A mini figurine of what could very well resemble a real life pony lay incased in a tiny glass cylinder. As said figurine spun around, tiny snowflakes swirled all around it. Creating an image that would be quite impressive to say the least.
The owner of the figurine held the object up with a dark blue hoof, observing the fake pony that was destined to repeat its twirling dance for eternity. The alternating blue and dark blue armor plates and helmet, the bat like wings and fangs, and the gentle green eyes seemed almost life like. "It is almost as if he were still with me." the owner thought to herself.
Looking out at the night sky, the mare held the cylinder close to her and began to speak to as if it could hear her. "Oh my beloved Shadow Fang, it is a pity that this is all that I have left to remember you by. Here you are, surrounded by un-ending winter at the peak of your youth. How fitting that the very beauty that drew me to you, has been captured so perfectly. Do not worry, soon I shall show the known world just what a frozen heart is capable of." Holding up a special gun that had been designed to shoot a stream of quick freezing energy, the figure looked down on the streets of Manehattan and eyed the museum. "Winter, is here to stay." she said, but where one would expect to see a smile there was no such thing to be found.
"Thanks again for stopping by Spike, it's always nice to see you." Apple Bloom said polietly, as Spike left The Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse. As of lately, he'd become an honoray member of their group and a major source of inspiration for them. Then again, it was hard not to be when you were one half of what Equestria's citizens called "The Dynamic Duo."
"I could say the same for you, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle." Spike replied "You girls have grown a lot in this past year."
"So how are things with you and my sister?" Apple Bloom asked "You been fighten' the good fight and puttin' them bad guys in their place?"
"They're fine." Spike said with a smile, which quickly faded "Though, I'm starting to get tired of playing second fiddle. After being a sidekick for so long, you kind of start to long for a taste of something bigger. If it weren't for the fact that Applejack saved my life, and that I could never bring myself to turn my back on her, I'd probably have hung up my cape by now."
"Is it really that bad?" Apple Bloom asked with concern "You know Applejack would never intentionally hold you back just because you're her sidekick. You two are a team, and without Robin, Batmare would never be the same."
"Thanks for trying to cheer me up Apple Bloom." Spike said gratefully. He sighed just a little bit before he spoke up again "I suppose it might just be because I'm getting older and my emotions are giving me a lot of trouble. Truth be told, I don't hate being Robin. But I'm starting to wonder if my role in the partnership amounts to much other than moral support."
"Well, if you're ever in the mood to talk about this you can come and see me. When you're not on duty that is." Apple Bloom replied "You're not the only one who's doubting themselves. It seems that Applejack really took what that scum bag Joker clown said to heart. I've heard her contemplating out loud whether she's actually making a difference, or just makin' things worse by creatin' new bad guys to replace the old ones. It's a good thing she's got District Attorney Fancy Pants to help her out."
"Ah yes, he is quite the ally." Spike stated "With his help, we've taken down many crime rings that would've otherwise remained in place. And the best part is, he can do so while working from within the system. With him, Applejack, and I together, crime has met its match."
Just then, Applejack called Spike on the radio system on his motorbike. "Spike, I need you to meet me in the Bat Cave A.S.A.P! We've got a new jewel thief to deal with."
Spike raced over to his bike, and pressed a button on the control pannel that let him speak to Applejack. "Don't worry Applejack, I'll see you there. Over and out."
"So, do you think you'll be able to make next's week meeting?" Apple Bloom asked anxiously, as Spike climbed onto his bike and strapped on his helmet.
"Hopefully yes, but you never know when duty may call." Spike replied, and with that he sped away.
A short time later, Spike and Applejack met in the Bat Cave. Alongside Granny Smith, they were currently looking at a monitor that doubled as a database.
"So, what are we up against this time?" Spike asked "I get the feeling this isn't a typical jewel thief we're dealing with."
"Take a look at this." Applejack instructed, pressing a button on the monitor.
Spike was amazed at what he saw. A giant blue diamond rested inside a glass case that looked like it was barely big enough to hold said diamond. It stood out admist a collection of artifacts from anicent Equestria. "Whoa! I've seen a lot of gems in my time, but I've never seen anything quite like that!" Spike exclaimed "That thing's huge!"
