> The Dark Knight Christmas > by Gleaming > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ''Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now.'' - Commissioner James Gordon Those very words are the words that make Bruce question his own morality, even when he would never do the unthinkable of ending another life no matter if the person deserved death or is wishing death upon others. Bruce returned from a long night of capturing the Riddler and Penguin from robbing the Gotham Merchants Bank, to obtain some very priceless jewels that were on the market in a deal with Black Mask for protection from Batman. The very strong winds traveled into the very luminous cave filled with bats, the flying creatures of the night flew off of the cave walls due to the high frequency of sound from the Batwing flying in through the waterfall. ''You know, Master Bruce. After a long night of putting the criminals of Gotham behind bars, are you sure that you won't be settling in for the night?'' Alfred spoke in a very astonished voice, setting up the dinner plate for the night. The dinner plate sitting on the wooden dinner table, showcasing the delicious food that Alfred had prepared for tonight. The dinner consisted of beef, ham, stuffing, and steamed vegetables. ''Sorry, Alfred. After all of the events tonight that have occurred especially with the Joker on the loose, I still have to protect Gotham before the Joker spreads his laughing gas all around Gotham.'' Bruce looking across at the flowing waterfall from the Batcave, flying off into the night sky of Gotham City. Batman grabbed the Remote Claw from his utility belt, launching the claw as it attaches to a nearby gargoyle on a tall skyscraper decorated by Christmas decorations. Using his detective vision from the skyscraper, Bruce pinpoints Joker's heat signature from his getaway vehicle along with his henchwoman Harley Quinn in tow escaping from the Gotham Merchants Bank. The rumbling sound of laughing gas containers start bouncing up and down on the back of the tow truck which Joker stole earlier. The Joker must have gathered his supply of laughing gas, he must be planning to release all of the gas from the sewers to the Pioneers Bridge that connects Old Gotham to New Gotham. If I have a chance to stop him, I would need to use the explosive gel to destroy the laughing gas containers. Thinking to himself, Bruce grabbed the explosive gel from his yellow symmetrical utility belt which the gel contained explosive ingredients that can detonate when applied to a destructible surface. A few moments later, Joker rallied up his henchmen to scatter all of the laughing gas containers. ''Here's the plan dimwits, tonight on Christmas we'll be scattering all of these laughing gas containers all around Gotham so that the caped black nuisance does not interfere with our plans. If any of you let the bat destroy our laughing gas, I will have you gagged, tortured, and chained to an electric chair! Now, any questions?'' Joker was very confident that he would keep the citizens of Gotham laughing for years to come, but he was unaware that Batman was listening in on his whole plan. One of Joker's henchmen raised up his hand, shivering from the harsh winter cold. ''How are we going to be able to beat the Bat, if we don't have any weapons?'' ''Oh, I almost forgot. If any of you encounter the bat, I strapped detonation mines on your backs so if Batman tries to sneak up behind you the mine will automatically detonate on contact.'' The Clown Prince of Crime responded confidently, jumping around happily and clapping his hands cheerfully. ''So tonight, Gotham is mine. You guys can't exactly survive without me, since we all know that without a proper dynamic a team can not function. I highly doubt that you idiots could survive without me. Anywho, scatter the laughing gas!'' Joker and Harley jumped back into their tow truck, releasing the laughing gas containers in the underground sewer system of Gotham. The gas containers start floating in the sewage of the Gotham City sewers, compressed with too much pressure from the huge architecture of the sewers tightening around them. Jumping off of the perched gargoyle, landing on the back of one of the henchmen, and breaking his back in half. Now that I've taken care of one of Joker's henchmen, time to head down to the sewers to stop the Joker's laughing gas containers from heading to the Gotham Central Water Plant. Heading down to the sewers via the manhole that leads underground, Batman reached the whole set of gas containers that was going down the waterfall to the Gotham Central Water Paint unaware that if the containers are under too much pressure from the water in the plant, it will spread all of the laughing gas all around Gotham. Joker watched in awe from the sewer platform holding a pistol in his hand, looking down at Batman near the containers. ''Oh, hello there...Batman! I knew you was going to come eventually, so I'm about to make everyone in Gotham smile even if they don't want to. You know what they say, a smile a day keeps the reaper away!'' Joker held the pistol firmly in his hand, aiming the firearm directly at the container, and pulling the trigger with the bullet coming out of the gun with great velocity. ''No, Joker!'' The masked vigilante jumped from the sewage with great speed, the bullet piercing the laughing gas containers with a huge hole coming out, and a huge blast of force