Chapters (Under My Skin: Frank Sinatra)
The cold autumn air swirled through the air in Gotham City as the residents went about their normal day to day activities completely unaware of what was happening in the GCPD at this very moment. In the lower depths of the basement of the police department it was dark and cold save for the hissing and rumbling of a large metal incinerator. The machine sprang to life and the gears began to turn and open the large metal door. A body was placed on the slab of the machine and within a moment a lever was pulled which caused the slab to be pulled inside the machine. As the fires of the incinerator began to form, the men and women of Gotham would no longer have to live in fear of perhaps the most evil and menacing man that Gotham had ever known.
The Joker
The lifeless body of the clown prince of crime lay motionless on the hard metal slab inside the machine. His face was covered in all sorts of patches of boils, redness, and all in all decaying skin. Even in death the mad clown still had a twisted and disturbed smile on his face. The fires of the machine then started to rise higher and higher as they consumed his body eventually reducing it to ash
"This is how it happened...this is how the Batman and Batmare died"
A lovely autumn day had just ended in the capital city of Canterlot. Celestia's sun had just finished setting and was replaced by Luna's moon. All was peaceful until the sounds of an alarm could be heard from the first national bank of Canterlot. Inside the bank, many of the workers and customers lay on the ground with their hooves over their heads as a large pony dressed all in black and wearing a mask stood over them. While this was going on a few other ponies robbers were inside of the giant vault filling bags with millions of bits.
"Hurry up and move faster before the guards get here" one shouted.
"Forget the guards, what about the bat?" another one said nervously.
"Just hurry up and we'll be out of here before the bat or any guards get here"
Hearing this the robbers quickened their pace and shoveled the bits into their bags. None of them wanted to deal with the mysterious pony of the night who was responsible for the downfall of crime in all of Equestria. It all started nine months ago when a group of small time robbers tried robbing the Carousel Boutique in Ponyville and as they were making their escape something happened. A pony dressed all in black, wearing a utility belt, and dornign a cowl with pointed ears arrived and pounded the criminals into next week before disappearing into the night and leaving them to the guards. Since that night, any pony in Equestria that broke the law was left mysteriously broken, battered, and beaten before being taken away by the guards.
The robbers finished filling their sacks with bits and quickly exited the bank. Looking down the street they noticed a few guards galloping quickly in their direction. Seeing this, the 2 unicorn robbers quickly fired blasts of magic at the guards causing them to take shelter behind a few carriages. They continued to fire magic blasts while the other two robbers made their way down a dark alley. Seeing that their comrades had made it to the alley the two unicorns stopped firing and followed. When they got about halfway down the alley, they gasped when they saw their partners lying motionless on the ground. One had bruises all over his face while the other one looks like he had his hind leg broken. The two unicorn robbers slowly backed away in fear before hearing something in a dark portion of the alley.
"You stay here, I'm gonna check it out" one of them said trying to act brave, even though he was scared completely out of his mind but nevertheless he slowly crept towards the dark area. His horn started to glow faintly as he got closer and closer to the dark area. When he got close enough, his horn glowed lighter to where it could light up the area. Expecting something to pop out he was actually surprised to find nothing there. Suddenly a muffled scream caught his attention and he quickly turned to find that his other partner was gone. Now officially scared, the sole robber ran down the alley at full speed trying to get away from whatever was going on. Just then, a hoof in a black glove shot out of nowhere and grabbed the robber, pulling him toward a dark figure. The robber quaked in fear as he was held tightly.
"What are you?"
The figure emerged slightly from the darkness to reveal a cyan blue body covered by a bat like cowl and wearing black with a billowing cape.
"I'm Batmare" the figure said in a deep voice.
The guards from before had just made it to the alley and made their way down, only to stop and find four beaten robbers tied together and two large bags of bits sitting beside them. One of the bags had a single piece of paper sitting on top of it and one guard picked it up. There were no words written on the paper, the only thing on it was a drawn symbol of a bat. The guards looked to the sky and smiled slightly knowing full well who to thank for the help.
Unbeknownst to them, the masked hero was flying through the air at super sonic speed heading towards Ponyville. The figure flew overhead before reaching a mountain that overlooked the small village and the cave that was carved into the side of the mountain. After landing on the ledge of the cave, the figure walked down the long hallowed out passage until reaching what looked like an elevator. The figure hopped in the elevator and pushed the one button on the floor dial. After that the elevator plummeted straight down at an incredible speed before eventually coming to a slow stop at the bottom. The figure stepped out of the elevator into a giant cave that looked as thought it had been set up as a secret base. There was a large computer with a screen displaying a bat symbol with a pony head on top and a bunch of tables that were littered with all assortments of gadgets and other items. One of the tables had a lot of newspaper clippings on it, most of them headlines entitled Mysterious Figure Stops Bank Robbery or Who Is The Caped Crusader .
"DASHIE" a voice shouted.
The figure jumped before turning to see a bright pink pony with with a poofy mane and three balloon marks on its flank. The figure then let out a long breathe noticing who it was.
"Pinkie you really need to stop doing that" the figure said reaching for its cowl. Pulling the cowl off the figure was revealed to be none other than the best flyer in all of Equestria, Rainbow Dash. The rainbow mane of the cyan blue pony flowed out and free from the cowl as she made her way towards the center of what she called the Batmare Cave.
"Okie dokie lokie" Pinkie Pie said with a smile. Rainbow Dash only smiled and shook her head knowing very well that the excited party pony would never actually stop. Then another pony, this one lavender in color with a purple mane with pink highlights and wearing glasses spun around in a chair that was seated next to the large computer.
"Good job out there tonight Dash" Twilight Sparkle said pointing a hoof at her friend. From another table Applejack, the orange pony farmer looked over and smiled.
"Yep I reckon em there thugs'll think twice fore deciding ta rob the good folks of Canterlot" she said with her thick country accent.
"Thanks Twilight, honestly with my amazing awesomeness and your help on the computer its just too easy to fight crime" Rainbow boasted as she threw hooves in the air as though she was pretending to fight someone. Twilight giggled slightly at that as a white unicorn with a purple mane and diamond cutie mark entered the area.
"Honestly though darling I wish you would allow me to design you a new suit, that one is so basic a drawl" she said waving at the suit Rainbow Dash was wearing with a look of disgust.
"I've told you a thousand times Rarity, this suit is not just fashion it's a symbol of protection for every pony in Equestria" Rarity just shook her head after being told this for the thousandth time. Every time she tried to get Rainbow Dash to let her design a new suit for her it was like talking to her sister Sweetie Belle. Sure she'll hear you but it doesn't matter because in the end nothing happens. Rainbow Dash looked around the Batmare Cave and noticed the lack of presence of another of her friends.
"Hey guys, where is Fluttershy?" she asked, to which Twilight motioned to another area of the cave.
"Oh she and Victor are working on research for a new gadget you can use"
The five ponies all made their way over to another area of the cave where there were two other ponies working at a table. One was Fluttershy, the shy yellow pegasus with the pink mane and butterfly cutie mark. The other was the newly transformed blue pony Victor Fries who had been living in Equestria ever since the group returned from Arkham City. The two were bent over the table with Victor welding something together while Fluttershy was looking over the blureprints. After a moment, Victor stopped welding a stood back.
"There, now if my calculations are correct this device should be able to allow Rainbow Dash' suit to camoflauge into any backround which would make her invisible to any eye" he stated. A little yellow hoof tapped Victor on the shoulder and he turned and looked at his friend.
"You did well Victor now please stop working for a while and go home to Nora" Fluttershy said softly but sweetly. Ever since the two of them started working on this device it was all Victor could think about most days. He spent most of his time in the Batmare Cave going over the blue prints and making sure his calculations for the camoflauge were correct and creating the device. Often times Fluttershy would have to use her fake serious voice to get him to leave the cave and relax which would always cause them botht to laugh before he eventually agreed. The blue scientist pony nodded and pulled the yellow pegasus into a friendly hug which she greatly returned before he made his way through the other cave entrance that led back to Ponyville.
"So what did Mr. Freeze cook up this time" Rainbow Dash asked causing Fluttershy to squeak slightly seeing as how she had no idea she or the others were behind her. Seeing them she breathed again before leading them to the table and showing them what looked like a giant pair of bat wings.
