The Conversion Bureau: Joker's Revenge

Chapters

The Heist
Penthouse View
Throne Room
Intro (Updated 6/26/17)

The Heist

The man known to his fellow henchmen as Number 5 stared silently out of the window, gazing across the street at the Gotham Conversion Bureau. More specifically, he was peering down at the roof of the building, the place he and Number 4 would soon be zip lining across the busy road to in order to complete their parts of the plan.

He looked back at 4, noting with satisfaction that he had already loaded his weapons and had prepared the launcher. Stepping back from the window, he gave 4 enough space to smash out the glass with a blast of highly compressed air, before clearing the remainder with the butt of the launcher.

After attaching the cable, he lined up his shot, the roof appearing in the sights. Firing the cable across, he gave it a few tugs to make sure it had secured itself properly before he grabbed his bag and clipped it and himself onto the wire. 5 quickly followed suit, and they were soon gliding over the busy street below, their bodies dangling by their clips and carbines as they sped across the gap between the buildings.

Thankfully, none of the pedestrians or people in any building seemed to pay them any mind, which let them drop down onto the Bureau’s roof without even a whisper of trouble.

After skidding over the gravel surface of the rooftop, they unclipped themselves and immediately began their assigned work, with 5 heading over to the electrical box near the entrance to the building’s interior while 4 watched over all of the places an errant civilian could enter and ruin their element of surprise.

“So why do they call him the Joker?”

“I heard he wears makeup”

“Makeup?”

“Yeah, to scare people, y’know, war paint”

Having timed their arrival as close to when they would be needed as possible, 5 found the silent alarm activating just as he smashed open the box’s panel. After quickly shutting it down and doing the same to any other systems that could jeopardize their mission, he mentioned the peculiar nature of the silent alarm’s intended destination.

“That’s funny, it didn’t dial out to 911, it was trying to reach a private number.”

4 looked over from his spot near the door. “This place is practically run by terrorists and their supporters, and you expect them to ask human cops for help?”

“Whatever. Lets get downstairs.”

He stood up, collecting his equipment as he went before he walked to the door, opened it and began to descend the stairwell. Hearing 4 close the door behind them, he pulled his pistol from its holster, not knowing if the others had been successful in their part of the job, despite the clear advantage that surprise and guns gave them over the guards.

Seeing the light pouring from the bottom of the stairs, he reassured himself that his comrades would in fact be waiting for them. Taking a deep breath, he calmed his nerves as they approached the doorway.

“Here we go”

Joker grinned behind his clown mask, it was almost as if they wanted someone to break into their Bureau. There was less than half a dozen guards in the entire building, all but one of which was stationed by the entrance to the building.

It also helped that they were only ponies with spears, as opposed to the three clowns who each carried some form of automatic weapon, be it a SMG or pistol.

Stepping out of the car they had pulled up to the bureau in, the Joker and henchmen each drew their weapons, holding them at their sides while they approached. 2 and 3 each held Mac-11’s while the Joker himself carried a Glock18, the fully automatic machine pistol holding more than enough rounds in it to dispose of any enthusiastic guards.

Pushing their way through the front doors, the clowns held the surprised guards at gunpoint, forcing them into one big huddle before 2 pulled grenades from his belt and mushed them between the hooves of each guard before pulling the pins and leaving them to group together in terror, clutching the explosives and the safety catch together tightly.

Leaving the guards to themselves, Joker and the other two ran past several offices in the middle of the open bureau before they got to the main lobby of the facility, through which every other major area could be accessed.

Firing several rounds into the air to gather the attention of those ponies and the occasional human that were gathered in the lobby, they rushed to subdue the remaining guard.

Grabbing the armored unicorn by the horn, 3 dragged it out into the open where he hogtied it with a couple zip ties. Now panicking at the sight of three armed humans bursting in and attacking their guard, 3 fired a dozen rounds into the ceiling and walls around the crowd, shouting at them to lie down on the ground.

Joker started putting grenades into the hands or hooves of those on the ground while 2 dragged the employees hiding behind counters out onto the floor. He then began to do as the joker was doing, putting grenades into the care of ponies and humans all around.

“We don’t want you doing anything with your hands, now, do we?”

3 walked along the group of terrified captives, making sure that they were no longer a threat. He had just smacked the remaining guard back to the floor when a blast of buckshot from one of the nearby offices knocked him off his feet and onto the floor, dead.

As a red unicorn with a brown mane walked out of his office, a sawn-off shotgun being held in his magical grasp, he shot again, though this time at 2.

2 had to scramble from cover to cover, dodging the heavy lead shot coming from the quickly advancing unicorn, before he made it behind a table with Joker.

