//------------------------------//
// S4 E6: Power Ponies (What If?) 
// Story: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 3 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Spike was not normally one to panic when things started going wrong. It was kind of expected of him to be the voice of reason whenever Twilight went off the deep end and started having one of her fits of obessiveness.

However, under the current circumstances, panicking was all Spike could think about. He was dressed in a red cape, while a mask covered his eyes. He had a pair of blue gloves over his claws, and a matching pair of blue boots. Around his waist was a yellow belt buckle. And he was not the only one dressed up, all of his friends were dressed as his favorite superheros, The Power Ponies.

"Oh, I wish this was all a dream," he thought to himself, as he nervously watched the battle unfold from a safe distance. His friends were currently battling the Power Ponies dreaded arch-nemesis, a rather sinister pony who called herself The Mane-iac.

"This is your last warning, Mane-iac!" Twilight shouted, dodging a blow from The Mane-iac's green colored hair, which worked like a series of tentacles "Go back to whatever hole it is you crawled out of!"

"Gladly, Masked Matterhorn, once I defeat you and the rest of your friends!" The Mane-iac replied, chuckling fiendishly "You've foiled my plans for the last time!"

"I could use some help over here!" Twilight angrily shouted to her friends, as she dodged another blow from The Mane-iac's hair.

"Sorry, Twi-I mean Masked Matter-Horn, but we're a bit busy in case you haven't noticed!" Applejack replied "We've got to make sure these minions don't try to make a run for it while we're distracted!"

"We'll be there in a couple of minutes, just keep your cool until then!" Rainbow Dash added "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do what I would've done from the beginning of this fight, if a certain somepony hadn't interrupted me!"

"You're the one who got in my way!" Twilight complained to Rainbow Dash "I had everything under control!"

Spike watched the arguing and the bickering, completely horrified at what he saw. "Come on, Power Ponies!" he shouted, hoping they could hear him "You're supposed to be working together to take down The Mane-iac, not doing your own thing! You're a team!" Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears, his friends were too absorbed in the fight to hear Spike properly.

At last, the rest of the girls joined Twilight in fighting The Mane-iac, though each of them were still focused solely on their own individual skills. In fact, the only thing close to a plan that they agreed on was as follows, let Saddle Rager (Fluttershy) get mad. A task that was easier said than done.

It didn't take long for The Mane-iac to lose patience, and get really mad. "You Power Ponies are like insects!" she shouted at the top of her lungs "I've waited a long time for a chance to destroy this city, and I'm not about to let you goody two horeshoes stop me. NOT THIS TIME!" She quickly proceeded to pull out what looked like a giant spray canister.

Spike gasped in horror "The Hairspray Ray of Doom!" he cried "Watch out, Power Ponies! Don't let her spray you!"

The Mane-iac laughed wickedly, and pressed the tip of the nossel on the canister, unleashing a powerful spray of chemicals in the form of a purple cloud. Everypony ran for shelter, but unfortunately in their haste to do so, they forgot about Fluttershy. Fluttershy was just in the midist of transforming, when she became the first victim of the spray's power blocking abilites. She fell over on the ground like a glass figurine, completely immbolized.

"You'll pay for that one, Mane-iac!" Rainbow Dash bellowed "Prepare to feel the wrath of Mother Nature!"

"No, wait!" Spike cried out, but it was too late. With another wicked laugh, The Mane-iac managed to spray Rainbow Dash, sending her crashing to the ground. "First Saddle Rager, and now Zapp! It's a pity you power ponies fall so easily, or I might actually be enjoying this more!" The Mane-iac chuckled to herself "Now, who wants to be next?!"

Quickly deciding that the best course of action was to attempt a quadruple assault, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack all took off in different directions. Using the powers of Fili-Second, Pinkie Pie zipped all around, attempting to draw The Mane-iac's attention away from the others. "Can't hit what's not there!" Pinkie Pie taunted, zooming from here to there and back again.

But The Mane-iac took no notice, she had her sights set on a different target. More specifically, The Masked Matterhorn (Twilight), the leader of the Power Ponies "Taking Matter-Horn down will demoralize the rest," she thought "And I know how to trick her into stopping Fili-Second right in her tracks. Then I can deal with Mistrees Marevolus and Radiance at the same time. That'll just leave Hum Drum, and he'll be easy pickings. At last, I will have my revenge!"

Meanwhile, Spike was hiding behind a mail box a short distance away, and was wondering to himself "Just how do we get into these situations?"



The Mane-iac quickly put her plan into motion, she knew just what she would have to do to trick The Masked Matterhorn into helping her. Barely surpressing a fiendish smile, The Mane-iac crept up towards Masked Matter-Horn. When she was close enough, she quickly checked to ensure that Fili-Second was indeed coming after her, and she was.

