Note: This story is the work of Darkryt Orbinautz.
A My Little Pony Fanfiction
Mind Over Mane-Iac
Issue 6 In A Seven-Issue Mini-series!
In The Medusa's Grasp
BREAKAWAY! The Power Ponies are in disarray, as none of them can agree of what to do about Rainbow Dash's forbidden love. But it may be Rainbow Dash's own decision that proves the most devastating!
THE Remainder of the Sinful Six withdrew to their sinful headquarters, sullen and moody at the recent and unexpected turn of events, which for all their experience with villainy and petty crimes, they never could have predicted.
"What do we do now?" Phetlocke shared his musings with his teammates. "We can't be the Sinful Six when there's only … five of us."
"Yeah!" High Heel, taking on a bitter and baleful visage, grasped a shampoo bottle – the leftovers of the Mane-iac's brainwashing scheme, which would the five of the six now feared might never come to fruition, in spite of all their hard labor to see the Mane-iac's will done.
"What are we supposed to do with all of these shampoo bottles?" High Heel displayed all the callousness expected of a costumed crook when she soon tossed the bottle aside. "How do we do a hair-themed plan without our hair-themed villain? I mean, at least with the fact Mane-iac's mane was made of tentacles, you could stretch the definition and include both hair and tentacle-based schemes! Look at me! I'm just shoe-themed. Do you how many crimes you can pull off when you base them around shoes? I'm lucky if I can get sidewalk gum to stick to somepony's foot … "
"Not to mention she was kind of crazy, so adherence to her "theme" didn't always matter to her." Phetlocke said. "Oh, curse that accursed Power Pony! She must be messing with Mane-iac's head. She must be! Probably lying to her and tricking her into becoming a do-gooder."
The collective villains closed their eyes and winced, imagining a corrupted version of their dear Mane-iac running around with the Power Ponies. Dying her hair pink and switching to a lighter, more friendly white costume to reflect her change to the side of good …
To show his disgust for the idea, Phetlocke spit on the ground. "Oh, just the thought of it alone makes me sick!"
Long Face wiped away a tear, the leak from his tear duct colored black by his make-up. "I miss her already."
"Are you fretting, my dear companions?"
The Sinful Five turned their eyes to the door, which opened up, pushed aside by the Mane-iac's tentacles. The Mane-iac walked into the room on her tentacles, each strand of hair hitting the ground like the siney, hairy leg of a venomous tarantula.
"Well, fret no more!" The Mane-iac announced to the room. "I'm back … and ... I've brought us a friend." The Mane-iac skittered to the side. "Presenting our newest member … ZAPP!"
The former Power Pony, Zapp, followed after the Mane-iac. In a complete inversion to what the rest of the villains were imagining just moments prior, it was Zapp, not the Mane-iac, who had changed costumes into darker hues ... hues more foreboding ... more menacing! The dark blue was replaced by purple, the yellow thunderbolt pattens recolored red, and the once pure-white bottoms of the costume were a soulless black.
"Zapp?" Long Face asked. "But she's a Power Pony! How do we know we can trust her?"
"Oh, you can trust her." The Mane-iac reached a tentacle under Zapp's chin and stroked it. "Isn't that right, Zapp?"
Zapp wore a blank expression on her face, though it was difficult to say for certain whether it was because she had her doubts about being here … or if, perhaps, the effects of Mane-iac's brainwashing shampoo had washed away her ability to express emotion.
"Now, everypony ..." The Mane-iac chuckled and guffawed, her pupils dilating to show her sheer madness. "I do believe it's time for a night out on the town!"
In an ordinary street of the city, average citizens were going about their average day, frequenting an antique mom-and-pop dollar store for its wares.
WHEN SUDDENLY …
The Sinful Six struck, descending from the rooftops like lightning bolts moments before those bolts struck the treetops and beget a fire in the forest!
The citizens could do little beside stare in transfixed horror as the vile villains hopped off the edge of a building and hit the ground.
"Aah! Somepony call the Power Ponies!" A stallion screamed. "It's the Sinful Six!"
The Mane-iac, hearing his screams, let out a dark chuckle. "My good sir, haven't you heard the news? We're the Sinful SEVEN now."
"Seven?"
"Yes." The Mane-iac reached over, looping a tentacle around Zapp and bringing the turncoat to her chest, holding like a doll for the ponies to see. "We have a new member." Zapp shirked, biting her lip and looking very much like she didn't want to be here.
"So … now that you have a new number, you're calling yourselves the Sinful Seven?" The stallion asked.
"Yes? Why? Is there a problem with that?"
"Well, what happens if you get another member? You can't keep calling yourselves 'Sinful' because then you would lose your alteration!" The stallion shook his head. "Your precious, precious alteration ..."
"Ah, we'll just change the name to the Evil Eight." The Mane-iac said.
"Okay … but what if you get another member after that?"
"The Nefarious Nine."
"Ten?"
"The ..." Trying to come up with a synonym for evil, or at least a sinister word, the Mane-iac became stumped on this one. "Tempestuous Ten?"
"Eh." Long Face shrugged. "That's a bit of a stretch."
"Enough!" The Mane-iac took her tentacles and swiped along the street, batting the curious stallion away. Mane-iac didn't notice Zapp wince as the innocent pony was sent bouncing along the asphalt like a child's lost ball. "We didn't come here to discuss names. Into the store! Quickly!"
The Sinful Seven rushed inside the store, pushing away the glass doors without any grace or finesse. They didn't care if they broke the windows and made a mess of the place.
What the Seven failed to realize, fruitless though the stallion's questions may have been, he had – wittingly or not – provided a distraction for another mare, allowing her to sneak her way to pay phone. The same mare, in fact, who gave them the tip about witnessing Zapp.
"Hello, Power Ponies? Listen, the Mane-iac and her goons are attacking a nearby store."
Inside the store, the Mane-Iac did not suffer from her group any tardiness in reaching their goal. The soaps and bath aisle of the store, where all-organic shampoos were sold.
