//------------------------------//
// Mad 
// Story: My Little Arkham 
// by ADHD365 
//------------------------------//

Tick… Tock… Tick…. Tock… Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock…

A ticking clock stirred Fluttershy awake. She groaned slightly and opened her eyes. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark environment she was in. She was sitting at a table with her hooves restrained. In front of her was a large cup of tea, a few plates of cupcakes, and a book to her left that read ‘Alice in Wonderland’. She had no idea what was going on.

She felt sick. Almost like she just threw up. She tried to think of the last thing she saw before going to sleep. She remembered the church, Mr. Freeze, and Angel Bunny. Angel had led her down an alleyway and offered her a cup of tea. It was the best cup of tea she ever had. She didn’t remember anything else after that.

She noticed that someone was sitting across from her. She squinted her eyes and saw Rainbow Dash. Like herself, her hooves were restrained to the table on either side of a large cup of tea. She would have been happy to see her, but Rainbow was wearing a grotesque bunny mask on her face that sent chills down her spine. 

There was a bright light coming from the right. Fluttershy wanted to shield her eyes, but something was preventing her from shutting them. All she could do was blink every so often. That’s all that happened. It was like she little to no control of actions. The bindings prevented her from moving, but something inside her said that she didn’t want to move even if she could.

She tried as hard as she could and managed to slowly look around the table to see each of her friends also sitting at a seat with their hooves restrained and a cup of tea in front of them. Rarity was on Rainbow’s right and Pinkie was on her left. Twilight was sitting on Fluttershy’s left while Applejack was on her right. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight also had bunny masks on. Rarity’s eyes were glazed over and she sat there staring at Twilight with an expressionless look on her face.

Fluttershy heard a groan come from her left. She slowly turned her head to see Batman sitting at the end of the table with his wrists also restrained beside a large cup of tea. He too looked woozy. He slowly looked up to face the rest of the ponies at the table.

“More tea, Batman?” Someone asked.

The voice startled Fluttershy. She slowly looked to her right and saw a man sitting on the far end of the table. The light that shone from behind him prevented her from seeing his face, but she did see the silhouette of a large top hat on his head.

“Where am I? What’s going on?” Batman asked.

“What a question! Shall I tell him?” The man with the hat gave a light giggle as he asked Pinkie his question. Pinkie’s response was a slow nod. “Oh ho he looks so confused! Maybe I should!”

Fluttershy didn’t like this man. Not one little bit. His voice was high and creepy. He sounded like a complete lunatic. She wanted to get out of here, but something inside her was preventing her from moving. She felt like her mind and her body was no longer connected.

The man continued. “Well its simple, really. I planted a teeny, tiny little idea in your head! A sort of remote hypnotic suggestion very complicated stuff. I’m sure you wouldn’t understand, but as you can see, it worked. You’re mine now! You’re mine and there’s nothing that Strange can do about it!”

He sounded too full of glee. It made Fluttershy uneasy to hear him speak.

“Oh, are you not going to drink your tea? Its special tea! My special tea!” He announced proudly. “My specialty.” He whispered with a little giggle.

“Go to hell, Jervis.” Batman growled through gritted teeth.

Jervis continued talking. “Simply put, I made you see what you wanted most.”

If Fluttershy could gasp, she would have. This man somehow used something to make her see Angel Bunny. It’s what she wanted most. He tricked her into thinking that Angel was inside Arkham City with her and that she managed to find him. After he offered her the tea, she fell unconscious and was captured. All her other friends must have been tricked in the same way. 

This made her extremely angry. No one messes with her friends and gets away to brag about it. She grunted and focused as hard as she could to try and take control of herself again. She forced her brain to send multiple commands to her body as she struggled to put a stop to this.

“Now what was it? Tell me.” Jervis said happily. “Oh tell me! Hee hee hoo so predictable, just like Alice! Never doing what I want without ludicrous amounts of psychoactive controls.”

Jervis reached down under the table and brought out a few more masks before he hopped on top. “Well if that’s what’s necessary, then it’s a good job that you’ve already taken them!”