"Well these are a new set of wings that me and Victor created so that it could make you invisible in combat. The framework is designed to be flexible yet durable so it can weather any conditions and fold in to fit your body type. The material from what Victor told me is a strong type of kevlar material which he engineered with a special camoflauging formula that makes it impervious to most damage and is able to hide you in combat simply by folding them over yourself" she explained.
Rainbow Dash looked at the new wings were her mouth practically hitting the floor. This had to be one of the best tools she could receive, something that could protect her from harm and would also be able to keep her invisible in combat. Pinkie ran up to the table and grabbed the new wings and squealed in delight.
"Oh my goodness these are a-ma-zing and they are almost light as a feather. Lets see if they work" she said and put the wings on her back. She stood still and closed her eyes before eventually opening them but she didn't realize that nothing happened.
"Am I invisible?" she smiled. She ran up behind Rainbow Dash and raised her arms and flailed them around with wide eyes. "Ooooooh spooky" she said trying to sound scary. "Where did Pinkie go, its an invisble pony oooooooh" Fluttershy cleared her throat which got Pinkies attention.
"Sorry Pinkie but the wings were designed to only work for Rainbow Dash so everyone can still see you" she said sadly. Pinkie looked down at herself to see that she was indeed still visible. The pink pony smiled and turned a shade of red in embarrassment before taking the wings off and handing them to Rainbow Dash.
"Oops my bad"
Everyone laughed at the funny event before Rainbow put the wings on her back and folded them over herself. The wings sparked to life and Rainbow Dash's entire body turned invisible. Everyone looked with wide eyes and mouths hanging.
"Oh sweet Celestia that sure is one cool gizmo" Applejack spoke first and the rest just nodded their heads before Rainbow Dash folded the wings back and revealed herself once more.
"Man these are so cool and I'll bet even Batman doesn't have these yet" she said with excitement. Hearing the name everyone remembered back to nine months back when they ended up in Arkham City. They remembered everything from their first encounter with Hugo Strange, to fighting off murderous thugs in the streets, to helping save each other from villains and giant monsters, meeting Batman, stopping Strange, Ra's Al Ghul, and King Sombra from executing their terrible plot, all the way up to the death of the Joker. Arkham City was an event that changed their lives in many different ways, many for the better and some not so much but they were just glad that it was over.
The night air was cold and rainy in Gotham City. On Grand Avenue of one of the three islands that made up Gotham, Miagani Island people walked the streets holding umbrellas and cars drove by in the bustling metropolis. Over the past few months crime had fallen to an all time low which made many people feel relieved, though it also made people a bit nervous about what was to come next. A lone police officer made his way down the sidewalk to a little diner on the corner that he liked to frequent often. Smiling to himself he made his way through the front door into the diner where there were customers all sitting and socializing amongst themselves. The diner was decorated in Halloween decorations and a few of the customers were even wearing masks. The cop chuckled and sat at the counter as a waitress in an orange dress and apron came by with a pitcher of coffe and poured some for the officer.
"Thanks" he said.
"No problem" the waitress replied. A man walking by left a tip for her and she turned and smiled. "Thanks honey" Afterwords she took out a small notepad and a pen. "So what'll it be today? Same as usual?" she asked.
"Sure" replied the cop.
"Okay chicken salad with no dressing" She wrote down the order and was about to leave.
"No, you know what? Make it waffles with a side of bacon...Don't tell my wife"
"Whatever you say officer" she said and wrote down the new order. She then turned and headed back to the kitchen before looking back the officer. "Oh, if you need any more coffee just yell" The officer nodded to her and took a sip of the coffee she had just poured for him. All seemed peaceful in the diner until one customer came up to the officer with a look of nervousness and discomfort on his face.
"Hey sorry to interrupt your dinner, Officer" he paused and looked at the officers badge, "Owens, but there's a guy smoking over there in the corner booth"
He pointed towards a lone hooded individual sitting alone at a booth in the far corner of the diner. The officer sighed and picked up his hat from the counter, "Wait here, I'll have a word"
Officer Owens made his way around the tables of the diner towards the back. When he reached the table the smoker was turned away completely hidden by his hood and the smoke seemed to be emitting from a bag on the table. Breathing the smoke in the officer found the stench rancid and waved it away from his face before tapping the man on the shoulder.
"Excuse me sir there's no smoking in here"
In a split instance the man turned and grabbed the officer allowing him to get a full view of the man's or in this case monsters face. The face was completely demonic with jagged teeth and two black holes where the eyes should be. The demon threw the officer to the side where he fell first on the table and slid off to the floor. When the officer tried to get back to his feet, the interior of the diner seemed to fall apart and when he turned around the world looked like it had been completely torn apart and set ablaze. What scared the officer immensely was the fact that a number of demons now littered the diner, many of them attacking each other. One of them that was bashing the others head on the ground looked up at the officer and slowly began to approach him. The officer grabbed his gun holstered at his side and aimed to fire but the creature had ran up to him and held his arm away and looked like it was trying to bite him. Pulling his arm free, the officer shot the creature and started firing at many of the others before one of them pulled him to the start and started punching him before bringing its head down just as everything went black.
The incident was quickly relayed to the news and before long it was broadcast over every screen in the city. The scene showed innocent customers of the diner running in panic and an officer opening fire killing many of them before being eventually subdued. This frightened many of the residents of Gotham as they watched people in the diner fall to the floor with their blood staining the ground as ear piercing screams were heard. All of the sudden a high pitched shrine was head and many people looked towards a giant monster screen in center of a giant building in Grand Avenue as a deep menacing voice could be heard.
" This demonstration used just five ounces of my latest toxin," it said. The screen then showed the image of a hooded individual sitting in a dark room. Many people noticed immediately who the individual was as he was the one responsible for cloaking the entire city and everyone in it in fear for many years. This man was Jonathan Crane, aka The Scarecrow, who used to be a psychiatric doctor as well as a former resident at Gotham's penitentiary for the criminally insane, Arkham Asylum. During the Jokers attempt at takeover of the asylum, Crane was experimenting with a powerful chemical agent that he called fear gas which would cause the patients to be subjected to mass hallucinations of horrible things happening to them. He was chased into the sewers by Batman before being snatched by Killer Croc and dragged into the sewer where it is thought that he was eaten alive by the giant reptile man. Yet clearly here he was very much alive and even more dangerous than ever.
Tomorrow this will seem like child's play. Gotham this...your only warning" he said lifting his head to reveal his face. He looked even scarier than he had been known to over the past years with only his mouth and teeth being exposed and the rest covered in a gas mask that was grafted to his throat. There were an assortment of tubes running all over his body that carried a strange golden liquid all over his cloaked body. Then of course there was his hand that was covered in a glove where instead of fingers there were four sharp syringes. The image of Scarecrow began to fade as dark static began to overtake the screen before it went completely dark. Withing just twenty four hours, the entire city was being evacuated of a large majority of the citizens of Gotham. Before this threat there were 6.3 million before in Gotham, and now not so many. The only ones that remained behind are the ones that like the chaos as many thugs roamed the streets of Gotham freely flipping over cars, robbing and looting as they pleased, and causing complete chaos for the city. The brave men and women of the Gotham City Police Department also stayed behind to help keep the city safe, but they were quickly loosing control.
In this moment, Gotham was relying on one man to save them all
Author's Note
A/N: I want everyone to know that this story was not my original idea. The idea of this came to me from reading My Little Arkham published by ADHD365 and also The JGBrony 1875 who originally was working on this story so all of the credit goes to them. Also in case you haven't realized this is a sequel to their story so before you read this you may want to consider reading their story so that you won't be completely lost when you read this. Also I want everyone to know that this story will cut out some of the main quest of the Batman Arkham Knight storyline as I plan to use some of the side quests for some of it so you won't be able to see everything from the game.
All was quiet in the small town of Ponyville as Celestia's sun rose high into the air and the warm rays of light engulfed the town. The rays of light shown through the large windows of Princess Twilight's castle all the way up to her room where the purple alicorn princess slept peacefully in her soft bed. Small snores came from her mouth as she slept, unaware that a small scaly purple claw reached for the alarm clock on the bedside table. The claw then held the clock up to the alicorns ears and the clock sprang to life. A loud ring came out and the princess' eyes shot open as her hair stood straight up from being awoken so suddenly and in such a way. She yelled out as the rude awakening caused her to lose her balance and fall completely out of the bed. As she lay there wide eyed she looked up onto her bed to see a small purple and green dragon on his side and laughing hysterically. Twilight's eyes instantly went from wide to angered.