"Hey, Masked Matter-Horn!" The Mane-iac taunted "Your aim seems to be quite off today, I reckon you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn! Let alone hit me!"

Twilight turned to face The Mane-iac, looking quite red in the face "That's it, you asked for it!" Twilight shouted, and with a flap of her wings she took to the skies before charging up the most powerful freeze spell she could muster. She aimed it directly at The Mane-iac, and fired.

But The Mane-iac was one step ahead, and quickly dodged out of the way, just as Fili-Second was approaching. 

Pinkie Pie, realizing what was going to happen, tried to stop herself, but to no avail. The blast hit her dead on, freezing her right on the spot. 

Twilight's mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry, Pink-er-Filisecond!" she apologized.

Before Pinkie Pie could say anything in reply, The Mane-iac hit her with a blast from the Hairspray Ray of Doom, and quickly did the same to Twilight before she could recover from the shock of what she'd just done. "That was far too easy!" she chuckled to herself "Four down, and only two to go."

"That's quite enough, Mane-iac!" a familiar voice bellowed "This is as far as you go!"

The Mane-iac growled, as she looked up at a nearby rooftop, and saw Mistress Mare-volus (Applejack) and Radiance (Rarity) standing there. The former was wielding her trustry lasso, and the latter was perched atop a flying carpet courtesy of the powers of her costume's bracelet.

"Ready?" Applejack asked Rarity.

"You know it!" Rarity replied "Let's show her what happens when you mess with The Power Ponies!" The two then descended towards The Mane-iac aboard the flying carpet, Applejack holding the glowing golden lasso tightly in her hooves. 

"Come on, girls!" Spike said nervously "Don't let her get you!"

When they were close enough, Applejack leaped down from the carpet, hurling the lasso at The Mane-iac's mane. "Got her!" Applejack shouted to Rarity.

"Good, just hold her down, I've got just the thing to cut that overgrown mane of hers down to size!" Rarity boasted, as a pair of giant scissors materialized from her bracelet. Unfortunately, she lacked the concentration or will power to maintain two objects at once, and the carpet she was on disappeared. Rarity hit the ground tumbling, and accidentally bowled straight into Applejack, knocking both mares to the ground as if they were bowling pins.

"No! Get up! Quick!" Spike shouted frantically, as The Mane-iac began to approach the downed superheros.

It was too late, with a blast from the Hairspray Ray of Doom, Applejack and Rarity were frozen and left unable to move. All six of the Power Ponies had been defeated.





"Oh no, tell me this isn't happening!" Spike said to himself, as he trembled behind the mailbox.

"Oh, but it is." replied a fiendish and diabolic voice, which soon revealed itself as The Mane-iac.

"Gah!" Spike shouted, jumping up in surprise.

The Mane-iac laughed "Don't be frightened, Hum Drum, it's only me," she then cackled fiendishly "Bet you're wondering what's going to happen to your friends, The Power Ponies. Well, I'll make sure to show them a good time when I bring them to my lair. And by that I don't mean we're gonna sit around playing board games and talking about the weather, it means I'm gonna destroy them!"

"I might have guessed." Spike muttered under his breath.

"It was pretty dumb of you to pin all your hopes on your friends to save the day," The Mane-iac boasted, grabbing Spike with her mane before he could run away "At last, I can finally give this stinking cesspool of a city the makeover it deserves! And if you were thinking of trying to thwart my plans, think again!"

"Why?" Spike asked nervously, though he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Because, that would be bad. Bad for you that is." The Mane-iac taunted.

"Exactly how bad?" Spike reluctantly asked.

"Like this!" The Mane-iac explained, and quickly threw a punch to Spike's stomach area that made him wince in pain. The pain continued, even as The Mane-iac dropped him on the ground "So, let that be a warning to you, Hum Drum," The Mane-iac said in a threatening tone of voice "You and I both know you have no super powers at all. There is nothing you can do to save your friends, so if you know what's good for you, stay out of my way and start thinking about yourself! Now, I'd better go make sure your friends haven't been giving my minions a hard time. But we will meet again, I swear it!" And with that, The Mane-iac, as if to make herself heard, trotted away with another fiendish laugh.

"Some day this is turning out to be," Spike thought to himself, once he was certain The Mane-iac was gone "And to think it all started with a comic book. By the time this is over, I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at a comic book the same way again."

And with that thought, Spike began to reflect back to the events that had led up to this moment, and how he and his friends had ended up dragged into the world of a comic book.