Fluttershy felt her head turn and face Batman. Everypony else at the table also turned their heads toward him at the exact same time. Fluttershy tried as hard as she could to fight whatever Jervis had put inside her to make her do these involuntary actions. Her face twisted into an expression of extreme anger and she started shaking slightly. Jervis walked down the table toward Batman.

“All we need now is a finishing touch! A new hat!” He said. He threw a bunny mask onto Rarity’s head. “For you!” He said as he threw another mask on Batman. 

He turned his attention to Fluttershy, who looked up at him in defiance. She finally got a look at his face. He looked old, and his long overcoat looked very dirty. He had a green bowtie on his neck and a pocket watch in his left hand. He stared at Fluttershy with curiosity.

“And what have we here? What do you think, little pony?” He asked her.

Fluttershy tried to speak. Her lips pursed open slightly and she managed to whisper out, “No… one… messes… with my… friends!” She growled.

Jervis stepped back. “My, my, my! We’re going to need something more powerful for you!” He reached behind him and grabbed something. “Yes! A special new hat!” He crouched down to look her right in the eyes. “Just… for… you!” He threw the mask on Fluttershy’s face and the world went dark again.

You are MY little pony now. You will do everything I say.

Fluttershy could feel herself going. She could feel this man taking control of her one limb at a time. She could feel her conscious mind being torn out of her head as this man tried to make her into his puppet. She couldn’t give up. She desperately tried to fight back. She began to scream as loud as she could as she slowly took control of her body again.

You will do anything I want.

Her screams were muffled in the darkness, but as she struggled more, they became louder and louder. She could see the darkness slowly fade away the more and more she struggled. The man’s chemicals were blocking her view of reality.

“When somepony tries to block,” She thought. She pushed the darkness away as she continued to scream and struggle. “Show them that you rock!”

In that instant, the darkness completely dissipated and everything around her was clear. She felt like herself again. She could move every part of her body in any way she could. She was in control again.

No, no, no, no, no! This isn’t right! You can’t be doing this!

She looked around at her surroundings. This was certainly the most confusing place she had ever been in Arkham City yet. She was standing on a number ‘4’ that belonged to a giant pocket watch. They were falling down a giant hole that had teapots, cups, cupcakes, cards, and doors floating up toward a little light in the ceiling. She looked ahead and saw Batman standing there. He looked at her and started to advance menacingly.

She put her hooves in the air and cowered on the ground. “Batman, wait! It’s me! It’s me!”

He stopped walking. She slowly looked out from behind her hooves and gasped when she saw his face. He had been twisted to have a huge smile and long black whiskers next to his nose. His ears on his cowl were long and floppy. He looked like some sort of deformed bunny.

“Its me. Get over here now.” He ordered.

Fluttershy yelped and got to her hooves. A part of her didn’t want to trust Batman. Jervis’s chemicals manipulated her mind and made her lose control of herself. Then again, if there was anyone with an iron will, it was Batman. Iron Will’s training was the only reason that she got control of herself again.

Iron Will wasn’t kidding when he said ‘satisfaction, guaranteed.’

When she ran to join Batman in the center of the giant clock, five clouds of smoke appeared around them. A few seconds later, they dissipated and Fluttershy’s jaw dropped where she was.

Surrounding them were her friends: Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow and Rarity. The only thing that was really discomforting to her was that all five of their heads looked like that of bunnies; white, fat, fluffy, bunnies instead of their normal pony heads.

“Wh-What happened to them?!” She asked.

“Hatter’s masks. The chemicals he used distort your perception of reality so you look like rabbits.” Batman said.

Rainbow charged at Fluttershy with all her might. Batman leapt over Fluttershy and kicked Rainbow in the chest. She went flying backwards off the edge. Fluttershy grabbed Batman’s arm and shot up to him, striking him in the face. Batman exclaimed and grabbed Fluttershy.

“What are you doing?!” Fluttershy screamed. “Don’t you dare hurt them!”

“They can’t control themselves! Hatter has complete control over them! We need to stop them in order to get him!” Batman barked.

