//------------------------------// // Reunions // Story: A Dark Knight Over Canterlot // by Battwell //------------------------------// Canterlot High "Ugh! What is taking her so long?" Rainbow Dash complained, her body involuntarily shivering due to the harsh cold, "Brrr... I'm freezing my butt off out here." It was a very cold day in Canterlot City, winter was hitting the town with full force as it neared Christmas Eve. The Rainbooms were currently waiting outside the school in front of the statue for their friend, Princess Twilight, to show up to spend the holiday season with them. Rarity rolled her eyes at her friend, "Honestly, Rainbow Dash, must you act so uncouth? Plus if you are as cold as you make it out to be, maybe you should have worn the proper attire." The Fashionista stated, showing off her winter attire. A purple overcoat with a pink, fluffy scarf over her neck. On her head was a beanie of the same color as her overcoat and a pair of pink earmuffs to keep her ears warm. Rainbow turned her head and glared at her friend, "Well exuuuuuse me, but not all of us are as "In touch" in fashion as you are." She replied, using her freezing cold fingers as quotation marks as she spoke. "Besides we've been waiting here for over an hour!" It was then that Twilight, or Sci-Twi as Pinkie called her on occasion, decided to speak up, "Actually, Rainbow Dash, school only ended a half hour ago." The prismatic athlete looked at the nerdy teenager with a bewildered expression, "Wait, really?" "YEPAROONI!!!" Pinkie shouted, suddenly popping up behind Rainbow, scaring the impatient girl, "I've been counting the seconds until Twilight shows up and we can throw a massive 'Princess Twilight's First Christmas' party!" Sunset Shimmer smirked as she placed her hand on her hip, "So that's how you've been occupying yourself this whole time, huh Pinkie?" She asked, to which Pinkie nodded enthusiastically, "Heh, sure wish RD could do that." The former Equestrian muttered loud enough to be heard. Rainbow pouted like an infant while everyone else laughed, "Yeah yeah, laugh it up, but can you all blame me? It's like negative one thousand degrees out here!" Sci-Twi frowned, mentally facepalming at Rainbow's comment, "There's no such thing as negative one thousand degrees below zero, Rainbow Dash." Now it was RD's turn to frown, "It's an expression, Twi. Have you ever heard of an expression?" She exclaimed mockingly before a sly smirk appeared on her face, "No, because you're an egghead." Sci-Twi glared daggers at her prismatic friend, "I am NOT an egghead, as you so eloquently put it. I'm just well educated, unlike a certain athlete in our group." She jabbed back in a passive aggressive tone. Fluttershy, already seeing the tension grow between her two friends, decided to pipe up, "Oh... um... please don't fight. Friends don't fight with each other. So.... could you say sorry to one another... if you don't mind, that is." The two looked at the shy girl and their expressions softened. They both sighed before looking at each other again, "Sorry about the jab, Rainbow." Sci-Twi apologized. RD rubbed her elbow awkwardly, "Yeah, me too. But you gotta admit that it is freezing out here!" She exclaimed before turning to Applejack, who had been silent this whole time, "I mean, c'mon AJ, how are you not a popsicle right now?" The apple farmer shrugged, "Guess Ah'm used to tha cold from all that workin' on tha farm, Ah guess." Rainbow grumbled under her breath as she turned away, setting her sights on the statue. All of a sudden, the base of the statue shimmered slightly, signifying that someone was coming through. The girls' expressions brightened as two familiar figures walked through the portal. Princess Twilight and Spike. Twilight let out a breath of fresh air, holding the straps of her backpack, which used to be her saddlebags, before wrapping her arms around herself due to the cold. "GAH!" Twilight exclaimed loudly, "W-W-Why is i-it s-s-so c-c-c-c-cold?" The former Alicorn shivered before being tackled into the snow by Pinkie Pie, showing her affection towards her Equestrian friend. "TWILIGHT!!!" Pinkie shouted right in Twilight's ear, "OH MY GOSH IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ARE YOU EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS WAIT YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT CHRISTMAS IS WELL DON'T WORRY AUNTIE PINKIE IS HERE TO SHOW YOU STARTING BY THROWING YOU YOUR VERY FIRST CHRISTMAS PARTY!" She shouted all without taking a single breath. "P-Pinkie... Can't.... Breathe..." Twilight gasped out