Power Ponies
Pony's Log Number 406: Who hasn't ever dreamed of becoming a superhero? Well, I think I might have just satisfied my need to be one...
Late one night, Mario and Twilight were asleep in their bed. They were sleeping on opposite sides facing away from each other and wearing a yellow and blue nightcap respectively. Then somepony decided to turn on a small lamp, causing Twilight to wake up as she sat up and saw Spike reading something from his bed basket.
"Spike," said Twilight quietly but firmly, "you really need to go to sleep!"
"Aw, two more minutes, Twilight!" said Spike, giving the purple pony large puppy dog eyes and rushed over to her, "I'm just getting to the really good part!"
"This is why I tell you both to never start reading a good book so late at night!" Mario retorted, now awake as he sat up and let out a large yawn.
"Sorry to wake you, honey," said Twilight with a soft smile.
"It's alright, dear," said Mario, "Now what's going on?"
"The Mane-iac is about to-" Spike tried to explain.
"The Mane-iac?" Twilight and Mario asked puzzled.
"The Power Ponies' most evil nemesis!" Spike explained as he showed Twilight and Mario a picture of a mare with a wild looking green mane wearing a purple suit with black boots, "She was the power-mad owner of a hair-care product company. A tragic accident at her shampoo factory in Maretropolis not only gave her mane strange new power, but also caused her to go completely insane!" As Spike continued to speak, he turned the page to show a purple mare with a blue mane falling to a large vast of experimental shampoo, which transformed her mane and made her look like a mad mare. Spike's eyes widened when he said she was insane.
"Remind me to tell Rarity to never get involved in making shampoo or cosmetics in the future," Mario remarked as Twilight just gave a playful eye roll and smiled.
"She and her henchponies are planning to break into Maretropolis Museum and steal the Electro-Orb," Spike continued as he turned a page to show an electric orb inside of a glass case, "so she can use it to power up her doomsday device! Of course, the Mane-iac wouldn't have known if Hum Drum hadn't slipped up and told her all about it." Spike rolled his eyes at the last remark and slapped a claw to his forehead.
"Hum Drum?" Twilight asked.
"Nah, the guy in the blue boots and pointless red cape," said Spike as he showed them a picture of the pony, "The Power Ponies' bumbling and totally useless sidekick."
"Hmph, why does every good story have to have a character that is such an easy target for laughs and humiliation," Mario remarked as Twilight gave him a sympathetic smile.
"Who knows," said Spike before getting back to his story as he jumped to the front of the bed, "The Power Ponies have to stop the Mane-iac or Maretropolis is doo-hoo-hoo-hoomed!" Spike couldn't help but be a bit dramatic at the end. Mario and Twilight just smiled.
"Believe me, Spike," said Twilight, "If anypony understands what it's like to get caught up in a really good book, it's me. But if we're going to make any progress fixing up Luna and Celestia's old castle tomorrow, we all have to do our part. We don't want to be too tired to land a hoof...or claw."
"Okay, okay," said Spike with an eye roll, "I'm going to bed. Goodnight." Spike then turned off his lamp, puts the comic book beside his bed, pulled the blanket over himself, and went to sleep. Twilight and Mario did the same. But a few seconds later, Spike stuck a claw out of his blanket to try and search for his comic book. Twilight opened a single eye and saw Spike searching for his comic book in the dark. Mario did as well. They exchanged sly smiles with each other as Twilight used her magic to pull the comic book out of his reach. Spike then peeks out of his blanket and saw his comic book in Twilight's magic grip and the royal couple smirking at him.
"Two more minutes," said Twilight.
"And then its bedtime," Mario added firmly, "no questions asked."
"Yes!" Spike said excitedly as he turned the light and read his comic book while holding it with his hind claws. Mario and Twilight just chuckled to each other before trying to get some sleep.
(Main Theme)
The next morning, the Mane seven were hard at work cleaning up the old castle of the two sisters. Rarity was standing on a tarp working on her own project, RD and F were working together moving some large cloths, P was moving about the floor and scrubbing them with her hooves, Applejack was putting up some painting on the walls, and Twilight was supervising the other girls. There were also wagons filled with various brooms, scrubbing brushes, and other cleaning supplies.
"Looking good, everypony!" said Twilight, "Let's keep this magical makeover moving!"
"You got it!" said Rainbow as she and Fluttershy carried off a large rolled up fabric. It was then Mario arrived holding various hoof-drawn blue prints with his magic as he approached his wife.
"How's the blueprints going for the repairs?" Twilight asked.
"I'll be honest, that I've got my work cut out for me," said Mario, "But fortunately, I brought my support team with me." Mario then pulled out his toy box from one of the wagons.
"HA-HA!" Mario called out as he tossed the chest near his wife, who flinched as the box landed and the lid opened. It was then about two dozen of little mini-toy versions of himself jumped out wearing hardhats and orange vests, and he had added toy wings onto them as well since he was an Alicorn now. Twilight chuckled as the toy Marios all lined before their creator and saluted him.
"Let'sa go little guys!" Mario called out as he led the group to another part of the castle in single file. Twilight just smiled and watched her husband disappear as Spike approached wearing a backpack.
"Good old Spike is here," said the little dragon, "ready to do his part!" Twilight didn't hear him and walked away. Nearby Applejack was busy adjusting a painting of some apples on a wall, which was looking a bit crooked.
"A little more to the left," said Pinkie as she scrubbed by as Applejack straightened out the painting it.
"No, the other left!" Pinkie called out as she scrubbed by in the opposite direction, annoying the orange pony before adding quickly, "Awesome! That's perfect right where it is! On to the next painting!"
"You sure you don't need any help?" Spike asked.
"Nah, that's okay," Applejack replied.
"We have everything under control!" said Pinkie as she scrubbed past going along the wall instead of the floor. Spike just watched Pinkie disappear with a stunned look on his face before turning to Rainbow.
"Dash?"Spike called out.
"I'm good!" said Rainbow before she zoomed away. Spike sighed.
