The stallion looked up at the captive heroes, smiling maliciously.

“Who are you?!” Silver Spoon demanded.

“I certainly can’t give you my real name,” he said casually. “But you, dear filly, may call me... Plasticus!”

A silence fell as the heroes exchanged glances.

“‘Plasticus’?” Silver Spoon asked.

“‘Plasticmane’ was already taken,” Plasticus said in annoyance.

“It doesn’t matter what your name is,” Crystal Crown said. “We’ll stop your evil scheme, no matter what.”

Plasticus simply gave her an amused smile. “Let me demonstrate how wrong you are.” He walked over to a covered table and removed the tarp. Underneath the cloth were Crystal Crown’s crownarangs, Gilded Spoon’s Thunder Spoon, Radiance’s jewels, Mistress Mare-velous’s lasso in its own box as well as her horseshoes, Zapp’s necklace, and a particularly sinister-looking ray gun. Plasticus picked up the ray gun and attached it to his hoof. “Watch closely.”

He pointed the ray at the Thunder Spoon and fired.

“No!” Silver Spoon cried.

Before their eyes, the shining metal of the spoon turned to wood.

“Nooooo!” Silver Spoon screamed. “Who would ever want a wooden spoon?!”

The light of the ray gun faded as he slipped it off his hoof.

“The only flaw is how long it takes to charge,” he said dismissively. “But this is only the small one.” He clapped his hooves and a henchpony pressed a button. A nearby wall raised and revealed a giant ray gun aimed at the city below. “Soon, all of the metal in Maretropolis will become wood! Skyscrapers will crumble, the city will be defenseless, and innerspring mattresses will become very uncomfortable.”

“Why would you do this?” the Masked Matter-horn demanded.

“Once there is no metal in Maretropolis, ponies will have to turn to plastic for their needs, and they will only be able to buy it from my company!” Plasticus let out an evil laugh.

“You mean this is all a get-rich-quick scheme?”

“Actually, it’s a get-rich-intelligently scheme.” Plasticus pulled down a conveniently-located chart. “You see, I’ve already cornered the market in common-use and industrial plastics, and I intend to reinvest the money in research-and-development as well as publics-relations. I want my company to eco-conscious and family-friendly. Once public opinion has improved—”

“Ugh!” Silver Spoon groaned. “This is the boring-est evil scheme ever!”

“Well, excuse me for long-term goals,” Plasticus said indignantly. He stuck his nose in the air as he walked towards the control room. “I do hope you enjoy the view. It should give you the perfect vantage point to watch your precious city being destroyed. Perhaps I’ll set my sights on Got-Them City next…”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Crystal Crown growled.

Plasticus casually continued walking and disappeared behind the barrier when a henchpony pressed the button again.

“There’s no time to lose, everypony,” Masked Matter-horn said. “We need to stop Plasticus and save Maretropolis.” She fired a freeze-ray at the bars, and to her shock, saw that it had no effect. She tried a heat-ray next, and it was simply absorbed by the thermoplastic. Her continued attempts yielded similar results.

“Cease thine efforts, Matter-horn,” Zapp said slowly. “’Tis noble but fruitless.”

“We can’t just give up,” Masked Matter-horn replied. “There has to be some way out of here.”

Zoom-zoom-zoom-zoom-zoom-zoom!

“Nope!” Fili-Second reported after her sprint around the walls and ceilings of their cage. “No way out.”

“We ain’t getting outta here that easily,” Mistress Mare-velous said. “Not with mosta our powers outta commission.”

“C’mon, Power Ponies,” Hum Drum said, trying to muster up some confidence. “You girls can do anything, can’t you?” None of the Power Ponies could bring themselves to answer.

Silver Spoon looked to Crystal Crown. “Do you have any ideas?”

Crystal Crown looked like she was trying to burn a hole through the floor with how hard she was starting at it. “I don’t know,” she said slowly, “but we’re running out of time.”

Silver Spoon looked out the window and saw the ray building its charge. At glance over at the Power Ponies wasn’t any more promising. She turned to look back at the table. Everything they needed was right there. She felt just the Thunder Spoon: stripped of her power and completely useless. She closed her eyes and got down on the floor, desperate plans rattling in her ears and brain.

Is this the end for our heroes? Will evil win the day? Tune in for the exciting conclusion in the next thrilling installment!