Chapter 141: Superheroes

"I want one for casual wear and one for an evening event," said Velvet to her servants as they began to follow the Queen with tons of dresses and outfits in their arms.

"Give me the red pumps and those black heels."

"At once, your Majesty," said one of the servants as he went off.

"Ten of these," stated Velvet as she walked by several beauty products.

"Yes, your Majesty," said a handmaiden as she scooped the items off the shelves.

"MOM!"

"Pardon me," said Velvet to her servants as she gestured for them to keep buying stuff in the store. "Yes, Spike?"

"How much longer are we gonna be here?!" groaned the small prince.

Spike had been dragged into going shopping with his mother. He was all set to enjoy a day of nothing but relaxing in his room. However, that was ruined when Velvet grabbed her son to go with her to shop for some new clothes. Spike had been resistant all day, wanting to read his comics and play with his action figures. It didn't help that he was forced to try on some clothes as Velvet smiled at seeing her son in all the outfits she picked.

"Just a bit longer, sweetie," said Velvet.

"Uggg!" said Spike.

Velvet patted her son's head as she went back to her shopping. Spike approached a chair as he got on and slumped back into it with his arms crossed. About 30 more minutes passed as Velvet continued to buy more stuff; soon, the servants carried three stacks of bags as they all headed to the cart to load them up.

"I should have gotten five more," said Velvet.

"MOM!" groaned Spike.

"Alright, fine," stated the woman as she dragged her son to the middle of the giant market square. "Here. Go buy whatever you want and meet me in that shop in 15 minutes. I just need to chat with the owner before we leave."

"Anything?" said Spike as he looked at his money.

"Anything," replied Velvet.

"Sweet!" said the boy as he began to run.

"SPIKE!" yelled the Queen as she stared down her child. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh... right," said the small prince as he hurried back to his mother and hugged and kissed her.

"Don't take too long," said Velvet as she left with some handmaidens as they followed the woman.

Spike looked at all the money his mother had given him as he figured out what to spend.

"What should I buy?" said Spike as he looked around the market.

The small prince soon spotted something his eyes caught. He began to head in that direction as he entered the shop. The small bell at the top rang as the person running the counter popped up from behind the desk.

"Welcome to Canterlot's House of Enchanted Comics! Anything I can help you with?" asked the owner to the kid.

"You got any comics?" asked Spike.

After a few minutes, Spike had a large stack of comics on the front counter. The top of his head came just to the top of the counter. His hands gripped the counter as he had to pull himself up, so only his head was shown. The small boy watched the owner scan the comics as he looked at the stack of reading material he would enjoy on the ride home.

"Here's your total," said the owner to the small prince.

Spike pulled out the money his mother gave him and dropped it all on the front counter.

"This enough?" asked Spike as he didn't even count how much Velvet gave him.

A thud was heard.

"Uhm, mister. Are you okay?" asked Spike as he couldn't see what had happened behind the counter. The owner was on the ground as he seemed to have passed out from seeing just how much money the boy had dropped on the counter.

After a few moments, the owner recovered. He counted up all Spike's money as he took the proper amount and returned the rest to the boy. Spike then grabbed his huge stack as it blocked his field of vision. The small prince was trying to find the exit as he stumbled left and right; the owner opened the door for him as he watched Spike stumble out of his shop.

Velvet finished talking with her contact as she was waiting for her son. She soon saw him as the large stack of comics was a dead giveaway. The Queen sighed and rolled her eyes, knowing her son would have spent his money on those comics she never understood. Soon a servant took the large stack from the prince and put them in the carriage. Spike saw his mother as she stood there with a look and crossed arms.

"You said I could buy anything," stated Spike.

The pair soon got into the carriage and began their ride back home. Spike immediately grabbed one of his newly bought comics and began to read it as Velvet sighed once more before leaning back and looking out the window, watching the scenario pass by.

It was nighttime in the Kingdom of Equis, and a window was shown with the light on. Spike had a light on as he was deep in reading. He'd gone through half the huge stack of comics he had purchased. The small prince smiled as he read them when the door to his room opened.

"Spike! I said lights out thirty minutes ago!" shouted Velvet, as she didn't like her son staying up past bedtime.

"B-But Mom."

"No buts! When I say lights out! I mean, lights out! Don't make me take away all your comics!" stated Velvet sternly.

Spike quickly shut off the light in his room and pulled the cover over him. Velvet stayed for a few moments to observe her son, ensuring he had fallen asleep. The Queen then turned to leave as the door closed. Spike's back faced the door as the prince pulled the covers over him on the other side. He shook a small object in his hand before snapping it as a small light came on. Spike smiled as he put the device on his wrist and continued reading.

The next morning arrived as some huge activity was happening on Sweet Apple Acres. Aj and the girls were on the farm helping the girl with some chores before heading into town. Storm was also present as he was given some tools by the country gal and was on the barn's roof to fix some boards.

Twilight and Spike approached the farm as the pair were going to help their friend. Spike buried his nose in the latest comic he was reading; he was so distracted that he didn't notice a root and tripped over it. He felt himself falling as he face-planted into the ground.

