Twilight Sparkle was grim today. It was an emotion she'd gotten used to feeling for the past five months. She stood outside the building where Big Mac and his sisters lived. The Sweet Apple Acres farm seemed to be the only place untouched by the original rampage of Spike's army, though it was far from clean. There was an enormous chasm sitting where the apple orchard had once been. Twilight had almost cried when she'd first seen it. Almost.

Sighing, she knocked on the door. There was a brief pause, and Twilight thought that he wouldn't open the door for her. Eventually, somepony opened it, but Twilight had been right: it wasn't Big Mac.

"H-Howdy, Twilight," said Applejack, her drawl sounding more like a croak. The orange mare had always been described as somepony who was "married to her work," and if that was the case, then Applejack was now a widow. She looked like one in the middle of the grieving stage, anyway.

The lavender unicorn looked past her, into the farmhouse. "Your sister?" she called, appalled at Big Mac's behavior. "You send your sister to your door, when I could have been Spike?"

The crimson stallion showed his face, stepping past his little sister, who retreated into the house. He hadn't been seen since the first few weeks of the Siege, and when he had been, he'd looked like a ghost. He did now, with his uniform cast off and his usual well-kept visage shadowy and pale. It made Twilight sick.

"What did you do?" she asked, letting her anger get up in his face. "Burn your uniform and toss it into the Sweet Apple Canyon?"

From inside the house somewhere, AJ bawled. Twilight felt hardly a pang of guilt.

"Twilight, ah can't." He looked so tired.

"You can't?" she echoed. She was gonna get a better explanation, and soon, or else she was gonna buck him right in the chin.

"Th' city's under occupation, jus' like you said," he answered. "That trigger pony is out there, and ah don't-"

"Trigger pony my ass!" she shouted, making him jump. "That's crap and you and I both know it!"

"Twi, ah know yer mad, but ah gotta keep mah head down. The city might get blown up cuz'a me!"

Twilight was ready to hit him. "The city's gonna blow anyway! The bomb goes off tomorrow, trigger pony or no trigger pony! And we're gonna do something about it. So come with us." She stared up at him, hoping to change his mind.

But he stayed defiant. "Ah'm sorry, Twilight, really." He started to shut the door, but Twilight held it in place with her magic. She stepped up close to him, putting her face hardly an inch from his, and gave him a death stare. The look turned to disappointment, and she looked down at the ground.

"Well, if you aren't going to do anything about this, then I guess this'll be the last time we see each other."

"Twi, don't talk like that-"

"SHUT UP!" she barked, and Big Macintosh shut up. She gave him a look another moment, then closed the gap between them and kissed him on the lips. She pulled his head down with her foreleg, wrapped around his neck, and only parted lips after he brushed his own hoof against her cheek.

"In case I'm right," she said, and shut the door for him.

The frigid winter weather felt worse than it had been in weeks. Hot tears froze on Twilight's cheeks as she turned to walk away from the farmhouse. She glanced up when she heard a familiar voice.

"I hear you're looking for officers, commissioner."

It was Rarity. She and Scootaloo waited by a frozen pond near the farm. Rarity was smiling, and Scootaloo's face was unreadable. Whether or not they'd seen or heard any of the conversation Twilight had just had was unknown, but the commissioner was sure they had anyway.

"How about me, instead," the white unicorn volunteered.

"Miss Rarity, I can't ask you-"

"My company built it." She was using a power play.

"Rainbow Dash built it."

"And she wanted to destroy it," she said. "It was me who wouldn't listen." She stared defiantly at her. "Please."

Twilight glanced at Scootaloo, who shrugged, as if the mare's insistent nature had overpowered her. Twilight sighed, resigning herself to fate, and nodded.

"Let's go, then."

The young foal ran through the streets, trying not to be slaughtered by the street thugs chasing him. He held in his teeth a ruby red apple, one of the few pieces of fresh fruit left in Ponyville. He slipped, and caught hold of the banister nearby to stop his fall. However, it also slowed him down enough to get him caught by the thugs chasing him. What was worse, they were both teenage dragons. The worst kind.

"You steal from us, you little shit?" one of the dragons spat. He had and ugly expression and bad skin, and his morals probably matched up with them. He snatched the apple out of the foal's teeth and drew back a fist to slug him.