Fluttershy was caught between rage and extreme sadness. She never thought she would be forced to fight her own friends. Batman dropped her and did a back flip to counter Twilight’s assault on him. Fluttershy looked behind her to see Pinkie and Rarity close in on her.

She tried to brace herself for an attack. She kept telling herself that it had to be done. There was no other way. She would have to fight them in order to save them. They closed in on her before she shut her eyes and took off in the air.

“I cant do it!” She screamed with tears in her eyes. “I just cant do it!”

She flew in the air above them for a moment until she felt herself rise higher in the air. She looked up to the little light in the ceiling. They were falling so fast that if she continued to fly upwards, she would vanish. She turned around and flew back to the pocket watch.

Batman was having trouble with keeping up his assault on the mind-controlled ponies. Fluttershy saw that he was holding back as best he could to not seriously hurt their bodies, but it still greatly bothered her to see this.

As she was about to land, Applejack tackled her and took her to the ground. Fluttershy started screaming as Applejack started to assault her as hard as she could. Her big, beady, black eyes stared into hers as she hit her with her hooves. Fluttershy just couldn’t find it within herself to fight back. All she could do was cover her crying eyes with her hooves and beg her to stop.

Batman rolled over to them from across the way and kicked Applejack in the stomach. She rolled off of Fluttershy and fell off the edge. Fluttershy looked up to him as he continued to defend himself against Pinkie and Twilight.

She got to her hooves as fast as she could, and tried to clear her mind. She told herself to snap out of it and do what was necessary. As far as she could tell, right now, these ponies were not her friends; they were Hatter’s puppets.

To her left she saw Hatter appear in a flash of red light. His hands were glowing red as he stared into her soul. “Relax.”  He said softly.

That was the last thing she wanted to do on her list. She snarled and took off at him at lightning speed. She zoomed in and impacted his head. Instead of him going down, he vanished in a cloud of blue smoke.

She looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. She turned around to see Rainbow Dash and Rarity charging at her. She exhaled and shut her eyes as she took off to meet them.

“I’m so sorry for this, girls.” She whispered just before her front hooves made contact with Rainbow’s face.

Rainbow flew backwards again and landed beside Batman while he fought Pinkie and Applejack. Fluttershy landed and bucked Rarity before she had time to attack and she flew off the edge as well.

Fluttershy sniffed and wiped her tears away. She looked in time to see Rainbow recover and get to her hooves before charging at her again. Again, Fluttershy apologized in advance before using Rainbow’s momentum against her to throw her to the ground. Rainbow rolled around in pain for a moment before she also vanished in blue smoke.

Fluttershy turned to see Rarity appear by Batman and start to attack him. Twilight was making her way toward Fluttershy now. At the same time, she saw Hatter appear behind her and beckon for her to follow him.

Fluttershy looked at him and Twilight and quickly thought about what she would have time for. It wasn’t much. She went after Hatter as fast as a bullet. He couldn’t react in time. He screamed as she plowed into his face and he went down to the ground. She stood over him and stared hatred into him.

“No, no, no! Please! Alice will be here soon! What will she think of this?!” Hatter begged.

The ticking of the giant pocket watch slowed down significantly. Fluttershy didn’t listen to his pleas for mercy. She grabbed him and hit his face with her hoof as hard as she could.

“Destroy his hat!” Batman yelled from behind her.

She turned to face him for a moment to clarify. Batman was now alone. Her friends had totally vanished. She turned back to Hatter, Staring at him as hard as she could.

“Where are they?!” She demanded.

Hatter’s eyes went wide as he took the full power of her Stare. He tried to speak, but he just whimpered and put his hands over his face. He started to cry like a child as Fluttershy continued her Stare with more fury than she had ever felt. Batman appeared next to her, grabbed his hat, and stomped on it as hard as he could. Hatter started to wail in agony before Batman grabbed him out of Fluttershy’s hooves and threw him to the ground as well. He punched him in the head and Hatter went unconscious.

In that second, the world went back to normal. They were back in the little room with the small tea party. Much of the cups on the table were overturned and the room was a wreck, but they were back.