"Isn't there anything I can help you with, Twilight?" Spike asked, "And where's Mario anyway?"
"He already left to so some restoration work with his mini-toys of himself," said Twilight before muttering, "still wonder why he never made any toys of me..."
"He wanted to," said Spike in his defense, "but...at the time...you were still having anxiety attacks over the idea of him just having a crush on you." Twilight blushed.
"Well, that was then, this is now!" Twilight snapped, "I want my own toys!" She pouted indignantly as Spike rolled his eyes.
"Then how about, gee I don't know, asking him?" said Spike, "I'm sure Mario would build you some mini-Twilight toys if you just said something instead of pouting like Diamond Tiara." It was then Mario arrived.
"Oh, honey, I forgot to show you these!" said Mario as he hovered beside her and whistled by putting a fore-hoof to his mouth. It was then eight little purple alicorn toys popped out of the toy box and lined up before Twilight.
"They await your command," said Mario with a smile. Twilight just lowered her head to hide her embarrassment.
"You saw me pouting didn't you?" Twilight asked timidly.
"Pretty much," said Mario with a smirk on his face, "Just be glad I like spoiling you." Mario kissed her cheek and hovered off, making Twilight giggle. Spike waved to get Mario's attention, but he was already gone.
"Guess there's nothing for me to do then," said Spike as he looked jealously at the mini-Twilight toys.
"Don't worry about it, Spike!" Pinkie said quickly as she scrubbed by with her tail, "It's all good!"
"I think she's right. It looks like we've got it, Spike," said Twilight before turning to the others who were working hard, "Looking great, everypony!" She then turned back to Spike, "Why don't you find a quiet spot and finish reading your comic? Aren't you right at the part where Hum Drum was about to stop the villain?" Twilight then used her magic to pull out the comic and hand it to the little dragon. Spike just glared at the purple alicorn as she called for her own little mini-toys to follow her.
"Hum Drum never stops the villain," said Spike, "He's just there for comic relief." Spike then walked forward and saw that he had stepped his foot into a bucket. Spike then dropped his comic book to try and pry the bucket off his foot, even using his tail for assistance.
"Rarity, lemme give you a hoof with that!" Twilight called out as she approached the marshmallow mare.
"I could do it!" said Spike as he finally managed to get the bucket off his foot and sent it flying into the air.
"That's okay, Spike," Twilight called out as she used her magic to help Rarity put up a tapestry on a wall.
"Pony power! Weehee!" Pinkie squeed as she approached the two ponies now scrubbing the surface with her mane. Spike just sighed as he picked up his comic book. Then the bucket clattered on top of his head.
Spike then headed into the secret room of the castle library. Once he found a couple of cushions to sit on to read his comic book.
"Mane-iac breaks into the museum..." Spike read aloud, "Okay, here we go. Ugh, 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..." Spike then gasped and found that the last page was blank.
"Wait, what?" Spike exclaimed, "How can that be the end?!" Spike then noticed a tiny print on the bottom right corner of the page.
"What's that?" Spike wondered aloud as he tried to read the extremely small writing, ""You can...retr-" What? "You can...return..." Ugh! I know I saw a magnifying glass laying around the last time I was here..." Spike then put the comic book on the pedestal as he looked around for the said object. As he was searching for the magnifying glass, the Mane seven had started looking for where Spike had gone off to.
"Spike! Where are ya, Spike!" Applejack called out.
"We're breaking for tea and biscuits!" Rarity said.
"The biscuits are from my own recipe!" Mario added.
"Spike!" Rainbow shouted.
Back inside the secret room, Spike had finally found a magnifying glass and was now examining the label.
""You can return to the place you started when the Mane-iac is...defeated." Huh?" Spike read aloud and looked rather puzzled. It was then the Mane seven entered the room.
""Take a closer look to join the adventure of this book"?" Spike continued to read aloud, "What does that even mean?" It was then a bright light shot out from the comic book.
"Whoa! Cool!" said Spike as he enjoyed the light show. Twilight and Mario looked worried.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Mario remarked.
"Spike! What are you-" Before Twilight could finish, the comic book began to pull Spike into it!
"Heeeeeelp!" Spike shouted as Twilight grabbed Spike and Mario held onto Twilight by the stomach, but even with Mario trying to run backwards as fast as he could. The comic book's pull on them was too great. Rainbow grabbed a hold of Mario by the stomach as she tried hovering to pull them free, but was soon overwhelmed. Applejack grabbed Rainbow by the tail, but it wasn't long before she was at the mercy of the comic book's pull. Fluttershy and Rarity gasped as the former grabbed Applejack's hind legs and Rarity held onto Fluttershy by the stomach. Everypony minus Pinkie screamed as they were all sucked into the comic book. As for Pinkie Pie...
"Weehee!"
She just willingly jumped in as the comic book light faded and the pages turned to close the book on its own.
Spike soon found himself laying on his stomach as he woke up. He was now donning a black mask on his face, red cape, and blue gloves on his claws and belt around his waist. He soon found that he was on top of a building in the middle of a large city in the nighttime.
"Is this...Maretropolis?" Spike wondered as he looking around a bit.
"Somepony wanna tell me what the hay is goin' on?" Applejack asked out of the blue as the rest of the Mane seven recovered.
"I kind of wanna know why we're dressed up like this!" said Mario, "did somepony call for a costume change or something?" Spike turned around and gasped when he looked at the Mane seven.
"Holy new personas, ponies!" Spike exclaimed, "You're the..."
"...Masked Matter-Horn!" he said to Twilight, who was wearing a magenta hero suit with a light blue collar, boots with her cutie mark on them, a purple mask with gold goggles and a light blue cover on her horn.
"...Web-Stallion!" he said to Mario, who was wearing a yellow and black suit that had golden lining on it that resembled spider webs, black boots that had star prints on them, and a black and yellow head mask that had black patches where his eyes would be.
"...Fili-Second!" he said to Pinkie, who was wearing a white and purple body suit that had balloon decals on the hooves and some strips that ended in lightning bolts at the front of the suit. She was also hopping about excitedly.
