//------------------------------//
// Preparations 
// Story: It Runs In The Family 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

Scootaloo's next destination was to go and find her sister, who normally would be found lazing about on some clouds near either Applejack's farm or near the field outside of town. But after ten minutes of looking and checking out both locations, Scootaloo was surprised to find that she was at neither place. 

'Ugh, she always does this whenever I want to talk to her,' Scootaloo thought with a sigh as she walked through the streets of Ponyville, waving to the ponies who waved to her as she looked for Rainbow. 'She always bothers me whenever I want to be alone, but is she there when I want to talk? Nooooo, she's off with the Wonderbolts or bothering somepony else. Why do I even...?' Scootaloo decided that there was one last place that she hadn't checked yet, but it was a longshot even by her standards of longshot. The only other place she could think that Rainbow Dash would be was at the CMC clubhouse, where she often watched Scootaloo train her two students. Scootaloo shot across the land at top speed, not wanting to waste any more time since she had a mission to prepare for the following night. But much to her surprise as she came skidding to a stop near the clubhouse, she saw that Rainbow Dash was in fact there, but what she didn't expect to see was both Pound and Pumpkin Cake fighting her at the same time, with mixed results.

"Come on, you call that a kick, Pumpkin?!" Rainbow asked with a laugh as she shot to the left to avoid a dive kick by Pumpkin Cake, watching with a snicker as the foal hit the ground and skidded along on her face. Her snickering stopped when Pound Cake chopped at her head and forced RD to block his strike before grabbing his arm with both hooves, tossing him over her head and down into the dirt next to his sister, where he managed to roll to recover. "Good roll there Pound. But you need to be quicker with your strikes. Put some power into them!"

"Argh, this isn't fair," Pumpkin muttered as she got up to her hooves, shaking the dirt out of her mane as she watched RD bounce on her hooves while motioning for the two of them to bring it. "She taught our teacher. How are we supposed to beat her?"

"With kicks and strikes," Pound Cake said in a serious tone as he watched RD bounce around before rushing forward at her, throwing a feint high before going to sweep the two legs she was balancing on. Scootaloo got a quick glimpse of Rainbow's eyes before the strike, a small smile spread on Scootaloo's face when she saw that RD had been caught off guard. However, RD quickly recovered by using her wings to keep herself from falling and she floated over Pound's head to land behind him.

"I gotta admit kid, you're every bit as skilled as Scootalo said you were," Rainbow said as she threw a light kick at the back of his head. "But you're not--" It was Scootaloo's turn to smirk as Pound Cake dodged the blow by performing a perfect split, catching Rainbow's hoof as it shot over his head. Her reflexes kicked in and she spun around with the young colt still grabbing onto her leg until he lost his grip. He landed next to his sister with an "Omph" while Pumpkin laughed at him.

"Come on Pound, you gotta be more aggressive," Pumpkin said with a smile as she charged at RD, bringing back a single hoof to deliver a powerful blow. RD just rolled her eyes at the predictable strike and caught the blow with one hoof before she used a kick to knock Pumpkin's legs out from under her and flipped the filly over her head.  Rainbow looked down at Pumpkin with a shake of her head.

"Really? You're going to charge at me with a wind-up punch? Do you know how many foals I've fought who used that as their strategy?" Rainbow said with a small shake of her head. Pumpkin growled and used her strength to break free of Rainbow's grasp while she shot to her hooves, glaring daggers at the smirking pegasus. "Come on, I hope that this isn't all you've got. It reflects badly on my own student." Pumpkin growled and started throwing wild rights and lefts, her rage growing higher and higher with each missed strike that she threw. RD didn't even bother to block the easily dodged strikes, while she waited for Pumpkin to go in for one massive blow before she caught her with the same move that she had just done, looking down at the dumbfounded Pumpkin with a sigh.

"Alright, that's enough. Group up." Pound Cake ran over and sat at RD's hooves quickly while Pumpkin took her time getting back up, grumbling to herself about how unfair that was. RD waited until the both of them sat down before she took out a scoreboard where she had written down their performances. "Okay, both of you did put up a decent fight, but you both need work. First, Pumpkin: You might be the stronger of the two of you, but pure strength means little in a world based on technique and discipline. Do you know why I was able to defeat you so easily?"

