• Published 3rd Dec 2016
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The Alternate Adventures of the Power Ponies - DisneyFanatic23



The adventures of the Mane 6 as the Power Ponies as they defend Maretropolis from dastardly evil-doers, including the Mane-iac, the Equalizer, the Phoenix, and the God of Chaos himself.

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Origins: Part 4

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping Together is a progress. Working together is a success."

- Henry Ford


The two thugs were sitting on top of Daring Do, who was attempting to wriggle out from under them.

"You disappoint us, Daring Do," Caballeron said. "We actually thought you might pose a problem."

"Caballeron, the bolt!" Ahuizotl barked.

"Patience, my friend."

Caballeron carefully lifted the glass off the case. The alarms must have been disabled because nothing rang out. Chuckling, he slipped on a glove and reached for the bolt. Suddenly, a rope snapped at his hoof, forcing him to retract it as he cried out in pain.

"Don't ya know this is a museum, boys?"

The rope flew back to Mistress Mare-velous, who was standing on the buffet table, smirking.

"Ya can look," she said, brushing her golden bangs back, "but ya can't touch."

"Who are you?!" Ahuizotl demanded.

"And how did you get in here?" Caballeron asked.

Telekinetically twirling her lasso in the air, the hero hopped off the table and sashayed towards the stage. "I'm the defender of this here town, and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's when doggone dirty crooks like y'all stick their hooves, or paws or…whatever ya got there, where they don't belong."

Ahuizotl's eyes widened when he saw the rope spinning on its own. "Demeter's Lasso."

She turned to him. "I see you're familiar with Ole Bessie here." The lasso spun faster. "How 'bout I let the two of ya get better acquainted?"

The rope snapped forward, but Ahuizotl jumped out of the way before it could wring his neck.

"Ha!" he said as he scampered across the floor. "You'll have to do better than that, Soldier of Demeter!"

While Mare-velous was distracted with Ahuizotl, Caballeron reached once again for the necklace. In a blue flash, his hoof was instantly encased in ice.

"Gah!" he screamed. "What in the…?"

"Caught you red-hoofed!" the Masked Matter-Horn called as she swooped down from the ceiling. "Or rather blue-hoofed!"

She fired another ice beam at him, but Caballeron ducked and rolled out of the way.

"What is with this town?!" he shouted. "Why can't you have weak, defenseless mares like any other town?!"

Mare-velous snapped around at those words. "Oh, you did not just say that."

Caballeron tried dragging himself off the stage, but thanks to one of Mare-velous' horseshoes, he was out colder than his hoof. Ahuizotl raised his fingers to his mouth and whistled. His cats' heads turned to him in attention.

"Tigre, Leopardo!" he said, pointing to the tiger and leopard. "Stop those mares!"

Tigre and Leopardo crouched down low as they prowled towards Mistress Mare-velous on both sides. The Matter-Horn landed behind her.

"Nice to see you showed up," she whispered.

"What kept ya?" Mare-velous asked.

The alicorn smirked. "So you admit that you need my help?"

She rolled her eyes and glanced between the feline predators. "Don't suppose ya've got a plan?"

"At the very last moment," the Matter-Horn said in a low voice, "we jump out of the way."

"Then what?" Mare-velous pulled out a horseshoe. "Divide and conquer?"

She nodded. "I'll take the cats. If I freeze them, I can take them to the Maretropolis Zoo unharmed. They are endangered, after all."

"And I'll keep those goons away from the bolt."

"You just read my mind. Just try not to destroy any of the ancient artifacts in the process."

"Gotcha."

"First help Daring Do," the Matter-Horn said, tilting her head toward the trapped adventurer. "She can get every pony out of here safely."

The tiger and leopard were closing in on them.

"Wait for it," the alicorn murmured.

With mighty roars, the cats pounced.

"Now!"

