=Father of the Night 27=

>Night time in Ponyville.
>You liked night time, especially these days.
>It let you...work out your frustrations.
>That was the plan tonight as you and Night's Wings tailed a pair of perps.
"Keep on them. Go left."
>She flies ahead and angles herself to properly heard them into the adjacent street.
>You run ahead and leap over chimney's and roofs to get into the street before them. You fire your grapple into the wall at -just- the right height, listening to the first "TWANG" before-
>*TWAAAAAANG*
>The perps run neck first into the line and spin head over hooves, landing on a heap on the ground.
>"Huzzah! Excellent work, Batmane!"
>You ignore her for now.
"Take them."
>The two of you pounce on the thugs and enter into a brief, one sided, and "Huzzah!" filled melee.
>Your new recruit was...excitable.
>The melee ends with the two ponies on the ground, one moaning and groaning at a few wounds and the other nursing several broken bones off near a lamp.
>"Most riveting!"
>You turn and look at her.
"...Yes. Help me restrain them."
>You and Night's Wings grab some rope and tie off the two thugs to the street lamp, the one whimpering as you came closer.
>Shining Armor could handle the rest. 	
>"Well! That about WRAPS things up, wouldn't you say, Batmane?"
>You look at her through dull eyes.
"Night's Wings, meet me on that roof."
>You pull out your grapple and shoot off onto said roof.
>Time for a chat...

>You land and roll on the roof, a slight giggling coming from behind you.
"You find something funny?" you ask, rising.
>Luna lands gently on the roof and sits. "'Tis just amusing to see a child such as yourself go from combating those ruffians to rolling about on the floor."
>You narrow your eyes a bit. That would slide...this time.
>Onto business...
"We need to have words..."
>Luna smiles a bit. "Certainly, Batmane..."
>That was something she was always wonderful at, using codenames in the field.
>But...
"Your..."pep" for lack of a better term down there is a bit odd."
>She cocks an eyebrow. "Your brutality is a bit odd, from what we have seen."
>Hmph.
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
>Her eyes narrow behind her mask. "You have always been driven, Batmane...but never cruel. I have never seen a report stating that you hurt somep0ny more than was needed, not like down there." she says tilting her head towards the street you just came from.
>"Why?"
>You flare your nostrils.
"I don't have to answer to you."
>A twinge of righteous anger sparks in Luna's eyes and she stomps her hoof on the roof below her. "NOW Mister Mane."

>For an instant, you forget everything you learned abroad, you forget that gnawing anger in the pit of your gut, you forget that this mare came to you to learn to do what you did and that you were technically her superior in that regard.
>No none of that mattered right now because the Princess was mad at you.
>And as with all young Equestrians, especially of high birth, you had had it ingrained into your head that that was never a good idea.
"NUUUH! Fine! Fine! I'm frustrated!"
>"Frustrated at WHAT, child?"
>You try to stop it, but the confession just flows. "I'm frustrated that I wasn't able to help Twilight and that now there is another vigilante in the town!"
>Luna takes a step back. "Why...would that bother you?"
>You snort.
"Because...this is MY burden, I'm supposed to protect this place."
>Luna frowns. Not out of sadness, but frustration."Batmane that is simply not going to work."
"Wha-?" you start.
>Luna puts her hoof on your shoulder and smiles. "This is -our- town to protect. You do not and should not have to bear this burden on your own..."
>That comment...it makes you feel warm inside
>"Not come along! Let us go learn more about this Mare Do Well!" Luna cries before taking off from the roof.
>WaitWHAT.
"Wait up!"
>You quickly grapple after her into the night.

