The Batmare Vol. 1: Batmare Begins: Issue #3: An Ace In The Hole
As Twilight was making her way back to the Atheneigh library with a carriage of new books attached to her hips, she couldn't help but marvel at how calm and quiet the neighborhood around her was. Normally, one wouldn't be able to make their way through the city without running into some hoodlums looking for trouble, drug dealers trying to pass Caramel Falcon's stuff off or some of his enforcers trying to squeeze yet another poor shopowner dry. But the only thing Twilight currently saw were foals playing in the streets, shopkeepers sweeping at the entrance of their stores while whistling merrily and some cheerful couples laughing to each other as they embraced. The city looked peaceful. Even, dare she say, safe.
Twilight smiled to herself as she took in the picture. Mere months ago, this would have been inconceivable. The crime lords of the city held it so firmly under their hooves that even during the daylight, they wouldn't leave the good citizens of Manehettan in peace. But ever since the Batmare put more of them and their thugs away, the city felt completely different. And this delighted Twilight. Especially since it was thanks to her.
She found herself sharing Spike's worries on several occasions. Especially after her encounter with Scarecrow. She wondered if her activities as Batmare actually had a positive impact on the city or if she was just wasting High Culture's inheritance to quell her own petty need for vengeance. But looking at the city now, it was hard to argue that what she did was actually making a difference. And she couldn't have been happier about this.
As Twilight made her way further into the city, she noticed how the streets were becoming more empty, yet not quieter. She could hear the rumbling of a crowd coming from the distance and since the streets were so empty now, she couldn't help but look. She saw several ponies gathered around in a circle not too far away from her. Twilight raised an eyebrow. Whatever could entice a whole street of ponies to gather around like that must have been worthy of her attention as well. Making her way up to the crowd, she saw a small, makeshift stage in the middle of the circle of ponies, but strangely enough, the stage was empty.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked, wondering just why would these ponies find an empty stage so interesting.
"Just wait." A stallion standing next to Twilight said. Twilight did as she was told and in a couple of seconds, she saw a huge puff of red smoke exploding from the ground that made her cover her eyes. When the smoke disappeared, she opened her eyes and saw that the stage was no longer empty. It was occupied by a unicorn mare with a brilliant azure coat and pale blue mane and tail wearing a blue magician hat and cape decorated with stars.
"Behold, Manehettan, The Great and Powerful Trixie!" The unicorn announced as she released a few blasts from her horn and exploded into fireworks all around the stage, much to the crowd's amazement. Except to Twilight's. Since she used to be the most talented magic user of her generation before the... accident, cheap magic tricks didn't impress her. And while she may have lost her own magic, she was still interested in it and therefore wanted to see what this unicorn can do.
"Prepare to see wonders you have never seen before!" Trixie boasted, poofing a table and a huge red box into existence on the stage. "Starting with the unfathomable sight of a pony sawing herself in half!"
Trixie got into the box and used her magic to lock it tight and levitate a huge hoofsaw into the air. Twilight could see the several ponies around her cringing at the sight of the saw reaching the box and slicing its way down through it until it reached the part where Trixie was lying. But to the crowd's amazement, the unicorn in the box merely smirked confidently as the saw passed her. The box then split into two parts. One contained Trixie's still smirking head and the other her kicking legs.
"Ta-da!" Trixie announced proudly after her trick. The crowd gasped in amazement before applauding her performance. They were truly in awe at the trick, but Twilight knew better.
'I've heard of this trick. A portal connects the two boxes allowing the body to separate. Not impressed.'
Trixie quickly reassembled her body and exited the box, then pulled off her hat and showed its insides to the audience.
"As you can see, my hat is empty." Trixie then reached into her hat and pulled out a rope. "Or is it?" She then kept pulling the rope until at least ten meters of it was lying on the stage. The crowd once again clapped in amazement, but Twilight just rolled her eyes.
'Any unicorn could have summoned that rope into that hat with a teleportation spell. Or open a small portal to have another pony push the rope into it from the other side. These ponies do know there is real magic in Equestria, right? Then again, I suppose in a modern city like Manehettan where they use it less, more advanced forms of it are a rare sight.'
Trixie then clapped her forehooves, making another puff of smoke appear on the stage. Once the smoke cleared, the crowd gasped again, but this time, it was of terror. In the middle of the stage, was a huge bear, growling menacingly at Trixie, who looked completely unfazed.
"A huge thanks to the Manehettan Zoo for their generous contribution to today's performance." Trixie announced before waving the lasso over her head and throwing it at the bear. The vicious predator leaped at the unicorn, but as the lasso wrapped around its neck, it seemed to have been completely pacified and stood down. Trixie then jumped onto the animal's back and started riding it around the stage. This trick calmed the terrified crowd and they started cheering as Trixie rode the animal. Once again, the only one who did not appreciate the performance was Twilight.
'Since when does taming animals count as magic? With tricks like that she should be performing in a circus, not a magic show.'
Twilight was almost offended. Since she lost her magic, it upset her even more how this mare was wasting hers on this prestidigitation. Completely losing her interest in Trixie's display, Twilight realized that she probably should be going. Spike was most likely already worried that she went back on her word to just pick up the new delivery of books and ventured out on another Batmare adventure.
