The Batmare was led up into an attic. It wasn't your typical idea of an attic; this was nice and clean, and it was more like another room in the house of Filthy Rich. The whole area was constructed of marble, and when Applejack made could see the room fully, she noticed there was a fire place not unlike the one downstairs, though this one was lit dimly. Looking to the right, Applejack noticed what appeared to be a torture rack, filled with knives and tools of various sizes; Applejack had to look at Twilight one more time to make sure there wasn't a mark on her. Finally, for some odd reason, two old televisions were mounted on both sides of the fireplace; Applejack supposed they were there to review security tapes.

One of Black Mask's henchman brought a wooden chair to the center of the room, and set it on the floor. Twilight was forcibly seated onto it, and they began to strap her into it; Applejack was wondering why she wasn't resisting with magic until she saw what looked to be a sleeve over her horn. Applejack recognized the device immediately, as her company made them for the local asylum in the event a unicorn became unruly.

Damn! They're blocking her magic. Where did Rich even get one of those? she thought. It didn't matter now, though, and Applejack knew the negotiations were about to begin. Black Mask stood right next to the restrained Twilight, and his henchman proceeded to form a ring around the Batmare. The crime lord gave a small chuckle as he slowly pulled a blade from one sleeve, setting it right across Twilight's neck. Twilight's eyes widened considerably, and Applejack figured she was walking on very thin ice.

"You've been a thorn in my side for the past few weeks, bat-freak. I thought that taking the Princess's little toy would draw you out here, and I must say I am rather impressed by how well this whole thing worked. I either get some more bits to add to the pile-" The crime lord pressed the knife to Twilight's neck, putting just enough force on it to draw blood. Twilight wasn't in pain, but the sight put her into an extreme panic mode; she knew not to move, though, as one movement would spread the knife around.

"-or I get to kill the Batmare," he finished. His voice was deep and raspy, but still showed hints of Rich's accent.

"You mentioned in your letter you wanted three million bits. I'm not here to play, unlike you, and I'm taking this negotiation very seriously. I have word from Celestia herself-" began the Batmare, pulling out a letter from her belt, "-that she will be perfectly willing to pay your ransom. We can arrange Twilight's release off of that," she finished. Black Mask motioned with a hoof to one of his guards, who walked over and abrasivly snatched the letter from the hands of the Batmare; she never broke her gaze on the crime lord.

The henchman handed the note back to Black Mask, who read over it. Twilight attempted a little movement, and Black Mask responded by moving the knife a little to the side, causing more blood to spill; Twilight got the message, and stood still as a stone. Black Mask looked up from the parchment.

"You know, now that I think about it, I may have underestimated the value of our little...guest," began Black Mask. Applejack had a hunch this would happen, though she was hoping it wouldn't.

"I think I could get a little more outta this one. Whaddya think, guys?" asked Black Mask in a mocking tone. The guards all smirked and nodded, with a few throwing in a "yeah". Black Mask nodded with them.

"Yea, I'm thinkin more along the lines of...twenty, maybe? Yea, that sounds good. Twenty million bits, and the mare is yours. I'll even give her back to you in one piece! I think it's a fair trade, Batmare? Hmm?" asked Black Mask. The Batmare merely shook her head.

"You specifically said in your letter that you demanded three million bits, and that is the price I came to negotiate. You're a business man, Filthy; you met with the likes of Applejack Apple and Sunset Shimmer. You should know more than anypony that the price you list is ridiculous, so lets talk in more reasonable terms," Applejack said. In response, Black Mask cocked his head back in laughter.

"Aww, shucks, you got me. Here's the thing, bat-freak; I don't actually want any money. I've got plenty of that! I'm the richest pony in Ponyville, save for that weak mare Applejack who never worked for anything in her Celestia damned life. I would gain nothing if I handed over this thing for mere bits," he explained. "So here's the deal, sweetheart. I'll give her up for one measly thing; that's all I ask. In return for Twilight Sparkle, I want you," he said. Applejack looked in Twilight's eyes and knew that her dearest friend did not want that to happen, so Applejack searched the room in a last ditch effort; and then she saw them.

Two purple ovals, a short distance apart, just barely visible from the shadows. Applejack knew they were eyes, however, and she knew exactly who they belonged to. The ovals bobbed up and down, and an intense sensation of relief washed across Applejack's body; in fact, it caused her to chuckle, which naturally gave Black Mask and his goons a confused countenance.

"You see, I would do that, but there's one thing you don't know about me," explained the Batmare. Those words made Black Mask narrow his eyes in suspicion.

"And what would that be, bat-freak?" he asked. Though Black Mask couldn't see it, the Batmare grinned ear to ear.