"This is why you need to pay attention!" shouted Twilight to her little brother as he got up.

"Sorry, Twilight. But I was just getting to the good part. See the Mane-iac..."

"Mane-iac?" said Twilight with a puzzled look.

"See for yourself," said Spike as he picked up his latest comic and showed it to his older sister while pointing and explaining the plot. "The Power Ponies' most evil nemesis! She was the power-mad owner of a hair-care product company. A tragic accident at her shampoo factory in Maretropolis gave her strange new powers and caused her to go completely insane! She and her henchmen plan to break into the Maretropolis Museum and steal the Electro-Orb, 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."

The small prince showed a picture to his sister of a woman with wild-looking green hair wearing a purple suit and black boots. As the prince explained to his sister, he turned the page to show a purple-skinned woman with blue hair falling into a vast of experimental shampoo, transforming her hair and making her look like a mad woman.

"I think you have gone insane by reading this... illiterate junk."

"It's not junk, Twilight."

"Trust me, Spike. If anybody knows what it's like to read a good book, it's me. But this is not reading." The princess continued walking with Spike following her as he ignored his sister calling his comics useless.

It wasn't long before the pair arrived as Twilight saw her partner on the roof.

"Don't fall now!" responded Twilight.

"Nice to see you finally arrived, Sparky," smiled Storm, looking at her.

"Hey, Aj," said Twilight as she approached her friend.

"Howdy, Twilight. Think you can help Fluttershy to round up some of the animals."

"On it," said the princess to her friend as she left for where Fluttershy was.

"What can I do, Applejack?" asked Spike.

"Oh, um," said the country gal as she struggled to say.

"Well," said Spike, ready to be useful.

"You... you can... uhm," the girl was really trying to find some excuse, given how the last time Spike tried to help her, it didn't go well.

"Alright, the roof's finished, Aj. What's next?" said Storm as he jumped down.

"Applejack?" stated Spike, waiting for the girl to give him his task.

"Uh, you can help Storm."

"What?" said the Jedi.

"Here you go, Jedi. You got yourself a helper," said Aj as she shoved Spike to him and vanished.

"Applejack!" yelled Storm as he couldn't believe he had to deal with Twilight's annoying little brother.

The Jedi looked at the small prince as he had a smile. Storm mumbled as he began to walk away with Spike following him. The pair were in the barn as Storm moved some stuff Aj wanted him to. Spike did his best to help as he could only carry as much as his tiny muscles could, which meant Storm had to cover for him. The Jedi was using his Force powers to lift many objects at once.

"Can I?"

"No!" responded Storm.

"But..."

"I said no!" Storm shot a look at Twilight's sibling as he couldn't believe he was stuck with him. "Look, kid. Why don't you go sit down over there and read your comic? Let me handle this 'cause you can't."

"But I wanna help," responded Spike.

"Trust me; you've helped enough. Now go read. Read about that guy, " said Storm as he pointed at the comic's front cover, specifically Hum Drum. "He looks important. Pretend to be him."

"Hum Drum's not important. He's just there for comic relief," muttered Spike as he walked over to a haystack. His foot was caught in a bucket; the small boy dropped his comic and tried to pry it off, only to end up and fall to the ground offscreen.

"Good. That's something you both have in common," muttered Storm as he returned to finish his tasks.

Spike dragged himself to a haystack as he grumbled. The boy leaned back and opened the comic to where he had left off as he had an unhappy expression.

"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 gasped and found that the last page was blank. "Wait. What? How can that be the end?! I'm getting my money back!" declared the prince as he was unhappy with his purchase. He then noticed a tiny print on the bottom right corner of the page. "What's... that? You can... retr- What? You can... return... Urgh! I know I saw a magnifying glass laying around the last time I was here..."

The small prince had found the tool, brought it to his comic, and held it above the small print. It was now easier to see as he began to read it.

""You can return to the place you started when the Mane-iac is... defeated." Huh?" Spike read aloud and looked rather puzzled. "Take a closer look to join the adventure in this book"? What does that even mean?"

Just then, a bright light shot out from the comic book.

"Whoa! Cool!" said Spike as he enjoyed the light show.

Storm noticed the sudden light out of the corner of his eye as he growled.

"What did you do n-..."

Storm didn't finish his statement as the comic book began to pull Spike in.

"Heeeeeelp!" yelled Spike as Storm put his hand out to grab hold of Spike's legs. Even with his Force powers, the boy was struggling as the pull of the comic book was too much.

"Storm, Spike! Are you guys-"

Twilight and the girls had entered the barn to find the boys when they gasped at what they saw.

"Sparky! A little help here!" yelled Storm.

The princess ran to her partner, grabbed his stomach, and pulled. Rainbow soon did the same, grabbing Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. All the teens put all their strength into pulling Spike back, but the comic was stronger than all combined. Everyone, 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!" yelled Twilight as all of them were spinning in a swirl before it went back.

Spike soon found himself lying on his stomach as he woke up. He was now donning a black mask on his face, a red cape, blue gloves on his hands, and a 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 looked around for a bit.

