Batman In Equestriaby SixteaforChaptersProloguePonyvilleRainbow DashWingsRaceManticoreSuspicionWhere am I?FightPrologueLol, this was random. Anyways, here we go... Batman backed into the brick wall. He slid down to a sitting position. His hand on his stomach, he tried to staunch the flow of blood flowing freely from his wound. Batman coughed up blood, the metallic taste filling his mouth as it dripped down his chin. He felt the grasp of a gloved hand wrapping around his neck, and the glint of the pistol as the Joker pulled it out of the cuff of his suit. The Joker pushed it forcefully onto Bruce's forehead, grinning like the madman he was. So this is how it ends... Batman looked The Joker in the eyes. "You haven't won," Batman grunted. "You lost from the beginning. You haven't won..." The Joker frowned. "I think I have, actually. Nighty night, Bats." He laughed hysterically, a high, rasping horrible sound. Then the Clown Prince of Crime pulled the trigger. Boom. Silence. PonyvilleIt was dark, the moon shining brightly beside the stars, illuminating the forest. Bruce wandered across the forest, fleeing from wild animals and trying to find some form of intelligent life- surely he couldn't be the only pony in this universe... could he? He trekked for hours more until he collapsed, unable to walk further. He took shelter under a tree, but he couldn't sleep, as the pain from his broken leg kept him awake. Bruce sat in silence until the sun started to rise up above the clouds, and he continued to walk. He limped until the sky was orange and he was suffering from exhaustion, and he tripped, unable to get back up. The last thing he heard was singing. The voice was light and beautiful, and it calmed him down. At least I'll die listening to someone. He fainted. Bruce opened his eyes. He was lying on a bed, staring at a ceiling. It was a dull beige, and he sighed. He tried to get up, but gasped in pain as his leg wound sent a shock up his body. Bruce lay back down, and realized that he was in a hospital. How had he gotten here? He twisted his head to the left. A curtain blocked his view, but he heard a man coughing behind it. Who the hell is that? A door opened from behind the curtain. There was a clopping sound that Bruce assumed to be walking. "Doc..." The man rasped. "I been shot..." "Yes," a voice replied. "You're in stable condition, though, and we expect you to be fully healed in a week." Bruce turned his head to face the ceiling again. They have guns here? The doctor walked from behind the curtain, and stood at the side of Bruce's bed. The doctor smiled, and tapped Bruce on the his hand- er, hoof. "How are you feeling?" The doctor asked calmly. "Good, I guess," Bruce coughed. He looked up at the doctor. "What are we?" The doctor deadpanned. "Um, we're ponies..." He explained cautiously. The doctor found no evidence of a head injury. Maybe this pony was crazy. "Who are you?" Bruce asked, a look of innocence on his face. "Your doctor." He responded, confused. "How did I get here?" "You were brought in by a Pegasus pony by the name of Fluttershy. You should be thankful, considering the fact that she saved your life." The doctor frowned. "She found you in the Everfree forest." "Where am I?" Bruce asked. "Ponyville. You're in Ponyville." Bruce resumed staring back at the ceiling, a blank look on his face. The doctor shook his head and trotted behind the curtain and out the door. Rainbow DashDays later, Bruce was released from the hospital. He stepped out of the doors to the hospital, greeted by the bright light of the sun and the shadows of tall, solidly colored buildings. Bruce took in his surroundings, amazed by the sights. Even Gotham City's numerous landmarks and the buildings built high with humankind's latest technology, it could hold no light to both the simplicity and the beauty of Ponyville. It incredible, amazing, it was- "Hey, watch where you're goin, man." Said a gruff voice. Bruce turned around and realized he had been walking down the street the whole time, admiring the sights. Wait. A pony just talked to him. With surprise, he noticed that he had been looking up, and not down, where the noise around him came from. There were ponies left and right, big and small, different colors everywhere. It was truly beautiful. This was what Gotham should have been like, what Bruce had struggled to turn Gotham into. He had failed, but here... it was peaceful all on it's own. Bruce continued to walk down the streets of Ponyville, listening to the voices of everyone around him. "It's pretty nice outside today, huh?" Bruce jumped to the side instinctively, ready to defend himself if need be. He lowered his guard when he noticed that it was just a pony with a strange rainbow-like haircut. He stared at her hair. Silence. "Sooo..." The cyan pony started, awkwardly. "I'm Rainbow Dash. Who are you?" This was strange. Why was she asking him questions? Did he do something wrong? "I'm...Er..." Bruce quickly assessed the situation. First, he didn't do anything wrong, at least not anything that he noticed. Secondly, the rainbow-haired pony was staring at him with curiosity, rather than anger, so he decided to just give her his name. "I'm Bruce." "Bruce?" The pony raised an eyebrow. "What kind of name is that?" The pony's eyes open wide when she realized that she could of said something offensive. Bruce panicked a little when he realized that all the ponies he had met had strange names. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy... "I- uh, I meant to say..." Dammit Bruce! Think! "I'm... um... Darknight." Bruce almost sighed in relief when Rainbow Dash stopped looking at him suspiciously. "Well, okay then." Rainbow Dash replied. ""Let me show you around town, Darknight!" Crap. Should he go with her? This very well may be a trap. "Um, sure." He said. Bruce wasn't sure if he had said the right thing. Why was this pony so intent on showing him around? Why had he turned into a pony? How had he got here? What had he gotten himself into? WingsBruce followed obediently as Rainbow Dash guided him on the tour. They had gone around about half of Ponyville when he noticed the quick glances Dash took when he wasn't looking. He wasn't sure, but once when he caught her looking, her eyes gave a look of- curiosity? Bruce had been an expert at reading emotions as a human, but these... these were ponies. Finally, it was over. "So, yeah!" Rainbow Dash finished enthusiastically. "There you have it! Ponyville!" She stood, looking at Bruce with a big smile. Bruce sighed. "What do you want from me?" He asked. It was obvious that she wanted something from him. What was it? Money? He didn't have any, much less knowledge of the currency used here. "Alright, look, bub." She started casually. "I'm the fastest flyer in Ponyville." Bruce nodded nervously. Did she want to hurt him? "Aaaand, I noticed those powerful-looking wings of yours." She sighed. "I wanted to know how fast you could fly." Did she say- He twisted around. He stared at his back. He had wings. Bruce didn't even know. Even in the hospital, he didn't notice. He had wings? Of all the revelations so far, this one shocked him the most. Hell, he was a master detective, and he didn't even notice the wings when he checked his leg for injuries! Some hero he was. He stood there, staring at the wings with his mouth agape, while Rainbow Dash looked on in suspicion. It was as if he had never noticed before. She decided to break the silence. "Are you... uh... okay?" She asked. Bruce snapped out of his train of thought. "Uh-" Bruce thought quickly. "I just never noticed..." Oh, crap. Say something! "I just never noticed how much bigger they've gotten." He almost slapped himself. Bruce tried to trick her into talking. "Well, why would you be so curious about my wings?!" Rainbow Dash shuffled in embarrassment. "Well, your cutie mark is a-" She started. "My cutie mark?" What was that? Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "The mark on everyone's flank." She explained. Why didn't he know that? Bruce looked at Rainbow and noticed the lightning bolt and the cloud on Rainbow Dash. He twisted around once more, and saw his cutie mark. It was a bat. "Anyways, your cutie mark is a bat," She said. "And bat's are fast. So, I was gonna ask you if we could race, since I haven't seen you around here before." Bruce was surprised. A- A race?! He didn't even know if he could fly. However, he weighed the options. On one hand, he didn't know how to fly. On the other hand, well... truth be told, he almost wanted to race. Determination to test his limits was how he had become Batman. "So, Darknight, whaddaya say?" She grinned at him in amusement. "Or are you too chicken to race me?" Bruce said something he wasn't sure if he would regret, or be thankful for. "You're on." RaceIt was time to test his wings. He wasn't exactly sure what to do. Did he just... feel the wings, or something? Bruce pushed as hard as he could from where he thought his wing were, to no avail. Maybe he just needed to think about flying. He braced himself, and thought as hard as he could. Thinking, however, brought back memories of his final fight... Batman landed softly on the ground behind the thug, using the wings of his cape to glide to the ground noiselessly. He wrapped his arm around the mouth of the criminal, stifling his screams and rendering him unconscious at the same time. Batman lay him down softly against the ground, making no sound at all. He stood up, assessing his surroundings. The stone gargoyles attached to the sides of the walls were both stable and high enough for him to grapple onto and not be noticed. Batman pointed his fist at the gargoyle, and then clenched his fist. A grappling hook shot out and pulled him upwards. He swung around the stone beast and landed on it's back expertly. He surveyed the enemies... They were obviously all untrained guards, as they both walked with confidence around the warehouse, walking simple patterns. Too predictable. The first enemy was right across the room from him... He glided off of the statue and flew towards him, leg outstretched. He smiled with satisfaction as his foot made contact with his face. The thug was kicked against the wall, knocked unconscious. Batman turned with a smile when he heard sharp footsteps cross the corner of the wall. As the thug rounded the corner, Batman grabbed him with his hand on the criminal's mouth and punched him in the face. He dragged the body into the shadows... Bruce snapped out of his reverie. "Focus, Bruce, focus!" He braced himself against the ground once more. With surprise, he found that he could feel his wings. He could feel them move up and down, and a feel of weightlessness overtook him. He was flying. Bruce never felt so happy before. In fact, he hadn't felt happy at all since he took of the mantle of Batman, but now- now he felt like he could do anything. He floated upwards and swooped down sharply, pulling back up before he landed on the ground. This was like how he could glide with the wings attached to his arms as a human, but this was legitimate. After about an hour, however, he was spent. Bruce landed softly on the grass. An hour was a decent amount of time up in the air, at least for someone who had never flown before. He lay down, and watched other ponies walk around the park, seemingly carefree, for about another thirty minutes before he felt he could fly once more. While resting, he had applied physics to try to find how to make flying easier. Bruce stood up, braced himself against the ground once more, and flapped his wings. Time to test out his theory. He floated upwards, and at a decent height, he flew forwards as fast as he could, then curled up his wings until they were flat on his back. He shot towards the ground like a bullet while moving forward at the same time, then outstretched his wings to glide over the ground and back up into the air. By the time he finished the maneuver, he had crossed over about half of Ponyville. He smiled to himself. Maybe he had a chance in this race after all. However, he had no place to sleep, and no money to rent a room if there was a local inn. Bruce decided to sleep under a tree. Although it was no Wayne Manor, it was still a comfortable place to sleep. Bruce woke up early on the day of the race, making sure that he could still feel his wings. He practiced his invented maneuver. Finally, as Bruce was resting, Rainbow Dash flew by, spotted him, and glided softly back onto solid ground. "Heya, Darknight." She said as she approached, waving. "Hope you're ready to lose." Bruce smiled, imagining her look when she lost. "I wouldn't count on it." Bruce replied. Rainbow Dash gulped. She flew up and beckoned for Bruce to follow her. He flew up as well and followed as she guided him to a gathering of clouds high in the sky. She landed softly onto the clouds with a soft poof. Bruce raised an eyebrow, but cautiously landed onto the cloud. Surprisingly, the cloud didn't give way, but instead held his weight. Rainbow walked to the edge of the cloud. She pointed towards other small clouds with flags planted into them. "See those?" She motioned, waving her hoof. "We fly past those as fast as we can, and then shoot down towards the ground." She shrugged. "It's a simple and foolproof way to show off your speed!" The clouds went pretty far. At least they were all in a straight line. "Got it?" She asked. Bruce nodded, and trotted over to the edge of the cloud with her. Rainbow Dash smiled confidently "On your marks..." Rainbow called. "Get set... Go!" Both Rainbow Dash and Bruce took off at the same time. She flew fast easily with pure speed. Bruce tried to follow, but found that she was a few seconds faster then him. He smiled. Time to test the new technique. He put on an extra burst of speed, and swooped down towards the ground. Pulling upwards, he saw that he had gained a few feet in front of Rainbow. She had a look of surprise on her face, replaced by grim determination. She sped forwards. By the time they reached the end of the clouds, they were right beside each other. They flew straight downwards. At the last few seconds, Bruce lay his wings flat against his back, falling harder. The earth came rushing up before him and he opened his wings. He landed on all fours, creating a huge cloud of dust. Rainbow Dash landed beside him, coughing as she waved away the dust. When the dust cleared, they found they were standing in a crater, with Bruce in the center, completely unharmed. Bruce grinned as her jaw dropped. "That...was..." She started. Bruce prepared himself against her probable cursing. "SO AWESOME!" She started hopping up and down, squishing her face as Bruce watched in amazement. ""How did you do that what was that you looked like a bullet teach me teach me teach me!" She blurted out quickly. Bruce was happy. This place was admittedly pretty cool, and he felt himself relax from the pain he felt at the thought of leaving Gotham behind. For once, he gave a real smile as Rainbow Dash continued to praise his invented technique. ManticoreThe pony shot down towards the earth like a black missile. Before he smashed onto the ground, he unfolded his wings and landed with a sharp crack, throwing up dust into the air. The dust cleared, and Bruce was standing in the crater, completely unharmed. It was amazing . No one else could do this without breaking their bones, yet he could land without breaking a sweat. He emerged from the crater and was tackled by a blue blur. Bruce lay on his back with Rainbow Dash standing on top of him, talking at an incredibly fast rate. "ThatwasseriouslyamazingIdon'tevenkno-"She squealed, before realizing she was standing on top of Bruce. "Oh, sorry, Darknight." She said, climbing off of him. "No worries, it's fine." Bruce said. That hurt like hell, actually... They continued to practice their flying, teaching each other new tricks and racing. * ** ** ** * Suddenly, screams emerged from the center of the town. "The horror, the horror!" Somepony shouted. Bruce nodded at Dash and they both ran towards the source of the shouts. However, a huge crowd of ponies circled the main square of the town. Bruce approached an old stallion. "What is going on?" He asked, confused. "Why is everyone crowded around the square?" The old pony nodded towards the center, where a gigantic beast stood, roaring and stamping it's paws. It had a comically over sized body of a lion, wings, and a threatening looking scorpion tail. "Holy cow!" Dash whispered. "It's- It's a manticore!" She gulped in fright. "How'd it manage to get in the town?" Just then, a collective gasp was heard when a pale-yellow pegasus walked timidly over to the hostile animal. She appeared to be trying to coax it. "Oh, man," Rainbow Dash groaned, a look of dismay on her face. "Fluttershy is trying to calm it down!" It looked as if it were working. While she talked to it, Fluttershy took tentative steps towards him. Suddenly, it appeared to have changed it's mind and swatted Fluttershy aside. She flew a few feet in the air before landing, unconscious, too far away for her to be rescued. The manticore walked around her, growling as if