Batmane, the dark steed

by Guillermo

Joker

Fluttershy walked through the halls of the castle with Twilight. They had both been summoned by Celestia, and the pegasus was a bit nervous about it.

"Why would she want to see us?" she asked nervously, receiving a friendly smile from Twilight.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing bad. If she wants you to be here, it'll be something to do with some animal… or Discord." Twilight scrunched her face at that, receiving a raised eyebrow from Fluttershy.

"As far as I remember, he hasn't done anything wrong."

"How about sending us on a fake friendship quest so he can get into the school?" Twilight argument, only to receive Fluttershy's calm gaze.

"I remind you that he did that because nopony bothered to invite him to school."

Twilight blinked before looking away from her, silently admitting that her friend was right. The two arrived at Celestia's private tea room, guarded by two guards who allowed their to pass, finding the princess sitting at a large table, wide enough to hold several ponies, drinking a cup and, in the center, a cage where a bat screeched and squirmed, growling in the direction of the great alicorn.

"Oh poor!" Fluttershy yelled as she approached, flying slightly as she focused on the animal, who eyed the pegasus suspiciously.

"I'm glad you were able to come" Celestia said with a small smile.

"Princess, why is this bat here?"

"Do you know who Batmane is?"

"The newspaper vigilante?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, at least I do. My parents have told me about him, and...Rainbow has become a bit obsessed" she said that last while rolling her eyes at her.

Celestia nodded, then looking at the bat that Fluttershy was trying to calm down.

"This morning we were about to arrest him, but... he called for backup... a flock of bats. And since my sister decided to get ahead of me and eliminate what little blood there might be from Batmane, I can only ask that you please try to convince this little friend to help us find him before he does more harm."

Fluttershy looked at the princess nervously, then glancing at Twilight, who had noticed the tiny, tiny hint of anger in her former teacher towards her sister. With a sigh, she nodded to her friend, who focused on the bat and spoke to him, receiving several shrieks in response.

"Oh, I see...but...are you sure they can't?" a few more shrieks, to which Fluttershy nodded. "That was very nice of him, but we just want…" more shrieks, and the pegasus's eyes widened. "Oh...that...that changes things..."

"What does him say?" Twilight asked as she approached, Celestia attentive to what was said.

"He says Batmane brought one of his hatchlings back to them and promised to protect their flock from harm."

"And just for that he won't tell us anything?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. "We can also protect the flock and..."

"That's not all" Fluttershy looked at the bat, amazement in his eyes. "He says that, even though he can't understand them, he spends so much time in the cave, and protects them in such a way, that they have adopted him as one of their own. And the bats will never give up one of their own."

Celestia frowned, watching the bat, who also held her gaze.

"Are you sure?" she asked, watching as Fluttershy nodded, letting out a disappointed sigh. "Okay... We'll release him at nightfall to go home... And tell him not to worry, I know perfectly well that none of my guards could follow him without him noticing. If you'll excuse me, I still have things to do. It's always a pleasure to see you."

Celestia smiled and got up, heading to the door, pausing for a few seconds and looking at Twilight.

"Before I forget, will you be bringing your students to the interspecies meeting next week?"

"Of course, my students are delighted" answered the princess of friendship with a smile, which Celestia shared before leaving.

The two mares fell silent before looking at each other.

"I…I think they're bald again," Fluttershy said with concern, taking the bat out of his cage and allowing he to lie on top of her.

"Yeah...I hope they fix it," Twilight whispered, still staring at the door.

---

Batmane landed on the floor of one of the three Ace Wing Chemicals warehouses that were still active in the city, and that in the last week had been robbed by somepony, and he slightly suspected who it was. Even though he still had the chip wound, he had healed enough to go out on patrol, it was lucky it didn't hit any major joints. His gaze swept over the warehouse, full of containers where Cloudsdale's orders for the Canterlot plant were kept, plus some of the chemicals they used and a few neurotoxins they kept for some research lab.

