Batmareby Puppo530ChaptersPrologue - Two Shots in the NightChapter 1 - Hanging Upside Down from a LamppostChapter 2 - Murdered Mid-AirChapter 3 - Ponyville Still Has a Sweet ToothChapter 4 - Some of Us Superheroes Like Having Secret IdentitiesChapter 5 - Dark, Sad, Lonely NightChapter 6 - I Wanna Be Your Friend ForeverPrologue - Two Shots in the Night“Batmare” Prologue Two Shots in the Night Rainbow Dash is just your ordinary filly with rich billionaires for parents. Eeyup, run-of-the-mill, that filly is. Her parents, Dashing Sun and Rain Bow, loved her very much when she was small. Her orange, red, and yellow mother taught her how to fly and other cool things. Her blue, green, and purple father taught her how to control the weather and how to be overall awesome. They loved her very much, and together they made an awesome family. Rainbow Dash grew up in a very expensive manor. Her parents were billionaires, so they could afford pretty much anything they wanted to. Both of her parents were well known in Ponyville, and they were good friends with the mayor. They supported political campaigns, made many donations to the city, and did other good things that billionaires should do. One night, Rainbow Dash and her parents were walking home from a movie. They had just finished seeing Daring Do and the Baneful Bat. Rainbow Dash was still in post-movie hype, and was running around like Daring Do. They were taking a shortcut through an alley when they heard a small explosion from behind. Rainbow Dash looked behind her to see the source of the explosion. She recognized a pony named Donut Joe. Joe was levitating a small handgun with an aura of magic around it and his horn. Rainbow Dash looked to her parents. She saw her father, but her mother, Dashing Sun, was on the pavement of the alleyway. Blood was being drained slowly from her body as she sat lifeless on the concrete. Rainbow Dash and her father began galloping away from their attacker. A second gunshot was heard, and Dash heard a body hit the pavement next to her. When she reached the street, she saw a police stallion that was galloping toward her. When Donut Joe saw this, he took off. The police stallion began pursuit, leaving a cyan filly alone with her dead parents. Dashie sat down on the cold concrete of the alley. The blood from her parents mixed with the rain of the night and the tears from her eyes. She stared at her parents for many minutes before getting up. She said her goodbyes to both of them, and then left. Rainbow Dash did not cry at the funeral. Her father told her never to cry. She honored his wishes. She didn’t feel a need to cry. She felt nothing as she stared at her lifeless parents. She felt nothing as they were lowered into the ground. She felt nothing as they were buried, never to be seen again. She was given everything. The manor, the money, everything was given to her. She had no need for it. She was old enough to take care of herself. She spent most of her days sitting in her dad’s old chair, staring out the window. Her friends would visit her, if she had friends. The only person she could actually consider a friend was Fluttershy, but she spent her days on the ground now with those creepy animals. Tank, her butler/tortoise, tried to cheer her up, but it was no use. She was dark and depressed. She had been forced to grow into a mare. Nothing would change her. She would live like this for the rest of her life. Nothing would be able to change the depression she had fallen into. Nothing… …except a newspaper article. Tank brought her the news everyday, but she hardly read it. She was too busy staring out the window. The front page of this day’s newspaper caught her attention, though. It read, “Dash Murderer Released on Good Behavior”. The title alone took her back to that night. Donut Joe had been released from prison for killing her parents. She felt a silent, white rage fill her heart. She broke several things in Dash Manor. The anger that had been suppressed for far too long was released in one torrent of broken heirlooms and priceless artifacts. When Rainbow was done, when all of her anger had been released, she thought back to the night once more. She thought of the killing, but she thought of something else as well. She thought of the movie that they had seen. She thought about a bat. Rainbow Dash was quickly forced out of a depression and into a training montage. She trained day and night. She had nothing else to do, so why not get into shape? She also started her own company, Dash Incorporated. This company has many branches: entertainment, food, ships, medicine, industry, etc. Using the money from the company, she built an extension to Dash Manor. She also began building crime-fighting weapons, storing them in the new extension. She hired Rarity, a popular fashion designer, to make her a suit that would strike terror in the eyes of criminals. When asked what to base it off, Rainbow Dash responded with two words, a bat. Rainbow Dash used the new extension of Dash Manor as a headquarters for her new ‘project’. She turned herself into a hero. She called the extension, the Bat Cloud, and her new persona, Batmare. Before she began her reign of terror upon all the criminals in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash visited her parents’ graves for the first time since the funeral. She laid down warm-colored flowers on her mother’s grave and cool-colored flowers on her father’s grave. She stood next to the graves for a long time before saying anything. She just stood there, thinking about what led up to this point and what was going to follow. When she finally spoke, she was in tears. She promised them that she would rid Ponyville of its crime. She promised them that she would never let what happened to her happen to anyone else again. She promised vengeance upon Donut Joe. She promised vengeance upon all of the scum that lived in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash flew back to her manor. There she perched on top of the highest cloud in Dash Manor. There she watched. There she waited. There she began her destiny. Author's Notes The title of the prologue and all of the chapters are quotes from the musical: "Holy Musical B@man" by Starkid. It's on YouTube. You should check it out, it's hilarious. This quote is from the first song: "Holy Musical B@man". The lead singer sings, "One shot, two shots in the night and they're gone, and he's all left alone...". Why Donut Joe? He is the first pony that came to mind when I read on Wikipedia that the guy who shot Batman's parents was named Joe Chill. The reason I didn't have any dialogue in the prologue is that I didn't want to. I wanted the prologue to feel different from the actual chapters. Chapter 1 - Hanging Upside Down from a LamppostChapter 1 Hanging Upside Down from a Lamppost Rarity was having a peaceful day with her parents. She was walking home with them after enjoying a fun day at a museum. They made small talk with one another, as families should. What none of them saw was a shadow lurking behind them. Rainbow Dash was silently watching, waiting for the right moment to leap down on their soon-to-be attacker. She needed the right moment, when the criminal would be at the easiest moment to catch it in the act. It would have to be right before it pulled the trigger. Dash saw the criminal levitate the gun out of its coat. The stallion pointed the Browning at Rarity’s mother. It was now or never. Rainbow leapt from the cloud she was sitting on. She sped towards the ground at high speeds. The stallion didn’t even look up. Rainbow Dash crashed into the criminal. The gun was forced out of his magical grip. It went sliding on the cold pavement of the street. Rarity and her parents turned around in surprise. When they saw what was happening, they ran for their lives. Rainbow dragged the criminal out of the shadows and underneath the light of a streetlamp. When she saw who the criminal was, she released her tight grip on his collar. It was Donut Joe. The unicorn stared back at the mare as she held him on the floor of the street against his will. She had caught her parents’ murderer. He didn’t recognize her yet, but he would soon. “You,” muttered Rainbow Dash. She placed her hoof directly on his throat, putting him at a difficulty to breathe. “Who are you?” gasped Donut Joe. His face was turning blue now. Rainbow Dash leaned down close to his face. “You killed my parents a while ago in an alleyway. Now I’m going to kill you.” Rainbow Dash bucked Donut Joe over to the brick wall of a small store. There she continued to spring her back legs at his face several times. With each hit, Donut Joe became considerably weaker. After several buckings, Donut Joe’s body became cold. His hoof fell to the concrete, and his body slumped over. Donut Joe’s face was a bloody mess. Half of it was caved in from the sheer anger that Rainbow was feeling. He was gone. She grabbed a rope from a nearby store. She tied the rope around Donut Joe’s back legs and flew him up to a lamppost. She tied him there. He looked like a dead tan unicorn bat. Rainbow Dash looked at the dead criminal. The blood from his unrecognizable face dripped down onto the road. The puddle of blood felt fitting, as it was what Rainbow sat in when her parents were murdered by the same man. Her parents were avenged. She felt lucky that the first person she caught was the person she got into the business for. It was all over. She could stop now, right? Voices from the darkness of the night put an end to her thoughts. She dove into an alley to wait for the sources. Six ponies stepped into the light, three on each side of the alley where Rainbow was hiding. One of the leaders, a pegasus, had a slice of pizza on his flank, he spoke first. "Where's the stuff?" He sounded like your regular drug gangster. With a rich Istallion accent that was common among mobsters nowadays. "It's right here," said the leader opposite him. This mobster had a plate of spaghetti with a fork in it as his cutie mark. He had the same Istallion accent which did not help the common stereotype of this era. The leader motioned to one of his goons, who was carrying a briefcase in his mouth. The henchman dropped it on the ground, and it popped open. Inside was large quantity of illegal drugs of every sort. All of which seemed to be harvested from the Everfree Forest. "Where's the money?" said the spaghetti mobster. The pizza gangster motioned to his henchman, who had a similar briefcase clenched in his teeth. Both gangs collected their suitcases, and prepared for the trade-off. As each henchman came cautiously closer and closer, Rainbow Dash stooped lower and lower. She was ready to pounce. At the prime moment, when both suitcases were in front of the other, and the gangsters were about to let go of their own to reach for the other, Rainbow Dash pounced. She knocked both suitcases out of their respective holders. She turned around, facing all six of the mobsters at once. They all charged after the initial shock wore off. Rainbow Dash spun and bucked one in the face. He went reeling backwards. His face collided with the pavement, which didn't do much for his appearance. Dash took to the air to strike from above. She nose-dived the pizza boss into the ground and then rose again to get the spaghetti boss. After they were taken care of, she did a spin move into one of the henchmen. The stallion collided with another goon, sending them both into a store window, setting off an alarm. Dash quickly kicked another in the face while flying, and then sent it home with a couple of jabs to the stomach. The entire fight took about a minute. Rainbow Dash strung them all up in a similar fashion as she did Donut Joe. When she left the street that night, there were seven stallions hanging from lampposts. One was dead, the others were injured. She flew back towards Dash Manor, ending her first night as a crime fighter. The police commissioner, Commissioner Whooves, was the first one on the scene. The alarm from the store brought him there, but he stayed for the seven criminals. The Ponyville Police Department was very confused at the behavior of such a unique crime fighter. Who beats up people, and then hangs them from lampposts? A mystery that would have to be solved later. They saw Donut Joe, the only dead pony there. They saw his Browning, and compared hoofprints. It was a match. Apparently, someone had taken the law into their own hands, something the PPD did not particularly like. Nevertheless, they arrested the gangsters for possession and all-around gangster-ing. Whoever did this, they were pretty good at it. Rainbow Dash looked on the crime scene from her manor. It was there that she decided to become Batmare every night, not only until she caught Donut Joe. Rainbow Dash had just become Ponyville's new hero. The pizza mobster stood in his cell with his eyes closed. He stood perfectly still, clenching his leg muscles from time to time. The guards thought this was strange, but they brushed it off. He wasn't trying to escape, so it didn't matter what he was doing. The prisoner's name was Pizza Boss, fitting, as that was his position. He was the owner of a local Ponyville pizza