"Because you spent years mastering your art and are the strongest pegasus around?" Pumpkin muttered as she rested her head on her hoof, avoiding Rainbow's eyes as she did so.

"Both true points, but that's not the main reason. You rely too much on that power and focus less on your technique," Rainbow critiqued while Pumpkin just scowled at the ground. "Strength can only get you so far; you need to discipline yourself and try to concentrate more on skill. If that had been a real fight, you would have been the first to go down out of the two of you."

"WHAT?! Are you telling me that this weakling next to me would have lasted longer than me?!" Pumpkin asked in disbelief, not noticing Pound Cake 'hmph' next to her. RD shut her up with a glare and cleared her throat before continuing. 

"Yes, he would have. He is very skilled for somepony his age, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he's learning faster than Scootaloo was," Rainbow Dash said with a warm smile to Pound, who smiled while looking away. "That and your temper is probably why Pound is considered--"

"That will be enough, Rainbow Dash." All three of them looked over at Scootaloo, who was walking up to the group with a glare at RD before she looked to her two students. "The two of you may leave for now. Consider this little sparring session to be your training for the day. Dismissed." Pound Cake shot up with a smile and ran off while doing flips of joy, while Pumpkin slinked off with her head hung low and occasionally looking over her shoulder at Scootaloo with a sad face.

"Hey Scoot's, I thought that you'd be asleep at this time of day," RD said with a smile as she looked at Scootaloo, wincing every once in a while as she saw the bruises. "Geez, you look even worse than the last time we talked. What have you been doing to yourself?" she asked in a tone meant to mock Rarity.

"We need to talk. Now," Scootaloo said sternly as RD looked up into the sky, telling Scootaloo that she was considering flying off. Rainbow sighed and followed Scootaloo to the clubhouse, where (much to her thanks) they sat under the tree instead of going into the much too small for them clubhouse. Scootaloo sat in front of her to make sure that she was paying attention.

"Okay Scoot's, you have my attention. What's up?" RD asked as she leaned back against the tree, closing her eyes as she placed both hooves behind her head.

"First, I need you to watch over the two of them for the next two days. I'm going to be gone on a mission," Scootaloo said in a serious tone, hoping that Rainbow Dash would get that she was not joking around. 

"Sure, sure. What's the mission about?" RD asked with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

"I'm hopefully going to the main base of the ponies who have been kidnapping fillies all over Equestria," Scootaloo said quickly after looking around to make sure that nopony was listening to them. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged her should after a second.

"I'm sure you can handle it. You were trained by me after all. And Batman." 

"That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about, Scootaloo said with some hesitation, gaining Rainbow Dash's attention once again. "Batman...is still alive." Rainbow Dash was one of the toughest ponies that Scootaloo knew, so she was surprised by how quickly Rainbow Dash was bowled over by the news.

"WHAT!? HE'S STILL ALIVE?!" Rainbow Dash screamed in shock, forcing Scootaloo to ram her hoof into RD's mouth to shut her up. While Rainbow Dash tried to get the hoof out of her mouth, Scootaloo looked around to make sure that nopony had heard her scream.

"Keep it down, will you?" Scootaloo hissed with a bit of rage, but RD was past the point of just talking normally.

"Keep it down? The greatest hero known to Equestria that ever lived is still alive and you didn't tell anypony?!" RD said in as quiet a tone as she could, which was a dull roar at best. "Why would you keep that a secret once you found out, let alone ten years!"

"Because he asked me to," Scootaloo responded. "He asked me not to tell the ponies that he was alive, and so I did as he asked. I've wanted to tell you guys for a while, but I only got permission recently. I'm sorry if that bothers you, but I wanted to respect his wishes." Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond, but closed it with a huff, deciding that it wasn't her place.

"Well, I'm still going to be upset about this for a while," she said as she crossed her arms. Scootaloo nodded with a small sigh of relief, amazed that Rainbow Dash had taken the news so well. She stood back up along with Rainbow, who wrapped Scootaloo in a quick hug.

"Stay safe, little sis," RD said before she quickly let go and looked around nervously. Scootaloo smiled in response and told RD that she always was and turned to leave. However, she barely made it half way across the field before she was stopped by Pumpkin, who had been waiting for her teacher to finish up.

