Two carriages stopped in front of a mansion, on the outskirts of Canterlot and protected by a small strip of forest. Coming out of the carriages were Commissioner Low Bow, a short, slightly stout, brown-haired earth pony with a graying mane, and Mayor Misleading Truth, a unicorn mare with bluish fur and a black mane combed into a bun over her head.
"Ah, mayor, nice to see you" said the commissioner as he approached, kissing her right hoof.
"Same here, commissioner, how is you doing at the police station?" the mayor said as they both approached the doors.
"Not bad, though, I must admit things have gotten a bit complicated with everything that happened yesterday."
"For you and everypony, Commissar" said a voice from the doors, taking over as Rough Thorn, Falcone's second in command. "Falcone's fall has been a blow to all of us."
"I agree" commented the mayor. "And since he's locked up in the castle, I'm not sure we can get him out, I hope you have a plan."
"We'll discuss that inside, please come in."
The three entered the mansion, oblivious to what was happening beyond. A unicorn pony was wandering around the property, but at one point, something dug hard into its neck. With a small groan, he magically pulled the thing out of him and looked at it, seeing something that looked like a syringe. Before long, he began to feel dizzy, his eyes closed on their own and his legs no longer supported him. As he fell, the last thing he saw before falling into unconsciousness was a dark figure with large horns on its head and white eyes.
Batmane walked over, making sure the guard was asleep, pulling out the little blowgun again with his magic, and watching the other guards and drivers. Accurately, he fired several more sedatives, putting all the ponies outside to sleep, and once done, he put the blowgun away and activated one of Time's additions. Everything around him became blacker, and the recently slept ponies were highlighted in blue, all with the same status along with their vital signs, 'unconscious'. The bat made sure nopony else was there, then began searching along the wall for the fuse box that controlled the entire mansion's electricity from the Canterlot power station.
He didn't take long to find it, standing out in an orange hue, so he deactivated 'predator mode' and walked over, pulling a small circular object from his belt, opening the fuse box and placing the device with the wires, holding on to these immediately. Batmane closed the box and walked away, searching for a route of entry as he made sure he had the small crystal he had bought days ago for situations like this.
Inside, the commissioner, the mayor and Rough Thorn entered the large dining room that the mobster had, but despite how enormous the table was, there was only one mare with white hair and a black mane, a mare that smiled at the newcomers.
"Wow, look who they are, if they are the commissioner and the mayor, how are they?"
"You didn't say she'd be here," Low said with a raised eyebrow, to which Rough shrugged.
"Full Moon is, like me, one of the high-ranking members of the mafia, and if something happens to Falcone, she must be here."
The commissioner doubtfully observed Full Moon, known for sending all her enemies and debtors to the river, which earned her the name of Fish Mooney, he had never fully trusted her. Still, he wasn't going to challenge her, or the owner of the house, so he sat at the table, the mayor sitting next to him, facing them the two mobsters. Several servants approached with the food, one of them setting up a small, simple silver bonfire and lighting a fire, lighting the room a little more with his glow.
"I still don't understand why you put a fire here" wondered Low.
"I like the atmosphere it gives to the dining room, don't you agree, Mrs. Truth?"
"Yes, my husband wanted one for our house, but he always puts off buying it" said the mare with a small laugh, being interrupted by a throat clearing from the commissioner.
"Well, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I think we should address the issue we're here for."
"The commissioner is right" Full Moon said. "Falcone's arrest will be a blow to business. Is there a way to get him released?"
"Conventional methods won't work," the mayor said with a sigh, cutting a piece of her food. "They've given too much evidence against our usual judges and prosecutors, and Princess Luna wants to make sure Falcone is tried by 'clean' ponies."
"That was to be expected," Rough commented. "Do we know who will be the judge?"
"No, but we do know who the prosecutor will be."
"Don't tell me, Low" interrupted Full with a smile. "It will be that Fancy Pants, right?"
"The same. And we won't be able to buy that one."
"There are other methods, Commissioner. Mayor Truth, do you think we could keep our beloved prosecutor alone in his office?" Rough asked as he popped a piece of the roasted eggplant into his mouth.
"Of course, I's been doing it for the last two years" said the mare with a small laugh.
"Well, I'll send one of my hit pony, although it's a shame that Zuchetto is behind bars, he was good at his job. Anyway, once Mr. Pants is eliminated, we'll buy the next prosecutor who will prosecute Falcone."
