Another day, another tediously exhausting calculus exam, as the old saying didn't go. Having just finished the tiring academic trial, six of the seven members of the Rainbooms were trudging down the busy school hallways, with the exception of one Twilight Sparkle, who practically skipped along with a rather satisfied expression.

"I'd say that went pretty swell, wouldn't you?" Twilight asked her friends with bright smile, recieving various groans in return.

"Speak for yourself, sugarcube." said Applejack tiredly, "I for one just know I goofed up on number 17. It felt like my brain turned to applesauce." she groaned once more, "I mean, we're doin' math but all I see on the papers are letters! What sadistic maniac added letters to math, that's what I wanna know!"

"Sir Isaac Newton!" Twilight happily answered, ignoring the blasphemous words of her friend.

Applejack only grumbled, "Stupid clever Newton! With his wig, a-and his fancy gravity..."

Her words brought some levity to the group, all of them letting out a good few chuckles. Even Applejack couldn't help but snort.

"I'm with ya on that, sister." Rainbow Dash added in, looking overall done with the day in general, "The average school day is already boring enough on its own, there's no need to throw in calculus into the mix." she let out a longing sigh, "What I wouldn't give for some good action.."

"Aww, don't be so glum, Dashie!" Pinkie, as always, attempted to cheer up her friend, suddenly placing her arms around Rainbow Dash, "The day's not over yet and I for one think it's about to get pretty interesting!"

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow Dash challenged, "How'd you figure?"

Pinkie shrugged, still smiling brightly, "Just a feeling! I have a hunch that any second now, our lives are gonna change foreve-"

"Excuse me, girls?" the familiar cool and authoritarian voice of their vice-principal was heard behind them, resulting in each and every one of the Rainbooms turning about. There stood Luna Solaris, looking professional as ever with a clipboard in hand. The woman's blue eyes looked the group over, as if counting them.

Seemingly satisfied, she said, "Perfect, you're all here." she gestured to the path behind her, "I need all of you to come with me to the principal's office."

"Principal's office?" Twilight repeated, her and the others looking both surprised and troubled.

"We're not in any trouble, I hope?" asked Rarity with a worried frown.

Before they could get an answer, Rainbow Dash exclaimed in a surprisingly defensive tone, "That armadillo was in the Art room before I got there, I swear!" she pointed an accusing finger at the vice-principal, mistaking the purpose of the woman's appearance, "You have no evidence!"

Luna blinked, "... Miss Dash, what are you-"

She was interrupted as the athletic girl seemed to panic slightly, as her magneta eyes darted about worriedly, "I was framed! Wait! No, I-I'm young and impressionable! Uh, video games made me do it! It's society's fau-"

"Miss Dash!" Luna repeated, her tone still even, yet somehow more commanding this time as it easily silenced every student within a fifty feet radius. Now having caught their attention, "None of you are in any sort of trouble, quite the opposite. I simply need you all to accompany me." her blue eyes then hardened as she focused on Rainbow Dash, "But we will be having a little chat about that armadillo later, Miss Dash."

Said girl gulped audibly, her friends looking on in amusement before they all began walking off to follow behind their vice-principal. As they trudged down the rather desolent hallways of their school, with the exception of Pinkie Pie who skipped about as usual, the Rainbooms were all mostly silent, each of them contemplating why they could possibly all have been summoned to Celestia's office out of the blue.

Within a short while they were all standing infront of the door to the principal's office. Luna raised her hand and first knocked politely thrice before she opened the door, her body obscuring the Rainbooms' view of the inside. The vice-principal called into the office, "I've brought them all, Tia."

"Ah, perfect!" the familiar, warm melodious voice of principal Celestia responded, "Please send them in."

With that invitation, Luna turned towards the group of kids and nudged her head to gesture for them to follow her as she stepped inside. Sharing one last curious and slightly concerned look among them, the girls did as they were bid and trudged into the office without protest.

"Good day, girls." Celestia greeted them warmly from her office desk, as always. They were just about to greet their principal back, once they noticed that the chair intended for visitors was, in fact, occupied, by a complete stranger, no less. He turned his head in their direction and let out a pleased noise.

"These must be the 'Rainbooms' I've heard so much about." he said lightly as he rose up from his chair, allowing the girls the girls to get a better look at him.

The man as certainly tall, probably standing at the same height as Celestia herself, broad-shouldered and dressed in a sleek and expensive-looking black suit and tie which caught the impressed eyes of Rarity right away. He had a confident, yet non-chalant air about him. His features were aristocratic and he had neatly kept designer stubble in the same shade of graying dark as his slicked back hair. Stormy blue were his eyes which were currently observing the girls with an unreadable gaze.

