Within the library in her castle, Twilight Sparkle was now activating a large mechanical device known as a portal. It was her intention to modify it and use it to view other worlds, other universes. And the only other one who was there with her was Spike, still wearing his bright blue suit and long, flowing red cape of his superhero alter ego Super Dragon.
"Hold on tight, Spike!" Twilight declared as she brought her horn to the portal and magically charged it. "No telling where we'll go or what we'll encounter if we do find other universes. After all, the multiverse theory is just that, a theory. It's never been scientifically proven."
Spike, for his part, had only one concern as he watched the portal start to glow and hum. "You're sure you'll be able to bring us back to our own universe no matter what, Twilight?"
Twilight gave a firm nod. "Yes, I'm quite certain. I wouldn't do this if I didn't have a way to get us home." And it was the last thing to be said before the roar of the portal drowned out the sounds of everything else!
Hesitating for but a second or two, pony and dragon walked through the portal and disappeared. Their destination currently unknown.
It was quite a surreal sensation for the two. It almost felt like they were having an out of body experience as they seemed to be adrift in some kind of void. Countless clocks and other symbols of time flashed by them in the blink of an eye, too far away to be touched. And there was that constant roaring, howling sound of wind.
Then, suddenly, everything began to change! The void started to shake, the vibrations growing more intense by the second! It appeared as though cracks were starting to form within it, said cracks taking on the form of white streaks of light that were dim at first, but quickly grew brighter. Yet the roar of the wind did not diminish in the slightest. In fact, it only seemed to grow louder, and the winds themselves seemed to blow with a greater fury than should've been possible!
Twilight was the first to begin to worry. "This isn't supposed to happen!" She hollered in order to be heard above the wind!
"What's happening, Twilight?!" Spike shouted back as he flew towards the alicorn. Despite his incredible strength, it was a very real struggle to reach her. Time and space themselves seemed to be fighting against him, pressing down heavily upon him. And if it was like this for him, he could only imagine how much stronger the sensations must be on Twilight. After all, ponies were not as near invincible as dragons, they didn't have thick scales and spines for protection.
"I don't know, Spike!" Twilight nervously replied. The look of uncertainty flashed in her eyes. It conveyed more than words the gravity of the situation. Then, she became aware of a faint but fast growing tugging sensation. The alicorn let out a gasp! "I think something's pulling us in!"
"Twilight, no!" Spike screamed and desperately reached out a claw to pull her close! It was a losing battle, he couldn't maintain his grip on her for long. To make matters worse, it seemed like whatever it was that was pulling on Twilight was now grabbing him as well. The dragon shut his eyes as he felt himself be flung far across the sea of time and space! He didn't even know if Twilight was with him, he was too dazed and disoriented to think. Yet he could've sworn that the last thing he heard was Twilight herself calling out to him, trying to shout some words of encouragement to him. Alas, assuming that was the case, he couldn't hear the words before everything went dark.
While Spike and Twilight were in the process of being separated from each other, events were unfolding in the universe they were being pulled into. It was the very same universe in which Batmare had been racing to try to stop Starlight Glimmer from casting her spell to travel through time.
While Batmare had been busy investigating the break-in at the Canterlot Archives, her sidekick Robin was busy tackling a problem of his own. He was staking out a small number of stallions in black and white suits carrying tommy guns and other firearms. Their suits left little doubt as to who they were working for: Two Face. Despite the fact that the literally double minded supervillain was currently behind bars, various small gangs headed by his hench ponies had sprung up across Equestria.
This particular unit was operating in Manehattan, particularly within the city's many shady back alleys. And Robin was keeping an impatient eye on them, waiting for the right moment to strike. He hadn't told Batmare about this, knowing she would disapprove. But lately, he'd grown tired of always having to do things by her rules. "These criminals deserve whatever I do to them," He thought to himself. "I don't need somepony breathing down my neck, telling me how to do things. I'll handle these thugs my way!"
So the colt clad in a dark red suit with the letter r emblazoned into the top left corner of his suit in black lettering kept a silent vigil, peering in occasionally through his own set of binoculars. He at least owed it to Batmare's teachings to get a good view of his surroundings before leaping into action. If he wanted to prove he could manage on his own, he couldn't afford to make careless mistakes. Especially not when he wanted nothing more than to get revenge on the stallion who had so thoroughly messed up his life.
The black and white suit wearing stallions with tommy guns were unaware they were being watched. They were too busy chatting amongst themselves, whilst peering over at some crates and barrels waiting to be loaded.
"What's taking those guys so long?" One stallion impatiently grumbled as his hooves started to tap in frustration. "They get lost or something? They were supposed to be here by now! Boss said they were to be here with the van at 2:22 on the dot!"
Another stallion could only shrug in reply. "The hell if I know. Maybe they're just sick of the boss' obsession with twos. It's always two this, or duo that."