By the time she turned to leave, Trixie already poofed the bear back to where it came from and noticed one of her audience trotting out of the crowd, which naturally did not sit well with the magician. Using one of her smoke bombs, she poofed away from the stage and materialized right in front of Twilight just as she was about to reattach her carriage to her hips.
"Are you not entertained?" She asked challengingly, almost as if daring Twilight to reply negatively. Twilight became nervous as the entire audience's gaze fell on her, waiting for her answer. Ironic, she thought, she could face armed criminals in the night without an issue, but her stage fright had apparently still not left her. Perhaps if she had her mask, she would feel better.
"Well..." Twilight started, unsure of just what she should say. "It's not like your performance is bad, it's just... I'm used to... real magic." She finished but was uncertain that she picked her words carefully. Trixie's lips widened into a cocky smile.
"Oh, so we have a real magical expert amongst ourselves, don't we?" She taunted. This comment actually got to Twilight.
"I am!" She declared loudly, completely forgetting about the audience watching her. When she remembered, she immediately shrunk back. "Or at least... I was before... before..." Her eyes became misty as she remembered. She reached up to her mane and pulled it apart for Trixie to the place of her broken horn. The other unicorn gasped upon seeing it and her look turned pitiful as she looked back down into Twilight's eyes. But then she got an idea and her smile returned, but this time, it actually looked genuine. She grabbed Twilight's hoof and started to slowly and invitingly lead her toward the stage.
"Then why don't you help me with my next trick?" She asked. "With your expertise and my skills, I'm sure we'd make a great pair!" Trixie actually felt sorry for this unicorn and wanted to do something nice for her. She felt like including her in a magic show would at least let her relive her memories about her magic. But Twilight didn't look enthusiastic about the offer. She looked back at the crowd still looking at her and her old friend, stage fright returned with full force. She blocked down so much that she was powerless against Trixie dragging her onto the stage.
"Big round of applause for my new assistant everypony!" Trixie cheered, making the audience clap for Twilight who nervously waved back. Trixie then turned to Twilight. "For my next trick, I will show you just how great and powerful Trixie is, by bringing out the magic that was left in you! Without your horn." The audience gasped in wonder but Twilight already knew whatever's gonna happen next will be nothing more than mere tricks and illusions.
Trixie poofed another magic box onto the stage before stopping into it. "Watch and awe as my assistant makes me disappear!" She then winked at Twilight and closed the box's door. Twilight was unsure what to do. In the end, she merely nudged the box with her head and opened the door to reveal that Trixie had indeed disappeared. The crow applauded again, impressed with the new trick, but Twilight was familiar with this trick as well. Now came the part where she closed the door, repeated what she just did and Trixie would reappear in the box through the secret door in the back of the box. And that was exactly what happened, much to the crowd's further amazement.
"Ta-da!" Trixie exclaimed, grabbing Twilight's shoulder and posing with her for the crowd. Twilight tried to smile for them too, but it was extremely forced. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. But from the corner of her eyes, Twilight could swear that she could see that the bombastic showmare was giving their audience a slightly less fake, but still rather forced smile. She knew all about this kind of smile. It was what she put up to the ponies who came to the library every day to convince them that all was right in the world.
But Trixie's smile while similar also felt different. It was as if she wasn't just sending this message to everypony around her, but also convincing herself of it. She had trouble keeping it up, from close up, Twilight could see her lips and the muscles in her face fidgeting. Before she could make further observations, Trixie pushed her away to announce her next trick.
"And now..." Trixie pulled off her hat again and summoned a deck of cards out of her hat and started rotating them around the stage before setting them on her hoof. Twilight mentally groaned in annoyance.
'Card tricks? You have reached the bottom of the barrel.'
"...witness the awesome mental abilities of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie used her magic to make the cards rotate around Twilight in the air, while she pulled her hat over her eyes. "My assistant will pick a card and I will be able to tell which one simply with the power of my mind!" Twilight half-heartedly pulled a card out of the deck floating around her and looked at it. Trixie made a humming sound for a few seconds before blurting out. "You picked... Diamond 7!" The crowd set their sights from Trixie to Twilight, waiting for the affirmative response, but that wasn't what they got.
"Actually... I didn't." Twilight wasn't even trying to hide the annoyance from her voice anymore. Trixie's eyes widened in alarm under the hat, but she quickly regained her composure.
"Oops! Silly me, I used the same magical channel I use with other ponies with magic." Trixie chuckled nervously. "OK. I entered through a different channel, now I see much clearer. You picked... Club 3!"
"Once again, no I didn't." Twilight deadpanned with a groan. She was getting really tired of this. Trixie was quickly becoming panicked but was still desperate to save face.
"Uhh... The Ace of Spades?" Trixie tried in a last desperate attempt. Twilight just about had enough of this. She walked up to Trixie, pulled her hat off of her head, and shoved the card in her hoof.
"If you're gonna waste your magical talent on childish tricks and illusions, at least do it right." She told her before leaving the stage and taking off with her cart of books. Trixie remained on the stage, nervously smiling down at her disappointed audience, cursing herself for not shuffling her deck correctly. But the show must go on.
"Uhh... And for my next trick..." But the crowd had enough. They booed Trixie for her failed performance and all headed off. Even worse for Trixie, they left before the end of her show, which was when she got paid for her performance. Left without an audience and a single bit for the day, the only thing the defeated Trixie could do was take a look at the card Twilight Sparkle picked and she failed to identify. It was the joker.