joint. Well, he was until tonight. He waited for the right moment. When the guards were switching shifts, he would strike. The time finally came around. One stallion handed the gun to the other, and trotted away, eager to get away from the crazy psycho that was just standing in the middle of the cell. Pizza Boss heard the trotting of the hooves against the brick floors. The bricks were hollow. It was perfect. Pizza Boss brought his two hind legs up. With them being clenched tightly, all he had to do was release the tension. Like a spring, his legs bounded backwards, into the hollow brick wall. The bricks broke apart easily, and part of the wall collapsed. He galloped out the door and towards freedom. There was nothing any of the guards could do. He was gone. Chapter 2 - Murdered Mid-AirChapter 2 Murdered Mid-Air Rainbow Dash considered her first several nights of fighting crime a success. She killed one man who killed her parents, put six gangsters in jail, stopped the Quizzler from robbing the 2nd Ponyville bank, and she stopped Poison Tree from blowing up the pound. She felt like she deserved a break. That night, she didn't go out fighting crime. She just sat at home, watching TV. She quickly became bored. She ended up flipping through random channels as she usually does. Nothing was interesting to her, except the news. She spotted a certain sandy pegasus with a slice of pizza for a cutie mark. She stopped flipping and turned up the volume. "Last night, Pizza Boss broke out of prison. He had just been caught hours before by an unknown person, who beat up him and his gang and then tied them up. He was last scene heading towards the Everfree Forest. If you have any tips please call PPD-TIPS or 773-8477." That stupid Pizza Boss, escaping right underneath their noses. The police force was useless. She would have to take matters into her own hooves. She began putting on her suit to chase after Pizza Boss when she heard another voice from the TV. "In other news, the circus is in town." Rainbow Dash stopped. There was nothing more that Rainbow Dash loved than going to the circus. She decided that her manhunt for Pizza Boss could wait just one day. After the circus tomorrow, she would hunt him down. Rainbow Dash trotted towards the yellow and red circus tent. Many ponies were headed to the circus today. She saw a pony tend to his family. A pony darting behind a couple of crates. Another pony getting its mane dyed. Another pony carrying a box. The pony was jostled and an elongated golden cone fell out of the box, but a unicorn picked it up for him. So many ponies were at the circus today, that the tickets sold out almost immediately after Rainbow got her's. As Dash stepped into the tent, she realized truly how big it was. There must've been around 10,000 ponies in the stands alone. She spotted several booths, ones with tripods and long cameras, ones with the press, and empty ones. She found a seat and sat down. A trumpeter announced the beginning of the circus. "Fillies and gentlecones," the announcer said, "I present to you the first performance in Ponyville of the Masterful Pony Circus!" The audience went wild. It had been ages since they had all seen a circus. Ponies dangled from tightropes and dropped swords into Manticore mouths from thirty feet up. Several ponies dressed up in clown costumes, and two that looked suspiciously similar to the Mayor and Pinkie Pie, danced around. Bulls were released on these clowns, which provided a comedic result. Rainbow Dash was having a whale of a time, until the finale. Three pegasi stood on top of a large quarter pipe. The curved ramp must have been just as tall as the top of the stands. The announcer spoke into the microphone, "And now, the most amazing act tonight. Fillies and gentlecones, I present to you... the Scooter Dive!" Among the three pegasi was a small filly, orange and fuchsia. She dropped a scooter down the ramp. The scooter bounced along the steep curvature of the quarter pipe. The small filly bounded off the top. She landed perfectly on the scooter and held out her arms for presumably her parents, judging by the colors and appearance. They too leaped from the table of the ramp. Everything was in slow motion, and that's when it hit Rainbow Dash. The pony suspiciously hiding behind crates. The other pony carrying a box filled with long golden cones. The long cameras on tripods in the press boxes. Her wings acted instinctively. She hovered a little bit from her chair, in a prime position to get up to one of those boxes to stop what was about to happen, but it was too late. A deafening bang emanated from a press box. In the father of the filly, a hole appeared in his skull. His head split open, and the momentum from the bullet pushed him into his spouse. A second bang tore through the mother's spine, paralyzing her permanently. Her body bent in places it should not have. They both fell towards the dirt floor of the arena. The blood from their wounds made the dirt muddy and red. They were both dead. The filly stopped her scooter, and just stared at their lifeless bodies. Chaos erupted in the circus tent. Ponies were releasing deafening screams from their mouths. Rainbow Dash's wings took control from there. She was thrown into the press box above her. An earth pony was packing up bullets and the large rifle into a crate. She rammed the assassin into the wall from behind. "Ah! I'm not the one you want!" the pathetic stallion screamed. "Who do I want, then?" "I'm only an assassin! You want my boss!" "What's his name?" Dash forced him around and rammed her hoof into his throat. Through his tight breathing he stammered out, "Pi-". The stallion's head turned sharply and suddenly to the right. A hole was in his skull. Blood shot out of the right side of his head. It spattered on the wall, staining the paint forever. A bang accompanied the sudden death of the pony. She looked to her right and saw another rifle in the opposite press box. The third gunshot put the ponies in even more of a crazed panic. Dash forced her way through screaming mares and stallions to the arena floor. There she saw a pegasus fly from the press box to a hidden flap in the ceiling of the circus tent. The male pegasus raced down the sides of the tent to his boss. He called out to the intimidating pony, "Boss! Boss!" "Is it done?" the boss asked. "Yeah, it's done. I had to kill Bla-" The pegasus' head was thrown forward. He tumbled head-over-heels to the ground. Red liquid spouted from the back of his head like a faucet, leaving a small spiral in the air of blood before cascading to the grass. The pegasus lay dead at the boss' feet, crumpled and broken. The boss looked up to see the killer, and saw the last thing he ever wanted to see. The same cyan mare that had thwarted his attempts the night before was flying above the tent, holding a rifle she got from a press box. "Ah. That's who my nemesis is." Pizza Boss said. "How did you escape?" Rainbow Dash continued to threaten the gangster with the rifle. "They made it too easy. How did you find me again?" "I happen to love the circus." Smoke emanated from the hole in the ceiling of the tent. The circus tent was in flames. Ponies were trapped inside, including a orange filly pegasus who had lost her parents a couple minutes ago. Rainbow pointed the rifle back at Pizza Boss. "What have you done?" "Even I am not the ultimate puppet master. I have someone over me, but you'll never know who it is." "Why not?" "You're too kind. You want to save the poor, pathetic ponies in that tent. You're running out of time. The more time you spend here with me, the more ponies that die. The police are too slow, and so are the firemen. You have no choice." "Why did you kill that filly's parents?" "Simple economics. They needed to be reminded about who really was in charge here. They owed me money, so I got it back with any means necessary. You need to make a choice, Rainbow Dash." "How do you know who I am?" "Everyone in Ponyville remembers you from the Young Fliers' Competition, Rainbow. So, what'll it be?" Rainbow Dash pulled the trigger, and Pizza Boss went down. Before dying, and before Rainbow dove into the tent, Pizza Boss called out, "I'm warning you, Rainbow Dash, Ponyville still has a sweet tooth!" The mobster died as the cyan mare dove into the flames consuming the circus tent. Rainbow Dash was inside the tent, flying several ponies out of there, along with several other pegasi. Once most of them were out, she went looking for one particular pegasus. The smoke stung her eyes. Her body tried desperately to expel the smoke from her lungs through coughing. Through tears, she finally found the orange filly. She plopped the pegasus on her back and bolted through the open flap. The second they left the tent and they were in open air, the canvas and wood collapsed on itself. A huge fireball flew up, signaling the end of that tent. Rainbow Dash brought the crying filly to her manor. After many minutes, she finally started to speak. "Rainbow Dash... why did you save me?" "I save anyone who's in danger, don't forget that." "I'm your biggest fan." "Yeah, I know, Scootaloo." "You know my name?" "Of course I do." "Oh this is so cool! I'm in Rainbow Dash's house! Rainbow Dash knows my name! Rainbow Dash... Wait a minute. You're that mare that kicked those goon's butts last night, weren't you?" "How did you know?" "I didn't. I just knew that you were awesome, and that that was an awesome thing to do, so it had to be you." Rainbow Dash smiled at Scootaloo. Scootaloo smiled back, but then she seemed to remember the events of the day. She sat down on her blank flank and stared at the ground. "Listen, kid, I'm sorry about what happened." Rainbow Dash said, trying to console the filly. "Did they die?" Scootaloo said this with no emotion. No expression on her face showed what she was thinking. "Your parents? Yeah, they kinda di-" "No, I know they're dead. Did the people that kill them die?" Scootaloo looked up at the pegasus standing over her. "I... I had to, kid." "No, don't be sorry. They deserved it." "Well, I don't want you going out all by yourself, and I could use some help fighting crime." "Do you mean..." "You bet I am." Scootaloo could not contain her glee anymore. She fell over, screaming and rolling around. She was going to fight crime with Rainbow Dash, the coolest pony in all of Equestria. "Now, kid, you're going to need a cool superhero name." "What's yours?" "Batmare." "That's so awesome!" "Thanks, kid." "I think I'll go with something simple... hmmm.... how about... Pegasus?" "Perfect! Batmare and Pegasus! I'll get you a suit from Rarity." "I get to fight crime next to Rainbow Dash in my very own suit! Could this day get any better?" "You know your parents died, right?" "So? It's not like we were close or anything. They barely paid attention to me. But you will, won't you?" "Sure I will, Pegasus." Scootaloo fainted from excitement and pure awesomeness. Rainbow Dash chuckled and flew off to Rarity's. "Whoever did this is in serious trouble. I see no link between this man and the murders that were committed here tonight. All we have proof of is that he did a little drug dealing." Commissioner Whooves stood over the lifeless body of Pizza Boss. "Commissioner! Commissioner!" A gray earth pony galloped over to the police commissioner. He was holding pictures in his mouth. He spat them on the ground. "It seems to be the same mare that killed Donut Joe and caught the gangsters originally. We have to find this mare of the night." Commissioner Whooves put his hoof on the silhouette of a mare pegasus. "They call her..." the gray pony stammered under the loss of breath from galloping so much. "They call her... Batmare." "Well, your crime-fighting days are over, Batmare." Commissioner Whooves walked away from the crime scene. No pony had even bothered to wonder what the piece of cake next to Pizza Boss was doing there. They would notice it later, after it was already too late. Chapter 3 - Ponyville Still Has a Sweet ToothChapter 3 Ponyville Still Has a Sweet Tooth The tan mare galloped away from the oncoming shadow. She bounded around a corner and ducked into an alleyway. She hopped in the dumpster and closed the lid. She silently prayed that her pursuer would not find her, but she knew deep in her heart that rage of that magnitude could not be contained. She cursed her silent ambition of being a clown. She heard heavy breathing not very far from the dumpster. She telepathically pleaded with the pony to walk on, but the pony didn't hear her. The dumpster lid was lifted up, revealing her attacker. The tan pony screamed as the pursuer made the final blow. "Scootaloo! We have our first villain!" Rainbow Dash called to her sidekick as Tank brought up that day's edition of the paper. "What happened?" An orange filly bounded into the room with her idol. Rainbow Dash picked up the newspaper and spun it around so Scootaloo could see. She gasped at the title, "Mayor Found Dead in Dumpster". "So, kid, who do you think did it?" "I don't know. I'm not really familiar with villains in Ponyville yet." "It's okay, kid. It's been a while, and I've heard of some. There's the Quizzler, the Peacock, the Scareworm, Poison Oak, and many more. I wonder which one did this crime." Scootaloo sat down with the newspaper. She gasped and yelled to Rainbow Dash, "Rainbow! You've gotta see this! It's sort of like a calling card." Dash plucked the paper from the filly's hands and studied it. "A piece of cake?" the mare questioningly asked. She quoted the article, "No traces or possible traces of DNA have been found on the body or around the crime scene. The only thing that seemed out of the ordinary was a piece of cake that was on the Mayor's face when she was found." "This is really weird, Rainbow." Scootaloo was worried. It was okay for her to be, though, it was her first day on the job and the Mayor was dead with no leads except for a piece of cake. "Wait, I think this piece of cake might have something to do with what Pizza Boss said to me the other day. He said, 'Ponyville still has a sweet tooth.' What do you suppose it means, kid?" "I don't know, but I think we better get down there quickly." "You're right. Let's go." Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo arrived at the crime scene, where a crowd had gathered. They saw the Mayor being rolled off in a body bag. They also saw Commissioner Whooves at a press conference speaking with several journalists and reporters. Scootaloo walked off to use the restroom while Rainbow listened to what the Commissioner was saying. "Late last night the Mayor was running away from her attacker when she jumped into the dumpster. There she waited unter the pursuer opened the lid and struck her on the head, killing her." "Commissioner! Commissioner!" shouted one reporter. "Yes?" the Commissioner replied. "Who do you believe is responsible for the Mayor's death?" "We are very certain that the murderer, based on who killed Pizza Boss yesterday and the same calling card left behind, was a crime-fighter that has apparently gone rogue. Her name is, Batmare." Anger boiled up in Rainbow's chest. She didn't kill the Mayor. She did kill Pizza Boss but it was for a good reason. She had been wrongly accused, and it was driving her crazy. Luckily, Scootaloo came back from the restroom before Rainbow could do anything too rash. "Something wrong?" Scootaloo asked Rainbow. "No, nothing's wrong." She glanced at the filly's smiling face. "Come on, kid, we gotta go pick up your costume." Walking back from Rarity's, they decided to ask Mr. and Mrs. Cake about the Mayor's death. It would be logical to question them, since a piece of cake was left behind. When they arrived, they heard a loud crash come from Sugarcube Corner. "Did you hear that, Pegasus?" Rainbow asked as they dove into an alleyway. "I sure did, Batmare!" Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash both changed into their costumes as quickly as possible. They bounded out of the darkness and into the streets. Luckily, there were no cops around to apprehend them. Rainbow bucked the door open and they sprang inside the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were laying on the floor of their small kitchen. Pots and pans were askew, the skin nozzle had been bucked off, the entire kitchen was a mess. The Cakes were in massive pain. They both had severe head injuries and what seemed to be several bucks to the stomach. "Mr. Cake!" Scootaloo's small wings helped barely any in taking her over to the injured stallion. "Who did this to you?" All the baker could do was point at the door of the shop. There stood an average-height mare. She had white body paint all over, and she had dyed her hair green. She wore way too much lipstick, almost as if on purpose. She had dark circles around her eyes. An evil grin was sketched across her face as she looked at her handiwork. With a second look, Rainbow could see that it wasn't lipstick, but blood that surrounded her grin. "Who are you?" asked Batmare. The mare in what seemed to be an evil clown costume chuckled to herself. "Oh, Batmare, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day. I am the Clown." The Clown launched herself at Rainbow Dash. She struck full-force on Batmare's skull, sending both of them into the opposite wall. Rainbow pushed off the attacking mare with all her might. With a moment to spare before the next attack, she quickly said, "Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Get out of here!" The Clown did not approve of this. She leaped into the air and fell on Mr. Cake's right hind leg, breaking it. Mrs. Cake hesitated, until Batmare told her to leave a second time. The Clown crept up to Rainbow Dash with an even wider grin on her face. "You have absolutely no idea how long I have been waiting for this Batmare." The Clown picked up a piece of cake from the nearby counter. "I'm going to end you like I did that stupid mayor." She smashed the cake into Rainbow's face. As she held up her hoof to make the final blow, a scream emanated from beside her. Scootaloo plowed into the attacking mare, getting her off Batmare and onto the floor. By this time, Mr. Cake had slowly limped out as quickly as he could with a severely broken hind leg. Batmare got up on all fours and wiped the smeared cake off her face and onto the ground. The Clown quickly shoved Pegasus off. "Give it up, Clown!" Batmare screamed, "We're going to over power you eventually!" "You're right, unless I don't give you the opportunity." The mare leapt out the window and into the darkness of the night. Scootaloo tried going after her, but Rainbow held her back. "No, we'll follow her, but we have to do this stealthily. To the roof!" Chapter 4 - Some of Us Superheroes Like Having Secret IdentitiesChapter 4 Some of Us Superheroes Like Having Secret Identities Batmare and Pegasus bounded up the steps of the small house. They reached the top floor, where the Cakes' babies were still sound asleep somehow. They tiptoed past the cribs and up the stairs to the roof. Once there, they spotted the Clown galloping away from them on the ground. Batmare and Pegasus leapt over the alley that separated Sugarcube Corner from the building adjacent to it, landing on the roof. They continued in this manner, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, for quite a while. They followed the criminal across all of Ponyville. They then came to a clearing where there weren't any more buildings to jump onto. They could see in the distance an abandoned warehouse that the Clown was heading to. "We're running out of roofs!" Batmare told Pegasus. "But look! There's Poison Oak! And there's the Peacock! And look over there! It's the Quizzler!" As Rainbow Dash listed off the villains' names she pointed to each one. "They're obviously meeting for some sort of secret villain meeting. We have to get in there, Pegasus. We have to get in there without being spotted." "But how would we do that?" The Peacock answered the door just as the meeting was about to begin. Standing before her were two villains: Calendar Mare and Catfilly. The Peacock looked skeptically at these late arrivals. "Well, it was Flag Day and I thought, 'Might as well go to the top-secret villain meeting today'." Calendar Mare stuttered nervously. "Isn't everyday a holiday?" The Peacock asked. "Well, yes, but today is a very special holiday. I'm so glad. I wished it would've come JUNE-r. So if you'll just let us MARCH on in that would be great." "Alright. Come on in." The Peacock slightly chuckled at the villain's pun as she opened the door to let the two ponies in. They took their places at the very back of the large conglomerate of folding chairs that had been set up. At the front of the room was a podium where the Clown rested her hooves. A low chatter was over the whole meeting. "All right you goons. Settle down." the Clown started. "We have to discuss a matter of extreme importance tonight." "And what would that be?" Catfilly got up from her chair and raised her hand to ask the question. "Did you miss the memo or something? Batmare is causing trouble for us here in Ponyville, and we gotta put a stop to it." "JULY!" Calendar Mare had stood up with her hoof pointed at the Clown in accusation. "Heh, just kidding. You're telling the truth. And how exactly would we do this?" "I guess we need to hire a different mailpony. Derpy just isn't cutting it these days." A slight chuckle went over the crowd of villains. "But I'll explain it all again." The Clown walked over to a projected screen. Several photos of Batmare were projected onto it. One of them even had Pegasus. "As you should know, Batmare has a new sidekick. Her name is Pegasus." The Clown placed a hoof forcibly on the picture of the sidekick. "We also know that Batmare has grown fond about this new sidekick, because she kinda saved Batmare's life earlier today when I was trying to kill the Cakes." "And what does this all have to do with stopping Batmare?" Batfilly asked. "I'm getting there. Hold your ponies. Here's what we're going to do." The Clown turned away from the projector and faced the audience. "We're going to capture Pegasus and hold her against her will. Then, we're going to give Batmare an ultimatum. Either she reveals to us, the criminals of Ponyville, her secret identity, or Pegasus dies a slow and painful death." A roar of laughter came up from the scum of Ponyville at that. The only ponies who weren't laughing was Calendar Mare and Catfilly. Catfilly stood up and shouted at the evil clown leading the meeting. "You won't catch me! I have Batmare on my side!" Pegasus patted the mare next to her. Batmare looked at Scootaloo with a look of 'are you crazy?'. The meeting hall went quiet. "Well well well, it's so lovely that you decided to join us Batmare. Care to stay for the plan being carried out?" The Clown pointed her hoof at Poison Oak, who immediately grew vines right out of the ground with her telekinetic powers. The two superheroes leapt out of the vines' path before they could be caught in their grip. They galloped away from the warehouse as fast as they could. "Oh no you don't!" Poison Oak said in a strangely familiar voice. She dove out the doors to the warehouse. As Batmare and Pegasus galloped away, vines created a small fence in front of them. The net of vines, that was as tall as Batmare, flew towards Poison Oak. Batmare simply flew over the vine net, but Pegasus hadn't exactly mastered that trick. Batmare watched helplessly as her sidekick was carried back into the evil villain's hooves. The Clown joined Poison Oak at the doors to the warehouse. She called out, "You have one hour, Batmare! If you don't reveal your secret identity to us by then, Pegasus gets it!" They dragged the small filly, who was gnawing and struggling to get free, back into the warehouse. Before the doors were closed, Pegasus shouted "Batmare!" at her idol. Rainbow Dash continued to fly away. The tears in her eyes ran down her flying body and onto the ground below. She only had an hour to decide what she was going to do. It would be the longest hour of her life. Scootaloo was tied against the wall with tape. Also, a unicorn who went by the Quizzler had her magically stuck to the wall as well. Most of the minor super villains had gone home. Now there was only the Clown, the Quizzler, Poison Oak, the Peacock, and Scareworm. They were all constantly watching both Scootaloo and the clock at the same time. Ever since the Clown had issued the ultimatum to Batmare at midnight, everyone had been watching the clock. At 12:55 the Clown spoke to Scootaloo. "Well, Pegasus. It looks like Batmare would rather have you die than let her secret identity out. Typical superhero." "No! She's coming! She wouldn't leave me to die!" Pegasus strained against both the magic and the tape, but it was no use. She wasn't going to get out of there. "So cute, and so pathetic. We might as well kill the little filly now, eh?" The Clown rose her hoof. Scootaloo stared at her hoof that would lead to her death. She closed her eyes and awaited the true darkness to come. Instead, she heard the door being slammed open. "Let her go!" Batmare stood there in full costume. The Clown lowered her hoof. "Typical superhero, always waiting for the last second." "I said, let her go." Batmare took a couple steps forward towards the back wall of the meeting hall. "First, the secret identity. Who are you, Batmare?" The Clown started pacing back and forth in front of her captive. "You're basically choosing between either your death or Scootaloo's." "What?" asked the young filly taped to the wall. "She knows what I'm talking about. Go ahead, Batmare. Tell poor Pegasus about your run-in with the Mayor." "I didn't kill the Mayor!" "But is that what the police think?" The Clown started walking towards the superhero. "I can see the fear in your eyes, Batmare. Somepony is going to die tonight, and you get to choose who that will be." "Batmare?" Scootaloo looked at her idol with complete fear. Batmare looked away from her sidekick. "Pegasus, if I reveal my secret identity, they're going to tell the police who I really am." "And why is that so bad?" "Because they think that I killed the Mayor! And you know what the punishment for killing somepony is." "Exile!" The Clown hopped with excitement after screaming out the word. "Oh, you and Luna are going to