Surprisingly enough, it started just a day earlier. Spike, being a vivid comic book collector, could hardly believe his eyes when he stumbled across one of his all time favorite comic book series. More specifically, an issue he had been trying to get his claws on for a long time.

"'The Power Ponies: Revenge of The Mane-iac'," he read outloud, as he brought the issue inside the Golden Oaks Library "This issue's been sold out for months! At last, I can complete the collection and get all caught up on the story!"

Spike became so observed in the comic, that he ignored almost everything else that day. Twilight had to remind him of the chores he needed to do arond the library. "Just because we're not having guests over anytime soon doesn't mean you can slack off," she said kindly, as she levitated the comic out of Spike's claws, and put it away on a shelf "There will be plenty of time for you to read it tomorrow, when the girls and I are busy fixing up The Castle of The Two Sisters."

"Ah yes, I was wondering when you were going to ask me about that," Spike said eagerly "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it! That place isn't so scary now, at least in broad daylight."

Twilight's smile was quickly replaced with a frown "I'm sorry, Spike, but I think it's best if you stay here. That castle isn't safe."

"What do you mean it isn't safe?!" Spike complained "It's not actually falling apart anymore, I'll be fine!"

"Spike, you may be a dragon, but that doesn't mean you can't be hurt!" Twilight replied "What if a beam fell on you? Or what if you triggered some sort of booby trap? You're my only son, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you if I can help it."

"I'll be fine, I promise!" Spike insisted "I won't get in the way of anypony, and I'll even wear a crash helmet if it makes you feel better! I really, really, really want to help!"

"There will be plenty of opportunities to do so, my son," Twilight said in a motherly tone "The girls and I are simply going to be cleaning the castle, and repairing or replacing the boards and beams. Once the castle's been reinforced and no one is at risk of anything falling on them, it should be safe for you to help."

"Twilight, this isn't your idea of revenge for the time I burned that book and didn't tell you about it, is it?" Spike asked nervously "I told you, it was an accident."

"This isn't because of something you did in the past, my son," Twilight replied "But my decision is made. There's been far too many instances already where I've come close to losing you for good. I'm not about to put you in harm's way again if I can help it. Besides, you've been working so hard lately, you deserve a day off. You'll have the library all to yourself for hours, you'll be free to do whatever you want. Won't that be nice?"

"I guess so." Spike said reluctantly, but he was still very unhappy with the idea of being left behind, while all of his friends and his mother went off to do something. He'd already missed out on a few of their adventures, and did not like the thought of having to miss the chance to be a part of another one. But he knew that once Twilight made up her mind about something, she usually didn't change it.





When Spike had completed his chores for the day, he passed the rest of the time reading the comic book. Unfortunately, he didn't get very far when Twilight came up to the bedroom and told him "It's time for bed."

"Aw, I'm just getting to the good part," Spike complained "Two more minutes, please?"

"Spike, believe me, if anypony understands what it's like to caught up in a really good book, it's me," Twilight said kindly "But you really need to go to sleep. And so do I."

"But The Mane-iac and her henchponies are planning to break into the Maretropolis Museum and steal the Electro-Orb, so she can use it to power up her doomsday device! The Power Ponies have to stop the Mane-iac or Maretropolis is doo-hoo-hoo-hoomed!" Spike said dramatically "So do you see, I can't go to sleep! Not until I know whether or not The Mane-iac succeeds in getting away with the orb! Once I know that, I promise I'll go to sleep. But until I do, can I stay up pretty please?"

Twilight yawned a little, she was feeling rather sleepy, and she did not want to be too tired for tomorrow. She was going to be in charge of organizing the cleaning and repairing (or "Magical Makeover" as she and Rarity had agreed to call it, after all there was a chance that the castle could still be of some use) at the the old castle, and she wanted to make sure she was well rested.

However, Twilight found that she could not bring herself to resist the sad puppy dog eyes that Spike was giving her. So, reluctantly, she admitted defeat. "Two more minutes, that's it," she told Spike "When those two minutes are up, it's bed time! Do you understand?"

"Okay, Mom." Spike replied. And using his claw he turned the bedroom lamp on, curled up in his basket, and began to read again.





The next day, after breakfast was finished, Twilight was waiting for her friends at the front door, while Spike occupied himself with reading more of his comic book.

Twilight glanced up at the clock on the wall, the time was ten o'clock. "They should be here any minute now. I hope they're ready!" she thought to herself, as she paced nervously back and forth at the door.

Just after that thought entered Twilight's mind, there was a knock at the door. Twilight opened it, and in trotted her friends, all of them carrying buckets, brushes, sponges, and liquid soap bottles.