A pink hoof responded by swinging out of nowhere and grabbing his arm, twisting it backwards and pressing the elbow into his shoulder blade.

Bone cracked, and the apple fell from his hand as he shrieked. Pinkie snatched the apple out of the air.

"Don't think you can just waltz on into my neighborhood," she said slyly, tossing back her long pink locks for added effect. She shoved the punk into his friend, and they retreated. Pinkie called to them: "If I ever catch you here again, I'll turn you into cupcakes!" Then she turned to the kid, twirling the apple in her hoof.

"Never steal from somepony you can't outrun, kid," she advised, winking.

The foal still looked upset, though definately less afraid of being beaten to death.

"Now you're gonna take it," he said, guessing the outcome of the conversation.

Pinkie giggled, and eyes the apple for a moment. She shook her head, took a small bite out of it, and tossed it back to the kid, who caught it in his teeth again. "Tax," she answered, and waved as the kid ran off without thanking her. She turned to leave, only to hear an impossibly familiar voice speaking to her.

"Pretty generous for a thief."

Pinkie froze, then slowly turned to face Rainbow Dash, a look of confusion (and, she was embarrassed to admit, relief) on her face. She was dressed in the common rags of nowadays citizens of Ponyville, but the face and mane could only have belonged to the former regent of Ponyville. She was smiling, and stepped closer to her, out of the shadows.

"You're not dead," she breathed.

"Not yet," she replied, still smiling. She trotted upright, her back perfectly straight despite the injuries incurred on it during her fight with Spike. The crack of her spine had haunted Pinkie's nightmares for months. She realized she was staring at Rainbow, and put her guard up.

"Don't think I'm gonna apologize-" But Dash cut her off.

"It wouldn't suit you," she said. "Neither does the mane. I just need your help."

She brushed a lock of pink hair out of her face and smirked. "And what makes you think I'll help you?"

Rainbow responded by pulling a USB drive from the coat she was wearing. Pinkie's eyes widened for the briefest moment, before returning their distrustful gaze to the cyan mare.

"You'd give me this? After all I've done to you?"

She hated the sound of regret in her voice, but couldn't help but feel sorry for what she'd done to Dash. Nopony, however rich and famous, should have to go through the tortures that Spike could inflict on a pony. Rainbow was no saint, but she wasn't a monster, either.

"I'll admit I am a little let down," said Dash, shrugging and nodding. "But I think there's more to you than that. In fact, I think that this"--she wiggled the flash drive in her hoof--"isn't a tool for you. It's an escape route. A chance to start over. To start fresh."

Steal a new life, thought Pinkie, and she reached for the drive hungrily. Dash let her pluck it from her grasp, and the pink mare turned it in her hoof before slipping it into a pocket. She surprised herself by not running away from Rainbow Dash. Instead, she asked another question.

"How can I start fresh when there's no way out of here?"

"I'll provide you a way off the island," DAsh answered, "when you take me to Zecora. I need to know where she is, and I need to be taken there. Immediately."

Pinkie gave her a look that told her it was easier said than done. "Why do you need Zecora?"

"To save this city."

"Who says it needs saving?" she challenged. "Maybe I like it this way."

"Maybe you do. But the bomb goes off tomorrow."

She paled considerably. Pinkie didn't doubt Rainbow for second. Spike was bent on making the city suffer, and nuking the crap out of it didn't seem above him at all. Her future went up in flames before her eyes, but she wasn't going to let it show.

"So? Get your 'powerful friend' to handle it." Saving Ponyville was the Batmare's duty, not hers. She was a theif, somepony who would survive, no matter what it took to do so.

"I'm trying," Dash replied. "But I need Zecora."

Twilight stepped out from behind the corner of the building she'd been hiding behind and coughed, leaning up against the wall as a large truck drove by. After is passed, but before it turned the corner her horn glowed dimly, and the GPS device that had been sitting in the middle of the road underneath a small mound of snow flew straight upwards and attached itself to the bottom of the truck.

Twilight had agreed not to use magic to assist her in detective work. She was glad she wasn't a detective anymore. iT was so much easier to use her talents, instead of holding them back.