be the best of friends!" "Don't do it, Batmare! I can't let you die for me!" "I can't let you die for me!" "You have two minutes, Batmare. Either you tell us before 1 or Pegasus gets the hoof." The Clown laughed maniacally. "Oh, I just love doing this to ponies." "Pegasus, you have your whole life ahead of you. I can't take that away from you." "But Batmare! You're the coolest, awesomest, bravest-" "I know, Pegasus. It's time to show them that I am brave." "Don't do it, Batmare." "My..." "Batmare! No! Don't do it!" "...name..." "Batmare! No!" "...is..." "No!" "...Rainbow Dash." The Clown's eyes went wide. Her expression totally changed. Her evil grin turned into a blank expression. The same thing happened to all of the other villains that were still in the room. They all had blank expressions. A small tear trickled down the Clown's face. "Wha... What ha..." She galloped out of the room. All of the super villains had the same reaction. They all galloped out of there. The tape and the magic that was holding Scootaloo up came free. She fell to the floor. "What was that all about?" the sidekick asked the idol. "I'm not sure, but let's get out of here before we find out." They galloped away together back to Dash Manor. Chapter 5 - Dark, Sad, Lonely NightChapter 5 Dark, Sad, Lonely Night Rain poured down onto the mud of the streets. Five ponies galloped through the slosh. The tears from their eyes mixed with the mud and the rainwater. They pulled off their costumes as they galloped. The library was growing closer. A million thoughts were racing through their minds, but it would take time to organize them. The Quizzler telekinetically opened the door to the library inside of the tree. Luckily, Spike was still asleep. The five mares were in tears. They sobbed onto the hard wood floors of the library. They went on like this for half of an hour. Slowly, they all stood up and addressed the problem at hand. "How could we have done this?" the Clown asked the group. "So many ponies in danger because of me." the Peacock said. "How are we going to tell Rainbow Dash?" the Quizzler asked the Clown. "I don't know." the Clown spoke softly. "How are we supposed to tell her?" "I don't know." "How?!" "I don't know, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie couldn't take the makeup on her face anymore. She washed away the facepaint. Twilight took off her Quizzler costume. Applejack tore off her Scareworm suit in disgust throwing it at Rarity, who was getting out of her Peacock dress. Fluttershy quietly, and sobbingly, took off her Poison Oak suit. Twilight gathered up all of the suits and costumes and burned them in the middle of the library. "We have to go tell Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy said quietly from the back of the room. "We can't. I don't think she'll be able to take it." Applejack trotted over to the pegasus and put her hoof on her back. "I don't even remember doing all that stuff. It's like I was being controlled by something." "I felt the same way." Rarity chided from across the library. "Isn't there some sort of super villain that can control people's minds?" Twilight walked over to a bookshelf. "Twilight," Rarity started, "you're not going to find anything about super villains in books. And no, I don't think there's a villain like that." "Found it!" Twilight pulled a heavy book from the shelves of her library. She set the Encyclopedia of Villains on the floor so everypony could read. She scanned the pages for any sort of villain that could control minds. She skipped passed villains like Two-Snout, Fire Parasprite, Bone, and more. Her hoof stopped on a page with a silhouetted mare on it. "That's our villain." "We have to go warn Rainbow Dash! Come on girls!" Pinkie Pie led the ex-villains out the door of the tree. Rainbow Dash sat in her chair. The rain pounded against the windows of her manor. Tank brought her a glass of stored apple cider. As she slowly drank from the glass, she reminisced on the day's events. Rainbow Dash had been charged with murder of the Mayor. Then, they stopped the Clown before she killed the Cakes. They followed her to the secret villain meeting, where Scootaloo had been captured. She told them her secret identity, and then they ran away. Why did they run away? What had the Clown almost said? Why were they all crying? Where were they now? Who are they? These questions were answered by the banging of the door. Rainbow Dash put her glass on the cloud floor next to her. She opened the door to find her five best friends. "Wow! You're all here! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Rainbow Dash went in for a hug, but her friends looked downtrodden and depressed. They would not hug her back. She pulled away slowly, looking at them with concern. "What's wrong?" "Rainbow... we have to tell you something." Twilight said as they entered the house, her cloud-walking charm working perfectly. They filed in one by one. Pinkie was the most depressed, the exact opposite of what should be. "What is it?" "Rainbow Dash..." Pinkie started the revelations. "...I'm the Clown." "What?!" "I'm the Quizzler." Twilight spoke softly, as to not further damage Rainbow. "No..." "I'm Scareworm." "This can't..." "I'm Poison Oak." "You can't... no... I..." "I'm the Peacock." "No..." Rainbow Dash was the depressed one now. Her enemies were her friends in disguise. Her friends betrayed her. Her friends had killed ponies. They had tormented people. They had done terrible things. Her best friends were murderers. "Rainbow," Twilight started to try to console her friend. "we know what you're going through." "No, you don't! You don't know what it's like to have your best friends turn out to be murderers!" "We kinda do, Rainbow." Rarity stepped forward. "We just found out today that the others wer-" "I don't care! I can't believe you would do this to me!" "We didn't do anything to you! What about you, going around killing criminals and what not!" Applejack switched to the offense. "That was for justice! That was for the good of Ponyville! You kill ponies for the fun of it! You're sick!" "We didn't do it for fun!" Fluttershy was angry at Rainbow Dash now. "Then what did you do it for?" "We did it because of her!" Twilight threw the encyclopedia on the cloud floor. She remembered to put the charm on it as well, so it wouldn't fall through. "The Mare Hatter?" Rainbow was looking at the encyclopedia page with confusion. "What does this have to do with anything?" "It has everything to do with everything!" came a voice from outside the manor. It echoed through the clouds and into the ears of the ponies inside. At all of the commotion, Scootaloo had come out of her room. "That voice sounds so familiar..." Twilight started racking her brain for the source. "You have found out my little trick, haven't you? Well, good for you. I was wondering when you would finally get it. I must say, it took longer than expected." "What are you talking about?" Rainbow wondered aloud to the voice. "You, silly! I'm talking about you! I tried to get one of my mind-control devices from the start, Rainbow Dash. At the circus, while running away to get Pizza Boss, I threw one at you. But, I overshot and it landed on Pinkie Pie. That's when she pursued and then killed the Mayor. That's when I came up with my master plan." "And what's that?" "To get you all to turn on each other, of course! I knew that if you were all against one another, and hated each other, there would be no way that you could work together to defeat me! So I put mind-control devices on everypony but you, Rainbow Dash." "How do you know my name?" "Everypony knows your name, Rainbow Dash." With that last remark, Rainbow Dash had pinpointed the location of the voice. The Mare Hatter was standing just outside her manor on a tuft of stray cloud. Rainbow leapt through the cloud walls of her manor and onto the cloud. She grabbed the Mare Hatter, who was standing on the cloud through another cloud-standing spell, and pulled her off the cloud. They fell downwards. As they fell, the villain Rainbow was clutching put a spell on Rainbow. Her wings were frozen. She couldn't save herself. They were falling towards Ponyville. They would both be dead soon... Chapter 6 - I Wanna Be Your Friend ForeverChapter 6 I Wanna Be Your Friend Forever Downwards the two mares fell. Rainbow Dash's wings were frozen by the Mare Hatter's spell. The Mare Hatter was too distracted by fighting off Rainbow to save them from dying with a levitation spell. It was Twilight, running to the edge of the cloud on which the manor stood, casting a spell on the two ponies. They levitated a few feet off the ground before being dropped. "We have to get down there!" Twilight yelled to the group still in the manor. "Rainbow needs help!" They all got in the hot air balloon. Twilight pulled on the cord that opened the top and they descended gradually. On the ground, Rainbow was thrown off the villain. She quickly ran around a barrel and bucked it at the Mare Hatter. The villain dove out of the way. A beam of green light flew towards Rainbow Dash. She ducked as the beam tore up the barrel next to her. She jumped over two more powerful beams and rolled into a bush. The Mare Hatter readied her horn to send another destruction spell when a squirrel hit her face. When she got it off, Rainbow was on top of her. They rolled backwards, the super villain sending many spells at Rainbow. Before the balloon had touched the ground, Twilight and the others jumped off. The Mare Hatter used leverage on Rainbow to toss her in the air. She grabbed her with a levitation spell. The rest of the gang caught up with the two fighting ponies. They readied themselves to attack the Mare Hatter, who was holding Batmare in the air. "Don't come any closer! If you take one more step, or attack me, or try to attack me in any way, Rainbow goes flying." "She's already a pegasus." Scootaloo commented. "Yeah, she's a pegasus without the use of her wings, and she's about to take a trip to the mountains over there." She nodded in the direction of the mountain range to the north of them. "A teleportation trip?" questioned Scootaloo. "Nope." the villain imitated Big Macintosh. "More like a falling-to-your-death kind of trip." "Oh." The Mare Hatter slowly backed away from the group, dragging Rainbow Dash through the air with her. When she had gotten a bit more of a distance from the friends of her captive, the villain pulled a hat out from her saddlebag. She used another levitation spell to make it hover just over Rainbow's head. Before she could begin to control her captive, Rainbow Dash lashed out at the mind control device, sending it sprawling on the ground. With the villain distracted for a brief second, Twilight had the perfect opportunity. A beam of purple light struck the Mare Hatter square in the face. She flew backwards, crashing into the house behind her. Dust and crumblings of rock and brick smoldered over her body. She got to her feet, coughed out some dust, and began to charge at the six friends plus Scootaloo. Twilight sent another spell the villain's way. The levitation spell hoisted the mare upside down into the air. "Who are you?" Twilight demanded. "I'll never tell you the truth!" The Mare Hatter struggled to get free, but Twilight was too strong for her. Scootaloo was confused. "Wait, was that the truth or a lie? If you lied about never telling the truth, that means that you would tell the truth. And if you told the truth by saying that you would never tell the truth, then that would be a para-" "Shut up you stupid filly!" "I've had enough." Twilight ripped off the mask. What she saw were violet eyes, surrounded by a blue mane. She immediately recognized the face. "Trixie?" "Yes! It was me! And I would've gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling ponies!" Twilight sighed and shook her head at her captive. "We're going to have to teach you a lesson, Trixie." A warm, spring air blew over the ponies. They saw a very irate blue mare being shoved into a police car. Her horn would be removed and she would be locked in a padded cell on the moon for the rest of her days. Princess Celestia would see to it personally that she would not escape like the last prisoner of the moon. As for Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, they had decided to form an elite group of crime-fighting heroes. Twilight Sparkle took on the persona of Supermare. Fluttershy became the Green Tree. Rarity took on the name of Wonder Pony. Applejack decided to become Spidermare. Pinkie Pie chose to be the Flash. And Rainbow Dash stayed as Batmare. Together they cleaned up the streets of Ponyville. And they all lived happily ever after. AN: Well, that's a rather abrupt ending to this story. Oh well. What are you going to do about it? Complain in the comments? See if I care. Anyways, thanks to everyone who favorited, commented on, and liked this story. I don't go around to each user's page telling them thanks, because that sounds a bit shallow. So thank you for following this terrible story. Hopefully you'll follow other terrible ones of mine in the future. -puppo530 P.S. Man, this is a short chapter. I feel ashamed publishing it.