sending both Joker and Batman into the path of the laughing gas infestation. Ponyville: Hours Later With the Hearth's Warming Eve lights glistening above near Mayor Mare's office, all of the fillies having a break from school, the Mane 6 spending time with their family everyone except Twilight, and there is a reason why. Twilight was busy doing the same portal spell that Celestia taught her, and now she is ready to perform the spell again. > Chapter 1: The Return of the Bat > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ponyville: Twilight's Library ''Well, here we go. Time to get this spell right, to show Princess Celestia how much I've grown over these past few years.'' Twilight's horn sparked with a purple swirling aura surrounding her horn, the magic books all around the library start flying out of the window, a purple portal starts to form near the front door of the library. ''I did it!'' Forcefully coming out of the portal after the gas container explosion back in Gotham, Batman comes out of the portal near the front door of the library. ''Oh great, I'm back in this mysterious place again. Hmm, oh look it's Twilight Sparkle the talking horse.'' Screaming in a surprising fashion, Batman starts to fall unconscious on his back into a fainting motion. ''I hope that you're okay Bruce, because my teacher Princess Celestia needs your help to fix an unknown appearance of a strange clown in the Everfree Forest.'' Twilight said nervously, wiping the sweat from her forehead. ''Will do Twilight, just take me to Princess Celestia.'' Walking out of the library with Twilight to the Royal Sisters castle in Canterlot, which wasn't too far away from their current location. ''I think I know a faster way to get there, Twilight.'' Taking out the Remote Claw from his belt, grappling up to the top of the castle, flying out to the castle from the long grappling hook, and kicking the side of the castle wall down. ''What is the meaning of this?! Oh, hello Twilight who is your friend?'' Celestia said shockingly, looking at the huge wall that Batman left leading into the castle with the shattered remains of the wall scattered on the floor. ''Princess Celestia, sorry for the intrusion. This is Batman, he is the caped crusader of Gotham whom he protects the city only at night time. You told me to enlist his help by, using the same portal spell that you taught me in your school.'' Twilight exclaimed, looking up at Celestia's disapproved facial expression. [/hr] Ponyville: The Everfree Forest ''I understand Twilight. There have been many rumors of a pony who was wearing red makeup, has green hair, and his skin was fully bleached white. This new mysterious figure can pose a threat to all of Ponyville even on a holiday of peace and tranquility, we can not take any chances on letting this threat roam free. I need you and Batman to investigate any weird events that you see, if you see anything out of the ordinary notify me immediately.'' Twilight and her new friend in tow agreed with what Celestia stated with a nod, they quickly exit the castle with no hesitation. With the two new allies on the run to stop the new threat, little do they know that this mysterious threat is the Joker who was last seen fighting Batman in the Gotham sewers to unleash his laughing gas mayhem all over Gotham. But, now he is planning to take over Equestria instead of Gotham. The Everfree Forest was populated by the very mysterious bats in the caves, crocodiles, and the Joker was roaming around the trees decorated in star shaped lights to show the festivities of Hearths Warming Eve. The clown grabbed a red marker and a pair of balloons, strapping the balloons to a tree while writing the words HA, HA, HA. ''This new universe might be boring, but I'll always be the one who has the last laugh! With the bat out of the way, I'll be able to accomplish what I didn't pull off in Gotham. Sadly, without my henchmen or Harley Quinn I'll have to go solo.'' Twilight Sparkle and Batman finally reach Joker near the Everfree Forest, and began to question why he was here in the first place. Many questions were asked to make Joker spill the beans, informing him about the future consequences. ''Batman? I thought I killed you back in Gotham!'' Joker said, surprisingly in shock. ''You almost did but, I promise you that you will not get away by taking over Equestria!'' Batman shouted in anger, yelling in front of Joker's face. ''Sorry, Batsy. But, I'll be spreading as much chaos just like I did in Gotham and I'll be getting rid of you!'' The bomb that Joker took out of his pocket was a molecular separator bomb, in which it will tear Equestria apart, getting rid of it's own matter, and eliminate the whole universe completely. The bleached face clown pony threw the molecular separator bomb on the ground, attaching a timer to the front of the bomb. ''Now, to make things fun I have added a timer to the bomb to spice things up a bit. If you don't disarm this bomb in time, this whole place will go boom, and you get to watch me take over. Now while you excuse me, I've got a nation to conquer, chaos to reign in, and enjoy the mayhem!'' [/hr] Joker's legs walked very nonchalantly away from Batman and Twilight Sparkle, with the timer starting to tick from 30 minutes. With a time limit on the line to save Equestria from the Joker, Batman and Twilight must find the rest of the Mane 5 to enlist some help from a certain reformed Draconequus