he was going to eat her. He raised his paw to deliver the killing blow- Bruce ran out from the crowd, shouting to divert the beast's attention. It saw him and bared it's teeth, then charged. Bruce dodged swiftly to the side, and the manticore crashed into a building, crushing a stall and making a hole in the building. The animal whipped around to face Bruce, then charged once more. Bruce dodged again, but the hostile manticore shot his scorpion tail towards his attacker. With a jump, Bruce narrowly missed the tail, then kicked the stinger. The beast roared in pain and Bruce smiled with satisfaction. The manticore turned once more, backing away. This time, he was cautious. The manticore attempted to scare him off with a fierce roar, but Bruce stood his ground. The manticore charged again, but turned as Bruce dodged, managed to strike him on the flank. Bruce gritted his teeth and flew upwards, and the manticore bellowed and swatted at the air. At a decent height, Bruce smiled. Then he dove downwards, folding his wings. He sped towards the ground like a bullet, a cone of air visible around him. He unfolded his wings and stuck his good leg out, striking the manticore in the face. A huge cloud of dust rose around the scene, and the surrounding ponies watched nervously. The dust cleared, and Bruce jumped off of the manticore's head. The animal's eyes had rolled up into the back of his head and he lay on the floor, unconscious. Sudden, furious clapping echoed around the entire town of Ponyville as everypony cheered, and two paramedic ponies rushed out of the crowd, putting Fluttershy on a stretcher. Everypony emerged from the corners of the town square and lifted Bruce onto their shoulders, clapping and shouting and crying tears of joy. They chanted his name, carrying for a victory lap around town while others carried the manticore back to the forest. "Darknight! Darknight! Darknight!" Bruce vaguely wondered how they all knew his name. Eventually, the moon rose up above the sun, and everypony had gone home, tired over the excitement of the day. Bruce walked nowhere with a dazed kind of expression, and was tackled once more by a cyan pony. "Darknight! I can't believe it! YousavedFluttershyandprobablythewholetownand-" Rainbow Dash looked down. "Woops." "It really wasn't any trouble at all," He started. "The manticore was a predictable attacker." Rainbow Dash grinned, but her eyes started to water. "Thanks, Night." She replied. "I wouldn't know what to do if Fluttershy-" Her eyes widened. "Omigosh, we should go see how Shy is doing!" Dash flew away in a hurry. Bruce stood, not sure if he should follow. Rainbow turned around and beckoned towards him. Bruce shrugged to himself, and flew, following the rainbow-maned pony. After a quick fifteen minutes in comfortable silence, they finally reached the hospital. Rainbow Dash pretty much smashed through the doors and Bruce slowly trotted behind. Rainbow hurriedly walked up to the receptionist. "Hey, we need to know where Fluttershy is," She said, quite rudely. "The one that got hit by a manticore awhile ago?" The receptionist raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, miss, but she's not accepting any-" Just then, Bruce walked up to the counter. "Hello, ma'am." He said, shining his most charming smile. * ** ** ** ** * They walked up the stairs to Fluttershy's room, talking as they went. "Good thing you could be pretty persuasive." Rainbow Dash started. "Otherwise we wouldn't even be here." Bruce nodded. "I can be if I want to." Bruce replied. They reached their destination, and pushed open the door. Fluttershy was in a pretty bad shape, three long cuts along the side of her wings. She looked up and beamed when she saw Rainbow Dash. "Oh, Rainbow! I'm glad you came, I was-" She trailed off when she saw Bruce. "Oh...I didn't..." She started squeaking. Rainbow Dash sighed. "Fluttershy," She said in an exasperated tone. "This is the guy that saved you!" Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Oh- oh my.." Fluttershy whispered. "So...er, sorry to inc- inconvenience you..." Bruce shook his head. "No, it was no trouble at all, really." He said, calmly. "Besides, you saved me when I got lost in the Everfree Forest, right?" Fluttershy looked thoughtful, then recognition overtook her face. "Oh, yes. I was just looking for animals to help, and I-" She talked fast, the aura of shyness surrounding her a second ago turned into a sudden confidence and enthusiasm. A few minutes later, though, the door burst open and four other ponies streamed into the room. "Oh, Fluttershy, darling, you really scared us for a second there!" The white one spoke first. She caught sight of Bruce. "Now, now, Rainbow. Who's this fine young stallion?" The pony asked, batting her eyelashes. "Fluttershy, we're glad you're okay." Said a purple one. "Yeah, Shy. Ya dang near gave me a heart attack." Said the orange one. "Geez, Flutters! I was, like, sitting there, making cupcakes, when boom!" A pink one chimed in. She raised her hooves over her head. "It was like, hey, manticore in the town square, and Fluttershy in the hospital!" The pony's pink mane seemed to have a life of it's own, wobbling at every word. Her head whipped around to face Bruce. "And whoooo's this?! I've never seen you before! I'm Pinkie Pie!" Her mouth stopped moving and turned into a frown. "And if I've never seen you before, then..." She stopped, then gave a long, sharp, gasp. Pinkie sped out of the room, leaving a trail of pink smoke in her wake. A few seconds of uncomfortable silence later, she stuck her head in the doorway once more. "Oh, and get well soooon, Flutters!" She gave a quick smile and disappeared. The purple one coughed. "Aaaanyways, I'm Twilight Sparkle." She said. "On behalf of Princess Celestia, I welcome you to Ponyville." She gave a kind of uncomfortable smile. "And I'm Applejack, nice to meet you." Applejack blurted. She tipped her cowboy hat and shook Bruce's hoof vigorously. The white one pushed Applejack aside, much to her indignation, and gave a ladylike bow. "I'm Rarity, Ponyville's resident tailor, and I might add," Rarity said in a cooing voice, "The most stylish pony you will ever see." Bruce nodded. "Well, I'm Darknight, Dashes friend." He nodded towards Rainbow. "And, the guy that beat up the manticore!" Rainbow added. "And the super awesome flyer that beat me in a race!" The other five's jaws dropped, staring at Bruce. "That is excellent news!" Twilight burst in. "No one has ever faced a manticore and lived! I'd love to jot down your tale sometime." She grinned. "And ain't one pony beat Dash in a race before ya!" Applejack said. She tipped her hat once more. "And thanks for savin' Shy." This was starting to get uncomfortable. "Really, it was no big deal." Bruce said. He was unused to praise, people in Gotham saw him as a threat rather than a hero. Gotham. He yawned. "I, uh, gotta get home." Rainbow snorted. "Night, you don't have a home." She interjected. "You just got here." Her eyes lit up. "Hey, maybe you could sleep at my house! It's probably the best around Ponyville!" "Er- I could just gather up some clouds, really." "No way, bub. Come on, lets go." She waved goodbye to the girls and walked out. Bruce raised a hoof, as if to object, but thought better of it and followed her out, waving goodbye as well. SuspicionThe moon shone brightly onto the deserted streets of Ponyville. Bruce and Rainbow Dash flew towards Rainbow's home, discussing the events of the day. "Then you flew up into the air, and then dove back down, and then boom!" She yelled, waving her hooves. "You kicked him, like, straight in the face!" She stared at him with...admiration? "That was seriously awesome. How did you react so fast?" By being Batman. "Luck, I guess." Bruce shrugged. "I'm not a very good fighter at all. After all, I got mauled by a bear in the Everfree Forest." "Nah, I don't believe you." Dash put her hoof on her chin. "Were you trained, or something?" "Be the invisible." Ra's whispered. "Strike where you're enemy is least prepared." Bruce swung his sword backwards, missing. "His fear." Ra's punched Bruce on the back of the head, knocking him over. "No, none at all." He said, with a straight face. Rainbow Dash shrugged and changed the subject to a group called the Wonderbolts. After an hour, they finally reached Rainbow's home. Rainbow Dash kept flying forward while Bruce had stopped in his tracks, at a loss for words. Finally, he said something. "My God." Bruce whispered. Her house was made of thick, fluffy clouds, mashed together quite skillfully. The