//------------------------------// // Hide-and-Seek // Story: My Little Arkham // by ADHD365 //------------------------------// Fluttershy awoke from her sleep. She had been dreaming of being back in Ponyville. She and Angel had planned all day to be together. They were going to have a picnic in the park under his favorite tree, and then they were going to run and play together in the warm spring breeze before relaxing under the tree together for a rest. There was no prison, there was no fear, there was no evil, it was just her and Angel. Unfortunately, reality came rushing back to her all too soon. She was back in the cold, small, room with Mr. Freeze. She almost began to cry again. Her dream felt so real, so close to her, but just out of reach. She sat up and looked around. Freeze was sitting on an overturned display case, facing away from her, and mumbling to himself. “Cobblepot will regret what he has done to me… I will freeze his bones, freeze his skin, I will watch as his flesh fractures… as he suffers a slow, painful death while he begs me to end him right there...” Fluttershy felt very afraid. She backed toward the wall behind her, shaking as she listened to the things Freeze said he would do to Cobblepot. She now had doubts about him. She had no idea what to say to him, or even if he should say anything to him. She continued to back up until she hit the wall behind her. The subtle thump made Freeze turn to look at her. She looked back at him, nervously. He glared at her for a moment longer before his expression changed slightly to show compassion. “How was your rest?” he asked. She took a moment before answering, “It…It was ok.” she whispered. Freeze paused. “Good. You were asleep for about thirty minutes.” He said. “I overheard Cobblepot on a radio outside. It sounds like he has returned so you had best brace yourself.” Fluttershy crouched down lower toward the ground. “B-B-Brace myself? For what?” “It sounded like he is going to use you for something he has planned, and soon.” Freeze replied. He put extra emphasis the last word. Fluttershy started to panic. What did Cobblepot want with her? What was going to happen? Where was her other friends? It all made her shake violently. She began to hyperventilate and sob uncontrollably. “What will h-he do with m-me? What will he do?!” she demanded. She got to her hooves and looked around, desperately looking for a way out. “I have to get out of here! I need my friends! SOMEPONY HELP ME!” She started to pound the walls with her hoofs. Thinking it would help her escape. She ran around the room. Tears gushing from her eyes, she screamed as loud as she could, “GET ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE! I HAVENT DONE ANYTHING WRONG!” Freeze got up and tackled her. He covered her mouth with his hand and whisper-yelled at her, “Silence! Now! This is not the time to panic! If you do, your fate will be far worse than it already is!” Fluttershy squirmed to get free until she registered how cold Freeze actually was. She froze where she was in a matter of two seconds. Freeze released his grip on her and she fell on her side on the floor. The second she hit the ground, she curled up into a ball and began to rub her face, desperately trying to warm herself. Freeze sat down again and tried to catch his breath. This room was probably a little less ten degrees, but he still wouldn’t survive long without his suit. They had chatted for a short amount of time before Fluttershy went to sleep, but he hadn’t mentioned his condition to her. Fluttershy continued to shake on the ground. She was no longer crying, but she was in shock. His touch made the rest of the room feel like a sauna in comparison. She continued to shake for a moment before calming down. “I’m sorry… I’m just s-so scared that I-I-I just don’t know what to do.” She paused for a minute before looking back at Freeze, who looked back at her. “Th-Thank y-you for calming me down.” Freeze continued to look at her. He stared at her for an entire minute, mouth agape. “Amazing,” He said, “I have never seen anyone so quick to forgive in all the world. Others would have immediately retorted in anger. You, however, seem to possess an incredibly unnatural desire to show kindness and compassion to all.” Fluttershy sat up slightly, but she still shook. “W-Well, um, I just don’t like being mean to anyone. If I ever need something, or somepony is being rude, I just try to be as nice as I can. Being rude back can cause more problems, so I guess that’s why I represent the Element of Kindness.” Freeze thought about this. How could he use these traits in his life? He had always done anything to get what he wanted, even if he had been quite unpleasant; in his attempts to cure his wife, in his past misdeeds, and in just about everything else. “So, um, w-what does that Mr. Cobblepot want with you?” she asked him. He turned his attention back to Fluttershy. “I assume because of the gang war that is going on outside these walls.” He said. “I wanted to take no part in any of this nonsense, but different sides came to me and asked for favors. Cobblepot must have gotten word of my affiliations and took it as a sign of my allegiance to the