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The Gala was bustling this year. The four story building that had been rented out for the Gala was filled to the brim. This Gala was not to be confused with the Grand Galloping Gala. For one thing, the GGG was a lot more of a 'stuffy' event, mostly frequented by the upper crust and elite of Canterlot. This Gala was much more of a social gathering, and wasn't formal, even though there were a lot of high profile characters that were there. Rainbow Dash was currently stuffing her face with the hors d'oeuvres, much to the chagrin of her marefriend.

"Dashie! Manners!" Fluttershy said with a frown.

"Babe, I haven't eaten much today.

"And who's fault is that?" Fluttershy replied, her eye raising.

"I wasn't hearing you complain. In fact, I remember a lot of moaning and encouraging me to keep going," Dash said with a grin. Fluttershy blushed, pushing a strand of her mane away. Through the bustle, Princess Luna approached her sister.

"Well, Luna? Is everything ready?" Celestia asked.

"We have guards stationed at the entrances, and wards on the elevators. If the Joker and her accomplice come, they won't get far, Tia."

"Excellent," the Sun Monarch said. The remaining members of the Elements were then greeted by a familiar face.

"DERPY! It's so good to see you," Rainbow Dash said, hugging the wall-eyed pegasus.

"You too, Dash," Derpy said with a grin.

"How's billionaire life treating you, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm a 'billionaire'," Derpy chuckled.

"You're joking, right, darling? Your invention ENDED hunger problems in even the most rural parts of Equestria. What was it again, exactly?" Rarity asked.

"Muffin button. Well, it started as a muffin button, but then we found a way of extending it past muffins. I just wasn't expecting all the bits I'd get for making it. Now, I have more than enough to put Sparkler through school, and Princess Celestia has already invited Dinky to her school for gifted unicorns," Derpy said.

"Well, they deserve it, Derpy. You deserve everything you've gotten too," Fluttershy said. The wall-eyed mare smiled, falling back into the crowd. Just as quickly as it came, Derpy's smile disappeared, as she met up with her friend and roommate, Golden Harvest, or Carrot Top, as Derpy had nicknamed the mare long ago.

"Not having fun?" Harvest asked.

"What's the situation?" Derpy whispered.

"Checked and double checked the Princess' guards. They're highly trained professionals. The wards are powerful and can't be easily broken, and if NONE of that works, I've got your suit waiting in your secret compartment," Carrot said with a sigh. Derpy nodded, grabbing a drink as the waiter came by. "You know, if they don't come, you really should try and have a little fun. Not EVERYTHING has to be about the mission," she said.

"Keep an eye on the Elements. I feel that the Joker will go for them first," Derpy said, downing the drink and molding into the crowd. Golden Harvest nodded, shaking her head. Her friend could be so exasperating sometimes. An hour passed, and soon the crowd, after ingesting a good bit of cider, started to become...restless. With a suggestion from Luna, party games such as bobbing for apples, pin the tail on the pony, karaoke and others were being set up. But, not before a speech from Princess Celestia.

"Everypony! May I have your attention, please?" The noise died down. "I just want to thank you all for attending tonight, and I want to extend that thanks to Ms. Derpy Hooves, whose generous foundation allowed us to rent out one of their buildings," she said to the crowd. Applause and cheers went through the crowd, as Derpy stood to the side of the Princess.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia. Everypony, I would like to take this moment to announce that my foundation, with the combined efforts of Princess Celestia, will be supplying medical professionals and headquarters in Equestria technology so that NO filly or foal has to be waiting for long to get the treatment they need. As a mother myself, this is very important to me," the pegasus said. Suddenly, the lights went out, and that was all it took for chaos to begin. Screams went through the darkness, and then just as quickly, the lights came back on. Sighs of relief went through the crowd, and just as the party started to get back into full swing, the ding of the elevator sounded. Time seemed to stop, as the crowd went silent. NOPONY was expected at this time. Slowly, Golden Harvest approached the elevator as the dings kept coming. At the final ding, the door slid open, revealing one of the guards who was unconscious and being held up by the Joker.

"We made it!" she said, pushing the guard down and stepping out of the elevator, with Harley behind her and a few masked clowns taking up the rear. She was now fully dressed in her custom purple suit, with a shotgun clutched in her hoof. Harley had her sledge hammer resting on the back of her neck, and a new pistol inside her jacket and the clowns were simply dressed normally, but armed with machine guns or shot guns. The Joker let out a shot from her shotgun. ALL the attention was now on her. "Good evening, fillies and gentlecolts! We are tonights entertainment!" she said, occupying herself by grabbing one of the hors d'oeuvres and gulping it down. "Now, here's how this is going to work! My esteemed colleague has a bag! He'll be coming around to EACH and EVERY one of you and I implore you, put your valuables in the bag nice and easy. You DON'T want me to get mad!"

"STOP!" Princess Celestia snapped, as the crowd opened a path. Finally, the Joker came face to face with the Princess of the Sun. The Clown Princess grinned, licking the corner of her lip as she approached Celestia.

