While Equestria was known as a peaceful society, that didn't mean that crime was non-existent. Even violent crime, though a rarity, did happen from time to time. And whenever it did it was almost always front page news, no matter where or when it happened.
Of course, there was one thing that any number of criminals always feared whether they admitted to it or not. Something (or rather someone) that would make their very fur, feathers or other outer extremities crawl: Spider Mare. By now her exploits both alone and with her crime fighting companion Black Cat were known far and wide. Yet there were still criminals who believed it was all just made up, a scare tactic intended to keep would be law breakers in line.
So it is that our story begins with what by now must seem commonplace even in a town like Ponyville, the self-proclaimed friendship capitol of Equestria.
It happened so fast there was hardly time to sound an alarm, an alarm that was quickly silenced by the sound of a high powered rifle shooting off a laser blast. The blast quickly destroyed the alarm system, and the sound of screams replaced the blaring tones of the alarm bells.
Several ponies in black, armored suits with green visors for eyes and each packing a laser rifle of their own were going around. They had specifically targeted this location: The first national bank of Ponyville. And while most of the ponies were brandishing their rifles at other ponies scattered throughout the bank, one was currently having a conversation with a plump earth pony mare with a shiny silver coat. Her darker grey mane and tail stood on edge, and her ruby red eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates from the fright. Her cutie mark had unfortunately singled her out as the bank president: Three small jewels spaced apart just roughly enough to form a triangle.
"Now listen here, Miss. Silver Standard," The armored pony spoke in a deep and ominous tone of voice. "Here's how this is gonna work. Just give me and my boys all the money you've got in the vault and any you've got stored anywhere else in this here building. We're cleaning it out, think of it as late spring cleaning. Just do that, and nopony has to get hurt. Please, don't make me force your doctor to have to do some 'corrective surgery' on that pretty face of yours."
Silver Standard gulped and obeyed, trotting over to the vault and opening it with a special key. "It's all yours, every last bit!" She tried to sound fearless but her tone of voice betrayed her. "Just don't hurt me, or my customers."
The armored pony simply lowered his rifle and trotted over, giving a whistle to some of the other armored ponies. "Come on, boys. Let's grab what we came for and get out! The cops will be here any minute, and we've gotta be long gone by then!"
"Yes sir, boss!" Two other armored ponies replied as they rushed over, quickly filling up huge sacks with every single bit coin stashed within the vast confines of the bank! In the blink of an eye, the vault was completely emptied, not a single bit was left.
The remaining armored ponies slowly left their posts to join their comrades, and the one who had threatened Silver Standard a moment prior seemed to smile. "Pleasure doing business with you, mares and gentlestallions. And remember, don't any of you think of telling the cops about us. If anypony asks, you saw nothing! After all, bad things happen to tattle-tales!" Then with a laugh, he and the rest of the armored ponies fled the bank.
The small group quickly ran through the outskirts of town, before finally ducking into a back alley to count their loot. "Looks like we hit the jackpot, boys!" One of the stallions declared without lifting up any part of his armored suit. "Now we just need to hide out until the heat dies down. Should be easy enough to give the cops the slip if we do that."
But at that moment a voice unfamiliar to the criminals spoke up. "Ooh, yeah, the shady back alleys. Yeah, they'll totally never think to look for you here. You might as well hang up a sign that says 'Come Arrest Us'."
"I guess someponies just never learn." Another unfamiliar voice commented in what sounded like a mocking tone of voice.
The armored ponies were quick to brandish their rifles, pointing them in all directions as they tried to scan for signs of a possible intruder. "Who's there?!" The one from before shouted! "Whoever you are, you're messing with the wrong crowd! We've got weapons!"
But the voice that had been the first to speak to the criminals only replied. "Ooh, yeah! Laser rifles! Really scary! I know how you 'tough guys' work. Let's just say I've got friends in high places." And then, from above came a rain of what could best be described as some kind of webbing. Before any of the armored ponies could react, they felt their weapons be yanked out of their very hooves!
Then, jumping down into the alleyway, was a pony wearing a red and blue colored suit with lines that loosely resembled a spider. Accompanying her was a pony wearing a long, black bodysuit and a black mask across his face. He had some kind of stick attached to one side of him.
The lead pony in the group of armored robbers growled. "Spider-Mare!"
Spider Mare grinned and smiled as she effortlessly crushed all the laser rifles that were brought before her. "You boys really gotta learn to be more careful with your toys, or somepony could really hurt themselves."
"We're not scared of you, Spider Mare! You're outnumbered!" Another robber shouted. "You and Black Cat picked the wrong day to mess with us!"
Black Cat only threw back his head and laughed. "Then come and get us if you're not afraid. We're open."
Without hesitation, one of the robbers rushed forward in preparation to throw a punch.
Black Cat and Spider Mare both dodged out of the way, and Spider-Mare quickly swung around and brought the would-be-attacker down with a swift kick to the back. A flick of the wrist tied him down to the ground with webbing.
The process quickly repeated itself as the crime fighting duo effortlessly subdued every single armored robber. Without their laser rifles, the thugs didn't stand a chance.
Black Cat brought down the leader with a stream of webbing, pinning him to a wall as the robber struggled in vain to break free. "Let that be a lesson to all of you," He declared to the subdued gang. "Crime doesn't pay."
"We'll just be taking those bits you stole back now," Spider Mare declared as she used some of her webbing to retrieve the sack of bits. Then, in the distance she heard the sound of police sirens. "I think we'll let the law handle things from here. And when you're in the slammer, just tell 'em your friendly neighborhood Spider Mare sent you." And with that, she and Black Cat webbed back up and disappeared from the alley as if they'd never been there.
