//------------------------------// // To Keep a Promise // Story: A Dark Knight for Equestria // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Ponyville Cemetery, three days later. Dark clouds slowly passed overhead of the ponies that had gathered together in the cemetery. The darkness was fitting in a way, as it reflected how they felt on the inside. Ponies from across the land had flown, walked or traveled great distances to attend the funeral of Equestria's great hero. Fang and the rest of his Diamond dogs stood next to the ponies, paying their own respects. A massive crowd had gathered around a podium, where the princesses and the Elements of Harmony all stood silently, each lost in their respective thoughts. Behind them was a massive tarp, hiding a what was supposed to be a surprise statue underneath of it. The tarp wasn't necessary; everypony already knew what it was. When the ponies finally stopped entered the cemetery did Celestia stand in front of the podium to speak. She looked at all her subjects with sad eyes before taking a deep breath. "Citizens of Equestria. As you have probably all heard, there was a massive attack on the city of Canterlot. But thanks to the efforts of a certain individual, as well as the Elements, we managed to thwart the assault and save everypony. However, one of us...did not make it," she whispered. Everypony listened carefully, none of them wanting to interupt her. Most of the citizens of Ponyville had already heard the news and were hanging their heads in sorrow. Lyra was their and in the distance Trixie watched as well. Even most of the Apple family had shown up, including Big Mac. The foals of Ponyville Elementary had shown up, even the likes of Diamond Tiara. All the ponies had different thoughts about Batman and what his death meant to them. One filly in particular was lost in thought. Scootaloo was in the front row, barely registering what was going on. Out of all the ponies, she had naturally been hit hardest by Batman's death. Celestia took a deep breath and continued to speak. "The one known to you as Batman is gone," she softly said, trying to fight back tears. The ponies that did not already know let out a collective gasp. They had all heard rumors of the Batman, that he was able to bring down the Royal Guard with ease and that he was the one who slayed the terrible Grundy. He had become something of an unstoppable demon in their eyes, so it was safe to say his death shocked them greatly. Celestia turned back to the tarp. "So it is with a heavy heart that I give you the newest memorial to be added to the cemetery. Mare's and gentalcolts...Batman." Celestia pulled the tarp down with her magic and somberly looked at the statue. It was carved from marble and stood twenty feet tall. The sculptors had worked for days on it with no sleep. After his sacrifice, they considered it the least they could do. The statue itself was a masterpiece. It was a statue of the bat, in his damaged and torn armor, standing in front of a scared filly. He looked exhausted and broken, but still had the fierce determination in his eyes. The sculptures eyes alone had taken a day to complete and no matter how hard the artist tried, they could never get them to perfectly match his. The final detail to note was that the sculpture was all white marble, except for the bat on his chest, which was made out of a piece mythril from his destroyed armor. So in the literal sense, a piece of him was in the statue. "We place this statue here to remind us that just because some pony is different, it does not mean we should treat them any differently. I...I originally thought that Batman was a threat, that he would try and hurt my subjects. Instead, he goes on to stop one of the most evil threats to Equestria and saves everypony...he saves me," Celestia lowered her head and whispered to herself, but in the complete silence everypony heard. Celestia finally looked back up at the last section covered in a tarp. Silently, she pulled that off to reveal a small plaque. There weren’t many words on it, but the simplicity matched him and it simply read, Batman. Destined to be a failure. Chose to be a hero. Celestia gazed at the plaque for a moment before turning back to the crowd. Steeling herself once more, she made her last announcement. "If any pony has anything they'd like to say about him, please come up and do so." She walked off the stage and seated herself down with her back to the audience. At first no pony stepped up, each of them unsure of what to say, then Fluttershy stood up and slowly walked to the podium. She looked around nervously at all the ponies staring at her, but she managed to bury her fears and begin. "I...I didn't know Batman that well. In fact, I only had a serious conversation with him once or twice. But from those two experiences I learned a lot about him. He is...was the type of person that knew what he believed in and would fight to the death to protect it. He taught me that you don't have to act like a nice person to be a nice person. He was sometimes rude and always had an angry look, but deep down...I think he really did care for us. And now he's gone..."Fluttershy broke off there, unable to continue. She turned in tears and walked silently back to her seat. Twilight stood up and took her place in front of the crowd. "I agree with Fluttershy that he wasn't the nicest of people, but he had a heart of gold. All the time I knew him he always put others safety ahead of his own. And he showed me that destiny isn't set in stone. That it's just one possible path for a pony to follow. And if you don't like that path, then you can make a new one. Thank you," she said softly, also returning to her seat. No pony else stepped up, so Rainbow Dash decided to go. She was halfway to the podium when a sight made her stop. Scootaloo was approaching the stage. RD