"...Zap!" he said to Rainbow who wore a navy blue suit that had patches of white on the hooves, neckline, and headpiece with lightning bolt decals on it. She was also wearing a gold lightning bolt around her neck.
"...Radiance!" he said to Rarity, who was wearing a cobalt blue suit with a gold pink gem studded broach on her chest. Gems also covered both her suit, mane, and tail as she wore a matching masquerade style mask and bracelets on her fore-hooves.
"...Mistress Marvelous!" he said to Applejack as she wore a red suit with black hoof-bands, black mask, a gold and black saddle bag that had a gold rope hooked to it, green training tape around her lower mane and tail. It was then Fluttershy crawled out from behind Applejack.
"...Saddle Rager!" he said to a Fluttershy, who had an aqua green suit with purple and pink neckline with a flower pin, butterfly bead bracelets around her fore-hooves, and a purple mask.
"You're the...Power Ponies!" Spike exclaimed when they heard a loud crash from below. The seven ponies and Spike headed over to edge of the building as several ponies ran for their lives. It was then several green like tentacles came out of a large dust cloud. Then the one behind the green tentacles appeared before them. It was the Mane-iac!
"Power Ponies!" the Mane-iac remarked as she laughed, "How kind of you to join us?"
"Huh?" said the entire group puzzled as the Mane-iac laughed maniacally.
"Did she just call us...Power Ponies?" Applejack asked in disbelief.
"You're the...the superheroes from my comic book!" said Spike, "It's somehow zapped us all in here!"
"So somepony zap us back out!" Rainbow retorted.
"My comic book!" said Spike, "It said the way to get back to where we started was to defeat the Mane-iac! Your arch nemesis!"
"Hmm, arch-nemesis huh?" said Mario, and sighed, "Every hero has his enemies I guess." Mane-iac continued her laughter.
"Time for the mane event!" said Mane-iac. She then used her tentacle-like mane to grab a pretzel cart and threw it at the Mane Seven and Spike. Mario then felt something inside tingle as the background flickered around him.
"Look out!" Mario shouted as everypony dodged the oncoming pretzel cart as it smashed into the top part of the building.
"How'd you do that?" Twilight asked.
"Do what honey?" Mario asked.
"You detected that the pretzel cart was coming the moment she tossed it," said Twilight.
"That's because Web-Stallion has a sixth sense much like Pinkie's Pinkie sense," said Spike, "he can also shoot webs using the special shooters from his fore-hoofs and walk on walls. He's also known as the sass of the team."
"Ooo-hoo-hoo, so that means I get to use sarcastic quips while we battle huh?" said Mario excitedly while the others rolled their eyes.
"Don't get carried away, honey," Twilight warned.
"The only thing I'm gonna carry away is you, beautiful," Mario remarked, making the purple pony blush and roll her eyes.
"Ugh, this is gonna be a long day...er...night," Spike remarked. It was then the Mane-iac grabbed a mail box and tossed it into the air. Mario's spider sense went off.
"Pinkie! Look out!" Mario shouted as the mail box crashed on top of her, "Uh...you've got mail?"
"Pinkie!" Rainbow called out, "Where'd she go?!"
"Wheeeeeeeee!" Pinkie chanted excitedly as she was seen as a pink blur zoom up and across buildings.
"She could be miles away from here by now!" said Spike, "Pinkie is Fili-Second, the fastest pony in all of Metropolis!"
"I'm just glad she got over her crush on me," said Mario, "If she had this kind of speed back in the day, ugh...unpleasant memories..." As Mario recovered from his self-traumatizing moment, Applejack then used her gold lasso to try and capture the Mane-iac with it. But Applejack was completely off target and ended up roping a lamppost instead. As she tried to pull her lasso in, the rope glowed and recoiled. Applejack soon found herself tied to the lamppost upside down.
"Whoa!" Applejack exclaimed as she struggled to break free of her own rope. The Mane-iac just crackled at the orange pony's expense.
"Twilight! Freeze her mane!" Spike called out.
"Do what?" Twilight asked in shock.
"You're the Masked Matter-Horn!" said Spike, "You can shoot all kinds of crazy power beams from your horn!"
"Sweet!" said Mario as he stood excitedly beside Twilight, "C'mon honey, show 'em what you can do!" Twilight made an attempt to shoot a freeze beam from her horn, but all she produced was a few snowflakes as her magic fizzled out.
"Houston, we have a problem," said Mario as the Mane-iac laughed again as she tried to toss another object at them rest of the Mane Seven and Spike, but it just smashed the side of the building.
"You know, I'm beginning to enjoy this," said the Mane-iac as she laughed again. It was then Mario appeared above her dangling from a makeshift piece of web as he descended toward her upside down.
"Little Miss Pony sat on her mane, eating her curds and whey," Mario recited, "Then along came a spider, which sat down beside her..."
"EEEEEEEK!" Mane-iac shrieked when she saw Mario and tumbled to the ground.
"...and scared the living daylights out of her," Mario finished before taking a bow upside down, "Thank you, thank you! I'll be signing autographs out back." It was then one of the mane-iac's tentacles started trying to smash into Mario as he used his spider-like quickness and agility to avoid the attacks.
"Stay still!" Mane-iac shouted.
"Hmm, stay still and get squished or scurry about and live?" Mario mock pondered as he shot a webbing to swing to the wall across from the villainess, "Yeah...I think I chose option B." Mario just landed on the top of a streetlamp when the Mane-iac managed to grab him with her mane and pulled Mario toward her.
"Seesh, if you wanted my autograph, you could've just asked," Mario remarked before the Mane-iac threw him hard so he smacked into a wall hard, causing it to crack. The other ponies and Spike cringed as Mario fell off the wall and tumbled to the ground below.
"Ugh, well that's one way to get a natural stomach press for free," Mario groaned as some of the wall broke free and buried him slightly.
"Mario!" Twilight called out with worry.