opposing side.” Fluttershy continued to listen. “I was asked to make a cure for another inmate here. He was struck incredibly ill a year ago when he attempted to escape Old Arkham Asylum a year ago. He is quite notorious, probably the most known criminal in this penitentiary. He goes by ‘Joker’.” Hearing his name frightened Fluttershy. Even though his name was ‘Joker’, she had a feeling that the things he did were not funny at all. However she had a feeling that she needed to know as much as she could or else she wouldn’t last long if she got out of this mess. So she started to ask questions. “W-Why do they call him ‘Joker’?” --- Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack walked through the church. For the first time since they arrived in Arkham City, they dared to feel relief. Cash and North walked alongside the four mares as they walked deeper inside. The rest of the Medical team was just as surprised to see them as the two officers walking with them were. Twilight turned toward Cash. He was a big man, but he had the look of compassion on his face. She could tell he was one of the good guys. He was missing his left hand. There was a hook in its place. She glanced at it for a moment before turning her attention back to his face. “Thank you so much, sir. We have been through the worst of circumstances tonight.” She said. He exhaled and shook his head slightly. “I guarantee that this isn’t gonna be the worst thing to happen to you. Just wait.” Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Uh… yeah it is! We lost our friends, we met a bunch of meanies who tried to hurt us, and none of this is a joke! Its all real life! How could it possibly get worse than that?!” Cash stopped walking and turned to her. “You don’t wanna ask that question in here. Just know that it will get worse for you unless you show everyone that you mean business. You put your game face on, and try not to piss anyone off, then you should be okay.” “Uh, that might be a little hard for us to do.” Said Applejack. “We don’t look exactly what ya’ll would consider ‘tough’ in here. The prisoners in here will be on us like red on a ripe apple.” Cash looked to her. “Well, I don’t know what to tell ya. My advice would be to just lay low.” “We need to find our friends though! We need to look all over the place and ask everypony if they have seen them! We cant do that while laying low! We need to lay high!” Pinkie said. “We wouldn’t last for more than a few minutes, Pinkie.” Said Twilight. “If we go around acting crazy while we look for Fluttershy and Rarity, we’re not going to make it a day in here. We need to ask around silently but efficiently.” “I’d usually side with you, Pinkie but Twilight has a point.” Said Rainbow. “The inmates in here could kill us if they wanted to. I say we rest up here really quick, maybe get some supplies, and then try and find Fluttershy and Rarity.” Pinkie looked disappointed. She knew they were right, but she didn’t like to do something quietly when she could easily do it Pinkie Pie style. “Okie dokie lokie…” she said sadly. Rainbow felt guilty. She knew Pinkie Pie wouldn’t hold it against her for more than a few seconds, but she still didn’t like seeing her all sad. “Alrighty then.” North said. “Lets check you all out, and see if we can help you out with anything you may need.” “Come on over here,” Cash motioned to a small hall in the shadows to the left of the main hallway. “We can check two of you out behind the confessional. The other two go on the other side.” Twilight and Pinkie Pie went with Cash. They passed a tray with miscellaneous medical supplies laid out on it, a few wheelchairs, and more room separators. As they rounded the corner at the end of the hall, it opened up into a makeshift operating room. There was a doctor examining an unconscious man lying on a bed. The man was gripping a white box close to his chest as he slept. “Yo, Adam! Take a quick break from him and give these ladies some attention real quick.” Said Cash. The doctor turned around. Once he saw Twilight and Pinkie Pie, he exclaimed and dropped his clipboard. “What are those things?!” “They say that they’re ponies, Adam.” Said Cash. Twilight and Pinkie looked at the doctor. “Hi sir! Look, we need help! Our other friends are missing and we need to find them! Can you please make sure we’re doing okay?” Pinkie asked. The doctor paused before gathering himself again and picking up his clipboard. “Well… uh, I don’t know much about horses, but I guess I can take a quick look at you.” Their faces lit up. “Oh thank you so much!” They ran toward the doctor and embraced him in a big hug. He jumped back, startled as they ran toward him. He looked even more surprised at the fact that the cute little ponies giving him a hug were real. Cash was laughing as they hugged him. Meanwhile, Rainbow and Applejack went to the other side with officer North. He led them down a dark hallway like on the opposite side and turned left. This section was more cluttered than the rest of the church. There were piles of books, broken wood, and a scaffolding on the outer wall. When they entered the area, they saw another officer and a doctor. The officer looked young. He