"Somebody wanna tell me what the hay is goin' on?" Applejack asked out of the blue as the rest of the girls recovered.

"Holy new personas, girls!" Spike exclaimed, "You're the..."

"... Masked Matter-Horn!" he said to Twilight, wearing a magenta hero suit with a light blue collar, boots with her royal crest on them, a purple mask with gold google, and a light blue cover.

"... Fili-Second!" he said to Pinkie, wearing a white and purple body suit with ballon decals on the hands and legs and some stripes that ended in lighting bolts at the front of the suit. She was hopping about excitedly.

"... Zapp!" he said to Rainbow, who wore a navy blue suit with patches of white on the hands, neckline, and headpiece with lightning bolt decals. She was also wearing a gold lightning bolt around her neck.

"... R-Radiance!" he said to Rarity, wearing a cobalt blue suit with a pink gold gem-studded broach on her chest. Gems also covered her suit and hair as she wore a matching masquerade-style mask and bracelets on her wrists.

"... Mistress Mare-velous!" he said to Applejack as she wore a red suit with black hand bands, a black mask, and gold and black pouches with a gold rope hooked to it, green training tape around her lower hair. It was then Fluttershy appeared from behind the farm girl.

"... Saddle Rager!" he said to Fluttershy, who had an aqua-green suit with a purple and pink neckline with a flower pin, butterfly bead bracelets around her wrists, and a purple mask.

"You're the... Power Ponies!" exclaimed Spike.

"Wait, where's Storm?" asked Twilight.

"I'm right here, Sparky!" responded the boy.

The girls and Spike turned to the side as someone emerged from the shadows. Storm, like the others, was also decked out in an outfit. The Jedi wore a yellow and black suit with a golden lining resembling spider webs, black boots with star prints, and a black and yellow mask with black patches where his eyes would be.

"Storm... is that... you?" said Twilight, cautiously approaching her partner.

"Yes, it's me, Sparky!" stated the boy as he pulled up his mask to reveal his face.

The princess was relieved to see that it was her partner.

"So... where are we?" asked Applejack.

"More importantly, why are we dressed like this? And where's my lightsaber?" questioned Storm.

"You don't have your lightsaber," answered Spike.

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't our universe. This is a different one. There's no Jedi here, so that's why you don't have your lightsaber."

Before Storm could ask for more clarification, a loud crash came from below. The seven teens and Spike headed over to the edge of the building as several people ran for their lives. Then green-like tentacles came out of a large cloud of dust. Then the one behind the 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?" the entire group was puzzled as the Mane-iac laughed manically.

"Did she just call us... Power Ponies?" said Applejack in disbelief.

"You're the... the superheroes from my comic book! It somehow zapped us all in here!" said Spike.

"So someone zap us back out!" Rainbow retorted.

"My comic book! It said the way to get back to where we started was to defeat the Mane-iac! Your arch-nemesis!" stated Spike.

"Easy enough," said Storm as he put his hand out. He tried to activate his Force powers, but nothing happened. "My Force powers aren't working."

"That's 'cause you don't have him. We're in a comic book. There's no Jedi in comics." stated Spike. "In here, we obey comic book rules."

"Are what are they?" asked Storm.

"Time for the mane event!" said Mane-iac. She then used her tentacle-like hair to grab a cart and throw it at the seven teens and Spike. Storm then felt something inside tingle as the background flickered around him.

"Look out!" shouted the boy as everyone dodged the oncoming cart; it smashed into the top part of the building.

"How'd you do that?" asked Twilight.

"Do what?" responded Storm.

"You detected the cart was coming when she tossed it," responded Twilight.

"That's because you're Web-Stallion," explained Spike, "You have a sixth sense that allows you to detect danger. You can also shoot webs using special shooters from your wrists and walk on walls. He's also known as the sass of the team."

"So what? Does that mean I use sarcastic quips while we battle?" asked Storm as Spike nodded. The others all rolled their eyes as they did not like hearing that.

"Don't get carried away," warned Twilight to her partner.

"The only thing I'm gonna carry away is you, beautiful," remarked Storm with a smile before he blinked. "Why did I say that?"

The boy was unsure why he said what he said. He was unaware that when Spike said he used quips, he didn't mention that it just happened naturally, given the character he was portraying. While Storm was still trying to figure out the reason behind his mouth saying it while not running through his brain, he didn't see that his comment made Twilight blush red as she turned away.

"Ugh, this is gonna be a long day... er... night," stated Spike. Then the Mane-iac grabbed a mailbox and tossed it into the air. Storm's spider senses went off.

"Pinkie, look out!" shouted the boy as the thing crashed over her. "Uh... you've got mail?"

"Seriously?" said Twilight, glaring at her partner.

"It just came out!" said Storm, as he had no control over the quips from his mouth.

"Where'd she go?" asked Rainbow as that got everyone's attention. They all looked to where the mailbox crashed, as Pinkie wasn't there.

"Wheeeeeeee!" 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! Pinkie is Fili-Second, the fastest person in all of Maretropolis!" said Spike.

