The Adventures of the Bat

by wyrdsmith

The Bat - Part 1

Luna's moon was new, leaving only the stars of the night sky to cast their glow over the sleeping town of Ponyville. But while the village slumbered, not all its residents were warm and cozy in their beds. Two in particular, an earth pony and a pegasus nervously looked about the alleyway behind Quills and Sofas. Both were wearing black winter ski masks and both had a sense of urgency about them.

The earth pony, the taller and better built of the two, let out a gruff whisper to his partner, "Hurry it up, will ya?"

The pegasus had his front hooves busy with a set of lockpicks as he attempted for the third time that night to get the rear door of the shop open. "Quiet, moron," he rasped, "I'm going as fast as I can. It ain't like you could do any better."

The pegasus had a half-second's warning as the Earth Pony behind him growled and suddenly sent a pair of hooves past the pegasus's head and into the door. The door cracked and splintered as it slammed open revealing the dark interior of the shop to the both of them.

"There. Done." The earth pony said smugly as he pushed past the pegasus and went into the shop.

The pegasus sneered and followed the other stallion in, muttering under his breath, "Yeah, well, let's see you kick the safe open."

The pair picked their way carefully around the display cases and furniture towards the back office where a large metal safe sat waiting. The two had timed their break-in on the morning of Quills and Sofas' monthly bank deposit; inside, just waiting for the two of them to liberate it, was a mountain of bits.

The pegasus licked his lips as he swapped one set of thievery tools for another. He slipped a stethoscope into his ears and placed the end of it onto the safe just above the dial. A few quick spins left, right, then left again and the door to the safe sprung open. "Just like magic, eh," the pegasus asked as he turned back to his partner only to find himself alone in the shop.

"What the…" The pegasus, confused, moved out of the office and into the shop proper. The only noise he could hear came from the breeze in the alley by way of the open door at the back. "Where the hell did he go?"

Snorting in anger and deciding that his partner's disappearance meant more bits for him, the pegasus turned back to the office only to discover a wall of black between him and the precious safe.

The pegasus's body froze. His mane and coat stood on end as his gaze traveled slowly up the dark form before him and met a pair of burning white eyes. "You!" he managed to wheeze out before his vision exploded in stars and his body slumped to the ground unconscious.

The next day

Twilight Sparkle stood outside Quills and Sofas staring at the last item on her to-do list, "get more quills", and occasionally glancing up at the police tape blocking off the area immediately around the shop. Spike, who was quietly standing next to her, tempted fate by saying, "Maybe we should try coming back later?"

Twilight sighed. At one point in her past, she might have brushed off her assistant's suggestion and marched across the police tape, determined not to let anything ruin her perfectly arranged to-do list. But the time spent with her friends had changed her and in more ways than one. "Yes, you're probably right, Spike."

With a flicker of magic, she rolled up the list and tucked it into her saddlebag. She made as if to go, but she caught a glimpse of her wings out of the corner of her eye making her pause. "On second thought," she said, "while we're here, we should probably find out what happened. Make sure it wasn't anything serious."

Spike had already taken a few steps back in the direction of the castle, but stopped mid step, turning back around to rejoin Twilight at her side, "Aw, and I was looking forward to lunch."

Twilight glanced around to check for anyone that might be watching. "It'll be just a moment Spike, and afterwards I'll get you gem from Rarity's for dessert." She smiled down at the dragon before ducking her head, slipping under the police tape and moving towards the door.

Spike grinned and followed after not needing to duck, "Lunch, a gem and I get to see Rarity? You're on!"

Twilight pushed the door open slowly and poked her head inside. The bell atop the doorway jingled lightly announcing her presence against her will, and the three ponies at the center of the shop all turned towards her.

"Move along ma'am, the store's closed. Police business." Said one of the officers. Between the two policeponies stood the sofa clerk who had been answering questions and appeared slightly relieved that somepony else was there for them to direct their attention to.

Twilight Sparkle opened the door fully and stepped into the dim light of the shop, Spike close behind her. "No problem," she stated matter-of-factly, "I was just going to ask what happened. Princess business."

Spike turned his head to hide a grin as the three ponies in the shop immediately realized whom they were addressing and dropped into a row of bows.

The policepony that had spoken before stammered to reply, "S-sorry your higness, I- we didn't realize…"

Twilight threw Spike a glance, though she too struggled to hide a smile, "Ahem, well, I'm sure you were just trying to do your job. Now then, what happened? Is everypony ok?" She stepped forward towards the group, her voice shifting from hidden amusement to genuine concern.

The policeponies and sofa clerk all rose back up, one of the former nodding. "Everypony is fine your highness. Just a small breaking and entering."

Twilight studied the officer that had just poke, he seemed the older of the two. While both policeponies' coats were shades of brown and tan, he sported a mustache that was just starting to gray. "Are you ok, Mister Davenport," she asked looking back to the sofa clerk.

The earth pony stallion nodded and replied in a quiet voice, "Yes, princess. When I came in the front door this morning to open up the shop, I saw that the back door had been busted open and two ponies were tied up in the middle of my shop. Thankfully, nothing had been taken; the safe in the back was still locked and everything."

Twilight nodded and glanced at the two policeponies. They had probably already done the usual line of questioning, and with the culprits already taken into custody- "Wait! Did you say you found two ponies tied up in the middle of your shop!?"

