Bruce Wayne sighed as he hung up his costume for the last time. The heart attack he'd had while trying to save that kidnapped girl had made one thing plain to him. He was too old to continue to be Batman, no matter how much he loathed the idea. However, when his only chance for survival and completing the mission had been picking up the gun and threatening the thug with it, he knew he could hide from that truth no longer. Walking up the steps out of the Batcave, he turned for one last look at who he once had been.
He also realized he would have to stop trying to fight Derek Powers attempted takeover of Wayne Enterprises. At least if a single company took over or absorbed the company, some vestige of his father's legacy would remain, as it was plain Bruce himself would have none of his own.
"Never again," he said to the cave at large, referring to both being Batman and fighting in general, turning off the lights one by one. As the cave went dark for what he was sure would be the last time, he turned to leave. However, noise deep in the cave - noise that wasn't caused by the resident bats - made him turn back to switch on the lights. The noise was from one of the vault rooms, where he stored those things recovered in battles with supervillains that he deemed too dangerous to leave anywhere far beyond his sight.
Striding confidently in, he brought no weapons with. While cruel eld had laid some grip on him, he did not feel as though he had succumbed completely as yet. He could still defend his home.
As he drew closer to the noise, however, he grew more cautious. The noise was coming from the vault in which he stored the dangerous magical artifacts. Pausing at the entrance, he picked up an nth-metal combat stave. The unique properties of the alloy disrupted any magical field it came in contact with, making it an ideal weapon for combatting magic users. Thus armed, he slowly opened the vault door, and then switched on the lights.
The first thing he noticed was that most of the artifacts had lost their eldritch glow, and the systems that had monitored their energy fields showed no magical reactions. Some of the artifacts even had cracks in their embedded gems. Their was also a large scorch mark in the floor in the center of the drained artifacts. A small white and purple shape was visible in the center of the blackened floor.
Bruce approached the shape carefully, holding his staff out ahead of him, just in case the figure was dangerous. He could feel his blood pumping faster as his body prepared for battle.
Before he could get any closer, his heart began to beat out of rhythm, having been pushed too hard as it was still recovering from the strain of earlier in the night. Clutching his chest, he staggered, falling to his knees, using the staff to hold himself up as he grunted in pain. He closed his eyes, struggling to regain focus and calm his labored heart.
A strange coolness flooded into his chest. Opening his eyes, he found himself wondering if maybe his heart had given out, and he had stumbled into the afterlife, or if perhaps the kidnapper from earlier had successfully killed him after all. He couldn't really find any other logical explanation for what he was seeing.
A tiny white unicorn with an expertly curled purple mane and tail looked up at him with bright blue eyes. A pale blue glow surrounded her horn, flowing from it into his chest, matching the cool sensation that eased his laboring, faltering heart. Feeling his levels of strength return to normal, he lowered himself all the way to the floor, letting the tiny filly crawl into his lap.
He began a more minute examination of the filly. Her coat was a pure white and very fine, meticulously cared for. Her mane was quite luxurious, and her horn a perfect spiral. The only marking of any sort on her body was a mark of three blue diamonds - the exact shade of her eyes and the glow from her horn - on each side of her rump. Her hooves also weren't what he expected of equine hooves, as they had a somewhat amorphous quality. Gently pressing his thumb into one of the filly's fore hooves, he felt it shift around his thumb and then grip.
Gently disentangling his thumb from her grip, he pushed himself to his feet, holding her in one arm as he made his way back out. For her part, the filly seemed fascinated with his clothing, running her hooves over the fabric and - at one point - nibbling on a button. Bruce couldn't stop himself from smiling. "What a rarity I've found," he mumbled under his breath.
The tiny filly swiveled her head to look up at him, her eyes wide.
"What?" he asked curiously. "Something to say?" He didn't actually expect her to speak.
The filly pointed to herself. "Wawity!" she said firmly.
Bruce stared. The creature he had found was not just unique to his experience, but capable of speech. "Your name...is Rarity?" he asked, intrigued.
Rarity nodded firmly. She then gasped, reaching towards the line of Batman costumes, seeming fascinated by them.
"No," Bruce said firmly. "Those aren't toys." He walked up the stairs, turning off the lights as he went up.