"SPIKE" she yelled. The little dragon then shot up with wide eyes of his own before he sprinted out the door so fast that it left a silhouette of himself in smoke behind him. Twilight quickly sprang to her hooves and chased Spike through the halls of the castle before eventually coming to a halt in the main hall because Spike had apparently disappeared. Twilight groaned under her breathe, "I'm gonna find you Spike and when I do you're going to get it" she said menacingly. Twilight then proceeded to look everywhere she could from the potted plants, to under the rugs, to the chandelier, but no matter where she looked she couldn't find the little dragon. Then a thought came to her head and she smiled to herself, "Oh well I guess if Spike isn't here I'll just go tell Rarity that one of Shining Armors cutest guards is single."
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Spike flew down from the sky so fast that it seemed like he materialized out of thin air.
"Don't you dare" he growled. A smirking Twilight looked down at the little dragon, whom now realized that it was all a ruse and smiled nervously before starting to back away slowly. He turned around and was about to run again before two hooves grabbed him and pulled him to the ground as Twilight smiled wickedly, "You're not going anywhere you little menace" she said before she started to tickle the dragons belly without mercy. Spike burst out laughing and tried to shield himself from the onslaught of tickles but failing. "Ha ha ha ha ha okay okay ha ha ha ha ha I'm sorry I'm sorry" he said between laughs. Twilight was now laughing as well as she continued to tickle her friend before eventually thinking he had enough and letting him go. Spike sat up from the ground breathing heavily.
"Next time don't wake me up like that again" Twilight said smiling. Spike rolled his eyes before getting to his feet and the two of them made their way into the kitchen area. Twilight's horn glowed bright and a few condiment jars of peanut butter and jelly and a bit of hay flew from the cabinets and onto the counter. She did the same with a loaf of bread and a butter knife and proceeded to make them breakfast of peanut butter, jelly, and hay sandwich's.
"So what's on the agenda for today" Twilight asked Spike before taking a bit out of her sandwich. Spike chewed on his sandwich for a moment before swallowing and pulled out a notepad from a pocket that seemed to come out of nowhere. He then put on a small pair of glasses and read the agenda for the day. "Um lets see, the only thing that's really on the agenda for today is a council meeting between you and the others" he said taking off the glasses and putting them and the notepad away. Twilight nodded and the two finished up their sandwiches and cleaned up the mess. "Right so how long do we have until the meeting is supposed to start?" Twilight asked. Spike looked at a small watch on his wrist, "Meeting starts in half an hour" he said. Twilight's eyes widened again, "Half an hour! That barely leaves me anytime to clean this place up, not to mention write up a list of subjects to go over with everyone. Oh boy oh boy I have to get started" she said frantically and raced out of the room past Spike, causing him to spin uncontrollably in place before eventually coming to a dizzy stop.
"Right you do that I'll just be in the bathroom throwing up" he said in a slurred voice from spinning. His face suddenly turned a sickly shade of green and his cheeks swelled up as vomit filled them. He placed his claws over his mouth to keep from puking right then and there and raced off to the bathroom before it was too late.
Twilight ran all throughout the castle cleaning everything. She cleaned the carpets, the chairs, the walls, the stairs, everything that she deemed needed to be cleaned. About a half hour later, she was a complete wreck. Her hair was sticking up in all places, her eyes were twitching as she scrubbed the paintings on the wall. Everything had to be perfect for when the others showed up, and if there was one thing that Twlight Sparkle could be known as, it was a perfectionist. In fact she was so busy cleaning everything she didn't even notice the six other ponies that entered the hall and now stood behind her.
"Uh Twilight"
Twilight froze on the spot and quickly turned around to see her friends all standing there staring at her. She quickly looked at the rag in her hoof and teleported it away before looking back at her friends with a large smile on her face. "Hey guys I didn't see you there" she said. Many of them shook their heads knowing that Twilight was once again overdoing it. Applejack was the first to speak up, “Twi ya’ll been overdoin it again aintcha” she said smiling knowing full well that she was right. Twilight’s eyes shifted back and forth at a quick rate nervously, “What! No no I wasn’t overdoing it” she replied nervously. Everyone just looked at each other and then back at Twilight.
“You were just scrubbing the paintings” Rainbow Dash said pointing at the painting behind Twilight. Twilight just cracked a nervous smile and fixed her hair with magic before leading the girls to their council room that had a large circular table with five chairs seated around it and a large throne at the head of it all. Twilight sat at the throne while the others took the other chairs. When they were seated they immediately got down to business.
“So guys what’s the status around town?”
Well apple buckin season’s progressin’ faster than a pegasus in a tornado so ‘fore we know it this town’ll be up to it britches in fresh apples” Applejack reported.
“The boutique has been absolutely packed and is prospering quite well darling, I think before the month is over our sales will have skyrocketed” Rarity said, her accent thick and clear.
“Everyone in Ponyville have been going absolutely positivilutley bonkers over my brand new cupcakes that they practically run up the walls, well not actually cuz they can’t run up the walls but I can and it’s really fun and I love it so much” Pinkie said in her usual rambunctious and excited way. Everyone looked around for Pinkie as she was no longer in her chair and found her actually running up the wall. They just shook their heads and decided to move on.
T-T-the a-animals have all began to prepare f-for h-hibernation and everyone in town have all be k-kind enough to help prepare” Fluttershy whispered in her usual scared and meek way before hiding in her mane.
Twilight nodded at everyone pleased with everyone’s report. She then looked at Rainbow Dash to hear her report only to see her fast asleep and snoring loudly. There was a small amount of drool falling out of her mouth as she snored and everyone giggled a little. Rarity who was sitting next to Rainbow gently reached over and put her hoof on her shoulder before shaking her a slight bit. Rainbow just continued to snore away oblivious to the rest of the world around her. Twilight then got an idea from earlier that morning .
“Someone please grab me the alarm clock”
“HEAR YOU GO”
Twilight jumped from her throne and squeaked as Pinkie appeared right behind her with the alarm clock in her hoof. Twilight sighed in annoyance, completely fed up with Pinkie just appearing out of nowhere like that. Nevertheless though she grabbed the alarm clock and wound it slightly before holding it up next to Rainbows ear. The alarm clock rang loudly and Dash flew up in the air completely awake and wide eyed.
“What’s on fire?”
Dash looked down at her friends and shook her head to get the sleepiness out of her. She slowly lowered herself back down to her chair and took a seat. Her eyes were bloodshot and there were large bags under her eyes. Twilight walked up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.
“Rainbow Dash, are you ok?” She asked sweetly. Dash just looked at Twilight with a sleepy look and just nodded her head slightly trying to muster a small smile, “Yeah I’m good” she said but Twilight wasn’t buying it, “No you’re not, your clearly exhausted from all the late night Batmare stuff”
Rainbow wouldn’t admit it to anyone but Twilight was absolutely right. All the late night patrols and crime fighting was really starting to take a toll on her. Lack of sleep was making her fall asleep all the time in the middle of meetings and it was even affecting her performance with the Wonderbolts. This was something that bugged Rainbow Dash a lot because she worked all her life to be a Wonderbolt and now her lack of sleep was making it hard to keep up with them. She loved being Batmare and she wouldn’t change it for anything but she couldn’t deny that it was really hurting her personal life as well. Was this how Bruce felt all the time?
At that moment, Spike came running into the room as fast as he could. By the time he had made it over to the table he was completely breathless. Seeing her assistant in this state Twilight immediately ran over to Spike to see what was going on. “Spike what is it, what’s wrong?” Spike took a moment to regain his composure and catch his breath before responding.
“We just got an important letter from Princess Celestia” he said holding up a letter to them. Everyone gasped as Twilight grabbed the letter from Spike and quickly read it.
My Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle
There is a matter of the upmost importance that requires your presence as well as the other Elements of Harmony. I have also requested the presence of your brother Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and Victor Fries. Please come to Canterlot post haste so that we may all meet and discuss this matter immediately.
Signed,
Princess Celestia
Everyone looked at each other after hearing Twilight read the letter. What was so important that it required the Elements of Harmony, the Prince and Princess of the Crystal Empire, and Mr Freeze? Regardless of what was going on, if the Princess said it was important, it was important and they all had to make their way to Canterlot immediately. Next thing they all knew they were on the train heading for Canterlot. Mostly they all remained silent, except for Pinkie.
