//------------------------------// // Cold // Story: My Little Arkham // by ADHD365 //------------------------------// Freeze fired another blast of his ice gun at Rarity and Batman. They dove to the left and rolled behind the safety of a large computer desk. Rarity followed right behind Batman as he crouched and moved as quickly as he could through the frozen building. “Oracle! Freeze is attacking me! Get me the telemetry feed from his suit, now!” Batman ordered. If Oracle had replied, Rarity hadn’t heard it. The radio they stole was in Rainbow Dash’s saddlebag over by Freeze’s safe. She wanted to go back and unfreeze her friends, but she knew that she would also be frozen if he saw her. Freeze was extremely angry at everything and everyone. If Fluttershy were still here, they probably wouldn’t be where they are now. Rarity turned and looked over her shoulder. Due to the extremely low temperatures of the GCPD, there was an overabundance of icy fog. She could hardly see the other end of the room. However, she could clearly see the bright red lights on Freezes goggles. They turned and looked right at them before they started to get closer. Each step Freeze took made a loud mechanical whirring that sounded terrifying in this environment. “This room will be your tomb.” Freeze boomed. Batman and Rarity moved down the stairs on the other side and took off running behind another piece of machinery to the right. Rarity breathed heavily, but the coldness in the air prevented her from doing it comfortably. “Bruce, how do we stop him?” Rarity whispered. Batman turned the corner and eyed a generator bolted to the wall. He pulled out his electrical charge and aimed at it. He waited until Freeze began to descend the staircase right in front of them. Just before he stepped on the ground, Batman fired. The blast of electricity started up the generators motor and arcs of lightning started sparking all over. Freeze slid toward it like a magnet. “What? No!” Freeze yelled. He continued to slide until he stuck to the generator. Batman ran from his hiding place and began to punch Freeze in the stomach as hard as he could. Freeze was totally immobilized while the generator was still running. Eventually, Freeze fell to the ground at Batman’s feet. Batman grabbed the top of his head and smashed it to the ground hard once before his suit began beeping out of control and started to power up again. Batman turned tail and ran toward Rarity. “Come on, this way!” Batman said. Rarity ran after Batman as fast as she could. He ran back to the entrance on the lower level. The beeping from Freeze’s suit stopped and she heard an explosion. “So you wish to use magnets against me? I do not think so.” Freeze said. Rarity followed Batman all the way back to Freeze’s computer. Rainbow Dash was laying on her side in the same frozen state Rarity had just seen her in. She wanted to go and unfreeze her, but Batman ran past her over to the other room to the left. “Don’t worry, we’ll be right back!” Rarity said to her friends. She didn’t know if they could hear her or not, but she hoped they could. She ran after Batman. He turned into another room and waited with his electrical charge aimed at the generator beside the frozen Pinkie Pie and Twilight and waited for Freeze to get near. Once Freeze was in sight, a bright blue shield appeared all around him. Batman fired the electrical charge at the generator. The generator sparked and lit up with blue electricity and an arc of lightning extended toward Freeze, but stopped at his shield. Freeze shot the generator with his ice gun and it exploded on contact. “I can evolve my strategies. Can you?” Freeze asked. Rarity stood there with her mouth agape. Batman put away his electrical charge blaster and moved swiftly up the stairs to his right. Rarity snapped out of her shock and followed him. She heard Freeze stomp up the stairs a few seconds behind them. Batman was going to have to think of another method of attack. Freeze would just adapt every time. Rarity could already tell that this fight was going to be extremely difficult. “We need to keep moving. Freeze can track us by using our heat signatures in our footsteps. We need to rush ahead or confuse him.” Batman said. “And just how are we going to do that?” Rarity asked. Batman looked around for a moment. He poked his head over the banister and looked over to Freeze’s computer. Rarity followed his gaze and saw two sculptures of a woman on either side of the safe. Batman ducked back down and walked over to the other set of stairs away from Freeze. “Those sculptures look like Nora. Smash those, he’ll come running.” Batman said. Rarity blinked. “Wont that make him angry?” Batman looked at her and pulled out a Batarang. “Yes.” He looked over the banister and threw the Batarang at the sculpture. The next second, a glass-shattering sound broke through the icy air. Wherever Freeze was in the room, the whirring his suit made ceased immediately. “No! Nora!” Freeze exclaimed. Rarity looked over the edge and saw Freeze move over to the destroyed ice statue of his wife. He examined it for a second before turning around and looking at the room around him. “You will pay for that!” He yelled. While Rarity watched him, she failed to notice that Batman had left her side and was on a tall piece of machinery behind her. He leapt off and glided over to Freeze on the ground floor. “Where did you-” Freeze said before Batman kicked him in the head.’ Freeze fell to the ground and Batman began to assault him relentlessly again. Batman eventually grabbed the top of his helmet and smashed it on the ground. He ran away when Freeze’s suit started charging up again. If he could break through Freeze’s helmet, then he could get a chance to really hurt him. All that armor was making him almost invincible. Batman was running to the other side of the room. He turned and looked at Rarity. She looked at him and looked to the ground below. Using the stairs would either take too long, or she would be found by Freeze. She was going to have to jump if she wanted to get to Batman right then. She took a few steps back and took a running start. “The sky is no longer yours.” Freeze said. Just as Rarity leapt off the edge, a muffled boom echoed through the room and the air immediately became much denser, foggier and colder. She went into shock while she was in the air. She fell and tumbled on the ground, making a loud crash on impact and started shivering violently. She never imagined that the room could ever get any colder, but somehow it did. “Your actions betray you.” Freeze threatened from across the room. Rarity looked over to where he was in horror. She got to her hooves and tried to make a run for it, but the ground was so icy that she tripped and fell. The loud mechanical whirring from Freeze’s suit was getting closer