Fluttershy tried to look around some more, but something was blocking her sight. She reached up and took the mask that Hatter had put on her off. She looked at it and saw that she had also been wearing a bunny mask. She thought for a moment and realized that her head must have looked like a bunny’s too. It made her shudder.

She threw the mask on the ground and looked around the room. All five of her friends were unconscious and laying on the ground or on the table. She started to tear up again at the sight. She walked toward Pinkie, who lay nearest, and crouched down beside her before crying as hard as she could.

“I’m so-” She sniffed. “I’m so, so sorry, girls. I d-didn’t want to, I had no choice.”

Batman stood beside her. “They’ll be alright.”

Fluttershy looked at him. “But I wont be.” She sniffed.

“Yes you will. Hatter’s chemicals turned them into something they’re not, and you saved them. Even if you had to hurt them a little, you did what had to be done.” He replied.

Fluttershy sniffed for a moment before nodding. He was right. She had to do what she had to do.

He turned to the door. “You wait here for your friends to wake up.”

Fluttershy looked at him again. “Where are you going?”

“I’ve got to go to the Steel Mill and deal with Joker. I need to take the cure so I can save Gotham.” Batman reached into his belt and pulled out a small piece of equipment before going back and handing it to Fluttershy. “If you get into any trouble at all, press the small red button. I’ll find you.” He said.

Fluttershy took it and examined it for a moment. It was a tiny, bat-shaped device. “What is this supposed to do?” She asked.

She looked up, but all she saw was the door to the building start to swing closed. Batman was gone, and she was all alone here with her friends. She sat down again and looked around. She eyed the book on the table and walked over to it. She picked it up and read the title again.

“Alice in Wonderland.” She said. The cover had a picture of a young woman in a blue dress and long golden hair sitting at a table with a giant rabbit, a talking playing card, and a cat with a big smile spread across his face. At the end of the table was a short man wearing an oversized top hat on his head. He looked just like Jervis.

Fluttershy looked at him as he lay unconscious for a moment before turning her attention to the book again. She opened to a random page in the book and scanned its contents. There was only one thing that stuck out to her: ‘Mad Hatter.’

Batman had called Jervis ‘Hatter’ before. That must have been what he was known for. Like Victor Fries was known as Mr. Freeze, or like Mr. Cobblepot was known as Penguin, this man must have been Mad Hatter. Fluttershy closed the book and put it in her saddlebag before sitting down and waiting for everypony to wake up.

---

Twilight quietly groaned as she stirred awake. She slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on the ground with a dusty book sitting on top of her nose. She groaned again and tried to sit up. She managed to get halfway up before a throbbing pain in her chest made her yelp and fall back down.

Fluttershy appeared right in front of her the next second. “Oh! Twilight, are you alright?” She asked.

Twilight tried to get to her hooves again while Fluttershy helped her. “Yeah… I think so.” She grunted. “I just had the worst dream, though. I dreamt that we were fighting you and Batman.”

Fluttershy looked away solemnly for a moment. Twilight took a moment to register her emotions. “It… wasn’t a dream, was it?”

Fluttershy shook her head slowly before Twilight leaned in to hug her. “Fluttershy, I’m so sorry! I wanted to stop! I really, really did, but I couldn’t! I saw all the things I did to you and Batman, and I just-”

She stopped talking and started to blubber in tears as Fluttershy quietly shushed her and told her it was all right. She understood that everypony couldn’t control themselves; they were just under the Mad Hatter’s spell.

Fluttershy told Twilight about Batman’s plan and where he had gone. She also told Twilight about the device Batman had given her. Twilight looked at it for a moment before looking around at the rest of their friends. Everypony else was still unconscious.

“I’m going to see if I can wake them up quicker. We need to help Batman. Can you step outside for a moment to just look around at where we are?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy gulped. “All by myself?”

Twilight nodded. “Just step outside and try to find some sort of landmark or something that will tell us where we are. We need to get moving.”

“Oh… okay…” Fluttershy said.