house was at least five stories tall, surrounded by pillars decorating the lawn and fountains spewing what looked like... well, rainbows. The house seemed to glow in the light of the moon, the rainbow fountains glistening in the soft shine. This was truly a work of art, and the whole thing was just... beautiful. Rainbow Dash was still flying forward. "So, Night. What do ya think?" She inquired. "I spent years on it." "Amazing. Simply amazing." Bruce said, still gazing at the building. "Well, thanks, I guess." Rainbow blushed. "Are you coming inside, or are you going to stay outside and freeze your butt off?" She asked with a playful smile. Bruce smiled as well, and followed her into her magnificent home. * ** ** * "Well, here ya have it!" She beckoned towards the doorway. "The guest room." Bruce opened the door and stepped inside. It was a simple room, but still lavishly decorated in a sense. The bed was made of actual cloud, and a drawer was right beside the bed, a ornate lamp sitting on top of it. "This is more than I could ask for." Bruce said, turning towards Rainbow. "Thank you for being having me here." Rainbow scoffed at his formality. "Would you lighten up a bit? Geez." Dash muttered. "You're making me feel rude in my own house." She yawned. "Anyways, I'm off to bed. G'night....er, Night." She chuckled to herself while walking slowly down the hallway. Bruce was tired as well, and immediately walked over and went under the covers. He stared at the ceiling. Remembering. He held his fist over the thug's already bloodied face. "Where is he?" He growled. "Oh god, Oh god! Please don't kill me!" Batman punched him in the face once more. "Where. Is. The Joker?" He asked. "Oh, god... He's there. He's through there." He said, pointing at a staircase. Batman punched him in the face again, knocking him out. He stood up and stormed towards the stairs. He ran down four steps at a time and landed at the bottom of the staircase. Two more goons were apparently conversing. They stared at him, one with a lit cigarette between his lips. They pulled out their guns and fired. Batman pulled up his cape, bullets bouncing off the material. They continued to fire frantically until a metallic clicking replaced the gunfire. He withdrew his cape slowly, staring at the thugs with a look of utter calmness. "Justice." He slammed their heads together and they slumped to the floor. "Night! Hey, Night!" Bruce opened his eyes, sitting up in the bed. Rainbow was calling him to wake up. Early morning light streamed through the window, nearly blinding him. He waited for his eyes to adjust, half consciously scratching his mane. Bruce got up, stretching his front legs, and then his forelegs. Rainbow called again, and Bruce opened the door. He walked down the hallway and down the stairs in a kind of daze. As he walked, he noticed a delightful smell wafting from the door on the left of the stairs. He went through it and found Rainbow with her back to him, humming a tune. He walked quietly out of habit, pulling up a chair. Bruce noticed that she was cooking, the sound of pans clanging and food sizzling bouncing off the walls. She started to slide what looked like pancakes and eggs onto separate plates and turned around. "Night! If you don't come down here I'll-" She noticed Bruce and gasped a little, almost dropping the plates in surprise. "Dude! You could have made me drop this stuff!" Rainbow pouted. "Well, anyways...uh, how about we go to the library?" "The library?" Bruce asked. Well, it wouldn't hurt to learn the history of this world. "Let's go." Rainbow broke into a grin. * * * * * * * * * * Later, Bruce was sifting through the extensive collection of books at the Ponyville Library. Thousands of years of history, all in one library! This world continued to impress him. At the other side of the library, however, Rainbow Dash sat across from Twilight Sparkle. "Look, he took down that manticore and it looked like he was trained to do it." She slammed the table. "It's obvious he learned to fight somewhere." Twilight shrugged. "What's the big deal? He saved Fluttershy." She shrugged again. "And who cares if he had training, anyways?" Just then, Bruce walked over from the other side of the library, carrying large pile of books. "I'd like to check these out, please." Twilight looked over the covers. "All seven of the Daring Do books, An Essay On Equestria, The Princesses, Pegasus wings and how they work," After a long list of books, Twilight waved at them as they left the building. Where am I?He remembered the day he became Batman, the hero, the legend, the symbol of justice, a beacon of hope for those too weak or too scared to stand up to the criminals of Gotham. He slumped down into a chair, clutching his chest. He looked defeated. He felt defeated. Bruce glanced at the bust of his father's head. "Father..." He gasped. "What do I do? What can I do to help this city?" He slammed his fist down on the side of the chair. "What do I do?!" The glass window beside him broke, smashed through by a bat. The window, shattered, let in the orange light of the afternoon. The bat fluttered in place before landing on the bust of his Bruce's father. "Yes. I will, father. I promise. Bruce woke up, the pain from his numerous cuts and wounds gone. He looked around. Where was he? All he could see was... black. There was no color anywhere. Was this hell? Bruce got up and tried to walk, but he couldn't get anywhere. Where could he go, anyways? A light, one that he didn't notice before, suddenly became clear to him. He walk toward it. It got brighter. Brighter. BRIGHTER. The world around him changed, brightness flooded his vision. He was in... a forest?! What the hell was going on? He lifted his hand up to his brow and hit himself in the head. Bruce looked at his hand. It... it wasn't a hand. It was a hoof. FightBruce stared at the hoof. It was his hoof. Holy shit. He wasn't one for swearing, but this called for it. He noticed something sticking in front of him, on top of his nose. Wait. That was his nose. What was he? He took in his surroundings. He was in a forest, but something was strange about it. Like... the trees had no detail, as if they were solidly colored. I'm in... a cartoon. He looked at himself. A sudden realization overtook him. I'm a pony. Bruce blinked. "I'm a pony!" He screamed. Birds flew from the trees in surprise. He was practically alone. Bruce took in his surroundings. He was the world's greatest detective, solved countless crimes, and defeated supernatural villains, and yet, this was the most incredible, albeit strange and unnerving, event he had faced so far. Bruce decided to venture farther into the forest, so as to find a hint of civilization or shelter. He walked for hours. Each hour brought nothing put destroyed hopes and exhaustion. There was no sign of any intelligent life in the forest-at least none that he'd seen so far- and he sorely missed the advice of Alfred. With a pang, he remembered the city he had left behind, now in the clutches of the criminals he had striven to. He had failed. He had failed Commissioner Gordon, he had failed the Police force, he failed Nightwing. He had failed his parents. As he walked, he heard a sudden growl behind him. Bruce whipped around, ready to defend himself. A bear stalked towards him, emerging from the bushes. The bear looked comical, solid brown and cartoonish, but menacing all the same. The bear roared, a loud, deep bellow, that struck fear into Bruce's heart. He would have defeated the bear easily if he was a human, but as a pony? The bear charged towards him, jaw open wide, exposing sharp teeth. Bruce dodged, but he was not used to his current body and was struck on the left hind leg. Pain shot up his leg, and he gasped sharply. He turned to face the bear, which was standing on it's two legs, roaring. It landed back to a four legged position and charged again. Bruce dived to the right on time, and while the bear was distracted, limped as fast as he could back into the forest. The bear was not as agile around trees and other obstacles as Bruce, and he limped, forward and forward, until the bear gave up, lowered it's head, and slowly trudged back into the bush in defeat. Sighing in relief, Bruce was suddenly aware of the pain in his leg. He twisted around, assessing the wound. His leg was bleeding and mangled, but he could still move it, so that was good news. Bruce had knowledge of human anatomy, but he had no idea about horses'. He was stuck with a mangled leg until he could find someone to help him. If he could find someone to help him.