The rest of Trixie's day has been, to put it plainly, really bad. Apparently, word had gotten around fast about her failed performance with Twilight Sparkle because wherever she went, ponies have been laughing at her dismissing all of her performances as a joke. Her blood still boiled when she thought about it. All she wanted to do was cheer up that broken-horned unicorn and let her feel a little magical again. Well, this day taught Trixie that no good deed goes unpunished. Especially in this city.
With no successful performances today, Trixie earned no income today, which was quite unfortunate in her case as she was in a rather pressing financial situation at the moment. As if being able to only rent a shoddy apartment in one of the seediest parts of the city wasn't enough, she was also in deep with the wrong ponies. In a neighborhood like hers, your business won't last long without paying for the ponies who run the place. And she's been getting late with her payments as of late. And the fact that the ponies she owed to were working for the top dog of the city, Caramel Falcon himself did not make things easier.
Trixie sighed to herself as she reached her apartment door. She was already dreading the next day. She's gonna have to get money somehow, but considering the blow her reputation suffered today, it was gonna be even harder than before. She could try relocating her performances to another part of the city, but then she'd spend the whole day traveling and would get home even later at night when the streets were even more dangerous. Especially with that bat creature running around.
The criminals of Manehettan were already unhinged enough before it showed up, but now they were panicking which made them all the more dangerous. Caramel Falcon's thugs were ready to fire at anything that moved in the night lately. The streets may have been cleaner throughout the day, but that was only because the bat put away so many criminals that the police were able to somewhat reclaim control in most parts of the city by the day, leaving most of the remaining criminals to reschedule their activities to nighttime. Which lead to even more violence as they fought for territory and control with each other, making life particularly more difficult for ponies who got home late. Such as Trixie.
Lately, Trixie has been getting the feeling that the whole world has become nothing more than a badly written comedy, made solely around her misery. And today was the ultimate proof of that. She had become nothing more than a punchline in the eyes of the ponies she was supposed to impress and now she probably lost her livelihood. She had no idea what to do. The only positive thing about this day would be that it will finally be over and she could at the very least get some rest before she had to start worrying about everything tomorrow.
But unfortunately, fate had once again stacked the deck against her favor.
When Trixie flicked up the lights in her apartment and entered the living room, she was surprised to see two stallions sitting there waiting for her, but she became downright frightened when she recognized them. One of them was the dark brown earth pony stallion with a black mane who just happened to be the latest failed enforcer Caramel Falcon out in charge of his drug smuggling operations, Shady Deal. The other was the yellow pegasus Yellow Mist, Caramel Falcon's favorite executive. Trixie gulped as the two stallions looked up to meet her gaze. Whatever they were here for, couldn't have been good for her.
"Ah, Trixie!" Yellow Mist greeted rather jovially. "We have been waiting for you. Please have a sit." Slowly and dreadfully, Trixie complied and sat down between them. Shady Deal eyed her with a hard expression. Obviously, he was still bitter about his latest failure, and his boss gave him a hard time because of it. Yellow Mist on the other hoof retained his friendly mood as he spilled a drink for all three of them.
"Now, Trixie." Yellow Mist began after taking a sip of his drink. "I understand you're not in an easy situation with the big stallion. And Shady here can relate. After he lost the boss his latest shipment, he's got quite a dept to pay back as well." Shady Deal's narrowed-eyed look changed its target to the yellow pegasus.
"Well, maybe if you haven't bailed on me just before it happened..." Yellow Mist silenced him with a raised hoof.
"Wouldn't have changed a thing. Unlike most of you, I'm somepony that the boss actually hired for my brain. I'm not a fighter, though considering how easily you and your boys went down, Shady, perhaps it's too flattering to assume that you're one either." Shady sat back down and groaned.
"Now then, as I was saying, Trixie, you got quite a lot of money you owe Mr. Falcon. But this is your lucky day. I like you, Trix, I really do. So when a new job came up that would get some ponies off the hook who were in deep with the big stallion, I immediately thought of you. Well, you and this dummy." Yellow Mist motioned towards Shady with his head, much to the earth pony's annoyance. Trixie's eyes widened. Could it be that her worst day ever would be the one when her luck finally turns? But then she remembered something that still made her worried.
"Um... What kind of job exactly?" She stammered nervously. Yellow Mist just waved his hoof dismissively.
"Don't worry. It's a simple job." He replied reassuringly, but Trixie still had her doubts. A "simple" job probably wouldn't get anypony off the hook with Caramel Falcon. Then as if to confirm her suspicions, Yellow Mist's expression turned very serious. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, Trix, we're in deep manure here. With the... "bat" taking out more and more of the boss' operations, he's been losing some serious money. That means his empire is getting closer to crumbling every day. Since he's no longer able to employ as many as he used to, some ponies have stopped coming out when they got caught doing something they shouldn't be. And turns out there were some squealers among them. Someponies ratted on the boss' main base of operations for shorter sentences." Trixie's eyes widened as she heard that.
"The Ace Chemicals building?!" She asked in shock. Falcon really was losing his grip on the city if ponies dared to even point the cops in the direction of that place. Yellow Mist nodded.