Twilight turned to their friends and tried to wake them up. Fluttershy slowly turned to the door and walked outside. She shut the door behind her and looked around. She was in an alleyway that was much wider than the others in Arkham City. She slowly walked up a set of stairs to her right that led to a chain-link fence. She flew up just so her eyes peered over the top of the fence and she looked to her right. She saw the courthouse a little ways away. That was all she needed.

She dropped back down to the ground and walked back to the doorway below. She opened the door and walked back inside. The first thing she heard as she shut the door was wailing and crying. She whipped around to see Mad Hatter standing on the table holding his squished hat. She saw all five of her friends cornered on the other side of the room, staring at him with total fear.

“No, my hat! My beautiful hat! What have you done?!” He wailed.

“Stay back, Fluttershy!” Twilight warned. “He’s dangerous!”

Fluttershy grunted and stepped toward Hatter with all the confidence as she could muster. Hatter turned around to face her with tears streaming down his face as he looked at Fluttershy in fear.

“Don’t ever mess with my friends again, Hatter.” Fluttershy growled angrily.

“But you don’t understand! I need you!” Hatter cried. “I can’t win without you!”

“Then you lose!” Fluttershy snapped. “We’re not your slaves. Not now, not ever.”

Hatter cringed and wailed again before he turned around and continued to cry. Fluttershy hated to admit it, but a part of her actually liked being scary. She could have her way and no one would mess with her. She would assert herself and get what she wanted one way or another.

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. That was ‘New Fluttershy’ thinking. She would still be her same old self unless the situation called for more desperate measures. This had been one of those situations, but it had passed.

She opened her eyes and beckoned for her friends to follow her outside. One by one, all five ponies tiptoed their way over to Fluttershy and out the door. Twilight was the last one out, leaving Fluttershy in the room alone with Hatter. 

She turned back to him. “My lovely hat… ruined.” He sobbed.

Fluttershy shook her head and left the building after her friends.

---

“It was awful. Ah’d never felt like that before in mah life.” Applejack said.

“Me neither. I cannot apologize to you enough, Fluttershy.” Rarity agreed.

“None of us can!” Pinkie said. “Can you forgive us?”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “Of course I can, girls. I knew that you couldn’t control yourselves. After some convincing, I did what I had to do. If anything, I should be asking you for forgiveness.”

“Psh! Whatever! You were with Batman the whole time! Anything he says goes!” Rainbow said.

“Oh goodness.” Fluttershy smiled again before she perked up. “That reminds me. We didn’t hurt you too badly, did we?”

“Naw, just a little sore in a few places.” Applejack said.

“Same here.” Pinkie agreed.

“I think I got the wind knocked out of me a bit, but otherwise I’m good.” Rainbow said.

“Now Fluttershy, you don’t worry about us. What’s done is done. What we need to focus on is getting back to Batman and getting to Strange. We need those Elements back.” Rarity said.

“Rarity’s right.” Twilight said. “I can cast a few spells on us to make us feel better, but then we need to get going again.”

“Better until it wears off, that is.” Rainbow clarified.

Twilight slowly nodded. “Right…” She said. “That’s something else we need to figure out. Has anypony else been feeling…” She tried to search for the right words. “Out of place? Wrong?”

They all thought for a moment. Pinkie noticed that she had been way more depressed in here than usual. Her hair had deflated more times tonight than she could remember.

Rainbow noticed that she hadn’t felt the same ever since the Demon Trials and she went insane. She felt like she wanted to get away from her friends and just get on with everything.

Rarity had noticed that she’d been looking for things for herself more. True, she would still give things, but she really didn’t want to. Raiding the fancy building with all the dress designs for herself was the thing that led her into Hatter’s clutches in the first place.

Fluttershy noticed that she had let herself lose control and be more aggressive. Ever since she thought Pinkie had died in the highway collapse, she felt her anger right there within reach.

Applejack felt lost with herself as well. In Riddler’s cage, she thought that she was going to make it out eventually at first, but after an hour or so, it felt like a lost cause. She kept telling herself that she would make it, but she honestly thought she would die there. She lied to herself over and over again.