"Let's see," he started surveying them all, "It's Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity Belle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy Breeze, Pinkamina Pie and Jacklyn Smi- Sorry," he apologized with something of an amused smile, seeing the farm girl's cross look, "I suppose you prefer to go by 'Applejack', correct?"

Said girl nodded cautiosly, both her and her friends already starting to have questions bubbling within as to just who this man was and how he knew their names. Sunset most of all felt immediatly cautious, eyeing the stranger with suspiscion.

"Indeed." Celestia answered him, not knowing of her students thoughts, before turning towards the band of girls whilst Luna walked up beside her, "Kids, this is man is Bruce Wayne."

"... Who?" Rainbow Dash asked after a bit of silence, her and about half of her friens looking rather confused, not recognizing the name.

Rarity, on the other hand, let out a gasp that was both startled and awed, a hand flying to her chest, "B-Bruce Wayne..." she stuttered out, her gaze filled with a new sense of admiration as her keen eyes looked upon the stranger in a new light, assaulted by memories of the name appearing in many of her favourite magazines, "As in the reclusive Gotham City billionaire? That Bruce Wayne?"

A small smile appeared on his face, as if he was used to this sort of reaction, "Unless there are any others out there, then yes."

It was an understatement to say that the girls were all shocked, each of them looking at the man with varying levels of shock and awe. With the exception of Pinkie, who leaned over towards Rainbow Dash with a somewhat smug smile and whispered excitedly, "See, I told you today would be interesting!"

"Y-You're the CEO of Wayne Enterprises..." Fluttershy chimed in with her usual quiet tone.

The man was surprised, but pleasantly so as he turned his gaze to Fluttershy, "You know of my company." It was more of a statement than a question.

Fluttershy blushed at being adressed, espescially by a man of such renown and power as the one before her, but nodded all the same "Mhm." avoiding eye contact with the man, she still smiled as she quietly told him, "I, um, I-I really admire the donations you've made to animal- and enviromental protection, sir."

Mr Wayne took the girl's timid behaviour in stride, simply smiling kindly at her, "I'm glad to hear it."

Twilight, who now realized that this man was, in fact, the Bruce Wayne, adjusted her glasses as she looked at the billionaire in what was clearly amazement and no small sense of admiration, "W-Wow..." she stuttered in wonder, before deciding that she needed to do something more.

The girl thrust out her hand for the man to shake and spoke, though it came out a tad higher than her usual tone of voice, "I-It's an honor, Mr Wayne! I just wanna say that your company's research in developing cold fusion is nothing short of inspiring!"

She could her some of her friends snickering quietly behind her, and Twilight was self-consciouss enough to know that she had entered another one of her nerd-moments. But it didn't matter as she felt as if she were on Cloud 9 once she was given that suave smile and Bruce Wayne took her hand and shook it firmly, "Please, the pleasure is mine, miss Sparkle." he let go of her hand, "And I'll be sure to tell our scientists that their efforts are appreciated."

"So, what brings ya to our neck of the woods, sir?" Applejack then asked, a polite smile on her face, "Canterlot's quite a bit off from your home turf."

The man simply gave her a somewhat mysterious smile, not exactly answering. It was instead Celestia who spoke up, looking at the girls with an excited smile as she gestured to him, "You see, girls, Mr Wayne has flown here all the way from Gotham City to speak with you about an exciting career opportunity."

Now that got the Rainbooms' attention, all of them looking amongst themselves with curious and questioning eyes. What could one of the richest and most reclusive men in the world want to offer them? It was Sunset who dared to speak up, raising a brow and crossing her arms, "Opportunity?"

Both of the sisters simply smiled, the younger of the two gesturing towards the only male in the room, "Perhaps you should explain it, Mr Wayne?"

"Yes, thank you, Luna." his tone was grateful whilst he gave her an admittedly charming smile, "And please, it's Bruce."

The Rainbooms didn't really know how to feel about seeing their usual no-nonsense vice-principal blush like one of the school girls she usually sent to detention. Celestia seemed to be loving it, a hand flying to her mouth to undoubtedly hide away a snicker. But not to much though was dwelt upon it, for Mr Wayne quite easily stole their attention once he turned his gaze toward them.

"Ever since it was first founded by my ancestor Solomon Wayne in the 19th century, Wayne Enterprises has always strived towards making a brighter and more stable future for not only the people of Gotham, but of Earth." The man simply eminated power, experience and confidence as he spoke. Even the more silly and easily disctracted members of the group remained quiet and listened attentively.

"But it's only recently crossed our minds that, in order to have a greater chance at achieving that goal, we need the help and contact of the ones who are our planets future," he gestured a hand towards them all, "The youth."