had slicked back hair, and a rifle. The doctor had blonde hair, and she was examining an unconscious inmate. They both turned to face the approaching group. Like everyone else, they both looked astonished to see two bright-colored ponies. The officer took a few steps backwards. “What the hell?” he said, gripping his rifle. The doctor squinted her eyes; acting like the light was making her see things. “What are those things?” she said. “From what they’ve said, they’re ponies. They need help.” North replied. Rainbow stepped forward. “Our friends are missing. We have no idea where they could be. We have to look for them, but we need someone’s help to fix us up and make sure we’re doing okay.” “And ah need help gettin this gal-durn thing off mah face!” Applejack said, motioning to the muzzle. “Think ya’ll can help us out a bit?” The doctor and the officer paused for a moment before the doctor spoke. “I- um… are there more of you in here?” “Two of their friends are missing, and two more are on the other side with Cash and Hamasaki.” Said North. The officer stepped forward. “Why are you all in here?” Rainbow Dash was about to answer when they all heard the doors to the church slam open with a loud bang, followed by gunfire and sadistic laughter. The officers ran out into the main hallway. Rainbow and Applejack followed them. They both ran through the opening and saw four thugs running from the door toward them. All of them were dressed as clowns. Not the silly, funny looking clowns that they were all used to, they looked dark and evil. They ran toward North and the other officer. Both of the officers, seeing they were outgunned, stopped and dropped their guns. The four clowns kicked the guns away and hit them with their guns. They fell to the floor, the wind knocked out of them. Rainbow and Applejack fell back into the hallway they were just in. On the opposite side of the church, Cash, Dr. Hamaski, Twilight, and Pinkie ran out of their room. “What the hell’s goin’ on out here?” Cash demanded. The closest thug turned to them and fired a few rounds into the air. Pinkie and Twilight also ran back into the room they were in. They looked to Rainbow and Applejack with fear in their eyes. They looked back at Pinkie and Twilight with the same expressions on their faces. “What do we do?” Rainbow mouthed to Twilight. “I don’t know!” she mouthed back. They turned their attention back to the thugs. They were in the process of tying up the doctors and officers when three more thugs came into the church holding drums that had ‘T.N.T.’ written on the side of them. They were going into a door to the side of the main entrance. As they disappeared through the doorway, another clown came in. She had blonde hair done up in ponytails on either side of her head. She did not look happy. “Okay! Mister J told me he wants you bozos ready for B-man when he gets here!” she lectured, “He’s comin’, and we need to get this place ready to blow in case you boys don’t kill him!” Rainbow’s eyes grew wider. What did she mean by blow? Like blow up? Who was B-man? Either way, she needed to do something. She looked up to the ceiling and saw a vantage point. It looked like a gargoyle. She quickly got an idea in her head. She turned to Applejack. “Go hide. I’m gonna try and help Twilight and Pinkie.” She whispered. Applejack hesitated. “Please hurry, Rainbow. Ah cant take them all by myself if they find me.” “Don’t worry, AJ. Just go. I’ll be back in ten seconds flat.” She winked and gave a small smile to her friend. Applejack smiled back before running back into the room for a hiding spot. Rainbow flew up to the gargoyle and looked around. She turned her attention to the opposite side of the room and saw Pinkie and Twilight looking up to the ceiling, worried. Rainbow flew as silently as she could over the hall and onto the other side of the church. She landed behind Twilight and Pinkie. They turned and both moved toward her. “Where’s Applejack?” Pinkie whispered. “She’s hiding. I suggest you hide too, Pinkie. Twilight, I need your help.” Rainbow said. Twilight stepped forward. “What do you need?” “I need a plan. Anything. You’re the brains here, and so we need you to come up with a lets-get-out-of-here-in-one-piece plan.” “Yeah, Twilight! Don’t you have any magic spells you could use to help us out?” Pinkie added. Twilight paused. With everything that had been happening, she totally forgot about her magic. ”Oh yeah! I can use magic!” She whispered with a tone of sarcasm and stupidity. She made a mental note to not tell Princess Celestia about this. “Pinkie, you go hide. Try not to get caught, but if you do, just listen to everything they say, and they shouldn’t hurt you. We’re going to try and get them out of here.” Twilight said. Pinkie gave an unsure nod. “Okie dokie lokie…” As she turned and swiftly snuck away, she whispered back, “You guys be extra careful!” “We will! Now hide!” Rainbow said as Pinkie ran back into the room. She said it a little too loud, however. “What was that?” a clown thug said from the main hall. Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other. Rainbow covered her mouth. “Hey! Whoever’s back there, get your ass out here now!” He continued. Rainbow whispered “Teleport to the gargoyle thing up there! Now, but be quiet!” before she flew up to the ceiling. Twilight looked up and saw it. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate as hard as she could. Her horn started to glow, and she appeared on the gargoyle in a violet flash. When she opened her eyes, she looked down. There, she saw the thugs tying up the doctors and officers in a big circle in the center of the hall. One of the thugs was turning the corner to the smaller hallway she was in just one second ago. “Get out here!” he yelled, as he fired a few rounds into the darkened hallway. Twilight then noticed that Rainbow was right next to her, supporting her and helping her not lose her balance as she looked around. They both crouched down and looked around the church as they thought of a plan. They stayed silent. Two of the thugs had dispersed and gone to either side of the church into the little rooms the four ponies had previously been in. Rainbow silently pled that Pinkie and Applejack wouldn’t be found. Her pleas were in vain, however. “Hey, hey! Look at what I found!” exclaimed the clown thug in the room that Applejack was hiding in. “Razor wasn’t joking! There really are a bunch of pony things in here!” Rainbow and Twilight’s hearts sank. “You serious?” said one of the two thugs in the hall. “Yeah man! What do I do with it? Do I shoot it?” Rainbow flew up and over the hallway and over the room Applejack was in. She needed to see her. AJ was apparently hiding under a pile of broken wood in the room. She got ready to dive bomb into the thug if it even looked like he was going to kill AJ. “No, bring it out here!” Said the woman. Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. “Fine…” said the thug right under her. “Hey! Get out of there!” “Ah ain’t listenin’ to anything ya’ll say!” said Applejack. She jumped out of the pile and bucked the clown back as she ran out. He fell on his back and looked back up just as she left. “Its getting away!” Rainbow yelled at Applejack in her head, “What are you doing?! They’re gonna kill you! Why didn’t you stay where you were?!” Applejack continued to run toward the hall. “Ah ain’t goin’ out without a-” she stopped mid-sentence when she got out into the opening. “…Fight.” She finished. The rest of the thugs had their guns raised toward Applejack while she just stood there. She began to slowly back up, her gaze never leaving the thugs in front of her. Twilight looked up at Rainbow. She looked like she was just getting ready to swoop down and save her. Twilight quickly grabbed her with her magic, and held her tight. Rainbow struggled to get free and help Applejack, but Twilight wasn’t letting her go anywhere. Rainbow glared at her. Her expression was one of pleading and anger. She was on the verge of shouting at Twilight when the woman stepped forward. “Hey! Are you stupid or somethin’?” she yelled, “You got a lot of nerve pummellin’ my boys like that! You’re lucky I don’t kill ya right now!” Applejack began to slowly crouch down to the ground next to the officers while the woman yelled at her. The thug she had attacked, however stormed out of the back room and smacked her on the back of the head with his gun. She gave out a small cry before she collapsed. She looked back up at her assailant as he stood over her. As tears began to flow down her cheek, he began to kick her as hard as he could. “How do you like it, you little shit?! You just messed with the wrong guy!” Rainbow began to thrash crazier than ever. Her eyes showed all the rage that was boiling up inside of her. The only thing holding her back was Twilight’s magic. If she let Rainbow go, she would go so crazy with the thugs and they would kill her immediately. Just then, they heard the sound of a gunshot. It came from somewhere outside right above them. The thugs all stopped what they were doing. “Harley, was that from the bell tower?” asked one of the thugs. The woman responded, “Yeah! B-Man’s gonna be here soon! Everyone get ready! You three, stand outside and wait for him to get here!” She pointed to the three thugs who had carried the barrels into the small room earlier. “What?! Its freakin’ freezing out there!” “I don’t care! You get your asses outside or we’ll kill ya right now!” Harley retorted. The three thugs reluctantly went outside, muttering something to themselves. Twlight sat on the gargoyle while she levitated Rainbow next to her. She had calmed down a bit, but Twilight wasn’t taking any chances. She was still breathing heavily and was glaring at the thug who had kicked Applejack. Twilight brought Rainbow in close and whispered in her ear. “Please, Rainbow! Please just stay here! If you go down there right now, they will kill you and probably Applejack too! You need to stay here! We’ll rescue them all, but right now we need to wait for the right moment!” Rainbow’s breathing began to slow. She shut her eyes and she began to cry quietly. She knew Twilight was right. “O-okay, Twilight.” She paused and tried to regain herself. Twlight set her down right behind her on the gargoyle. Now three of their friends were in danger. Pinkie hadn’t been caught yet and she hoped