"Yeah, but he specifically told us about this weapons cache," The first stallion responded with a snort and a huff. "Don't know about you, but I'd like to actually make off with the goods before somepony shows up to ruin the fun."
The second stallion chuckled. "What? You afraid of Batmare? She's been too busy chasing after shadows as of late. Nopony's heard a peep out of her in months. And of course, if the cops show up... well, why do you think we've got those workers being held hostage? 'Course, even if the cops cooperate, we'll probably still kill the hostages anyway. Make an example out of 'em, you know?" He clicked his tommy gun. "Now just stay alert. I'm sure the van will be here shortly. Won't be long before we're living like kings."
From his rooftop perch, Robin felt he had heard quite enough. He crouched down, pulling a smoke pellet out of his utility belt and holding it in one hoof. In another hoof, he clutched a long metal baton. He'd been silent for long enough! It was time for the boy wonder to make his move!
All Two Face's hench ponies knew, was that suddenly a thick cloud of smoke filled the air. It was extremely disorienting, making their mouths water and their lungs start to burn as they coughed, choked, and sputtered. And before they had a chance to react, one of them was hit over the head with something metal! The stallion fell to the pavement with a thud, immediately becoming unconscious.
"What the hell?!" One of the suit wearing stallions exclaimed! And it was all he had time to say before he felt himself be pulled down by his back hooves, almost as if something had caused them to trip. He tried to scream for help as he saw a large figure looming over him, but a large cloth was quickly pressed up to his mouth to gag him. He couldn't speak a word.
Two other stallions tried to activate their tommy guns, hoping to hit their unseen attacker with a shower of bullets. But one felt his tommy gun be knocked out of his hooves by a small, speedy pellet. And the other felt his tommy gun jam, rendering it useless to him. "Damn!" He muttered, shortly before he was knocked to the ground too.
What remaining goons there were quickly spread out as the smoke started to dissipate. Whoever was after them, they weren't about to make things any easier for him (or her, their attacker's identity was a complete mystery).
"This is almost too easy." Robin remarked in a cocky, confident tone of voice as he brought down two more thugs with the greatest of ease. For good measure, he saw fit to whack them over the head with his baton and render them both unconscious.
Unbeknownst to the boy wonder, however, one of Two Faces' hench ponies now had a faintly visible line of sight on the armored colt! And his tommy gun was working, unlike those of most of his comrades which lay useless and discarded on the ground. He brought a hoof towards the trigger, preparing to click it and fire off as many bullets as he could!
The henchpony never got the chance! A sudden blur quite literally swept him off his hooves, carrying him high into the air! "H-hey, put me down!" He nervously stuttered. "P-please! I... I'm begging you!"
A stalwart, heroic voice replied quite firmly. "Not until you call off your comrades. I've already alerted the police. They'll be here shortly. If you surrender now, they might just go easy on you."
"Y-you're bluffing!" The henchpony insisted even as his tone of voice betrayed his intentions.
"Am I really?" The voice replied as it was now possible to see the faint outline of a bright red cape. And after he spoke those lines, the figure loosened his grip on the henchpony.
The henchpony screamed and whimpered as his eyes widened! "A-alright, alright! I'll do whatever you say! Just don't drop me, please! I don't wanna die!" He hesitantly reached into his pocket, pulling a small radio device that he spoke into. "B-boys, it's me! The jig's up! We've been had! Someone tipped off the cops!"
Sure enough, the shrill wailing of sirens signaled the arrival of Manehattan's police department to the scene of the crime.
The heroic voice and the figure it belonged to was all too happy to release the henchpony after that, dropping him into a dumpster where he landed with a thud. The henchpony crawled out a moment later, unharmed but smelling quite awful. "That should teach him a lesson." The figure said to itself in a satisfied tone of voice.
Robin, who had observed the whole thing, was speechless! And he was even more surprised when he happened to get a good look at the mysterious figure. It looked just like Spike, but it couldn't be. The Spike Robin knew didn't wear a bright red cape, or a bright blue suit with a yellow shield in the center.
Scrambling up to the rooftops as he saw the caped figure prepare to fly away, Robin frantically called out. "Hey, wait!"
The Spike like figure heard Robin's shout and flew down towards him. When he got close, he seemed to be quite surprised at what he saw. "Pipsqueak?" He blinked. "What are you doing here?"
Robin nearly jumped back in surprise. "How did you..." He recovered, convinced this figure was just guessing. "I mean, I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know this Pipsqueak."
The Spike like figure let out a lighthearted chuckle. "Come on, kid, you don't fool me. I can see right through you. I know it's you, Pip."
"Oh yeah?" Robin retorted as he rolled his eyes. "Well just who the hell are you? You're not Spike! I know Spike, and he doesn't dress like that at all."
"Just call me Super Dragon," The Spike like figure explained. "And if what you just said is true, then I think I have a pretty good idea of what's going on."