"Indeed it is Spike, but that's not the only thing about it that makes it so valueable." Applejack explained "That gem stone also contains magical powers that are said to rival the Alicorn Amulet. And if that's true, then in the wrong hooves, claws, or talons, it could create destruction on a level unlike anything else."
"So, do we know who's trying to swipe it?" Spike asked.
"I'm afraid not." Granny Smith explained "That there gem is on display at the Manehattan Museum of Exotic Treasures and Ancient Relics, and the break in is in-progress as we speak. The mastermind has yet to reveal themselves."
"Well then, we've got no time to waste!" Applejack said seriously "Let's suit up and head over there!"
"My thoughts exactly." Spike replied.
"Good luck you two, and be careful. I got the feeling that you're about to face a threat unlike anything you've ever encountered before." Granny Smith warned.
"Don't worry Granny Smith, we should be fine." Applejack replied "You just keep an eye on the situation. Contact us if you find out anything new."
"Will do, now get going!" Granny Smith urged.
Applejack and Spike didn't need to be told twice, they quickly raced over to where their suits were kept in storage. They put them on, grabbed whatever tools and gadgets they felt would come in handy for the mission, and headed for the cave's exit. Spike's motorbike was already parked off to the side, in order to make room for the re-designed Batmobile.
Not too long ago, Applejack had decided that the time had come to give the vehicle an upgrade. The futuristic roadster design had been scrapped, in favor of a more classic style that was stretched out a little. The gadgets remained the same, and the cockpit was even modified to transform into a miniature airship with the press of a button. The only thing that remained untouched on the exterior, was the rocket booster used to propel the Batmobile down the roads at high speeds.
"I still don't see why you had to re-design the Batmobile so much." Robin said to Batmare "It was fine how it was."
"Well, I figured it would match my new suit a little bit better." Batmare explained. Her new suit was vastly different from the one she had worn before. The rubbery mask had been re-designed to a more boxy like shape. The boots and gloves remained black, but they were modified to fit the new suit. The suit itself was dark gray in design, with a black bat emblazoned onto the chest. The shoulder sleeves now contained spiked pads to make the entire outfit look more intimidating.
"Oh right, I almost forgot about the re-designed suit." Robin admitted "But I don't think you ever told me why you did such a thing."
"The old suit was fine, but it had some problems." Batmare explained "For one thing, I couldn't turn my head without turning my entire body. And if you're gonna fight crime you've got to be able to turn your head. The other problem was that utility belt, let's just say it wasn't so good at being an actual belt."
"That makes sense I guess." Robin shrugged "Personally, I like my costume the way it is."
"I never said you had to change it." Batmare replied, and hopped into the Batmobile "So, you gonna hope in? There's still room for two."
"No thanks, I prefer my motorbike." Robin stated, as he climbed onto said motorbike. It was painted red and black to match Robin's costume, and help it blend in a little.
"Well then, see you at the museum." Batmare replied, and closed the hood of the cockpit. The Batmobile roared to life, and rocketed out of the Bat Cave. Robin followed on his motorbike a second later.
The mysterious figure from before was now eying the gem, as she carefully removed it from its display case and held it in her hooves. "Ah, just what I need to power my suit. My icy powers will know no limits!"
"Looking for a one hoof discount after hours are we?" a familiar voice called out. A second later, the voice's owner came swooping down from the ceiling. The dark grey suit and boxy mask indicating that the one who had uttered such a statment was Batmare.
Robin arrived on the scene a second later, and quickly joined his partner. Now the two of them finally got a good look at who they were up against. At first, they could only see the gray suit with blue cylinder like arms and legs. Then, they took notice of a pair of dark blue wings, and inside of a glass helmet was the face of a mare with a horn. All of which was in the same dark blue color as the wings, the only difference being that a pair of red goggles obscured the eyes. Batmare and Robin gasped.
"Princess Luna?" Batmare asked.
