Friendship Meets The Caped Crusader

Batman insisted on taking Pinkie in the passenger seat of the Batmobile, so he could keep an eye on her. Due to current circumstances, nobody was willing to disagree with him. With Pinkie in the Batmobile, and the remaining six Rainbooms in the touring van, they followed Batman across the city, driving through the streets of Gotham. Batman himself drove as fast as he dared, with Pinkie shaking and whimpering in the seat next to him. Thankfully, at this time of night, there was barely anyone on the road.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the two vehicles reached what looked like an empty lot. Batman parked on the side of the road, before popping the roof of the Batmobile and carrying Pinkie with him. The Rainbooms parked right behind him, and filed out of the bus. Thoughts wandered across their minds, such as the question of what they were doing here, but no one said a word.

Batman pulled a small remote out of his utility belt, and pressed a single button on it. The floor of the lot began to shift, splitting into two pieces that slowly slid apart. Once the hole had fully opened, a staircase rose upwards, leading down into the darkness. Batman descended, with the Rainbooms hot on his tail. Beneath the hole was a small cavern, which was soon illuminated by flood lamps, as the panels above them closed once more.

"Is this the Batcave?" asked Rainbow, unable to keep her voice from shaking.

"No," Batman answered. "It's more of a miniature. I've set up multiple locations like this all over Gotham, just so I don't have to run all the way back to the real Batcave every time I need something."

There was a metal table sitting in the middle of the cavern. Batman laid Pinkie done onto it on her back, before rushing over to several beakers of chemicals on an adjacent table.

"Hold her still," he ordered the others, keeping his voice stable. "I don't want her to hurt herself."

Sunset and Fluttershy immediately moved to obey, with Fluttershy grabbing Pinkie's wrists, and Sunset her legs. Fluttershy had to pry Pinkie's hands away from her face, to prevent her from clawing at her own skin, as the party girl shivered in terror. Soon enough, Batman loaded a syringe with a yellow liquid, and ran back over to Pinkie. Taking her by the arm, he injected the liquid under her skin.

"Will that save her?" asked Sunset, shaking with fear.

"Yes," replied Batman, sighing with relief. "She'll be fine. Keep holding onto her, though. It takes a minute to work."

His words proved to be true over the next two minutes. Pinkie squirmed and thrashed, but Fluttershy and Sunset held on, and soon enough, her struggles weakened. Pinkie's eyelids drooped, and she laid back down on the table slowly coming down. Fluttershy looked at Sunset, silently asking a question. After a minute of deliberation, Sunset nodded, and both girls released their grip on their friend. Pinkie's limbs laid down on the metal, and her breathing steadied.

Then her eyes snapped open, and she shot upwards before anyone could move.

"Who what when where why how?!" she babbled, as her eyes darted around like ping-pong balls. She lifted up her arms, staring down at her hands for a second. Then she turned to Batman, before facing each of her friends, one at a time.

"Everybody's okay?" she asked. "Nobody...you're all fine?" The others all nodded in confusion. Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. What the heck happened?"

"Scarecrow dosed you with his fear toxin," Batman explained. "It's a dangerous chemical concoction that causes people to hallucinate their worst fears and believe they're real. Unchecked exposure can result in permanent psychosis and mental damage. Luckily, we got you the antidote before that happened."

"Oh, that makes sense," said Pinkie. She shivered. "That wasn't a pleasant experience, let me tell you."

The remaining Rainbooms thought about asking Pinkie exactly what she'd seen under the gas's influence, but decided not to. The question was just too personal.

Batman stared in surprise at the girl before him. "You don't feel...traumatized? You're not freaking out? It's okay if you want to do that."

Pinkie shook her head. "Nah. I mean, I won't be huffing that stuff during my lunch break at work, but I feel fine now."

At Batman's perplexed expression, Applejack spoke up. "Pinkie bounces back from things pretty quickly. Don't question it." Batman responded by sighing and facepalming.

Rainbow clapped her hands together. "Well, now that that's taken care of, we need a new plan. There must be some way to track down those crooks again! And this time, they won't catch us off-guard mid-fight! We'll kick their butts for sure next time!"

"Actually, I—" Batman began.

"Hold your horses, Rainbow," said Sunset. "We need to properly prepare this time. Batman, does that antidote inoculate people against Scarecrow's gas?"

"Yes, but—"

"Excellent! We should all take a dosage of it, then!" said Rarity. "We can cancel out one of their biggest weapons that way."

"Girls, I think—"

"But we've still got to think of a way to counter those magic weapons," said Twilight. "My telekinesis could barely move the shots of the magic gun. If they use those against us, we're not gonna have an easy time."

"Will someone please—"

"Maybe we could just swipe the weapons and suck the magic out one at a time?" asked Fluttershy. "It would make it a little easier to fight—"

"GIRLS!" Batman shouted, making everyone else jump. He had quite a voice. "Now do I have your attention?!" The Rainbooms all nodded quickly. "Good. Now, I think it's best if you step back and let me deal with the villains from here. I'll bring you the magic weapons when I'm done."