The police arrived in the alleyway about a moment later. Officer Copper Top could only smile when she saw the scene that greeted her eyes. Spider Mare and Black Cat had done it again.
"We sure showed them, didn't we?" Spider Mare smiled as she watched the scene from a nearby rooftop.
Black Cat nodded, lifting up his mask to reveal his identity of Cheese Sandwich. And he saw his partner do the same, revealing the love of his life in Pinkie Pie. "Yes, honey, we certainly did. That should hopefully put an end to the Jade Syndicate, at least for the foreseeable future."
Pinkie's smile grew brighter. "All in a day's work. Another criminal gang gets taken down and the streets are made even safer. I really couldn't ask for anything else." Then she let out a yawn.
Cheese turned to look at his wife and couldn't help but be concerned, especially since he noticed the slight bangs beginning to form under Pinkie's blue eyes. "Are you okay, dear?"
"I'm fine!" Pinkie Pie insisted as she shook her head to shake the cobwebs. "Just a little tired, is all. But I'll sleep a lot better now that I know the Jade Syndicate isn't terrorizing ponies and robbing banks. Those late night stake-outs take a lot out of you," Then she pulled down her mask to resume her secret crime fighting identity. "Now come on. We've gotta get these bits back to the ponies. Think of it as an early Hearth's Warming present." And after picking up the sack, she took to the air via her webbing.
Cheese Sandwich simply put his mask back on and followed his wife, even though he couldn't help but think to himself. "She's been tired a lot, lately. Something's got to be up. I just wish I knew what. We're married now, there shouldn't be any more secrets between us."
The bits were soon returned to the bank, and Silver Standard couldn't help but cry out "Thank you, Spider-Mare!", even though by the time she made such a cry the wall crawler had already disappeared into the distance.
Spider Mare and Black Cat then returned to the loft above Sugarcube Corner, ready to enjoy some rest and relaxation for the first time in what had to have been several days. Taking on this heavily armed and hi-tech gang of bank robbers had been grueling and exhausting work.
However, as they drew near they happened to notice a very familiar figure waiting outside the bakery. It was Officer Copper Top, and she seemed to have been waiting for some time if the anxious look on her face was anything to go by.
So the crime fighting pair swooped down to talk to Ponyville's top cop, with whom they had a secret connection with. Copper Top was the one who'd tipped them off about the Jade Syndicate, in exchange for them helping her to bust them.
"Spider Mare, Black Cat," Officer Copper Top greeted the two in that formal tone of hers. Her Manehattan accent still shining through despite all the time she'd been spending in Ponyville. "I was hoping to run into you two."
Spider Mare cheerfully greeted. "Thanks again for the tip about the Jade Syndicate. You won't have to worry about them any longer. I doubt any stragglers will want to try their luck after seeing the big boss get carted off to jail."
Black Cat nodded. "Honestly, those guys were all talk. Without their rifles, they were nothing," Then he pondered. "But where could they have gotten such hi-tech equipment? I don't think you could just pick that stuff up off the street, or even the black market."
Copper Top could only shake her head in response. "I'm afraid we don't know yet. We're going to start interrogations of the head honcho as soon as we can nail down the charges against them," Then she cleared her throat. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you two about. Something's come up, and I figured it'd be best if you heard it from me rather than from somepony less friendly."
"What are you talking about?" The wall crawler questioned with concern. "I thought we did a good job covering our tracks so that nopony but us knows about our little 'meetings'."
"Probably better to show you rather than try to tell you," Cooper Top explained and pulled out a clipping of a newspaper article. "Saw this posted on the board when I came in for my shift this morning. I knew I had to show it to you as soon as possible. You won't like it."
Spider Mare quickly took the clipping and brought it close. The newspaper from which the clipping had come from was a paper called Daily Bugle. The headline boldly proclaimed: "Spider Mare Strikes Again" and then contained the beginnings of a blurb. Said blurb mentioned Spider Mare in very unfaltering terms.
But it was what was beneath words such as "Public Nuisance" and "Masquerading Menace" that caught the costumed crime fighter's attention! She read aloud: "Authorities have implicated Spider Mare in yet another hi tech robbery. This time, she was spotted fleeing the scene with a powerful generator lifted from a science expo being held in downtown Manehattan. This is but the latest in a string of robberies and other crimes that the wall crawler has been unmistakably implicated in over the past two and a half months."
"It gets worse," Officer Copper Top glumly told the wall crawler. "I just heard from the department that they're sending the royal guard to Manehattan to investigate. And they're under orders to capture you if they spot you."
"This has to be a mistake! I haven't been to Manehattan in a long time!" Spider Mare firmly insisted on her innocence!
Black Cat then saw fit to ask. "Where is this Daily Bugle that's been printing such outlandish stories?"
"My sources tell me it's in Manehattan, near the theater district," Copper Top informed the two. "If it's getting to the point where the royal guard has to get involved, then it's serious. It may only be a matter of time before orders are sent to every police and law keeping unit in Equestria to issue a warrant for your arrest. If you don't want it to come to that, you'd better find a way to clear your name while you still can."
Spider Mare looked back to Black Cat with a look of fiery determination in her eyes. "We're leaving for Manehattan first thing in the morning! Whoever the publisher is, he or she is gonna regret trying to slander my reputation! I would never steal from ponies, or other creatures. Everyone should know that by now."
Copper Top tipped her hat and adjusted her sunglasses. "Well, whatever happens, just make sure you don't mention how you found out about this. If push comes to shove, I know nothing," And she then warned. "Even if we are partners, if the law gets between us I'm gonna have to side with the law." She then departed. The stakes had now made themselves known.