Dragon of Steel II

by SuperPinkBrony12

A Powerless Dragon

Spike looked at Garble, then at Rarity and Twilight, then back to Garble. It felt like time itself was standing still, even though he knew that was impossible. Even his incredible superpowers couldn't enable him to stop or even slow down time. But at a moment such as this, he wished more than anything that was possible. This had been exactly what he'd feared happening when he had shared his secret with Rarity. And to make matters worse, Twilight was also at risk of being caught in the crossfire.

Garble, for his part, did not move or change his posture and appearance in the slightest. "Well, aren't you going to stop me? Or am I right in assuming you puny ponies are all talk?" He hissed. "Either way works for me. If nothing else, I'll take pleasure in making you hurt like I've hurt."

"Please," Twilight gulped and tried not to look intimidated. "We don't want any problems, Garble."

Garble just spat at the ground. "Well too bad! I don't care what any of you want!" And he briefly glanced towards Spike. "So, what's your answer? Are you going to try to fight me, or are you too scared?"

"Garble..." Spike began.

"Tick tock, tick tock!" Garble taunted as he moved his claws closer to the ponies. "Better make up your mind now, or I'll make it up for you. And I know who's gonna get it first."

Spike nervously looked at his fellow dragon in uncertainty. As confident he normally would be in Twilight and Rarity's magical skills and fighting prowess, right now he wasn't sure if they'd be able to react in time before Garble attacked either one of them. Even he wasn't sure he'd be fast enough to outwit Garble.

What could he do?

Then, suddenly, an idea came to the superpowered dragon. It was a risk to be sure, but if it worked out as he hoped it would then he would be the one holding all the cards. So he looked at Garble and after a brief bit of hesitation he conceded. "Okay... fine... you win. Just leave my friends alone."

Twilight and Rarity gasped! They could not believe their ears! Spike was surrendering without even trying to put up a fight.

"Excellent!" Garble cackled with glee. "Doesn't take much to get you to do what I want, does it?"

Spike immediately threw himself at Garble's feet and insisted. "I'll give you whatever you want as long as you promise to go away and leave Equestria in peace. I won't tell Princess Celestia where you went, I promise."

"Spike, don't be a fool! You can't possibly trust him!" Twilight tried to protest! "Be smart about this!"

But Garble snapped! "Silence, pony! This doesn't concern you! I don't have to show mercy to you now," And he warned. "Don't think I don't know about those silly little horns of yours, and those wings. Try anything, and you and your pony friend will fry!"

"Enough, Garble!" Spike demanded. "Name your price. What do you want from me? Whatever you want, you'll have it."

Garble got a greedy look in his eyes as he considered the unique situation he was in. He soon got an idea in his head of what he wanted, and he was convinced he knew of a way to get it. "So, you'll give me whatever I want, no questions asked?" When he got a confirming nod from Spike in reply, he declared. "Well in that case, I think I want those incredible powers you have. They should belong to me: Garble! I should be the only one capable of shooting lasers from my eyes and flying faster than the speed of sound!"

Rarity proceeded to shoot off a blast from her horn in protest. "Spike would never surrender his powers to a beastly beast like you, you overgrown brute!"

Garble spun around and lunged at Rarity, tackling her to the ground in an instant! "I warned you, pony! I thought I told you and that winged pony what would happen if you tried to do anything to me. I guess maybe I didn't make myself clear. Oh well, it's your funeral." And he lowered his head towards hers, preparing to breathe fire all over her body.

Spike quickly rushed forward, placing himself between pony and dragon. "Enough, Garble! Hurt the ponies, and then not only will you not get my powers, but it's you who will end up getting hurt. Trust me, I may not believe in violence. But in your case, I'll be happy to make an exception."

"Whatever," Garble snorted. "I don't care how you do it, just give me those powers already. And make it snappy!"

The little dragon reluctantly agreed. "Okay, okay," And he motioned a claw. "Follow me, everyone." Then, he flew off.

Garble followed Spike, and Twilight and Rarity reluctantly followed the dragons. They still wished this wasn't happening, but neither of them could think of what to do in this sort of situation.

---

At last, Spike touched down in a small patch of land on the outskirts of Ponyville, near the entrance to the Everfree Forest and far away from prying eyes. When Garble, Twilight and Rarity all caught up to him, he proceeded to take out the enchanted fire ruby that he'd promised to cherish and hold dear. Placing it into the ground, he then stepped back as the ground began to rumble.

Suddenly, before everyone's very eyes, a massive crystal structure rose out of the ground where it hadn't been a moment prior! It grew, and grew, and grew until it had dwarfed Twilight's castle in size both inside and out. Only Spike seemed to not be surprised by this development.

"What in the name of Celestia is that?!" Rarity exclaimed with her eyes widened to the size of planets!

Twilight blinked in mutual shock. "Your guess is as good as mine, Rarity. I had no idea that something like... like... whatever that is existed. Spike must've discovered or built it in secret."

Spike then spoke up as he took possession of the fire ruby again. "Welcome to my home away from home: My Fortress of Solitude. I made arrangements with Princess Cadence to enchant the fire ruby so that it could be used to create this structure you see before you. I had hoped to turn it into my own lair," He sighed and shook his head. "But alas, it seems it will have to be used for something else."

"Whatever. Can we get the power transfer going?" Garble impatiently demanded as he stomped a foot down.

