Batmane Begins
Chapter 1: Loss
It was a night like any other in Canterlot, a quiet night, silence broken only by the sounds of ponies having a bit too much cider after attending one of the many parties thrown almost every night. The darkness kept at bay by the gentle light radiating from Lunas moon, and the soft glow of the streetlights that dotted the streets.
“It’s such a shame that barely anypony gets to see the city at night; it truly is a sight to behold.” Fancy Pants thought to himself as he walked home from a party in the palace gardens, a party that many in Canterlot would definitely remember due to the Elements of Harmony and their.. peculiar ways. Especially the antics of one purple unicorn, whose dancing was so atrocious that many ponies attending were rushed to the emergency room for corrective eye surgery. Although apart from what was possibly the strangest party he had ever attended, the white stallion had something else on his mind, a question he was going to ask the mare that he loved. Yes, tonight was going to be the night.
“You look like you’re thinking about something dear” The mare at his side remarked
“Oh it’s nothing Fleur, just admiring the beauty of the city at night. Of course it all pales in comparison to the wonderful mare with me.” As he said this Fancy Pants drew closer to Fleur, their sides almost rubbing together as they walked. Fleur blushed, visible even through her white coat. Still even with the added heat that rushed throughout her, she couldn’t help but shiver slightly from the cold autumn air.
Seeing this Fancy Pants put a hoof around her side, and she nuzzled into him slightly, grateful for the added warmth his leg was giving her.
“Although I guess now that you mention it there is something I wanted to ask you Fleur” Fancy Pants said as the couple drew to a stop.
“These last 12 months with you have been the best of my life” Fancy Pants fumbled through his waistcoat pocket. “I, I want that feeling to last forever.” Shaking with nervousness, he produced a small box containing a necklace in the form of three Fleur-de-lis. “Fleur, will you marry me?”
Tears welled in the corners of Fleurs eyes, her knees trembled, threatening to give in at any moment. In a voice only slightly more audible than a whisper, she managed to say. “O- of course I w-will” As she quickly embraced him. Returning the hug, Fancy put the necklace on her, and whispered in her ear.
“I’m the luckiest stallion in Equestria, I really, really am”
Releasing their hold, the couple simply stared deeply into each others eyes, both lost in a world of blissful joy.
A world that was about to come crashing down.
Footsteps signaled the approach of another pony. A pony in a rush by the sound of it.
“Aw aint that sweet? Two lovebirds out at night, you know the streets aren’t always safe at this time”
Fancy Pants turned around to see a light brown earth pony stallion wearing a dirty grey jacket standing a few meters away, his face cloaked in darkness. His mane was barely visible, being as black as ebony. Even so Fancy could make out that he was wearing a mask of some kind, it almost resembled a bat. What did draw his attention though was the stallions’ outstretched hoof, holding a small gun.
The stranger spoke very softly.
“I want everything you got on ya, or you and your lady friend will have an early trip to the city morgue”
Fancy Pants froze, he had never encountered such danger before. He wanted to put on a brave face for his beloved Fleur, but try as he might he stood rooted to the spot, his face contorted in a look of unrestrained horror.
The stranger spoke up again.
“That’s the problem with you rich types, ya act like you’re on top of the world, but ya just sniveling babies when faced with real danger. Say that’s a pretty mare ya got there. Hey babes, ditch this loser and get with a real pony, this gun aint the only heat I’m packing” Giving Fleur a lecherous stare up and down her body, finally resting his eyes on her flank.
Fancy Pants knew he shouldn’t stand for this, but the idea of going against this pony scared him, he wanted to defend his lady’s honour, but try as he might he couldn’t will himself to move. Suddenly Fleur spoke up.
“As if I’d ever go off with scum like you” There was a fierce look in her eyes that Fancy Pants had never seen before.
“Maybe you’ll change ya mind if I take care of you’re little boyfriend here, huh baby doll” The stranger pointed his weapon at Fancy Pants.
In that moment Fancy saw his life flash before his eyes, he then shut them tightly, knowing that his end was near.
“NOOO!” Screamed Fleur, as a gunshot rang through the air.