One by one, everypony nodded. “What does this mean?” Rarity asked.

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve felt this way too. I feel…” She paused for a moment. “…Disconnected to my Element.”

There was a short pause. “I’ve noticed that exact thing too.” Rainbow said.

“Me too.” Fluttershy said.

“Me three.” Pinkie said.

“But how? How is that possible?” Applejack asked. “How could we possibly be disconnected to our Elements? Ah’ve never felt that way until tonight.”

“I didn’t think it was possible either.” Twilight said. “But apparently, it is. We’re becoming disconnected with our true selves, and that’s causing the Elements to lose their power.”

“That must be why your magic isn’t holding out any more.” Rarity noted.

“My thoughts exactly.” Twilight said.

“What are we going to do?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight thought for another moment. “We need to get the Elements of Harmony back from Hugo Strange.”

“What about Batman? We can’t just leave him alone.” Rainbow interjected.

“I agree. Bruce has assisted us tremendously in here. We need to help him as well.” Rarity agreed.

“Um, Bruce?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh yeah! Batman is Bruce Wayne.” Rainbow said.

“Wh-What?! Really?!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

“Yep! But we need to keep it quiet, okay? No one can know.” Rainbow said.

Fluttershy was about to speak before Pinkie interrupted her. “Are you kidding? Fluttershy is the world champ at the quiet game! No one and nopony could ever beat her in a million, zillion years!”

Everypony giggled for a moment before quieting down. “So, the Steel Mill?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight took a deep breath before she nodded. “Yes. The Steel Mill.”

---

Rainbow reached into her bag and pulled out the radio as they walked down the street. “I’m going to see if we can get into contact with Batman. I’m letting him know we’re on our way.”

Twilight was about to interject but Rainbow had already pressed the button. “Batman? Can you hear me?”

“What do you need?” He asked.

Rainbow smiled. “We’re on our way to the Steel Mill to help you out. After we get the cure from Joker, we’re going after Strange, right?”

“That’s the plan. I don’t want you to come to the Steel Mill. Joker’s upped the security. I had to go in the back entrance over a river of boiling water. You stay there. You’ll be safe.”

“Oh no.” Pinkie said. “We’re going to help you! Whatever it takes, we’ll make it and help you!”

They all stopped at a street corner that was near the church and all talked into the radio.

“Batman, we can help you. Just give us a little time to catch up with you.” Twilight said.

“I don’t think you’ll have enough time...” Oracle said.

“Barbara, what’s happened?” Batman asked.

“I just heard from my dad. He’s been summoned to City Hall. Strange is requesting that emergency Protocol 10 is activated.” Oracle said.

“Does Gordon know what Protocol 10 is?” Batman asked.

“Just that it’s the worst-case security measure. Strange told the High Council that he failed to stem the use of illegal weapons within the prison.” Oracle said.

“Weapons he gave them! I saw it myself! This was his plan the whole time!” Rainbow said.

“It certainly looks that way.” Oracle said. “He made it sound like the inmates were planning a mass escape and attack on Gotham. I’ll keep you posted.”

“You six stay where you are. The last thing we need is for you all to go.” Batman ordered.

With that, the radio shut off. All six ponies stood there for a moment in silence before Rainbow gave a frustrated growl. “We can’t just sit here! He needs help! Even if he doesn’t need our help, we’ll get done faster all together!”

“Rainbow, calm down.” Applejack said.

“But she’s right! We can’t just sit here all willy, nilly! We need to go help our friend!” Pinkie agreed.

“Pinkie, please. There’s no need for any of this!” Rarity said.

“Yes. Even if we Batman did need our help, how could we help him? Batman has all sorts of gadgets and tools that he uses for any situation. What about us?” Twilight asked.

“Duh, your magic of course!” Rainbow said.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You mean the magic that’s wearing off more and more?”

Rainbow paused before giving another frustrated sigh. She paced in the air for a few moments before stopping. “What about Batman? You think he has anything we can use?”

Applejack shook her head. “Rainbow, no. Don’t go askin’ Batman for any favors or anythin’.”

