Luna warped herself and the six mares into the foreign realm of Batman's mind. "Here we are... Thou has never entered this mind for sake of privacy and trust. Now we must find Batman before it's too late." she said. Thr seven noticed that they were in a small theater room of sorts. A large screen stood at the end and there were seven seats, as though the mind was just waiting for them to make it and watch what was on the screen.
They all sat down, hoping that this would get them closer to finding the Dark Knight. The screen started to light up, then a chilling voice echoed across the room.
"Ladies! Sit down and enjoy the show! Hahahahaha!"
The laugh brought shivers down all of their spines, the voice creeping them out and worrying them of Batman's undetermined fate within his own mind, "That totally wasn't creepy at all." Dash muttered, she saw all of her friends shivering in the their seats, and she found herself doing the same, "Uh, nevermind..."
The screen showed something finally. It appeared to be a theater in a city similar to Manehattan and Canterlot. Three bipedal creatures similar to Batman stepped out of it, the film appeared to be silent as no noise came from their mouths. The man and the woman smiled at the excited boy after seeing the movie. The ponies watched the movie in slience wondering where it was going to go. They wondered why all of this was happening within the mind and dreams of Batman.
The three turned the corner into a dark alleyway. The older man stopped his wife and child as they saw another man, wearing a hat and pointing a strange weapon at the family. The man stepped forward, but then the elder looking man with the weapon pressed a trigger of sorts, and then the man collapsed, unmoving. This caused the ponies to gasp at the sight, beliving him to be dead. The movie continued on afterward, Fluttershy was already in tears at this point while the others did their best to remain calm.
The woman kneeled down, crying for her dead husband. The man pulled the trigger again, killing the woman. The pearl necklace wrapped around her neck broke apart and each pearl fell onto the rain covered ground before she herself landed with a thud. The ponies screamed at the sight of the mother dying.
They watched as the boy knelt down while the culprit ran away. He cried onto the dead bodies of his body. The moon created a beacon of light over him, and a symbol shaped like a bat surrounded him, revealing who the child was to the ponies, surprising them greatly. The screen turned black.
"T-That was B-Batman...?" Fluttershy whimpered.
"I-I had no idea..." Rarity cried.
The seven wiped the tears and sweat from their faces, "It is tragic... I wouldn't have wished a fate like that on anypony." Luna admitted to her friends.
"Aw. Look at that that! Little boy bats has a pity party!"
"Who are you?" asked Twilight.
The theater they were standing in began to fall apart, bringing the ponies outside to what appeared to be a large city unlike anything they've ever seen. Applejack gulped at the red liquid dripping down on the street they were standing on. The ponies followed the red trail to see someone standing on a throne. The man had pale white skin, his hair bright green, a suit of purple, and clown makeup. But what disturbed them the most was his smile.
The man laughed, "Haha! You just saw what little Bruce Wayne went through that led him to become the very grumpy bat you colorful ponies know him as! I would be laughing if it weren't so sad..." the man paused, "Aw, what the heck, I'll laugh anyway! Hahahahahahahaha!" his high voice cackled, scaring the ponies watching.
"If you don't know who I am, which is a shame, then I guess you can call me the Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker!" said the pale man, revealed to be the Joker.
"Y-You're not a clown... Clowns are supposed to be fun!" Pinkie whined.
The Joker shrugged, "I am fun! But of course the Bat always has to ruin it for me! I wanted to throw a party at the asylum and in Arkham City, but no... Batman had to ruin the fun by rescuing the hostages I had and foiling my plans." he grumbled, crossing his arms, "Ah well, you don't need the details anyhow. I'm here to show you this!"
The ponies looked to where Joker was pointing, and saw Batman tied up in what appeared to be vines, "Such a sight isn't it? The Bat was never easy to catch, but his mind is already fragile and broken as it was, and all it needed was the right person to shove him down the deep end. Me!" he laughed again. The Joker stood up, pointing a staff upward, "Now! I shall be what brings down Batman!"
"Wait what!?" Dash blurted out.
"You haven't figured it out yet, rainbow horse? Batman's a goner now! I tore him apart! Harmed the ones oh so close to him and broke his psyche!" after saying that, a strange man wielding guns stepped out. He wore a red hood with a helmet of the same color covering his head, "My greatest achievement!"
