• Published 29th Oct 2012
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A Dark Knight for Equestria - Onomonopia

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How it Should Be

Ponyville Library.

Batman was in agony. Not from his aching body or from lack of food or water. No, what he was suffering from was a certain pink pony that probably wouldn't stop talking until Batman knew everything about everyone in all of Equestria. Pinkie Pie had entered the library and immediately went into a huge story about who she was and what she did in Ponyville. She went on to talk about her friends and their friends, most of who she had already met. He had seriously considered freezing her again, but that probably wouldn't go over well with the ponies.

She talked for a good hour and a half, until she remembered her gift. Pinki placed her envelope on the table in front of him, indicating for him to open it. When he didn't, she smiled and opened it for him, placing the card that was inside on the table. Batman took one look at the card and instantly knew what it was. It was a party invite, designed specifically for him. It was covered in bats and dark colors, asking him to come to the "Welcome Batman to Ponyville Party." Pinkie looked at Batman expectantly after he read it, waiting for his answer. She wasn't worried, because this party would be one of the greatest she had every thrown. No pony in their right mind would-

"No," Batman said, placing the card back on the table.

Pinkie was unfazed. "And here I thought you didn't have a sense of humor," she said with a smile, "Now, the parties at six and the games include..."

"I said no," Batman repeated, but Pinkie still didn't stop.

"Ha, you’re funny. As I was saying, the party guests will be Rarity, Applejack..."

Batman leaned in very close to Pinkie and looked in her eyes before speaking.

"I. Am. Not. Going," he said very slowly.

"Oh. Yes. You. Are," Pinkie repeated slowly, her smile beginning to falter.

"Um, Batman, you should just go to her party," Twilight said in a worried voice, glancing at Pinkie nervously. No pony for a long time had ever been brave or foolish enough to turn down an invite from Pinkie. This would not end well.

"I am not going to a party that looks like it was designed by a six year old," Batman said sternly, turning to face Twilight, "I would rather face Grundy again."

"And why would that be?" said a dark voice from behind him. Batman turned back to Pinkie, who in a few seconds had changed drastically. Her mane had gone flat and she was a much darker shade of pink. Twilight began to slowly back away, but Batman stared at her unfazed.

"My party will have everything," Pinkie said in a slightly demented voice. "Friends, family and cupcakes. So many delicious cupcakes," she giggled to herself.

"Get it through your skull. I am not going," Batman said, only a little worried about her mood swing. He had faced people that were a lot more demented than her. They had been scary. Her, not so much.

"Oh, please come," Pinkie half begged, half demanded. When that didn't work she tried giving Batman puppy dog eyes.

"Please?" she begged

"No," he responded, starting to get annoyed.

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"PLEASE?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"No!"

Pinkie wasn't handling his rejection to her party too well. What sort of being wouldn't want to have fun and celebrate? Was it her? Maybe she had done something to offend Batman? The more she thought about it, the farther her eyes moved apart from each other. After a minute of silence, Pinkie made a decision.

"Well, I might not be able to FORCE you to come to my party, but mark my words, you will come to one of my parties one day," Pinkie said in her most menacing voice. She opened the library door and slowly backed out it, saying in a whisper, "One day," before closing the door.

"Well, that could have gone better," Twilight joked, letting out a breath that she had been holding for a while.

"Does she act like that all the time or am I just a special occasion?" Batman asked.

"You really should've just accepted her invite," Twilight said, remembering what happened the last time Pinkie got like this, "Pinkie gets a little...funny when ponies refuse her invites."

"I've seen a lot worse," Batman said, standing up and walking over to Twilight's bookshelf, scanning the books for anything on ancient myths, trying to take his mind off what just happened. Twilight eyed him suspiciously, not sure if Batman was joking about seeing worse or if he was telling the truth. If he was, what kind of creatures could be scarier than a demented Pinkie?

There was a knock on the library door, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts. She tensed for a moment, wondering if Pinkie had returned, until she remembered who was next to meet Batman.

"Oh good, that'll be Applejack," Twilight said in relief. She walked over and opened the door, letting the orange cowpony holding a basket inside. Once again, Batman recognized her from the other day. She didn't say anything when she entered; instead she just looked at Batman, analyzing him. After a minute, she walked over to Twilight's table and put the basket on it. She took the cloth off the top to reveal a whole variety of apple-themed treats. Apple pie, apple strudel; even her family's famous apple cider was in there.

"Wow Applejack this is incredible! Is it for me?" Twilight asked, gazing with longing at the treats in the basket.

