The Adventures of the Bat

by wyrdsmith

The Bat - Part 2

Town Hall was quiet the next morning; most ponies had no reason to visit the administrative offices of Ponyville's small government. But one pony in particular did. Twilight Sparkle entered the building alone, having let Spike sleep in, and walked briskly past the information desk. The pony behind the counter didn't even bother to pretend to stop the princess as she entered a narrow hallway lined with doors. One door at the end of the hallway stood out. It was an ornate oak door with the word "Mayor" embossed on a golden placard hung just at eye level. It was at this door that Twilight paused to organize her thoughts before knocking sharply, and precisely, three times.

"Come in," the mayor's voice rang out cheerily from behind the door.

Oh good, she's already had her coffee, thought Twilight as she opened the door, that should make this easier. "Good morning, Mayor Mare," she said as she let herself in and shut the door behind her.

The mayor was busy sifting through the morning's inbox, her eyes rapidly scanning the day's scrolls. "How can I help- oh my! Princess!" The mayor had looked up mid sentence and upon seeing Twilight dropped what she was doing and immediately stood up from her chair and bowed her head.

Twilight internally cringed, but kept her cool. She waved off the bow as she replied, "Oh please Mayor, it's just the two of us, and besides, I'm still just Twilight Sparkle, resident librarian."

Mayor Mare smiled at the alicorn before her and nodded, "Very well, princess. Please, have a seat." She motioned with a hoof to the chairs in front of her desk before taking a seat herself. "How can I help you?"

Twilight took a seat in one of the chairs, carefully tucking in her wings and regarded Mayor Mare before speaking. "Well, Mayor… Yesterday morning I stopped by Mister Davenport's Quills and Sofas to restock on my supply of quills, but I was surprised to discover that his shop had been broken into sometime during the night."

Mayor Mare nodded solemnly. "Oh yes," she said, "Terrible thing, that. Thankfully nopony was hurt and as I understand it, the would-be thieves have already been taken into custody."

Twilight Sparkle shifted in her seat nervously for a moment, "Actually, about that." She paused to steel herself and then continued, "I spoke with the officers on the scene and they made me aware of the fact that somepony, for as long as recent memory, had been.." Twilight struggled to find the right words, but eventually gave up and simply said, "Beating up criminals and leaving them tied up for the police to find!"

The Mayor sighed, "I was afraid that this was going to come up sooner or later." Mayor Mare folded her hooves in front of her and studied Twilight over the top of her reading glasses. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, as I'm sure you're aware, despite all the," she waved a hoof vaguely towards the window, "fantastical occurrences that happen in and around Ponyville, the town is statistically the safest city in all of Equestria. Our crime rate is so low, I've been forced to introduce several new misdemeanors over the years just to keep our numbers up high enough so we can justify our law enforcement budget and not lay anypony off.

"Despite this, crime does happen in our town, some of it rather violent. So as far as I'm concerned, if somepony goes around stopping a few robberies, leaving the criminals tied up for the authorities and keeps our colts in blue out of harm's way, then what harm is there?" Mayor Mare punctuated her question by leaning back in her chair and crossing her hooves over her chest.

Twilight pursed her lips and leaned forward, "But this pony or whatever it is, is taking the law into their own hooves. And if we allow it to happen once, then why not allow it to happen again and again? I'm not one to employ the slippery slope fallacy, but that's exactly what this is. We have the police and the guard for a reason. All it takes is one accident and this vigilante could wind up hurting somepony innocent." Twilight slammed her hoof down on the mayor's desk a bit harder than she meant to, and the silence after the sudden crack was deafening.

The two ponies stared at each other across the desk, but when Mayor Mare realized the princess wasn't going to back down, she blinked first. She then stood up out of her chair and moved to one of the many filing cabinets that were scattered about her office. Pulling out a drawer, she started flicking through the papers and files within, and spoke without turning, "Very well, princess. I can understand your reasoning, and I, of all ponies, should know what it means to uphold the law and protect the innocent."

The Mayor returned to her seat, and placed a small form onto her desk. Taking a quill, she quickly filled it out in silence as Twilight watched her curiously. Once finished, Mayor Mare pushed the form across her desk to in front of Twilight. "This form will deputize you into the Ponyville police force as Commissioner Pro Tempore. While the post doesn't officially exist, mostly as we've never needed a police commissioner, you'll be acting as one until such time as you feel you've resolved this situation with our resident good Samaritan."

Twilight swallowed and read quickly over the form, noting that it still awaited her signature at the bottom. With a spark of her magic, she reached for one of the mayor's quills, but before she could sign it, she was stopped by the mayor clearing her throat.

"Princess," she began, looking for the politest way to say what she needed to say, "This is not, I expect, the same endeavor as those you partake of with the Elements of Harmony. When you sign this document, you are swearing an oath to Ponyville and her citizens to not only protect them, but to serve them to the full extent of the law. I know you've regularly risked your life to save all of Equestria, but as Commissioner, it won't be just your life on the line. What you say, what you do, will have consequences for those that server under you. Remember that as you sign your name."

It was true that Twilight Sparkle spent an inordinate amount of her time putting herself in danger or risking her life for the fate of Equestria. But it was also true that Twilight Sparkle was no stranger to being responsible for the safety and the well-being of others. However, rather than bristle at the mayor's comments, she instead was reminded of her brother, Shining Armor, Prince Consort of the Crystal Empire and Captain of the Royal Guard. He regularly made decisions about the safety of his soldiers as well as the safety of entire nations. Twilight had to admit, it was pretty simple to see a bad guy and take them out, but this was another beast altogether.

Twilight dipped the quill into the inkwell and signed her name with a flourish, almost forgetting to add her honorific. She then set the quill down and looked back up at the Mayor, "I understand. I admit, you have been Mayor for far longer than I've been the Princess of Friendship, but this is something I feel I need to do. I will take this responsibility seriously, and I refuse to let anypony be harmed either by my action or inaction."

Mayor Mare pulled the form back towards her and stood up once more holding out a hoof, "Well then Princess, or I suppose I should say, Commissioner, welcome to the force."