"Precisely. Now, the boss has been able to cover his tracks about the gigs down the docks with his fake names and aliases. But his main office in that place has some pretty important documents hidden in a safe that will incriminate him for sure. The badges will start investigating the place tomorrow and if they find those documents, the big stallion will join his old playmate, Silver Martini in the slammer. That's where we come in. All we have to do is stage a little B&E at the plant and steal those documents. It's as simple as that." Yellow Mist explained. "So are you in?"
Trixie was hesitant. She wasn't a criminal and she honestly wanted as little to do with Falcon's criminal activities as possible. But if she did this, she would be free of her debt and the thugs who kept milking her every time she got her hooves on some money. Despite the dangers, she felt like she really had to do this. The way Yellow Mist put it, it really sounded simple and after the horrible day she just had, this opportunity came at just the right time. Not seeing any other way to get out of the mess she was in, she eventually gave in.
"Do I really have a choice?" She asked reluctantly. Yellow Mist shrugged.
"You could always say no, but then you would give up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get back on your hooves. Something ponies in this town would kill for. And then I wouldn't be able to guarantee your safety if you get my meaning." Trixie got it all too well.
"OK, Mist. I'm in." Yellow Mist smiled in satisfaction.
"Splendid. Now then, meet us at the main entrance of the compound of Ace Chemicals at 11 pm. And don't be late. Is that clear?" Trixie nodded half-heartedly, which didn't go unnoticed by Yellow Mist. "No hard feelings, okay, Trix? It's nothing personal, just business." Yellow Mist added as he and Shady got up to leave. "And Trixie?" Yellow Mist added after trotting out the door. "Lighten up a little. No need to be so serious all the time. Terrible for your health."
By the time Twilight got back to the library, she had completely forgotten about her encounter with the street magician. She didn't even mention it to Spike, who thankfully didn't question why she was out longer than she should have been.
The rest of the day has been fairly uneventful. As Twilight promised, she took her required daily sleep once she brought back the new books and Spike went about his duties around the library. Of which he had plenty of to attend to. Twilight had really done a splendid job at running the library once she inherited it from the High Culture. The number of ponies attending by the day was now measured in hundreds. He was glad some things didn't change about Twilight. Her organizational skills were just as great as they were back in Canterlot.
Spike's face fell when he remembered those days. Although, not because he didn't remember them fondly. On the contrary, he missed them terribly. Celestia, Shining Armor, Twilight Velvet and Night Light. Pony Joe's donut shop, Twilight's old friends, even if she didn't spend as much time with them due to her studies, Spike was the bridge over the gap between her and them. Speaking of which, Spike was still worried whether or not Twilight knew that he was the one who gave their new address to Shining Armor and the princess. She might not be able to forgive him for that considering she still hasn't let go of what happened.
Spike desperately hoped that they would be able to make amends one day. That is why Twilight would go home and they could all live together as a family. Even if things would never be the same again. But with each passing day, the chances of that happening decreased dramatically. At first, Spike didn't mind their new life. When Twilight met and fell in love with High Culture, Spike thought that maybe she would be able to move and start a new life, but when the stallion was murdered, that's when things started going even more downhill for her.
The mare that returned to the library from the tunnels that day was somepony completely new. One that Spike didn't recognize and who terrified him immensely. The fires that burned in her eyes every time she donned that costume were something he's never seen before. At that moment, Spike knew that Twilight found her drug, an obsession so hard that she may not be able to quit it. And just like most obsessions, it was harmful to her. Faust only knew how many times Twilight came back badly beaten and bruised after a night out. And Spike was worried that one day night, she might not come back at all. He understood why Twilight did it, he always did. And he respected it in a way, but his concern for Twilight's health, both physical and mental outweighed that.
Spike looked at the clock. The last visitor had just left and with Twlight still sleeping, it was up for him to lock up for the night. Though Spike had his doubts about the sleeping part, he would see for himself soon as it was time to deliver Twilight her dinner. He was certain that when he entered her room, he would see an empty bed again and he would have to bring her dinner down to that accursed tunnel. But when he entered, he nearly dropped the plate in surprise. Twilight was sitting in her bed, leaning against the below beneath the covers and reading a book, just like the Twilight Spike remembered. It was slightly unsettling.
"Um... Twilight, are you ok?" Spike asked as he approached the bed.
"Of course!" Twilight nodded as she put down the book and took the tray. "I've had some time to think, Spike. I realize that I've been neglecting you for quite some time. So I was thinking... after I finish my dinner, would you like to reshelve the library with me?" Spike's eyes lit up like a Heartswarming tree. Reshelving was hardly amongst his favorite activities, but given how little quality time he's been able to spend with Twilight lately, he was not gonna pass on it.
"I would love to!"
The two of them have been at it for hours until it was dark. It was the most fun Spike had in months. By the time they were done, the library had been completely reshelved. Though the atmosphere between them was still a bit tense. Spike couldn't help but feel like Twilight wanted to ask him something and was just looking for an opportunity to do it. When they were finished and sat down for a cup of hot chocolate in Twilight's room, Spike's suspicions were confirmed.