"Nope. They're fer him," Applejack responded, pointing at Batman, who had been pretending to look for a book. Hearing this, Batman turned around and raised an eyebrow at the orange pony. After everything that had happened, she was bringing him gifts?

"Are you sure you got the right person?" he asked.

"Unless there's another lunatic running around dressed like a bat, I'm pretty sure these are for you," she replied, her face and voice lacking any emotion.

"And the reason you’re bringing these to me is?" Batman asked, suspicious of Applejack's motives. He had beaten her and her friends not too long ago. Why would she suddenly be nice to him unless it was a trap?

"I'm not going to lie and say that ah forgive you for what happened back at the forest or say that ah trust you," she answered, her voice staying neutral," But if what Fluttershy said is true and you really did sacrifice yourself to save mah sister and her friends, then ah have to thank you somehow. You also helped us to defeat that monster Grundy, so ah figure you can't be all bad."

Batman looked into her eyes to see if she was lying. AJ didn't even flinch from under his stare, although she did look a bit more nervous. He decided she was telling the truth, but he would still wait till later before trying the treats.

"Well, that's all," Applejack said, turning to face the door. She opened it and began to walk outside, but then she turned her head to look at Batman, "Oh and ah would avoid coming to our farm. Big Mac's got it out for you after hearing about the fight in the forest. He might try to jump you at any time."

"I'll reserve a place at the hospital for him," Batman replied dryly. AJ gave him a look and proceeded to leave. Once she was gone, Batman headed back to the table where his gifts were and sat down to look at them. He wasn't really sure how what to do with them. He wasn't used to even getting a thank you in his line of work and now he was receiving gifts for helping other, even if he battled with them a day ago? He didn't know what to make of the ponies. Still, the food and drink looked delicious.

He decided to try the pie first, as it was the least likely to be poisoned. He cut himself a piece and sniffed it, before taking a bite. It was magnificent, not that you'd know since Batman's facial expressions never changed once while he was eating. Twilight, who had sat down next to Batman, shook her head.

"You have trust issues, you know that?"

"You'd have issues too if every night someone tried to kill you," he replied gruffly, taking the cider out of the basket. He opened the top and sniffed the rim, gaining him another head shake from Twilight, before taking a sip. The cider was near perfect, masterfully made and with rich flavor. He downed half of it in an instant, before putting the cider down and picking up the strudel. After repeating the sniff and taste process, he found the strudel to be just as good as the previous treats. Applejack defiantly knew how to handle apples.

He had just finished the apple cider when a very soft knock was heard at the door, barely audible.

"That'll be Fluttershy," Twilight said to Batman as she got up to open the door. Standing in the entrance was the yellow pegasus with the pink mane from yesterday, meekly looking at Twilight.

"Fluttershy, come on in," Twilight cheerfully said, stepping out of her friends way. Fluttershy slowly made her way inside, looking at Batman the entire time. When he turned to face her, she hid behind her mane. Twilight pulled up a chair for her at the table, which Fluttershy sat in.

"Anything you need?" Twilight asked Fluttershy, who was still looking at Batman.

"Actually," she whispered, "Would you mind if I talk to him alone?"

Twilight was taken aback by this. Fluttershy was afraid to be in the same room as her shadow by herself, yet she wanted to talk to Batman without Twilight there? Twilight opened her mouth to protest, until she saw the pleading look in her friend’s eyes. Twilight surrendered with a sigh and headed into her room to join Spike, who had fallen asleep.

Batman had expected Fluttershy to be silent and she didn't disappoint. She simply sat in her chair looking at the ground, but glanced at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

"So how has your stay been?" she managed to say at last. Batman had thought for a moment she had forgotten how to speak.

"If you don't count the multi-colored ponies that ask me an endless supply of questions, it hasn't been that bad," he said sarcastically, really not in the mood for small talk.

"I'm sorry," Fluttershy said, hanging her head. Batman rose from his chair and walked over to the bookshelf, half expecting to get a better conversation from it than the pony. He didn't want to answer their questions; he wanted to know what Morgaine was up to. But unless the ponies trusted him, the chances of finding her were slim. Quite the dilemma. Fluttershy had stood up and walked over to his side, just watching him as he "looked" for a certain book. The two of them stood there for a while before Fluttershy spoke again.

"I'm sorry about your parents," she whispered. Batman snapped his head to look at Fluttershy, nearly giving himself whip-lash. He stared at her for a moment before grabbing her by the next and pinning her to the wall.