She nodded to Rarity, who was hiding in plain sight pressed against the wall of a snow-covered apartment building. Her camouflage was perfect, and she nodded the okay to Scootaloo atop the apartments, who in turn reported back to the other cops stationed around the city.

Or at least, she would have, if she wasn;t being detained by several mercenaries.

Twilight saw the goons taking Scoot away, and she realized they'd been ambushed. Whether or not the mercenaries saw what she'd already done, she was going to be taken in if she didn't run. The lavender mare rushed to meet with Rarity, who was still unaware of the danger they were in. She reached the unicorn at the same time as a group of mercenaries did. One tapped Rarity's shoulder, and the snow-white mare gasped in shock when she saw who it was. Twilight was grabbed from behind, and she didn't bother to put up a struggle.

"Commissioner Twilight Sparkle," one of the goons barked. "You're under arrest."

She bristled.

"On whose authority?"

"The ponies of Ponyville, of course," the drake said smugly. He gestured to his men and they surrounded the two unicorns, stripping them of their weapons (or, Twilight's weapons; Rarity had none), then leading them away toward the stock exchange.

Twilight had a second to glance back up at the building's roof, where Scootaloo had been attacked. She was afraid for the young pegasus until one of her attackers slumped over the edge of the building. He was promptly dragged back over the edge.

Twilight smiled the rest of the way to her prison, beneath the Stock Exchange.

A hooded mare was shoved down the stairs into the basement of the Stock Exchange. The guards laughed as she toppled down the stairs, wings flaring wildly before settling on her heap of a body at the bottom of the staircase. A groan escaped through the hood.

Somepony moved to help her, and the guards laughed again.

"Find this on a good spot," one of them said. "She's got a big day tomorrow."

"We all do," his colleague added. "It's not every day you catch Rainbow Dash."

The pony helping the hooded mare gasped. He swiftly removed the hood, and stared into the cerise eyes of none other than Rainbow Dash herself. She stared back, a somber smile on her face. Then, the pony let go of her, and she fell suddenly to the floor. She grunted again, and this time the groan was answered with a rhyme.

"You've always been known for your lengthy vacations," said Zecora, trotting up to her with Rarity at her side. "This time, though, you've been truly needed during its duration."

"Yes, and it would be nice if you warned us when you decide to leave next time," added the white unicorn. NO doubt she was referring to her rather abrupt exit from the manor all those months ago.

"How long until the bomb goes off?" She couldn't spare any time for pleasantries.

"There are only twelve hours remaining on the clock. Then the city goes bye-bye, so...tick-tock."

Her rhyming was getting annoying. Dash ignored her annoyance, and said, "I need you tonight."

"You need me more? What for?"

"I'm getting back in the game."

Zecora smiled in the same instant the door banged open. Catmare came strolling into the room, in full outfit and accessories. She strode over to where Rainbow, Zecora, and Rarity were huddled, and grabbed the former by the hair. Her own was bouncing, curled once more.

"Sorry to spoil things, girls, but Spike wants to play a fun little game with you two." She yanked at one of Zecora's gold rings, and the zebra complied, not wanting to have it torn out of her ear. The guards did nothing to stop her. Apparently, betraying the Batmare got you major points in the criminal system. Two guards followed, prodding the reluctant prisoners forward.

As they left, Rainbow Dash bid Rarity farewell, promising, "I won't forget about you."

Rarity smiled somberly. "I know."

Catmare saw this, and she rolled her eyes before shoving Rainbow out of the room. She fell behind everypony else, appearing to be checking for any strays or followers. Only Rainbow knew this wasn't the case.

The moment they were out of sight and earshot, Catmare went into an almost ballistic display of violence. She disarmed one guard with a heel, the other with a claw. She slammed their head together, flipping over them and landing perfectly in front of Rainbow and Zecora as the guards fell to the ground, unconscious. he drew a pick from her belt and quickly unlocked Zecora's handcuffs, then Rainbow's. The zebra smiled and rubbed her wrists, looking over at the two mares slyly.

"I must say, Ms. Dash, your choice of mare is quite the one to flash."

"She should be so lucky," Catmare replied before slinking back into the shadows. Within seconds, it was as if she had never been there.

Zecora arched an eyebrow, and Dash simply shrugged. She still didn't know what to think of the bubblegum mare in the tight black suit, and their was no time to speculate now, anyway.

