MLDC: The Justice League of Equestria - Omnibus 2

Chapters

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #1: Fitting In
TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #2: The Feeling of Powerlessness
TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #2: Nightmares
TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #3: Infection - Part 1
TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #4: Infection - Part 2
TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #5: Detective Jeans
TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #6: Race Against the Clock
TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #7: Facing the Past
TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #8: Chamber of the Ancients
TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #9: Friend or Foe?
TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #10: Lunar Eclipse
TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #1: A Little Help
TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #3: Broken Wings
TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #4: Project Venom
TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #5: The Bat's Out of the Bag
TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #6: The Bane of All Existence
TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #7: Taking Flight
TB. Vol 2: TBatB: Issue #8: Partners

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #1: Fitting In

Author's Note

Welcome back, everypony! Thank you for joining me for another phase of my JLE saga! Before we kick off, I have an announcement to make.

One of my readers suggested that I make shorter chapters in order that my readers don't lose interest in the chapters so easily and I realised it would be beneficial for me as well since not only coul I update faster, but I also wouldn't exhaust myself so much while writing the next chapter.

At first, I was afraid this would make Omnibus 2 much too different from the first one as it would upset my Issue 1-5 release schedule and the story would lose its comic booky feeling, but then I realised I could still keep it, all I have to do is cut the usual chapter lenght in half and make it Issue 1-10 and it would still be the same, so in the end, I decided to take that suggestion. So this chapter and the following ones will be significantly shorter but the main story's length will still be the same only consist of more sub-chapters.

With that out of the way, I'd like to thank my proofreader, Lex the Pikachu for making sure this chapter is the best it can be! And without further ado, let's get this show on the road!

I hope you'll enjoy it!

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #1: Fitting In

She wanted to scream for help. But she had barely any energy left. She's been doing exactly that for three days now but to no avail. She was hungry, thirsty and so tired. There was more than one time when she felt like just giving up, lying down and dying.

How did things go so terrible? The Royal Wedding was supposed to be the greatest event of the whole year. Instead, Canterlot was invaded by a bunch of insectoid pony creatures, wreaking havoc and destruction on the entire city, foalnapping ponies and knocking down buildings.

This was how she ended up in this mess. All she wanted was a nice cup of hot chocolate, but then the invaders attacked. She didn't dare to leave the shop she was at and hid behind the counter. Unfortunately for her, the shop was brought down to ruins in the ensuing battle between the invaders and the superheroes of Equestria. She was grateful that they have once again saved the day of course, but she really wished they could try to not make such big messes while fighting crime.

She was beginning to lose hope. Her throat hurt from all the useless screaming and her whole body ached from all the rubble she's been trapped under. Nopony would find her in time before she succumbed to her wounds or died from hunger or thirst. Just when she was finally ready to accept her fate, she heard the rubble above her being moved.

"Where are you, ma'am?" A stallion asked from above. Despite her exhaustion, she manged to reply.

"I'm... I'm here... Please... Help me..." She stuttered weakly. She was sure the rescuers wouldn't hear it, but despite her almost inaudible voice, she started hearing more of the rubble being removed from above her in rapid succession as they began digging closer to her. Eventually, she felt the rubble crushing her chest being lifted off of her, giving her the chance to finally take a huge breath that was enough to fill her lungs with sufficient oxygen, before her eyes fell on her saviour, a dark brown earth pony firefighter.

"I found her! Come here!" He called out to his colleagues. Immediately, two pegasi flew over to their location and slowly and safely placed the injured mare on a stretcher. The earth pony saw that the mare was about to open her mouth, probably in expression of gratitude but he merely pushed his hoof against her lips. "Don't. Save your energy, miss." He said before the pegasi carried her off.

"Thank the princesses you were here." One of the firefighters told the stallion. "I still don't know how you managed to locate her under all that rubble but we never would have found her in time without you." The earth pony merely nodded in appreciation.

As the firefighters began to organise the removal of the ruins, the earth pony who located the distressed mare slipped away from the group without anypony noticing. He snuck into an alleyway before looking around to see if anypony was around. When he was certain there weren't, his eyes lit up with red light as his body began to change shape.

The firefighter uniform, the dark brown coat and the black mane began to blur away into nothingness and they were soon replaced by white, rocky skin and a long blue cape. Instead of the earth pony firefighter, there was now Jean Jeans, aka, the Lunar Hunter standing in the alleyway. Yes, a mere firefighter would never have found the poor mare in time. But with his telepathic abilities, it was mere foal's play to him.

"No matter how many times I see it, it never gets any less stunning." Jean turned to see none other than Twilight Sparkle standing at the other end of the alley, observing his transformation in awe.

"Impressive." The lunar commented. "Nopony has ever managed to sneak up on me before." Twilight just smirked and shrugged in response.

"Jean, you're talking to a master of stealth." She replied, waving a hoof dismissively. "No offense but I had more difficulty tracking down Killer Croc in the Manehattan sewers."

"None taken." Jean assured her. "I suppose I shouldn't expect anything less from the Batmare. Anyway, can I help you with something?"

"I was guiding the Royal Guard through the street. They're in the middle of their own rescue operations and I noticed you slipping away from the firefighters." Jean raised an eyebrow. Or rather, a bony growth he had in the place of his eyebrows on his hairless body.

"You noticed me? Even in my transformed state?" Twilight nodded.

"I'm also a master observer, Jean. Comes with being the world's greatest detective as they are so fond of calling me. And I know you from our shared work sessions during the wedding preparations. It's easy when you know the telltale signs. So what are you doing out here?"

"While the Changeling invasion may have been repelled, there is still much work to be done in Canterlot." Jean replied. "And as Princess Luna's aide, it is my duty to help anywhere I can." Twilight was still rather confused.

"Don't you think you would be of more help with your powers? Many of my new friends have been doing that."

"While it is true that my lunar physiology gifts me with several abilities ponies lack, I prefer to avoid using them whenever possible." The Lunar explained. Twilight's questioning expression softened into a sympathetic frown.

"Is it your appearance?" She asked, not able to come to any other conclusion. "Are you afraid you will make them afraid? I suppose that's a reasonable concern, especially after the Changeling attack. But I'm sure they would quickly come around once they see your benevolence. Just like I have."

"I am not afraid to show my true self in public." Jean told her. "Even though I have never done that. It is just I don't want ponykind to become over reliant on my powers. And neither should my fellow heroes." Twilight finally understood.

"Supermare actually raised a similar concern." She replied. "But she finds it difficult to restrain herself. She believes ponies of power are responsible for using it to the benefit of the others. And set a good example to the rest of ponykind. And the others seem to agree."

"A noble notion." Jean nodded. "But good intentions can carry negative effects we wouldn't expect. If we're going to solve all of ponykind's problems, how will they ever learn to solve it for themselves?"

"Well, I cannot voice my opinion on that given my lack of powers." Twilight shrugged. "Perhaps you should discuss it with them yourself." The alien gave the mare a soft glare. "Don't worry, I haven't revealed your existence to them yet." Twilight said, throwing her hooves up defensively. "I know you requested that I keep it a secret and I will respect it. But I really think you should."

Jean cast his gaze down. When Twilight theorised that he was afraid to reveal himself to others, she wasn't completely off the mark. But like he said, it wasn't the ponies' reaction to his appearance that he feared. There was an internal struggle in him that he had to settle first.

"I don't think I'm quite ready for that, my friend. But I would be grateful if you carried my message to them. Their strong dedication to help the ones in need is admirable. I believe in guiding ponies and non-ponies alike to help themselves and each other." Before Twilight could reply, the Lunar's eyes widened as his telepathic senses picked up another situation. Only this time, it wasn't somepony who needed help. On the contrary, it was somepony who needed to be stopped.

"Did you say you were guiding the Royal Guard in the area?" Twilight nodded. "Then please gather a few of them and guide them to the other side of this alleyway." The purple mare didn't even ask questions and took off. Once she left, Jean closed his eyes and morphed his body into the shape of another royal guard himself before running out of the alley.

Once on the street, he immediately saw what he was looking for. A pair of earth pony stallions looting a ruined furniture store building. Jean glared. Vultures. Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the invasion to take other ponies' property. He was disgusted but he knew how to keep his emotions in check.

"Hold it right there!" The two stallions immediately dropped the comfortable looking sofa they were holding and turned to look at the disguised alien. They began to run but they couldn't have expected that their pursuer wouldn't chase them by conventional means.

Jean saw a piece of debris in the way the looters were running and used his telekinetic powers to levitate it into their path, tripping them both before running up to them and swiftly subduing the pair. Fortunately, he had the foresight to turn into a unicorn guard so the telekinetic trick wouldn't attract any attention even if there were witnesses.

"There they are!" Jean looked up to see Twilight approaching him with three guards who quickly took the two looters into custody. The disguised alien exchanged one last appreciative look with Twilight before departing.

'Do you see, Miss Sparkle? Ponies can do it themselves. If they are given proper guidance.' He thought as he made his way back towards the castle. On his way back, he kept watching the ponies working on the streets. Some of them were removing debris, others were already busy rebuilding the damaged infrastructure. The Royal Guard kept patrolling the streets to maintain order and the medical ponies were tending to the wounded.

While Jean's expression rarely showed any emotion, this sight put a small smile on his face. There was not one of those groups he didn't work with in the previous days. One day he helped the doctors by detecting the injuries inside ponies' bodies to help decide the proper treatment, the next day he aided the construction workers with some heavy lifting and fixing their damaged equipment, but the work he was most pleased with was aiding the rescuers to help locate and rescue trapped civilians in places where they wouldn't have found them in time, just like he did with that injured mare before.

Not all heroes needed powers. And while he had more than all of the seven warriors who fought off the Changelings combined, he preferred to only use them as an absolute last resort. He has always been a pacifist, which was why he didn't aid them during the fight. But the fact that he brought them together in the first place made him an undeniable part of their victory. Once the fighting was over and he was certain the team would be effective, he promised Twilight, the team's newly appointed leader that he would aid them in their future struggles and he had every intention of keeping that promise.

But when it came to the everyday struggles of ponykind, he was a firm believer that they should be able to handle things themselves. He hoped Twilight would be able to convince the rest of her colleagues to reduce the number of their heroics to the minimum necessary level. He didn't want ponies to become too complacent and forget how to handle their own problems. He saw the results of that firsthoof.

Princess Luna was not having a good week to put it mildly. Ever since the Changeling invasion put her sister and captain Shining Armor out of commission, she had to take on every single task in Canterlot. And most of those tasks of course were related to the rebuilding of the city and tending to the wounded civilians. And combining that with her duties in the dream realm, especially with how the amount of nightmares have skyrocketed since the attack, meant that she was very, very busy.

She was currently sitting in her sister's study, looking over more of the damage reports and signing documents, granting parts of the city their requested costs of the rebuilds from the royal treasury. Which were surprisingly much lower than she expected. No doubt that had something to do with the superheroes who fought off the Changelings sticking around to help.

She still remembered when her aide, Jean Jeans, her old friend from the moon approached her with the odd request to invite them to the wedding. He quickly detected that Cadance had been replaced by an impostor and caught wind of the imminent Changeling invasion as well, but he also knew that the Royal Guard and perhaps even the princesses would not be able to stand against their full might. No. They needed an alliance of the most powerful superpowered ponies in the land and his gamble paid off richly. Luna hated to admit it, but they would be lost without them.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by somepony knocking on her door. "Enter!" She called out and the door opened to reveal her trusty aide, Jean Jeans in his usual daytime appearance.

"Good day, you're highness." He greeted formally, but Luna merely waved him off.

"My friend, there's no need for that." She smiled warmly. "We have known each other for a time inconceivable to mere ponies. I think it is safe to say we have reached first name basis."

"Sorry." Jean apologised. "It's getting hard to separate my roles as your friend from the moon and your royal assistant." He then noticed the documents on Luna's desk. "More reports?" The princess nodded.

"And repair fund requests. It still angers me how many ponies tried to embezzle us by requesting far more money than they actually needed. But thanks to your advanced telepathic skills, we managed to see through them." Her compliment was genuine, but it still made Jean frown.

"I'm always happy to help, but you know how I feel about you relying on me too much. Your magic is perfectly capable of doing that too."

"True, but your telepathic skills are natural and thus far more efficient. Besides, I don't like violating my subjects' minds even if they hold nefarious thoughts." Luna went back to the documents and signed another one before placing it to the pile she already filled and moved on to the next one. A very sad frown grew on her face as she read, which troubled Jean so much that he went to see what it was. He wished he didn't. It was a death report.

"Another soul lost to senseless violence." Jean spoke with immense sadness, which Luna shared.

"Fortunately, there were very few fatalities during the invasion and even those were mostly accidental from the likes of falling debris and explosions." The princess said as she began to write a condolence letter to the poor pony's family.

"The Changelings themselves haven't actually killed anypony then." Jean noted, causing Luna to frown in disgust.

"Why would they have? They needed them alive to drain them of their love! Disgusting parasites!" She snarled. Of course, Jean also wasn't pleased with the actions of the Changelings, but Luna's anger surprised him. She was usually calm and collected, but then he remembered what they did to Luna's sister, niece and would be nephew-in-law.

"How are Celestia, Cadance and Shining Armor?" He asked. Luna's anger turned to sorrow as she thought of their condition.

"Tia and the Captain are still recovering from being taken captive by the creatures, but Cadance by far had it the worse. She is still comatose from being trapped inside that pod for so long. Not to mention being so malnourished and the exhausting mental draining they put her through. It seems like the Changelings were particularly interested in her, though given that she is the very embodiment of the thing the Changelings seek to obtain from their prey, that's hardly surprising. The physicians are unsure when she will wake up. Or if she will." She explained gravely. Jean put a hoof on her shoulder in support.

"I'm sure she will. Princess Cadance is a strong young mare, full of life. Not to mention she's an alicorn. From what I have gathered, they don't go down easily." Luna looked up at her friend, but her glum expression didn't change.

"Is clairvoyance also among your unending list of superpowers?" She asked rhetorically, but Jean answered anyway.

"I'm afraid that is one skill I do not possess. But I know my friends and I have strong faith in them." He maintained his smile and he was finally able to lift the Princess' spirit a little.

"I don't know what I would do without you." She said in gratitude, but her words caused the lunar's smile to fall.

"I know and that worries me deeply." Luna shook her head.

"No, not your powers. Your friendship. My sister always said friendship is magic but I never quite shared that sentiment. Only now I see how right she was. If only there were more of your kind on the moon during my banishment, perhaps your combined good influence may have completely purified me before my release." She joked, but she failed to improve the mood of her friend. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"It's alright." Jean replied. "The extinction was a spontaneous process. By the time we first made contact, I wasn't sure if there were any other survivors." He then walked to the study room's window and somberly stared out on it. "I was all alone. Roaming the endless barren lands of the moon for what seemed like an eternity. I thought it would drive me insane." Luna nodded.

"I felt the same." She said before joining her friend at the window. "Being sealed inside the moon with only that damnable Nightmare demon to keep me company. Fueling my desire for power and vengeance. Listening to that for almost a millennium made me nearly completely give in to its influence and allow it to fully consume me. When we first made contact I felt like I had a true companion again." She then turned to him with a soft smile." You saved me from the clutches of my monster. You have my eternal gratitude for that."

"As you have mine, my friend. You have saved me from the maddening loneliness. Though an unimaginable tragedy had befallen us both, it brought us together and I am grateful for that."

"You know, you never really told me about your species before." Luna said curiously. "What was it like. An entire civilisation on my moon without me knowing about it sounds so fascinating!"

"I'm afraid I've not much to tell." Jean shrugged. "Compared to the standards of my species, I'm still extremely young. Our average lifespan is measured over a hundred thousand pony years. The Extinction began way before my time, I don't even remember my family." This revelation shocked Luna. She didn't know how she could ever live without Celestia by her side.

"That is horrible!" She gasped. "To not know one's own family... I can't even imagine how that would be like."

"You are the first real family I ever knew." Jean replied, turning to her with a smile. "And I hope I will be able to form a similar bond with Equestria’s defenders during our future endeavours. Come what may, Equus is my home now, but..." His expression suddenly turned into a frown and he redirected his gaze at the sky. "But is it strange that I long for a world that I've never known?" It was Luna's turn to put a supportive hoof on her friend's shoulder.

"You wish to know your roots. Where you came from. That is perfectly natural." Jean wasn't entirely convinced though.

"I have spoken with Twilight Sparkle earlier today." He said. Luna's eyes narrowed upon the mention of the broken horned unicorn's name.

"The Batmare." She said with barely contained disdain, much to Jean's confusion.

"Given your fascination with the rest of Equestria’s heroes, why such hostility towards her?"

"She keeps sticking her nose in my state affairs." Luna replied. "She thinks she conceals her investigations well, but few remain hidden from the eyes of the Princess of the Night."

"Anyway, she speculated that my reluctance to aid ponies with my powers publicly is based on my fear they would reject me due to my appearance." Luna was about to reassure her friend about the absurdity of that suggestion, but he wasn't done talking. "She was half right. I am afraid, but not of ponykind's rejection. I'm afraid that I don't fit into this world."

Luna was flabbergasted. She had no idea Jean felt that way. The lunar stallion looked down at the city through the window and watched the crowds of ponies going around their duties in the rebuilding city.

"I wonder if Supermare ever feels like this. Do I really belong among these ponies?"

"You do." Luna told him firmly without the slightest hint of doubt. "You're as much of my little ponies as anypony else. You fit in with me Jean and to me, that is enough." Jean looked up at her, not sure how to reply. He still had his doubts, but Luna's reassurance did feel good. Though before he could say anything, another series of knocks interrupted them.

"Enter!" Luna called out and the door was opened by a guard.

"Excuse me, your highness, but a new prisoner transport is arriving at Belle Reeve in half an hour." Luna sighed.

"That is one resource we're never going to run out of. Criminals. Thank you for informing me. I'm on my way." She was about to leave the room but when she reached the door, she turned back to Jean.

"And as for you, please take the rest of the day off. You must be exhausted after all of your... helping today."

Jean nodded. Though exhausted wasn't really the right word. Troubled was more fitting and he could have used some rest to clear his mind. He quickly gathered Luna's documents and put them in order before leaving for his room.

But when he was about to close the door, he got the feeling that somepony was watching him. He looked around but couldn't see anypony around and he couldn't even detect an observer with his telepathic abilities.

Finally convincing himself that his feeling was wrong, he left and locked the door. But had he extended his telepathic search to the outskirts of the castle, he would have noticed an invisible presence on the streets below the castle that looked up at the exact same window he's been staring out on with a pointed stare. A pointed stare with slightly blazing red eyes.

TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #2: The Feeling of Powerlessness

"498... 499... 500..." Shining Armor let out an exhausted sigh before lowering himself back to the floor from the bar he was using for his pull up exercise at the gymnasium of the Royal Guard. It's been part of his daily routine ever since he recovered after the events of the wedding. One thousand push ups, one thousand sit ups an five hundred pull ups. And that was before his combat practice with the veterans and martial arts lesson from his personal trainers. He had to improve himself as much as equinely possible to make sure that what happened that day will never happen again.

He scowled in anger and hatred as he remembered the events of that day. That day was going to be perfect. The best day of his entire life. He was going to marry the love of his life. He was going to reconcile with his little sister. He was going to become a member of the royal family in addition to his title as captain of the Royal Guard. Everything a stallion could ever dream about would have been his.

Instead, it became a complete and utter disaster. As the Captain of the Guard, he failed miserably as the Changelings infiltrated and overtook the city with ease, foalnapped his bride and incapacitated him like he was nothing while they did whatever wicked thing they desired with Cadance and the whole city.

His expression fell when he thought of his bride. Cadance was still in a coma from whatever those monsters did to her. The doctors theorised that since Changelings fed on love which Cadance was the princess of, they wanted to use her as an infinite food source. And her body couldn't handle it. Since she was an alicorn, her immune system was far more powerful than an average pony's, it was possible that she could recover in time, but there was no way to be sure. All they could do was wait.

He hated the waiting. It made him feel so powerless. He couldn't imagine a worse feeling. He was the Royal Guard's finest and as such, he was supposed to be in control when a crisis struck. This was the reason he was so angry. He was supposed to protect Canterlot and he not only failed, but failed spectacularly. If it wasn't for those heroes, the Changelings would have conquered the city and then the whole country unopposed.

His frown only hardened when he thought of them. Once again those masked pretenders had to save the day and make the Guard look bad. This cannot go on like this! The members of the Guard will have to improve along with him and he was gonna make sure that happened. One way or another. Equestria forgot who were its real defenders and they needed a reminder. As the Guard's leader, it fell upon his shoulders to deliver it.

"Again! Get back up!" Shining Armor roared as one of the new recruits fell onto the ground in front of him. The unfortunate rookie had a black eye and a bleeding nose and it was clear he was on the verge of tears from the harsh beating he just received from him, but Shining did not pity him. Pain will only make him stronger.

"Captain, he sustained serious injuries. I don't think he'll be able to properly stand! Let alone fight!" The training instructor countered, but Shining remained insistent.

"He'll get it much worse on the battlefield if he doesn't learn how to defend himself! If the Changelings ever return, do you think they'll be content with just severely injuring him?!" He argued. The instructor sighed.

"Captain, this pony is barely a stallion! You cannot expect him to instantly be able to take the same level of punishment as a veteran!" Shining looked down at the recruit. He was indeed very young. He saw high school students who looked older than him.

For the first time that day, his expression softened. Perhaps the instructor was right. These young ponies needed to be trained from the ground up before they can become the imposing soldiers they were meant to be. And as Captain, it was his responsibility to help them achieve that status. He went over to the fallen recruit and offered him his hoof before pulling him onto his hooves.

"What's your name, recruit?" He asked. The recruit, a light green pegasus with dark brown mane wiped his face of the blood and the tears before answering.

"High Flyer, sir!" He replied as sturdily as he could in his current situation. "But most ponies call me Bird." Shining's face hardened again.

"Well, Bird, you are not fit to be a royal guard. You are weak, soft, fragile and feeble minded. You have no place here." He spat at him cruelly. Bird lowered his head in shame and embarrassment and was about to let his tears loose, but then he felt a hoof on his shoulder. It was Shining Armor but his expression was much more encouraging than before.

"But you will. I give you my word that I will lead you and all the others here to becoming what a Royal Guard is supposed to be. By the time I'm done with you, you will be able to give any Changeling or any other creature that threatens Equestria the same beatdown you just received."

Somehow, Bird found his words very inspirational. Nopony had ever talked to him like that. They all just passed him off as a mindless pretty boy who was only good at getting mares to swoon over him. Captain Shining's speech was the first time he felt like he could be something more and it made him feel like he could take on the entire Changeling hive by himself. No reply was necessary. A salute was all it took to pledge his allegiance.

"You're encircled, sir. Give it up!" Bird boasted with a smug smirk.

"Don't push it, rookie!" Shining retorted confidently. "You still haven't seen half of my tricks!"

The two of them were currently sitting in the barracks over a three dimensional map of Canterlot with several pony and changeling figurines placed all around it. These war games have been common practice between them and several other recruits during the past few weeks. After all, a good warrior is supposed to be strong in both body and mind.

"I still can't believe you had so few defenders around the castle." Bird said in slight confusion as he pushed the changelings closer to the castle. "I knew the Guard's numbers have been severely depleted after the invasion but I didn't think the situation was this bad." Shining smirked.

"That's probably because it wasn't." He said before igniting the magic in his horn and summoning several pony figures out of hiding all around the battlefield. "Who's surrounded now, rookie?" Bird was flabbergasted.

"How... did you..."

"Think outside the box, rookie!" Shining replied, crossing his front legs over his chest. "My hidden reinforcements were concealed from you before you even entered the room. Let this be the lesson of the day for you. An enemy cannot fight something they don't know exists." Before the young pegasus could give an answer, the pair were interrupted by the door of the barracks slamming open. The newcomer was a bulky earth pony stallion who scoffed at the duo deridingly .

"Bird, would you quit wasting the captain's time with these stupid games? You're gonna take his time away from training." Shining rolled his eyes. He was about to open his mouth for a reply, but Bird beat him to it.

"Training of the mind is just as important as training of the body, Trogg." He cut back in frustration. This muscle-brained simpleton has been a constant source of irritation for him since his first day in the Guard. "Of course, I wouldn't expect you to understand that." As he expected, his response was an angry glare.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that, pretty boy?!" He fumed, but Bird merely responded with a smug smirk.

"But it's such a good name for you!" He taunted. "You're so brutish and simple minded and smelly! Just like a real troglodyte! Not to mention ugly!" Shining could clearly see that Bird wanted to goad the bigger stallion into attacking. And it was also evidently clear that he was succeeding.

"THAT DOES IT, YOU LITTLE TWERP! I'M GONNA..." Whatever Trogg's intention was to do with Bird forever remained a mystery as the pegasus tossed the chair he was sitting on at the bottom of the earth pony's hooves, tripping him in the process. The behemoth fell forward and almost crushed the table he fell onto. It was humiliating and a little painful, but he'll be damned before he let this litter runt make him look bad in front of the captain.

He got back to his hooves and slammed his front legs down onto the base of Bird's wings, snapping them in the process. The pegasus let out an agonised howl as he collapsed onto the ground, much to Shining's horror.

"SOLDIER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He yelled at Trogg in fury and shock but the earth pony wasn't intimidated.

"You wanna survive on the streets or during a changeling invasion like I have, cap? Then you gotta know how to fight dirty!" He then leaned down to continue pummeling Bird, but the pegasus wasn't done.

"You wanna fight dirty, you prick?!" He growled in primal rage. "I'll be happy to provide!" He then knocked his hind legs together, making two hidden blades jump out of his horseshoes. He then slashed Trogg's hindlegs, making the larger stallion cry out in pain and lose his grip on the pegasus. Bird then took advantage of this and tackled the earth pony to the ground, pulling out another blade and pressing it against Trogg's throat.

"I guess you can say I learned my lesson, Captain." Bird said to Shining without taking his eyes off Trogg. "My enemy cannot prepare something they don't know exists." The earth pony looked up at him in shock for a few seconds before his lips curled up into a smile.

"Heh! I guess you do have some spine after all, pretty boy." He chuckled before gently pushing his hoof away from his neck. As Bird got off the earth pony and allowed him to get up, Shining couldn't help but stare at the scene in stunned awe. As their superior officer, he was supposed to stand in and separate the two guards who could have caused each other serious harm. But for some reason, he couldn't move.

There was something about the brutality and raw savageness of the way the two guards fought that the unicorn found fascinating. Before the Changeling invasion, he never would have considered resorting to such uncivilised and dirty tactics. But right now, he couldn't help but feel like the power display he saw from the two stallions was exactly what he was missing. Perhaps the honorable fighting style employed by the Guard was becoming obsolete. Perhaps embracing the tactics of their enemies would be the key to the future of surviving on the battlefield.

"You okay, Captain?" Trogg asked once he was back on his hooves. "You kinda spaced out there." It took Shining some time to finally snap out of his stupor, but when he finally did, all he could say was one thing.

"Show me how to fight like that."

In the following days, Shining, Bird and Trogg had become inseparable. Shining continued to train the new recruits but he made sure to have extra sessions with Bird. Trogg in the meantime taught them both everything he knew about fighting dirty. Shining was surprised how quickly he took to this fighting style, but he supposed it had something to do with the anger raging inside him. When he thought about how much he wanted to make the Changelings suffer for what they did to Equestria and how easily they beat the guards who were trying to fight honorably, it made him all the more willing to change his technique.

As the weeks passed and the Guard's training intensified, Shining prepared himself and his two comrades for a little training exercise he had planned. Perhaps, training wasn't the right word for it. Survival would have been a better fit. Shining wanted to find new improved training methods for the Guard and he couldn't imagine anypony else better to help him in this than Trogg and Bird. And one more pony. A pony who's assistance was crucial in finding the best location for this exercise. And a pony who just happened to be just walking up to him at that moment.

"Captain, I trust you are fully prepared for the next few days." The pony in question was an elderly thestral stallion. He's been serving in Princess Luna's Night Guard before the alicorn of the night even returned from her banishment. As such, he could never form a proper devotion to the princess herself, but he did form one with Shining Armor. He's been in the military far longer than he was and saw all of his accomplishments and knew what a capable soldier he was. Shining was one of the few soldiers who even knew his real name which everypony seemed to have forgotten. The ponies in the guard just referred to him as Zombie due to his old age and weathered looks.

"Ready as I'll ever be, old friend." Shining replied. As such an old and experienced pony, his knowledge of Equestria was invaluable. Shining doubted anypony else knew about the location he was taking him to. That was important as he didn't want anypony to interrupt the exercise. This had to be done in complete secrecy. "Lead the way."

The two of them made their way out of the castle and saw Trogg and Bird already waiting for them at the entrance, both of them wearing saddlebags of supplies and camping equipment.

"Captain, we are ready to tame the wilderness with you!" Bird told him with an enthusiastic salute.

"I really hope you'll keep your enthusiasm once we're out there, soldier." Shining chuckled. "This isn't going to be a picnic in the woods.,

"Don't worry, Cap! By now you should be aware that we are the toughest ponies the Guard has to offer!" Trogg boasted. "We're ready for anything!"

"We'll see." Shining retorted before turning to the thestral. "Well then, let's head out!"

The trip the group had taken was a long one. After getting off the train on the outskirts of a northern coastal town, they made their way through a lush forest. As he looked around to take in the scenery, Bird was rather skeptical that this survival exercise would be difficult. So far, nothing about this forest struck him as challenging.

"Where exactly are we going?" He asked. Zombie looked back at him before looking at Shining, silently asking for permission to answer before receiving a nod.

"There's an abandoned prison complex not far from here." The thestral explained. "It was used to house some of Sombra’s loyalists during the war with the Crystal Empire. To house the worst of the worst, it had to be built in a very unforgiving environment. After the war, there was no longer a need for the prison so it was shut down and stood derelict ever since. I'm honestly surprised it's still standing. Anyway, I assure you, getting through the prison grounds is not going to be as pleasant as this forest."

Bird was still skeptical, but as the group headed deeper into the forest, their surroundings did indeed change from a peaceful forest to a dark and barely passable mountain road. Eventually, they reached the top of the mountain and saw exactly what Zombie was talking about.

"There it is." He said, pointing at a fortress looking building in the distance. It was surrounded by tall black walls with huge spikes on the top and had several towers reaching out from behind them.

"Get out!" Trogg gasped in awe. "The Harsh Penalty! I thought that was just a horror story!" Zombie chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose the stories about this place do sound like they would never happen in Equestria, except in a horror film."

"Don't tell me you're scared, Trogg." Bird teased, making the earth pony growl at him menacingly, but Shining stepped between them.

"Enough! We're not here to fight! We're here for a survival exercise!" He snapped at them. "Now let's get..." He didn't get to finish, as he stepped on a piece of rock that was so loose it couldn't hold his weight and he fell down into a tunnel.

"Captain!" Bird cried as he reached to pull Shining back, but he was too late. The unicorn disappeared into the darkness beneath and the hole immediately caved in behind him. "Captain, can you hear me?!"

"Yes..." Shining groaned in pain as he stood up.

"Can you see anything?" Zombie asked. "Where are you?" Once his hooves were standing on solid ground again, Shining lit up his horn to get a better look at his surroundings. He saw several caves and tunnels.

"Some kind of cavern! There are tunnels everywhere!" He answered.

"That makes sense." Zombie said. "Harsh Penalty was built upon an old mine. If you find the right path, it should make it to the prison."

"Good! We'll rendezvous there! Keep moving!"

"We're not leaving you!" Bird cried from the other side.

"I gave you an order, rookie!" Shining roared. "Get to the prison building! I'll meet you there!" After a brief silence, Bird gave him a reluctant "Yes, sir", before Shining heard the sound of hoofsteps moving away.

He then turned his attention back to the tunnels. Even if somepony was fit enough to make their way through one of them, they could still be wandering through them for days. Or worse, end up going around in circles.

He'd have to find a way to remember each and every one of the tunnel entrances to prevent himself from getting lost. As he picked the first tunnel he would explore, he used his magic to carve an X into the ground, marking that entrance in case he came across it again before entering.

He'd been walking through that cave for several minutes but he didn't come across anything noteworthy. Apart from the bones of a few ponies that must have lain there for at least a few decades. But that didn't shake him as much as it would have a normal pony. Not after what he's seen in Canterlot in the aftermath of the invasion.

His initial assumption of going around in circles ended up being correct when he found himself exiting a tunnel and standing in front of the same entrance he marked earlier. He turned to another opening before marking it the same way and walking in.

In the next tunnel, he found his path blocked by a bunch of smaller rocks piling up in front of him. It would have taken him hours to carry them out of the way one by one. He could use his magic to blast them away, but he did not want to become too dependent on his magic. After all, this exercise was supposed to test his physical strength and cunning.

He analysed the pile, trying to find the weakest spot in it and eventually, he noticed one small rock sticking out of it. He raised his hoof, carefully touching it and as he expected, it was very loose. He pulled it out of the pile and quickly ran away from it as the rocks all came tumbling down, clearing the path.

After a few more minutes, Shining exited on the other side of the tunnel, finding himself in a wide open area, with an underground lake in it. He looked around the chamber, concluding that it would make an excellent place to set up a camp before heading out to explore the rest of the tunnels. Apparently, somepony else had the same idea as he noticed what appeared to be a makeshift bonfire with a decomposing pony's remains next to it.

Shining picked up the remains and tossed them unceremoniously into the lake. He was surprised, but he found himself feeling little empathy. That pony was weak and as a result, he died. If he wasn't, he would have made it out of here alive. He learned at the wedding that the fate of the weak was to die and be forgotten.

The lake would be a good source of water for him, he had the equipment in his bag to filter it. Perhaps it even served as an exit to the outside, but finding that out would be extremely risky. He didn't know if he would be able to hold his breath long enough to make it outside and even if he was, he could end up in an even bigger body of water, floating away to open sea. No, he was going to have to stick to the tunnels.

After a quick nourishment break, he started exploring another tunnel. As he walked through them, he noticed several holes above him which gave him a view of the sky. Sadly, they were too far away from the ground to reach them in an attempt to climb out. And apparently, he’s been roaming these tunnels for longer than he thought because he saw in the color of the sky that it was already getting dark. He probably should have headed back to the campsite to call it a day, but he wanted to fully explore this tunnel first. If he was lucky, this would be the one that lead to the old prison.

However, said tunnel was much longer than he expected and eventually, he ran into a deadend, forcing him to turn back. On his way back however, he ran into an unpleasant surprise as he noticed that water was beginning to pour into the tunnel. The water source of the underground lake must have overflown the cave.

Shining looked up to see another hole above him, as well as an edge in the rocks he could probably reach. He managed to climb the rocks and pulled himself up to the edge that was thankfully strong enough to support him. If the water level continued to rise, he would be able to swim up to the opening. Until then, he would take a rest here.

His rest was short lived as he suddenly heard a loud screeching noise coming from behind the rock wall. He turned his widened eyes towards the sound and saw several holes in the wall. When he leaned closer, the shape of a bat burst out of the hole, spooking Shining into falling off the rock, back into the rising water. When he surfaced, he saw a huge swarm circling up into the evening sky, no doubt to leave on their nightly gathering of food.

He climbed back onto the edge, waiting for the water level to rise, but once it reached the edge, it stopped. He scowled. Looks like he’ll be spending the night here. He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a blanket, wrapping it around himself and turning back against the wall, trying to fall asleep. Before he closed his eyes though, he saw movement through the crack. He leaned closer and saw a giant, hairy shape slowly crawling through the tunnel next to him on huge clawed hands with even bigger leathery wings growing out of them.

Shining gasped at the sight of the creature so loudly that it picked it up with the large ears on the top of its head and turned into his direction. The stallion covered his mouth with his hooves and waited in tense silence, hoping it would go away and fortunately, his prayers were answered as it turned away and left after a few seconds that still felt like an eternity to Shining. Eventually, his momentary terror finally subsided and he was able to let out the breath he was holding, but he very much doubted he would be able to get any sleep tonight.

The next day, Shining awoke to an unexpected sound, he heard the cry of a hawk from above him. His eyes snapped open and he looked up to see the source of the voice sitting at the edge of the hole above him, looking straight down at him. The bird of prey then picked up a piece of paper with its beak and threw it down at Shining before flying away. The paper landed right next to him, which he then picked up and read.

‘Cap, I hope by the time you get this, you’ll be in Harsh Penalty. We made it past the mountainside. Hang in there! We’ll meet at the prison! Bird.’

Shining smiled. “Guess his name isn’t Bird just for being a good flier.” He mused before putting the paper into his saddlebag. The rookie’s message gave him the moral boost to go on. He looked down and saw that the water had flown out of the tunnel. He didn’t waste any time and moved back to the underground lake. Sadly, his campsite had been washed away, but he didn’t need that to have a quick breakfast before moving on to the next tunnel.

His hooves inadvertently faltered before entering. This neighbouring tunnel was the one he saw that giant hairy monster in last night. Would it be a good idea to go through here? But he quickly steeled himself. The last time he faced monsters, he was useless and weak. He swore to himself that this would never happen again. His fear only added to the feeling of powerlessness he felt from the event. This will be an excellent start to root it out for good. Finally, he headed into the tunnel.

After a few minutes of walking, he came across a rather unsettling sight. The bats inhabiting the cave have been hanging upside down on the cave’s ceiling, though they didn’t seem to be asleep. They heard Shining approaching and turned their heads in his direction. Though they couldn’t see him, the stallion just knew that they were looking directly at him. He sensed what he thought to be sympathy and almost pity from the creatures. They knew what was waiting for him at the other end of the tunnel and they didn’t expect him to survive the encounter.

When Shining made it to the end, he found himself walking on a wooden board rather than the rocky ground of the cave. The room he found himself in was obviously pony made, resembling a cellar with several empty crates and leftovers of food. This raised Shining’s hopes that he found his way to the underground part of the prison complex, but his newfound joy didn’t last long.

He suddenly felt a presence rising behind him and turned around to see a giant, mutated bat towering over him. Shining groaned to himself as he backed away. Of course it had to be a bat. He wondered how it got so big and he noticed a few bald spots on the creature’s body along with a few syringe marks. Just what kind of things were the ponies running this facility doing? But that didn’t matter. He had to find a way to deal with this abomination.

Thankfully, since bats were blind, he should be fine as long as he didn’t make any sounds. As soon as he came up with that strategy however, his flank bumped into a smaller crate, knocking it off a bigger one with a loud crash. His advantage was instantly lost. The bat raised its huge claws and swept into Shining’s direction. The stallion barely had enough time to roll out of the way.

The beast heard the sounds his body made on the floor and it struck in his direction with its wing, hitting Shining right in the muzzle and knocking him against the wall. The sound of his body slamming against the wall drew the bat after him and it reached down, wrapping its claws around Shining’s shoulders before picking him up. The unicorn struggled in vain to break out of the creature’s hold as it was too strong.

There it was again. The feeling of powerlessness coming over him. He was powerless against the changelings, powerless against supes taking the Royal Guard’s place as Equestria’s biggest defenders and now powerless against the monster. It made him feel a kind of rage he never felt before. A rage that increased his strength tenfold. He still wasn’t able to break out of the hold of its claws, but he garnered enough strength to lean forward and bash his head right into the creature’s face, making it let him go.

The bat stumbled back and Shining took advantage of that by rushing at it and tackling it to the ground. The stallion launched a relentless barrage of punches at the creature’s face. He heard its agonised shrieks and felt the blood and the breaking of bone beneath his hooves but he couldn’t bring himself to feel bad for the creature. All sense of pity, empathy and remorse were gone. In combat, only strength and ruthlessness mattered. Because your opponent won’t feel bad for you and if you don’t go all out in the fight, you will die.

The bat desperately tried to push Shining off of himself but all he managed to do was slash him with its claws. They did little to lessen Shining’s onslaught, but it was beginning to bother him so it was time to end this. He wrapped his hooves around the creature’s neck and strangled the helpless beast until he finally heard its neck cracking, leaving it motionless on the ground.

Shining got off of the carcass, panting heavily. The rush of adrenaline in his body was incredible. This wasn’t what he joined the Royal Guard for, but now he could understand the ponies who did. The thrill of the fight was almost addictive and the feeling of victory was invigorating. Of course, destroying this monster was not going to instantly make him the great warrior he desired to become, but it was a start and at the very least, he no longer felt powerless.

From the corner of his eyes, Shining noticed a trapdoor in the ceiling. Since there was a ladder attached to it, he easily reached it and to his relief, he found that it wasn’t locked. Obviously, this was meant to serve as an access to the Harsh Penalty prison, but surprisingly, Shining found himself in what looked like to be an abandoned underground laboratory.

He looked around, finding several vials with strange looking chemicals inside them and various books about biology and chemistry. In the middle of the room, there was a table covered by a white sheet, but there was clearly something beneath it, judging from the bulging out shape. Shining pulled off the sheet and what he saw, made him back away in horror.

It was the body of a pony, dead for so long it was almost completely decomposed. But more interestingly, there were several tubes attached to his body, inserted through the same syringe marks he saw on the bat’s body. It was clear the ponies running this place have been running some illegal experiments on the prisoners and the local wildlife. The bat was obviously some byproduct of it.

He couldn’t help but wonder if the experiments could turn a bat into that monstrosity he saw down there, what could it do to a pony? After a few more moments of looking around, he discovered a notebook left behind by one of the researchers, detailing the exact procedure used on the deceased pony and most likely the bat he just disposed of. His curiosity piqued, he picked it up and began to read it…

After two days of trekking, the trio finally reached the entrance of the Harsh Penalty prison. The Captain was right about one thing, this place was certainly perfect for a survival exercise. Harsh wildlife, even harsher environment and extreme weather conditions. But they knew that everything they just went through was nothing compared to what their Captain must have experienced down in those tunnels.

“I hope the Captain’s alright.” Bird blurted out, making his two companions roll their eyes.

“I swear if you say that one more time, I’m gonna pull out your tongue and throw it to your bird friends!” Trogg growled. He was worried about Shining too, but constantly moaning about what happened to him won’t help him or change it.

“You’re welcome to try.” Bird retorted, much to the large earth pony’s frustration, but before he could respond, Zombie got between them.

“Will you two cut it out already?!” He yelled. “For the life of me I can’t figure out why the Captain brought you two along! You can’t go five minutes without wanting to kill each other! Listen, we’re almost at the prison! From there, we can get into those tunnels and find him before anything happens!”

For the first time since they met, both Bird and Trogg agreed on something. The three stallions reached the gate of the prison and pushed it open, only to get the surprise of their lives. The pony they thought they would have to rescue was already there, sitting in the front hall of the building and reading a notebook. When he heard the gates open, he looked up at the three and gave them a deadpan look.

“What took you so long?”

Author's Note

Hi, everypony! Welcome back to the next issue of The Batmare Volume 2!

Avid comic book readers may notice that this chapter was heavily inspired by the Vengeance of Bane comic book and presents Shining Armor's start of darkness. It took some rewriting and much adjustment to get this chapter into its final form so that's the reason it was a little late.

Next time, the third main character of the story will get her introduction in the form of Apple Bloom who is dealing with the loss of her grandmother and her new environment. How will she settle in with Twilight in the library? Find out next time in...

Issue #3: Broken Wings

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #2: Nightmares

Jean Jeans opened his eyes to find himself standing back on the lunar surface of his home. That was shocking for two reasons, he clearly remembered falling asleep in his own bed back in Canterlot Castle and in his pony form. Now here he was on the endless barren wasteland of the moon without remembering that he ever traveled back there.

But it also felt different. It was just as lonely and lifeless as he recalled it, but there was also something else. A darkness he never felt before. An ominous and evil energy surrounded him from all sides and it made him more terrified than he ever was.

He tried using his telepathic abilities to locate the source of this evil, but to his horror, he found that they were not working. He became so horrified of both this revelation and the surrounding evil that all he could think about was leaving this cursed land and returning to Equus.

He tried to lift himself off the ground but his flight also wasn't working. He fell back on the surface with an undignified thud as he became fully aware that none of his powers were working at the moment. He looked up to get a glimpse of his adopted homeworld to gain some semblance of reassurance, but his eyes widened when he saw it was not there.

He tried to reassure himself that it was simply because he was on what the ponies referred to as the "dark side of the moon", but that reassurance fell short when he saw that the stars also weren't visible. Wherever he looked, there was nothing but darkness.

'What in the name Luna?!' Jean thought as he frantically got back on his hooves. 'What is going on here?!'

"J'inn." The lunar stallion jumped in fright as he turned to look at who spoke his name. He couldn't believe his eyes. Standing in front of him, was an equine creature that looked exactly like his lunar form. It had no hair on its snow white body and it was staring back at him with two pupil less red eyes. The only difference between them was that the new arrival was a little taller and spoke with a definitive feminine voice.

The two lunar beings stared stoically at each other for a few moments before a warm smile spread across the female's features. She raised one of her forelegs and reached out, as if beckoning the stallion to come over to her. "J'inn, come here! Let me take a look at you!" Jean had never seen this female before, but she had a certain familiar warmth about her that made her easy to recognise.

The stallion felt like an invisible force took control of his body and made him walk forward, right into the female's extended hoof. He walked forward with slow and curious steps like a newborn colt taking his first steps and felt his forelegs lift into the air before wrapping themselves around the mare's neck. They held each other for almost a minute before the mare pulled away and held Jean's face between her hooves as she looked into his eyes lovingly.

"You have grown into just the strong handsome lunar I always imagined you to become." She praised. "Just like your father." Jean's eyes widened upon hearing that word.

"My... My father?" He spoke for the first time since waking up here. The female who could have only been his mother nodded.

"Yes, dear. He is just inside. Come in! He will be just as eager to see you!" Jean raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Inside?" His mother stood aside and revealed a dome shaped house with green walls and a white roof, four circular windows at equal distance from each other and a large red pair of automated doors. Jean's puzzlement only grew upon sighting the building. Was that there before?

His mother took him by the hoof and gently pulled him toward the building. The door opened without a sound as they entered and Jean got a good look at the interior as well. There was a large circular table in the middle, surrounded by four chairs. From left to the door, Jean saw what appeared to be the kitchen area. There was a series of cupboards lining up on the ground along with a stove and a sink.