"How did you know about them?" he snarled, already in fight mode. He was preparing himself to bring her down; to use any amount of fear to keep his secret safe. But what he saw when he looked into Fluttershy's eyes surprised him more than her knowing about his parents. He was pinning her to the wall with a look that would cause a mass murderer to wet himself, yet there wasn't a drop of fear in her eyes. She had the same look of compassion and sorrow on her face that she had when he caught her staring at him. After a minute, he lowered her to the floor, allowing her to speak.

"When I looked into your...stare in the Everfree Forest, I saw a memory of yours," she gasped, still recovering from Batman's reaction, "It was the memory of a child that had both parents taking away from him...from you." Batman just stared at Fluttershy, unsure of what to do. This pegasus had looked into his soul and discovered the one thing he kept hidden above all others. It was safe to say he was in shock.

"I'm sorry," Fluttershy said in a whisper, "I can't imagine how that must feel."

She walked over to Batman and once again surprised him. She stood up on her hind legs and hugged his waist. It wasn't an over emotional hug, it was one that simply said 'I'm sorry.' Batman stood there unmoving, not sure of what to do. After a minute, she let go and looked up at his eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," he replied, his own voice a whisper.

"Alright," she turned and headed to the door. Before she reached it, she said one last thing to Batman.

"I promise I won't reveal your secret to any pony else," she said with a small smile. Batman gave her a questioning glance, not sure if he could trust her. Seeing his look, Fluttershy decided she needed to convince him.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she said, doing some odd movements that ended with her putting her hoof in her eye.

"What was that?"

"A promise," she said softly before opening the library door and exiting, leaving a very confused Batman behind her. After a minute of silence, Twilight opened the door to her bedroom and walked down. Seeing that Fluttershy had left, she pulled out her list.

"So what did you two talk about?" she asked curiously. Batman responded with silence, causing Twilight to sigh.

"Anyway, next up should be-"

"I'm leaving," Batman cut her off, heading for the door.

"Leaving? Where are you going?" she asked, confused.

"Out," he replied curtly, opening the door and walking into the street.

==============-----------------=============

Batman waked down the streets of Ponyville, ignoring all the looks he was getting from the residents. They all looked at him with fear and hid when he got close. They glared at him and whispered behind his back as he past. They had heard from Luna's guards had been informed of who he was and that he would be staying in Ponyville, information that they had passed on to the residents informing them that he was there to help. Yet they still were scared of him. Mothers hid their foals as he got close, some would run away at the sight of him. Luna's guards had been stationed around the town, where they stood silent and unmoving. Batman knew that they too were secretly judging him.

These were the reactions he was used to getting. The fear, the distrust, the loathing; this was how it should be. Yet he couldn't get the image of Fluttershy's eyes out of his mind. Her eyes had been filled with sorrow at his loss, as well as genuine compassion for him and his wellbeing. Batman could tell when someone was faking an emotion, yet Fluttershy's eyes rang true. Why did she care so much about his pain when he had reduced her to a crying mass only the day before? She had also hugged him, trying to comfort the pain he had buried so long ago. Why? Why did she care so much about how he felt? Batman couldn't think of an answer.

He continued to think as he walked, but he also took in some of the scenery. The building looked cartoonish, like everything else in this world. The grass and trees were a lot greener than what he was used to. Birds flew through the air, ponies basked in the sun; everything was at peace, something he never thought he'd live to see. He had battled nearly every night for over ten years to try to achieve a fraction of the peace this world had. How had they managed to do it? Celestia didn't seem like the type to threaten her subjects, so if she didn't use force how did she keep the peace? This was his main thought as he continued on his stroll.

He walked by the gingerbread house he had seen from the forest, reading the sign out front calling this place "Sugarcube Corner." How fitting. He walked by another building called "Carousel Boutique" which seemed like a clothing store. A giant hole in the wall reminded him of the terribly battle the night before. he continued to walk past the staring ponies, not sure where he was going, but any place was better than that tree where all the ponies would question him endlessly. When his feet finally stopped moving, he found himself looking at a bright red schoolhouse on the outskirts of the town.

'So I was right,' he thought to himself, 'They do have some form of education here.'

He was still looking at the school house when a sound reached his ears. It was the sound of children shouting, the kind of shout saved for when something really exciting was happening. Walking around the school house, he saw what appeared to be a playground. A circle of foals had formed in the center of the playground, all of them screaming and yelling. Activating zoom, he looked in the center of the ring of foals to see what the commotion was. Two foals were fighting, rolling around on the ground and shouting at each other the entire time. One was a pinkish filly with a purple mane with a white streak in it, with a crown of some sorts on her flank.

The other was Scootaloo.