Having tried to keep track of the number of shots that had come from the shotgun so far, he looked over at Joker and asked, “He’s out, right?”

Joker looked off into the distance for a moment, trying to recall how many times the unicorn had shot at them, looking back at 2 after a moment’s deliberation and nodding.

2 stood up to shoot the pony, but was caught by a blast of lead firing out of the shotgun, catching him in the shoulder, the kinetic energy knocking him off of his feet.

Thankfully for them that had been the unicorn’s last shot, the gun, not having another shell to load, was indeed empty, the sound of the empty breech opening and closing as he pumped it being heard as he tried to load the weapon.

The room was once again filled with the sound of gunfire as the Joker stood up and let a salvo of bullets rip from his pistol, the fast automatic action burning through many rounds before he released the trigger.

“Where’d you learn to count?” 2 angrily shouted, looking at his injuries as he rose to his feet, though fell silent once he saw the severely wounded unicorn sprawled out on the floor, seemingly satisfied that the one who had shot him had been repaid in kind.

“Watch them, I’ll go check up on the other guys.”

As soon as 4 and 5 exited the stairwell, they made their way over to the room containing the Conversion Bureau’s vault.

Staring at the massive steel door for a moment, 4 was broken out of his stupor by 5 nudging him forward, towards the safe. Setting his bag of equipment down next to the safe, he pulled out his drill, placing it against the spot of the thick door that he knew contained most of the mechanisms that held the door closed.

He was actually glad that the boss had told him at the last minute not to shoot 5, after all, he felt much safer with someone watching his back while he worked. He had gotten nearly all of the way through the door when he felt a blinding and burning pain shoot through his body.

Before he could figure out what had happened, he found himself lying on his back with 5 staring down at him.

“You okay?”

“Y-yeah”

“Damn, they must have electrified the thing!”

“Not a problem, at least not now that I know 'bout it.”

4 quickly put on rubber gloves before he continued, the drill going through all the way after only a few more moments of drilling, though this time without 4 being electrified.

He removed the drill from the door before spinning the various wheels and knobs that unlocked the door. Just as he went to spin the last part of the vault’s lock, he heard someone running towards them.

He and 5 pulled their guns and prepared to make whoever came through the door look like Swiss cheese, though refrained when they saw that it was only 2. He stopped in front of them, observing the singed nature and spiky appearance to 4’s hair before he pulled a fold-up lorry from his duffel bag, the small, wheeled platform looking to be the perfect size to stack on boxes or crates.

“Hey, they wired this thing up with, like, 5000 volts! What kind of place does that?”

“An alien terrorist organization’s body-swapping clinic. Guess the Joker’s as crazy as they say.”

As 4 gripped the final wheel and spun it, he turned back to 2 and asked, “What the hell is even worth enough in a Conversion Bureau that it has to be locked in this kind of vault?”

“That” 2 said as the door swung open, revealing several rows of crates stacked several high and marked with several numbers and letters underneath the title ‘batch code’.

“Is this for real?” 5 asked.

“Are we seriously going to steal a bunch of ponification potion from a Bureau?”

“What did you think we’d be stealing?”

“I don’t know, maybe some of that equestrian money made of gold, but not this!”

"Well then, you can go walk your sorry ass out of the building and be on your way if you don’t want your share.”

“…Fine, lets just get this shit out of here fast.”

“That’s the plan! Now, grab some crates and get a move on.”

Waiting back in the lobby, the Joker looked over to the hallway that 2 had disappeared through to see him, 4 and 5 walking out, each with several crates stacked in their arms, or in 2’s case, being pushed along on a small lorry.

They stacked all of the crates in the center of the large, open room before going back for more, their clown masks bouncing up and down on their faces as they jogged back to the vault.

“W-what are you doing with that!” one of the ponies hiding behind their desk shouted at Joker.

“Nothing that concerns you, little horsey.”

“H-horse! How dare you!” She stood up from behind her hiding spot, though she was quickly forced back down when the Joker walked up to her and stuffed one of his many frag grenades in her mouth, silencing and terrifying the pony.

She whimpered and whinnied through the explosive gag, but that just made the raving psychopath next to her giggle insanely, reveling in the sounds of her fear.

Hearing the others coming back with more of the crates, he went back to supervising the rest of the hostages, sweeping back and forth over them with his G18 while he looked for any others he would have to ‘discourage’ from causing problems.

After they had taken a few minutes to empty the vault of all of the crates, even the ones labeled as experimental and specialty, they were waiting for their form of transport to be revealed.

“How the hell are we going to fit all of this in the car?”