behind her. Any second now, he would be right on top of her and she would be frozen solid for the second time in Arkham City. She crawled her way over to the other side, breathing heavily as the adrenaline inside her was beginning to be replaced with numbness. She could see the entrance to the other tiny room just a few feet in front of her. She was so close. “There you are!” Freeze boomed behind her. Rarity turned around in horror and looked Freeze right in the eyes. He was pointing his ice gun right at her and walking closer to her. “V-Victor, p-please! P-Please don’t d-do this!” Rarity begged. Freeze wasn’t listening. He continued to approach the terrified unicorn with malicious intent. Rarity continued to back away from him, even though she knew it was pointless. Suddenly, Batman shot up from the air duct directly beneath Freeze, grabbed him, and took him down. His helmet impacted the ground and left him immobilized once again. Batman assaulted Freeze again and again before he grabbed Freeze’s helmet and brought it down on the ground again. “Run!” Batman yelled. Rarity was already on her hooves. She took off as fast as she could without slipping into the tiny room. Almost like kicking her while she was down, the entrance to the tiny room was surrounded by water that she didn’t realize was there. If her legs weren’t numb before, they were now. She looked down with total disbelief at her rotten luck. There was always something in these situations. Every time something seems to save her, she always steps into something worse. At least with Freeze, she would be frozen quickly. This kind was slow. As she looked around, her attention to detail noticed an electrical button on the wall. She followed the wires all the way to where they ended, which was in the water right next to her. She wondered how she was still alive at this point. With all she had been through tonight, it was amazing that she wasn’t either a popsicle or deep-fried. She heard Freeze’s suit start to power up again. She looked at the terminal and busted wires in the water again and got an idea. She quickly ran into the room before turning around and running outside once again. She hid behind another glass banister and looked for something she could use, anything. It had to be small. She turned to a desk behind her and saw a small metal piece of equipment. She exhaled and concentrated as hard as she could. “You will not be able to do that again.” She heard Freeze say. She wasn’t as good with magic as Twilight. She didn’t think she had enough strength to use any magic at all at this point, but she had to try. She grunted until her horn sparked just enough until the small metal object started to float. She only had one shot at this. She turned around to see Freeze following her heat signatures into the building. He would come out in just a second. She eyed the large button on the wall and focused on it as hard as she could. She yelled and threw the object at the button. On impact, the ends of the wires began to spark and the pool of water lit up with electricity just as Freeze set one foot in the water. “Impossible!” Freeze yelled. He flailed and shook as the volts careened through his body. Rarity waited for the electricity to cease before she moved. Once the waters stopped glowing, Freeze’s knees buckled and he went down. Rarity vaulted over the rail and ran to Freeze. “Victor, I didn’t want to do this, but you’ve left me no choice!” She screamed. She began beating Freeze as hard as she could. It wasn’t hard enough to injure him as much as Batman, but she did manage to climb on top of his helmet and push his head down to impact on the floor. She jumped off him and ran when his suit began beeping again. She didn’t know how she was still able to run and move. She knew that once this fight was over, she was going to need Twilight’s immediate help. She hid behind another computer desk on the ground floor and poked her head out from behind it back at Freeze. He was getting to his feet and looking around. Due to the fog, she couldn’t see his face, but she knew he was extremely angry. His red eyes looked back and forth until he started walked to his left. Rarity was confused. She thought that Freeze could follow her and Batman based on their head readings. Then she remembered that she had stepped into the water. It was so cold in here that her hoofsteps must not have given off any heat readings at all. She was going to have to wake Twilight up really quick if she didn’t want to die. Freeze was walking around the room for a moment before he stopped somewhere on the balcony above her. “Where are you?” Freeze demanded. Rarity stayed silent. No way was she going to give herself away at this point. She looked around the room for Batman. As usual, he was hidden. Rarity was on her own until this fight was over. What little adrenaline she had left was starting to die out. She was running out of time. She heard a hissing noise from somewhere behind her. She peered around the corner to see Freeze standing on a balcony overlooking the room. Three white spheres shot out from behind him and flew up to the top of the room. They had a blue light that seemed to circle around the room like they were scanning it for something. Each sphere suddenly slowed and the lights became red. Two of them focused on one point opposite of the balcony Freeze was standing on while another pointed directly at Rarity. The sat there in mid-air for a moment before launching themselves to wherever they were pointing. Rarity hid behind the desk just before the sphere impacted behind her. They were telling Freeze where her and Batman were hiding. Rarity ran out from behind her hiding spot and went toward where the other two orbs had pointed. She quickly made her way into the room and turned left. She saw Batman crouching underneath a class window that looked out into the room. She also crouched and made her way over to him. “Wh-What are y-you doing?” She shakily asked him “The Clown will pay for taking my wife.” Freeze boomed from outside. “Waiting for Freeze to come this way.” Batman replied. Rarity could hardly speak. She just stood where she was until she saw the glow from Freeze’s goggles bounce off the wall in front of her from outside. Once they were adjacent to Batman’s location underneath the window, he pulled out his explosive gel and waited for the light to continue in front of him. After a second or two, he pressed the button and the resulting explosion echoed through the room. Batman got up and ran through the room. Rarity slowly followed him around the wall and looked to her right. Freeze was crouching on the ground and Batman was going to work on beating him. He had blown up a weakened wall and made it impact Freeze. Batman assaulted Freeze again and again. Freeze’s suit never powered up, however. Batman