"Looks like you got competition, Rainbow," snickered Storm, as that was him being his genuine self-making remarks. The girl glared at the boy for making that comment.

Applejack used her gold lasso to try and capture the Mane-iac with it. But Aj was completely off target and ended up roping a lamppost instead. The rope glowed and recoiled as she tried to pull her lasso in. The girl soon found herself tied to the lamppost upside down.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Applejack as she struggled to break free of her rope. The Mane-iac just crackled at Aj's expense.

"Twilight! Freeze her mane!" Spike called out.

"Do what?" said the girl to her little sibling.

"You're the Masked Matter-Horn! You can shoot all kinds of crazy power beams from your hands!" said the small prince.

Twilight attempted to shoot a freeze beam from her hands but could only produce a few snowflakes as her magic fizzled out.

"Houston, we have a problem," said Storm.

"Would you stop with that!" said Twilight as she got in her partner's face.

"Again, it's not like I can control it. It just happens!" responded Storm.

The Mane-iac tossed another object at the rest of the heroes, but it smashed the side of the building.

"You know, I'm beginning to enjoy this," said Mane-iac as she laughed again. Then Storm appeared above her, dangling from a makeshift piece of web as he descended toward her upside down.

"Little Miss Muffin sat on her tuffin, eating her curds and whey," recited Storm, "Then along came a spider, who sat down beside her..."

"EEEEEEEEEK!" shrieked the Mane-iac when she saw the boy and tumbled to the ground.

"... and scared the living shit out of her!" Storm finished before taking an upside-down bow, "Thank you, thank you! I'll be signing autographs out back." Then, one of the tentacles started trying to smash into the boy as he used his spider-like quickness and agility to avoid the attacks.

"Stay still!" shouted the villain.

"Hmm, stay still and get squished or scurry about and live?" Storm mock pondered as he shot a webbing to swing to the wall across the villainess, "Yeah... I think I'll choose option B." The boy landed on top of a streetlamp when the Mane-iac managed to grab him with her mane and pulled Storm toward her.

"Seesh, if you want my autograph, you could've asked," Storm remarked before the Mane-iac threw him hard, so he smacked into a wall, causing it to crack. The others cringed as Storm fell off the wall and tumbled to the ground below.

"Ugg, well, that's one way to get a natural stomach press for free," Storm groaned as some of the wall broke free and buried him slightly.

"Storm!" shouted out Twilight in worry.

"Dash! Quick! You're Zapp, and your superpower is controlling the mighty forces of nature! Unholster the lightning bolt!" said Spike.

Rainbow looked at the lightning bolt on her necklace. She held it in the air and summoned storm clouds. The three remaining girls watched in amazement as lightning and electricity could be heard. However, Rainbow hadn't summoned a lightning storm.

"Lightning, not a tornado!" shouted Spike. He and the three girls 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 couldn't escape 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. Storm was dusting his suit off as the tornado descended the building.

"Good thing this suit isn't dry clean only," said Storm when the tornado sucked him in. Everyone, minus Storm, was screaming for dear life. The boy remained calm and was seen riding the swirling vortex, reading a newspaper. "Typical with weather forecasts. They said it's clear skies this evening, and we got clouds and a tornado."

"Hardy-har-har," said Rainbow as she flew past him.

The Mane-iac had decided to use her tentacle-like mane to recline and enjoy the show as Applejack watched helplessly from her tied-up position. Spike had managed to get his cape off his face inside the tornado as he turned to Fluttershy, who was spinning about helplessly.

"Fluttershy! You're Saddle Rager! Lose your temper, and you'll become a huge, super-strong monster!" said Spike.

"Oh, gosh! That wouldn't... be very... polite!" answered the animal-loving girl.

"You're polite?" remarked Storm, trying to use his sarcasm to get a rise out of the girl, "Who knew?" The girl took a deep breath to calm herself from her growling.

"I'm not going to stoop to your level or petty remarks," responded Fluttershy indignantly. Spike just blinked.

"Well, I tried," said Storm quickly as he let the tornado carry him.

"Ugh!" groaned Spike as he turned to Rarity, "Rarity! Use your jewelry to create attack constructs!"

"What's an attack construct?!" asked the fashionista as she stared at her bracelets.

"Just think of something, anything, and your bracelet makes it appear!" the small prince explained frantically. Rarity then tested her bracelet and made a tea set appear, which got caught up in the vortex, and the teapot smashed into Spike's face. "Something useful!"

"Might I suggest a paper fan?" As Spike and Rarity glared at him, Storm proposed, "I was being serious!"

Before they could do anything else, the tornado made its way toward the Mane-iac, but it went 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," said the small prince.

"Well, this has been quite the mane-raising experience. But I really must be going." gloated the Mane-iac.

She then laughed as Spike managed to sneak up to her and grab the orb, but he tripped and dropped it before he could escape. The Mane-iac quickly used one of her tentacles to pick it up.

"Why, thank you, Hum Drum!" she laughed evilly. She didn't resist laughing in 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 came back and was heading toward him. Spike tried to get away but was quickly overwhelmed. "Applejack! You gotta... help stop the... tornado from destroying.. the city!"