They had a suit to retrieve.

The old hideout used by Rainbow Dash while her manor was being rebuilt was still hidden, and the pegasus and zebra found it working just as it had the last time she'd needed it. Of course, none of the old tools had been moved. Which meant...

Dash pressed a button on a panel in the center of the room. Several walls flipped back, revealing the whole enchilada she'd been without for almost half a year. Mini-mines, a grapple gun, Batarangs, everything, all still here. She smiled at the weapons.

"So," she said, turning to Zecora, "How do we disable the trigger?" THey had discussed the possibility of whether or not there really was a trigger pony in all of this, and had come to the decision that, whether or not there was, they would have to find a way to block signals to and from the bomb.

"The only way to block it, as far as I can see, would be to use your trusty Bat, with its useful EMP." Zecora gave her a wry look. "Do you remember where you left her?"

Dash nodded. She turned and walked to the other side of the room, pressing another button on the control panel as she passed. A wire mesh cage rose up from the ground at the side of the room Dash was trotting toward, and she went up on her hind legs as she approached it. Throwing back the doors of the cage, she smiled up at the familiar black suit, cowl, and cape. Fluttershy (who she had wondered about only briefly during her imprisonment, she admitted to none) had always told her to stock up. And there was no fault to the logic. This proved it.

It was always handy to have a spare.

Twilight stood in the center of the makeshift courtroom, staring Cranky D. Donkey down like a painting would. The mule was clam and collected, but she knew that just underneath lay the criminal known as the Scarecrow. He was without his burlap mask, but his love for causing fear was present throughout the courtroom. She was surrounded by criminals, terrorists, anarchists, and she noticed that many of them were ones that she herself had put behind bars in the past eight years. Next to her, Rarity shivered. In the upper gallery above, Spike himself watched the spectacle unfold.

His mask still frightened her, and gazing upon it now, her bullet wounds throbbed. The memory of her first encounter with the deadly dragon surfaced again, and she wondered if this could have been avoided. If only the others had listen to her.

"The charges are espionage and attempted sabotage," Cranky declared, smirking. He was enjoying this obscene reversal of roles. "Have you anything to say in your defense?"

Twilight refused to play his game. Cranky belonged in a straight-jacket not a judge's robes.

"No lawyer, no witnesses? What kind of due process is this?"

"More than you gave Soarin's prisoners, commissioner. Your guilt has been determined. This is merely a sentencing hearing." He leaned forward in his seat and peered down at the unicorn. "What's it to be--death or exile?"

Twilight knew the path she would take should she choose exile. There had been no survivors, as rumors had told her, and she wasn't going to go out while running away, however forced it was. This was her city, and she wasn't going to be remembered as the Commissioner Who Ran Away.

"Cranky, if you think I am going out onto that ice willingly, than you've got another thing coming."

Cranky appeared impressed by her decision. "So. Death, then?"

Twilight wasn't going to beg for her life. She was speaking for her fellow enforcers, and prayed that poor Rarity would be spared.

"Looks that way."

"Very well," Cranky said, smiling. "Death...by exile." His gavel banged against the podium as the crowd cheered their approval of her decision. As she was led away, she noticed that Spike had stepped down from the gallery. A hush fell over the crowd, and Spike pointed at Rarity.

"Bring her to me."

Frigid winds buffeted Twilight as she was shoved out onto the frozen waters of the Ponyville Lake. On the other side, so far away, the Northern Everfree Forest waited for her. If she could make it.

Something sharp poked her flank. Behind her a mercenary snarled at her to get going, and, reluctantly, she got going. She stepped slowly, knowing that one false move would be her end. Though she realized that there was hardly a chance of her survival at all, she prayed that each second above the water's surface brought Scootaloo, or Big Mac, or even goddamn Rarity closer to doing something to rescue her.

She made it a hundred yards before smelling something that confused her. The cold hid it well, but she was close enough now that the odor was overpowered the crispness of the night air. She looked around, sniffing, and noticed a puddle of liquid on the ice.

Is that...gasoline?

An emergency flare lay next to it. Knowing the mercenaries couldn't stop her, she picked it up, and examined it. She was sniffing it to see if it was coated in gas when a raspy voice she thought she'd never hear again growled in her ear.

"Light it up."