The heroes zipped off in separate directions, causing the tiger and leopard to collide into each other and fall to the floor. Mare-velous immediately flung her horseshoe at the stallions sitting on top of Daring Do, striking one of them in the back of the head. Once he had slid off, Daring was able to raise her flank and then buck the other thug off.

"Could've handled them myself," she murmured.

"Get these ponies outta here," Mare-velous said, mentally snapping her rope to its full length. "We'll take care o' the rest."

Daring nodded and dashed toward the guarded exit. Meanwhile, the Matter-Horn had frozen the unconscious tiger and leopard and now the lynx and panther were after her, leaving the guests free to rush out of the room. The two guards' eyes widened at the incoming crowd of ponies.

"Forget the hostages!" Ahuizotl told them. "Grab the bolt!"

All the thugs who were awake, the two guards and one of Daring's previous captors, hastened toward the stage. Daring saw where they were headed as she ushered the guests out of the room.

"Mare-velous!" she called, pointing to the stage.

"I'm on it!" Mare-velous said, taking out two other horseshoes.

Just as two of the thugs were approaching the display case, she tossed her weapons at him, hitting one in the gut and the other in the jaw, which was enough to knock them over. The last thug laughed as he charged for the bolt, but the lasso caught his back hoof and tugged him into the air. He cried out as he was spun around and brought down upon his comrades. Mare-velous jumped onto the stage as the rope tied all three of them up.

"Looks like wrappin' all those Hearth's Warmin' gifts really paid off, huh?" she said with a smirk.

Meanwhile, Rainbow was trying to assist Daring Do with the guests, but there were so many ponies flocking towards the exit that she got swept away in the chaos. Suddenly she found herself on the floor, her vision blurry. She felt around for her glasses, until she heard something shatter.

"Oh, this is just perfect," she said with a groan.

The Matter-Horn had managed to freeze all the cats, which did not make Ahuizotl happy.

"No one harms my pets!" he exclaimed as he drew two knives from his belt. "No one!"

He flung the weapons at the alicorn. She avoided one, but the other grazed her wing, forcing her to the ground. Ahuizotl cackled as he closed in on her.

"Hang on, partner!" Mare-velous called as she reached for her belt.

But she was out of horseshoes and the rope was currently being used.

"Shoot," she mumbled. "I gotta remember to use these things sparingly!"

The Matter-Horn shot an ice beam at him, but he ducked and the beam hit a marble statue of Aphrodite.

"My statue!" Mr. Fetlock cried.

"We'll fix it later!" Daring Do said as she dragged him out. "Let's go!"

The alicorn prepared to fire again, but Ahuizotl was ready and kicked her hard in the head, leaving her dazed. Mare-velous charged towards him.

"Valliant effort on all your parts," he said, crouching to the ground. "But I'm afraid I'll have to cut our battle short."

He leaped over her and the low amount of friction between the floor and her clothed hooves made it difficult for Mare-velous to slow down. She collided into her colleague. All this time, Fluttershy had slowly been making her way along the wall to the exit and was now watching the scene behind a plant. She was so horrified, she could no longer move, and the rage towards Ahuizotl that was building up inside her was making her hooves shake.

"Don't get angry," she whispered, closing her eyes and breathing slowly. "Don't get angry, don't get angry, don't get angry…"

By this time, Ahuizotl was nearing the lightning bolt.

"At last," he said as he put on a glove.

Although Rainbow couldn't see very well, she could hear that the heroes were losing and could make out the giant blue smudge that was Ahuizotl. Knowing she had to do something, Rainbow felt around the floor. Her hoof touched something metal and after squinting, she saw that it was gold and in the shape of a horseshoe.

"Zeus' Lightning Bolt," Ahuizotl said as he lifted the necklace with his gloved fingers. "It is mine!"

Rising to her hooves, Rainbow concentrated hard on the blue smudge. She had one shot.

Caballeron groaned as he slowly came to. "But…the magic…how will you…?"

