//------------------------------// // Promises // Story: My Little Arkham // by ADHD365 //------------------------------// Fluttershy and Rarity turned a right corner and continued down the alleyway until they reached the main street. They looked around to see if they could spot any inmates loitering on the sidewalks. The street was completely devoid of all life. A few bodies littered the ground a ways away. Rarity shook her head in disbelief. She had no idea that anyone, no matter how evil, could even fathom a type of cruelty on these people. She was well aware that they were nowhere near innocent people, but what Strange did to all of them made him no better. Rarity looked up to the sky. There was only one helicopter in the air and it was flying up and over the security wall of the prison away from them. Protocol 10 was deactivated, and the helicopters were all going back to their base. With them out of the way, and most of the inmates that were still alive too scared to come back out for a while, this would be very easy. “Wait up!” A voice from behind them shouted. Rarity and Fluttershy turned around to see Applejack running toward them in the alleyway. “Applejack? What are you doing here?” Rarity asked. Applejack stopped right in front of them. “Ah came to help ya’ll rescue Mr. Freeze’s wife! Figured you could use a little assistance.” “Well, that’s thoughtful Applejack, but what about Twilight and Pinkie Pie? Won’t they need your help?” Fluttershy asked. “Ah told Twilight and Pinkie that Ah was getting’ worried about you two.” Applejack hesitated for a moment. “No offense girls, but Ah thought you two might need the most help right now. Honestly, Ah wasn’t sure you could handle yourselves if you got into a scrap.” Rarity looked insulted. “Applejack, that’s not fair! Why would you say something like that?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You want me to go back?” Rarity knew that her and Fluttershy weren’t the best fighters in the group. Applejack was right here and willing to lend a hoof for them and she wasn’t about to reject her offer. Rarity’s expression relaxed somewhat. “No, we’ll need your help. I just don’t like it when you assume that we’ll need your help.” Applejack chuckled and shook her head. “Heh. Classic Rarity.” Applejack stepped forward to look up and down the street. Not a living soul in sight. She walked out onto the sidewalk and turned right. Fluttershy followed right behind with Rarity tailing her. “So, where are we supposed to be going?” Applejack asked. Fluttershy thought for a moment. “I think she might be by the Steel Mill.” “How do ya figure that, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked. “Well, um, Mr. Strange took Victor in for an interview or something a few hours ago. Victor demanded that I go with him and I that didn’t get hurt.” Fluttershy began. “They talked about his past and his life for a long time until they finally got to Nora. Strange told Victor that Nora was being delivered to the Joker as they were speaking and Victor got really mad. This is just before we got separated and I woke up in the Mad Hatter’s tea party.” “Makes sense, Ah guess.” Applejack said, turning into an alleyway. Rarity shook her head. “How awful. Did Strange say why he was delivering Nora to Joker?” Fluttershy gulped. “Its hard to explain. Strange asked Victor so many questions about what he did and how he did it. He somehow made it all seem like Victor’s fault.” “How is any of that Victor’s fault?” Rarity demanded. “He didn’t deliver Nora to Joker!” Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t know, he got into his head and said all kinds of things to him. What’s worse is that what Strange concluded to Victor somehow all made sense.” Rarity exhaled. “Oh, I wish I could understand this. It’s so very confusing.” “How’s about we just stick to getting Nora back right now?” Applejack asked. Rarity nodded. “Good idea. We can talk about this later.” They continued down the alleyway until they reached the courthouse. It was still burning and it had an enormous hole above the main doorway. A few pieces of debris were scattered in front of it. They turned right and headed toward the freeway. They were all familiar with the layout of the prison now. “I’m not saying what Strange did was good, but it certainly has made our journey much easier.” Rarity commented. “Ah agree.” Applejack said. “Still, be best to be on guard. We can never be too careful here.” Rarity nodded. They walked past the church and onward toward the freeway entrance. The fence that separated them from the freeway had been destroyed. They carefully stepped over to the other side and walked up the road. “We should probably get an idea of where Nora is before we get to the industrial section.” Rarity said. Fluttershy tapped her computer. The upper section of the industrial district was highlighted with a large blue circle. Fluttershy tapped it and Freeze’s voice came over the comm. “I managed to track Nora down to somewhere in this area. Please find her for me, Batman.” The comm. went silent. Applejack and Rarity looked at the highlighted section on their maps. “Around there?” Rarity asked. Fluttershy