"Hey Pumpkin, what's up?" Scootaloo asked in a friendly tone, but her mood changed when she saw the look of sadness on Pumpkin's face. She quickly knelt down so that she could look her student in the eyes, her tone becoming serious. "What's the matter Pumpkin? I've never seen you like this before."

"...Do you like my brother better than me?" Pumpkin asked in a whisper that Scootaloo barely heard, but she pursed her lips when she heard the words. This had been a question that she had been expecting for some time, but she had hoped to avoid it for a while.

"Now why would you think that?" Scootaloo asked with as much joviality as she could in her voice, but it was lost on her student. "I like you both the same, just for different reasons. I don't like one of you over the other."

"...Is my brother easier to get along with." Scootaloo could feel herself getting backed into a corner, and unlike Batman, she still had a few issues with her escape artistry, so she had some trouble trying to think up a good answer to Pumpkin's question. Yes, Pound was easier to get along with and easier to train, but that didn't mean that she didn't like Pumpkin. Scootaloo almost had an answer when Pumpkin hit her with another blow. "And please be honest, I want to know."

"...Your brother is easier to train and deal with in class," Scootaloo said with a sigh, having little choice but to tell the truth. "But that is only because he listens to what I say, instead of being stubborn like a certain filly I know. Is he easier to train? Yes. Do I like him more than you or care about him more? No. You are both special to me, don't forget that." Before Pumpkin could ask another question, Scootaloo pulled her into a hug in hopes to comfort the little filly. Scootaloo waited for a brief moment with her breath held tightly in her chest, having no idea how Pumpkin would respond. Then, to her relief, Pumpkin wrapped her arms around Scootaloo with a sigh.

"Thank you for being honest with me. When I heard Rainbow say that's why Pound was the better fighter, I was afraid that you might like him more than me," Pumpkin said softly, not used to letting her emotions out in this manner.

"I like you both. If I didn't, I wouldn't train you two," Scootaloo said with a small laugh as she released the hug. "Now, I'm going to go away for a day or two, so I want you to either stay indoors or if you have to go outside, stay with Rainbow Dash. And I want you to promise me that you won't try anything foolish while I'm gone, okay?"

"Okay, I promise. But where are you going?" Scootaloo's response was to stand up and turn around so that Pumpkin couldn't see into her eyes, which had become filled with a cold fury.

"I'm going to keep you safe."

====---====

Canterlot was only a short train ride away from Ponyville, and in hindsight Scootaloo probably should have taken it to conserve her strength for the upcoming fight, but she wanted to make sure that she got there and she didn't always trust the train, so she had flown to the shining city as fast as she could with her batsuit in her duffle bag. Upon reaching the princesses' castle, she was met the way all ponies who flew up to the castle were met: with spears pointed at her heart.

"Stay where you are," one of the guards yelled at her, lowering his spear as he walked towards Scootaloo, who gently landed in the center of the square that led into the castle. 

"I have official business with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Let me in," Scootaloo said with such authority that the guard stopped for a second before he walked up to her and grabbed her bag.

"What's in the bag?" he asked.

"Your ticket to a hospital," she responded with a cold stare, smirking as he backed away from her and pointed his spear at her. Along with the skills and attitude, Scootaloo had also inherited Batman's distrust of the police, or any force of the law that could be manipulated or bribed, and the Royal Canterlot Guard was no different. The guards surrounding her snarled and prepared to attack (which would have ended badly for them) but they were all spared as Luna chose that moment to show up.

"Lower your weapons, all of you," Luna ordered as she landed in front of her guards, putting herself between them for their own sake. "I am sorry about that Scootaloo, I have been so busy preparing for what has to come tonight that I forgot to tell the guards that you were coming. Thank you for not beating them."

"Just because it's fun doesn't mean that I like to do it," Scootaloo said with a smirk as she and the princess headed up towards the castle, giving one last smirk to the guards who simply glared at her from a distance. "Thanks for stepping in when you did, I don't know if I'm in the shape to handle so many guards." Her words caused Luna to look down at her with a raised eyebrow and a look of concern.

"Then are you certain that you are up for the mission tonight? I do not want to put you in any unnecessary danger."

"I've handled worse when I was in worse shape. I'll be fine," Scootaloo said in an attempt to comfort her, but all she did was gain another look from Luna, who made a mental note to take more interest in Batmare's actions. The two ponies walked up the stairs and into the main hall of the castle, Luna telling Scootaloo that Celestia would be busy for a while and would not be able to speak with them yet. 