His gaze swept around the room, seeing the police cordon at the entrance, in the distance, but no cops in sight. The area had been completely cleared, so Batmane wouldn't have many clues to analyze, but that wouldn't stop him from looking for them anyway. He walked slowly through the warehouse, activating his 'predator mode' so he could pick up any trail that might otherwise be missed. At last, he found something in one of the most remote areas, near an open container with several open boxes inside, a pool of dried blood. Forensics had cordoned off the area, surely they'd be checking him out in the morning, so it stood out to the eye even without his special vision. The bat crouched down and looked at the blood, investigating it.

It was quite large, but the multiple spatters around it, and some on the nearby wall, suggested the victim was bludgeoned with some kind of weapon. In fact, a few spatters were making a beeline for the open container. Batmane followed the trail, which ended quickly, near one of the boxes, so to be sure, he moved it with his magic, coming across the murder weapon, an extendable cane. The bat grabbed it, dropping the box, and examined it in his predatory way. It had several bloodstains that matched the one he found, but there were others underneath that suggested the item had been used on many more victims.

Batmane folded the cane, holding it in magic on him as he examined the boxes. As in the other three warehouses, a number of different chemicals and neurotoxins had been stolen, something that did not give him a good feeling. A noise caught his attention, and as he exited the container, he saw a beam from a guard's flashlight, so he drew his batclaw and shot to the ceiling to get out.

---

Twilight walked through the halls of the castle to the outside, looking for three of her friends. As she walked out the doors, she saw that, at the entrance, and near a special carriage to carry several ponies at once, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity stood with Cheerilee and her group of foals, talking to their sisters.

"Finally I found you" Twilight said as she approached, smiling.

Her friends and the three fillies turned to look at the alicorn, smiling at her too.

"I'm sorry, dear, I wanted to say goodbye to my little sister before they went home" Rarity said as she caressed Sweetie Belle, who smiled happily.

"It's okay, I get it," Twilight said, looking at the three cutie mark crusaders, who had already earned their cutie marks... almost all of them. "How was your tour of the castle?"

"It's been awesome!" Scootaloo said, eliciting a small chuckle from her sister and the alicorn. "We've seen the throne room, Princess Luna's observatory, and the royal guard posts!"

"I know my brother will be pleased to know that his old position is still impressive," Twilight said with a small laugh, taking a bright look at the little pegasus, one she recognized.

"Does your brother work there?"

"Yes, he was his captain before he went to the Crystal Empire."

Twilight watched the emotions flash across Scootaloo's face, already suspecting what she was going to say.

"Do you think he could teach me how to be a royal guard? Maybe I'll get my cutie mark that way."

As heartbreaking as she was to shatter the little pegasus's illusions, Twilight knew she had to do it, and one look at Rainbow told her she was right.

"Scoots, being a royal guard isn't that easy. It takes years of grueling training, I don't think you can get your cutie mark with them."

Scootaloo's face went from excitement and hope to disappointment, her snout wrinkling and a frown lowering her head. Rainbow bit her lip and acted quickly.

"But I could look in Twilight's library and we could look for something similar, don't you think?"

"I suppose."

Her two friends looked at each other before approaching Scootaloo, trying to cheer her up. A short time later, Cheerilee called them, so they had to say goodbye to her older sisters, the little pegasus with less energy than before, and approached her teacher. The mare glanced at them before focusing on the two ponies pulling the cart, an earth pony and a pegasus, different from the ones she had met this morning, so she approached hesitantly.

"Excuse me, where are the drivers this morning?"

"They had the afternoon off, ma'am" said the pegasus with a smile. "We have come to replace them."

Cheerilee cocked her head in confusion before shrugging and nodding, walking with the little ones into the carriage. Soon, they were on their way, away from the castle, being watched by the four mares, especially Rainbow and Twilight.

"I'm worried" Rainbow said.

"Don't worry," Twilight cheered with a smile. "It will go away."

"It's just...she's the only one in her class who doesn't have a cutie mark."

"Those things take time" Applejack said with a conciliatory tone, followed by Rarity.

"Yes, my dear, she will get it in due time."

"You say that because your sisters already have theirs."

The two mares looked at each other, trying to think of an answer. That was true, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had already gotten their cutie marks in singing and potion brewing respectively, but Scootaloo... had been left behind.

"Give her time," Twilight interrupted with a reassuring smile. "She's still 10 years old, she has plenty of time."

