Stalliongrad, Library.
"And that's the last one," Trixie said with a smile, placing her mind control on the last of the guards that had tried to resist her. Morgaine proceeded to scan the libraries list of books, until her eyes fell across the one she was looking for, "The Stories of Star-Swirl the Bearded." Morgaine took the book off the self and over to a table. Sitting herself down, she began to read.
While Morgaine read, Trixie wandered over to current events section of the library. Scanning the list of stories, her eyes fell upon one article that filled her with rage. On the front was Twilight Sparkle successfully helping the princess to create a new spell that could be used to fend off creatures ranging from Timberwolves to hydras. Trixie picked up the article and began reading. After a minute of reading, Trixie screamed and sent a fireball into the section, setting it ablaze. Morgaine stopped reading and turned to face Trixie, who was breathing heavily.
"You really hate this Twilight," she commented, "What did she do to you that was so terrible it sent you into a revenge filled rage?"
After a few seconds of thought, Trixie answered her in a pained whisper,
"She took something very important from me."
"Something important?" Morgaine asked, now curious to hear her apprentice’s story, "What did she take? An item of value? Your pride?"
"A chance," Trixie answered in a whisper, tears filling up her eyes. Morgaine, sensing that Trixie was done talking, turned back to her book. After a few minutes, Morgaine finally found what she was looking for.
"Ah, here it is. Star-Swirl the Bearded had three objects of immense power that enabled him to travel between dimensions, one of which was an odd stone. Well, that certainly does sound like a dimensional stone. Ah, a catch. Apparently the items were hidden in three separate locations that were lost to time. Oh well, I'm sure the answers to this...little problem are in this book somewhere." Finishing her reading, Morgaine picked up the book and headed for the door, signaling for Trixie to do the same. Once they were outside, Morgaine let Trixie in on her plan.
"I must admit you have done much better than any other apprentice I have ever taken on." Trixie blushed at her mentor’s words of praise, while Morgaine continued, "We must leave though, as those bothersome princesses may be here at any moment and with our...army numbering in the thousands now, I think it is time we returned to our base of operation."
Trixie looked at the ponies that the two had taken over with mind control. They had amassed quite a number of them with their conquest of Stalliongrad. Nearly everypony in the city had fallen to Morgaine's spell. Trixie had impressed once again when she had taken control of five ponies at the same time. Morgaine muttered a few words and her mass teleportation spell encompassed the two sorceresses and the minions in a white flash, leaving a now empty city behind.
----------------------------
Ponyville, outside the library.
The white light quickly died as the six ponies and bat arrived at their destination. The sun was just beginning to rise, shining its light on the destroyed town. The six friends looked around sadly at what had happen to their home, while Batman's mind was still on what the princess had told him. All around, guards sent from Luna's forces were helping to repair damage and carry off the dead. He took no notice of the ponies as they said their goodbyes.
"Well, I wish I could say it's been fun, but I be lying," Applejack said with a sad look on her face, "I need to get back to the farm. Big Mac and Applebloom must be worried sick about me." Waving goodbye to her friends, the orange cowpony headed for her ranch.
"Yes, I must get home as well or else Opal will have a fit. Oh and Sweetie Belle might be worried," Rarity said with a sigh, walking towards what was left of her home.
"I missed some major sleep battling that freak," Rainbow said with a yawn. "Not that I'd let you guys down when you needed me or anything," she added quickly.
"Its okay, Rainbow, I know what you mean," Twilight said, comforting her friend. With a wave, Rainbow flew up into the clouds and vanished.
"We're going to need one heck of a party to forget this mess," Pinkie said, shaking her head, walking towards her home, "I'm going to need the big guns for this one."
Batman watched the four of them go until it was him, Twilight, and Fluttershy. Turning to look at the pegasus, he noticed that she was staring at him again, with a look of compassion and sorrow in her eyes. This was not the first time Batman had noticed her looking at him like this, although he wasn't sure why she did. After a minute, Fluttershy turned and walked silently walked back to her cottage.
"Well, that was odd," Twilight muttered, watching her go, "Oh well. Batman, welcome to my home. I hope you have an enjoyable stay while your here."
"We'll see," he muttered to himself. Twilight opened the door to the library and stopped in her tracks. Batman looked through the door to see what had bothered her. Apparently the library hadn't escaped the battle unscathed. Books were lying on the floor, objects had been knocked over; the whole place was a mess. Twilight was twitching and had an odd look on her face.