"Please!" A colt behind the register begged, holding onto his wife. "Don't hurt us! Just take what you want and go!"
"Hurry!" The Mane-iac commanded her group to begin ransacking the shelves, ignoring the cowering old couple. The Mane-iac lashed out with the tendrils on her head, grabbing shampoo bottles, opening them, and pouring them on the floor. Long Face and Shadowmane clawed at the shelves, sending bottles flying everywhere, while High Heel and Phetlock used a show and an Egpytion scepter to rake along the shelves as if they were farming with sickles, knocking several bottles down at once.
Zapp, on the other hoof, hesitantly picked up a bottle, examined, and gingerly set it down on the floor, letting it roll away. The other villains didn't notice, too preoccupied with carrying out their own rampant vandalism.
Holding a shampoo bottle in her tentacle, the Mane-iac sighed. "To some extent, it pains me to so much all-organic shampoo go to waste ..." The Mane-iac removed the lid. "But it must be done. For our plan to work, we must rid the city of its entire supply of shampoo. Then, without anything to wash their manes, the ponies of Maretopolis will become desperate for a good, quality hair-care product! And in their desperation, they'll take anything they can get their hooves on, including our, heh heh, specialty shampoo. And by the time anypony realizes it's brainwashing shampoo, it will be TOO LATE!"
"That's not gonna happen!"
The Sinful Seven stopped what they were doing, grimacing and growling at the Power Ponies now standing in the doorway.
"We're onto your little harebrained brainwashing scheme!" Matter-horn shouted. "Plus, you know, there's always imports."
"Yes." Radiance said. "What are you going to do about shampoo that's delivered from out-of-town?"
"Well, I, uh ..." The Mane-iac scratched her head.
"And if worst came to worst, ponies could always wash their manes using soap." Saddle Rager added.
The Mane-iac's head quivered with rage. "Forget it! I'm not here to let has-been heroes like you point out the flaws in my grandiose plans! As much as I might appreciate your constructive criticism in hindsight … SINFUL SEVEN, ATTACK!"
"Seven?" An incredulous Matter-horn asked as the villains charged at them. "I don't like those odds. How about we even them out a little?" Matter-horn levitated an entire shelf into the air, hurling it at High Heel and Phetlocke. Matter-horn carried the shelf all the way to the back end of the store, pinning the two villains and burying them under a pile of canned goods.
"Five on five." Matter-horn said. "That's better." The Power Ponies split apart to deal with their enemies one-on-one. While a fearful Saddle Rager went in for hoof-to-hoof combat with Shadowmane, Radiance put up a shield to deal with Long Face's vile vials, and Mare-velos menaced Mane-iac with a lasso, Matter-horn galloped further into the store to find who was the Sinful Six's mysterious seventh member. Prior to now, Matter-horn had never heard anything about there being a seventh to the Mane-iac's criminal gang.
Matter-horn found this seventh member, hiding in the back of the store and keeping clear of the action. The shock of what she saw came down and hit like the blow of a swung hammer to the head.
"Zapp?"
Zapp met Matter-horn's gaze, chuckling nervously. "Oh, hey, Matter-horn. Uh, what's up?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh, that. Yeah. I'm … I'm with them now." Zapp gestured towards the Mane-iac. "I was hoping that if I could just hang back here, you wouldn't see me and we wouldn't have to fight. So much for that plan, huh?"
"Zapp … why?" Matter-horn's voice came out broken and tearful. Zapp could sense she was struggling to keep her composure.
"You know why." Zapp answered, scuffing a hoof as she evaded the question.
"No." Matter-horn shook her head. "No, I really don't. Tell me. Tell me why, Zapp!"
Zapp stubbornly remained silent.
"Did she use the brainwashing shampoo on you? Are you brainwashed?" Matter-horn paused. "Or … would you even know if you were?"
Zapp still refused to answer, though she bit her lip as though Matter-horn had revealed she knew something Zapp didn't want her to know.
"Zapp … please." Matter-horn stepped towards her. "Come back to us."
Zapp shook her head. "Look, I'm sorry, but this is the way it has to be now. We're … we're on opposite sides now. We're … enemies."
"It doesn't have to be this way." Matter-horn countered. "You could still come back. It's not too late." Matter-horn turned her attention to the floor. Empty, the same way her heart felt in this moment. "I don't want to have to fight you."
"Yeah." Zapp said. "I don't, either."
Which is why you won't. Zapp thought, reaching for her amulet and pointing it at Matter-horn. She would summon a single lightning bolt and strike Matter-horn, electrocuting her and taking her out, thus removing the need for any actual fight between them.
Zapp summoned the forces of nature at her command and fired. One lightning bolt, simple and effective.
"WHOA!" Zapp was taken by surprise when the lightning bolt redirected and found a new target – her. The weaponized spear of natural electricity went bouncing around the store, instead striking Zapp and electrocuting her. The impact blew her away, sending Zapp flying into the wall with scorch marks surrounding the floor she was standing a second ago.
Zapp slid down the wall, opening her closed eyes to see Matter-horn had summoned a protective forcefiled, which must have bounced off the lighting bolt and sent it back to Zapp.
The force-filed having served its purpose, Matter-horn dismissed it before stomping over to Zapp's fallen frame, the tip of Matter-horn's horn burning with a red light and letting off smoke.
"Just because I don't want to … just because it goes against the very fiber and core of my being, to have fight with a pony I once called my friend … doesn't mean I won't."
Zapp regained her strength and flew away from the wall, mere seconds before Matter-horn would have hit Zapp with a green laser. Zapp didn't know what "green" signified when it came to Matter-horn's powers, and she had no intention of sticking around to find out.
Zapp twirled her amulet, whipping out a miniature tornado and hurling it at Matter-horn as a distraction.
"Aggh!" Matter-horn tried to use her magic to dispel the tornado, flinging a bolt of pure energy into the center of the whirlwind as it sucked up grocery goods and threw them everywhere. "Radiance, I need you to help me seal this thing off!"