"Dash! Quick! You're Zapp," said Spike, "and your superpower is controlling the almighty forces of nature! Unholster the lightning bolt!" Rainbow then looked at the lightning bolt on her necklace. She held it in the air and summoned some storm clouds. The remaining three ponies watched in amazement as the sound of lightning and electricity could be heard. However, Rainbow hadn't summoned a lightning storm.
"Lighting, not a tornado!" Spike shouted. He and the three ponies struggled not to get sucked into the tornado. Pinkie was still zipping around carrying a tray of cupcakes and a flag when she saw that her friends were in trouble. She tried to rush in for the rescue but got too close to the tornado and yelped as she got sucked in despite her super speed.
"Whoa!" Pinkie yelled as she failed her legs and found she couldn't break away from the tornado's momentum.
"Whoa-whoa!" Rainbow yelped as one of the cupcakes Pinkie had been carrying hit her in the face and she was now sucked into the tornado as well. As the tornado made its way down the building, Mario was just dusting his suit off.
"Good thing this suit isn't dry clean only," said Mario when the tornado sucked him in. Everypony minus Mario was screaming for dear life. Mario remained calm and was seen riding the swirling vortex, reading a newspaper.
"Typical with weather forecasts," said Mario, "They said it's be clear skies this evening and we got clouds and a tornado."
"Hardy-har-har," said Rainbow remarked as she flew past him. The Mane-iac had just decided to use her tentacle-like mane to recline and enjoy the show as Applejack watched helplessly from her tied up position. Inside the tornado, Spike had managed to get his own cape off his face as he turned Fluttershy, who was spinning about helplessly.
"Fluttershy! You're the Saddle Rager!" said Spike, "Lose your temper, and you'll turn into a huge super-strong monster."
"Oh, gosh!" Fluttershy answered, "That wouldn't...be very...polite!"
"You're polite?" said Mario, trying to use his sarcasm to get a rise out of the yellow Pegasus, "Who knew?" Fluttershy growled but then took a deep breath to calm herself.
"I'm not going to stop down to getting angry over petty remarks," Fluttershy said indignantly. Spike just blinked.
"Oh well, I tried," said Mario quickly before letting the tornado momentum carry him off.
"Ugh!" Spike groaned as he turned to Rarity, "Rarity! Use your jewelry to create attack constructs!"
"What's an attack construct!?" Rarity yelped as she started at the bracelets of her fore-hooves.
"Just think of something, anything, and your bracelet makes it appear!" Spike explained frantically. Rarity then tested her bracelet out and made a tea set appear, which got caught up in the vortex and the teapot smashed into Spike's face.
"Something useful!" Spike snapped.
"Might I suggest a paper fan?" Mario proposed as Spike and Rarity glared at him, "I was being serious!" Before they could do anything else, the tornado made its way toward the Mane-iac, but it ended going around her and Spike was sent flying back first into the side of the building. When he recovered, he noticed the Mane-iac had in her possession a familiar orb.
"The Electro-Orb!" Spike called out.
"Well, this has been quite the mane-raising experience," Mane-iac gloated, "But I really must be going." She then laughed as Spike managed to sneak up to her and grab the Electro-Orb, but before he could escape, he tripped and dropped it. The Mane-iac quickly used one of her tentacles to pick it up.
"Why, thank you, Hum Drum!" said Mane-iac as she laughed evilly. She didn't resist laughing into Applejack's face before using her tentacle-like mane to crawl away. As she disappeared, Spike looked at his costume.
"I'm Hum Drum...?!" Spike exclaimed sadly, "Oh no..." It was then the tornado had come back and was heading towards him. Spike tried to get away, but was quickly being overwhelmed.
"Applejack!" Spike called out as was sucked into the tornado, "You gotta...help stop the...tornado from destroying the city!"
"But every time I move," Applejack told him as her rope glowed and squeezed her, "this darn lasso gets tighter!"
"You're psychically connected to it!" Spike explained, "Will it to where you want it to go, and it'll obey you!" Applejack then closed her eyes to concentrate as the rope began to glow and expand, freeing her. She then commanded the rope to lasso the top of the tornado, closing the opening so the tornado pressure built up to the point that it exploded. Rarity used a glass container to set herself down to the ground, Mario then used his web shooter to swing and flip as he made a landing on the ground, and the rest just landed or hovered nearby.
"That was spin-tastic!" said Pinkie as she zipped up to the others and then took off once again.
"First time I've ever gotten my suit spin dry-cleaned while I was still in it," Mario added, "Next time, I'd prefer my suit clean when I'm not wearing it!"
"But I thought you liked spinning around like a top so you couldn't stop?" Fluttershy remarked.
"Takes one to know one!" Mario remarked as Fluttershy stuck her tongue out at him. The others minus Pinkie just rolled their eyes.
"Lemme get this straight," Applejack said once she approached Spike, "We've been sucked into some kind of comic-book world?"
"Would you prefer Better Homes and Gardens?" Mario remarked as Applejack glared at him. Meanwhile, Twilight was testing her horn, Rainbow was testing her amulet, Pinkie was eating a cupcake, and Rarity was using a self-created feather duster to clean herself.
"Technically, it's called Maretopolis," Spike explained, "and if we wanna get back to Ponyville, I think we have to stop the Mane-iac from using her doomsday device to destroy it!"
"No biggie, I was already awesome," Rainbow boasted, "and now we've all got superpowers!"
"With a trade-off Rainbow," Mario remarked, "I don't have my magic or my running or flying speed. Just some web shooters, a danger sense, and my wit!"
"Which none have been very useful," Fluttershy remarked.
"At least I'm trying to use my superpowers," Mario remarked as Fluttershy glared at him.
"Almost all of us have superpowers..." Spike said sadly as Pinkie zoomed off once again.
"But you must have them too, Spikey-boo," said Rarity, "Your character is wearing a cape!"
"Yeah, for absolutely no reason," said Spike, "He's pretty much useless..."
"Good thing you're not really Hum Drum, then," said Twilight.