underneath the weight of her hyperactive friend. Spike chuckled at the sight as he saw Pinkie get up off of Twilight. As the Princess dusted all of the snow off of her, the rest of the Rainbooms giggled before making their way over to their friend. "How've ya been, sugarcube?" Applejack asked as she hugged her friend. Twilight shrugged as the embrace ended, "Eh, I've been pretty busy, what with running the School of Friendship and all." It was then that Rainbow Dash busted out laughing, giving her friend a sideways hug, "A School of Friendship? C'mon, Twi, you know you can't teach friendship in a classroom." Twilight frowned slightly, "W-Why not?" Rainbow's expression turned dead serious, "Y-You're kidding, right? Friendship can't be taught with books and fancy shcmancy words, Twi. People have to experience it for themselves." Sunset shrugged as she approached the pair, "Meh, I think it could work, if it's all implemented properly." As Rainbow grumbled in disagreement, the two friends held each other in a tight embrace, happy to see one another. The hug ended as Sunset asked, "So how does one run a School of Friendship exactly?" Twilight giggled before replying, "Ehehehe... It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. In fact, just a few weeks ago we had a former student try and drain all of the magic from Equestria." Sunset's eyes widened at that, "Woah, really? How'd that turn out?" "She's... received her punishment." Twilight said hesitantly, "Although Tartarus is no place for a child." She added in her mind. Cozy's sentence in Tartarus bothered Twilight, but what could she do? Luna told her after she had already placed Cozy Glow right next to Tirek. Tirek of all creatures. Really made her feel like she had no say or authority, even though she was a fellow Princess. Her train of thought was broken as Rarity approached her, "Well darling, if anyone can get through that and still deal with all the work that comes with running a school, it's you." She said, boosting Twilight's confidence as she hugged her friend. The Princess turned to Fluttershy, who was currently giving Spike a belly rub. The shy girl got to her feet and gave Twilight a big hug. "Goodness, sounds like a lot of pressure is on your shoulders, Twilight." Twilight giggled nervously, "You don't know the half of it." Once the hug ceased, Twilight finally took notice of her counterpart, standing a few meters away from her, kicking the snow slightly. As the two counterparts stared at one another, Pinkie leaned in towards Rainbow's ear and whispered, "Awwwwkwaaard." Rainbow snickered at that as Pinkie zoomed away from her. Sci-Twi rubbed her arm nervously and looked away, "H-Hi there, Princess." She greeted awkwardly. Twilight looked away, looking ever so slightly bitter. Nobody noticed, except for Sunset, she would have to bring this up with Twilight later. "Hey." Twilight muttered in an attempt at being polite. Spike, sensing the tension and awkwardness, coughed into his paw and asked, "Sooo, where's other me?" Sci-Twi perked up at that, "Oh, he's at home napping. Either that or he's chasing his tail, who knows with that dog." "Cool, can't wait to meet him." Spike said, remaining optimistic. "Well, what are we waiting for?!" Pinkie exclaimed loudly, "Let's get this weekend started!!!" "I thought you'd never ask, darling." Rarity swooned before pointing to the sky dramatically, "TO THE MALL!!!" While everyone laughed at the Fashionista's antics, Sunset just stared at Twilight. She was looking at the ground, clearly thinking about something. Something was on her mind, and before this weekend was through, Sunset would get to the bottom of it. After all, what are friends for? The Batwing flew through the clouds, parting them so the Dark Knight could get a clear view of Canterlot City from his plane. Riddler was here somewhere, for some unknown purpose. Batman would find out what that reason is, and put a stop to it. "Sir?" Alfred's voice suddenly sounded off in Batman's ear, "What exactly do we know of this place. In all my years I've never seen this town in the news or anything. It seems rather... peaceful." "Not everything is as it seems, Alfred, I've had this place on my radar for a while now." Batman revealed before continuing, "There's been some strange magical phenomena appearing in this city for quite sometime now. It's just that Amanda Waller and the United States Government have been covering it up." Alfred was confused, "Why on Earth would they do that?" "The Earth's already got Aliens to worry about, Waller thinks that magical disruptions