Batmare and the foal wonder!

Pipsqueak tapped the keys on the Bat-Computer in rapid succession. His little brow furrowed in concentration. As he typed a window opened, revealing a map of Equestria with a line of blue dots leading away from Moon Manor.

"Got it! Here, Alfalfa, take a look."

"Hmm... this has Batmare heading straight for... Canterlot! Zoom in a bit, if you please, master Pip."

"Okay, let's see... hey, the dots just stop here."

"That's odd, the last one is over an hour ago. We wonder what happened?"

"I think I can access the city's camera network from here. Let's see if we can get a visual." Tiny hooves typed triple time trying to find a match. "Ah, here we go, this camera covers the area we're interested in."

"Start the recording from an hour before she arrived, there may be some clue."

"Good idea Alfalfa, starting... now."

A grainy video came to life on the Bat-Computers' screen, it covered a curve in a road near Canterlot Mountain. Playing at four times normal speed, the hour seemed to zoom by. Suddenly, a flash of ponies appeared for a moment. Pip reset the video to just before the action and replayed the scene at normal speed. What he saw made his jaw drop. Walking into the side of the mountain were a white stallion and a brown mare, both earth ponies. They were led by what appeared to be a court jester, and flanked on either side by none other than the Happy Hatter and Two-Tone.

"Bu-buh, my- ma.... my pawents!"

"What would Jokmare want with your parents?"

"I don't know." Grim determination set on Pips' face. "But I'm going to do anything it takes to get them back."

"Let's see if the Jokmare has Batmare, as well."

The video continued, finally revealing a pony with a fishbowl on his head leading a limping white pegasus mare and an equally white rabbit into the same entrance. A few minutes later, a stealthy Batmare slowly crept her way inside, as well.

"Well," Alfalfa sighed with relief, "at least Batmare wasn't captured."

"I'm going." Pip stood up and declared with finality.

"We can't let you go, master Pip, you'd never rescue your parents by yourself."

"Twy and stop me."

"Oh we're not going to stop you, master Pip, we intend to go with you."

"Y-you, you will?" Gratitude bloomed in Pipsqueaks eyes.

"Of course! Just let us make a little costume change, first."

The assembled villains groaned in pain. The headache that they all felt replaced whatever sense of humor they once had. Mr. Cools' rolling cooler now stood out in the hallway, with the valve on the gas tank tightly shut. Mr. Cool himself sat duct-taped to a chair, his snout received similar treatment. Without the constant supply of cold gas, the fishbowl on his head had fogged up from his breathing.

"Mmmmm, mmMMMmmmm!" Mr. Cool argued.

"Just be glad your little oversight ended up knocking Batmare unconscious, too." Jokemare gave a stern look in Mr. Cools' direction. "Otherwise you'd be in the parasprite pit right now. How she managed to sneak in here I'll never know."

Just then, a purple unicorn and her dragon assistant walked into the room.

"Ah, Horseplay, I take it our guests are, comfortable?"

"Cozy as a clam, missus J!"

"Excellent, and the preparations for our... other guests?"

"Everything is ready to go, once everypony here knows their parts. And I've got our 'insurance' right here with me." Horseplay indicated Spike with a hoof.

"You truly are my most faithful student!" Adjusting the ice pack on her head, Jokemare continued. "Allright, everypony, lets' get down to business."

A pale blue unicorn stepped out into the hallway. Rather than her usual butler suit, however, she was now adorned with a light green skintight suit with dark green vines curling around it in ways that accentuated the mares' body. Here and there, stark, blue flowers bloomed from the vines as if by magic. Because it was by magic.

"It looks like this time Jokemare picked the wrong poison!"

"Um, yeah! Thanks for helping, by the way, with Poison Joke I'm sure to get my pawents back!"

"We don't think it's going to be that simple, our enthusiastic little adventurer."

"What do you mean?"

"We think we're going to need a little help if we want to ride this rail all the way."

"I still don't follow, who else is there?"

"We need something to get our engines going, if you follow our train of thought."

"Um, an energy dwink?"

"Ugh, just follow us!"