"Yeah, good thing..." Spike said, not fully convinced.
"Tell me Spike," said Mario as hovered beside Spike upside, "Despite his goof-ups, do the original Power Ponies treat Hum Drum respectfully or do they act like he's nothing but a nuisance?"
"Not...really..." said Spike, "they don't seem to try and make him be useful."
"Do we treat you that way?" Mario asked.
"I...guess...not..." Spike asked. While Spike, couldn't see it, Mario was looking at him with a concerned look.
"Then that settles that!" said Rainbow as she landed beside Applejack, "So the seven of us Power Ponies will take care of Mane-iac, and get us back to Ponyville." Spike looked a little dejected that Rainbow had left him out when Twilight approached.
"Spike, where is the Mane-iac building her doomsday device?" Twilight asked.
"Her top-secret headquarters!" said Spike, "But you'd better get there quick. That glowing orb she just stole is what she's going to use to power it up!"
"Lead the way, Spike!" said Applejack.
"Then leave the rest to us!" said Rainbow as Spike just sighed sadly once again and walked forward. Mario then used his web shooter to grab Spike by the tail and pulled him up.
"Whoa-ho-ho!" Spike yelped as Mario pulled him onto his back. Spike wrapped his claws around his neck since Mario was standing on a wall.
"You tell us where to go and enjoy the ride, Spike," said Mario excitedly as he jumped off the wall and then shoot some web to swing from building to building. The others just watched Mario swing away before following the two just a short distance behind. It wasn't long before they arrived at a warehouse building that had a neon light sign showing a mare getting her hair washed with shampoo.
"There it is!" said Spike, now standing on the ground while Mario peeked over from the wall he was standing on.
"Is that a...shampoo factory?" Applejack asked.
"Seesh, I've heard of being married to your job but this is crazy," Mario remarked as the others agreed with him.
"Wasn't Twilight married to her books at one time?" Pinkie asked.
"Of course not," said Mario, "the only thing she's married to is me!"
"For now," Twilight said plainly.
"What?!" Mario interjected.
"Gotcha!" Twilight remarked with a smirk.
"Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me, Princess," Mario snorted.
"All right, Power Ponies, here's the plan," said Twilight as she faced the others and Mario then decided to dangle beside her upside down, "Rarity, you, me, and-"
"Come on out, Mane-iac!" Rainbow bellowed as she hovered in front of the warehouse, "Or the Power Ponies are comin' in!" Rainbow then used her necklace to summon a cloud that struck and fried the neon sign.
"So much for "element of surprise"," Twilight remarked as Spike and others looked worried and Applejack glared at Rainbow.
"I saw this coming," said Mario as he descended down his own webbing upside down, "So here the real plan. Let Rainbow be the live distraction to draw out the Mane-aic. Then once she got her focus on Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, and I can sneak into the warehouse and destroy the weapon while Pinkie and Applejack help Rainbow keep the Mane-iac distracted..." Mario then turned to see everypony had left him behind, "...and as I'm telling the plan everypony ignores me and all but one pony falls into a trap. (sigh) And ponies wonder why story plots these days feel so repetitive...sheesh..." Mario then ascended up his line of webbing at the others approached the front of the warehouse. Spike, who had heard Mario, just rolled his eyes at him.
"Guess I'll just hang back here in doing nothing," said Spike.
"I'll stay with you, Spike," said Mario, "I know a trap when I see it and somepony's gotta be ready to spring them out of it." Mario just watched quietly as the rest of the group approached the shampoo factory.
"Oh, I don't think she's home," said Fluttershy when noting seemed to happen, "Maybe we should just come back later." It was when some evil, but familiar, laughter was heard.
"She's home," Rarity squeaked, making Fluttershy wince. It then the garage door of the warehouse opened an there before the group were several henchponies, many of them wearing shirts that said they could have worked at a local barber or hair salon.
"Time to Power Pony up!" said Applejack as the six ponies stood behind a rather dynamic backdrop.
"Ooh! Nice catchphrase!" said Pinkie as she hopped in place. Pinkie then took off to the left as a pink blur while Applejack took to the right.
"Freeze ray!" said Twilight as she glowed her horn and fired at a charging pony. However, all she did was stun him with a snowball.
"It's an improvement, darling," said Rarity as she hovered by on her own makeshift magic carpet. As one henchpony charged at Applejack, she knelt down to fight and grabbed some gold horseshoes and tossed then at him. The horseshoes linked into his fore-legs, knocking him off balance and making him crash to the ground. Pinkie then zoomed up eating some pie when a henchpony tried to catch her, but she zipped away to the left. She then approached from the right, giggling as she tapped his shoulder and then took off as he turned around. Pinkie reappeared behind him, tapping his back and then disappeared before he could turn and see her. Pinkie continued to taunt the henchpony until she finally smashed a banana split into his face, laughed and took off again. Meanwhile, Rarity was using a makeshift needle and thread to tie a up one henchpony. Then another henchpony bucked the damaged neon sign off its holding so it fell down toward Rarity. Rarity gasped as she created a makeshift umbrella that made the falling sign bounce off of it and crash at the henchpony as he tried to get away.
"Ooh, I do so love a functional accessory!" said Rarity as she admired her bracelets. Some more henchponies charged at Fluttershy, who whimpered fearfully. Suddenly one by one each of the henchponies was grabbed by some webbing that came their way, making them all yelp. Fluttershy looked up to see Mario had captured all the henchponies coming at her and they were now trapped inside a hanging sack made out of spider webs.
"Thanks Mario!" Fluttershy called out.
"Curtsey of your friendly neighborhood, Web-Stallion!" Mario replied. Fluttershy smiled but still couldn't help but roll her eyes. Then Fluttershy gasped when another henchpony charging at her, but before he could reach her.
ZAP!
Rainbow summoned a lightning could, which struck the henchpony and burnt his mane.
"My hair!" he exclaimed before running off in disgrace.
"Seesh, it's not the end of the world if your mane is a mess," said Mario as Rainbow hovered over to Fluttershy.