"On my way!" Radiance galloped to Matter-horn's side, manifesting a huge projection of a box to trap the tornado inside. Much to Matter-horn's and Radiance's own surprise, this tactic worked … for awhile, anyway, before the tornado's winds overpowered the box and broke free.
Zapp raced over to the Mane-iac, tugging on the Mane-iac's shoulder the way a scared child clutches at their mother for comfort. "We have to get out of here, now!"
"Already?" The Mane-iac asked with a pout. "I thought we were doing pretty well."
"Matter-horn saw me. She saw me, Mane-iac."
"Oh." The Mane-iac's expression showed something rare for the Mane-iac to show – sympathy and understanding. "Yes, I understand. Sinful Seven! We're leaving here at once!"
High Heel and Phetlocke were still struggling to dig their way out from the pile of cans Matter-horn left them buried under. The Mane-iac stretched out her tentacles and brushed the pile aside before picking High Heel and Phetlocke up. With their companions safe in tentacle, the Mane-iac's gang fled out the front door. The Mane-iac herself glided across the floor as though she was some earth-based squid, the other ponies either galloping out, or in the case of Zapp, flying out.
Eventually, without the villains to distract them, Radiance and Matter-horn were able to put an end to the tornado threatening to make a further mess of the store by combining their magic to grab hold of it and steer it until the winds which comprised its form slowed down to the point it disappeared.
The danger passed, the old couple dared to peek over the register. "Oh! Thank you for saving us, and our store, Power Ponies! Well … what's left of it, anyway. Tell you what; after we get it repaired, we'll give you all twenty-percent discounts!"
The Power Ponies didn't hear the couple's generous offer, instead regrouping and heading out the door to chase after their foes.
"ZAPP!"
Zapp and the other villains halted and turned to the Power Ponies.
"Answer me one question." Matter-horn said. "Did the Mane-iac brainwash you? Or are you doing this of your own free will?"
"I didn't make her do anything she didn't want to." The Mane-iac taunted them. "Come, Zapp. These Power Ponies are out of style. Old-fashioned. They're beneath us."
Although Zapp's face wore an expression of depression, suggesting she perhaps did not truly want to, retreated with the rest of the Sinful Seven.
"So … what do you think?" Fili-Second asked, coming up to Matter-horn. "Is she brainwashed? Did Mane-iac brainwash her?"
Matter-horn shook her head. "I don't know. I can't tell. I – I need more information about how the shampoo works." Matter-horn rubbed her forehead. "Come on, Power Ponies. There's nothing left for us here."
In another corner of the city, there existed a gun store. The shopkeeper, an all right chap on the up and up, whistled to himself as he polished the barrel of his personal gun, which he carried in the event somepony got any not-so-bright ideas. He was pleasantly surprised to hear the bell of his door announce a visiting customer … and even more surprised when he recognized who it was.
"Hey, aren't you that pony?" The shopkeeper asked.
"What pony?"
"That pony that hangs out with Mare-Do-Well? Yeah, yeah, I think you are! Derring Do, I think it was?"
"Daring Do." Daring corrected him. "Yeah, that's me. What about it?"
"Nothing." The shopkeeper wisely said, taking note of Daring's angry mug. "What can I do for you, my good madam?" The shopkeeper had an idea and got worried. "I assure you, I follow the law to the letter when it comes to the purchase and sale of guns. Background checks, ID's – the works!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm not here about that." Daring Do told him.
"Oh. Then … what are you here for?"
"What everypony else comes into a gun store for; cotton candy. I'm here to buy a gun, duh." Daring said.
"A gun?" The shopkeeper asked. "Isn't there like, some sort of unwritten rule about guns and superheroes? Like, some kind of code decided by, I don't know, a council of superheroes or something?"
"Eh, it's more like a general agreement between superheroes to avoid it, if possible." Daring Do said. "There's some major bad stuff going down with these other superheroes I know, and they keep wondering if … somepony is going to come back." Daring Do shook her head. "I've experienced loss myself. I … know those ponies are never coming back."
"Oh my. I'm sorry to hear that."
"That's why I want one of these." Daring Do gestured to the plethora of firearms on the wall. "Just to cover the worst-case scenario. These ponies … their loss, their grief will blind them. My partner doesn't approve of guns, but if the worst comes to pass, somepony will have to do what needs to be done, and if they can't bring themselves to do it … I will."
"I see." The shopkeeper said. "Well, the law forbids me from selling if know you intend to kill someone."
"I don't want to kill anypony." Daring Do said. "I want to protect them."
"Mmm. I … suppose I could sell to you in that case, although … I think you're going about this the wrong way."
"Oh, what does a gun store owner know about right and wrong?" Daring Do said. "Now, what would you recommend?"
"Well, for your case … a small pistol ought to do the trick. Which, hopefully, won't need doing."
"Yeah. Hopefully."
The Power Ponies, at a loss on how to deal with Zapp's sudden betrayal, once again retreated to their meeting table, once again with the Mare-Do-Well as their company.
"Huh." Mare-Do-Well looked around. "I wonder where Daring's gotten off … I hope she isn't getting herself into any sort of trouble."
Matter-horn paced around the room, walking in circles. The motions of her legs were a nice reflection of the way her thoughts were going – in circles, looping around and around without reaching any useful conclusion beyond what she already knew. Was Zapp really acting of her own volition, was she in the Medusa's grasp? Matter-horn's legs tired out, giving Matter-horn cause to stop and rest on the back of chair. "What are we going to do about Zapp? I mean, she's our friend, but we can't just overlook the fact she's sided with the Mane-iac ..."
"I wish the Originals were here." Radiance said. "They would know what to do."
Saddle Rager nodded. "They would." Saddle Rager tilted her head up thoughtfully. "I wonder if something like this happened to them, and that was another reason they decided to retire."
"You know, we were gonna find that out before we had to go deal with that meanie Mane-iac attacking those poor old folks at their store." Fili-Second said. "We could still do that."
"Heck, we should just call them in at this point." Mare-velous said. "We've been talking about them so much, might as well. Isn't that right, Matter-horn?"
