//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Castle Clean Up and Power Ponies // Story: A Sparkle's Little Dusk II: The Shining Path // by Mister E-Nonymous //------------------------------// Chapter 14: Castle Clean Up and Power Ponies The Mane 6, Spike, Dusk and Nyx were all at the Ancient Castle of the Two Sisters, doing some clean up. Well, the Mane 6 were. Spike was reading the latest Power Ponies comic while Dusk and Nyx were doing their homework. Twilight didn't want to leave Nyx alone since there are ponies who want to get rid of her for good. As soon as Dusk and Nyx were done with their homework, the two of them and Spike went into the room where the Mane 6 were cleaning up. The three of them offered to help, but the Mane 6 were all good. They didn't need any help. So, Spike led Dusk and Nyx into another part of the castle. "Mane-iac breaks into the museum... okay, here we go," Spike said to himself. He then groaned and said, "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..." "I'm sure things will be different," said Dusk. "In the super hero shows I watched when I was Henry, there were super heroes that didn't have any powers. And yet, they beat the super villains they fought." "Sure, but Hum Drum is always in the way," said Spike. "He never got the chance to be the hero. He's just a lame sidekick for the Power Ponies." He then turned the page, then he gasped. "Wait. What? How can that be the end?!" He then squinted his eyes, and saw a tiny inscription in the corner of the page. "What's... that?" He tried reading it. "'You can... retr-' What? 'You can... return...' Urgh!" He hit head with both of his hands. Then he got up. "I know I saw a magnifying glass laying around the last time I was here..." "Here," Dusk said, using his magic to hand Spike something. "Use this. This whistle that Rainbow Dash gave me for my birthday has many features. A compass, a weather thermometer, and a magnifying glass." "Wow," said Spike. "That is the coolest tool you have received for your birthday." Spike then took the whistle from Dusk, and pulled out the magnifying glass. He used it to read the inscription. "'You can return to the place you started when the Mane-iac is... defeated.'" "Huh?" Spike, Dusk and Nyx asked in unison. Spike continued reading the inscription. "'Take a closer look to join the adventure in this book'? What does that even mean?" Then the book started glowing. "Whoa! Cool!" "I don't like this," Dusk said. "This is freaky," Nyx added. The Mane 6 then walked in and Twilight called out, "Spike! What are you..." "Heeeeeelp!" Spike, Dusk and Nyx called out, as they were being sucked into the comic book. Twilight grabbed Nyx when she was about halfway into the comic book, but then she was pulled in and was grabbed by Rainbow Dash, who was anchored by Applejack, followed by Fluttershy, and then Rarity. But then they all got sucked in. And then Pinkie Pie jumped into the comic book, like she was doing a cannonball into a pool. Spike was coming to. He got up on his feet and looked around. He saw that he was in someplace that he has seen in his comic books. "Is this... Maretropolis?" Spike asked. He then looked over the edge of the building he was on, looking down at the city. His attention was taken by the voice of Applejack, who said, "Somepony wanna tell me what the hay is goin' on?" Spike looked at the Mane 6, and saw that they were in costumes. And not just any costumes. The outfits of the Power Ponies. "Holy new personas, ponies!" He looked at each of the Mane 6, and said who they were. Twilight was the... "Masked Matter-Horn!" Pinkie Pie was... "Fili-Second!" Rainbow Dash was... "Zapp!" Rarity was... "Radiance!" Applejack was... "Mistress Mare-velous!" And Fluttershy was... "Saddle Rager! You're the Power Ponies!" Twilight looked around and asked, "Where are Dusk and Nyx?" "Over here!" came Dusk's voice. The Mane 6 and Spike looked towards Dusk and Nyx. Dusk had on a mask with eye holes and a hole around his horn, a red and purple bodysuit with wing holes, a black belt with silver lightning bolts, and a golden lightning bolt for a logo on his chest. Nyx had on a black hooded cloak with a red button holding the cape around her and mask with eye holes, and had on a navy blue bodysuit. "Whoa!" Spike said. "You two are... Flash Light and Shadow Walker!" "Who?!" Dusk and Nyx asked, in confusion. "Flash Light and Shadow Walker are brother and sister," Spike explained. "They made their appearance in the 50th issue after their family died by a chemical explosion caused by Long Face. That chemical explosion not only took the lives of their parents, but gave the two foals crazy powers. They were taken in by Masked Matter-Horn, and she trained the two of them how to control their powers." "Cool," Dusk said. "But, why are we here?" Nyx asked. Spike was about to answer when an explosion from below their location came to their attention. They looked over the edge of the building and saw a bunch of ponies running away in fear. From the hole that took over the entrance of one building, out came a purple mare with a wild green mane. She looked up and noticed the Mane 6, Spike, Dusk and Nyx. "Power Ponies!" she laughed. "How kind of you to join us!" The Mane 6, Spike, Dusk and Nyx were confused by what the mare, Mane-iac, said. "Did she just call us... Power Ponies?" Applejack asked. "You're the... the superheroes from my comic book!" Spike said. "It somehow zapped us all in here!" "So somepony zap us back out!" Rainbow Dash said, angrily. "Spike, didn't the inscription say that we