On the right, there seemed to be what was the living room area with a circular couch sitting on a large carpet decorated by several pillows and pictures on the wall. But what caught Jean's attention the most was the small lunar creature lying on their stomach on the couch. The small creature was humming merrily to themselves and doodling on a piece of paper with a blissful smile on their face. When they looked up and saw Jean approaching, their smile widened into a huge grin as they jumped up from the couch and ran over to Jean, wrapping their tiny hooves around one of his hooves.

"Welcome home brother!" The little creature squealed in an obviously female voice. She let go of Jean's hoof and presented her drawing to him. "I drew this for you! Do you like it?" Jean took the paper and saw a crude drawing of himself soaring across the skies of Equus as the Lunar Hunter, carrying a pony he just saved from a giant monster. As much as he appreciated the gesture, there was something eerie about it.

"It's... It's lovely, sister. Thank you." Jean replied, still trying to wrap his mind around how did his little sister whom he never met before gained such an insight into his life on Equus.

"Oh, I forgot!" His mother gasped as she smacked her head. "I was supposed to make a humongous feast to celebrate your return to us!" She then left towards the kitchen area, leaving Jean alone with his sister. The little girl looked up at Jean with wide adoring eyes as he observed her drawing.

Once he was done, he tried giving it back to her but the girl didn't seem to notice. She just kept staring up at him with curious eyes and a wide grin, completely unmoving. If Jean wanted to be honest, it was rather unnerving. He was about to break the silence but his sister did it for him.

"Is it true that you met Luna?" The youngster asked, not breaking eye contact or even moving while she spoke. The question caught Jean off guard. It was true that the lunar race worshipped the alicorn who moved their home around the planet of Equus. Though he never mentioned this to Luna. Her head was big enough as was. But how did she know about him meeting her?

"Yes, I have." He replied, deciding to ignore his confusion. "She was very nice. She had kept me company while I was alone and lonely, roaming the empty lunar surface. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't met her."

"But now you found us!" His sister said to him with the same bright smile. "Now you don't have to go back to her and you can stay with us forever!" Jean slowly backed away from her when she said that. For some reason, he sensed a really threatening undertone to that last sentence. But he quickly shook it off. Why should he feel intimidated by a little girl?

He was about to tell her that he couldn't stay since he was duty bound to Princess Luna, but before he could speak, a male voice interrupted him. "Where is he?! Where is my son?!" Jean turned to see a massive lunar stallion who could have only been the head of the family coming out of one of the backrooms.

"He's right here, daddy!" The filly waved at him. The father turned towards Jean and smiled brightly when he spotted him.

"There you are!" He bellowed merrily as he pulled the younger lunar into his hooves. "My, your mother was right! You've really grown up to be every bit as good looking and strong as your old stallion! Just one look is all I need to tell you've grown up to be every father's pride! I can't wait to hear everything about you over lunch!"

"Did someone say lunch?" The mother asked happily as she came out of the kitchen area, carrying a large pot in her hoof. Jean's father and little sister grinned brightly as they cheered and ran to the dining table.

But Jean couldn't bring himself to share their excitement. Something about this idyllic family scene just felt off. They all felt so happy, as if the great extinction didn't happen at all. As if they've known Jean all his life and he merely came home to a family lunch after a week of working on Equus.

"Come on big brother!" His sister called, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Lunch is getting cold and mom's cooking is the best on this side of the moon!" Their mother merely chuckled.

"Oh, well. I try." She said humbly. Despite his suspicions, Jean did join his family at the table as his mother started filling their bowls.

"So tell me, Jean," His father began. "How is your work with Luna going down on the planet?" Jean turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"How do you know about that?" He asked. His father's cheerful expression didn't change.

"We know all about you, son." This was the last straw. Jean's heart rate increased severely as it dawned upon him just how much was wrong with this entire scene. He looked at his mother and sister who were all giving him the exact same wide grin.

"Yeah. We know how Luna took you away from us." The sister spoke, her voice not losing any of its cheer, but its tone changing somewhat. It became more distorted. "Just because she's a goddess she thinks she can take anything she wants. Doesn't she know everyone belongs to their family?"

"Sweetie! That's very rude!" Their mother chided. "But nevertheless true. We are so happy you are back with us, J'inn! And that you'll be staying forever!" There was that claim again. It seemed like the entire family was in on some scheme that Jean wasn't.

"But I cannot stay forever!" He exclaimed. "I will have to return to Equestria! I am duty bound to Princess Luna! My work and friendnship is irreplaceable to her!"

"Don't be silly, son!" His father waved his concerns off. "You cannot go back to Equestria. Your place is here with us. With your family. With the rest of our kind." Jean was beginning to panic at this point.

"The rest of our kind?" He panted. "What are you talking about?!" The family just continued staring at him with wide smiles.

"Oh, big brother, you're such a dummy!" The sister giggled. "Our kind doesn't leave the moon. Ever." Jean couldn't take it anymore. He stood up from the table and frantically backed away.

"Have you all lost your minds?!" He yelled in disbelief at his family's behaviour. "Our kind is dead!" His outburst had no effect on his family's happiness.

"Exactly." They all spoke in unison as they all stood up and began advancing on the frightened Jean. "The dead belong in their graves. This moon is ours."

"Don't be sad, brother." The little girl spoke, her voice growing downright demonic. "You do not belong in the world of ponies anyway. You never did and you never will."

"Exactly, J'inn." The mother continued and as she got closer to Jean, he could see her face beginning to rot away, along with the rest of his family's. "You're the last member of a dead race. How you escaped the same fate that befell us is a mystery, but that mistake will soon be corrected."

And with that, the body of the two female members of the family began to crumble into dust, leaving only his father standing in front of him, but even his body was beginning to fall apart.

"It won't be long, son." He said, his unnerving smile never leaving his face. "Soon our family will be reunited and then the lunar race will be but a distant memory." Jean's eyed widened in fear. Not because of the terrifying scene he was witnessing, but because of what his father's ghost just said, but because it made him remember growing up all alone on the moon.

"No." He muttered as he recalled what it feel like to be the only one of his species, roaming the endless lunar surface aimlessly without any outlook to his future or even his survival. Even the memory of it was so unbearable that he felt the need to get out of there. Once the image of his entire family crumbled away, he finally snapped out of his horrified stupor and ran to the door.

The automated door opened as he got close and ran out, but the sight that greeted him looked like a prefect depiction of how he imagined the lowest pits of Tartarus. Where the barren surface of the moon and a pitch black sky were just ten minutes ago, was now a blood red sky, so bright red that it hurt his eyes. The empty lunar surface was now filled with the same dome shaped houses he just exited from, each one in ruins.

But by far the worst thing was the dead and dying lunars whose bodies that were littered across the ground. They rolled around, moaning in agony as they crumbled into dust just like his family. One of them looked up and upon seeing Jean standing over him, he reached out to him.

"Help me..." The poor creature begged. Jean reached down but the moment his hooves made contact with him, his body also turned to dust. The dust from his body floated up and joined the dust cloud forming from the bodies of the other lunars.

Jean watched in horror as the cloud took the shape of a giant creature with an elongated, pointy head, giant glowing red eyes and razor sharp teeth. The creature stared down at him with barely contained malevolence in its stare before opening its mouth and descending down towards Jean. With his powers stripped from him, the horrified lunar could do nothing but lie down and close his eyes as he awaited his fate. The fate he would share with the rest his kind.

When Jean opened his eyes again, he was surprised to find that he wasn't in the afterlife lunar religion painted for them. Instead, instead, he found himself sitting in his bed and practically swimming in sweat. And instead of the rest of his lunar race greeting him in death, the only pony he could see in the room was his precious friend, Princess Luna.

The princess of the night sat next to his bed with a concerned look on her face. He suddenly realised what just happened. He had a nightmare. A very bad one. Luna's presence made that obvious. But why didn't she intervene was a much bigger mystery.

"What... What time is it?" He asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, though he wasn't sure it was the right question to ask first.

"It's almost two hours past midnight." Luna informed him. "I have sensed the trouble within your dream, but I was powerless to intervene." Jean's eyes sprung wide open.

"How is that possible? You are the princess of dreams!"

"I am quite aware of that, thank you." Luna replied dryly. "But there was something different about this dream. Something... bizarre. I'm not sure how to describe it but it was like there was something pushing me out of your dreams each time I tried to enter. Or someone."

Worry filled Jean's being as he recalled the alarming sensation of being watched yesterday. He had no idea if it was relevant but there were way too many worrying things happening to him lately for all of them to be a coincidence.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Luna asked, making Jean look back at her. "Your dream, I mean. I may not have been able to see it, but if you describe it to me, perhaps I would still be able to help you overcome it." Jean wasn't sure if he should. He trusted Luna's expertise when it came to dream interpretation, but he had trouble of making making sense of it and he didn't even know how to start describing it.

"It's... difficult. I think I saw my family, but... I don't even remember what they looked like. How could I have seen them in my dreams?" Luna narrowed her eyes in thought, but didn't say anything, merely nodded for Jean to continue.

"They were all so... happy. It was like a perfectly idyllic family life. But it just felt so wrong somehow. It felt like they were content in death. Not only that, but they wanted me to join them. In fact, it seemed like..." Jean stopped for a moment and just stared ahead of himself with a horrified expression. Luna noticed this and she felt bad about pushing her friend, but she was eager to hear the rest of the dream.

"Seemed like what?" She asked. Jean's horror didn't leave his face as he spoke. It was clear that whatever he was about to say disturbed him greatly.

"Like they knew I would join them in death. They were not inviting me but outright stating it would happen. Like they were speaking from the future." A thought occurred to him as he turned back to Luna. "Could it be possible that this was a premonition rather than a dream?" To his surprise, Luna nodded without hesitation.

"It is definitely possible. I have seen it on more occasions than I can remember. But the fact that something pushed me out of your dream when I tried to enter troubles me even more than its possible meaning." Jean raised an eyebrow.

"How so?" He inquired. Luna cast her eyes down. It was clear that whatever she had to say would not be pleasant but that only made Jean more eager to hear it. Finally, Luna let out a sigh and continued.

"Jean, I do not wish to alarm you, but I theorise that someone deliberately put that dream into your mind. Someone powerful who wanted you to see those images." Jean's eyes widened.

"Deliberate dream manipulation?! How is that possible? Is that kind of power achievable to anypony other than you?"

"I have never known of any creature who has this power apart from me." Luna replied. "But there are other ways to put images into another creature that wants to see into your head." She said pointedly and Jean quickly realised what she was talking about.

"Of course. You are quite aware of my psychic abilities after we've been in connection for such a long time. And in an age where new superpowered individuals appear in Equestria on a weekly basis, it would be easy to attribute this to another one of them. But one question still remains. Why would they target me?" To that, Luna had no answer.

"That eludes me as well." She replied with a shrug. "Are you absolutely certain nopony else knows about your lunar heritage?"

"The only one who knows apart from you is Twilight Sparkle. I figured she would be the perfect candidate to help me get into their new union of heroes. But I made her promise she will not reveal it to her colleagues until I was ready." Needless to say, Luna did not share her friend's faith in the Batmare.

"And you think she would honor such an agreement?" She asked doubtfully. But Jean nodded firmly.

"Even if I did not fully trust my judgement of character, I am not naive, Luna. I have read her thoughts and I assure you, she doesn't plan to reveal it to anypony without my consent. Besides, even if somepony did know my true identity, they couldn't possibly know of what happened to my race."

"Unless they took a peak inside of your head. This is a creature with powerful psychic abilities we're talking about." Luna suggested, but the stallion was skeptical of that theory.

"I am quite an advanced psychic myself, Luna. And the chances of somepony invading my mind without me noticing it are slim to none." He said confidently before letting out a sigh. "I don't know what to do. This whole situation makes no sense."

"Would you like me to cast a nightmare protection spell on you?" Luna suggested. "I developed it myself and made sure it was impenetrable by any counter spell. There is literally no possibility of anything getting through it."

"I appreciate the offer, my friend, but I'm not sure if I will be able to sleep a wink after what just happened to me." Jean replied, shaking his head. "And as I recall, we will be doing a royal inspection of the industrial district tomorrow to see how much damage has been done to it during the invasion." Luna groaned.

"Don't remind me. That is not a task I'm looking forward to." She shuddered, thinking of all the work that awaited her tomorrow.

"Neither do I, but it has to be done. I think I will go to your study and make preparations if that is alright with you." Luna nodded in the affirmative.

"You know you don't have to ask. I gave you free access to the whole castle with the exception of my sister's quarters, of course."

"Noted." Jean remarked dryly. "Well then, I think I have kept you away from your dream walking duties long enough. I bid you goodnight, my friend." Jean said before leaving the room.

Luna watched him go with a sad expression. She could tell that his dream disturbed him far more than he let on. She looked at his bed. He left in such a hurry that he didn't even make it before leaving. Even at two in the morning, that was not like him. She used her magic to quickly remedy that problem before resuming to her own room to continue her patrol of the dreamscape. But on her way, she said a quick prayer for the safety of her friend.

"Be safe, Jean. I need you by my side."

Despite waking up at two in the morning, Jean felt surprisingly refreshed. But just to be sure, he took a quick stop in a bathroom to splash some cool water on his face. More likely than not, he will not be able to fall asleep after what he just experienced so he might as well make the most of it.

He sat down behind Luna's desk and took out a map of Canterlot's industrial district as well as several damage report papers to determine which would be the best course through the area tomorrow. Apart from making himself useful, it would also distract his thoughts from that horrible nightmare.

"What's the point?" The lunar stallion found himself asking after a few minutes of work. He and Luna both knew that it was more than just a simple nightmare. If it was a premonition like he first suspected, then it would come true no matter what he did. But if Luna's theory was correct and there was some psychic supervillan out there trying to get him, distracting his thoughts would only give his foe the advantage of catching him off guard.

He really didn't know why he didn't tell Luna about his feeling of being watched yesterday. If she was right and he was being targeted by a villain that would obviously be important. But then again, he couldn't sense anypony or other creature around with intentions of harming him.

He shook his head and went back to looking over the documents, until suddenly, he felt the exact same threatening feeling returning with a vengeance. He turned around and used his telepathic senses in search of any threatening individuals and unlike yesterday, this time, he did feel a presence nearby.

But it wasn't just lurking around, waiting to strike. It felt like this presence was beckoning him to come to it. It knew that Jean knew it was there and it wanted him to know that as well. It was close. Very close in fact. In his immediate surroundings. It was calling out to him. It wanted him to get out there and go looking for it. Jean decided to humor this mysterious observer.

He walked over to the door and opened only to find himself staring into two giant, glowing red eyes staring at him, oozing with malevolence. And something else. Jean felt all of his strength leaving his body as something strange and alien invade his body as he collapsed onto the ground and began coughing heavily.

He looked up at the mysterious assailant and saw beneath his glowing eyes what appeared to be a set of teeth curled up into a cruel grin. Jean immediately thought of the creature that devoured him in his nightmare and all he could do was pray that this was simply its continuation and when he opened his eyes, he did not wake up on the floor, feeling like he was about to die.

Author's Note

The plot is thickening as the curse Lunar Hunter's race is catching up with him.

Thank you all for the comments and the likes for the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed this one too! And once again, a huge thank you for my proofreader, Lex the Pikachu for helping me make this chapter the best it can be!

Next time, more light will be shed on what is happening to Jean and how does he plan to deal with it. Join me next time in...

Issue #3: Infection

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #3: Infection - Part 1

"J'inn..." In the infinite mass of space, he heard a voice calling out to him. He didn't recognise who it belonged to, but he must have known it from somewhere because hearing it filled his being with peace and serenity. He felt perfectly safe and carefree as he floated through the void with his eyes closed and his limbs spread wide open on each part of his body.

"Good boy, Jean..." The voice continued. "Give in. Give yourself to oblivion and just float without a care in the world." It was definitely tempting at the moment. Jean would have liked nothing more than to take the voice's suggestion and just float until the end of time. But then he recognised the voice. It belonged to his mother. She was beckoning him to the afterlife just like she was in his nightmare earlier that night.

But this wasn't right. His mother was dead. Just like the rest of his family and his kind. And Jean knew for a fact that the dead had no voice to speak with. And with that realisation, he regained the sense of his being and began to swim away from the voice. The owner of the voice seemed to have realised this, but their only reaction was a light chuckle. It was innocent enough, but for some reason, it still sent shivers down his spine.

"Why do you resist?" The voice asked. "Can't you see this is the way it has to be? A child's place is at their mother's side. And the place of the wayward son is next to his kind." Jean felt a slight tug at his body but he resisted it and kept swimming away.

"You're not my mother." He snarled. "And my kind is dead. My place is at Luna's side now. In Equestria." He insisted.

"Is it?" The voice asked with another chuckle. "Luna may share a special bond with you but what about the rest of ponykind? Don't delude yourself, J'inn. You will never fit in, in Equestria. You will never truly belong. Come to us instead, J'inn. Come home."

"I am." The stallion replied as he kept fighting the pull of the voice. But the pull was getting stronger. No matter how hard he tried to get away, the pull was slowly prevailing.

"It's useless, J'inn!" The voice continued to taunt. "You will join us in sweet oblivion. It is only a matter of time. The more you fight it, the more painful it will be." Jean wasn't listening. He kept struggling and swimming away from the voice, but it only became louder in his ear.

"Do you hear me, J'inn? J'inn?" The voice kept repeating his name, but over time, it was beginning to change. It changed to much more familiar and soothing voice. And the way it pronounced his name changed as well.

"Jean?! Jean, wake up!" Jean felt his entire body beginning to shake as he recognised the new voice as Princess Luna. Suddenly, his surroundings changed in a flash. He was no longer swimming in the endless void of space but sitting behind the Princess' desk, apparently dozing off during his work. "Are you alright?" Luna asked with a concerned expression. "You were sleeping like the dead."

"I'm feeling like the dead as well." Jean grumbled in response. He was so beat that he didn't even realise he said that out loud.

"I knew letting you work during the middle of the night was a bad idea." Luna shook her head before looking at the documents on her desk. "But it looks like you managed to organise my trip in the industrial district after all, so if you want, you can have the day off." Jean would have lied if he said it wasn't tempting. He was quite exhausted and he didn't feel too well, but his sense of duty overcame his concern for his health.

"That will not be necessary. I am quite capable of fulfilling my duties for the day." He told her, trying to put on a brave face, but a huge yawn coming immediately after he stopped talking was all Luna needed to know better.

"No, you are not. I cannot have my trusty aide and confidant fall asleep on me in the middle of official royal business. Can you imagine how that would affect my reputation?" She said, trying to sound casual, but Jean saw right through it. Her concern was unmistakable.

"I cannot imagine how it could be worse than the Nightmare Moon incident." He retorted with a deadpan expression, much to Luna's dismay.

"That hurt, Jean. That really hurt." She replied dryly. "One more dig like that and your daily coffee break is canceled."

Princess Luna's trip through the industrial district was rather uneventful if Jean said so himself. Far too uneventful in fact. Of all the city's districts the Changelings hit, this one had it by far the worst and that meant the inspection of the damages was going to be a lengthy process. A very lengthy and very tedious process.

They were currently passing through a ruined ticket textile factory that several ponies took shelter in during the invasion. This meant that the creatures raided this building severely in search of prey and it showed. Many walls have all but completely collapsed, the equipment was mostly reduced to scrap metal and the materials they've been working with were all destroyed.

The damages were catastrophic for the factory owner and while Luna and Jean both pitied him as well as the several workers who were left without a job, their pity was not enough to surpass the absolute boredom they both felt after only five minutes inside the ruins as the stallion went on and on about the damages he suffered. It didn't help that they have lost count on how many similar buildings they visited that day.

Jean was seriously beginning to regret not taking Luna up on her offer to have the day off. He caught himself in the middle of a huge yawn on several occasions which he always managed to disguise as a sneeze, blaming it on how much dust was there among the ruins, and it was becoming increasingly hard for him to keep himself awake.

"And that's not even going into all the orders that we couldn't fulfill after this awful ordeal!" The owner, an orange earth pony wearing a top hat, complained. "Not to mention the damage our reputation suffered! We used to be the biggest and most reliable supplier of textile in Canterlot! When our clients hear about this, we will lose over half of them!"

Jean realised that the factory owner's grievance was more than legitimate, but at that moment, being absolutely exhausted and feeling under the weather, he just couldn't bring himself to care. He felt another yawn approaching and was already trying to make it look like a sneeze again, but this time, he didn't have to pretend.

Everypony in the room turned to look at Jean when they heard him release a series of violent coughs. He tried to overcome it but eventually it became so bad that he collapsed onto his knees. Luna immediately felt overcome with concern for her friend and rushed to his side to help him up, while the other ponies in the crowd felt more reluctant to approach him.

"Is your companion well, your highness?" The owner asked. "He's been showing signs of a nasty illness today and the last thing I need right now is an epidemic across the workforce." Luna merely gave him a deadpan look in response.

"Your concern over my aide's wellbeing is much appreciated, kind sir." She retorted before turning to Jean. "But he has a point. What is wrong with you today, Jean? You have never been ill before." She asked in a much lower voice to make sure only Jean heard her.

"I am not sure." He replied as the two walked away from the observers. "My lunar immune system is supposed to make me immune to any disease native to your planet. But I do feel rather unwell." He said as he placed a hoof on his forehead. Luna frowned in worry.

"Alright! That does it!" She said firmly, literally putting her hoof down in front of the stallion. "You are heading back to the castle and you are going to rest until I am done for the day! I will have a doctor take a look at you once I return." But Jean shook only his head.

"I do not think that is a good idea. I do not wish to be dismissive of your physicians but my lunar physiology may be beyond their expertise." Luna was forced to agree.

"Good point." She nodded. "But you are still going to rest! That is not up for debate!" The stallion remained defiant.

"Really, Luna! I will be fine! I just..." But Luna held up a hoof to silence him.

"That was not a request, Jean! WE insist you go back to the castle right now and rest!" Jean's eyes widened. She had used the royal we. This rarely happened between them, but it always let him know that Luna meant business. When the princess saw his hesitation, she spoke once more. "Do we need to use the Royal Canterlot Voice as well?" She asked menacingly. That was all the motivation Jean needed to concede.

"Fine, your highness. I will be off then." Jean replied bluntly before turning to leave without even saying farewell. Luna sighed. He was obviously upset with her, but his health mattered more to her than his feelings. She watched him leave what was left of the building before turning to return to her negotiation partners.

Jean was making his way back to the castle at a slow and half-hearted pace. He knew Luna pretty much gave him an order, but he still wasn't eager to get home and rest. He hated nothing more than that. Just lying around and doing nothing while ponies around him worked. It made him feel so helpless. That was the worst feeling in the world.

When his race was dying around him and he could do nothing, he felt helpless. When he roamed the endless, barren wasteland that had become of his home, he felt helpless. When he saw all the death and destruction in his nightmare last night, he felt helpless.

He now perfectly understood Supermare and the other heroes who couldn't restrain themselves from using their powers to help ponies even if they were helping them fix problems they would be perfectly able to handle given the opportunity. Because if they don't, they feel like he was feeling throughout his entire life. Absolutely useless.

He thought maybe if he could help a few ponies out with their problems today on the way back to the palace, he would feel a little better so he activated his telepathic senses to find a pony in need. But when he did, his blood froze. He felt it again. The same evil presence that stalked him last night in Luna's study. It was clear as day.

It was around him somewhere in the city. It wasn't calling out to him like it did last night, but he could sense it all the same. He looked all around the city and eventually he saw a pair of glowing red eyes watching him from the balcony of the bank building in front of him.

When they made eye contact, Jean could feel the same amount of evil pouring from its eyes as last night. Whatever, or whoever this observer was, they hated him deeply. But why? He didn't remember crossing anypony in the past to earn him such an ire.

Of course just because he didn't remember, didn't mean it didn't happen. He did perform several heroic deeds in the past all across the country and it could have been that he did end up angering a very dangerous creature without his knowledge. One who had the means to track him down and figure out who he was.

Who or what this observer was he couldn't begin to imagine but he will know soon. He was right in front of him and apparently he wasn't bothered at all by the fact that Jean obviously spotted him. All he had to do was peek into its head to figure it out but he never got the chance.

Out of nowhere, he heard a huge crash coming from inside the bank that drew his attention away from the entity, which was followed by several desperate cries for help from the ponies inside. Jean briefly looked back at the observer on the balcony, only to see that it was gone. He tried to locate it again, but the screams quickly reminded him that there was a more important task at hoof right now.

He looked around and when he saw that nopony was around, he turned his body intangible and phased through the wall. Inside, a horrible sight greeted him. He expected a group of robbers but the situation was much worse. The equipment the construction workers had been using to rebuild the bank had malfunctioned and exploded.

Some workers have been trapped under the debris brought down by the blast as the spreading fire was approaching them. The ones who escaped the debris weren't in a much better situation as the explosion also damaged the pipes in the wall, making water leak onto the floor right toward the ruined equipment which was obviously still under power. If the water reached the device, those ponies would fry! And to make matters worse, fallen, burning wooden beams were also blocking the exit.

Jean didn't waste any time. He ran up to one of the ponies who was pinned under a fallen marble column and lifted it off of him, much to his astonishment. He pulled the worker out from beneath the column and checked his hind legs for any injuries.

"Are you able to stand?" Jean asked. The pony tried to move his legs but the pain was too great.

"No, they're hurt too much!" He groaned. Jean got him onto his back and carried him to an empty corner far away from the flames and the leaking water. He would be safe there until Jean saved the others.

He heard a scream and looked up to see a unicorn mare dangling from the ceiling, holding onto a cable she caught as she fell during the explosion. She was dangling directly above the water covered floor and electric sparks were flying out of the end of the cable. If she fell, she would no doubt be electrocuted.

Jean didn't know what to do. There was no way he could save that mare without revealing what he was to them. Not to mention going against his belief of helping ponies without his powers. But ponies had to survive before they could learn to solve things without superheroes doing it for them. And when there was a need to act immediately, he had no choice but to act.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and shifted back to his lunar form, but when he was about to fly up and grab her, he only ended up falling back on the ground powerlessly. His eyes widened in horror. Just like in his nightmare, his powers failed him. Could this mean that it was more of a premonition than a dream?

But he had no time to dwell on that as the mare screamed again, signaling that she was about to fall. Jean had to act quickly. His powers may not be working right now, but his lunar physiology should still be enough to help. He shot himself out with his hind legs and grabbed the poor mare just before the cable hit the ground.

The unicorn opened her eyes to see that she was being carried through the air by a strange figure. Needless to say, after the ordeal with the Changelings, strange figures were understandably panic inducing for her.

"Who... What are you?!" She asked on the brink of tears. "What do you want from me?!"

"I'm here to help, ma'am." Jean said calmly as he grabbed onto the ledge of the upper floor. "Hold on tight. I'm going to bring you down to the ground." When Jean felt her hooves tightening around his neck, he kicked himself away from the ledge and landed in the corner he left the wounded stallion in. Fortunately, he was so preoccupied with his injuries that he didn't even notice Jean's transformation.

Two ponies were safe, but Jean's job was not done. He looked around the room and still saw several trapped workers all over the place. And without his powers, it was gonna be difficult to rescue them. Fortunately, his strength was still there.

He lifted the fallen marble column and raised it over his head and pushed it over to two ponies who were trapped between the flames, just as the electrified water was about to reach them. "Climb it!" He called out to them.

One of them was an earth pony who helped the unicorn climb the column before he pulled him up. The two climbed over the column to reach the safe corner and once they got down, Jean then used the column to break a hole in the wall allowing the four rescued ponies to escape the building.

Once that was done, he used the column to break through the wreckage blocking his access to the next room and proceeded to get in there. He found himself in the main hall which was also covered in debris and flames, causing Jean to narrow his eyes.

It wasn't possible that this also came from the explosion caused by the piece of equipment in the last room. What was going on here? He briefly wondered if the mysterious entity that had been stalking him had something to do with it, but he soon found himself facing bigger concerns.

"Help!" He looked up to see a unicorn stallion dangling from a fallen column on the top floor. Jean jumped up and grabbed him before landing on the upper floor and putting the stallion down.

"How many more of you are in here?" He asked frantically, but he had to wait for the answer until the stallion got over his unusual appearance.

"Uh... Three! We were setting up the new alarm system when the explosion hit from out of nowhere! They're still around somewhere!" He panicked, looking across the hall in search of his coworkers. Jean put a hoof on his shoulder.

"I will find them. Get to safety!" He told him, pointing at the emergency exit next to them. He saw the concern in his eyes and knew he wanted to help, but he had to decline. "You'll be of no help putting yourself in danger here! Get out of here!" The stallion finally sighed and reluctantly left through the fire exit, leaving Jean to deal with the rescue himself.

The flames were spreading rapidly and he couldn't use his telepathy to locate the ponies, but his vision was extremely sharp compared to the average pony. It didn't take long until he spotted an unconscious pegasus mare lying under another piece of debris with the flames getting dangerously close to her body.

Jean jumped down and reached for debris but when he tried to lift it, another coughing fit overcame him. And even his strength seemed to leave him.

"What is..." He couldn't even exclaim through his violent coughs. "Why is this happening to me? And at the worst possible time?!" He tried to ignore the urge to cough and resumed trying to lift the debris off of the mare, but he was losing his strength at a rapid rate. Despite this, he managed to lift it enough to pull the mare free.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" Jean asked as he gently tried to slap the pegasus awake. "Wake up! You need to get out of here!" His efforts were futile so he settled on putting her on his back and jumping up to the second floor. He placed his ear on her chest to make sure she was still alive before searching for the other two.

Eventually, he noticed an earth pony in the corner, surrounded by flames as he held a fire hose he got out from a cabinet on the wall and cursing his luck that it wasn't working. Jean immediately knew what to do.

"Throw that hose up to me!" He called out to him. "I will help you climb up!" The earth pony was rather surprised when Jean called out to him out of nowhere, but he wasn't about to turn down a helping hoof in his situation. He threw the hose up and Jean caught it before tying it around one of the columns that still stood in its place.

"Wrecking Ball! He's still down there!" He panicked as Jean pulled him up. He wasn't even surprised at Jean's alien appearance. Whether his concern for his coworker overwhelmed his shock, or he was simply used to all the unusual beings and happenings around Equestria Jean did not know.

"I will find your friend! You need to get out of here!" But the stallion shook his head feverishly.

"He's my brother! I am not leaving without him!" Jean appreciated his dedication to family, but right now, he had no time for this.

"Do you see her?!" He asked, pointing at the unconscious mare next to them. The stallion's eyes widened.

"That's Golden Dove! I know her! We just celebrated the birth of her niece last week!" He exclaimed.

"See? That mare needs help now! Pick her up and take her outside! You have my word, I will save your brother!" The earth pony looked reluctant but eventually realised that the hero was right. He placed the unconscious mare onto his back and ran through the fire exit.

But Jean's job was not yet done. He had one more pony to save. He jumped down to the ground floor and began frantically searching through the hall. Which was increasingly difficult with how quickly the fires had spread. And the more they spread, the more powerless he felt. And the disease hiding in him seemed to be wearing him down more and more as well.

He collapsed onto the ground and broke down into another heavy coughing fit. He felt like he could pass out any moment now, but he had to fight it. As long as there was one pony who needed him, he couldn't give up. As he got closer to the bank's main entrance, he heard another series of coughs coming from another pony.

He saw the shape of the earth pony worker he was looking for and much like himself, he had trouble keeping himself conscious from the smoke he was inhaling. The sight of a pony in trouble gave Jean the resolve he needed to push himself up from the floor and make his way through the fallen debris.

Jumping over the flames, he placed the barely awake Wrecking Ball onto his back and began to make his way towards the exit. He wasn't even surprised at this point to find that it was also covered by the debris. Collecting every bit of strength he had left, he jumped forward and literally burst through the rubble and the gates behind them, reaching the safety of the streets outside.

A group of firefighters and royal guards were already there trying to stop the flames, as well as a group of medical ponies who immediately took Wrecking Ball into their care. The assembled onlookers all backed away when they noticed the strange figure who rescued the construction worker. Jean could only hope that once the initial surprise wore off, they would not freak out too bad from discovering another alien among them, but he didn't find out. The entire world went black around him as he finally gave in to weakness, exhaustion and whatever infection was plaguing him and collapsed.

Author's Note

Welcome back, everypony! Honest, I didn't want to divide this chapter into two parts, but I realised it was becoming too long for my new shorter chapter policy. The explanation of the infection will continue in the next chapter.

And once again, thanks to my proofreader, Lex the Pikachu for helping me make this chapter the best it can be!

Until then, enjoy this chapter! And if you liked it, please leave a comment and upvote my story. It would mean the world to me! Later! :twilightsmile:

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #4: Infection - Part 2

Despite the uncomfortable circumstances, Jean was thankful that he could get a full, eight hour sleep without it being interrupted by visions or nightmares. Though he wasn't entirely certain if it could be classified as sleep if you passed out from exhaustion and pain.

Pain. During yesterday's rescue operation from the unexpected bank fire, he felt more pain than he ever did since he came to Equestria. At least in a physical sense. That alone didn't frighten him as much as he thought it would. If anything, it was a refreshing experience. Being in pain like the ordinary equines helped him feel like he was one of them. What frightened him was that he had no idea what was causing it.

His troubles were connected to his mysterious, shadowy stalker. Of that, he had no doubt anymore. There were far too many things happening around them to be a mere coincidence. Jean knew that once he recovered, his main priority will be tracking this entity down, finding out who he is, what he wants and if necessary - which more than likely will be - stopping him.

But when his body was shaken by another series of heavy coughs, he was uncertain how soon that recovery will be. Perhaps his main priority should be figuring out what disease has taken hold of him and treating it before going after the phantom. He couldn't hope to conduct a competent investigation in this state.

Jean felt like he had enough rest and was about to jump out of the bed when he was greeted by the disapproving and concerned face of Princess Luna. That's when he realised that he wasn't lying in his own bed or even a hospital bed somewhere in Canterlot. It was far too soft and comfortable for that.

He looked around and noticed the theme of the room. The dark blue curtains and bedsheets along with the circular rug in the middle of the room and the ceiling which both were enchanted to resemble the night sky. The vanity mirror next to the wall with the thestral shaped wooden frame.

He didn't need the detective skills of Batmare to realise that he was in Princess Luna's personal quarters. And it made him feel extremely uncomfortable. He was about to address the issue but the Princess spoke first.

"Tell me, what is the point of me concerning myself with your wellbeing if you are going to ignore my advice for its preservation?" The images of his saving of the construction workers from the burning Bank building quickly came back to him. Including the part where he burst through the bank door to save Wrecking Ball and being discovered by the ponies of Canterlot as being an alien superhero.

He looked down at his body and saw that he wasn't in the shape of Jean Jeans, loyal aide of Princess Luna. He was in his lunar shape. He looked at Luna in shock and the princess already knew what he was going to ask so she nodded in advance.

"You have made my life quite more difficult than it already is." Luna told him on a voice that made it obvious that she was not pleased with him. "I had to publicly reveal your existence to Equestria, explain in great detail why I kept you hidden in the palace and reassure the entire population that you don't intend to overthrow our government, enslave our stallions and claim our mares as breeding stock. Let me tell you, my sister was not amused. And frankly, neither am I."

Jean looked down in shame. But the shame was short lived as he remembered what happened in the bank. If he didn't intervene, those ponies would have surely perished. And that knowledge gave him enough confidence to look the alicorn in the eye without a hint of regret.

"I realise my actions may have been foolhardy. But I will stand by them. I still believe that ponies should not become overreliant on the help of superpowered individuals, but that will not stop me from saving them from imminent life threatening danger." The two of them held their stoic eye contact for several seconds until Luna's expression melted into a warm smile.

"I know you will. Which is one of the qualities I most admire about you." Jean was completely speechless. This was not the reaction he expected. "I have always known you as a noble, chivalrous and heroic stallion and I know you wouldn't stop from helping ponies in need. Even if the political backlash of this revelation is going to be felt for a long time to come." Jean felt his shame returning as he realised just how much inconvenience he caused his dear friend, but Luna merely waved his concerns off.

"But that can wait. For now there is a more important matter at hoof. And that is your wellbeing. How are feeling?" Jean wasn't as dismissive of the consequences of his reveal to Equestria as the Princess, but it was clear to him that Luna was far more worried about him, so he focused on that matter for now.

"I am..." Jean struggled with finding the right words. "...not sure. I am pleased with the outcome of my rescue of those ponies, but I am also concerned."

"About what?" Luna asked, shifting all of her worries around her friend. She got her answer right away when Jean began to cough again, just like in the ruined factory. "I see." She frowned. "This is getting serious, Jean. You need to get yourself looked at."

"I will" Jean assured her. "Eventually. But right now, I believe we have a bigger concern on our hoof." Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Bigger than your health? What could that be?"

"Equestria’s safety." Jean answered without hesitation. "I believe you were right, Luna. There is a powerful psychic entity coming after me. I saw him just before the fire broke out in the bank. It is more than likely it was responsible for it. As well as the infection plaguing me." Luna cast her narrowed eyes down. It was clear that she was not pleased by this development.

"If this is true, then not only did this entity endanger my country and my subjects but also my dearest friend." She growled with slowly growing fury. "I assure you, Jean, I will find it and make it answer for its crimes." But to Luna's surprise, the stallion merely shook his head.

"No, Luna! This is something I will have to deal with myself. For some reason, I cannot help but feel like this is a personal matter between me and my shadowy stalker. It seems to be particularly interested in me for some reason and if that is the case, I cannot allow you to get involved."

"While your concern is much appreciated, I would like to remind you that I am quite capable of taking care of myself." Luna replied, matter of factly.

"I have no doubt you are." Jean said dryly. "But I feel like this entity has something to do with my lunar heritage." Luna's eyes widened.

"What gives you that idea?"

"You remember the nightmare I told you about this morning?" Luna nodded. "This figure showed up immediately after that. Everything that has befallen me began when this phantom showed up. And given how my nightmare was about the destruction of my race..." Jean stopped for a moment, uncertainly taking hold of him. It was like even he knew what he was about to say was impossible. But he finally found the right words. "I believe it originates from my old home. The moon."

"How could that be possible?!" Luna exclaimed, shocked by the absurd claim. "You told me your entire race is extinct!"

"That is what I always believed." Jean answered. "But I could not say for sure. There may have been survivors for all I know, but I doubt our phantom friend is one of them. In fact... I suspect it may be the force responsible for our presumed extinction."

A terrible silence descended upon the room. It took Luna quite a few seconds to process this information. She was about to ask him why he believed this to be the case, but then the lunar stallion let out another series of coughs.

"This is why I believe so." He answered for her. "My illness began when the phantom first encountered me in your study last night. I felt the exact same symptoms when it first contacted me and they have only been getting worse."

Jean got out of bed and slowly walked up to the window. Celestia's sun was almost down and it would soon be time for his mistress to raise the moon. He didn't want to take up any more of her time but he needed to reassure her that he would be fine.

"For all my life, I have been wondering why my people disappeared. When I came to Equestria, I tried my best to move on and become one of you. But now that I have even the slightest chance to discover what happened to the lunars, I feel like I would not be able to live with myself if I wasted it. Not to mention all those ponies who could be pushed into danger with the phantom roaming free. I do not want a repeat of the bank incident."

"What about your illness?" Luna asked in concern. "You cannot face this threat in this condition!" Jean nodded.

"I realise that. But even though my secret is out, I still do not trust myself to the expertise of your physicians." He looked out the window in the direction of a very specific city. "At the moment, there is only one pony I trust myself to."

When Spike was about to lock the Atheneigh Library up after an exhausting day, he did not expect to meet a stallion outside, asking to see Twilight personally. Twilight was rather reclusive and he had known all of her associates, but this stallion was a complete stranger to him. And given all the dangerous ponies who might have it in for his caretaker, needless to say he was very hesitant to let him meet her.

But to his surprise, as soon as Twilight heard the name Jean Jeans, not only did she welcome him into the library with open hooves, but took him directly down to the Batcave! After they went down, Twilight told him to lock up the library and meet them downstairs.

And as if the end of the day wasn't surprising enough already, when he got down to the cave, he saw Twilight with a strange looking, hairless stallion lying on a medical bed inside the CT scanner they installed to inspect Twilight's body for any unseen injuries. It became a necessity with the increasing number of super criminals the Batmare had to face night after night.

"Uh..." Spike rubbed his head in confusion. "You guys mind filling me in on what the hay is going on here?" He asked.

"Spike, meet Jean Jeans." Twilight replied casually as she pointed at the alien she was scanning without looking at the young drake. "Royal aide of Princess Luna and the last known living member of an alien civilisation from the moon. He arranged for us and the other heroes to travel to the wedding and defeat the Changelings." She explained. Spike looked at the alien who gave him a small wave in return.

"A pleasure, Spike. Even though we already met at the wedding." Spike stared at him for a few seconds before shrugging.

"Alright, so what brings you here?" He said as he walked up to Twilight to help her analyse the results. Once Jean explained everything, Twilight and Spike knew exactly what to look for.

"We would have an easier time with this if we had a clue what your physiology looks like in the first place, Jean." Spike said.

"But we compared the cells we found inside your body to every disease known to ponykind and we did see several similarities between some of them." Twilight added as she ejected Jean's bed from the CT scanner. The stallion walked over to the computer screens and saw the results of the scan showing an image of his cells, along with the virus being highlighted with red lights.

"So this is what is slowly killing me." Jean noted somberly. Twilight nodded.

"The good news is that the spreading appears to be very slow." Twilight explained. "We have only discovered a few infected cells but we don't know how the virus works exactly. Something might accelerate the spreading or we could even find a way to slow it down even further. Or maybe to stop it completely. We're not exactly medical experts, but we could run a few tests to see how it reacts to certain situations." Jean nodded.

"I believe that would be for the best. There was another thing I wanted to discuss with you anyway."

"And what would that be?" Twilight asked. Jean began to feel uncomfortable as he recalled how he lost his powers during the bank rescue. He didn't want that to happen again. Twilight keenly listened to the story he told, trying to pick apart every minor detail in her head to realise what would be the best approach to unroot the problem. By the time Jean finished, she already had a plan.

"I think we should put you through a few tests, Jean. To see if your powers are fully restored and we might even discover what causes them to suddenly go out like that. Are you feeling fit enough to start?" Jean nodded. That may have been a lie. He wasn't particularly well, given the infection he was exposed to, but he didn't want to waste any time. He wanted to get to the bottom of this entire mystery as soon as possible.

"Good. Then let's start with your most commonly used ability. Can you shapeshift right now?" In response, Jean merely closed his eyes and the two observers watched in awe as his body began to mold like clay and change colour. When the transformation was over, an exact replica of Twilight Sparkle was standing in front of them.

"Yes. That ability seems to be working just fine." Twilight said as she picked up a clipboard and wrote something on it.

"Cool!" Spike marveled at the sight. "Can you do me to?" He asked with a huge grin, making Twilight chuckle. Her little assistant may have been very mature for his age, but he was still an adolescent. Jean closed his eyes again and morphed into the dragon's mirror image. Spike went up to him to get a closer look and Jean didn't seem to mind. "Is this really how the scales on my back look?"

"Focus, Spike!" Twilight reprimanded. "And set up a few targets for Jean in our training area, would you?"

Spike quickly did as he was instructed. The Batcave's training area was upgraded to swiftly set up practice dummies and other sort of obstacles. Another necessity with the increasing number of supervillan activity in Manehattan. Spike just had to press a button on a computer panel and three wooden ponyquins sprung up from the ground.

"Go ahead, Jean." Twilight instructed. For a few moments, the stallion wondered which of his powers he should use first, but in the end, he settled on blasting the targets to pieces from afar with his heat vision. "Heat vision seems work fine." Twilight noted as she wrote some more onto her clipboard. "Carry on."

Jean took off into the air and began to float around the training area to test his flight coordination. Twilight and Spike shared a small smirk as they decided there was no reason to make this too easy for the alien. Spike pressed a button on the panel and a few steel walls popped up from the ground, right in front Jean. The lunar hero was surprised but he managed to react just in time to avoid them.

"Flight and reflexes work impeccably." Twilight wrote. "Jean, could you land? I wish to test something else." The lunar granted the request and Spike made four steel walls surround Jean and he closed down the gap at the top with another one. Jean quickly realised what Twilight wanted him to do and punched a hole through the wall before jumping through it.

"Super strength, check." Twilight noted.

"And replacing that broken steel plate will also cost a nice cheque." Spike remarked dryly. "What's next?" Jean thought for a while.

"Could you raise some more walls? With only slight gaps between them?" Twilight and Spike looked at each other in confusion at the odd request.

"Sure, but what for?" Jean smirked.

"You will see." With a shrug, Spike did as Jean asked and surrounded him with a series of steel walls with barely enough space between them to peek through. Jean closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Twilight and Spike watched keenly as the stallion's body began to stretch like rubber.

They watched in wide eyed astonishment as Jean effortlessly squeezed his way through the tiny gaps, stretching and flattening his body like he didn't even have bones.

"I don't believe it!" Spike exclaimed. "Is there anything this guy can't do?" Twilight was no less shocked and it took her a few seconds to get over it.

"Well, I guess we're about to find out, aren't we?" She then turned to the stallion who just finished squeezing himself through the steel maze. "Anything else in your superpower repertoire?"

While Jean was normally a humble individual, he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the attention and the amazed reactions he got from the two onlookers. They had no idea what more he was capable of but he would enjoy showing it off. Instead of an answer, he closed his eyes again and turned himself invisible in front of the unicorn and while he didn't see her reaction, her loud gasp was enough for him to imagine her current expression.

"I take it that is the same trick you pulled on me outside Donut Joe's shop when you revealed yourself to me." Twilight said, looking around in an effort to spot anything that might give Jean's location away.

"Correct." She heard from behind herself, jumping in shock before turning around to see Jean becoming visible again. "I made my body reflect the beams of light falling on it, hiding myself from the naked eye."

"Remarkable." Twilight said as she wrote some more onto her clipboard.

"At this point, I don't think anything you can do will surprise me." Spike added. Jean apparently took that as a challenge because he decided to amaze his audience with another trick. Before the two could say another word, the stallion phased through the floor and reappeared behind the young dragon.

“Are you sure about that?” Jean mused, making Spike jump. Twilight was impressed.

‘Super strength, flight, invisibility, intangibility, polymorphism… Amazing! Not even Applejack has such a wide range of abilities.’ She thought as she wrote more notes.

“Well, Jean, it seems to me that all of your powers are working just fine at the moment. What do you suppose could have made you lose them back in that bank?”

“I cannot say for certain.” Jean replied, putting a hoof to his chin in thought. “Perhaps it was the virus. I was already infected by that time.” But Twilight shook her head.