“I can’t wait to see what the Princess wants to tell us. Maybe she wants us all there for a surprise party, but wait if it’s a surprise party why would she tell us about it? Ok maybe not a surprise party but it could just be a regular party either way I’m so super duper duper excited”
As she was saying this she was jumping up and down in her seat so much that it looked like she was going to jump right through the roof of the train. Which, if many of them were being honest, wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world right now as they were quite tired of hearing Pinkie yammer on and on. Finally their suffering ended as the train came to a stop in Canterlot. They quickly made their way through the streets to the castle and burst through the front door. They arrived in the throne room where they saw Princess Celestia at her seat as well as Victor Fries, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadence along with Flurry Heart. The Mane 6 all bowed for Princess Celestia who smiled at them all.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice” she said sweetly.
All six of them stood up once again and smiled back at their Princess. Twilight of course walked over to her big brother and her sister in law to see how they were doing. When she got up to them the first thing she did was her special handshake with Cadence.
“ Sunshine sunshine ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake” they both sang as they did all the actions they spoke of. They both laughed and hugged and Twilight hugged Shining Armor as well.
“Hey Twily, how’ve you been?” Shining asked as he hugged his little sister. “Not bad but how about you and Cadence and Flurry?” she responded as they broke the hug. Flurry flew up to her aunt and giggled her cute little giggle. Twilight of course hugged her little niece and kissed her all over her little face which Flurry continued to giggle about. Shining smiled at this, “Things have been well but as you can see Flurry really missed her favorite aunt” Twilight laughed as Flurry flew up and placed herself on Twilights back, “Yeah I’m her only aunt” Twilight said as she started tickling Flurry.
“Pardon the interruption everyone but we really must discuss these important matters at once” Celestia spoke up. Everyone turned to look at the Princess of the Sun wondering what was so important. She looked at them all and sighed a sad sigh, “ Last night I had a terrible dream that involves all of you. There was a city engulfed in flames, dangerous creature running rampant causing havok, a creature resembling a bat”
When that last part was heard, all the girls dropped their jaws. A bat? Could it really be possible?
“I also saw what looked like a room, completely black with smoke filling the air and a hooded creature with a horrible mask and as I looked at it...I could feel only fear”
Everyone in the room looked at the Princess and they could clearly see that this was truly upsetting her. If something was troubling Celestia like this then clearly something was very wrong. But this was all just a dream. Surely a dream can’t really be real or cause any harm.
Right?
Victor Fries who had been standing off to the side then made his way to the head of the group and looked out over them all. “I’m afraid that what Celestia speaks of is not merely a dream...it is a reality” Everyone looked at the doctor wondering what he meant. He pulled out a device that used a hologram to project a large image for the group. They all saw a large city made of three islands with many tall bipedal creatures running amuck and destroying anything in their path. Twilight and the rest of the girls could see that they were clearly criminals like the ones they encountered in Arkham City.
“As you all know, when I first arrived here I wanted to stay connected with Gotham in the event that anything of mass destruction would occur and it seems that time has come. Gotham city has been ransacked with fear and panic. Criminals now walk the streets free to do as they please. I just know that Crane is behind this.”
Twilight looked at Fries as what he had said jogged something in her memory. Where had she heard that name before? “Who is Crane?” She asked. Fries then pulled up another image on the hologram, this one more scary than the last. It showed a hooded individual with a gas mask engineered to his face, pale eyes, tubes all over himself, and a syringe gauntlet.
“Doctor Jonathan Crane, he was a former psychiatric doctor in Gotham City at the now abandoned asylum that once housed the cities most dangerous individuals. While there he began testing a hallucinogenic chemical on the inmates that caused mass hallucinations. These hallucinations caused fear and panic among the inmates so much that a single dose would drive a man to complete insanity. Before long he would join the inmates of the asylum and continue experimenting with the chemical. He took on a name that strikes fear into the hearts of Gotham...The Scarecrow”
Fluttershy hid behind Rarity and Applejack. Back in Arkham City she feared many of the inmates, a man named Zsasz, Penguin, and Joker. At the moment, however, Scarecrow sacred her more than all of them combined.
“H-h-he s-sounds so f-frightening” she trembled.
“He sounds like a really big meanie pants” Pinkie added. All to which Fries nodded,
“Indeed, at the moment he may be the most dangerous individual in Gotham. He has already threatened the entire city with a chemical weapon which caused the entire city to evacuate. The only ones that remain are the criminals that are currently destroying the city”
Hearing all of this seemed like too much for a lot of the group. Fluttershy was still cowering behind Rarity and Pinkie who seemed a little scared themselves. Flurry Heart didn’t like the projection of the scary man and hid her face in Twilights mane while Twilight tried to comfort her. Rainbow Dash and Applejack seemed like the only two not so scared.
“Ahhh I think that this guy ain’t so bad, if I were there I’d give him the old one two” Rainbow said punching the air repeatedly with her hooves. Princess Celestia smiled as she looked at Rainbow Dash.
“That is exactly why I have called you hear. This threat that faces Gotham is one that I fear may soon threaten us as well. After you all ended up in that world last time I felt a strong force threaten Equestria and I fear unless this is stopped, we may all be in danger”
Everyone looked at each other as they processed this all in their heads. It was nine months ago that they ended up in Arkham City where they nearly lost their lives on multiple occasions, in Rainbows case she did lose her life. Now here they were being asked to return to stop an even greater threat than they did last time.
Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up,
“Well I’m not gonna just sit here and do nothing while this threat is out there and may be heading our way. When I became Batmare, I swore to defend Equestria from any and all evil no matter what. So I’m going to Gotham and I am going to save the world. Now who’s with me”
She stuck her hoof out and waited for anyone else who was willing to join her. After a moment, Applejack stuck her hoof in and smiled at Rainbow who smiled back. Then Rarity put her hoof in, then Pinkie, then slowly and unsurely Fluttershy, then Twilight. Just when they think they were finished, Shining Armor and Cadence put their hooves in as well and Twilgiht looked at them.
“What are you guys doing?” She asked them and they smiled at her, “We’re going with you Twilight” Cadence responded. Twilight quickly shook her head, “No, no last time we went there we almost didn’t come back alive I’m not gonna let that happen to you guys” Shining Armor and Cadence looked at each other and then at Twilight, “Last time we weren’t sure if you guys were going to come back and that scared us. We were worried you weren’t going to come back and we are not about to let that happen again. We’re coming with you this time” Shining said with conviction.
Twilight couldn’t believe this. Here her big brother and her sister and law were willing to sacrifice everything they have to go with them and save the world. While it was a very heroic thing to do, she didn’t want anything happening to them.
“What about Flurry and the Crystal Empire?” She asked. At that moment, Celestia came down and stood by the group.
“If I may say so, myself and Luna would be more than willing to watch over the Crystal Empire and Flurry Heart until you all return” Celestia said taking Flurry Heart and placing her on her back, which caused the baby alicorn to giggle again happily. Realizing that she wasn’t going to win this argument and because she felt it would be nice to have her big brother and sister in law with her on this adventure, she finally agreed.
Everyone proceeded back to Ponyville in order to prepare. Twilight grabbed all the necessary spell books and potions they might need on this adventure, Rainbow Dash grabbed all her Batmare gear, Applejack grabbed her lasso, Fluttershy said goodby to her pets, and Pinkie and Rarity took care of business in the shops. They all met back up at the town square where Shining and Cadence were saying goodbye to Flurry and Celestia. Celestia, Fries, and Luna were all there to wish them well.
“Please make sure to be safe, we couldn’t bare to think about what could happen if any of you got hurt” Celestia said.
“Indeed thou must be rather careful, for without the elements or the Prince and Princess of the Crystal Empire, we fear for Equestria’s future” Luna added
Everyone nodded as Fries made his way to each and every one of them and handed them each a small chip like device.
“Keep these on you at all times, they will relay your location back to Equestria so that we may be able to monitor where you are wherever you are in Gotham”
They all put their chips somewhere on their bodies and once again hugged each other again. Before Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight charged their horns for the transportation spell that would transport them to Gotham. This was a rather large spell that would require all four princesses of Equestria to perform in order for it to work. Their horns glowed brightly until the point it completely covered the entire group. Then everything went black.