"If Fancy dies, I have a feeling the princesses will want to choose the prosecutor themselves, that is if they don't decide to do it themselves."
"Don't worry, Low, princesses don't usually get into that, much less Celestia" Full Moon replied with a small laugh.
"We'll see what we do if the princesses choose the prosecutor" Rough commented, then looking at the rest. "Since we have talked about this topic, let's go to another point, what do we do with Batmane?"
The room was silent for a few moments, neither of them daring to speak. Finally, the mayor cleared her throat.
"Do you really believe that urban legend?"
"Come on Mayor, we both know it's real, we can't deny it anymore, can we Commissioner?"
Low grunted, slicing his own eggplant with his knife.
"Princess Celestia has given an order to the royal guard and the police, she wants us to catch this Batmane and bring him to her. From her words, he is a pony that needs help."
"Always so kind" Full Moon commented as she rolled hef eyes. "Are you going to carry out that order?"
"Officially, yes, unofficially... I have instructed my most loyal agents not to bother incapacitating him, instead I want them to shoot to kill."
"If you need us to supply you with another class of weapons, the Penguin will be happy to have another client."
"No need, Mr. Thorn, we'll manage."
Rough nodded, going back to his food and leaving the room silent for a few moments. Full Moon swallowed the piece of food in her mouth and was about to say something, but was interrupted when the lights went out, leaving everything in darkness, except for a small strip of light given by the fire.
"What happened?" the mayor asked as she stood up, careful not to accidentally trip.
"There must be some power failure," Rough theorized, also getting up. "Stay here, I'll bring one of my ponies to..."
His words were interrupted when the doors leading to the dining room were flung open, and there, dimly illuminated by the fire, was the silhouette of a being with horns and white eyes, who began to slowly approach under the watchful gaze of the presents.
"Ladies, gentlestallions... You've eaten well... You've eaten Canterlot's wealth... its spirit... But your feast is nearly over... From this moment on..." The figure of Batmane raised the upper deck of fire in a magical aura, mistaking those present who saw him as an earth pony. "NONE of you are safe."
Batmane finished covering the fire and plunged everything into the deepest darkness. Shortly after, the lights came back on, but the bat was no longer among them.
Luna opened her eyes again and got up in her bed, the same feeling she had the night before. Getting up from the bed, she went out onto the balcony, but instead of looking out into the night, she focused her attention on the same corner as before, seeing Batmane waiting.
"Do you know that my sister has placed an arrest warrant on you?"
"Are you planning to arrest me?"
"I'm not sure, you've given us the opportunity to imprison Falcone, but I'm still not sure if I should trust you... Anyway, what did you come here for this time?"
Batmane pulled a crystal from within his cloak, enveloping it in a magical aura that made Luna arch an eyebrow.
"How come you do magic without a horn?" she asked as she grasped the item in her own magic, receiving no response. "Okay, don't tell me..."
Luna looked at the crystal with curiosity, a curiosity that she increased when noticing magical energy within it. Feeling a hunch, she imprinted a small amount of magic on the object, which vibrated a few seconds before it began to speak.
"I think we should address the issue we're here for."
"The commissioner is right. Falcone's arrest will be a blow to business. Is there a way to get him released?"
Luna stopped the playback and watched Batmane in shock.
"Echo Crystal... How did you get it?"
"I have my resources... In there you have, practically, a confession from Police Commissioner Low Bow, Mayor Misleading Truth, and two of Falcone's high-ranking mobsters."
Luna stared at Batmane for a while before focusing on the echo crystal.
"Okay, I admit it… you've earned my trust. But don't expect my sister to think the same."
Luna looked up from her again, only to see that she was alone again. This time, she didn't bother trying to locate him, instead she entered her room and left the echo crystal on her desk. She had to go back to protecting the dreams of her subjects, but when the sun came up, she was going to arrest a few ponies.
Princess Luna walked briskly through the halls of the castle toward the throne room, accompanied by two of her night guards, a unicorn and a thestral. Earlier she had gone to Commissioner Low Bow's house an hour earlier to arrest him and search his house with a group of her night watch, and she would have gone to the mayor's if she hadn't received a letter her sister's urgent. The night alicorn arrived at the doors, opening them with her magic and entering, seeing Celestia on her throne, her face calm for everypony, but for her, she knew very well her true feelings, and she was not very happy. .