slowly stepped back as Scootaloo took the podium. She could barely she over the top, so Rainbow gave Scoots her chair to stand on. Once she could see, Scootaloo gazed at the crowd with tear stained eyes. "I could tell you a hundred different reasons why Batman was such a great hero and a friend, but he was never fond of others saying nice things about him," she began in a small voice, but it carried like thunder from her pure emotion alone. "He preferred to let his actions speak for themselves and...and after what he did, no words would do him justice. I'll simply say this; he died as he lived. Protecting others and refusing to let evil win, even when he knew he couldn't prevail. But somehow he did. He saved us all." Scootaloo slowly walked off stage and past her seat. She heard some other pony take the stage and begin to talk, but she was no longer paying attention. She just silently walked back to her tree house, the place where she and Batman had spent hours practicing and talking. She stopped at the spot where he had told her that destiny was nothing more than an illusion, that ponies could choose their own paths. She hadn't believed him at the time. Now she wished that she had listened more. He had always told her that one day he'd be gone, but not...not like this. She never even got to say goodbye. The pain in her heart became too much for her to contain any longer and she let loose a wail of grief into the skies. ======-------====== Fate's Tower. With a start, Bruce sat up quickly. He instantly regretted it as agonizing pain flowed through his body. He swore and lied back down, trying his best not to move. While he was lying there, he noticed that he was covered in bandages and that his suit was gone. The thing that was the most interesting to him was that he was still alive. After that attack by Morgaine he was certain that... Morgaine! Where was...? He sat up again, this time ignoring the pain and slowly getting to his feet. He took one step forward and nearly collapsed on the floor. He was caught, however, by a magical field, which slowly picked him up. he struggled to escape, looking around for his attacker. Looking to the right, Bruce spotted the sorcerer responsible for his predicament. Fate. "You shouldn't be up. You are far to wounded," Fate sighed, lowering Bruce back down onto his bed. Bruce snarled and tried to get back up, only to be pushed back down. "Rest. Trust me, you need it. I expected you to come back with some wounds, but you were practically dead when I pulled you and Morgaine through that portal that opened," Dr. Fate muttered, grabbing more medicine from the self. Bruce gave him a look. "What portal?" he asked. "The one Morgaine was trying to open in whatever world you went to," Fate replied, still searching for the medication. This was news to Bruce. "So she succeeded in opening her portal?" "Yes and no. It did open, but only for a few seconds. I felt a magical disturbance and quickly investigated. Although I wasn't really surprised when I found you at the center of it. You do seem to go where ever there's trouble," Fate said with a small smile. That only gave Bruce more questions. "Then if the portal exploded, how am I still alive? That much raw magical energy should have killed me and Morgaine." Fate looked at him from behind his helmet for a moment before answering. "As to Morgaine, she constructed a barrier around herself at the last moment, keeping her alive. As for you...you should have died," he said matter-of-factly. Now Bruce was really confused. "Then how am I still alive?" Fate walked over to the table next to where Bruce had been resting and picked something up, which he then tossed to Bruce. "This saved your life." As Bruce gazed at the object in his hand, he sat down and a small smile creased his face. The item that had saved him was Scootaloo's lucky charm. He knew that it had saved him when he was forgetting what was important, but he never knew it could physically protect him. "That charm had a powerful spell weaved into it. It can create a force field powerful enough to stop nearly any attack and it has the power to keep one going, even to stop fatal wounds from killing. It saved you from Morgaine's blade, keeping you alive even after you were impaled. It's also extremely lucky," explained Fate. Bruce slowly looked up at him. "What powers it?" "Love, Bruce. That charm can only work when it is given by one person to another. If someone was to take it from you, its power would not benefit them. The magic only works for whom the charm was given to and the strength of the spell is dependent on the feelings of the previous owner. Scootaloo must really care for you." Bruce head snapped over to look at Fate who had a small smile on his face. "I'm sorry, but in order to find out what ailed you, I had to go into yours and Morgaine's mind. I erased her memories of the entire event. She believes that after her first portal failed that you captured her and put her in prison." Seeing that Bruce wasn't convinced, he added, "I only looked into the time you were there. Not a day farther." Bruce gave him a glare, but turned his attention back to the charm. Scootaloo. What had happened to her since his "demise"? He painfully realized that he had left her alone in her world once again and to make it worse she believed he was dead. She must be in agony. He had to fix that. "Can you send me back," he winced, getting up off the bed. Fate shook his head. "A magical barrier encompasses that world, making all other forms of entry impossible. With another dimensional stone? Yes, I could. Currently? No." Bruce swore to himself and let out a sigh. He was worried about her, but he knew how tough she was. She would remain strong and continue to live. That he knew for a fact. Bruce looked at Fate and decided that it was time to go home. "Take me back to Gotham." Fate