“Highly unlikely. As I said, the infection is still very minor. Even if it does affect your powers at a more advanced stage, there’s no way it could now. The virus is simply not widespread enough.” Jean went back to his thoughts. If not the virus, then what could it possibly be that caused the loss of his abilities? He rewound the events of the bank rescue in his head and no matter which part he remembered, one thing was always constant in his memory fragments.

The fire. There was fire everywhere and the closer he got to the flames to rescue the ponies trapped behind them, the weaker he felt. He winced as he recalled the feeling of the heatwaves on his body. Could it be that his weakness came from something so basic as one of the four elements of nature? There was only one way to be sure.

“Can you make a fire in the training area?” He asked suddenly. Twilight nodded and retreated behind the computer panel with Spike who pressed a button on it. Jean found himself surrounded by a circle of flames. His first instinct was flying away, but when he jumped up to take flight, he fell back on the ground like a piece of rubble.

The flames came closer and closer to his body and he once again felt his strength completely leave him. Though he knew it was useless, he began to blow at the flames. His breath would be powerful enough to put the flames out by itself, but just like the rest of his powers, they weren’t working at the moment. There was not a shadow of a doubt in him at this point. Fire was the cause of his weakness.

The flames were almost completely upon him and he collapsed onto the ground. His body felt like it was weighed down by hundreds of thousands of tons of rocks from above. He couldn’t lift any part of his body. The fire was only inches away from his face when he heard Twilight’s voice from afar.

“Spike, shut it down! Shut it down NOW!” The flames suddenly disappeared, but Jean still felt like a sack of rocks in the bottom of a lake. He felt Twilight put one of his front legs around her neck and carry him out of the training area. As the unicorn carried him off, he found enough of his strength returning to crack a joke.

“Well, I suppose now we know what causes my powers to leave me, don't we?” He chuckled.

“Not the time, Jean.” Twilight said as she placed the lunar on the medical bed.

“It's never the time with her. “Spike added. “Don't try to appeal to her sense of humor. She doesn't have one.”

“Shut up, Spike!” Twilight told him curtly before turning back to Jean. “Are you alright?” Jean nodded.

“I am significantly better, thank you.” He replied as he sat up. “With the fire gone, my strength is returning.” To prove his point, he floated up into the air, but the group's relief was short lived as he erupted into another coughing fit.

“What's wrong?” Twilight asked in concern. The lunar stallion floated back onto the ground but he couldn't answer. He was still coughing heavily. Twilight quickly realized that this must be the result of the virus inside his body.

“Spike, get him back inside the CT scanner!” The dragon ran off to do as he was told and Twilight sat behind the monitor to check the immediate results. What she saw was frightening to say the least. The viral infection has gone through a significant spread.

“This is bad!” She muttered in horror. Jean had thankfully stopped coughing, but his immune system could only take so much. Twilight had to do something. Since she didn't have a better idea, she administered a vial of antibiotics into Jean's body.

It was a big gamble since she had no way of telling how it could affect his alien biology, she only hoped that the similarities between the virus affecting him and equine diseases would mean that it would react the same.

The gamble paid off as Jean's coughing fit stopped and to Twilight's delight, the infection on the monitor was beginning to be pushed back by the injection. Even if only slightly.

“How are you feeling?” The mare asked. Jean took a gulp and a deep breath before answering.

“A little better, thank you. I do not know what you gave me, but it worked.” Twilight sighed in relief.

“Sadly, it did not cure you. It managed to push the infection back, but not by much.”

“Can I pull him out now, Twi?” Spike asked.

“Not yet, Spike! There's something I want to check.” She then turned back to Jean. “What do you think caused this sudden burst of the virus?”

“I am not certain. Maybe it was the fire. If it can cause me to lose my abilities, it could have other negative effects.” He replied.

“Would it be okay if we tested that?” Jean nodded in approval. Twilight gave Spike a matchstick and the dragon lit it with his breath before going up to Jean and waving it above him. Even the small flame was enough to make Jean feel weak, but he did not feel his health worsening.

“I think we can rule that out.” Twilight said, taking some more notes. “Spike has been doing that for a minute and there wasn't even a cough. But if it wasn't the fire, then what was it?”

“It could have been anything!” Spike said as he put out the match. “He was perfectly fine before the cough kicked in. Even his powers worked with no issue whatsoever.” Twilight’s eyes widened as Spike’s last line gave her an idea.

“His powers? Jean, did you say you believe the virus is an artificial creation to destroy lunar lifeforms?”

“Yes. Given to me by the mysterious phantom stalking me.” Jean replied.

“Could you use one of your powers while in the scanner? Just for a few seconds?” Jean closed his eyes and used his shapeshifting to change his appearance to the one he wore in public as Luna’s assistant. Twilight looked back at the screen and her suspicion was confirmed.

“Stop it! Right now!” Twilight cried, making Jean abort the shapeshifting process and revert back to his Lunar appearance. “It is as I thought. Whenever you use your powers, the infection rate accelerates. I hate to say it, but you were right. Whoever designed this virus designed it specifically for your kind. They knew about your special abilities and they wanted you to die the faster you used them.”

Jean processed this information slowly as he was ejected from the CT scanner. Twilight and Spike watched him as he sat there, deep in his thoughts, staring ahead of himself with an unreadable expression. They looked at each other, not sure what they should say. Eventually, it was the dragon who found his voice first. He was a lot better with social interactions than his caretaker.

“Are you alright?” He asked, putting a claw on Jean’s shoulder. His words managed to snap the lunar out of his thoughts.

“Now that I know what has happened to me, I will be.” Jean replied, jumping off the bed with a look of determination. “And now I also know what I will have to do.”

“What?” Twilight asked curiously.

“I will fight the phantom.” Jean replied simply. He was about to leave the cave, but Twilight stopped him.

“How will you do that? We just discovered that using your powers accelerates the infection. It could kill you.” Before Jean could answer, Spike did it for him.

“The way I see it, if he just sits around and does nothing, that will kill him all the same. He needs to find this guy to get the antidote.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at her dragon assistant.

“Spike, this is an extra-equestrial virus developed solely to wipe out an entire species. Why would the developer bother to make an antidote?” Spike just smiled in response.

“Villains always have antidotes! They’re funny that way.”

“While young Spike’s reasoning may be flawed, I believe he does raise a good point.” Jean replied, “Even if there is no antidote, if the developer possesses the knowledge to make this virus, he knows how to make one. I have to find him.”

“Still the same question.” Twilight asked. “How?”

The question was good. Jean is going to have to use his powers sparingly from now on given the recent discoveries, but there was one of his skills the virus would have no effect on. His mind. He looked up at the wall to see a poster - no doubt hung up by Spike as decoration - showcasing a fictional detective even he read some stories about, The Question. As he observed the figure’s attire consisting of a fedora hat and trenchcoat, an idea hit him.

“Leave that to me, Miss Sparkle.”

Author's Note

Hi, guys! Sorry I didn't update last week! I had a test I needed to study for. Fortunately, I passed and now can go back to writing!

Next time, Jean begins his search for the mysterious phantom that infected him. But to avoid using his powers too much, he'll have to do it discreetly. How will he accomplish that. Found out in...

Issue #5: Detective Jeans

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #5: Detective Jeans

Even the capital of Equestria had its seedy parts. The Ace o' Clubs bar was located right in the center of one of them. Even the Royal Guard avoided this place if they could. They much rather kept the ponies who resided in this area stay here and the more honorary citizens of the city out of here. But tonight, one of the most honorable citizens of Canterlot had no choice but to descent to this circle of scum and villainy.

As the door of the club's main entrance opened, it was like everypony inside knew that somepony very important was about to step inside. That was probably the reason for their disappointment when they saw that it was just a dark brown earth pony wearing a blue fedora hat and a matching trenchcoat. He didn't seem like anything special so everypony just turned back to their drinks.

The newcomer looked around, thoroughly scanning everypony in the establishment. Though they weren't looking at him anymore, if they did, they would have gotten the feeling that the stranger was looking right into their minds. Once he got a proper look at the crowd, he made his way to the counter and sat down.

"A glass of whisky, please." He ordered. The bartender, a lanky blue unicorn stallion stared at him suspiciously for a few moments, but eventually went to fetch his order. As the stallion waited for his drink, he felt a couple of eyes staring at him. He looked to his right and saw a group of ponies sitting a few seats away from him, looking at him with less than friendly expressions.

"Something I can do for you, gentlecolts?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. He only earned a few narrowed eyes in response.

"You're one of them detective types?" Asked a chunky pegasus with a yellow coat and brown puffy mane.

"As it happens, I am." He replied with a tip of his hat. "Detective J. Jeans, at your service." His polite demeanor did little to gain favor with the group.

"Figured as much. Only you would dress like that in a place like this." The detective shrugged.

"I suppose my look is a little old school, but I guess you could say I have a soft spot for the classics." He replied as the bartender returned with his drink.

"Look, buddy, we don't much like your kind around here!" Growled a rather bulky gray earth pony. "Whatever you came here to sniff around about, I suggest you drop it, finish your drink and leave as soon as possible. You won't find nothing here but trouble." He warned with not too subtly hidden malice. But Detective Jeans wasn't a pony easily intimidated.

"Thank you for your advice, friend. I shall act accordingly." He said as he turned away and picked up his glass. As he slowly sipped on his whiskey, he felt the group he conversed with turning away from him, but he didn't need to maintain connection to find out what he wanted from them.

'Damn! Should have known they would send one of those investigator types to sniff around about the strange figures popping up around the area!' One of them thought.

'I hope he is smart enough to get out of here while he can.' Thought the earth pony who instructed him to do so earlier.

'Maybe he'll just head down to the old steel mill that The 100 abandoned after the ghostly reports began and disappear.' He read in the head of the third one. 'The last thing we need is for the highest authority getting involved in anything in this neighborhood.'

Jean finished his drink and just as the company suggested, he headed straight out where he came in. Though it wasn't their intention, the trio has been most helpful in his investigation. That old steel mill wouldn't be hard to find.

In a neighbourhood such as this, the streets were never as lifeless at night as the more orderly parts of Canterlot. If anything, they became far more active once Princess Luna raised the moon. And that meant Jean had to be extremely careful to avoid company while he made his way towards the Steel Mill.

The residents of the neighbourhood made it clear to him that he was not welcome and while he was certain he would be able to protect himself from them with no difficulty, he preferred to avoid violence if he could. Even against criminals. Fortunately, his mind reading abilities were all he needed to locate other ponies and make sure their paths didn't cross.

Other than his pacifistic nature, the other reason he wanted to avoid confrontation was because of the virus feeding on the usage of his powers. Before he departed Manehattan, Twilight had given him several vials of antibiotics that proved to slow down the infection, it was only a temporary solution and he didn't want to push it.

As he predicted it, he easily found the abandoned Steel Mill where the alleged reports of a ghostly figure were reported from. If he was lucky, he and the members of The 100 were seeing the same ghosts. He frowned as he thought of them. They were one of the most hardened organised crime syndicates in Equestria and certainly the top dog in Canterlot. If they were spooked by a ghost story, then those ghosts were certainly real.

Jean made his way through the front door of the building. It was almost completely pitch black in there given that it was nighttime and a derelict building such as this obviously wasn't running on an adequate power supply. Anypony would be completely blind in here without a luminance spell cast by a unicorn or a flashlight. But a lunar's senses were far superior to an average pony's. Even in the night, he saw as clear as a pony did in the daylight.

But his other senses were extremely sharp as well. Including his sense of smell. And in the air, he smelled something very wrong and also very familiar. It didn't take Jean long to recognise the smell. It had the same stench as the Phantom whenever Jean felt him around himself and the virus he polluted into his body.

He had no doubt this signaled that he had come to the right place, but he had to be sure. With his heightened senses, he will be able to trace any scent back to its source. The scent of the virus lead downstairs into the basement of the Steel Mill and the deeper Jean went the more he was beginning to feel the Phantom's presence once more. He was here, he was certain of it.

His certainty grew tenfold when he turned down a corner and witnessed a black shape moving around in the darkness. He slowed down to avoid startling him and narrowed his eyes to get a better look, but he was so focused on the figure that he didn't notice he stepped onto a plastic bottle.

The figure immediately jumped at the sight and turned around. When he got a look at Jean, he bolted down the corridor. Jean gave chase but quickly lost sight of the figure. He must have known this area better than him, including all the rooms and shortcuts. No matter.

Since Jean shared Supermare's x-ray vision, he could see through the entire building from anywhere. It didn't take him long to find the fleeing figure heading down into the boiler house. Jean just smirked and phased himself through the floor to the same level before walking through the wall into the same room.

To his surprise, the room was lit, though not by electricity, but by fire burning inside a metal barrel. The barrel was surrounded by a bunch of dirty looking ponies, one of whom jumped in fright when he saw him, making Jean realise that he was the one he was chasing, but instead of the Phantom's lair, he had only found a secret homeless shelter.

"Evening, gentlecolts." Jean greeted them with a tip of his hat. "I am afraid I have to suggest that for your own safety you leave the area immediately." The homeless ponies looked at each other in confusion. They had locked the room from inside so they had no idea how somepony could enter without them noticing it, but once they got over his shock, they became defiant.

"And where should we go?" An elderly unicorn asked. "The 100 controls the entire neighbourhood! Ever since they left, this is the only place we are safe!"

"I understand that." Jean nodded. "But I have good reasons to believe that horrible things will take place in this steel mill tonight and should you remain here when that happens, I cannot guarantee your safety." Suffice it to say, the homeless ponies were not too keen on believing this outlandish statement from a complete stranger. They just scoffed at Jean in disbelief and sat back down.

"We'll take our chances, thank you." They said turning their attention back to keeping themselves warm. Jean sighed. Of course, he wouldn't take that warning at face value either so he understood their reaction. In the end, he had no choice but to leave. The ponies cared so little about him that they didn't even see when he phased through the locked door.

As Jean entered the corridors again, the scent of the virus struck his nose again. Since his last lead turned out to be a wild goose chase, he was about to follow it back to the source, but he was stopped when another series of coughs broke out. He must have overused his powers and the infection was starting to spread again. Good thing he was prepared this time.

He took out a vial of antibiotics and injected it into himself. Within a few seconds, the coughing stopped and he started feeling better. Good enough to stand back up and continue his way. He traced the scent of the virus to an empty storage room and what he saw there was definitely more incriminating than the homeless group.

There were several makeshift tables laid out all across the room with several bottles, vials and flasks full of different coloured liquids. At first glance, this would have looked like nothing but an ordinary drug lab, but then he noticed all of the blackboards with depictions of a cellular system that he instantly recognised as his own lunar biology. He remembered the images he saw on Twilight's CT scanner.

The images showed the effects of different substances on the lunar biology and while Jean wasn't a biologist by any means, he could tell the effects were all negative. Other than his own cells, he also recognised drawings of the virus he saw on Twilight's scans. This was the ultimate proof. This was the Phantom's lair!

As he observed the drawings of the virus, he realised that he had stumbled across an invaluable discovery. These formulas could be used to develop an antidote for the virus he was infected with. And once that was taken care of, he will be free to pursue the Phantom freely and at full health. But before he could memorise them, fate once again crossed his plans.

He heard a loud crash coming from deep inside the building. He spun around and saw flashlights through the windows on the door. He raised an eyebrow. This was definitely not the Phantom. If he was a lunar as he suspected, he wouldn't need those to find his way through the darkness.

The doors opened and Jean's eyes widened as he recognised two of the three ponies he met at the bar earlier. The pegasus and the earth pony. But where was the third one? He got that answer very soon when he saw the third one, a red unicorn with green mane walking behind them, right towards the room where the homeless ponies have gathered. He did not like the idea that sight gave him.

"I thought we told you to get out of this neighbourhood, copper!" The earth pony snapped at him, cracking his hooves menacingly.

"Yeah, the only thing we like less than putting up with the likes of you is having the likes of you sniffing around our neighbourhood!" The pegasus growled as he advanced on Jean. "We gave you a chance to do this the easy way, but now you brought the hard way on yourself."

Jean was not amused and neither did he panic as he knew he was not in real danger from these ponies. They saw the lack of expression on his face and it only angered them even further. But when he heard a commotion from the end of the corridor which could have only meant the unicorn found those unfortunate souls. He would not allow anything bad to happen to them.

"Gentlecolts, for your own sake, I must advise you to step out of my way and leave this area at once." He told them. "I will not warn you again." The two thugs looked at each other in surprise before breaking out in laughter.

"Buddy, I don't think you realise just how deep manure you've gotten yourself into." The pegasus said as he put Jean into a chokehold. Normally, Jean wouldn’t have been even phased by such an attempt, but this time he was caught by surprise.

"And now, you're about to be buried even deeper." The earth pony snarled, smacking his hooves together. "So deep in fact that they'll never dig you out of it."

Jean just about had it with these brutes. He managed to restrain himself from lashing out, but when he heard a crash, followed by the agonised cry of one of the homeless ponies from afar, something inside of him snapped. There were few things that could rile him up, but violence against the innocent was one of them.

The earth pony threw a punch at Jean, but to his surprise, he caught his hoof effortlessly before crushing it between his own with a sickening crunch. The earth pony let out a pained scream as he collapsed onto the ground, holding his broken hoof in agony. Jean then simply phased through the hooves holding his neck before turning around to glare at the pegasus with glowing red eyes.

The now terrified criminal was about to fly away, but Jean wrapped his hooves around his neck and lifted him off the ground before slamming him on top of his friend. He held both of them down as his downright demonic looking eyes pierced into their souls. Though he wasn't sure if they even had one in the first place.

He used his telepathic powers to search through their minds and was sickened by what he found. Two individuals rotten to the core from youth who brought nothing to the world but pain, suffering and misery. In a better part of the city, they would have been rotting in prison already for years now. But in a lawless place like this...

There was a way to get justice though. Or at least, something close enough to it. Jean's lunar telepathic abilities were so powerful that it didn't only allow him to enter the minds of others but even alter them slightly. While he normally hated doing this, he saw it perfectly appropriate now.

He entered the deepest parts of their minds and found every single memory about them hurting ponies and reversed them so that they would be on the receiving end of the hurting. He then made these memories run on loop inside their minds. He then let go of them and they fell onto the floor and they began to scream in pain as they held onto their heads.

"For the next twenty-four hours, you will constantly experience all the pain you ever caused to others." He explained with no sympathy before making his way out of the room. He suddenly stopped and briefly looked back at the two squirming criminals on the floor.

"Perhaps I should have some faint hope that you will learn something from this. But somehow I doubt it." With that, he left the room and went to confront the third thug. He quickly got back to the room where the homeless ponies were hiding.

And not a moment too soon as he witnessed one of them being held in the unicorn's telekinetic grasp, struggling for air as he watched with sadistic glee and the others cowered on the ground in fear, with noticeable injuries on their bodies that Jean was sure weren't there when he first met them.

This was the final straw. The boiling rage over the atrocities he had witnessed these scoundrels commit finally pushed him over the edge and he lost control of himself. His eyes lit up bright red as he unleashed two heat beams from them, blasting the criminal into the wall.

All hope for mercy was lost. Jean marched up to the now unconscious criminal to give him a lesson he'll never forget. Or at least, he would have if he wasn't interrupted by a piece of concrete falling in front of him from above. He looked up and his eyes widened in horror. He cursed himself for his impulsivity as he realised that the blast he just unleashed made the already unstable room begin to collapse.

The poor pony the criminal was tormenting slowly got back on his hooves and looked up to see another piece of the ceiling about to fall on him. This snapped Jean out of his stupor. He rushed at the petrified pony and pushed him out of the way just in time.

After making sure that the pony was alright, Jean got up with the intention of getting everypony out, but he was stopped when he saw the unicorn criminal he blasted away stumbling towards the door as fast as his injured legs allowed. When he reached the door, he looked back at Jean before using his magic to pick up the barrel the bums used to warm themselves before slamming it on the ground.

Jean cursed under his breath as the barrel's explosion caused flames to spread across the whole room. The criminal made his escape and as if that wasn't bad enough, more pieces of debris fell down as he slammed the door, preventing anypony else from escaping.

'Great! Fire again!' Jean groaned as he already felt his powers leaving him. But he had to get these ponies out of here. Jean looked up and saw the gap in the ceiling. He could see the upper floor from there and that gave him an idea. He grabbed the homeless pony he saved from being crushed to death.

"Hey!" He exclaimed.

"Excuse me." Jean apologised before throwing him through the hole into safety. The others stared in shock at what they just saw.

"You're one of them aren't you?" A middle aged unicorn mare asked. "One of those 'superheroes'."

"If that is the term you wish to use." Jean shrugged. He never considered himself a hero. Just a stallion doing what he felt was right. "But we can discuss that later. Right now, we need to get you out of here." He said, grabbing the mare and throwing her up to the upper floor's safety as well.

"Why are you risking your life for us?" Asked a short earth pony stallion. "We are just the rejects of society. We do not matter."

"You do to me." Jean said as softly and warmly as possible before throwing him up as well. Jean saw the two stallions he already saved peering down at him and reaching their hooves towards him. The implication was clear. He picked up the next pony and pushed him up towards the two stallions who grabbed his hooves and pulled him up.

The flames were almost upon them but Jean managed to put most of them into safety by now. Only two of them were left. Jean pushed one of them up but before the others could pull him up, Jean felt the weakness caused by the fire overwhelm him and he collapsed onto his knees.

"Hey, buddy!" The last remaining bum cried out as he knelt down and began to shake him. "We're almost all out of here! Hang in there just a little longer!" Jean heard him and tried to get up, but his attempts were in vain. One of the bums on the upper narrowed his eyes in determination as he turned back to his companions.

"Lower me down!" He told them, making them widen their eyes.

"Are you crazy?!"

"That guy got us out of there! We're not leaving him behind, do you hear me?! Now lower me!" Reluctantly, the two bums did as they were told. They grabbed their friend's hind legs and lowered him through the gap. The last one who was trapped down there with Jean picked him up - which was no easy feat, but fortunately he was an earth pony - and got up on his own hind legs, reaching for the pony being hanged down above him.

It took quite a stretching from all of them, but finally, their hooves did manage to connect with their hooves. The chain of ponies was finally pulled out of the room just as the flames reached the point they were standing at. The flames were still hot enough to burn the flank of the pony holding Jean, causing him to almost drop him. But he managed to tighten his grip around the alien's body long enough until the others pulled him to safety.

Once they were safe, they laid Jean on the ground to see if he was alright. They sighed in relief when they saw him slowly get up. With the flames away from him, he felt his strength slowly returning. He saw the bums all looking down at him with concerned but grateful expressions. While he appreciated their gratitude, he had to put them to safety immediately.

"Get out! Now!" He told them urgently. "You can see now that I was not jesting when I mentioned that terrible things will happen here!" The bums were obviously not happy about it, but they didn't want to go through a similar ordeal as the one they've just endured, so this time, they complied.

Jean looked down the hole he was pulled out of and saw the flames still raging on below. He was far enough from them to feel his powers return so he could use his breath to put the flames out from afar. Once all the flames were taken care of, he jumped down the hole before clearing the rubble blocking the door and walking out of the room.

He headed back to the room where he found the Phantom's laboratory to keep studying the formula he found, but suddenly, he felt a wave of nausea wash over him. The ordeal with the bums must have taken more out of him than he thought.

He reached to pull out another vial of antibiotics, but his eyes widened when he felt that they were missing! He must have dropped them when those thugs ambushed him earlier. All the more reason to hurry back to the room he left them.

However, as he approached the room, he was rather confused by the complete silence. The two criminals he left there should still be screaming from the mental agony he was putting them through. He opened the door and his eyes widened in horror.

The room was completely trashed. The vials and chemicals were all broken or gone and the blackboards he could have used to analyse for a potential cure were also destroyed. As if that wasn't alarming enough, where the two criminals were rolling around screaming on the floor earlier were now two completely decimated dead bodies.

And the worst part was yet to come. As Jean searched the room for the antibiotics, he found none of them! Looks like the Phantom returned and wanted to take even the slight advantage Jean still had over him. While he didn't find them anywhere, he did find the third criminal who set the other room on fire groaning on the floor. Apparently, he was still alive. Good, Jean was eager to dish out some retribution on this scum. As well as potentially discovering what he might have seen.

Author's Note

Welcome back for another chapter! First volume of Omnibus 2 is halfway done! Once again, huge thanks to my proofreader, Lex the Pikachu for helping me make this chapter the best it can be!

Enter Detective Jeans who begins his investigation for the mysterious phantom who's infected him. His investigation will come full circle next time as he closes in for his evasive enemy.

Stay tuned for...

Issue #6: Race Against the Clock

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #6: Race Against the Clock

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a pair of bright red ones glaring right back into his. Which was quite a frightening sight even for a hardened criminal such as himself so even if he wasn't easily spooked, he flinched by instinct. However, he found that he was unable to move. He looked down to see that he was tied to a chair and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free. He tried to use his magic but once again, to no avail.

"So you have awakened." A voice spoke in disappointment. "A pity. This will make what I am about to do a lot more difficult." The unicorn crook just kept struggling both physically and magically, but it was of no use. "Please do not resist." The voice continued. "It is pointless and it will only make what I am about to do hurt more."

"What the hay have you done to me?!" The unicorn demanded. "Why isn't my magic working?!"

"I have entered your mind and telepathically blocked the channel you unicorns use to access your magic." The voice replied stoically, though he couldn't help but feel a slight gloating in his tone. "You will not be able to access it again until I allow you to. Which I will assure you, will not be in the foreseeable future."

"What do you want from me, you bastard?!" The crook asked angrily, but he couldn't hide that there was panic rising in his voice now.

"Fret not, you dishonorable fiend." The voice taunted. "What I want requires no effort from you." The red eyed figure finally stepped into the light to reveal Jean Jeans, the Lunar Hunter in his alien form. The unicorn's eyes widened at the sight.

"Hey! You're that alien who saved those ponies from the bank fire." He said in realisation. "The one who works for Princess Luna."

"My occupation or point of origin is of no importance right now." Jean replied curtly. "What is, is what you have seen transpire in this room." He then placed his hooves on the thug's shoulders and looked sharply into his eyes. The thug was beginning to lose all of his composure.

"Uh... Hey, man! If you want to know, all you have to do is ask." He chuckled nervously. Jean's face remained stoic.

"No offense, but I am fairly certain you would not tell the truth." He told him before placing his hooves on the side of his head. "Now stay calm. This will be over before you know it."

With that, Jean broke through the thug's mental walls with little difficulty. These feeble minded criminals offered very little resistance. He found himself in the same room where the Phantom set up his laboratory. It was still intact and he saw the other two criminals still alive and writhe around on the ground from the mental torment Jean sentenced them to. The doors suddenly slammed open and the unicorn, whose mind he was in, ran over to his companions.

"What the hay are you doing?!" He demanded frantically. "We're in deep manure now! The guy we picked on is a super! I distracted him for a while but we have to get out of here! Now!" His words fell on deaf ears. The other two just kept screaming and writhing on the ground.

"Seriously, whatever you two are on, get off of it and get moving!" He was about to get down and smack them back to their senses when he heard heavy hoofsteps heading his way. He turned in fright, expecting Jean to have caught up with him, but instead, he saw an equine shaped black mass with glowing red eyes standing at the door.

"Oh, what else can show up here tonight?!" The thug cried out, backing away in the corner and lighting up his horn. "Stay away! I'm warning you!" The figure paid him no mind and kept slowly floating towards him. The thug didn't warn it again and just released a blast from his horn at it. But to his surprise, the bolt of magical energy merely passed through the figure. A sinister grin grew across the black mass where it's muzzle was supposed to be.

"My turn." It growled in a distorted voice. Jean shuddered in the background as this was the first time he heard the voice of the Phantom, though somehow he knew this wasn't it's natural voice.

The Phantom's red eyes glowed up and he released two heat beams from them, blasting the unicorn into the wall. Jean cursed under his breath. This whole vision was based on the memory of this slime ball. If he passed out following this strike, he would not see anything more.

Fortunately, the brute had enough strength to remain conscious - even if only barely. He looked up and through his eyes, Jean could see the Phantom using his heat beams to destroy the room. The blackboards and the vials of chemicals all went up in flames and the two writhing criminals on the floor burned to a crisp. It was a horrible sight. Rotten as they may have been, Jean would never wish that fate upon anypony.

Before he passed out, the thug could still see the Phantom pick something up from the floor. With his super sight, Jean could make out the figure leaning down and picking something up. Upon a closer look, he could see that it was none other than his set of vials of antibiotics.

He expected the Phantom to crush them in an attempt to keep him from slowing down the spreading of the virus. Instead, he pulled out one vial and poured its content onto the floor. He then put the rest away before making his exit from the destroyed room.

This was the point where the unicorn finally passed out, but Jean already learned all he needed to know. It was more than obvious that the Phantom once again tried to lure him into a trap. He will be able to track the trial of leaked antibiotics with his super senses and the Phantom no doubt knew this. But now he knew he was being lured into a trap and he would be prepared.

With the information he sought now in his possession, he exited the unicorn thug's mind. The criminal looked rather shaken by the ordeal, no doubt having to experience the traumatic events that transpired here took its toll on him. But somehow Jean couldn't bring himself to pity him.

"Was..." He struggled to speak after the exhausting mental procedure. "Was there a point to making me see that again?!" He demanded. Jean merely scoffed.

"Was there a point to all the suffering you caused other ponies in your life?" He didn't get an answer to that. "But to answer your question, yes there was. Now I know exactly what I am looking for. As for you, I believe you have earned yourself a nap before the police gets here for you. Farewell."

Before the confused thug could ask what he meant by that, Jean used a psychic push to shove him into unconsciousness before leaving the room himself, wanting to put as much distance between himself and this accursed place as possible.

The psychic interrogation of the unicorn already took a lot out of Jean and he didn't know how much time he had left until the virus spread all the way through his body. He had to use his powers very sparingly from now on. It was a good thing his shapeshifting ability didn't require too much energy so he could put on his detective appearance and avoid detection from the locals.

As he left the steel mill, following the chemical trail of antibiotics left behind by the Phantom, he started thinking about how he should evade the trap set by it. Preferably in a way that would turn it against the one who set it up. Since he didn't know what kind of trap he should expect, he had to remain vigilant. It could be anything. Even a seemingly empty thrash can around a corner could contain a deadly ambush.

But as he's been strolling down the streets for almost ten minutes while following the chemical trail, he hadn't come across anything even remotely dangerous. The trail lead him inside an empty alleyway and to Jean's surprise, it ended at a brick wall. Jean was confused at first, but then he remembered his theory about the Phantom also being a lunar and thus possessing the same abilities as him.

Suddenly, it all became clear to him. There was no trap set up by the Phantom that the trail of antibiotics would lead him to. The trap was the trail itself. He could easily walk though the wall to follow it, but that would require him using his powers to make his body intangible, spreading the virus further. He would have to find another way inside this building without his powers and soon. He's already wasted enough time.

Jean turned around and was about to walk away from the wall when he heard something from the other side. It was somepony screaming for help. He looked through the wall and was horrified when he saw a pony inside, cowering next to the wall as several other equine shaped figures were closing in on them. When one of them wrapped their hooves around the neck of the pony on the floor, Jean knew he won’t be able to afford that detour. And he won’t be able to use his powers sparingly either.

He stepped through the wall and a peculiar sight met his eyes. Three pony shaped androids were cornering a white earth pony mare with a black mane wearing a lab coat with the one in the center holding her up against a wall by her neck. Another commotion no doubt caused by the Phantom to force his hoof into action and speed up the infection. He knew him very well. He would never abandon ponies in need even if it meant his own demise.

The androids didn’t notice him and that gave him the advantage he needed. He dashed over to the one on the right before grabbing it and throwing it into the one on the left, smashing them both into the wall and rendering them inoperational. The third one turned its head towards Jean, but it didn’t get a good look at the lunar hero as he crushed its metallic head between his hooves. The headless android collapsed onto the ground and the pony it held slid down onto the floor, rubbing her throat as she coughed.

“Are you alright?” Jean asked as he knelt down next to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. She was alarmed at his appearance at first, but that wore off when she recognised him from the news.

“Uh… Yeah. Yeah, I am.” She answered, allowing Jean to pull her up onto her hooves. “But there are others in there! Our experimental androids are going crazy!” Jean needed no further motivation.

“Get to safety! I will get everypony out.” He didn’t wait for an answer and floated down the hallway as quickly as he could. He didn’t need super hearing to notice the sounds of screaming and mechanical buzzing that confirmed the mare’s earlier statement. The androids of this facility have gone haywire and Jean could only hope they haven’t killed anypony yet.

As he headed deeper inside the facility, he came across another worker being assaulted by two androids. He wasted no time in flying to his rescue and punched one of the androids’ heads straight off. He turned to the other one and tried to do the same, but to his surprise, the machine managed to block his hoof strike by holding up its own.

Jean was so stunned by this that it gave the android an opening to raise its other hoof and punch Jean straight across the muzzle, sending him flying until he crashed into the wall, cracking it beyond recognition in the process. The feeling of pain was unusual. He hadn’t met a creature who was capable of physically harming him, but he had no time to dwell on that.

The pony on the ground looked up to see what was happening. Jean motioned for him to get out and in doing so, left himself vulnerable for another attack. He didn’t even have time to check if the pony made it to safety as the out of control machine began to pummel
him in the face.

Jean took hit after hit and became so disoriented that he had trouble blocking the incoming strikes. When he did manage to block one of them, he could barely hold it in place for long enough to use his heat vision to blast the android in the head. It must have been made of tough material as it barely even stumbled form the heat rays hitting it in the eyes.

But Jean could see that the metal was becoming overheated. It won’t be long until the beams finally broke through it. Eventually, the metal gave way and the beams reached into the inside of the android’s head, frying its processor until it completely melted. The machine finally stopped pushing against Jean’s hooves and collapsed onto the floor.

Jean got back on his hooves and turned around to keep searching for ponies to save, only to see another android staring at him. Jean didn’t want to make the same mistake of underestimating its strength so he just unleashed another blast of heat rays at it, only to recoil in surprise when the android did the same thing.

This cost him dearly as the android didn’t cease its attack and its heat beams hit Jean in the chest, blasting him into the wall. The heating effect of the rays took their toll on Jean, he felt his powers slowly fading away as if he was standing close to a fire. Good thing the android didn’t notice it and simply began to advance towards the lunar hero.

As Jean’s powers returned, he knew that his heat vision would be useless now so he tried a different approach. When he saw the android’s eyes heating up again, he phased through the floor and disappeared beneath it. The next thing the machine noticed was Jean’s hooves as they came out of the floor, grabbed its head and bashed it into the floor multiple times, shattering it to pieces.

Learning from the previous surprise attack on him, this time Jean peeked out of the floor to make sure the coast was clear before reemerging. ‘This has gone far enough.’ He thought. ‘It’s time to end this.’ He used his x-ray vision to search through the building and located all the ponies who needed help.

In the center of the building, he saw a large circular room full of machines that could have only been the main laboratory. Every single remaining staff member had barricaded themselves there and the entrances were surrounded by the androids who were trying to get in. His instincts told him to take out the androids at first and allow the ponies trapped in there to escape, but he didn’t want to risk another unpleasant surprise from them. He knew nothing about these things and he wanted to be prepared before taking on them again.

He phased back under the floor and made his way to the main laboratory beneath the building. Emerging from the floor once more, he was greeted by several outright frightened researchers who obviously mistook him for one of the mechanical menaces that trapped them here. But upon noticing his fleshy appearance and recognising him, they let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank hoofness!” A dark brown unicorn scientist with a black mane and a goatee exclaimed as he stepped forward. “One of the heroes! You couldn’t have possibly come at a better time! You have to get us out of here! The situation here is critical!”

“Your grasp of the obvious is inspiring, my friend.” Jean snarked, making the unicorn blush in embarrassment. “What is happening here? What are those things and why are they attacking you?” The unicorn looked uncertain if he should answer or not, but before he made up his mind, another researcher did it for him.

“We have been instructed by Princess Luna to make an android capable of copying and utilizing the powers of the superheroes against them should they ever become a liability for the safety of Equestria.” The researcher explained. This caught Jean by surprise. He had trouble believing that Luna would be capable of something like this, but as he searched the thoughts of the researcher, he found that everything she said was true. It appeared that his friend had secrets even from him, but he would have to deal with that later. “We have no idea how they went out of control. It happened without any warning signs!” Jean had a pretty good guess, but he decided to keep it to himself.

“What’s the safest way out of this facility?” He asked.

“We have an opening built into the roof of this room where the pegasi bring in supplies through, but it refuses to open up. The androids must have done something to it.” Jean looked up at the ceiling and indeed saw a mechanism that worked the way the researcher explained. He couldn’t tell if the reason for its malfunction was caused by the hostile machines or not, but at the moment, that wasn’t important.

He flew up and forced the ceiling door open with his super strength before motioning for the pegasi on the ground to fly up. They grabbed as many non-flying ponies as they could and carried them out while Jean flew down to grab the head scientist and carry him to safety, but he was rather hesitant to accept his help.

“Professor, we must not delay. The machines could break through anytime. We must leave at once.” He urged him.

“And while you’re at it, activate the self-destruct mechanism of the lab!” A researcher called back from mid-air. “Everypony has been evacuated! The machines have to be taken out!” But the professor firmly shook his head.

“I can’t just leave! The research we’ve been conducting here is my life’s work! I won’t abandon it!” He shouted defiantly.

“Not even at the cost of your own life?” Jean asked, only to receive an affirmative response.

“There is another way!” The professor assured him. “We have installed an override switch in case an incident like this ever occured. But so far, our efforts to use it have been futile. I believe the machines damaged the facility's power supplies. Now that my colleagues are no longer in danger, there would be little risk in you escorting me to the generator room to restore the power and shut down the androids.”

Under normal circumstances, Jean wouldn’t have agreed to this plan, but given that the powerful machines he was up against were extremely difficult to defeat and the fact that he was running a race against the clock due to his infection spreading and being out of antibiotics, he had to take every opportunity to wrap this crisis up as quickly as possible. As if on cue, his condition made itself known once more as he was overcome with another coughing fit that forced him to his knees. The professor’s eyes widened.

“Hey, are you alright?” He asked, kneeling down and putting a hoof on his back. Jean was coughing so heavily that he couldn’t even respond, but he did manage to utter one sentence.

“Anti…” He started, struggling with his coughs. “Anti… biotics… Do you have any?” The professor nodded. He ran to a drawer on the side of the room before returning with a vial to which Jean immediately consumed the contents of. His coughing did subside, though he didn’t feel much better.

“Are you feeling better?” The professor asked. Jean nodded.

“I am. Thank you, Professor…”

“Oh, Ivory!” The unicorn introduced himself, offering a hoof. “Professor Antique Ivory, at your service!”

“A pleasure, Professor Ivory.” Jean replied before shaking it. “Now, is there a way I can get you to the generator room undetected?” The professor thought for a while before his eyes widened in realization.

“There is!” He exclaimed, pointing at a grate on the wall with a rotating fan behind it. “These fans are powered directly from the generator room and the duct tunnels behind them lead straight down there! Think you could take me down there?” Before Jean could answer, he heard a huge bang on the door of the room. He turned to see the androids beginning to break through the barricades and enter the room.

This left little room for debate. Jean tore the grate down and removed the fan before picking up the professor and slowly beginning to float down the duct tunnel which was fortunately big enough for them to fit through. In a few seconds, they reached the generator room and Jean tore down another grate, allowing them to climb out. The lunar then put the grate back in its place before using his heat vision to weld it down.

“This should buy us a few minutes.” He said before turning back to the professor. “So where is the generator?”

“Right this way!” Ivory motioned for the alien to follow him. He did just that, but as they made their way down the dark room, Jean couldn’t help but feel the same ominous feeling that he always felt when the Phantom was nearby returning to him. This wouldn’t have been that surprising as Jean knew he wanted him to find him. Most likely when the infection completely overtook his body and he breathed his last so the Phantom could triumphantly grin in his face.

But as he looked around, he couldn’t see the dark mass that made up his body anywhere. Usually, he would have shown up by now to witness Jean’s next struggle. He had to be nearby and Jean had to be ready for him. He didn’t have much time left and he couldn’t let him get away again. He looked back up at the professor who led him towards a giant door in the wall before coming to a sudden halt.

“Is everything alright, Professor?” Jean asked in concern.

“It is now.” Ivory replied calmly before pressing a button next to the door. It opened up to reveal not a generator as Jean expected, but a much bigger and much more completed version of the same androids that have been running amok in the facility. It had a dark green covering on its metallic body with pointy ears in the shape of antennae and a light blue cap on the top of its head. Jean was about to question the professor but then he felt a sudden electric surge run through his body, sending him to the ground. Despite his agony, he could still make out Ivory’s next words.

“He said that you would come.” The professor gloated smugly. “With your seemingly unending list of powers and abilities, you will be the perfect test subject for my masterpiece. Once it has copied all your powers, it will be unstoppable. Not even Supermare will be able to challenge its perfection.” He walked over to a panel next to the door and pressed a few buttons on it, awakening his creation which instantly set its sight on Jean as its next target.

“Rise, hero!” Ivory yelled. “Rise and meet your end by the hooves of Amazo!”

The android known as Amazo started to slowly advance on the Lunar Hunter. Jean tried to keep a distance between himself and the machine. If it was true that it could cover all of his abilities, then he would have preferred to avoid fighting it. It would only end in a stalemate.

The professor’s words echoed in his ears. ‘He said that you would come.’ And suddenly, it all made sense. This was the Phantom’s real trap. This Amazo machine would force him to use all of powers in an attempt to overpower it before it adapted and make the infection completely overwhelm him in the process. He needed to get away!

He took off into the air and flew into the direction of the exit. However, upon seeing that, Amazo was immediately able to mimic that action and gave chase. Before Jean reached the door, Amazo tackled him and smashed him into the wall. Jean tried to overpower the machine and force it off of him, but it was of no use. Amazo was easily able to match his strength.

It reached for the lunar’s throat and began to choke him. Jean was powerless against its mechanical grasp, he had no choice but to use his heat vision to blast it off of himself. Of course, that meant Amazo now possessed that ability as well. To prove that point, the android instantly recovered and fired two heat beams at Jean from its eyes.

The lunar was prepared this time and was able to get out of the way before flying off deeper into the room to hide between the huge generators. He knew this advantage wouldn't last long so he blasted the lights out with his heat vision, leaving the room in total darkness. He was able to see perfectly well in the darkness. An advantage the machine couldn’t possibly know he had.

Unfortunately, Jean forgot that the machine’s creator was right there with them. Before he could hide in the darkness to plan his next move, the unicorn scientist cast a luminance spell that not only illuminated the entire room, but was cast directly at Jean.

“You didn’t think I’d just sit idly by and watch you outsmart my creation, did you?” He laughed. “There he is! Get him!” He yelled to Amazo, pointing at the hero. Jean narrowed his eyes. That professor was seriously starting to get under his skin. He turned back to Amazo and saw the android heating up its eyes and getting ready to unleash another pair of heat rays.

Jean was unsure if he could match them with his own so he chose a different tactic. He flew behind the professor and grabbed the stunned unicorn from behind, holding him in front of himself like an equine shield.

“Usually I avoid putting civilians in danger.” He said calmly as Ivory struggled in his grasp, his panic increasing rapidly. “But for you, I am willing to make an exception. Now, tell me, how do I shut this thing down?”

“You… you won’t get anything out of me!” Ivory replied, trying to sound confident, but Jean could sense the fear in his voice.

“Is your masterpiece capable of loyalty towards its creator?” Jean asked tauntingly. “For your sake, I hope so.” Ivory still refused to talk, hoping that the hero was bluffing. But when Amazo finally unleashed its heat rays, Jean did not pull him out of their way. The unicorn screamed in pain as the rays burned his body. He tried casting a barrier with his magic, but the rays were too strong, they burned through it with ease. The android showed no sign of stopping, nor did the lunar show any sign of mercy. And the pain was only getting worse.

“You’re crazy!” Ivory screamed in agony and fear. “You’re bucking crazy!” Jean didn’t even flinch.

“Shut. It. Down.” He snarled. “Until you can.” Ivory was finally convinced. He pulled out the override switch from the pocket of his lab coat and pressed it, causing Amazo and the other androids around the facility to shut down. The heat rays finally stopped burning his body, but the scorching pain was still there. He would no doubt need medical attention, but for Jean, that was not the priority right now.

“Thank you.” He said, turning Ivory to face him. “Now I will shut you down.” He said before headbutting the professor right between the eyes, knocking him out. “Rest assured, Princess Luna will hear about your experiments, Professor Ivory. But I doubt her appreciation will be to your liking.” He then dropped his body to the ground before turning around and looking across the room.

“I know you are here.” He spoke with disdain. “You set this whole affair up to lure me here. Well, here I am, so show yourself! Reveal yourself to me at last!” At first, nothing happened. Then suddenly, Jean began to hear hoofsteps heading his way. He narrowed his eyes in the direction where the sound came from and he saw a dark equine figure walking towards him.

The figure was unmistakably a lunar like him. The hairless body and the dark eyes gave that away. But there was one surprising difference about him. Instead of white, this lunar’s skin was dark green. He was wearing a scarf that covered his mouth and a long, waving cloak on his back. The two eyed each other for a few moments.

The dark figure glared at Jean stoically before his expression changed into a cruel grin. One that Jean recognised as the one he saw the night he was infected. He was about to speak, but he was cut off when coughing once again overtook his body, much to the figure’s amusement.

“I knew Ivory’s androids would tire you out.” He mused as he relished in the other lunar’s distress. “Your little friends’ antibiotics could slow down the infection, but every time you used your powers, it became faster.” He then knelt down next to Jean. “You have run a race against the clock, my friend and you have lost. But don’t worry, I will not let you die just yet. I have much to show you before you breathe your last. Get ready, J’inn J’inzz. We’re going home.”[

Author's Note

Welocme back I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

This story has been a struggle for me to write because while I have worked out the big details, I am struggling to come up with the small ones, so most of it is just coming to me as I go. Such was the case with the Amazo subplot. I wanted to give Jean a chalenge that would force him into using his powers in this chapter, I just wasn't sure what it should be. Hope what I came up with turned out adequate.

Next time, Jean's mysterious adversary takes him back to his forgotten homeworld where everything will be revealed to him. Perhaps a little more than he would like to discover. Join me next time in...