"Spike." Twilight began. "When I picked up the new books, I saw something interesting at the post office." Spike already knew where this was going. "According to my records there, I sent two letters to Canterlot a few months ago. More specifically, to Captain Shining Armor and Princess Celestia. But I don't remember sending those letters. Do you know something about this?" Spike groaned. If only he still had his ability to send letters with his dragon fire. But since Twilight was no longer Celestia's student, that was no longer an option. Spike decided to own it up.
"Yes. Twilight. It was me! Even if you're gonna be as angry with me as you are at them, I will admit it! Ever since we arrived here at Manehettan, I've been trying to fix the gap between you and them. And you know why? Because what you're doing isn't healthy! I understand you're angry at them for what happened. But completely shutting them out of your life won't change anything!" Twilight remained calm and unfazed.
"I am not angry at you, Spike. But I know you better than anyone. There's more to it than that. There is desperation in your voice. Like you're afraid of something. Tell me, Spike. Why are you so afraid?"
Spike was unsure what to answer to this. He was always afraid for Twilight when she went out at night. But Twilight already knew that. Was there really something more to it? Spike searched his feelings and eventually found an answer.
"I'm afraid, Twilight." He sniffed. "Afraid of losing you."
"Spike, we talked about this. I..."
"No! It's not just that! I'm afraid of losing you to the Batmare!" Upon seeing Twilight's confused face, he continued. "Is Twilight Sparkle still here, or is it just the Batmare left? You barely spend any time with me anymore. We barely do all those fun things we used to do back in Canterlot. Twilight, with your family miles away, you're all I have left from my old life. But you're becoming something I don't even recognize anymore! I was hoping maybe reconnecting with the princess or Shining would be able to snap you out of it." Twilight finally understood. She finished her drink and put down the cup before grabbing Spike by the shoulders.
"Spike, things change. But no matter what, some things always stay the same. And one of those things is my love for you. You will never lose me. Do you understand?" Spike looked Twilight dead in the eyes. He looked more serious than ever before.
"Then quit!" Spike blurted out suddenly.
"What?"
"This whole thing! Batmare! Your fight with the mob! You already put so many of them away! Surely the police will be able to handle what is left!" Twilight couldn't believe he was asking this of her.
"Spike, I..." Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by a beeping voice coming from Twilight's drawer. Twilight got up and pulled a beeper out of the drawer.
"What's that?" Spike asked.
"This beeper is connected to the batcomputer. Every time there's a report on a subject I'm tracking, it beeps." Twilight said, making her way to the other side of her bed where a small radio was sitting down at the bedside table. She turned it on.
"All available units! We have a report of a break-in at the Ace Chemicals building! I repeat, break-in at Ace Chemicals!" The dispatcher reported. Twilight's eyes widened.
"Ace Chemicals?! This is it! Falcon's main base of operations! He must be trying to make evidence against him disappear! If I catch them, I'll have them for sure!" Twilight shouted as she went to open the entrance to her cave. Spike looked down.
"So, I guess you'll be going then?" He asked. And he raised his hopes that maybe Twilight would listen to him this time.
"We'll continue this talk when I come back! I promise!" Twilight told him before running down the stairs.
"If you come back." Spike whispered sadly.
Ten minutes earlier...
Trixie was standing at the spot where she was supposed to meet Yellow Mist and Shady Deal for their staged heist at Ace Chemicals. It was a dark and gloomy night, perfectly fitting in tone for what they were about to do. And yet, the moonlight did manage to shine through the clouds, illuminating and blinding Trixie at the same time. She scoffed. It was like the world was reminding her of her status as the main character of the messed-up comedy performance that was her life. She was in the spotlight for everyone to see and laugh at. When she decided that she wanted to be an entertainer, this was hardly what she had in mind. But before she could once again start pondering the sad state of her existence, a voice dragged her back into reality.
"Ah, you're here! Excellent!" Yellow Mist called out to her as he and Shady Deal stepped out of the darkness. "I suppose you're both ready to begin." Shady gave a nod, but Trixie just looked down nervously.
"Let's just get this over with." She mumbled.
"That's the spirit." Yellow Mist said sarcastically before pulling out two maps and giving them to Shady and Trixie. "Now listen, the papers we need are in the boss' office on the third floor. These maps will lead you straight there. I will open the main gate for you, but you'll have to get in by force and then break the safe open."
"Hang on!" Trixie interrupted. "Enter by force? Break the safe? What about the alarm system?"
"Yeah. That's the ugly part of it." Yellow Mist replied haltingly, knowing that Trixie won't like what he'll say next. "The alarm system will have to go off to make this look like a convincing break-in." Trixie's eyes widened.
"What?! Are you trying to get us arrested?!"
"You'll be fine." Yellow Mist reassured like it was no big deal. "Well, as long as you get out in ten minutes that is. That's probably how much it will take the badges to get here. But that's what the map is for. I marked the best escape path to get out and I'll be waiting for you there. Then we'll get the hay out of here. It'll be simple."
Simple was hardly the way Trixie would have put it. She looked at the map. The path Yellow Mist gave her was marked with red arrows that showed her the way to the main office and then the escape route. If it was possible she hated this plan even more now. This had 'set up' and 'failure' written all over it. But at least if she goes to prison, she won't have to worry about her debts anymore. She folded her map as Yellow Mist opened the main gate for them and she was about to enter, but then the pegasus stopped her.