In a flash of white light, Rainbow Dash dresses in her Batmare gear came flying out of the sky and landed hard in the concrete street of one of the downtown areas of the Chinatown District on Bleake Island in Gotham. As she stood back on her hooves, she looked around a got a good look at her surroundings. The street was littered with garbage and flipped cars and debris from all of the carnage that had already taken place. She looked back to see if everyone else could see what she was seeing...only to see that everyone else was gone.
“Hello...Twilight...Applejack...ANYPONY”
Receiving no response, Rainbows eyes grew wide and her heart quickened, she couldn’t believe it. This is exactly how it happened the last time. She was alone and her friends were Celestia only knows where and she would have to find them before anything bad happened to them.
“No please...”
The noise drew Rainbow Dash’s attention behind her where just down the road a bit she could see a large group of thugs beating up a cop in the middle of the street.
“This ain’t your city anymore” one thug shouted at the cop.
Not really thinking about what she was going to do, Rainbow Dash charged forward and stopped just shy of the group of thugs.
“Hey why don’t you pick on someone your own size” she shouted.
The thugs all looked up front he cop on the ground and focused their attention on the pony in the bat suit.
“It’s the bat”
“No it ain’t it’s some kinda weird horse in a bat costume”
“Yeah it is, why does it look so familiar”
“Why’s it talking?”
Rainbow Dash stood her ground against the large group and was ready to attack if needed.
“The name’s Batmare and unless you back off that officer, your gonna find out how hard it is to talk without teeth”
Many of the thugs laughed hard at the fact that they were being threatened by a talking pony and started to slowly advance in on her. Dash got into fight mode and waited for one of them to make a move. One of the thugs came charging at her at full speed and she quickly side stepped him and ran at another thug and bucked him hard in the stomach. The thug fell over clutching his stomach in pain as another thug grabbed Dash from behind and another stood in front of her with a steel pipe. The thug readied to swing when Dash bucked the guy holding her hard in the crotch so he let her go just as the thug brought the pipe down on his head, knocking him out. As Dash readied for another attack she didn’t notice one sneak up on her and kick her hard in the ribs. She toppled over holding her ribs as the other thug brought the pipe down on her back. She cried out in pain. Not even five minutes in Gotham and she was already being beaten. The thug with the pipe laughed at her her and held the pipe up again ready to bring it down on her head when something came whizzing our of nowhere hitting the thug isn’t he head and knocking him out.
“It’s the freakin bat”
Rainbow Dash looked up from her spot on the ground to see something land in front of her. Her eyes widened at the familiar sight of Batman standing over her. The thugs all ran at him only for him leap over all of them and they crashed into each other. When they fell down, Batman grabbed one of the thugs from the ground and pulled him to his feet. He quickly began a rapid series of punches to the midsection before punching him in the head with a sickening crunch. The thug fell to the ground as another charged at full speed. Seeing the oncoming thug, Batman prepared another Batarang and threw it at the thug. The combined force of throwing the Batarang and the oncoming thug created a big enough impact to knock the thug out. Another one attempted to punch Batman from behind but he saw the attack coming at deflected it, grabbing the thug by the arm and delivering a back elbow to the head which knocked home out. The last guy came up and made to attack but Batman leapt over his head and pulled out his grapnel gun and fired at the thug. The claw grabbed the hug and pulled him back to Batman who leapt into the air and kicked the guy in the face knocking him out.
All the thugs defeated, Batman made his way over to the officer on the ground, however, he noticed Rainbow Dash lying on the ground along the way looking up at homeboy it wonder in her eyes and a huge smile on her face.
“Ah man that was so cool. Hey thanks for the save Batman you really saved my flank back there”
Batman did not look very happy at all,
“What are you doing here. You shouldn’t have come back. You need to go back to your home and stay there” he said sharply which dropped Rainbows smile. Batman made his way over to the cop and knelt down beside him.
“You’re safe now” he reassured. He reached out a hand and helped the cop back to his feet, “Thanks Batman, I thought they were gonna kill me”
A loud noise caught their attention attention and they turned to see a armored military vehicle come around the corner and was speeding straight towards them. Batman grabbed the cop and quickly grabbed Rainbow Dash and fired his grapnel gun in the air pulling them up to safety just as the vehicle was about to hit them. They landed on top of one of the tall buildings in China Town. Batman put them both down and Rainbow was able to stand up on her hooves again. Her back and ribs still hurt but it was something she could handle.
“The city’s overrun, we don’t stand a chance out there”
Batman walked to the edge of the building and looked down,
“Stay here I’ll send someone to pick you up”
Rainbow walked up and stood next to him,
“Time to stop more bad guys” she said excitedly. Batman glared down at her.
“I told you to go back home. It’s too dangerous here for you. Now this is there last time I’ll say it, go home now” he ordered. Rainbow didn’t really like how he was being so stubborn and cruel at the moment, she was trying to help him and all he was doing was paying her away.
“Well what exactly are you gonna do?” She asked.
“Even the odds”
With that, he leapt off the building and glided straight down to the ground before landing safely. A loud rumble echoed through the night as a large black vehicle resembling a tank raced through the street and screeched to a halt and Batman leapt into the air and landed in the vehicle as it skidded. Rainbow Dash looked at the vehicle with wide eyes and a smile plastered on her face that could mimic the Jokers. She looked on as the vehicle raced on after the armored car.
“I gotta get me one of those”
“So you’re one of those pony tug s that showed up in Arkham City right?”
She turned around and looked at the officer wondering how he could have know that.
“Commissioner Gordon told us about these ponies that showed up and helped Batman take down the Joker”
This caused Rainbow to smile a little bit,
“Yep I’m one of them”
She was about to leap off the building after him,
“Wait, your not seriously going back out there are you?” the officer asked. Dash looked back at him,
“I have to, this city needs help and Batman can’t do it all on his own. I’m gonna help him whether he wants me to or not”
With that she jumped off the roof and flew off after Batman. Her wings flapped harder and she picked up speed as she looked over the streets trying to find where they went. A huge explosion caught her attention and she hurried off in the direction it came from. When she got there she saw the Bat mobile speeding off and she quickly caught up with it. She noticed the other vehicle shooting rockets at the bat mobile but ever time they shot one, it skidded out of the view of the rocket. The bat mobile then shot a rocket of its own the hit the armored car and caused it to flip in the air and come to a stop. Seeing this she flew down to the ground and walked towards the vehicle. Batman was already there and picked up the driver who tried to get away.
“Where’s Scarecrow?” he asked
“Go to hell” the mercenary spat as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out something. He swung it around and tried to do something to Batman but he caught it and flipped the man over so he was on his back on the ground with Batman holding his wrist.
“Talk, or I’ll crush every bone in your body” Batman demanded violently. The mercenary could feel his wrist already starting to bend so he relented,
“Ok ok, he’s working out of a penthouse in China town, I swear that’s all I know” he confessed. Satisfied with information, Batman looked the mercenary in the eye, “If you’re lying, I’ll break the other one” the mercenary didn’t know what that meant, “The other WHAT” he yelled out in pain as Batman bent his wrist making a horrible cracking noise. Even Rainbow Dash felt like that was a little harsh, sure she may have broken a few bones before but never really on purpose.
“He told you what you wanted did you really have to break his wrist?” She asked slightly scared. Batman looked back at her and then turned away,
“I’m done telling you this Dash. Leave Gotham and go back home where it’s safe, you’re out of your league here”
Now she had had enough,
“HEY” she yelled. This caught Batman’s attention and he turned around again, “I’m not going anywhere. Me and everyone else came all this way to try and help you and now I don’t even know where they all are. I’m all alone and I’m trying to help and all you’re doing is sending me away. I’m not as weak as you think I am Bruce, as you saw with those thugs I can fight. Sure maybe not he best but working together we can do anything”
“This isn’t like Arkham City”
“I know but in the last nine months I’ve been working my pony feathers off fighting crime and honing my skills. Now I’m going to find my friends and help this city...and I’ll do it with or without you”
With that Rainbow Dash turned away. She started walking and started to limp a little seeing as her ribs and back still hurt but she was determined to keep going no matter the cost. It wasn’t until she felt a gloved hand on her shoulder that she stopped and saw Batman standing behind her.
“Do you have any idea where your friends are?” he asked. Dash merely shook her head no. Batman then reached out his hand to her, “If their in Gotham we’ll find them, but first we have to deal with Scarecrow”
Rainbow Dash smiled and took the he offered hand. They shook hands and started back towards the bat mobile. Gotham City may be dangerous and crime littered but with the combined efforts of the Batman and Batmare, it was time to start making things right.