Rainbow Dash blinked, "... Yeah, I don't follow." It took a sharp elbow in her side from Rarity to remember just who she was talking to, thus she hastily added on, "Uh, sir!"

A bit of air was blown out of Mr Wayne's nose, his lips tilting upwards slightly, "It's quite simple, Miss Dash." when he looked them all over his eyes were unreadable, though a small smile remained on his lips, "I'm here today to offer you all internships at my company."

"Internships?" Twilight asked hopefully, "Y-You mean at Wayne Enterprises?"

"Well," he answered, raising a wry brow, "Certainly not at Lexcorp."

A tiny, delighted squeal escaped Twilight, her face lighting up as if christmas had come early.

But while her friends certainly found enjoyment in watching Twilight geek-out, their reactions were far more subdued, even somewhat sceptic.

"Um, Mr Wayne?" asked Sunset, quickly gaining his attention. She cleared her throat, not wanting to sound impolite, "Not that we aren't grateful for this opportunity, really! But... Why did you choose the seven of us?" Perhaps she was being paranoid, but something about this just didn't feel right to her.

The man shrugged, "There's not much to tell, really. We simply reach out to a few schools in each state, chosen at random, of course, look through promising candidates for what we had in mind, and choose a few from these respective schools."

He gestured towards Celestia's desk, where several different report cards and other such papers regarding them was scattered about, "Both your principal and vice-principal has assured me that you are all performing exceptionaly in school, that you show a drive and purpose which we want all of our workers to have and..."

It was hard for the girls to tell just what sort of look Mr Wayne sent them, neither his face or his eyes giving anything away. Was it admiration? Suspiscion? Indifference? None of them could tell as he continued. "They've told me that you are all kind and look out for your fellow students." At last, a small smile appeared on his lips, "Sadly, that's a rare quality in the typical high schooler."

Naturally, the Rainbooms couldn't help but beam at the compliment, delivered by a man such as Bruce Wayne, no less. For all of them felt pride in their hearts at what their bonds had managed to accomplish during their time as friends. The people they had protected, the lives they had changed, all of it resulted in a sort of warm, fuzzy feeling inside of them at their efforts being acknowledged. Even though Mr Wayne didn't have all of the details, his words were welcome nonetheless.

"Girls," said Celestia, easily catching their attention, "Though I'll never say that you can't say no, I hope you all realize that this is not an opportunity you are likely to ever get again. Accepting Mr Wayne's offer can help tremendously with your future after high school."

"Oh, absolutely." Luna concurred, "It'll be an amazing way for you all to get proper experience. Also, having an internship at Wayne Enterprises of all places on your CVs will be a major boon for your future college and job applications."

And though Twilight was practically vibrating on the spot at this point, her excitement over the prospect barely restrained, the other girls were not so sure. For while the benefits of such an internship was undeniable, a lot of the girls just didn't feel like this sort of thing was for them, most notably Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who had radically different careers in mind after High School than what an internship at a company like Wayne Enterprises could prepare them for.

Then again, those of them who were doubting couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. Here this man had taken time out of a no doubt busy schedule just to offer them this opportunity in person, selecting them just because he had been impressed by their High School achievements. The fact that it was clear as day that Celestia and Luna thought that they should all accept didn't exactly help.

They were all shaken out of their thoughts by Mr Wayne, who turned to the other two adults there, "Celestia, Luna, would you two mind terribly if I had some time alone with your students to discuss further benefits?"

None of the sisters had any objections, both simply shruggin with Celestia saying, "Not at all." before they both rather swiftly moved to exit the room, Wayne giving them both an appreciative nod. Sending their seven students two last encouraging looks, Luna closed the door behind her once both her and Celestia were out, leaving the Rainbooms alone with the Gotham billionaire.

For a moment, all was strangely quiet in the office. Bruce Wayne simply stood there, unmoving and unreadable as he gazed upon the students. It was rather unnerving, if the girls were honest, most of them finding it hard to keep eye-contact with the rather intense look the man was now suddenly giving them.

None of the girls knew how this was supposed to work, even Twilight was stumped. Should they talk first? Should he talk first? The seconds ticked away in a tense silence, until finally Applejack cleared her throat, wanting to get her point across to the billionaire as quickly as possible.

"Look, Mr Wayne, sir," Applejack started with an un-even smile, trying to say it as nicely as she could, "Now I don't know 'bout my friends, but I don't think this internship-business is my-"

"I know you all have abilities." he interrupted her suddenly, not only adressing her but all of the girls in the room, "I just don't know where they came from."

All of the Rainbooms looked up sharply at that, staring at the man as if he had turned into an elephant. They also noticed that Mr Wayne seemed... different. The charismatic, nonchalance the billionaire had put on display earlier was practically gone, and in its place there was now a very serious and very business-like demeanour.

