//------------------------------// // Two Godly Forces // Story: A Dark Knight for Equestria // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Outskirts of Everfree Forest. Twilight and the rest of the mane six stood on the edge of the forest , preparing to head inside. Twilight had sent letters to the rest of the girls telling them to meet her on the outskirts of the forest. When they had arrived, they found Twilight pacing impatiently around. "Finally!" she said sarcastically. "What, did you stop to get something to eat on the way here?" She had gotten there a good thirty minutes earlier than the time mentioned in the letters. The fact that they were "late" had not helped her mood. "Alrigh,t sugar cube, we're all here. Now what's the big emergency?" Applejack asked. "Well, Applejack, you remember earlier the story Scootaloo told you, me, Rarity and Rainbow Dash?" "Yeah, what about it?" "Well I received a message from the princess and apparently, the bat's real." Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow's jaws all hit the ground at the same time. "So Scoots was telling the truth?" asked Rainbow, guilt filling up her chest. "Apparently," responded Twilight, "and I'd like to go and meet this bat so I can see what its intentions are and why it's here." "Oh, you mean the giant bat I saw the other day! I wonder if he likes parties." Pinkie asked herself. "Somehow, I doubt it will. Let's go." The five of them started to head to the for the forest, until they realized that Fluttershy hadn't budged. Turning to face their friend, the ponies noticed that she was, as usual, hesitant to move forward. Rolling her eyes, Twilight walked over to her. "Fluttershy, what's wrong?" "O-oh, nothing's wrong Twilight," Fluttershy stammered, "I just think one of us stayed behind to make sure...make sure it doesn't try to sneak out while we're in there." "Nice try, you're still coming with us." With that, all six friends headed out to find the bat. ------------------------------------- Thirty minutes later, Everfree Forest It was not in Batman's nature to get excited when something went right, but in this instance, he allowed himself a small smile. The cryptographic sequencer had picked up a very small trace of Morgaine's magic. He had increased the search area of the device by connecting it with his cowls zoom, making it scan where he looked, instead of its ten mile default. The north-west area had given off a small trace of earth magic. That must have been where Hayfield had been located. Outside his cave, he crouched next to the river cupping his hand and began to drink. He hadn't eaten in quite a while, but as long as he stayed hydrated he was fine. His body could go around a month without food, longer if he was working. He had only taken a few drinks before a sound caught his ear. It sounded like someone walking through the forest. Five...no, six horses, extremely loud and obnoxious, heading his way. Batman was a little bit annoyed, but it would be easy enough to slip past the horses and make his way to the forest edge. That was, until he saw through the trees a pink horse hopping up and down. The same horse that had managed to sense him back when he was hidden in the shadows. 'She must have an ability to sense people or horses that are hidden.' He thought grimly. He wouldn't be able to avoid them after all. He simply remained crouched next to stream, pretending to drink, but listening all the while. A faint gasp was heard, followed by what sounded like six horses rushing into the bushes around the clearing. They clearly weren't the stealthy type, as Batman could pick up on their conversations with ease. "So that's the bat? It doesn't look so tough," he heard one say. "Hush, Rainbow Dash," another with a southern accent whispered (poorly) to her friend. "Oh, come on, look at it," the one called Rainbow responded, "It’s not even scary. Big maybe, but I've fought bigger." "Will you two both stop talking," a third voice chimed in, "It'll hear us!" "We should go say hi, Twilight!" the pink one said rather loudly. "Pinkie, hush," the voice belonging to Twilight whispered. "What is it wearing?" another voice piped up. "Rarity, not you too," Twilight said, frustration in her voice. "Come on, Twi, it can't be that bright, look at its outfit," the southern horse spoke, "No sane pony would go around in that." "Well, Applejack, maybe it wears the outfit because it's not a pony and it's insane!" Twilight retorted. "Um," a voice so small spoke that Batman could barely make it out, "I think we should just leave it alone." "Are you kidding, Fluttershy, we can take it!" Rainbow spoke up again, garnering her another shush from Twilight. Having already learned the horse’s names, Batman decided it was time