"But every time I move, this darn lasso gets tighter!" Applejack told him as her rope glowed and squeezed her.

"You're psychically connected to it! Will it to where you want it to go, and it'll obey you!" explained Spike.

Applejack 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 it exploded. Rarity used a glass container to set herself down on the ground, Storm used his web shooter to swing and flip as he landed 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 took off.

"Lemme get this straight: We've been sucked into some kind of comic-book world?" asked Aj.

"Would you have preferred Better Homes and Gardens?" Storm remarked as Applejack glared at him. Meanwhile, Twilight was testing her powers, 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 Maretropolis. And if we wanna get back, I think we have to stop the Mane-iac from using her doomsday device to destroy it!" explained Spike.

"No biggie. I was already awesome. And now we've all got superpowers!" boasted Rainbow.

"With a trade-off Rainbow," remarked Storm, "I don't have my Jedi powers or lightsaber. Just some web shooters, a danger sense, and my wit. What kind of superpowers are those?"

"Well... Almost all of us have superpowers..." Spike said sadly as Pinkie zoomed off again.

"But you must have them too, Spike. Your character is wearing a cape!" said Rarity.

"You sure that's supposed to mean something," remarked Storm.

"Yeah, for absolutely no reason. He's pretty much useless..." said Spike.

"Good thing you're not really Hum Drum, then," said Twilight.

"Debatable," coughed Storm as the princess elbowed her partner in the side.

"Yeah, good thing..." said Spike, not fully convinced.

"So the seven of us Power Ponies will take care of Mane-iac and get us back home!" declared Rainbow. Spike looked slightly discouraged that the girl had left him out when Twilight approached him.

"Spike, where is the Mane-iac building her doomsday device?" asked the princess to her little brother.

"Her top-secret headquarters! 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 sighed sadly again and walked forward.

The others began to follow as Twilight and Storm hung back.

"You sure this is a good idea, princess?" asked the boy.

"We don't have much of a choice. If we're gonna get out of here, it looks like we might need to defeat this Mane-iac."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard. We've faced way worse that a simple supervillain should be a walk in the park."

Twilight giggled as she approached her partner and kissed his exposed cheek.

"Come on, tiger," responded the girl as she winked and began to walk.

Storm pulled his mask back down as he fired a web at Twilight and pulled her in. The girl spun as she fell into his arms, as the pair stared at each other. Twilight blushed as Storm held her firmly, his hands moving about her body and backside, feeling her through her skin-tight suit. It all excited the girl. The boy smiled as he picked the girl up, and she held him tightly around his neck.

"Figured I'd give you a ride," said Storm, firing a web shooter as the web attached to a building.

The boy took off as he swung; Twilight felt the adrenaline and wind in her face as she held him tightly. She soon got used to it as the pair were now swinging. Twilight was giggling and enjoying herself.

It wasn't long before they arrived at a warehouse building that had a neon light sign showing a woman getting her hair washed with shampoo.

"There it is!" said Spike, as the others stood behind him with Storm peaking over on the wall he was standing on.

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

"Seesh, I've heard of being married to your job, but this is crazy," Storm remarked as the others agreed.

"Looks like your jokes are starting to become bearable," said Twilight to her partner.

"Isn't Twilight married to books or something?" Pinkie commented.

"Yeah, but she moved on. Now she's in with me," said Storm.

"For now," stated the girl plainly.

"What?" interjected the boy.

"Gotcha," Twilight remarked with a smirk.

"Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me, Princess," Storm snorted.

"Oh god!" groaned Rainbow at how the Jedi were playfully acting with each other.

"All right, Power Ponies, here's the plan," said Twilight as she faced the others, and Storm decided to dangle beside her upside down. "Really?"

"I'm getting used to this," responded Storm as the blood wasn't rushing to his head as it did when he first attempted it.

Twilight rolled her eyes before continuing her plan, "Rarity, you, me and—

"Come on out, Mane-iac!" Rainbow bellowed as she hovered before 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.

"Rainbow, you dumbass," muttered Storm to himself at how the girl jumped into things without listening to Twilight's plan.

"So much for "element of surprise,"" Twilight remarked as Spike, and the others looked worried, and Applejack glared at Rainbow. Storm descended down from his own webbing upside down.

"Okay, here's the real plan. Let Rainbow be the live distraction to draw out the Mane-iac. Then once she's focused 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..." Storm turned to see everyone had left him behind, "... and as I'm telling the plan to everybody ignores me and all, but one person falls into a trap. (sigh) And people wonder why story plots these days feel so repetitive... sheesh..." Storm then ascended up his line of webbing as the others approached the front of the warehouse. Spike, who had heard Storm, just rolled his eyes at him.

"Guess I'll just hang back here doing nothing," stated the small prince.

"As much as I don't want to, I'll have to agree. My Jedi training has prepared me to notice a trap when I see one. Plus, someone has to spring them out of it." said Storm as he watched the rest of the group approach the shampoo factory.

"Oh, I don't think she's home," said Fluttershy when nothing 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 was then the garage door of the warehouse opened, and there before the group was several henchmen, 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 girls stood behind a rather dynamic backdrop.

