Dragon of Steel

by SuperPinkBrony12

Face to Face: Part 1 (Mind over Muscle)

Spike was furious with himself, and was barely able to keep himself from smashing up everything in his anger. "I could've saved her! I should've been able to save her!" he thought to himself, as he searched for clues that would tell him who was responsible for taking Rarity away. Whoever it was, he was going to have a few choice words for him.

Spike searched for a couple of minutes, but he failed to find anything. However, just as he was about to give up and admit defeat, he spotted a note laying on the ground near the scene of a struggle. Ever the curious one, Spike bent down to pick it up, and read the note out loud to himself:

Dear Super Dragon,

I know who you are, and I have the pony you care about more than anything in my possesssion.

If you wish to see her again, come to the back of Barnyard Bargains. And come alone.

I'll be waiting for you, and I hope you will not leave me waiting.

Sincerely,

Filthy Rich, CEO of Barnyard Bargains

Spike crumpled up the letter with his claws, barely able to contain his anger. "Filthy Rich is going to pay big time for this!" he thought to himself "He's messing with the wrong dragon!" And he set off for Barnyard Bargains at once.

---

Rarity was anything but cooperative with Filthy Rich and Randolph, even as they dragged her kicking and screaming into Filthy Rich's office. Once inside, Randolph left Rarity and Filthy Rich alone.

"Why are you doing this? Spike's never done anything to you!" Rarity snapped.

"It's not what he's done to me, it's who he is," Filthy Rich replied, as he tied Rarity to a chair "Equestria doesn't need superheroes like him. The longer he hangs around, the more ponies are goin' to look to him to solve their problems. They'll become lazy, and incompetent, never willin' to use their brain to figure things out for themselves. And because of that, Super Dragon has got to go!"

"And you think that ponynapping me just to get to him is going to work?" Rarity asked "If that's your whole plan, you're in for a very rude awakening. Super Dragon will come, he'll stop you! And you won't have anything to smile about!"

"That little pipsqueak of a dragon doesn't scare me. Not when I have the love of his life, and his greatest weakness by my side," Filthy Rich smirked "Besides, I've got a huge surprise for him."

"What are you talking about?" Rarity asked furiously, as she tried (to no avail) to break free of the rope holding her to the chair.

"Did you really think I would be dumb enough as to issue a challenge to Super Dragon without some way of being able to overpower him?" Filthy Rich asked, and he pointed a hoof to an egg shaped suit of armor resting in a corner of the office "This is just a little somethin' I obtained solely to deal with that super powered pest!" Filthy Rich explained, as he walked over to the suit and climbed into it. He then opened up the chest compartment, and placed the green gems inside, before the compartment was sealed shut "When he comes lookin' for me, this suit will protect me. And once the green glowing gems have brought him to his knees, I will defeat him once and for all! Now come on, let me hear you say it. You know you wanna."

"You're a mad stallion, and a horrible ruffian," Rarity said with a smirk "If you think you can beat Super Dragon with that suit, you must be crazy."

"No!" Filthy Rich complained, shaking his head, and pounding his desk with one of the suit's arms "Not that, the other thing."

Rarity quickly realized what Filthy Rich was talking about "Super Dragon will-" she began.

"WRONG!" Filthy Rich interrupted "Just sit back and relax, because you have a front seat to Super Dragon's destruction. And once I'm done beatin' the livin' tar out of him, you're goin' to write an article for The Pony Express, tellin' everyone how I did it!"

---

Spike wasted no time in making his way to Barnyard Bargains, he was determined to make Filthy Rich pay for hurting Rarity. "Just hold on, Rarity," he thought to himself, as he neared the back of the building "It won't be long before I come bargining in, teach Filthy Rich a lesson he'll never forget, and rescue you!"

Without a moment's hestiation, Spike lightly tapped his claw against the wall, expecting a reply or some sort of secret door or wall. But nothing happened.

Spike waited patiently for a few minutes, but still nothing happened. At last, he lost patience, as he realized what was going on. "Filthy Rich is playing me for a sap! Well, I'm not going to let him get away with it!" And Spike proceeded to clench his claw into a fist, and punch the wall with it. It hurt slightly, but with his enhanced strength, he was able to break on through to the other side.

Sure enough, Rarity and Filthy Rich were there, waiting for him.

"Spike!" Rarity shouted.

"Don't worry, Rarity! I'll get you out of this mess, just as soon as I teach Mr. Snails for Brains here a thing or two about hurting an innocent lady," Spike said heroically, and turned his attention to Filthy Rich "Didn't your mother ever tell you it's not nice to pick on girls?" he teased.