>After a few blocks of weaving between buildings and running on roofs, Luna touches down on one near the stream running through town.
>You land and trot up next to her.
"Are you mad!? Separating on patrol is one thing, but announcing our intentions to the entire town?"
>"Oh hush, Batmane. Come here!"
>You grumble and walk up next to Luna, you'd humor her this time...
>She reaches into the dirt collected on the top of the roof and begins tracing her hoof through it. In a few short moments, a crude map of Ponyville is drawn out with several X's on it.
"What is this?"
>"This is where all of the incidents of this Mare-Do-Well have occurred!" she pokes at the map. "As you can see, they are all on the West side of town here!"
>Sure enough, all the events seemed to be clustered around the towns Western half, with the Quill and Sofa store in the middle.
>"I think this store is where the Mare-Do Well begins each night!"
>You stroke your chin.
"That's...actually incredibly clever, Night's Wing. How did you come up with that?"
>She titters. "We are a big fan of mystery novels."
>Oh. Well that made sense.
"Well then...let us make haste for the quill and sofa store?"
>She smiles. "Huzzaaaaaah!" she whispers.
>You can't help but smirk.
"Better, thank you."

>After the two of you arrived at the quill store, you begun the stakeout.
>Stakeouts were a natural part of detective work, you had to try and catch the perp in the act
>And a natural part of stakeouts was waiting.
>But that didn't mean you liked it.
>Luna didn't either if her off-key singing was any key.
>"thirty-five bottles of cider on the wall...thirty-five bottles of cider..."
"Night's Wing."
>She blinks. "Hmm?"
"What number did you start on?"
>"Five hundred, Batmane."
>You feel your eye twitch despite your efforts. 
"Perhaps give it a rest."
>She chuckles a bit and winces. "Hehe...yes...we are sorry."
>Oh thank Celestia...
>The two of you continue to sit in your cover.
>"...How do we know they will show up?" Luna asks.
>You blink. 
"I don't. But we'll be here until they do."
>"Batmane?"
"What?"
>"What does the Mare Do Well look like?"
>Ah. A good question.
"Well, she is clearly a mare based on the features I can see under her mask. She wears a deep lavender cape/suit combo and hat with elements of deep maroon in it."
>"And her hat is large and covers most of her head?"
"Precisely."
>"Well then I think she sees us."
"WHAT?"
>You hop to your feet and peer down the edge of the building next to Luna. On the ground, in the street light, looking up at you, was the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well.
>A few tense and awkward moments pass between the three of you before she bolts down the street.
"After her!"

-Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_qd7j4q6A4-
>You and Luna jump down from the roof of the Quills and Sofa's store and run after Mare-Do-Well.
"Go left!"
>Luna banks off to the left side and makes for the rooftops, using her wings to achieve the lift she needs.
>You stay on the ground and keep on Mare-Do-Well, trying your best to keep pace.
>It wasn't easy. She was a fully grown adult by the look of things and while you were a tad larger than most foals, you had yet to even get your cutie mark. Your small little legs could only propel you so fast.
>Luna, however, did not have that problem. Nor did she have a problem showing it. She pulled ahead of Mare-Do-Well, unfurling her wings out to steady herself and gain the maximum thrust she could get and stabilize herself.
>She pulls ahead of Mare-Do-Well and jumps down where the street lets out. Mare-Do-Well banks to the right.
"Let's go!"
>Luna catches up behind you as you chase after Mare-Do-Well as she runs into a nearby warehouse.
>"She'll have nowhere to run, now!" Luna says.
>You weave through the doors and enter into a large distillery. Large metal cookers and vats lined the sides of the room and barrels were stacked near the back.
>Barrels your prey was fast running towards.
"Halt!"
>For some unknown reason, she actually listens and skids to a halt right by a barrel.

>You and Luna rush towards her and stop some ten feet away, dropping into combat stances.
>Moments pass with none of you making a move.
"...Why are you here?"
>Silence is your answer.
"Who sent you?"
>You see her peek towards the barrels.
"...Who -are- you?"
>Still nothing.
>You step forward and stomp.
"Answer m-"
>You get no further before Mare-Do-Well rears back and kicks the support leg out from one of the barrel stands.
>The barrels come crashing down to the floor and spill their golden liquid on the ground, sending a rushing wave towards you and Luna.
"UP!"
>You throw your grapple and aim while Luna flutters up ahead of you to the rafters.
>Below you, Mare-Do-Well rides the wave of cider out the door and into the street outside before running off down it.
>You sigh.
>This was going to be a pain...
>Behind you you hear someone smacking her lips.
>"Mmmm! This brew is delectable!"
>You sigh again.
>Dammit Luna...