IN THE PRESENT TIME
“What? What’s wrong, princess? It seems like you have something on your mouth!” Discord mocked. Cadence angrily rocked back and forth as she was also tied to a chair. Discord’s smug smile then turned to an annoyed scowl. “Ughh, fine, let’s hear you talk.”
He snapped his fingers which made the cloth on her muzzle vanish. Cadence then glared at the evil draconequus. “What are you doing, Discord?! Let me go!”
“I’m afraid I no longer take orders from weak-minded equines who offer me nothing.” Discord growled.
“What do you mean? What have I ever done to you?” Cadence asked.
“Oh, nothing...actually, you’ve given me nothing, like I just stated.” Discord said.
“That’s not true! I’ve given you hope, mercy, and love! What those ponies have done to you was wrong, but I know that you will be a better creature than before!” Cadence appealed. Discord laughed at her once she finished.
“Hahahahaha!!!! That is truly hilarious!! You actually expect me to be like those self-righteous ponies? Ha! Think again, Cadence.” Discord mocked. “Besides, I already have a better friend who is already giving me a much better and fairer chance of reclaiming my glory.”
“Better friend? Who?” Cadence asked.
“See for yourself...” he smiled. He snapped his fingers and in a white flash appeared in cheerleader attire. “Go! Go! Go! Goooooo, JOKER!! HE’S OUR MAN! HE CAN DO IT WHILE NO ONE CAN!!” The Joker presented himself before her while confetti were flying everywhere.
Cadence widened her eyes in fearful shock as that very villain whom the Batman warned about was standing before her face to face. “You...you’re the Clowm Prince of Crime whom Batman spoke about!!” she cried.
“Awwww, he told you about me? I’m so touched! So he does care about me! That makes me love him even more! Hahahahaha!!!” Joker maniacally cackled.
“You two are working together?! You were his accomplice of the Canterlot library explosion?!” she asked Discord. He casually shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, I couldn’t miss out all the fun, you know.” he nonchalantly replied. This made her even more angry at him in a way in which she never expressed before.
“I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!! You killed all those ponies just for the sake of fun and laughs?! You are the worse creature to ever exist in the whole planet!!” Cadence wrathfully shrieked. “The princesses should have just left you as a stone statue! You’ve never been a good friend to us, and you are a horrible so-called friend even for Fluttershy!! You’ll never be a good creature!!”
She breathed heavily after releasing all of her wrath and frustration at him. Joker and Discord said nothing since they knew exactly what was going to happen next. Cadence had a full realization hitting her at that moment. She realized that what she said to Discord was completely contrary to what she had said to him several times before. Guilt and remorse immediately overtook her; tears started to form on her eyes. The villains wickedly smirked as their chaotic fun began to unfold.
“Discord...I-I-I am...so sorry. So sorry for what I said. I d-didn’t mean it. Please forgive me.” she sobbed. The Joker smiled even more; he took so much pleasure in all this.
“Mm-mm-mm, bad, bad alicorn.” he mockingly scolded. “I thought you said that you believed that Discord here will be a better creature, but now you’re saying that he...won’t? Talk about schizophrenia.”
“No, it’s not what I mean!” Cadence cried.
“Sure, sure. Did you ever believe that he will be a better creature than what he was before and now? Or did you encourage him only because you were afraid to express your true feelings? Y’know, since you rely on love rather than...” Joker closed his fists. “...tough love.” He punched her in the face.
He punched her in the face three more times until the chair fell on the ground with her on it. Discord happily clapped his hands at the brutal sight. “Hehe, this ought to be fun. Speaking of which, I think it’s time for our heroes to show up.” He grabbed two letters Joker wrote earlier and snapped his fingers to send them to their respective destinations.
IN THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE
Batman and Shining Armor were together in the crystal castle; they have been searching for Cadence all afternoon with no signs of her anywhere. The Dark Knight was afraid that The Joker had captured her while Shining thought Discord had abducted her.
“This is impossible! We can’t find my wife anywhere! I bet Discord is behind this!” Shining gritted his teeth.