"Ooh! Nice catchphrase!" said Pinkie as she hopped in place. Pinkie took off to the left as a pink blur while Applejack took to the right.

"Freeze ray!" said Twilight as her hands glowed and fired at a charging minion. However, all she did was stun him with a snowball.

"It's an improvement, darling," said Rarity as she hovered on her own makeshift magic carpet.

As one henchman charged at Applejack, she knelt down to fight, grabbed some gold horseshoes, and tossed them at him. The horseshoes linked to his legs, knocking him off balance and making him crash. Pinkie then zoomed up eating some pie when a henchman tried to catch her, but she zipped away to the left. She approached from the right, giggling as she tapped his shoulder and took off as he turned around. Pinkie reappeared before him, tapping from the back and disappearing before he could turn and see her. Pinkie continued to taunt the henchman until she finally smashed a banana split into his face, laughing, and took off again. Meanwhile, Rarity used a makeshift needle and thread to tie up one henchman. Then another knocked the damaged neon sign off its holding, so it fell down toward the fashionista. Rarity gasped as she created a makeshift umbrella that made the falling sign bounce off and crash back at the henchman as he tried to escape.

"Ooh, I do so love a functional accessory!" said Rarity as she admired her bracelets.

Some more henchmen charged at Fluttershy, who whimpered fearfully. Suddenly one by one, each of the henchmen was grabbed by some webbing that came their way, making them all yelp. Fluttershy looked up to see Storm had captured all the henchmen coming at her, and they were now trapped inside a hanging sack made of spider webs.

"Thanks, Storm!" Fluttershy called out.

"Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood, Web-Stallion!" the boy replied. Fluttershy smiled but still couldn't help but roll her eyes. Then Fluttershy gasped when another henchman charged at her, but before he could reach her.

ZAP!

Rainbow summoned a lightning cloud, which struck the henchman and burnt his hair.

"My hair!" he exclaimed before running off in disgrace.

"Seesh, it's not the end of the world if your hair is messed up," said Storm as Rainbow hovered over to Fluttershy.

"Seriously? You aren't even just a little angry right now?" Rainbow asked indignantly. Fluttershy smiled sheepishly and shook her head.

"Nice work, Power Ponies! Now let's take care of the Mane-iac and get ourselves home!" said Twilight as she saw all the henchman, or so she thought, had been dealt with.

"I don't think so!" said a voice as the seven teens looked to see her appear and used her tentacle-like hair 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. Storm noticed Rainbow was ready to charge as he clung to a wall behind the group.

"Looks like Rainbow is about to all gung-ho on us again!" Storm said, "Does this mean you guys will listen to my..."

"NO!" shouted the other six girls.

"... fine, but I still say this is a trap," replied the boy 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.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Rainbow was frozen in midair in a cloud of hairspray and landed beside the group with a clunk.

"Impressive," said Storm, "any chance we can borrow that? You see, Rainbow tends to..."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The boy got sprayed before he could get away or finish his question.

"Gee... you certainly know how to... hurt a guy," Storm remarked. While his body might have been frozen, the hairspray removed his ability to stick to the wall, and he also landed on the ground with a clunk.

"Storm!" Twilight called out before she and the rest of the group, minus Fluttershy, charged but were frozen by the hairspray. The Mane-iac laughed manically as her now recovered henchmen surrounded them. Fluttershy was hiding behind a mailbox with Spike hiding inside of it.

"Fluttershy, please! Just a little anger?!" begged Spike.

"Well, I'm not so much angry as I am concerned," Fluttershy remarked before whimpering, "bordering on terrified!" Before she could react...

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

She also sprayed Fluttershy, and the Mane-iac used one of her tentacles to grab her. She then aimed the spray can at Spike.

"Don't spray!" Spike called out as the Mane-iac cackled.

"Oh, Hum Drum," she said in a sickeningly sweet tone, "why in all of Maretropolis would I use the Hairspray Ray of Doom on you? Rather pointless, don't you think?" Spike looked hurt as the rest of the group, minus Storm, shouted out cries of concern as the henchman carried them into the warehouse.

"Hey, if you plan on using me as a statue? Can you at least put me somewhere nice inside?" asked Storm.

"Do you ever shut the hell up?" complained the henchman.

"Read my lips, bud... uh, no," said Storm, "Nobody tells me when to shut up."

"Storm, shut up! That's an order!" Twilight screamed. The girl couldn't decide whether she liked Storm's new level of sarcasm and quips or it was annoying.

"... except... the princess," groaned the Jedi as he did an eye roll that couldn't be seen under his mask.

All seven frozen teens were carried into the warehouse as the garage door closed. Spike rushed to try and go after them when he heard a clang. He saw his foot stuck in a bucket again and slumped forward in dejection.

Once Spike removed the bucket, he slowly entered 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, "I'm useless. No wonder my friends never need me to do anything important. They're the ones with superpowers. They've probably already figured out how to escape." 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, nobody noticed him, but the small prince looked over the railing.

"Or not!" said Spike as he saw the teens trapped inside a cage and still frozen by the spray.