"Seriously? You aren't even just a little angry right now?" Rainbow asked indignantly. Fluttershy just smiled sheepishly and shook her head.
"Nice work, Power Ponies!" said Twilight as she saw all the henchponies, or so she thought, had been dealt with, "Now let's take care of the Mane-iac and get ourselves home!"
"I don't think so!" said a voice as the seven ponies looked to see appeared and used her tentacle-like mane to stand as tall as she could, "I have a city to destroy, and I'm not about to let the Power Ponies stop me! Not this time!"
"Just watch us!" Rainbow shouted back angrily. Mario noticed that Rainbow was ready to charge as he clung to a wall behind the group.
"Looks like Rainbow's about to all gung-ho on us again!" Mario said, "Does this mean you guy's will listen to my..."
"NO!" the six other ponies shouted.
"...fine, but I still say this is a trap," said Mario remarked indignantly.
"Maybe you outta listen to him, Power Ponies," Mane-iac remarked, "because this is a trap!" Mane-iac then held a giant sized can of hairspray.
"The Hairspray Ray of Doom!" Spike called out as Fluttershy tried to sneak away without being noticed, "It stops you in your tracks and renders your powers useless!" It was then Rainbow charged right at the Mane-iac.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
In a cloud of hairspray, Rainbow was frozen in mid-air and landed beside the group with a clunk.
"Impressive," said Mario, "any chance we could borrow some of that? You see Rainbow tends to..."
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Mario then got sprayed before he could get away or finish his question.
"Gee...you certainly know how to...hurt a guy," Mario remarked. While his body might have been frozen, the hairspray removed his ability to stick to the wall and he landed on the ground with a clunk as well.
"Mario!" Twilight called out before she and the rest of the group minus Fluttershy charged, but were then frozen as well by the hairspray. The mane-iac laughed manically as her now recovered henchponies surrounded them. Fluttershy was hiding behind a mailbox while Spike was hiding inside of it.
"Fluttershy, please!" Spike begged, "Just a little anger?!"
"Well, I'm not so much angry as I am concerned," Fluttershy remarked before whimpering, "bordering on terrified!" Before Fluttershy could react...
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
She was sprayed Fluttershy as well and the Mane-iac used one of her tentacle to grab her. She then aimed the spray can at Spike.
"Don't spray!" Spike cried out as the Mane-iac cackled.
"Oh, Hum Drum," she said in sickingly sweet tone, "why in all of Maretropolis would I use the Hairspray of Doom on you? Rather pointless, don't you think?" Spike looked hurt as the rest of the Mane seven minus Mario shouted out cries of concern as the henchponies carried them into the warehouse.
"Hey, if you plan on using me for statuary," Mario remarked, "Can I request somewhere indoors please? Me and Pigeons do not get along very well!"
"Do you ever shut your trap?" the henchpony complained.
"Read my lips...uh...no," said Mario, "Nopony tells me when to shut my trap."
"Mario, shut your trap!" Twilight screamed.
"...except...my wife...," Mario finished with a groan and an eye roll that couldn't be seen because of his mask. It was then all seven frozen ponies were carried into the warehouse as the garage door closed. Spike rushed to try and go after them when he heard a clang. He looked down to see his had gotten a bucket stuck on his foot again and slumped forward in dejection.
Once Spike had removed the bucket from his foot, he slowly made his way into the warehouse using a ventilation shaft. Despite his efforts, Spike couldn't help but put himself down.
"What am I supposed to do?" Spike said sadly to himself, "No wonder my friends never need me to do anything important. They're the ones with superpowers. They've probably already figured how to escape." It was then Spike crawled over a metal vent that broke off and Spike tumbled out of the shaft and into a metal walkway above the main floor. Fortunately, nopony noticed him, but Spike then looked over the railing.
"Or not!" said Spike as he saw the Mane seven were trapped inside of a cage and still frozen by the spray. Twilight was struggling to try and unfreeze her body as she felt her fore-leg start to move a bit. Then a timer went off as a nearby henchpony shot some more spray on them, causing them to remain frozen, much to Twilight's disappointment. She then glared at Mario, expecting him to say something, but he hadn't said a word since they had been put inside the cage. As much as Twilight had wanted to Mario to stop the sarcasm, his silence was starting to drive her crazy.
"Mario, will you say something?" Twilight snapped.
"Now I know what it's like to be put in the frozen food section of Backyard Bargains," Mario said plainly. Twilight just rolled her eyes, regretting she had even said anything. Spike slowly kept quiet as he crawled across the metal platform when the Mane-iac approached using her hair to recline and move about.
"Congratulations, Power Ponies!" said Mane-iac and then laughed, "You shall live just long enough to see me use..." The henchponies then pulled off the red tarp covering the doomsday weapon, which was a...giant hair dryer with a chair that resembled a hair drying dome?! "...the instrument of your destruction!" The Mane-iac chortled as Mario looked at the device wearily.
"I always knew you girls loved dragging me to the salon," said Mario, "But this is a bit too much for my comfort zone."
"Well, if she needs a test subject, we can say you'll go first," Fluttershy remarked.
"Oh aren't you sweet?" Mario remarked, not hiding the sarcasm and annoyance in his tone.
"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," Mane-iac explained as she laughed again before she used her mane and fore-leg to point at the Mane Seven, "You will be my weapon's first victims, and there is nopony who can save you from this fate!" Mane-iac laughed manically as she climbed into the cockpit and aimed the weapon at the Mane Seven.
"Uh, no thanks, we've already got one pony here who goes crazy who her mane isn't perfect," Mario remarked, earning a death glare from Rarity that he couldn't see. Spike just watched with worry, unsure of what to do.
"Ahem," said Fluttershy sternly, "I don't mean to interrupt, but aren't you forgetting about somepony?"
"Hum Drum? Little guy?" Mane-iac replied in a condescending tone, "No superpowers whatsoever?" Mane-iac laughed before adding spitefully, "He's utterly useless!" Spike blinked when he heard the timer ringing and the henchpony sprayed the Mane Seven again. Mario waited until the spray mist had dissipated before speaking.