The Dark Knight struggled within the tight grasp he was held in. Suddenly with the snap of his fingers, Joker summoned three more figures his way. The first was a woman holding vines, presumably the one keeping Batman at bay. The second was a reptile man as large as Solomon Grundy. The last one was a man with a scarred face, or half of it with his clothes sharing the same treatment. "Ladies! Meet, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, and Two Face!" he introduced. The Joker chuckled, seeing the three villains that he had brought along for the great show. "Oh, and the Red Hood! Someone the Dork Knight will never figure out!"
"This guy's crazier than Discord!" Applejack gulped.
The Joker turned to the unconscious body of Batman, "Do you see this, Bats!? Ya failed your parents, you failed Barbara, and you failed Jason Todd! Now, you'll fail to protect the ponies you swore to protect! How's that for trust?" when the Dark Knight remained silent, he turned back to the ponies, "So much for that."
"W-What are you going to do to us?" Fluttershy whispered, trying to not break down.
"I'm not going to do anything, but these guys here? Well, they'll be having the fun this time! If they can't even succeed in doing that, then I guess I'll cover for them!" Joker explained, the three mooks coming closer to the ponies. Twilight, Luna and Rarity tried to shoot them with their magic, but the beams faded right through them. Rainbow Dash and Applejack tried to kick Killer Croc, but was held down and stared at before being released as a warning.
"Oh, right! You can't hurt them, but they can hurt you!"
"Batman! Help!"
The voices and pleas heard slurred Batman, "Batman! Wake up!" he moved slightly.
"It's no use girls, only Batman can save you and he's too busy wallowing in the filth of his own failures. Like a normal tuesday for him. Haha!"
Batman moved at the screams, his arm breaking free of the vine, "JOKER!" he shouted, destroying the vines keeping him trapped. The Dark Knight glared at his nemesis, "You should've stayed in the afterlife, Joker. I should've known that death wouldn't keep you away from me."
"I'm always with you, Bats! Until the end!"
Batman started to run, hitting Killer Croc's skin with his cape and backflip kicking him before jumping on top of his back. The Dark Knight jumped into the air and drove both his hands and feet atop the reptile man's head, knocking him out. He managed to incapacitate Two Face with a single punch, evading all of the bullets shot out of the barrel of his gun. Poison Ivy tried to trap Batman once again with her vines and plants, but the hero used his batarangs to cut them down, reaching Ivy and headbutting her and destroying her plant supply with his Explosive Gel.
Facing the Red Hood, Batman scowled. "I don't know who you are..."
Red Hood laughed, "Heh. Knew you'd never guess old man. I'm just another mistake to you anyhow. The very thng you regret." said the gun toting man.
Batman watched as the Red Hood pulled out his pistols, but the Dark Knight grabbed his arms and threw the hooded man over his shoulder. With the so-called Red Hood on the ground, Batman leapt up, only to have his opponent kick him while in middair, "Ya think I forgot everything you taught me?" he asked the stunned vigilante. "I'm in your head now, Bruce. You should know me." he removed his helmet, revealing the face of a young man.
"J-Jason." groaned Batman. "I'm sorry..."
Jason put back on his helmet, pointing his pistol at Batman, "You should'a saved me, Bruce. Maybe it wouldn't end like this if that were the case."
Before Red Hood could pull the trigger, Batman leaped up and held down his former sidekick, "If you truly are alive... Let's hope our encounter is nothing like this." he pleaded, causing the illusion to vanish from the recesses of his mind. With the Red Hood gone, the Dark Knight turned his attention to the Joker.
Joker tried to shoot the ponies with his own gun, but instead a flag with 'Bang' written on it popped out of the barrel, "That... Wasn't funny... Why do you keep coming back!? Even after everything I planned, you always show up at the last minute and ruin the fun! The ponies were going to have the show of their lives! I was going to show them why they called me the Clown Prince of Crime!" Joker moaned.
"I told you before." he sprayed his hand with Explosive Gel, "I'll never let you win." Batman marched forward and to the top of Joker's throne where he stood face to face with his arch-enemy. "Never." he uppercutted the Joker, the gel exploding on contact and making the villains and desolate area fade from the remnants of his mind. The gauntlet protected Batman from the explosion destroying his hand, though there were cracks in the armor.
"Batman!" the ponies cried out.
"Thank you all... I nearly lost myself..." panted the Dark Knight. "The Joker is... was a crafty villain. Unlike Ra's, he's unpredictable and difficult to understand."
"How about we return to the real world for now, Batman?" Luna offered.
The vigilante offered a small smile, "Sure."
With that, the team returned to reality to properly rest for the morning, where the biggest battle of their lives await.