would be too much for people to handle." "Am I correct in assuming that you got this information illegally, Master Bruce?" "When the Justice League took down Brainiac and Waller shut down Project Cadmus, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the government and what they were hiding. I stumbled across Canterlot City in my search and decided to keep tabs on it." Batman revealed. Alfred was less than surprised, "You hacked the United States Government?" Batman shrugged, "Wouldn't be my first time." He replied before adding, "From what I gathered, everyone in the city has an altered skin pigmentation. From what I could gather from Zatanna and Dr. Fate, there was a magical outburst a thousand years ago that affected the populace's DNA. It passed down from generation to generation, continuing even now." "Oh my. From what you've gathered Master Bruce, do you have any idea what mister Nygma could want with this place?" Alfred asked his adoptive son. Batman's gaze was stern as he replied, "I have an idea, and it's nothing good." He then put more power into the boosters and flew down towards Canterlot City. Meanwhile, inside a dimly lit green room with several monitors, a man in a green suit with a cane in his hand was currently making alterations to what appeared to be an orb of sorts. Using the screwdriver to try and remove the panel on the side of the orb, being very careful not to damage it in any way. This man was none other than Edward Nygma, aka The Riddler. Riddler finished unscrewing the panel and removed it with the utmost of care, "That does it. Slow and steady wins the race." He whispered as he set the panel down on his workbench, gazing into the orb and its various wires that it was made up of. "You still haven't told me what we're doing here." A stern, authoritative voice spoke from behind the enigmatic villain, hiding in the shadows. Riddler rolled his eyes, "I should've known that someone like you wouldn't understand." "Watch it." The voice threatened sternly. Nygma massaged his temple before replying, "This technology has the ability to take control of the most important thing in the human body." The voice was silent before asking, "Which is?" Riddler smiled, "What did the right hemisphere say to the left hemisphere when they could not agree on anything?" He waited for the voice to answer, but when he didn't say anything Riddler just sighed in annoyance before revealing the answer, "Let's split!" The voice seemed to know where Riddler was going with this, "You're talking about the brain." "DING DING DING, We have a winner!" Riddler shouted sarcastically before continuing, "With this technology, I will have the ability to take the control of the mind of any Average Joe, make him or her do whatever I want. With this piece of tech, not only will I be able to have anything I want, but I will also prove my intellectual superiority over that bothersome Bat!" "How so?" "This technology was developed to increase the capacity of the human brain. But allow me to dumb it down for you, it would allow the brain to store more information, therefore, making it and the individual smarter. I've already begun altering it so it could literally make them so stupid that they would have no choice but to follow my every command. I will have literally taken over the city with my sheer intellect, proving once and for all that I, The Riddler, am better than the Big, Bad Bat!" "There's one thing I'm still confused about. Why here? Why did you choose here exactly?" The voice asked. Riddler smiled, "It's a backwater town filled with hicks and dullards. What better place to test out my device than a town full of morons?" The voice chuckled, "You really are an arrogant prick." Nygma scowled, "Watch yourself, I'm not paying you to be snarky... Mister Wilson." It was then that the mysterious figure stepped out into the light, revealing himself to be none other than the World's Greatest Assassin. Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke the Terminator. Slade folded his arms, "Don't worry, as long as you're paying me nobody's laying a finger on you." "I should hope so, I'm paying top dollar for your services, Deathstroke. I expect there to be no disruptions whatsoever, am I clear?" Riddler reiterated before turning back to his work. "Crystal." Slade sneered before adding, "Just as long as you're paying me and not wasting my time, because if you are screwing with me, then there's nowhere on the planet where I won't find you." He threatened before walking back into the shadows, leaving Riddler to plot and plan his next move.