yanked his gun away, threw him on his back, and climbed on top of him. He started punching the glass on Freeze’s helmet over and over again until it finally broke. He continued punching Freeze in the face for a few seconds. Rarity wanted to yell at Batman to stop. He had been defeated, but Batman was still going. However, her weakened state and her anger at Freeze prevented her from saying anything. Batman punched Freeze a few more times until Batman started screaming and grabbing the sides of his head, almost like he had a massive headache all of the sudden. He breathed heavily and rubbed the temples on either side of his head for a moment before he calmed down. Rarity looked at him with worry and stepped toward him. She was about to speak until a loud buzzing sound came from the safe by Freeze’s desk. All three of them turned their heads over to it. The safe seemed intact, but that sound was still coming from it. Batman stepped toward Freeze as he lay on his back. Freeze breathed heavily from exhaustion as Batman stepped on his arm and started pressing a few buttons on Freeze’s gauntlet. The lights on the terminal next to the safe switched from red to green, signaling that it was unlocked. Batman got up and made his way over to it. Rarity followed him over to her friends. “Please… Find Nora.” Freeze breathed. “She’s all I have left.” Batman said nothing as he approached the safe. He grabbed the handle and opened it. He stood there, looking inside. Rarity stood on her hind legs and looked around him inside the safe. It was completely empty. There was a hole where the back of the safe should have been that led to the hallway outside. She gasped lightly and stepped back down. The back of the safe had been ripped out while they were fighting Freeze. Freeze grunted and got to his feet. He saw inside the safe behind Batman. “It’s over.” He said solemnly. “That was all I could manufacture.” Batman threw the cards on the ground. “Harley Quinn took it.” He said before he slammed the safe shut in anger. Freeze breathed angrily. “What are you waiting for? Go and get it back. The Clown must pay for what he has done to us.” Rarity turned to him angrily. “The Clown must pay? What about you?!” She demanded. “What about all this trouble that you brought on Batman, my friends, and myself?! If anyone should pay first, it should be you, Victor!” Freeze looked at her. “You haven’t the slightest idea what Nora means to me. I would do anything to ensure her safety. She is the most important thing to me in the world.” “But putting innocent lives in danger because of her disappearance? Because we didn’t agree right away?” Rarity snapped. “If that’s what it takes to ensure her safety, then yes.” Freeze stated. Rarity stood there, looking appalled. She couldn’t believe that Freeze would so hastily go on a crazy attack because of something like this. “I can’t believe you.” She said. “What would Fluttershy think of this behavior? What would Nora think of you doing these things?” Freeze pointed a finger at her. “Don’t you dare use Nora against me!” He snapped. They stared each other down before Freeze took a deep breath. “I apologize. You’re correct. I should not have reacted the way I did.” He said. “However, now he has something valuable to you as well. You need to get it back.” Batman stepped forward. “Its not that simple. Joker’s got the Steel Mill locked down. Getting in will not be easy.” Freeze turned around to his desk. “Perhaps I can help. I have been working on a new projectile system.” He went to his computer and pressed a button. On the device next to him, a blue object popped up from within. It looked like a container full of grenades. Freeze took it and handed it to Batman. “Maybe these will provide the edge you need.” Batman took the grenades. “I promise you, Victor. I will find Nora.” He put them away and walked over to the other ponies. Rarity followed right behind him. One-by-one each of her friends was un-thawed. They all stood there shaking violently as Rarity tried to talk to each of them and calm them down. She needed lots of help herself, but she had to make sure her friends were okay first. “L-L-Lemme at him! Y-You’re d-dead, F-Freeze!” Rainbow yelled. Batman grabbed and held Rainbow still. She squirmed and shook as she tried to break free from Batman’s grasp, but he held firm. “Now, now, Rainbow. Victor knows what he did was wrong and he’s sorry.” Rarity said. “We have more important things to focus on now.” “L-L-Like g-getting w-warm?” Pinkie shivered as she hugged Twilight tight. “Yes that, and finding both the cure, and Nora.” Rarity said. “Wh-What?! We should f-find his wife?! After what he did?! B-Buck that!” Rainbow snarled. Rarity gave her a stern look and Batman lifted her up. He carried the agitated pegasus out the nearest exit while Twilight and Pinkie followed behind. Rarity walked out after them and looked behind her. Freeze was now sitting on the ground in front of his computer. He watched them leave. “Victor, I’m not happy with you, but I do forgive you.” She said. “I can understand how you feel about this. I have a little sister, myself. If anything were to happen to her, there isn’t a single thing I wouldn’t do in order to get her back.” Freeze looked at her for a moment, but said nothing. He closed his eyes and looked at the ground. Rarity looked at him with compassion. “We will find Nora.” Freeze looked back to her for a moment before she turned around and followed the others outside. “Thank you.” --- They all walked down the hall toward the main entrance. Rainbow’s little fit of anger had dissipated and she was just shaking in Batman’s arms. The doorway at the top of the stairs they had used to get in was now completely frozen. Freeze had prevented them from leaving out that way. When they got to the main entrance, they saw that the doors were also completely frozen. They turned around and walked down the hall again toward the back. Once they got there, ruptured steam pipes blocked the way through the half-open doorway. Batman set Rainbow down and threw two of the freeze grenades at the pipes. They froze on contact and the steam stopped. They all crouched underneath the door, and walked up the stairs. To their left was another tiny room filled with big white bags. The room was labeled ‘Morgue’. They ignored it and continued up the stairs. Batman opened a door to the right and urged everypony to go through. They all took a deep breath when they saw that they were outside. They all stretched as they savored the nice and toasty –4 degree weather. Twilight took advantage of this change of scenery and took her book out to review the spell she had used on Rainbow in the museum. She cast it on Rarity first, then Pinkie, then Rainbow, then herself. She offered to use it on Batman, but he declined. They took a few steps forward