can only leave this place if we defeat the Mane-iac?" Dusk asked. "Oh, right, it did!" Spike said. "It said the way to get back to where we started was to defeat the Mane-iac! Your arch-nemesis!" "So, how do we do that?" Nyx asked. It did not end well for the Mane 6 turned Power Ponies. When they tried to stop the Mane-iac from stealing the Electro-Orb, it ended up in the hooves of Mane-iac and her henchponies. When they went to her secret lair to get the orb back, they were ambushed, and sprayed by some kind of hair spray that, not only prevents the Power Ponies from using their powers, but also paralyzes who it sprays. Now it was up to Spike, Dusk and Nyx to save the Mane 6 from the Mane-iac. "How are we going to get out of here now?" Nyx asked. "We... we can't..." Spike said, kneeling down. "They don't read the Power Ponies comic. They don't have enough experience using the powers that were given to them. And, would you know it, I was chosen to be the one pony that has no super powers." "Just because you don't have powers doesn't mean you're not a hero," said Dusk. "What matters is what's doing the right thing." "Wow," said Nyx. "Where did you get that from?" "I overheard it from a TV show when I was cleaning up things back in my world," Dusk said. He then looked over at Spike and said, "You know everything about the characters and their powers and abilities. What are our powers?" "Okay," said Spike. "Flash Light has the ability to manipulate light and electricity. He can even drain energy from any electrical device. And Shadow Walker has the ability to manipulate a pony's shadow, and teleport by walking into a shadow. She just needs to concentrate on a certain form of shade of where she needs to go." "Okay, that's a pretty cool super power," said Dusk. "It is," said Spike. "So, how do we get in?" "Usually, the hero goes in through the air vents," said Dusk. "Although, we have to go in really quietly so we don't attract attention to any of the bad guys." "Good call," said Spike. "Let's go." Spike, Dusk and Nyx then climbed up some garbage towards the air conditioning system, and went in. They carefully, yet quietly went in through the air vents to get inside the building. As soon as they were going in through the vents, they reached one opening which led to the highest walkway in the building. "The others also have superpowers," Spike said. "They probably already escaped." They eventually made it out of the air vent, and looked around. They saw that the Mane 6 were in a cage, frozen in place. "Or not!" Twilight attempted to move her left foreleg, but then one of Mane-iac's henchponies heard a timer, and sprayed the hairspray onto the Mane 6, making them incapable of moving. "Congratulations, Power Ponies!" Mane-iac laughed. "You shall live just long enough to see me fire... the instrument of your destruction!" She cackled as she revealed a ray gun that looks like a giant hairdryer. "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 laughed again. "You will be my weapon's first victims, and there is nopony who can save you from this fate!" She gave off one last evil laugh. "Ahem. I don't mean to interrupt, but aren't you forgetting about somepony?" Fluttershy asked. "Hum Drum? Little guy? No superpowers whatsoever?" Mane-iac asked before she laughed. "He's utterly useless!" The timer that the henchpony was using went off, but before he could spray the Mane 6, Dusk and Nyx came in, and knocked him out. They then went out of sight. Mane-iac looked up and shouted, "What are you waiting for?! Spray them!" But she noticed that the henchpony was nowhere in sight. "What? Oh, drat. He must've went to use the restroom, again." Unbeknownst to her, Spike was using a red tarp, hooked one corner around the group, and then put another corner on the hook. Spike then ran up the stairs, and the hook and chain was connected to a heavy crate. He, Dusk and Nyx were pushing the crate over the railing of the walkway, making the henchponies being pulled by the tarp, and being hung up in the tarp like it was a fishing net for boats. Dusk and Nyx then pushed the spray can over, and it sprayed the rest of the henchponies, making them frozen stiff. That gave the Mane 6 time to get free. Rarity used Radiance's powers to free themselves. The Mane 6 then started using the Power Ponies's powers, except for Fluttershy, and took out the bad guys. Although, Fluttershy was too scared to even fight. After Fluttershy destroyed the machine, the Mane-iac's mane started wrapping itself around her. Then the group of heroes regrouped. Then a flash of light flashed, and they all vanished. They eventually made it back to the Castle of the Two Sisters. "That... was awesome!" Rainbow Dash said. "Dusk, Nyx, how did you two come up with all that?" Twilight asked. "We didn't," said Dusk. "It was all Spike." The Mane 6 looked over at Spike and asked, "Really?" "Yup," Spike said, crossing his arms. "Although, I'm wondering something," Nyx said. "Spike, where did you get that comic book?" "This one I got in Canterlot at the House of Enchanted Comics," Spike said. That made the Mane 6, Dusk and Nyx confused, and then they went to annoyed expressions. "Well, I didn't know it meant they were literally enchanted!" That made the rest of them laugh. Then they started heading out, leaving Spike behind. "I thought it just meant, like, the comics they sold there had really enchanting storylines! Hey, wait up! I'm an important part of this team, remember?!" After they all left, the comic book then lit up and vanished. Who knows where it headed?