//------------------------------//
// Through the Forest 
// Story: The Hero They Need 
// by MetalJrock 
//------------------------------//

Batman remained on the ground in the forest, trying his best not to draw even more attention than necessary on himself after that brief scuffle back in that city he was in. He found himself completely surrounded by trees and moss, 'Now no one should be able to find me unless I decide to show myself.' he mused.

The Dark Knight knelt down, barely looking upon his reflection through the dirty water, "It's too dirty here. I have to go further before I refresh myself." he looked away from the body of water and stood back up, continuing his walk.

Seemingly, hours passed for the Dark Knight and he had made no discernible progress as to knowing his current location. He hopped to the top of a tree, holding onto the highest branch with his fings and flipping himself to the top, perching on the branch itself. He activated his night-vision feature on the cowl to give himself a better view once the night finally rose.

'I see more buildings in the distance. But unlike the other one. These seem to be a lot smaller... Maybe a small town?' he wondered in his mind. Batman hopped from the tree and tried to find a fast route to reach the town in a shorter time. But he noticed that despite being able to see it, he would take days to reach it.

"Hopefully there are no guards, but I should be able to make it in time create a map of what I found in order to find a coordinate of Ra's location compared to where I'm at..." Batman pondered to himself, sprinting to the town.

"HELP!"

A voice knocked Batman out of his trance. "What was that?" he asked, turning his head. Another cry was heard, forcing Batman to stop what he was doing and run to where the sound came from. 'As much as I want to, someone needs my help.' he thought, willing to compromise himself to save someone's life.

Batman activated his Detective Vision to help him roam the forest faster and find the source of the voice. His cowl detected two figures nearby from his location, 'Good. Now to find out what it is that has the pony frightened.'

He zoomed his cowl's lenses further ahead, still running while doing so. 'The creature is a lot larger than the pony it seems to be attacking. Its heartbeat suggests that it is angry. Possibly because it can't get its food to stay still. Though the pony seems to a pegasus, but they seem to barely be able to fly.'

Batman deactived the cowl's feature once he found himself nearing the source of the battle. The Dark Knight hopped onto the top of a tree to get a better look for himself. The creature looked like a lion, but had an appearance based on an old fable, 'A manticore... So there are more creatures than ponies.'

The pony in question was a gray pegasus with a blonde mane and was crosseyed, she constantly tried to avoid the monster's grasp while losing track of herself in the process and holding a box. 'She's going to get herself killed like this.' Batman thought. 'Just another minute... I have to time this just right...'

The manticore raised its arm once again, but before it could move down to strike the pony, he felt something wrap around its clawed palm. The pegasus saw a rope suddenly fling itself onto the monster, wondering who would do that.

Suddenly, a shadow leaped toward the manticore, surprising the pony greatly. He raised his fist and punched the monster in the chest. The manticore slashed at Batman, but the Dark Knight barely managed to avoid the attack, the emblem on his costume getting scratch marks on it instead.

Batman watched as the manticore roared in anger, keeping an eye on the pegasus he had just saved in the while. The vigilante kicked the manticore in the chest stopping it in its tracks. The manticore heaved, grabbing Batman by his throat. The monster roared once again in his face. 

"Got you." he taunted, kicking his legs to the monster's side. Batman pushed himself out of the creature's hands.

The manticore growled in pain upon feeling Batman's attack, but the Dark Knight remained unfazed. He threw something small at it, one of his batarangs. The flying projectile distracted the manticore long enough for Batman to deliver the finishing blow.

The manticore fell loudly upon feeling the force of Batman's punch. The vigilante rubbed his aching hands and cracked his knuckles with his fists, feeling satisfied. He turned to the scared pony staring at him now, "Are you all right?" he asked.

The pony nodded, "Yeah... I'm fine... Thank you..." she said, looking at him. She felt calm once she realized that he saved her.

"What's your name?" Batman questioned.

"My name is Ditzy Doo, but my friends call me Derpy." the pegasus, Derpy, answered. Batman knelt down to talk with her.

"Well, Ditzy. You're safe. What is that town over there and how did you get here?"

"Oh, that's Ponyville! That's where I live! And... I'm a mailpony, but I was staying in Canterlot. I was on my way home, but I accidentally flew all the way out here and crashed into the monster not too long ago. He didn't look happy to see me."

Batman nodded, "Listen... Get back home. Nothing will hurt you here as long as I'm around..."

"Oh thank you strange person!" she cheered, grabbing the cardboard box and flying off, bumping into more trees in the process.

'What did I just do? I compromised myself just to save a pony's life...' Batman realized, 'No... Don't think like that, Batman. I can still focus to getting to Ponyville for more answers. The ponies will not get involved with Ra's Al Ghul, that I can assure.'

Batman looked ahead once more, seeing that Ponyville was closer to his sight than before, 'At least I don't have to walk as far... Good. The sooner I learn about this place, the easier it will be to track Ra's and get back home.'

The Dark Knight could still see Derpy flying from his spot in the forest. He activated his Detective Vision again, searching for any potential threats she could run into while flying home. 'Nothing. So far anyway... Let's just hope it stays that way. She's going to be getting home at a late time anyhow.'

'Now... How do I get there faster?'

A whistling sound was heard in the direction Derpy was flying, 'Hm... Maybe she was on to something...' he mused, finally realizing the reason why she would come all this way to begin with. Batman quietly trailed her, seeing where she would go. The Dark Knight assumed that Dery knew where she was going, and so far, everything was working out in his favor.

Turned out, there was a train station nearby from his location. Derpy safely managed to fly back to the station to wait for a train back to her home in Ponyville. Unfortunately, while she wouldn't draw any attention, someone like Batman would, especially since he had a scuffle with some royal guards. So Batman did what he best at a time like this. He stood right at the edge of the forest, perched on a tree

He waited.





Quite a while passed for Batman, but on the bright side, he learned more about his destination. Using the zoom feature on his cowl, the detective learned that Ponyville was just four stops from where he was currently at, which is just passed Canterlot, the name of the city Derpy gave to him earlier.

So, Batman heard the familiar sound of something moving on the tracks and made his move. He waited for everypony to get into the train, where he was out of sight. Once he was sure no one was around to spot him, Batman hopped onto the train and slid into the luggage cart all the way in the back, where none of the ponies would go to.  





Ra'a Al Ghul and Chrysalis stood on the cliffside, "What is this place?" the assassin asked.

"This is Fillydelphia... Hm.. Perfect." her mouth began to drool slightly. The police of the city were seen, since it was not a big a place like Canterlot.

"Yes... I see. You seek food for your subjects. Of course, I did promise you that much. I assume you wish to know if I would keep my word?" asked Ra's.

"Yes. I just want to see if you're worth keeping and not be used for our food. After all, I too am interested in using the Warp Crystal." Chrysalis answered.

Ra's raised a hand, "I am a man of my word. As long you fulfill your end of our bargain, then I shall do mine. Now, you wish to steal their love? Then I shall rid you of any resistance." he said, drawing his sword out the sheathe.

"Should I bring my changeling army?"

The assassin smirked, "Do not worry. I have faced worse than a bunch of ponies in armor. You shall have food from your subjects thanks to my help, I promise you that."