"That is who I use to be." the figure replied "But from now on Equestria and beyond shall simply know me as Miss. Freeze!" To prove her point, she used her magic to lift up a giant blaster and pointed it at the door. A second later, there was a loud whiring sound, and a stream of energy shot out from it. Batmare and Robin jumped out of the way, as the energy quickly froze and turned into ice. In a matter of seconds, the door had been completed frozen shut.
"She's not gonna start cracking ice puns, is she?" Robin whispered to Batmare.
"I don't think so, cause if she did they'd get really old very fast." Batmare replied.
"So, the dynamic duo itself has come to stop me." Miss. Freeze said seriously, holding her blaster close with her magic "A pity that our first meeting shall also be our last."
"Not if we can help it!" Batmare said boldly "You may be an alicorn princess, but we show no mercy to those that break the law! Surrender now, and we can avoid all of this trouble!"
"Sorry, I'm afraid that is not an option." Miss. Freeze replied firmly "I've already obtained what I came here for, and now I must depart."
"Don't think you're gonna get away that easily!" Robin threatened "There's two of us, and only one of you!"
"Not for long!" Miss. Freeze smirked, as she fired a blast of quick freezing energy onto the floor. Turning it into a giant ice rink. Then, she whistled, and an army of masked hockey players came sliding out. All of them brandishing hockey sticks. "Farewell detectives!" Miss. Freeze taunted, and quickly took off.
"Well, there's only one thing to do in a situation like this." Batmare said to Robin "You ready for some ice skating action?"
"You betcha." Robin replied "I told you those retractable skates would come in handy one day."
"Alright, alright. Just don't rub it in and let's get to work." Batmare said seriously. She and Robin carefully bent down and pressed a button on their boots. A second later, ice skates appeared on the heels of both pairs of boots.
Deciding that the best strategy was to divide and conquer, Batmare and Robin split up. Batmare quickly began skating towards three of the masked hockey players. Wasting no time, she pulled out one of her trademark batarangs and hurled at them. The batarang flew right past the players, who smirked and prepared to close in on Batmare. But before their hockey sticks could make contact, the batarang looped back around and hit their skates. This caused them to topple over and crash into each other in a massive dog pile.
Robin, meanwhile, was trying desperately to outrun the hockey players that were chasing after him. "You can't run away forever Boy Blunder!" one of the players taunted.
Suddenly, as he passed by an old vase, Robin got an idea. "Here, catch!" he shouted, as he picked up the vase and threw it at one of the hockey players "Oh and by the way boys, 'You break it, you buy it!'". The player was surprised when the vase landed firmly in his gloves. Taking advantage of the player's divided attention, Robin skated up to him and socked him right in the face. The players fell like dominos, while the vase flew up into the air. Robin leaped into the air, caught the vase with one arm, and carefully put it back where he had found it.
Before long, there was only one masked hockey player left standing. Unfortunately, he was a massive stallion that had previously been infamous, as a goalie that was said to pummel anyone who opposed him, until they were black and blue. In fact, this was how he'd earned the nickname of "Tooth Fairy".
Batmare and Robin skated carefully around him, as they tried to come up with a plan. All the while, the goalie chased after them. He was getting closer with each passing second, and the dynamic duo knew that if they didn't do something soon, he'd send them both to the hospital.
Then, Batmare looked up to the ceiling and an idea came to her. "You set him up, I knock him down." she said to Robin.
"Sounds good to me, just make it quick. I don't know how long I can keep going." Robin replied.
"This'll just take a few seconds." Batmare said confidently, and fired her grappling gun. She quickly ascended, putting herself out of harm's way.
"So, looks old Batstick has left you to die." the goalie taunted, as he closed in on Robin "Such a shame, and to think I expected better from Equestria's greatest crime fighters."
"Come on Batmare, don't leave me hanging!" Robin thought, as he began to feel the goalie breathing down his neck.
"End of the line for you Pipsqueak!" the goalie shouted, as he raised his hockey stick and prepared to smash it into Robin's back. But he never got the chance, because at that moment Batmare came swooping down and with a mighty kick toppled the goalie right then and there.
"And this is why you should listen to those who say crime never pays." Batmare said sternly.
