Dragon of Steel II

by SuperPinkBrony12

Other Worlds

Try as he might, Garble couldn't hope to do anything against Spike after losing all of his dragonly powers. In a matter of seconds, he was overpowered and brought to his knees. It took every ounce of strength he had to keep his head up, looking his enemy in the eyes and realizing that he had been beaten.

"You're getting off quite easy if you ask me," Rarity coldly snorted as she eyed Garble. "You give dragons a bad name! Have you no shame?"

Twilight threw up a wing and a hoof to stop Rarity before she could go off on a tirade. "That's quite enough, Rarity. We're better than he is. We don't taunt our enemies when we defeat them," Then she eyed the red scaled dragon. "But I don't know if Princess Celestia will be so forgiving. She's sure to have heard about what happened in Cloudsdale, and she will not be pleased."

Garble spat at the ground. "Whatever," He then turned to Spike. "Go ahead, do whatever you feel like doing to me. Kill me if you want to, I don't care. Just get it over with. I'll never be able to live down this humiliation!"

But Spike shook his head from side to side. "No, Garble. I'm not going to kill you, or your followers. I'm not a killer like you. I don't kill those who can't fight back."

"As I suspected," Garble snapped in defiance. "You're just as soft as the ponies you protect. You don't have the guts to kill me!"

In response, Spike's eyes grew red. Then, after a sudden shout, a huge beam of red light shot out from his eyes! It struck the floor right in front of Garble, creating a tiny crater that sizzled quite audibly. "Let me make it perfectly clear to you. My kindness and generosity do have limits. I don't have to show you mercy. Give me one good reason to think you'll hurt or kill anyone, and you'll find out the hard way what I could do when I really get angry. Think about it: I'm strong enough to crush crystals in the palm of my claw. Do you have any idea what that kind of power could do to you?"

At that, Garble lost any will he might have still had to fight back. Instead, he gulped and swallowed hard as he whimpered. "What are you gonna do to me?"

The superpowered dragon simply stated. "There are fates worse than death. I think you're already quite familiar with one of them."

---

So it was that Spike took it upon himself to banish Garble, Grunt and Groan again. This time, he had them sealed away inside of a pocket dimension he called "The Phantom Zone". In this alternative dimension accessible only to him, there was nothing but an empty void of a starless sky. There were no planets, asteroids or other cosmic things. It was as black as could be, and the darkness stretched on for what seemed like eternity. Only a small, tiny crack of light broke up the darkness. It granted those inside the zone a glimpse of the world they had once known, but it was far too small for them to hope to escape.

To add insult to injury for the three teenage dragons, the zone was stored inside of a tiny, solid black crystal. And Spike saw fit to place it deep away inside his Fortress of Solitude, stored on a shelf far away from any other crystal or gem and at an altitude he could only reach by flying. There was no chance of anyone stumbling upon the crystal by accident, no chance that its occupants could shatter the crystal and escape. They were trapped in there forever. It was just like the fate they had suffered back in their native dragon lands long ago. And this time, there was no sonic rainboom to set them free.

Spike let out a long, slow and sorrowful sigh after the deed was done. It was soon clear to Twilight and Rarity that the ordeal had taken a lot out of him. Perhaps it was to be expected considering he had been pitted against his own kind.

Rarity was the first to speak up, asking the question. "So, that's it? You're just going to leave them trapped in that Phantom Zone of yours forever? You're never going to let them out?"

The superpowered dragon shook his head from side to side. "No. I want to give them a second chance, someday. When I find the time, when I feel like they've had a chance to truly think about their actions, I'll free them one at a time. Maybe if they're each kept separate from each other, I can influence them and convince them to see other creatures in a better light."

"And if not?" Twilight hesitantly questioned.

Spike did not hesitate with his answer. "Then they'll be sealed back into the Phantom Zone again, and I'll keep them trapped in there until I'm ready to try again. I don't want to give up on them. I want to believe that what happened to me can happen to any dragon. That dragons and ponies don't have to be enemies."

Twilight reached out a hoof to comfort Spike. "That's very thoughtful and noble of you, Spike. But you know," She spoke the next few words slowly, hoping to emphasize. "Not necessarily everyone can be saved. There are some who will refuse to change no matter what."

"Maybe," Spike appeared to consider. "Yet I don't feel like it's right for me to decide who can be redeemed and who can't. With my powers," He looked down at his claws, his eyes reflecting uncertainty and concern. "If I decide to start playing judge and jury, who could ever truly stop me? I could probably even overthrow the princesses and rule Equestria myself if I really wanted to," He gulped and shut his eyes, shuddering at the possibility. "I'd sooner give up my powers and die than let it ever come to that!"

Rarity trotted close to Spike, slowly stroking his scales as she tried to reassure him. "The mere fact that you're thinking about that and are worried about it is living proof that you'll never become such a monster. Twilight and I, and all our friends, we'll never let you go down that path! You'll always have us here to hold you in check."

"I hope you're right, Rarity," Spike slowly nodded as he opened his eyes. "More than all the jewels and gems in Equestria and beyond, I hope you're right."

Twilight then coughed into a hoof. "Er, not that I mean to interrupt this meaningful discussion, Spike, but..."

"But what, Twilight?" Spike questioned.

The young alicorn replied. "Well, it's just that... You remember your encounter with Filthy Rich? About how you battled him in a virtual world?"

"Yeah," Spike nodded, the memory still fresh in his mind. "What about it?"

After contemplating her actions for a moment, Twilight declared. "Probably better to show you than to explain it with words," She began to light up her horn. "Meet me in the library in my castle. I'm sure you'll understand once you see what I wanna show you."