"Uh, not to be rude, but didn't we already talk about this?" asked Sunset. "We'll have an easier time of it if we work together, remember? Besides, now that we know there are five different super villains to deal with, you're gonna need our help."

"You'll recall that I ordered you to stay behind until I called you," Batman continued. "I told you to follow my orders. Not to mention, Pinkie got dosed with Scarecrow's gas. Next time, it could be Joker venom, which you might never recover from. You're children, and this mission is too dangerous for you. I can't allow you to help and risk your lives in the process. I'm ending this alliance."

Twilight frowned. "Look, we're all over eighteen. We're not kids, we can take care of ourselves. We appreciate that you care about our welfare, but this is more important."

"Yeah!" chimed in Rainbow. "We're not missing out on the chance to team up with you! We're tough!"

Batman shook his head. "You don't understand. This is my city, and my crusade. I'm not dragging you into this any more than I have already."

"You didn't exactly drag us in," Pinkie replied. "We came here of our own volition. We decided to chase after those weapons."

"Why are you so insistent on keeping us out of this?" demanded Applejack. "Why are you so worried?"

Batman sighed, turning on one foot to stare at the wall. These women were a stubborn bunch, that was for sure. He was trying his best, but they were still resisting. All he wanted was to protect their lives, why couldn't they see that? He only had one card left to play, but he didn't like it. It made him nervous, exposing his vulnerabilities to people he barely knew.

"Should I tell you how it started for me?" he asked. He didn't even wait for an answer before going on. "When I was a child, my parents took me to a movie. Once we left, we were approached by a mugger. My father tried to stop him, but both him and my mother were shot and killed. They never caught the killer.

"That was when I took up my mission. I promised that no child would ever lose their loved ones like that in this city again...or worse. But I also made a vow that I wouldn't pull anybody else into this crusade if I could avoid it. Sure, I have a few allies, but none as young or unprepared as any of you. This would be my job, and mine alone. I won't force people to die for what I want."

He turned back around, discovering the Rainbooms in various states of sadness. Fluttershy looked like she might burst into tears at the very thought. Rainbow and Sunset were both looking down at the floor, as though they couldn't meet his eyes.

"Oh, darling, I'm so sorry," Rarity breathed. "Nobody deserves to go through that."

"Batman," Sunset ventured, "if I learned anything from being blasted by a magical rainbow laser, it's that you can't do things alone. I tried to go my own way, to surpass Princess Celestia, thinking I didn't need friends. I was wrong. Sure, you weren't trying to take over Equestria with an army of brainwashed teenagers, but we can help you."

"You're not forcing us to do anything we wouldn't do otherwise," added Twilight. "If you throw us out now, we'll just end up trying to get involved without your help, which would be more dangerous."

Sunset continued. "I'm the one who brought magic to this universe in the first place. If this city is your crusade, then the magic is mine. It's our responsibility to stop it before more people get hurt. I—all of us—need to help with this. Please."

Batman swallowed. As much as he hated to admit it, the women were marking a good point. The way they'd battled magic over the course of their lives made him think of how he'd gone down his own path. Did he have the right to deny them this? Their lives would be in danger, sure, and from what they'd told him, they'd never faced anyone as bad as the super criminals of Gotham, but that didn't mean they couldn't do it. Dick Grayson had hungered to fight criminals like Tony Zucco after the deaths of his parents, and Batman had allowed it. Was there really that much difference here?

"Alright," he finally acquiesced. "Just promise me one thing: No unnecessary risks. We only do what needs to be done to save lives."

"Of course," replied Rainbow. "You don't even need to ask that." Applejack shot her a skeptical look, but said nothing.

Batman smiled for the first time since they'd begun having that conversation. "Now, we need to decide what our next move is. Those criminals won't be staying at that warehouse any longer, now that the trap's failed."

"I agree," said Twilight. "My guess is they'll try to find some way to use the magic weapons to lure you/us out so they can finish the job. They won't be going out on the town with the weapons until there's nobody who can stop them. I can still track the magic, at least."

"But we shouldn't just sit here and wait for them to show up on our radar again," added Sunset. "Is there any way we could figure out where they'll strike next? Or maybe narrow down where their real hideout is?"

"Actually, I did have an idea," Batman admitted. He went over to one of the tables and pressed a button on the surface. The top rose upwards and unfolded, revealing itself to be a rather large computer.

"Wow. That looks more expensive than Twilight's set up back home!" commented Pinkie.

Batman ignored her. "If Scarecrow's been manufacturing his fear toxin again, there might be a way to track him down, and thus, his 'friends.' He'll need certain chemicals in order to properly make the gas, and they're made at very specific places in Gotham."

"So are you thinking we stake out some of these places?" asked Applejack. "Even if they're just having the brainwashed thugs pick up the ingredients for them, we might be able to get a lead."

"Exactly," replied Batman. On screen was the chemical formula for the fear toxin. "I say we start at Scarecrow's old company, Crane Chemicals. It would've been shut down when he was first sent to prison, but the remaining staff managed to keep it afloat. Crane could easily be stealing from them."

"What are we waiting for?" asked Rainbow. "I call dibs on the Batmobile!"