to keep the Joker occupied. > Chapter 2: Summoning Discord > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ponyville: Sweet Apple Acres With the pressure being placed on the back of Batman and Twilight, along with the fate of Equestria in their hooves they must search around Ponyville to assemble the Elements of Harmony before Joker's bomb detonates and takes all of Equestria with it. Princess Celestia prepares herself with each of her Royal Guards surrounding the outskirts of the castle, and guarding the inside of the castle. Over at the farm in Sweet Apple Acres, the Apple family are now hearing of the threat of the Joker's molecular bomb that can wipe out the entire nation of Equestria fearing for the worst of not being able to say goodbye to their friends and family. The sky starts to turn grey from the strong winds in the air, with the thunder breaking the sound barrier, and lightning striking down the trees on the farm's plantation. With the depressing atmosphere, it was almost time to give up hope. ''Applejack, we need you!'' Twilight called out to the orange mare, in need of her assistance. ''The Joker's bomb is getting close to detonation in a few hours, and we need to gather the rest of the Elements of Harmony to defeat him along with Batman's help.'' ''She's right. We need your help, and without the Elements, Joker will plunge Equestria into ultimate mayhem and take over with an iron hoof.'' Batman said to the orange mare, along with Twilight's explanation. Applejack thought for a moment, thinking about the future of Equestria if the Joker took over Equestria. Ya know what? Our friendship and the Elements will still live on inside of us and, we can face any obstacle together. ''Okay, ya'll. We're going to gather old gang back together. We just need Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.'' ''Well, we should get the group back together soon. Meet back in an hour, and go!'' Twilight said, excitingly. With the molecular bomb ticking to 25 minutes now, Twilight, Applejack, and Batman have assembled the rest of the Mane 6 in which they meet back at Sweet Apple Acres. Joker is busy trying to find a way to get rid of the Royal Guards guarding the Canterlot Castle. [/hr] Sweet Apple Acres: 1 Hour Later With all of the six Elements of Harmony ready to join forces with Batman to take on the Joker, they have to summon the only Draconequus who enjoys spreading chaos and trolling the Mane 6 for fun as an reformed ally. The six mares surround each other in a circle formation, with the snow falling on their flowing manes. The Elements of Harmony start to flash their own Element in a very organized fashion, a white flowing line of energy start circling from each of the Elements to the next. With all of the Elements in unison, Discord was summoned in front of them. Discord was summoned from the Reformation spell, wearing a crown and a royal Canterlot robe. ''Twilight, now you know that Princess Celestia only told you to summon me for emergencies or if Canterlot was going to be taken over. Whichever one came first, it has to be important. But since I'll teach you a lesson after all of this, what do you want?'' ''Princess Celestia ordered the six of us including Batman, to stop the Joker from destroying Canterlot completely. If we don't stop him, all of Equestria will be destroyed including you.'' Twilight said, to the Draconequus of Chaos and Disharmony. ''Fair enough, but who is this Joker character?'' Discord asked, in a confusing fashion. ''Allow me to explain, Twilight. Discord, the Joker is a clown who has been my enemy for years. He is bent on anarchy, chaos, and putting a smile on his face.'' ''He might as well be my brother. The difference is, he is a clown pony and I'm a Draconequus who is the embodiment of Disharmony and Chaos.'' Discord chuckled, waving a scepter with his head engraved on the top of the scepter. ''Anyway, Discord we need you to keep the Joker occupied long enough so that we can defeat him and send him back where he came from.'' Twilight said. ''What's in it for me?'' Discord asked, rubbing his beard with his paw. ''We promise that we will not turn you back into stone, as long as you help us and not try to threaten the safety of Equestria with your chaos. Deal?'' ''Deal!'' Discord said. The Draconequus extends his paw to Twilight's purple hoof, shaking it with ease. Keeping it a secret by, crossing his two claws behind his back in a sign of betrayal. [/hr] The winter bells ringing to the sound of cheers of joy from fillies, mares, colts, and stallions alike getting ready to move out to the Christmas tree in the center of Ponyville but they are unaware that the Joker is planning to overthrow their princess. > Chapter 3: Taking out the Guards > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canterlot: Outside of the Castle of the Royal Sisters With the Elements of Harmony and Batman already preparing to defeat the Joker, Joker is getting ready to knock out the Royal Guards with the remaining laughing gas that will knock out the guards guarding the exterior of the castle. The Royal Guards were all ordered to protect Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, from anything that the Joker was planning to do with them. And yet, Joker was prepared to take out the guards. ''My bomb will keep that interfering rodent and his colorful friends busy. So, I should just get rid of this guards since they will serve