"But you can come to my chambers for a while we wait for night to fall," Luna offered as the two of them walked by the Hall of Memories, a place that Celestia and Luna had constructed when they had first become princesses, so that they could remember all events that took place during their reign. Scootaloo gave the entrance a quick glance inside through the open doors, noticing a large number of items ranging from ancient artifacts to weapons and armor taken from foes in the past. And then her eyes widened as they rested upon an item she hadn't seen for nearly ten years: a sword that glowed with power and was stained with the blood of somepony she knew dear.

"The Sword of Destiny," she whispered to herself as her body came a stop, all of her attention focused on the weapon that had been used to wage a war against all of Equestria. Luna came to a stop as well and walked back over to Scootaloo's side, following where she was looking to see the sword as well.

"That is an item that we have not looked at in quite some time," Luna said softly as her own memories surfaced, reminding her of how she had been mind-controlled during the battle ten years ago, and how she had to be freed by Batman, something she still wasn't happy about to this day. "We never truly got along, Batman and I," she said more to herself than Scootaloo, who looked up at Luna with a raised eyebrow. "My first encounter with him was when I thought that he had attacked the town of Ponyville, and I responded in kind. Then in the dungeons of Canterlot I actually talked to him, where he tricked me to reveal some things about my world while I got nothing out of him. And my last memory of him is when I woke up after being mind-controlled to find him standing over me with one of his knuckles covered in my blood, having to literally knock me back into my senses. I did not like him."

"But...?"

"But he did save us, and he showed me that just because I do not like a pony doesn't mean that I cannot respect said pony. Batman is a hero and I am glad that he decided to help us when he did. He taught me a lot in the short time he was here."

"Same for me," Scootaloo said as she looked at the sword that had supposedly read Batman's destiny and told him that he was going to fall in the Battle of Canterlot, his response being to shatter the sword and to punch Morgaine in the face. But still, the sword had been right on the money for the rest of the Elements of Harmony despite Batman's destiny being wrong, which made her wonder... "Do you mind if I walk through the Hall by myself for a while? I just want to...go through some of my old memories." Luna nodded and turned to leave as Scootaloo walked into the hall, not even bothering to look at any of the other items in the room as her eyes were glued to the sword, which she a bit nervously walked up to. The moment that she got close to it, however, a massive white flash shined throughout the room, blinding her. When she could see again, she saw...

"Me." Scootaloo's eyes widened as she saw herself standing in front of her, but it wasn't the same pony that she was. This Scootaloo was standing on top of a ramp while on a scooter, looking around at a massive crowd of ponies with a smile as they screamed her name and waved her banners. The Scootaloo then slid down a pair of goggles across her face and leapt down the ramp, shooting off another ramp at the bottom and performing a number of incredible tricks in the air. And all the while the real Scootaloo watched with confusion as the other her stuck the landing perfectly, raising both her arms with a cheer before she was mobbed by all of her fans.

"What is this?" she asked herself in confusion.

'This is you.' Scootaloo jumped and started to look around, certain that the silver mare was talking to her again. But instead, a wisp of smoke appeared in front of her and floated there silently, as if looking over her. 'Or rather, who you should be.'

"What do you mean, should be?" Scootaloo asked with a bit of a growl, having heard dialogue similar to this being told to her before. The wisp pointed at the Scootaloo who was posing for the crowd, a huge smile on that version's face.

'You were supposed to be the greatest scooter rider in all of Equestria. It was who you are destined to be,' the wisp said with what sounded like disappointment in its voice. 'But instead, you try to follow this hopeless dream of being like your false father, a being that you cannot be.'

"Well, I choose my own destiny, just like I was shown," Scootaloo said with a growl, hating this wisp. "I don't care what a stupid sword says about me or who I should be, because I choose who I want to be. Batman did it, and so will I." The wisp floated in place for a moment before a strange sound came from it and her image vanished, replaced by a strange darkness.

'The human might be able to choose his own destiny, but ponies were not meant to do so,' the wisp said in a much darker tone, floating by her to bring up a scene that showed all of Canterlot burning, with the bodies of the dead everywhere. 'Ponies are destined to be who they are by the mark that they wear. It is a part of nature that cannot be fought and cannot be beaten. And if you continue on this foolish path of yours, it will only lead to your own destruction. A cutie mark tells a pony who they are so they can excel at what they are good at and what would benefit all of ponykind. Not what they want to be.'