to act. "I say we rush it on three," Rainbow whispered, "One, two..." "Three," finished Batman. He heard all six horses jump at the sound of his voice. He stood up and turned to face the bushes where they were "hiding." He heard them argue over whose fault it was that he heard them before they finally came out. He recognized the purple unicorn from yesterday as well as pink one. The orange one was from the farm, but the other three were new to him. One was a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. He assumed this was Rainbow. A white unicorn with a well-kept mane was behind her. Rarity. Finally, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane was trying her best to hide behind all of them. Definitely Fluttershy. The purple one was the first to speak. "Um, what are you," she asked with some hesitation. Batman recognized her voice from earlier. So this was Twilight. He simply stared at her until she lowered her head and slowly backed up. Rainbow Dash was next. "Hey, what's your problem she asked you a question." Silence is all Rainbow got in response. Twilight once again tried to speak. "Um, it's nice to meet you. My name's..." "Twilight," answered Batman. All six of them looked stunned at his knowledge. "How did you...?" Twilight began. "You and your friends aren't exactly quiet." Batman responded. "Um, yes, I'm Twilight and these are my friends..." "Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rainbow," Batman finished for her. Again, six pairs of eyes looked at him shocked. Twilight was unnerved, but tried her best to keep the conversation moving. "Yes, those are their names. So, um, mind telling us yours?" Her question was once again met with a silent stare. He wasn't sure if he could trust these horses. The blue one looked like she wanted to try to jump him at any moment, whereas the purple on was studying him like a test subject. Silence was the best option for now. After an awkward moment, Pinkie hopped up in front of him and unleashed a torrent of questions. "Do you like parties? Is black your favorite color? I've never done a party with black streamers before but..." She went on like that for a minute before Twilight pushed her out of the way. She hesitated before asking her next question, one the Dark Knight was not particularly happy to hear. "Okay, um, I need to ask you to come with us." she began. "The princess would like to meet you and would probably like to have a talk." When he didn't respond, she finished with. "So if you'd kindly follow me..." He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She literally expected him to follow her to some unknown location where a princess would try to interrogate him for information. He had thought she was the smart one. Before she could finish, Batman gave a simple answer. "No." "Excuse me?" Twilight asked, a little stunned. "You heard me," Batman said, turning to leave. He had already wasted enough time with the horses. He had to get to the site that Morgaine's trail lead to if he wanted to have any hope of tracking her location before she killed again. Unbeknownst to him, an orange pony wasn't taking too kindly to his attitude. "Hey, wait!" Twilight yelled out as Batman almost vanished back into the forest. Almost. He heard a "Yehaw" and a moment later a rope was around his neck. It wasn't tight, but it was enough to cause him to stop. As he turned to face the horse, the one called Applejack had taken a rope from out of nowhere and lassoed Batman. Big mistake. "Mah friend said wait," she muttered through the rope in her teeth. He was not amused. "You have five seconds to release me before I act in self-defense." Batman began, thinking of how to bring them down. He could probably beat and/or break them in a matter of seconds, but his conscience held him back. These weren't trained guards getting paid to fight creatures like him. They were civilians, horses trying to do what they believed was right. He would have to neutralize them without hurting them. That would be tricky. "Five," he began the count. "Applejack, what are you doing? Let him go!" Twilight yelled at her friend. "Not until he tells us who he is and what he's doing here." Applejack replied. "Four." "I agree with AJ. He hasn't been cooperating. I say we hogtie him and bring him gift wrapped to Celestia's." Rainbow said. "Three." "Girls, we can't do this. Yeah, maybe he was a little rude, but we can't just tie him up!" "Are you kidding? I say go for it." "Two." "Twilight, he's real, which means Scootaloo was telling the truth. That means he brought down twenty Timberwolves and a manticore. We need to subdue him!" "One." "I know he's dangerous, but we can't..." "Come on Twi. We'll only rough him up a little. "Twi, the lasso's stayin' on and