Issue #7: Facing the Past

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #7: Facing the Past

Jean couldn’t tell what was real of the events that transpired in the previous twenty-four hours. He couldn’t tell which experience was part of the hallucinations caused by the infection which has now completely overwhelmed his body, or which one was part of the Phantom’s cruel mind games that seemed to have only one purpose. To cause him as much mental agony as possible.

There was only one thing that he was perfectly certain was real. He was completely powerless to move even an inch of his body. He was currently lying on his back, looking up towards a ball of light which was the only source of light in the darkness surrounding him. Has it really been twenty-four hours? He wasn’t sure. It could have been much longer and he could have simply not sensed it.

The mind numbing emptiness was suddenly interrupted by hoofsteps around him. He couldn’t tell if those were real or not either. He had once again seen the ghosts of his family circling around him in the past few hours. Sometimes they were mocking him over his failure, sometimes they were trying to console him and reasure him, he would soon be with them in the afterlife.

This time however, it was different. It was not the disappointed grumbling of his father that he had, not the voice of motherly warmth inviting him to finally give up the struggle and join them and not his little sister who kept altering between crying that she missed him and wanted him to finally reunite with them and singing mocking rhymes, taunting him about his defeat. No. This voice was completely new to him.

“What a pathetic sight.” The owner of the voice taunted. Jean had only enough strength to move his eyes and saw the outlines of the Phantom standing at the edge of the light and circle around him. “The last member of the once proud lunar race, defeated and broken, lying at the hooves of a freak like me. Your proud lunar ancestors are rolling in their graves.” Jean somehow found the energy to reply.

“I would not know. I have never known any of them.” He told him weakly. The Phantom merely chuckled in response.

“I suppose not. But you should be grateful to me. Before you die, I will allow you a glimpse into your race’s past. For your whole life, you have been searching for answers. Answers you couldn't possibly find. Now I will reveal them to you.” Jean found the Phantom’s choice of words rather curious.

“I do not suppose you have infected me with a deadly disease, had me run across all Equestria, forcing me to intervene in life threatening disasters to make the infection worse and then take me hostage when my body could take it no longer just so you could reveal to me the true fate of our race.” At the mention of the word our, the Phantom’s behavior changed completely. His mocking glee turned to furious anger as he marched over to Jean, stood over him and glared into his eyes.

“YOUR race, not ours!” He snarled. His burst of anger was short lived though, as his angry scowl was quickly replaced by the sadistic smile that Jean could have sworn was his default expression. "But worry not. Soon, you will see things my way." While Jean's physical strength may have left him, his mental strength was still present. He tried scanning the Phantom’s thoughts but to no avail. His adversary must have realised what he was trying to do and let out a cruel, taunting laugh.

"Don't bother! You can't get inside my head! Us, Green Lunars are born with a natural psychic resilience." Jean raised an eyebrow. While this newfound revelation was intriguing, the term the Phantom just used to describe himself caught his attention more.

"Green Lunars? I was unaware the Lunars came in more than one variety."

"Of course, you were!" The Green Lunar scoffed. "I belive the things you were unaware of regarding the Lunars would be able to fill several books. It's not like you ever had the chance to learn them." Jean managed to regain enough strength to shoot a glare of his own at him.

"Thanks to you and your Lunar virus, I suppose." The Phantom’s grin widened.

"Well, aren't you a real detective!" He mocked with fake enthusiasm. "Oh, wait! Even this piece of information had to be pointed out to you by your pony friend. I seem to have given you way too much credit." Jean grew tired of all his taunting.

"Well, since my detective skills are clearly not up to par, why don't you reveal your name? I believe it is time I had an identity to pair with your ghastly image." He spat. The Phantom however was unfazed by the insult.

"I have grown numb to the remarks about my appearance, J'inn." He laughed. "I have heard far worse from your peers back in my day. My name is Ma'alefa'ak. The saviour of the Green Lunars and the exterminator of the white ones."

"Exterminator, you say?" Jean scoffed. "The last time I checked, I am still alive."

"Only because I will it!" Ma'alefa'ak snapped, slapping Jean across the muzzle. "But that shall soon change! The only reason I am still allowing you to breathe is because I happen to be a sadistic bastard who will greatly enjoy breaking down everything you believed about your soon to be extinct species!" Jean's body was so numb at this point that he barely even felt the strike.

"You already bastardised the image of my family in my head." He replied, recalling his nightmare from a few nights ago. "What worse could you do possibly do to me?"

"You would be surprised." Ma'alefa'ak replied cruelly. "I have manipulated those images inside your head, that I confess. It has been quite tricky to to keep your little alicorn friend out of your head. She is a very powerful psychic indeed. But I have spent an untold amount of time on this wasteland so I had time to perfect my abilities. And I can assure you, what I'm about to show you is entirely the truth!"

Ma'alefa'ak stomped his hooves into the ground on both sides of Jean's head and looked intently into his eyes. Jean almost thought his eyes glowed up when he began to work his mental powers on him. Ma'alefa'ak was surprised how easily he was able to get inside Jean's head. He expected at least some futile effort at resistance, but then he remembered that he was so completely exhausted that even his mental resistance must have faded away by now.

When the Green Lunar managed to enter Jean's psyche, Jean found himself and Ma'alefa'ak floating in a great void, face to face with each other. Jean looked around but he couldn't see anything except for the evil Lunar in front of him. Seeing his confusion, Ma'alefa'ak broke the silence.

"We are inside your mind. I am mature enough to restrain myself from joking about how it must be the natural state of it being so empty. Your mind is an empty canvas for me to paint on, J'inn. Now watch an artist at work."

Ma'alefa'ak closed his eyes floated up over Jean, reaching out with his front legs. The darkness around the two Lunars immediately began to change. Light rays burst out of the dark and began to spread across the void, before twisting and turning until they started to take shape.

Jean eventually realised the outlines of buildings. He remembered the shape of these houses from his nightmare about his family. He looked around and saw several of the exact same dome shaped buildings around himself, forming a small town. In the middle of it, there was another building looking exactly like the others, dwarfing them with its size.

The town looked completely umremarkable. Even back in Equestria, there were hundreds like it. And yet for Jean, even seeing his fellow Lunars whom he's never known before living their everyday life in peace and harmony like this was marvelous.

Young ones were playing together, chasing each other or kicking balls. The older ones were walking around with their romantic partners or helping their fathers with some repairs around their houses. The females were going around doing their chores or gossiping with each other. All in all, it looked like the ideal small town picture that one would expect to see anywhere.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Jean jumped in surprise and looked to see Ma'alefa'ak standing next to him, looking at the scene with an equally serene expression that any creature would experience upon such a sight. But underneath the calm exterior, Jean could see the hatred that he knew the Green Lunar felt for his white counterparts.

"Not so much anymore now that you're here to sully the scene with your foul presence." Jean snarled. Ma'alefa'ak just scoffed as his smile widened.

"Sitcks and stones, J'inn. I already told you, I've heard every insult in the book before and there's nothing you can say regarding my appearance that would hurt me at this point."

"I was NOT talking about your appearance." Jean cut back. "Why are you showing this to me? Are you actually taking this much delight in tormenting me with a sight I have never got to treasure?"

"Well, that's part of it." Ma'alefa'ak agreed with a shrug. "But what I wanted to show you isn't here." He then turned around and pointed at something behind Jean. "It's there." Jean followed the direction of his hoof pointing at the large dome building in the middle of the town. "Come. Let's take a walk."

After only a few glances at the interior of the building, Jean could tell that this was the center of the community. Perhaps the town hall. But as the two Lunars headed deeper inside the building, he saw that its functions were much wider. He saw classrooms filled with students, laboratories researching all kinds of machinery and chemical solutions and medical facilities treating patients with different kinds of ailments and injuries.

"These community centers were the hearts and souls of their towns." Ma'alefa'ak explained. "In larger cities, there were several of them, each one operating in its own district." He then stopped in front of a window and looked inside the room with a fond look. The sincerest form of expression that Jean has seen on his face.

"How ironic. That the place that is supposed to be the heart of a community ended up producing the infection that would end this civilisation." He mused, much to Jean's disgust.

"Is this where you developed your virus? Is that what you wanted to show me?" The Green Lunar narrowed his eyes at him.

"I wasn't talking about the virus." He growled, making Jean recoil in surprise. "I was talking about me." Confused, Jean looked through the window and saw that the medical procedure being carried out inside was none other than a foal delivery.

The mother was lying on a bed, writhing in agony as she struggled to give birth to her offspring. Her husband held and pet her hoof gently while a nurse held her other one and the doctor performed the delivery. Jean couldn't tell what was supposed to be so peculiar about this birth, but when he saw that the newborn foal has green skin instead of white, he finally understood that this was the birth of Ma'alefa'ak.

He didn't understand why this moment was significant. Surely his birth must have been like any other ones in their race's history. But when he saw the horrified, shocked and outright disgusted looks on the parents' and the medical staff, he began to realise that there was something wrong.

"You still haven't put it together?" Ma'alefa'ak asked, irritated at Jean's cluelessness about what he wanted to show him.

"What are you talking about?" Jean snapped back. "I have put together that this is your birth. Are you so egotistical that you wanted to show me your life story?"

"No, you fool." The Green Lunar growled. "This sight should show you that your precious Lunar race was not as perfect as you like to believe! Don't you notice anything strange?" Jean looked back at the door and frightened Lunars. The doctor took the green newborn and left with him without any complaints from the parents. In fact, they even seemed rather pleased about getting rid of it. The sight upset Jean more than he wanted to admit.

"I have." He replied, feeling a mix of sympathy for the poor thing and severe disappointment at the parents. "They are all acting like there is something wrong with the foal. Were you born ill?"

"I might as well have." Ma'alefa'ak replied bitterly. Jean felt more anger and hatred radiating from him than ever before. "As far as they're concerned, us Green Lunars were a disease on their society. Like I said, we are born with great telekinetic resilience. Lunars were highly superstitious and anything different to them was a scourge. We also didn't share their weakness to fire which only further fueled their suspicions and hatred of us. If they couldn't see inside our heads and if we didn't share their weakness, that meant they couldn't control us. They were afraid of us so they needed to remove us from their world."

Jean was about to say something, but Ma'alefa'ak didn't wait for him to speak. He waved his hoof and the scene around them began to change. The hospital room disappeared and Jean found himself not in a tidy little town like the first time, but an extremely dingy looking ghetto that wouldn't have even passed for a settlement.

"This is the place where they banished my kind to." Ma'alefa'ak continued. "Not quite the accommodating place, is it?" Jean looked around and immediately wanted to accuse the Green Lunar of lying. Even if his ancestors' superstitious beliefs lead them to alienate their green counterparts, he refused to believe that they would condemn them to such a cruel fate as living here. Especially one who was a mere infant as Ma'alefa'ak was at the time.

But the facts hit him in the face when he saw a pair of White Lunars dressed in uniforms that resembled those of soldiers floated in as the green outcasts gathered around them and dropped off the newborn without any care in the world before leaving. The cries of the infant drew some of the Green Lunars closer until one of them stepped forward and scooped up the small bundle in her hooves, trying to soothe it.

"They had nothing except each other and the rags on their backs." Ma'alefa'ak spoke. Jean turned to him and saw that for the first time since he met him, his expression actually turned soft and warm. He obviously remembered his own kind fondly. "But they stuck together even in the worst times. They knew that this was their only chance of survival. Unity was our strength. And that eventually caught the eyes of the "superior lunar kind". He spat, putting sarcastic anger on the last three words.

Jean watched as Ma'alefa'ak sped the events around them up. Years have passed by in mere seconds and the next time the flow of events returned to their normal speed, the Lunar Jean recognised as Ma'alefa'ak was now a seven year old colt living in the ghetto the Green Lunars have been forced to.

He was currently standing next to an older Green Lunar whom Jean assumed was his caretaker as the adult was checking on an apparently sick Lunar mare lying on a makeshift bed. The weak mare coughed painfully as the stallion held her hoof, as if to reassure her in her final moments. Jean could hardly bear to look so he shifted his gaze to the young Ma'alefa'ak watching the scene.

It quickly became obvious to Jean that the Lunar he was dealing with was an emotionless sociopath from his birth as he couldn't see the slightest hint of disturbance or even sympathy for the poor, dying mare in front of him. If anything, he watched the scene with fascination as the mare breathed her last.

"May Luna grant you safe passage to the afterlife." The stallion said before pulling a sheet over the dead mare's body.

"Another one?" The young Ma'alefa'ak asked, making his caretaker jump in surprise.

"Why are you up so late? You should have been asleep hours ago!" He chastised the young one.

"Could you sleep with everything going on around here lately?" Ma'alefa'ak replied bluntly. The caretaker had no answer to that.

"That's exactly why you shouldn't be here watching this." He took the little Lunar by the hoof and escorted him back to his room.

"You didn't answer my question." Ma'alefa'ak said as he walked behind his caretaker. "Was she another one killed by the plague?"

"She died of the plague, yes." He replied sharply. "Which is another reason why you shouldn't be in this room! The last thing I want is for you to get infected as well."

"What's the point?" Ma'alefa'ak shrugged. "We're all going to get it anyway."

"No, we won't!" The older stallion replied firmly. "The community leaders left to negotiate with the city. We may have out differences but they wouldn't abandon us to just die like that." The colt rolled his eyes.

"Open up your eyes, you old fool! They already have!" He argued. "That's how we all arrived to this crater! They dump us here like thrash! They couldn't care less if the plague wiped us all out! They would probably celebrate it even!"

"Ma'alefa'ak, that is enough!" The caretaker yelled, slamming a hoof onto the ground. "You're too young to understand how the world works! You're emotions speak out of you!"

"No! I'm the one who's speaking the truth! You're the one who's too blinded by your emotions!" The caretaker said nothing in response, merely ordered the younger Lunar to his sleeping quarters before leaving to deal with some other infected.

"But sleep was the furthest thing on my mind in that moment." The real time Ma'alefa'ak explained to Jean. "As you will soon discover."

In the following moments, Jean witnessed as the young Green Lunar indulged himself in various studies of biology, chemistry and virology. It was clear that he became fascinated by the effects of viruses and diseases and he wanted to study its effects.

Jean watched in horror as Ma'alefa'ak snuck into the morgue of their community to study the effects of the infection that plagued their kind on their organs. With his x-ray vision, it was easy to look inside the corpses. He could even see the biological build of the virus in the cells of the deceased and used the knowledge to recreate it in his chemistry lab.

"Impressive, isn't it?" The Green Lunar mused to the white one. "So young and able to recreate the biological structure of a virus wiping out an entire species." Jean's response was merely a hateful scowl.

"If you could do that at such a young age, why didn't you create a cure for your kind?" Ma'alefa'ak's smug look turned into a furious glare of his own.

"Do you really think that didn't cross my mind?!" He roared in Jean's face. "There was no time to develop a cure and mass produce it in time to save enough Green Lunars to sustain a viable population! I only had time to create a serum for myself to make me immune to it."

Though he didn't show it, this caught Jean's attention. It turns out Spike was right. There indeed was an antidote and all he needed to do is make Ma'alefa'ak cough up how to make it. If he ever managed to regain his strength, that is. But for now, he needed to keep this psychopath talking.

"My kind was at the edge of extinction. But I decided if we would go out, I would take those bastards with us." He then turned back to Jean and gave him perhaps the widest and most evil grin imaginable. "Our trip down memory lane is coming to an end, J'Inn J'inzz. As the grand finale, I will show you something beautiful."

The scenery around the two Lunars once again shifted. Jean once again saw himself standing in the beautiful suburbs of the Lunar town he saw when they first began this mental journey, but this time, the peace and happiness was all gone. Instead, it resembled the end of the world.

It was just like the scene he saw in his nightmare that this monster installed in his head a few days ago. The constantly starry sky was covered in crimson red fog and in the center of it, Jean could see Ma'alefa'ak floating over the city with his front legs crossed across his chest as he gleefully observed the scene beneath him.

"Look at it, J'Inn J'inzz!" The genocidal alien gloated. "Look upon my works and despair!"

Jean didn't want to, but since his actions were now dictated by Ma'alefa'ak, it was impossible. The streets were littered with corpses and the bodies of the dying. Lunars of all ages, even newborn foals in the embrace of their mothers. Entire playgrounds filled with young Lunars. Crowded hospital rooms where the doctors tried in vain to treat the infected. To say that Ma’alefa’ak brought the apocalypse to the White Lunars would be perfectly accurate.

Jean couldn't take it anymore. He fell on his knees and he finally gave way to his distress that he's been concealing for so long. All the loneliness, sorrow and helplessness he ever felt over his race's extinction was brought to the surface by the horrors he was witnessing. And a new feeling was added to these as well. Fury. Not only did he lose his kind and had to spend an untold amount of time by himself because of it, but now he also knew the reason behind it. And it made him more furious than he ever felt before.

Ma'alefa'ak noticed this and grinned down at the suffering Lunar as he glared up at him. “What's wrong, J’inn?” He taunted. “Is witnessing the true nature of your ancestors too much for you or did the truth about their demise break you so badly?” Jean couldn't help it anymore. He let out a furious roar and charged at Ma'alefa'ak, completely forgetting that he was nothing more than a mental image. His emotional outburst made him blind to that fact and he just needed to unleash his anger.

The result was predictable. Jean merely phased through the body of the Green Lunar and crashed into the ground behind. Ma'alefa'ak just laughed tauntingly. “This is even greater than I could have imagined! I showed you so little and yet you're mind is already broken!” Jean just growled as he got back on his hooves.

“You are a monster, Ma'alefa'ak. You need to be stopped.” The Green Lunar just laughed.

“You won't be the one to do it, I'm afraid. Your body is almost completely overwhelmed by my virus. But don't worry. You won't die just yet.” Jean saw his surroundings begin to fade away. The lights that formed the mental environment around him were all extinguished and there was once again nothing but pitch black darkness around him.

“I want to relish in your suffering for just a little longer. So before my virus kills you, I will revive your body just so I can break it as I did with your mind. “Ma'alefa'ak spoke as his image began to fade away too. “See you again soon.”

And with that, Jean once again saw nothing but darkness…

Author's Note

Welcome back, everypony! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Once again, a huge thanks for Lex the Pikachu for proofreading!

The Phantom finally revealed himself and he has plans for Jean. He has also discovered the true fate of Jean's Lunar species and retribution is definitely his highest priority right now. After survival, of course.

Make sure to tune in next time to find out how Jean will escape this predicament in...

Issue #8: The Chamber of the Ancients

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #8: Chamber of the Ancients

The return of feeling into his body was a welcome sensation. The dose of antibiotics refreshing him like the sweet kiss of the goddess of life itself was even more so. What was much less so were the chains and cuffs that were coldly and firmly wrapped around his hooves.

“Don’t bother trying to break free of them.” Ma’alefa’ak taunted. “They were forged by the finest Lunar blacksmith right before he succumbed to my virus. At least he was good for something.” Jean would have liked to break in the Green Lunar’s muzzle, but in his current situation, this was an impossible feat. “Now move it! I’m going to show you my favorite place on this entire rock before you die!”

Jean was reluctant to obey the command, but a hard shove to the back of his head from Ma’alefa’ak left him little room for argument. The two have been traversing the barren empty surface of the moon for quite some time, but Jean didn’t see anything remarkable. As far as he could tell, there was nothing around them but the seemingly endless lunar surface and an endless number of stars shimmering in the void of space.

Eventually, they reached the edge of a deep crater, but when Jean looked down into it, he couldn’t see anything special either. His theory was that this huge crater was a mass grave where Ma’alefa’ak buried the unfortunate White Lunars after the genocide. That would explain why this was his favorite place on the Moon.

It filled him with immense sadness and anger to think that this is how his end would come about. To be unceremoniously killed by the monster that wiped out his entire species and for his body to be left to rot here until his bones were reduced to dust. The only positive part of the matter was that he would reunite with his kind. But if he managed to figure Ma'alefa'ak out by now, he wouldn't grant him even that minor boon.

"You're catching on quickly." The Green Lunar smirked behind Jean's back, having read his thoughts. "And no, this is not a mass grave for the White Lunars. Although, it is close enough." He kept escorting Jean through the crater until they reached what at first looked like the entrance of a cave. But as they got closer, Jean could make out two ruined columns, a paved road leading to the entrance and a pattern of tiles around the gate.

"Welcome to the Chamber of the Ancients!" Ma'alefa'ak announced. "In ancient times, this used to be a place for the strongest and bravest Lunars who wanted to join the ranks of their champions. The biggest Lunar warriors. Not all of them made it. Some of their bodies are still inside, rotting after all these centuries. And now you're about to join them." Jean couldn't possibly know what was in there, but the place had a very ominous feeling about it.

"What is down there?" He asked, allowing the fear in his voice to show, much to Ma'alefa'ak's sadistic delight.

"Oh, I won't spoil the surprise." He grinned. "Well, so long, J’inn. It's highly unlikely that we'll ever meet again. Though I'll be following your progress down there. I'll be interested to see how long you'll last." He then grabbed Jean by his throat and lifted him up into the air while standing up on his hind legs before throwing the White Lunar down the stairway on the other side of the gate.

"And so, the race of the White Lunars finally end." Ma'alefa'ak snarled from the top of the staircase before sealing the gate. It took Jean almost a minute to completely recover and get back on his hooves. As if that wasn't inconvenient enough, the room he was thrown into was pitch black. Though that usually wasn't a problem with the sharp eyesight of the Lunars, but for some reason, his eyes didn't seem to be working as well in here as they normally would have.

He raised a hoof in front of himself and reached out. When he didn't feel anything, he took a few steps forward until he finally touched something in front of him. He could not tell what it was but he could sense that it was made of stone. He just kept touching it in an attempt to find anything useful about it and his hoof fell upon something round on the top of it. As his hoof went up and down the item, he eventually reached its top and pressed something.

He jumped back in surprise as the object lit up with bright red light, illuminating the stone altar it was placed upon. He quickly got over his shock and picked it up. No doubt it had been placed there to serve as an alternative to their sharp vision in the dark. Jean studied the object and his eyes snapped open as he finally realised why he had such a bad feeling about this place. The Lunars knew this place somehow neutralises their abilities. The rites of passage were about overcoming the obstacles of this place without them, using their wits and cunning. So that was exactly what he had to do.

He made his way forward, the orb illuminating his way until he reached a huge stone gate with ancient Lunar symbols engraved into it. Since Jean never got a chance to study his kind's language, they meant little to him, but he was certain they contained the information he needed to open the gate. He moved the orb closer to see the symbols better and to his surprise, one of them lit up when the light fell upon it.

Jean took a closer look at the symbol. It looked remarkably similar to an arrow pointing in a direction. On a whim, his eyes followed the direction and the light traveled along with his gaze as he moved the orb, until it reached a dead end. Frustrated, Jean took a closer look at the symbol blocking the light's way. It looked like a planet rotating around its own axis, but he failed to see how that could be a clue. Unless...

Jean looked down at the orb in his hooves and noticed the markings on it were exactly the same as the symbol he depicted as a planet. He rotated it in the same direction as the symbol showed and his eyea widened in awe when he saw the symbols changing to make way for the light.

"Amazing!" He marveled at the sight. It was evident by that point that this was supposed to be a puzzle of some sort. He kept moving the orb until the light finally reached the center of the gate where there was a large round hole, not unlike the orb. The hole began to fill with light until it filled completely and the gate began to ascend into the ceiling in front of Jean.

"In the risk of sounding cliché, let there be light!" Jean mused as he walked through the gate, not wanting to miss a perfect opportunity to use that line, predictable as it might have been. His satisfaction was short lived however. He raised up the orb to get a good look at his surroundings, but when he turned right, the first image that met his eyes was a hideously disfigured, rotten equine face directly in front of his and looking directly into his eyes.

Jean jumped back in fright as he recognised the rotting corpse as a White Lunar. But an even more horrifying revelation was that it wasn't alone. There were two others behind him, slowly stumbling towards Jean like zombies. Jean looked in their eyes and couldn't see the slightest semblance of consciousness in them. He wouldn't be able to reason with them if he tried.

He turned around to run away, only to find himself facing even more of the revenant Lunars approaching him. This was not the reunion he expected with his kind. He would have preferred to avoid a confrontation with them, even if they were only twisted shells of their former selves, but he was beginning to realise that he didn't have a choice.

One of the revenants threw itself at Jean, wrapping its front legs around his neck. He tried to wrestle them off but unfortunately death did little to diminish their physical strength. The revenant trying to strangle Jean with every bit as powerful as him and Jean realised that if the others would get their hooves on him too, he’d be finished.

Jean headbutted the revenant in the muzzle, managing to disorient it a little. Taking advantage of its momentary stun, he managed to kick the undead Lunar off of himself, right into another one. The third one next to them was obviously surprised and that cost it dearly as Jean was able to tackle it and throw it aside, smashing it against the wall and clearing the way for Jean to escape.

With the orb now lighting his way, he was able to find his way through the maze of stone walls as well as spot any potential threats around him. There were several more corpses lying around the tunnels. He thought he could see some of them but he didn't stick around long enough to find out which ones would get up. He ran deeper into the maze until he was certain he found a spot where he was safe and he could catch his breath.

'Enjoying the reunion, J'inn?' Jean jumped as he heard Ma'alefa'ak's voice in his head. 'It's okay. I opened a mental communication channel between our minds. I didn't want to miss out on your dying thoughts and your psyche slowly fading out.' Jean narrowed his eyes.

'I will find you, Ma'alefa'ak!' He growled in his head. 'And when I do, you will pay for everything!' The Green Lunar laughed darkly.

'You are welcome to try. I will certainly enjoy the show. The entire chamber is under my control and trust me, there are much worse things down there than the undead remains of your fellow White Lunars.'

'No doubt.' Jean thought. 'So what exactly was the purpose of the rite down here? Obviously you would enjoy it more if I tried accomplishing it and fail rather than just running around aimlessly until I die.' Though he couldn't see it, Jean could sense the dark grin that grew out on Ma'alefa'ak's face.

'It's almost a shame you're going to die down there. I like the way you think.' He mused. 'Well, in case you managed to survive long enough to do it, which I highly doubt by the way, you will have to make your way the the center of the chamber. No powers allowed, of course. Once - or should I say if - you made it there, I'll give you further instructions. Oh, and you might wanna keep running.' And with that, the link between them was severed.

Jean knew what the last comment meant, that more revenants or perhaps something even worse was heading his way. He kept looking around with his torch but couldn't see anything that he perceived as a threat. That was until he felt a chill colder than he ever felt in his entire life pass through his body. He had to wrap his front legs and his cape around his body to warm himself up.

When he looked up again, he saw the translucent figure in front of him, staring down at him angrily. Apparently, some of the Lunars who lost their lives in the Chamber were taking too long to come back to life. So long that when the time it happened, they had no bodies left that could be reanimated and they were forced to linger here as ghosts. Ghosts who were rather unhappy with their current situation.

The ghost attempted to pass through Jean's body again to completely rob him of his warmth. Not knowing what else to do, he held up the orb in front of himself, hoping the light emanating from it might keep it away. His theory was correct as the spectral figure not only backed away, but its translucent body completely dissipated when the light made contact with it.

Jean would have relished in his victory but he learned by now that he cannot allow himself to drop his guard even after a triumph. He turned around and as he expected, he saw several more of the specters emerging from the darkness that quickly backed away once they noticed the glowing object in the living Lunar’s hooves. To escape its warmth, they floated through the walls, leaving Jean by himself once more. But before he could figure out what to do next, he heard a voice calling out to him.

“J’inn…” The Lunar Hunter jumped in fright before turning around but he couldn’t see a single soul behind him. Not even with the help of the glowing orb in his hooves. He kept circling around in an attempt to locate the speaker, but no matter which way he turned, there was nocreature around.

“Don’t be alarmed, my boy.” The voice spoke again, this time more clearly. It was so clear in fact that Jean could almost recognise its owner. He was certain he heard that voice before. ‘It is us.’

And that was the moment Jean realised who was speaking to him. And if the realisation wasn’t startling enough, the one who spoke suddenly materialized in front of him, along with two other figures. Jean’s surprise nearly caused him to drop the torch. The three ghosts standing in front of him were none other than his family. They all smiled at him warmly and with love so true that Jean had no doubt that this wasn’t just another mind game by Ma’alefa’ak. They were indeed his family’s restless spirits.

“We are here, son.” His mother spoke on the brink of tears upon seeing his son again. “We are here to guide you.”

“And to help you kick the flank of that big green meanie!” His little sister cheered with equal part anger and eagerness. The two adults rolled their eyes.

“Despite your sister’s lack of sophistication, we share her sentiments.” The mother agreed. “Your defeat of Ma’alefa’ak is of key importance to our salvation.” It took Jean over ten seconds to finally get over his shock enough that he was able to speak.

“How did you end up down here?” He finally managed to ask. “I doubt that you also passed away during the rite of passage.”

“When Ma’alefa’ak told you that this place is close enough for a mass graveyard for the White Lunars, he was not far off the mark.” His father answered. “We are not the only specters of our kind bound to this unholy place. The chamber runs deeper than you can imagine and an untold number of us were condemned here.”

“No doubt that ghastly Green Lunar’s doing.” The mother snarled. She saw Jean’s face dropping upon sensing the disdain in her voice and quickly realised her error. The revelation Ma’alefa’ak shared with him must have shaken his beliefs about their entire kind. “I’m sorry, Jean. You must understand that not all of us hated our green counterparts, but sadly, most of our leaders and upper class did and there was little that us, ordinary folks could do about it.”

“But that is not important right now.” The father continued. “What IS important is that we can guide you to your salvation and you, in turn, can guide us to ours.”

“How so?” Jean wondered.

“Our spirits have been trapped here for an untold amount of time, son.” He explained. "We know all of its twists and turns. And the way to its centre where you need to go."

"With our help, you can escape and save our kind from the damnation that is this place." The mother continued. "Deliver us, son. Or if you prefer, avenge us. Either way, Ma'alefa'ak has to pay!" On that, they all agreed.

"Let us go then." The family of three nodded and motioned for Jean to follow them. As Jean walked forward, he noticed that his family formed a triangle around him with his father taking the lead and the two female family members standing at the back on each of his sides. Before he could ask about this, he understood the reason.

As they walked through the stone maze, he noticed more spectral figures peeking out from between the walls. A few of them tried to float closer to him and it was highly unlikely they had good intentions in mind. But as they got closer to him, Jean noticed a white energy glowing up around him, repelling the ghosts.

"Don't worry big brother!" The ghost of the little girl cheered. "We won't let them lay a hooftip on you!"

"How can this be?" Jean wondered. Not that he was complaining, of course.

"There was something Ma'alefa'ak couldn't have possibly accounted for." The mother answered. "And that is the love your family has for you. As long as this exists between us, we will protect you from the threats of the beyond."

"But do not get complacent, son!" His father warned. "Against the threats of the physical realm, we are powerless to protect you. Stay vigil!"

As if on cue, when the group turned around a corner, Jean saw the outlines of more revenants stumbling out of the darkness. He quickly began formulating a plan to dispose of them swiftly and efficiently. He saw five of them heading his way, but Jean noticed that their eyesight seemed to have been mostly fixated on the orb he was holding. This gave him an idea.

He tossed the orb away and it flew over the heads of the revenants. As he expected, their gazes followed the bright object and they lost any interest in the creature carrying it. They turned and started stumbling towards the orb glowing on the ground. With his family's spirits guiding him, he no longer needed that anyway.

"We may be able to guide your path, but that may have been a reckless move." His father chided him. Jean raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you say that?" He asked, but before the spirit could answer, the maze did it for him. Jean felt the floor sink beneath his hoof and heard a loud click coming from between the walls. The light illuminated by his family's spirits was suddenly blocked when the stone walls rearranged themselves around him. His father phased through the wall in front of him and from his expression, Jean could already tell what he was about to say.

"Not one word"

With the guidance of the spirits who could go around the maze, Jean was easily able to find his way through the walls. Avoiding the revenants and the specters was also easier than before since his family's protection kept the specters away and in the darkness, the living dead couldn't see him.

But despite his easy advances through the maze, he couldn't help but feel troubled. Ever since he reunited with his family's ghosts, things have been going far too easy. And when things were going too easy, a huge obstacle was usually just around the corner.

But before he could dwell on this any further, he found himself blinded by a bright light that suddenly illuminated the entire room. Once his eyes got adjusted, he saw that he was standing in a huge chamber carved of pure white marble. The walls were decorated with enormous busts in the shape of old Lunars and in the middle of the chamber, there was a large circular area with two giant Lunar statues standing on each of its sides.

"Welcome, son, to the Chamber of the Ancients." His father's spirit spoke as they walked further into the room. "For generations, the young Lunars seeking to join the ranks of their champions who made it through the rite entered here. The fact that they made it here proved their mental strength. What happened in here would prove their physical one. And if they succeeded, they would return as the greatest champions of our kind." Jean looked around but failed to see anything that would test his physical strength.

"How exactly..." He never got to finish as he was interrupted by a huge quake of the chamber that almost knocked him off his hooves. When it ceased, Jean looked up to see the two giant statues moving their heads as their eyes lit up with a red glow. "Oh, that is how." He sighed in resignation.

The two marble golems made their way towards Jean who already began to make plans in his head on how to depose of them. When facing multiple opponents, his favourite strategy was using them against each other. And he already had an idea on how to do it.

One of the golems unleashed a pair of heat rays from its eyes but Jean managed to jump out of the way. He then tightened his hind legs against the floor and rocketed himself away, straight at the golem's head. He pulled back one of his hooves to deliver an almighty punch to its head and knock it right into the other one behind it, but what he didn't take into account, was the golem being fast enough to catch him by his cape.

Before Jean had a chance to fully understand what happened, the golem threw him up into the air and lifted its hoof to punch him across the room. Jean failed to recover in time to avoid the hit, but he did manage to grab onto the stony appendage. Taking advantage of the golem's momentary shock, Jean began to crawl up the giant's hoof until he reached its head.

The golem tried in vain to shake Jean off, the Lunar managed to get a firm grip of the stony surface. From the top of its head, Jean could see the other golem lighting up its eyes to unleash another wave of heat rays at him. Hiding behind the head of the golem he was currently riding, Jean waited until the rays hit the rock. He felt the surface heating up and eventually he had to jump back to avoid the resulting explosion.

Jean looked down into the body of the now headless golem and saw it being operated by a complex set of machinery. Clearly his kind were highly advanced for their age. When he saw that the other one was about to unleash another heat vision attack, he jumped down into the headless body. The sight of the machinery gave him an idea.

Jean's intellect was far above the average pony's and that allowed him to figure out how the machine operates in seconds. He quickly took control of the stone golem and turned it into his giant personal battlesuit. He pulled and connected the right wires to the right gears before jumping back up to the hole at the neck.

"I always did prefer a fair fight anyway." He said before pulling on the wires he was holding, putting his newfound armor into a battle stance. "Let's go!"

Jean saw the golem lighting its eyes up again, but he wasn't going to give it time to fire. He ran up to it and used the giant hooves of his suit to interrupt its attack by punching it in the chin. The golem stumbled back and Jean ran up to it to finish it off, but the giant recovered in time to block the attack with its own hooves.

Jean stumbled back from the impact and that gave his opponent the advantage it needed. The golem reached for Jean to pick him out of his golem armor. It managed to grab him, but Jean's super strength was enough for him to hold on to the insides of the golem hard enough to avoid being pulled out.

He managed to lift the hooves of his front legs and forced his armor to punch the other golem away from him. He then raised his hooves to bring them down on top of the golem's head. He smashed the stony head of the giant into the floor and saw the visible cracks the impact created on it. Just one or two more punches would do the trick.

He raised his hooves again but before he could bring them down, his body erupted in a violent coughing fit again. 'No! Not now!' He cried in his head. Apparently the dose of antibiotics Ma'alefa'ak gave him was beginning to wear off. The infection returned and completely incapacitated him, causing him to collapse along with his battle armor.

The other golem slowly got back on its legs with janky movements. It was clear Jean had done a number on it, but it was still functioning enough to stand over Jean and raise one of its hooves to deliver the killing blow. Unable to stand up or even put an end to his coughs, Jean could only close his eyes and await the embrace of death.

But instead of feeling the crushing pressure of Golem's stone hoof, he heard a deafening explosion coming from above. He opened his eyes to see a pair of heat rays blasting through the golem's exploding head before the stone giant fell to the floor.

Jean turned to see an equine figure emerging from behind the flames and smoke pouring out of the destroyed machine and slowly began to approach him. As it got closer, he realised that it was another Green Lunar but it was much different than Ma'alefa'ak. The newcomer was much smaller and had more feminine features.

The glow in the figure's eyes slowly faded out as she looked down at Jean who was still struggling to catch his breath. The Green Lunar knelt down next to him and pulled out a vial from her cloak before injecting its content into the White Lunar's body.

"Shh..." The youngling hushed as she caressed Jean's cheek. "Just stay still. Everything will be fine." Jean had no choice but to trust the stranger's words and truly enough, he felt the infection tormenting his lungs slowly burning away. His coughing ceased and he felt his strength returning as the young mare pulled him out of the wreckage.

But as he slowly got back on his hooves, he couldn't help but wonder whether he made a new friend or a foe.

Author's Note

Welcome back, everypony! This chapter took far longer than it should have. Halfway through the chapter, I realised I made a very big mistake that required a lot of rewriting and I've been kinda struggling with getting into writing too. But if I'll manage to keep my daily writing schedule up from now on, The Lunar Hunter will be definitely wrapped up before the end of July and perhaps the first issue of the next Batmare Story will be done too.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. For now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Jean had a surprising encounter at the end but just who is the mysterious Green Lunar he met? And is she gonna be an ally or another enemy? Find out next time in...

Issue #9: Friend or Foe?

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #9: Friend or Foe?

Jean was unsure what to make of the situation. He had just been saved from certain death by a Green Lunar. A race he was certain had gone extinct along with his own and Ma'alefa'ak was the only survivor, much like he was of his own kind. Not only that, but according to what he had learned in the past few days, their kinds hated each other and yet here was this youngling who not only saved him from the golems, but also seemingly managed to cure him of Ma'alefa'ak's virus.

The young mare scanned Jean’s body with her x-ray vision and saw his organs being cleared of the disease. “You’re going to recover soon. I never tried this formula on a White Lunar before, but you have a stronger immune system than us. It should be able to do the trick.” Jean was glad to hear that, but he still felt a little uneasy. He had a lot of questions but fortunately, a lot of time for them as well. The newcomer must have sensed his confusion as well and she wasted no time in beginning the explanation.

"My name is Mor'ng Mizzt." The young girl began as she sat down next to the recovering White Lunar and began to tend to his wounds. "And yes, I am a Green Lunar but right now, we have more important things to worry about than the past grievances between our kinds." Jean knew right away what she was talking about.

"Ma'alefa'ak..." He growled. Mor'ng nodded.

"He's the reason I've been trapped in here for who knows how long. I’ve lost track of time and I wager it won't be long before my sanity follows suit if I didn't meet you. Together, we may just stand a chance at getting out of here and take that bastard down!" Jean flinched, he wasn't used to someone so young using such language. But like she said they had bigger concerns right now.

"Are there any other Green Lunars left?" He wondered out loud. Mor'ng briefly flinched and it became obvious Jean touched a sore topic, but she quickly got over it.

"Not to my knowledge." She replied before going back to treating Jean's wounds. "If they're out there, they obviously don't want to be found. I was among one of the last of the group of survivors before Ma'alefa'ak found us." Jean's eyes widened as he recognised the magnitude of those words. If she was the only one, that meant she had to witness all those other survivors perish. No wonder she was so bitter.

"Were you infected as well?" Mor'ng nodded.

"Ma'alefa'ak sought us out and promised us a cure. He said he would save our race. We trusted him with our lives. We allowed him to perform all sorts of experiments on us, claiming that he was going to find a cure. But when his test subjects started dying, those of us left became suspicious of him." She explained, becoming so emotional that she accidentally bruised the wound she was tending, making Jean hiss in pain.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Mor'ng apologised, her eyes widening in concern. "I didn't mean to, I just get so riled up when I'm talking about it! Are you OK?" Jean's wound still stung pretty badly, but for Mor'ng's sake, he tried to put on a brave face. She actually looked far more like the innocent little filly that she was in age as she looked up at Jean in worry. It was honestly so cute he couldn't help but smile at it.

"I am fine." He reassured her. "What happened next?" Mor'ng's face immediately turned sour again as she continued the story.

"The survivors decided to find out what he was really up to. Since I was even younger and smaller than I am now, I could easily move around his lab undetected and I managed to steal his research files. That’s where I learned the tricks of making these from.” She said, showing Jean the various vials of chemical substances in her bag. “And it also contained the terrible truth. The bastard wasn't trying to find a cure! He was using us as test subjects to create his genocide virus against the White Lunars!" This revelation horrified Jean.

"He did not spare even his own kind of the abomination he created?" He asked in both shock and disgust. "And to think he had the nerve to refer to himself as the saviour of the Green Lunars!"

"In his own twisted kind of way, he will be." Mor'ng continued. "If he carries out what he has planned." Jean gave Mor'ng an inquisitive look and he didn't even need to ask her to elaborate. "I was the only survivor of Ma'alefa'ak's experiments. It turned out, I wasn't infected with the virus. He went as far as to theorise that he and I were the last healthy Green Lunars in existence. So he was going to use me to repopulate our home with Green Lunars."

For a few moments, Jean's mind completely shut down as he processed what the yongster's words implied. Just when he thought there was no depth Ma'alefa'ak's depravity couldn't sink to, he managed to prove him wrong. The genocidal Green Lunar's insanity knew no limits. He was an enemy to life itself and he needed to be stopped at all costs. But there was one more thing he didn't understand.

"But if he needs you to... do that, why are you down here?" He wondered.

"Well, as you might expect, I wasn't very open to participate in his plans. Or to be precise, I told him he was a crazy sack of shit and spat in his eye. So to make me more cooperative, he threw me in here until I changed my mind." Jean wasn't even surprised at this point that Ma'alefa'ak was soulless enough to do this to a child.

"How long have you been down here?" Mor'ng just shrugged.

"Like I said, I lost track of time so it must have been pretty long. I had to fight off these undead abominations ever since and run for the food rations the bastard threw down here to keep me alive, so I had bigger things to worry about." She finished her tale as she wrapped up one of Jean's wounds and moved on to the next. She frowned when she saw just how deep the wound was.

"I'm gonna have to cauterize this wound before it becomes infected." She said. "Brace yourself, this is gonna hurt." It wasn't gonna bother Jean as he was quite used to hurting by now. In fact, he was already hurting rather badly anyway, but before he could reassure Mor'ng, the young Lunar already heated up her eyes to clean the wound. Jean screamed in agony. Even though the process only lasted a few seconds, it was still more than he was prepared for.

"There." Mor'ng nodded. "You should be fine now." She said before sitting down next to Jean.

"Your powers still function down here?" Jean asked.

"Yeah, the Chamber of the Ancients was built upon a giant volcano on this moon. It has the same effect as fire, stripping all White Lunars of their powers. But the Green ones don't have this weakness." She then used her x-ray vision to check how Jean healed on the inside. "It should still take your wounds about an hour to fully heal, even with your Lunar immune system. We'll have to wait. Fortunately, we have all the time in the world being stuck in this hole."

Jean was glad to hear that. After everything that happened in the past few hours, he will be all too happy to just sit down and rest for a while. And he also needed some time to process everything that just happened and everything he just learned. He looked down at the small Green Lunar sitting next to him who returned his gaze curiously.

"You are a very strong and brave young mare, Mor'ng." Jean said with a fond smile. "Thank you for saving my life." Mor'ng wasn't sure how to respond. She wasn't used to compliments like that unless they were spoken with irony, but she could tell Jean was genuine. It actually felt very good.

"I never heard anyone talk to me like that before." She replied as she cast her head down with a sad expression. "Especially not a White Lunar."

"I am sorry to hear that." Jean said empathically, placing a hoof onto Mor'ng's shoulder. "But I can tell you one thing. Our races may be gone, but so is the animosity between them. You and I have no reason for hostility towards each other. We are just two creatures forced into the same situation by a common enemy."

"Indeed." Mor'ng conceded his point. "White or Green doesn't matter anymore. What matters is, is getting out of here and putting an end to that maniac's schemes." Jean smiled, happy that he was able to lift the youngster's spirits.

"And once this is over, our triumph could mark a new beginning. The beginning of a new friendship between the White and the Green Lunars. A better future for both of them." His second attempt at lifting her spirits ended up having the opposing effect.

"I hardly think there is a future left for either of them." She replied bitterly. "You and I are the only ones left." The hopelessness in her voice crushed Jean's soul. He tried to think of something reassuring to say, but he couldn't come up with any.

Then he remembered Supermare. The Mare of Steel was the last living member of her kind, just like he and Mor'ng were of their own. And yet, he never saw her losing her hope in her future. Not only that, but she managed to become the symbol of hope for all of Equestria. Jean had no idea how she did it, but if she could keep her hope in preserving her race's future, then so could they.

"Never lose hope, Mor'ng." Jean told her. "I learned this from the bravest and strongest creature I know. Just like us, she is the last of her kind, but she believes that simply by existing and doing good in her adopted homeworld, she ensures the survival of her people's legacy. And by overcoming the past hatred between ours, we will set an example to the rest of the world too. That will be our legacy." His speech did seem to have the desired effect, but Mor'ng still looked uncertain.

"I never thought of it that way but right now. I don't even want to. Before we think about the future, we have to get out of here and make Ma'alefa'ak pay!" Jean was slightly concerned about the rage and hatred Mor'ng seemed to have in her heart. But she was right, they had to get out of here.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Much to Jean's delight, this question ended up cheering up the young Lunar mare.

"Now that you're here, I believe I have a plan that might just work!" Before Mor'ng could elaborate on her plan, Jean felt a splitting headache hitting him like a speeding train. He grabbed his head and screamed in pain as he felt Ma'alefa'ak crawl back inside his head.

'Well, well, well... Looks like you discovered my little secret buried beneath the surface of the Moon!' The deranged Green Lunar told Jean telepathically. 'I can't say this was part of the plan, but it hardly matters. You won't live long enough to talk about it to anyone.' Jean eventually managed to overcome the pain and sneered hatefully as he faced the mental image of his nemesis.

'You sick, twisted, evil, savage...' He spat at him. He never thought he would be able to feel such immense hatred for any creature in his life.

