//------------------------------// // Crime Alley // Story: A Dark Knight Over Canterlot // by Battwell //------------------------------// Canterlot City The cold wind picked up, causing Princess Twilight to shiver involuntarily as she gazed into the clearly annoyed expression of the Batman. After Rainbow Dash zoomed away to think, the Gotham City Vigilante decided to make himself known to The Rainbooms so that he could talk to them. And that included scaring the daylights out of them. All had been silent ever since Batman arrived, no one had even dared to say anything, they were too afraid to. Applejack, being the brave teenager she was, decided to clear her throat and break the tension, “Um... Howdy, Ah'm--" "Jaqueline Apple; also known as Applejack," Batman finished, cutting her off, "I know who you all are, what you can all do." He then looked at each and every one of them with his famous Bat Glare before adding, "I also know that you're thinking about going after The Riddler. Let me give you a piece of advise." He then took a step forward, to which the Equestria Girls took a step back. "Don't." That shocked all of them, not the fact that Batman told them to stay out of the way, but the fact that The Riddler was in town. Things just went from bad to worse. The native Humans shivered in slight terror, the thought of being in one of Riddler's puzzles terrified them. They were all broken out of their stupor when Batman continued, "The Riddler is far too dangerous for you to take on. Your friend, Rainbow Dash was nearly killed because she overestimated herself. If I hadn't been here, your friend would've been killed." The hero then turned his back on them and began retreating into the darkness, "So do me a favor and stay out of the way." None of the girls made a sound of defiance, he had clearly gotten through to them on how dangerous this mission of his truly was. And that's exactly what he wanted, for them all to stay out of the way and remain safe. "But we can help you!" Batman frowned, clearly one of them wasn't as bright as the others. The hero turned his head and saw that Princess Twilight was the source of defiance, a look of sheer determination written all over her face. She wasn't going to back down. "Look, from what I know from my friends, you are some kind of hero here on Earth," Understatement of the century, "But as a Princess I just can't stand by while there are innocent people in trouble." She declared, taking a step forward, hoping to appeal to him, "Please, let me prove that I'm worthy of being a Princess." With Batman not replying, Twilight's hopes were rising. Maybe she had gotten through to him. She didn't. Batman gave the former Alicorn a quizzical look, "You want to prove yourself? Show everyone that you're more than just a poster girl?" He surmised, slightly shocking the former Pony. When she nodded her head, Batman only had four words for her. "Cry me a river." Twilight's mind shut down and began rebooting at that very moment. "You wish to put the lives of your friends at risk just so you can prove yourself?" Batman shook his head in a disappointed fashion, "That doesn't sound like a Princess of Friendship to me. That sounds like a Princess of Selfishness." And with that, Batman turned his head and began to walk away from the flabbergasted Princess. Twilight tried imitating a fish, opening and closing her mouth multiple times. Her mind tried to comprehend what had just happened, but it just couldn't fathom it. When Twilight looked away and bowed her head in sadness, Sunset glared at the retreating form of the Batman. "Hey!" She shouted, stomping over towards the retreating vigilante, "You can't talk to my friend that way and just walk away!" Sunset emphasized this point by grabbing hold of Batman's hand, hoping to stop him from leaving. But as soon as she made contact with him, her eyes glowed bright and stopped dead in her tracks. She was looking into his memories. Sunset's eyes snapped open, her breath escaping her as she found herself shrouded in darkness. The former Unicorn panted heavily as she looked around at her surroundings, fear slowly creeping up her spine. She backpedaled before bumping into something behind her. Slowly turning around to face what was behind her, she was relieved to find that it was only a sign. A sign with the words Crime Alley written on it. Tilting her head to the side in confusion, the young girl then noticed that the darkness surrounding her began to brighten, a spotlight shining down on a family consisting of three members. A mother. A father. And a child. Keeping at a safe distance, the Equestrian slowly followed behind the family as they laughed heartedly at the young