//------------------------------// // Fight Night // Story: Batman Vs Nightmare Moon // by ZombieBrony22 //------------------------------// Up in space, just outside of Earth’s atmosphere, rested the Watchtower, containing a few thousand humans who remained hopeful that the Justice League would defeat Nightmare Moon and take their planet back... One of them, was Twilight Sparkle, mockingly called “Sci-Twi” by bullies from her school—Crystal Prep. She was now one of the only remaining humans who hoped to return home. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone with red and yellow hair and a leather jacket take a seat next to her, and take a deep breath. “Hey, Twilight...” Sunset Shimmer said, unable to glance at her. Twilight turned to the stranger, surprised to hear her name out loud. “Y-you know me?” She asked, nervous over her intentions. Sunset, adjusting her seat, nodded. “Yeah... we met, once—back at the freshman year Friendship Games? I... technically forced you to show me every bit of research you made on magical oddities?” Sunset asked Twilight, the former looking down in shame. Twilight’s eyes widened, but her shock soon faded. “Yeah... who would’ve guessed that the one thing I didn’t know about happened to destroy the world?” She asked, hoping to lighten the mood. The two shared a chuckle as they then looked over to see everyone gathered at the observation deck, all whispering over... something. Sunset and Twilight got up and walked over, Twilight’s eyes widened while Sunset cracks a smile. “Kick her ass, Bats...” The moon seemed to have a high-powered spotlight on it—or perhaps a spell enchanting the light—because the moon, still projecting Nightmare Moon’s face, was now blocked off by Batman’s symbol... Back on Earth, Batman stood next to his Bat-Signal, decked out in his Nightmare Armor... the city was almost pitch-black thanks to the lack of people living in it, and now the city was starting to freeze over. Thankfully, Bruce prepared for this, installing heaters in his suit along with Freeze-Tech to preserve the suit’s room temperature as a backup... he won’t be freezing over, tonight. His cowl’s sensors alerted him to Nightmare Moon’s aura behind him, and he turned to see the Mistress of the Night before him, decked out in her own armor, resembling a knight’s armor save for the human variation of her helmet. She donned a spear as she simply started laughing. “You truly think you can defeat me? I’ve spent countless nights haunting you, studying you... I’ve predicted your next move before you can even comprehend it.” She cackled. Batman tried to prove her wrong by not moving, but this only resulted in Nightmare delivering the first blow, slashing at his cowl with her spear, only for the cowl to deflect the blow and chink the spear. Beneath the completely covered cowl, Bruce cracked a smile. “Did you predict that?” She let out a deep growl as she charged again, but this time, Batman charged back, attempting to surprise her with two Batarangs from his utility belt, but she phased through them and jumped about two stories in the air and held her spear down as she let out an inhuman roar, attempting to stab him. Batman rolled out of the stab, however, and Nightmare’s spear was embedded into the concrete roof of the GCPD. Batman then went for the Boom Tube—this was his shot! However, Nightmare decided to abandon her spear and charge at him, starting to charge up her magic. “If I cannot have this world... then I will BURN IT TO THE GROUND!” Just as they were about to clash, Nightmare phased through Batman and reformed behind him, striking his mid-back. His suit took most of the impact, but not all of it, his back still sensitive to when Bane broke it all of those years ago... He let out an angry growl as he tossed two smoke bombs to each side of her and charged back in, only for Nightmare to send him flying with a flick to his face. “Face it, human... I far outpower you... stand down, and perhaps I’ll keep you alive.” She cruelly smiled as Batman struggled to rise to his feet from the impact. Once he got back on his feet, he took a step towards Nightmare, only to stumble and fall... “How about we see what truly happened to Dick Grayson, shall we?” Nightmare cackled as she wrapped Batman in darkness and began conjuring a vision... Bruce was back in Wayne Manor, when Dick Grayson, the first Robin and current Nightwing entered from the main hallway. “Bruce...” “Dick...” He said, reading a newspaper about Batman’s recent apprehension of the Joker. Silence, for a moment, until Dick clears his throat. “Bruce... Barbara’s 4 weeks pregnant.” He said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. Bruce glanced at Dick for a moment before going right back to his newspaper, where it is said that the Joker will be cryogenically frozen alongside Mr. Freeze’s wife, so he can never hurt another soul ever again... “I was only back for 2...” He said, getting in front of Bruce and pulling the newspaper from his hands. Bruce let out a sigh and got up from his seat, standing in place. “I’m... sorry, Dick...” He said, knowing what was about to happen. He scoffed and grabbed Bruce by the shoulders. “Sorry?! Bruce, you know how I’ve felt about Barbara... I trusted you, and you just... took her away!” He said punching Bruce in the face and knocking to the ground.   Once Bruce was on the ground, Dick pinned him down to the floor and began beating on him... and as he did, the nightmare faded away, and Bruce saw that Nightmare was beating him, chipping his cowl with her armor-embedded knuckles. “It’s over, Bruce!” She cackled as she used her magic to bring her spear to her... As she thrusted down on Bruce, he had the spear by its blade, cutting into his hand, but sparing his life... “When will you quit?! I am Nightmare Moon, Mistress of the Night! And you... are... NOTHING!” She forced the blade upwards, cutting deeper into Bruce’s hands, and as she went for the killing strike... A boom tube opened behind her. “And I... am... Batman.” Batman said as he rose to his feet and, with blood still flowing down his hands, kicked Nightmare back into the Boom Tube. “No!” She screamed as the portal closed behind her, and she was back in her dimension, for more qualified beings to put a stop to her... As he panted for breath, he knew that they might take a while to stop her, so he limped back to the Batwing, eager to get out of the city... One week later, as Bruce rested in the Batcave, now empty once again thanks to the last cluster of refugees going on the Watchtower, Bruce heard the doors open, and he turned to see someone he didn’t think he’d see again... “So... what did I miss?” Sunset Shimmer asked him, wearing a winter-fur coat as her breath was visible in the air. He is somewhat shocked to see her, seeing as how she was last seen on the Watchtower before the fight. “How did you--?” “I have my secrets.” She smirked while leaning on a wall and bounced a ball across the wall, onto the floor, and back into her hand, creating a cycle that was starting to irritate Bruce. “What do you want?” He grumbled. Sunset stopped bouncing the ball and caught it in her hand. “I just... wanted to say thanks. For setting me straight, y’know? I mean, not like I was scared or anything--” “You’re lying.” He let out a small grin as Sunset started growing a shade redder. “U-um, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Y-you set me straight, only you...” She nervously chuckled. “You’re blushing, nervously posing... you met someone, didn’t you?” Bruce deduced as he took a sip of tea. Sunset tried fumbling through a dismissive remark, but she decided that it wasn’t smart to tell the Batman to “shut up”. “W-well... yeah. I’m not perfect... I’m actually far from it, but I just want a second chance... I didn’t think I’d want that, but here we are.” Bruce took a moment to set his tea down and lean forward slightly. “So why are you here?” He asked. Sunset took a breath and cleared her throat. “I want to help you. However I can, really... maybe as your pair of eyes and ears at Canterlot for anything... magical, y’know?” She asked, while Bruce began counting how many times she said “y’know”. Bruce let out a hum as he stood up from the chair... and a bright light rang out from outside... The two of them walked up the stairs and they saw it: the sun had returned, and the temperature was almost immediately increasing... The two looked onto the ice-covered city with few buildings—not including Wayne Tower or the GCPD—still standing, as it slowly got enveloped with light, giving the two hope that things will one day return to normal... but that was a long day away—for right now, there was work to be done.