Spike nodded and gestured a claw. "Right this way if you please. Everything will be set up shortly."

Garble followed Spike inside, and Twilight and Rarity decided to follow in the hopes they might think of how to turn the tide against Garble. Perhaps something inside the "Fortress" would inspire them.

The inside of the Fortress of Solitude was nothing like anyone had ever seen before. Everything was incredibly futuristic. Almost other-worldly, you might say. And the crystals gave the interior a smooth, mirror-like surface that shone brightly but was also cold to the touch.

At last, Spike stopped at the end of a long hallway, resting just off to one side was a series of small crystals that seemed to be embedded in a rock. They were dull, colorless and stood in sharp contrast to the brightness of the others. In the center of the rock was a hole that looked just big enough to fit the fire ruby Spike had in his clutches.

"So, what?" Garble questioned as he looked at Spike. "I just place the ruby in the rock, and I'll get all of your crazy superpowers?"

"Actually," Spike protested. "It will only work if I do it. And I'll need Twilight and Rarity's help to activate the power transfer." He looked at the two, acting as if he knew something they didn't.

"No tricks now!" Garble ominously roared. "I'm running out of patience! So you ponies do whatever you have to do, and then once I have my powers I promise your demises will be swift."

Rarity and Twilight reluctantly stepped forward as Rarity asked the little dragon. "Spike, are you absolutely sure this is the only way? Twilight and I would understand if the safety of Equestria came before us, or do you not remember the talk we had before all of this?"

"Rarity, I promise, this way is best for everyone," Spike insisted, before pulling the ponies close. "Now, just do exactly as I tell you to do, and we can all put this behind us."

"What are you-" Twilight began, before she and Rarity were pulled into a sudden huddle as Spike appeared to be whispering something to them.

"Hey, are you plotting something?!" Garble snorted as he stepped forward and tried to grab the fire ruby. "I think I'll just smash it here and now! Then I'll defeat you with my own natural powers, Spike! You'll regret ever trying to make a fool of me!"

But Spike held the fire ruby up, and then flew into the air before he tossed it to Twilight. "Now!" He shouted!

Twilight lit up her horn, surrounding the fire ruby with her magic and concentrating as much magic as she could into it. Then, she floated it into the rock just as Garble grabbed her by the neck!

---

When the fire ruby was placed in the rock, the crystals surrounding it began to glow an ominous shade of bright green. Garble was so stunned by this that he momentarily forgot about Twilight, instead turning his attention to the glow. "W-what's all this?" He wondered aloud.

A knowing smirk formed on the caped dragon's face as he told his foe. "You're about to find out. If there's one thing I learned from Filthy Rich, it's that brains always triumph over brawn in the end."

"What?!" Garble gasped, before, without warning, he was struck head on by a beam that shot out from the rocks! There was a sudden puff of smoke. Yet when it cleared, Garble seemed to be none the worse for wear. He looked all over himself just to be sure. "I... I feel... nothing!" He glared at Spike! "I thought you said you would give me your powers!"

"Did you really think I was that stupid?" Spike taunted Garble as he flew down and grabbed him by the tail. "You fell right into my trap, just like I thought you would. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist taking my powers, so I set up a scenario to do just that. But with a little help from my friends," He looked to Twilight and Rarity. "I was able to modify the fire ruby."

"Big deal!" Garble snorted! "I still have my normal dragon powers!" And he turned towards Twilight. "Say your prayers, puny pony! I'll roast you alive!" But when he tried to shoot out flames from his mouth, nothing came out, not even smoke. He instead weakly coughed. "H-hey, what's... what's wrong with my fire breath?"

Rarity proceeded to push Garble away with a blast of magic from her horn. "Haven't you figured it out yet, Garble? You don't have any powers anymore. You're completely powerless. You can't do anything to us."

Garble tried to swipe at Rarity, only to find that his claws landed with all the fury of a newborn kitten. "This... this can't be! This is impossible!" He roared, and glared at Spike! "It wasn't enough for you to make friends with the ponies and turn Filthy Rich against me, now you have to humiliate me too?!"

Spike only shook his head from side to side. "Humiliation is not my intention, Garble. I simply believe that you need to spend some time seeing what it's like to truly be powerless. You take your power over others for granted. But true power comes from within: Knowing the difference between right and wrong, and doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do."

A smirk formed on Twilight's face as she told the red scaled dragon. "It's over, Garble. You and your fellow dragons are finished."

Author's Note:

In both versions of Superman II, Superman ultimately defeats General Zodd by using the Fortess of Solitude to restore his powers. I tried to go for something similar here, but with the Fortress of Solitude being used to take away powers instead of giving them back.

Comments

[Comickook]

Really good job on the exchanges, characterizations, main problem wrap-up and epilogue set-up in all the right places. Yeah, actually, Superman ALREADY had his powers back when he pulled that bit with Zod and his cronies. I mean, he wasn't exactly fighting them as plain Clark Kent, after all.

About the only non-powered human that could have beaten Zod and his cronies would be Batman (and even HE would have needed A LOT of planning and preparation time to pull it off).

The trick was to actually set up the crystals to REMOVE the powers of the Phantom Zone criminals while keeping himself shielded. But still, glad to see Spike pulling that on Garble here AND sparing him after he was no longer a serious threat, which was something I wish either version of Superman II did. Also glad to see Twilight and Rarity helping him with that.

But, anyway, definitely looking forward to the epilogue.