"Well, well, well. Princess Celestia, it's good to finally meet you. Obviously you know who I am," the Joker said as Harley smirked. "But, you probably don't know my partner. This is Harley Quinn." Harley giggled as the Joker dipped her and kissed her hard on the lips.

"Pleased to meetcha, Princess," Harley said once Joker had lifted her back up.

"It's thanks to Harley that I escaped your little Asylum," the Joker said.

"Well, you won't be getting away this time!" Applejack barked.

"Ah! The Elements of Harmony. Good to see you again. Oh, but you seem to be two short," the Joker chuckled.

"What happened? Your friends get tired of ya?" Harley asked.

"NO! Pinkie went off the deep end and Twilight disappeared," Rainbow Dash said. The Joker's eyes narrowed and her teeth grit.

"So, you simply locked her up and threw away the key? Didn't even think for one second to discover WHY she did what she did? Hmph! Some friends you are."

"ENOUGH! Surrender now, Joker, and you and Harley will be brought back to the Asylum without a scratch!" Celestia snapped. The Joker smiled, slowly sidling over to Celestia.

"You know, Princess. I've been EAGER to meet you face to face. After you so graciously threw me into the Asylum, well, it's been on my mind for a while, as have ALL the things I've wanted to say to you," she said, snapping her knife open. "Why so serious, Princess? Come on, let's put a smile on that face!"

"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Luna roared, pushing the Joker away. The Clown giggled in response.

"Ooh, Luna. You've got a little fight in you! I like that, you know," she said.

"Then you're gonna love me!" a gravelly voice said, as the Joker was tackled to the ground.

"Puddin'!" Harley yelled, as Batmare and the Joker rolled around. One of the clowns pulled Batmare off the Joker and began attacking her together. "Hey! Batbrain! Heads up!" Harley yelled, as she swung hard with her sledgehammer. Batmare ducked just in time, only for the Joker to land a powerful kick that sent her flying. The guests ran to the corners of the building to try and get to safety, as Applejack and the other Elements rushed into the fray. Fluttershy and Rarity were having to dodge Harley's wild swings, while Rainbow Dash and Applejack were fending off the Joker's knife swipes. Once Batmare had beaten down the clowns, she rushed at the Joker again, who attacked her with a knife hidden in her shoe. Harley was pulling on the handle of her hammer that was in the grip of Rarity's magic, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash trying to corner the Joker. That is, until the sounds of gunshots quieted everypony down.

"Joker, Harley, why is it that you both get so rowdy when I leave you alone?" a pony asked, stepping out of the shadows. She was wearing a bright green suit under a dark green coat and a dark green fedora hat that covered her brown mane. There was a set of purple sunglasses set on her snout and she was clutching a tommy gun in one hoof, and a golden cane in the shape of a question mark in the other.

"Who in the hay are you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Just a friend of theirs, but you can call me...the Riddler," the mare said with a chuckle. Batmare glared. This was a new player in the game.

"It took you long enough!" Joker snapped, as she and Harley gravitated to the Riddler.

"Sorry. This wasn't something I could do quickly. It was a delicate process," Riddler said.

"What was?" Applejack asked.

"I'm glad you asked. You see, while Harley and I were up here, Riddler was planting powerful explosives in every floor below this," the Joker said, with gasps going through the room.

"That's right. I'm the ONLY ONE who has the detonator, AND the only one who has the off switch. Of course, there is ANOTHER way of disarming the devices. You'd have to physically shut it off, but to do so you'd have to solve my riddles," the Riddler said with a grin, holding up the detonator that was primed to be activated. The Elements, the Princess's and Batmare glared. They'd been played.

"Luna, scan the building. Are they telling the truth?" Celestia asked.

"I'm afraid so, Tia. Every word," Luna said. The Joker, Harley and the Riddler smiled. They won.

"Girls, can I get your help in this?" Celestia asked the Elements.

"Of course, Princess," Rarity said.

"I'll help too, Princess. I've got some expertise in disarming explosives," Batmare said.

"Thank you, Batmare. Don't think this is over. You three won't get away," Celestia said, as she and the others left to go and take care of the devices. That, however, was exactly what the three criminals wanted.

"Now, where were we? Oh, that's right. PUT YOUR VALUABLES IN THE BUCKING BAG!" the Joker roared at the guests. Terrified and without choice, they did as they were told, putting their jewelry, bits, trinkets and baubles in the bag being held by the clown. Harley and the Riddler went for the more high profile guests themselves, and the Joker set her sights on two ponies, a male earth pony and female unicorn, both with black coats and quite fancy dress. She smiled, approaching them and holding out her hoof. "Your necklace, if you please, milady." The unicorn smirked, a gesture not expected by the Clown Princess of Crime, but still pulled off her necklace any way and gave it to the Joker, with the earth pony giving her his cufflinks as well. The Joker hesitated, before grabbing the items and stuffing them in her pockets.

"Boss! We're all set," one of the clowns said.

