"I gotta say, Spike, you've got a pretty neat comic collection."
Shining Armor was in Spike's room, looking at a bookshelf full of comics. Some were in bags, but most were loose, dog-eared, and well-read.
"I've got five years' worth of Power Ponies issues," Spike said proudly. Then, with a slight frown, he added, "It took me a while to rebuild my collection after Tirek blew up the library."
Shining Armor winced. "You know, I never actually even got to see the Golden Oak Library." He rubbed the back of one fetlock with the other hoof. "Some brother I am, huh?"
"Eh, you've been busy. Twilight understands. Besides, how often does she make time to go up to Canterlot to visit Mom and Dad?"
"That's true." Shining Armor shrugged and went back to perusing Spike's collection. "Huh, haven't seen this one before." He pulled one comic out with his magic and examined the cover, tilting his head. "The Ultra Friends?" The cover depicted two unicorns, a teenage dragon, a buffalo, and a pegasus in superhero costumes.
"Oh yeah! They just started running that comic last year," Spike said. "I've got every issue so far."
Shining Armor frowned. "Sounds kinda...weak." He raised an eyebrow. "And a buffalo superhero, really?"
"Hey, don't diss Longshadow!" Spike said. "He can grow to any size!" Spike walked over and took the book, spreading it open on his reading table. "And this is Wind Dragon. He's got tornado breath! And he's not a jerk like most teenage dragons. Well, not much of a jerk. He can be kind of a jerk sometimes, but his teammates keep him from being a total jerk."
"Tornado breath, huh?" Shining Armor mused. "That's cool. What about the rest?"
"The two unicorns are brother and sister, their names are..."
* * * * *
"Downpour, Shifter! We need to get these ponies out of here!"
Las Pegasus was a total disaster area. A giant mole monster had dug hundreds of tunnels under the city, and then erupted out of the ground. The weight of the city above was too great for the weakened ground, and fissures had formed everywhere. The city was sinking; gas lines had caught fire, buildings were collapsing, and ponies were running around in a panic.
"We're on it!" an effeminate pale blue unicorn stallion with a long white mane said. His horn began to glow pale gold. "WAVES!"
Next to him, an identical unicorn mare lit her horn. "URSA MAJOR!"
The mare transformed into a giant, pale blue, translucent bear, while the stallion turned into a tall, white-capped wave of water. "Hold your breath, folks! My brother and I will get you out of here!"
The wave washed over a small crowd of ponies, sweeping them up and carrying them out of the disaster zone. The Ursa scooped up dozens of ponies in her claws and ran after the surging wave. Once they'd reached the safe zone, they deposited their payload of soaking wet, terrified ponies and returned to their original unicorn forms.
Meanwhile, back in the disaster area, a giant buffalo butted his head against a ten story building that was trying its best to topple. He grunted in effort and grew larger, pushing against the side of the building.
"It's no good!" he bellowed. "It has to come down!"
"If you can hold it, I can collapse it!" A white dragon with red spines and wings flew up the side of the building and reared back, unleashing a spinning column of glowing breath that struck the center of the roof and tore through. The tornado ripped apart floor after floor, crushing support columns. When Wind Dragon finally ran out of breath and had to stop, Longshadow took one step back, then rammed the building. It imploded with a loud whump, raising a cloud of dust.
Elsewhere, a pegasus in a modified version of a Wonderbolts flight suit, with huge black shades instead of flight goggles, was raining a storm of electricity on an agitated mole monster...
* * * * *
"They're really more about saving lives and helping ponies than fighting supervillains," Spike said, "but they're pretty cool, and they help the Power Ponies a lot!"
"Unicorn twins that can turn into animals and water?" Shining Armor asked skeptically. "I dunno, those don't really sound like useful powers. And this 'Juice' guy doesn't sound like anything special for a pegasus. I kinda like the dragon and the buffalo, though!"
"Yeah, they're my favorites too," Spike said. "But Downpour and Shifter are fun. They're kind of the heart of the team. Like Humdrum!"
At the door, unnoticed, Twilight and Cadance smiled, then trotted away. "Boys," Cadance said.
"I know, right?" Twilight giggled. "Still, I gotta admit, comic books can be pretty fun once in a while. Hey, did I ever tell you about the time Spike found that enchanted comic book and me and my friends all got sucked into it?"
"I don't think you did," Cadance said.
"Well..."