“No. It’s The Joker. He was the one who murdered ponies at the Canterlot library and the pony called Fancy Pants. He is up to something.” Batman said.
“You saw him? He’s actually here in Equestria?!” shouted Shining.
“With my own eyes. I even discovered and fought him in Ponyville, and I must tell you that we cannot afford to lose any more lives. We must find him, Shining.” Batman sternly advised.
“Then we have no time to waste! We must find The Joker and continue to find Cadence! The Crystal Empire needs her!” said Shining. Suddenly, two letters appeared above them and landed on the floor next to them.
“Letters? What is it this time?” Shining rhetorically asked.
As they opened the letters, they read them individually. When they finished, they silently stared at each other, shock and anger increasing high. Without wasting a moment, they ran out of the castle, took some guards with them, and began to dig on the ground.
BACK UNDERGROUND
The Joker again smote her muzzle and kicked her so hard that the chair crashed against a wall, breaking the chair to pieces. He got close to her and repeatedly kicked her stomach. She screamed in pain from every severe kick she received. Discord was watching while eating popcorn and sitting on a couch. “Who needs an action movie if you have this before you!”
The Joker picked her bruised body up and threw her against a diamond-adorned wall which had sharp corners, making numerous cuts on her body. The diamonds cut loose her rope that bound her wings; she tried to fly but was too weak to do so due to the severe injuries.
A blade sprung from his shoe before he kicked her right wing, stabbing her in the process. She winced in pain from the stab. “Let me show you how Batman deals with criminals like me...show you who he really is.” he chuckled. He picked her up, body-slammed her on the ground, then smashed his fist on her left hoof.
“Do you know why you should never start with the head?” he asked. He slammed her head on the stony wall, increasing her number of bruises. “Because the victim gets all fuzzy. He can’t feel the next blow...like this.” he said, punching her chest. She couldn’t feel the pain anymore as her head got ‘fuzzy’.
“See?” Joker asked. “That’s how Batman dealt with me. He’s no better than I am, little horse. That’s just the sad truth.” Cadence found it very hard to believe it. Could Batman be that merciless and brutal? Is he an actual hero? Doubts started to creep into her mind.
“I’m sorry I have to put this up with you, dear. But it’s all going to be okay. You will rest from all of your pain for good...like how Rachel went out.” Joker said, smiling.
Batman, Shining Armor, and the guards were racing in the underground tunnels in search for Cadence. However, they were waylaid by a confusing maze that took them everywhere away from the villains’ hideout. “This maze never existed here before! Who constructed an underground maze without my permission?!” Shining bellowed.
Meanwhile, Batman got a flashback of him trying to save both Rachel and Harvey from The Joker. He remembered his heart-breaking experience of losing Rachel forever while Harvey had a fiery disfigurement that led him on the path to becoming Two-Face. He was hoping he and his comrades would save Cadence before it was too late.
“It’s been a fun ride while it lasted, Cadence. Toodles!!” Discord waved before vanishing from the room. The Joker gave his last look at the critically wounded alicorn.
“Have a good night rest, young lady. Finish your homework and be in bed by 9:00. And hey! Please tell the big man I said...hello.” Joker evilly smirked.
After Joker left the whole underground cave, Cadence weakly looked around and saw his tormentor along with Discord gone; afterwards, she noticed a bomb that had red digits counting down the detonation. Although she didn’t understand what that meant, judging by the villains’ farewell language and mannerisms, she realized her life was drawing to a tragic close. After thinking of her family, friends, and her whole kingdom, especially Twilight, Shining, and Batman, she shed her last tears and whispered, “I’m so sorry. I’ll miss you all.”
Batman and the others escaped the maze and were about to reach to the abandoned hideout...but they were too late. The underground cave exploded, clouding the entire entrance and creating a huge crater above them just outside the Crystal Empire. After the smoke settled, they saw what remained of the princess of love. Shining, at that moment, felt his heart break to a million pieces from the traumatizing sight.
“NOOOOOOOO!!!!!”