20 YEARS AGO…

Inside of a hangar just outside Trougham City, five armed goons comprised of griffons, all female. One was performing maintenance right under the nose of the small jet aircraft inside while another was doing a same to the left wing. One was making sure that her pistol was clean. The remaining three were gathered around a collection of oil drums, one idly counting money clipped bit bills from a stack and tossing them in a duffel bag, another idly cleaning her pistol, and the final one idly kicking back in a chair and eating a sandwich as she watched a news broadcast on the portable TV on the drum in front of her.

Big news in the financial world today. Once again, Billionaire Octavia Chello has averted an attempted takeover of her company by Erica Powers of Powers Technology. Powers vowed that she is not through yet and speculation has seen stock in both woman's companies hit all time highs. Still no word from the kidnappers of eligible bachelor Buddy Vrelin following a ransom payment of five million bits.

"Hey kid! You're on TV." She said, turning her head around to smile wryly at a well-dressed and handsome stallion who was bound, gagged, and tied to a nearby support column.

At this hour, police remain without leads as to the boy's whereabouts

In response to his snowcap wearing captor's joke and the bad news the male anchorman gave, Buddy looked down at the ground even more sullen than before if such a thing was possible. Little did he know, however, that outside, one of the goons was knocked out cold from a kick to the back of her head, the sound of her weapon clattering to the floor unheard over such a distance with the TV on. Little did he know that said kick was delivered by the hind hooves of a mare, a legendary mare that had defended Trougham in the bygone years when his parents were around his age. Little did he know that, after taking out the lone sentry, the mare shot up onto the roof of the hangar thanks to a pair of jet-boots and wings that sprouted from the material covering up her fore-legs, the noise also masked. Little did he know that his salvation had arrived and that she was now staring into the hangar from a nearby window up above.

The money counting Griffon tossed the final clip of bills into the bag and headed towards the door into the plane on the other side of the drums. "It's all here. Take care of him." She said.

The Griffon that was cleaning her pistol walked over towards buddy. As he heard her claw steps, he looked up and saw the sadistic grin be revealed by the light hanging overhead. She stopped and pointed her gun at him, thumbing off the safety with a click. In the heartbeat that followed, as cliché as it might sound to somepony who had never been inside a situation like this, Buddy saw his entire life flash before his eyes.

In the heartbeat that followed, he also saw some bat-shaped projectile come from up and to his right and knock the pistol from her grip.

"Gah!" The once pistol wielding Griffon yelled out as she held her claw in pain.

The agony she felt however, was trivial in comparison to what followed when none other than the legendary mare, with her fore-limbs protracted to allow the red-wings beneath to become as well, swooped down and began delivering hooks and cross upon her face. Her partners, having heard the commotion as they were about to board, ran towards the nose of the plane and looked under it.

"Batmare!" One of them yelled, running around the nose and pulling out a gun from her vest. The Batmare, having already delivered a head-butt to the chin that sent the goon he was pummeling right into the oil drums (as well as unconsciousness) ran up to this one and delivered a right cross to her chin that sent her to the floor in a half twist. She followed up on this by twisting around and delivering a disabling buck to the chest of another one of the goons that decided that it was a smart move to come at her with a crowbar. Before this goon could even hit the floor though, another Griffon came up behind her and tried crushing her in a bear-hold.

As she struggled, the goon who she had previously sent to floor recovered and grabbed her gun with a scowl on her face. She turned back, intent on repaying the favor in interest. As she did though, she found herself kayoed by the foot of the goon Batmare was engaged with, whose hold she had broken free of, and who was currently being spun around by Batmare. After the third revolution, Batmare's teeth let go of this goon's collar and she went soaring, bouncing off the top of one of the rings and right into the money counting one as she tried to sneak aboard. The counter and the goon went tumbling over the mobile staircase leading up the plane's entryway, and into a tool cart next to it and below.

The gold of the bills fluttered in the air briefly as they lay on the ground, seemingly dealt with.

Batmare allowed herself a deep breath and turned to her right towards Buddy when a sudden pain swelled up in her chest. She groaned out audibly. She felt her hoof involuntarily reaching towards this area at the same time, her heart feeling as though it was wrapped inside the vice that was a Minotaur's grip. She should know. She had gone up against many in her day. Her right eye and the right side of her mouth twitched. Were she a lesser pony, the pain would have proven too unbearable for her to remain standing, let alone move.

But move she did.