PrologueLol, this was random. Anyways, here we go... Batman backed into the brick wall. He slid down to a sitting position. His hand on his stomach, he tried to staunch the flow of blood flowing freely from his wound. Batman coughed up blood, the metallic taste filling his mouth as it dripped down his chin. He felt the grasp of a gloved hand wrapping around his neck, and the glint of the pistol as the Joker pulled it out of the cuff of his suit. The Joker pushed it forcefully onto Bruce's forehead, grinning like the madman he was. So this is how it ends... Batman looked The Joker in the eyes. "You haven't won," Batman grunted. "You lost from the beginning. You haven't won..." The Joker frowned. "I think I have, actually. Nighty night, Bats." He laughed hysterically, a high, rasping horrible sound. Then the Clown Prince of Crime pulled the trigger. Boom. Silence.
PonyvilleIt was dark, the moon shining brightly beside the stars, illuminating the forest. Bruce wandered across the forest, fleeing from wild animals and trying to find some form of intelligent life- surely he couldn't be the only pony in this universe... could he? He trekked for hours more until he collapsed, unable to walk further. He took shelter under a tree, but he couldn't sleep, as the pain from his broken leg kept him awake. Bruce sat in silence until the sun started to rise up above the clouds, and he continued to walk. He limped until the sky was orange and he was suffering from exhaustion, and he tripped, unable to get back up. The last thing he heard was singing. The voice was light and beautiful, and it calmed him down. At least I'll die listening to someone. He fainted. Bruce opened his eyes. He was lying on a bed, staring at a ceiling. It was a dull beige, and he sighed. He tried to get up, but gasped in pain as his leg wound sent a shock up his body. Bruce lay back down, and realized that he was in a hospital. How had he gotten here? He twisted his head to the left. A curtain blocked his view, but he heard a man coughing behind it. Who the hell is that? A door opened from behind the curtain. There was a clopping sound that Bruce assumed to be walking. "Doc..." The man rasped. "I been shot..." "Yes," a voice replied. "You're in stable condition, though, and we expect you to be fully healed in a week." Bruce turned his head to face the ceiling again. They have guns here? The doctor walked from behind the curtain, and stood at the side of Bruce's bed. The doctor smiled, and tapped Bruce on the his hand- er, hoof. "How are you feeling?" The doctor asked calmly. "Good, I guess," Bruce coughed. He looked up at the doctor. "What are we?" The doctor deadpanned. "Um, we're ponies..." He explained cautiously. The doctor found no evidence of a head injury. Maybe this pony was crazy. "Who are you?" Bruce asked, a look of innocence on his face. "Your doctor." He responded, confused. "How did I get here?" "You were brought in by a Pegasus pony by the name of Fluttershy. You should be thankful, considering the fact that she saved your life." The doctor frowned. "She found you in the Everfree forest." "Where am I?" Bruce asked. "Ponyville. You're in Ponyville." Bruce resumed staring back at the ceiling, a blank look on his face. The doctor shook his head and trotted behind the curtain and out the door.
Rainbow DashDays later, Bruce was released from the hospital. He stepped out of the doors to the hospital, greeted by the bright light of the sun and the shadows of tall, solidly colored buildings. Bruce took in his surroundings, amazed by the sights. Even Gotham City's numerous landmarks and the buildings built high with humankind's latest technology, it could hold no light to both the simplicity and the beauty of Ponyville. It incredible, amazing, it was- "Hey, watch where you're goin, man." Said a gruff voice. Bruce turned around and realized he had been walking down the street the whole time, admiring the sights. Wait. A pony just talked to him. With surprise, he noticed that he had been looking up, and not down, where the noise around him came from. There were ponies left and right, big and small, different colors everywhere. It was truly beautiful. This was what Gotham should have been like, what Bruce had struggled to turn Gotham into. He had failed, but here... it was peaceful all on it's own. Bruce continued to walk down the streets of Ponyville, listening to the voices of everyone around him. "It's pretty nice outside today, huh?" Bruce jumped to the side instinctively, ready to defend himself if need be. He lowered his guard when he noticed that it was just a pony with a strange rainbow-like haircut. He stared at her hair. Silence. "Sooo..." The cyan pony started, awkwardly. "I'm Rainbow Dash. Who are you?" This was strange. Why was she asking him questions? Did he do something wrong? "I'm...Er..." Bruce quickly assessed the situation. First, he didn't do anything wrong, at least not anything that he noticed. Secondly, the rainbow-haired pony was staring at him with curiosity, rather than anger, so he decided to just give her his name. "I'm Bruce." "Bruce?" The pony raised an eyebrow. "What kind of name is that?" The pony's eyes open wide when she realized that she could of said something offensive. Bruce panicked a little when he realized that all the ponies he had met had strange names. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy... "I- uh, I meant to say..." Dammit Bruce! Think! "I'm... um... Darknight." Bruce almost sighed in relief when Rainbow Dash stopped looking at him suspiciously. "Well, okay then." Rainbow Dash replied. ""Let me show you around town, Darknight!" Crap. Should he go with her? This very well may be a trap. "Um, sure." He said. Bruce wasn't sure if he had said the right thing. Why was this pony so intent on showing him around? Why had he turned into a pony? How had he got here? What had he gotten himself into?
WingsBruce followed obediently as Rainbow Dash guided him on the tour. They had gone around about half of Ponyville when he noticed the quick glances Dash took when he wasn't looking. He wasn't sure, but once when he caught her looking, her eyes gave a look of- curiosity? Bruce had been an expert at reading emotions as a human, but these... these were ponies. Finally, it was over. "So, yeah!" Rainbow Dash finished enthusiastically. "There you have it! Ponyville!" She stood, looking at Bruce with a big smile. Bruce sighed. "What do you want from me?" He asked. It was obvious that she wanted something from him. What was it? Money? He didn't have any, much less knowledge of the currency used here. "Alright, look, bub." She started casually. "I'm the fastest flyer in Ponyville." Bruce nodded nervously. Did she want to hurt him? "Aaaand, I noticed those powerful-looking wings of yours." She sighed. "I wanted to know how fast you could fly." Did she say- He twisted around. He stared at his back. He had wings. Bruce didn't even know. Even in the hospital, he didn't notice. He had wings? Of all the revelations so far, this one shocked him the most. Hell, he was a master detective, and he didn't even notice the wings when he checked his leg for injuries! Some hero he was. He stood there, staring at the wings with his mouth agape, while Rainbow Dash looked on in suspicion. It was as if he had never noticed before. She decided to break the silence. "Are you... uh... okay?" She asked. Bruce snapped out of his train of thought. "Uh-" Bruce thought quickly. "I just never noticed..." Oh, crap. Say something! "I just never noticed how much bigger they've gotten." He almost slapped himself. Bruce tried to trick her into talking. "Well, why would you be so curious about my wings?!" Rainbow Dash shuffled in embarrassment. "Well, your cutie mark is a-" She started. "My cutie mark?" What was that? Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "The mark on everyone's flank." She explained. Why didn't he know that? Bruce looked at Rainbow and noticed the lightning bolt and the cloud on Rainbow Dash. He twisted around once more, and saw his cutie mark. It was a bat. "Anyways, your cutie mark is a bat," She said. "And bat's are fast. So, I was gonna ask you if we could race, since I haven't seen you around here before." Bruce was surprised. A- A race?! He didn't even know if he could fly. However, he weighed the options. On one hand, he didn't know how to fly. On the other hand, well... truth be told, he almost wanted to race. Determination to test his limits was how he had become Batman. "So, Darknight, whaddaya say?" She grinned at him in amusement. "Or are you too chicken to race me?" Bruce said something he wasn't sure if he would regret, or be thankful for. "You're on."