Rainbow glanced at the carriage, further off in the distance, before sighing and turning to Twilight with a smile.

"Thank you, Twi."

"You're welcome."

"What were you looking for us for, dear? Other than because you missed one of us. "Rarity interrupted with a sly smile, causing the alicorn to blush noticeably, which she luckily managed to hide from the sight of her rainbow-maned friend.

"Um, I... I wanted to find you to see if any of you can pick up Starlight and the students at the station."

"I'll go" Rainbow said with a defiant smile. "I feel like flying a bit."

With that, the pegasus flew away at high speed, leaving her friends alone. Twilight glanced at the rainbow contrail before glancing at her friends, especially Rarity, who was looking at her with that look she gets when she's telling or, in this case, looking at good gossip.

"What?" Twilight said with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Nothing you want to say?"

"Yeah, will you help me inside" Twilight said quickly before turning around and walking briskly back to the castle, eliciting a laugh from Rarity and an odd look from Applejack.

"What happened?"

"Oh, nothing important, just a mare that refuses to see the truth."

Applejack looked confused at her friend, who moved forward to follow Twilight. With a shrug, she followed her friends.

---

Service stepped out of the elevator and into the Batcave, filling a suit in his magic, finding Blueblood in front of the batcomputer, last night's cane on the table behind him.

"Any progress, sir?" he asked as he approached.

"None at the moment, Service. The cane only has blood belonging to Ace Wing Chemicals workers, and no hoofprints from that maniac." Blueblood leaned back in his chair, looking at the screens that worked as one, various chemical agents on they. "But what I did find are the chemicals and meurotoxins that he has stolen, one of which is nitrous oxide."

"Nitrous oxide?"

"It's often used in dental clinics, also known as laughing gas. I don't know what you want to do with all that, but it can't be good."

"I agree sir, that madpony needs to be stopped. But he should leave it for another time" Service said as he held out the suit, drawing Blueblood's attention. "He has a party to go to."

"A party?" Blueblood asked curiously.

"The Gathering of the Species Gala, representatives of Equestria's allied countries are going to attend... and you's already late, sir."

"I don't have time for parties" Blueblood replied, only to receive a frown from Service.

"Unless you wants to raise suspicions about your identity, you must keep up appearances, and that includes attending official parties."

Blueblood sighed and walked over, taking the suit jacket and button-down shirt from Service. But before he could get dressed, a rumble sounded in the batcave, alerting the bats, and soon after, an ominous voice was heard.

"Good evening, Canterlot! Allow me to be introduced, I am the...!"

---

A while before.

Twilight walked over with a smile to her brother, Cadence and her three-year-old niece Flurry Heart, who was being held on her mother's wing, closely followed by Spike.

"I'm glad you were able to come," Twilight said with a smile.

"Of course we would, Twily" Shining answered as he hugged his sister.

"How is my favorite cousin?" Spike said as he walked over to Flurry, who held out her little hooves and had a huge grin on seeing the dragon.

"Spie!"

Cadence snickered as she handed her daughter over to Spike, who scooped her up into his arms, hugging her and allowing the little filly to play with her cousin. Twilight watched with amusement as Spike played with Flurry, remembering when she did the same with him, but her moment of maternal longing was interrupted by her sister-in-law.

"Have you seen Blueblood, by any chance? I wanted to introduce him to Flurry, but I don't see him."

"I'm not sure," Twilight replied with a frown. "You should ask Rarity, she has more contact with him than I do."

A little farther away, the young six stood a little apart, watching the party from afar, well, except for Silverstream, who was flying around the room talking friendly, too friendly, with the guests, her father was close by to prevent her from bothering them too much.

"Can someone remind me why we're here?" Gallus asked.

"Why did Principal Twilight say that?" Sandbar suggested.

"Why is this such a super exciting historical event?" Ocellus added with a wide grin.

"Why did I think they would have gems here that I could eat and not have to ask Spike for them?" Smolder term.

"Did you really come just for that?" Gallus said with a raised eyebrow, to which Smolder shrugged.

"Do you know how hard it is to get permission to go into that cave of gems, and how even harder it is for Spike to give me some of his?"

"I thought Spike wasn't greedy anymore," Sandbar said with a bit of concern, remembering the incident of his greed attack.