Twilight struggled and tried to unfreeze her body as her hand moved a bit. Then a timer went off as a nearby henchman shot more spray on them, causing them to remain frozen, much to Twilight's disappointment. She then glared at Storm, expecting him to say something, but he hadn't spoken since they had been inside the cage. As much as Twilight wanted Storm to stop the sarcasm, his silence drove her crazy.

"Storm, will you say something?" snapped Twilight.

"Now I know what it's like to be a popsicle in the frozen section of Backyard Bargains," said Storm 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 the villain and then laughed, "You shall live just long enough to see me fire..." The henchmen pulled off the red tarp covering the doomsday weapon, a giant hair dryer with a chair resembling a hair-drying dome?! "... the instrument of your destruction! Once the Electro-Orb has powered it up completely, this cannon will amplify the power of my hair one million times, expelling an energy blast that will cause everyone in Maretropolis's hair to grow wild!" Mane-iac explained as she laughed again before using her hair and arm to point at the teens, "You will be my weapon's first victims, and there is no one who can save you from this fate!" Mane-iac laughed maniacally as she climbed into the cockpit and aimed her weapon at the heroes.

"Yeah, no thanks. We already got one person here who goes crazy when her hair isn't perfect," Storm 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 someone?"

"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 henchman sprayed the teens again. "Puh-lease," Mane-iac said dismissively as she used her tentacle-like hair to crawl on top of her doomsday device before adding a condescending tone, "Everyone knows you just keep him around because you feel sowwy for him. Wah. Wah."

Spike felt hurt.

"Maybe in your world. But in our world, Spike— uh, Hum Drum always comes through when we need him! Always!" said Twilight as the others agreed.

"Well, I mean..." started Storm as Twilight cast a look in the direction of her partner.

Despite Storm trying to make a comment, Spike felt tears from his eyes as he smiled and wiped them away. The small boy noticed the orb as he got an idea.

"I see dementia must be a side-effect of prolonged exposure to the Hairspray Ray of Doom," Mane-iac chortled.

"Nah, I'm good. Just need a showe-"

"Silence! JUST SHUT THE HELL UP FOR FIVE SECONDS. ALRIGHT!" Mane-iac snapped at Storm for trying to make a sarcastic remark before composing herself and getting back on track, "Tonight, we stand upon the brink of immortality, for we collectively—though mostly me—have finally defeated our most hated nemeses! We have hurled the brush of badness into the now fearful face of goodness and have struck a blow for freedom in the name of oppression! And nothing will stop us!"

The woman seemed to love her evil laugh because she chortled again for the umpteenth time. However, Spike managed to sneak around the area during her little monologue. He grabbed the red tarp and hooked it up to a metal chain before rushing around the room's perimeter and re-hooking it 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 to the edge. The red tarp snagged a bunch of henchmen and left them hanging inside a new red sack. Just as the timer had gone off again, Spike swung over the henchman, 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 henchmen below, freezing them.

"Nice work, little brother," said Twilight as the hairspray wore off and the teens found they could move again.

"Well, it was fun being your statue collection, but we gotta run," said Storm.

Rarity then created a makeshift file to cut open the cage wall, knocking back the Mane-iac and some henchmen as the cutoff piece hit the floor. The teens stood ready to fight.

"Don't you love it when a good villain monologue can turn things around in your favor?" Storm asked rhetorically as the others smiled.

"I'll agree to that. Let's do this!" said Twilight.

"Get mad!" Rainbow said sternly to Fluttershy.

"I'm trying!" said Fluttershy as she made straining noises to no effort.

The others took off. Rarity created some stairs and snootily walked down them. Meanwhile, Pinkie was already poking fun at some henchmen.

"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!" Mane-iac bellowed until Storm 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 Storm disapprovingly in a fatherly tone as he dangled in front of her.

"GRRRRRRRRRR!" Mane-iac growled.

As the boy went to fight off some henchmen up on the metal platform, Twilight hovered above and used her freeze ray to turn the ground floor into ice. The minions running around slid about and smacked into the side of the staircase, where Storm used his webbing to stick them against it so they couldn't escape. Meanwhile, Rainbow had collected a few henchmen of her own after using thunder and lightning to knock them out.

"Need a place to put these guys!" Rainbow called out as Rarity was figure skating across the ice. She stopped, made her skates disappear, and summoned three bird cages. Storm was nearby with a microphone to commentate.

"And Rainbow goes for the triple score..." the boy announced as Rainbow dumped three groups of henchmen inside as Rarity closed the doors of the cages, "and it's goooooooooooooooooooooooood!"

"Thank you, thank you!" Rainbow remarked as she took a bow. Several henchmen started to make a run for it.

"Hold it right there, partner!" said Applejack as she used her lasso, captured them all in one swoop, and left them dangling above a metal beam. Two more henchmen looked at each other and retreated. Several others were screaming as they ran for their lives when Storm used his webbing to capture and hang them from the ceiling in some web cocoons.

"The party just started. Hang around, why don'tcha?" remarked Storm. Pinkie snickered.

