//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: The Rise of Anarchy part 1 // Story: The Dark Knight Falls // by TheClownPrinceofCrime //------------------------------// Batman, Shining Armor, and the guards were horrified at the grisly sight of the fallen princess. Shining fell on his knees and heavily cried over the tragic loss of his beloved wife. Cadence was like a shining light in his life as well as somepony who always stood by his side in times of prosperity and adversity. They defeated Chrysalis and her changeling army together through the power of love. They even worked together to defeat Sombra with the help of the crystal ponies. After everything they went through together during the last few years of a happy and blissful marriage, this is how they part ways? This is supposed to be the end of their loving relationship? He truly couldn’t believe it with his own eyes; he greatly feared the dramatic reactions of his sister Twilight and her friends. Batman had a serious deja vu as he beheld the alicorn’s fried corpse. He remembered how The Joker intentionally mixed the addresses of Rachel and Dent since the latter knew he would come for her. Failing to save her life and ending up saving Harvey instead was the most painful experience he ever went through. Thus, he could sympathize with and understand Shining during this hour of anguish. “I’m sorry, Shining...for the loss of your wife.” Batman empathized, placing his arm around Shining’s neck. “Ca-Cadence...I (sniff) lost her...forever...” Shining sobbed. “Why? Wh-why did this happen...nooo...” he broke down in tears. The guards had very sad looks and were also deeply emotional over the death of Cadence. They took their helmets off and bowed before her corpse in respect. “If I had known this would happen, I should have protected her more. This is all my fault!” Shining mourned. “Do not blame yourself, Captain. We tried our utmost best to find her until it was too late to save her. I know The Joker did this to us...to you.” Batman growled. “I appreciate your sympathy, Batman, but what about Discord? Does he even know about this?” Shining asked. Suddenly, Discord appeared in a white flash before them all while having the most innocent expression. “Dear goodness, are you fellas all right?! I heard a thunderous boom near the Crystal Empire, and I was worried some of you were hurt!” he lied. Shining started to be suspicious of him since he still remained unconvinced of that he was clear from all this. “Discord, were you aware of Cadence’s absence from the empire? And I haven’t even seen you around here for a while!” he sternly asked. “You were so eager for me to leave you alone, weren’t you?” Discord asked, keeping his deception in tact. “So that’s what I did. Plus, I had no idea at all about her ‘disappearance’ which you mentioned.” He then turned to the Dark Knight. “Ohhhhhh, looks like we have a menacing guest here in Equestria! Very impressive look you got there, stranger! You may call me Discord, the Lord of Chaos. What is yours?” Batman was silent for a few seconds before he replied, “I’m Batman. You must be this infamous being whom Twilight and her friends were talking about.” He too got somewhat suspicious of what he was really up to. “Ohh, I’m so touched that they talked about me! I bet they said flattering things about me!” Discord replied. “Some of those things of which I will kill them. I don’t know about Fluttershy though.” “This is serious, Discord! Can you not see my wife is no longer in the land of the living?!” Shining angrily yelled. “Have some sympathy for ONCE!!” “Why, dear prince, I am most sorry for the loss of your precious wife. Please pardon my ignorant callousness.” Discord apologized with the slightest hint of sarcastic mockery. “But I’m afraid there are waves of unsympathetic tones coming in your way, both of you.” “What do you mean by that?” Batman asked although he already knew exactly what he meant and realized what was coming from a mile away. “See for yourselves.” said Discord. Batman and Shining turned to see many ponies from Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, and Ponyville, including Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and her friends. “You told them what happened?” Shining asked. “Not exactly. I simply told them to come here since we all heard the explosion miles away from here. That’s all.” Discord replied. All the ponies gathered around the crater and beheld with their own eyes the dead body of Cadence. All at once, they mourned and wept over her death, especially Twilight. “NOOO!!! CADENCE!! NOT YOU TOO!!” Twilight cried with soaking tears on her eyes. Her friends were also crying over the death of their dear, close friend. Discord secretly smirked as he excitedly awaited the reaction of every other pony gathered. Once they were done crying, the ponies from Canterlot and Ponyville, except the Mane Six, angrily turned to the Royal Sisters who were weeping silently. “This is all your fault!! You’re supposed to be the almighty princesses of Equestria to protect us from dangerous creatures like The Joker!!” a male unicorn rashly berated. “Why didn’t you save all those poor ponies from their deaths at the hospital?! You both should have protected them from danger!!” a female earth pony added. The Canterlot ponies then started to angrily murmur against the surviving princesses. The sisters simply said nothing as they pitied the misunderstanding minds of their subjects. While they were berating the princesses, the crystal ponies turned to Batman and Shining with scorn. “This is your fault too, Batman and Shining Armor!! You guys failed to save the very princess of hope and love! Without her, the Crystal Empire will be forever hopeless!!” a female crystal pony accused. The other crystal ponies nodded in agreement. “What?! No, that’s a lie! They were trying to save her from her mysterious capture!! They had no idea this would happen!!” a mare from Canterlot defended them. “You’re calling me a liar?! You actually think Prince Shining and Batman are innocent in this?! You’re so delusional!” she retorted. “Batman is our hero! He never fails a single mission! I know it to be true!” Mayor Mare argued. “Yeah! He and Shining are the real heroes in Equestria, unlike our incompetent rulers over there!” a Wonderbolt named Soarin added, glaring at Celestia and Luna. “Oh shut up, you idiot! Batman and Prince Shining have done a horrible job in keeping our empire safe by being negligent in saving Cadence’s life!! I lost all respect for them!” a crystal unicorn angrily spat. At that moment, all the ponies of opposite sides began to be divided amongst themselves; the crystal ponies stood against Batman, Shining Armor, and the princesses whereas the ponies from Canterlot and Ponyville stood for the two heroes but were antagonistic to the Royal Sisters. “These lazy so-called rulers need to be dethroned!! They have disqualified themselves for not stopping this madness!!” a crystal pegasus shouted. “It’s time we take matters into our own hooves and save ourselves from this terrorism!!” they shouted in unison, raising their torches and pitchforks. The sun began to set as this all unfolded. As the sky got darker, the crystal ponies erected hate signs and hate posters for Batman and Shining. Unwilling to behold this chaos any longer, the princesses teleported away. The Mane Six were completely shocked and dumbfounded as all this was happening in front of them. Why were their own friends and family that desperate in trying to save themselves without relying on the power of friendship? It pained them to the core to see them becoming bitter and hateful toward each other. “This is so bad! Like, really bad!” Fluttershy whimpered. “This is absolutely horrible! I hate to see our own friends turning against each other like this!” Rarity added. “We can’t just sit around here and do nothing! It’s so obvious that The Joker dude is behind all of this!” Rainbow said. “Yeah, we gotta do somethin’ about this!” Applejack agreed. “What are we supposed to do,Twilight?” Pinkie asked. The rest turned to her for her plan. “I-I d-don’t know! I don’t! I’ve never thought any of this would happen! It’s unclear how my sister-in-law died, and everypony else is getting so rebellious!” Twilight panicked. “I think...we will be facing anarchy.”