(30 minutes earlier)
The Cauldron (Bleake Island)
The void twisted and turned and spun Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadance, all around as they fell before the portal opened and they fell fast towards the ground. Seeing the ground approaching quickly, Twilight and Shining both used their magic to slow their approach before eventually landing on their hooves and Cadance spread her wings and floated softly to the ground. They all looked around at their surroundings and realized that they most certainly were in Gotham. The city was falling apart at the scenes with many windows on buildings broken into and garbage and debris everywhere they looked. A loud rumble caught their attention and they turned just in time to see a car speeding in their direction coming right towards them.
"Look out" Twilight yelled.
They all jumped out of the way just in time as the car zoomed on by and almost hit them. The car came to a screeching stop and four thugs stepped out holding lead pipes and one had a baseball bat. They walked up to the three ponies and snarled at them.
"Well look what we got here boys" one said to the others,
"What the hell are those freaks?"
"Who cares just waste 'em"
With that the thugs charged at them with their weapons ready. The three ponies stood ready for the attack as they got closer and they sprang into action. Twilight used her magic to levitate one of the thugs off the ground as he kicked and screamed from being hoisted into the air. Twilight pulled the thug towards her quickly and connected her hoof with the side of his head, sending him flying backwards before crumbling to the ground unconscious. Another thug took a few swings at Shining Armor but he ducked and dodged them perfectly. His training as Captain of the Royal Guard was really paying off here as he evaded every attack the thug threw at him. After dodging the last attack, Shining spun around and swept the thugs legs out from under him and he fell to the ground before receiving a knockout blow to the face. Cadance, meanwhile, had another thug in a magical grip as they flew into the air. She landed a series of left and rights to the thugs chest before grabbing him out of the magical bubble and slamming him to the ground with a sickening crunch. The sound made her cringe and the actions that she just committed scared her seeing as how she had never done anything this violent before. The last thug just looked between the three ponies with a scared look on his face and clutching his bat close to him. The three looked at each other and smiled before looking back at the thug. He dropped his bat and started running but Twilight and Cadance both flew up as fast as they could before the thug spun around quickly, now holding a gun, and shot Cadance in the side. Cadance cried out in pain and crashed to the ground in a heap and moaning from the pain.
"CADANCE"
Shining Armor had seen the event unfold and ran to his wife as fast as his hooves could go. Twilight stopped mid air and gasped in horror after seeing her sister in law shot down. As she was distracted the thug took advantage and delivered a blow with the butt of the gun to the side of Twilight's head and she fell beside Cadance on the ground. Shining Armor knelt beside his sister and his wife as they both groaned from the pain, Cadance more so considering her injury was far more severe. Blood coated the feathers on her wing as it flowed out from the open wound in her side. Tears streamed down her face as the pain was becoming too much to bare and whenever she tried to move even an inch, the pain intensified. The thug laughed at the ponies and slowly walked over towards them and raising the gun up again.
"Night night you little freaks" he taunted.
Just then the sound of a police siren echoed throughout the street and another car came racing into view. The thug aimed his gun a the approaching police car and fired a few rounds that pierced the hood of the car. The car skidded to a stop and a police officer jumped out before pulling out his own gun and began firing at the thug. The thug ducked behind a dumpster and continued to fire at the cop. The gun battle went on for a few moments before one of the officers shots caught the thug in the shoulder and he fell to the ground howling in pain and clutching his shoulder. The officer went and checked on the thug before turning his attention to the three ponies and walking towards them raising his weapon.
"Don't shoot them"
The voice caught everyone's attention as another man stepped out of the police car. This man was much older than the police officer as he had gray hair and a matching mustache. He wore a white shirt with a black tie and black pants with suspenders, he also wore a blue jacket with 'GCPD' embroidered on the back in white letters. The officer who he spoke to nodded to the man and lowered his gun. The older man walked towards the three ponies on the ground and knelt beside them. Shining Armor had a hard look on his face as he didn't know if this man could be trusted and his horn glowed with magic. The man could see this and held up his hand in defense,
"Whoa hey now there's no need for that, I'm a good guy here"
Shining still didn't know if he could be trusted or no but nonetheless stopped his horn from glowing. The man looked down at Cadance and noticed the bleeding and pulled a cloth out of his pocket and held it to the wound. Cadance winced from the pressure but relaxed after a moment,
"Hold this on that for now"
Shining did as the man said and held the cloth to the wound on Cadance's side. Twilight, still dazed from the hit she took, stood up on wobbly legs and looked the elder man in the eye and smiled. She then stuck out her hoof and the man shook it.
"Thank you so much sir"
"No problem, the names Jim Gordon and I'm the police commissioner here in Gotham. Batman told me about you guys back in Arkham City"
Twilight then remembered who this man was. Back in Arkham City when they were working with Batman he would often keep in contact with Jim Gordon, often updating him on all of the events that were going on in Arkham. She also remembered back in Arkham City when they were communicating with Oracle who was also Jim Gordon's daughter Barbra. Her attention was quickly attracted back to Cadance when she heard her gasp in pain again at the growing pain in her side from the gunshot. Gordon looked back at the pink alicorn as well and inspected the wound. Twilight and Shining Armor looked very scared for Cadance's well being.
"Is she going to be okay?"
"The bullet looks like it penetrated pretty deep into the thigh area. Though I'm not a veterinarian or anything so I don't really know much about your anatomy. Maybe we can take her back to the precinct and someone there can better assess the situation"
Even though they had just saved them, Shining Armor didn't really want to go with these men. This whole entire place was extremely new to him and until he knew more about it and its people he couldn't be sure what to believe or who to trust,
"I don't really think we need your help. I can probably just heal the wound with magic" he said as his horn glowed again. The wound on Cadance also began to glow and looked like it was healing. However, within a moment, Cadance screamed from uncontrollable pain as a blinding light shot back and knocked Shining Armor back a bit. Both he and Twilight looked at each other confused and then back to Cadance in horror noticing that the wound had not healed at all.
“I-I don’t understand how did it not work?” He tried again to get it to work only to have Cadance reach up and place her hoof on his, “Shining please stop, I don’t think magic will work at this moment. Let’s just go with Commissioner Gordon” Shining looked into his wife’s eyes and back at the police commissioner. He didn’t like the idea of going somewhere that he had no idea about especially when it concerns his wife and his sister, but at the moment they had no other choice. So reluctantly he nodded his head and they all turn back to Gordon and nodded.
“Alright we’ll go with you”
“All right but we better leave quickly. Who knows what other kind of scum are out here. Do you think you can walk?”
Cadance winced a little bit but nodded. Twilight and Shining helped her to stand up and followed Gordon back to the police car. He opened the back door for them and they helped Cadance get in first. Shining then jumped in next to his wife and continued to apply pressure to the wound and Twilight jumped in last as the door slammed shut. Gordon and the other officer jumped in the front of the car and sped off.
They drove on for a while before eventually arriving at a large building with giant letters in blue lighting on the front that said ‘Gotham City Police Department.’ The car came to a large armored door that slowly opened allowing them to progress further underground. They finally made it to a parking lot where a lot of other police cars and a few fire trucks sat. They exited the car and Twilight and Shining helped Cadance walk as they followed Gordon and the officer into the precinct. As they walked, they noticed a lot of cells forming almost a maze as they continued on. They eventually walked into a room where there were many other officers sitting at desks working or standing and conversing with one another.
“Welcome back Commissioner, how is it out there?”
“Thanks Cash and it’s pretty bad out there. Thugs running all over Bleake and Miagani Island and we can’t even get to Founders Island at the moment”
When Gordon stepped to the side, Twilight got a good look at the man who he was talking to. She recognized the man as Aaron Cash, one of the men who had helped them back in Arkham City. Cash then looked at the three of them and a smile found its way to his face.
“Well I’ll be damned, Twilight Sparkle. Didn’t expect to see you hear” he said. Twilight smiled back at the hook handed officer and went to stand by him, “It’s good to see you too Cash” she said hugging his leg. Cash patted her head with his good hand and looked back at the other two.
“Now who have we got here?”
“This is my brother Shining Armor and his wife Princess Cadance. Cadance is in serious need of medical attention, is there anything you can do?”
Cash made his way from behind the desk towards the pink alicorn Princess. Shining of course didn’t like the man coming close to his wife and sent him a glare which went ignored. Cash leaned down and inspected the wound closely.