"Where were you, Sister?" she said in a calm voice, but Luna could see through that mask Celestia wore.
Luna could recognize the look that she was giving her sister, a look that she, before her banishment, had seen a lot throughout the centuries. She always gave her that look when she did something that either disappointed her or angered her, if she ever disagreed with her, passing a law without consulting her first, among many other things. When she returned from the moon, Celestia avoided having to give her that look, perhaps because she still felt guilty about it, and partly it was also because the princess of the night had made sure to avoid that situation and get into conflict again. So it was until that little accident that Twilight's friendship map sent Starlight to fix things. Since then, she thought that it would never happen again, until now.
"Arresting Commissioner Low, I thought I told you at breakfast."
"I thought you would first wait until I finished my morning chores to discuss it" Celestia argued, Luna could already see that this time, the look was disappointed.
"I thought it wouldn't be necessary, as I showed you this morning, the Echo Crystal presented enough evidence against him, the mayor and…"
"I know, but you should have discussed it with me anyway, this is a diarchy, not a monarchy, Luna."
The princess of the night forced herself to bite her tongue, but she kept Celestia's gaze. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that both her and her sister's guards were getting nervous, not used to such a situation.
"Leave us alone," Celestia ordered, still watching her sister.
The guards looked at each other before obeying, and Luna nodded her own to do the same. When the last of them left, Celestia got up from her throne and started down the stairs towards her sister.
"Who's your contact, Luna? You're not going to tell me that all those evidences you've gotten these days were on your own, right?"
"I have my sources" Luna replied with a shrug.
"That source isn't by any chance Batmane, is it?" Celestia finished going down the stairs and stood right in front of Luna, staring at her.
"Maybe."
Celestia's forehead creased slightly, a small crack in her emotionless mask, before she returned to her unflappable face.
"Luna, you know what I think of that pony."
"I know, but that pony has turned Falcone over to us, revealed the identities of the corrupt judges and prosecutors, and given us a confession from the Commissioner, the mayor, and two of the mob bosses. I don't see a problem with him. "
"He got it illegally," Celestia said, her wings opening slightly, another display of her true emotions. "He has hurt other ponies, broken their bones, Luna."
"Criminals" replied the princess of the night with a frown. "Besides, I haven't done anything illegal, I've just used evidence given to me. And last time I checked, that wasn't illegal."
"That pony has to stop before he hurts himself, he may even need psychological help."
"First, you can't judge his mental sanity without meeting him first, and second, I don't see you telling Twilight and her friends not to save the day so they don't get hurt."
Celestia spread her wings fully, in an instinctive act of looking intimidating, which Luna was not impressed with.
"That is very, very different, and you know it. They were chosen by the Tree of Harmony, it was their destiny, besides, they are not just dedicated to saving the day, as you have said. This pony, however, has passed whole nights on the streets fighting criminals. He has to stop, now, and since he's your source, you'll let him know."
Luna growled and hit the ground with her hoof, creating a small crack in the marble.
"You said yourself that this is a diarchy, so you have no right to order me around. I will deal with Batmane as I see fit."
Luna held her sister's gaze for a while before turning and starting to leave the throne room.
"We're not done, Luna" her sister said behind her.
"I think so," Luna replied, stopping at the door and looking over her shoulder at her. "I'm going to go arrest the mayor and then I'm going to go after the mob bosses. Don't wait for me to eat."
With those words, Luna left the room, leaving Celestia alone, who watched the door for a long time before sighing. She glanced from it to the windows, taking in the rays of the sun streaming through the stained glass, her thoughts of Batmane and, more importantly, her sister. Why did it seem like they were always destined to fight from time to time?
A carriage, pulled by a unicorn and an earth pony, was headed to the outskirts of Canterlot, more specifically, to the Ace Wing Chemicals weather station. Inside the carriage were three other stallions, a pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony, the latter dressed in a full-body black tuxedo suit, hiding his hind legs, and, on his head, a red hood that hid his face completely, even his tail was hidden by a cape of the same color as his hood.
"Well, the plan is simple, we go in, our dear guest takes us to the station manager's office, we steal the safe and we leave, understood?" the unicorn asked.
The pegasus nodded, but the one wearing the hood did not, so the unicorn raised his pistol to his head, knocking him back.
"Understood?" he asked again.
The earth pony did nod this time, leaving the unicorn satisfied.
