Canterlot City
"So, you ready to talk now?" Sunset asked in a soft tone, to which the distraught girl in her arms nodded slowly.
Twilight sniffled as she wiped her eyes with her hand, finally ready to open up about what's been bothering her. "I-It all started when magic was suddenly being drained out of Equestria. Somepony was literally killing our world and everything in it. It turned out to be a student of mine, one I thought I could trust. Her name was Cozy Glow, she was a sweet little filly who wouldn't hurt a fly." She explained before sniffling once again, "But that's what she wanted everyone to think. She manipulated me, played me like a Violin and cut my strings.
"But we stopped her and saved Equestria. All was right again, Sunset, but then Luna went behind my back and sent her to Tartarus." As Twilight's voice grew heavier with anger, Sunset couldn't help but feel shock at the harshness of Cozy's punishment. Sure if she had succeeded, everyone in Equestria would've died, but she was just a filly after all. That doesn't excuse her, but sending her to Tartarus is a bit much. Her train of thought was broken when Twilight decided to continue, "I wanted the chance to redeem Cozy, show her that there was a better way and use of making friends. Heck, if Starlight and Discord were allowed to get a second chance, then why not her?
"But instead of putting Cozy's fate to a vote or something between us four Princesses, Luna," She sneered the name venomously, Twilight was clearly not happy with her fellow Princess, "Took the opportunity of proving myself as the Princess of Friendship away from me and sent that filly to Tartarus, right next to Tirek of all creatures." She vented to her friend, who was listening closely, wanting to help with Twilight's problems.
Sunset shook her head, "Wait, let's backtrack a second here, what do you mean by 'Proving yourself as the Princess of Friendship'?" She asked, to which Twilight only looked away in sadness and regret, "Haven't you done that time and time again?"
The Princess let out a heavy sigh before elaborating, "When The Storm King invaded, the fate of our home was on my shoulders, and my friends weren't taking it seriously. They were just singing songs and doing Sonic Rainbooms and instantly trusting strangers when we were on the run." Twilight explained before closing her eyes in remorse, "It all got to me and I did something really stupid. So stupid that it could have started a war between our two nations."
"What did you do?" Sunset asked.
"I-I tried to steal something precious to the very kingdom that we were trying to get to help us. My friends and I were banished and I just... snapped. I said that I would be better off without them... and the worst part is... at the time... I meant it."
This was a shock to the former Unicorn, she never would have thought that Twilight Sparkle of all people was capable of such nastiness and cruelty.
But she let the Alicorn Princess continue, "I failed friendship, and it almost cost us Equestria itself. Ever since that day, I have been desperately trying to prove to not only Equestria, but to myself, that I am worthy of my wings and my status." She said before letting out a bitter laugh, "But it seems that no matter what I do, I just make everything worse! I try to save my home, I end up almost ruining my friendship with the girls. I try opening a school to teach friendship to other creatures, a filly takes my kindness and spits on it by using said school to drain all of Equestria's magic. I try to prove myself by helping someone in need, I end up almost getting two of my friends killed."
The distraught Equestrian let out a breath after her rant before continuing, "And the worst part is that all of this pressure and self loathing, has bottled itself up into some form of resentment towards this world's version of me. I feel like she has stolen you all from me, and I hate feeling like that. I want to get to know her, but every time I look at her, I just feel resentful and bitter towards the poor girl. She's done nothing wrong, she doesn't deserve this... this anger."
"So, that little girl in the mall..." Sunset trailed off, letting Twilight finish her thought for her.
"It was Cozy. Seeing her just made me crack." She finished before looking up at her friend with tears in her eyes, "You want to know the problem, Sunset? The problem is me. I'm the problem."
Sunset wrapped her arms around the girl while Spike curled up on her lap, "No, you are not the problem. You're just going through some things people always go through. You'll work past it, you always do. You beat Lord Tirek, Chrysalis, Sombra, reformed Discord and me, I might add. You don't make things worse, Twilight. You make things better, know that."
Twilight looked at her friend with a sparkle in her eyes before she smiled gratefully, "T-Thank you, Sunset." She replied before hugging her friend back.
The hug ended as Sunset got back onto her feet and pulled out her phone.
"What are you doing, Sunset?" Spike asked as he popped his head up.
"Calling the girls, we gotta tell them what happened." She said before adding, "And the fact that Batman is in town."
"Soooo... What now?" Rainbow asked, finally breaking the silence in the apartment.
Once Sunset had called Applejack, the girls came rushing over in the van. Explanations were made and much was revealed, including the fact that the friggin' Batman was in Canterlot City, along with a member of his iconic Rouges Gallery to add into the mix.
Sci-Twi turned to her prismatic friend and frowned, her hands on her hips in disapproval, "What do you mean 'What now?' We let the Batman handle the situation and go about our lives."
Now it was Rainbow's turn to frown in disapproval, "Oh come on, Twi, you can't seriously expect one guy to save an entire city."
Sci-Twi shrugged, "Why not? He saves Gotham on a day-to-day basis, Rainbow. If he's here, then the situation's handled."
RD stomped her foot onto the ground.
"Oh sure, just damage my floors." Sunset muttered with a roll of her eyes, not being heard of Rainbow Dash.