"Oh, I almost forgot." He pulled out two pieces of clothing and gave them to the other two ponies. "You've got to wear these." Trixie examined the clothing. It was a red helmet that looked like a bucket with a red cape coming out of it. Trixie shot an incredulous state at Yellow Mist. "It's not my design so don't give me that look. We ran out of ski masks." He motioned at Shady Deal who was already wearing one such mask. "Besides, with all the crazy costumed loons running around this town lately, it seemed appropriate." The pegasus chuckled. "Now get to work!" With a heavy sigh, Trixie put on the helmet and entered the courtyard.
Twilight made her way through the tunnels beneath Manehettan as fast as she could. Given that she was in peak physical condition, it was an easy feat, but she still felt like she was wasting precious minutes. She really needed to come up with a more effective way of transportation. But she'll figure that out once she gets back. Right now, she had the opportunity she's been waiting for for the last two years. If she caught those burglars red-hoofed, there's no doubt she'd be able to put Falcon away for good. But she had to hurry.
By now, Twilight knew these tunnels like the back of her hoof. And she knew just where she needed to exit to get as close to Ace Chemicals as she should. These old tunnels were all connected to currently servicing subway stations. But that was never an issue for her. Not only was she a master of stealth by now, but these subways were barely used by anypony this late. Before she knew it, she was already back on the surface and grappled the tallest building she saw. Launching herself up into the air, she already saw the building and the blare of the alarms was loud enough to hear even from this distance. Spreading her cape, Twilight glided right toward it and reached it within seconds.
Bursting through the skylights, she raced straight towards the main office. While she's never actually been inside this place before, Spike was able to get her the complete blueprint of the building and she studied it carefully in case she ever needed it. Her thoroughness was about to be paid in full.
Twilight reached the corridor leading to the office and she found that the door was already forced open. She prayed that she wasn't too late. But then, even through the alarm system, she was able to make out two voices arguing. The burglars were still there.
"You said we'd have time before the cops got here!" A female voice snapped.
"And you said you'd be able to get this open in seconds!" A gruff male voice replied that Twilight found pretty familiar "Keep working! I'll deal with this!" The owner of the voice stepped out of the office to meet their interloper. He was wearing a ski mask so Twilight didn't recognize him, but she guessed they met before because he jumped in fright the moment he saw her. Twilight learned from experience to always take advantage of her opponent's mistakes and the stallion just made one by jumping back. It gave Twilight the chance to jump forward and use his own strength against him. She tackled him to the ground and knocked him out.
She then ran inside the office to confront the other pony in there. The helmeted mare just finished cracking the safe open and putting away the incriminating documents, but her way out was now blocked by the Batmare. Fortunately for her, the office had a back door, the only problem was that instead of the exit, it lead up to the upper floor. Not seeing any other way out, the figure escaped through the backdoor with Batmare hot on her trail.
Trixie hurried through the incredibly narrow platforms that ran over huge vats of chemicals down below in the hopes of outmaneuvering the figure and running back down as fast as she could. But Batmare was smarter than that. She saw Trixie making a sharp turn around a corner and threw a batarang into the wall in front of her. The impact spooked Trixie enough to jump and make her throw away the papers she was carrying. Twilight grappled her way across the gap between the platforms and landed in front of Trixie.
Trixie was now terrified beyond reason. The key to her freedom was lying in front of her, but even if she got it, she had to get her way through the Batmare to get away with it. A pony who beat muscular stallions into a pulp with her bare hooves. What hope had she against her? In a desperate move, Trixie grabbed an empty canister she found nearby and rolled it toward Batmare. The vigilante jumped over it effortlessly, but by doing so, she gave Trixie the chance to run through under her and pick the documents up from the floor. And now she had a clear run to the way back downstairs.
Batmare grabbed her grappling gun and fired at the canister still rolling in front of Trixie. She pulled it back and managed to trip Trixie with it, making her drop the documents again. Trixie quickly got up and picked up the canister, bashing the unsuspecting Batmare in the head with it as she was about to pick up the documents. She was then about to bring down the canister again, but before she could, Twilight pulled out a batarang and threw it at Trixie's helmet.
It burst through the red helmet like paper, shattering it into pieces, but it didn't stop there. Trixie screamed in pain as she felt the projectile pierce through the sides of her mouth, making its way deep inside. Twilight's eyes widened in terror as the other mare stumbled back and fell over the railing of the platform. Right towards the vat of green chemical liquid below.
Completely forgetting about the documents, Twilight jumped forward and grabbed Trixie by the cape of her helmet. She managed to catch her, but she could feel her hold slipping away. She pulled on the cape with all her might, trying to pull Trixie back over the railing, but then she heard the fabric ripping and in a few seconds, it completely gave away. Trixie plummeted down into the vat with a scream and as she fell, Twilight briefly caught a glimpse of her face. She was completely stunned when she recognized her as the street magician earlier from today.
Trixie crashed into the liquid with a huge splash and Twilight saw her shape disappear beneath the surface with the bubbles that signaled her breathing stopping shortly after. Twilight panted in shock. During her year of operating as Batmare, this was the first time she failed to save somepony. But even more horrifying was the realization that it may have been somepony that she pushed to crime. She didn't have much time to dwell on that as she heard the main door of the plant smash open and looked down to see the cops swarming in.