“Why not? If he isn’t using it, why can’t we use it?” Rainbow said as she grabbed the radio. “Batman? I have a quick question.”

“Rainbow, no!” Twilight said.

“Do you have any gadgets or something we can use?” Rainbow continued, ignoring Twilight.

Everypony facehoofed all at once.

“Why?” Batman asked.

“Just, uh, in case we get separated again! We’re going to need to rely on more than our skills to get them off our backs. Like you have your gadgets!” Rainbow said.

Twilight used her magic to yank the radio out of Rainbow’s hooves. “Ha ha ha what she meant by that is that your gadgets are so cool and she was wondering if we could borrow a few! She did not mean that your skills are so bad that you need gadgets to win! Not at all!” Twilight explained nervously before glaring at Rainbow.

“Th-That’s not what I meant!” Rainbow stammered. “I-I just meant that-”

Pinkie grabbed her and held her mouth shut. “Rainbow, shush!” She said.

Rainbow squirmed and tried to get free, but Applejack also came in and held her mouth shut. Twilight held the radio in her hooves for a few moments and waited for a response. Nothing came for a few seconds.

“Fine.” Batman finally said.

Twilight blinked. “Wait, what?!” She asked in shock.

“Fine. I’ll let you borrow some things from the Batcave. Fluttershy, press the button on the sensor I gave you.” Batman said.

Fluttershy produced the sensor and lightly pressed the small button. It started beeping quietly.

“I’ll let Oracle know. I’m going to send you each a miniaturized Batcomputer. GPS, detective mode, radio, everything I can get on the Cowl. They should be there soon.” Batman said.

Twilight was at a loss for words. She couldn’t believe that he had agreed to this. She and everypony else stood there in shock for a few moments around the radio.

“Uh… thank you, Batman.” Twilight finally said.

She examined the radio for a moment, but there was no reply. She pressed a few of the buttons on it, but nothing happened. “The battery died.” She said.

Rainbow flew into the air and started doing some tricks and loop-de-loops. “Woo hoo! I can’t believe it! This is so cool!” She exclaimed. “We’re going to get gadgets!”

Pinkie started dancing around too. “Yay! That makes me so happy!”

“They should really come in handy!” Fluttershy said.

“What’s a ‘GPM’ or whatever?” Applejack asked.

“A GPS. Its like a really detailed map.” Pinkie explained. “We’ll know how to get anywhere in here with it!”

“Lets hope! Its really easy to get lost in here!” Rarity said.

Twilight turned around. “Now everypony, I know this is cool and all, but we need to stay focused. Once we get this stuff, we’re going to use only what we need to stop Strange and get the Elements back. Once we do, we’re going to give it all back, okay?”

Everypony was about to respond when they heard a loud whoosh shoot through the air. It was the same sound Rainbow Dash made when she would fly like a missile across the sky in Ponyville. They looked up to see two blue streaks of light zoom across the sky and vanish a second later.

In that same second, a big cylinder with a Bat carved into the side crashed into the ground right next to Fluttershy. She screamed and ran toward her friends. Everypony also jumped back, startled.

Twilight approached the cylinder. As she did, the Bat symbol cut in two and opened either left or right. A device extended out the opening and lowered itself to the ground. There sat six black screens. Each one was about a little bit bigger than the radio. Twilight levitated one out and saw that it had a strap attached to the underside.

“We can put these on our fore hooves and use them like Batman uses his gauntlets!” Twilight said. “Come on. Everypony get one.”

They all approached the cylinder. Rainbow was first and threw it on her left hoof as fast as she could. All while trying to hold back her girly giggles. Once they were secured to them comfortably, the screen turned on. There was an image of a young woman with glasses and red hair sitting at a computer desk.

“Uh, hello? Can you guys hear me?” She asked.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, we sure can. You’re Oracle, right?”

Oracle nodded. “So, I don’t know why Bruce gave the okay to lend you guys his stuff. Its amazing even to me.”

“Us too. He doesn’t seem like the kind of person who shares his toys with others.” Rainbow said.