"I come in a bundle," she said. At that moment, one of Black Mask's guards shot backwards into the darkness with a stifled scream.

The Mysterious Mare Do Well quickly halted the scream of the henchman by jamming her elbow into his forehead, putting him to sleep for a what would become considerable amount of time. She immediately began moving across the wall, towards Black Mask, and stopped right were the light was beginning to shine. Black Mask looked bewildered, but then a smile crept across his face.

"You attacked my stallions," Black Mask began, "and broke the rules of our negotiation. You just killed Celestia's pet!" he screamed. The Mare Do Well was fast, however, and floored Black Mask with a tackle just as he was about to slide the blade across Twilight Sparkle's neck.

The Mare Do Well heard a smoke bomb go off behind her, and quickly realized that the fight had begun. She knew it'd be difficult to see, but she also felt she didn't need to; as smoke began to fill her vision, she began listening for the coughs; like the Batmare, she was wearing a full face mask, and the smoke wouldn't affect her.

She heard a cough from behind her, and proceeded to whip around and launch a random kick in that direction; the pony in question was a tall one, and so her judgement was off; the hoof landed right on the pony's neck, and he fell to the ground with a satisfying gurgling sound.

That very well may kill him. Hopefully I'm lucky, thought the Mare Do Well. She realized the amount of coughing had greatly reduced in number; perhaps Applejack was better than she thought.

The Mare Do Well began to walk towards the center of the room, where all the henchman would be by now; sure enough, she heard their coughing, only for many of them to quickly cut off after a few seconds. She thought she felt Applejack go right passed her, and was momentarily baffled by how she seemingly could tell her apart from the rest of the thugs; however, she remembered that Applejack likely had some sort of thermal imaging system to help her fight in the smoke, and that it was probably easy to afford, knowing her status.

She was able to single out a raspy noise near the left edge of the room, one that she knew for sure was the crime boss. Before she could make a move, however, the smoke cleared, and Black Mask slowly rose from his prone position. His face slowly turned from surprise to fear as he realized that the Batmare had neutralized all of his henchman. He looked to the right to see Twilight Sparkle breathing heavily; the tape wasn't strong enough, obviously, because it had fell off during a coughing fit of her own.

"S-Stay back, freaks!" he said, waving the knife around weakly. Both the Mare Do Well and the Batmare closed in on him, and his movements became more frantic.

"Y-You come any closer, and I-I'll throw this knife straight at her, I swear!" said Black Mask, pointing to Twilight with his free hand. Twilight, despite no longer being prevented from speech, stayed silent. The Mare Do Well was thinking of every possible way she could get the knife out of the hooves of the crime lord, and couldn't seem to thinking of anything in particular; she supposed the two would have to try and talk him down somehow, though she didn't exactly believe such a tactic would work based on what she had seen during the farce that Filthy Rich had called a "negotiation".

Suddenly, a flash of silver launched through the air, driving straight into the armed hoof of Black Mask; he shrieked and dropped his knife, but the look of pain on his face transitioned to one of horror when he realized what he'd done. The Batmare rushed towards him, and he merely cowered in fear as the Dark Knight lifted lifted him up and pinned him against the wall with one hoof.

The Mare Do Well, in turn, picked the knife up and began to cut the ropes to Twilight's restraints.

"Thank you," whispered Twilight. Her voice was filled with fear and pain, and the Mare Do Well knew Applejack would be devastated to see her friend's condition when she brought her home tonight. The Mare Do Well didn't answer at first, but gave a distorted "No Problem" in response. Twilight seemed a little surprised, but quickly deduced that she was using a voice changer, just as Applejack had figured out when they first met.

"IF I WERE YOU, I'D BE PRAYING I DON'T SHATTER EVERY BONE IN YOUR WORTHLESS BODY!" shouted the Batmare. Twilight seemed frightened by this, but not quite as frightened as the stallion pinned against the wall.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm s-so s-sorry! She made me do it! SHE MADE ME DO IT!" screamed Black Mask. The Batmare paused, and the Mare Do Well estimated that Applejack probably had a confused look on her face. This didn't last, though, as the Batmare pressed her hoof into his neck even further and began questioning him even more aggressively.

"WHO IS SHE?" She asked, pressing her free hoof against his throat. Black Mask only continued crying, so the Batmare asked him once more; when it was clear he was a mess and that he wouldn't be answering any more questions the Batmare had to throw at him, the Batmare hit him with a viscous right hoof that send him sprawling to the floor. The Batmare turned around and faced the Mare Do Well, who had barely said a word through the whole ordeal.

As she was about to say something, the two TV's mounted on the wall suddenly came to life.

Author's Notes:

Stay tuned for the grand finale!