boys antics. It appeared that he was role playing that of a hero of sorts, using a foil to fence away at his imaginary foes. Their laughter was suddenly drowned out when the sound of heavy footsteps sounded out in the alleyway, the family freezing to a halt when a man covered in darkness made himself known. Sunset looked at the shrouded man, noticing how his hands were in his pockets. His face was completely blank, as was the rest of his body, shrouded in nothing but blackness. The girl's eyes shot open in horror as the shrouded man removed his hands from his pockets, revealing that he was holding a gun. The mother held her son close while the father stood in front of his family, willing to defend them from harm. Sunset took note of the young boy, he looked terrified, he clung to his mother for dear life. But suddenly the father rushed forward, hoping to disarm the shrouded man. BANG A single gunshot sounded off in Sunset's ears. She looked on in horror as the father fell to his knees, blood oozing from the wound in his chest. He had been shot. Sunset let out a scream as the father fell to the floor, succumbing to his wounds and bleeding out. The mother let out a pained cry as the shrouded man walked towards her and her son. Reaching for her pearled necklace, he tore off the jewelry before aiming his gun at the mother. Sunset's eyes widened even more as she rushed forward, hoping to stop what was about to happen. "NO!" BANG Sunset stopped dead in her tracks as the second gunshot sounded off. She looked on as the mother collapsed right in front of her son, lying down on the ground right next to the father. Sunset put a hand over her mouth as tears began falling from her eyes. She once again took note of the boy, who's face was one of pain, tears streaming down his face as he fell to his knees. Sunset watched as the shrouded man took off into the darkness, escaping into the night with his prize, leaving a family forever broken. A few minutes passed before Sunset worked up the courage to walk over to the young boy. As she walked closer, she noticed a strange amount of bats flying above her, which was really strange. The closer Sunset got, the louder the boy's sobs came to her ears. But it would appear that she got too close, as suddenly, a tornado of bats appeared from the sky and swirled around the young boy. Backing away, Sunset could only notice how the boy slowly got to his feet as his two dead parents faded away. Then all of a sudden, the boy turned to Sunset, a vengeful scowl written across his face. It was then that all of the bats obscured Sunset's vision of the boy. She reached a hand out to help him, but stopped dead in her tracks as the bats parted, revealing a familiar silhouette. Sunset gasped as the shadow of the Batman appeared in the middle of the swarm of bats, his white eyes turning into a frown as the bats suddenly shot towards the Equestrian. Sunset placed her arms in front of her in a desperate attempt to defend herself. But she was engulfed in the swarm of bats. And Crime Alley dissipated. Sunset returned with a pained gasped, her hand releasing Batman's as she took a shaky step back away from the vigilante. As Sunset looked around in confusion and fear, the Rainbooms could only look on in concern for their friend. "Sunset?" Fluttershy asked in worry, taking a step towards her friend and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Sunset flinched at the touch, but relaxed when she saw that it was only her friend. But that didn't help much. She turned around to face the Batman, but found that he was already gone. Pinkie looked around in confusion, "Hey, where'd he go?" "I don't know, how did he do that without any of us noticing?" Sci-Twi asked as she too looked around for the Dark Knight. As the others looked around for the hero, Princess Twilight noticed how Sunset didn't move an inch from her spot. Concerned, she walked over to see if she was okay, "Sunset, are you alright?" The student didn't answer the teacher. She was too busy processing what she saw. What revelation she witnessed within her vision. The story of a young boy who lost both of his parents after coming home from a movie. As she put the pieces together, she reminded herself of a news article she found on the computer when researching about Earth when she first arrived. She remembered the story of the Waynes. That was it! The pieces fit together! And Sunset finally put it together. And it shook her to the core. How could it not? She let a gasp of air escape her as she finally came to the only logical conclusion of what she saw. The reason why he does what he does. His origins. Sunset Shimmer had figured it out. Bruce Wayne is Batman.