"How dare you," said Mario sternly, "Hum Drum is a part of our team and a very important part of it if I do say so myself!" The others hummed in agreement.
"Puh-lease," Mane-iac said dismissively as she used her tentacle-like mane to crawl on top of her doomsday device before adding in a condescending tone, "Everypony knows you just keep him around because you feel sowwy for him. Wah. Wah." Spike felt very hurt.
"Maybe in your world," said Twilight Sparkle, "But in our world, Spike-uh, Hum Drum always come through when we need him! Always!" The others agreed. Spike felt some tears from his eyes as he smiled and wiped them away.
"I'm not like Hum Drum!' Spike said to himself, "When my friends really need me, I do come through! And they need me now!" Spike then noticed the orb and smirked as he got an idea as Mane-iac laughed.
"I see dementia must be a side-effect of prolonged exposure to the Hairspray Ray of Doom," Mane-iac chorted.
"Nah, just the need for a shower and trip to the spa," Mario remarked, "Anypony up for a spa treatment when we get out of this?"
"Only if you're paying, darling," Rarity remarked.
"Ugh, I just knew somepony was gonna say that," Mario remarked.
"Silence!" Mane-iac snapped before getting back on track, "Tonight, we stand upon the brink of immortality, for we collectively - thought mostly me - have finally defeated our most hated nemeses! We have hurled the brush of badness into the now fearful face of..." She laughed again before continuing, "goodness, and have stuck a blow for freedom in the name of oppression! And nothing will stop us!"
This mare seemed to love her evil laugh because she started chortling again for the umpteenth time. However, during her little monologue, Spike managed to sneak about the area. He grabbed the red tarp and hooked it up to a metal chain before rushing around the perimeter of the room and then re-hooked the tarp to the same hook. Spike then tied the other end of the metal chain to a large box above on the platform above and pushed it over the edge. The red tarp then snagged a bunch of henchponies and left them hanging inside of a new red sack. Just as the time had gone off again, Spike then swung over the henchpony, kicking him away, and knocking over the giant can of hairspray. As the can hit the floor, it shot a blast of hairspray at some of the henchponies below, freezing them.
"Way to go, Spike!" Twilight called out as the hairspray wore off and the Mane Seven found that they could move again.
"Well, it was fun being your statue collection, but now we gotta run!" said Mario. Rarity then created a makeshift file cut open part of the cage wall, knocking back the Mane-iac and some of the henchponies at the cut off piece it the floor below. The Mane Seven stood ready for battle.
"Don't you just love when a good villain monologue can turns things around in your favor?" Mario asked rhetorically as the other ponies smiled.
"I'll agree to that," said Twilight, "Let's do this!"
"Get mad!" Rainbow said sternly to Fluttershy.
"I'm trying!" said Fluttershy as she made some straining noises to no effect. Mario was about to leave.
"Wait, before you go Mario," said Twilight, "hang in front of me for a second!" Mario did as he was asked and dangled upside down beside Twilight. She then used a fore-hoof to pull the mask off his mouth and gave him a kiss.
"Go get 'em tiger," Twilight told him as she fixed his mask.
"WHOO!" Mario cheered excitedly as he swung away. The others just gave Twilight blank looks.
"Always wanted to do that," Twilight remarked with an embarassed smile. The others just rolled their eyes before exiting the cage. Rarity created herself some stairs and snootily walked down them. Meanwhile, Pinkie was already poking fun at some henchponies.
"Tag you're it! Tag you're it! Tag you're it! Tag you're it!" Pinkie taunted as she zipped away.
"Over there! There! There! Idiots! MMPH!" Mane-iac bellowed until Mario shot some webbing to close her mouth. He then shot some webbing to pin her hair tentacles down so she couldn't move.
"Such language," said Mario disapprovingly in a fatherly tone as he dangled in front of her, "You're going into time out missy!"
"GRRRRRRRRRR!" Mane-iac growled.
"Your attitude won't make time out end any sooner, young lady," Mario scolded as he swung away. As he went to fight off some henchponies up on the metal platform, Twilight hovered above and used her freeze ray to turn the ground floor into ice. The henchponies running about slid about and smacked into the side of the staircase, where Mario used his webbing to stick them against it so they couldn't escape. Meanwhile, Rainbow had collected a few henchponies of her own after using her thunder and lightning to knock them out.
"Need a place to put these guys!" Rainbow called out as Rarity was just figure skating across the ice. She then stopped, made her skates disappear, and summoned three bird cages. Mario was nearby with a microphone to commentate.
"And Rainbow goes for the triple score..." Mario announced as Rainbow dumped three groups of henchponies inside as Rarity closed the doors of the cages, "and it's goooooooooooooooooooooood!"
"Thank you, thank you!" Rainbow remarked as she took a bow. Several henchponies started to make a run for it.
"Hold it right there, partner!" said Applejack as she used her lasso and capture them all in one swoop and left them dangling above a metal beam. Two more henchponies looked at each other and retreated. Several others were screaming as they ran for their lives when Mario used his webbing to capture and hang them from the ceiling in some web cocoons.
"Guys, the party just started," Mario remarked, "hang around why don'tcha?" Pinkie snickered.
"Hang around...good one," said Pinkie before zipping away and Mario jumped high into the air. Spike watched from above as the others continued to round up and take down the henchponies as the Mane-iac just watched the scuffle from her doomsday device and web boundings. Spike smiled when he saw Mario wave at him and Twilight flew by. That was when he noticed Fluttershy trying to sneak out of the warehouse without being noticed.
"Fluttershy, where are you going?" said Spike.
"You seem to have everything under control," said Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy, we need you!" said Spike, "You have to power up!" Unknown to Spike, Mane-iac had broken free of the webbing on her mouth and tentacles. She began to aim her weapon as Fluttershy.
"I'm sorry, it's just that nothing is making me mad," Fluttershy told Spike.