---

A short time later, Spike arrived at the destination Twilight had given him. And when he did so, his eyes beheld a most surprising sight! Before him stood what appeared to be an exact replica of the portal device Filthy Rich had used to lure Spike into a virtual world.

A smile creeped onto Twilight's face. "I stumbled across this while Filthy Rich was doing time, and I couldn't help but be inspired once I learned what it was," She then explained. "Ever since my encounter with Starlight Glimmer and the time travel spell she rewrote, I started thinking: What if there are worlds, universes even, besides the one we know now?"

"You mean, like that other world we went to because of that magic mirror?" Spike questioned. "The world that Sunset Shimmer dwells in?"

"Something like that," The young alicorn replied with a firm nod. "If a world such as that can exist, similar to ours in many ways but different in many others, multiverse theory suggests that there could be any number of other worlds and universes. And who knows what sets them apart from the one we live in? With this device, I am now convinced we can prove the existence of those other worlds."

"Are you sure we should be doing that?" Spike hesitantly inquired. "Didn't you specifically try to warn Starlight about what could happen if we messed with time?"

Twilight replied. "I'm aware of that. But the multiverse theory suggests that any universes we visit this way are completely detached from our own timeline. Even if we alter events in that world or universe, the one we now dwell in would be unchanged," Then she trotted forward, locking eyes with Spike. "What if there are worlds or universes where our friends are also superheroes like you? Wouldn't it be interesting if you got to meet them, even just for a moment? Think of the possibilities. Think of all we could learn."

Seeing the look on Twilight's face, Spike could only bring himself to say. "Does anyone but us know about this?"

"Nope!" Twilight beamed. "I don't even know for sure if this device will work as intended. I haven't tested it yet. That's why I wanted you to be here, Spike. If anything goes wrong, I'll feel much safer knowing you're here to protect me."

Hesitantly, the superpowered dragon found himself agreeing. "I guess if you really think this could benefit us, Twilight, I'll trust your judgment. I just hope, for your sake, that we don't live to regret this."

The young alicorn let out a happy squeal as she hugged Spike! "Oh, thank you, Spike! I've been simply itching to tell someone, anyone about this!" Then she trotted over to the large portal device, horn at the ready. "Well, nothing left to do but fire this bad boy up and see what happens!"

Author's Note:

And so the story ends with a sequel hook. Trust me, there's a reason why I've written the ending the way I have.

Interestingly, in both Superman II and Man of Steel, Superman kills General Zodd. But only in the latter movie is this death permanent, in the former movie (in both versions) the death is udone by Superman reversing time and sealing Zodd and his two associates back in the Phantom Zone.

Regarding Starlight Glimmer, when I wrote the original fic back in 2015 "The Cutie Re-Mark" had yet to air. If Spike had his superpowers in that episode, I imagine the encounter with Starlight would've played out very differently, so in this AU only Twilight encountered Starlight, and Starlight did not reform. As to what her fate was, I'll leave that open to interpretation.

Comments

[Comickook]

REALLY good work on the exchanges, characterizations and possible sequel set-up in all the right places. Definitely liked Spike putting a scare into Garble before putting him and his pals in the Phantom Zone, as well as the discussion concerning giving those dragons chances to reform and how afraid Spike is of going down the wrong path. Also liked the discussion concerning this universe's version of Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer's adopted world.

And, yeah, a good possible set-up for a "Justice League of the Multiverse" deal.

I could easily see Twilight being a hybrid of Wonder Woman (a princess trusted with promoting unity through friendship with flying ability and a certain degree of super-equine strength) and Green Lantern (given that the primary limits to her magic most of the time seem to be her willpower and imagination).

Applejack, of course, is already Batmare in one of those other universes (the first meeting of Batmare and Super Dragon would be a good story for next year in honor of Batman's 85th birthday, especially with Starlight Glimmer in the role of the main villain [specifically Ra's al Ghul, who definitely has the intelligence, ambition and resources to be a challenge to both Batman and Superman at the same time]).

Rarity would make an excellent Black Canary (detective and martial artist plus it would be quite easy to visualize her gaining a sonic vocal blast).

Rainbow Dash would be an insultingly obvious pick for the role of the Flash.

Fluttershy could probably do really well as either Vixen (as it would be quite easy to see her gaining an amulet allowing her to duplicate the powers of any other animal of her choosing), Aquamare (her natural knack with animals upgraded to a straight up telepathic link plus being given the ability to breathe underwater and strength, durability and senses all increased to respectably super-equine levels owing to her body being conditioned to withstand ocean bottom pressures) or a combination of the two.

Pinkie could work quite well as Plastic Mare (super-stretchy comic relief) or be a surprisingly good analogue to the Martian Manhunter (as having a good range of Martian type powers [super-strength, super-speed, super-toughness, flight, shape-shifting, intangibility and telepathy] would be a pretty good explanation to how Pinkie can do many of the things that she can).

And another possible more couple of additions to Super Dragon's rogues' gallery:

Spikezilla (in this universe a separate entity following a magical or super-scientific attack by the villain of your choice): Bizarro (has all of Super Dragon's powers PLUS is BIGGER than him [owing to being modelled after Spike when he underwent greed growth] though Super Dragon is still more maneuverable and smarter, which gives him JUST enough of an edge to consistently win against his larger and nastier flawed clone).

The Ursa Major: Titano (Titano isn't actually evil, it's only because he is so large and powerful in highly populated areas that make him a problem)

Anyway, definitely looking forward to more of your work.