RaceIt was time to test his wings. He wasn't exactly sure what to do. Did he just... feel the wings, or something? Bruce pushed as hard as he could from where he thought his wing were, to no avail. Maybe he just needed to think about flying. He braced himself, and thought as hard as he could. Thinking, however, brought back memories of his final fight... Batman landed softly on the ground behind the thug, using the wings of his cape to glide to the ground noiselessly. He wrapped his arm around the mouth of the criminal, stifling his screams and rendering him unconscious at the same time. Batman lay him down softly against the ground, making no sound at all. He stood up, assessing his surroundings. The stone gargoyles attached to the sides of the walls were both stable and high enough for him to grapple onto and not be noticed. Batman pointed his fist at the gargoyle, and then clenched his fist. A grappling hook shot out and pulled him upwards. He swung around the stone beast and landed on it's back expertly. He surveyed the enemies... They were obviously all untrained guards, as they both walked with confidence around the warehouse, walking simple patterns. Too predictable. The first enemy was right across the room from him... He glided off of the statue and flew towards him, leg outstretched. He smiled with satisfaction as his foot made contact with his face. The thug was kicked against the wall, knocked unconscious. Batman turned with a smile when he heard sharp footsteps cross the corner of the wall. As the thug rounded the corner, Batman grabbed him with his hand on the criminal's mouth and punched him in the face. He dragged the body into the shadows... Bruce snapped out of his reverie. "Focus, Bruce, focus!" He braced himself against the ground once more. With surprise, he found that he could feel his wings. He could feel them move up and down, and a feel of weightlessness overtook him. He was flying. Bruce never felt so happy before. In fact, he hadn't felt happy at all since he took of the mantle of Batman, but now- now he felt like he could do anything. He floated upwards and swooped down sharply, pulling back up before he landed on the ground. This was like how he could glide with the wings attached to his arms as a human, but this was legitimate. After about an hour, however, he was spent. Bruce landed softly on the grass. An hour was a decent amount of time up in the air, at least for someone who had never flown before. He lay down, and watched other ponies walk around the park, seemingly carefree, for about another thirty minutes before he felt he could fly once more. While resting, he had applied physics to try to find how to make flying easier. Bruce stood up, braced himself against the ground once more, and flapped his wings. Time to test out his theory. He floated upwards, and at a decent height, he flew forwards as fast as he could, then curled up his wings until they were flat on his back. He shot towards the ground like a bullet while moving forward at the same time, then outstretched his wings to glide over the ground and back up into the air. By the time he finished the maneuver, he had crossed over about half of Ponyville. He smiled to himself. Maybe he had a chance in this race after all. However, he had no place to sleep, and no money to rent a room if there was a local inn. Bruce decided to sleep under a tree. Although it was no Wayne Manor, it was still a comfortable place to sleep. Bruce woke up early on the day of the race, making sure that he could still feel his wings. He practiced his invented maneuver. Finally, as Bruce was resting, Rainbow Dash flew by, spotted him, and glided softly back onto solid ground. "Heya, Darknight." She said as she approached, waving. "Hope you're ready to lose." Bruce smiled, imagining her look when she lost. "I wouldn't count on it." Bruce replied. Rainbow Dash gulped. She flew up and beckoned for Bruce to follow her. He flew up as well and followed as she guided him to a gathering of clouds high in the sky. She landed softly onto the clouds with a soft poof. Bruce raised an eyebrow, but cautiously landed onto the cloud. Surprisingly, the cloud didn't give way, but instead held his weight. Rainbow walked to the edge of the cloud. She pointed towards other small clouds with flags planted into them. "See those?" She motioned, waving her hoof. "We fly past those as fast as we can, and then shoot down towards the ground." She shrugged. "It's a simple and foolproof way to show off your speed!" The clouds went pretty far. At least they were all in a straight line. "Got it?" She asked. Bruce nodded, and trotted over to the edge of the cloud with her. Rainbow Dash smiled confidently "On your marks..." Rainbow called. "Get set... Go!" Both Rainbow Dash and Bruce took off at the same time. She flew fast easily with pure speed. Bruce tried to follow, but found that she was a few seconds faster then him. He smiled. Time to test the new technique. He put on an extra burst of speed, and swooped down towards the ground. Pulling upwards, he saw that he had gained a few feet in front of Rainbow. She had a look of surprise on her face, replaced by grim determination. She sped forwards. By the time they reached the end of the clouds, they were right beside each other. They flew straight downwards. At the last few seconds, Bruce lay his wings flat against his back, falling harder. The earth came rushing up before him and he opened his wings. He landed on all fours, creating a huge cloud of dust. Rainbow Dash landed beside him, coughing as she waved away the dust. When the dust cleared, they found they were standing in a crater, with Bruce in the center, completely unharmed. Bruce grinned as her jaw dropped. "That...was..." She started. Bruce prepared himself against her probable cursing. "SO AWESOME!" She started hopping up and down, squishing her face as Bruce watched in amazement. ""How did you do that what was that you looked like a bullet teach me teach me teach me!" She blurted out quickly. Bruce was happy. This place was admittedly pretty cool, and he felt himself relax from the pain he felt at the thought of leaving Gotham behind. For once, he gave a real smile as Rainbow Dash continued to praise his invented technique.