"Spike!" she yelled. Batman heard what sounded like two feet hitting the floor upstairs, followed by some banging noises and a door being thrown open. At the top of the stairs stood what looked like a small, purple dragon. He (Batman assumed it was male) was about three feet tall, stood on both feet and apparently had been under a lot of stress, not surprising, given what had happened.
"Twilight!" the dragon named Spike yelled, rushing down the stairs, "I heard that the battle had ended, but I didn't know..." His voice trailed off as she looked behind Twilight and looked at Batman. Batman watched the dragons eyes slowly grow in size and his jaw descended to the floor. After a moment of silence, he spoke in a small whisper.
"I don't believe it. You’re Batman," he said, slowly walking towards the Dark Knight. Batman gave Twilight a look.
"I didn't tell him," she said. She turned to look at Spike, "Spike, how did you know his name?" Spike’s eyes grew even wider.
"You mean he's the real one? THIS IS THE REAL BATMAN!?" Spike began to scream and ran back upstairs, rustling around for something.
"What have you done," Batman asked Twilight, who had no idea what was going on. Spike had apparently found what he had been looking for, because a moment later he came flying back down the stairs. He probably would've tackled Batman if Twilight hadn't grabbed him with her magic, holding him upside down.
"Okay, calm down. Spike, how did you know Batman's name before I had the chance to tell you?"
"Oh, that's easy. He's in the book of heroes. you know, the one you’re always telling me to put down," he responded with a smile, holding up the book. Twilight looked at him for a moment before she exploded. Batman had to admit he was impressed with how loudly she could yell.
"ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT THE ENTIRE TIME WE WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE BAT WAS, YOU HAD THE ANSWERS THE ENTIRE TIME?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"
"Well I tried to," Spike said, with an annoyed look on his face, "but you said you didn't have time for my super-hero nonsense."
Twilight dropped Spike and began to twitch uncontrollably, a look of insanity on her face. Ignoring her, Spike turned to look up at Batman, who was enjoying the spectacle. With a nervous gulp, Spike began to talk.
"Um, you are the real Batman, right?" he asked. Batman stopped watching Twilight freak and looked down at the dragon. He could see excitement in Spike's eyes.
"Yes, I'm Batman," he answered. The little dragon looked like he was about to explode from pure happiness. Spike reached down and held up his book, indicating for Batman to take it. Batman took it from him and began to flip through the pages. When he realized what he was looking at, he began to read more closely. This book held information on nearly every hero in his world. He finally found the page where he was located, but was unimpressed with the limited information. The book only gave a picture and a name, with a small description, referring to him as the "Caped Crusader" and "Worlds Greatest Detective". The book went on to talk about what he did as Batman, but it had no information on Bruce Wayne.
"I don't believe it," Spike whispered as Batman handed him back his book, "A real life hero, standing right in front of me! I have so many questions!"
"Alright, everypony, time for bed. It's been a long day and we could all use some sleep," said Twilight, who had regained her composure. Spike tried to argue, wanting to have a longer talk with a real hero, but was defeated by a stare from Twilight. As he went upstairs, Twilight looked uneasily at Batman. She only had two beds and neither of them could fit a creature of his size.
"Um, I don't know how to say this, but-" she began.
"Do you have a basement?" Batman asked, cutting her off.
"Um, yeah, why?" Twilight asked, pointing towards the basement door.
"Wake me in a few hours."
Batman began walking towards the basement, until Twilight grabbed his cape.
'What does she want now?' he thought. He turned to face her, a bit annoyed. Twilight rubbed her front leg and looked like she was trying very hard to say something.
"Um, I just wanted to say...thanks for saving me and my brother," she finally got out, trying not to look Batman in the eyes.
"You’re welcome," he replied, turning back towards the basement. Twilight watched for a second, then she headed upstairs.
Batman opened the door to the basement and began his descent. It was large enough to fit him, but it was a lit cramped. An odd machine lay in the center of the room, looking a bit like the technology from back home, even if it was vastly outdated. Finding a spot against the wall, Batman sat down and leaned up against it. He was still trying to wrap his head around everything that had happened. The more he thought about it, the less real his situation seemed. But it was real and these ponies needed his help if they hoped to escape the evil known as Morgaine. He knew that a very tough battle was in his future, but until then, there was little he could do.
What he needed at the moment was rest. He hadn't slept in three days and the battles with the ponies and Grundy had exhausted him. He took a moment to quite his mind and listen to his surroundings. He could hear the whisper of the wind and the creaking of the old oak tree, as well as Twilight and Spike arguing upstairs. Tuning them out, he leaned his head against the wall and quietly slipped into slumber.