Prologue - Two Shots in the Night“Batmare” Prologue Two Shots in the Night Rainbow Dash is just your ordinary filly with rich billionaires for parents. Eeyup, run-of-the-mill, that filly is. Her parents, Dashing Sun and Rain Bow, loved her very much when she was small. Her orange, red, and yellow mother taught her how to fly and other cool things. Her blue, green, and purple father taught her how to control the weather and how to be overall awesome. They loved her very much, and together they made an awesome family. Rainbow Dash grew up in a very expensive manor. Her parents were billionaires, so they could afford pretty much anything they wanted to. Both of her parents were well known in Ponyville, and they were good friends with the mayor. They supported political campaigns, made many donations to the city, and did other good things that billionaires should do. One night, Rainbow Dash and her parents were walking home from a movie. They had just finished seeing Daring Do and the Baneful Bat. Rainbow Dash was still in post-movie hype, and was running around like Daring Do. They were taking a shortcut through an alley when they heard a small explosion from behind. Rainbow Dash looked behind her to see the source of the explosion. She recognized a pony named Donut Joe. Joe was levitating a small handgun with an aura of magic around it and his horn. Rainbow Dash looked to her parents. She saw her father, but her mother, Dashing Sun, was on the pavement of the alleyway. Blood was being drained slowly from her body as she sat lifeless on the concrete. Rainbow Dash and her father began galloping away from their attacker. A second gunshot was heard, and Dash heard a body hit the pavement next to her. When she reached the street, she saw a police stallion that was galloping toward her. When Donut Joe saw this, he took off. The police stallion began pursuit, leaving a cyan filly alone with her dead parents. Dashie sat down on the cold concrete of the alley. The blood from her parents mixed with the rain of the night and the tears from her eyes. She stared at her parents for many minutes before getting up. She said her goodbyes to both of them, and then left. Rainbow Dash did not cry at the funeral. Her father told her never to cry. She honored his wishes. She didn’t feel a need to cry. She felt nothing as she stared at her lifeless parents. She felt nothing as they were lowered into the ground. She felt nothing as they were buried, never to be seen again. She was given everything. The manor, the money, everything was given to her. She had no need for it. She was old enough to take care of herself. She spent most of her days sitting in her dad’s old chair, staring out the window. Her friends would visit her, if she had friends. The only person she could actually consider a friend was Fluttershy, but she spent her days on the ground now with those creepy animals. Tank, her butler/tortoise, tried to cheer her up, but it was no use. She was dark and depressed. She had been forced to grow into a mare. Nothing would change her. She would live like this for the rest of her life. Nothing would be able to change the depression she had fallen into. Nothing… …except a newspaper article. Tank brought her the news everyday, but she hardly read it. She was too busy staring out the window. The front page of this day’s newspaper caught her attention, though. It read, “Dash Murderer Released on Good Behavior”. The title alone took her back to that night. Donut Joe had been released from prison for killing her parents. She felt a silent, white rage fill her heart. She broke several things in Dash Manor. The anger that had been suppressed for far too long was released in one torrent of broken heirlooms and priceless artifacts. When Rainbow was done, when all of her anger had been released, she thought back to the night once more. She thought of the killing, but she thought of something else as well. She thought of the movie that they had seen. She thought about a bat. Rainbow Dash was quickly forced out of a depression and into a training montage. She trained day and night. She had nothing else to do, so why not get into shape? She also started her own company, Dash Incorporated. This company has many branches: entertainment, food, ships, medicine, industry, etc. Using the money from the company, she built an extension to Dash Manor. She also began building crime-fighting weapons, storing them in the new extension. She hired Rarity, a popular fashion designer, to make her a suit that would strike terror in the eyes of criminals. When asked what to base it off, Rainbow Dash responded with two words, a bat. Rainbow Dash used the new extension of Dash Manor as a headquarters for her new ‘project’. She turned herself into a hero. She called the extension, the Bat Cloud, and her new persona, Batmare. Before she began her reign of terror upon all the criminals in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash visited her parents’ graves for the first time since the funeral. She laid down warm-colored flowers on her mother’s grave and cool-colored flowers on her father’s grave. She stood next to the graves for a long time before saying anything. She just stood there, thinking about what led up to this point and what was going to follow. When she finally spoke, she was in tears. She promised them that she would rid Ponyville of its crime. She promised them that she would never let what happened to her happen to anyone else again. She promised vengeance upon Donut Joe. She promised vengeance upon all of the scum that lived in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash flew back to her manor. There she perched on top of the highest cloud in Dash Manor. There she watched. There she waited. There she began her destiny. Author's Notes The title of the prologue and all of the chapters are quotes from the musical: "Holy Musical B@man" by Starkid. It's on YouTube. You should check it out, it's hilarious. This quote is from the first song: "Holy Musical B@man". The lead singer sings, "One shot, two shots in the night and they're gone, and he's all left alone...". Why Donut Joe? He is the first pony that came to mind when I read on Wikipedia that the guy who shot Batman's parents was named Joe Chill. The reason I didn't have any dialogue in the prologue is that I didn't want to. I wanted the prologue to feel different from the actual chapters.
Chapter 1 - Hanging Upside Down from a LamppostChapter 1 Hanging Upside Down from a Lamppost Rarity was having a peaceful day with her parents. She was walking home with them after enjoying a fun day at a museum. They made small talk with one another, as families should. What none of them saw was a shadow lurking behind them. Rainbow Dash was silently watching, waiting for the right moment to leap down on their soon-to-be attacker. She needed the right moment, when the criminal would be at the easiest moment to catch it in the act. It would have to be right before it pulled the trigger. Dash saw the criminal levitate the gun out of its coat. The stallion pointed the Browning at Rarity’s mother. It was now or never. Rainbow leapt from the cloud she was sitting on. She sped towards the ground at high speeds. The stallion didn’t even look up. Rainbow Dash crashed into the criminal. The gun was forced out of his magical grip. It went sliding on the cold pavement of the street. Rarity and her parents turned around in surprise. When they saw what was happening, they ran for their lives. Rainbow dragged the criminal out of the shadows and underneath the light of a streetlamp. When she saw who the criminal was, she released her tight grip on his collar. It was Donut Joe. The unicorn stared back at the mare as she held him on the floor of the street against his will. She had caught her parents’ murderer. He didn’t recognize her yet, but he would soon. “You,” muttered Rainbow Dash. She placed her hoof directly on his throat, putting him at a difficulty to breathe. “Who are you?” gasped Donut Joe. His face was turning blue now. Rainbow Dash leaned down close to his face. “You killed my parents a while ago in an alleyway. Now I’m going to kill you.” Rainbow Dash bucked Donut Joe over to the brick wall of a small store. There she continued to spring her back legs at his face several times. With each hit, Donut Joe became considerably weaker. After several buckings, Donut Joe’s body became cold. His hoof fell to the concrete, and his body slumped over. Donut Joe’s face was a bloody mess. Half of it was caved in from the sheer anger that Rainbow was feeling. He was gone. She grabbed a rope from a nearby store. She tied the rope around Donut Joe’s back legs and flew him up to a lamppost. She tied him there. He looked like a dead tan unicorn bat. Rainbow Dash looked at the dead criminal. The blood from his unrecognizable face dripped down onto the road. The puddle of blood felt fitting, as it was what Rainbow sat in when her parents were murdered by the same man. Her parents were avenged. She felt lucky that the first person she caught was the person she got into the business for. It was all over. She could stop now, right? Voices from the darkness of the night put an end to her thoughts. She dove into an alley to wait for the sources. Six ponies stepped into the light, three on each side of the alley where Rainbow was hiding. One of the leaders, a pegasus, had a slice of pizza on his flank, he spoke first. "Where's the stuff?" He sounded like your regular drug gangster. With a rich Istallion accent that was common among mobsters nowadays. "It's right here," said the leader opposite him. This mobster had a plate of spaghetti with a fork in it as his cutie mark. He had the same Istallion accent which did not help the common stereotype of this era. The leader motioned to one of his goons, who was carrying a briefcase in his mouth. The henchman dropped it on the ground, and it popped open. Inside was large quantity of illegal drugs of every sort. All of which seemed to be harvested from the Everfree Forest. "Where's the money?" said the spaghetti mobster. The pizza gangster motioned to his henchman, who had a similar briefcase clenched in his teeth. Both gangs collected their suitcases, and prepared for the trade-off. As each henchman came cautiously closer and closer, Rainbow Dash stooped lower and lower. She was ready to pounce. At the prime moment, when both suitcases were in front of the other, and the gangsters were about to let go of their own to reach for the other, Rainbow Dash pounced. She knocked both suitcases out of their respective holders. She turned around, facing all six of the mobsters at once. They all charged after the initial shock wore off. Rainbow Dash spun and bucked one in the face. He went reeling backwards. His face collided with the pavement, which didn't do much for his appearance. Dash took to the air to strike from above. She nose-dived the pizza boss into the ground and then rose again to get the spaghetti boss. After they were taken care of, she did a spin move into one of the henchmen. The stallion collided with another goon, sending them both into a store window, setting off an alarm. Dash quickly kicked another in the face while flying, and then sent it home with a couple of jabs to the stomach. The entire fight took about a minute. Rainbow Dash strung them all up in a similar fashion as she did Donut Joe. When she left the street that night, there were seven stallions hanging from lampposts. One was dead, the others were injured. She flew back towards Dash Manor, ending her first night as a crime fighter. The police commissioner, Commissioner Whooves, was the first one on the scene. The alarm from the store brought him there, but he stayed for the seven criminals. The Ponyville Police Department was very confused at the behavior of such a unique crime fighter. Who beats up people, and then hangs them from lampposts? A mystery that would have to be solved later. They saw Donut Joe, the only dead pony there. They saw his Browning, and compared hoofprints. It was a match. Apparently, someone had taken the law into their own hands, something the PPD did not particularly like. Nevertheless, they arrested the gangsters for possession and all-around gangster-ing. Whoever did this, they were pretty good at it. Rainbow Dash looked on the crime scene from her manor. It was there that she decided to become Batmare every night, not only until she caught Donut Joe. Rainbow Dash had just become Ponyville's new hero. The pizza mobster stood in his cell with his eyes closed. He stood perfectly still, clenching his leg muscles from time to time. The guards thought this was strange, but they brushed it off. He wasn't trying to escape, so it didn't matter what he was doing. The prisoner's name was Pizza Boss, fitting, as that was his position. He was the owner of a local Ponyville pizza joint. Well, he was until tonight. He waited for the right moment. When the guards were switching shifts, he would strike. The time finally came around. One stallion handed the gun to the other, and trotted away, eager to get away from the crazy psycho that was just standing in the middle of the cell. Pizza Boss heard the trotting of the hooves against the brick floors. The bricks were hollow. It was perfect. Pizza Boss brought his two hind legs up. With them being clenched tightly, all he had to do was release the tension. Like a spring, his legs bounded backwards, into the hollow brick wall. The bricks broke apart easily, and part of the wall collapsed. He galloped out the door and towards freedom. There was nothing any of the guards could do. He was gone.