"I will find a way to extract its power," Ahuizotl said, holding it up. "And when I do, no pony will be able to stand in my—YOW!"

The horseshoe struck him in the back, catching him off guard. The bolt fell from his fingers and to the stage floor.

"Don't worry, I have it!" Caballeron said, reaching with his unfrozen front hoof.

Ahuizotl spun around and gasped. "No, you fool!"

The stallion forgot that his unfrozen hoof was also ungloved and he shrieked as the pendant zapped him. Out of impulse, he tossed the bolt aside and Rainbow heard the clink as it landed right at her hooves. At the far end of the room, the two heroes were attempting to untangle themselves from each other. They froze when they saw the pegasus reaching for the bolt.

"Stop!" they cried.

"Don't!" Fluttershy screamed from her hiding place.

"No!"

Rainbow's head shot up at the sound of her mentor's voice behind her.

"Let her do it!"

Smiling, Rainbow picked up the pendant. Upon contact, her vision was cleared and with a powerful surge, her mane whooshed straight upwards. The heroes, Fluttershy, Caballeron and the thugs watched in awe, while Ahuizotl backed away in fear and Daring Do smiled with pride. Rainbow faced her enemies.

"Zeus' Lightning Bolt will never be yours, Ahuizotl," she said as she slipped her head through the chain. "It belongs to me!"

"Who are you?!" Ahuizotl demanded.

Does he seriously not know? She thought as she glanced back at the amazed heroes. No, I guess that's how this superhero thing works whether you like it or not. Am I a hero now? Well, I do have powers. I should probably say something cool.

She turned back to him. "I'm the one who's gonna zap ya into oblivion." As she raised the lightning bolt with her hoof and flew upward, a storm cloud formed above her head. "By the power of Zeus, King of the Olympian Gods, I smite at thee!"

Lightning struck at Ahuizotl's feet, making him yelp. Another bolt hit Caballeron's frozen hoof, freeing it but also burning it. As the lightning kept coming, Caballeron rose to his legs and hobbled toward the exit. Daring Do charged for him but a stray bolt forced her to jump out of the way.

"Watch it!" she called from the floor.

"Sorry!" Rainbow shouted.

Ahuizotl slinked along the walls as he maneuvered the lightning. He was almost out when a small whimper caught his ear. Meanwhile, the storm cloud was growing in size and intensity.

"Uh," Rainbow said as she waved the pendant around. "How do you stop this thing?!"

The cloud rumbled and boomed, knocking amphorae off their pedestals. Fortunately, the Masked Matter-Horn was able to encase them with her magic before they hit the ground.

"Dash, stop it!" Daring Do shouted.

"I don't know how!" Rainbow exclaimed, now holding the pendant with both hooves. "It just keeps getting bigger!"

She squeaked as she was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders and spun around. Mistress Mare-velous looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"You're thinkin' too much," she said steadily. "Clear yerr mind, channel yerr emotions. Yerr fear is makin' this storm worse. Just calm yourself, and the storm'll follow."

Rainbow blinked. "How do you…?"

"Just trust me, okay!" She took a deep breath. "Now, close yerr eyes."

Rainbow obeyed.

"As ya breathe in, let all yerr thoughts and fears come together." She inhaled with her. "Now, as ya let yerr breath out, let all yerr thoughts and fears go with it."

Slowly, they both exhaled and Rainbow could feel some of the tension leaving her body. The storm grew quieter.

"Don't fight the storm," Mare-velous said. "Feel it. Become one with it. You are the storm, the storm is you. Its will is yours."

After Rainbow took another deep breath, the cloud slowly shrank into nothingness. She opened her eyes and looked up.

"Wow," she said, looking back at the hero. "How'd ya know that would work?"

Mare-velous smiled. "I've got Demeter's Lasso, remember?"

A heinous laugh made every pony snap their attention towards the entrance. Mare-velous and Rainbow gasped when they saw who was shivering in Ahuizotl's arms.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow shouted, darting forward.