nodded. “She’s probably inside one of those buildings. I don’t think Joker would put her outside in the open.” “Plus, he’s probably got some of his goons guarding her. We’re gonna have to deal with them once we get there.” Applejack added. “They shouldn’t be a problem.” Rarity said. “But what if they are a problem?” Fluttershy asked. Rarity and Applejack looked at each other. “Fluttershy, we’re going to need your help if we do end up fighting them.” Rarity said. “Yeah. Sorry sugarcube, but you’re gonna have to step out of your comfort zone for a bit and bash a few heads if need be.” Applejack added. Fluttershy sighed. She hated hurting people. Even if they were bad people who wanted to hurt her and she was acting in self-defense, she didn’t want to hurt anyone. She had done it before tonight many times, and she didn’t want to do it anymore tonight, but she figured that this would be the last time. “Alright.” Fluttershy whispered. Applejack smiled. “Thanks, Fluttershy. Ah know you don’t like doing this, but we might not have a choice.” “I know.” Fluttershy said. “I just wish they would listen to reason instead of resorting to violence.” “They’re vicious brutes, darling.” Rarity said. “They’ve resorted to a life of crime and became just that as a result.” Fluttershy nodded and looked down. “Yeah…” They all paused for a moment. “Come on. We need to get moving.” Rarity said. They continued down the road as far as they could until they reached where the road cut off. Fluttershy flew into the air with Rarity and placed her on top of the building to their left. She did the same with Applejack before they all continued along the rooftops. They backtracked their steps all the way back to the drawbridge. Fluttershy carried Rarity and Applejack a short distance whenever they needed help. She almost dropped Applejack into the water below when they were crossing a small gap between buildings. She was clearly not as good a flier as Rainbow Dash was, so she was having trouble. They decided that it would be better if they went east along the boats in the harbor instead of using the drawbridge like before. The area where Nora was supposedly being held was right around there, so that’s where they decided to look. Fluttershy carefully carried Rarity and Applejack over in front of the building next to the GCPD building. It was an abandoned toy factory named Krank Co. Toys. It gave everypony the chills, so they decided not to go inside. Instead, they walked over to the balcony that looked over to the industrial district. There were a few platforms scattered along the water directly in front of them, as well as a large crane that towered above. A small boat was resting in the water directly in front of a warehouse. The warehouse had a small opening near the surface of the water. Rarity double-checked her map. The warehouse was in the highlighted region. “I’m thinking she might be in that building.” Rarity said. “The one with the big letters on it?” Applejack asked. “Yes, that one.” Rarity confirmed. “I’m not sure, but I have a hunch.” “Welp, only one way to find out for sure.” Applejack said. They were near a platform in the water. There was a chain-link fence surrounding the perimeter and the top to make it into a box. Fluttershy flew out to it to examine it. It looked sturdy enough. She came back and carefully carried Rarity over and set her on the fence. She flew back to Applejack and landed next to her. “Hang on a second, Applejack.” Fluttershy breathed. “I need to catch my breath.” Applejack nodded and put a hoof on her. “Don’t worry, sugarcube. Take your time.” She breathed a moment longer before she shook herself. Applejack smiled and Fluttershy carried her over to join Rarity. They all turned and looked out toward the warehouse. There was a small barge directly in front of it. They took it like stepping-stones. Fluttershy took a deep breath and proceeded to pick up Rarity. She slowly flew her over to the end of the barge and set her down before she started panting. “Fluttershy, are you alright?” Rarity asked. Fluttershy panted for another moment. “I… I’m fine it’s just that… I’m so tired…” Rarity looked at her sympathetically. “Oh darling, I know you are. We all are.” She looked into her eyes. “But listen. This is the very last thing we need to do here. After this, we can go back home and rest all we want to. This is the final stretch, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy closed her eyes and nodded. “O…kay…” She put on her best smile. “Lets do this.” Rarity smiled and hugged Fluttershy. Fluttershy released and flew back into the air toward Applejack. Rarity watched her fly away and grab Applejack. Once they made it over, they all turned and walked to the edge of the boat. “I’m fairly certain that Nora is just inside there.” Rarity said. “Only one way to find out, Ah guess.” Applejack said. “Don’t worry. I have a good feeling about this.” Fluttershy said. As they walked toward the edge of the boat, they passed a small hatch in the floor. Normally, they would turn a blind eye to it, but something about it really intrigued Applejack. She stopped and stared at it for a moment. “Are you alright, Applejack?” Rarity asked. Applejack blinked. “Hmm? Oh. Yeah, Ah’m fine. Just a weird feeling Ah got.” Rarity and Fluttershy looked at each other and shrugged. Applejack walked toward them, giving one last look at the hatch before looking back to the opening underneath the warehouse. “It looks like some sort of dock for boats.” Rarity said. “They must’ve used these boats for deliveries.” Applejack added. There was a small platform on the back wall inside the hole with a door on the left. Fluttershy flew forward a little bit to investigate it further. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She flew back. “Everything seems okay.” Applejack and Rarity nodded. “Okay then. Lets get in there.” Applejack said. Fluttershy picked Rarity up and flew her toward the platform. She set her down carefully and flew back to Applejack. Fluttershy slowly carried her over the body of water toward Rarity. About three fourths of the way there, her grip slipped and she almost dropped Applejack. She reflexively reached down and snatched her hoof again as tight as she could. Rarity reflexively used her magic to surround Applejack in a blue aura of magic to keep her from falling. Applejack breathed heavily for a moment until Fluttershy set her down next to Rarity. “Whew! That was close!” “I’m so sorry, Applejack! I didn’t mean to!” Fluttershy apologized. “Don’t you worry, none. Ah know it wasn’t on purpose, and Ah’m fine! No need to be upset, sugarcube.” Applejack replied. She gave Fluttershy a hug and faced the door. “Now, lets get in there.” They opened the door and walked inside. They shut the door behind them and looked around. They were in a tiny room filled with rusty pieces of metal, old wood, and other things that made them all nauseous. It looked like this room was a dungeon from its apparent neglect in care. “So how we gonna decide who keeps the ice cube?” A voice asked. They went silent and listened. Above them, a few inmates were talking to one another. “I want her. It’s my turn. You always get your turn.” They spotted a ventilation shaft near the ceiling. They quietly walked toward it and one by one made their way inside. “How about rock, paper, scissors?” They quietly snuck through the shaft. Rarity counted three inmates in front of them in a circle. As they got closer to them, she turned around to see a large blue container surrounded by machinery and three other inmates trying to break it open. One of them had a blowtorch while another was banging it a large lead pipe. Each of the inmates was armed with some sort of weapon. Two of them had armor on. If they did go head to head with these guys, it would be extremely difficult for them. Then, a brilliant idea came to Rarity. She was well aware that her magic was nowhere near as powerful as Twilight’s, but she could levitate any number of objects really well. “Okay… Ready?” Applejack whispered. “No. Wait.” Rarity whispered back. Her horn started to glow and a grin appeared on her face. “I have an idea.” She turned her attention back to the inmates in the room. She noticed a box of guns that was by the main door. None of them noticed that one of the guns slowly lifted itself out of the box on its own. Rarity pointed the barrel toward the ceiling and pulled the trigger. The room was filled with loud noise and sparks flying everywhere. The inmates all dropped to their knees and scrambled for cover as fast as they could. They ran into each other and screamed loudly as the gun continued to fire on its own. Another gun lifted out of the box full of guns at the other end of the room and pointed toward the ceiling as well. Now there were two guns firing themselves simultaneously on their own in the room. The inmates went crazy. They all screamed and panicked as the guns began to dance in the air as they continued to fire. The first gun near the door finally ran out of ammunition. Rarity dropped it and grabbed another gun from the box and fired into the air again. Every inmate was on the verge of tears as they continued to scream obscenities and tremble with fear. Finally, they stopped firing and pointed the smoking barrel at the group on inmates. Three more guns floated out and also pointed at the group. They all clicked at the same time as they all reloaded. The gun barrels barely moved to the right and they all fired at the ground next to the inmates. They all panicked and ran as fast as they could out the front door. The guns floated outside after them and fired multiple rounds into the air until they were empty. The guns floated back inside and the door slammed shut. Once the door was shut and locked, all three ponies opened one of the metal grates in the ventilation shaft and threw themselves onto the ground in an uncontrollable fit of hysterical laughter. All of their ears were ringing, but they didn’t care at this point. Rarity had just done the funniest thing each of them had ever seen, and they were going to enjoy it. “Rarity,” Fluttershy wheezed. “You’re brilliant!” Applejack could hardly breathe. “Oh, Celestia… my sides hurt so bad!” They all continued to laugh as hard as they could for a good five minutes. Eventually, they calmed down and began to breathe again. They slowly