toward the edge when they saw a helicopter shining a bright light on them as they exited. Everyone simply looked at it as it hovered in the air. It wasn’t like the other helicopters in Arkham City. Twilight noticed that there were no guns attached to the light. “My God… Our mystery caller was correct! It looks like Batman himself is exiting the building, along with four other small creatures.” A woman on the radio buzzed. “Is he really? Hello, Gotham it’s me!” Joker announced. “I’m afraid Miss Vale will soon be leaving the airwaves!” The next second, a rocked came from out of nowhere and impacted the news helicopter. Everypony gasped as it exploded in a big ball of fire as the helicopter spiraled up and over the building out of control. “We apologize for this interruption.” Joker said happily. “We’ve been hit! We’re going down! Mayday! Mayday! May-” Miss Vale’s voice began to fade out and was replaced with static before the radio cut off. Batman leapt off the edge and glided over to the right. Rainbow turned and looked at everypony. “Rarity, you follow us! Pinkie and Twilight, you go get Applejack! Tell her what’s happened! We’ll meet you at the entrance!” Twilight nodded and teleported herself and Pinkie away. Rainbow flew up and around and grabbed Rarity. She pulled her onto her back and took off after Batman. All while Rarity was screaming in surprise and fear. Ever since her wings evaporated into thin air in Cloudsdale, Rarity had developed a slight fear of heights and flying. She clung to Rainbow as tight as she could and screamed at the top of her lungs. Rainbow grunted as she tried to remain level in flight after Batman. Batman grappled in the air up to a gargoyle on the top of the GCPD and took off immediately after. Rainbow was right on his tail a few feet below him. She spotted the column of smoke from the helicopter crash and flew toward it. “Hello? Gotham? I don’t know if you can hear me.” Miss Vale panicked. “My news copter has been shot down. We’ve crashed down somewhere in Arkham City. We need help!” Batman continued to grapple, dive, and glide over to the crash site as fast as he could. Rainbow was a few yards ahead and was circling the crash site from above. “I am now stuck on part of the old Gotham freeway, in what looks like a turf war between-” A gunshot from somewhere below caused Miss Vale to gasp on the radio. “What the hell was that?! Oh God! There are snipers! They’re all around my position! I can see what looks like inmates moving in on us! Please! If anyone can hear me, send help!” She begged. Rainbow squinted her eyes at the scene below and saw four red laser lights all pointing at or around the crash site. She also saw a woman crouching beside the copter on the other side, hiding from the snipers’ gaze. Rainbow flew down and landed on the building overlooking the crash site. Rarity quickly got off her back and looked back at Rainbow like she was crazy. “Stay here!” Rainbow ordered and took off before Rarity could say anything. She flew into the air and circled the crash sight again. She followed one pair of laser sights over to a building to her left. “This is Vicki Vale! I repeat: this is Vicki Vale! If you can hear this, help me!” Rainbow accelerated on the pair of clown thugs as fast as she could. She noticed Batman land a few feet behind them. She thought quickly and came up with a plan. This Vicki Vale was panicking so much that she would eventually be shot. Rainbow had to get the snipers off her back as quick as she could. She flew down to their level right in front of them. “Hey bozos! Bet you cant get me!” Rainbow taunted. She stuck her tongue out at the thugs and gave them both a raspberry before taking off away from the crash. “The hell is that?!” “Its one of those freaky horse things! Kill it!” Rainbow chuckled and started flying in loop-de-loops in the air. The snipers aimed as best they could and shot, but Rainbow was too fast. She flew around in random patterns until Batman grabbed both of their heads and smashed them together. Rainbow grinned and they both took off toward the other pair. “Sniper fire has ceased from Dini towers. I can no longer see the snipers on the roof of the apartment building.” Batman ran along the rooftops toward the remaining thugs, while Rainbow flew ahead and began taunting them like she had with the other two. She started flying in crazy patterns in the air above the crash site while the snipers did their best to shoot her down. Out of sheer luck, one of the snipers’ bullets barely grazed her flank. She yelped and took off into the air as fast as she could. In her peripheral vision, she saw the pair of laser sights circling her in the air. She quickly dove down just as they shot at her again. They missed, but Rainbow was starting to panic. She didn’t want to risk getting shot again, so she flew behind a billboard and waited for a moment. After a moment of cease-fire, the radio buzzed again. “It appears the snipers covering my position from the southeast have gone. The roof of the Kirshun building has gone quiet. Either they’ve all left, or someone has taken them out.” That was her queue. Rainbow exhaled and took off again. She flew out from behind the billboard and looked at the building where the snipers had been. Batman was just starting to glide toward the crash site. “If anyone can hear this broadcast, send help. Please.” Rainbow quickly descended next to Vicki Vale and landed right next to her. She took a startled step backwards. Batman landed behind her and wrapped his arm around her. He pointed his line-launcher in the air and zipped over to the nearest balcony. Rainbow flew right behind them. Batman dropped and landed. Vicki stumbled out of Batman’s grasp and caught her footing a few feet in front of him. She turned around to face him as Rainbow landed right next to him. “You should be safe here for now. Stay here and keep out of sight.” Batman said. Vicki Vale was holding what looked like a phone in one hand. She was young, she had short, blonde hair, and she was attractive. He had burn marks and all sorts of dirt all over her jacket and skirt. She looked quite shaken as she looked at Batman and Rainbow. She held the phone near Batman. “Any chance I could get an exclusive? What are these pony things doing here? Care to tell Gotham what’s going on with your face?” She asked. Rainbow stifled a laugh at Vicki’s question. True, Batman’s face looked like something was wrong with it, but she found the way that Vicki asked her question kind of funny. “No. Stay here and be quiet.” Batman ordered. Rainbow looked over to her right. She thought she saw a small figure on the rooftop just a few seconds ago, but no one was there. She eyed it suspiciously for a moment before shrugging it off. The radio buzzed again. Batman turned around and put his fingers to his