//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: A New Objective // Story: The Dark Knight Falls // by TheClownPrinceofCrime //------------------------------// Batman raised his batarang and threw it at the Lord of Chaos. Striking him on his left eye, he screamed in pain and released the wounded Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash swooped down, gently grabbed her, and brought her over to her friends. Fluttershy was crying from the painful stab wound she received from Discord. That made everypony angry at Discord for the act of immense cruelty he displayed. This signified his ultimate abandonment from friendship. “Enough games, ponies! I have a kingdom to rule! The Joker has shown me everything I needed to know as to how pathetically worthless you all are! I will not allow any of you to ruin my destiny!” Discord bellowed. Batman and Shining were about to attack him, but Discord snapped his fingers, bringing a large spread of peanut butter and jelly to land on them. After the mixed spread covered them, they tried to free themselves but it was too sticky. Discord then appeared as a football player; afterwards, he brandished a football and shot it toward the princesses. They tried to shield themselves from the attack, but it was no use. The large football shattered their combined shield and knocked them out. Discord blew his whistle in triumph. “TOUCHDOWN!! YEAH!! Hahahahaha!!” He snapped his fingers, disappearing. While the Mane Five and Spike were taking care of Fluttershy, Twilight looked around and noticed that The Joker was no longer present. She greatly dreaded the thought of what the two chaotic villains were up to next. If they were to save Equestria from their power, they needed to create a plan that will help them all. “Are you going to be all right, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy kept wincing in pain from the stab wound that leaked some blood on her wing. Looking up to her, she made a tiny half-smile. “I will be okay, T-Twilight.” She then started to cry again. “My emotional pain is worse than my physical pain right now...” she said, breaking in tears again. Seeing Fluttershy cry made Rainbow’s blood boil to a high degree. “DISCORD IS GONNA PAY FOR THIS!!! NOPONY HURTS FLUTTERSHY AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!!” “Indeed!! This is getting to personal now!! That ruffian must be dealt with severely!!” Rarity added. Suddenly, a large thundercloud hovered in the night sky; lightning bolts were striking everywhere, and chocolate rain was raining hard. Everypony ran away in fear of the frightening lightning bolts that nearly struck the buildings next to them. The princesses, Spike, Shining Armor, the Mane Six, and Batman were left alone. “We have to do something! Discord is now creating a thunderstorm to revive his chaotic kingdom!” Shining alerted. The princesses blasted the sticky spread off of him and Batman. They stood up from the ground. “Easy! We will just turn him back to stone! Just like what we and the princesses have done before!” Rainbow recalled. “Yes, but I’m afraid you have to do more than that.” Celestia grimly spoke. “I hate to say this, but I have made a grave mistake in ever giving him a chance at friendship; that only empowered him to be a cruel monster as demonstrated in his strong alliance with The Joker.” “Now Discord will stop at nothing when he will revision this world as his own. Discord must...be destroyed.” Luna sternly added. Fluttershy gasped at the new objective assigned to them. “DESTROY HIM?! But-But we can’t! There’s got to be another way to stop him!” “Fluttershy, did you not see how Discord back-stabbed you?! Figuratively and literally?! He is now going full savage mode!” Spike reminded. “Yeah! Discord has gone way too far now! Killin’ ponies, destroyin’ property, helpin’ a sociopathic villain from Gotham, causing chaos, and especially almost killin’ ya!” Applejack added. “May ah go on?” “Sure! Turning us into our opposite selves, stealing the elements of harmony, taking away horns and wings from you, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight, making animals to dance, making cotton candy clouds, making beavers to be very violent, aaaannddd...” Pinkie rambled. “I was askin’ rhetorically, Pinkie Pie.” Applejack clarified, having an annoyed look. “Oh, right! Sorry!” Pinkie smiled sheepishly. “There is one concern I have though.” began Batman. “Since you defeated him twice in a row, he would know by now all of your tricks and your main method of operation. Which means that we have to come with a different approach in that way he won’t suspect what we have in mind for him.” “As far as destroying him is concerned, my policy is to never kill any human being. However, when it has to do with mythological creatures of evil and destruction, that is when I make an exception. The stakes are too high for us to fail.” Batman said. “Excellent. I’m glad you agree to our new objective here. But I am curious as to what this different approach is since you mentioned about it.” Celestia said. “Of course, Princess. All of you gather around. In order for us to stop Discord, this is the plan we must meticulously follow.” Batman advised as they gathered in a circle. Once they huddled, Batman whispered to them his plan. After he finished speaking to them of his plan, they were skeptical about the new plan. “Are you sure that’s going to work?” Shining asked. “Trust me, Shining Armor. As long as we work together, we will prevail. First, we take care of Discord, then we face against The Joker. It’s wise to save the hardest foe for the last.” Batman said. “I still don’t feel this is the right way...” muttered Fluttershy. “I j-just can’t imagine doing this in such a merciless manner.” “I know this is the hard way, Fluttershy. But you must remember that desperate times require desperate measures.” Batman comforted. “You are a strong and brave pegasus. Never forget that.” “Thank you, Batman. I’m so happy you are in my life.” Fluttershy said, tears flowing from her eyes. She hugged him tightly. “Good luck, my little ponies. The fate of Equestria rests in your—.” Celestia was interrupted. “You two are coming with us.” Batman firmly ordered. Celestia and Luna became surprised and confused. “We will use all hooves on deck to defeat our greatest enemies. No man or pony is an island.” “Ohh, well—um, we were just...uh...” stuttered Celestia who sweated nervously. Batman gave her the bat-glare. “Okay, fine we’ll go with you!” she uttered submissively. “That’s more like it. Come on, guys. We have Equestria to save.” Batman declared.