"Thanks for saving my hide, but next time maybe you could do so without waiting until the last second." Robin said crossly.
"Sorry, I tried to be as fast as possible. I think I need to get this grappling gun upgraded." Batmare apologized "But for right now, we've got to focus on stopping Miss. Freeze."
"Right, she couldn't have gotten far!" Robin replied, and he and Batmare skated out of the museum as fast as they could.
The Batmobile and Robin's motorbike sped through the streets of Manehattan as fast as they could. The dynamic duo looking for any sorts of leads on Miss. Freeze's location.
"This is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, we'll never find her at this rate." Robin complained.
"Never say never Robin." Batmare replied "Look over there." A mysterious van covered in metal, with a retractable roof, was speeding away at a break neck speed. As it did so, someone or something was firing a blaster that turned the roadway behind it into ice.
"That's got to be Miss. Freeze making a hasty getaway!" Robin exclaimed "We've got to go after her!"
"Well, I hope you're ready for an indirect approach. Because there's no way we can catch up to her traveling on the ice." Batmare replied nervously.
"Relax, I already have the perfect detour in mind. There's more than one way to drive through this part of town." Robin said with a smile "The only question is, are you up for it?" And with that, he turned his bike around and raced off.
Batmare sighed "I've got a very bad feeling about all of this." she said to herself, as she reluctantly steered The Batmobile and followed Robin's bike.
As it turns out, Robin's place consisted of traveling through a sparsely populated section of Manehattan. Having visited this place on a few occassions with the CMC, he knew what routes to take and what ones to avoid. Batmare, for her part, followed Robin's guidance. Sure enough, at the other side of a draw bridge there was a road that would allow the dynamic duo to intercept Miss. Freeze and catch her.
"Come on slowpoke, just a little further." Robin taunted.
"That's easy for you to say, you're not the one driving this massive motorized carriage." Batmare replied sternly. Just then, the draw bridge began to rise to make way for a passing cargo ship. Batmare braked hard, and The Batmobile came to a halt just before the draw bridge.
Robin, for his part, continued to speed toward the draw bridge. Either unaware of the fact that a ship was passing through, or somehow convinced that he could make the leap.
Batmare wasn't about to let him take that risk however. Using the Batmobile's radio she said "Robin! Stop at once!"
"Relax Batmare, I know I can make this jump!" Robin replied.
"Don't do it! It's too dangerous!" Batmare warned.
"This could be our only chance to stop Miss. Freeze before she gets away!" Robin said crossly "Do you really want to throw that opportunity away?!"
"Robin, please! It's for your own good! Don't be an idiot!" Batmare pleaded.
Robin sighed "I can make that jump, but if it'll make you happier I'll stop." Reluctantly, he began to brake and he managed to stop just in time. He sighed again, as he waited for the draw bridge to be lowered.
"Thanks for stopping." Batmare said to Robin as they waited "I'm certain we can still catch Miss. Freeze if we hurry across as soon as we can."
Robin waited impatiently until just before the draw bridge was completely lowered, then he sped across it as fast as he could. Batmare followed as closely as possible, but the speed of Robin's bike made it rather difficult.
At last, Robin caught up to Miss. Freeze's vehicle. Reacting quickly, he positioned his bike as close to the cab as possible. Then, timing his jump, he made a daring leap. As he did so, he reached into his utility belt and pulled out a pellet of stun gas, as well as a grappling hook. "I hope this works!" he thought to himself, as he used the grappling hook to secure himself to the outside of the cab. Then, he smashed in the driver side window with his elbow and threw the pellet.
Miss. Freeze suddenly heard a boom, and felt the car begin to speed out of control. "What's going up on there driver?!" she asked "Keep your eye on the road!" There was no reply. Not suspecting anything, Miss. Freeze headed up to the cab where she found the driver immobilized. She was just in time to see a flash of red escape out the broken side window. "So the Boy Wonder wants to play?" she said ominously, as she aimed her blaster out the window "Well then, let's play."
Robin, for his part, continued to steer around the icy blasts. All the while taunting Miss. Freeze.
"Robin, what are you doing?" Batmare asked, as she observed the scene from a distance.