Matter-horn thought about it. She walked over to the walls and pushed a hoof in. The wall decompressed, giving away its true nature as a hidden button, and slid up to reveal a hidden compartment. A white padded compartment housed a cushion where a ring sat – the ring to call the Originals in.
Matter-horn reached a hoof into the tiny space, inches away from pressing the black stone which would bring the original Power Ponies back to Maretropolis, from wherever they were hiding.
"Matter-horn?" Radiance asked. "Why do you hesitate, darling?"
Matter-horn's hoof quaked under the weight of her decision. They hadn't talked about the Originals in some time. For all the threats they faced and all the villains they struggled and fought to thwart, they had never even considered pushing the button.
"No." Matter-horn slid the panel back down, covering the ring in darkness, where she hoped it would remain for some years to come, or at least until they stepped down and choose their own successor.
The other Power Ponies were shocked. "No!?"
"I said no." Matter-horn turned to them. "What happened, girls? Why, of all the times we could have, we never tried to summon the Originals until now? Why throw in the towel now? What's different? What's changed?"
The Power Ponies looked down at the table.
"What's changed … is that we're fighting our friend now." Radiance said. The Mare-Do-Well, meaing to live up to her name and do well, gave Rarity a comforting pat on the back.
"Exactly." Matter-horn said. "She's our friend. Our responsibility. We've faced tough challenges before. Are we honestly going to be so pathetic that we send the Originals in to fight OUR friend, just because we can't bring ourselves to? I don't know about you, but that sounds kind of cowardly to me."
The Power Ponies looked to each other, each of them clearly realizing the value of Matter-horn's words.
Radiance was the first to turn back to Matter-horn. "But darling, surely the Originals could -"
Matter-horn groaned. "Ugh! I've HAD IT with hearing about the Originals already. We haven't talked about them in how long, and now suddenly they're the big craze because one of us turned traitor? Is that it?"
Matter-horn climbed onto the round table to speak.
"The Originals were fine superheroes for their time, but it's not their time anymore! Now is OUR time, and what the Originals could or could not do doesn't matter now. We're NOT the Originals. We're us, and we need to handle the situation the way we know how, not the way the Originals would."
Matter-horn looked around the room. "The Originals aren't here anymore. But you know who is? We are. And I don't about you, but I've also just about had it with Zapp and her antics! Whether she's brainwashed or acting of her own free will, this kind of behavior is not acceptable from a Power Pony. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to come up with plan, and that plan is that the next time we cross paths with the Sinful Six, we're going to arrest her and put her in a cage. We're going to take away her amulet, and we're going to figure out if she's been brainwashed. If she is, we'll beat it out of her. If she isn't … she gets to stay in the cage. "
Matter-horn paused, scanning the room to see if anypony had any objections they would like to voice. They didn't appear to, so she continued.
"If this is going to work, we need to work together. As a team. As friends. We have to figure out how to combine our powers in ways we've never thought of before, and we have to be serious about putting the Sinful Six down for good. We'll remind Zapp why the Originals chose us to be protectors of the city. Can we do that? Are you with me, Power Ponies?"
The Power Ponies, in awe of Matter-horn's speech, were silent for quite some time before bursting into unanimous applause. "We're with you!"
"Good." Matter-horn said. "Then let's … get ... dangerous."
Under the Mane-iac's leadership, the Sinful Seven gathered around a rooftop to listen to the Mane-iac discuss the next phase of her plan. For some reason, the Mane-iac felt the need to bring along a wooden basket, the kind used for washing clothes.
"Uh, not to question your hairy brilliance, Mane-iac, but, uh … what's the basket for?"
"I'm glad you asked, Phetlocke." The Mane-iac said, gesturing the basket around. "You see, as much as we loathe their interference with our plans, the Power Ponies made me realize something earlier today. I've been going about this plan all wrong. All this time, I've been trying to get my shampoo into circulation, when all along I should have been trying to get it into evaporation. And how lucky I am that I just happen to stumble upon a pony who control the weather recently!" The Mane-iac gave Zapp a flirty gesture, making Zapp to blush.
"Er, so ..." Phetlocke struggled to decipher the Mane-iac' meaning. "What this means is?"
"It means, once we get to a high point in the city – and I mean high, for maximum coverage, we'll have Zapp -"
"Better hurry it up." Long Face pointed to the sidewalks. "The Power Ponies are nearby." Each villain leaned over the side of the roof, watching as the Power Ponies, plus Mare-Do-Well and Daring Do, walked down the sidewalk as a group, prowling around for signs of their archenemies.
"Ah, they're just on patrol." Phetlocke waved his hoof. "As long as we keep quiet, they'll never know we're here – whoo!" Phetlocke barely had time to duck as one of Mare-Do-Well's throwing discus nearly hit in the head. The villains looked over to see the Power Ponies looking up at them, each with grim and determined expressions on their faces.
"Ha!" Phetlocke mocked. "You missed!"
Radiance turned to Matter-horn, awaiting Matter-horn's signal. Matter-horn nodded. Radiance's horn shimmered and sparkled, and a glowing translucent horse collar appeared around Phetlocke's neck.
Phetlocke grabbed at the collar, trying to pull it off. Radiance levitated the collar – and by extension, Phetlocke – into the air. "Uh oh." Radiance willed the collar to go flying after the discus, causing Phetlocke to hit his head against it rather than the other way around. The impact disoriented him, stars twinkling around Phetlocke's head, and Radiance felt confident she had disabled she dismissed the collar and let him plummet to the ground.
The remainder of the Sinful Seven watched these events unfold, taken aback by how ruthlessly efficent the takedown was. They cast their gazes over the side of the building. The Power Ponies could see the villains wanted an explanation, so they obliged and gave them one.
"The girls and I … well, we had a long talk and determined we haven't done everything in our power to catch you and your friends, Mane-iac." Matter-horn said. "Oh, sure, we've done lots of things, but nowhere near everything. We eventually realized that, to some extent, we all treat this like a game. And why wouldn't? Ponies in costumes with powers fighting each other? Why wouldn't you make a game out of that? But now … now we're here to say that playtime … is over."