Twilight's mind swiftly turned back to the incriminating documents Trixie was trying to steal. She turned to pick them up, only to find that they were no longer there. Twilight looked all around the platform for them but they were nowhere to be seen. She was unable to contain her anger and slammed the railing in fury. This did not go unnoticed by the police ponies. They looked up only to find a dark shape grappling its way out of the building through the skylight.
Yellow Mist was standing next to a pool of chemical waste in the backyard of the plant, waiting for Trixie and Shady Deal to show up. He was becoming worried. The cops were already here and his companions were nowhere to be seen. He then heard the backdoor of the plant opening up and jumped in surprise, turning around. He was afraid that the game was up, only to sigh in relief when he only saw Shady Deal, carrying the documents they were after in his hoof.
"Took you long enough." He then noticed the lack of one unicorn mare. "Where's Trixie?"
"She was caught." Shady replied casually, apparently not really concerned about her. Yellow Mist's eyes widened.
"What do you mean captured?! The badges only just got here! They couldn't have gotten to her already!" Shady Deal shook his head.
"Not by the cops. The bat." Yellow Mist scoffed. He wasn't even surprised anymore that the bat showed up.
"That's pretty much the same. The bat always delivers the guys it catches to the badges."
"Well, if that's the case, she will be fine. And I'm sure she's smart enough not to squeal. Now, let's get the hay outta here." Yellow Mist nodded. The two stallions ran over to the brick wall and the pegasus flew up, grabbing the earth pony and carrying him over the wall, the darkness concealing them from prying eyes.
If they left a few moments later, they would have seen a dark shape falling out of the plant's dispersal chute and landing in the chemical waste below. As the seconds passed, bubbles began to appear on the surface of the pool of waste. Suddenly a hoof breached through the surface and grabbed onto the edge of the pool. The owner of the hoof pulled herself out of the chemical waste, taking a huge breath of air as she crawled out. She was lying on her back, coughing heavily and regaining her strength. She then slowly got up and turned around to stand up, and when she did, she saw her reflection. The chemical was dirty green but its surface still shone brightly in the moonlight, giving her just enough light to see it.
Her brilliant azure blue coat was now white as fresh snow, her mane was dyed green and large black circles were visible around her eyes, but it was her lips that most caught her attention. From the sides of her mouth, two huge scars were visible curving upwards. The blood from the injury, mixed with the chemical bath she just took painted the scars bright red, giving her the look of a huge, deformed grin.
Shocked at her new appearance, the figure could only stare blankly at her reflection. This was it. She always felt like her life was a bad comedy for others to laugh at, but this was the ultimate punchline. She was the biggest clown in the circus of life and now she also bore the looks of it. It was tragic. Tragic beyond all belief. And yet, for some reason, she couldn't help but find it funny.
"Heh..."
And the more she thought about it, the funnier it seemed. She finally understood. It was all a joke. She finally got the punchline. And it was hilarious. She loved it. In fact, she loved it so much that she took a vow. From now on, she would dedicate her entire life to making everypony understand it. Why should she be the only one to be let in on this hilarious joke?
"Ha... Ha ha... Hahaha hahaha!"
The figure threw her head back and laughed hysterically. Oh, what glorious fun she's going to have! This entire city was laughing. Laughing at her. And she is not going to disappoint. She's gonna keep going until the whole city laughed even harder. Until they've all laughed themselves to death. It was gonna be a killing joke.
"HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"
And here we go! Twilight's Dark Knight gets her archenemy in the face of Trixie Lullamoon taking on the role of... THE JOKER!
There were two more scenes I wanted to add to this chapter. One was Twilight's lamentation about her failure to save Trixie and wondering whether Spike is right about how she should just quit being Batmare. And the other was Trixie's revenge on Yellow Mist and Shady Deal. But I'm exhausted for today. It's almost 9pm where I live and I really wanted this chapter out by today. So I guess I'll just add them to the next chapter.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 
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Definitely appreciated the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up. REALLY appreciated this spin on Twilight and Trixie's first meeting (yeah, I could see where Trixie would fail to impress Twilight, but the latter would TRY to be nice AT FIRST) and also really liked Twilight and Spike's dialogue concerning the danger in the former's nightly activities (both physically and emotionally), Yellow Mist and Shady Deals roping Trixie into helping out with the evidence-disposing "robbery", the bit of foreshadowing concerning either a motorized armored carriage or an airship (probably eventually both, but the latter would probably be AFTER the Justice League first gets together since then she would need something that would allow her to travel OUTSIDE Manehattan on a regular basis and get back as quickly as possible), Batmare's reflection on her failure to save Trixie and her probable role in driving her to crime in the first place and Trixie's immerging as the Joker.
REALLY looking forward to more of this.
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As always, thanks for the comment!
Yeah, I figured Trixie doesn't always have to start out as an arrogant jerk - although here, she's going to be much worse - and I thought Twilight unwittingly pushing her to crime by ruining her performance so carelessly would be a good parallel with the source material, seeing as in many interpretations, Batman sees the creation of the Joker as one of his biggest mistakes along with the death of Jason Todd and the crippling of Barbara Gordon.