'I'm sure you could go on all day, but I don't really have the time. You see, I was perfectly happy watching you slowly die in that hole but I'm afraid your discovery of Mor'ng complicates matters. I can't have you two conspire against me. You forced me to take a more active role in this little game of ours.'

Jean and Mor'ng looked up to see the roof of the chamber above their heads open up. Ma'alefa'ak slowly floating in the air until the roof was completely open before dropping down, landing with such a tremendous impact that it launched an enormous dust cloud into the air. When the dust settled, Ma'alefa'ak was delighted to see that only Jean was standing in front of him. Mor'ng was nowhere to be seen.

"How typical. She ran off like the scared little filly she is. I will deal with her later. As for you, well we had fun together, J'inn J'inzz, but I'm afraid this is where we split paths. Give my regards to your family in the afterlife."

Jean saw the Green Lunar's eyes heating up and knew what was about to happen. Since his powers were not working down here, there was only one thing he could do. He began to run just before Ma'alefa'ak unleashed the heat rays from his eyes. They were strong that when they hit the ground, they made a hole in it and sent rubble flying up into the air. Even Jean felt the impact as the shockwave caught up to him and sent him crashing against the wall.

Jean slowly got back on his hooves, just in time to see the Green Lunar about to unleash another blast. He jumped to the side but Ma'alefa'ak followed him with his gaze, maintaining the rays until he became too exhausted to keep them up. To his frustration, he still wasn't able to hit Jean, but his frustration turned into confusion when he saw the smug smirk on the White Lunar's face.

And soon he understood why. In his determination to hit him, he didn't even notice the damage he was inflicting on the wall. Nor did he notice said wall falling down on him until the very last moment. He was able to raise his hooves above his head just in time to hold it up, but Jean reacted faster than him and jumped on top of the wall to stomp it down on Ma'alefa'ak.

The Green Lunar lost his balance from the impact and the fallen wall crashed right on top of him before he could phase through it. He quickly recovered though and broke through the stone, shattering it to pieces and sending Jean flying. Ma'alefa'ak was now positively furious. He picked up one of the pieces of the broken wall and hurled it towards Jean.

The White Lunar managed to dodge, but Ma'alefa'ak continued to throw the stone pieces at him and eventually managed to hit him, sending him across the room. Jean groaned in pain as he struggled to get up and saw Ma'alefa'ak slowly approaching him. The Green Lunar reached down and grabbed his cape before pulling him onto his back.

"I'm going to strangle you with your own cape." Ma'alefa'ak snarled. All the cockyness and taunting were gone from his voice, replaced by pure malice and insane anger. He wrapped the fabric around Jean's neck and was about to make good on his threat, but Jean had enough strength left in him to headbutt him in the muzzle, making him stumble back and let go of him.

When Ma'alefa'ak recovered, he saw Jean running back towards the labyrinth. "Oh no, you don't!" He screamed as he reached out, stretching one of his hooves forward to grab Jean. He managed to reach his hind legs and was about to pull him back into the chamber, but Jean grabbed the elongated appendage and gave it a strong pull.

Ma'alefa'ak lost his hoofing on the ground and fell forward, flat on his face. He tried to pull his hoof back, but Jean got a firm grip on it. Before he had a chance to phase it out of his grasp, the White Lunar smirked as he began to spin around, twirling Ma'alefa'ak around with such strength that he managed to lift him off the ground.

After a few rotations on his own axis, Jean finally worked up enough strength to carry out his next strike. He pulled on Ma'alefa'ak's stretched hoof and smashed him into the floor, making a deep crater in it and sending another cloud of dust into the air. It was the Green Lunar's turn to groan in pain as he slowly pulled himself together. So slowly in fact that by the time he got back on his hooves, Jean was nowhere to be seen.

"You think you can escape me?!" Ma'alefa'ak roared in fury. "You idiot! Have you forgotten that I have full access to your mind? I can sense your every thought! Wherever you run off to, it's only a matter of time before I track you down!" He immediately began his mental search of the entire labyrinth, but strangely enough, he couldn't pick up Jean's mind activity anywhere.

This greatly confused him. Jean's mind was his playground ever since he first arrived on Equus. He was completely defenseless against his mental manipulation. How could he have learned to shield his mind against him so quickly? If he wasn't so enraged right now, he would have probably given this more thought, but right now, all he cared about was finding Jean and putting him out of his misery.

"You can run, but you can't hide." Ma'alefa'ak growled as he ran into the labyrinth himself. The walls didn't stop him. He could phase through them like they weren't even there. And with his x-ray vision, he would also be able to see Jean no matter where he was hiding. So why wasn't he seeing him anywhere?

"Where are you hiding, you worm?!" He roared in frustration. His sanity was beginning to slip away more and more every second. He phased through another wall only to find himself facing a large horde of revenants.

"Out of my way, you undead freaks!" He screamed before torching them all with his heat vision. The undead screeched as they were reduced to a crisp, with the exception of one of them. One which was merely sent crashing against the wall.

Ma'alefa'ak's eyes widened. This should not have happened. It was almost like that one revenant was heat resilient, which was unimaginable, given they were resurrected White Lunars. Unless...

"You..." Ma'alefa'ak snarled. The revenant got back on its hooves as its body began to change shape, eventually morphing into the form of Mor'ng Mizzt. The young Green Lunar smirked smugly at the older one, delighted at how she managed to fool him. She could only hope she managed to buy Jean enough time to do his part.

Ten minutes earlier...

Jean was still wiping his eyes to clear them from the dust. But he had to admit, it served as an excellent diversion for him to slip away while Mor’ng assumed his form to distract Ma’alefa’ak. He just hoped she would last long enough for him to do his part. With the roof opened, he had the means to jump out undetected and he was once again roaming the unending plains of the lunar surface.

With Mon’ng’s cure burning the disease away from his body and him getting away from the Chamber, he finally felt his powers returning to him. But he was still too weak to fly, so he had to use his strength to leap across the Moon like a giant rubber ball. He felt better than he did in a long time. And he needed to be at his absolute best for what was about to come.

‘Mor’ng, can you hear me?’ He asked the young Green Lunar telepathically.

‘Loud and clear!’ She replied. ‘The psychic channel I established between our minds works perfectly.’

‘Indeed!’ Jean admitted. ‘And thank you for teaching me how to block Ma'alefa'ak psychic invasion attempts. It is going to be refreshing to have that fiend out of my head.’

‘If you want to thank me, do your part. Find that bastard’s lab and shut it down! And quickly if possible. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this maniac distracted!’ Mor’ng urged him before the link was disconnected. Jean could only pray for the safety of the young mare, but her distress gave him proper motivation to go on.

He had a creature to save and whenever that was the case, he always managed to push himself beyond his limits. This time was no different. When Jean landed after his last jump, he knew he was going to have to take flight to accomplish his task, even if his body was not quite ready for it yet.

His hind legs tightened and he shot himself up like a rocket, reaching forward and putting his body in a horizontal position. The next thing he knew, he saw the craters of the lunar surface pass beneath him at great speed. He noted with satisfaction that with his current speed, he would be able to find the location Mor’ng sent him to in no time.

Ma’alefa’ak’s laboratory was located in an underground bunker in a very specific location. In preparation for Jean’s arrival, he covered the entire place with lead so his x-ray vision would be useless in finding it. He’s going to have to follow Mor’ng’s clues to find it. The young mare didn’t know it’s exact location, but during her stay at the facility, she saw a map displaying its location from above.

It was in a valley surrounded by a mountain of very particular shape. The Lunars called it the Valley of the Beast as it resembled the head of a giant dragon opening its mouth to consume its prey. Meanwhile the facility was built in the shape of the head of a small Lunar stallion from the front. Ma'alefa'ak’s attempt at being symbolic no doubt.

As Jean expected, locating such a peculiar mountain was very easy. But then the actual problem presented itself, the valley was huge and according to Mor’ng, the facility was rather small in comparison. Jean could spend days roaming the valley before finding anything.

Jean refused to let this deter him however. He made his civilian disguise in the shape of a detective. It was time to live up to that title. He floated above the valley, trying to find the most suitable location for the laboratory. Its shape and its location were obviously meant to be symbolic, so from a symbolic viewpoint, where would the place of the entrance make the most sense?

As he analysed the rock formations, he noticed an interesting shape in the depth of the valley at the point that resembled the dragon's throat. As he landed there, the rock’s shape began to stand out even more. Among the very patternless and randomly placed rocks, this looked like it was almost manually shaped in the form of a large dome. Jean knocked on its side and the metallic sound immediately gave away the rock’s exact nature.

Having no time to search for the entrance, Jean decided to improvise. He phased through the rock and descended down the staircase behind it. He found himself in a large round hall that he guessed served as the entrance hall, but as he walked further, he discovered that it served another purpose.

A loud alarm system went off inside the facility, sensing that Jean entered without the proper procedure. All around him, several large cannons emerged from beneath the floor. Apparently, despite supposedly being the last living creature on the Moon, Ma'alefa'ak still didn't neglect his defenses.

Jean immediately flew at one of them to dismantle it, but to his dismay, he noticed that the weapons were shooting fire. Ma'alefa'ak either didn't want to take any chances with any potential surviving White Lunars or he installed these specifically for him after he brought him back to the Moon. Whatever the case, he had to think of something quickly.

Before the flames could reach him, he managed to phase under the floor and reemerge behind one of the cannons. He grabbed it and redirected its fire towards the other cannons, overheating them and rendering them inoperational. He then tore the last remaining cannon out of the floor before shattering it.

His path into the facility was now clear and he quickly reached his destination, but his momentary joy over that fact was short lived when he faced the horrors that awaited him inside. The interior looked less like a laboratory and more of a slaughterhouse. Rotting carcasses of both White and Green Lunar stallions, mares and even foals were hanging from the ceiling, gutted, beheaded and in some cases flayed. Their organs and body parts being stored in jars among several notes and vials.

There were also bodies and organs of several other creatures, some of them Jean was certain weren't able to survive on the Moon. Ma'alefa'ak had to drag them here from other worlds to use them in his sick experiments. To think that he could have done the same to ponies from Equus made Jean's stomach turn.

This atrocity needed to be ended and Jean was finally in the position to do just that. He unleashed heat waves from his eyes, setting everything inside the laboratory on fire before exiting the room. After a few minutes of searching, he found what he was looking for. The main control room of the facility. He couldn't be sure it had what he was looking for but it was worth a try.

He checked the computers, making sure to erase all of the research data before finding what he was looking for, a self destruct mechanism. He wasn't sure why Ma'alefa'ak would bother with this as an outbreak wouldn't have been a cause for much alarm on a dead world, but he wasn't complaining. All he had to do was activate it and get the hay out there.

“Where is he?!” Ma'alefa'ak roared into Mor’ng’s face as he held the young Green Lunar up by her collar. “Where did he run off to?!” But Mor’ng wasn't intimidated in the slightest.

“He's putting an end to your insanity as we speak.” She replied simply. Ma'alefa'ak was confused at first, but eventually the meaning of her words became clear. Mor’ng smirked in satisfaction as his eyes widened in horror. Seeing that expression alone was a victory for her. “That's right. Say goodbye to your twisted little life's work, you bastard! Your schemes end today.” Ma'alefa'ak’s shock quickly turned into fury, but eventually he calmed down and shot Mor’ng an amused smile. Much to her confusion and unease.

“That may be so, you little race traitor. But if I'm going down, I'm taking both of you down with me.” Mor’ng rolled her eyes.

“Oh, really? How?” Ma'alefa'ak’s smile widened.

“Have you ever seen the true form of a Lunar being?” Mor’ng’s confused stare was all the answer he needed. “I thought not. I don't think many Green Lunars have. It was one more privilege the Whites kept from us. Well, my dear, in the last minutes of your meaningless little life, I'm going to grant you that privilege. And before I extinguish both you and your new friend's lights, you will witness the true glory being a Green Lunar!”

Author's Note

Hello, everypony!

The second to last chapter of The Lunar Hunter is finished! Next time, it's the epic conclusion and the final showdown between Jean and Ma'alefa'ak. Until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Tune in for the final chapter and the epilogue in...

Issue #10: Lunar Eclipse

TLH Vol. 1: SotM: Issue #10: Lunar Eclipse

He didn't have much time. Jean was surprised to see how little time the self destruct mechanism gave for evacuation. But then he remembered that if it was ever activated, only one person needed to evacuate, so he figured it made sense. As he made his way outside the facility, it almost felt like another trap set by Ma'alefa'ak. Random explosions burst out of the ground in front of him, debris came crashing down in front of him from the ceiling and doors were sealed shut right in front of him, leaving him barely enough time to slip through. He didn't want to waste time with phasing.

The laboratory had several rooms and corridors with lots of twists and turns. It would have been easy to get lost in there, but Jean had a lot of recent experience with mazes and he had thoroughly explored this facility while searching for the center room and witnessing Ma'alefa'ak’s crimes for himself in their entirety. The sights he's seen weren't easy to forget, providing him good markers to remember just where he was and where he needed to turn.

But even with his excellent memory and great speed of flight, he still just barely managed to reach the entrance and phase through it before the entire laboratory went up in flames. The dome that hid the entrance exploded behind him and threw him off course, causing him to crash into the ground. He turned back to see a giant column of fire and smoke emerging from the ground, signaling the destruction of the laboratory and all of the atrocities committed there. Jean let out a huge sigh of relief and allowed his exhaustion to catch up with him and collapsed onto the ground to take a few relaxing breaths.

Unfortunately, fate would not grant him even a few precious moments of rest. As he rolled onto his back, he noticed a dark figure standing over him, who only could have been Ma'alefa'ak. Jean fought off his exhaustion and got back on his hooves the face the maniacal Green Lunar, but he was in for a nasty surprise when he saw him holding the battered and bruised body of Mor’ng in one of his front legs. Jean saw that her heart was still beating with his x-ray vision. She was still alive but that could easily change in Ma'alefa'ak’s grasp.

"Hiding behind an innocent foal?" Jean spat. "Why am I not surprised? I knew you were depraved beyond measure, but I did not assume you to be so pathetic." He was obviously trying to rile up Ma'alefa'ak, but it wasn't working.

"Who's hiding?" The villain rebutted as he tossed the young mare's body away like a sack of trash. Jean was enraged by the act and the only thing that kept him from throwing himself at Ma'alefa'ak was his concern for Mor’ng. He flew to check on her, which Ma'alefa'ak surprisingly didn't interrupt.

"A White Lunar showing concern for a Green one?" He taunted. "Now I've seen everything." After making sure that Mor’ng was not too hurt, Jean took his cape off and wrapped it around the young mare's body protectively before turning back to Ma'alefa'ak.

"It is over, Ma'alefa'ak!" Jean growled. "You have lost. Your laboratory and your twisted research are gone. The pointless death and suffering you caused has come to an end. Let us not cause any more." Jean knew the chances of Ma'alefa'ak accepting his offer for a peaceful resolution were slim to none, but he still felt the need to try.

"That may be so." Ma'alefa'ak replied. "I may have lost, but if there's one last thing I'll do, it's gonna be making sure you don't win." He then took off his cloak before throwing it aside, revealing his bare Lunar form to Jean.

Jean stared at him in confusion which turned into horror as he stepped back upon witnessing Ma'alefa'ak’s body start to violently convulse and change shape. His body began to increase in size, becoming bulkier and more muscular, his limbs stretched out further and a sharp, pointy spike began to grow out of his head.

Jean's eyes widened in shock as he recognised the creature in front of him. It was the same one he saw at the end of his nightmare when Ma'alefa'ak first appeared in his life. The creature was now several meters taller than him. It let out a piercing shriek as it stomped its front legs into the ground with such strength that it made the ground beneath Jean tremble.

"WITNESS MY TRUE FORM, J'INN J'INNZ!" Ma'alefa'ak roared. "FOR IT SHALL BE THE LAST THING YOU EVER LAY YOUR EYES UPON ON THIS PLAIN!"

Ma'alefa'ak then reached over to a large rock that laid nearby and picked it up before bringing it down on top of Jean. The White Lunar jumped back just in time to avoid it. Jean flew up and charged straight at Ma'alefa'ak’s head, delivering a punch to his face. He was strong enough to make the giant slightly stumble back, but it instantly recovered and swung its hoof at Jean, swiping him out of the air like a fly.

Jean then attempted to use his heat vision on the creature. As the heat rays made contact with Ma'alefa'ak’s skin, he could hear a sizzling sound coming from it as the Green Lunar grunted in pain. He was obviously doing damage to him, but he couldn't keep it up as Ma'alefa'ak used his own heat vision to counter him. His heat rays were obviously bigger and that meant Jean needed to cease his attack to escape them.

Jean was forced to flee from the heat rays scorching the ground behind him, leaving him little to no chance for a counter attack. But he suddenly got an idea. He started moving towards Ma'alefa'ak while still flying in circles to avoid the onslaught from his eyes. He slowly got closer to him until he managed to reach his legs. He stretched out his front legs and wrapped them around Ma'alefa'ak’s.

The sudden sensation of his legs being squeezed so tightly forced Ma'alefa'ak to cease his optical attack as he started losing his balance in Jean's grip. Jean gave his arms a firm tug and with his super strength, he was able to pull Ma'alefa'ak’s legs out from under him, making the Green Lunar collapse.

He was about to elongate his arms even further to completely wrap Ma'alefa'ak up, but the Green Lunar quickly recovered and with his own super strength, he was able to give all four of his entangled limbs a tug, pulling Jean off his legs, launching him over himself and slamming him into the ground on his other side.

Ma'alefa'ak shook Jean's stretched out limbs off and got back on his hooves before raising one of them and attempting to squash the White Lunar. Jean pulled his legs back just in time to stop the giant hoof from connecting with his body. He was able to hold it with his super strength but he knew he wouldn't be able to keep it up forever.

He ignited his heat vision and fired his heat rays at the bottom of Ma'alefa'ak’s hoof. Eventually, the heat on the Green Lunar's hoof became so unbearable that he had to let go. Jean flew back away from him and landed back on his hooves. This wasn't gonna work in the long run. He had to think of something to put an end to this fight and fast.

'The transformation...' Jean's eyes widened as he heard Mor’ng's voice in his head. Apparently the young mare regained consciousness and re-established the psychic link between them. 'You can do it too.'

'Mor’ng! Are you...' His concern for the youngster quickly drew his attention away from the fight and he almost paid for it as he barely managed to avoid another strike from Ma'alefa'ak. Mor’ng must have sensed it too as she let out an alarmed gasp.

'I'm fine! You should be more worried about yourself!' She reprimanded.

'Point taken.' Jean groaned in annoyance. 'What was it you said about the transformation?'

'What Ma'alefa'ak turned into, it's the true form of the Lunars! Including the white ones! Meaning you can turn into that too!' Jean looked up at the monstrosity Ma'alefa'ak turned himself into. This would be his true form? Even while living among ponies where he knew he stood out, he never saw himself as a monster. But to see what he really was inside was more than a little frightening.

And even if he would do it, this was something he has never done before. He had no idea how to do it. How could Ma'alefa'ak have done it? He didn't have much time to ponder on it as the now huge Green Lunar raised his hoof for another strike. Jean had to move quickly to avoid them. His attacks have grown more fierce and furious. As if the Green Lunar completely lost every bit of composure he had left and submitted himself to some primal fury.

"YOU PATHETIC LITTLE INSECT!" He roared as he punched the ground again, missing Jean by mere inches. "YOU AREN'T EVEN AWARE OF YOUR OWN POWER! EVEN AMONG THE WHITE LUNARS, YOU ARE A DISGRACE! IT'S FITTING THAT YOU WILL DIE OUT HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AND NO ONE WILL REMEMBER YOU!"

It became increasingly harder to avoid Ma'alefa'ak’s attacks. He had his sights set on Jean and he wanted to shed his blood. "YOU HAVE BEEN ESCAPING ALL YOUR LIFE! RUNNING LIKE A COWARD! BUT NOW YOU HAVE NOWHERE LEFT TO RUN!" The enlarged Green Lunar took a deep breath and exhaled towards Jean, sending so much dust in his way that he had to cover his eyes and completely lost his sense of direction.

"THIS IS THE END FOR YOU! AND THE WHITE LUNARS!" Ma'alefa'ak roared as he marched up to Jean and lifted him out of the dust cloud. "AND SINCE YOU DESTROYED MY LIFE'S WORK, I WILL BE HAPPY TO RETURN THE FAVOUR!" He taunted with a cruel smirk. "AFTER I'M DONE WITH YOU, I WILL RECREATE MY EXPERIMENTS ON YOUR LITTLE FRIEND!" Jean's eyes widened upon him mentioning Mor’ng, which did not go unnoticed by Ma'alefa'ak.

"TOUCHED A NERVE THERE, DIDN'T I?" He mused as his grin widened. "THAT'S RIGHT! EVERY SINGLE THING YOU WITNESSED DOWN THERE, SHE IS GOING TO GO THROUGH, SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY! AND AFTER SHE FINALLY EXPIRES, I WILL VISIT YOUR ADOPTED HOMEWORLD NEXT!"

That was the last straw. Jean felt the same primal rage rising in his chest that drove Ma'alefa'ak’s attacks. He's already lost one homeworld to this monster. He wasn't about to lose another. Ma'alefa'ak saw him starting to move again and he threw him against the ground with such force that Jean bounced a few times before coming to a stop.

"YES! I WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT KIND OF NEW, INTERESTING MUTATIONS I CAN CREATE FROM MY VIRUSES USING YOUR LITTLE PONY FRIENDS! ESPECIALLY THAT ALICORN YOU SEEM TO BE SO FOND OF!"

With his whole body aching, Jean struggled to pull himself together as he looked up at Ma'alefa'ak with a hateful scorn. "OH, DON'T GIVE ME THAT LOOK, J'INN! YOU WENT THROUGH LOSING ONE FAMILY ALREADY! WHAT'S ANOTHER?" With shaking hooves, Jean stood back up and let go of all of his inner restraints.

"WELL, IT WAS FUN, J’INN, BUT QUITE FRANKLY, I'VE GOTTEN REALLY BORED OF IT BY NOW!" He raised his hoof again and moved it above Jean, ready to bring it down. "SO PLEASE, WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AND JUST DIE ALREADY?!!"

"NO!!!"

The yell Jean let out was so loud and forceful that Ma'alefa'ak actually trembled, making him stumble back. Jean panted heavily as he gave in to his inner anger. He still had no idea what he should do to achieve Ma'alefa'ak’s state, but he felt something inside him snap.

Every terrible thing Ma'alefa'ak has committed, all the things he just said and all the creatures that Jean held dear he posed a threat to have come together in Jean's head, creating a desire stronger than anything he has ever felt before. A desire to finally put an end to this monster's crimes.

The Green Lunar backed away in disbelief as he witnessed Jean's body changing and growing until he reached the same size and shape as Ma'alefa'ak. The grown White Lunar turned his head towards his adversary with a savage look that almost mirrored the one he was wearing just a minute earlier.

Ma'alefa'ak actually found himself taking a step back. He had no idea Jean was capable of displaying such raw fury. He wasn't sure how it could have happened, there was only one thing he knew for sure: he managed to royally piss Jean off and for the first time since meeting him, he wasn't sure how things were going to turn out.

"I AM GOING TO TEAR YOU TO SHREDS!" Jean roared before leaping forward and tackling Ma'alefa'ak to the ground. Pulling his hoof back, Jean delivered punch after punch to Ma'alefa'ak’s muzzle, but the Green Lunar had enough strength left in him to raise his own hooves and block the next strike. He then pushed Jean's hooves apart and landed a headbutt onto his now defenseless muzzle.

His attack had enough strength in it to push Jean off of him before launching a counter attack. He charged at him with speed and carried him until they both crashed into the wall of the crater. He grabbed Jean's and pulled it before smashing it back against the crater wall repeatedly, but Jean managed to wrap his hoof around a large rock and smash it against Ma'alefa'ak’s face.

The Green Lunar was sent back onto the ground and Jean was about to jump on him again, but before he could pin him down, Ma'alefa'ak kicked himself away from the ground and flew up, fleeing away from the furious white giant. Even though they were now evenly matched, the fury of Ma'alefa'ak seemed to have transferred to Jean and was replaced by panic. The tables have thoroughly turned.

Jean took off after him and the two chased each other across the lunar surface for such a long time that Jean was certain they must have flown around the entire moon a few times already. And frustratingly, he wasn't getting closer to the Green Lunar. He had to find a way to put an end to this chase.

He unleashed his heat vision on Ma'alefa'ak and he managed to hit him in the back, throwing him off course. This did slow him down a little, as it took him some times to regain his altitude, but he did it before Jean caught up with him. The White Lunar fired his heat vision at him again, forcing him to keep dodging which cost him the speed he needed to keep the distance between him and Jean. At this rate, he would catch him soon. And he couldn't let that happen.

He waited until Jean ceased his attack on him and when he heard the heat rays behind him finally cease, he quickly spun around and fired his own heat vision at Jean. The White Lunar quickly countered with his own and the two pairs of heat rays collided in the air, creating a large ball of heat energy between them. The ball grew bigger and bigger until it eventually became too big and exploded in the faces of the two Lunars, sending them flying back several meters.

When Jean recovered from the blast, he began to scan his surroundings for Ma'alefa'ak, expecting an immediate attack while he was disoriented. When no such attack came, he began to scan his surroundings for the Green Lunar and noticed his shape flying away from him in the direction of the sun. Jean's eyes widened, realising that if Ma'alefa'ak got too close to the sun, he would be powerless against him, he had to stop him.

He sped off after him, but as they got closer to the sun, Jean could feel the scorching heat burning him hotter with each passing second. At this rate, it won't be long before he would succumb to it and lose his powers. He was forced to come to a halt. He had only one chance left.

He reached out with his forelegs in Ma'alefa'ak’s direction and extended them towards him, stretching them longer than he ever did before. So long in fact that it began to hurt so bad that he felt like they would fall out of their sockets. But in the end, he did manage to wrap them around each one of Ma'alefa'ak’s hind legs.

"YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME YOU COWARD!"

Once he caught onto him, he began to fly backwards, drawing him away from the sun and back towards the moon. Unfortunately, he didn't watch where he was flying and he ended up speeding into a meteor field right behind him. The impact forced him to let go of Ma'alefa'ak, but there was enough strength left in Jean's pull to make him crash into the same meteor field.

The Green Lunar roared in fury as he grabbed two meteors and placed them onto his hooves before launching a flurry of attacks on Jean. The White Lunar still had not recovered from the crash so it was easy for Ma'alefa'ak to land hit after hit onto his head. Jean probably wouldn't have been able to escape the onslaught, but fate came to his aid. One of the meteors crashed into Ma'alefa'ak’s head from behind, making him cease the attack and giving Jean time to recover and escape.

Ma'alefa'ak quickly snapped out of his stupor and was about to resume his attack, only to notice that Jean was gone. He looked around for him, but to no avail, all he saw was the meteors floating around him. Or in one very specific meteor's case, toward him. Before Ma'alefa'ak could realise what was happening, the giant rock crashed into him and sent him hurling towards the moon's surface at breakneck speed.

If the moon had an atmosphere, Ma'alefa'ak surely would have burnt to a crisp by now. But even without that, the impact on the surface once the meteor slammed him into it was so huge that it sent a shockwave throughout a ten thousand yard radius. It ended up almost creating a new crater in it, so suffice it to say, it was strong enough to knock all the fight left in Ma'alefa'ak out of him, making him revert back to his standard Lunar form. The meteor rolled off his chest and transformed back into Jean Jeans, the victor of the lunar showdown.

The Lunar Hunter stood over the unconscious form of his adversary, but strangely enough, he found himself unsure of what to do with him. Should he kill him and avenge all the creatures whose lives he destroyed? He wasn't sure. His fellow crimefighters back on Equestria probably wouldn't appreciate that. They always restrained themselves when it came to taking the lives of their foes. If Batmare could keep herself from killing the Joker, then any villain deserved mercy.

Should he take him into custody and take him back to Equestria to stand trial? He doubted that even one of Luna's facilities could hold him. Should he try to convince him to make amends and turn a new leaf? He was more than certain that he was far beyond that point. Even if he offered him that chance, his hatred for the White Lunars was far too great. He would never change his ways. No matter what he came up with, there was a flaw in it. What should he do?

'I might be able to assist you with that.' Jean jumped as he heard Mor’ng once again connect their minds.

'Mor’ng? Where are you?' He asked in concern.

'Right here.' Jean turned around and sure enough, the young Lunar mare was right there, making her way towards Jean with slow but steady steps. "I believe this belongs to you." She said as she returned Jean's cape to him before continuing her way to Ma'alefa'ak who was slowly coming to.

"What are you planning to do with him?" Jean asked as he reattached his cape to his shoulders. Mor’ng turned back to him with a sinister smirk.

"Do you know what happens when a Green Lunar is injected with the same virus he developed for the White ones?" Jean raised an eyebrow.

"The same thing that happens to a White Lunar? He gets sicker as he uses his powers?" He guessed. Mor’ng shook her head.

"No. He loses his powers permanently." She said as she pulled out a vial from her cloak. "Get up, you scum!" She growled as she kicked Ma'alefa'ak. "I've been dreaming of this moment for a long time. I want to see your face when it happens!" Ma'alefa'ak coughed and moaned in pain as he writhed on the ground.

"What are you going to do..." He spat in disdain, fully accepting that he has lost. "Kill me?"

"Kill you?" Mor’ng scoffed before attaching a syringe to the vial. "Death is too good for you." She mused as she injected the needle into Ma'alefa'ak’s neck. "There are fates worse than death."

As the infection spread throughout his veins, Ma'alefa'ak felt like all of his life force was being drained from him. It was like icy water was being poured into the inside of his body. Jean noticed that the green from his skin was beginning to fade away as he became extremely pale. Not as pale as a White Lunar but close enough.

Mor’ng then walked over to a rock formation and pressed it down, making the ground open up in front of them, making Jean realise that they were standing at the entrance of the Chamber of the Ancients Again. When Ma'alefa'ak realised this too, his eyes widened with more fear than he ever felt before. He finally pieced together what the young mare had in mind for him.

"There are countless Lunars down there who died because of you!" Mor’ng exclaimed. "Their souls cry out for retribution! And they shall have it!" She then simply picked Ma'alefa'ak up and tossed his body down the staircase leading to the chamber. The depowered Green Lunar had no way of struggling his way out of her grasp. This was gonna be his own personal Tartarus for the rest of his days.

When he landed at the bottom, he could already hear the angry whispers and ghostly hoofsteps of the deceased getting closer to him. In a last, desperate attempt to get away, he began to run up the stairs towards the entrance, but it was already too late. Before he could reach the gate, he felt the cold dead hooves of the labyrinth's spirits wrapping around his body and pull him back into the darkness. The last thing he saw of the outside world was Mor’ng standing at the top of the staircase staring down at him with a satisfied smirk.

"Have a fun reunion." She taunted before slamming the gate shut and using her heat vision to seal it. "And good riddance." Jean watched the young mare as she walked away from the entrance and sat down in the middle of the crater. Her expression shifted to a blank stare as she was looking up at the stars without saying anything. An entire minute has passed before Jean finally spoke.

"Are you alright?" Mor’ng slowly sighed.

"Define alright." She said with no emotion. "I finally had my revenge on that bastard and it feels every bit as good as I expected, but now, I'm not sure what to do. There is nothing left for me up here." For the first time in a long while, Jean knew exactly what he had to say.

"I felt that way too before." He said, sitting down next to Mor’ng and putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Before this whole mess, I have never even known my family. I felt like I was the only living soul on this entire moon. It was maddening to roam aimlessly around this empty world with no purpose." His grim expression slowly turned into a soft smile. "Until I found it."

"You found what?" Mor’ng blinked curiously.

"My new purpose. I have discovered a friend who was just as alone out here as I was. She was from a different world and when she returned home, I followed her. I discovered a new home, new friends and a new purpose. If you want to, I can also share it with you." Mor’ng just blinked uncertainly for a few seconds.

"Are you sure about this?" She was no longer the vengeful Green Lunar out for Ma'alefa'ak’s blood, she was just a lost and confused little girl.

"You said it yourself, there is nothing left for you up here." Jean replied. "And remember what I said back in the chamber? Our meeting could mark a new beginning for the Green and the White Lunars and serve as an example to our new world." He finished before standing up and extending his hoof to Mor’ng. "If you want."

Mor’ng hesitated. On one hoof, entering a new, unknown world with alien creatures felt like abandoning the place where she belonged, abandoning the memory of her kind and running away like a coward. On the other hoof, it beat sitting around on the lifeless moon and she would lie if she said the thought wasn't exciting. Eventually, she made up her mind.

Princess Luna entered her study after a night of dream walking full of concern and trepidation. It has been over a week since her assistant and good friend, Jean Jeans set out to track down the Phantom that had been haunting him for a while now and there have been no signs of him ever since. She was starting to worry if she would ever see him again. She didn't know what she would do without him.

As she sat down behind her desk to start her morning paperwork, she was surprised to see a tray of her favorite breakfast and a cup of coffee in the middle of it, just the way she liked it. Her hopes for her friend's safe return began to rise as she knew that Jean was the only one who knew how to make it this way. The door to her study opened again and she looked up to see Jean in his pony form walking in with a stack of papers on his back.

"Good morning, your highness." He greeted cheerfully like it was a perfectly normal morning. "I took the liberty of making you breakfast and organise your paperwork. You should be done by lunch and have the entire afternoon off for..." Jean didn't get to finish as Luna flew up from her chair and pulled the stallion into a strong embrace, making him drop everything. A pony who didn't have Jean's Lunar resilience would have probably been crushed, but he just returned the hug. "Well now, it is going to take a little longer." He joked. Luna couldn't care less, she was just happy to have her friend back.

"I was getting worried about you." She whispered into his ear. "Never disappear like that again or I'll seal you into the moon like my sister did with me."

"Well, it is not like I had much choice in the matter." Jean chuckled. Paperwork for the day was quickly forgotten as the two friends sat down and he told Luna everything that transpired in the last week. The alicorn listened intently, her reaction being a mix of fascination, shock and excitement.

"So you finally know the story behind your kind's disappearance." Luna said. "I'm sorry you had to learn it this way, but at the very least, with the guilty party punished, you can finally move on. And you are not alone anymore either."

"Indeed." Jean nodded. "I still feel like it will be a long time before I feel like I truly belong in Equestria, but with young Mor’ng by my side, I do not feel like I am the only one anymore."

"Speaking of," Luna interjected. "Where is she right now?"

"I sent her up to Manehattan." Jean replied. "Miss Sparkle was delighted by the opportunity to educate her in the history and the customs of her new home." Luna was seemingly none too pleased by this.

"You seem to put an awful lot of faith in her, Jean." She said disapprovingly.

"I do." Jean replied with no hesitation. "You on the other hoof do not seem to have as much faith in me as I believed." He then pulled out a dossier from his coat and laid it in front of his mistress on her desk. Luna's eyes widened when she realised what it was. "Care to explain this to me?"

"Jean, please! You have to realise that we must prepare for the eventuality our heroes go astray. Project Amazo is an excellent contingency plan."

"Oh, I can testify to that." Jean retorted, recalling his fight with the android. "Though I was under the impression you had no secrets from me. I promised that I would never read your mind, Luna, but I am starting to feel like you are abusing that privilege." Luna did feel slightly ashamed, but she managed to hide it.

"I have no regrets, Jean." She replied firmly. "Everything I do is to ensure the safety and protection of Equestria and its population. There will be a time where you are no longer here to save us and we have to be ready to save ourselves." They sat in a slightly awkward silence for a few seconds before Jean let out a sigh.

"I believe we will have a lot to talk about in the following days." He said before standing up. "But now if you will excuse me, I have an appointment." Luna raised an eyebrow.

"An appointment with whom?"

"Remember when you said the discovery of my true identity created much fallout?" Luna nodded. "Well, I am meeting with somepony who can set the record straight. As well as help me clear a few things in my head."

"And that is my story." The Lunar Hunter finished before taking another sip of his coffee. The spectacled mare sitting in front of him quickly finished writing down everything he just said before snapping her notebook shut.

"Well, that is one dang of a story, Mr. Hunter." Lark Cent told him excitedly. "Thank you for choosing the Daily Sun to put it out. My boss is gonna be over the moon with the sales of our copies tomorrow. No pun intended." Jean chuckled.

"You are most welcome." He said finishing his coffee.

"Are you sure this was the right place to meet?" Lark asked, looking around the small little café they were sitting in. There were a few guests and she could catch glimpses of them staring.

"Of course." Jean replied. "I thought it would show them that I consider myself to be one of them. Just an ordinary citizen giving an interview during a light meal."

"Makes sense." Lark replied before standing up and gathering her equipment. "Thanks again. I'll be sure to send you a copy once it's out."

"My pleasure. Though, in exchange for the interview, I was hoping you could give me some guidance." Lark immediately knew what Jean meant. Twilight told her everything about this guy, including his knowledge of her true identity.

"I'm always happy to help any way I can." She replied, sitting back down. "What do you need?" Jean pondered about how he should word the question for a few seconds before finally speaking.

"How do you do it?" The mare tilted her head in confusion.

"Uh... I'm not sure I understand the question."

"How do you never lose hope?" Jean continued, making sure nopony was overhearing them. "There were several times during the last week where I almost lost mine but you kept going and I just wonder how you do it. We are both the last known specimens of our respected races but you never lose hope of keeping its legacy alive."

"Well, it ain't easy." Lark explained. "My father told me that I am just as much of a child of Equus as I am of Krypton. The best of both worlds as he put it. So I know while the world I was born in is gone, the one I called home all my life is still here. And as long as it stays that way, I'll never stop fighting."

"I think I understand." Jean said. "You grew up calling the world of ponies your home. That makes it easier to see yourself as one of them. I arrived on this world much later and the only pony I truly know is Princess Luna."

"I feel for you, sugarcube." The mare replied, no longer bothering with the Lark Cent disguise. All Jean saw was Applejack right now and for some reason, he was completely certain at that moment that this was her true face. "Sounds to me that you should go out more and interact with other ponies too once in a while. And from what Twilight told me, you're not exactly alone anymore."

"Oh, she told you about her?" Jean asked in slight surprise.

"Your new surrogate little sister she is tutoring in Manehattan?" Applejack smiled brightly. "She sure did!"

"I never saw our relationship in that light." Jean admitted. Applejack looked at him for a few seconds and she finally knew the kind of guidance she needed to give him.

"Well, you came here for my advice and I will give it to you. You are not alone anymore, Jean. Unlike me, you actually have someone from your kind here with you. She will need you to be like a big brother. To support her and guide her every step of the way. I do have a little sister and while she isn't from my world, let me tell you every single thing we do together and every single moment I have with her? I wouldn't trade it for anything. So if you need something to give you hope when there seems to be none, let her be your hope, sugarcube. Because you'll never find a better reason to go on than family." She then poured herself some more coffee and raised her cup in front of Jean. "To little sisters!"

"I will drink to that." Jean chuckled as he knocked his cup against hers before they downed their content in one gulp.
"Say, Twilight seems to take good care of your little sister." Applejack said. "You think she needs some work around the library?"

"Well, she does have Spike to help her out." Jean replied. "But I suppose more help is always welcome. Why do you ask?" Applejack's face fell. What she was about to tell Jean was not a happy topic.

"Well, you see, sugarcube, it's like this…”

Author's Note

And thus wraps the first story of Omnibus 2! I hope you all enjoyed it! I wasn't sure if you guys would be engaged in it as much as the stories in Omnibus 1, given the first volume was about an OC, but it wasn't like there was a pony character from the show who could just become the pony Martian Manhunter. Well, I could have made one of the ponies from the show reveal themselves as a disguised Lunar, but that only came to my mind halfway through the story. Would that have been better? You tell me.

Anyway, in the next volume, we'll return to Manehattan where Twilight is having a little trouble with her sevret crimefighting career, but of course, she's too stubborn to accept help. As if that wasn't bad enough, Applejack asks her to give work to her little sister around the library after some family issues left her stranded with the Oranges in Manehatta. How will she handle the situation? Find out next time in...

The Batmare Volume 2: The Bat and the Bird

TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #1: A Little Help

"When I first came to this city, I was asked about what I believe in." Spoke a tall, bipedal abyssinian in a tuxedo. "Do I believe in hard work? Individual achievements? The harmony this country is based on? Mostly, I did. And those beliefs helped me get where I am today. But now I ask you, citizens of Manehattan, what do you believe in? Do you believe in Equestria? Do you believe in the immortal sisters? Do you believe in the masked vigilantes cleaning up our streets?" He waited for a few moments before continuing. "Well, I'll tell you what I believe in now. I believe in Hoofy Dent!"

The crowd erupted into a fit of applause and cheers as the reflectors behind the abyssinian lit up and a creamy white pegasus stallion with a black mane, wearing a black suit flew down from the skylight elegantly and landed next to him. He waved to the crowd and flashed a toothy smile before turning to the abyssinian and shook his paw.

"Thank you, Mr. Dapperpaws! Fillies and gentlecolts, I was never big on speeches so I shall be brief. In the past few years, Manehattan has been a hotbed for crime, corruption and organised crime. And things have only gotten worse ever since these costumed maniacs have shown up. My goal is to create a Manehattan where the law and order are enforced by legitimate authorities and the officials are answering to elected superiors instead of mob bosses. My goal is to become the mayor this city always deserved!"

His speech was followed by a tremendous applause from the crowd that lasted for almost a minute. The cat then raised his arms to silence them so Dent could continue.

"Tonight, we are not here just to enjoy the free drinks provided by yours truly," He joked, making the crowd chuckle. "We are also here to spread the word to all of Manehattan. The word about the future that is knocking on our doorstep. The future of Manehattan's new mayor. The mayor of a clean and safe Manehattan. So please, enjoy this banquet in the Iceberg Lounge tonight! And why not try the fruit salad."

The crowd applauded once again before disbanding and returning to their previous activities around the club. The lights came back up and soft music began to play as life returned to the Lounge. Dent and Capper waited until everypony in the group turned away before finally leaving the podium.

"Capper, I would once again like to thank you for this evening." Hoofy said before clinking his glass of drink with the abyssinian.

"No need, Mr. Mayor. After all, aiding your campaign is in the best interest for both of us. We need a mayor to rid us of the threat of these so called super criminals. Not just for the safety of my fellow citizens, but because they're incredibly bad for my business. And when the city's most successful and dedicated businessperson is on your side, your chances are good." Hoofy nodded.

"True enough." He then looked at a group of Capper's employees who were carrying several glass cabinets containing very expensive looking artifacts and pieces of jewellery. "I don't mean to sound insatiable, but when is the auction starting? After all, this is supposed to be a fundraiser as well and my campaign desperately needs as much money as I can get."

"Patience, my friend." Capper reassured him, patting his shoulder. "After all, some of the most prestigious ponies I've invited are still yet to show up."

Twilight Sparkle was not in a good mood tonight. And as her taxi carriage rolled into the road leading towards the front entrance of the Iceberg Lounge, her sour mood only worsened. What was she doing here? She didn't even want to be here in the first place but Spike insisted she went out a little. And to be honest, she was kind of interested in seeing this new mayoral candidate for herself.

Hoofy Dent was somepony that Manehattan was in very short supply of. An honest official. Back when he was the district attorney, he actually put away many of the big time criminals the Batmare caught. Costumed loons and mobsters alike. She actually started believing that he could do some genuine good for this city. Hoofy Dent could bring some much needed hope for this city.

Still, there were several things troubling her about him. One of them was his close association with Capper Dapperpaws, better known in the underworld of Manehattan as the Penguin. Ever since the Candy Colt took out the biggest mob bosses in the city last Nightmare Night, the entire organised criminal underground came under his paw. While he was useful as an informant to the Bat, he still launched and ran several enterprises that made Twilight's blood boil. Still, he was a necessary evil and his Intel helped her several times in the past.

The second was Dent's very unsupportive approach of the Batmare. One of the main selling points of his campaign was building a Manehattan that doesn't need Batmare. As he put it, the vigilante won't always be there to protect the city and they needed to be ready when that time came. That concept was Spike's dream come true. If he was old enough, Twilight just knew Dent had the vote of her dragon assistant. But would he have hers as well? Twilight has grown so much into her Batmare persona that she wasn't sure she could live without it. And honestly, that thought frightened her more than anything she's seen during her time as a costumed crimefighter. Including the Changeling invasion.

"Miss Sparkle! We have arrived!" The cab driver called to her from the front, snapping her out of her thoughts. Twilight sheepishly apologised before paying for the ride and getting out of the carriage. It was strange to see the Iceberg Lounge from the front like that. Every time she came here in the past, she enetered through one of the windows or the backdoor, but this time, she wasn't here as the Batmare. She was here as Twilight Sparkle, wealthy owner of the city's biggest library and slowly expanding bookshop network. She wasn't here to beat up criminals for information, she was here to socialise. And she hated socialising.

With a heavy sigh, she made her way inside the building. The event was much more grandiose than she expected. Capper really wanted to put as much emphasis on the importance of this campaign as he could. Rather than the loud, obnoxious sounds of roulette tables and gambling machines that usually filled this place, a soft orchestra music played and elegant ponies were talking amongst themselves while sipping fancy drinks and the center of the room which a poker table usually occupied was now a buffet table with the most exquisite delicacies one can imagine. The event was a true gala.

"Well, look who it is!" Twilight turned to see none other than the host and his supported candidate approaching her. "This truly is a special night, Hoofy!" The abyssinian boasted. "We managed to lure out the city's most reclusive mare!" He purred in delight as he walked up to Twilight and shook her hoof. "Nice to see you finally getting out of your shell, Miss Sparkle. I believe she requires no introduction." Twilight waved her hoof dismissively.

"Don't exaggerate, Capper. I'm not that well known in the city."

"Perhaps not." Capper nodded before turning to Hoofy. "But our future mayor was the one in charge of the prosecution during the trial of your groom's murderer. He knows you and your story quite well." Twilight finally turned to face the pegasus for the first time. He gave her a friendly smile with a hint of sympathy and unease. It was clear he didn't like Capper talking about that shocking case so casually with Twilight being present.

"A pleasure to finally meet you under better circumstances, Miss Sparkle." He said, shaking her hoof as well. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get High Culture the justice he deserved during that trial." Twilight looked down sadly. No matter how much time passed, the death of the stallion she loved was still a sore subject.

"It's alright, Mr. Dent. I'm sure you did everything you could. Besides, the scum that took him from me got his comeuppance later. Is he still in prison?" Hoofy nodded.