"As the dragons get older they control his greed better" Smolder explained as she rolled her eyes. "He's not going to turn back into a gigantic dragon."

"That relieves me quite a bit."

Gallus ignored his friends and focused on the party, specifically the few earth ponies he could see.

"Do you think any of them are Batpony?" he asked curiously, drawing a curious look from Sandbar.

"Batpony?"

"You know, that vigilante Professor Dash told us about."

Sandbar looked at Gallus blankly before a small chuckle erupted from him.

"What's so funny?" Gallus asked with a raised eyebrow, answered by Ocellus.

"His name is Batmane, Batpony is another name for thestrals."

"Any way at all."

"Obviously not," Smolder said as he scanned the nobles. "If what Professor Dash said is true, then no, he's too cool to be a noble."

"Batpony not being cool, being cowardly" Yona replied with conviction, drawing the attention of her friends.

"Why do you say that Yona?" Sandbar asked curiously.

"A true warrior doesn't fight with shadows, he fights with light, yaks think cowardly" she said again as she slammed her hoof on the ground.

"Well I think he's pretty cool" Gallus said as he shrugged. "Using shadows to your advantage is fucking cool."

"I assure you it's not...cool."

Gallus blinked and turned around, coming face to face with Princess Celestia, who was smiling slightly.

"Princess celestia!" Gallus said nervously. "Of course not, I... I was just saying that..."

Celestia snickered before turning her attention to the rest of the young six.

"I hope you're having a good time."

"Of course your highness, it's a very fun party" Ocellus said with a nervous giggle.

"I'm glad, and please don't hesitate to try to talk to others as your friend" Celestia said with amusement as she watched the hyperactive hippogriff. "Isn't that the point of the school of friendship?"

The students looked at each other before nodding, to which Celestia smiled and walked away after saying goodbye to them. Despite her smile, inside she was disappointed by what Gallus thought, Batmane cool? He was a pony who broke the law and hurt many others, but she couldn't change his mind, so she decided not to go into it too much. Even though she disapproved of his methods, she had to admit to Luna that he had helped a lot in the city, but she couldn't agree with his methods. Breaking the law, assaulting ponies, bordering on torture, these were not the ideals she wanted to instill in her ponies to achieve justice.

Her gaze went around the room, seeing the different species living together. She could see Dragon Lord Ember and King Thorax talking to Prince Rutherford, further away was Queen Novo talking to the King of Griffonia. Her gaze lingered on her sister, who was talking to Twilight's hyperactive hippogriff student. She stared at her for a while, thinking about the fight they'd had, a fight caused by Batmane. She could understand that Luna saw his actions well, she didn't want to force her to think differently, but she kept hurting her. With a sly sigh, she headed in the direction of the hippogriff queen and the griffin king, after all, this was an interspecies speaking gala.

---

Outside the castle, two royal guards guarded the entrances, watching as a group of six ponies approached, all wearing clown masks, except for the one who seemed to be the leader, an earth pony who was wearing royal make-up. The two guards were put on alert, especially when they saw the pints of the one who was ahead.

"Stop, who's going?" one said as he spread his wings like his partner to cut them off.

"The party clowns" said the clown, showing the flower that he had on his purple jacket. "Here's one of my little tricks."

From the flower came a green cloud that enveloped the guards.

---

"Thank you all for coming" said Princess Twilight with a big smile directed at those present, behind her the other three princesses of Equestria. "Today, is a day to come together and remember that no matter that we are not the same, that is what makes our friendship stronger. Friendship does not distinguish between races, species or age, everyone has the right to experience it and..."

Her speech was interrupted when the doors to the hall opened and a royal guard entered, laughing out loud.

"What's so funny?" Pinkie said happily as she walked over.

Princess Celestia, on the other hand, scowled and walked over, ready to scold the guard. But as she approached, her anger turned to confusion, and then to horror.

"Wait," Pinkie said, frowning. "You don't look like you're having fun."

The pony had a look of horror on his face as he laughed uncontrollably, his face twisting into a ghoulish smile, until at last, he fell to the ground...dead.

"And that's Joker laughing gas! Take one, I guarantee you'll die of laughter!" said a voice from the door.