Rarity frowned, plainly pouting. She then looked up at him, her lips pursed as she begged.
"That won't work," Bruce replied firmly.
Rarity returned to her pouting.
Bruce chuckled. "Well, you're certainly going to be a handful," he said softly. "Should be interesting." He gently stroked her behind one ear, smiling as she leaned into the caress.
You going to do a Star Wars one? Just a question
5142481
Not in the current plan.
Their was also a large scorch mark
1. There.
Hah, figures Bruce would be immune to the D'awwws of those dastardly ponies.
Now Rarity will inherit Wayne Enterprises
So let's see...We've got a fully combat trained Fluttershy, Applejack the soon to be demon killer (has a nice ring to it, don't you think?) and now The Fabulously Dark Night...mare.
I love it!
Shouldn't this require a Human tag? Also, baby Rarity!
You sir.... deserve this.
Bruce Wayne just had a "My Little Dashie" moment with Rarity.
Hhhhmmm, consider me... intrigued.
Seriously though, for a first chapter, not bad. A little short and the pacing seemed to shift a bit too and fro. But overall, I'm interested to see where you go with this; I'm looking forward to how the master detective solves the conundrum of a talking filly.
Looking forward to reading more
*puts intobookcase for watch later and tracking*
Rarity's coat isn't a pure white. It's more a very, very, very light gray - eggshell-white, perhaps.
Kinda like how Vinyl's coat is in fact a very, very, very pale yellow.
Good start, I'll be interested in seeing where you take this.
...i think i realized just WHAT it is thats throwing me off from one about Aj, Pinkie, and now Rarity.
Why are they still ponies?
It didnt seem to bug me as much when it came to "Fortress-shy", because she was more or less treated like a...well...overly adorable pet at first but became something else later on. With "The Sparkle", Twilights form didnt seem out of place due to the nature of the R&C settings.
But in Gotham? Ancient Greece? Whevever DMC takes place? I dont think so...
And i know you've said your primarily focusing on the father-daughter nurture relationships...but I just cant shake the feeling that it feels off.
That said...I will be watching them. Warily
So...yeah. I think I found my disconnect here.
5143954
You're asking how them being ponies goes unnoticed?
In the setting of God of War, in ancient Greece, all the mythological Greek monsters are also running around like crazy. Pinkie Pie is the least weird thing Kratos has encountered since his blood oath to Ares.
In the setting of Devil May Cry, Dante hunts demons for a living. The rest of why AJ goes unnoticed will become clear later.
As for future Gotham of Batman Beyond, genetic engineering and magic have become much more commonplace, so a talking unicorn is a curiosity, and if the premiere philanthropist and business tycoon - Bruce Wayne - treats her as a person, no one's going to think to question.
As for the as yet to be written "The Technological Technicolor Technomare" where RD is raised by Tony Stark...Tony's fought aliens before. The world is aware of aliens. Ergo, Rainbow's just classified as an alien.
5143983
Overexited Alien Conspiracy Nut: "SKRULL! SKRULL!"
TTTRD: "But I'm not a skwull..."
Tony Stark: "You, sir, just insulted my daughter. Enjoy your lawsuit."
TTTRD: "DADDY!"
Stark: "That's right, Skittles, the adoption was approved!"
On a separate note, I see that you are using most of the titles I suggested.
5144381
Yup. They were good titles.
Although "Pony May Cry" was tossed aside, along with the first backup title "Apples on Pizza".
5144381 Lol! Skittles is a GREAT petname for little Dash!
There's something I've noticed that I'm rather curious about. Aside from Fortresshy, each of these stories has had the ponies arrive with their cutie marks intact, regardless of age. Why is that? Something to do with an inability by the parental figures to explain what they are?
My only real concern... So no Terry?
5145090
Because in Fluttershy's case, the way she was going to be raised would drastically change how her special talent would develop. With the rest, however, either their special talents won't change (Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash), their special talent is significant to the plot (Twilight Sparkle), specific events will trigger something unique with their special talent (Applejack), or what changes is how they manifest their special talent (Rarity).
5145102
Nope, no Terry. Sorry.
5142594
Rarity will...
Oh gosh. That would be AMAZING.