head. “Now, that’s no way to talk to the nice reporter lady, Bats!” Joker said. “What do you want?” Batman demanded. “Who are you talking to?” Vicki asked. Rainbow rolled her eyes. This lady was annoying. “Now see what you’ve done? The poor woman’s all confused! Hardly surprising, I suppose. I mean she’s just been in a terrible accident. Heeheeheeheehee!” Joker giggled. “That you caused.” Batman said. “How dare you! I’ve never been so-!” Joker sounded insulted, but he quickly changed his tone. “Oh what the hell? Yes, okay/ HA! It was me! I just needed a little time to guarantee that Harley got back to me with my delicious cure! And if you’re a good boy, I may even save a little for you! It’s unlikely, I know, but I’m really your last hope now, aren’t I?” Rainbow growled as the radio cut off. Batman put his hand down and started walking away from Vicki. She still reported to anyone who was tuned into the news station that she worked for. “Well Gotham, it appears I’m safe, for now. I’ve just been rescued by Batman and, get this, a talking horse. They just saved me from what felt like certain death at the hands of snipers, all working for the Joker. How did Joker’s crew get their hands on sniper rifles in a maximum-security prison? That, Gotham is a question I intend to put to Professor Strange if I ever get out of here.” Vicki said to her phone. Rainbow couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This lady was so addicted to her job that even after a near-death experience, she continued like everything was just fine. Rainbow thought she might have some problems. Batman turned around and grappled up to the top of the building the balcony was attached to. Rainbow remembered that she left Rarity on this building. She took off and slowly flew up to the rooftop after Batman. She was totally out of breath. The bullet grazing her thigh made her a little anxious. She landed on the rooftop next to Batman. He had his fingers to the side of his head like he was listening to someone talking to him. Rainbow cocked her head at him while he stood there. “Uh, Batman?” She asked. Batman held a finger up at her as if to say ‘one second’ and continued to stand there. After a moment, he put his hand down and looked at Rainbow. “I’ll be right back.” He said. Rainbow was confused. “What? Where are you going?” “Alfred said he managed to make a cure. He sent it here and said he’s working on a bigger batch for the rest of Gotham. I’m going to go get it, then come back to stop Joker.” He said. Rainbow was still confused. “When did he tell you this?” “Just now.” Batman said. “I’ll be back. Go back to your friends at the entrance to the GCPD.” Rainbow was about to interject, but Batman grappled up to the next building and flew away. She wanted to go after him, but she was feeling really shaky because of everything that had happened. She sat down and examined her wound on her flank. It made a thin scrape across her cutie mark. It still stung and was bleeding slightly, but she couldn’t help thinking that it looked rather cool to her. She smiled as she recognized her own awesomeness. She took a deep breath and shook her head wildly, trying to snap herself out of it. She looked around the rooftop for Rarity, but she was nowhere in sight. She walked around the rooftop and looked everywhere. This particular rooftop had fancy, big columns and a frozen swimming pool. Rainbow guessed that someone really rich must have lived here before it became a part of a prison. On the other side of the roof were a few shacks that were similar to the ones she had seen around Arkham City. She thought that Rarity had gone inside one of them to get away from the loud gunshots and she hadn’t come out yet. Rainbow peered inside one of the shacks. There was nothing inside but an old mattress and a few boxes. She went on to the next shack to find two mattresses. The next shack had another pair of mattresses. The more Rainbow saw the mattresses, the more she realized how tired she was. A pony as awesome as her needed a good power nap every now and again, and she didn’t count her brush with death as one of them. She yawned as she continued looking inside each shack. It seemed with every shack she checked, there were more mattresses there were inside. She was now coming up on her eighth shack. She looked inside to find countless, clean white mattresses all spread out on the ground. “Oh boy am I tired.” She yawned. “I gotta find Rarity though.” She turned away from the pile of beckoning mattresses and continued to the final shack. As she looked inside, her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped at what she saw. “No… Way…” She said with a smile. Inside this particular shack was the whitest, fluffiest-looking cloud she had ever seen. It looked just like ones she napped on in Equestria. She looked around to see if anyone was there before she walked inside the shack. “Well, I guess I can lay down for-” She yawned loudly again. “-for a little while. Celestia knows I deserve a little break.” She pounced on the cloud and landed on her back. Her eyes went wide again when she felt that she landed on something. She reached into the cloud and felt around for what it was. She grabbed it and pulled it out. She looked at it for a moment before her mouth turned into a smile and she squee’d with happiness. “A Daring Do book?! No way!” She said happily. She held it close to her and wiggled her hind legs happily. Giggling like a fangirl, she opened the book and read the title page. “Daring Do and the City of Gold! Sounds awesome! Lets see what Daring gets herself into this time!” She turned the page and started reading. She read for a few minutes before her eyelids became really heavy again. She yawned again and continued to read. She was almost to Chapter Two when the words started to become fuzzy. “Ugh! I hate being tired!” She exclaimed. She looked around the shack and saw a small box to her left. “Fine. I’ll read it when I wake up.” She marked her place in the book and set it down on the box. She then curled up into a little ball on her cloud and exhaled. “I’ll only sleep for... for a little bit… I gotta… get back… to… everypony…” --- Rarity watched Rainbow zoom away into the sky. She was incredibly angry with her that she had just picked her up and flew crazily around without her consent. She growled angrily before the sound of a loud gunshot frightened her. She gasped and turned around. She ran as fast as she could toward a large pillar and hid behind it. She breathed deeply as she waited for the gunshots to stop. While she was waiting, she noticed the complexity of the rooftop. For being in a maximum-security prison, she rather enjoyed the design of some of the buildings. She looked around the rooftop and took in the atmosphere. She didn’t have time for it all though. There was