And as if the sudden shift wasn't rattling enough, his mentioning of abilities was enough to set all of the girls on edge, each one of them visibly tensing up. Sunset's fingers were twitching at her sides, a plan already forming in her mind as her green eyes remained fixed upon Mr Wayne.

They all realized, of course, that their sudden silence didn't do them any favours, and instead attempted to play of the man's words with a few dismissive chuckles.

"Wh-What?" Rarity mentally cursed the fact that she couldn't keep the slight stutter out of her voice, "I'm afraid I don't understand, Mr Wayne."

"'Abilities'?" Twilight echoed the word, her earlier excitement now gone and in its place there was caution, "I-Is this part of an interview for the internship or something? I don't follow."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed, though everyone there who knew her could tell that there was an underlying unease in her tone, "I-I mean, I know I'm pretty awesome at sports but I don't really know if you could call that an 'ability', that makes it sound like superpowers or somethin'. I mean, that'd be crazy!"

Recieving many somewhat discreet looks of incredulity from her friends, Rainbow Dash mentally kicked herself once what she had said truly registered in her head. It was clear from his expression that the Gothamite didn't believe a word she said, making the girls worry all the more.

All the while this had happened, Sunset had slowly but surely moved herself closer to Mr Wayne, hand raised slightly as she prepared to get some answers. Reckless might be a good way to describe her actions, but Sunset refused to take any risks, not when her friends and their magic was possible conscerned.

While her movements had gone mostly unnoticed by her friends until she stood very close to the man, Sunset held no illusion that Mr Wayne hadn't noticed her approach since she first started moving. The way his blue eyes simply met hers without a trace of fear of questioning was all the evidence she needed.

Sunset didn't see, but she could tell that her friends were looking concerned behind her, probably guessing what their interdimensional friend was hoping to do. But it was too late to back down now. She needed answers.

"Mr Wayne," she started, attempting to sound as innocent as possible as her hand moved to touch him. She could how his fingers only tweaked slightly while his steely eyes remained fixed upon her. Deciding to go through with it, she placed her hand on the man's arm, "Why do you think tha-"

That was all she said before a flash of white assaulted her vision and the magic she possessed flowed between the two individuals.

It was then Sunset saw the truth.

She saw a little boy, no older than eight years of age standing infront of a pair of tombststones.

She saw images of a dark city, a bright signal of a bat lighting up the black night sky.

She saw a mansion in flames as haunting and maniacal laughter echoed out into the night.

She saw rays of pure heat penetrate a skyscraper among a ruined Metropolis.

She saw a great, black shape, not unlike a vampire moving through the shadows, descending like a monster upon a group of armed thugs.

She saw HIM, the infamous Bat of Gotham she had only ever read about, standing over a heap of beaten and bloodied crooks, pupiless eyes glowing through the darkness.

From this creature she heard the voice of Mr Wayne, but distorted, dark, and un-earthly,

"I'm vengeance."

This was all she could take before she removed her hand as if it had been burned, flinching backwards and almost tripping as her eyers, now alit with pure shock and no small amount of fear, never left the man who had come to their school in search of her, in search of her friends.

Speaking of, the other six girls wasted no time in hurrying to her side, each and every one of them asking if she was alright. However, Sunset did not register their words as she could only stare at Mr Wayne, a look of fear on her face as her mouth moved up and down without making a sound, shocked to the core at what her magic had just let her witness.

Of course, Mr Wayne himself had not seen any of that Sunset had seen. To him, this girl had simply touched him before going into shock. Therefore, he now appeared to be genuinley concerned, though there was also a small glint of suspiscion in his look as he asked, "Are you alright there, kid? Do you need to sit down?"

She met his gaze head-on, still trying to figure out just how she should handle this sudden revelation. After a good few rapid breaths and one audible gulp for her suddenly very dry mouth, she at last managed to force out a very simple, yet very important question:

"You're the Batman?"

A silence settled in the office, all other occupants looking at Sunset with incredulous expressions while she herself kept staring up at the Gothamite. That silence was not to last, though, as shortly thereafter the other six members of the Rainbooms began to let out everything from quiet snickers to full on laughter at the idea.

"C'mon, Sun-shim!" Rainbow Dash scoffed, snickering alongside Applejack, "You mean to tell me that Batman, as in, the dark knight, vengeful vigilante of Gotham City, is that guy?" she gestured a rather offending hand to said man, but shortly thereafter she let out a nervous chuckle, "Uh, no offence, Mr Wayne."