5145255 Fascinating. Well, keep it up. The more of these I see, the more it catches my attention.
I'm going to wonder if all of these stories you've been creating involving this self-made genre would eventually collide into a single overarching plot line... And by Celestia that sounded awesome in my head.
...IS THIS YOUR MASTER PLAN?! All of this is too awesome not to be!
Ahem. Sorry. Over excited myself there. Most likely not the case, right? Right?
5145535
With the exception of Fortresshy, Sparkle in His Eye, and On The Corner of Straight and Narrow, the rest were specifically created with such a crossover continuity in mind.
5145555 Dang. You thought this through. I hope you one day reach to that point. Cheers.
Okay, now I know you're more than likely to cross the canons of the stories you've made and what's yet to come
It'll be a treat if you actually decide to go for it.
What's next? Street Fighter Rainbow Dash?
Pinkie Pie and Ghost Rider?
5148624
Pinkie Pie is with Kratos, putting the laughter in slaughter.
Rainbow Dash is going to Tony Stark iirc.
I think this is gonna be great
5143983 I agree with your reasons for why the presence of Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle will not be a problem for the worlds they are in. I also do not have a problem with how Fluttershy was accepted in the TF2 world. However, Rarity's presence in Gotham does bring up one issue. Bruce Wayne has done everything he could to keep his life as Batman a secret from the public. Since he can't keep Rarity in the Batcave or the house for her whole life he will have to let her be seen by the public. However, she will be the only unicorn of her species and will be seen as the daughter of Bruce Wayne. My question is this; won't the villains and civilians link Rarity to Bruce Wayne when she starts her crusades as Batmare? Even if her costume covers her completely (including her mane and tail), she would still be the only unicorn in Gotham. Someone would have to make the connection that Batmare is Rarity, which would make them remember that Rarity is Bruce Wayne's daughter, and may make them understand that Bruce Wayne is Batman.
5157268
That point of someone connecting the unicorn Batmare to being is actually a major plot point I intend to address within the story.
5157571 Interesting. I can't wait to see what you have come up with when that happens. Keep up the good work!
P.S.: Ever since I have learned that Pinkie Pie was to be paired with Kratos I have wanted to ask you something. What did the universe do to you for you to make that pairing happen!? Pinkie Pie with the power and training of the terrifying god killer? The universe stands no chance whatsoever and you know it!
5157608
What made me think to make it happen?
Well, it probably had to do with that one time I speculated a GoW/anthro Equestria crossover where I shipped Kratos with Fluttershy, although Luna wanted a turn until she found out he was technically her Grandfather...
Or, I come up with crazy ideas all the time, and some just work good as stories.
5157652 Well, either way, I can't wait to start reading that story when it comes out.
5157685
The Kratos/Fluttershy shipping one?
5157814 Actually, I meant the one about Pinkie being raised by Kratos. Sorry for the confusion.
5157827
Ah. "Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter" is out. It'll have more chapters soon.
5157997 I see it now; I couldn't see it before because I had the mature filter set to off.
5158054
Yeah...God of War, by definition, is Mature.
I am beginning to love your works! Rainbow and Iron Man/Tony Stark, and now *seeing after the first reference* Rarity and Batman/Bruce Wayne!
What's your next plan? An avenger, or a DC? If you have any more plans like these.
5219505
Check my recent stories for more.
5219889
I have seen that most of your stories include a mixture of MLP and random movies/show/*maybe* book characters.
And I love them all!
5225176
Glad you do!
When can we expect MORE?!? I am extremely excited to see where this goes, if you couldn't tell by the previous sentence.
Oh God... please tell me this is the old batman, bot the snap the jokers neck and then spit on his corpse then use a gun Batman
5428701
This is specifically old Batman...as in the one from Batman Beyond who got too old to wear the suit.
5428708
Oooohhh... the one where Joker kidnapped a Robin, tortured him into becoming like him and making him his son, then was killed by said Robin.
Bruce is not good with children.
5428737
...yes, that Batman.
...you're referring to "Return of the Joker", right?
5428775
Yes sir.
5428775
I have no life
I WANT MORE!
5142490
Dude.
Dude, stop it.
Stop making things I can't help but like.