“Looks like a bullet tore through some mussel in the thigh area but luckily it looks like it missed anything vital. The bullets gonna have to be removed and we’re gonna have to sew up the hole”
Cash then motioned for a woman doctor to come over quickly. The woman grabbed a medical kit that she had nearby and ran over to the group. She quickly got to work gathering all of the necessary equipment from the kit. She then looked at Twilight and Shining,
“I’m going to need you two to hold her down a little while I remove the bullet”
Twilight and Shining nodded and both stood on each side of Cadance placing hooves on the poor made effectively holding her in place. The doctor took a long tweezers and placed it in the bullet hole and slowly began to pull the bullet out. Cadance screamed from the pain and her horn glowed and sparked as the pain was almost too much to bear. Granted giving birth to Flurry was more painful than this but it was closely pushing to the second worst pain she’s felt. Both Twilight and Shining had tears forming in their eyes from seeing Cadance in such pain. Before too long the doctor pulled the tweezers out holding a small bullet. The doctor then grabbed a cloth and a bottle of clear liquid and poured the liquid on the wound. Cadance winced slightly as it stung a little but it quickly went away when the doctor patted it down with the cloth and stitched the wound up. She then patched it all up and smiled at the three.
“That should do it. My advice would be to rest and recover and try not to walk around very much or it might tear the stitching”
Twilight and Shining smiled and nodded letting a few tears fall before hugging an also smiling and crying Cadance. Gordon and Cash whom have been watching the scene unfold also smiled. Gordon was the first to speak up,
“I hate to leave you all but I’ve got to get in contact with someone important”
The three ponies were much too happy hugging each other to hear the Commissioner who merely just made his way out of the room to start making his way up to the roof.
30 minutes later
Chinatown (Bleake Island)
After successfully getting all the information they needed out of the mercenary and informing GCPD where to find him and the other officer, Batman looked over the strange substance he had taken from him. The substance was gold in color and had a strange unknown chemical property to it. There was only one person who might be able to find out about it. He brought up a projection of Oracle on his gauntlet,
“Oracle check the chemical analysis I just uploaded”
“Sure...is this what I think it is?”
He nodded,
“Scarecrows new toxin, an uncontaminated sample”
“You’re not kidding. I’ll prepare a full chemical breakdown on the Batcomputer. What are you going to do?”
Just then, a cyan blue Pegasus in a bat suit flew up from behind Batman and looked at the projection. She pulled her hooves up and started punching the air around her,
“We’re going to kick some major butt thats what we’re gonna do” she said enthusiastically. Though you wouldn’t notice because of how he masks his emotions, Batman was sighing with annoyance on the inside. Oracle just chuckled and smiled at the ponies antics.
“Well hello there, I haven’t spoken to any of you since back in Arkham City. What was your name again?”
“Names Rainbow Dash, the most awesomest and totally cool Pegasus in all of Equestria. At the moment, however, you can call me Batmare”
That made Barbra laugh,
“Well alright then. So in all seriousness Bruce what are you going to do?”
“Scarecrow has a penthouse nearby, I’m going to pay him a visit”
“Let’s hope this is the break we’ve been waiting for”
Batman’s turned off the gauntlet communicator and slowly began to make his way back to the Batmobile. Rainbow, meanwhile, zoomed by him so fast he nearly missed her and she started jumping around in excitement all around the car.
“Ohmygosh this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. How fast does it go? Does it have weapons? Can I drive it? Huh huh huh”
Batman couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit himself. He remembered working with Pinkie Pie when they had to find Ra’s Al Ghul in Arkham. He remembered how jumpy and enthusiastic and cheerful she was even then. In this instant, Rainbow Dash was acting a lot like that. When he got to the car, he opened a hatch in the roof and jumped in.
“Follow me. We’re going after Scarecrow”
He then closed the hatch and sped off. Rainbow Dash smiled and took off after him, chasing the Batmobile as it raced throughout the streets. Many criminals noticed the oncoming black tank and jumped out of the way before they get hit. Eventually the car came to a screeching halt and Batman jumped out. He pulled out his grapnel gun and shot it up in the air, pulling him up to the penthouse. Rainbow Dash flew up to the penthouse as well and landed next to Batman. They crept up to the glass ceiling and looked down into the room. It was filled with mercenaries and an isolation chamber where one lone mercenary was inside as well as a green plant lady with red hair that had flowers in it wearing a red top.
“So what’s the deal here Bruce? Who is that” Rainbow Dash whispered to Batman and pointing at the lady. “Her name is Poison Ivy, she used to be a biologist from one of my research facilities in South America before the chemicals and toxins she was working on mutated her body. Now she holds control over the environment as well as mind control. My advice, be careful she is very dangerous” Dash nodded as they both looked back into the room and listened to the mercenaries.
“How long do we keep her in there?”
“Until we get the order to gas her”
“Do your worst, the boredom is killing me” Ivy taunted.
Batman held up three fingers and counted them down to one before he and Dash both burst through the glass ceiling and into the room below.
“It’s the bat and...what the hell is that, some kind of horse?”
“Who cares just kill them”
“You should really review your security” Ivy added.
Within a moment, the mercenaries all ran at the caped crusaders and began the attack. Batman threw down a smoke pellet and both he and Dash were covered in smoke. The mercenaries had no idea where the two vigilantes has gone and wouldn’t know until they started cracking skulls. From out of nowhere, Batman grabbed two of them and cracked their heads together and knocked them out. Dash meanwhile flew from one mercenary to another delivering swift blows to each of them. One mercenary ran over to a weapons box and pulled out an assault rifle. Batman noticed this and quickly grabbed his grapnel gun and shot it at the mercenary effectively pulling the rifle away from him before leaping at him and delivering the knockout blow. There was only one left and Batman grabbed him before throwing him over his head and Rainbow Dash slammed him from out of the air. With the guards taken out they refocused their attention back to the isolation chamber.
“Well that’s made things a bit more interesting,” Ivy said with a smile. An image of Scarecrow appeared on the giant screen in the room as the mercenary grabbed his walkie talkie, “Sir it’s Batman he’s here.” The mercenary then began to unhook the restraints so that Ivy was free from the chair she was in as Scarecrow spoke, “Were you expecting to find me Batman? I’m afraid I must disappoint you. Take a look at the chamber, I want you to know the fear that is coming.”
The mercenary grabbed Ivy and yanked her out of the chair and held a gun to her head as he faced the duo, “Listen up Bat freak and you too you freaky horse. We’re walking out of here nice and slow. You try anything stupid, I’ll blow her brains out.” Ivy merely smiled wickedly, “Charming but only one of us is getting out of this cell.” At that moment fear gas filled the room causing the guard to cough and fire a few rounds from the gun. Hitting the glass wall he turned and aimed at the pair of Bats before lowering it with a look of horror. It was short lived as Ivy grabbed the guard and smashed his head into the glass causing it to crack.
“Nothing like a little natural immunity”
She made her way to another side of the chamber and pushed the release button on the armored door which caused it to open. Thankfully the toxin had cleared so none of it flowed out as Ivy stepped out and stretched. She was finally free. She looked at Batman and then at Rainbow Dash.
“What are you doing here...and what the hell are you supposed to be? Some sort of blue flying rat?” She asked Rainbow Dash. Said Pegasus just snarled at Ivy and gritted her teeth. She already didn’t like her.
“I’m Batmare and don’t you forget it. What are you supposed to be some kind of five foot tall walking salad?”
Ivy glared at Rainbow Dash and she did the same. The two found themselves in a flare off where If looks could kill they would both be dead. After a minute, Ivy chuckled and smiled,
“Oh I like you already”
Batman decided to step between the two seeing as how he was in no mood to waste time.
“Why did Scarecrow lock you up?”
“No hello?”
“Tell me!” Batman demanded quickly losing his patience. Ivy just gave Batman an icy stare looking into his soul, “And what if I don’t want to?” Batman has finally had enough, he wanted answers and he wanted them now. “Then I burn every plant in Gotham” he growled. Rainbow Dash then walked up to Batman’s side and growled as well. “Yeah and my diet consists of plants and flowers, and right now I find myself really hungry.” Ivy found the threat rather dull and not very intimidating at all but she decided to tell them what they wanted.
“It started with the meeting.”
“What meeting?”
“Everyone was there. Two Face, Penguin, Riddler, even poor Harley. Scarecrow said he had a plan. That together we could take you out and Gotham would be ours.”