"Well, thank you for your kindness everypony! You've been great, have a good night, see you soon. Riddler, get us out of here," the Joker said. The green suited mare nodded, as her horn lit up and teleported them all out of the building.

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In the lower stories of the building, the other ponies saw that things were WORSE than they thought. The explosives were wired to corrosive barrels, meaning if they didn't disarm the devices, the explosion would result in the building melting and collapsing from the inside.

"This Riddler is insane!" Luna said, her horn lit up in communication with her sister.

"Look at who she's allied with, Luna. The one thing we can be sure of is that Harley ISN'T a clone, but we'll worry about that later. Right now, we need to help disarm the devices!" Celestia said.

"Princess! Their are numbers on the side of each explosive! I think that we have to disarm them in a specific order!" Applejack called. Celestia glared. This Riddler character seemed smart.

"Everypony read off the numbers on the explosives you're at!"

"1!" Applejack called.

"4" Rarity replied

"7!" Rainbow Dash added

"12!" Fluttershy continued

"16!" Batmare included

"20!" Luna yelled.

"And I have 23! Everypony is going to need to get to the other explosives once their first one is disarmed!"

"Okay! I've got the first one!" Applejack called, facing the device. It was covered with bright green painted question marks. Hesitantly, Applejack pulled off a metal panel on the device, revealing a pixelated question mark.

*Bzzt, bzzt* Riddle me t-thi-this! What is always on its way here..here..here, but never arrives? *Bzzt, bzzt*

Applejack frowned. The Riddler had said they had to solve the riddle to disarm the device, but she wasn't expecting one so..abstract.

"Ya'll! I need a little help!" she called, when the question mark turned red.

*Bzzt, bzzt* Ah, ah, ah! No assistance, Miss. Applejack. *Bzzt, bzzt*

Applejack frowned deeper. She couldn't risk the explosive detonating, so she had to solve the riddle on her own, which was easier said than done.

"Okay, Applejack. Ya'll can do this. What is always on its way here, but never arrives? How does that make any sense? Hmm. It has to be more simple than I think it is," the farm pony said to herself.

Okay. So, it has to be something that is said to be always coming, but it never does. WHO in the hay comes up with something like that? Focus, Applejack! Hmm. Throwing caution to the wind, Applejack ventured a guess.

"The answer is...tomorrow!" The question marked blinked, then disappeared. "I think I disarmed it, ya'll!"

"Well done, Applejack! Everypony, don't become discouraged hearing these riddles. That's what the Riddler wants!"

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Outside the building, the Joker, Harley and the Riddler were on another rooftop. They'd been counting their loot for the past hour, with the Riddler's device beeping continuously, signaling the explosives being disarmed.

"I gotta admit, I didn't think they'd get this far," the Riddler said. The Joker grinned, as Harley lifted the bag of loot with her magic.

"I agree, but don't you think that they've gotten far enough?" the Joker asked. The Riddler grinned, flipping a switch on the device and pushing the button. Three beeps came from the device and then, the explosions began.

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"LUNA! What's just happened?"

"I don't know! I disarmed the explosive!"

"PRINCESS! It still went off!" Applejack yelled, racing to Celestia with her tail partly singed. Celestia gasped, as she heard more explosions and the rest of the Elements coming to her as well. Batmare was the only one still gone.

"Luna, take the Elements upstairs and get the guests out of here. I'm going to see if I can reduce the damage!" Celestia said. Luna nodded, as she teleported herself and the Elements back up to the ballroom. Lighting up her horn, Celestia could feel the building begin to collapse. Gritting her teeth, she extended her magic through the building to try and maintain the structure as the explosions continued.

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It was like fireworks going off. The Joker, Harley and Riddler had smiles from ear to ear as they watched the explosions go throughout the building. The three laughed in glee as the explosions went off in sync, and the building began to collapse.

"Timber!" the Joker said, cackling as the building fell.

"That worked better than I expected," the Riddler said.

"What's the plan now, Puddin'?" Harley asked.

"We let this event stew for a while, sweetie. Let Celestia steep in her failure," the Joker said, as the getaway cart came into view.

"Well, look's like our ride's here," the Riddler said, leaping off the building. Taking the Joker's hoof in her own, Harley smiled, kissing her marefriend on the cheek.

"Well done, Miss. J," she whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down the Joker's spine. The clown gripped Harley's waist and pulled her to her, sending kisses and licks down her neck.

"Let's go, baby. I've got some grape soda on ice and a floral rug waiting," she said, before they both leapt into the cart.

"This was part of the plan?" Maud asked from behind her mask in the front of the cart.

"Yes, it was! Let's get back to the hideout. Our new...recruits should be there already," the Joker said, cackling with wild abandon as the cart sped into the night.

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Author's Note

Whew! Finally, this chapter is done! This one was REALLY complex, and took a bit of revision before I had it perfect. Next chapter is probably gonna be sexcapades between Twilight and Pinkie, and maybe a bit of a look into the life of Derpy as a billionaire. Stay tuned, everypony.