Hope sparked in her, and she passed the sparks on to the flare. As it lit, she turned and was delighted to see that the mercenaries were now incapable of doing anything about anything she did. They were unconscious. She turned a little bit more, and the Batmare stepped out of the shadows and nodded to the puddle of gasoline. Trusting the Batmare (and the fact that she, with her incredibly heavy armor, was standing on the ice without sinking) with her life, Twilight tossed the flare into the puddle, where it lit up a trail leading up the side of the bridge.

It disappeared into the darkness of the night, and Twilight wondered what the point of it was. Then, on the far side of the river, the trail burst into a shape she'd seen shining in the skys over Ponyville for years before the mess with Soarin'. The flames went up the side of a rock formation near the forest, and the formation was suddenly showing off the enormous silhouette of a brilliant flaming bat.

Now everypony would know: the Dark Knight had risen again.

"Big Mac! AJ! Come see this!"

Apple Bloom, who was still full of hope and love and life, was pressed against one of the windows in the farmhouse on the other side of Ponyville. When her siblings did not listen, she galloped over to where her despondent sister was staring down at her Stetson. She yanked the mare over to the window, and when Applejack saw the enormous symbol over the lake, she felt a warmth rush over her. There was somepony out there who could avenge her fallen trees.

"Big Mac?" she spluttered. "Ya'll batter come'n see this."

The crimson stallion approached the window slowly. When he saw the flaming sign, his jaw dropped. His conscience stirred, from its place buried deep inside him.

Maybe there was still hope after all.

Stumbling, Macintosh rushed to his bedroom. He shoved his bed out of the way and stomped on the floorboards so hard they cracked. He didn't care. All that mattered was getting his uniform out of its hiding place, and getting it on again. Then, he had to find Twilight Sparkle.

There was an apology to be given, and a kiss to return.

Spike had always found the calm before the storm of the battles he fought to be more relaxing than anything else he'd ever tried. It was the last night before Ponyville would be destroyed, and he strode down the street, triumphant. He knew he would never walk this route again, and yet there was a stillness in his soul when he thought about it. The thought of Rainbow Dash's suffering down in that hellhole was enough to cheer him out of the thought of the oblivion he faced tomorrow.

"Sir?"

Garble approached from behind. The masked drake turned to see what his most loyal worker had to say--and beheld the sight of the enormous bat burning brightly on the other side of the Ponyville Lake.

"Do you think it's really her, sir?" the second-in-command asked.

Spike hid his surprise behind his mask. There was no way it could be her. He had broken the Batmare, literally broken her, and thrown her into the hellhole from which he was spawned. She couldn't have arisen from that pit.

"Impossible..."

Twilight was escorted off the ice. She took a gun from an unconscious mercenary and stuck it in her coat. Batmare tossed her something when she turned to her again, and she caught it with her magic. It looked like a compact metal box.

"Stick that on the bomb when you get on the truck," Batmare said, apparently knowing Twilight's original plans (not that that surprised her). "It'll block the signal from the trigger. They might try and hit the button when it starts."

Twilight didn't bother questioning her.

"When what starts?"

Her answer was short and simple:

"War."

The bat shone through the city. Ponies everywhere saw it, and cheered. Prisoners saw it, and worried. Spike's henchmen saw it, and wondered how the hell that could be there. The cops and Royal Guards under the city who saw it alerted the others, and soon the whole force was talking about its appearance.

Two guards watching an exit gasped audibly when they saw the symbol appear. One of them moved into a clearing, away from the sewer exit, to get a better look. As he watched, he failed to notice the dark figure approaching him. It struck out, and he fell unconscious in a second.

The second guard, however, saw the whole thing, and frantically pointed his gun at anything that made a sound. He stood still, trying not to make a sound so that he could hear the figure making its way toward him. He heard it, but too late. He had time to turn around before something blunt struck a pressure point on his neck. The guard fell to the ground, and the dark figure approached the exit, dusting her hooves off.

Scootaloo went back down on all fours, and pressed against the exit to listen for anypony down there.

"Hello? Anypony?" she asked anxiously.