Zapp thought Matter-horn was simply talking big talk, but then she noticed Saddle Rager's muscles bulging and swelling, almost swimming around her body, as if she was angry and ready to transform, but holding back for some reason. It was then Zapp realized they were serious.
"Power Ponies, take them out! They are the villains, and we? ... are the fast and the furious, here to deliver that fury on the road to salvation for all of Maretropolis!" While Mare-Do-Well fired a grappling hook to the top of the room, and Radiance conjured a series of stairs, Matter-horn teleported onto the roof, appearing behind Shadowmane and bucking her, nearly throwing her off the edge of the building. Shadowmane clung to the edge to hold on.
"Shadowmane!" Never one to resist her urge to rescue ponies, even if the ponies she was rescusing were horrible criminals instead of innocent citizens, Zapp flew forward to retrieve her. Zapp grabbed Shadowmane's hoof and helped the thief onto the roof. Shadowmane said nothing, but her eyes betrayed her thanks to Zapp … seconds before Mare-velous' lasso reached the roof, tied around Shadowmane, and pulled her off.
Zapp reached out to grab her, too late to do anything other than watch as Mare-velous threw Shadowmane to the ground.
Zapp looked around to see the rest of the rest of her teammates were doing. Smudge was spreading himself, shifting his amorphous form to become a terrifying large beast made of slime, but Radiance imprisoned him with a box, picked him up, and threw the box into the horizon. Fili-Second ran up the side of the building, coming up behind High Heel and tackling her to the ground.
While the two of them grappled, Long Face raised up a vial and aimed it at Fili-Second. Long Face threw the vial like a ninja star, but Matter-horn caught it with her magic and threw it back at him, getting the green liquid inside all over Long Face's … long face.
While Long Face tried to wipe his own concoction off, a half-transformed Saddle Rager leaped onto the building in a single bound, joining Fili-Second. Saddle Rager grabbed High Heel, yanked her out from under Fili-Second, and tossed High Heel into Long Face, knocking them both off the roof. The sound of their impact was just like the sound of bowling pins falling.
Saddle Rager pumped her hoof. "Strike!" Her voice was also in a transitional phase between her normal and muscle-bound form.
Zapp, seeing how her former teammates had so brutally and efficently dispatched her new teammates, promptly rushed to the Mane-iac's side. "We have to get out of here. Now."
"I couldn't agree with you more." Even the Mane-iac herself seemed shaken by the new direction the Power Ponies had taken. She wrapped Zapp in her extra appendages and jumped off the roof of the building to the next.
Saddle Rager growled, her muscles beginning to firm up and cease their "swimming" state until Matter-horn held a hoof out to stop her.
"Not yet." Matter-horn told her. "Hold it off a little while longer. We don't want to play this card too early."
Saddle Rager, though disappointed, agreed. She took in deep breathes in and out, calming herself down enough her muscles quit bulging and she shrunk back to her normal size, though still angry enough to transform at the drop of a dime.
"Power Ponies, after them!" Matter-horn commanded.
Mare-Do-Well and Daring Do chased after the Mane-iac and Zapp, using their grappling hooks to swing from one building to the next. As the Mane-iac's only method of locomotion was also a form of building-hopping, Mare-Do-Well was quickly closing the gap between them.
"Grr ..." The Mane-iac shot out her tentacles and grabbed the cables of the grappling hooks, surprising Mare-Do-Well and Daring Do. Mane-iac shook their cables and jostlted them around before tossing them aside. Zapp couldn't help but notice bulges in Mare-Do-Well's costumes as she and Daring Do were dragged by their grappling hooks to the ground, almost as though they were multiple ponies in her costume.
"Huh."
"Hahahahaha!" The Mane-iac laughed. "Without Mare-Do-Well's headstart, the Power Ponies will never catch up to us now!"
Zapp peeked over the Mane-iac's mane. "You sure about that?"
The Mane-iac looked over her shoulder and grimaced – Radiance was using her powers to create a bridge for the Power Ponies to walk on during the chase, adding in one section at a time.
"Fili-Second, you're faster than the rest of us." Matter-horn said. "Radiance, if you can make a fork in the bridge to let Fili-Second get ahead of us and tackle the Mane-iac. Fili-Second, don't worry about subduing her – just keep her busy until we get there."
"Right!" Radiance and Fili-Second saluted.
"Say ..." Fili-Second added. "Is anypony else wondering why the Mane-iac is carrying a basket?"
Fili-Second and Radiance saluted. Radiance's horn shimmered, a fork in appearing in the bridge as a curved section split off, Radiance controlling its direction so it would land Fili-Second right on top of the Mane-iac when she reached the end. Fili-Second took off, her hooves almost burning as she ran and ran.
"Can't you do something?" The Mane-iac asked Zapp as Fili-Second gained on them.
"Let me try ..." Zapp pointed her amulet up at the sky. Dark clouds appeared and swirled around, the wind whipping and howling as it formed a tornado on the bridge and sucked Fili-Second up.
"Whooa-whooa-whooa-whooooa!" Fili-Second exclaimed before bursting out of the tornado and picking up her pursuit right where she left off. "Well, that was fun!"
"Ah! I forgot she was fast enough to outrun a tornado!" Zapp lamented.
The Mane-iac had a puzzled expression. "What about … two tornadoes?"
"Two tornadoes?" Zapp asked. "What are you, crazy?" That ... might be crazy enough to work!" Zapp got to work, twirling her amulet around and creating a second tornado on the bridge.
Fili-Second saw the second tornado forming and braked to avoid, bringing herself to a screeching halt. She turned around and fled the other direction, only to be waylaid by the tiny fact the first tornado was still going strong. So Fili-Second went back and forth, constantly attempting to escape one tornado's pull only to be dragged in by the other.