nothin' you say will-" "Zero." As soon as the word left his mouth, Batman pulled the rope off his neck and gave it a hard yank. Applejack hadn't been ready for the sudden movement, so she was yanked through the air straight towards Batman, who caught her in one hand and slammed her to the ground. Using the rope she had used, he quickly tied all four of her legs together, preventing her from moving. One down, five to go. At the sight of her fallen friend, Rainbow roared in rage and charged Batman. His response was to simply side stepped her attack and watch as she collided with a tree. She quickly got to her hooves and tried to tackle Batman again. As Batman continued to dodge her attacks, he noticed she got angrier with each miss and her aim and reflex time slowed down. With one more push, he might get her unfocused enough to spring a trap. "Maybe they should call you Rainbow Crash," he said, "Seems more accurate." Watching her face, Batman knew he hit a nerve. Rainbow Dash was seeing red. This bat dared to insult her, the greatest flyer in Equestria? Launching herself into the sky, she dove back down in an arc before leveling out, screaming towards Batman, practically vertical with the ground. Batman prepared his next move, getting the timing down in his head. She was fast, but she was no Superman. Waiting until the last second, Batman ducked down while at the same time lobbing a freeze grenade to where he had previously been standing. Rainbow Dash was far too angry to properly see his plan until it was too late. She collided headfirst into the grenade, instantly freezing her solid. She dropped to the ground and slid for twenty feet before crashing into a tree. Two down, three to go. A loud bang behind him caused Batman to turn around quickly. He felt a projectile hit his suit and braced himself for the pain that usually follows. Instead, the "projectile" splattered against his suit like cake. Looking down, Batman couldn't believe it. It was cake. He had been shot with cake. "Nopony makes a fool of my friends! Prepare yourself meanie-bo-beanie, for Pinkie Pie's PARTY MIXER!" screamed Pinkie, firing a cannon that she had seemingly materialized out of thin air. The cannon fired cakes, party hats; he was pretty sure he saw an alligator fly past him. 'Enough of this nonsense.' He thought. Pulling out another freeze grenade, Batman waited until there was a lull in her shots before tossing it down the cannons barrel. When Pinkie fired this time, the cannon exploded, freezing her inside a strawberry flavored glacier with a smile frozen on her face. "Hey, I'm delicious," she mumbled through the ice. Three down... Batman spun around quickly after a diamond whizzed by his head. Now facing Rarity, he was greeted with a hail of gemstones raining towards him. He began to dive, duck and dodge to avoid being hit. Rarity, with a look of fury on her face, taunted him the entire time. "You uncouth, horribly dressed ruffian! How dare you hurt my friends!" "Rarity, stop!" Twilight pleaded, trying to help AJ out of her own rope. "Twilight, he has already beaten three of us. We must make a stand now. For good fashion sense!" Taking a batarang out of his belt, he aimed for the side of her head. Right before he threw it, a gem clipped his arm, knocking his aim slightly off. Even with his aim altered, since he was sure it would hit, Batman released it anyway. As it flew towards Rarity, she barely noticed it out of the corner of her eye and managed to dodge it, for the most part. With the bad aim and her last second dodge, the batarang didn't hit her in the head. Instead, it sliced off her mane. The battlefield suddenly fell quiet as Rarity gazed down at her lovely mane, which now rested in the dirt. A moment passed before she ran straight past Batman and looked at her eeflection in the river. Gazing at her now maneless self, she did what any lover of fashion would do in a similar situation. She fainted. Four down. Taking a quick reprieve, Batman gave himself a chance to analyze his situation. The only two left were Twilight and Fluttershy. He was fairly certain that he’d have no problem with the latter and Twilight wasn’t attacking. Batman took a breath of relief, until he heard what sounded like the wrath of hades being unleashed. "HOW DARE YOU!" Batman spun to face yellow pegasus, who immediately looked him right in the eyes. The moment she did, a huge wave of guilt and fear washed over him. He felt, no he needed to apologize to the horse, to get on his knees and beg for forgiveness. He was trapped in the stare. "Thanks, Fluttershy," Twilight said to her friend, "That was getting out of hand. Now then, tell him that he is going to come with us whether he wants to or not. Fluttershy?" As Twilight turned to look