"Yeah, that's pretty out there, Sunny!" Pinkie Pie chimed in with a bright smile, "Just look! Batman clearly wears a flowing cape whereas Mr Wayne's in a snazzy suit! There's just no way!"

All of them now turned towards the man with expectant smiles and lingering laugs, waiting for him to break into laughter at the silly notion of him being the infamous Batman as well.

Their laughter quickly died once they saw that Mr Wayne wasn't laughing. No, if anything, he looked even more serious and more stoic than he did before. The concern vanished, instead replaced with an analytical suspiscion as he consciously made some distance between himself and Sunset, staring at her long and hard as his lips settled into a thin line.

"... I take it fire's not all you can do."

There was a quiet, yet still audible sharp intake of breath from six of the girls at the man's words. They weren't accusing in tone, rather, it sounded more as if Mr Wayne was simply stating a fact. But of course, he was NOT supposed to know that! Having heard such a telling phrase was a devastating blow to the girls' sense of security, an unease starting to settle.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sunset herself lied without missing a beat, her tone and expression both remarkably controlled while she was screaming on the inside. Internally, she begged to whatever deities that were out there that this was all just a huge misunderstanding.

No such luck, as the man raised a brow, "Of course not." He then reached into his coat, only to pull out a tablet of all things, quickly typing in a few things before tilting the screen around so the girls could all see. As the tablet played a video of when Sunset had used her powers to help out a few homeless people from a while back, the seven girls all felt pits growing in their stomachs. It looked like Mr Wayne unfortunatley had more on them than what they had first thought.

"I take it that this isn't you, then?" he asked dryly, having seen the way they all froze up at the video and quickly putting the dots together, "A twin sister, perhaps? Maybe a clone? "

The eyes of the other six Rainbooms were darting in-between their friend and the Gothamite, worried and anxious at how quickly this situation was escalating out of their control.

"... I don't see what you mean." Sunset managed to say after a while, her desperation enough to fuel her decieving front as she attempted to dismiss the footage, "There was a freak fire when I happened to walk by, most likely because of some misplaced scraps of kerosene or anything else that's flammable." she leveled her stare at the man, refusing to give in, "I would hardly call that proof."

Mr Wayne shrugged, his sharp eyes feeling as if they were looking into the girls' very souls, "Perhaps not." he said, but not before swiping the screen with his finger, thus putting six other videos up on the screen, all of them showing the other six girls in the room using their magic, "But given all of this I wouldn't find it all that surprising."

The girls were silent, fear starting to course through them.

"B-But how...?" Twilight couldn't help but mutter as she helplessly observed the footage. Despite knowing that she had better remain silent, her scientific mind was trying to wrap itself around what she had just learned, "I-I thought that I..." she consciously trailed off, knowing that if she said anything else she could only end up digging a deeper hole than the one they were currently in.

But her behaviour had not escaped the eyes of Mr Wayne, who now turned to her with that same, unreadable look, "Going by your look I take it you were the one trying to cover yours and your friends' tracks then, Miss Sparkle?"

Twilight looked down, not wanting to meet the man's eyes, affraid that she would only cause more trouble if she did. She could only listen as he gave her what actually sounded like genuine praise, "It was an an admirable effort to protect you and your friends, and you did a well enough job." there was a pause, "But I'm afraid that your skills fell just a bit short."

Wow, that felt like a stab to Twilight's heart. Had her poor efforts been the reason they had been discovered? Had she not been good enough to protect her friends? As these agonzing questions echoed in her mind, there was still one thing which prevented the girl from breaking down right then and there.

"Wait..." she started, her mind taking over as she ignored the sting of emotional pain and instead focused on a few details she had picked up during Sunset's previous talk with Mr Wayne. She let out a startled gasp, a fearful look much like the one Sunset had had earlier appearing on her face. Twilight stared up at the man who had turned around their entire world in such a short amount of time.

"B-But then..." she muttered, the revelation feeling as if it was too much for even her to handle, "If you're acting like this, then..."

Her words were a spark that lit the fires of deduction within the minds of her friends, as shortly thereafter they all began putting the dots together as well. A good amount of shocked gasps escaped them as the truth behind their visitor became all the clearer in their minds. Rarity almost fainted on the spot.

"So you're really...?" Rainbow Dash tried to ask, but the words died on her tounge. She couldn't help but feel a strange mix of awe and fear within her as the truth unraveled before both her and her friends.

"Y-Y-You're Batman!?" Fluttershy at last stammered out, practically shaking where she stood as her large eyes became alit with fright as she quickly hid behind Applejack. The cowgirl herself felt just as shocked as all the others, nearly all of the Rainbooms now gaping like fishes at the Gothamite, who remained stoic and staring at Sunset who met the stare head-on.