still sniper fire behind her. She saw a door that led outside to her left. It was made of glass and it was really dirty, but she decided she would take it. Knowing that the snipers probably couldn’t see her, but still nervous all the same, she ran to the door. It was locked. “For the love of all things beautiful!” She exclaimed. She took a few steps back and charged at the door. Luckily, the glass was old and weak and it shattered on impact. She smiled and went inside. She looked around at the inside of the building in awe. Unsurprisingly, the interior was covered in many cobwebs and dust, but the intricate nature of the building itself made her want to sing and dance. There were a few portraits of some fancy people on the walls, a few end tables filled with expensive wares, and a giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling made entirely of diamonds. “Oh my word.” Rarity breathed. “This place, whatever this is, is absolutely gorgeous!” She took a step forward and as a result, kicked up a cloud of dust. Rarity looked at it with disgust. “Well, apart from the dirtiness, of course.” She said. She walked down the main hallway and turned right. To her astonishment, there was an old workshop that was similar to her dress shop in almost every way. Blueprints of dresses hung on the walls, fabrics lined the cubby on the wall, and old dresses were worn on the mannequins inside. It was like she stepped right into Arkham City’s own Carousel Boutique. “My goodness! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many new designs!” She marveled at them all and took a few steps toward some of the dresses. “These look like they’re Victorian-era! Oh I simply must have some of these designs for when we get back home!” Rarity began using her magic to levitate many of the designs down off the walls and into her saddlebag. They all were designed to fit humans, but she would solve that little problem when she returned to her workstation back in Ponyville. She counted fifty-six new designs in her bag. She also took a few materials and tools with her to see if she could use them. She didn’t much care for looting, but this place was too big to simply pass up. “Now then,” She said as she locked the buckles down on her bags. “I need to get back outside. Rainbow will be looking for me.” She turned around and headed out the door. She turned left at the hallway when she saw the doorway light up brightly accompanied by the sound of a helicopter. The florescent light that was seeping in bounced off the walls and everything inside. It illuminated everything on the walls, on the tables, and on the ceiling. Some of the objects on the tables began to sparkle and glow with all sorts of colors, the walls began to sparkle with gold and silver flakes, and the light hit the chandelier above and illuminated the room with every color in the visible light spectrum. Rarity gasped as she took in every detail. She didn’t realize that she was standing in a haven for crystals and diamonds. Her eyes twinkled and she shrieked happily as she looked at everything. The environment was suddenly too much for her to take all at once. She started to feel dizzy from the sudden change in atmosphere. She wobbled back and forth and fell on her back with a huge smile spread across her face. “Oh Celestia, this place is like a dream come true.” She breathed. “I need to rest my eyes, its… it’s too much!” She felt her vision fade and her eyelids drop over her eyes as she passed out from the beauty of it all. --- Twilight teleported her and Pinkie over to a staircase to their right and ran up the steps. She saw Rainbow and Rarity fly after Batman over to the helicopter crash. They continued up the steps and were on the upper balcony outside the GCPD. Twilight continued on through a hole in the wall over to the front of the building. Pinkie was right behind her. “This way!” Twilight said. Pinkie nodded and they exited the hole on the other side. Twilight teleported to the ground floor while Pinkie jumped down after her. They turned right and looked at the big door. “Applejack! Can you hear us?” Twilight asked. There was no answer. Pinkie and Twilight looked worried. Harley Quinn had to have used this way when they came in and stole the cure. If Applejack couldn’t take them on, she could be dead or with them. “APPLEJAAAACK!! WHERE AAAARE YOU?!” Pinkie yelled. “ITS PINKIE PIE AND TWILIGHT!!” “Shush! Not so loud, Pinkie! They could still be here!” Twilight shushed. Pinkie smiled sheepishly. “Sorry!” She whispered. “Applejaaack! Come out here! We need to make sure you’re okay!” Pinkie yelled with a whisper. “Pinkie!” Twilight yelled. “What? You said I needed to be quiet! That’s as quiet as I can go! How else are we supposed to find her if we’re dead silent?” Pinkie asked. Twilight groaned and facehoofed. She used her magic to open the door all the way and her and Pinkie ran inside. They looked around, but there was no sign of Applejack anywhere. Pinkie looked down into what led to the parking garage. There was a gate that looked really weak that separated them from it, but it was locked so it prevented access. “Where is she?” Twilight asked. “She said she would stay right here!” “I dunno, Twilight.” Pinkie said. “Maybe Harley kidnapped her, or maybe she ran down here and hid!” Twilight nodded. “Maybe.” She thought for a moment. “I’m going back out there to look for her. You head down there and search for her, okay?” Pinkie saluted. “Okie dokie lokie!” Twilight turned to the open door. “You going to be okay all alone for a bit?” She asked. “Well, I’m not going to be totally alone! Isn’t that right?” She said, looking up. Pinkie, as far as the story is concerned, yes you will be alone for a little bit. “You mean you aren’t going to be with me?” Only to tell the readers about what you’re going to be doing down here. She folded her arms. “Oh so now you’re just going to ignore me completely then, huh?” I just said that I’m going to be with you every step of the way! I just wont talk to you because I’m not supposed to! Pinkie angrily sat on her rump “Well! How about if I just don’t do anything until you talk to me? Whatcha gonna do then?” Suddenly, Pinkie started running around in circles like a lunatic and started screaming, “Pinkie is weird! Pinkie is a wacko pony! Pinkie is a loopy nutjob!” Twilight stepped backwards at watched the scene in front of her. Pinkie blew raspberry while she rolled on the ground for a few moments before finally stopping. She looked back up in anger. That, Pinkie is what I’ll do. Twilight looked up. “Pinkie, were you just arguing with the author?” Pinkie looked at Twilight. “Well, he started it.” I did not! “You did too!” Did not! “Did too!” Did not! “Listen, you jerk! How about I-” “Pinkie, stop!” Twilight ordered. Pinkie looked at Twilight and sat down again