I was a little uncertain about Spike's characterisation in this story. In chapter 2, I think I managed to write him very much like Alfred, but here, he was all Spike. I'm not sure if this comes across as odd or not. But the next chapters will have Spike learning to accept Batmare and will become the assistant that Alfred is for Batman, so I guess it works for character development.
I originally wasn't going to bring back Yellow Mist and Shady Deal, they were just going to be two random mobsters. But I was way too uncreative to create two more OCs and since I already had those two, I figured I might as well give them some more significance regarding the whole story.
Stay tuned for more!
I am really enjoying how this story is progressing so far, especially your interpretation of the iconic Killing Joke storyline.
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Thank you very much! The Killing Joke is only about to start! Well, not The Actual Killing Joke story but Trixie definitely has a "killing" joke in store for the city!
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I can't wait to see more.
Confirming in this episode that Trixie Lunamoon is Joker, who plays these?:
-Bane
- Catwoman
- Two faces
- Riddler
- Scarecrow
- Harley Quinn
- Poison Ivy
- Penguin
- Ra's al Ghul
11392111
Thanks for the comment!
Scarecrow already appeared in chapter 2, played by an OC.
Bane will be portrayed by Shining Armor. He will be angry about the Royal Guard's inefficiency compared to the Superheroes, so he'll start a project to use a performance enhancing drug to improve them. But once Celestia shuts down the project, he leaves to Manehettan to finish it in secret and test himself avasint the Batmare.
Riddler will be Sunset Shimmer, challenging both Celestia and Batmare to a clue hunt. She steals the Royal jewels and hides them around the city for them to find, but of course, she'll have a hidden agenda behind this game.
The others I'm not sure will appear. Keep in mind this is not just a Batman crossover, but a Justice League crossover.
Minutes 1:31-2:01:
Dracula: "You are... Twilight Sparkle?!"
Batmare (Twilight): "And the BATMARE... and you are dust!"
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And who is Robin?
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Apple Bloom. She's sent to live with her Manehattan relatives after a family tragedy, possibly due to Granny Smith passing away. And since her Manehattan relatives are business ponies instead of farmers, she soon grows bored and since Applejack is Twilight's JL buddy, she gives Bloom a job at her library. This will lead to Bloom discovering Twilight's crime fighting life and eventually joining her as her Robin.
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To be fair, a few of those COULD appear in flashbacks post "Justice League of Equestria Vol. 1" (i.e. brief showing of some of the cases Batmare is wrapping up while Shining/Bane is spying on her so that he knows as much about her as possible BEFORE he strikes).
Of course, Shining would be one of the few in this universe playing two roles as he is ALSO [VERY obviously] in the role of Steve Trevor (as Cadance is in the role of Wonder Woman).
Or you can take a cue from the "Arrow" TV show and have most of the others (except Ra`s) as Green Arrow and Black Canary rogues instead of Batmare rogues (in future volumes) given that Green Arrow could certainly use the "Rogue's Gallery Transplant".
Ra`s on the other hoof, could be the very first villain Batmare and Supermare team up against outside of the Justice League (i.e. "Equestria's Finest: Volume I") as Ra`s al Ghul would definitely have the resources, intelligence and ambition to be challenging to BOTH of them, even if they both fought him at the same time.
.
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I do plan to use one other villain in that volume just to put more pressure on Batmare and accept that she might need help (as Batmare Vol. 2 will also introduce Robin). That villain would be Man-Bat or Mare-Bat (I was thinking Moondnacer) in this case, whom I also plan to be returning when I get around to Suicide Squad.
The other villain I was planning to use is an OC mare as Black Mask in the first chapter of Justice League Vol. 1 in the first issue, but that would be just a minor role. Twilight would be going after a new upcoming crime boss and would return home in defeat after she escapes where Shining Armor would be waiting for her after finally gathering the courage to visit her personally and invite her to the wedding.
Speaking of which, I'm not planning on using Steve Trevor. The Wonder Mare Vol. 1 will take place after Justice League Vol. 1. Cadance is in a coma after the changelings kidnapped her like in the show and they used taxing mental processes to drain the Anti-Love Equation from her mind. Given that she's the Princess of Love, I thought it would make sense that she would have it. The idea is that an amazon filly who would later become Wonder Girl/Wonder Filly in the Titans would leave the amazon island after a ponified version of Ares wipes it out in order to find Cadance and warn her.
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Yeah. That makes sense. Thanks.
Good chapter, some miss used words but not as much as in the previous chapter. You did say 'hands over' instead of 'hoofed over' since everything points to them not being anthro.
Poor Trixie, decent retelling of the Joker's origin.
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Thank you for the comment! I'm glad you liked it!
I'll be sure to fix these issues.
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Gilda as Catwoman, naturally--I mean, how can G NOT be her??
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I've been wanting to give Gilda a role, but I don't know who it should be. Though I have an idea, I'm not sure how well it would work.
This is actually really sad. Familiar with Joker's origin, but this? This is just completely Twilight's fault.
Not only was she mean to Trixie during her performance for literally no reason, but she directly caused Trixie's misfortunes.
Gonna be really hard to justify Twilight as a hero here any more.
Twilight Twilight, let's not belittle our neighbor's livelihood
If I had fallen head over heels for spoilers in the last chapter, I would have thought this could be the start of a friendship, but now I can only wonder how things will go downhill.
I think she knows that
Ohhh I can already hear the maniacal laughter