got to their hooves and wiped their tears away as they calmed down. They turned around to see a cylindrical device hooked up to a series of machines and technology. Inside the device, they saw a beautiful woman completely frozen in a block of ice. “I think we found her.” Rarity said. “Is she safe in there?” Applejack asked. “Victor said she froze her, so I think she’s safe.” Fluttershy said. Applejack nodded. “Okay, if you say so.” “Lets get back to Victor and let him know that she’s alright.” Rarity said. “Okay. Lets go back the way we came in case a few inmates decide to come back.” Applejack said. Rarity nodded and ran back to the door. She levitated a gun up to the door handles and slit it in between the doors, giving it another makeshift lock for extra security. Applejack nodded. “Good call, Rarity.” “Thank you, Applejack.” She replied with a smile. Applejack opened the metal grate in the floor and held it open for Rarity and Fluttershy before she crawled into ventilation shaft after them. They jumped out the hole at the end and opened the door. --- After they made their way over the water and back to the toy factory, they finally made their way back to the GCPD building. They walked up the stairs and walked around the building to the back entrance they had last used. Rarity recalled that the main entrance had been completely sealed off in ice. She led them along the balcony and toward the stairs that descended toward the water. The ledge had been destroyed, creating gap between them and the door to the GCPD. Fluttershy carried them over to it and they walked inside the building. As soon as they shut the door, they began to shiver. Applejack and Fluttershy shivered more than Rarity, but she was still extremely cold. “Oh C-C-Celestia!” Applejack shivered. “Y-Ya’ll were s-s-stuck in here?” Rarity nodded. “Yes. I had to f-fight Victor with B-Batman last time I w-was here.” “Oh g-g-goodness.” Fluttershy shivered. They turned left and slowly walked down the stairs to the left. They made it into a hallway with the same metal door still halfway open. They all crouched and walked through with ease. They continued down the hall a little ways before turning right into the large room. Rarity walked through first and turned left. Freeze was crouching on the ground with his back to them behind his desk. Rarity gulped and slowly walked around to face him. The glass on his helmet was still broken. He finally noticed her and looked at her with sadness and hope. Rarity stopped walking and thought for a moment. She didn’t want Freeze to think that Batman had ignored Freeze’s request. She decided to tell him what happened in her own way. “We found her, Freeze. She’s safe.” Rarity said. Freeze’s expression changed. “Nora! Where is she?” “She was locked up in a warehouse by the Arkham Docks. We helped Batman rescue her. He told us to come back to tell you while he dealt with Joker. She’s safe, Victor. You can go to her.” Rarity explained. Applejack and Fluttershy glanced at Rarity after she told her fib. Rarity shot them a glance that said, “I know what I’m doing.” Freeze closed his eyes and relaxed. “Thank you all so much. I doubted you. I’m sorry.” Rarity smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Victor.” Freeze turned to look at Fluttershy. “Fluttershy! You’re all right!” “Y-Yes I am.” Fluttershy nodded. “I-I also heard th-that y-y-you had a little disagreement w-with B-Batman and my friends the last time they w-were here.” “Yes. No doubt that they shared that with you.” Freeze looked sorrowful. “You must understand, however. Nora is everything to me. Once I heard that The Clown had her, I had to try everything I could to get her back. I never wanted to hurt anyone, but my anger clouded my judgment. Your friends were with Batman every step of the way. They just happened to be caught in the crossfire. For whatever its worth, I am truly sorry. To all of you.” Fluttershy looked at him for a moment, disappointed. Finally, she nodded again and smiled. “Apology accepted, Victor.” She approached him and wrapped her hooves around his waist in an awkward hug. Freeze smiled at her as she released. Applejack cleared her throat. “Uh, beg pardon?” Everyone turned to her as she started to walk toward Freeze with a small smile. “Ah’ve heard tons about you, but we haven’t been properly introduced yet.” She stood in front of Freeze and smiled. “Ah’m Applejack!” Freeze looked at her curiously for a moment before he gave a small grin. “Victor Fries. A pleasure.” “The pleasure is mine!” Applejack said. They all chatted for a moment before Freeze finally got to his feet. “It has been a pleasure, but I must get to my wife. She needs me as much as I need her.” Everypony nodded. “We understand.” Fluttershy said. “You all saw her, yes?” He looked into the air, lost in his mind. “Was she not beautiful? Like a flower frozen in time.” He breathed. “Yes. She was very beautiful.” Fluttershy said. “Please promise us that you’ll fix her soon, Victor. You simply must quit this life. You’re much a better person than this.” Rarity said. Freeze shook his head with wonder and amusement. “I still find it difficult to believe that you are real. There