"And that isn't likely to change until he stops breathing. I made sure of that." He added before his pleased expression turned sour. "That said, I am not happy that we needed help from an illegal vigilante to keep him there." Twilight tried to keep the satisfaction from showing on her face. Every time the Batmare's achievements were discussed, she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, but she couldn't show that and risk drawing suspicion.

"You do not seem to be fond of her, Mr. Dent. Many ponies see her as a hero."

"Make no mistake." Hoofy continued, trying to sound neutral. "I appreciate the things she has done for the city, but like I always say, we need to get ready for the time when she's no longer here to protect us. Besides, in my eyes, the Batmare is a symbol of how low this city has fallen. The fact that somepony would resort to such outlandish means to clean up the streets speaks volumes of our law enforcement." Before Twilight could answer, Capper patted the pegasus on the shoulder and spoke.

"Not to mention the similarly troublesome costumed super criminals that followed in her hoofsteps. But fortunately, with Hoofy as our new mayor, it's only a matter of time before we no longer need the Batmare." Twilight gave the abyssinian an unamused glare.

"You seem awfully confident in his chances for this election, Capper."

"I am awfully confident." Capper replied with a shrug. "What Hoofy is promising, there isn't a single pony in Manehattan who wouldn't want it. Most of all a city safe from those maniacs." Twilight's displeasure turned to slight anger.

"That sounds like a cruelly opportunistic approach to me." Capper shrugged once more.

"An election campaign is not unlike a game of poker, Miss Sparkle." He mused. "You just need to know how to play your cards right."

"And having a few hidden aces in the hole probably also helps." Twilight retorted. Capper's mouth curled up into a half smile as he whispered "Clever girl", but it was still loud enough for Twilight to hear it. Hoofy noticed the tense atmosphere between the two, but before he could address it, Capper noticed another pony approaching them.

"Oh, where did I put my manners? I'm sorry, Miss Sparkle but as a host, I must tend to other guests as well. And Mr. Mayor's votes won't be collecting themselves, you know. It's been a pleasure. Enjoy the banquet. Try the fruit salad." He uttered quickly with obvious disinterest as he dragged Hoofy away. The mayoral candidate gave Twilight an apologetic smile before following Capper, leaving the purple mare alone in the crowd.

Twilight looked around but she couldn't bring herself to care about the group of fancy ponies chatting to each other around her and if their unnoticement of her was any indication, the feeling was mutual. Eventually, Twilight's gaze fell upon a bunch of glass cabinets at the end of the room containing several priceless pieces of jewellry and artifacts. Being the studious mare she was, they instantly piqued her interest and she made her way over to them.

The collection was quite exquisite to say the least. Statues, necklaces and even a few ancient weapons like a dagger decorated with gems. She was glad Spike wasn't here, otherwise, a few of these items might fall victim to his appetite. Twilight could have sworn she's seen a few of these items in museums around the city before. She wondered how many of them ended up here as a result of criminal activity.

One piece in particular really caught her attention. It was an enormous green emerald with a black slit engraved in its centre. The longer Twilight stared at it, the more she got the feeling that an enormous, green eyed cat was looking back at her. She was so fascinated by it that she didn't even notice that she had company.

"A purrfect piece, isn't it?" Twilight looked up, but whatever reply she was about to give never made it past her lips. She became completely speechless as she laid her eyes on the most stunningly beautiful mare she had ever seen. She was an earth pony with a light pink coat and a purple mane and tail. It was rare for words to fail Twilight, but this was one such time and eventually, the mare in front of her noticed this too.

"What's wrong, dear? Cat got your tongue?" She chuckled, making Twilight finally snap out of her stupor and rub the back of her head in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I was just distracted by your beauty." She mumbled before her eyes widened as she realised what she had just said. "I mean ITS... its beauty. As in the emerald's... Yeah, that's right!" Twilight smiled, satisfied with herself for being able to save the awkward situation from getting worse. The mare either didn't notice her slip of tongue or didn't care as she just focused her attention towards the jewel on display.

"It is indeed." She said as she walked up next to Twilight. "Forged by the very best jewelers of ancient Neighgypt for their Pharaoh's wife. They worshiped cats as sacred animals, you know. Especially black ones, they were considered good luck, in contrary with today's superstitions."

Twilight was well aware of that fact. She knew everything about the history of every ancient culture in the world that there was to know. But her attention was still focused on the mare rather than the jewel, though this time it was less because of her beauty and more because she looked really familiar. And finally, it clicked.

"I'm surprised that a mare of your field would know so much about relics like this, Miss Polomare." She replied, trying to sound confident and suave. Apparently, it worked because the mare turned to her with a pleased smile.

"Always a pleasure to get the recognition I earned in public." She mused. "But please just call me Suri. And between the two of us, designing is more of a hobby. My main field of interest is priceless artifacts such as this."

"Is that so?" Twilight smiled curiously. "Perhaps you are planning on making a bid on it in Capper's auction?"

"As much as I wish I could, I could hardly hope to outbid these rich folks." Suri replied with a sigh. "If a mare of my standing wants something like this, they only have two options. Have somepony wealthier buy it for them or steal it." Twilight's smile faded. There was something oddly ominous about the way she said that. Eventually, Suri looked back at her from the emerald. "Well, so long, Miss Sparkle. I hope to be seeing you around again sometime." She said sultrily before leaving.

Twilight was about to follow her, but her attention was drawn away from the mysterious mare when she heard Capper's voice from a loudspeaker. "Fillies and gentlecolts, the highlight of the evening is about to begin! Please gather around for Hoofy Dent's campaign fundraiser!" When Twilight turned back, Suri was nowhere to be seen. She looked around in an attempt to spot her but to no avail.

She shook her head, trying to forget about her as she turned to follow the other ponies to the auction. She had no idea why she was so fixated on this mare. She was never interested in mares in the first place. She had a groom for crying out loud. Well, that may not have been entirely true. Back when she was Princess Celestia's student, she used to fantasise about her more than one time. But that didn't count! Everypony had fantasies about her regardless of gender. Was there anypony else?

She never got far with that train of thought as the auction began. First was the gem decorated dagger that she saw earlier. It went to a middle aged unicorn stallion with a mustache and a monocle, wearing a tuxedo. Next was a painting depicting the recent reunion between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Two elegant twin mares bought it. Twilight almost smiled at how fitting that was. Jewels and artifacts came and went and by the time the action came to the last piece, over fifty thousand bits had been collected for Dent's campaign.

"And now, fillies and gentlecolts, we have arrived to the final piece. A piece that might just be worth more than all the money we've collected so far tonight, if I may say so myself. Feast your eyes and marvel at the one and only Eye of the Black Cat."

Two stallions carried the glass cabinet containing the priceless jewel up on the stage and set it down for the crowd to gawk at it. However, before Capper could even name a starting price, the entire room was plunged into darkness. Twilight heard everypony around her gasp and begin to panic as they tried to figure out what was going on. Twilight was just as surprised as them, but she had a hidden advantage.

Twilight was wearing contact lenses that had night vision built into them. Spike would have called her paranoid, but these lenses have pulled her out of more than one tight spot in the past. She switched to night vision just in time to see a slim figure moving towards the glass cabinet with the grace and the dexterity of a cat. The figure knocked out the two stallions who carried the cabinet before removing the jewel from inside and bolting towards the exit.

By the time the lights came back, the thief was already gone and unnoticed by the crowd, so was Twilight Sparkle. With her lenses, she was able to track the thief easily and was on their tail before the guests in the room even realised what was happening. She removed her navy blue dress to reveal a dark grey outfit with a yellow utility belt underneath it. She pulled out four black shoes and put them onto her hooves in a swift motion. She then pulled out a black mask and pulled it over her head before attaching her dress to the back of the mask, turning it into a blue cape. The time for socialising was over. It was time for the Batmare to take flight.

The door leading to the rooftop was kicked open by a mare wearing a black leather suit and a very specific mask in the shape of a cat's head. There wasn't any security patrolling on the roof, but even if there were, they wouldn't have been able to do anything as the thief dashed towards the end of the roof with great speed and leapt off before pulling out an extremely long and sharp whip and threw it forward. The whip wrapped around a gargoyle on the side of the opposing building and the thief swung over to its roof, landing after an elegant backflip.

Once she was safely away from the scene of her latest crime, she pulled out the jewel she just stole from under the Penguin's nose, examining it with glee. One of the most beautiful cat themed pieces of jewellry falling into the hooves of the world's best cat burglar. She had to smile at how fitting that was. Her smile only widened when she remembered how easily she snatched it from the middle of the auction. Those poor idiots were probably still wondering what just happened. Oh, well. With Capper's guest and security being so clueless, at least there was nopony to stop her.

"Haven't your parents taught you you're not supposed to take things that don't belong to you?" The cat burglar was caught so off guard by the voice that she almost threw the jewel in surprise. She turned to see none other than the Batmare standing on the top of a water tower nearby, staring down at her like a predator at its prey. When she realised who she was dealing with, she quickly regained her composure and actually smiled.

"Figured our paths would cross. Sooner or later." She mused as she hid the jewel inside her suit.

"You're gonna wish they hadn't crossed at all." Batmare growled as she jumped off the tower in front of her. "Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way." She said, cracking her hooves. The cat burglar's smirk didn't fade.

"We could do it the easy way, but where's the fun in that?" She replied and before Batmare could do anything, she threw a pair of bolas at the Dark Knight. If it weren't for her unparalleled reflexes, she wouldn't have been able to avoid them. She ducked, jumped forward and threw two batarangs at the fleeing thief, but she turned around with equal swiftness and used her whip to knock them away before they hit her.

The cat burglar headed towards the edge of the roof and jumped off. It became clear to Batmare that she wanted to escape and not to fight. Works for her. No criminal ever escaped the Batmare before. She only hoped that this one wouldn't run into some chemical waste that ended up turning her into another supervillain.

Once she reached the roof's edge, she looked down and saw the Cat making her way down towards an alleyway on a fire escape. She then jumped off herself and spread her cape, gliding to the ground and landing just in time before the Cat also got down and spun around to take hold of her. But the Cat got a hold of her hoof and pulled her close to her, making her lose her balance and accidentally tackle the burglar, landing on top of her with her muzzle pressed against hers.

The two costumed fighters stood muzzle to muzzle against each other for several seconds. Twilight didn't know why, but she just couldn't find it in herself to move. This mare had a strange effect on her that she just couldn't describe. She hasn’t felt this way since she first got intimate with her late groom. And the effect seemed to be mutual as the thief was also awestruck in her current situation as she stared into the vigilante's eyes through her lens. She snapped out of it soon however as she smiled softly.

"Well, this is turning out to be a far more pleasant encounter than I imagined." She purred softly. "Unfortunately, this is where I have to end it." Twilight's eyes widened in surprise as she heard the sound of her grappling gun being fired. She looked down at her utility belt to see that it was no longer there, but in the cat burglar's hoof and she had aimed it upwards, towards the monorail track over them. Before she could do anything, Twilight felt a pair of legs kicking her in the stomach and pushing her off of the Cat before she grappled herself up to the monorail, right on top of a passing train.

Twilight wasn't out of the fight just yet though. She pulled out a batarang attached to the same cable she used for her grappling gun and spun it around like a lasso before throwing it at the train. She managed to tie it around the last passing cart just before the train passed over her and pulled herself up on the cable in pursuit of the Cat.

When she got up, the thief was once again marveling at her ill gained acquisition with her back turned to the vigilante. Twilight tried to take advantage of it by throwing the batarang at her and wrapping her up in the cable attached to it, making her fall over and drop the jewel. It rolled over to Twilight's hoof and she leaned down to pick it up.

But before she could take a closer look at it, a black shadow blurted past her vision and snatched it out of her hoof. Twilight looked up to see a large black cat hopping over to the thief who managed to wiggle her way out of the cable wrapped around her and jumped onto her shoulder. She smirked at the hero smugly as she twirled the cable in her hoof.

"A little help goes a long way, Dark Knight." She taunted. "Well, it's been fun but our stop is coming up." She then threw the cable up and wrapped it around the railing of an overpass before pulling herself up from the train. Twilight jumped after her and managed to grab onto her hind legs, preventing her from escaping.

"Geez, you really need to learn how to accept when a mare says no." The Cat groaned, beginning to grow annoyed. She then lifted her free foreleg and curled it until a set of razor sharp claws spring out of her shoe. Twilight's eyes widened as the Cat pulled her closer to her and gave her a sinister smirk. "Meow." She purred before pressing her lips against Twilight's mask and slashing her across the chest with her claws.

She managed to pierce through the fabric and leave deep wounds on Twilight's skin as she let out a scream of agony and was forced to let go of the thief and fall down onto the monorail track. When she looked up, the Cat was nowhere to be seen, but she soon had bigger worries as she heard the horn of an oncoming train.

Instinctively, she tried to jump off the rail, but it wasn't so easy as her cape got stuck. She tried with all her might to pull it free but it was stuck too tight and the material was too strong to tear. At least for her. Twilight suddenly heard somepony clearing her throat and looked up to see a familiar earth pony mare floating in front of her wearing a blue suit with a red cape and a shiny golden S on her chest.

"Need a hoof, partner?" Supermare asked with a friendly smile as she offered her one. Normally, Twilight would have vehemently denied any need of assistance, but the current situation was far from normal. She was still reluctant, but when she heard the blare of the train horn again, even louder this time, she realised she had no choice. She took the kryptonian's hoof and she easily tore her cape away from the trapped part, carrying her away before the train sped by.

As the mare of steel carried her towards the outskirts of the city, she couldn't help but agree with the Cat's notion. A little help does go a long way...

To Twilight's surprise, Supermare brought her to the top of the Statue of Harmony standing on an island in front of the city. She gently placed her down on the statue's crown before landing herself and sitting down. She reached into her cape and pulled out two bottles of cider before handing one of them to the Dark Knight.

"A cold glass of cider always helps unwind after a hard day of crime fighting. Or night in your case." She said as she opened her bottle and sat down, leaning back against the statue. Twilight pulled her mask up to her nose to reveal her mouth before sitting down next to the kryptonian and opening her own bottle.

"I can see why this is Manehattan's biggest attraction." Applejack mused. "Beautiful view, ain't it. Almost makes you forget about how rotten the city can be." At the mention of her city's wicked nature, Twilight frowned.

"I doubt you came just for sightseeing." She told her after taking a sip of her drink. "Is there something wrong?" She asked in concern. If Supermare came here, she must have a serious reason for it. Though her concern eased a little when she saw that Applejack kept smiling.

"I do have a favour to ask of you, but don't worry. It's not another supervillain or anything of the sort. It's more... personal." Applejack's tone changed considerably with that word. Twilight could tell that whatever she was going to talk about was not going to be pleasant. "You see... my Granny Smith recently passed away." Twilight was unsure how to react to that.

"I'm... sorry." She said. She felt bad that this was all she could manage. Applejack probably heard it at least a hundred times already.

"Honestly, we should have been prepared for it. She was perhaps the oldest living member of the family. And that's saying something. But it still hurt." She replied glumly

"You cannot be prepared for the loss of a loved one." Twilight said, putting an arm on the blue clad mare's shoulder. "And it's always gonna hurt. I'm speaking from experience." Applejack nodded.

"I know. But that's not the reason I'm here. You remember my little sister, Applebloom?" Twilight nodded. The little yellow filly was gonna be one of the flower fillies at Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding. Before the invasion happened and ruined everything.

"Well, you see, she's been taking it especially hard. She's too young to remember our parents so this is the first time she has to deal with a loss like this. And if that wasn't hard enough on her, with me flying around Equestria all the time and my big brother having to completely take over the farm, she has nopony to look after her. So she had to come up here to live with my Aunt and Uncle Orange."

"I fail to see what that has to do with me." Twilight noted.

"I'm getting there. The Oranges are pretty fancy folks, you see. And that ain't Bloom's world. She's used to rising early and working hard. So I was thinking, maybe you could give her some work around your library. I know it's not bucking apples but maybe it could help her take her mind off of what happened and adjust a little."

"I think that's a great idea." Twilight replied instantly. "I know Spike's gonna be glad to have an extra set of hooves around the place. And that means I won't have to listen to him complaining all the time about having to do all the work." Applejack chuckled.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it." She said before finishing her drink. "Well, I'll be off then. I'll tell Bloom to go over to your place tomorrow morning." She then floated off of the statue, but before flying off, she extended her hoof towards Twilight.

"What?" The violet mare asked in confusion.

"Your bottle." Applejack replied bluntly. "I see you finished your drink and I wanna make sure they end up in a proper recycling bin." Twilight rolled her eyes before giving her the empty bottle.

"You're such a girl scout, Applejack." It obviously wasn't a compliment, but Applejack still smiled brightly at it.

"Thanks, sugarcube! I do my best." She said before her eyes widened as one of her ears sprung up. "Gotta fly now! Forest fire around Appleoosa. See you around. And thanks again." She then blasted off so quickly she disappeared from Twilight's view in seconds.

The vigilante mare was left alone on the top of the statue with her thoughts about what was to come. It was gonna be interesting to have another pony around the library. She was already tutoring the young Lunar, Mor’ng Mizzt about this world and Spike was a lot of help. She wondered how well they would get along with a lost, grieving filly.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sense of agony in her chest. The slashes from the Cat's claws were still there and slightly bleeding. She should probably head home and disinfect them. She was about to climb down from the statue but then she noticed something sticking out from one of the wounds. It was one of the Cat claws that must have gotten stuck in there and broken off.

She pulled it out and examined it for a while. It was made of a tough material but it was also very smooth to the touch. Like a hardened piece of silk. Just like her coat felt like when they were knocked into each other. Twilight had fought a lot of bad guys, but she was somehow different. She had some fascinating sense of danger to her, but nothing like the psychos she tangled with before. It was kind of... exciting and Twilight couldn't help but shiver with anticipation as she thought about their inevitable next meeting.

"Meow.”

Author's Note

Hello, everypony! I'm back with the second Volume of this omnibus, launching the next adventure for Twilight Sparkle, AKA The Batmare! In this issue, she met an exotic and enticing new foe, but she's gonna be the least of her worries! And Supermare's little sister is going to be working at her place now! In more ways than one. Hint, hint!

Anyway, next time we're going back to Canterlot where an old associate of Twilight isn't doing too well and the main threat for the Dark Knight for this volume will start to emerge! Make sure you tune in for...

Issue #2: The Feeling of Powerlessness

TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #3: Broken Wings

With her grapple gun stolen and her cape torn, going back to the library in the usual manner was a no go. Fortunately, since ponies typically don't wear clothes, taking off her costume and hiding it in a totebag wasn't something anypony was going to find strange as she made her way home via public transport. It did take annoyingly longer than it usually did though and Twilight would lie if she said it didn't bother her to sit idly on the seat of a tram until it reached the park around the library.

When she entered the building, she was surprised to hear the sounds of conversation and to see the light of the TV in the living quarters shining brightly. As she made her way to the room, she saw Spike and the young Lunar, Mor’ng Mizzt in her pony disguise - a small green filly with dark red mane named Morning Mist - sitting next to each other and watching the evening news.

"I thought I told you two that I don't want to see you awake by the time I get home!" She chided the two youths as she barged into the room. Said youths only looked up at her with unamused glances.

"And I thought I told you to socialise instead of fighting crime tonight." Spike said dryly as he pointed at the screen. Twilight looked over and saw a recording from Capper's security cameras on the roof showing the Cat leaping off the roof with the Batmare chasing after her. Twilight's expression turned to a nervous frown. How could she expect Spike to keep his promises if she didn't do the same?

"And didn't you teach me that getting a good night's sleep was key for the mental and spiritual strength of a young mare?" Morning retorted while crossing her front legs over her chest. Twilight narrowed her eyes at her.

"Don't give me the mouth, young lady!" She then turned to Spike. "And it's not like I asked that mare to rob Capper's auction, is it?" The reasoning did little to improve Spike's mood.

"You don't believe the Penguin would be so easy to to rob, do you?" He replied, pointing at the screen again.

"Thankfully, we were prepared for such a criminal act to be committed during this event." Capper reported to an off-screen interviewer. "All the displayed items have been only replicas of the original artifacts. The true Eye of the Black Cat was safely locked away in a vault beneath the Iceberg Lounge and is currently being delivered to its new proper owner who paid a generous fee for it. Which will of course go into supporting Mr. Dent's campaign."

"See?" Spike asked sarcastically. "The Batmare doesn't need to do everything by herself. But you just can't resist putting on that suit, can you?"

"I'm with Spike on this one." Morning added. "There is a lot of stubborn pride in you that you seem to be mentally unable to overcome. Not to mention an unhealthy dependency on your nocturnal lifestyle." Twilight narrowed her eyes at her in response.

"I thought we agreed you'll stay out of my head!" Morning was unfazed by her outburst.

"Would you belive me if I told you that I didn't need my telepathic abilities to determine that." Twilight shook her head.

"Not really, no."

"I sure would." Spike remarked. "I could tell you the same thing without telepathy since the beginning." He then turned off the TV and jumped off the couch. "Come, Morning. Let's head to bed. I'm sure there'll be extra chores for us tomorrow after our little observations here." Twilight's eyes widened. She was just reminded that she needed to break the news about their new housemate to the two youngsters.

"As a matter of fact, Spike, you won't have to do all the work from tomorrow on." Twilight called after the purple dragon. Spike looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Twilight sighed before beginning her explanation, hoping that the two would take the news well.

"Guys, from tomorrow on, we'll have a new roommate..."

Apple Bloom looked up at the sign of the park entrance over her, drawing the path to the library with shiny golden letters and arrows. It was impossible to miss. Which was a pity because if she missed it, she could have an excuse for why she didn't attend the work Applejack arranged for her for today. It's not that she just wanted to laze around at the Orange's mansion all day, but she also didn't want anything to do with being a library assistant.

It was all Applejack's idea and it irritated Apple Bloom to no end. Just because her sister was Eqiestria's biggest superhero and spent all day flying around, saving ponies and being a symbol of hope she thought she knew what was the best for her? She almost heard Applejack saying that it was actually the fact that they grew up together and she spent her entire life helping raise her was the reason she thought she knew what was the best for her.

The teenage earth pony sighed as she hung her head down and began to walk towards the library. Deep down, she knew her sister was right, but it didn't make it any easier to accept. Her beloved granny just passed and she didn't even have time to grieve for her probably. It wasn't fair! Then again, nothing about Apple Bloom's life was fair. She was supposed to be one of the flower fillies at the wedding but the Changelings ruined it. That wasn't fair. They were forced out of their own farm and had to move to Appleoosa. That wasn't fair. She lost her parents before she could even remember them. That wasn't fair. And now her granny too.

But there worst thing about it was that there wasn't a darn thing she could do about any of it. Sometimes, she wished she was a superhero too, just like her big sister. Then she could fight against the injustices befalling her family and make all those who hurt them pay. But then she shook her head. This was a silly fantasy that she should have outgrown years ago. She was just an ordinary farm filly and that was the way it was always gonna be.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't even notice that she already arrived at the Atheneigh Library and ended up walking straight into the door with a loud bang and the impact sent her to the ground, landing right on her flank. But apparently she hit the door with enough strength to attract the attention of the ponies inside, as she heard the approach of hooves behind the door before it opened. A purple pony opened the door, looking down at her with a gentle, motherly smile.

"Ah, you must be Apple Bloom!" Twilight greeted merrily before opening the door wider. "We've been waiting for you. Please, come in!" The earth pony quickly straightened herself before walking past the librarian. As she closed the door, Twilight couldn't help but notice that she didn't dare to look her in the eye, but she could still see the embarrassment on her face.

"Oh, don't worry about it!" She chuckled. "The first time I entered this library, I accidentally knocked my future boss off of the ladder and I still got the job." This finally got Apple Bloom to look at her.

"Really?" She gasped in surprise. "But you're Twilight Sparkle! Your library is one of the most successful businesses in the city! Surely you can't be so... clumsy!" She quickly covered her mouth with a hoof, afraid that she might have already offended her future boss, but Twilight just chuckled again.

"You don't know the half of it!" She said encouragingly before looking up. "Oh, here's your future coworker! Spike, come here and meet Apple Bloom!" Apple Bloom looked up to see a young purple dragon standing on the ladder and putting some books back on the shelf before sliding down in front of them.

"Hi!" He greeted the earth pony with a bright smile as he reached our his claw towards her. "I'm Spike! Nice to meet you!" Apple Bloow was too stunned to shake his claw, which Spike noticed with concern. "Is something wrong?"

"You're a real dragon?" Apple Bloom wondered after a few moments of silence. Spike laughed half heartedly. This wasn't the first time ponies have been taken aback by the sight of a dragon.

"You bet!" He replied, trying to sound enthusiastic. "But don't worry! I've been raised around ponies all my life so I won't start burning down villages or gobble up ponies anytime soon." Twilight was about to come to her charge's rescue. She knew how uncomfortable Spike could get when his draconic nature was brought up by ponies who found it alarming, but to her relief, her help wasn't needed.

"That's so cool!" Apple Bloom cheered. "I've never seen a real dragon before! Now I'll get to work with one! Suddenly this job doesn't sound so dull after all!" She exclaimed before realising what she just said and covering her mouth again. Twilight was a little hurt by that comment but Spike's chuckling lifted Apple Bloom's spirit.

"I like her already!" He told Twilight teasingly. "We'll get along just fine, Apple Bloom! Now come on! I'll show you what your job is gonna be." He then wrapped one of his arms around the earth pony's shoulders and lead her away.

"Have fun you two!" Twilight waved after them before leaving towards her bedroom. Or more specifically, the place beneath her bedroom.

"Alright." Spike began. "From what I understand, you're used to hard labour." Apple Bloom nodded.

"Yeah, I grew up on farms and my family bucks apple trees for a living. So it's safe to say I'm a tough gal."

"Good! That's gonna make things a whole lot easier for me..." Spike cheered before noticing Apple Bloom's raised eyebrow. "Uh... I mean you." He said sheepishly. "I'm gonna run the register of the books and you're gonna get them for me and put them back on the shelves. As you can see, this library is big to say the least so I think you'll find it a hard enough task."

Apple Bloom looked around and her eyes widened. She didn't bother to look before, but standing in the middle of the library, surrounded by enormous shelves full of thousands of books made her realise for the first time just what she was signed up for. She never thought books would make her feel so small.

"Wow!" She gulped. "How were you not driven mad by this job already?" She asked, once again without thinking. But Spike completely understood what she was talking about.

"Well, it wasn't easy. I'm not gonna lie, working here can get pretty monotone and sometimes a little boring. But trust me, it's impossible to be bored to madness in this city." Spike replied. "There are plenty of other ways to do that here." He added under his breath, but Apple Bloom still managed to catch it.

"What was that?" She asked curiously, making Spike's eyes widen as he realised he said too much.

"Uh... Never mind. Anyway, let's get to work, shall we?" Apple Bloom quickly realised that the dragon was trying to swiftly change the subject. It was weird, but she didn't think much of it. Spike then lead her to a huge pile of books lying on a table in the middle of the room. "These books have just been returned today. I've already catalogued them, now they just have to be put back in their places." He then handed her a list. "Here, this will tell you where each book belongs. You can use that ladder." He said before patting the earth pony on the shoulder. "Good luck! If you need anything, I'll be at the front hall, dealing with potential loaners." And with that, he left her to her work.

At first, Apple Bloom was really nervous about the task in front of her. This was nothing like bucking apples and she was afraid she might do something wrong. In the beginning, she only dared to take one book before climbing the ladder with it and putting it back on the shelf. Encouraged by the first success, she increased the number of books she put back every single time she got back down and in a few minutes, she was already carrying eight books in one of her front hooves and pushing herself around the shelves on the wheeled ladder without even coming back down with great confidence. She'd been at it for about half an hour when Spike came back from the front hall.

"Hey, AB! I'm gonna need that ladder for a minute. One loaner would like a book that's up there." He called up to her.

"It's okay, Spike! Just tell me the book's title and I'll get it for you!" She yelled back down, waving her hoof at him. Spike was unsure if this was a good idea, but decided it would be a good little test for his future library assistant.

"Okay! It's a fictional pegasus war drama called 'Gone With the Wind'. It should be on the third shelf from above, on the left side."

"Got it!" The yellow teenage mare called back before climbing higher. She then pushed herself to the left and quickly found the book Spike mentioned, but failed to notice another book sticking out from between the others. As she reached to grab the book, the ladder brushed against the other book just enough to knock it off the shelf.

Spike was about to run and catch it, but Apple Bloom beat him to it by sliding down the ladder and kicking herself away from it, grabbing the book in the air before spinning around and landing on her hooves with the book Spike requested being held out in front of him.

"Here you go." She said with a smile, completely ignoring the impressive feat of acrobatics she just performed. Spike was too stunned to take the book, instead he just stared at the young mare with an astonished look and wide open mouth. It was beginning to make Apple Bloom feel uncomfortable. "Uh... You okay?" She asked in confusion. It took Spike some time to snap out of his stupor, but eventually he managed to get something out of his mouth.

"Where did you learn that?!" He wondered in awe, but Apple Bloom just shrugged dismissively.

"Oh, it's nothing. Last summer, I spent some time training with an earth pony stunt team called The Flying Neighsons. I picked up a thing or two."

"I'll say." Spike replied, still in a state of awe. "What on Equus were you doing with a stunt team? Was life that dull on the farm?"

"Not really." Apple Bloom answered, shaking her head. "You may have noticed that I still don't have a cutie mark." She said, presenting her blank flank to Spike. The young drake turned away in slight embarrassment.

"I confess that I haven't been looking." He said sheepishly. "Twilight didn't like it when I checked out a mare's derriére. She made sure that I learned to treat a female with respect and dignity and that was not a fun experience." Apple Bloom could have loved the rest of her life without knowing that.

"Right." She said in a weirded out tone. "Anyway, my time with them was just one of my attempts to earn one. You name it, I tried it. Sports, acting, baking, plumbing, exploring or singing. That one didn't turn out so well." She added, blushing in embarrassment as she remembered how Mayor Mare publicly banned her from singing anywhere in Ponyville.

"So I take it your time with the stunt team didn't work out either." Spike commented with sympathy in his voice.

"Sadly no, but I still enjoyed that time very much." Apple Bloom replied, smiling fondly at the memories. "I remember this one time when we were practicing the trapeze near a lake. We hanged it on the branch of a tree above the water but we didn't notice the bird nest on it. There was a small baby bird in it that fell out while I was in the middle of an exercise. It would have surely drowned but I managed to catch it before it fell into the water. Too bad I didn't notice I let go of the trapeze while doing so and ended up crashing into another tree. I spent close to a month in hospital with a broken front leg. Applejack was so mad but I didn't care. I knew anypony would have done the same in my place. Even the Flying Neighsons visited me at the hospital. They said I was a hero and made me an honorary member of the team. They even gave me a stage name, 'Robin'. Because the bird I saved was a robin and I flew in to save it like I was its mother." She recounted the tale with a soft smile but it quickly faded.

"For all the good it did to me. No cutie mark and I never saw the Neighsons again. All Robin got out of the stunt was a broken wing during her short career without ever even performing." She continued sadly before shoving the book into Spike's claw. "I'm starting to think I'll never get it. I don't know, maybe I'm just not good for anything." She was about to climb back up the ladder, but Spike pulled her back.

"Hey, don't talk like that! Everypony has a purpose. You just haven’t found yours yet. Who knows? Maybe you'll get a cutie mark as a library assistant in the next few days." The two shared a hearhy chuckle over this, but for the young mare, it meant the world.

"You really think so?" She asked hopefully and Spike put his free claw on her shoulder.

"I know so. Broken wings mend in time, Apple Bloom. One day, Robin will fly again. You'll see." While her expression didn't show it, his encouraging words meant the world to Apple Bloom. She was about to thank him, but Spike suddenly looked away, as if somepony called out to him despite there being only the two of them.

"Oh... Uh... Sorry, AB. Duty calls. Would you mind helping the loaner check this book out?" He said, handing the book back to her before hurrying away without even waiting for the young mare's reply. Apple Bloom was so stunned by this that she didn't even move for several seconds, merely watching him run off in the direction of Twilight's room. She saw him enter the room, wondering just what kind of duty he needed to perform in there. She was about to follow him when she heard a voice calling out to her.

"Excuse me! Can I have my book already? I want to get my book report done as soon as possible!" Yelled an impatient, young voice. Once she helped him check the book out, she took off into the same room Spike ran into. She knew this was probably a violation of the elder mare's privacy, but her curiosity got the better of her. She opened the door slightly to peek in but when she didn't see anything or anypony, she opened it wider and walked in.

"That's strange. I knew they both came in here." She wondered, looking around in confusion. Eventually, she decided to leave and go back to work, but she made a mental note to herself to keep an eye on this room in the future.

Spike descended down the stairs leading into the batcave as the secret door closed behind him. He felt bad about leaving Apple Bloom behind so quickly. Her first day on the job barely began and she already had a bad experience with her superiors. But when Twilight was calling him, it was best not to keep her waiting. Especially when she was working down here.

As he expected, when he entered the cave, he found Twilight sitting in front of her computer, researching something he couldn't make out, but he was sure she was gonna tell him. The sight of Morning Mist floating nearby in her Lunar form, reading a book about the foundation of Equestria after the first Hearth's Warming Eve wasn't even the least bit surprising to him at this point.

"How's your new coworker doing up there?" Twilight asked without diverting her gaze from the screen. As the keen detective she was, she was easily able to detect the young drake's footsteps.

"Oh, she is doing just fine." The dragon replied, remembering the little stunt she pulled back on the ladder, but deciding not to mention it. "So what's the emergency?"

"It's not much of an emergency, more of a preparation for our next move." Twilight replied as she summoned a list of names onto the monitor surrounded by a bunch of articles about the mysterious cat burglar she encountered last night. "Capper may have replaced the Eye of the Black Cat with a decoy, but I doubt our burglar is going to take that lying down. I know her kind, Spike. This is not some deranged psychopath doing this for kicks. She very much knew what she wanted. And she won't quit until she gets it."

"Sounds like a mare after your own heart." Spike joked but surprisingly, this time it actually caused Twilight to chuckle.

"That she is." She mused. "I kinda like that in a pony." Spike's eyes widened in shock. Did Twilight actually laugh at one of his comments and display interest in something else other than an her investigation? Let alone another pony?

"You know... when I told you to move on and start seeing somepony else... this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind." He said. This time it was Twilight's turn to widen her eyes.

"No... Not like that!" She shouted with a huge blush on her face. "It's just a... professional respect for a fellow pony of the night. That's it." Spike clearly wasn't buying it.

"Right. You must be flattered from all the 'professional respect' you received from the Joker." He snarked, making Twilight roll her eyes. Spike then turned to the reading Lunar.

"What is she really feeling about her, Morning?" He asked. Mor’ng turned to look at Twilight but she couldn't give the drake answer.

"It's hard to make it out. It shames me to say, her thoughts haven't been easy to read lately." Twilight tapped the side of her head with a smug smirk.

"Telepathic inhibitors, don't bother. Turns out, psychic unicorns aren't the only ones they're effective against." Mor’ng grunted in annoyance before turning back to her book. "Anyway, can we please just get back to business?" She asked turning back to the computer. "I found the name of the pony who bought the actual gem. His name is Moneybags. I managed to hack into all the security cameras around his mansion and we're gonna need to keep an eye on it in case something suspicious happens." Spike already knew what this meant for him.

"And of course, by we..." He started.

"...I mean you." Twilight finished as she got up from her seat. "Applejack trusted me with looking after her little sister and that means she's my responsibility." She said as she made her way towards the exit.

"I thought you considered the city to be your biggest responsibility." Spike said as he sat down in front of the computer.

"And I know it's safe under your watchful eyes." She smiled back at him before making her way up the stairs. Spike sighed as he turned towards the screen.

"Just don't expect me to pull on leather pants and start jumping on roofs like a lunatic librarian with too much anger and free time."

Apple Bloom was surprised to find that this job was becoming easier by every passing minute. The pile of books was almost completely gone by now, reduced to only a few that still had to be returned to the shelves. Maybe working here won't be as bad as she thought. But she still wasn't sure she would want a cutie mark for this kind of stuff though.

As she was putting the last book back onto the shelf, she could see from the top of the ladder that Twilight was just exiting her bedroom. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Just where did she disappear to in there? Still, she had to pretend she was none the wiser. She couldn't get herself fired on her first day just when she was starting to enjoy this job.

"Hi, Apple Bloom! How are you doing up there?" Twilight asked as she walked down the stairs to ground floor.

"These were the last books from the pile Spike left me." Apple Bloom replied, sliding down the ladder. "That's all done. What's next?"

"Well, personally I love reshelfing in my free time but I realise that's not for everyone." Twilight chuckled. "Tell you what, I have a shipment of books to deliver to one of my bookstores in town. If you want to, you can accompany me." Apple Bloom grinned in excitement.

"That sounds great! No offense but I like getting out as much as I can. Being locked up inside is just not for me." She explained.

"None taken." Twilight reassured her. "I already had the cart filled before you arrived. We can leave immediately." Apple Bloom didn't need to be told twice.

Once they were outside, she got in front of the cart, ready to pull the entire thing by herself but Twilight stopped her.

"You don't have to do that, Apple Bloom. That's a pretty big cargo to be carried by a filly like you." But Apple Bloom just waved dismissively.

"Nonsense, Twilight. You're talking to a farm filly, remember? I carried harder loads than this. Besides I prefer hard labour anyway. Isn't that what Applejack sent me here for?" Twilight's concern didn't abate, but she resigned.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you. Follow me." To Twilight's surprise, Apple Bloom had no difficulty with the cart. She even got in front of her with it sometimes even though they were walking at the same pace. She had to agree with the teenaged mare in one aspect though. It was great to be outside on a nice day like this. It wasn't too chilly, the sun was still warming her body and the light breeze against her body felt very nice.

"Hey there, sweet cheeks!" The two mares froze in place as they heard a male voice calling out to them. They turned to see a trio of stallions from all three ponykinds walking out from between the trees, all three were wearing leather jackets and sunglasses. "Nice time we're having, aren't we? But I think you two could make it even nicer. Know what I mean." A gray unicorn chuckled as his cohorts surrounded Twilight and Apple Bloom. Twilight rolled her eyes. Didn't creeps like these start their "shifts" after sunset?

"Thanks, but we have an appointment to get to." Twilight replied disinterestedly. "Come on, Bloom." They were about to walk past the unicorn but the other two blocked their path.

"Aw, come now." A skinny green pegasus mused to Twilight as he reached up to caress her muzzle. "I'm sure that appointment can wait. We can give you a far better time."

Twilight was beginning to grow nervous. Not from fear of course. If she was alone, she could wreck this trio without breaking a sweat. The Batmare ate punks like these for breakfast. But Apple Bloom was nearby and if she was careless, she might get suspicious. Fortunately, before she had the chance to do anything, Apple Bloom stepped in.

"She said we're not interested!" She snapped while slapping the stallion's hoof away. "Hit the road, creeps!" The stallions were shocked by this display from such a young little thing, but the earth pony of the group quickly regained his composure

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. That's no way for a little filly to talk." He taunted before pulling out a switchblade. "You need to learn some manners." Apple Bloom just about had enough.

"No. You do." She snarled before knocking the switchblade out of the stallion's hoof and spun around to deliver a kick into his chest with both of her hind legs, knocking him back several hooves. The other two punks were just as surprised by this as Twilight.

The pegasus quickly got over it however before flying at Apple Bloom to deliver a punch into her face, but the earth pony - with speed that belied her size - grabbed the stallion's hoof and spun him around in the air, using his own momentum to throw him against the unicorn and knocking him off his hooves before he had a chance to summon a defensive spell.

"Lesson learned, I hope." Apple Bloom fumed. "Now then, let's go, Twilight." She then got back in front of the carriage and began pulling it again like nothing happened. She noticed that Twilight was not following her and turned back to see her still standing where she left her in shock. "Aren't you coming?" Her words finally snapped Twilight out of her shock and she ran to catch up with her.

"Where did you learn that?!" She exclaimed. Apple Bloom just shrugged.

"You wouldn't believe half the things I've tried to earn my cutie mark." Was her only reply. This response only unnerved Twilight further. They didn't say anything to each other for the rest of the journey, but Apple Bloom felt great. Dare she say, relieved after beating up those punks.

It felt like she righted some wrong with this world. If anything, those three definitely won't be trying to pull that stunt on another mare anytime soon. And that made her feel better from her hopeless state after everything went to Tartarus in her life. She wondered if that was how Batmare felt like every time she beat some crooks into a pulp in an alleyway and saved their would be victims. In any case, it was a very good, liberating feeling. One she could get used to.

Author's Note

Hi, guys! I know the new chapter took longer than usual but I have a good reward for it this time. I'll be making a blog post about my current situation soon, but for now, enjoy this chapter.

Apple Bloom has arrived to work Twilight's library and already she's been noticing some things about her new employer. And her curiosity won't end here.

Next time, we'll head back Canterlot to check on Shining Armor who is in the middle of a very questionable endeavour that will land him in hot water with the princesses themselves. Join in next time in...

Issue #4: Project Venom

TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #4: Project Venom

Shining Armor was sitting next to the bed of his one true love, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, more commonly known as Cadance. The pink alicorn mare was still in a coma from her ordeal with the Changelings and according to the physicians, her condition is unlikely to change anytime soon.

When he and his companions came back from their survival exercise, Shining immediately made his way here first. As the Princess' groom, he had automatic access to this room anytime he wanted. The maids and doctors even believed that the closeness of her future husband would affect her positively. She was the Princess of Love after all and who could have more love for Cadance than her significant other.

But Shining was way past of believing such sentimental nonsense. His presence and his love had nothing to do with Cadance making a recovery. Recovery depended entirely upon a pony's strength, and Cadance was an alicorn. There was no stronger creature in Equestria than them. This was the reason Luna and Celestia have already made a full recovery. Cadance will no doubt too. She just needs more time.

"Hello, my love." Shining spoke softly as he took the unconscious mare's hoof into his own and planted a kiss upon it. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to you sooner. Royal Guard duties keep me occupied most of the time. But I'm sure you understand. After all, you had to postpone several of our dates due to princess duties." He said with a soft smile, but his expression quickly turned serious.

"I know I said this before but I'm sorry I couldn't protect you when you needed me. I wasn't strong enough to get you out of those monsters' clutches and I had to let some carnival freaks do my job for me. But I think I finally found the way of making it right, Cady." He told her with his mood improving once he thought about the formula he had discovered in the journal he found at the abandoned prison.

"Soon, I will become strong enough to defend you and anypony in need. I will become what a Royal Guard is truly supposed to be. I will become worthy of being called your husband. And it will be just the beginning. Soon the Royal Guard will be the only protection this country needs. I promise." He then pressed another light kiss onto the mare's forehead before standing up and turning to leave.

"Rest well, my love." He said as he turned back to look her at the door. "By the time you wake up, Equestria will have drastically changed." He then left the room and gently shut the door. As he began walking down the hallway, he could see his friend, Zombie galloping his way at a pace that defied his age.

"Captian, I finally found you!" He cheered. "Please come with me. I have news that I think you will find most interesting. But perhaps it would be best to discuss them in private." Shining nodded.

"Indeed. After all, what we have discovered is of a rather delicate matter." Shining agreed before the two stallions moved to the Captain's private quarters.

As the leader of what qualified for the equestrian military, he had his own room in the castle of course, though it wasn't very extravagant. It was slightly smaller than Cadance's room and the decor was much less luxurious. The bed was very simple with no curtains around it unlike the princesses', the curtains were simple brown ones and the floor had a blank dark green carpet across it.

The military theme expected from a pony of this position was present of course. Shining’s desk was placed next to the wall between two windows and facing the door with military maps being rolled out across it, there were several ponyquins holding weapons and wearing battle armor and several books on warfare and military lifestyle could be seen on his shelf. Once the two stallions entered, Shining locked the door behind them.

"So did you find anything useful?" Shining asked, once he was sure they weren't being overheard. The old thestral pulled out the journal Shining found and opened it.

"These bastards were onto something, Captain." He explained. "I can't say I approve of their methods but the formula they developed does have merit. They were trying to create some sort of super soldier serum. It increases the subject's physique and strength tenfold. At least, that was the idea. But it was highly imperfect."

"How so?" Shining asked as he sat down behind his desk.

"Well, first of all, it only worked temporarily. It had to be administered once every twelve hours. Secondly, it was highly addictive. Like a drug. The user would crave more of it, suffering from severe withdrawal issues. Some of them even went into a frenzy, lashing out violently upon not receiving more and had to be put down. And most alarmingly, overdose could lead to severe mental degradation." Shining tried to remain stoic, but that last piece of information really unnerved him.

"How severe?" He asked. Zombie studied the notes further before answering.

"In the best case, it could lead to severe memory loss. Subjects could forget as little as how to operate the device that administers the substance into their body or as much as who they were and what they were supposed to be doing. And the worst case scenario is complete mental degradation. The user would become little more than an animal. Acting on their most basic impulses and lashing out at everypony around them, once again resulting in them having to be taken down."

Shining growled. He didn't want to use anypony as a guinea pig for this stuff, least of all his own troops. Despite knowing that they were inadequate and needed to be improved, he was still responsible for them and would never forgive himself if the things Zombie just described happen to them.

"And these are just the ones who survived the experiment. Nine out of ten times, the subject died from the procedure. Only the ones in peak physical condition would make it."

"I'm not worried about that." Shining waved his hoof dismissively. "We are the Royal Guard, Zombie. Nopony can be in better physical condition than we are. Just tell me if there's anyway to fix these... imperfections."

"I confess this is out of my field of expertise. Even with the notes and books we brought back from the prison. But I do know somepony who can help. And this time is no different." Shining narrowed his eyes.

"You know I don't like to include outsiders in our plans." He said firmly.

"Nor do I, but in this case I'm afraid needs must." Zombie replied. He saw that his captain still wasn't reassured so he continued. "Don't worry. I know somepony who's perfect for this task. I worked with him on several occasions in the past. On highly discreet secret projects as well. He can be trusted with secrets and his thirst for scientific knowledge will ensure quick progress. When would you like me to arrange a meeting?"

The unicorn cursed under his breath. This project would require as little attention as possible and he wasn't gonna trust somepony he just met. On the other hoof, he did trust Zombie. And if he said this pony was trustworthy, then he was willing to take his word for it.

"Right now."