"Well, buck you then, because I chose to be the Batmare and I'm not about to stop now just because some smoke told me I was wrong," Scootaloo said with a growl. "A pony CAN choose his or her own path and I don't care what you say, because Batman proved that you are wrong."

'About him maybe, but what about the other ponies? Rainbow Dash is now captain of the Wonderbolts and Rarity's fashion line is known all throughout the land. Their destinies came true.'

"Well mine didn't, so too bad." The wisp seemed to sigh at her comment and turned its attention back to the image it was showing her.

'If you continue down this path, it will lead to this. Do not say that you were not warned.' The wisp moved to the side to show Batmare's corpse laying beaten on the ground, with a dark shadow standing over it with its head held high, watching all of the land burn with a toothy grin. 'If you fight against your destiny, then you will be the one to bring this catastrophy down upon the land. You will be responsible for the deaths and destruction of--'

'That is enough.' Both Scootaloo and the wisp turned to see a silver mare standing next to them, who looked at the scene before her with a shake of her head. She turned and walked over to the wisp, smirking at it from under her hood. 'You're annoying. Be gone.' A flash of silver went off, blinding Scootaloo again. When the dots vanished from her eyes, she noticed that she was back in the Hall, the sword of destiny laying on the ground broken in half again.

"What happened?" Scootaloo asked as she looked around at the room, trying to make sense of what she was just told.

'What happened is you just saw what your destiny was supposed to be,' the silver mare answered.

"Wait, so you're saying that the stupid pile of smoke was right?" Scootaloo asked in disbelief. "My destiny was really supposed to be that of a dare devil? And that if I continue down this path I will cause the destruction of Equestria?" The silver mare walked over to her and tried to put a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder, only to watch it pass right through her.

'Destiny is only a pony's way of feeling secure with the path they have chosen,' the silver mare said. 'Remember what Batman taught you, that a pony makes their own destiny, no matter if a mark or sword tells them differently.' As she said this, she placed her hoof on the small charm that Scootaloo wore around her neck. 'Be who you want to be.' Scootaloo looked down at the charm while the silver mare vanished, a smile spreading across her face as she remembered the day that Batman had defied his own destiny to save her, defying even death to do so.

"Don't worry, Dad, I won't let you down," she said with a small smile as she turned and headed for Luna's quarters.

=====---======

Gotham.

Batman sat in the chair in front of the computer, looking at each of the screens with a cold stare. It was nearly four in the morning and he had been up all night battling against criminals. Fortunately none of the crazier of his rogues gallery had come out to play, and he was about to wrap up for the night when he heard a sound that he didn't like to hear. The sound of the Batcave's doors being opened. He slid his cowl over his face and turned to where the doors were, expecting a fight, but he sighed in relief inwardly when he saw the being in the black and silver clothing that floated into the room.

"Clark, how many times must I tell you not to force open the doors," Batman said with a scowl as he sat back down at the computer, his friend floating over to him and hovering just off the ground next to the chair. "It costs money to repair those locks each time you force them open."

"Sorry about that Bruce, but I needed to talk to you right away," Superman said in a more serious tone, gaining Batman's full attention. "I was contacted by J'onn and he said that a certain supercriminal wanted to speak with you."

"Which criminal is it this time? Clayface? Black Adam? Captain Boomerang?" Batman guessed in mocking tone. 

"No. Morgaine. And she said that if you refused, to come to tell you this. Equestria." Superman had known Batman for years and he knew just how well Batman could hide his emotions, making reading him practically impossible. So when Superman watched both Batman's eyes widen in shock, he knew that this was something serious. 

"Take care of Gotham for me," Batman said quickly as he sprung out of his chair and headed over to a batsuit marked "Anti-Magic Beyond," slipping it on as fast as he could. "And tell Robin that she'll be working with you for a while. I need to go."

"Bruce, whatever this is, I can help you with it," Superman offered as Batman jumped into the Batmobile, which now floated a few feet off the ground. Batman looked at his friend for a minute before shaking his head and closing the canopy.

"No Clark. This is a personal visit."