"He is." Sunset affirmed gravely as Mr Wayne simply remained silent, "I saw it." Her stare evolved into a downright glare, as she moved to stand protectively infront of her six friends.

If any of the girls still had doubts, they were immediatly crushed as soon as Sunset had said those words. After all, they had all had their own experience with Sunset's touchy-memory powers (Pinkie's name for it) before.

"W-Woah..." Rainbow Dash stammered out, her general admiration of all things Superhero taking over the more rational thoughts of fear and unease. She couldn't help but chuckle, "Gotta say, this isn't how I imagined I'd be meeting the freakin' Batman for the first time!"

Despite the situation, Applejack raised a brow at her and dryly asked, "You seriously put a lot o' thought on how you'd be meetin' Batman?"

Rainbow Dash avoided looking her friend in the eyes, "... Maybe."

"What do you want then!?" Sunset suddenly snapped angrily at Mr Wayne, the man's stoic silence only putting her more on edge. Her gaze was agressive and demanding, "You know we have powers and yet the government aren't here to interrogate us or to try to disect us in one of your labs yet. What gives?"

Some might call her crazy for speaking like that to a man she now knew was the same caped crusader who had alledgedly been able to fight alonside the likes of Superman. Her friends certainly seemed to think so, given the frightened and disbelieving gasps she heard from behind her. But Sunset didn't care at this point. The cards were on the table and she was getting answers!

Mr Wayne did not seem fazed by her attitude. If anything, some of the girls thought he almost looked approvingly at her, but that might've just been a trick of the light. Still quiet, he pocketed the tablet, before letting out a small sigh as he faced the girls once more.

"I take it you all remember Superman?" he asked them rhetorically, already knowing the answer. His eyes seemed almost haunted as the memories of that day came flashing by in his head, "He died fighting next to me, all because of a mad man who wanted to exploit his power and ruin him."

The Rainbooms couldn't help but flinch slightly at the reminder of the demise of the Man of Steel. It brought a whole new sense of reality and seriousness to the situation, knowing that the man before them had actually fought alongside the hero each of them had looked up to in their own way.

"When you say 'mad man', are you possibly referring to Lex Luthor?" asked Rarity.

Mr Wayne nodded gravely, "I've seen Luthor play with people like you as if they were pieces on a game board."

Fluttershy blinked, "People like us?"

"Metahumans." he elaborated, "Enhanced, Supers, people with, shall we say, special abilities. Call them what you will, but the fact is that not all people out there are a fan of them. I presume that is why you've all been so adamant in your denial and why you, miss Sparkle, worked so hard to cover your tracks."

Unlike the outrage or admonishment the girls might've expected, Mr Wayne instead gave them an approving nod, "That's good. It means you're not stupid."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sunset demanded, crossing her arms.

Mr Wayne let out a small sigh, spending just a small moment in silence as his thoughts wandered. Once he spoke, his voice was distant and remorseful, "When mankind was first introduced to the Superman two years ago, in spite of all the good he did, it caused all sorts of panic among Earth's people. For all those who admired and looked up to him, a great deal feared and despised him."

None of the girls knew why, but the man now looked guilty, "People wanted to use him, destroy him, and everything in-between." he seemed to shake himself out of it as he focused his hard gaze on them once more, pointing a finger at them, "And that, in turn, has driven all of you to hide away your gifts. For if the world discovered what you could do, Luthor and all other maniacs like him would waste no time in tracking you down to find ways to use you for their own purposes."

It was not a pleasant truth, but it was a truth nonetheless. Unease and anxiousness was felt all throughout the girls, as if Mr Wayne had made them confront a fact they had wanted to pretend wasn't there for so very long.

"Wait." said Pinkie Pie, suddenly scratching her head whilst her big blue eyes looked genuinley confused, "You mean people with superpowers can't just appear and people will automatically accept it?"

Mr Wayne shook his head, looking almost pitying at the display of naïveté, "I'm afraid not."

Pinkie let out a hurt and outraged gasp, "The MCU lied to me!"

"In any case," he continued, deciding to ignore that random outburst, "I didn't come here today to simply offer you all internships."

"Obviously." Sunset muttered crossly. Mr Wayne sent her a hard, but earnest look.

"Instead," he said, "I'm here because I want to help you all to protect not only yourselves, but those around you."

The girls were confused. "Uh, what's that mean?" a bewildered Applejack asked, rubbing the back of her head.

Silence reigned for just a moment, Mr Wayne looking contemplative of how he should best phrase his thoughts. Eventually, he seemed to settle for a rather short and very simple, "You all seem like good kids."