"You should have let Mario tease you," said Spike, "You were ready to get angry when he did."
"Look, if I'm going to get mad and angry, it has to be for a reason I feel is justified!" Fluttershy replied firmly. As the Mane-iac prepared to fire, a firefly got in front of her target scope. Mane-iac sternly flicked the firefly away, sending it smacking into a wall next to Fluttershy.
"Oh, goodness! Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked the dazed firefly as it gave a weary squeal. Fluttershy then sternly stepped forward.
"Are you kidding me?" Fluttershy yelled, "I mean, I know you're evil and everything, but..." Fluttershy felt her anger surge, "...you hurt a teensy, little, harmless firefly?! Really?! Well you're just a great, big, meanie!" Now veins were seen along Fluttershy's neck as her voice deepened.
"There! I said it!" Fluttershy yelled in rage as her voice continued to deepen and her eyes glowed a shade of red, "What makes you think you're so special?! Like the rules of common courtesy don't apply to you?! Why don't you pick on somepony you're own size?!" As Fluttershy spoke, her body grew large and more muscular in size as her pink and purple neck tie snapped off. Fluttershy then roared in rage as the other ponies looked at her in shock. Spike gave an excited fist pump.
"O-kay...If Fluttershy didn't scare me before, she certainly does now," Mario remarked. Mane-iac nervously rushed to controls of her doomsday device. After a moment of buzzing, the laser fired at Fluttershy, who roared at being hit with the laser. However, Fluttershy's muscular size was able to reflect the laser blast right back at the Mane-iac, making her yelp and knocking her way. Fluttershy roared once more, jumped into the doomsday device, and smashed it into smithereens. The rest of the group just watched the yellow Pegasus in action with wide eyes and shocked faces. It wasn't long before Fluttershy realized what she was doing, spat out a piece of metal she had torn off the machine with her mouth, and just smiled sheepishly while tapping her hooves. Mario then hung next to her.
"Alright, you did good, Sis," said Mario gently, "now it's time calm down and..."
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!"
POW!
CRASH!
The others flinched when Fluttershy roared at Mario, slugged him and sent him crashing into a nearby collections of wooden crates behind them. The group cringed once more when Mario crash landed.
"Okay...no rush then..." Mario groaned painfully as he crawled out from underneath the crates. The others just chuckled to each to other as Rarity and Twilight helped Mario to his hooves.
"My mane!" Mane-iac cried out while laugh like a lunatic, "My maaaaaaane!" The laser blast had caused her to lost control of her own mane. Her tentacle mane fizzled and crackled as it wrapped the mare up like a burrito as she landed on the ground, still laughing insanely.
"I'm sure she'll feel better after spending time in the cuckoo's nest and some counseling," said Mario as he stood beside her, looked at her for a second, before facing the group again, "ALOT of counseling..." The others just chuckled as Mario headed over to the group.
"Once again, the day is saved by-" said Spike, trying to narrate the end of the adventure when a bright light appeared. Everypony yelped as they were sucked the entire group right out of the comic book.
Back in the Castle of Two Sisters, the comic book on the pedestal then rose into the air, opened up, and dumped the eight ponies into a pile before returning to the pedestal. The Mane seven and Spike were now back to normal and out of their costumes. Spike was the first to recover as he breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his brow.
"Awesome!" said Rainbow Dash excitedly.
"Whoo-ee!" Applejack added as the other girls chattered excitedly about what had happened.
"Did you see how I was raining down a storm of justice at the end there?!" Rainbow asked.
"You catch how I was wieldin' that lasso?" Applejack remarked.
"Cupcakes?" Pinkie asked everypony as she held out a tray of the delicious treats.
"How did you-" Rarity asked.
"Eh, we had a good half-second before we got sucked back out of the comic," Pinkie explained, "and the Maretropolis bakery was only sixty-five blocks away!" It was then they heard a groan and saw Mario laying on the floor, looking rather roughed up since everypony else had fallen on top of him.
"I'm always the fall guy," Mario muttered.
"Consider it payback for all the sarcasm," Fluttershy replied as she and the others snickered.
"So you slugging me into some crates wasn't enough?" Mario remarked indignantly. The others laughed as Twilight helped him up and nuzzled his neck lovingly to make him feel better.
"I'm just glad to be back," said Spike as he plopped into a pillow.
"We wouldn't have made it without you, Spike," said Twilight as she walked up to him, "And 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."
"And that you don't need to have superpowers to be a super friend," Spike added as he sat up.
"Mm-hmm!"
"Yeah!"
"You got it!"
"Well said, Spike!" said the rest of the ponies in general agreement.
"But I do have one question," said Twilight, "Where exactly did you get that comic book?"
"This one I got in the Canterlot as the House of Enchanted Comics!" Spike replied. It was then the Mane seven looked at each other and then at Spike with unamused looks on their face.
"Well, I didn't know it meant they were literally enchanted!" Spike protested.
"Aw, come on!"
"Seriously"
"You gotta be kidding me!" The other said, disagreeing with Spike's remark as they all walked out of the secret library room.
"I thought it just meant, like, the comics they sold there had really enchanting storylines," said Spike as he saw the others walk away, "Hey, wait up! I'm an important part of this team, remember?!" Spike then ran off the catch up with the rest of the group, leaving the comic book behind. Nopony never noticed that the comic book had started glowing once again and mysteriously disappeared, never to be heard of again.
For now...
This was definitely one of the more fun episodes to write about. I had a blast making Mario the pony version of Spider Man, sarcasm and all. Plus someone requested that I do a parody moment of Hulk and Thor with Fluttershy and Mario. You're welcome by the way. Mario is gonna feel that for weeks...
And this also marks the 75th chapter of this fanfiction! Thank you all so much for the support!
Things are going to get a little "Batty" in the next chapter. FYI: Mario is NOT going to turn into a bat. From what happens, it's not even possible...the "victim" never bites or hypnotizes anypony. And I don't feel comfortable having it happen that way either.
Peace Pony Fans!