“We’re not, dumbass. Boss called us in a nice ride, one that won’t be tracked and will have more than enough room for all this.”

“Well then, where is it then?”

All of a sudden, the wall of the building closest to them exploded, the back end of a yellow bus crashing through the debris until it came to a stop just a few yards away. The back door of the bus opened and another guy in a clown mask popped out, remarking “That’s a lot of potion…”

“Yeah, well, lets hurry up and get it in the bus!” They moved quickly, passing the crates to each other until they reached the bus, at which point the driver would stack them on seats and on the floor. As they moved the crates, the unicorn that Joker had shot earlier tried to stand, not dead quite yet, but not in very good shape.

As the last of the crates were transported into the bus, it spoke. “You think you’re smart, huh? Don't you know who you’re stealing from? You and your friends are dead! You hear me! Dea-urk!”

He choked as the Joker grabbed him by the neck, suffocating him slowly as he examined the miniature horse held aloft in his grasp.

The other guys, now with the crates stowed and nothing else to do but watch, looked between each other nervously as their comrade tormented the pony.

He grabbed the pony’s muzzle and forced it open before reaching into his jacket. Taking a smoke grenade from it, he stuffed it into the pony’s mouth; leaving the pin clipped to him via a long, thin string.

“I think, whatever doesn’t kill you simply makes you… stranger…” He then released the pony, letting it fall down to the floor where it stared, cross-eyed, at the cylinder jammed between his teeth.

Joker then turned and walked to the bus, the other clowns quickly hopping inside before Joker pulled himself inside, closing the door behind him and leaving the smoke grenade’s string caught within it.

Unclipping the string from his jacket, he took a seat across from 5, who quickly looked out the window as the driver sped out onto the street. Joker grinned behind his mask as he heard the snap of the string being pulled taut behind them, imagining what would be happening to the pony as the grenade released its airborne payload.

As they joined a caravan of identical school buses, Joker set his feet up on top of one of the potion crates, relaxing as he took in the sound of police sirens as cop cars sped past them and towards the bureau.

He turned to see 2 opening one of the crates, checking out the vials within that contained the swirling, purple liquid. He reached inside for one of his own, and, examining it for a moment, he placed it back in the crate, staring at it with hatred in his eyes.

You’re the reason Batman is a pony. You're the reason I can no longer fulfill my duty to chaos by fighting the Batman. If only I didn’t need you for my plans, I would destroy every last bit of you that I could. If only, if only…

Penthouse View

Bruce Wayne, or the pony that had been Bruce Wayne, looked out the large windows of his penthouse, basking in the city lights that danced across the glass. He swept his gaze slowly from the streets and their large crowds all the way up to the skyscrapers across from his own.

He took in every little detail he could, from the colors of cars below to the way the moonlight gleamed off of the windows in every direction. This was made easier due to his new, abnormally large eyes that seemed far too large for something as small as a pony.

Nonetheless, the larger eyes did give him slightly sharper sight, and, when combined with his now extremely powerful ears, made him insanely aware of what was around him. The heightened senses could even be considered better than short-range radar in some cases.

It was because of these upgraded senses that he was able to hear the sounds of polished shoes tapping against marble, the expensive leather making only the slightest sounds as it moved with it’s wearer. Not a moment later, be heard the turning of a doorknob, followed by the opening and closing of the door.

This, combined with the jingle of glass and ceramics, revealed the person's identity fairly quickly.

“Good evening, Alfred.”

“Good evening, Master Wayne. I trust you’ve been busy today?”

“Not really, Alfred, just been helping to get things back up and running at the company.”

Alfred set the tray down on the table beside Wayne. “I’d assume so. After all, having such a large portion of employees change species at one time must have set back everything by months!”

“*Sigh* It’s getting better, Alfred. Most of the workers are at least trying to do their jobs, though many are having trouble because of their work field’s requirement of hands.”

“I wish them the best. Now, how have you been faring since the…incident?”

Wayne looked down at himself, the black fur, dark blue mane hanging in his eyes and those accursed hooves. What were they good for anyways? Walking seemed to be the only thing they could be used for, their thick keratin making them useless for most other tasks that didn't require smashing something to bits.

Still, he even found himself having difficulty doing such simple tasks as holding a glass without it slipping between his forehooves or breaking when he put too much pressure on it.

This had caused much aggravation as well as having depressing the Caped Crusader, his life having become infinitely more difficult. The only thing he found enjoyment with in his new body was his new pair of wings, the feathery appendages allowing him to float above the ground, soaring across the sky as the wind ran through his mane.