Canterlot Research Center was not a place Shining was very familiar with. After all, he was a soldier not a scientist and despite being the Captain of the Guard, very little of the research regarding the Corps was brought to his attention. He knew almost nopony from here and it made him feel like he was in unknown territory.

Needless to say, he didn't like it. On a mission, knowing the territory you're on was crucial not only for success, but for survival. Being a seasoned soldier himself, it became a reflex to him to always be in soldier mode, gaining every advantage he could on survival. It was very inconvenient for him to rely on another pony for the necessary information, but at least he could rely on a pony he knew was trustworthy.

Speaking of which, the thestral finally entered the office he was sitting in with a blue coated, orange haired unicorn close behind him, He looked like a typical scientist wearing glasses and a lab coat, if looking far younger than Shining would have expected from a researcher. His comrade sat down next to him and the researcher did the same across his desk.

“Captain Armor!” The researcher greeted brightly as he sat down. “Let me start by saying it’s a tremendous honor to welcome you into my office!” Shining however was not here for pleasantries.

“Let’s not stand on ceremony here, doctor.” He replied curtly. “I’m here because my subordinate tells me that you can help us with a project we’re working on with the required discretion.” If the researcher was offended, he didn’t show it, he merely smiled wider in response.

“Ah, yes. The direct approach. Very well. My name is Rainy Edge and indeed, I have worked with this gentlecolt in the past on some projects it was better the princesses didn’t know of.” Zombie let out a chuckle.

“Gentlecolt? You’re far too kind to this old warhorse, doctor.” He said before turning to Shining. “Anyway, I have shown him the notes we’ve confiscated and just like me, he does see the potential. And with his expertise, completing the formula should be easy.”

“Indeed.” Doctor Rainy nodded, leaning back in his chair. “We wouldn’t want the same horrible fates to befall our own troops, would we?” He chuckled. “Give me a week. I believe that shall be enough to perfect the formula. In the meantime, I suggest you keep training. I have no doubt you’re already in top shape, but better safe than sorry, wouldn’t you agree?”

Shining however thought differently. In his experience, ponies were generally lazy. They always asked for more time than they actually needed. He was fairly certain that this egghead could complete his task in under half the time he was asking for and he wouldn’t give him any more.

“You have three days, doctor.” Shining told the other unicorn in a tone that left no room for argument. The doctor’s eyes widened and this time, so did Zombie’s. He wasn’t expecting his Captain to be so assertive in this matter.

“Three days?! But Captian…”

“This is non-negotiable, doctor.” Shining insisted. “This is a matter of national security and it needs to be done as soon as possible.” He said before standing up to leave. “Three days. No more.” And with that, he walked out of the office, leaving the two stunned ponies behind. Zombie was the first one to recover from his shock

“Forgive him, doctor.” He said as calmly as he could. “He’s not exactly himself ever since the Changelings attacked. And his fiance is in a coma. I think it’s understandable if he’s a little rougher around the edges than usual.” The doctor quickly regained his composure and just waved his hoof.

“It is quite alright. The project we are about to undertake is a big and dangerous one, but I can understand his frustration. However, once the serum is complete and he plans to use it on himself as we expect, he’s going to need better emotional control.” Zombie raised an eyebrow.

“How do you figure?”

“Even if I complete the formula, there may be a few incurable side effects left.” The doctor explained. “Chief among them is an emotional imbalance. The subject could lose control easily and become angrier, more reckless and over reliant on the substance. If he doesn’t control his emotions better, the steroid might get the better of him.”

Now that was one thing Zombie was not sure how to deal with. Shining Armor used to listen to reason and take his advice, but in his current emotional state which was apparently going to worsen with the steroid, it looked like he might not be able to retain control.

“I’m starting to think that this stuff is gonna be more trouble than it’s worth.” Zombie sighed. “It seems like no matter what we do to fix it, using it is gonna end badly.” The doctor nodded.

“Indeed. It seems like less of a drug and more like a venom.” He then narrowed his eyes in thought. “Project Venom. Yeah, that sounds like an ideal codename for our little experiment.”

Despite his perhaps unwarranted animosity towards the doctor, Shining decided to take his advice. He increased his training’s intensity and dedicated his entire day to it. The only ponies he interacted with during these days were Trogg and Bird, having his daily sparring session with the duo.

With each session, his fighting became more savage and brutal. With the dirty tactics he learned from Trogg, he became a far more efficient fighter, scoring more wins against his two opponents. His increased ruthlessness was beginning to bother his companions as well, they had to go into the infirmary after their sessions, but Shining knew they could handle it.

It wasn’t just them who noticed his drastic changes in behavior though. On the third day when he was supposed to meet Doctor Rainy for the test of the improved Venom formula, he noticed that he couldn’t pass a single pony without them shooting odd glances in his direction. These days, he found himself caring less about what his subordinates thought of him, but if they found something unusual about his behavior, then they knew something about Project Venom. News apparently spread fast around the castle these days.

And that was not a good thing. If somepony around the castle knew anything about the project and was spreading the word, then he needed to find them and silence them. He absolutely trusted his three closest companions to keep their mouths shut. The doctor however, not so much. Even if Zombie kept his eyes on him most of the time, even he couldn’t watch him in every hour of the day. But if not them, then who could possibly suspect anything?

“Captain?” Shining stopped and turned to see who addressed him. To his annoyance, it was Princess Luna’s meddlesome assistant, Jean Jeans. “Is something the matter?”

‘It wasn’t until you showed up.’ Shining thought but he couldn't have possibly said it out loud, so instead he just said, “Why do you ask?”

“You seem very stressed about something.” The earth pony replied. “More so than usual. Everypony around the castle is noticing it and they are all worried about you.” Shining’s response was a completely indifferent scoff.

“Your concern is appreciated, Mr Jeans, but I am fine. Now if you please…” He was about to head off, but Jean kept following him and to his surprise, he had no trouble keeping up with him.

“Captain, if there are pressing concerns around Canterlot, we have to know.” He kept insisting. “The safety of everypony in the city could depend on it. Not to mention in your current mental state, you need level headed ponies to aid you in your endeavors.” Shining narrowed his eyes.

“I said I’m fine and there are no matters in the city that require your participation.” He hoped Jean would take the hint that he was politely trying to tell him to piss off, but he still kept pushing.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Captain. You are a valued member of the court and we appreciate you more than you can imagine. We need you at your absolute best to ensure our protection.” Shining finally had it.

“You need me at my best, you say?” He snapped. “Then leave me alone and allow me to carry out what I have planned for today! I will come back from it better than ever and improve the Royal Guard in ways you couldn’t even imagine! Now for the last time, there is nothing going on around here that concerns you, so please leave me be!”

Jean’s eyes widened for a bit at his sudden outburst, but he remained unfazed. He narrowed his eyes as he studied the unicorn’s features for a few moments. Shining noted how he looked like he was concentrating very hard, almost as if trying to find something very specific while looking at him, but he was too worked up to give it any further thought. Eventually, Jean backed away.

“Forgive my interruption, Captain. I will not hold you up any longer.” He said calmly before walking away. Shining was quite surprised by his calm demeanor and his sudden retreat. He showed no signs of being intimidated. If anything, he left even more determined than when he was trying to ask him if something was wrong. But then why did he back down so easily? That stallion was a real mystery. But he couldn’t think about that right now. He had an appointment with the good doctor.

Dr. Rainy Edge was sitting in his office, going over his research notes for the day. Normally, he would have long since retired for the day, but with the tight schedule given to him by the Captain, he had to make every second count. Once he properly analysed the formula though, it was easy to fill in the holes. He was interrupted in his studies by a knock on the door.

“Come in, Captain.” He called out without looking up. Shining did so.

“How did you know it was me?” He wondered.

“Who else would it be at this hour?” Rainy shrugged. “And I believe the deadline you set is ending tonight.”

“So, are we ready to go?” Shining asked sternly. Rainy made a few more notes on his clipboard and stood up.

“Indeed.” He replied before walking to the door. “This way please.” There was something ominous about the way he spoke, but Shining’s thoughts were so clouded by the experiment that was about to take place that he didn’t notice it. The two ponies left the office and walked to an elevator at the end of the hallway.

“Are you sure the necessary precautions have been taken?” Shining asked as the two of them entered the elevator. “Nothing can disturb tonight’s experiment.

“Have no fear, Captain.” Rainy answered as he inserted a keycard into the elevator’s panel. “Our laboratory is in a completely secluded area that only a select few know about. We are not going to be interrupted.”

It took the elevator a whole minute to reach its destination. Shining had to cover his eyes when the door opened. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw a long hallway with several laboratory entrances on both sides. But Rainy was heading towards the large double doors at the end of the hallway.

Shining caught up to the doctor just in time when he reached it and opened it. The room itself was a large, circular area with bright lights illuminating it from the ceiling and black and white tiles surrounding it. There were several machines and containers all over the place, but what drew Shining’s attention to was a table in the centre of the room with four chains attaching it to the ceiling.

“Please lie down Captain, and we can begin right away.” He said, gesturing to the table. “But before you do, let me ask you, are you absolutely certain this is what you want to do?”

“Honestly? No.” Shining replied as he got up on the table. “But there is no other way. The Guard needs to be improved, doctor. Upgraded. Our enemies are far too strong and they can attack anytime. We have to take every opportunity we can come across. And I don’t think we’ll get a better opportunity than that formula anytime soon.”

“But do you have to test it?” The doctor asked in concern. “If any unfortunate side effects kick in, Canterlot could lose you. I don’t think the Guard can afford that.”

“If I couldn’t do this, how could I expect my soldiers to?” Shining asked. “No more questions, doctor. Light it up!”

“As you wish.” Rainy sighed before pressing a button on a panel. Several vials full of yellow liquid descended from the ceiling with tubes connected to them. Rainy grabbed the tubes and lifted them up, revealing sharp needles at the end of each one. “I’m not gonna lie. This is gonna hurt. A lot.” He wasn’t kidding. Each syringe stung like a spearhead penetrating him. But the ones into his veins weren’t the worst ones. Rainy picked up a device resembling a panel of buttons and inserted it into the Captain’s left wrist.

“This device controls the distribution of the steroid.” Rainy explained. “I couldn’t make the effect permanent, but it is easy to manufacture and replace once it runs out. You’ll have to administer it manually before combat.” Shining nodded. “Oh, and one last thing.” He left the table and came back with a leather mask. “This mask will protect your brain from the mental effects of Venom. As long as you’re wearing it, you’re gonna keep your head straight.”

He then wrapped the mask around Shining’s head and the unicorn could feel the tight squeeze at the back of his head that kept the drug flowing into his head minimal. He loathed the idea of wearing a mask like them, but if it kept the stuff out of his head, it was a compromise he was willing to make.

“Alright,” Rainy said once he was back at the panel. “let’s get this show on the road!”

Rainy pressed a button on the panel and the machine above Shining came to life with a loud hum. The unicorn could practically hear the liquid steroid flowing out of the containers and making its way towards his body but nothing could have prepared him for the burning sensation of Venom actually entering his body.

When it reached his muscles, it hurt like Tartarus at first, but he eventually got used to the feeling. In fact, it began to feel amazing. He felt his muscles bulking up to levels he never felt before. He could feel the chains holding his table tightening more and more as he bulked up, having trouble holding him until they completely snapped, falling to the floor.

Once he felt the process coming to an end, he slowly got back on his hooves, feeling the floor quake under his hooves. He felt almost twice as big as he used to be. He looked down at his front legs and was stunned to see how massive they have become. They needed to be to support his now exceptionally large and muscular torso.

He picked up the metallic table he was lying on and to test his new strength, he tried to bend it in half. Instead, the metal shattered in his hooves. Shining smirked in satisfaction as he turned to look at Dr. Rainy to congratulate him on a job well done, only to feel another feeling hit him. A nauseating feeling that made him drowsy as he tumbled around. Like he was being sedated.

“What’s happening?” He asked in confusion and worry. The doctor just walked over to him with a smirk.

“I’m sorry, Captain, but what you have discovered is far too valuable to some high standing creatures outside Equestria to be wasted on the Royal Guard.” He gloated. “With the appearance of super ponies in our land, they are concerned about the well-being of their own and are prepared to pay good money for Venom.” Shining turned to glare at Rainy and tried to grab his collar with his hoof, but he failed as he fell forward onto the ground like a training dummy.

“This is high treason, Rainy…” Shining growled. “You could hang for this…”

“I know.” Rainy smirked. “But like I told you, we are not going to be interrupted down here. And when I tell the court that you died due to overdosing the steroid in this experiment, there won’t be anypony to tell the truth to the princesses.” He was about to press another button on the panel to administer the lethal dose into Shining, but he was interrupted by a voice.

“You disappoint me, Dr. Rainy. And I had such faith in you.” The doctor’s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t get to turn around as two muscular hooves wrapped around his neck and twisted it with a sharp snap before letting go of him and allowing his lifeless body to fall onto the ground. Shining looked up to see none other than Bird and Trogg reaching down to pull him onto his hooves.

“You’ll be okay, Cap!” Bird told him as he wrapped one of his hooves around his neck. “We got you!” Zombie quickly stopped the dosing process and removed the tubes from Shining’s body.

“Well, at least we know the new Venom formula works.” Trogg added, wrapping Shining’s other leg around his neck.

“Indeed.” Zombie added. “Carry the Captain outside, I will secure the formula and the rest of the Venom in the room.” The two nodded before supporting Shining out of the room, which wasn’t exactly an easy task with his increased physique. Outside, two royal guards were waiting for them, which made Shining raise an eyebrow.

“What are these soldiers doing here?” He asked. His two companions shared a worried glance.

“Well, you see…” Trogg began haltingly. “It’s an awkward topic but there is a warrant for your arrest. Somopony must have found out about Project Venom and squealed to the princesses. You are now wanted for illegal experimentation. ” This almost snapped Shining out of his drowsy state.

“What?!” He exclaimed, trying to break away from his friends, but to no avail.

“Don’t worry, Cap! These are not actual Royal Guards.” Bird reassured him. “At least, not anymore.”

“Yeah.” Trogg nodded. “They are among the many Guards who were kicked out of the Corps after the invasion. We told them about your ambitions and let’s just say they share your views.” The two faux guards saluted.

“We are at your service, Captain.” They said. “We don’t care if we’re no longer Guards or even if you aren’t, you’re still our leader. No matter what.” Shining was touched by this loyalty, but he learned a long time ago not to show emotions in front of his troops.

“How many of you are there?” He asked.

“Currently about a dozen.” Bird replied. “But there are gonna be many more. Zombie gave them a list of names and I sent notifications to all of them. They are gathering in Manehattan.” Shining raised an eyebrow.

“Manehattan?” Bird nodded.

“Yeah, we can’t stay in Canterlot for obvious reasons.” Shining thought about this for a moment. Manehattan wouldn’t have been his first choice, but then he remembered the self proclaimed law enforcer who called that city her territory. She would be an ideal start to test his new enhancements in action on.

“Good.” He mused. “So what’s the plan?”

“With these two posing as official royal guards, they will easily be able to escort you to a ship waiting in the harbour.” Trogg explained. “We’ll join you once we load up the rest of the stuff and we’ll leave before sunrise.” He then attached a pair of hoofcuffs onto Shining’s front legs.

“Sorry, Cap, but it has to look believable.” Shining nodded. With his new strength, he could break out of these cuffs effortlessly. But there was no reason to let others know what he was capable of now with Venom. And what others didn’t know, he could use to his advantage.

Just like the Batmare didn’t know what was heading her way…

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! The plot is finally about to thicken as Shining will make his way to Manehattan to clash with the Batmare who unbeknownst to him, is his own sister.

So the thing is... my university finals are coming up this autumn/fall so I don't know how frequently I'll be able to update. My first one is coming up this Wednesday so wish me luck!

The next time, we'll see how Twilight handles the problem with the Cat and Apple Bloom getting closer to discovering her secret identity. Tune in next time for...

Issue #5: The Apple Blooms

TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #5: The Bat's Out of the Bag

Capper Dapperpaws was sitting in his office with a glass of whisky in one paw and a copy of the Manehattan Media in the other. He was reading through the article about the Cat's attempted heist last night with less than moderate interest while his electoral protegee, Hoofy Dent was pacing around his office in frustration.

"Well?! What do you have to say about this?!" He asked. Capper placed the newspaper on the table and took a sip of his drink before answering.

"I don't remember signing up as your campaign manager, Dent." He replied disinterestedly. "Did you consider bringing it to her attention?"

"Don't get clever with me!" The pegasus snapped back. "The break in happened in your casino! During my mayoral fundraiser! How do you think this makes me look?!" He then marched up to the abyssinian and pointed to a picture in the paper.

"Look! See how much my popularity dropped?! 'If Hoofy Dent can't even keep these lunatics out of his own fundraiser, how could he keep them out of the city?!' I remember you saying that your ponies can keep this place secure!"

"Hoofy, relax!" Capper said calmingly as he put a paw on his shoulder. "Last night was a total success! The money gathered for your campaign is safe!"

"Money is not everything!" Hoofy said. "My reputation counts as well and it took a major blow last night!" Capper put a finger on his chin in thought.

"We'll be able to turn this around in no time. If anything, this proves that we managed to make a fool out of a mask! I'll give another interview about this soon. Your popularity will be soaring again by the end of the week."

"How can you be so calm about this?!" Dent asked frantically, but Capper was unfazed.

"First, it isn't my campaign on the line." He chuckled. "And second, my ideas for your campaign have all worked so far. I assure you, this time will be no different." He said before taking a sip of his drink without a care in the world. But Dent was nowhere near reassured. Not only was he tired of Capper doing all his work for him, but his attitude was also starting to bother him.

He turned and left the office without even saying goodbye. He was far too focused on his thoughts as he made his way out of the building. Ponies thought he was unable to handle his duties himself and won't be able to deliver on his promises as mayor. He was tired of leaving everything up to chance. It was time he took things into his own hooves.

When Twilight got back to the library after her tasks with Apple Bloom were finished, the sun was already beginning to set. She was wondering how Spike was doing back in the cave. She wanted to make her way back down as soon as she walked through the door, but she had to dismiss Apple Bloom first.

"Well, I suppose that wraps your first day in my library, Apple Bloom." She said, trying to sound as appreciative as she could. "How did you like it?" The younger mare shrugged.

"It was alright. Not as sluggish as I feared." She replied half heartedly. "Maybe I'll get more into it with time." Twilight was a little disappointed by her lack of enthusiasm but it was not the time to voice that. She had a job to do.

"I'm sure you will. Well, I believe it's time for you to go home. You've been a tremendous help today. Same time tomorrow?"

"I guess." Apple Bloom replied on the same stoic voice. "It's not like I have anything better to do." Twilight took the cart from her and carried it into the library. She was about to lock the door, but then Apple Bloom stopped her.

"Wait! I left something in there! Could you let me get it before I go?" Twilight was not sure she should. She wanted to get down to the cave and she needed to lock the library first. "Don't worry, I'll lock up once I leave! You can trust me! After all, I'm kinda like your employee at this point." She reasoned. A point which Twilight conceded.

"Okay, fine. Come in." Apple Bloom did just that and pretended to walk towards the interior of the library, but when she was sure Twilight was not looking, she hid behind one of the shelves. She waited until Twilight left towards her room and began to follow her, staying close to her, but making sure she always had cover to hide behind.

When she saw Twilight enter her room, she jumped onto the banister and launched herself up onto the upper floor just as the door closed. Waiting a few seconds after the door closed, Apple Bloom peeked through the keyhole, but the only thing she saw was the bed falling back to its place, covering a tunnel.

Apple Bloom's eyes widened. So that was what she was hiding under there! But where did she go? What did she hide down there? The young mare opened the door and began to inspect the bed, trying to locate the mechanism that operated it. She was not the world's greatest detective but one thing she was not lacking in was determination. She's going to find out what Twilight Sparkle is hiding!

When Twilight entered the cave, Spike was still sitting in front of the computer and Mor’ng was in the training area, doing exercises. She must have finished her studies for the day. Twilight walked up to the computer and got the surprise of her life when she saw that Spike was napping in his chair, snoring loudly. Twilight frowned and shut Spike's mouth, forcing the young dragon awake with a loud gasp for air.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Twilight told him sarcastically. Spike rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry. I kinda dozed off, but there hasn't been anything going on around Moneybags' house!"

"You mean before or after you fell asleep?" Twilight asked bitterly.

"I tell you! There hasn't been anything?" Spike snapped. "The only thing that was even moving was this black cat prowling around the mansion!" Twilight rolled her eyes, only for them to immediately widen as Spike's words reached her brain.

"Black cat?" She asked, looking up at the screens. Just as Spike said, she saw a feline showing up around the mansion from time to time. A completely unassuming onlooker wouldn't have thought much of it, but when Twilight zoomed in on the animal, she saw the pointed look in its eyes, aimed at the mansion. It was far too focused to be just a stray looking for birds to catch.

"Yeah, it was the only thing that made me aware I was looking at live footage instead of a still picture." Spike complained. Twilight gave him a stoic look for a few seconds.

"Spike, could you give me that?" She asked, pointing at a newspaper lying on the desk.

"Uh... I already solved the crosswords." Spike said as he did what he was asked.

"That won't be a problem." Twilight replied as she rolled up the newspaper and smacked Spike on the back of his head as hard as she could.

"OW!" The drake cried out. "What's the big idea?! I told you it was just a..." His eyes widened as he finally understood. "Oh."

"Oh." Twilight replied with a nod. "Alert Captain Garden immediately! Give him the address and tell him I'm gonna deliver one of the city's most wanted thieves!" She ordered as she went to suit up. Spike began to carry out her instructions before a thought occurred to him.

"You know, Twilight, maybe you should let the police handle this one. You said it yourself. This is not a psychopath like the Joker. Perhaps they'll be able to handle her."

"Like they've been able to handle her in the past?" Twilight asked as she pulled on her gauntlets. "I'm dealing with her myself, Spike!"

"She had the element of surprise in the past!" Spike argued. "If you took that away, I'm sure she won't be much of a problem!" Twilight kept ignoring him as she put on the rest of her suit and headed to the secret exit.

"Look, all I'm saying is don't be so dismissive in accepting a little help. It can go a long way."

'Why does everyone keep telling me that!' Twilight groaned in her head before turning back to Spike. "I don't need help, Spike. The Batmare always managed to get everything done by herself and this time will be no different."

"You allowed me to help!" Spike countered.

"That's different! You help out by staying back in the cave and feeding me information. In the field you would only get in the way. As would anypony else! Now send that message already!" Spike sighed and turned back to the computer to do as he was told.

"Your stubbornness is going to be the death of you someday, Twilight." He said as he finished typing. "And no offense, but I don't want it to be mine as..." He turned around to say this last line into Twilight's face, only to notice that she had already disappeared. "...well." Spike sighed. "But nopony ever listens to me, do they?" He then turned to the exercising Lunar. "Hey, Morning! You mind seeing if Apple Bloom has left already? I need to play bat mission control here!"

"Sure thing!" Mor’ng called back as she wiped the sweat off her head with a towel and shifted into her pony appearance. She then made her way towards the staircase leading up to Twilight's bedroom. She didn't know how, but she somehow knew that Apple Bloom was in fact still there. And closer than Spike would have believed.

Apple Bloom was still inspecting Twilight's bed, trying to figure out how it worked. She'd been at it for about ten minutes when she suddenly heard a loud mechanical sound from beneath the furniture before it began to ascend. Apple Bloom gasped before running off to hide behind the curtain.

She peeked out to see a young earth pony mare coming out of the secret passageway beneath the bed and walking out of the room. Apple Bloom only stared after her in stunned surprise before she noticed that the bed was beginning to lower back to its place.

She seized her opportunity and quickly ran towards the entrance, dropping onto her knees and sliding into the hole before the bed completely sealed it. She found herself at the top of a long staircase leading down into a cave with a row of lamps lighting the way. With an uncertain gulp, she began to descend the staircase.

As she got closer to the bottom, she began to wonder just what she's gotten herself into. She was hoping she did not accidentally stumble upon a supervillain or even worse, a serial killer lair in Twilight Sparkle's basement. Little did she know, what she would find would forever change her life in the most spectacular way she could imagine.

The night had fallen which made it easier for a black cat to lurk through the darkness unnoticed. The good thing about rich ponies like Moneybags was that they were convinced that no one could infiltrate the safety of their home. But what they didn't know is that all security measures can be played out with the proper preparations.

There was no security measure that she and her little partner in crime didn't encounter at least once. Security guards? They'll never even see her. Surveillance cameras? They never caught an image of her. Laser detector system? No challenge for someone as athletic as her. And when she had such a well trained little sidekick like her trusty Onyx, it only made things even easier.

The cat dashed through the dark corridors of the mansion, avoiding everything that could detect it before finally arriving at the rich stallion's safe. The control panel next to the safe door was a relatively primitive construction. It was easy even for a creature like it to shut it down.

After the security of the mansion had been shut down, the window of the room opened and a black clad figure climbed in through it with agility matching its animalistic counterpart before dropping onto the floor. She slowly walked over to the safe, stroking the cat with her hoof as she passed by it before stopping in front of the safe door.

It was a fairly standard model. Moneybags probably didn't expect anypony to make it this far. It didn't even require a keycard or a code, just a plain old key which she had the perfect substitute for. She could pick a lock like this in her sleep. And with the help of her built in claws, she managed to do just that.

The inside of the safe was full of content. Jewels, artifacts and several other valuables. Normally, she wouldn't hesitate to take as many things as she could carry, but tonight, she came for something specific.

The real Eye of the Black Cat was there, placed on a black bust in a glass cabinet. She drew a circle on the glass with her claw before removing it and pulling out the necklace. It was rather disappointing to find out the one she stole was just a decoy but once she had her eyes set on something, she was dead set on getting it. It would be hers, no matter what.

She was about to leave with her prize when she felt something wrapping tightly around her body. She gasped as she lost her balance and fell onto the floor, unable to move with a rope connecting a pair of bolas wrapped around her body. She tried using her claws to cut the rope but it was of no use.

"Don't bother." Came a familiar, gruff voice. "That rope is made of the strongest material known to ponykind. Not even dragon teeth can cut it."

Onyx the cat angrily hissed at the Batmare as she stepped into the light before leaping at her with its claws ready to attack. The vigilante wasn't startled though. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a ball of yarn before throwing it at the feline. The ball collided with the cat and exploded, wrapping up Onyx in red strings and trapping her.

"Bad kitty." Batmare growled. "Now to deal with the other..." She didn't get to finish as she received a kick to her face. She backed away to see that the Cat had managed to wiggle her way out of the rope and was now free to engage her.

"Normally, I would prefer to get away." She growled, swiping at Batmare with her claws who barely managed to avoid them. "But now you really managed to piss me off!" She then threw her whip and wrapped it around Batmare's neck. "I think it's high time somepony taught you some manners!" She then pulled Batmare close to her and kicked her in the chest. But the padding in her suit managed to absorb most of the impact, giving her the opportunity to grab the Cat's legs and wrestle her to the ground.

The two landed muzzle to muzzle to each other with Batmare on the top. This brought a temporary pause to their fight as both of them became pretty flustered, but this time, it was the crimefighter who snapped out of the stupor first. She learned her lesson from their previous encounter.

She pulled out a pair of hoofcuffs and latched it onto one of the Cat’s front hooves. She was about to latch it onto the other one, but she realised that the Cat beat her to it and now the two of them were attached to each other by their hooves.

“You have an odd way of proposing.” She mused before headbutting the hero, pushing her off of herself. She then stood up, yanking on the cuffs and slamming Batmare against the wall. Thanks to the protection of her helmet, the impact didn’t disorient her much, so she was able to react quickly. She used the spikes on her glove to sever the chains on the cuffs and jump away from the Cat.

Not wanting to give her time to recover, she jumped straight at the thief, tackling her onto the ground and attempting to cuff her hooves again, but the thief was once again quicker and tied Batmare’s own hooves together with her whip. The burglar smiled up at the hero before blowing her a kiss and kicking her in the stomach and lifting her with her hind legs and kicking her out the windows she used to enter.

Batmare failed to free her hooves in time before she hit the ground. Even with the protection of her armor, the impact of the fall hurt, especially when the Cat jumped out the window and landed on Batmare’s stomach with all four of her own hooves. She knelt down and caressed Batmare’s cheek in a soft and seductive manner.

“My, I am even better than I thought I was. To think I could succeed where so many others have failed and unmask the big bad bat herself…” She moaned in an almost aroused delight. “The very thought makes me shiver with anticipation. Just imagine how much the wannabe crime lords of the city would pay for this information…” She then pushed her claws at the neck of the mask, only for a jolt of electricity to run through her body, making her recoil and cry out in pain.

Batmare smirked under the mask. As if she didn’t anticipate any villains trying that. The Cat’s momentary shock gave Batmare enough time to free her hooves and push the burglar off of herself. She’s had enough of her nasty little surprises for tonight. It was time to finally end this fight for good.

She rushed at her opponent, but the Cat still had some fight left in her. She managed to avoid Batmare’s strikes before dropping down and spinning around, swiping Batmare’s hooves out from beneath her. While she was busy recovering, the Cat regained her whip and swung it at the heroine. Batmare raised a front leg to protect herself and the whip was wrapped around her hoof.

Batmare then yanked on the whip and pulled the Cat towards herself and kicked her in the stomach, knocking her back on the ground, taking her weapon and throwing it away. She then pulled out a batarang and threw it at the Cat but the burglar caught it easily between her hooves. She shot the Batmare a smug smirk, but it didn’t last long.

The Cat felt a huge electric shock running through her body which made her feel so much pain she couldn’t even throw away the projectile she was holding. Batmare took advantage of the opportunity and ran up to her and kicked her into the fountain behind her. She then reached into her belt and pulled out another pair of cuffs, ready to finally take her into custody.

But as she pulled her body out of the fountain, she noticed that she was not breathing. Panicking, she put her ear to her chest, realising that her heart was still beating. She sighed with reluctance as she realised what she had to do. She pulled up the bottom of her mask and placed her lips on top of hers to give her CPR.

But she got the shock of her life when the Cat suddenly kissed her and taking advantage of her stupor, she wrapped her hind legs around her body and slammed her headfirst into the fish statue on top of the fountain. Batmare slowly got up and saw the Cat heading towards the mansion’s gate to make her escape. She tried running after her, only to realise that she once again managed to use her own cuffs against her and placed them on her front legs.

She turned back to give the hero a mocking smirk before kissing her goodbye. She was about to leap over the gate before it was slammed open by none other than Captain Garden and a hoofful of his police officers. They instantly aimed their weapons at the cat burglar before ordering her to surrender. The Cat of course had no intention of doing that and tried to leap over the gate, but one of the officers was faster and hit her with a taser, stunning her midjump and making her fall back on the ground. While the officers took her into custody, Garden went to check on Batmare.

“Are you OK?” He asked before freeing the vigilante with a skeleton key.

“I’m fine.” She grumbled, putting the cuffs away and climbing out of the fountain. The police stallion saw that the costumed crime fighter was not happy with her failure to capture the burglar herself and having to rely on the police for help. He walked up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Look, I know your pride is more hurt than anything. Trust me, I’ve felt that way before. When I was investigating a heist by the Calendar Colt, I got caught in one of his booby traps. I couldn’t make my way out of the darn thing. Do you know what the password was for the darn thing? The date of my anniversary with my wife. I just couldn’t remember.” Batmare raised an eyebrow.

“His name was the Calendar Colt?” Garden nodded.

“He was wearing a cape glued together from calendar pages. The guy was a freaking lunatic. But my point is, I had to rely on my officers to free me and bring him in. So I know how far some help can go. Sometimes, you just have to swallow your pride and let others help you. That’s why we currently have a huge bat signal on top of the police station after all.” He chuckled, patting Batmare on the shoulder before walking away. “All I’m saying is, don’t feel bad for having to rely on others. We are ponies, not islands. A pony’s true power comes not only from brute strength and intelligence, but also from their allies.”

As he walked away to help his officers, Batmare left the scene, ruminating on his words. She couldn’t deny that the police showed up just at the right time and did a good job at where she failed. But if it wasn’t for her, they would still be under the crushing pressure of the mob or fighting powerlessly against those supervillains. They needed her more than she needed them. One lucky exception didn’t change that.

It didn’t matter. The Cat was behind bars and that was the only important part. Still, despite her attractiveness, she was a very bothersome criminal to deal with. She could use some kicking back and relaxing. Hopefully, nothing important happened back home while she was away.

It was around midnight when Twilight made it back to the Batcave beneath her library. Being the Batmare, she couldn't stop herself from stopping a few more crimes on her way back. But with the Cat finally apprehended, she wanted nothing more than to get out of the suit and take the rest of the night off.

But she didn't know that fate had other plans for her.

“Another one is heading to prison, Spike.” She announced proudly as she emerged from the tunnel that connected the cave to the city sewer system. “The streets are safe again and one less costumed criminal is haunting the night. I think I'll take your advice and finally get a good night's sleep!” She turned to her young dragon assistant to see that he was avoiding her gaze rather nervously. “Spike, is there something wrong?” Spike rubbed the back of his head.

“I'm not sure if wrong is the right word for it, but something happened while you were away.” The dragon told her before stepping aside and pointing at a glass container. Twilight's eyes widened when she noticed what, or rather, who the container was holding. It was none other than Apple Bloom who raised a hoof and gave her a shy wave. Twilight put a hoof to her forehead.

“Oh, you've got to be bucking kidding me…”

Author's Note

Hello, everypony! I'm back! My finals are over! For this semester at least. Of the five subjects, I have only passed three, which means the other two, I will have to try again next semester. But at least, until then, I can focus on my writing.

This might be the first story in my Justice League anthology where I felt like I bit more than I can chew. I feel like there's too much stuff going on at the same time to tell in just 10 chapters. I hope the rest of the story won't feel too rushed. Also, I changed the title of this chapter. Originally, it was gonna be The Apple Blooms, as I originally intended a more active role for Apple Bloom, but it looks like that's gonna have to wait for a while. Thank you for my proofreader, Lex the Pikachu for suggesting a more fitting title for this chapter, as well as making sure it was the best it could be!

So, Apple Bloom managed to figure out Twilight's secret. And as if that wouldn't complicate her life enough, in the next chapter, a new villain will arrive in Manhattan, hellbent on taking her down. And he will have help. Will she be able to swallow hers and get some of her own?

Tune in next time for...

Issue #6: The Bane of All Existence

TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #6: The Bane of All Existence

"Yes, Mrs. Orange, Apple Bloom is doing great!" Twilight Sparkle shouted joyously into a phone receiver. "She enjoyed her job at the library so much that she decided to sleep here so she can begin as early as she could today!" She gave the younger mare in question a sharp glare as she was still sitting inside the same glass container Spike trapped her in last night when he caught her in the Batcave.

"No, no, I cannot get her on the phone right now! She just had breakfast and she currently has so much work to do that she is working so very hard that I cannot distract her even for a minute." Twilight said nervously, hoping she'll buy it. "Um... Sorry, I have to go. A customer just came in. Goodbye!" She said before hanging up and letting out a frustrated sigh. She turned back towards Apple Bloom who was still looking at her with awe.

"You're the Batmare!" She said in wonder. Twilight ignored her and turned to look at Spike who just entered the cave.

"Spike, have you finally managed to get in touch with a psychic pony who can wipe that from her mind? Or at least somepony who has the technology for that? That Mr. Terrific guy in Maretropolis owes me a few favors." In response, Spike just looked up at Twilight sadly and the unicorn could instantly tell that there was something wrong.

"What is it?" She asked in concern. Spike looked down before handing Twilight the morning newspaper. She took it and opened it before her eyes went wide. "No. This cannot be..." She muttered as she became misty eyed. But it was true. The article in front of her was clear as day.

Her brother, Shining Armor, was a wanted pony. And he was on the run.

In the cargo hold of an old freighter ship, the former captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor was currently finishing his daily training routine as his second in command, Zombie was maintaining his Venom dispenser device. The machine was simply effective and therefore he had little trouble taking care of it and even making a few slight improvements.

Shining had the most trouble finding a suitable place that can support the weight of his newly acquired muscles. The first few iron bars he tried using for pullups, snapped under the pressure. He had to ask Trogg to weld one to a few columns. When he finally finished, he walked up to the elderly bat pony.

"Is it ready?" Zombie nodded.

"The scumbag scientist back in Canterlot actually tried to install a device that cuts off the Venom supply as a mean of controlling the user. I managed to remove it and it significantly increased its dispersal speed and I even made sure the flow of the drug is more balanced across the entire body." He explained as he helped the unicorn reattach the device to his body.

"Make sure you include these changes to the basic plans of the device." Shining ordered as he pulled on his mask. "I want it to be ready for mass production as soon as possible."

"Do you already have an idea which of our 'workers' would be most suitable for the test?" Zombie asked.

"A few. I have to make sure their bodies can take the drug. As well as gathering a few more components for the device in Manehattan. Speaking of which, when are we arriving?"

"Within the hour." Zombie replied. "Bird managed to secure a false identification for our ship and made sure we won't be bothered by the authorities. And I know a suitable place where nopony will be looking for us."

Shining nodded before turning to a few dossiers lying on a table nearby. They were of the costumed criminals wanted by the Manehattan police. Before he launches an attack on the Batmare, he needs to properly test his newly developed abilities. And he was sure some of the freaks running around the city would do just fine as test sudjects.

He already had his sights set on the perfect candidate.

It was almost midnight when the crew's ship entered the Manehattan harbour. Barely anypony had been around during that time so there weren't many around the docks to question them. The officials Bird had contacted let them pass without an argument. They probably just assumed they were another crew bringing in a shipment of drugs to another wannabe crime lord.

Once they moved their cargo full of venom tanks off the ship, Bird took charge of the group and lead them to a giant pipe opening, leading to the sewers under the city. After a few hours of seemingly aimless wandering, the group finally arrived at their destination.

"What in Tartarus is this place, Bird?" Trogg asked as he looked around. The place reminded him of an underground bunker, not unlike the Harsh Punishment prison. It was obvious nopony has been down there for quite some time. It was unkempt and smelling horrendously with dirt stains everywhere. At least, they would have preferred to think it was dirt.

"It used to be an old hideout of one of the crime bosses in Manehattan." The Pegasus replied. "He was either captured by the bat or killed by one of the whack jobs running around the city. A few of his surviving gang members told me of this place." Trogg looked back at him.

"Other ponies know about this place? I hope that won't spell trouble for us." Bird waved his hoof dismissively.

"Don't worry. They left town long ago. Besides, we have more important concerns." He then flew up and looked down at the other ponies. "Put those tanks over there! This used to be a drug lab as well as a hideout so we'll need to sort out the remaining ingredients and see if there's anything we can use. Then get rid of the rest and head out to the city to get more. Cap wants the mass production of Venom to begin as soon as possible. Trogg, make yourself useful and help them set up shop!" He barked at the earth pony who only glared up at him in response before doing what he was told.

Zombie watched for a while as the group got settled in before realising in concern that it has been a while since he saw the captain. After a minute of asking around, he eventually found him, investigating something at the bottom of the lair.

"Is something wrong, Captain?" He asked as he flew down next to him. Shining didn't look at him, he just kept staring at the ground, almost like a machine analysing something.

"We are not the only creatures in this hideout, Zombie." He said, pointing at the ground. "Look." The Bat Pony did as he was told and saw a few stains on the ground that were unmistakably blood. But that wasn't the most interesting part. The stains looked like whatever left the blood marks was dragged along the floor, right towards an opening that lead deeper into the sewers. What's more, the blood stains appeared to be fresh.

"This could be troubling to say the least." Zombie remarked. "What are we going to do now?" Shining smirked.

"On the contrary, if this is what I think it is, then I would say it is the hand of fate." He said, cracking his neck before making his way into the tunnel. "I'll be back before sunrise. You're in charge while I'm gone." Shining didn't even wait for his response before walking off.

The sewers have been surprisingly spacious. Far bigger than the ones in Canterlot. And dirtier too. It was clear that the lowlifes living in this city haven't been taking care of it. He frowned. Such a filthy, lawless place. Once he got rid of all the supers in this city, only he will be able to bring order into it.

The sewer was seemingly endless. A lesser mind would have probably gotten lost in them and that’s no doubt what the creature he was sure he was hunting was banking on. But he was one of the finest minds of the Royal Guard. He would not get so easily confused and he noticed that his opponent wasn’t exactly a mindless beast either.

He noticed a couple of bones lying at the edge of a corner, clearly meant to attract the attention of anypony passing by. He walked up to them and picked up one to examine it. It was a rib large enough to be from a younger pony. It was not completely dry, it wasn’t from a fresh kill. His opponent was trying to lure him into a trap. But all he managed to accomplish was to anger him even further.

“You will not claim any more victims.” He growled before putting the bone down. He looked around and saw another bone lying nearby. He was being left a trail of crumbs. But he had learned a long time ago that sometimes the best way of springing a trap is by walking into it. His hunter made the mistake of underestimating his prey and he will pay dearly for it.

Following the trail of bones, he was finally lead into a dead end where he saw a truly gruesome sight. He was facing a brick wall with a message written on it in blood. It said ‘Got you!’ Shining’s ear raised behind his head as he heard the splashing of water. He spun around to see a large shape bursting out of the sewage below and throwing itself at him. The stallion decided to surprise him by grabbing it, where he assumed it was the creature’s waist and managed to counter its strike, by slamming it into the ground.

Shining attempted to keep the creature down as it struggled to resurface. It tried to reach out and grab Shining Armor, but it failed to take a hold of him, so it used its claws to slash him on the cheek. Shining’s mask absorbed most of the damage, but the claws still hurt enough to make him let go of it and back away.

The creature emerged from the water and Shining finally managed to take a good look at it. His guess was correct. He was looking at a large dragon with dark green scales, a yellow stomach and a long, flat snout, resembling that of a crocodile and full of razor sharp fangs. He was looking at the infamous Manehattan predator, Killer Croc.

“You’re one ugly mother bucker.” Shining mused as he cracked his neck, trying to goad him into attacking. He clearly succeeded as Croc narrowed his eyes at him and lunged at him with his jaws wide open. Unfortunately for him, Shining wasn’t an average pony he could just sink his fangs into. Even without his newly increased strength, Shining was able to match his strength as he raised his hooves and grabbed his jaws, able to hold him in place and pull his jaws apart.

Choc began to feel the pain in his jaws and knew that if Shining kept this up, he would break them. He once again used his claws to slash the stallion’s chest, forcing him to back away. Croc finally realised he wasn’t dealing with an average pony. He couldn’t defeat him with brute strength alone. He needed to change tactics.

He lowered his hand into the sewage beneath him and swept it at Shining, managing to get it into his eyes and blinding him for a few seconds. By the time Shining managed to clear his vision, Croc was gone. The stallion wasn’t concerned though. He knew the dragon will be back. He was probably swimming around him even now.

Shining looked up and saw a cable on the wall. He quickly jumped out of the sewage onto the concrete above and pulled the cable off the wall before lowering it into the water, sending powerful electric shockwaves throughout it. The shockwave was enough to make Croc give away his location. He burst out of the water, screaming in pain as the electricity rushed through his body.

After finally locating him, Shining pulled the cable out of the water and lunged to tackle the brute. He began hitting him in the face but the dragon managed to stop his hooves by grabbing them. Shining was stronger than the average pony so he was able to prevent him from breaking his legs, but he couldn’t free them either to continue to assault.

Croc eventually pushed him away before throwing himself at the stallion and attempting to close his jaws around his throat and rip it out. Shining managed to grab them before they could enclose around his throat and headbutted Croc in the face with enough force to send him back in the water before slowly pushing himself back onto his hooves.

Shining groweld. He’s had enough of playing around. He pressed a button on his venom dispenser and in a few seconds, he could already feel the liquid drug flowing into his body from the Venom tank on his back. By the time Crom got back on his feet, Shining’s stature had increased from the amount of Venom he pumped into his body, standing at an equal height as the pony eating monster.

Shining wasted no time in attacking and tackled the dragon onto the ground. Croc struggled to get the unicorn off of him, but since Shining was now as big as him, it was much more difficult. In a desperate attempt, he grabbed one of the tubes and managed to cut it with his claws. In a panic, Shining got off of the dragon and attempted to stop the Venom from leaking out, but he still lost a considerable amount before he succeeded.

Croc had seemingly learned the right lesson from this as he attacked another one of Shining’s Venom tubes. Shining barely had enough time to block his strike before he severed another tube and grabbed his arm, twisting it back, earning a yelp of pain from the dragon. But he still had enough composure to slash Shining’s face with the claws on his other hand.

Shining lost his balance from the strike enough for Croc to take advantage of it, grab him and lift him into the air. With the solid ground lost from beneath his hooves, Shining found himself to be helpless, struggling to take a grasp of something. Croc noticed the Venom tank on his back and opened his mouth to literally bite it off of Shining’s back, but before his mouth reached it, Shining’s leg smashed into his face, making him let go.

Shining fell onto his hooves and grabbed the cable he ripped out of the wall and jumped at Croc, grabbing him from behind and wrapping the cable around his neck. He stuck the end of the cable in his mouth, electrocuting him with it and simultaneously tightening it around his neck until he heard the bone underneath give way with a loud snap. Shining let the lifeless body of the behemoth fall forward into the sewage with a loud splash.

It was over. Shining’s field testing of the Venom formula was a complete success and he already managed to reduce the amount of maniacs in the city. A triumphant smirk grew on his face as he stood over the slain dragon’s body. This will be an excellent message to all those other freaks out there. A warning that he’s coming for them. Including the Batmare.

His head snapped towards the distance in the tunnel when he heard hoofsteps approaching. Quickly, he made his way back towards the hideout his followers had occupied, knowing full well they wouldn't be able to find him. He heard the horrified exclamation of ponies behind him, knowing that they will no doubt get the message out there. That there was a bane of existence for these maniacs and let them flee from it in terror.

Captain Garden stood on the edge of the sewage in which lay the lifeless body of the loose dragon that has been foalnapping and eating ponies for over two years now. As he smoked on his cigar with a troubled expression, he felt like he should be relieved that this tremendous problem was off his shoulder for good, but he still felt troubled.

“Some maintenance workers found him when they came to investigate a power outage in the area.” Bulldog explained as he came up next to his partner. “And they found a cable torn from the wall wrapped around his neck like this. I don’t want to rush you Jambo, but the workers up there are ready to lift him out of here and load him onto the carriage and I’m getting a little tired of their complaining. How much longer do they have to wait?”

