Chapter 4: A Town In Need

Now that Spike had discovered his superpowers he was determined to help his friends in any way he could. The young dragon wanted to be a hero and now he had his chance. Since Ponyville did have random incidents Spike felt like he could really be useful to his friends and his town.

Spike wandered through the streets of Ponyville and he grinned a bit. He was itching to use his new powers to help somepony in need. Maybe he could prove that Hum Drum wasn't worthless.

The young dragon's eyes widened as he saw a problem emerge. A pony was carrying a box of knives when he tripped and the box flew out of his grasp. The lid opened and the knives flew towards a pony who was too terrified to move.

Spike instantly leapt into action. After using his necklace to become Hum Drum, he pressed the green gem on his belt and turned into his armored form. Then he pushed the yellow gem on his boots and slid towards the scared pony. He stood in front of her and raised his shield. The knives pelted the shield but Spike wouldn't budge. He had pressed the orange gem to keep himself from getting pushed back by the knives. Finally they stopped falling and Spike lowered his shield.

"You saved my life." the mare said. "Thank you so much."

"It was nothing." Hum Drum replied with a grin as he turned back into Hum Drum. "It's just part of the job."

With that, he walked off through Ponyville. Throughout the whole day he did his part to save the lives of the citizens of Ponyville. He wondered if his friends were having as much fun as he was.

Applejack was wandering around Ponyville. She didn't have much to do so she had decided to take a little walk. The orange cowgirl pony walked through the woods with a calm smile on her face. This area of Ponyville was quiet and peaceful. Unfortunately it didn't remain that way for long. Applejack's ears perked up as she heard a terrified scream. She used her necklace and transformed into her superhero alter ego. Mistress Mare-velous sprinted towards the commotion and her eyes widened when she saw what was happening.

A filly was crouching terrified. He was surrounded by rocks but the thing that was scaring him was that a large tree was slowly falling towards him. Mistress Mare-velous got to work right away. She used her lasso and pulled on the tree. She used all of her strength to pull the tree back into place. Then she used larger versions of her horseshoes to secure it so that it wouldn't fall again. Wiping her forehead, Mistress Mare-velous approached the filly.

"Are ya okay?" she asked.

The filly nodded and then he gave Mistress Mare-velous a hug.

"You saved me!" he exclaimed. "Thank you so much!"

"It ain't a big deal." Mistress Mare-velous replied. "Ah'm just doing my part ta help others."

After this brief exchange, Mistress Mare-velous picked the young colt up and escorted him out of the forest and back to the safety of Ponyville. The filly gave Mistress Mare-velous a look of admiration before he headed off on his merry way. Mistress Mare-velous smiled to herself. She didn't do this for praise but the praise certainly didn't hurt.

Pinkie Pie was bouncing along on her merry way. She enjoyed being a hero because it was a lot of fun for her to run around at blindingly fast speeds. She also liked helping ponies in need. Being a hero was just tons of fun for the pink earth pony. But then she heard a group of terrified shouts.

Pinkie Pie's eyes shot open as she looked at the disaster before her. Four worker ponies at a construction site were about to get crushed by falling debris. Quick as a flash Pinkie Pie transformed into Fili-second and sped off towards the terrified stallions. She grabbed one and ran back to safety. She dropped him off and then went back into the danger zone. She kept this process up until she had saved all four of the workers.

"You saved our lives." one of them said.

"You're amazing." the second worker said in an admiring tone.

"You're a hero." the third one agreed.

"We owe ya on that one." the fourth worker finished.

Fili-second giggled a bit as she responded.

"Don't worry silly it's part of being a hero." she said. "Besides that was a lot of fun. I wanna do it again!"

With that, she sped off. The worker ponies got nervous. They certainly did not want to go through that ordeal again. That white clad pony was a really strange pony in their opinion. They shrugged it off and got back to work. They needed to make up for lost time.

Rarity walked through the streets of Ponyville. The white unicorn hummed happily to herself. She wasn't really going anywhere she just wanted to take a stroll through town. Her fashion career had been going rather well. Business had boomed since the incident with Grayback and his crooks. Carousel Boutique had gained a little bit of fame from being attacked by those thieves. Rarity had been working hard to keep up with her orders. Now she could relax a bit since her orders were complete. She was getting customers at a very reasonable pace. The fashionista unicorn was brought out of her state of peace by a petrified scream.

Rarity's eyes snapped open as she looked for the source of the noise which was coming from a forest. She quickly saw who was screaming. It was The Cutie Mark Crusaders. The six fillies were stuck next to an angry looking bear. Rarity did not want to think about how this situation had come to be. She quickly transformed into Radiance and ran towards the six terrified fillies. The bear was about to lunge towards her but Radiance used her powers to create a cage. Using that cage she trapped the bear and kept it locked up. Then she created a musical instrument with which she played a lullaby that caused the eyelids of the bear to droop until it fell asleep. Radiance turned towards the six fillies and spoke.

"Are you quite all right?" she asked.

The six fillies looked at each other and spoke in unison.

"You're awesome!" they shouted.

"I thought we were goners." Scootaloo said.

"Ah couldn't believe it when Ah saw it." Apple Bloom agreed.

"You saved our lives." Sweetie Belle said admiringly.

"Ya showed that bear who's boss" Babs Seed said with a grin.

"You're a hero." Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon said at the same time.