"Hang around... good one," said Pinkie before zipping away, and Storm jumped high.

Spike watched from above as the others continued to round up and take down the henchmen; the Mane-iac just watched the scuffle from her doomsday device and web boundings. He then noticed Fluttershy trying to sneak out of the warehouse without being noticed.

"Fluttershy, where are you going?" asked Spike.

"You seem to have everything under control," responded the girl.

"Fluttershy, we need you! You have to power up!" said the small prince. Unknown to them, the Mane-iac had broke free of the webbing on her mouth and tentacles. She began to aim her weapon at the girl.

"I'm sorry, it's just that nothing is making me mad," Fluttershy told Spike. "If I'm gonna get mad, it has to be a reason I feel is justified."

As the Mane-iac prepared to fire, a firefly approached 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?" yelled Fluttershy, "I mean, I know you're evil and everything, but... " the girl 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! 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 someone your own size?!" As Fluttershy spoke, her body grew larger and more muscular as her pink and purple necktie snapped off. The girl roared in rage as the others looked at her in shock. Spike gave an excited fist pump.

"Oh shit!... If Fluttershy didn't scare me before, she certainly does now," remarked Storm.

Mane-iac nervously rushed to the controls of her doomsday device. After a moment of buzzing, the laser was fired at Fluttershy, who roared at being hit with the laser. However, Fluttershy's muscular size reflected the laser blast right back at the Mane-iac, making her yelp and knocking her away.

"Fluttershy Smash!" growled the girl.

Fluttershy roared again, jumped into the doomsday device, and smashed it into smithereens. The rest of the group watched the girl 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 smiled sheepishly while tapping her fingers.

"My hair!" Mane-iac cried out while laughing like a lunatic, "My haaaaaair!" The laser blast had caused her to lose control of her own hair. Her tentacle hair frizzled and crackled as it wrapped the woman up like a burrito as she landed on the ground, still laughing insanely.

"Well, I think we can consider this adventured wrapped up," said Storm as he hung upside down next to Twilight.

"Great work... tiger," responded the girl.

She then turned Storm to look at her as she raised her hands. She then pulled the mask off so that only his mouth was revealed. Twilight put her hands on his side and began to lean in and close her eyes. As this was happening behind the group, Spike was narrating.

"Once again, the day is saved by—" said Spike, trying to narrate the end of the adventure when a bright light appeared. Twilight was close to finishing what she wanted to do when they yelped and were sucked in.

Back in Aj's barn, the comic on the barrel rose into the air, opened up, and dumped the eight individuals into a pile before returning to the pedestal. The teens and Spike were back to normal and out of their costumes. Spike was the first to recover as he sighed a breath of relief and wiped his brow.

Twilight recovered as she felt something under her. The girl was lying directly to her partner. She pushed herself up as the boy came to and was welcome to see the princess over him as certain objects dangled in his face. Both looked at each other as they blushed before Twilight leaned in and kissed him on his cheek before getting off and helping him up.

"Awesome!" said Rainbow 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?!" Dash asked.

"You catch how I was wieldin' that lasso?" remarked Aj.

"Cupcakes?" asked Pinkie as she held out a tray of cupcakes.

"How did you—" wondered Rarity.

"Eh, we had a good half second before we got sucked back out of the comic, and the Maretropolis bakery was only sixty-five blocks away!" explained Pinkie.

"I'm just glad to be back," said Spike as he flopped onto a haystack.

"We wouldn't have made it without you, Spike. 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," said Twilight to her little brother as she approached him.

"And that you don't have to have superpowers to be a super friend," Spike added as he sat up.

The others all seemed to give sounds of agreement.

"Ehh, sometimes," responded Storm as he got a few glares, but the boy shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, I call it as I see it."

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes at her partner while having a smile on her face. She then turned back to address her younger sibling. "But I do have one question. Where exactly did you get that comic book?"

"This one I got in Canterlot when I went shopping with mom at the House of Enchanted Comics," answered the small prince.

"You got to be kidding me!" shouted Storm as the others looked at each other and then at Twilight's little brother with unamused looks. "Sparky, I mean what I say. Your brother's not only annoying but an idiot!"

"What?! Well, I didn't know it meant they were literally enchanted!" said Spike in his defense.

"Read between the lines, kid!" stated Storm as he walked away.

"I thought it just meant, like, the comics they sold there had really enchanting storylines! " responded Spike as the girls began walking away. "Hey, wait up! I'm an important part of this team, remember?!"

"Debatable!" shouted Storm offscreen.

Spike got up and ran to catch up with the rest of the group, leaving the comic book behind. No one ever noticed that the comic book had started glowing again and mysteriously disappeared, never to be heard from again.

For now...

Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed that Storm was basically being Spider-Man for this adventure. In a way, he kinda is that just not on the level of where he constantly makes quips all the time. And a few other references from other moments in Spider-Man movies; plus Spider-Man is one of my favorite superheroes. And the joke that Spike said that Jedi aren't in comics is to show that there are some Star Wars comics in real life. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this special take on the "Power Ponies" episode. As always, leave a review expressing your thoughts and comments.