"Ha!" The Mane-iac and Zapp laughed and bumped hooves. Their mirth was not long for this world, as a lasso of rope and a chain made from pink energy came at them from both sides, attempting to snag them. "Ah!" The Mane-iac and Zapp looked down to see Radiance had created more forks in the pathway, with these ones being used to hold Radiance and Mare-velous as they tag-teamed from either, throwing their bindings in an effort to catch the Mane-iac.
Mare-velous and Radiance attempted another try, throwing their lasso and chain combo a second time. The Mane-iac jumped high in the air to avoid them, letting them fall back to earth. Mare-velous and Radiance partook in a shared scowl.
"What do we do? We can't keep this up forever ..." Zapp realized. She looked at Mare-velous and Radiance, galloping to catch up with her. "Hang on … I have an idea."
"What's that?"
"They're chasing us on a bridge made from Radiance's power, right?" Zapp asked. "So we can disrupt Radiance's concentration ..."
"The bridge should disappear!" The Mane-iac laughed. "Oh, I love having an ex-Power Pony around to tell me all their weaknesses!"
"Heh heh." Zapp chuckled. "Yeah. It's – it's pretty great, isn't it?"
"And after you do that, I'll make a detour from all this roof-hopping and we'll find a place to hide." The Mane-iac said.
Zapp raised her amulet, calling to turn its weather powers against her friends once more. She summoned a single dark thundercloud. Sweeping her amulet through the air, Zapp zapped Radiance, right on the horn. As was predicted, Radiance lost her concentration and the bridge disappeared, sending Radiance and the flightless Mare-velous plummeting to their potential dooms.
"Oh no, you don't!" Matter-horn snarled, lifting Saddle Rager, who'd been with her the whole time, Mare-velous, and Radiance up with her magic and setting them down safely on the nearest building. Once she finished ensuring their safety, Matter-horn flew under her own power after the Mane-iac.
The Mane-iac, feeling confident the Power Ponies were dealt, turned and jumped off the side of the building. Spotting another, shorter building which looked to be deserted not too far away, the Mane-iac shot out her tentacles, grabbing the window's ledge and pulling herself and Zapp inside through the window. Their moment meant when they landed inside, they went tumbling across the floor.
"Whew!" The Mane-iac wiped her brow once she had come to stop. "Looks like we lost them."
"Yeah." Zapp said, having difficulty believing after the dogged tenacity the Power Ponies had displayed. "What kind of building is this?"
"Hmm." The Mane-iac said. "Judging from the wide, open space and the easily-visible support pillars, I'd say it's either a rental or a yoga gym. Or both."
Their moment of quiet relaxation was cruelly, mercilessly cut short by the appearance of some sparkling, blinding white light, soon followed by the presence of a snorting Matter-horn.
"I TOLD you ..." Matter-horn scraped her hoof, snorting. "This isn't a game anymore! Play time is OVER!" Matter-horn's horn lit up, and the support pillars of the building lit up with it, becoming encased in a magenta aura of magic and power.
The Mane-iac and Zapp grimaced, not sure what Matter-horn was going to do. They got their answer when the entire building began to shake, and plaster fell out from the ceiling. She was going to bring down the entire building – with them inside! The support pillars shook, cracks forming from top to bottom. Matter-horn gave Zapp a harsh, bitter glare with an unspoken note of finality to it, as if she considered this goodbye, before teleporting out and disappearing.
"Come on!" Zapp grabbed the Mane-iac's hoof and guided her back to the window they came in from. A pile of plaster fell from the ceiling in their path, cutting them off from the window pane.
"O-kay. Not that way." Zapp concluded. She steered the Mane-iac down the stairs of the shaking building, knowing they only had minutes at best before the entire structure came crashing down on top of them. They were able to reach the next floor down, though they knew the building wasn't going to hold out much longer.
"We should be able to jump out the window from here." Zapp said, opening a window – not to easy to do when the entire surrounding area was about to give way. Zapp got ready to jump, but soon abandoned any notion of the idea when she saw the surprise which awaited her on the ground. Matter-horn had figured out she could shoot lava and learned to control it, as she was outside the building, spraying lava from her horn like a hose and creating a moat of molten rock. Zapp could tell Matter-horn was leaving nothing to chance, knowing Zapp and the Mane-iac might find a way out from the building before it collapsed.
Matter-horn, finishing her moat, looked up at the window at Zapp with a devious grin on her face. What happened next was a terrible choice – either they could stay in the building and get crushed, or they could try to escape only to be burned alive by boiling lava.
"Now what?" The Mane-iac exclaimed. "We can't jump, or we'll be fried, but we can't stay in here!"
Zapp looked at Matter-horn, the lava, the Mane-iac, and the building in turn. Watching more pieces of plaster and internal housing fall from the ceiling, Zapp knew what she had to do. "Mane-iac, do you trust me?"
"What?" The Mane-iac blushed and twiddled her hooves, suspecting this was some kind of test. "O-of course trust you!"
Zapp held out her hooves. "Wrap your hair around my hooves."
The Mane-iac gave Zapp a quizzical look.
"Do it!"
The Mane-iac quickly coiled her tentacles around Zapp's front and back hooves, wrapping them up tight in the Mane-iac's hairs.
Outside, Matter-horn smirked to herself, quite confident she had given Rainbow Dash an impossible choice – either be crushed with the Mane-iac, or risk fatal burning. Perhaps, in her anger, Matter-horn had failed to consider a deathtrap a little more … survivable, one which might be more likely to end in the Mane-iac's and Zapp's shared arrests rather than collective deaths, but there was little she could do to change it now.
Oh well. You live and you learn. Matter-horn thought.
So when Zapp came flying out the window, wings beating furiously to generate the lift necessary to carry both herself and the Mane-iac, who was hanging upside-down off Zapp's legs with her tentacles, Matter-horn was understandably floored.
Matter-horn watched, slack-jawed, as Zapp carried the Mane-iac away from danger. Zapp dropped the Mane-iac on the curb, away from the street where mystified ponies braked their cars and pulled over to gawk.