A soft thud, caused Fancy Pants to open his eyes. He was still alive! It was only then though, that he noticed the slender white mare laying on the ground in front of him, a pool of red forming around her.
“Fleur.. n-n-no” Fancy Pants gasped as tears came to his eyes.
“Stupid bitch, took a bullet for a ya.” The stallion stepped forward into the light, Fancy Pants could now clearly see the bat mask he was wearing, although everything was hazy as he viewed them through his watering eyes.
The stallion bent down and snatched the necklace from Fleurs neck, quickly stuffing it into his jacket pocket.
“I should kill you right now, but judging from the expression on your face, you’d suffer more if I just left you alive. You can live the rest of ya life, knowing that your little girlfriend died, because you were too much of a mare to try and stop me”
The stallion gave Fancy Pants a wicked grin, before turning around and disappearing into the night.
Fancy Pants slumped to the ground. In a matter of minutes his perfect day, had become his worst nightmare. He rocked gently back and forth, desperately hoping to wake up from this horrible dream, and yet, no relief came. All he could do was sit there, and feel his life crumble around him.
The Captain of the Guards, Shining Armour, entered the room, holding two cups of coffee, the steam rising from them visible in the cold air. This was going to be a tough one, Fancy Pants just lost his mare, Shining could understand how traumatizing it must be to see your love gunned down like that. The very idea made him think of Cadance, and how he would feel if anything happened to her. After setting them down of the table, he looked the stallion in front of him.
“Hey there, I know this must be rough on you, but if you have any information on the guy who did this, It could help us greatly in catching him” Shining was trying his hardest to sound as friendly as possible. Experience taught him that ponies were much more likely to help, and felt more comfortable when they saw him as a friend, and not just a guard.
Fancy just sat there, his eyes fixated on the table in front of him, his face blank. Shining knew this was the worst possible state for a pony to be in, he’d seen too many ponies that never recovered from extreme shock, and he wasn’t about to let another one fall into eternal despair.
“Look buddy, I know this must be really difficult, but I want to catch the scum who’s responsible just as badly as you do.”
For the first time, Fancy lifted his head to look Shining right in the eyes.
“Then arrest me officer.. I’m responsible, I could’ve acted, I could’ve- I could’ve done something. Now Fleurs gone, all because I didn’t have the courage.”
Shining had heard this story before; it was quite common for survivors to blame themselves. It never got any easier to deal with though.
“Hey don’t talk like that, there was nothing you could’ve done. It wasn’t your fault, it was his, and his alone” Shining placed a hoof on his shoulder, giving a slight, reassuring squeeze.
Fancy gave him the same expressionless stare, although now Shining could see how much pain there was in his eyes.
“You weren’t there, she- she took a bullet for me. B-but, even when he had the gun pointed at her, I just couldn’t do anything. I was terrified I was more concerned with staying alive”
At this point Fancy started to cry, softly and first, but gradually getting louder. In between sobs he wailed
“She was going to marry me!”
Shining couldn’t take it, the sight of this grown stallion, completely broken, tore at his heart. He wrapped Fancy in a tight hug, while Fancy cried deeply into his shoulder.
Shining let him get it all out, in these situations, the victims need to be shown the upmost care and respect. After around 10 minutes, Fancy started to calm down. He took several deep breaths before speaking.
“Th-thank you sir, I- I just can’t believe she’s gone, that- that everything’s changed.”
“It’s alright Fancy, and please, just call me Shining. Now, if you don’t mind I’ve got a few questions about the stallion……”
That’s all I got written for the first chapter guys. Uh I may as well say a few words about this fic, and why I’m writing it. I guess the main reason is I fucking love Batman. Some other reasons would be, I like Friendship is Magic, not to the extent of Batman, but to the extent where I thought I’d write a fanfic for it. This is my very first fanfic as well, so any comments/praise/criticisms/tips would be greatly appreciated. Although it’d be nice if it were all praise.
I know Batmane isn’t in this here first chapter, but I want to set up the character of Fancy Pants first, and what drives him to become Batmane, if things go well we’ll see the pony incarnation of our favourite Bat kicking ass in a few chapters.