with all of her heart that she never did. Twilight and Rainbow sat together and quickly tried to come up with a plan. --- The two henchmen had left Rarity in her room about ten minutes ago. She hadn’t moved since they did. She had been thinking for a reason anyone would want to know about her cutie marks in this place. She though about it over and over again in her head, but she couldn’t think straight. She could hardly think about anything other than what Fluttershy must be going through. She longed to get answers. She then noticed that she was very hungry. She hadn’t eaten anything in a long while. She remembered that she didn’t have time to eat breakfast because she was helping with something big in ponyville before she woke up here. She sat up on the couch and looked around the small room again. On the small table in the corner, she saw a tray of food. She remembered the thug bringing something into her room and setting it down. She slowly got up and walked over to it. On the tray was a glass of dirty water, and a plate full of a brownish green slop. She was disgusted with what she saw. “How could anyone eat something like this?” she said to herself. She turned around and tried to ignore her hunger. It didn’t work. She was extremely hungry, but she didn’t want to stoop down to a lower level and eat something as disgusting as this. She exhaled in frustration. She turned back around and looked at the tray again. “Well, it doesn’t look TOO bad, it’s… it’s just not what I’m used to, that’s all.” She told herself. She used her magic and picked the tray up. She brought it over to the couch and slowly began to eat it bite by bite. Telling herself it wasn’t so bad only eased her worry until she took an actual bite. She cringed at the texture alone. It was cold, lumpy, and goopy. It felt like old oatmeal. She swallowed the slop and shuttered. She was just about to take another bite when she heard footsteps outside her room. She sighed again and set the tray under the couch. She sat there and nervously waited for the henchmen to enter the room again. The henchman who had told her about Fluttershy and Freeze stepped inside and looked at her. “Come on. The boss wants to see you.” He said. Rarity looked both worried and annoyed. She stepped down from the couch and slowly walked toward him. “Can you please tell me where my friend is? Is she alright?” she asked. The henchman made room for her to walk outside and she did. “I Dunno. Maybe the boss will tell you, maybe he won’t. Either way, he’s pissed.” He said as they walked outside into the circular hallway and went left. “You know Wayne? The guy in the suit you were with when you got in here? Apparently, he beat the hell out of the Boss and disappeared. Nobody has seen him since.” Rarity began to grow even more nervous. She was about to go up against the most evil person she ever heard of. She honestly thought that she was walking to her death. They walked around the hallway until they got to a large door. It looked like some sort of vault. On top of the door was a sign that read ‘Iceberg Lounge’ in glowing blue letters. The door was open slightly and the henchman led her inside. On the other side of the door was a set of stairs. They went down them. Like the previous hallway, this stairway also looked very fancy and well decorated. Rarity admired all of the effort that was put into every detail of the room. The wallpaper was fading, but it somehow gave it a more historical feel. They continued to walk down the stairs until they reached the main floor. She had seen the main floor from the balcony above, but she didn’t get the best look at it because she was far away. She was closer now, so she could see everything inside. The Iceberg in the center sat on a wide glass floor. Like the rest of the glass in the building, it was also carved in extreme detail. They continued walking towards a room to the left. There were two more henchmen standing on either sides of the doorway. As Rarity entered the room, they both scoffed and shook their heads. She could just picture their thoughts, “She’s dead already.” or “How pathetic.” She hung her head and sadly continued inside. When she walked inside, she saw a small table to her right. On it was a large number of top hats, and bowties. Next to the table were two mannequins. They were just like the ones she had in her shop back in ponyville, other than the fact that hers were made for ponies. They made her feel even more homesick. In front of her was another large bulky door almost identical to the one she walked through upstairs. In front of the door was the same short man whom she and Fluttershy saw when they were first thrown in here. He wore a large fur coat, and he had what looked like an oversized monocle. He also had an umbrella with him, the hilt in the shape of a penguin’s head. Two more henchmen were with him. One of them was examining a bandage wrapped around his left hand. “Oi! Not too tight ya bastard!” He barked. The henchman flinched. “Sorry, Mr. Cobblepot! Okay, it should be fine now.” Cobblepot shoved him out of the way and stepped forward toward Rarity. She stopped walking and looked at the man. They were almost at eye level. “Welcome