where she was. “We have more important things to deal with right now than listen to a disagreement you have with the author of a fanfiction story.” Pinkie gave a frustrated sigh and looked up again. “Fine.” Fine. “Good. Sorry about that, Mr. Author.” Don’t worry about it, Twilight. With that, she walked out and closed the door behind her, leaving Pinkie alone. Well, nearly alone. Pinkie waited a few moments before she started laughing hysterically. “That was really fun! We need to do this more!” I agree, Pinkie. However, she is right. You need to get on with your search for Applejack. “Don’t you know where she is? Can’t you just tell me?” Now, Pinkie, you know that a really cool part is coming up right after you find Applejack, right? Pinkie bounced to her hooves. “Oh right! That part!” The sooner you find Applejack, the sooner we can get to the part everyone’s been waiting for! “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said. She was just about to run down to the parking garage before she looked up again. “I just wanted to say sorry to all the readers! We got a little off keister back there. I wont get distracted and talk to the author again unless it’s really important, okay?” She waited a moment and then smiled wide. She turned tail and began to bounce toward the gate. It looked really weak. The lock was so rusted that it looked like it would fall off at any time. She turned around and bucked the lock as hard as she could. It broke on contact and the gate flew open. She walked through and looked to her left. She saw many piles of rubble on either side of a large body of water. It looked like the floor had been blown to bits from below. There were also a few old abandoned cars in some of the slots right against the wall. She looked around the room for another moment. “Applejack? You down here?” She called. There was no response. Based on the destruction in the room, she concluded that it was extremely unlikely that Applejack was down here. She turned around and walked back to the main entrance to the GCPD. Applejack was nowhere to be found. Pinkie didn’t think that she would just get up and abandon them out of the blue. Applejack wasn’t like that at all. She was Ponyville’s most dependable pony. Pinkie got back to the doorway and sat in front of it. Just like inside, the door was completely frozen over in a thick layer of ice. There’s no way Applejack could’ve broken through it and got inside. She decided to wait for Twilight to return. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then twenty. Pinkie was starting to get worried. She paced back and forth where she was. She didn’t think Twilight would abandon her in a place like this. None of her friends would. ”Huh.” She said. “Twilight isn’t here yet, but then again neither is Rainbow Dash or Rarity. Didn’t Rainbow say that they would meet us all back here when they were finished rescuing that reporter lady?” Pinkie looked out the chain-link fence to the outside. It was completely quiet out there. She giggled nervously. “No, there’s no way they would abandon me here. They’re my best friends! They wouldn’t forget about me!” She nervously looked around at her surroundings for another moment. “Would they?” --- Twilight shut the door and walked away. “Come on, Pinkie. We’ve got too many problems as it is.” She said to herself. She ran out the exit to the parking lot of the GCPD. She could only go so far before the freeway cut off. She looked around for anything that could be of use to her. She had to find a trail or something. She suspected that Harley Quinn took Applejack while they were inside with Freeze. She needed to find out where they went. She turned around and walked back toward the GCPD, thinking to herself. She looked to her right and saw another staircase that led up to the balcony above the parking lot. An idea popped into her head and she made her way toward it. “Maybe they went along the rooftops! Maybe there’s something up here!” She said. She looked around the ground for any evidence that could point her in the right direction. On the rooftops, she had a great view of the city. It reminded her of Manehatten. She had only been there once, but it was a really exciting visit for her. She shook her head and focused on finding evidence. She circled the entire rooftop twice and came up with nothing. She was sitting on the rooftop directly above the parking garage entrance and thinking to herself. Nothing was up here so she decided to head back down to Pinkie. She was about to teleport down to the ground level when she heard something from behind her. She turned around but saw nothing. The sound was still there, however. It sounded like soft crying. She cautiously walked along the balcony toward the sound. As she walked, the sound became slightly louder. She recognized the sound more clearly now. It definitely was crying and it was definitely coming from somewhere behind the GCPD. It sounded like a softly crying child; more specifically, a softly crying baby dragon. “S-Spike?” Twilight called. The crying continued. Twilight walked into the walkway to her right that led to the other side of the building. “Spike? Is that you?” She called again. The crying stopped for a moment. “T-Twilight?” Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. “Spike!” She ran outside to the other end and looked right. Spike was curled up in a ball inside a small cardboard box with tears rolling down his face. He looked absolutely terrified. Twilight began to cry as she ran to him. “Spike, what are you doing here?! How did you get here?” She asked. Spike got up and rushed over to Twilight. He hugged her as tight as he possibly could. “I d-don’t know! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were working on a way to bring you guys back home and something must have happened! I got zapped here! Everything here is dark and scary, Twilight!” Twilight rubbed the back of Spike’s head and tried to calm him down. “I know, Spike. I know. We’re going to get back home though, okay? We made a new friend here. He’s really nice, and he’s really strong, and he’ll keep us safe, okay?” Spike sniffed. “I want to go home! Come on! Lets get out of here!” Twilight looked at him with total sadness. “I want to go home too, Spike. But our friend needs our help. You should meet him! I think you’d like him!” She tried to lift her head up, but was brought down to Spike’s level again as he grabbed her around the neck. “I want to go home now!” He demanded. Twilight grunted and tried to lift herself up. “Spike, I know! We need to do stuff here first, though! Now follow me and we-” “NO!” Spike boomed. His voice became much deeper and his grip on Twilight’s neck tightened. “WE GO NOW!” Twilight gagged as Spike took a step backwards. He was still choking Twilight. She looked at him with shock and