"Hello, Twilight," Rarity greeted "We've got a busy day ahead of us."

"I'll say," Applejack replied "So let's stop talkin' and start walkin', because time's a wastin'."

However, before the six friends could even think about leaving, Spike approached them. Twilight was quite surprised "What's wrong, Spike?" she asked "Do you need something?"

"Actually, there's something I need to show you," Spike said nervously, as he held out his comic book "There's a huge blank page towards the end of the comic, just when things are getting to the good part!"

"It's probably just a printing error, the publishing company must have run out of ink," Rarity commented "It's happened to me a couple of times with some of my fashion magazines."

"But there's something written on the blank page, like some sort of note," Spike explained "I can't make out what it says, because it's so small. I was hoping I could find a magnifying glass or something."

"I've got one right here!" Pinkie Pie said eagerly, pulling one out from her mane "Never hurts to come prepared in case of a magnifying glass emergency."

"Thanks, Pinkie," Spike replied, as he grabbed the magnifying glass with his claws and pointed it towards the small words written on the blank page. He read outloud "'You can return to the place you started, when The Mane-iac is defeated."

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise and horror upon hearing those words. "Spike, wait, don't!" she shouted, but it was too late. Like magic, a blinding white light emerged from the comic book, and it began to pull Spike, Twilight, and all of their friends towards it.

"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.

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.





When Spike opened his eyes, he wasn't sure how long he'd been out, or where he was. But it didn't take him long to notice that something was different, he now had a black mask across his eyes, and had blue gloves covering his claws. Stumbling awake, Spike was certain of one thing "I've got a funny feeling I'm not in Ponyville anymore," he said to himself, then he wondered outloud "Is this... Maretropolis?" Spike soon got the answer to his question, when he got a good look at his surroundings. Everywhere he looked, he could see skyscrapers against a purple fog that covered the sky. A lone blimp flew overhead. And just across the street from where he was standing, Spike could see what looked like a museum.

"Somepony wanna tell me what the hay is goin' on?" a familiar voice asked angrily.

Spike spun around, and gasped at what greeted his eyes. "Holy new personas, ponies!" he exclaimed " You're the... Masked Matter-Horn! Fili-Second! Zapp! R-Radiance! Mistress Mare-velous! Saddle Rager! You're the... Power Ponies!" Each of his friends were now dressed in the costume that matched the superhero Spike had named. 

Twilight had a suit that stretched from her legs up to her chest, it 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.

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

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

Rarity 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.

Applejack 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.

And Fluttershy had on a forest green suit with butterflies stiched onto the front legs. Her face was protected by a purple mask, which matched the purple collar she was wearing.

However, Spike had little time to admire this startling (and quite unexpected) development, for at that moment there came the sound of a wall being demolished. Spike and the girls spun around in time to see the wall of the muesum 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!"





"Just what in the hay is going on?!" Rainbow Dash asked Spike, pointing to the mare below "Just who is this mare?!"

"And did she just call us... Power Ponies?" Applejack added.

"You're the... the superheroes from my comic book! It somehow zapped us all in here!" Spike realized "And that mare is The Mane-iac, The Power Ponies most dangerous nemesis! She used to just be the power-mad owner of a hair-care product company. But then a tragic accident at her own shampoo factory not only gave her mane strange new powers, but also caused her to go completely insane!"

"That explains why she called us Power Ponies," Rainbow Dash replied, then she angrily added "But somepony better zap us back out! We've got better things to do than play superheros and super villans! Though the mohawk is a nice touch." 

"My comic book! It said the way to get back to where we started was to defeat the Mane-iac! Your arch-nemesis!" Spike explained "Until she's defeated, we're not going anywhere!"

"Well, that shouldn't be too difficult!" Rainbow Dash boasted "I was already awesome. And now we've all got superpowers! This'll be a snap! Just tell us what our powers are, and we'll defeat this Mane-iac bozo before you can even blink!"

"It's not going to be that easy," Spike said nervously "The Mane-iac is dangerous and unpredictable! You let your guard down for even a second, and she'll have you!"

"Then I guess we'd better settle this in a flash! I'm tired of standing around!" Pinkie Pie said impatiently, and zipped away in a blur of pink energy.

"Hey! Where does Pinkie Pie think she's running off to in such a hurry?!" Rainbow Dash asked "And since when did she get so fast that she could leave streaks of energy behind?!"

"Pinkie is Fili-Second, the fastest pony in all of Maretropolis!" Spike explained "Unfortunately, it seems she also picked up Fili-Second's impatience. She almost never stands still due to all the energy built up inside her! She could be miles away from here by now!"