at her friend, something happened that had never happened before. Fluttershy, with the stare still active, was backing up. It was as if an unstoppable force had met an immovable object. To this day, ponies throughout Equestria will tell you trembled a little on that day, for reason they weren't sure of. The stare, one of the most powerful weapons in Equestria, was being overpowered by a force greater than even it. Fluttershy was staring into the bat glare. -------------------------- Fear. That was the only emotion going through Fluttershy's mind as she stared into the bat's eyes. She finally saw what the bat truly was. It was terrifying. It's eyes showed her the strength, the rage, the sheer unstoppable will of the beast. She had looked into a cockatrice's eyes once without even blinking, but this, these eyes immobilized her as if she was stone. His eyes were cold, dark and without emotion. She felt like curling up into a ball and crying. Then something caught her eye, something beyond the rage and terror, something that felt...different. Forcing herself to look beyond the glare, she went deeper into his mind. As she passed the glare, Fluttershy was shocked to find a whole new set of emotions here. Agony, loss, lonliness and pain. So much pain. She realized she wasn’t looking into the bat's mind anymore, she was looking at its soul. This is how he really felt and these were his real emotions. She saw a warrior for justice, a desire to protect the weak and guilt for him surviving. These new emotions caused Fluttershy's eyes to fill with tears. Then she reached a memory, a memory that was at the very center of his being. Fluttershy hesitated for a moment. She knew this memory is what drove him, but would it be a happy one or something horrifying? She chose to dive into it. She found herself in what looked like an alleyway on a dark and stormy night. Looking around, she thought she saw four figures at the end of the alley. Thinking one of them must be the bat, she started to walk over. As she got closer, two loud cracks pierced the night followed by a child’s scream. Horrified, she rushed over to find a creature similar to the bat, but smaller, on its knees, with two other creatures lying dead in the street. She could only watch as the small creature began to cry to itself. She felt terrible, even though she didn't know what it was. What Fluttershy did know is that it had lost others it cared about. She tried to put her hoof on its shoulder, but it passed right through the memory. All she could do was sit with it while it cried. Then the creature stopped crying and began shaking. When it looked up, she looked into its eyes. Eyes now filled with purpose and vengeance. Eyes that belonged to the bat. ----------------------------- With all her might Fluttershy tore herself from the bats memory. Shaking uncontrollably, she curled up into a ball and lay there whimpering. Batman assumed the glare had done its job and turned to face the last horse. When he faced her, he, to his regret, discovered why she hadn't attacked. Twilight had been concentrating all her power into her horn, which was now primed and ready to fire. The sight of her closest friends being taken down had pushed her beyond negotiations. "It's over," she whispered, unleashing her magic blast straight into Batman’s chest. His suit was barely able to contain the power of the magic that flowed into him as the spell impacted. The force was enough to push even him back a few feet. Even though the suit protected him, the magical energies still hurt. After a few agonizing seconds, the batsuit finally began to do its job. Transferring the magical energy into his gauntlets, Batman swung one fist into the ground, dispersing the energy in a large shockwave, blowing Twilight backwards. Panting, Batman quickly got back to his feet, bracing himself for another magic blast. When the attack never came, he looked up at Twilight to see why she wasn’t attacking. With one look at her, he knew the fight was over. She could barely stand and a few pitiful sparks was all her horn could manage. She had used herself up on that last attack and he could read defeat in her eyes. That attack had been her ace, her final play and he had withstood it. Slowly, he began to walk towards her, watching as she fell over trying to back away from him. He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up to his eye level. Looking into her eyes, he read the thoughts going through her mind. 'This is it. It's over. He's going to kill me and I can't stop him!' Bringing her face a few inches away from his, he glared into her eyes for a moment, before simply saying, "You lose." Batman dropped Twilight and headed back into the forest, leaving six defeated ponies behind him.