to my humble abode! In case ya didn’t already know, I am Oswald Cobblepot. I’m so sorry we couldn’t get acquainted sooner.” Rarity hesitated. Then she tried to present herself as best she could. He was making a polite introduction and it was only ladylike to do the same. “Well, my name is Rarity, and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Cobblepot. Now if you could be so kind as to please explain to me why I’m here?” Cobblepot gave a crooked smirk. “Straight to the point, wonderful.” He motioned to one of his henchmen. The one to his right came down to his level, pulled out a cigar, and lit it. “You’re here because I wanna see if you can be of use to me, and I wanna know what them tattoos that you got there mean.” Rarity looked away, remembering how humiliated she felt when the henchmen mocked her before. “Oh yes. My, um, cutie marks.” She said quietly. “Yeah, them.” He said as he inhaled the cigar. “I also wanna keep you. If you can be of some use to me, then you will help me take over this city. If not,” He took the cigar out of his mouth and gave it to the same henchman. Then he glared back at Rarity, “then you’re going in one of my trophy cases. Either way, I get what I want.” Rarity didn’t like the sound of that. She wasn’t sure whether or not she should criticize him or go with the flow, so she sat there. Speechless. Cobblepot smiled, “I’m gonna make the same offer to your yellow winged friend,” Rarity’s eyes grew wide. “And if neither of you can assist me, then I’m gonna keep one of you, and throw out the other!” He threw his head back and laughed. Rarity stomped her hoof on the ground and looked him square in the face. “Don’t. You. Dare! My other friends are in this penitentiary also, and they’re all pretty feisty! If you hurt any of us, they will be after you for it!” The henchman behind her placed the barrel to her head, while Cobblepot and the other henchmen laughed harder. “Oh! I’m soo scared! Ha ha ha!” He said to her. --- “So how will we pick them off?” Rainbow asked Twilight. “We use a distraction. One of them will go investigate it and that’s when you go down and knock him unconscious.” Twilight replied. “Then the others will go look for him, right?” “Exactly” Twilight and Rainbow had been sitting on the gargoyle for a good five minutes planning a strategy. As far as the thugs knew, the only pony in this room was Applejack. They couldn’t go up against the thugs in a straight on fight. They wouldn’t last long against those rifles. Twilight thought about sneaking around and hiding in the shadows. Just then they heard a crash directly below them. It didn’t come from the hostages, and the thugs all turned around swiftly. “Pinkie…” Twilight whispered. Rainbow flew up and over to the area that Pinkie was hiding. She saw her laying in the far corner with bits of broken wood all around her. Rainbow flew down to her and helped her up. “Pinkie, what happened?!” Rainbow whispered to her. Pinkie jumped to her hooves, worried. “I don’t know! I was hiding in that box up there and it just broke!” She pointed to a wooden box sitting on scaffolding right above her. They heard shouting from the thugs on the other side and footsteps growing louder. “They’re coming, Dashie! What do we do?!” Rainbow looked up, and saw Twilight. She was waving her hoof frantically, and begging her to return to the gargoyle. “Don’t worry, Pinkie. Me and Twilight have a plan.” She whispered as she floated in the air. “Just cooperate with the thugs and you’ll be fine.” Pinkie’s eyes grew wide and tears began to form. “No Dashie! Stay with me! I need you!” She yelled as she jumped up in the air and grabbed Rainbow. Rainbow fell to the ground and tried to fight off Pinkie. Twilight watched in horror at the scene in front of her. Pinkie’s fear had gotten the best of her and now she had to get rid of these guys herself. As Pinkie and Rainbow struggled on the ground, two of the thugs rounded the corner and fired a few rounds into the air above them. They stopped and looked at the thugs, shocked. “Alright, come on. Get with the rest of them.” Said the nearest one. Pinkie and Rainbow slowly got up and started to walk toward them. When the thugs turned around, they both snuck a look up at Twilight. She said, “Please don’t tell them!” with her eyes as they walked toward the center circle. “What the hell is up with you guys? What are you doing in here?” Harley asked them. They didn’t respond. They sat down next to Applejack and the thugs began to tie them up as well. Five of her friends were in trouble, and she was the only one who could do anything to save them. She frantically thought of a way she could pull off her plan herself. She couldn’t think of anything. All she could do was hold on for dear life and watch her friends in fear. She thought about screaming. Giving away her position and her safety just so she could be with her friends again. Then she heard the outer door to the church open. The four thugs raised their guns to the door. The inner door swung open and in walked another man. He was tall, well built, and he looked strong. He had a cape, and a dark mask with pointy ears. He also had a symbol on his chest. It was a bat.