Meanwhile, The Mane-iac laughed some more "Too bad Fili-Second turned chicken and ran away, I was so looking forward to her humilating defeat. Oh well, I suppose that just leaves more of me for the rest of you."

"Twilight! Freeze her mane!" Spike instructed "End this, now!"

"I'm sorry, do what?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"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 "I don't know what came over me. All I know is, somethin' inside me felt like I couldn't let you have all the glory, and the next thing I knew my lasso developed a mind of 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.

"It's the narrative!" Spike realized "It's trying to force you to act like the real Power Ponies. And in the comics, Matter-Horn and Mare-volus are often clashing over leadership. Some of Mare-volus' rivalry must've gotten ahold of Applejack."

"So, does that explain why I'm feeling so angry all of a sudden?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"It's because you're Saddle Rager, and when you get mad you turn into an unstoppable monster!" Spike told Fluttershy.

"Oh gosh, that wouldn't be very polite," Fluttershy said with a blush "Though I guess it could be useful in the right circumstances."

Meanwhile, down below, Pinkie Pie 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 Pie 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 Pie taunted.

"Army?" The Mane-iac said, before she remembered "Oh, right. Okay boys, it's time you started earning your paychecks! Get rid of these do gooders!"

"Yes ma'am!" shouted a series of goons, as they came rushing forward to do battle with Fili-Second, and draw the attention of the remaining Power Ponies.





"Pinkie Pie's in trouble! You've got to help her!" Spike shouted to his friends, then he turned to Rainbow Dash "Dash! Quick! You're Zapp, and your superpower is controlling the mighty forces of nature!"

"Is that what this pendant is for? I thought it was just some sort of trinket." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Just unholster it and hold it up!" Spike instructed "Bring forth something that'll rain down justice on the Mane-iac's minions, but don't hit Pinkie Pie by accident!"

"I'll try, can't gurantee." Rainbow Dash said nervously, and did as Spike had instructed her to do. Electricity began to spark out from the lightning bolt shaped pendant, and the sky above began to be covered with a series of dark storm clouds.

Twilight and Applejack quickly climbed down to the street, using the golden lasso, to join the fight against The Mane-iac's minions. While Rarity continued to try, to little avail, to thaw Fluttershy out.

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

"I beg your pardon, but what's an attack construct? And how is that supposed to help me?" Rarity asked Spike.

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

"I've got just the thing," Rarity quickly replied, and 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.

"Thanks for thawing me out, Rarity, or should I be calling you Radiance?" Fluttershy asked.

"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!"

"Just keep The 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!"

"You sound just like Twilight," Spike growled "I'm tired of her thinking I can't take care of things on my own! I'm going to prove to her, and to everyone else, that I can manage just fine on my own!" 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 when he went off on his own to find out what it means to be a dragon, 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!"





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."

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?"

"Hum Drum?" Spike asked, as if shocked that The Mane-iac had said that.

"I wasn't born yesterday, I know a trap when I see one," The 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?" The 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 hestiate 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 The Mane-iac turned to her henchponies "Okay boys, we've wasted enough time here! Let's go!"

"Uh, we'd love to, boss. But we can't." one of the henchponies said nervously.

"And why can't we?!" The 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.

"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-volus and Zapp remained.

"Oh my, this is quite the dilemma on your hooves, Power Ponies!" The 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's going to be?"

"We can totally take her!" Rainbow Dash said angrily.

"But we've got to stop this tornado before it's too late!" Applejack replied, and reluctantly sighed "We've got no choice, it's too dangerous for either one of us to go after The Mane-iac alone."

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."

"Stand back, sugarcube," Applejack said kindly "My lasso and I will take care of this! That there twister's about to 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 had been 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.

"Whew! That was quite a ride!" Pinkie Pie 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 anypony seen Spike?"

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

Spike was standing at the rubble, but he wasn't looking at it, he was looking at himself. "I'm Hum Drum...?" he said sadly, as he looked at himself.

"Spike, what's wrong?" Twilight asked, as she approached the dragon "You're a superhero with superpowers, just like the rest of us."

"No, I'm not anything like the rest of you," Spike said glumly "I'm Hum Drum, The Power Ponies' bumbling and totally useless sidekick. He never ever stops the villan, he's only there for comedic relief. He always gets in the way!"

"But surely, you must have powers too,  Spikey-boo," Rarity said kindly "Your character is 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."

"Well, it's a good thing you're not really Hum Drum, then," Twilight said, as she comforted Spike "You've done so many incredible things without any super powers in real life."

"True, but having super powers would really come in handy right now. As it is, there's not much I can do in this comic," Spike replied sadly, then he added "But, thanks for trying to cheer me up, Twilight. You always know just what to say to cheer me up, but I guess that's to be expected."