"Stay back!" Ahuizotl barked, bearing his claws near Fluttershy's belly. "Or I slice this mare open!"

Mare-velous snapped at Rainbow's tail, tugging her back, but the pegasus kept swinging her hooves at the villain. Above, another storm cloud was taking form.

"You hurt her and I'll tear ya limb from limb and fry your insides until they're nothing but ash!"

"Ah," Ahuizotl said with a smirk. "So this mare means something to you." He stiffened as police sirens blared outside. "You try and stop me, and you'll never see this mare again!"

Every pony else stood stiff as Ahuizotl slipped away with Fluttershy.

"He's getting away!" Rainbow shouted. "We have to stop him! We have to save Fluttershy!"

"No," the Matter-Horn said, using her magic to lower her to the floor. "If we try and stop him now, he could hurt that mare."

"She's right," Mare-velous said, spitting out Rainbow's tail. "We can't risk it."

"Then what do we do?" Rainbow demanded. "Just stand here?! We're supposed to be the heroes!"

Mare-velous raised an eyebrow. "We?"

"Well…yeah." She lifted the lightning bolt. "I mean I've got superpowers, right? Doesn't that make me a hero?"

The two heroes glanced at each other.

"She did just help us out," the Matter-Horn said. "And she must be of noble heart and mind if the lightning bolt chose her."

Mare-velous scowled at her and then sighed. "Fine, fine. So what do we call ya, uh…?"

Rainbow rubbed her chin. "Uh…let's see. I have Zeus' powers, so wouldn't that make me…Zeus?"

The earth mare folded her hooves. "That's blasphemy. Ya don't hear me callin' myself Demeter just cuz I have her rope, do ya?"

"Okay, okay! Then how about…" She glanced down at her necklace and smiled. "Zap?"

Mare-velous cocked her head. "Kinda short, ain't it?"

Rainbow thought further. "With...two P's?"

She shrugged. "Better."

A murmur came from the corridor as a hoard of police ponies rushed in and pointed their guns.

"Police!" a pegasus mare with a fiery mane cried. "Hooves in the air!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Well, you guys took your sweet time!"

She yelped as Mare-velous punched her sharply in the side.

"Chief Spitfire," the Matter-Horn said, approaching the fiery-maned mare. "I'm afraid the two crooks behind this whole mess have already escaped. One of them has a young pegasus mare hostage."

Chief Spitfire signaled to her cops. "You, you, and you! Search the hallways! They couldn't've gone far!" As the search party ran off, she glanced around the room. "I see you managed to capture some of the perps though." She noticed the frozen cats. "Some pony get animal control. And a flamethrower." The pegasus emitting sparks made her eyebrows raise. "And who is this?"

"Err," Mare-velous uttered. "This is, um…"

"Name's Zapp," Rainbow replied, proudly placing her hooves on her hips. "With two P's. I'm their new partner."

"Partner?!"

"Partner?" Daring Do said.

Mare-velous face-palmed herself. "How many times do I have to tell y'all that I work alone?!"

The Matter-Horn ignored her and turned back to the chief. "Apparently, the artifact that was unveiled today, Zeus' Lightning Bolt, has chosen a user."

"Excuse me!" Mr. Fetlock cried as he pushed through the police force. "This is my museum! I demand to see…" He gasped when he saw the lightning bolt around Zapp's neck. "Put that necklace down at once, young lady! That is museum property!"

Zapp scowled. "Who ya callin' a lady?"

"With all due respect, Mr. Fetlock," the Matter-Horn said steadily, "but according to legend, the lightning bolt can only be wielded by those chosen by Zeus, and since Zapp here can clearly harness its power, don't you think that means it belongs to her?"

He inhaled sharply. "This is a historical artifact! It was donated to us, it belongs…"

"…to her, Fetlock."

Every pony turned to Daring Do. No pony was more surprised than Rainbow Dash.