"Come on, Twilight, think about it. We help Batman, one of our world's greatest heroes, not only do we save our home, but we could finally have the chance to be actual superheroes!" Rainbow exclaimed with an excited grin on her face.
Sci-Twi tried repressing a groan of agitation, but failed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "For the last time... We. Are not. SUPER HEROES!!!" She yelled in frustration, scaring Fluttershy so much that she quickly ducked behind the couch.
The athletic girl just stared at Sci-Twi as if she were stupid, "Twilight, I don't think you realize just how big of a deal this is."
The nerdy scholar grinded her teeth, "You wanna know what this is?" She rhetorically asked her impulsive friend, "This is you wanting to play hero so you can fill your big fat ego."
"C'mon, just think of how cool it would be to work with Batman and stop one of Gotham's most dangerous criminals! It would be the most legendary adventure ever!" Rainbow replied.
"And what if the villain he is chasing is The Joker?" Sci-Twi replied.
That shut Rainbow right up. The weight of that bombshell of a reply was felt in the entire apartment. Everyone in that room, sans Princess Twilight and Spike, knew just how dangerous that Clown Prince of Crime was. Going after him would be suicide.
Twilight and Spike looked at each other before shrugging and asking the group, "Who's The Joker?"
It was then that Fluttershy whimpered and asked, "C-C-Could we please not talk about him?"
Sunset nodded in agreement, "Yeah, the less of you know about him the better."
"I concur."
"Eeyup."
"Yeeparooni."
Rainbow then shook her head and replied, "Still, we should at least try to help Batman out, this is our home after all."
Twilight then piped up, "I agree with Rainbow Dash, together we handled The Dazzlings with the Magic of Friendship, we can handle this. Plus what's the point of having Equestrian Magic if you don't use it to help others?"
Everyone then looked to the Equestrian with looks of disbelief before Applejack placed a hand on the Alicorn's shoulder, "Sugarcube, no offence, but this ain't like Tha Dazzlings. They just wanted to be adored by everyone, if we screw up just once, we could die."
"They're right, darling, we should leave this to the Batman." Rarity agreed, "Even though his outfit could use an upgrade."
Suddenly, Sci-Twi's phone went off, she got a message from someone. She took out her phone and gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.
Pinkie looked at her friend, "What's up, Twi?" She then gasped dramatically, "DID YOU RUN OUT OF CAKE?!"
Sci-Twi shook her head and looked to her group of friends with horror in her eyes, "T-That was Shining Armor. There's been an explosion at the Shipping Yard right next to Canterlot Beach."
Everyone looked shocked and appalled.
Rainbow, already knowing that there was a chance that Batman was there, took off out of the apartment at super speed, a rainbow trail following right behind her.
Everyone gasped, except for Applejack who screamed, "RAINBOW, GET BACK HERE YA DAMN IDIOT!!!" But her pleas were in vain as the rainbow haired girl was already gone. AJ turned to the girls with a look of determination on her face, "C'mon, we gotta find Rainbow before she gets herself killed!"
A Few Minutes Prior
All was silent at the Shipping Yard, not a single soul wandered inside.
None except the presence that is the Batman.
He entered the singular warehouse that was in the center of the Shipping Yard, from what he could see through his Detective Vision, he was the only one in the warehouse. He jumped from his vantage point and landed in the center of the warehouse.
The Dark Knight turned around to see a wooden table behind him, with a steel briefcase sitting on top of it. He quickly scanned the briefcase using his Detective Vision and found that it was the source that led him here in the first place. Batman slowly walked over to the briefcase, staying alert for any hidden dangers that may reveal themselves.
When he finally made it to the table he opened the briefcase, revealing a small monitor, not one of Riddler's devices. Suddenly, the monitor turned itself on, revealing a certain one eyed assassin.
"It's good to see you again, Batman." Deathstroke greeted, "It's been a while."
Batman furrowed his brow at the familiar face before him, "Slade." He acknowledged his adversary.
"Codename's Deathstroke. And I am on the job." Slade replied, "Now, as I recall, you once said that I was just another merc for hire. Well, our mutual friend, Edward Nygma, says different. He sought me out, said I was the toughest bastard you'd ever gone toe-to-toe with. And I believe it is time for a rematch, it is long overdue."
"If you want me, Slade, come and get me." Batman replied, not afraid to go another round with Deathstroke.
Slade chuckled, "With pleasure. See you soon." The call ended, replacing the video on the monitor with a 10 second timer.
Bruce's eyes widened, the briefcase was a bomb, and it was about to go off.
Batman leapt through the wooden sliding door as the warehouse lit up in a blaze of glory, the sheer force of the blast sending the Caped Crusader flying forward and crashing into the snow. As snow and ash fell down, Batman slowly got back up to his feet, not letting his guard down.
"Nice to see that you got my invitation." The voice of Deathstroke said from above, causing Batman to turn his head and look towards the direction of the voice. Slade Wilson was standing atop a red shipping container, his sword in hand as he glared down at the hero of Gotham with nothing but hate in his eye.
Slade pointed the tip of his sword down towards Batman, "Now it's just you and me."