"Indeed it is, mothers always know how to make their children feel better," Twilight said with a motherly smile "And that's something that is never going to change no matter what, not even in this comic book."

"Are you two done chit chatting?" Rainbow Dash asked "Normally, I wouldn't mind this sappiness, but the sooner we defeat The Mane-iac, the sooner we can get back to Ponyville!"

"Rainbow Dash is right," Twilight realized "Spike, where is the Mane-iac building her doomsday device? Destroying it will make dealing with her much easier."

"If I had to guess, I'd say her top-secret headquarters! But you'd better get there quick. That Electro-Orb she just stole is what she's going to use to power it up!" Spike explained "It's like a super battery that never runs out of energy!"

"Lead the way, Spike!" Applejack insisted.

"And then leave the rest to us!" Rainbow Dash boasted "The Mane-iac's going down!"

With a sigh, Spike set off down the streets of Maretropolis, and all six of the girls followed him close behind.





Spike led his friends through Maretropolis, until he stopped just as they rounded the corner of one building. A short distance away stood a drab looking factory that barely stood out admist the bustling city. Were it not for the buzzing neon sign, hardly anypony would've noticed it was there. "There it is!" Spike said, pointing a finger towards the building.

"Is that a... shampoo factory?" Applejack whispered.

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, Twi-I mean Matter-Horn?" Rainbow Dash asked "You always have one."

Twilight eyed the factory from a distance, then she turned to the others and said "We'll have a much better chance of defeating The Mane-iac if we 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 we could use."

"And what about the rest of us?" Rarity asked Twilight, as Rainbow Dash flew off.

"Just stand by for now," Twilight instructed "Radiance and Marevolus, your help may be needed if we have 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 me unless I say otherwise."

"You don't need me, I'll only get in the way!" Spike complained.

"No you won't," Twilight reassured him "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 Dash flew back to join the others, looking quite embarassed.

"What did you do?!" Twilight angrily asked Rainbow Dash.

"I must've tripped some sort of alarm, I didn't get a chance to see where it was," Rainbow Dash replied "Sorry about that, Power Ponies. The Mane-iac definitely knows we're here now."

"Then there's only one thing to do!" Applejack said seriously, gritting her teeth "We're gonna have to fight our way inside! Just keep your guard up, The Mane-iac's got a tone of henchponies workin' for her!"

Sure enough, the factory's front door rose up, and all of the Mane-iac's henchponies emerged from it. "Nopony's gonna mess with the big mare while we're on duty!" they insisted.

"Alright, Power Ponies!" Applejack shouted "Time to Power Pony up!"

"Ooh! Nice catchphrase!" Pinkie Pie complimented.

"Guess I'll just hang back here doing nothing." Spike lamented, as he watched his friends dash off in every direction to battle with the Mane-iac's goons.





"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 Dash by mistake. 

Rainbow Dash groaned, as the icy blast was enough to interrupt her concentration and make the storm clouds vanish. "What the hay, Matter-Horn?!" she said angrily "Why did you freeze my wings?! Who's 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 Dash 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 Dash taunted "You just got lucky with that last hit!"

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

Unfortunately, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were not the only ones fighting. The other girls 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 underlinings, 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 uself?!"

"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.





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, everypony'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? You aren't even just a little 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 The Mane-iac right now."

"Why are you holdin' back?!" Applejack groaned, deflecting an attack from an underling that had tried to sneak up on her "Do you want me to finish this fight for you or somethin'?!"

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

"Then maybe you could start goin' on the attack more often, and stop leavin' me to have to guard your sorry behind!" Applejack insisted "It would make things a whole lot easier for the both of us!"





Despite the setbacks caused by the arguing, the ponies managed to defeat The Mane-iac's henchponies fairly quickly. Spike was impressed. "They didn't even need my help," he thought, as he raced to join them "They should have no trouble dealing with The Mane-iac. And after that they're just going to leave me behind when they go to work on the castle. Then again, maybe I don't need to join them. This is all the excitement I need for one day."

"Nice work, Power Ponies!" Twilight said proudly.

"Now all we need to do is take care of The Mane-iac, and we can put an end to this story!" Rainbow Dash added eagerly.

"But we'd better be careful," Spike cautioned "Knowing The Mane-iac, she could be anywhere."

"Like right behind you?" The Mane-iac cackled, quickly grabbing Spike before he had a chance to react.

"Oh no, Hum Drum!" Twilight gasped. The Mane-iac just chuckled, as she held Spike tightly and refused to let go.