"Yes?" somepony answered, knocking a hoof against the exit just as they'd planned. She moved the cover, and the cop, whom she recognized as a recruit who'd moved from Trottingham last year, Pipsqueak, squeezed out of the pipe. More cops underground could be heard shuffling to get out, and as Pipsqueak stepped out completely, he breathed his first breath of fresh air in months.

A shot rang out, and Pipsqueak exhaled sharply as a red splotch appeared on his dirt-covered uniform. He fell forward, and lay still, breathing no more than that first clean breath. Scootaloo screamed, and more shots rang out. She frantically dodged them, using her wings as a boost of agility. She felt confident in her ability to not get caught, until she felt the barrel of a rifle press against the back of her neck. She stopped moving, and watched as a small band of spare guards approached the hole, firing into it to make sure nopony else got out. They kicked Pip's corpse aside like it was nothing.

When one of the killers pulled out a detonator, Scootaloo wanted to yell to warn the other ponies in the tunnels. Then the killer pressed a button, and the tunnel mouth collapsed, burying the cops alive. The mercenary holding the rifle to her head cocked his weapon, ready to execute her...

...and went flying backwards.

A shadowy figure went flying across the field, reaching each of the small band of killers and taking them down easily. Scootaloo watched in amazement as the Batmare punched and kicked and tossed Batarangs. The band was down in fifteen seconds.

Scootaloo stared, her jaw agape. She saw one of the mercs reaching for his gun on the ground, trembling.

"You missed a spot," she pointed out.

Batmare booted the killer in the head. She approached Scoot, cape fluttering behind her. Her cowl still made the orange pegasus shudder, though she full well knew who was hiding behind it. It was hard to believe that there was an ordinary pegasus under all that armor.

"If you work alone," Batmare advised, "wear a mask."

"No one cares who I am."

"It's not for you," she explained. "It's to protect the people you care about."

"Huh." She was impressed (and a little confused) by the Batmare's words. "And how do you always know where people are? Hm?"

"I lost someone once," she said. There was a hint of sorrow in her words. "Since then I break into the houses of these select few, and implant a tracking chip in their necks while they're sleeping."

Bullshit, thought Scootaloo, but rubbed the back of her neck anyway. Her mind was playing tricks on her, it had to be. She had never felt that scar tissue before.

She suddenly felt sick.

Batmare handed her two pulsing green orbs. "Lob on three," she instructed, and turned to run into the woods. Scootaloo counted threw, and braced herself as small explosions dented the pile of rubble blocking the tunnel.

"What was that supposed to do?" Scoot asked, mad that the cops were still down there.

"Warn the cops down there!" she called back, and disappeared behind a wall.

"Well, you got anything bigger on your-?"

VAROOOM!

The Bat came bursting from behind the wall, cannons already aimed at the rubble. Scootaloo got the message instantly, and leapt out of the way. Missiles went blasting out of the Bat's cannons, and they reduced the blockade to nothing in ten seconds flat. After the dust settled, the liberated cops came pouring out of the hole, assembling near the Batmare and Scoot.

"What now?" asked the detective. She was ready to fight for the city.

"You need to lead the people you care about out of here."

She felt disappointed, but didn't show it. "How?"

"Get them across the railroad blockade. The dragons are already detained." She didn't have to explain how, Scoot believed her. "Lead an exodus. Save as many lives as you possibly can."

"Don't you need me here? For the big battle?"

"You've given me an army," she answered, gesturing to the liberated cops and Royal Guards that looked, more than anything, mad as hell and ready to start a fight. None of them seemed to care that the supposed murderer of Soarin' was standing right there. They knew who their true enemy was.

"Now go," the masked mare said.

Scootaloo nodded, knowing there would be time to avenge Pipsqueak later. She had to set her hotheadedness aside, to help those she cared for. This meant that St. Blueblood's was getting an evac, ASAP. She only wished that Pip had lived long enough to see Spike go down.

She turned to leave, then paused to look back.

"Thank you," she said solemnly.

"Don't thank me yet," the Dark Knight answered.

"I may not get a chance to later."

Batmare nodded. They both understood that there was a slim chance that they would both live through this, or that either of them would live at all. They had to defeat Spike, his army, and disarm the bomb in time.

But now, we have a fighting chance, Scootaloo thought. And the Batmare on our side.

She turned, and hurried back into the city, as the light of the last day began to shine over the still flaming symbol of the Batmare.