"Just taking care of a little unfinished business." Robin replied "You'll thank me for this later."
"Are you crazy?! You're going to get yourself killed!" Batmare shouted angrily.
"Relax, I know what I'm doing." Robin snapped back "Just sit back and let the Boy Wonder handle this."
Batmare was about to say something in reply, when she spotted something in the distance. The door to one of the Manehattan storage warehouses, with the number 1 painted on it in black. Robin's bike, and Miss. Freeze's vehicle were heading straight for it. Batmare was horrified "Robin, slow down! You're going to crash!" she warned.
"That's what I'm counting on." Robin replied, and promptly turned off his radio. He knew Batmare didn't know his plan, but it was necessary in order to make sure that Miss. Freeze remained in the dark as well. He couldn't risk her overhearing their conversations on his bike radio.
"Robin?! Robin! Robin, respond!" Batmare ordered, but there was no reply. All she could do was try her best to catch up to him, before it was too late. 10 miles, 5 miles, 2 miles, the warehouse was getting closer with each passing second.
"She's taken the bait, just as I hoped she would." Robin thought, and he braked hard. Narrowly turning away from the door just before the front of his bike could make contact with it. When Miss. Freeze's vehicle began to brake as well, Robin quickly pulled out a sewing needle, and threw it at one of the tires. The needle pierced the tire, producing a loud hiss as the air leaked out of it.
Realizing that it was too late, Miss. Freeze picked up the gem and made a desperate leap just seconds before her van slammed into the door, producing a sickining crash sound.
"So this is what Robin's big plan was." Batmare thought to herself, as she saw Robin give a thumbs up sign to indicate he was still okay.
As Batmare raced to his location with The Batmobile, Robin began to look around. Sure enough, he spotted the diamond laying on the ground. As he had predicted, Miss. Freeze had dropped it in her rush to escape the deadly impact. He quickly picked it up and headed back to where he had parked his bike. His plan had worked like a charm.
Or so he thought, what he didn't know was that Miss. Freeze had delibertly dropped the diamond in order to lure Robin into a false sense of security. "Sorry, but that gem rightfully belongs to me." she thought to herself, as she aimed her blaster at Robin and prepared to fire it.
"Man, wait til I tell the CMC about this. They'll never believe it." Robin said, as he neared his bike.
"Hey Boy Blunder!" Miss. Freeze shouted, emerging from her hiding spot "You really should've listened to your partner and stayed out of my way!" And with that, she turned the full power of her blaster on Robin. Completely freezing him right on the spot.
When Batmare arrived, she gasped in horror. There was Robin, frozen solid. The diamond still clutched firmly in his claws.
"I'll be taking that Bird Boy." Miss. Freeze said seriously, as she used her magic to steal back the diamond with ease. Then, she turned to Batmare "Quite a deliema you have Batmare. I have the diamond, and will make my escape unless you can catch up to me. But by the time you do so, poor Robin here might just freeze to death."
"You're really sick, you know that Miss. Freeze?" Batmare hissed.
"If I was truly sick, I wouldn't give you a chance to save your friend's life." Miss. Freeze replied "So, what's it gonna be? Are you going to risk his life so you can be the big hero? Or will you thaw him out, knowing that you'll be dooming the entire known world to unending winter? You better make a decision soon, because it'll only be a matter of minutes until the Boy Wonder's blood freezes over."
As much as it pained her to do so, Batmare couldn't bring herself to ignore Robin and chase after Miss. Freeze. The risks were too great. Reluctantly, she set to work on chipping away at the ice that held her partner captive.
Miss. Freeze couldn't help but rub her victory in Batmare's face. "As I thought, your emotions are your weakness. Your concern for others is what holds you back. That's why I'm the one who's coming out on top. But just so you don't think of trying to chase after me once Robin thaws out, have this little parting gift. And don't worry, it's on the house." As she retreated, Miss. Freeze fired off beam after beam of energy, until she had created a wall of ice. Then, she slipped away.
"Why Princess Luna? Why would you do such a thing?" Batmare thought to herself, as she continued to work on freeing Robin.