Ivy’s plants began to grow at an exceedingly quick rate until the vines were longer than many of the roads in Gotham. She kept them back not wanting the detective and his new pet to notice they were there. Another smaller vine wrapped itself around her arm.
“Over my dead body”
“I believe that was the idea. I told him I wasn’t interested in his pathetic human games, and when I came to I was locked up in that cell.”
She made her way to the elevator as the vines continued to snake their way behind her, completely unbeknownst to the hero’s. Batman and Dash continued to follow the red headed plant lady to where she stepped into the elevator.
“It’s such a shame that his vile toxin has no effect on me...nature always wins”
The vines then wrapped themselves around Batman and Rainbow Dash and yanked them high into the air. Rainbow gasped a little as they were wrapped really tight around her. She bit into the vines and tried chewing her way through. She was making progress but she saw Batman grabbed a Bat-a-rang from his utility belt and sliced through the vines holding him. He grabbed Dash and sliced the remainder of the vines holding her before setting her down.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah don’t worry about me. It’s gonna take more than a few plants to stop the fastest flyer in all of Equestria”
“Good, now follow me”
Batman ran and jumped over the side of the building and opened his cape forming a pair of bat wings gliding safely to the ground. Rainbow Dash quickly flew down behind him just as the elevator made it to the ground and Ivy stepped out to see the two of them standing there. She sighed heavily.
“You’re coming with me”
“You only had to ask.”
Batman grabbed Ivy’s arm and was about to lead her to the Batmobile until he was stopped by a low rumbling. Rainbow heard it as well and looked over in the direction it was coming from and noticed something coming their way. Ivy could see it in both of their eyes that something was wrong.
“What’s wrong?”
A large explosion drew their attention to the side as a red and silver tank rolled to a stop as well as an armored car. The tank aimed at them and more mercenaries jumped out of their car and aimed their weapons at them.
“We’ve got the target sir he’s cornered as well as the Pegasus. Don’t move”
“Are you sure it’s him? Scarecrow wants the creatures alive and Batman is mine.”
“Positive”
Rainbow could hear the mechanized voice on the radio. Whoever was leading these guys was clearly looking for Batman and her and her friends as well. Batman grabbed her and Ivy and pulled them behind him.
“Get behind me”
“What are you gonna do?”
“Watch”
He held up his gauntlet and pushed a button. Another loud rumbling could be heard and not a second later was accompanied by loud explosions. After a moment of waiting, Batman gave the all clear and they walked out into the street to see the mercenaries all out cold and their vehicles destroyed. The Batmobile sat there now with a huge cannon and a mini gun equip on the side. Dash’s face lit up even brighter than it had before seeing this. Batman led Ivy to the Batmobile and opened the hatch in the back as the seats emerged and she was strapped in and the seats retracted back into the car. Rainbow looked at Batman excitedly.
“What can I do?”
Batman looked at the masked pony and back at the Batmobile. He sighed to himself and shook his head. He knew he wasn’t going to like what he was about to do.
“I need you to head on in and man the gun. Shoot missiles at the tanks and shoot riot suppressing bullets at thugs”
Rainbow Dash’s mouth hung open wide enough to where it was touching the ground. Was Batman seriously about to let her man the cannon on this thing. Her eyes grew even wider than her head was and her lip quivered as she smiled so huge it might engulf her while face.
“AWESOME”
She leapt into the air and flew in circles excitedly before calming herself down enough to get into the hatch on top of the Batmobile and sit in the chair below. Batman got in another chair in a higher position before driving off at a high speed. They drove off for a bit before arriving at the Panessa Movie Studios where a large group of tanks were dispatched. The Batmobile sprang into battle mode and the cannon and mini gun were ready to use.
“Dash just aim at them with the screen in front of you and fire the 60 millimeter cannon with the left joystick and the riot suppressor with the other”
Dash nodded and looked at the screen before her where she could see the view before her with a targeting system. When a tank came into view she fired the cannon at one. One came into view and she fired. The shot pierced the armor but the tank was still going. She fired again and the tank blew into pieces. She cheered in success before shooting at the remaining tanks. A few of them she had to fire at multiple times and others she aimed good enough to only fire once and they exploded. After a few minutes all of the tanks were destroyed. Rainbow Dash nearly jumped out of her seat as she cheered in victory.
“Nice job Dash”
Rainbow smiled at the compliment from Batman.
“Thanks Batman. So what now?”
“We’re heading to GCPD”
Batman then transformed the Batmobile back to normal and they sped off towards the police department. Within moments they arrived at the front and the armored door opened and allowed them into the parking area. The car came to a halt and Batman jumped out before helping Rainbow Dash out as well. He opened the back and pulled Ivy out.
“Who taught you to drive?”
Rainbow Dash laughed at the comment before shutting up quickly when Batman glared at her. Batman led the pair through the maze of cells, passing by the mercenary they encountered before now with his arm in a sling.
“Scarecrows gonna break you Batman”
“Honestly why do you even bother with these meat sacks?” Ivy asked.
Upon arriving at the center if he building, Gordon was standing at the main desk o the phone. Clearly he was upset as he spoke loudly to whoever was on the other end.
“Civil unrest?! There’s a war on the streets! We don’t have the manpower or the equipment...”
He slammed the phone down in anger and rubbed his face. The stress of this entire thing was starting to become overwhelming. Criminals were running free and no one seemed to want to help them in their time of need. It seemed like they were completely on their own. Cash looked behind Gordon and smiled.
“Well look who it is”
Jim turned around and saw Batman and a small blue Pegasus in a bat suit leading Poison Ivy into the precinct.
“Ivy...well that’s one less thing to worry about”
“Is the isolation chamber ready?” Batman asked.
“Glad your putting it to good use” Cash muttered.
Batman led Ivy to the isolation chamber while Dash stayed behind. Cash looked at her and smiled again.
“Good to see you again Dash. By the way, lovin’ the suit”
“Thanks Cash, it’s good to see you again”
“Same here. You know there are some guys here that would be really glad to see you”
Rainbow tilted her head to the side wondering what he was talking about. Who would be glad to see her? Cash led her to another area of the room where she saw Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadance huddled together. She immediately ran over to them so happy to see them.
“Hey guys”
Twilight, Shining, and Cadance all looked at her and smiled brightly. Twilight jumped to her hooves and hugged her friend tightly. Shining also walked up and hugged her as well.
“Rainbow Dash it’s so good to see you again”
Rainbow broke the hug first and noticed that they both had tears forming in their eyes. She then looked at Cadance and noticed the patch on her side and her face fell.
“What happened here?”
“When we first got here we ran into some thugs. We managed to fight most of them off but Cadance got shot”
Cadance nodded and folded her wing over the patched area. Rainbow Dash trotted over to her and knelt down beside her with a grin look on her face.
“I’m so sorry Cadance. I should have been there to help you guys”
Cadance places a hoof on Rainbows shoulder. Rainbow looked up at the Princess of Love who had a small smile on her face.
“You have nothing to be sorry for Rainbow Dash. There was no way you could have known”
Rainbow Dash smiled back at Cadance and hugged her trying to be as gentle as possible. Cadance hugged her back as well before eventually breaking the hug. Rainbow Dash looked back at Twilight and Shining Armor and then noticed the distinct lack of her other friends.
“Where are the others?”
Twilight and Shining looked at each other quickly and then back at her with confused looks.
“You mean their not with you?”
Rainbow shook her head,
“No I've been helping Batman the whole time and I never saw them”
Great! This was becoming like Arkham City all over again. Once again they were separated from their friends who were Celestia only knows where in this huge crime filled city. Who only knows what could be happening to them right now. Twilight and Shining Armor both sighed and looked down at the ground with their eyes closed. Rainbow Dash walked up to them and placed a hoof on both of their shoulders. They both looked up at her to see a determined look on her face.
“Well if they did make it to Gotham, we’ll find them. Now we’ve got Batman and the entire police force on our side. Those are some powerful allies we have. We’ll find our friends and then we’ll stop Scarecrow. As soon as we do that we’ll be on our way home”
Twilight and Shining looked back and forth between Rainbow to Cadance and each other. After a moment they smiled and nodded. The whole group smiled and hugged each other tight. Rainbow Dash was absolutely right. They did have powerful allies on their side and that would go a long way for them. They were going to find the rest of their friends and end this threat to this world and theirs.
At the moment, they just wish they knew what happened to their friends.