ManticoreThe pony shot down towards the earth like a black missile. Before he smashed onto the ground, he unfolded his wings and landed with a sharp crack, throwing up dust into the air. The dust cleared, and Bruce was standing in the crater, completely unharmed. It was amazing . No one else could do this without breaking their bones, yet he could land without breaking a sweat. He emerged from the crater and was tackled by a blue blur. Bruce lay on his back with Rainbow Dash standing on top of him, talking at an incredibly fast rate. "ThatwasseriouslyamazingIdon'tevenkno-"She squealed, before realizing she was standing on top of Bruce. "Oh, sorry, Darknight." She said, climbing off of him. "No worries, it's fine." Bruce said. That hurt like hell, actually... They continued to practice their flying, teaching each other new tricks and racing. * ** ** ** * Suddenly, screams emerged from the center of the town. "The horror, the horror!" Somepony shouted. Bruce nodded at Dash and they both ran towards the source of the shouts. However, a huge crowd of ponies circled the main square of the town. Bruce approached an old stallion. "What is going on?" He asked, confused. "Why is everyone crowded around the square?" The old pony nodded towards the center, where a gigantic beast stood, roaring and stamping it's paws. It had a comically over sized body of a lion, wings, and a threatening looking scorpion tail. "Holy cow!" Dash whispered. "It's- It's a manticore!" She gulped in fright. "How'd it manage to get in the town?" Just then, a collective gasp was heard when a pale-yellow pegasus walked timidly over to the hostile animal. She appeared to be trying to coax it. "Oh, man," Rainbow Dash groaned, a look of dismay on her face. "Fluttershy is trying to calm it down!" It looked as if it were working. While she talked to it, Fluttershy took tentative steps towards him. Suddenly, it appeared to have changed it's mind and swatted Fluttershy aside. She flew a few feet in the air before landing, unconscious, too far away for her to be rescued. The manticore walked around her, growling as if he was going to eat her. He raised his paw to deliver the killing blow- Bruce ran out from the crowd, shouting to divert the beast's attention. It saw him and bared it's teeth, then charged. Bruce dodged swiftly to the side, and the manticore crashed into a building, crushing a stall and making a hole in the building. The animal whipped around to face Bruce, then charged once more. Bruce dodged again, but the hostile manticore shot his scorpion tail towards his attacker. With a jump, Bruce narrowly missed the tail, then kicked the stinger. The beast roared in pain and Bruce smiled with satisfaction. The manticore turned once more, backing away. This time, he was cautious. The manticore attempted to scare him off with a fierce roar, but Bruce stood his ground. The manticore charged again, but turned as Bruce dodged, managed to strike him on the flank. Bruce gritted his teeth and flew upwards, and the manticore bellowed and swatted at the air. At a decent height, Bruce smiled. Then he dove downwards, folding his wings. He sped towards the ground like a bullet, a cone of air visible around him. He unfolded his wings and stuck his good leg out, striking the manticore in the face. A huge cloud of dust rose around the scene, and the surrounding ponies watched nervously. The dust cleared, and Bruce jumped off of the manticore's head. The animal's eyes had rolled up into the back of his head and he lay on the floor, unconscious. Sudden, furious clapping echoed around the entire town of Ponyville as everypony cheered, and two paramedic ponies rushed out of the crowd, putting Fluttershy on a stretcher. Everypony emerged from the corners of the town square and lifted Bruce onto their shoulders, clapping and shouting and crying tears of joy. They chanted his name, carrying for a victory lap around town while others carried the manticore back to the forest. "Darknight! Darknight! Darknight!" Bruce vaguely wondered how they all knew his name. Eventually, the moon rose up above the sun, and everypony had gone home, tired over the excitement of the day. Bruce walked nowhere with a dazed kind of expression, and was tackled once more by a cyan pony. "Darknight! I can't believe it! YousavedFluttershyandprobablythewholetownand-" Rainbow Dash looked down. "Woops." "It really wasn't any trouble at all," He started. "The manticore was a predictable attacker." Rainbow Dash grinned, but her eyes started to water. "Thanks, Night." She replied. "I wouldn't know what to do if Fluttershy-" Her eyes widened. "Omigosh, we should go see how Shy is doing!" Dash flew away in a hurry. Bruce stood, not sure if he should follow. Rainbow turned around and beckoned towards him. Bruce shrugged to himself, and flew, following the rainbow-maned pony. After a quick fifteen minutes in comfortable silence, they finally reached the hospital. Rainbow Dash pretty much smashed through the doors and Bruce slowly trotted behind. Rainbow hurriedly walked up to the receptionist. "Hey, we need to know where Fluttershy is," She said, quite rudely. "The one that got hit by a manticore awhile ago?" The receptionist raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, miss, but she's not accepting any-" Just then, Bruce walked up to the counter. "Hello, ma'am." He said, shining his most charming smile. * ** ** ** ** * They walked up the stairs to Fluttershy's room, talking as they went. "Good thing you could be pretty persuasive." Rainbow Dash started. "Otherwise we wouldn't even be here." Bruce nodded. "I can be if I want to." Bruce replied. They reached their destination, and pushed open the door. Fluttershy was in a pretty bad shape, three long cuts along the side of her wings. She looked up and beamed when she saw Rainbow Dash. "Oh, Rainbow! I'm glad you came, I was-" She trailed off when she saw Bruce. "Oh...I didn't..." She started squeaking. Rainbow Dash sighed. "Fluttershy," She said in an exasperated tone. "This is the guy that saved you!" Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Oh- oh my.." Fluttershy whispered. "So...er, sorry to inc- inconvenience you..." Bruce shook his head. "No, it was no trouble at all, really." He said, calmly. "Besides, you saved me when I got lost in the Everfree Forest, right?" Fluttershy looked thoughtful, then recognition overtook her face. "Oh, yes. I was just looking for animals to help, and I-" She talked fast, the aura of shyness surrounding her a second ago turned into a sudden confidence and enthusiasm. A few minutes later, though, the door burst open and four other ponies streamed into the room. "Oh, Fluttershy, darling, you really scared us for a second there!" The white one spoke first. She caught sight of Bruce. "Now, now, Rainbow. Who's this fine young stallion?" The pony asked, batting her eyelashes. "Fluttershy, we're glad you're okay." Said a purple one. "Yeah, Shy. Ya dang near gave me a heart attack." Said the orange one. "Geez, Flutters! I was, like, sitting there, making cupcakes, when boom!" A pink one chimed in. She raised her hooves over her head. "It was like, hey, manticore in the town square, and Fluttershy in the hospital!" The pony's pink mane seemed to have a life of it's own, wobbling at every word. Her head whipped around to face Bruce. "And whoooo's this?! I've never seen you before! I'm Pinkie Pie!" Her mouth stopped moving and turned into a frown. "And if I've never seen you before, then..." She stopped, then gave a long, sharp, gasp. Pinkie sped out of the room, leaving a trail of pink smoke in her wake. A few seconds of uncomfortable silence later, she stuck her head in the doorway once more. "Oh, and get well soooon, Flutters!" She gave a quick smile and disappeared. The purple one coughed. "Aaaanyways, I'm Twilight Sparkle." She said. "On behalf of Princess Celestia, I welcome you to Ponyville." She gave a kind of uncomfortable smile. "And I'm Applejack, nice to meet you." Applejack blurted. She tipped her cowboy hat and shook Bruce's hoof vigorously. The white one pushed Applejack aside, much to her indignation, and gave a ladylike bow. "I'm Rarity, Ponyville's resident tailor, and I might add," Rarity said in a cooing voice, "The most stylish pony you will ever see." Bruce nodded. "Well, I'm Darknight, Dashes friend." He nodded towards Rainbow. "And, the guy that beat up the manticore!" Rainbow added. "And the super awesome flyer that beat me in a race!" The other five's jaws dropped, staring at Bruce. "That is excellent news!" Twilight burst in. "No one has ever faced a manticore and lived! I'd love to jot down your tale sometime." She grinned. "And ain't one pony beat Dash in a race before ya!" Applejack said. She tipped her hat once more. "And thanks for savin' Shy." This was starting to get uncomfortable. "Really, it was no big deal." Bruce said. He was unused to praise, people in Gotham saw him as a threat rather than a hero. Gotham. He yawned. "I, uh, gotta get home." Rainbow snorted. "Night, you don't have a home." She interjected. "You just got here." Her eyes lit up. "Hey, maybe you could sleep at my house! It's probably the best around Ponyville!" "Er- I could just gather up some clouds, really." "No way, bub. Come on, lets go." She waved goodbye to the girls and walked out. Bruce raised a hoof, as if to object, but thought better of it and followed her out, waving goodbye as well.