Chapter 2 - Murdered Mid-AirChapter 2 Murdered Mid-Air Rainbow Dash considered her first several nights of fighting crime a success. She killed one man who killed her parents, put six gangsters in jail, stopped the Quizzler from robbing the 2nd Ponyville bank, and she stopped Poison Tree from blowing up the pound. She felt like she deserved a break. That night, she didn't go out fighting crime. She just sat at home, watching TV. She quickly became bored. She ended up flipping through random channels as she usually does. Nothing was interesting to her, except the news. She spotted a certain sandy pegasus with a slice of pizza for a cutie mark. She stopped flipping and turned up the volume. "Last night, Pizza Boss broke out of prison. He had just been caught hours before by an unknown person, who beat up him and his gang and then tied them up. He was last scene heading towards the Everfree Forest. If you have any tips please call PPD-TIPS or 773-8477." That stupid Pizza Boss, escaping right underneath their noses. The police force was useless. She would have to take matters into her own hooves. She began putting on her suit to chase after Pizza Boss when she heard another voice from the TV. "In other news, the circus is in town." Rainbow Dash stopped. There was nothing more that Rainbow Dash loved than going to the circus. She decided that her manhunt for Pizza Boss could wait just one day. After the circus tomorrow, she would hunt him down. Rainbow Dash trotted towards the yellow and red circus tent. Many ponies were headed to the circus today. She saw a pony tend to his family. A pony darting behind a couple of crates. Another pony getting its mane dyed. Another pony carrying a box. The pony was jostled and an elongated golden cone fell out of the box, but a unicorn picked it up for him. So many ponies were at the circus today, that the tickets sold out almost immediately after Rainbow got her's. As Dash stepped into the tent, she realized truly how big it was. There must've been around 10,000 ponies in the stands alone. She spotted several booths, ones with tripods and long cameras, ones with the press, and empty ones. She found a seat and sat down. A trumpeter announced the beginning of the circus. "Fillies and gentlecones," the announcer said, "I present to you the first performance in Ponyville of the Masterful Pony Circus!" The audience went wild. It had been ages since they had all seen a circus. Ponies dangled from tightropes and dropped swords into Manticore mouths from thirty feet up. Several ponies dressed up in clown costumes, and two that looked suspiciously similar to the Mayor and Pinkie Pie, danced around. Bulls were released on these clowns, which provided a comedic result. Rainbow Dash was having a whale of a time, until the finale. Three pegasi stood on top of a large quarter pipe. The curved ramp must have been just as tall as the top of the stands. The announcer spoke into the microphone, "And now, the most amazing act tonight. Fillies and gentlecones, I present to you... the Scooter Dive!" Among the three pegasi was a small filly, orange and fuchsia. She dropped a scooter down the ramp. The scooter bounced along the steep curvature of the quarter pipe. The small filly bounded off the top. She landed perfectly on the scooter and held out her arms for presumably her parents, judging by the colors and appearance. They too leaped from the table of the ramp. Everything was in slow motion, and that's when it hit Rainbow Dash. The pony suspiciously hiding behind crates. The other pony carrying a box filled with long golden cones. The long cameras on tripods in the press boxes. Her wings acted instinctively. She hovered a little bit from her chair, in a prime position to get up to one of those boxes to stop what was about to happen, but it was too late. A deafening bang emanated from a press box. In the father of the filly, a hole appeared in his skull. His head split open, and the momentum from the bullet pushed him into his spouse. A second bang tore through the mother's spine, paralyzing her permanently. Her body bent in places it should not have. They both fell towards the dirt floor of the arena. The blood from their wounds made the dirt muddy and red. They were both dead. The filly stopped her scooter, and just stared at their lifeless bodies. Chaos erupted in the circus tent. Ponies were releasing deafening screams from their mouths. Rainbow Dash's wings took control from there. She was thrown into the press box above her. An earth pony was packing up bullets and the large rifle into a crate. She rammed the assassin into the wall from behind. "Ah! I'm not the one you want!" the pathetic stallion screamed. "Who do I want, then?" "I'm only an assassin! You want my boss!" "What's his name?" Dash forced him around and rammed her hoof into his throat. Through his tight breathing he stammered out, "Pi-". The stallion's head turned sharply and suddenly to the right. A hole was in his skull. Blood shot out of the right side of his head. It spattered on the wall, staining the paint forever. A bang accompanied the sudden death of the pony. She looked to her right and saw another rifle in the opposite press box. The third gunshot put the ponies in even more of a crazed panic. Dash forced her way through screaming mares and stallions to the arena floor. There she saw a pegasus fly from the press box to a hidden flap in the ceiling of the circus tent. The male pegasus raced down the sides of the tent to his boss. He called out to the intimidating pony, "Boss! Boss!" "Is it done?" the boss asked. "Yeah, it's done. I had to kill Bla-" The pegasus' head was thrown forward. He tumbled head-over-heels to the ground. Red liquid spouted from the back of his head like a faucet, leaving a small spiral in the air of blood before cascading to the grass. The pegasus lay dead at the boss' feet, crumpled and broken. The boss looked up to see the killer, and saw the last thing he ever wanted to see. The same cyan mare that had thwarted his attempts the night before was flying above the tent, holding a rifle she got from a press box. "Ah. That's who my nemesis is." Pizza Boss said. "How did you escape?" Rainbow Dash continued to threaten the gangster with the rifle. "They made it too easy. How did you find me again?" "I happen to love the circus." Smoke emanated from the hole in the ceiling of the tent. The circus tent was in flames. Ponies were trapped inside, including a orange filly pegasus who had lost her parents a couple minutes ago. Rainbow pointed the rifle back at Pizza Boss. "What have you done?" "Even I am not the ultimate puppet master. I have someone over me, but you'll never know who it is." "Why not?" "You're too kind. You want to save the poor, pathetic ponies in that tent. You're running out of time. The more time you spend here with me, the more ponies that die. The police are too slow, and so are the firemen. You have no choice." "Why did you kill that filly's parents?" "Simple economics. They needed to be reminded about who really was in charge here. They owed me money, so I got it back with any means necessary. You need to make a choice, Rainbow Dash." "How do you know who I am?" "Everyone in Ponyville remembers you from the Young Fliers' Competition, Rainbow. So, what'll it be?" Rainbow Dash pulled the trigger, and Pizza Boss went down. Before dying, and before Rainbow dove into the tent, Pizza Boss called out, "I'm warning you, Rainbow Dash, Ponyville still has a sweet tooth!" The mobster died as the cyan mare dove into the flames consuming the circus tent. Rainbow Dash was inside the tent, flying several ponies out of there, along with several other pegasi. Once most of them were out, she went looking for one particular pegasus. The smoke stung her eyes. Her body tried desperately to expel the smoke from her lungs through coughing. Through tears, she finally found the orange filly. She plopped the pegasus on her back and bolted through the open flap. The second they left the tent and they were in open air, the canvas and wood collapsed on itself. A huge fireball flew up, signaling the end of that tent. Rainbow Dash brought the crying filly to her manor. After many minutes, she finally started to speak. "Rainbow Dash... why did you save me?" "I save anyone who's in danger, don't forget that." "I'm your biggest fan." "Yeah, I know, Scootaloo." "You know my name?" "Of course I do." "Oh this is so cool! I'm in Rainbow Dash's house! Rainbow Dash knows my name! Rainbow Dash... Wait a minute. You're that mare that kicked those goon's butts last night, weren't you?" "How did you know?" "I didn't. I just knew that you were awesome, and that that was an awesome thing to do, so it had to be you." Rainbow Dash smiled at Scootaloo. Scootaloo smiled back, but then she seemed to remember the events of the day. She sat down on her blank flank and stared at the ground. "Listen, kid, I'm sorry about what happened." Rainbow Dash said, trying to console the filly. "Did they die?" Scootaloo said this with no emotion. No expression on her face showed what she was thinking. "Your parents? Yeah, they kinda di-" "No, I know they're dead. Did the people that kill them die?" Scootaloo looked up at the pegasus standing over her. "I... I had to, kid." "No, don't be sorry. They deserved it." "Well, I don't want you going out all by yourself, and I could use some help fighting crime." "Do you mean..." "You bet I am." Scootaloo could not contain her glee anymore. She fell over, screaming and rolling around. She was going to fight crime with Rainbow Dash, the coolest pony in all of Equestria. "Now, kid, you're going to need a cool superhero name." "What's yours?" "Batmare." "That's so awesome!" "Thanks, kid." "I think I'll go with something simple... hmmm.... how about... Pegasus?" "Perfect! Batmare and Pegasus! I'll get you a suit from Rarity." "I get to fight crime next to Rainbow Dash in my very own suit! Could this day get any better?" "You know your parents died, right?" "So? It's not like we were close or anything. They barely paid attention to me. But you will, won't you?" "Sure I will, Pegasus." Scootaloo fainted from excitement and pure awesomeness. Rainbow Dash chuckled and flew off to Rarity's. "Whoever did this is in serious trouble. I see no link between this man and the murders that were committed here tonight. All we have proof of is that he did a little drug dealing." Commissioner Whooves stood over the lifeless body of Pizza Boss. "Commissioner! Commissioner!" A gray earth pony galloped over to the police commissioner. He was holding pictures in his mouth. He spat them on the ground. "It seems to be the same mare that killed Donut Joe and caught the gangsters originally. We have to find this mare of the night." Commissioner Whooves put his hoof on the silhouette of a mare pegasus. "They call her..." the gray pony stammered under the loss of breath from galloping so much. "They call her... Batmare." "Well, your crime-fighting days are over, Batmare." Commissioner Whooves walked away from the crime scene. No pony had even bothered to wonder what the piece of cake next to Pizza Boss was doing there. They would notice it later, after it was already too late.