Spike began to panic, as he felt The Mane-iac put him in a hold that made it difficult to breath. "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 The Mane-iac's mane in the hopes of getting a reaction out of her! He most certainly did!

The Mane-iac howled in pain, as if she'd been stabbed by a giant needle. "You lousy little-" she growled "-Let go!" She began to shake her mane furiously in an effort to shake Spike loose. Spike held on for dear life, refusing to let go. But at last, with one enormous effort, The Mane-iac managed to shake Spike free and hurled him into the air!

"I gotcha!" Rainbow Dash shouted, quickly soaring into the air and grabbing Spike in mid-flight.

Spike was most grateful for his rescue "Thanks for the catch." he said to Rainbow Dash.

"Anytime," Rainbow Dash replied "And that was quite the stunt you pulled back there. The Mane-iac certainly didn't like that at all."

"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!"

"Don't worry," Rainbow Dash assured Spike, as she set him gently down on the ground "We can handle The Mane-iac, no sweat." But unfortunately, Rainbow Dash turned out to be mistaken. The Mane-iac easily outsmarted the Power Ponies, defeating them one by one, and immoblizing them with a few sprays of The Hairspray Ray of Doom. After a brief amount of time spent rubbing her victory in Hum Drum's face, The Mane-iac retreated back to her factory. At last, she was going to defeat the six ponies responsible for stopping her attempts to control the city. And the best part was, there seemed to be no one left to stand in her way.

If only she knew how wrong she was.





"I must be crazy!" Spike thought to himself, as he worked his way into The Mane-iac's factory the only way he knew how "Here I am, crawling through the air vents, in an attempt to rescue my friends from a crazy super villan! I must be hanging out with Rainbow Dash too often, she's rubbing off on me! What exactly am I supposed to do? I'm Hum Drum, I'm useless. My friends are the ones with superpowers. They've probably already figured out how to escape In fact, I'll bet they've already defeated The Mane-iac, she can't be any harder than the countless other adverseries they've faced over the years."

At last, with a clang, Spike forced his way out of the vents. He now stood on 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. And there, resting inside a giant cage, were Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. "Or not!" Spike said to himself, barely able to keep himself from gasping.

Spike's friends were trapped inside of the cage, unable to move thanks to the effects of The Hairpsray 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. Spike was horrified "How am I going to get them out of this one?" he thought anxiously.

Meanwhile, on the factory floor, The 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 wanna 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 The 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 The Mane-iac with a stare that would unnerve most ponies. 

Unfortunately, The 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 repsrayed 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 condesecending tone she could muster up.

But just seconds after The Mane-iac had made such a statement, Twilight replied by firmly saying "Maybe in your world, Mane-iac. But in our world, Spike— uh, Hum Drum always comes through when we need him! Always!" And the other girls nodded in agreement.

"Twilight's right, I'm not like Hum Drum!" Spike realized "I still have my own abilites as a dragon, the comic didn't take those away! My friends are counting on me to save them, and I'm not going to let them down!"

The Mane-iac just laughed "I guess dementia must be a side-effect of prolonged exposure to the Hairspray Ray of Doom. Oh well, I suppose that's to be expected. You put up a good fight, Power Ponies. But I am stronger, faster, smarter, and so this ends the only way it could've! Now get comfortable, because the six of you have a front row seat to your own destruction, and the show's about to begin!"

"NOT JUST YET, MANE-IAC! FIRST YOU GOTTA DEAL WITH ME!" Spike shouted, as he came swinging down to the ground on a rope.

If The Mane-iac was surprised, she sure didn't show it, she just laughed like crazy "Oh if it is'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!"

The 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.

The 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 The 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 villans! 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.

"How's that for not having any super powers?!" Spike asked furiously "Hot enough for you, or do you want more?! Because there's a lot more where that came from!"

The Mane-iac quickly recovered, brushing the soot out of her face. "So you can shoot fire out of your mouth, big deal!" she replied angrily, her hooves shaking in anger "You probably just had a whole bunch of spicy peppers, anypony could do that! If that's the best you can do, I'm not impressed!"

"Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet!" Spike taunted "Care to try your luck against an opponent who can actually fight back?"

"Bring it, flame boy!" The Mane-iac replied "You won't beat me so easily! That first blast caught me by surprise, you won't be lucky a second time!"

"Wanna bet?!" Spike asked, as he shot another firey belch towards The Mane-iac, while brandishing his claws.

The Mane-iac dodged the belch with ease, and began to tussle with Spike. In the process, every single one of her minions found themselves attracted to the exchange, including the one who was supposed to be monitoring the Hairspray Ray of Doom.

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.





