into the mare's mouth, with her teeth making a loud KLACK!!! Everyone saw what had happened and tried to free themselves, but were squeezed by their tendrils of hair around them. As for the Mane-iac, she drooled a bit as she tossed Cindy around in her mouth, who screamed loudly and sputtered.  "Quick! Everyone! Use your powers!" Eddie yelled. "Powers!?" Hope asked. "You all have powers! Your Zapp,Hope, reach your medallion and summon lightning!" Hope struggled to free her arms, but the tendrils wrapped around her, letting her head to be exposed. The Mane-iac lifted Mandy up to her mouth, showing an exhausted Cindy on her tongue. "Mandy! You're saddle rager! Get angry and use your strength to fight back!" "How can I be angry if I'm gonna be eaten!?" Mandy demanded, right before the Mane-iac's hair went into the mare's mouth and came out, covered in spit with Mandy gone. "Mmm… you're scho good…" the villain taunted as she lifted her head back and swallowed. A small bulge was shown in her throat, but the bulge didn't move down. The Mane-iac's cheeks perked up, looking like she was gonna throw up, only for her mouth to open with Cindy holding her teeth open. "Quick! Someone! Save Mandy before she's swallowed!" She yelled. The Mane-iac used a small tendril to flick her back in, then brought Abby close to her mouth. "Ew! No! Don't you,like, do it!" She spoke. "Abby! You're the Masked Matterhorn! Use your horn!"  "Like, how!?"  "I don't know! Just do it!" Abby saw herself getting closer to the mare's mouth, and seeing Cindy near her throat and grabbing on to the back of The Mane-iac's tongue. She closed her eyes and concentrated… only to fire some ice cubes. It didn't stop her from entering the mare's mouth, shoved right in. The Mane-iac swallowed again, now the bulge in her throat going a bit deeper, and the faint screams of Mandy heard. Barbara used her muscles to free herself from the Mane-iac's tendrils, but jumped right in, pulling the rope out and using it to lasso Abby's arm. Cindy fell into the throat, but caught Abby's leg, causing her and Barbara to fall in a bit. "On the count of 3, pull!" Barbara yelled. "One! Two! Thr-" She failed to see Mane-iac's tongue to simply rise up and effortlessly push them into her throat. The 3 women fell into Mandy, and all 4 went down the villain's throat.  "EDDIE!!!" Edith yelled. "What do we do!?" "Uh… y-your'e Radiance! You can make anything!" Edith panicked, conjuring up a saw and tried to cut herself free. Though a few strands came off, it wasn't successful as the villain saw what she was trying to do, giving Edith a slobbery lick across her face. The lick was enough to get Edith to stop, before she was promptly stuffed into the Mare's mouth, swallowed instantaneously.  "Ahh… oh dear, I'm feeling free from the MANE course!" Mane-iac taunted as she rubbed her stomach, with the sounds of screaming in her stomach. Hope groaned. "You just HAD to make that pun?" She was brought to the mare's eyes. "But of course. And I've got room for one more would-be hero." "No! Don't eat her!" Eddie yelled. "Eat me! I'm sweeter!"  "Eddie! No!" Hope yelled. "Hmm… that is very tempting, Humdrum." Mane-iac spoke as she used a tendril to act like fingers to rub her chin. "But perhaps later. For now, it's time for something sour." She brought Hope close to her lips. Hope winced at the sight and closed her eyes, right as she entered. Eddie only watched in silent horror as the Mane-iac began to eat Hope, tasting her thoroughly. The Villain had a noticeable sour look on her face as Sparks of electricity went across her mouth and hair, giving Eddie a small shock. It didn't stop the mare as she swallowed Hope fully.  "Hope…" Eddie whimpered. "Hmm… probably should've started with her. She was SHOCKING." Her stomach gurgles a bit. "Oh! A gift for you, Humdrum." She brought Eddie right to her mouth and opened up, followed by a long, warm belch right to his face, and the necklace of Zapp landing right on her tongue. "Ahhh… you're all so delicious. Tiny heroes? More like tiny Zeros!" She laughed maniacally as she used her tendril mane and tail to swing across the city buildings and light poles. Eddie sweated and teared up,unsure what was going to happen next. In the Mane-iac's stomach, all 6 women were tossed and turned in the Villain's stomach, even if some tried to get up and hold themselves into the stomach walls. "Eww! This is, like, totally gross!" Abby spoke.  "Ya think!?" Barbara replied.  "Guy! We need to focus!" Hope yelled. "My brother is still out there and I have no idea what this Mane-iac is gonna do to him!" "Him!?" Edith yelled back. "What about us!? We're in a stomach, and I don't know the rules, but I'd like to NOT be Digested!" The 4 women began to argue with each other as Cindy tried to maintain her composure, and Mandy's face turned red from anger. She stood up and shouted. "SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!!" The 4 ladies saw that Mandy's muscles began to pulse a bit. They all had the same idea and knew what to do.  "Oh yeah? Why should we?" Hope began to taunt.  "Why!? It's because of your stupid brother we winded up in here!" "It's not his fault!" Edith replied. "He didn't know what was gonna happen." "You're right. It's your fault, Edith! If you had thought for a second, then that mare wouldn't have found us and eat us!!!" Her costume began to rip as veins protruded from her neck. "You wonder why I don't hang out with all of you!? This is the reason why!!!" Mandy became a monster of a woman with her costume now ripped. "Take cover!" Barbara shouted as Mandy charged. The Mane-iac suddenly felt a huge wince of pain in her stomach, causing her to drop to the floor, releasing Eddie. Eddie took the chance to get up and run, hiding behind a trashcan, but watched the Mane-iac in pain. She pounded on her stomach. "Hey! Stop it in there!" She ordered, before a noticeable fist was seen in her stomach, causing the mare to slide forward a bit and groan in pain. Her cheeks went green. "I should've chewed my food." Not able to hold it back, the Mane-iac vomited out all of the heroines, now covered in stomach acids and bile, all groaning. Mandy went from her huge beast self back to normal, though she was passed out. Their villain looked at them. "You! You might've been lucky, but I'm going to destroy you another way!" Her hair all gathered up into a ball, similar to a fist, and went down to slam on them all. "NO!!!" Eddie yelled as she slammed the floor. A sudden force field appeared, taking the damage away from them. Using her mechanical horn, Abby concentrated, making a force field around the other humans. The Mane-iac promptly reacted, repeating the slam move on the force field, making it sink into the floor. Her last slam broke the force field, but Barbara was able to get up, throwing a pair of horseshoes at the Mane-iac's face, prompting the mare to take a few steps back from the sudden pain.  "Everyone! Run!" Barbara yelled. In a mix of white and pink, Cindy was gone and next to Eddie instantly.  "Wait! I have super speed!?" She asked. "You're Filli-Second! You're the fastest things alive." Eddie answered. Cindy's eyes and pupils widened.  "Yesyesyesyes!!!" She ran away, returning shortly with an unconscious Mandy. "Just for now." She returned and ran up to Mane-iac's face. "Hiya!" Mane-iac growled a bit, before was promptly blasted away by Abby. "I think we're, like, winning!" She spoke. "Indeed." Edith replied, making a giant slingshot and firing a ball at the Mane-iac's face. The Mane-iac fell, and Barbara used her lassos to tie up her hooves together. Hope picked up the lightning necklace and raised it in the sky, prompting a huge bolt of lightning to crash down onto the Mane-iac, making her hair point right out and remained stiff. "Did we do it?" Cindy asked. "I think we did." Eddie replied. "We did it! The city is saved! All thanks to-" he was interrupted as the same portal that took them in reappeared and sucked them all back in. In an office building, a stallion with a short mustache overlooked the latest issue with a writer and artist of said issue "Just what in Celestia were you two thinking!?" He barked. "Do you know what everyone is gonna think when they see this!?" "I think what we did was bold and creative." The writer, a young looking stallion wearing a striped blue sweater, replied. "And it's not canon. It's an Alternate universe." The artist, a larger stallion, added. "The Tinies do it all the time in their comics." "I don't care what Tinies do in their stuff!" Their boss yelled. "We are not going to turn the power ponies into-!" The comic he held glowed and opened up it's pages, and out came the group of women and single boy. "What the-!? Oh great! Another case!? Who keeps enchanting our comics to be like that!?" "Our printer did say there was a one in a hundred chance it'll happen." The writer answered. "Ugh… my head…" Hope spoke, getting up. "My back." Edith added. "My everything!" Cindy added. They noticed the stallions looking at them.  "Uh… hi." Abby began. "We just, like, had an adventure in this comic, and we would, like, demand an apology." "And why didn't we turn into ponies!" Barbara spoke. "That's what I was trying to tell you earlier!" Eddie spoke, getting up and closing the comic book to show the cover of the power ponies… but as people. "You weren't the Power Ponies! You were the Power People! It's the power ponies, but reimagined as us humans." "And that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" The boss stallion yelled. "No one would want to read that! Not especially after the last supposed superhuman team." "Wait, excuse me!?" Mandy began. "Well, sir, that comic failed because one of the writers didn't know what to do, and made them "normal" size instead of keeping the struggle of being small." The writer informed. "And it never went anywhere after that." The artist added. "It never had any good or bad press, no one responded to them at all, and those we did responses said it was boring, even if they were mutated." "My point still stands! We won't make comics based off of Tinies!" There was a moment of silence "... Ok, wow, that's, like, wrong on so many levels." Abby spoke. "Yeah. That's… pretty racist." Mandy spoke. "Or Species-ist?"  "Sir," Eddie spoke. "Um… I think you should let this happen." "Why, kid?" The boss stallion asked sternly. "You know how business works?"  "Well… no… but neither did most of the influential people back home who also made comics. Are all your comics just around ponies?" "Of course! That's who we market to!" "But… wouldn't it help if you expand?" The boss's eyebrows raised up. "What are you getting at?" "I mean… sure, you can get the mass majority to read it, but if you expand on it but keep your principles, it'll make other creatures want to buy your comics. Back in my home, on earth, there's heroes that range from all places in life, each with something unique that makes them stick out and are relatable to many readers, from race, gender, to just how they act. I'm not saying you should quit the power ponies, but, maybe you can give it a chance?" The stallion had a pondering look. "... Kid, we've been losing a lot of money. Not a lot of ponies are buying comics, and your kind can't carry a simple bit. What makes you think this can work?" "I don't… but if you don't try, then how will you succeed?" The stallion had an unsure look on his face. Hope walked over and placed a supporting hand on Eddie's shoulder.  "I'm not much of a comic reader sir, but this is some publicity that can work." The other women got up and huddled around Eddie. "We all do." The stallion let out an annoyed huff. "I'm gonna go with what you say. I pray that it goes well for you, because if this fails, your tail is on the line!" "I wouldn't be scared." Eddie replied. "And we don't have tails, Mr… uh..." "Excelsior." Comic sales increased ten fold. The human version of the Power Ponies made everyone start talking again, as the reimagined characters took Equestria by storm. Ponies and Tinies read the adventure of how the Tiny heroes took on the Mane-iac, and then got the different, yet similar, origins for the heroes. It didn't take long for Eddie to finally get a job to be Excelsior's assistant, keeping an eye on what they should add and make a few changes of what they should add. His older sister, Hope, and her friends, received the job as editors and posers of how the scenes should look in the frames, with a few adding to the stories as long as Eddie found them entertaining and worthwhile. It didn't take long for new heroes to be added to the actual power ponies universe, including a rewriting for the original human heroes by keeping them small for the necessary drama. For what seemed like forever, they were successful, and happy to see that they were doing something positive for everyone. Of course, every now and then, they actually got an enchanted comic book and went in to do various adventures as a team, prepared to battle villains in said world, and do their own thing.