confusion as his grip tightened. Spike stared anger into her eyes before giving her an evil grin. Twilight tried to breathe, but it was no use. She was tempted to use magic to pry the angry dragons claws off of her neck, but she didn’t want to hurt him, even if he was hurting her. To her surprise, the baby dragon purple and green color seemed to fade and distort and Spike began to grow bigger. He seemed to change his appearance as well. He didn’t look like Spike anymore. Twilight’s vision began to go as she looked into the creature’s eyes. “Y-you… a-aren’t… S-Spike…” was all she managed to wheeze out before she slipped into darkness. --- “Pinkie, stop thinking crazy. You’re overreacting.” Pinkie said to herself. “Everypony is fine, they’re gonna be here soon! You just need to wait a little longer!” She could hardly wait anymore, no matter how much she assured herself. It had been nearly thirty minutes since Twilight left to search for Applejack. She was starting to lose it. A secret that she had that she hadn’t told anypony is that whenever she felt extremely sad or depressed, she could see another pony. It looked exactly like her in every way except her mane and tail were completely straight. She was really mean to Pinkie. The only time she would smile is when she could make Pinkie cry. She went by Pinkie’s real name, Pinkamena. “Pinkie, calm down! Come on! You know that your friends would never abandon you! Never in a million years!” Pinkie said to herself. “They seemed to abandon you on Gummy’s after-birthday party.” Pinkamena replied. “What? No, they were just busy getting my party together!” Pinkie said. “Really? You’re the one who throws the parties, you’re the hostess, and you’re the one who shows everypony else a good time. Why would you need to go to anyone else’s party? You are the only pony who can throw good parties!” Pinkamena snapped. “N…No.. Everypony else can throw parties too…” “No they cant! Other ponies’ parties are insulting to partying in general! They know it and you know it! They’re trying to replace you. They’re trying to show you that they don’t need you by throwing their own parties! Then they have the audacity to invite you to said party just to rub it in your face that your special talent isn’t special at all! They don’t need you!” “…M-My cutie mark isn’t special?” “HA! A pony who loves parties? Of course that isn’t special! Everypony loves parties! Having a cutie mark like that is so boring! You’re boring! Why in the world would your friends even want to hang out with you?! How do you even have friends?! You’re nothing! You’re pathetic!” Pinkie broke down and cried her eyes out harder than ever before. She had never felt this low in all her life. Her hair deflated and she turned to a darker shade of pink. She sat on the ground and cried into her hooves. “You’re friends wont be back for you because you have no real friends!” Pinkamena yelled. “You’re going to be stuck here all alone, forever. You’re going to die there all alone.” “No! No! No! No! NO!” Pinkie wailed. “You’re the Element of Laughter because everypony laughs at you! It’s hilarious how pathetic you are! Ha! HA HA HA HA!!” Pinkamena laughed. Pinkie’s head was suddenly filled with the combined laughter of all her friends. They were calling her names, making her embarrassed, and harassing her. She looked up to see the rest of her friends surrounding Pinkamena. Each of them were pointing and laughing as hard as they could. There was laughter inside her head and outside. All she could hear and see was laughter. She began to cry harder, which made Pinkamena and her friends laugh at her harder. “Please…” She sobbed. “Please stop laughing at me…” Her face turned red with embarrassment and she hid behind her hair and cried into her hooves as they continued to laugh at her cries. The laughter was so uncontrollable. It never stopped even for a second. Pinkie wanted to curl up and die right there. This was a new kind of torture for her. All her friends had abandoned her and she was now completely alone. She never thought she’d smile ever again. “Pinkie?” The laughing ceased immediately. Pinkie lifted her head up and looked around. The environment around her was completely silent. The laughing, the torment, the bullying, Pinkamena, they were all gone. “Pinkie? Where are you?” A voice called. Pinkie sniffed and turned around. She looked past the chain-link fence and saw all five of her friends walking around the parking lot looking for her. Pinkie felt a huge wave of relief. Pinkamena had been wrong. Her friends really were looking for her. “Pinkie!” Twilight called. “Get on out here, sugarcube!” Applejack said. “Pinkie, we’ve been so worried!” Fluttershy said. Pinkie pounded on the fence. “I’m in here! Please get me out!” She cried. They all turned their attention to her and gasped. “Oh no.” Rarity said. They all ran to the doorway and began working on opening it. Pinkie was banging on the door as hard as she could and crying uncontrollably. The door didn’t budge. It remained closed. “Pinkie, we can’t get the door open!” Twilight said. “Just hang on! I’m going to-” Rainbow said. “NO! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE! PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME HERE AGAIN!” Pinkie shrieked. She eyed the bottom of the door and stuck her hooves underneath. She pulled with all her strength until the doorway bent from her brute strength and made an exit big enough for her to get through. She wiggled her way out from underneath the door and ran to her friends. On contact, she broke down and sobbed uncontrollably again. She tried to say that she was so happy that they didn’t forget about her, but it was lost in the bubbling and the crying. “We would never leave you here, Pinkie!” Rainbow said. “What in the world would give you an idea like that?” Applejack asked. Pinkie tried to answer, but she was recovering from her crying fit to give a complete answer. “You know, it doesn’t matter. We’re all here now, right?” Twilight said. Everypony else agreed enthusiastically. Pinkie wiped her eyes and looked at all her friends. They still looked really fuzzy from all the tears she had pouring from her eyes. She continued to wipe her tears away, but her friends looked fuzzy. “Now come on! Lets get outta here and get home!” Applejack said. Her voice was slightly deeper than before. Everypony else’s voices were also much deeper as they agreed with Applejack. Pinkie felt woozy. This whole experience must have made her extremely light-headed. She released her embrace from her friends and tried to balance herself. It wasn’t working for her. “You… guys?” She slurred. Everypony continued to talk amongst themselves, but Pinkie couldn’t understand any of them. She wobbled back and forth until she fell to her side and passed out on the cold ground.