Now that took the girls by surprise, none of them being able to hinder a brief look of disbelief from appearing on their faces. They could only listen as the man continued, gesturing towards them and speaking in a matter-of-fact sort of voice,

"You're earnest, you work hard, you look out for eachother and those around you. And given what I've seen on that footage it seems that you want to help others. If your abilities had been in the hands of someone else, I assure you that not everyone would be so eager to help a run-over cyclist or to save a poor little boy from being hit by a car."

He shook his head, his lips twitching upwards ever so slightly as he looked over them, "No, you have all these powers, gifts even I myself don't understand yet, and you haven't abused them, no matter how easy it would have been." the lighter air disappeared, replaced by that same stoic expression from earlier, "Now, if you had, I assure you that this would have been a very different talk."

Once more, the seven girls couldn't hold back from reacting to the pure intensity that the man had displayed, some of them drawing sharp intakes of breath while Fluttershy audibly gulped.

Mr Wayne continued, approaching them only slightly with purpose in his steps, a true conviction in his voice as he spoke to them, "The point is, I ask of you all to let me help you harnest those abilities. With my guidance, with the resources I can provide, you can master those powers, push them to the limit," he gave them what might've been his first genuine smile since they met, "And maybe save a few people along the way."

Ignoring the fact that this was infact Batman smiling at them, the girls couldn't help but feel stunned by this sudden offer from the billionaire. When he revealed that he had known of their powers, the girls' first thoughts had mostly been that he was there to blackmail them or something equally despicable. They had most certainly not expected for Mr Wayne to offer his help.

"What's the catch?" Sunset asked, still sceptic over this whole development, even somehow moreso now. It just didn't make sense to her, "What do you get out of helping us?"

"... I suppose it would ease my conscience." he admitted after a beat of silence. It was certainly an unexpected answer, catching the girls off-guard given how utterly guilty Mr Wayne seemed in his confession. Not only that, the way he man suddenly looked tired and defeated made it look like he had aged ten years in a second. "I failed Superman, girls..."

They could only stare at his confession, not exactly knowing how to feel about it. But not too much thought was put into it, as Mr Wayne seemed to discard whatever guilt he may have carried, and instead settled a look upon them that spoke of conviction and, surprisingly enough, honesty.

"I won't fail you." he said it in a way that was similar to making a sacred promise, not only to them, but to himself, "All I ask is that you give me a chance to prove that I only want to help you."

The Rainbooms remained quiet, exchanging looks between them as if to ask; 'Should we?'

For while some of them were certainly more inclined to accept his offer while others were hellbent on declining, it was undeniably a huge descision, the outcome of which could perhaps change their entire lives.

On one hand, ith Mr Wayne's help, they could be free of restrictions, get to learn more of their geodes and abilities than they had ever before. But on the other hand, could they honestly trust their stranger with such knowledge that they had worked so hard to keep a secret?

It was quite the conundrum.

"Can we..." Twilight gathered her courage and broke the silence, avoiding looking Mr Wayne directly in the eyes while she twiddled her fingers nervously, "Can we have some time? Y'know, t-to think it all over?"

Sunset nearly scoffed bitterly at her friend's naive words. Of couse he wouldn't give them time! The guy had intel on them, he had footage of their abilities, real evidence! And with his power and influence he could have them ousted to the government or Celestia knows what at the snap of his fingers! He could probably-

"Of course." Mr Wayne answered easily, not looking deterred in the slightest. In fact, it might just've been a trick of the light, but some of the girls thought that the man looked almost relieved for a split second.

Sunset herself did a double-take, looking at the man as if he had grown a second head. Before she could lay more thought on it, though, seven different notification signals from seven different phones went off at once.

The girls all hesitated, not sure they should look at whatever notification they had gotten at this moment. They were surprised when Mr Wayne instead looked at them expectantly, and it took just a moment before they realized that he wanted them to look.

Still somewhat baffled and cautious, they all reached into their pockets and pulled out their phones, seeing that they had all gotten a text from an unknown number. They looked up at Mr Wayne, eyes pleading for an explanation.

"Three days." he said, his tone grave and serious, "If you all accept, just message that number and I will give you further details. If you don't want anything to do with this or me, then you simply ignore the number and I'll be out of your hair for good."

All the girls looked shocked, not having anticipated that part of the offer.

"Seriously?" Sunset asked, her face mirroring the scepticism in her voice. This man, Batman, had knowledge of all of their powers, expressed interest in them and was giving them a choice? No, it sounded too good to her, and she of all people should know. During her darker days as a high school bully she had become somewhat of an expert in the art of blackmailing, not that it was a skill she was particularly proud of possessing these days.

"Seriously." Mr Wayne nodded, sounding completely genuine in his response, "Believe what you will, girls, but I am not here to force this upon you." For a brief moment he looked down, his expression looked pained, sorrow and guilt glinting in his usually hardened eyes, "No, there's been enough compulsion, enough manipulation."