"What's the matter, Hum Drum?" The Mane-iac taunted, as she slowly approached her defeated opponent "No wity 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," The 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 The Mane-iac. But it failed to do anything, and it faded without fanfare. "Ha! Nice try, big mare!" The Mane-iac taunted "Perhaps next time that'll actually tickle!"

"Oh, it'll do more than tickle! That 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.

"Alright, my plan worked! You're free!" Spike cheered.

"Yup, looks like we owe you one." Rainbow Dash replied.

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

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

"Neither can I!" The 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!"

"Put him down, Mane-iac! It's us you want!" Twilight demanded.

"Not just yet!" The 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!"

"Oh gee, I'm ever so sorry," Spike said sarcastically "But it serves you right for being such a jerk. I told you that evil always loses in the end!"

"You're a smart alack," The Mane-iac growled "And if there's one thing I hate more than anything else, it's annoying smart alacks like you that don't shut up!" And she hurled Spike across the factory, causing him to slam into a wall at high speed. There was a sickening smack sound.

"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.

"Aside from a few bruises on the face, I think I'll live," Spike replied, as he was peeled off the wall with Twilight's magic "Once again, my thick dragon scales have saved me from what could've been a nasty injury."

Fluttershy was relieved to see that Spike was okay (as were the other girls), but at the same time she could feel a great anger welling up inside her, and she knew she couldn't keep it inside. "Are you kidding me?" she angrily asked The Mane-iac, as her eyes began to glow red with anger " I mean, I know you're evil and everything, but you hurt someone you knew had no superpowers and couldn't hope to fight back and win?! Really?! Well you're just a great, big, meanie!" as soon as she said that, her voice began to grow deeper "There! I said it! What makes you think you're so special?! Like the rules of common courtesy don't apply to you, or something like that?! Well then, why don't you try to pick on somepony your own size?!" Upon finshing this statement, Fluttershy had managed to transform into a massive hulking monster, her suit had even been ripped slightly as a result.

The Mane-iac gulped, as the transformed Fluttershy let out a roar. "I'm dead aren't I?" she asked the other Power Ponies.

Applejack smirked "Oh yes, you're in a lot more trouble than you realize."

The 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 recieving end of a punch that sent her to the floor.

And then, while the transformed Fluttershy quickly set to work on taking down the rest of the Mane-iac's goons, Rarity used her magic to hijack the Mane-iac's cannon and gain control of it. "Just tell me where to aim, and I'll shoot!" she said to Twilight.

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

"Are you crazy?! That'll just make her stronger!" Rainbow Dash complained.

"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 our sakes." Rarity said nervously, as she reluctantly aimed the cannon at The Mane-iac and fired. The blast struck her head on, knocking her away from Fluttershy.

Sure enough, just as Spike had predicted, The Mane-iac's mane grew wild. In fact, it grew right to the point where it entangled The Mane-iac as if she were locked up in a straight jacket. "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.





When the light had faded, Spike and the girls were all safely back inside The Golden Oaks Library. The comic had closed shut the moment after it had expelled them.

"Whoo-ee! Boy am I glad to be out of that comic!" Applejack cheered.

"I think I'll stick to Daring Do books for the near future," Rainbow Dash commented "At least I know those won't be enchanted to pull me inside, not that I would mind."

"Cupcakes?" Pinkie Pie 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 Pie interrupted.

"I'm just glad to be back," Spike said, as he lay on the floor "I've changed my mind, you girls go right ahead and work on the castle without me. After everything I've been through, I just want to take a nap and try to forget all about it."

"We wouldn't have made it without you, Spike," Twilight said proudly "You were amazing, my son. All the same, you really had me worried when you took on The Mane-iac by yourself. Please try not to do that again, I don't know if I can take another scare like that."

"Sorry, Twilight," Spike apologized "But it was the only way I could get her and her minions distracted long enough to buy you and the girls time. Trust me, if there was any other way to save you all, I would've done it in a heartbeat."

"Well, 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." Twilight told Spike.

Spike nodded "And that you don't have to have superpowers to be a super friend." There was a general argeement from everypony on that statement, so not one of them said a thing.

"But I do have one question" Twilight said to Spike "Just where did you get that comic from? An enchanted comic doesn't just appear on a store shelf by accident."

"I wish I knew where that comic came from, Twilight, but I don't," Spike admitted "I just found it laying on the ground outside the other day. 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 would could that be?" Fluttershy wondered outloud, unfortunately nopony knew the answer. And neither did they know about a mysterious shadowy figure watching them from outside the library window. "Curses," the figure thought to itself "That miserable little dragon foiled the enchanted comic, it would've been the perfect trap."