The Mane-iac pulled Zapp into a hug. "Thank you … Rainbow Dash." She whispered. "I don't know what I would have done without you."
"Heh. It's nothing." Zapp said.
The Mane-iac turned around. Spotting a particularly tall apartment complex, the Mane-iac smirked. "Oh, do you see that building over there, Zapp? It's perfect for our needs!"
"Uh, all right." Zapp grabbed the Mane-iac and lifted her up, flying to the apartment complex.
Matter-horn watched them go, making a note of their heading. She cleaned up her mess, using the powerful magic she gained from her Princess status to repair the damage she inflicted on the trembling building and blasted the lava moat with a beam of ultra-cold ice, creating a protective layer of frost over the lava to prevent it from spreading or burning anypony who came too close. Her clean-up done, Matter-horn teleported to retrieve the rest of the Power Ponies.
Zapp reached the building and flew up the side of it, the Mane-iac grinning and laughing as her ultimate plan came closer and closer to fruition.
A flash of light appeared at the bottom of the building, revealing the reassembled Power Ponies, sans the Mare-Do-Well team, as Matter-horn didn't know where they were after the Mane-iac dispatched them.
"Uh, Matter-horn?" Mare-velous asked. "Was it really a good idea to put us all the way at the bottom of the buildin'?"
"Well, I only knew the Mane-iac and Zapp were headed for this building. I didn't know which part, so I had to be cautious. I figure we'd teleport in on the bottom, figure out where they're headed, then teleport there."
Fili-Second helpfully pointed. "Looks like they're headed for the top!"
"Then that's where we're going." Matter-horn's horn shined. She grunted and strained with a visible tax on her body.
"Uh, Matter-horn?" Mare-velous asked. "You all right?"
"I'm fine." Matter-horn insisted. "But all that teleporting has taken a lot out of me." Matter-horn looked up at the building. "I can only teleport us up so far, or I won't have the strength left to fight."
"Get us as far up as you can, and we'll take the elevator from there." Mare-velous put a hoof on Matter-horn's shoulder.
"But Zapp and the Mane-iac -"
"Have a head start, we know. We'll handle it." Mare-velous assured her.
Matter-horn smiled. Though still straining and grunting, Matter-horn was able to teleport them halfway up the building, where they dashed inside the elevator, pushing residents out of the way. Cries of "Sorry," "Excuse me," and "Official Power Pony business!" were exchanged as they climbed into the elevator, pushed the buttons … and were subjected to awful, terrible muzak music for the entirety of the ride.
Outside, the Mane-iac and Zapp already reached the top, Zapp gently descending to let them down. The Mane-iac, still cackling widely, pulled out bottles of her brainwashing shampoo. She opened them up, one by one, and poured them into the basket until they were empty before sticking her leather-clad hoof in and mixing the shampoo up. Unfortunately for them, in the time it took to drain each bottle, the elevator was able to reach the roof, letting the Power Ponies catch them moments before they completed their scheme.
"Stop right there, villains!" Matter-horn said, leading the group out. "Your evil scheme ends here!"
"Oh, all right, you caught me." The Mane-iac said. "But before you capture us and take us to jail, don't you want to hear what our evil scheme is?"
"Not really, no." Matter-horn answered. "That would sort of conflict with the whole "no more messing around" message I've been trying to get across."
"Aw, come on, Matter-horn!" Fili-Second said. "We can at least give the villains their fun before we arrest them! Besides, I've been wondering what the basket is for ALL DAY!"
Matter-horn, with a sigh, relented. "All right. You can monologue." Matter-horn glared sharply at Fili-Second. "Don't make me regret this, Fili-Second."
"Zapp." The Mane-iac said. "Since you're the new villain on the block, why don't you do the honors?"
Zapp hung her head. "Okay." She lifted her head, sparing a look at the ponies she called her friends. Each of them were glaring at her, full of rightful anger and fury … except Fili-Second, who was waiting on the monologue with a big ol' grin.
"The Mane-iac figured out trying to get ponies to use the shampoo at retail wasn't going to work." Zapp explained, gesturing to the Mane-iac. She walked over to the pool. "So she came up with a new plan." Zapp clutched at the weather amulet. "Our plan was, once we found the highest point for the best possible coverage, to mix the shampoo with water." Zapp looked at her reflection in the shampoo-water mixture.
"Once the shampoo was adequately mixed, we would use my amulet on the shampoo, turning it into rain which would rain down the brainwashing shampoo on the unsuspecting citizens of Maretropolis. Anypony who was outside and not covering their scalp would be turned into a brainwashed slave ... giving the Mane-iac almost complete control of Maretopolis."
"Wow." Matter-horn said. "That's … actually kind of a clever plan. And kind of horrific. Just think, if you did that, the Mane-iac would have an army of slaves under her command." Matter-horn chuckled. "Well, it's a good thing we were here to stop you."
Zapp backed away from the Power Ponies, still clutching her amulet.
"Zapp?" Matter-horn questioned through gritted teeth. "What are you doing?"
Zapp backed further away.
"Zapp, don't do this." Matter-horn said.
Zapp began to flap her wings, lifting herself off the ground.
"Zapp, I'm giving you one last chance to walk away." Matter-horn said. "I mean it. This is your last chance. Come back to us, please. Don't do this."
Zapp bit her amulet and raised it up.
Mare-velous shook her head. "Don't."
Saddle Rager shed a tear. "Zapp, please, don't – don't do this. Don't this to me. To us."
"Remember all the good times we had together?" Fili-Second asked.
"Zapp ..." Radiance said. "If you cross this line, there may be no going back."
Each of the Power Ponies added in their own plea, begging Zapp not to go through with the plan, each of them reminding Zapp of the good memories they made together. A few of them couldn't handle the reality and began to cry. When Zapp's showed no reaction to any of their tears or pleas, Matter-horn shut them up.