Chapter 3 - Ponyville Still Has a Sweet ToothChapter 3 Ponyville Still Has a Sweet Tooth The tan mare galloped away from the oncoming shadow. She bounded around a corner and ducked into an alleyway. She hopped in the dumpster and closed the lid. She silently prayed that her pursuer would not find her, but she knew deep in her heart that rage of that magnitude could not be contained. She cursed her silent ambition of being a clown. She heard heavy breathing not very far from the dumpster. She telepathically pleaded with the pony to walk on, but the pony didn't hear her. The dumpster lid was lifted up, revealing her attacker. The tan pony screamed as the pursuer made the final blow. "Scootaloo! We have our first villain!" Rainbow Dash called to her sidekick as Tank brought up that day's edition of the paper. "What happened?" An orange filly bounded into the room with her idol. Rainbow Dash picked up the newspaper and spun it around so Scootaloo could see. She gasped at the title, "Mayor Found Dead in Dumpster". "So, kid, who do you think did it?" "I don't know. I'm not really familiar with villains in Ponyville yet." "It's okay, kid. It's been a while, and I've heard of some. There's the Quizzler, the Peacock, the Scareworm, Poison Oak, and many more. I wonder which one did this crime." Scootaloo sat down with the newspaper. She gasped and yelled to Rainbow Dash, "Rainbow! You've gotta see this! It's sort of like a calling card." Dash plucked the paper from the filly's hands and studied it. "A piece of cake?" the mare questioningly asked. She quoted the article, "No traces or possible traces of DNA have been found on the body or around the crime scene. The only thing that seemed out of the ordinary was a piece of cake that was on the Mayor's face when she was found." "This is really weird, Rainbow." Scootaloo was worried. It was okay for her to be, though, it was her first day on the job and the Mayor was dead with no leads except for a piece of cake. "Wait, I think this piece of cake might have something to do with what Pizza Boss said to me the other day. He said, 'Ponyville still has a sweet tooth.' What do you suppose it means, kid?" "I don't know, but I think we better get down there quickly." "You're right. Let's go." Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo arrived at the crime scene, where a crowd had gathered. They saw the Mayor being rolled off in a body bag. They also saw Commissioner Whooves at a press conference speaking with several journalists and reporters. Scootaloo walked off to use the restroom while Rainbow listened to what the Commissioner was saying. "Late last night the Mayor was running away from her attacker when she jumped into the dumpster. There she waited unter the pursuer opened the lid and struck her on the head, killing her." "Commissioner! Commissioner!" shouted one reporter. "Yes?" the Commissioner replied. "Who do you believe is responsible for the Mayor's death?" "We are very certain that the murderer, based on who killed Pizza Boss yesterday and the same calling card left behind, was a crime-fighter that has apparently gone rogue. Her name is, Batmare." Anger boiled up in Rainbow's chest. She didn't kill the Mayor. She did kill Pizza Boss but it was for a good reason. She had been wrongly accused, and it was driving her crazy. Luckily, Scootaloo came back from the restroom before Rainbow could do anything too rash. "Something wrong?" Scootaloo asked Rainbow. "No, nothing's wrong." She glanced at the filly's smiling face. "Come on, kid, we gotta go pick up your costume." Walking back from Rarity's, they decided to ask Mr. and Mrs. Cake about the Mayor's death. It would be logical to question them, since a piece of cake was left behind. When they arrived, they heard a loud crash come from Sugarcube Corner. "Did you hear that, Pegasus?" Rainbow asked as they dove into an alleyway. "I sure did, Batmare!" Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash both changed into their costumes as quickly as possible. They bounded out of the darkness and into the streets. Luckily, there were no cops around to apprehend them. Rainbow bucked the door open and they sprang inside the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were laying on the floor of their small kitchen. Pots and pans were askew, the skin nozzle had been bucked off, the entire kitchen was a mess. The Cakes were in massive pain. They both had severe head injuries and what seemed to be several bucks to the stomach. "Mr. Cake!" Scootaloo's small wings helped barely any in taking her over to the injured stallion. "Who did this to you?" All the baker could do was point at the door of the shop. There stood an average-height mare. She had white body paint all over, and she had dyed her hair green. She wore way too much lipstick, almost as if on purpose. She had dark circles around her eyes. An evil grin was sketched across her face as she looked at her handiwork. With a second look, Rainbow could see that it wasn't lipstick, but blood that surrounded her grin. "Who are you?" asked Batmare. The mare in what seemed to be an evil clown costume chuckled to herself. "Oh, Batmare, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day. I am the Clown." The Clown launched herself at Rainbow Dash. She struck full-force on Batmare's skull, sending both of them into the opposite wall. Rainbow pushed off the attacking mare with all her might. With a moment to spare before the next attack, she quickly said, "Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Get out of here!" The Clown did not approve of this. She leaped into the air and fell on Mr. Cake's right hind leg, breaking it. Mrs. Cake hesitated, until Batmare told her to leave a second time. The Clown crept up to Rainbow Dash with an even wider grin on her face. "You have absolutely no idea how long I have been waiting for this Batmare." The Clown picked up a piece of cake from the nearby counter. "I'm going to end you like I did that stupid mayor." She smashed the cake into Rainbow's face. As she held up her hoof to make the final blow, a scream emanated from beside her. Scootaloo plowed into the attacking mare, getting her off Batmare and onto the floor. By this time, Mr. Cake had slowly limped out as quickly as he could with a severely broken hind leg. Batmare got up on all fours and wiped the smeared cake off her face and onto the ground. The Clown quickly shoved Pegasus off. "Give it up, Clown!" Batmare screamed, "We're going to over power you eventually!" "You're right, unless I don't give you the opportunity." The mare leapt out the window and into the darkness of the night. Scootaloo tried going after her, but Rainbow held her back. "No, we'll follow her, but we have to do this stealthily. To the roof!"
Chapter 4 - Some of Us Superheroes Like Having Secret IdentitiesChapter 4 Some of Us Superheroes Like Having Secret Identities Batmare and Pegasus bounded up the steps of the small house. They reached the top floor, where the Cakes' babies were still sound asleep somehow. They tiptoed past the cribs and up the stairs to the roof. Once there, they spotted the Clown galloping away from them on the ground. Batmare and Pegasus leapt over the alley that separated Sugarcube Corner from the building adjacent to it, landing on the roof. They continued in this manner, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, for quite a while. They followed the criminal across all of Ponyville. They then came to a clearing where there weren't any more buildings to jump onto. They could see in the distance an abandoned warehouse that the Clown was heading to. "We're running out of roofs!" Batmare told Pegasus. "But look! There's Poison Oak! And there's the Peacock! And look over there! It's the Quizzler!" As Rainbow Dash listed off the villains' names she pointed to each one. "They're obviously meeting for some sort of secret villain meeting. We have to get in there, Pegasus. We have to get in there without being spotted." "But how would we do that?" The Peacock answered the door just as the meeting was about to begin. Standing before her were two villains: Calendar Mare and Catfilly. The Peacock looked skeptically at these late arrivals. "Well, it was Flag Day and I thought, 'Might as well go to the top-secret villain meeting today'." Calendar Mare stuttered nervously. "Isn't everyday a holiday?" The Peacock asked. "Well, yes, but today is a very special holiday. I'm so glad. I wished it would've come JUNE-r. So if you'll just let us MARCH on in that would be great." "Alright. Come on in." The Peacock slightly chuckled at the villain's pun as she opened the door to let the two ponies in. They took their places at the very back of the large conglomerate of folding chairs that had been set up. At the front of the room was a podium where the Clown rested her hooves. A low chatter was over the whole meeting. "All right you goons. Settle down." the Clown started. "We have to discuss a matter of extreme importance tonight." "And what would that be?" Catfilly got up from her chair and raised her hand to ask the question. "Did you miss the memo or something? Batmare is causing trouble for us here in Ponyville, and we gotta put a stop to it." "JULY!" Calendar Mare had stood up with her hoof pointed at the Clown in accusation. "Heh, just kidding. You're telling the truth. And how exactly would we do this?" "I guess we need to hire a different mailpony. Derpy just isn't cutting it these days." A slight chuckle went over the crowd of villains. "But I'll explain it all again." The Clown walked over to a projected screen. Several photos of Batmare were projected onto it. One of them even had Pegasus. "As you should know, Batmare has a new sidekick. Her name is Pegasus." The Clown placed a hoof forcibly on the picture of the sidekick. "We also know that Batmare has grown fond about this new sidekick, because she kinda saved Batmare's life earlier today when I was trying to kill the Cakes." "And what does this all have to do with stopping Batmare?" Batfilly asked. "I'm getting there. Hold your ponies. Here's what we're going to do." The Clown turned away from the projector and faced the audience. "We're going to capture Pegasus and hold her against her will. Then, we're going to give Batmare an ultimatum. Either she reveals to us, the criminals of Ponyville, her secret identity, or Pegasus dies a slow and painful death." A roar of laughter came up from the scum of Ponyville at that. The only ponies who weren't laughing was Calendar Mare and Catfilly. Catfilly stood up and shouted at the evil clown leading the meeting. "You won't catch me! I have Batmare on my side!" Pegasus patted the mare next to her. Batmare looked at Scootaloo with a look of 'are you crazy?'. The meeting hall went quiet. "Well well well, it's so lovely that you decided to join us Batmare. Care to stay for the plan being carried out?" The Clown pointed her hoof at Poison Oak, who immediately grew vines right out of the ground with her telekinetic powers. The two superheroes leapt out of the vines' path before they could be caught in their grip. They galloped away from the warehouse as fast as they could. "Oh no you don't!" Poison Oak said in a strangely familiar voice. She dove out the doors to the warehouse. As Batmare and Pegasus galloped away, vines created a small fence in front of them. The net of vines, that was as tall as Batmare, flew towards Poison Oak. Batmare simply flew over the vine net, but Pegasus hadn't exactly mastered that trick. Batmare watched helplessly as her sidekick was carried back into the evil villain's hooves. The Clown joined Poison Oak at the doors to the warehouse. She called out, "You have one hour, Batmare! If you don't reveal your secret identity to us by then, Pegasus gets it!" They dragged the small filly, who was gnawing and struggling to get free, back into the warehouse. Before the doors were closed, Pegasus shouted "Batmare!" at her idol. Rainbow Dash continued to fly away. The tears in her eyes ran down her flying body and onto the ground below. She only had an hour to decide what she was going to do. It would be the longest hour of her life. Scootaloo was tied against the wall with tape. Also, a unicorn who went by the Quizzler had her magically stuck to the wall as well. Most of the minor super villains had gone home. Now there was only the Clown, the Quizzler, Poison Oak, the Peacock, and Scareworm. They were all constantly watching both Scootaloo and the clock at the same time. Ever since the Clown had issued the ultimatum to Batmare at midnight, everyone had been watching the clock. At 12:55 the Clown spoke to Scootaloo. "Well, Pegasus. It looks like Batmare would rather have you die than let her secret identity out. Typical superhero." "No! She's coming! She wouldn't leave me to die!" Pegasus strained against both the magic and the tape, but it was no use. She wasn't going to get out of there. "So cute, and so pathetic. We might as well kill the little filly now, eh?" The Clown rose her hoof. Scootaloo stared at her hoof that would lead to her death. She closed her eyes and awaited the true darkness to come. Instead, she heard the door being slammed open. "Let her go!" Batmare stood there in full costume. The Clown lowered her hoof. "Typical superhero, always waiting for the last second." "I said, let her go." Batmare took a couple steps forward towards the back wall of the meeting hall. "First, the secret identity. Who are you, Batmare?" The Clown started pacing back and forth in front of her captive. "You're basically choosing between either your death or Scootaloo's." "What?" asked the young filly taped to the wall. "She knows what I'm talking about. Go ahead, Batmare. Tell poor Pegasus about your run-in with the Mayor." "I didn't kill the Mayor!" "But is that what the police think?" The Clown started walking towards the superhero. "I can see the fear in your eyes, Batmare. Somepony is going to die tonight, and you get to choose who that will be." "Batmare?" Scootaloo looked at her idol with complete fear. Batmare looked away from her sidekick. "Pegasus, if I reveal my secret identity, they're going to tell the police who I really am." "And why is that so bad?" "Because they think that I killed the Mayor! And you know what the punishment for killing somepony is." "Exile!" The Clown hopped with excitement after screaming out the word. "Oh, you and Luna are going to be the best of friends!" "Don't do it, Batmare! I can't let you die for me!" "I can't let you die for me!" "You have two minutes, Batmare. Either you tell us before 1 or Pegasus gets the hoof." The Clown laughed maniacally. "Oh, I just love doing this to ponies." "Pegasus, you have your whole life ahead of you. I can't take that away from you." "But Batmare! You're the coolest, awesomest, bravest-" "I know, Pegasus. It's time to show them that I am brave." "Don't do it, Batmare." "My..." "Batmare! No! Don't do it!" "...name..." "Batmare! No!" "...is..." "No!" "...Rainbow Dash." The Clown's eyes went wide. Her expression totally changed. Her evil grin turned into a blank expression. The same thing happened to all of the other villains that were still in the room. They all had blank expressions. A small tear trickled down the Clown's face. "Wha... What ha..." She galloped out of the room. All of the super villains had the same reaction. They all galloped out of there. The tape and the magic that was holding Scootaloo up came free. She fell to the floor. "What was that all about?" the sidekick asked the idol. "I'm not sure, but let's get out of here before we find out." They galloped away together back to Dash Manor.