He looked back up at the girls, the brief hint of anguish gone. In its place there was now a resolve, a sense of duty in his old and worn eyes, "If I took away your element of choice then I would be no different from Luthor."

"That's... mighty decent of ya, Mr Wayne." Applejack said after a beat of silence, her tone and expression both genuinley appreciative but unsure at the same time. Her bright green eyes, usually capable of deceit coming a mile away, were looking over his face, searching for even the slightest hint of dishonesty. A twitch, a gulp, rapid eye movements, anything.

But, of course, leave it to the Batman to be basically unreadable. His face remained unchanged, simply shrugging as he responed somewhat cryptically, "I just want to do this right."

None of the girls were sure how to respond, looking unsure among themselves, all except for one. No, Sunset's green eyes were still alit with suspiscion and scepticism, staring at Mr Wayne as if he would throw one of his infamous 'Batarangs' at her friends at any second. Either the man didn't notice or he simply didn't care, continuing on.

"And also," in a sudden shift, the whole presensce of the man before them changed completely. His soul-piercing eyes hardened, a scowl formed on his face and when he spoke, his voice was deep and unsettling, "I hope you all understand that none of you can, under ANY circumstances, reveal what you have learned about me to anyone. Am I clear?"

The girls all leaned back at the pure intensity that was suddenly eminating from the man. Even Sunset couldn't help but flinch while Fluttershy let out an audible whimper. After all their battles against evil and corrupting Equestrian magic, nothing quite compared to the glare they were currently on the recieving end of. Yes, it was at this moment the Rainbooms truly understood that this wasn't Bruce Wayne talking.

This was the Batman.

"Crystal!" Rainbow Dash answered for the group, though it came out more as a high-pitched squeak. The man stared at them all long and hard for what felt like the longest and most horribly tense seconds of the girls' lives. All of them let out collective breaths they didn't know they had been holding once he at last gave them a terse nod.

No less than a second afterwards, the office door opened and Celestia and Luna both took a peak inside. An apologetic smile on their faces, they both stepped inside, "We're not interrupting anything, I hope." said Celestia.

"Not at all." Mr Wayne responded easily, doing a complete one-eighty as that charming smile and easy air returned in the blink of an eye, "In fact, we were just done."

He turned back towards the girls, still wearing that suave smile. Only now they knew it was little more than a mask, for they had seen the man's true face. When he spoke his words were consciderate, sounding like a teacher lecturing their students about future college applications, "Remember: Three days. Take your time and think things through. This is no small decision. I will expect commitment, so only say yes if you are absolutely sure."

The girls looked between themselves, still shocked about the whole situation, but also unsure. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Mr Wayne wasn't simply referring to the alledged offer of internships.

Not bothered by their silence, Mr Wayne simply reached out and grabbed his coat which had been hung up on his chair, "With that said, I think it's time I take my leave." He turned towards the two sisters and shook their hands professionally, "Thank you for your time, Celestia, Luna."

After both principal and vice-principal alike had exchanged pleasantries, the man then went for the door. But just as his hand was about to touch the doorknob, he turned about and leveled the seven girls with his sharp gaze.

"And girls," He said, looking serious while his tone was surprisingly genuine "I will respect your wishes."

They all remained silent, none of them really knowing how to respond to his words. For as much as some of them might've wanted to believe Mr Wayne, they all remembered how people had acted when Superman had first shown up, how many powerful people had tried to twist and manipulate the Kryptonian and his actions for their own benefit. The saving grace for Kal-El had been that he had been practically invulnerable.

But the Rainbooms had no such luck.

And so none of them said anything back. Well, except for Pinkie Pie, who instead waved cheerfully, "Bye, Mr Wayne! We'll think on it super hard, promise!"

The other six girls, in spite of their inner turmoil, all sent their pink friend dry looks, as if to say; 'Really?'

Looking as if he wasn't sure how to respond to that, the Gothamite gave them one final nod before he swiftly disappeared out of the office and closed the door behind him, the noise of which feeling far louder because of the contemplative silence that had settled within the room.

And while Celestia and Luna gave them some parting words and the like, none of it truly registered in the girls' minds as the billionaire's visit and the revelation of his alter-ego still ate away at their minds. Each and every one of them thought differently of the issue, some more strongly than others.

But all that was needed between them, between this group of friends that had seen so much, was a few glances between eachother to figure out their next course of action regarding this rather unexpected and disturbing development.

As soon as school was out, they had quite the talk ahead of them.

Author's Note

I just wanna give huge thanks to The Byzantine Knight who helped me with the concept of this chapter