---------------------------
It was around noon when Batman woke up. When he stood up and stretched, pain flooded through his body, reminding him of all the abuse he had gone through in the past few days. He headed up the stairs, a bit ticked that Twilight had let him sleep in so late. Opening the door out of the basement, he saw the pony and Spike sitting at a table with food in front of them. A third spot had also been prepared, which he assumed was for him.
"Well, look who's finally awake," Twilight teased as Batman pulled out his chair and sat down. He looked down at the plate prepared for him and raised an eyebrow at the assortment. His plate had an apple, a glass of water, a lot of grass and some hay. Picking up the apple, he sniffed it before taking a bite. Not bad.
"I didn't poison it," Twilight said, a bit offended.
"Old habits die hard," he muttered, grabbing his water. He finished it in a few gulps, realizing just how parched he had been. Spike was just staring at him, the same gleeful look on his face he had earlier.
"I told you to only let me sleep for a few hours," he said to Twilight, finishing the apple.
"I would have, but you just looked so cute while you were sleeping," she mocked in a baby voice, until one look from the bat glare forced her to stop.
"Anyway, I'm glad you’re awake because I have some questions to ask you," she said with a huge grin, pulling out a list that could have easily been a mini-series. Batman raised an eyebrow at the volume of pages and looked at Spike. Spike shrugged and went upstairs, not wanting to be involved in anyway.
"And if I say no?"
"If you want us to work with you, you'll have to answer some questions," Twilight said with a bright smile. Batman groaned inwardly at her logic. "Okay, question one ; What sort of creature are you?"
"A human."
"Care to elaborate?"
"No."
"Alright then," Twilight muttered while writing what he said on her list, "Okay, what's with the suit? Why do you feel the need to dress like a bat?"
"The suit is to intimidate any criminals I fight."
"Really? Why do you need to fight criminals? Is it a personal rea-"
"Next question," Batman said, cutting her off.
"But I-"
"Next question."
"How did you know how to speak our native tongue?"
"I read your mind."
"Can you do that?"
"As far as you know. Next question."
"Fine," she mumbled, looking at Batman's plate. "I noticed that you haven't touched the grass or hay. What do you humans eat?"
"Humans can eat a whole variety of things, but most of us prefer meat." It suddenly went very quiet, causing Batman to glance at Twilight. She had turned an odd shade of green and looked like she was trying hard not to throw up.
"M-meat?" she stuttered, "D-do you mean other creatures?"
He nodded and she turned a shade darker.
"D-do you eat ponies?" she barely managed to get out.
"Only purple, talking unicorns that ask a lot of questions," he answered with a thin smile. Twilight went back to her normal color with an annoyed look on her face.
"Oh ha-ha, very funny. Next question; why did you save Scootaloo in the forest and then me from Grundy later?" This question was one of her more important ones. She wanted to know why Batman risked his own life to save strangers of a different species. To get in close? Have leverage on them?
"You needed help."
Twilight blinked. "That's it? You risked your own life and the chance of being captured simply because we 'needed help'?"
"Yes."
Twilight couldn't believe it. He had risked everything to save them just because they needed help? He had shown such a detest for the ponies though and he hadn't been on the best terms with them when he arrived at Ponyville. Being on a foreign planet would have been terrifying for her and being chased by guards wouldn't have helped to improve her relationship with the locals.
"Any more questions?" Batman asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. Looking back at her list, she went on to her most important question.
"So, I wanted to ask a favor." Batman did not like the sound of that. "Would you be alright with the girls coming over today to talk to you? They really wanted to meet you and I think Pinkie was going to throw you a party!" Twilight said the last bit hoping that it would make up for the weight of the favor. Batman sighed, wishing that Celestia had decided to keep him in her dungeon. But he would have to meet them sooner or later, might as well make it sooner.
"Fine, but I'll only meet them one at a time, alright?"
"Oh, that'll be just fine. Let's begin right away!" Twilight exclaimed, bounding for the door.
"Wait, what?"
"Let me re-introduce you to the party pony of Ponyville, Pinkie Pie!" Twilight opened the door as she said this, revealing the pink pony that Batman had come to distrust. She was hopping up and down in place, with an envelope in her mouth and a huge smile on her face.
"Hi, Batman!" she said happily.
'That dungeon sounds pretty good right about now,' Batman thought to himself as Pinkie came inside.