Radiance smiled at all of this praise. After warning the group of six to be more careful, she was on her way. Being a hero filled her with a sense of happiness. Radiance enjoyed saving lives.

Fluttershy walked along her usual path through the forest. The yellow pegasus loved the beauty and tranquility of her favorite spot. Since it wasn't the Everfree Forest it wasn't so scary. Fluttershy hummed to herself as she kept on walking. The yellow pegasus enjoyed he walks through this forest. Ever since Gilda had saved her it had become a regular spot for her. Fluttershy often took Angel Bunny with her on these walks and the white rabbit was very happy about this.

However Fluttershy's peaceful walk would soon be interrupted. Snips and Snails were walking in the same area and they had managed to anger a manticore. The two colts ran for their lives and bumped into Fluttershy. When she saw the manticore, Fluttershy ran with Snips and Snails right behind her. The two young colts hid but Fluttershy had gotten cornered. The two fillies were too scared to watch.

Fluttershy meanwhile had used her necklace to transform into The Saddle Rager. She didn't like fighting but this manticore was dangerous and he was scaring the two young colts. Fluttershy saw the manticore as a bully. Gilda had taught Fluttershy a lot about bravery. The Saddle Rager's eyes turned red and she then grew in size. Her superhero costume stretched to fit her large and muscular body. The manticore roared at The Saddle Rager and then attacked. However, The Saddle Rager countered the beast's attack and fought back. The manticore couldn't win so it turned and ran away. Smiling now that the battle was over, The Saddle Rager shrank back to her normal size.

Snips and Snails approached The Saddle Rager and bowed to her. The two colts showered the superhero with loads of praise and The Saddle Rager blushed a bit. After thanking the duo, The Saddle Rager continued on her peaceful walk through the forest.

Twilight Sparkle walked through the streets of Ponyville. The purple alicorn didn't have any plans for today. She just wanted to spend some time outside for a while. Twilight Sparkle liked being a hero but sometimes she found it hard to find a use for her powers. The powers of The Masked Matterhorn were great for fighting villains but it was difficult for Twilight Sparkle to use them for more common events. Rainbow Dash had the same sort of issue with her powers. Zapp could create all sorts of weather but that wouldn't help much in an everyday situation.

The purple alicorn walked onwards and thought of Spike. She was happy that her assistant had been able to find his superpowers. The young dragon really wanted to be a hero and now he had gotten his wish. Twilight Sparkle just couldn't be happier for him. The alicorn walked on and thought of another friend who had gotten their wish. Trixie. Twilight Sparkle had said goodbye to Trixie since the showmare had to start traveling again. They had worked very well together during the talent show in Canterlot but now it was time for Trixie to perform for crowds again. Twilight Sparkle still remembered the kiss she had given Trixie before she left. It may have only been on the cheek but it was still a kiss.

Twilight Sparkle was forced out of her relaxed state when she heard the screams of somepony. She quickly turned into The Masked Matterhorn and sprinted to the source of the noise. Some ponies were in danger but The Masked Matterhorn managed to save them without even using her powers. The ponies then thanked her and afterwards The Masked Matterhorn continued walking. Saving the lives of others was rather enjoyable.

Rainbow Dash was flying with Gilda and Lightning Dust. The three of them worked perfectly together. They had won the flying contest back in Canterlot and they were doing everything they could to improve their skills. All of them were eager to be the best flying team in Equestria. Lightning Dust had gotten some serious motivation after her late night conversation with Rainbow Dash. The trio worked in perfect harmony. They knew each other so well that they didn't even have to talk to each other to pull off some amazing stunts. They used their final move where they created the fiery cloud with the two big thunderbolts. Afterwards they relaxed on a cloud.

"That was awesome." Rainbow Dash said.

"You know it Dash." Gilda agreed.

"We're the best fliers in Equestria." Lightning Dust said.

The trio relaxed for a while. Then Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed as she saw something troubling.

"Hey guys is that a tornado?" she asked.

Gilda and Lightning Dust looked and their eyes widened in shock.

"We better get outta here Dash." Gilda said.

Lightning Dust nodded in agreement. "That tornado doesn't look good."

Rainbow Dash had no intentions of trying to escape. When her two friends weren't looking, she transformed into Zapp. Then she flew off in the direction of the tornado. She used her powers to quickly take care of the storm much to the amazement of Gilda and Lightning Dust.

"That was awesome." Gilda shouted.

"Dash you were incredible." Lightning Dust said.

Zapp grinned and she turned back into Rainbow Dash. Since her friends already knew her secret identity she didn't see any point in trying to hide it anymore. The trio relaxed until it was time for them to take to the skies again.

The Power Ponies met up later that day to discuss their heroics. Each of them felt really proud of what they had done for their friends and their town. They loved being heroes and they really enjoyed helping ponies in need.

However one pony wasn't as pleased with this.

Princess Celestia sat in her castle and thought about this situation. She might not have been in Ponyville but she knew what was happening. The group of six ponies and Spike had become superheroes. The Sun Goddess wasn't sure if they were up to the task. Sure they were mature but could they handle the job of protecting a town at any given moment? Would they be able to take on such a big responsibility?

Princess Celestia frowned to herself. She didn't hate the idea of Twilight Sparkle and her friends being heroes but she felt like this was something that they wouldn't be able to handle. With a sigh, she stood up. She would have to do something about it and she really didn't want to. But this was necessary.