"Boss, who is our guest?" asked the pegasus curiously. "You never told us."
"Because there's no need, now shut up, we're almost there."
About ten more minutes passed before the carriage stopped in front of the doors of the climatic power station. The stallions pulling the cart disengaged as the others got out. When they were ready, the unicorn passed them his weapons and they approached the doors, and after a few blows from the earth pony, they managed to open them, pushing the hooded pony forward. The five of them moved cautiously, keeping an eye out for any security guards in the building.
They entered the room where the different types of clouds were made, rainy, electric, snowy... But the red hooded pony took them further to a different room, with numerous tanks with different types of chemicals with which they experimented in the clouds, and, overhead, walkways made of enchanted clouds for earth ponies and unicorns to walk through, made of that material to prevent chemical corrosion of the metal. The group moved at a good pace, in the dark and in silence, stopping when a beam of light illuminated them.
"Stop!"
The group turned, alarmed, to see a unicorn who was pointing a flashlight at them and had a small earpiece in his ear.
"We have intruders in the chemical section!" he yelled as he pulled a small crossbow from his belt.
The head of the operation cursed as he drew his pistol and fired. The guard narrowly dodged and hid behind a tank as the group ran off. Ahead of them, emerging from behind another of the tanks, was another guard, an earth pony, crossbow at the ready, shooting several shavings. The thieves parted ways, three on one side and the chief with the hooded pony on another. They ran for a while until they reached some stairs that led up to the cloud walkways, and when the boss saw the beams of the flashlights approaching, he forced the earth pony to climb up, and in his alarmed state, he didn't notice the sign to one side.
To earth ponies and unicorns, beware, the solidity spells in the clouds are being strengthened. Walk carefully.
The two of them ran down the walkways, the hooded pony more nervous than usual due to the material on the floor, which trembled with every step, hearing several guards climbing the stairs. It wasn't long before the clouds collapsed under the weight of the unicorn, who fell towards one of the tanks, but managed to grab onto the edge.
"Fuck! Help me!"
The hooded pony turned, looking at the pony in distress... the pony that had dragged him into this situation. Slowly backing away, he turned and ran, ignoring the cries for help and fury from the unicorn, which slipped lower and lower until he fell. With a scream, he rushed into the tank full of chemicals, with the bad luck that his neck hit the edge, dying instantly and his body sinking. Two guards ran through the area, taking care to pass through the broken clouds, and without noticing the death that had just occurred.
The hooded pony came to a fork, and, nervous and scared, tried to remember the paths of those walkways, turning to the right. From time to time, he would turn his head to see if he was being followed, until he came to another fork, one he knew the exit was to the right of him. As he turned in that direction, something leaped from the darkness above, several meters from him... Batmane. Terrified, the pony gave up and started running as fast as he could, sensing that the bat was behind him
The pony spun around one last time, dropping his hoof onto an unstable section of cloud and falling into the void. With a cry of terror, he managed to cling to the railing, watching as Batmane quickened his pace, and in that moment, it was something that relieved him. But to his horror, the object he was clinging to began to give way, as it too was made of clouds. Desperate, he tried to push himself up, which only hastened his fate. With one last cry, he fell into the tank just below him, the last thing he saw before he sank into the chemicals was the figure of the bat.
Batmane growled and ran over, ready to save the pony, but when he looked out, he saw that the pony fell into the chemicals. As much as he wanted to save him, he knew well that falling here was an almost certain guarantee of death. A chip passed near him, and turning, he saw two guards aiming crossbows at it. Pulling the batclaw, he anchored it to one of the ceiling beams and climbed up. He had managed to catch the other three thieves, and despite this, the fourth died, so he took it as a failure.
Far away, in the river, and near the large pipes that took out the chemical waste that would later be cleaned in the dam, a figure crawled. He was dressed in a suit that was falling apart, revealing the pure white fur underneath, and the cutie mark, or what was left of it, as it was now nothing more than a black stain. The pony crawled into a pool of stagnant water, pulling off the red hood he was wearing and revealing his face, a face as white as the rest of his fur, a sickly green mane, and a grim smile created by two deep gashes, and that now, they were even more pronounced and reddish in color by the chemicals.
The earth pony stared into the puddle, the last of his mental barriers falling and crumbling, clutching his head with both hooves as he let out a small giggle, which then turned into a laugh, ending in a maniacal guffaw.