Gritting and sucking her teeth and taking deep sniffs from her nose, she walked towards Buddy. Every step made her want to drop to the ground and rest, and a few of them almost did, but she kept pressing forth for what felt like miles until she knelt down next to him. "Are you alright?" She asked, as she began unknowing the knots that held him in place.

The kidnapped colt let out a much-needed sigh of relief. He was about to muffle out a yes and nod. Instead however, his left eye, which wasn't obscured by the curl at the end of his mane, widened and he muffled out something akin to Behind You! Noticing, Batmare turned around just in time to see the money counter yell out and swing towards her head with a baseball bat sized wrench like it was a golf-ball.

She was knocked off her hooves and slid on the ground for a bit before coming to a halt. Quickly, she got back, twisted around, and galloped towards this final goon. A few feet away from the Griffon, however, her chest began seizing up again and she stopped, falling to her side, crying in pain.

Her vision grew out of focus and, with every beat of her heart, became disgustingly blood red. Into her vision, the money counter walked in, an evil ear to ear grin on her face, tapping the end of her wrench onto the palm of her other claw. "Ever since I was a chick, big bad Batmare's always been makin' life hard for gals like me."

She raised the wrenched over her head and beat Batmare with it twice, Buddy shutting his eyes and looking away after the second hit. Then, the money launderer flapped her wings and hovered in the air. She kicked Batmare towards the overturned oil drums near where she had swooped down at the beginning of this brawl. Her face blanched at the object she found lying next to her, dropped there from the first goon she knocked out.

The Griffon landed before her. She growled out as she raised her wrench above her head for what was sure to be the coup de grâce to such a legendary figure. Batmare however, grabbed a hold of the gun in one hoof, put one of the claws built into the part of her suit the covered her other hoof over the trigger, and pointed the barrel towards the goon.

It didn't look natural for an Equine, nor was it, but it was more than enough to stop the money counter mid-swing and wipe whatever smile she had on her face. In a heartbeat, this captor of Buddy, this hardened criminal, saw her life flash before her eyes.

"No!" She panicked, dropping the impromptu weapon behind her. "Don't!"

Taking what chances she thought she had, the money counter ran outside of the warehouse as fast as her legs could carry her. She got about a hundred yards before she realized, in the state that she was in, that flight was a capability she possessed. Of course, it was at this time that she looked back in front of her and saw no less than the lights of seven police cars pointed at her, as well as at least twice that many guns. "Freeze!" The officers on the scene shouted as one.

From the same side entrance this goon came out of, Batmare stepped out. Her breathing had become ragged, a trail of blood leaking from her mouth and down one side of her mask. With much more strain than was typical, she used her free hoof to pull it off, revealing the face of none other than Octavia Chello, her hair now completely gray save for two stripes of raven black on either side of her head.

She looked to her other hoof and found that the gun was still clutched inside her fidgeting fetlock. She looked as though she had heard a trio of ghosts and let the thing fall out of her grasp as though it were the source.

Her head down she trotted away from the warehouse.

Later that night, amidst a menagerie of tokens, trophies, and treasures that represented a lifetime of fighting the evils the society of Trougham had produced as well as those not limited to the city, Octavia stood, holding onto the mask of her latest Bat-suit. As a gaggle of bats flew by overhead inside of her secret lair, she closed her eyes and with a sad look, opened up the display case before her and atop the mantle within along with the rest of the suit.

For a while, she stared at it just as sullenly before growing a determined look and closing it shut. She walked up the nearby staircase leading up to Chello manor, each step ascended with absolute certainty. This was it. Tonight was the last hoorah. Tonight was the last time Trougham would ever hear from its famed and infamous caped, crusading, dark knight detective ever again. Tonight was the last time she would be out there, risking life, limb, and principles for anypony ever again.

When she got to the top, she stopped by a panel with five light switches. Without missing a beat, without any sort of doubt or hesitations, she said, "Never again" and pushed the mane switch down.

The light above her was the first to go. The light above the Batcomputer was the second. The light above a Plexiglas case, which contained a wooden ventriloquist dummy with a noticeable scar on its mare like face, and giant joker playing card hanging suspended from one of the walls was the third to go. The light above a giant penny was the fourth. The light over the mantle of Octavia's original Bat-suit was the fifth to go out. The light over the mantle of robin's suit was the sixth. The light over the mantle of Batfilly's was the seventh. The light over the mantle of Nightwing's was the eighth.

Only light in the room that seemed to flicker, seemed to hesitate. This one hung over the mantle of the one she had worn tonight. A suit that looked onwards whereas the others looked down.

Even when the light above finally did shut down, the last one to do so, it looked through the darkness, towards the future…