The younger of the two policeponies nodded, "Yeah, darndest thing. We get the call from Mister Davenport here and when we showed up, it was like they were gift wrapped for us. They've already got them back at the station in general holding." The older officer shot the one that spoke a glare, but held his tongue.

Spike interrupted Twilight's train of thought by rushing forward, "Gift wrapped! Like when a superhero in the comic books catches the bad guys in the act and leaves them all tied up for the police to find?"

Twilight internally groaned and used her magic to push the over-eager dragon back behind her, "Sorry about that. His imagination tends to get away from him sometimes…"

The younger officer shook his head, "Actually princess, that's exactly what it was like."

Twilight glanced at the older officer, "Really? Has something like this ever happened before?"

The older officer sighed and took off his hat to scratch his head, "A few times, princess. Actually, more often than I'd care to admit." He gave a look to the younger officer as if to dare the poor junior policepony to mention this back at the station before continuing, "Not that there's a lot of crime in ponyville, mind you, but it happens often enough that there's a checkbox in the paperwork for when we do show up and it turns out somepony was here before us."

Twilight's eyes widened as she considered the implications of somepony running around and stopping criminals in the act only to leave them tied up for the authorities. "Are you saying that Ponyville has a vigilante?"

The older officer shrugged, "Well, it wouldn't be the first time. There was that Mysterious Mare-do-well. Honestly, I think most of the ponies at the station figure it was her."

The younger policepony looked like he wanted to say something, but seemed to hold himself back while watching the older officer. But with a nod from Twilight he quickly added on to his partner's statement. "Actually princess, it may not be her. You see, nopony's really sure who it is. None of the perps ever get a good look at the pony. But this morning, one of the wannabe burglars we brought in was yelling about demonic eyes and bats."

---

"Demonic eyes and bats!?" Rarity's eyebrows couldn't possibly go any higher as she studied Twilight over the rim of her teacup. She carefully set the china down onto the coffee table in her sitting room of the Carousel Boutique and leaned forward in her chair. "And to think there's some… barbaric hoodlum running around town, stopping crimes, beating up criminals, saving ponies and who knows what else." The dainty unicorn took a moment to compose herself, "I must say, I- I don't know what to say."

Spike looked up where he was happily munching on a green gem and grinned, "I know! It's great, isn't it?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and took another sip of the tea Rarity had prepared for them. Talking with the policeponies and Mister Davenport didn't reveal any more information and by then Spike's stomach had decided to vocally announce the time of day. So the two of them took a quick lunch at one of the sidewalk bistros before finally ending up at Rarity's. Initially Twilight only meant to pick up a gem for Spike, but Rarity's generosity meant she wound up sharing that morning's events over an early afternoon tea with biscuits and gems.

Rarity smiled a bit at Spike's enthusiasm, "Yes, well, for some, I suppose." She levitated up a cookie from the tray and nibbled on it in thought when her eyes suddenly widened in surprise. She looked to Twilight with her face scrunching up a bit, "You don't suppose that somepony was inspired by our, you know, escapade a while back, do you?"

Twilight blinked her eyes slowly and shook her head, "I hope not. While at the time it seemed like a good idea, I think we've all come to realize that it was a pretty dangerous and, frankly, poorly thought out plan. We're lucky nopony got injured during that mess and that Rainbow Dash forgave us afterwards."

Rarity nodded and picked her tea back up to resume drinking it, "Quite right. Though I dare say that if somepony is ‘taking the law into their own hooves', then perhaps we should look into it. Vigilante justice just seems so uncivilized, don't you think?"

Twilight finished off her tea and set the cup and saucer back down onto the table. "I agree completely. But finding this pony and figuring out what exactly is going on is a lot easier said than done. I believe my first stop will be Mayor Mare's office tomorrow morning to get permission to start looking into all this."

Spike finished licking the last of the gemstone dust off his claws before giving Twilight a curious look. "Permission? You're an Equestrian Princess, couldn't you know, wave a hoof and get whatever you need?"

Twilight bit her lip and shrugged, "Honestly? I probably could, but I still haven't gotten used to the whole princessy-you-do-what-I-say-or-I'll-throw-you-into-the-dungeon-thing. And after breaking several zoning laws with the sudden magical growth of a crystal palace, I think I'd like to at least try and follow proper procedure for something like this."

Rarity nodded once in agreement, "Too true, darling. No sense in burning bridges with force when a bit of polite protocol will do the trick. Well if you need anything, let me know. Ooh, and now this has got me all thinking about the boutique's security. If you don't mind, I'll probably be stopping by tomorrow to pick up a book on magical locks. You can never be too sure, you know."

Twilight smiled and stood, motioning to Spike to do the same. "Of course, once I finish up with the Mayor, I'll probably drop by the police station to pick up the files, but then after that, it'll be back to the castle to start studying."

Spike slumped at the word 'studying'. "Aw, and I just got the library picked back up and organized after the last study session," he said while shuffling towards the door.

Rarity gave Spike an empathetic smile following the two to the boutique's entrance, seeing them out. "Well don't work poor Spikey-wikey too hard. Nor you either, dear. It seems that this pony may yet turn out to be a rather dangerous fellow, so we should be as cautious as possible."

Twilight paused after opening the door, "Agreed. But no promises on taking the studying easy. I want to solve this mystery quickly before anypony innocent gets hurt."

Author's Note:

The inspiration of this story came from a Christmas gift. I can only hope to do the source materials justice.