All those present focused on the pony in charge, a clown who began to laugh out loud as his henchpony entered and pointed guns at the guests, although they emptied a little when aiming at the princesses. Celestia frowned as she hurried forward, but the clown looked amused and raised a hoof in her direction.

"I wouldn't get too close, Your Highness, or else... you'll have the blood of some poor, innocent foals on your hooves."

"What are you talking about?" Celestia said, stopping her pace, the other princesses, the mane six and some of the rulers of other races joining her.

"Oh, nothing important, just that we decided to borrow a class of foals who came to visit the castle, and if my ponies don't hear from me every ten minutes... they will die" the clown said with a small laugh.

The three older sisters knew right away which class he was talking about. In a rage, Rainbow almost went after the son of a bitch, only for Twilight's glare to stop her, which she reluctantly did. Once done, the princess of friendship focused on the clown.

"Who are you?"

"Where are my manners?" the clown said as he lightly banged his head before bowing mockingly. "I am the Joker, in your service, and I am here for an official introduction. Your Solar Highness, would you be so kind as to cast a speaker spell on me to speak to everypony in Canterlot?"

"Why should I do it?" Celestia said with a frown.

"Because, as I said before, if my kind assistants don't hear from me, the foals will have a guided tour of the other quarter."

As the self-appointed Joker roared with laughter, Celestia groaned to herself as she ignited her horn, lightly wrapping around the body of the clown, who gave her an evil grin, heightened by his courtesy.

"Good evening, Canterlot! Allow me to be introduced, I am the Joker! And I'm here to announce a game with one of our guest princesses. Somewhere in the city there is a class of helpless foals who, if they don't follow the rules of the game, each and everypony of them will die. Now which princess should she be?"

Joker smiled at the four princesses, who watched the clown calmly, at least most of them. Twilight was much more nervous, she had faced villains before, yes, but never one who directly threatened to kill ponies, let alone foals. The clown seemed to notice her nervousness, as he pointed his right hoof directly at her.

"Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner! The princess of friendship, a round of applause please!"

While most of the guests stood in stunned silence, some of his minions applauded derisively, encouraged by their boss. Twilight stared at the Joker for a few moments before taking a deep breath and moving forward, only to be stopped by Rainbow, who stepped in front of her and glared at the clown.

"Get away from her, you fucking fool!" she screamed with all her might.

"Oh, typical of the Element of Loyalty," Joker said, wiping away a fake tear. "But I guess that means the foals will have to die."

Rainbow swallowed at that, the image of a terrified Scootaloo in her mind.

"Rainbow, it's okay," the pegasus turned to see Twilight smiling weakly. "For now, we must play along."

Rainbow bit her tongue before nodding and walking away from her in defeat. Twilight stepped forward and faced the Joker.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I like it that way, with energy" Joker said with a laugh. "The game is simple, to save the life of the foals... you must kill one of your friends."

Twilight and her friends widened their eyes, murmurs erupting in the room.

"Clown Pony Being a Coward!" Prince Rutherford yelled furiously.

"I couldn't have said it better" Dragon Lord Ember replied, only for the Joker to look directly at them.

"Unless you want those foals to die, you should be quiet." Joker kept his gaze on the two leaders, who groaned to themselves before trailing off, bringing the clown back to focus on Twilight. "What was I up to? Oh yeah, kill one of your friends. The rules are simple, and I'm going to be very generous, you have one hour to do it, and for every hour you don't do it, a foal dies, but don't abuse it, because if you don't your part in four hours, a good part of Canterlot is going to get a gigantic chemical explosion from my new laughing gas," the Joker roared with a laugh at that, apparently amused by that idea. "And since the Element of Loyalty has jumped to your defense, she will be the one to kill."

Twilight's eyes widened as a few tears welled up in her eyes, which only made Joker laugh uncontrollably.

"Hey, that's all perks, you'll have one less gift to deliver on Hearth's Warming Eve. I'm doing you a favor!"

Comments

[Roboman3000]

Wait, why Scootaloo doesn't have her cutie mark in this version?

[Guillermo]

11195223
I said it a few chapters back, this version will have some differences from the Canon of the series. And let's just say I have some plans for my favorite filly .