"Joke all you like, Super Dragon, you're no match for the power of my incredible I.Q.!" Filthy Rich boasted, but he didn't move.

"That's a nice suit you got there," Spike commented, noticing the blackish green tint and the egg like shape "It's just too bad it won't protect you from my wrath! Say your prayers!"

"Spike, watch out!" Rarity shouted, as Spike rushed forward and prepared to hit Filthy Rich's suit with one of his fists. Unfortunately, her warning came too late.

"You fool!" Filthy Rich replied, and quickly pressed a button on his suit. The chest compartment opened up, and a series of glowing green gems greeted Spike's eyes.

Spike suddenly felt his strength failing, and his punch failed to even dent the suit. "How did you-" he said weakly.

"You didn't really think telling Sweetie Belle to throw out that note about your weakness would protect you, did you?" Filthy Rich asked "Maybe now you'll think twice before you raise at your voice at me."

"Why are you doing this? I'm trying to help Equestria!" Spike exclaimed weakly, as he tried (and failed) to snatch the gems away "We don't have to be enemies!"

"It's nothin' personal, I just can't let someone like you hang around," Filthy Rich explained "As a kid, I used to admire superheroes, and I wanted nothin' more than to be like them. But you wanna know what happened, I grew up and realized that superheroes are nonsense. If they existed, we'd never learn anythin'! Our lives would have no meanin'! And all because we'd come to depend on raw muscle, instead of our sharp minds, to solve our problems! You are exactly the kind of superhero that thousands will flock to, thinkin' that you can protect them all. But what will you do when you can't do that? What will you do when you have to choose who to save, and who to let suffer? You'll crack under the pressure, and Equestrians will realize they're better off without superheroes like you!"

"Is that all?" Spike asked, and shook his head "You're pathetic!"

"So you say, but I'm the one who's holdin' all the keys now!" Filthy Rich said furiously, and proceeded to bring both his arms down onto Spike. Spike groaned, as he felt the heavy metal arms pound his scales.

"Spike, no!" Rarity shouted, as Filthy Rich laughed and proceeded to punch and kick Spike over and over again. "I've got to help him!" Rarity thought to herself. Then, she eyed the chest compartment of Filthy Rich's suit, and an idea came to her mind. "Please, Spikey-Wikey, hold on! I'll save you, I hope." And she began to light up her horn.

---

"Any final words?!" Filthy Rich asked, as a badly battered and bruised Spike lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

"You won't get away with this!" Spike said defiantly.

Filthy Rich just laughed "What a waste of breath. Oh well, maybe this will help you learn your place!"

But just as Filthy Rich was about to bring down his left front hoof, and deliver the final blow, he felt the glowing green gems being yanked away from him in a glow of light cornflower blue magic! He quickly realized who said magic belonged to.

"Give me back those gems!" Filthy Rich demanded, as Spike rose to his feet.

"Sorry, but after the way you treated me, I think I'll hang onto them for safe keeping!" Rarity taunted, and stuck her tongue out at Filthy Rich. Ordinarily, she would find such behavior rude and impolite. But under the current circumstances, she was willing to make an exception.

Filthy Rich barely had time to realize how trouble he was in, before an angry Spike approached him.

"This is for stealing those gems just to weaken me!" Spike said angrily, throwing a punch that made a noticeable dent in the armor. "This is for giving all stallions and ponies a bad name!" Spike added, as he threw another punch to Filthy Rich. "And THIS is for hurting and ponynapping Rarity to get to me!" Spike finished, as he threw one more punch that was enough to knock Filthy Rich into a nearby bookcase.

Filthy Rich groaned, as he tried to regain his footing. The armor was barely holding up.

"Now, what do you have to say for yourself?!" Spike asked, as he approached Filthy Rich.

Filthy Rich frantically began to search for a way out of his current predicament. And then, suddenly, he remembered something. He quickly pressed a button, causing the bookcase he was leaning against to rise, and revealing what appeared to be some sort of portal. Randolph was standing by the counsel that would turn it on and off.

"Catch me if you can, Super Whimp!" Filthy Rich smirked, as he quickly ran towards the portal "Randolph, activate the portal, now!" he instructed. Randolph reluctantly did so.

Just before he disappeared into the portal, Filthy Rich turned to Spike and said "You'll never find me in this virtual world! But chase me after if you insist! It's your funeral!"

Author's Note:

The suit Filthy Rich wears draws inspiration from "Injustice: Gods Among Us". A very good game that's definitely worth checking out.