Chapter 5 - Dark, Sad, Lonely NightChapter 5 Dark, Sad, Lonely Night Rain poured down onto the mud of the streets. Five ponies galloped through the slosh. The tears from their eyes mixed with the mud and the rainwater. They pulled off their costumes as they galloped. The library was growing closer. A million thoughts were racing through their minds, but it would take time to organize them. The Quizzler telekinetically opened the door to the library inside of the tree. Luckily, Spike was still asleep. The five mares were in tears. They sobbed onto the hard wood floors of the library. They went on like this for half of an hour. Slowly, they all stood up and addressed the problem at hand. "How could we have done this?" the Clown asked the group. "So many ponies in danger because of me." the Peacock said. "How are we going to tell Rainbow Dash?" the Quizzler asked the Clown. "I don't know." the Clown spoke softly. "How are we supposed to tell her?" "I don't know." "How?!" "I don't know, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie couldn't take the makeup on her face anymore. She washed away the facepaint. Twilight took off her Quizzler costume. Applejack tore off her Scareworm suit in disgust throwing it at Rarity, who was getting out of her Peacock dress. Fluttershy quietly, and sobbingly, took off her Poison Oak suit. Twilight gathered up all of the suits and costumes and burned them in the middle of the library. "We have to go tell Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy said quietly from the back of the room. "We can't. I don't think she'll be able to take it." Applejack trotted over to the pegasus and put her hoof on her back. "I don't even remember doing all that stuff. It's like I was being controlled by something." "I felt the same way." Rarity chided from across the library. "Isn't there some sort of super villain that can control people's minds?" Twilight walked over to a bookshelf. "Twilight," Rarity started, "you're not going to find anything about super villains in books. And no, I don't think there's a villain like that." "Found it!" Twilight pulled a heavy book from the shelves of her library. She set the Encyclopedia of Villains on the floor so everypony could read. She scanned the pages for any sort of villain that could control minds. She skipped passed villains like Two-Snout, Fire Parasprite, Bone, and more. Her hoof stopped on a page with a silhouetted mare on it. "That's our villain." "We have to go warn Rainbow Dash! Come on girls!" Pinkie Pie led the ex-villains out the door of the tree. Rainbow Dash sat in her chair. The rain pounded against the windows of her manor. Tank brought her a glass of stored apple cider. As she slowly drank from the glass, she reminisced on the day's events. Rainbow Dash had been charged with murder of the Mayor. Then, they stopped the Clown before she killed the Cakes. They followed her to the secret villain meeting, where Scootaloo had been captured. She told them her secret identity, and then they ran away. Why did they run away? What had the Clown almost said? Why were they all crying? Where were they now? Who are they? These questions were answered by the banging of the door. Rainbow Dash put her glass on the cloud floor next to her. She opened the door to find her five best friends. "Wow! You're all here! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Rainbow Dash went in for a hug, but her friends looked downtrodden and depressed. They would not hug her back. She pulled away slowly, looking at them with concern. "What's wrong?" "Rainbow... we have to tell you something." Twilight said as they entered the house, her cloud-walking charm working perfectly. They filed in one by one. Pinkie was the most depressed, the exact opposite of what should be. "What is it?" "Rainbow Dash..." Pinkie started the revelations. "...I'm the Clown." "What?!" "I'm the Quizzler." Twilight spoke softly, as to not further damage Rainbow. "No..." "I'm Scareworm." "This can't..." "I'm Poison Oak." "You can't... no... I..." "I'm the Peacock." "No..." Rainbow Dash was the depressed one now. Her enemies were her friends in disguise. Her friends betrayed her. Her friends had killed ponies. They had tormented people. They had done terrible things. Her best friends were murderers. "Rainbow," Twilight started to try to console her friend. "we know what you're going through." "No, you don't! You don't know what it's like to have your best friends turn out to be murderers!" "We kinda do, Rainbow." Rarity stepped forward. "We just found out today that the others wer-" "I don't care! I can't believe you would do this to me!" "We didn't do anything to you! What about you, going around killing criminals and what not!" Applejack switched to the offense. "That was for justice! That was for the good of Ponyville! You kill ponies for the fun of it! You're sick!" "We didn't do it for fun!" Fluttershy was angry at Rainbow Dash now. "Then what did you do it for?" "We did it because of her!" Twilight threw the encyclopedia on the cloud floor. She remembered to put the charm on it as well, so it wouldn't fall through. "The Mare Hatter?" Rainbow was looking at the encyclopedia page with confusion. "What does this have to do with anything?" "It has everything to do with everything!" came a voice from outside the manor. It echoed through the clouds and into the ears of the ponies inside. At all of the commotion, Scootaloo had come out of her room. "That voice sounds so familiar..." Twilight started racking her brain for the source. "You have found out my little trick, haven't you? Well, good for you. I was wondering when you would finally get it. I must say, it took longer than expected." "What are you talking about?" Rainbow wondered aloud to the voice. "You, silly! I'm talking about you! I tried to get one of my mind-control devices from the start, Rainbow Dash. At the circus, while running away to get Pizza Boss, I threw one at you. But, I overshot and it landed on Pinkie Pie. That's when she pursued and then killed the Mayor. That's when I came up with my master plan." "And what's that?" "To get you all to turn on each other, of course! I knew that if you were all against one another, and hated each other, there would be no way that you could work together to defeat me! So I put mind-control devices on everypony but you, Rainbow Dash." "How do you know my name?" "Everypony knows your name, Rainbow Dash." With that last remark, Rainbow Dash had pinpointed the location of the voice. The Mare Hatter was standing just outside her manor on a tuft of stray cloud. Rainbow leapt through the cloud walls of her manor and onto the cloud. She grabbed the Mare Hatter, who was standing on the cloud through another cloud-standing spell, and pulled her off the cloud. They fell downwards. As they fell, the villain Rainbow was clutching put a spell on Rainbow. Her wings were frozen. She couldn't save herself. They were falling towards Ponyville. They would both be dead soon...
Chapter 6 - I Wanna Be Your Friend ForeverChapter 6 I Wanna Be Your Friend Forever Downwards the two mares fell. Rainbow Dash's wings were frozen by the Mare Hatter's spell. The Mare Hatter was too distracted by fighting off Rainbow to save them from dying with a levitation spell. It was Twilight, running to the edge of the cloud on which the manor stood, casting a spell on the two ponies. They levitated a few feet off the ground before being dropped. "We have to get down there!" Twilight yelled to the group still in the manor. "Rainbow needs help!" They all got in the hot air balloon. Twilight pulled on the cord that opened the top and they descended gradually. On the ground, Rainbow was thrown off the villain. She quickly ran around a barrel and bucked it at the Mare Hatter. The villain dove out of the way. A beam of green light flew towards Rainbow Dash. She ducked as the beam tore up the barrel next to her. She jumped over two more powerful beams and rolled into a bush. The Mare Hatter readied her horn to send another destruction spell when a squirrel hit her face. When she got it off, Rainbow was on top of her. They rolled backwards, the super villain sending many spells at Rainbow. Before the balloon had touched the ground, Twilight and the others jumped off. The Mare Hatter used leverage on Rainbow to toss her in the air. She grabbed her with a levitation spell. The rest of the gang caught up with the two fighting ponies. They readied themselves to attack the Mare Hatter, who was holding Batmare in the air. "Don't come any closer! If you take one more step, or attack me, or try to attack me in any way, Rainbow goes flying." "She's already a pegasus." Scootaloo commented. "Yeah, she's a pegasus without the use of her wings, and she's about to take a trip to the mountains over there." She nodded in the direction of the mountain range to the north of them. "A teleportation trip?" questioned Scootaloo. "Nope." the villain imitated Big Macintosh. "More like a falling-to-your-death kind of trip." "Oh." The Mare Hatter slowly backed away from the group, dragging Rainbow Dash through the air with her. When she had gotten a bit more of a distance from the friends of her captive, the villain pulled a hat out from her saddlebag. She used another levitation spell to make it hover just over Rainbow's head. Before she could begin to control her captive, Rainbow Dash lashed out at the mind control device, sending it sprawling on the ground. With the villain distracted for a brief second, Twilight had the perfect opportunity. A beam of purple light struck the Mare Hatter square in the face. She flew backwards, crashing into the house behind her. Dust and crumblings of rock and brick smoldered over her body. She got to her feet, coughed out some dust, and began to charge at the six friends plus Scootaloo. Twilight sent another spell the villain's way. The levitation spell hoisted the mare upside down into the air. "Who are you?" Twilight demanded. "I'll never tell you the truth!" The Mare Hatter struggled to get free, but Twilight was too strong for her. Scootaloo was confused. "Wait, was that the truth or a lie? If you lied about never telling the truth, that means that you would tell the truth. And if you told the truth by saying that you would never tell the truth, then that would be a para-" "Shut up you stupid filly!" "I've had enough." Twilight ripped off the mask. What she saw were violet eyes, surrounded by a blue mane. She immediately recognized the face. "Trixie?" "Yes! It was me! And I would've gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling ponies!" Twilight sighed and shook her head at her captive. "We're going to have to teach you a lesson, Trixie." A warm, spring air blew over the ponies. They saw a very irate blue mare being shoved into a police car. Her horn would be removed and she would be locked in a padded cell on the moon for the rest of her days. Princess Celestia would see to it personally that she would not escape like the last prisoner of the moon. As for Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, they had decided to form an elite group of crime-fighting heroes. Twilight Sparkle took on the persona of Supermare. Fluttershy became the Green Tree. Rarity took on the name of Wonder Pony. Applejack decided to become Spidermare. Pinkie Pie chose to be the Flash. And Rainbow Dash stayed as Batmare. Together they cleaned up the streets of Ponyville. And they all lived happily ever after. AN: Well, that's a rather abrupt ending to this story. Oh well. What are you going to do about it? Complain in the comments? See if I care. Anyways, thanks to everyone who favorited, commented on, and liked this story. I don't go around to each user's page telling them thanks, because that sounds a bit shallow. So thank you for following this terrible story. Hopefully you'll follow other terrible ones of mine in the future. -puppo530 P.S. Man, this is a short chapter. I feel ashamed publishing it.