“Oh trust me, he doesn’t.” Oracle said. “Anyway, on the side of each of your communicators, you will find a removable black piece. Open that part up and you will find a small device coated in a putty mixture. That is also a communicator that can fit in any sized ear. Place that in your ear.”

The six ponies found the communicator on the side of the screen and placed it in their ears. It was a little uncomfortable at first, but they could hardly feel it after a few moments.

“Good. Now either me or Bruce can talk to you without worrying about anyone else listening. That device can also pick up radio waves, or anything else far away that makes noise.” Oracle explained.

“So we’ll be able to talk to you or Batman with the touch of a button without worrying about anything?” Pinkie asked.

“Pretty much.” Oracle said.

“This is so awesome!” Rainbow squealed.

“Thank you so much, Oracle!” Rarity thanked.

“We’ll be sure to give ‘em back when this mess is behind us!” Applejack said.

“That may be sooner than you think.” Oracle said. “Bruce, can you hear me?”

“What’s going on?” Batman asked.

“I’ve hacked into the Council’s CCTV. The Council members are coming back. They don’t look happy.” Oracle said. “They’re telling Strange that they’re disappointed in him. That they never believed that Protocol 10 would need to be activated.”

“But they gave him permission, didn’t they?” Batman said.

They all waited a few moments before a new voice came through their transmissions. It was Hugo Strange.

“Good evening. Protocol 10 will commence in 30 minutes. You all have specific orders for this situation, follow them.”

“Do you still need an answer?” Oracle asked. “Bruce, I don’t like this. Be careful.”

The communications went down. They all stood there in silence for a few moments longer.

“What do we do, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

Twilight looked up at her, then to all her friends. All five pairs of big eyes were on her. 

“Batman said we should stay here.” Rarity said. “But, I feel like something worse is going to happen. Protocol 10 doesn’t sound like a spa treatment. I should know. I think we should go help him.”

Twilight turned her attention to Applejack. “Ah say we help him too. He may think he doesn’t need us, but he does need us as much as we need him. Ah vote we help.”

Twilight looked at Pinkie. “I wanna help him too! That meanie Joker stole the entire cure for himself! We need to get it away from him before he drinks it all! Batman needs some too!”

Twilight looked to Rainbow. “You already know I want to help him! We’re just waiting for your word.”

“Yes, Twilight. You have the final say in this.” Fluttershy said.

Twilight thought long and hard. She knew what had to be done, but she didn’t know how to accomplish it. She didn’t have a plan or anything. The only thing she was sure of was that she had her friends with her and they would fight alongside her no matter what.

“Protocol 10 will commence in 25 minutes.” Strange said.

Again, Twilight looked up to her friends. They all looked at her and waited for her word. They were all ready to go.

“It could be really dangerous.” Twilight said. Everypony nodded. “We might not make it.” Everypony looked at each other and nodded again. Twilight closed her eyes. “If that happens to us, I want us to go down swinging.” 

Twilight opened her eyes and looked at all her friends again. “I just want to let you all know that you five are the greatest things that ever happened to me. You all gave me a gift that I thought I could do without: Friendship.”

They all smiled at her. “Twilight, what makes you think we wont make it?” Rainbow asked. “You’ve been hitting the books too much!”

“You’re one to talk, miss Daring Do.” Applejack mumbled under her breath.

Rainbow pointed a hoof at her. “Shut up, AJ.” She said playfully, causing everypony to laugh. “My point is you gotta use a little imagination! Stop being so down-to-earth with everything. Try to think positive!”

“Yeah! Try thinking, ‘we’re so gonna kick Strange in the butt when this is all done and we’ll walk outta here in one piece!’ See? It lifts everyponys spirits when you look at it that way!” Pinkie said.

“Listen to Pinkie. When it comes to making others happy, she knows what she’s talking about.” Rarity said. “I do agree that you should try to think more positively than logically. Make us believe that everything will be fine and then make it so!”

“You guys are right. You’re all right!” Twilight said as she turned around. “Everything is going to be fine! Come on! We’ve got a friend to help and a home to save!”

Everypony cheered with glee before taking off toward the Steel Mill.