raised an eyebrow. "In your current condition, I'd recommend at least five weeks recovery time; if you're lucky. And..." "And?" Fate sighed. "And I suppose Gotham has been without you long enough," he relented, starting the incantations for teleportation. Bruce took one last look at the charm before diving back into his Batman persona. =====------====== Ponyville. "Are you sure that you don't want to stay?" Twilight asked Trixie. Trixie gave her a sad smile and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I cannot stay. I must go." "Why?" Trixie lowered her head slightly. "I made a mistake; a mistake which cost some ponies their homes, family and even their lives. I have a lot of damage to repair. I need to start as soon as possible," Trixie said sadly. Then she gave a small smirk. "Also, it wouldn't do well for Ponyville to have two powerful unicorns living in it. Heaven knows how they put up with you." "Ha ha," Twilight responded in mock laughter. She and Trixie stared at each other angrily until they both cracked up. "Are you sure I can't convince you to stay?" Twilight tried one last time. "I must go. And it seems that the rest of Ponyville doesn't feel the same way as you do," she sighed, pointing a hoof behind Twilight. Twilight turned to find some of the ponies glaring at Trixie, hate gleaming in their eyes. Twilight shook her head. "They’re just angry. They'll eventually get over it." "I messed up. I tried to overthrow Celestia and put a...tyrant...on the throne. They have every right to hate me," she whispered. twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. "But that wasn't your fault! All you wanted was to be loved and Morgaine was the only one who did. Even I would blindly follow someone like that Plus, you joined us in the end! Without you, we all would've died! " "That maybe, but I must-." "But think of all the magic that we could learn. The two of us could discover the most amazing spells and-" "Sparkle," Trixie whispered. Twilight stopped talking and listened. "This is something I must do. For their sakes, as well as my own. But thank you for your offer," Trixie said with a smile, backing up. Her horn began to glow with power and she closed her eyes. "Maybe one day our paths will cross again, Twilight," she said. Twilight's face lit up with surprise. "You called me Twilight." Trixie smiled. "That I did." And in a flash of light, she was gone. Twilight gazed sadly at the spot where Trixie had vanished. She felt nothing but sorrow for her "mortal enemy." After everything she did and all that had happened to her, she was going to try and make up for her mistakes. But Twilight was also afraid that what Trixie said was true. Maybe the ponies would never truly forgive her. Only time would tell. Twilight turned around and looked over towards Sugarcube Corners. Pinkie had asked for her to meet her there after saying goodbye to Trixie. With a bit of magic, Twilight was quickly over at the corner. She opened the door and found party items flung about everywhere. as she stared in amazement at the mess, Pinkie came out from behind the counter. "Oh, hi Twilight, she said with a small smile. Twilight returned the smile. "Hey, Pinkie, what's up? You said you needed my help for something." "Yeah, I want you to levitate these party things to the barn," she grumbled, stuffing as much Party stuff as she could into her cannon. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Why the barn? What are you planning?" "A party," Pinkie responded, stuffing at least ten cakes into her cannon. Twilights eyes widened in shock. "A party? So soon after Batman's death?! Pinkie what are you-" "I Pinkie promised that if we got out of Canterlot alive, I would throw Batman a farewell party," she whispered. "And he made sure we got out alive." Twilight went from surprised to sad in a fraction of a second. She wrapped one hoof around Pinkie's shoulder. "Alright Pinkie, let's give Batman the best farewell party he's ever received." Pinkie giggled. "It'll probably be the only one he's every received." Even Twilight let out a small laugh at that. "Yeah, you're probably right." And the two friends walked towards the barn, spirits slightly raised. =======------======= Batcave. One month later Batman watched the streets of Gotham through the Batcomputer. Ever camera, every phone; all of them eyes and ears for him. Normally he'd be assessing ever detail, but tonight his mind was else ware. He had just returned from foiling Zsasz attempt at a triple homicide and had beaten Two Face and his goons into submission while they were trying to rob a bank. While this would have used to bring him a sense of joy and satisfaction, tonight he felt nothing. His mind kept wandering back to Scootaloo and wondering how she was doing. He held her charm in his hand, the one promise he never kept. He hadn't even said goodbye He placed the charm in his belt with a sigh and turned around. "You know you can't sneak up on me," he called into the cave. Half a second later, a red and blue blur stopped right in front of him. Superman. "What do you want?" Batman growled, turning back to the computer. Superman chuckled. "Good to see you too. Just thought I'd drop by and say hello." "You did. Now leave." Superman sighed. He grabbed the back of Batman's chair and spun him around to face him. "Batman look, you've been gone for a month in a world no one's ever heard of. Something happened to you while you were there. You're...distant. You look as if you're missing something, like a piece of you was stolen during that time. You use to only live for your work, but now... So what was it?" Batman glared into Superman's eyes, giving him the message that he wasn't talking. Superman let go of Batman's chair and started to head out. "Before I go, can you at least tell me what it was like there?" Batman leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "At first I thought that I had finally gone to hell. After spending some more time there, I believed I did something to offend a god and that I was in a different version of purgatory. But all in all...it wasn't that bad," he muttered. Superman gave him a small smile. "Well, I got you a welcome back present," Superman said, tossing Batman a package. Batman raised an eyebrow at him and slowly opened the package. "I got it off of some criminal claiming to be a dimensional traveler. He was trying to use that to break into another reality. After I brought him down, I picked that up. Figured you'd like it." Batman's eyes widened when he finished unwrapping the present. Sitting in his left hand was another dimensional stone. Even though his face showed no emotion, Superman could tell he was shocked. "Say hi to them for me," he said with a grin, before taking off. Batman watched him leave before turning to the computer. "Robin, do you read?" Batman asked. "Yeah I read you. What's up?" Robin responded through his transmitter. "Cover for me. I'm going to be gone a day." "You just got back. Where are you heading this time?" Batman pulled the charm out of his belt. "To keep a promise. =======++++++++======= Ponyville Cemetery. The bright sunny day seemed to mock the emotions that ravaged Scootaloo's heart. She walked silently and alone through the rows of the dead, never once taking her eyes off her destination. She had something that she had always wanted to say to Batman, but now speaking to his memorial was going to be the best she could get. She looked up at the statue, looking upon how everypony else saw Batman. A hero, a champion of justice; one who would never yield. But she knew that what they said about him was only half true. She remembered the other side of him, the side he never showed to any pony but her. She had seen him doubt himself, unsure if he could really accomplish his goals. She had seen his comical side, like when he drove Pinkie crazy escaping her parties. And then there was his compassionate side, the side of him that told Batman to take a parentless filly under his dark wing and show her that the world wasn't that bad. Scootaloo sighed and looked at the ground. "Hi, Batman. I know it's been awhile since I last came to talk, but a lot has been going on," she whispered to the statue. The unmoving marble did not reply, but she continued anyway. "Ponies are still trying to get over your...leaving us. There hasn't been as much laughter anymore, but I'd know what you'd say. That as long as you died fighting against evil, you'd have no regret. That we should just simply move on. But...but that doesn’t help the pain," she choked out. She could feel the tears coming on, but she refused to cry. Regaining her composure, she tried to continue. "Pinkie threw you the mother of all sendoff parties about a month ago. Even though I wasn't ready, I needed to say...goodbye. It wasn't one of her more cheerful parties, but I honestly think that it was one that needed to be given. You deserved it." Scootaloo looked over at Ponyville, where she could see all the ponies just beginning to wake up from the night. That reminded her of something. "Luna's started calling her guards her Dark Knight's now, in memory of you. I know the two of you didn't see eye to eye, but it was nice of her to try and remember you in some way," she said. Then a small smile broke out on her face. "Oh yeah, we changed our group name from the Cutie Mark Crusaders to the Cutie Mark Caped Crusaders just the other day. We have capes that look like yours now, to remember you. Sweetie Belle even used some of Rarity's most prized black silk to make it. You should have seen Rarity's face. But after learning that she planned to make little bat capes out of it, Rarity actually helped her make them." Scootaloo broke off here, preparing herself for what she was going to say next. A cloud flew lazily drifted in front of the rising sun, casting it's shadow over the cemetery. The darkness matched how Scootaloo's heart now felt. "I never got to say...thank you. Not for saving me from the Timberwolves or for saving Equestria, but...for saving me," she slowly began, fighting to keep her tears back. "I was in a dark place after the death of my parents. Trapped in the darkness that is sorrow. Others from the light, those who had never experienced true pain tried to help me. So I put on a mask, the mask of a carefree filly that liked to get into trouble, but in reality I was still in pain. It got darker and darker as the years passed, to the point where I could barely see any light. I was alone." she sniffled and tears began to escape from her eyes. "But then you showed up. Some pony who understood my pain and instead of telling me to get over it, you taught me how to live with it. You told me instead of remembering my parents for their deaths, remember them for how much I loved and cared about them. I find it a little funny that it took some pony from the dark to help me as well." Scootaloo was completely crying now, not even trying to fight back the tears. She struggled to get out the rest of her emotions. "You brought me out of that darkness. You gave me a new sense of hope. You gave me another father. And for that, I say..." "Thank you." Scootaloo lowered her head and cried softly to herself. The cloud finally drifted out of the suns path, allowing it's warmth to one again spread over the cemetery. Light touched everywhere except the statue of Batman and Scootaloo, where a shadow was still being cast. Scootaloo took moment to notice the shadow. She looked up at the sky to find that there were no clouds covering the sun. She looked back down at the shadow in confusion. Then her eyes slowly widened, realizing what she was looking at. It was a shadow, a shadow that she knew well. It was the shadow of a giant bat.