as a threat to me.'' Joker took out his pistol getting ready to initiate his plan, sneakily walking in front of the gate that stood in his way to the castle. Aiming down the sights with his pistol, a BANG! flag pops out of the barrel of the gun. The Royal Guards looked confused at the crime clown pony, a huge spray of gas emerges from the pistol completely knocking out the guards unconscious. ''Those Royal Guard nuisances are out of the way, now I'll just go through the gate and take out the princesses.'' Joker walks through the snow covered front gate, walking up to the stairs leading to the throne room of Celestia and Luna. [/hr] Canterlot: Inside of the Castle of the Royal Sisters Joker finally reached the throne room of Celestia and Luna with the intentions of taking over Equestria set, he proceeds into the throne room. He was doubting himself from the start when he was staring across at the two alicorn princesses, that with their power combined he will regret it. ''Ah, the Joker. My sister and I knew that you was going to arrive here to attempt to overthrow us, how were you able to defeat our well trained Royal Guards who sworn to protect us from harm?'' ''Let's just say, that you're going to need some smelling salt to wake them up. I used poisonous gas that can knock them out unconscious at the moment, so I suggest you bow before me now or we're going to have a problem.'' ''How dare you?! If you think we're just going to bow before you and watch you overthrow us, you're solely mistaken.'' Celestia said, in a very angered mood. She rose up from her throne along with her sister, rising up off the floor of the throne room, ascending into the air with great ease. Princess Luna looks down at Joker, scoffing at his very smug expression. ''My sister is right. We possess a power that is worse than you can imagine, thy shall pay for their arrogance!'' The Alicorn sisters aimed their horns down at Joker, sparking a huge burst of magic from their horns, shooting out an indigo and pink aura in front of the Joker. The burst of magic was so powerful, that it sent the Joker smacking into the hard pavement of the walls in the throne room. ''My sister, is it finally over?'' Luna asked to Celestia. ''For now, we're not sure.'' Celestia told Luna, putting her hoof around her arm. The Joker closed his eyes pretending to be unconscious, keeping his grip on his pistol starting to fire a bullet from the pistol, the bullet flies out of the pistol with a high velocity, with the bullet striking Celestia in the wing. The once graceful and enthusiastic teacher of Twilight Sparkle, fell to the ground in pain from a bullet wound to her wing. ''Sister? NO!'' Luna dropped down near her sister, caressing her very limb body. ''Not so fast, I don't need any witnesses.'' Joker threw out a poisonous laughing gas bomb towards Luna, the bomb opened up with poisonous gas exiting the bomb in front of Luna's face, knocking out the Lunar Princess instantly. ''This is simply fun! I'm now able to takeover this nation, getting rid of Batman, and rule over these ponies with an iron fist.'' Joker jumped around excitingly, sitting down on Princess Celestia's throne. ''Time for the Joker takeover, to commence!'' ''Well, Twilight. Joker finally took out the princesses, and now he has taken full royal control of Canterlot. But, that won't stop us from ending his reign of tyranny.'' Batman grabs the molecular bomb that Joker threatened to use. ''Now, I'll have to defuse this bomb.'' He takes out his Cryptographic Sequencer gadget, hacking through the bomb's security defenses. Batman rolled his thumbs counterclockwise three times, unlocking the password: L A S T L A U G H, defusing the molecular separator bomb. ''Bomb defused.'' > Chapter 4: Final Showdown > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canterlot: The Royal Castle ''I'm so glad that I left Gotham City, such a dump. But with this new nation at my disposal, Royal Guards at my command, I'll be able to conquer Gotham City once and for all!'' Joker said, cheering in excitement. ''Not so fast! You can't do this without me, Joker.'' Discord appeared in the throne room in front of Joker, waving his paw at him. ''I know you love anarchy, and I love chaos. We can make this work, if we work together.'' ''You drive a bargain there, Discord. I'll tell you what, you can get out of my sight for free because I don't work with anyone!'' ''Well then, allow me to show you what I can do.'' Strong winds start to form around in the throne room, Chocolate rain coming from the ceiling, Discord's chaos was now unleashed. ''Impressed?'' ''I sure am! Okay, we can work together for this one time.'' Joker nods his head in agreement. Batman and the Mane 6 sneak silently into the throne room, without Joker detecting them. Batman keeps his feet firmly on the floor of the throne room, sneaking up behind Joker sitting in Celestia's throne. Standing up behind Joker. grabs the front of the throne tipping it down, knocking out Joker with a punch. ''Thanks for the help, Discord!'' ''No problem, see you guys later!'' Discord vanished out of the throne room. > Epilogue: Saying Goodbye? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Center of Ponyville With the Joker defeated and apprehended by Batman, the Hearths Warming Eve celebration was very grand with cheers of joy and all of the ponies from far and wide to gather around the tree in the center of Ponyville. The snowflakes falling from the sky start to sprinkle all over Ponyville, covering every building from top to bottom in very soft white snow. Mayor Mare stepped up to the podium in front of her regional political quarters. ''Attention, everypony! There has been an update on the condition of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Due to the violent circumstances that occurred tonight due to the Joker, there will not be a royal meeting addressing the matter until their injuries have fully healed. On the other hand, the Joker has been apprehended and Batman has promised to return him back to his world. So, continue your festivities! A huge crowd of ponies with sad expressions on their faces fill the center of Ponyville, tears start to roll down their faces while trying to cope with what occurred earlier tonight. They all held their faces in their hooves to try to get rid of the worst case scenario, of never getting to see Luna and Celestia ever again. [/hr] Ponyville: Medical Tents Nurse Redheart's medical tent was filled with concerned ponies thinking about what could happen to their royal rulers, she was trying to hide her tears of joy. ''Good news everypony, Celestia and Luna have recovered from their injuries and they will be back up to have their royal meeting with their subjects tomorrow morning!'' The good news spread from Ponyville to all over Equestria, with the holiday celebration drawing to a close, Batman was ready to return home. [/hr] Ponyville: Golden Oaks Library Batman dragged Joker's unconscious body into the library, with the Mane 6 in tow. ''Thank you so much ladies, for all of your help! But before I depart back to Gotham City, I want to tell you something. All of the years that I've been grieving over my parents death, I came to the conclusion to blame myself for what happened. I should probably let you know that, I left a little surprise up in the sky so that you're able to signal me at anytime when the bat signal is up in the sky in both of our universes. Almost forgot, I never had the chance to get a Christmas present so I hope that you do leave me a present.'' ''It's always an honor to assist you, Batman. So, we'll supply you with a Christmas present.'' All of the six ponies surrounded each other in a circular motion, with a white line of energy surrounding them, a bag of mysterious contents appeared in front of the caped crusader. ''There you go, Batman!'' The purple portal appeared infront of Batman, stepping through the portal carrying Joker on his back, the portal's space closed into a small confined space vanishing completely. [/hr] Gotham City: Arkham Asylum Commissioner James Gordon walks along with Batman, throwing Joker's unconscious body into his containment cell wrapped up in a straightjacket for psychological insanity reasons. ''Well, I've got to admit that your not a vigilante after all. I'll see you later, we're going to keep this insane lunatic behind bars for a long time.'' The containment cell bars locked behind Joker, keeping him trapped in the cell along with the fact that he can not wield weapons or move his arms to try to escape from his new cell. ''Ugh. Bah! Humbug!'' [/hr] Gotham City: The Batcave The Batmobile was driving at a very high speed with up to 250 miles per hour, driving through the waterfall into the Batcave, the batmobile lands on a black platform setting the vehicle into place. ''Ah, very good to have you back Master Bruce. Did you enjoy your Christmas?'' Alfred asked Batman. Batman removed his mask, his very resilient cape, and his huge set of gadgets implanted in his yellow utility belt. A secret chamber opened up from the cave walls, the batsuit flies into the chamber locking the suit inside and the chamber is sealed with the suit inside of it. ''I sure did, Alfred.'' Bruce opens the bag of the mysterious contents that Twilight talked about, reading the letter that was sealed inside. Dear Batman, I know things have been very rough for you, since you had the courage to tell us about your parents death. You should always remember that just because, you blame yourself for what happened to your parents does not mean that you caused their death in the first place. There will always be people out there that care about, friends and family alike. We will always be here for you, when you need us. Think of us as your family, because we will always love you. Yours Truly, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie The billionaire playboy digs deeper into the bag, finding an old family picture of his family and himself. ''I love you guys too.'' He sheds a very emotional tear from his face. ''Alfred, thank you for being there for me and my family.'' ''It's always been a pleasure, to be a part of your family Master Bruce.'' Alfred steps over to Bruce, wrapping his arms around him in a hug. Alfred also sheds a tear, with the tear rolling down his face. ''I wonder what else is in this bag...'' Bruce opens the last gift in the bag slowly, a trio of three fillies pop out of the bag unexpectedly surprising Bruce so much that he falls to his back. ''Cutie Mark Crusader Crime Fighters! Yay!'' Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle sprung up on their hooves, full of energetic energy looking up at Bruce Wayne with big adorable eyes. ''Well, I guess my Christmas just got cute.'' The billionaire playboy sheds some more tears, the tears rolling down his face with joy. [/hr] The End!