SuspicionThe moon shone brightly onto the deserted streets of Ponyville. Bruce and Rainbow Dash flew towards Rainbow's home, discussing the events of the day. "Then you flew up into the air, and then dove back down, and then boom!" She yelled, waving her hooves. "You kicked him, like, straight in the face!" She stared at him with...admiration? "That was seriously awesome. How did you react so fast?" By being Batman. "Luck, I guess." Bruce shrugged. "I'm not a very good fighter at all. After all, I got mauled by a bear in the Everfree Forest." "Nah, I don't believe you." Dash put her hoof on her chin. "Were you trained, or something?" "Be the invisible." Ra's whispered. "Strike where you're enemy is least prepared." Bruce swung his sword backwards, missing. "His fear." Ra's punched Bruce on the back of the head, knocking him over. "No, none at all." He said, with a straight face. Rainbow Dash shrugged and changed the subject to a group called the Wonderbolts. After an hour, they finally reached Rainbow's home. Rainbow Dash kept flying forward while Bruce had stopped in his tracks, at a loss for words. Finally, he said something. "My God." Bruce whispered. Her house was made of thick, fluffy clouds, mashed together quite skillfully. The house was at least five stories tall, surrounded by pillars decorating the lawn and fountains spewing what looked like... well, rainbows. The house seemed to glow in the light of the moon, the rainbow fountains glistening in the soft shine. This was truly a work of art, and the whole thing was just... beautiful. Rainbow Dash was still flying forward. "So, Night. What do ya think?" She inquired. "I spent years on it." "Amazing. Simply amazing." Bruce said, still gazing at the building. "Well, thanks, I guess." Rainbow blushed. "Are you coming inside, or are you going to stay outside and freeze your butt off?" She asked with a playful smile. Bruce smiled as well, and followed her into her magnificent home. * ** ** * "Well, here ya have it!" She beckoned towards the doorway. "The guest room." Bruce opened the door and stepped inside. It was a simple room, but still lavishly decorated in a sense. The bed was made of actual cloud, and a drawer was right beside the bed, a ornate lamp sitting on top of it. "This is more than I could ask for." Bruce said, turning towards Rainbow. "Thank you for being having me here." Rainbow scoffed at his formality. "Would you lighten up a bit? Geez." Dash muttered. "You're making me feel rude in my own house." She yawned. "Anyways, I'm off to bed. G'night....er, Night." She chuckled to herself while walking slowly down the hallway. Bruce was tired as well, and immediately walked over and went under the covers. He stared at the ceiling. Remembering. He held his fist over the thug's already bloodied face. "Where is he?" He growled. "Oh god, Oh god! Please don't kill me!" Batman punched him in the face once more. "Where. Is. The Joker?" He asked. "Oh, god... He's there. He's through there." He said, pointing at a staircase. Batman punched him in the face again, knocking him out. He stood up and stormed towards the stairs. He ran down four steps at a time and landed at the bottom of the staircase. Two more goons were apparently conversing. They stared at him, one with a lit cigarette between his lips. They pulled out their guns and fired. Batman pulled up his cape, bullets bouncing off the material. They continued to fire frantically until a metallic clicking replaced the gunfire. He withdrew his cape slowly, staring at the thugs with a look of utter calmness. "Justice." He slammed their heads together and they slumped to the floor. "Night! Hey, Night!" Bruce opened his eyes, sitting up in the bed. Rainbow was calling him to wake up. Early morning light streamed through the window, nearly blinding him. He waited for his eyes to adjust, half consciously scratching his mane. Bruce got up, stretching his front legs, and then his forelegs. Rainbow called again, and Bruce opened the door. He walked down the hallway and down the stairs in a kind of daze. As he walked, he noticed a delightful smell wafting from the door on the left of the stairs. He went through it and found Rainbow with her back to him, humming a tune. He walked quietly out of habit, pulling up a chair. Bruce noticed that she was cooking, the sound of pans clanging and food sizzling bouncing off the walls. She started to slide what looked like pancakes and eggs onto separate plates and turned around. "Night! If you don't come down here I'll-" She noticed Bruce and gasped a little, almost dropping the plates in surprise. "Dude! You could have made me drop this stuff!" Rainbow pouted. "Well, anyways...uh, how about we go to the library?" "The library?" Bruce asked. Well, it wouldn't hurt to learn the history of this world. "Let's go." Rainbow broke into a grin. * * * * * * * * * * Later, Bruce was sifting through the extensive collection of books at the Ponyville Library. Thousands of years of history, all in one library! This world continued to impress him. At the other side of the library, however, Rainbow Dash sat across from Twilight Sparkle. "Look, he took down that manticore and it looked like he was trained to do it." She slammed the table. "It's obvious he learned to fight somewhere." Twilight shrugged. "What's the big deal? He saved Fluttershy." She shrugged again. "And who cares if he had training, anyways?" Just then, Bruce walked over from the other side of the library, carrying large pile of books. "I'd like to check these out, please." Twilight looked over the covers. "All seven of the Daring Do books, An Essay On Equestria, The Princesses, Pegasus wings and how they work," After a long list of books, Twilight waved at them as they left the building.
Where am I?He remembered the day he became Batman, the hero, the legend, the symbol of justice, a beacon of hope for those too weak or too scared to stand up to the criminals of Gotham. He slumped down into a chair, clutching his chest. He looked defeated. He felt defeated. Bruce glanced at the bust of his father's head. "Father..." He gasped. "What do I do? What can I do to help this city?" He slammed his fist down on the side of the chair. "What do I do?!" The glass window beside him broke, smashed through by a bat. The window, shattered, let in the orange light of the afternoon. The bat fluttered in place before landing on the bust of his Bruce's father. "Yes. I will, father. I promise. Bruce woke up, the pain from his numerous cuts and wounds gone. He looked around. Where was he? All he could see was... black. There was no color anywhere. Was this hell? Bruce got up and tried to walk, but he couldn't get anywhere. Where could he go, anyways? A light, one that he didn't notice before, suddenly became clear to him. He walk toward it. It got brighter. Brighter. BRIGHTER. The world around him changed, brightness flooded his vision. He was in... a forest?! What the hell was going on? He lifted his hand up to his brow and hit himself in the head. Bruce looked at his hand. It... it wasn't a hand. It was a hoof.
FightBruce stared at the hoof. It was his hoof. Holy shit. He wasn't one for swearing, but this called for it. He noticed something sticking in front of him, on top of his nose. Wait. That was his nose. What was he? He took in his surroundings. He was in a forest, but something was strange about it. Like... the trees had no detail, as if they were solidly colored. I'm in... a cartoon. He looked at himself. A sudden realization overtook him. I'm a pony. Bruce blinked. "I'm a pony!" He screamed. Birds flew from the trees in surprise. He was practically alone. Bruce took in his surroundings. He was the world's greatest detective, solved countless crimes, and defeated supernatural villains, and yet, this was the most incredible, albeit strange and unnerving, event he had faced so far. Bruce decided to venture farther into the forest, so as to find a hint of civilization or shelter. He walked for hours. Each hour brought nothing put destroyed hopes and exhaustion. There was no sign of any intelligent life in the forest-at least none that he'd seen so far- and he sorely missed the advice of Alfred. With a pang, he remembered the city he had left behind, now in the clutches of the criminals he had striven to. He had failed. He had failed Commissioner Gordon, he had failed the Police force, he failed Nightwing. He had failed his parents. As he walked, he heard a sudden growl behind him. Bruce whipped around, ready to defend himself. A bear stalked towards him, emerging from the bushes. The bear looked comical, solid brown and cartoonish, but menacing all the same. The bear roared, a loud, deep bellow, that struck fear into Bruce's heart. He would have defeated the bear easily if he was a human, but as a pony? The bear charged towards him, jaw open wide, exposing sharp teeth. Bruce dodged, but he was not used to his current body and was struck on the left hind leg. Pain shot up his leg, and he gasped sharply. He turned to face the bear, which was standing on it's two legs, roaring. It landed back to a four legged position and charged again. Bruce dived to the right on time, and while the bear was distracted, limped as fast as he could back into the forest. The bear was not as agile around trees and other obstacles as Bruce, and he limped, forward and forward, until the bear gave up, lowered it's head, and slowly trudged back into the bush in defeat. Sighing in relief, Bruce was suddenly aware of the pain in his leg. He twisted around, assessing the wound. His leg was bleeding and mangled, but he could still move it, so that was good news. Bruce had knowledge of human anatomy, but he had no idea about horses'. He was stuck with a mangled leg until he could find someone to help him. If he could find someone to help him.