"FINE!" Matter-horn shouted, silencing all voices. "I can see you're going to go through with this, no matter what, so at least answer me one question. Both of you." Matter-horn glared at the Mane-iac, who was resting on the edge of the building with a smirk on her face. "Is this something Zapp is doing willingly, or has she been brainwashed? Because she's clearly displaying some degree of autonomy, so did you just gave her a light brainwashing, where's she still her own person, just subservient to you, or is she doing this for you because she loves you? Answer me. Answer me."
Neither the Mane-iac nor Zapp deigned to give Matter-horn her answer.
"ANSWER ME, DAMN YOU!"
The Mane-iac ducked and Zapp swerved to avoid as Matter-horn shot red beams of heat out from her horn in twelve different directions at once, some of which clipped the edge of the building, right next to where the Mane-iac was sitting.
Zapp lifted her amulet, aiming it at the heavens, and summoned a thunderstorm unlike any the city had ever seen before. Zapp pointed the amulet at the basket of shampoo-water, and the liquid inside lifted up, twisting into a pillar of water which shot like a rocket and went inside the clouds. Slowly but surely, the natural clear color of the rain Zapp had summoned was replaced with lavender as the shampoo spread its way through the clouds.
The Mane-iac let out some evil laughter. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Well done, Zapp, well done!"
Saddle Rager almost couldn't restrain her anger for a minute longer. "Now?" She asked Matter-horn.
"Now." Matter-horn said. "You don't have to hold it anymore."
"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUH!"
The Mane-iac and Zapp turned around and were horrified to see Saddle Rager undergo a brutal metamorphosis, growing in size and causing rips in her clothes as she became a hulking, muscular juggernaut of a pony, her body growing to immense size – at least the size of small house, her biceps alone the size of bowling balls. To Zapp, what was even more horrifying was Saddle Rager appeared even more muscular and more enraged than usual, her eyes bloodshot to an extreme.
Before the Mane-iac or Zapp could think of anything with which to counteract Saddle Rager, Saddle Rager grabbed them both and hurled them through the roof of the building, sending them crashing through three floors.
"WE TRUSTED YOU!" Saddle Rager screamed, crashing through the roof herself to order to continue pummeling Zapp and the Mane-iac. "YOU WERE OUR FRIEND!" Saddle Rager picked them both up and slammed their bodies against the wall, over and over, before banging their heads together and dropping them, granting them a brief respite before Saddle Rager punched them both through the floor.
"Aaah." Zapp put a hoof to her lip, which she could feel bleeding. She looked at her body to see blood all leaking down her chest, and looked over to see the Mane-iac in a similar poor, bloody condition. It was now she realized how serious Saddle Rager was this time, not content with her usual smackdown.
Zapp saw over Saddle Rager's shoulder to see Matter-horn and the others looking down from the hole in the roof.
"M-Matter-horn! Radiance! Girls!" Zapp begged. "You have to do something! She's going to kill us if she keeps this up!"
Matter-horn shook her head. "I'm sorry, Zapp. But this is the way it has to be now." Matter-horn and the others turned and left.
Zapp's jaw dropped. With those words, those simple words … they were all she needed to realize how much she had lost. Her friendships. Her relationships. Her history. She wouldn't be able to access so much as a single remnant of her old life.
Zapp turned to look at the Mane-iac, the only one she had left.
"Well ..." Zapp said. "I guess the only good thing is, we'll die next to the pony we love."
"Heh." The Mane-iac chuckled. "I love you, Rainbow Dash."
"I love you, Tresemme."
Seconds later after this heartfelt exchange, Saddle Rager once brought her hooves down to punish them.
Author's Notes for "In The Medusa's Grasp"
The "comic solitaction" may not entirely match up the events of this chapter. All of the "solicits" were written well in advance of the actual chapters, so changes between the original idea and the execution could have easily happened over time.
It's left intentionally vague so you could fill in your own headcanon, but Daring Do, acting as Robin, is alluding to her dead parents. And of course, the idea of Robin carrying a gun against Batman's wishes is something I know the Batman mythos has toyed with from time to time.
Heck, you can even write your own story about it! It IS a comic book - sort of. And you know how comics can be.
Now, some things I could have done better ...
The subplot with the Power Ponies doubting themselves about living up to the Originals could have had more time dedicated to it.
I did kind of ... mess up the story flow by rushing to make it so we got past that OBNOXIOUS Firefly element when we did. It could have made to last longer and have the part where the Zapp and the Mane-iac figure out each others' identities develop more naturally over time.
And I seem to have had conflicting ideas regarding whether or not the Originals ever had one of their number brainwashed. One idea was that the current Power Ponies KNEW that the Originals had one of their number brainwashed, and it was this incident which caused the original Power Ponies to retire, so Zapp being brainwashing/betrayal wouldn't just be unfortunate - it would lead to this shadow hovering over Twilight and friends, worrying that Zapp's seeming brainwashing would drive them to retire, the same way it did to the Power Ponies.
I like to think this would have gone some way towards explaining why they're willing to leave Zapp and the Mane-iac to DIE at Saddle Rager's hooves at the end of this chapter.
I also had the idea to keep it ambiguous about what exactly happened with the Originals that caused the retirement, and attributing it to a brainwashed turncoat seemed to remove the mystique, if you will.
But at the same time, when I wrote the paragraphs explaining how the current Power Ponies came to be, I said they the events involved both current and former groups of Power Ponies - so if those events involved a brainwashed member of the Originals, the current Power Ponies would have KNOWN about it, and it would be a lot less mysterious. In the finished product, where the events are still left mysterious, but the Power Ponies about IF there was a brainwashed member and IF it contributed to the Originals' decision to retire, was my attempt to reconcile these two ideas, compromising between the two.
And quite honestly, I think it would have been better if I stuck to the initial idea - that an Original Power Pony was brainwashed, and the Power Ponies knew as much. If only to make the ending of this chapter more understandable.
Oh, you know what I could have done? I could have Twilight go through the archives and discover, yes, a Power Pony was brainwashed, and yes, it contributed to the decision to retire. So it would have still retained the feeling of the original idea while still maintaining the mystique.
Oh well. Like the chapter says, too late now.