is no scientific explanation for you being here before me, yet here you are.” “Science alone did not bring us here. Magic was also a key factor.” Rarity said. Freeze exhaled slightly and smiled. “Yes. If only.” He said to himself. Fluttershy felt so sad for him. She thought for a moment before she stepped forward. She looked at Freeze with complete seriousness and sincerity. “V-Victor?” She gulped. “Would you… Would you like to come with us? To our home?” Rarity and Applejack shot her a look like she was insane. They couldn’t reply. Neither could Freeze. He just stood there, staring at her. Fluttershy continued. “I’m sure you would be welcome there. Everything is peaceful, everypony is very nice and neighborly, and our ruler, Princess Celestia is very kind and very powerful. If we told her that we knew you, then I’m sure she could help you with anything you needed. She could even cure your affliction. Nora’s too if you asked.” “Fluttershy?” Rarity whispered. “What are you doing?!” Applejack whispered. Fluttershy ignored them and continued to look at Freeze. “Well? Would you like to come with us?” Freeze stood there for a moment. The gears in his head were turning as he considered Fluttershy’s offer. “Your world?” He asked. Fluttershy nodded. “Our world. Equestria.” “Equestria…” Freeze repeated. He looked down at his hands. He made a pair of fists before putting them down to his sides. “Honestly Fluttershy, I would love nothing more. Another chance at life, a chance to have my affliction cured of me once and for all, Nora by my side alive and well, it sounds like absolute paradise.” Fluttershy noticed that Freeze was not smiling. “What’s wrong?” Freeze looked up to her. “I cannot go. There is no possible way that Nora could come with me if I agreed. I’m afraid I must remain here. Nothing is more important to me than my beloved Nora.” Fluttershy lowered her eyes. “A… Alright. I understand, Victor.” “However,” Freeze continued. “Believe me when I say to you that I would enjoy nothing more than to go along with you to your world, had the circumstances been different. But, what’s done is done, I’m afraid. I’m sorry.” Fluttershy nodded. “Its alright, Victor. Really. There’s no need to apologize.” There was a short silence as no one said anything to one another for a moment. “Well… I suppose… this is goodbye.” Rarity said. Freeze nodded. “I suppose it is.” The three ponies approached Freeze and they all gave him a tearful goodbye hug. They all wrapped their hooves around his waist. He returned the embrace as much as he could without hurting them while trying to contain his own tears. They all released him and began to walk to the door. Fluttershy turned around to face Freeze one last time. “Goodbye, Victor. I’ll never forget you.” Freeze looked back at her and gave a smile. “Goodbye, Fluttershy. Thank you so much for everything.” Fluttershy let a final tear fall from her cheek before she turned away from Freeze for the last time. --- They slowly made their way back to the mainland. They used the same route they had used to get there. Fluttershy helped Applejack and Rarity in places that they needed help in until they eventually got back to the church. None of them said anything as they slowly walked back to the main entrance. They all felt sad, Fluttershy especially. They had no idea why they weren’t happier. They should’ve been giddy with excitement. They were going home. Rarity noticed Fluttershy’s extremely grim expression. “Darling, its okay. You did nothing wrong.” Fluttershy sighed. “I know. I just wish we could do more for him. He’s been through so much, no one here likes him, and he deserves a break.” Applejack walked beside her. “Its okay, sugarcube. Some things just weren’t meant to be. No matter how sad things get, you just need to accept ‘em and know that you did all you could do.” “I guess…” Fluttershy said. Rarity and Applejack looked at each other sorrowfully. They all continued walking down the street. They turned left into an alleyway just in front of the courthouse and walked down it. “Wait a minute.” Applejack said, stopping. As they approached the street beyond, she heard something. It sounded like chanting. They all cautiously continued to the end of the alleyway and looked left. She saw the theatre at the end of the road with multiple clown thugs surrounding the entrance. They all had their arms in the air and were chanting. They slowly moved closer to the group of thugs. They were all chanting Joker’s name over and over again. They all seemed very excited. The ponies cautiously moved behind some cover to get a good look at the theatre doors. The sign on the theatre read “Joker The Immortal.” They looked at each other with worried expressions before the door to the theatre opened. The thugs’ chanting continued for a few moments before it started to die down. They all put their arms down and slowly moved backwards away from the entrance. The ponies tried to get a view of what was there, but there were too many thugs in the way. Finally, the last thug moved out of the way and the ponies could see what was happening. They all gasped in absolute shock when they saw who was walking out of the theatre.