"The lightning bolt chose her," Daring said firmly. "She should be allowed to keep it."

"B-B-But," Mr. Fetlock stammered. "The museum…"

She darted her eyes at him. "…will never do business with me again if this mare isn't allowed to have what is rightfully hers!"

Rainbow grinned. "G-Gee, thanks, Daring, I…"

"Zapp," Daring said through her teeth. "Can I have a word with you?"

Gulping, she flew over to her employer, who swung her foreleg around her and turned them away from the crowd so they couldn't be overheard.

"You disobeyed my orders," she said sternly.

Rainbow sighed. "I know, I know, but they needed help and I didn't know what else to do and…"

"I'm glad you did it."

She blinked. "What?"

Daring smirked. "Yeah. I'm glad. Look, Dash…Zapp, I…I have a confession." She sighed. "When the bolt chose you, I…I was a little jealous."

Rainbow almost took this as flattery. "You were jealous of me?!"

"I've always been the hero. I thought…I really thought the bolt would choose me. But…I know now why it chose you instead." She looked at her sincerely. "You're loyal, even when your help is unwanted. You're courageous, even when you know you can't win, you never give up. Back in the temple, you knew you couldn't possibly defeat Ahuizotl on your own, but you went and tried anyway. You picked up that bolt so you could help me. Me…well, I only picked it up so I could be the hero.

"But there's more to being a hero than being the one to get in on all the action, or to have all the glory. You reminded me of that." She hung her head. "I wish I could've been a better mentor for you."

Grinning, Rainbow put her wing around her. "You have been. You still are. No matter how bossy you can get, boss, you'll always be a hero to me."

Daring returned her smile and embraced her.

"Hate to break up the sentimental fluff," Mare-velous said as she hopped onto the stage, "but we've gotta find that feline fiend and rescue Fluttershy." She glared at the thugs who were writhing in their bounds. "The more ya struggle, the tighter it gets."

The short, rotund thug wheezed. "She's right. Stop!"

"Now," she said, stooping down to their eyelevel. "Why don't ya be good lil' boys and tell us where we can find Ahuizotl?"

"We'll never tell!" the tallest thug cried.

She smirked. "Ya sure about that?"

The rope glowed brighter and all three of them blurted out, "He's hiding out at the abandoned cat food factory!"

"Figures," Daring groaned. "He just can't stay away from cats."

"Wait, why did we say that?" the tall thug asked.

Mare-velous took one end of the rope. "No pony can lie to Ole Bessie."

With a sharp tug, the rope whirled the crooks out of its hold. Crying out, they dropped to the floor in dizziness.

"Book 'em," Spitfire told her cops. "We'll get some ponies down to the factory."

"No," the Matter-Horn said. "The sirens will alert Ahuizotl. My partners and I will take care of it."

Mare-velous groaned. "I'm no pony's partner!"

Spitfire nodded. "Okay. Your plans have worked before, Matter-Horn, so I trust you. Still, if you need any backup, I'll park some units down the block."

"Thank you, chief. I'll keep that in mind." The Matter-Horn turned to the other supers. "You two coming?"

"Heck, yeah!" Zapp said, pumping her hoof.

Mare-velous sighed as she picked up her horseshoes. "I'm only doin' this to save that mare. Afterwards, I don't expect y'all to call on me for help again, okay?"

"Come on," the Matter-Horn said, nudging her playfully. "You have to admit we make a pretty good team."

She glared at her. "Don't touch me."

The rope snapped for emphasis.

The police spread out to make way for the three heroes.

"Did I do something to make her mad?" Zapp whispered to the Matter-Horn. "Or is she always this grumpy?"

"Don't worry about her," the Matter-Horn said. "She appreciates the help. She just doesn't want to admit it."

Author's Note:

I know it's short, but I didn't want to pack two major action scenes into one chapter. Plus, they're exhausting. Why'd I pick a premise with so much action?