“Keep them waiting a little longer, Hardy.” Garden told him, taking another whiff of his cigar. “I want her to see the scene too before we clean up.”

“I keep forgetting you are the pony they always call for super cases like this.” Bulldog snorted. “It’s like they know she would get involved. Very well, I’ll keep them off but don’t take too long.” He said before leaving back towards the surface. Once he left, a dark shadow immediately made its way out of the darkness and stood next to Garden, observing the crime scene.

“So what do you make of this?” The captain asked.

“First, I think you should quit smoking at crime scenes.” Batmare replied before beginning to inspect the body. “Second of all, if there's somepony or any other creature in Manehattan that can take down Killer Croc like this, that could spell trouble for the city.”

“That’s what I thought.” Garden nodded. “I doubt ponies will cry over him, some still consider him to be just an urban legend, but when the top predator of the underworld is taken down by another, the whole food chain changes drastically.”

Batmare tried to ignore his words as she switched the goggles in her mask to UV light. Perhaps she would notice something the police ponies have over looked. Once again, she was proven correct as she noticed an unfamiliar liquid sprayed on the wall. Garden noticed how intently she approached the wall and began to inspect it.

“Did you find something?” He asked. Batmare narrowed her eyes at the wall.

“I think so.” She pulled out a q-tip and took a sample of the unidentified liquid. If it was used in a fight against Killer Croc, it could have been a powerful toxin to weaken him or a liquid virus his killer was spreading in the water running beneath the city. Whatever it was, she could tell it was bad news.

“I’m gonning to run some tests. I’ll let you know if I found anything.”

“Don’t take too long. This case is not one we could just bury in a drawer.” Garden replied before turning to let the workers up there know they can take Croc away. “I’m not gonna turn around, I know she’s already gone.”

[he]

Apple Bloom’s day was less than thrilling. Twilight refused to let her out of the glass container she was in since yesterday, only opening it whenever she was given her meals. She felt like a prisoner. She was still locked in, lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling with a bored expression as Spike was sitting at the Batcomputer, watching through Twilight’s eyes as she was investigating in the sewer. She was quite shaken from the dead dragon she saw on the screen at first, but she quickly got over it. She saw her fair share of death in the past year.

“So… how is it working for the Batmare?” The young mare found herself nonchalantly asking. Spike was taken aback upon hearing her voice. This was the first time she spoke to him in her containment.

“I’m… not sure I’m allowed to talk about that with outsiders.” The young drake replied. Apple Bloom groaned.

“Come on, Spike! Don’t be such a shut in! Aren’t you an important enough part of this team to make your own decisions?” Spike narrowed his eyes in thought.

“I’m not sure I would call this a team.” He replied sadly. “Twilight calls the shots around here. I’m lucky if she takes into account what I say.” Apple Bloom opened her mouth but Spike quickly cut her off. “I know what you are going to say and I’m going to stop you right there. She’s going to say no. She’s already reluctant to rely on me and wants nopony else in her little inner circle.”

“Don’t think I don’t know why Twilight does this.” Apple Bloom called out to him. Spike nervously looked back at her. “I’ve heard what happened to her groom. Doing what she does is a better way to deal with losing a loved one than sitting back and doing nothing. But there are others out there who went through the same thing as her. Like me.”

Spike wasn’t sure what to say. He knew Apple Bloom was right. There are many ponies out there who lost somepony precious to them, and they didn’t become costumed vigilantes. Then again, most of them didn’t have Twilight’s skills and resolve. Or Apple Bloom’s for that matter.

“I’m still mourning my Granny Smith. I know I lost her to natural causes, but I can’t help but feel like all this crazy stuff going on around us had something to do with it. It was too much for her old heart to take. I know there are better ways of dealing with it than beating the daylights out of thugs and psychos, but it would feel like I’m making a difference.”

Spike knew what she was going through. He also really liked High Culture and unlike Twilight, he couldn’t deal with losing him by beating up criminals. But guiding her from the safety of the cave made him feel like he was part of the action. Like he was helping. But Apple Bloom was just a teenager, barely an adult. He cannot in good conscience allow her to even entertain the idea of joining Twilight out there.

And at the same time, he understood her completely. There were times when he wished he could do more to help Twilight. Being out there with her - even if only to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid - was just a fantasy, but Apple Bloom proved that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. And could take care of Twilight as well.

And he hated himself for it, but the more he thought about it, the more he found himself entertaining the idea.

Shining Armor reentered his hideout to find his ponies busily working. They already set up everything they needed to start manufacturing Venom but from what he saw, the production was still fairly low.

“Welcome back, Captain.” Zombie greeted when he noticed the buff unicorn. “I take it you took care of our little intruder problem.” Shining nodded.

“Indeed. But I’m gonna have to make some repairs.” He said, motioning to the severed Venom tubes. “How are things going in here?”

“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to produce as much and as potent Venom as Dr. Rainy made for you. We lack several ingredients to make more. But I have been able to find somepony who will be able to provide them for us. Bird has left to recruit her as we speak. She is the best thief in the city, she could probably steal city hall. Though she is incarcerated at the moment. That could raise some problems.”

Shining frowned. He didn’t like having to include even more ponies in their endeavor than they already have, and he especially didn’t like the idea of working with one of those lunatics, but needs were a must. He had preparations to make for his assault on the Batmare anyway.

Author's Note

Merry Christmas, guys! Here is my present for you: an update for my story!

Spike is beginning to like the idea of Twilight and Apple Bloom working together and Shining Armor is also here to make a name for himself. Their confrontation will surely be one for the ages! And it looks like Suri/The Cat will also be coming back. The climax is slowly building up and it will be glorious! At least I hope.

Anyway, Happy Holidays and a successful new year for all of you! See you next year for...

Issue #7: Taking Flight

TB Vol. 2: TBatB: Issue #7: Taking Flight

Suri Polomare found herself in a place that she was in no way accustomed to, a prison cell. All things considered, it could have been worse. At least they didn't stick her into that nuthouse where the Batmare's costumed challengers usually end up, but it was still a horribly unpleasant position for her.

Not to mention her identity was now revealed to the world. No respectable pony would ever give her orders in the fashion industry or trade antics with her. That didn't bother her half as much as she thought it would. She's had plenty of bits saved up and stolen treasure hidden around locations only she knew about. What bothered her the most was the Batmare.

She almost managed to get away in time before the police showed up. If it wasn't for that insufferable do-gooder, she wouldn't be sitting here right now! She never really hated anypony before in her life, but after pretty much ruining her life, it was safe to say that the Batmare made it to the top of her list.

She looked out the window of her cell which overlooked the courtyard. It was pretty dark already but she could still see most of it. Most of her equipment had been seized from her, but her night vision contact lenses remained operational. She could probably break out of here if she still had her stuff, but without it, it was hopeless.

She was about to slunk down back on her bed when she saw something from the corner of her eye. The shape of a bird flew across the moon and headed straight for her window. To her surprise, a falcon landed right between the bars and looked straight at her before tearing the small note it was carrying from its neck and tossing it to Suri. The surprised mare slowly reached for it and picked it up.

'Greetings, Cat!

I'm working for somepony who is in a dire need of your talents in the field of acquiring things. I assure you, the employment I offer is very profitable and I can also make sure your troubles with the authorities will be a thing of the past. You will find a means to break out of your cell on the back of this note and your equipment will be waiting for you in the evidence room. If I wasn't certain you are able to handle yourself on your own, I wouldn't be sending you this message. I will be waiting for you in the sewer entrance near the basement within the hour. Don't be late.'

Suri turned over the note and saw a paperclip taped to the back of it. She removed the pin and looked at her celldoor. It was clear what she had to do with it. She'd done it more times than she could count. The falcon snatched the note out of her hoof and flew away, leaving her alone in her cell. But not for long.

It wasn't long before a guard on patrol made his way to the cell she was being held at, only to notice that the door was wide open. The guard ran to check on the cell, only to get a strong kick to the back of his head from the ceiling. The guard lay out on the floor, unconscious as Suri dropped down from the ceiling with a smug smirk and removed the guard's keys from his belt. She was never one to keep a customer waiting.

Twilight Sparkle was sitting behind the batcomputer as it ran an analysis on the unknown substance she discovered at the crime scene. Meanwhile, Spike was serving Apple Bloom's breakfast who was still sitting in the glass container in the middle of the cave.

"How much longer am I going to be rotting in here?" The young mare complained as she grabbed her tray. "I'm practically growing roots in here!"

"Until I make sure you won't say anything to anypony about any of this." Twilight replied, waiting for the results. "Which will no doubt involve a memory wipe. Until that happens, you'll be in there sitting on your flank."

"Thanks for the trust." Apple Bloom replied sarcastically, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Did it ever occur to you that I wouldn't want to sell you out? That I actually approve of what you're doing? That my sister is Supermare and I never sold her out?"

"I'm not your sister. And you did nothing to earn my trust." Twilight replied, but before she could say anything further, a beep from the computer interrupted her.

"Anything helpful?" Spike asked as he walked up next to her.

"I did manage to isolate the formula. It appears to be a performance enhancing drug."

"Somepony was testing the effects of this drug by taking out Croc?" Spike asked with terror creeping into his voice.

"It would appear so." Twilight replled with a nod. "And that test was fairly successful by the looks of it."

"As if a giant, pony eating dragon wasn't bad enough, now we have steroid enhanced criminals running around the city." Spike worried. His thoughts were the same as Twilight's. "This stuff has to be destroyed. I'll have the bats searching for it right now."

"Already tried it." Twilight replied. "They couldn't find anything. But I did manage to isolate the components of the drug. We know where they can be obtained from in the city." Spike raised an eyebrow.

"You think they're going to hit those places to steal components to make more?" Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"I just got a call from Captain Garden this morning. The Cat was broken out of jail. There's no way that's a coincidence." She then looked back at the computer. "I narrowed the possibilities down to three locations. Stag Industries, Cyan Cosmetics and the old Ace Chemicals building." Spike gulped from the bad memories that place brought up.

"Somehow, it always comes back to that place." He shuddered. "Since the downfall of the Falcon family, that place has been derelict. If I wanted to steal some chemicals for my steroids, that's the place I would rob." Twilight nodded.

"I'm gonna notify the MPD of this development. If anything happens in any of those places, we'll know." She said before turning around and hopping out of her chair. "Until then, we'll go around our day as usual." She headed towards the exit before she was interrupted by a knock from Apple Bloom.

"Hello! I'm still here!" She complained.

"And you're gonna stay in there a while longer so you might as well get comfortable. You've already done enough trouble. Mor’ng had to interrupt her studies to take over your duties in the library. And it's gonna be awkward enough to explain to Applejack why her little sister has been replaced by a shape shifting alien." Spike shuddered.

"Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that conversation." He said before following Twilight, but the purple mare stopped him.

"No, Spike. I'm gonna need you to stay here and keep an eye on her." She said, motioning at Apple Bloom with her head. "Make sure she doesn't try anything stupid." Spike raised an eyebrow.

"You're putting me down here for the whole day?"

"At least you'll have company." Twilight said before being interrupted by the screeching of bats. "Company that can actually talk back for a change." She said before exiting the cave. Spike turned to face the yellow mare.

"Is she always this cynical?" She asked. Spike shrugged.

"On her better days." He sighed as he rolled up his chair in front of Apple Bloom's container. "Do you like comics?"

Hoofy Dent was sitting in his office, reading the morning paper. When he read the story about Killer Croc's death, he was conflicted on the inside. On the one hoof, he should feel glad that one of those super criminal maniacs was off the streets for good. On the other, he was angry there was another, potentially even more dangerous threat on the loose. He angrily crumbled the paper before throwing it in a nearby trash can.

He was understandably agitated. He hasn't heard anything from Capper ever since speaking to him a few days ago. He wasn't sure if he was actually doing anything about his mayoral campaign but he couldn't allow himself to wait for it. He also learned from the papers that Croc's killer has been using a very dangerous steroid. It was confirmed by Captain Garden who got his information form the Batmare.

The MPD's ineffectivity also infuriated him. They boasted the best minds of Manehattan working in their chemical department, yet they needed a nameless, costumed outsider telling them that. This couldn't go on like that. If he was gonna be the mayor - and he damn well hoped he will be - he was gonna have to play a more active role in the city's fight against crime. And he already had a pretty good idea about doing that.

He reached for the phone lying on his desk and picked the receiver before dialing a number. After a few beeps, a stallion answered his call.

"Manehattan Police Department."

"This is District Attorney Hoofy Dent. Get me Captain Garden on the line."

When the day was over and Twilight finally closed up the library, she was about to head to the Batcave when she heard the sound of the beeper in her pocket. It was already dark and that meant Captain Garden could activate the Bat-Signal for her to see. She instantly suited up and headed towards the police station where the captain was already waiting for her.

"Good of you to show up. Something happened." The stallion told her. It was clear that the matter was urgent. Not only did Garden signal her immediately when it was dark, but he didn't even bother lighting a cigar.

"What happened?" The vigilante asked, growing rather worried herself.

"Dent took over the investigation." Garden replied frustratedly. "The chemicals from all three possible locations have been seized and taken to a classified location. Nopony has told me where." Twilight narrowed her eyes beneath her mask.

"If Dent takes all the chemicals to a secret location..."

"...he becomes a target himself." Garden finished for her. "I tried warning him but he won't budge. He wants to look in control over the situation for the voters. This election is his top priority right now."

"He needs to reevaluate his priorities." Batmare replied before heading towards the edge of the roof. "I'm on it." She told the captain before leaping off the roof. When she landed, she put a hoof to her ear.

"Spike, did you hear that?"

"Every single word," The drake replied into the communicator. "Our new mayor wannabe might as well have painted a target on his back. The bats are ready to go in search of those chemicals."

"Good call." Twilight replied. "We actually know what we're searching for this time. The bats should have an easier time to find such a high concentration."

"In the meantime, why don't you come home?" Spike asked. "The search could take a while." But Twilight had other things in mind.

"Thanks for the tip, but I'd rather make a quick visit instead."

Hoofy Dent was quite the workaholic of a stallion. It was one of the reasons none of his relationships ever lasted long. As Batmare expected, she found him once again in his office, doing his paperwork. He was sitting at his desk with his lamp lighting the right side of his face, jumping in fright as the desk lamp suddenly went out.

Hoofy wasn't superstitious and he quickly figured out what was going on. His heart rate didn't even raise as he laid back in his chair and put his front hooves together.

"Other ponies normally get appointments with me." He said calmly. He wasn't exactly sure where his nighttime visitor was, but he was certain she could hear him.

"I'm afraid our business needs to be taken care of immediately." Batmare replied from behind Dent's chair.

"If you're here for the location of those chemicals, you can just leave now. Garden didn't manage to get them out of me and you won't either." The district attorney said with the determination. Batmare narrowed her eyes at his stubbornness.

"You're playing a very dangerous game, Dent." She growled, making the stallion roll around in his chair, glaring her straight in the eye.

"I don't play anything!" He spat. "I'm done with sitting back and letting you do all the work!"

"And you think needlessly risking your life will make you a good leader?" Batmare countered. "These are very dangerous ponies you're messing with." But Dent remained unfazed.

"I can be a very dangerous enemy myself. And I know what I'm doing. Now, if there is nothing else, would you mind leaving my office, I have things to take care of." Batmare opened her mouth, but before she could respond, she was interrupted by the ringing of a nearby phone.

"Dent." The stallion spoke upon picking it up.

"Sir, we have movement outside. The trap seems to have worked. We are ready to engage, just give us the word." Dent was about to speak but before he could, the lights suddenly came back on and he looked up to see the Batmare was no longer there.

"Sir?" Dent's attention was snapped back to the phone.

"Wait a little longer." He said finally. "I believe things are about to get even more heated down there tonight without us interfering."

Batmare grappled her way to the top of Dent's office before putting a hoof to her ear communicator.

"Spike, tell me you have located those chemicals! Things have turned urgent!"

"The bats are closing in on their location." The dragon replied through the communicator. "It seems they are somewhere near Neighton Island. Does that give you any ideas?" Twilight tried to recall any connection between Dent and Neighton Island, but failed to find any.

"No. Have the Batcomputer run a search on any property owned by Hoofy Dent in that area."

"Right away." Spike replied as he did what he was told. "And bingo! There is an old refinery he inherited from his parents. He's been trying to sell it for a while to fund his campaign. But recently there's been some activity around there. Just let me scan it with one of the bats." The scanning took a couple seconds, during which Batmare already made her way towards the refinery Spike mentioned.

"Twilight, the scanner just lit up like a Heartswarming Tree! We found it! No doubt!"

"I'm almost there!" Twilight replied, grappling her way to the place. "I'll round up whoever they sent to retrieve those chemicals and make them confess where their hideout is! Call back the bats! It's time to end this!"

Bird was rather annoyed. Somehow the MCPD was already onto them and the attorney had seized exactly the chemical materials they needed and had them carried to a secret location. Finding the place was pretty easy. His trained bird friends have been a huge help in that regard. But the fact that the police knew about their operation already was still an inconvenience.

No matter. With the location of the chemicals known and the best thief in the city on their side, getting them from that abandoned refinery will be foal's play.

"How much further?" The Cat complained as they made their way through the sewers underneath the city alongside a few of the former guards.

“We’re almost there!” The pegasus replied as he approached a tunnel, leading to the underground area of the refinery. “This tunnel was used for waste disposal when the refinery was still active. You should be able to access it through these sewers without anypony noticing. Once you are inside, let us in and we will take the components we need for the steroid.”

“They pretty much did us a favour!” One of the henchponies chuckled. “They have gathered all the chemicals we need in one area for us.”

“Save the celebrations to when we actually have the stuff.” Bird said before stopping at a ladder. “This is it. Get up there and secure a path outside. We’ll bring in the carriages and bring those chemicals back to the hideout.” The Cat cracked her front hooves and her neck.

“No problem. Just make sure you have my payment ready.” She replied before climbing up the ladder. The manhole was sealed off, but to a master thief like her, this wasn’t going to be an obstacle. She reached into her belt and pulled out a diamond blade which was sharp enough to cut the iron covering the exit.

Once the lid was out of the way, the cat burglar made her way inside the building and she quickly found the barrels containing the chemicals her employers needed in a storage room near to the exit of the waste disposal area.

“Piece of cake.” She grinned. She was about to make her way to the front gate to let Bird and his crew in, but her path was blocked by a black cloaked figure appearing out of nowhere. The Cat was momentarily stunned by the Batmare’s sudden appearance, but she quickly recovered and activated the claws in the gloves on her front hoof and tried to slash the Batmare’s face, but her hoof was blocked with little effort.

“We have got to stop meeting like this.” She snarled. The Cat smirked.

“But it’s so fun!” She purred before roundhouse kicking the vigilante in the face. Batmare grabbed her hind leg and threw her onto the ground.

“Let’s not do a repeat of our last performance.” Batmare scoffed. “You didn’t break out on your own, did you? Who are you working for?” She walked up the Cat, but she spun around on the ground and kicked her legs out from beneath her.

“Not so fast, Dark Knight” She said. “You gotta treat a lady before she’ll give you what you want.”

The two fighters clashed again, but little did Batmare know that there was another creature in the refinery she should worry about.

Back at the entrance, Bird and his crew were already setting up the carriages to take the chemical barrels away and were waiting for the cat burglar to open the main gate for them. To their surprise however, it was someone else that greeted them.

The henchponies were more than a little surprised to see Suri's pet cat, Onyx opening the main door for them. With the exception of Bird. He had trained birds himself, so it was no surprise to him that an animal can do that.

"Nice! I knew it was worth it to free you as well from the animal pound!" Bird cheered. "Now where is your master?"

The Cat knew that she needed to keep Batmare away from the barrels. She couldn't just go and open the main entrance for Bird's crew, lest she'd risk the vigilante destroying them. Thankfully, her little partner in crime, Onyx the cat, was more than able to handle such a task. And no matter how good of a fighter she was, she was still just one mare. She can't handle all those ponies by herself. All she had to do was keep her occupied until they arrived.

"You wondered who I was working for earlier?" She questioned as she blocked an incoming strike from the heroine.

"Yeah, so what of it?" Batmare countered as she backed away. The Cat smirked.

"Turn around and you'll find out." Even under her mask, Batmare looked unamused.

"Do you think I will fall for that?" She asked in annoyance, before she felt a huge blow to the back of her head and the whole world went black. The Cat smirked.

"No, but it kept you entertained until they took you out." She gloated. Bird and his crew slowly entered the room and began to empty the room and began carrying the barrels out as their leader walked up next to the Cat, looking down at the unconscious vigilante.

"Twilight? Twilight?!" Spike panicked as he screamed into the communicator, only to receive no response before the line went dead. "No! No! No!" He stuttered, beginning to hyperventilate. "What am I gonna do now?!"

"Let me out!" Apple Bloom screamed from her cell. "I can help! I'm Twilight's only hope!" Spike looked up at the young earth pony. He knew what she said was true. He couldn't possibly send Mor’ng out, especially after the recent Changeling invasion. And he was definitely not prepared to take on whoever attacked Twilight. There was no other option. He had to do it.

"Twilight is gonna kill me for this!" He shuddered. "But at least she's gonna be alive to do it." He finally conceded before opening the container for Apple Bloom.

"Hurry, we don't have much time!" The dragon complained as he handed Apple Bloom a bag of equipments. "Don't try playing hero too hard. Just get Twilight out of there!"

"I'll handle it!" Apple Bloom said as she gathered the stuff.

"You're gonna need something to hide your identity though." Spike suggested. "Unless you want every crime lord and wacko to gun for you by tomorrow." Apple Bloom thought for a minute before her eyes widened and a smile slowly grew on her face.

"I think I have something just for that occasion."

Back in the refinery, the unconscious Batmare was being held by two henchponies as the others cleaned the place out. Bird and the Cat were standing to one side, watching the progress while the Cat shot glances at the knocked out vigilante.

"What are we going to do with her?" She asked. Bird looked at her with amusement.

"My employer wants this place destroyed once we have the chemicals. He will be extremely disappointed he didn't get to kill her himself. But I doubt he will mind if the ruins of this refinery will end up as her tomb."

For the first time that night, the Cat actually looked shocked.

"Whoa there! You didn't say anything about having to kill anypony?" Bird just looked at her unamused.

"What did you think we were going to do to her once we have her?" Before the Cat could respond, the group was interrupted by a sharp voice from outside.

"THIS IS THE MCPD SPECIAL FORCES! CEASE AND DESIST AT ONCE OR WE'LL OPEN FIRE!" The ponies inside jumped in surprise, almost dropping the barrels they were carrying.

"An ambush?!" Bird hissed in anger. "Not that we weren't prepared for it!" He clapped his hooves together, making his henchponies put the barrels down and pull out machine guns. "If it's a fight they want, they will have it!" Bird was about to follow his compatriots, but the Cat interrupted him by taking a hold of his rifle.

"Hey! There's no need for this!" She protested. "We could take the barrels down the hole I came in!" The stallion yanked his weapon away.

"Our crew doesn't run from a fight!" He growled. "Get into position!"

Bird's crew hid behind the various pieces of machinery lying around the refinery and waited for the police to enter. The Cat wasn't sure what to do next, but before she could figure it out, a thump was heard in the background.

All the ponies inside the refinery pointed their rifles in the direction of the voice. One of the stallions went to investigate. He scanned the darkness with his rifle, only to have it knocked out of his hooves and having a hard piece of metal clash into his muzzle, knocking him out.

Surprised, two more stallions opened fire in that direction, but a sharp disc knocked the weapons out of their hooves before flying back into the hoof of pony who jumped between the two stallions and held up a metal rod between them. The two of them stared in confusion before the rod extended itself, hitting the two stallions in muzzle.

The remaining ponies tried in vain to hit her, but she was far too acrobatic for their weapons. She jumped across the machinery, making them hit it instead, causing sparks to fly around, blinding them and allowing her to slip back into the shadows.

Bird slid back against the wall along with the Cat as the rest of his goons were rounded up by the mysterious interloper. One by one, they were picked off by her, including the ones who were guarding the Batmare. The cargo outside was lost. It was too far for them to reach at that point and in the storage room, there were only a hoofful of barrels left.

"Looks like we will be proceeding with your plan after all." He grumbled. "Grab a barrel and let's head out where you came in." The Cat raised an eyebrow.

"I thought your crew didn't run from a fight." She quipped, but the pegasus paid her no mind. The two of them picked up one barrel each and slid away while the remaining ponies were picked off by the mysterious attacker.

As the police waited outside, they heard the sound of a rumble taking place in the refinery. They were quite used to the Batmare dismantling criminal operations before their arrival so they knew they had to wait.

When the sounds finally stopped and they entered, weapons ready, they found a group of unconscious ponies tied together in the middle of the refinery. Of their assailant, there was no trace. The only thing they found was a sewer entrance forced open and an empty storage room.

When she opened her eyes again, Twilight found herself lying on a bed inside the Batcave. She suddenly remembered what happened before everything blacked out and she suddenly sprang up, but she was surprised to see that she wasn't in a trap or cell built by some super criminal, but back home.

"Whoa, whoa, Twilight!" Spike yelled, running up to her and pushing her back down. "Take it easy! You've been through quite an ordeal!" Twilight just looked back at him in stunned surprise.

"How... How did you get me out of there?" Spike looked down nervously, unsure of how to bring the subject up, but he knew he wouldn't be able to keep the truth away from her for long.

"Well, you see... I didn't."

"I did."

Twilight turned to the owner of the voice, seeing a young yellow mare wearing a black, hooded cape with a black domino mask, a red leotard and red boots.

"So, did this earn your trust?"

Author's Note

Hello, everypony! Welcome back for another chapter!

Looks like Apple Bloom had her first outing as Robin. But will it be enough to convince Twilight she is the help she needs. And Suri is having second thoughts about the ponies she's running with. Perhaps there is hope for her yet as well.

Tune in next time as more about Apple Bloom's rise to crime fighting will be revealed and to witness the birth of the dynamic duo in...

Issue #8: Partners

TB. Vol 2: TBatB: Issue #8: Partners

Shining Armor just finished his daily routine of exercises when Bird and the Cat returned with two barrels. The two ponies walked right through the entrance of the hideout where a questioning looking Zombie was waiting for them.

"I may be old but I'm not yet senile." The elderly bat pony commented sarcastically. "I seem to perfectly remember that there were more of you we sent you out to retrieve those chemicals. And more than two barrels." Bird rolled his eyes.

"Cram it, you old bat." He snapped, making Zombie narrow his eyes at the pun. "We were ambushed by the police. The rest of them were caught." He finally admitted. He knew that the captain would not be pleased with this development.

"The Bat lured you into a trap, I presume." Zombie queried. Bird looked down with uncertainty as the Cat chuckled.

"Oh, this should be good." She smirked as she sat down on the barrel. Bird struggled to find the right words.

"We... had the Bat." He confessed. "It was... somepony else. We didn't catch a glimpse of them." Zombie just stood there as he processed everything the pegasus just told him. Finally, he spoke.

"So let me get this straight. You had the Batmare and the chemicals we were after, only to lose everything to the police and some rookie Batmare wannabe, even managing to get several of our comrades captured in the process." He complained incredulously. "And here I thought some of the captain's training would have rubbed off on you."

"Oh, give me a break!" Bird snapped before pointing at the two barrels. "With these two, we should be able to make enough Venom to get the rest of them and break out the others."

"You think, Bird?" Shining Armor's booming voice echoed through the hideout. The ponies looked up to see the towering unicorn stallion standing over them on an upper level with Trogg in tow. "Then you won't mind volunteering to be among the first volunteers for my super soldier program."

The eyes of the pegasus went wide. If his body wasn't fit enough to accept the drug, the mental degradation would be irreversible. And he remembered that Shining told him during his training that he wasn't even cut out to be a Royal Guard. He had taken him under his personal training ever since, but who was to say he developed enough. This was more likely a way for Shining to punish him for his failure. The captain came down to join them and examine their haul.

"With these, we should be able to make enough venom for two additional ponies." He determined. "That said, based on what you said, District Attorney Dent is becoming quite a pain in the flank. If he manages to get elected as mayor, that could jeopardise our entire operation. I believe I have the first objective for you and Trogg once you've undergone the treatment."

Trogg's smirk upon seeing the 'pretty boy' squirm from the idea of undergoing the same treatment as their captain quickly disappeared.

"Me? But, Captain, what about Zombie over here?" He stuttered nervously, causing the giant unicorn to look at him.

"As much as I hate to speak ill of my most trusted advisor, his old body would certainly reject the drug." Shining explained. "You on the other hoof are two young and strong stallios, perfectly capable of undergoing the treatment." He said as his henchponies came in and took the barrels away. "Ready yourselves! The Venom will be complete by tonight. And if the Batmare or any other vigilante should show themselves..." He pressed a button on his hoof which caused the device on his back to pump Venom into his whole body, causing him to bulk up. He broke off a metal pipe from a nearby railing and broke it in half. "...they will be broken!"

"Spike! Are you completely out of your mind?!" Twilight Sparkle complained in the middle of the Batcave. Regardless of her outburst, her assistant, Spike only smiled.

"You are screaming at me. That means you're back to normal." Twilight groaned and pulled on her face.

"Spike, this isn't like one of your comic books! This is reality! Do you know how many things could have happened to Apple Bloom out there?!" But for the first time since their arrival, Spike didn't back down and actually stood his ground.

"Nothing worse that could have happened to you!" He cut back. "Face it already, Twilight! These ponies are too much for you to handle on your own and Apple Bloom is great help! Exactly what we need!"

"She is barely a mare!" Twilight argued. "She doesn't have the training or the experience to help me out there!"

"She had more than enough to get you out of there while you were knocked out!" Spike fired back. "Not to mention getting those thugs who tried stealing the chemicals arrested!"

Twilight couldn't deny that Spike spoke the truth. Captain Garden even called her this morning on congratulating her on a job well done for capturing those thugs in the refinery. She couldn't bring herself to admit it wasn't really her and the humiliating defeat she suffered.

But there still was a problem. According to the Captain, two of the barrels were still missing from the stash they hid inside the refinery to set up the ambush. Some of the thugs must have escaped and take them away through another exit. Twilight shuddered as she thought about what kind of damage they could cause with them.

She looked over at Apple Bloom who was currently in the training area of the cave, striking multiple dummies with vigour equal to her own. She had to admit, it reminded her of herself. Inside the cave and out of it. The more she looked on, the more she saw herself in this young mare, desperate for justice.

But that didn't matter. That young mare was her responsibility and as such, she couldn't allow her to keep pursuing this ridiculous goal. A goal she regularly risked her life of pursuing herself, Spike would say. But Spike did not have a say in the matter, no matter how much logic he was applying to it.

"And who's gonna keep the library?" Twilight asked sarcastically as she watched Apple Bloom go at it.

"The library ain't opening for hours." Apple Bloom argued before looking at the clock on the wall. "But I see where you're coming from. I'm beat. Especially after dragging your unconscious flank out of there."

"I took the liberty of preparing a room for you." Spike said as he helped her take off her cape, leaving her in her acrobat suit which she got from the Flying Neighsons. Twilight noticed an R on the left side of her chest.

"What does the R stand for?" She asked out of curiousity. Apple Bloom shared a glance with Spike who just smiled back in encouragement.

"Robin." She answered. "Ask Spike for the details. He'll let you in on them." She then took off the rest of her suit and gave it to Spike. "Spike, would you mind putting this on a pinyquin next to the batsuit? I'm off to hit the hay. It'll be good to finally sleep in an actual bed after two nights in that glass cube." She said as she made her way out of the cave.

"You're encouraging her, Spike." Twilight scolded once the young mare left the cave.

"A lost young mare with a sense of justice needs encouragement, Twilight." Spike replied as he put the cape on the ponyquin which the rest her suit was already on. "You of all ponies should know that."

The day went by with relatively positive results. Regardless of how it actually happened, the raid in the refinery had the desired outcome. The voters of Manehattan saw that they finally had a leader who was willing to take charge in difficult situations and Hoofy Dent was now considerably ahead in the polls. Election night was coming up this weekend, so it couldn't have happened at a better time.

The pegasus put the newspaper down with a satisfied smirk. He leaned back in his chair to relax for a few minutes before going back to writing the indictments against the thugs the Batmare captured last night. If they had a little sense in their heads, they would confess against their employer. They did say something about somepony new that took them out and saved the Bat in the refinery, but Dent didn't believe it. They wouldn't have been the first ones to say they held their own against her in order to look more imposing.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a series of heavy knocks on his door. He raised an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting any clients at this hour. He strictly told his assistant that he wouldn't be seeing anypony tonight as he would be busy with the indictments. So who could that be?

He went to open the door and saw two heavy figures standing there wearing trench coats and fedora hats.

"I'm sorry gentlecolts, but client reception is over for the day." He told them indifferently. "Come back tomorrow."

"Oh, we won't be long." One of the figures told him before grabbing him by the shoulder and throwing him into his chair, making him roll up against the wall and bash his head into it. He quickly recovered though and opened his drawer to pull out a gun from it, but one of the figures took it from him and picked it apart as the other grabbed his muzzle and bashed it into the wall again.

Dent was beginning to lose consciousness as one of the figures picked him up and lifted him over his shoulder, beginning to make his way out of the office. Before he completely passed out, he managed to reach into his pocket and pull out his lucky coin before tossing it under his desk without his captors noticing. Hopefully, Garden would find it. Or in the worst case scenario, at least the Bat would.

The endgame has begun. It became more than obvious to everypony when the district attorney and the favorite to win the mayoral elections was foalnapped. This case required the attention of every available detective in Manehattan. Including the one they called the world's greatest.

Dent's office was filled with police ponies who were trying to get samples from every corner of the room. An operation of this magnitude couldn't be held away from the attention of Captain Garden. The elderly stallion stood in the middle of the room smoking a cigar as the police ponies were buzzing around him like bees.

"You really should kick this habit, you know." Came a voice from behind him. Everypony stopped in place and turned as one person to see the Batmare arriving. With the exception of the Captain himself. He had gotten used to her sudden appearances a long time ago.

"When it comes to policing in this city, that's the only way to cope." He replied, taking a drag. "The DA has been taken right after he confiscated those chemicals. That cannot be a coincidence."

"It's not." Batmare replied as she switched on the detective vision in her cowl and investigated the room. "The door is undamaged. It wasn't a break-in. The assailants were let in by Dent himself." Her gaze then turned to the removed drawer. "He attempted to resist the assailants. He pulled something out of that drawer. Most likely a firearm."

"Yeah." Garden nodded. "My boys found the pieces of a firearm near the desk. They didn't even bother to hide it." Batmare then turned to the wall.

"He was knocked into the wall. To make him lose consciousness. His assailants then left with him."

"That checks out." Garden acknowledged. "But that doesn't get us any closer to finding out where they took him." Batmare narrowed her eyes.

"There has to be something." She said as she examined the path between the door and the hole in the wall. But the only thing between them was the desk.

"Has the desk been searched yet?" She questioned. Garden nodded.

"Yeah, but we couldn't find anything." The police captain replied. Batmare frowned. She pulled out a flashlight and peeked under the desk and sure enough, she found the coin left behind by Dent himself. She picked it and pulled it out to examine it and Garden's eyes widened in realisation.

"That's Dent's lucky coin!" He exclaimed. "He never would have left it behind on purpose!"

"Unless he didn't have a choice." Batmare examined, turning the coin over, only to notice that it was another heads where the tails was supposed to be.

"It's a trick coin." She stated. "There are two sides of heads on it."

"Son of a horse." Garden grumbled. "It was how he decided who would pay for lunch when we last ate together." Batmare ignored the remark and kept studying the coin. "Why would he leave this behind in such a hard to find spot?"

"I don't know." Batmare replied. "But I will find out."

Later that night in the Batcave, Spike and Twilight were studying the coin in their computer.

"This is no ordinary coin." The unicorn said. "And I'm not talking about the two sides of heads on it. Dent left this behind for a reason. Did you find anything yet?"

"Still scanning." Spike replied. "There is something unusual about it, that's for sure, but I can't figure out what yet. Give me a little more time."

"Time is a luxury we can't afford, Spike!" Twilight said with worry. "There's a good chance Dent is already back in the hideout of these maniacs and who knows what they'll do to him if we don't find him in time!"

She gave Spike a little room to work with and noticed that the ponyquin with Apple Bloom's suit on it was still there, right next to the one where she kept hers.

"You kept it?" Twilight asked. Spike raised his head to see what Twilight was talking about and gulped.

"Um... yeah..." He replied in uncertainty. "I thought it compliments the cave nicely. And besides, I had other things to worry about." He defended himself before his gaze turned back to the screen.

"Where is she anyway?" Twilight asked suspiciously.

"She's in her room, don't worry." Spike reassured without looking at her. "I had Morning watching her all day and making sure her interactions with ponies were as limited as possible. You can trust her completely."

"I don't trust anypony completely, Spike." Twilight said harshly, causing the little dragon to look at her.

"Not even me?" He asked. Twilight said nothing, just stared at him. "Right." Spike said dejectedly. "What was I thinking?" His attention was then drawn back to the screen as the scanning was finally complete.

"Wow!" He exclaimed. "You're not gonna believe this! This coin is connected to a tracker built into Dent's body!" Twilight's eyes widened.

"The guy is smarter than we gave him credit for!" She exclaimed. "Can you locate him?"

"It's why he left it behind." Spike said as he typed a few buttons on the computer. A few seconds later, his search already provided a result. "Got it! He doesn't seem to be moving so I think he's already in their hideout." He waited for a few moments as his position was exactly pinpointed on the city's map.

"There he is!" Twilight said as she examined the location. "Seems like an area close to the harbor."

"So close in fact it is easily approachable through a sewer pipe." Spike stated. "It's the closest access point to it. It's hidden somewhere in there."

"It's enough for me. I'll find it." Twilight said as she began to suit up. "It's time to end this, Spike. Whoever is behind this chemical operation, they're going down tonight!"

"Or you are." Spike muttered. "Don't you think you should..."

"Don't even go there!" Twilight warned. "The police are ill-equipped to handle this. And Apple Bloom is not coming along this time. Am I understood?" She growled, pressing a hoof against his chest.

"I promise you, Twilight, I will stop Apple Bloom when I see her trying to sneak off to help you." Spike promised.

"That's what I thought." Twilight said before pulling on the mask. "I'm heading out to the harbour. Try to guide me when I reach the sewer entrance." Spike nodded.

"Got it." He said and before he could turn to look, the Batmare was already gone. He then turned to look at the ponyquin next to Twilight's, only to notice the Robin suit was also missing. He allowed a small smile to grow on his face. He did promise Twilight that he will stop Apple Bloom when he noticed her. But he couldn't do anything if he didn't. That mare was already becoming like Twilight more than either of them could realise.

It's been well over an hour since Batmare left home. She was carrying a bat themed flashlight as she illuminated the dark tunnels she traveled through and tried her best to avoid the sewage as best as she could. She stayed in radio contact with Spike, but as far as she remembered, she was on the right track towards Dent's location.

Though it was hard to tell. Ever since Croc's death, the sewer where he was slain in had been classified as a crime scene so the city maintenance couldn't do anything to fix the power outage. If it wasn't for the flashlight, she would be blind as an actual bat.

"Okay, you're almost there." Spike said through the comms. "Just a little further. You're almost at the top of the spot where his tracker is located. But I won't be able to help you find his exact position. You have to find their secret lair on your own."

"As always." Batmare said, confident in her detective skills. She would find the entrance with no trouble. She switched her detective vision on in search of any secret passageways in the tunnel but to her surprise, the deeper she went into it, the more blurred her vision became. Eventually, she was forced to switch it off.

"So much for detective vision." She scoffed. "They must be using some sort of jammer to hide their location."

"Will that be a problem?" Spike asked. Batmare smirked under her mask.

"Please, remember who you're talking to." She replied. The fact that a jammer was used to keep the entrance concealed only served to prove that she was on the right track.

Her detective vision may have been rendered useless, but there was one way she could still find the entrance easily. Back in the cave, she had isolated a sample of the drug that has been used by Croc's killer. If the killer was from the same gang that were after those chemicals - and chances are, he was - he left a trail of the stuff as made his way back to the hideout.

She pressed a button on her flashlight, turning the light from a simple illumination to UV light and after a little search, she quickly found what she was looking for.

"Gotcha!" She smirked. Whoever has been fighting Croc has gotten sloppy. They probably didn't expect anypony to think about using these special lights to trace them back to their hideout. After a minute of tracking the chemical trail, she noticed that they stopped at a wall. With a little bit of explosive gel, she found herself standing before a metallic passageway with wide enough holes in it to see what was going on underneath.

After a few minutes of walking, she began to hear the sound of pouring water. She looked down and saw several ponies mixing chemicals together in an attempt to create the drug she's been tracing.

"It's ready!" One of them called out down there. "Bring in the next volunteer." Upon his command, a unicorn stallion came in and the others strapped him down to a table, while attaching several tubes to his body. Once he was secured, they began to pump a yellow liquid into his body through the tubes.

Batmare watched in horror as his body began to bulge to sizes unfit for a naturally evolved pony. Eventually, the pony's muscles grew to a size his body could no longer contain. But this didn't only include his biceps. The stallion's eyes suddenly went wide and he fell back on the table, his body going limp.

"What happened?" Asked one of the ponies. The rest of them checked on his body and the machines.

"His heart exploded." Came the response. "Looks like his body couldn't take the drug."

"That's unfortunate." Another pony said before pulling a sheet over the dead one's body. "Tell the captain that the third subject failed! The next one has to be more fit!"

"There won't be a next one for a while!" Shouted the first pony. "We only had enough components to make three doses of Venom!"

Batmare's eyes widened. Three doses? That means the first two have been successful. There were now two of those monstrosities to worry about. Three along with this captain. She wasn't ready for this. She had to get out of here and get more time to prepare. But before she could turn around, she heard the cry of an eagle.

She looked up to see the animal looking straight at her in the eye. She had been spotted! This only hastened her attempt at a departure, but upon turning around, she bumped into a figure in a trenchcoat which was soon joined by another.

“Well, well, well, Trogg. Look what the bat dragged in.” One of them mused. The other cracked his hooves.

“It’s interesting, Bird, but let me tell you, it won’t be dragging her out anytime soon.” Trogg replied. Batmare wasn’t about to let two goons stop her from leaving and attempted to knock them out swiftly before the commotion could alert anypony else. But the thugs in front of her merely caught her hoof and blocked her strike like it was nothing. They then picked the vigilante up and tossed her back into the sewer.

She landed in the sewage and could tell straight away that Spike will not be pleased. By the time she got back on her hooves, Bird and Trogg had already emerged from the secret entrance. She wondered how they managed to stop her so easily, but she got her answer pretty quickly. The two thugs removed their trench coats to reveal they were wearing Venom tanks and tubes all over their bodies.

They pressed a button on their wrist, making Venom flow into their bodies, bulking up to a size that dwarfed Batmare in comparison. She knew she wouldn't stand much of a chance against that sort of strength without any prep time so she attempted to flee. But Trogg moved with far more speed than what somepony of his size had any right of achieving and grabbed her cape, pulling her back and slammed her against the wall.

Bird then attempted to cut their encounter short by crushing her head, only to feel the increased strength of his upper arm leaving him. Bird looked up and saw that the Venom tube connecting to his right front leg was severed. It didn't just come loose either. It was clearly cut in half by some invisible force.

The pegasus stallion was then launched back by a sudden kick from a pair of hind legs, crashing him against the wall. Batmare looked up to see a smaller figure doing a backflip in the air and landing next to her. She didn’t have to be the world’s greatest detective to recognise Apple Bloom in her suit from the day before.

“Sorry I’m late!” She said as she struck a battle stance. “Figured you could use a hoof. Two against two are better odds.”

Trogg was the first to snap out of his shock at the new arrival. He attempted to strike the newcomer, but she was much faster and even without Venom, she was able to jump back and cause him to bash against the wall. Apple Bloom then launched herself forward from the wall, jumped over Trogg and bashed her staff into his Venom tank, making the entire content of the device leak out and rendering it useless.

Meanwhile, Batmare threw herself at Bird and managed to take advantage of his momentary stun. She turned her attention towards his Venom tank and disconnected the rest of the tubes from it, cutting off the pegasus from his supply as well. She then jumped on top of his head and bashed it into the ground.

Even without their drugs, Trogg and Bird were still formidable foes. The earth pony stallion attempted to grab Apple Bloom’s staff, but the filly didn’t need it. Trogg had assumed she was gonna keep hold of it, but she simply let go. This caused him to lose his balance and land face first into the sewage.

Meanwhile, Bird had recovered and attempted to kick Batmare off his back. But the vigilante managed to stay on top of him and they launched into a rodeo that would have made an Apple proud. But it was time to put an end to this tomfoolery. Batmare wrapped her forelegs around Bird’s neck and tightened them until she felt him passing out. She then jumped over his head and slammed him down on top of Trogg, knocking them both out cold.

The two vigilantes stopped in front of each other and just stared. It was undeniable that they had pulled off flawless teamwork back there and Batmare couldn’t have been able to defeat the two enhanced thugs without help, but she was still very reluctant to let go of her pride and admit that.

“He never even saw you getting that suit, did he?” Batmare asked, referring to Spike. Apple Bloom shook her head.

“And he can’t stop what he cannot see.” She replied. “You would have done the same to bypass that.” Batmare scoffed. She was indeed much like her.

“Sometimes you have to be flexible with the rules.” She admitted. “I learned that from a friend.”

“Not just a friend…” Apple Bloom replied sharply and offered Batmare her hoof. The older vigilante frowned. It was evident that she would have died without Apple Bloom’s help. Both in the refinery and the struggle against Bird and Trogg. Apple Bloom had more than proven herself capable. Batmare still didn’t like the idea of relying on anypony on the field, but she had to admit a little help really did go a long way.

Not to mention that there was more on the line than her pride. Hoofy Dent was still in there and he needed her help. She didn’t stand much of a chance at saving him by herself. But with a little help, she will be able to get him out and bring his kidnappers to justice. Finally, she made up her mind.

“A partner.” She said before grabbing her new partner’s hoof and shaking it.

Author's Note

Welcome back, everypony!

The Batmare has finally accepted Bloom as her partner and they are ready to shut down Bane's Venom operation.

The next chapter will finally see the showdown between siblings and Robin will prove herself to be a worthy hero. And the dynamic duo will get a mysterious new ally as well. Who's that going to be? Find out next time in...

Issue #9: Knightfall