He had found being able to stand on clouds especially entertaining, the fluffy-yet-bouncy material being both the perfect place for both a bit of fun and a nap.

Nonetheless, he found that having neither hands nor a horn made it difficult to do many of the things that were required by him, and it showed as he looked up at Alfred from his seat on his large, plush armchair.

“The same as when you asked me yesterday, Alfred. I’m certainly not getting suicidal like some have, but this…change has ruined parts of my life I can’t even begin to deal with yet.”

Alfred looked down at his employer, now a 3-foot tall pony, and smiled. “All is not lost, master Wayne, for as long as it is you inside that body we shall all be here to support you. Always remember, your friends are always here for you, no matter what you look like.”

Bruce looked up at his servant, tears brimming in his eyes. He wasn’t sure if ponies were naturally more emotional than humans, or if he had simply been holding his emotion back for so long that it had built up, but he had found himself much more inclined to cry since his conversion.

“T-thank you Alfred. You and the others have been more help than I give you credit for.”

“No thanks is necessary, master Wayne, we are simply doing our duty to help a friend in need.” Alfred looked upon Bruce fondly; recalling all of the years that he had been around the curious man, or at this point, pony.

Since he had been but a child, he had cared for him, keeping him safe and helping him through each of his struggles throughout the years. Now, sitting back on his haunches in a chair several times his size, he looked in need of that support more than ever before.

He had, in the past minutes, showed more emotion than Alfred had seen in years, even letting his lip quiver slightly as a few stray tears ran down his face.

“Why Alfred?”

“Why what, sir?”

“Why are you focusing on me? Surely there are others who need help more than I do, others in more distress, family or friends perhaps?”

“Perhaps, master Wayne, but have you yet considered that you are our priority because, when on your feet, you are a far better ally to those in need than any of us could ever be?”

“But I can’t go out anymore, Alfred. People will know who I am.”

“So? Let them know. Let them know that you were strong enough to get through this, strong enough to put the bad behind yourself and move towards a better future.”

“But what about you? What about Rachel and all the others I care about? They will be in danger if the city knows who the Batman really is!”

“That may be true, but ask yourself this; what is more important; the city holding onto its hope, or the few people who are seen as close to you being in a little more danger than they usually are? Gordon is with the police, so he already knows of many threats to his life and Rachel and Harvey are mixed in with the courts and mob, things that make danger part of their everyday lives anyway.”

“What about you, Alfred?”

“Me? I am of no importance to anyone, I fear. I am simply an old man who works for you, not anyone that could be seen as worth their time to put in jeopardy.”

“That may be, Alfred, but what would you have me do?”

Alfred smiled, reaching a hand down place it on Bruce’s neck and slowly pet him, having found soon after Wayne was converted that the feeling was incredibly relaxing to ponies, and had been one of the few ways to calm him since he had been converted. Wayne practically melted under his hand, leaning into the fingers as his servant spoke.

“I would have you seek out your friends, let them see that you have not given up. Let them see that there is still hope for all after such a terrible thing has been forced upon so many. Most of all, I would have you endure, master Wayne. For the sakes of both yourself and those around you, endure.”

Throne Room

Far away from the bustling city of Gotham, and any other human settlements for that matter, was the tiny nation of Equestria.

Throughout the land, across all of the many different environments found upon the magic-filled island, were ponies that happily frolicked throughout the sunny days that their leader and the weather-changing abilities of Pegasi granted them.

However, without these methods of changing the weather and seasons throughout the year to what the ponies desired, many of the places that they resided would be impossible for them to live in without either the extremest of survival gear or resolve, of which the equines had neither.

Out of all the inhospitable environments that the ponies had chosen to live upon, possibly the most ridiculous was Mount Canterhorn, the place where both the princesses and the capitol city of Canterlot resided.

The city itself was attached to the side of the mountain via magic, the use of which was suspected to be a massive drain on the power of whatever entity kept it from tumbling down the mountain, though most suspected that they could afford such use of energy due to the same magical supply that fed the Barrier once Celestia had stopped feeding her own power into it.

As much as people and ponies alike were impressed by the Celestial City, there was one part that garnered attention more than most; The Royal Palace.

The Palace, home to heads of state and Nobles alike, was the center of Equestria, the place where all trade and serious business made itself known to those who ruled the nation from the city upon the mountain; the Princesses.

Celestia and Luna, the Eternal Sisters, the ones who had watched over ponykind for millennia. With the exception of the Nightmare Moon era, they had ruled together, balancing both themselves and their country from their thrones high atop their mountain.

It was there, upon their gilded cushions and immaculately carved seats that the sisters sat, immersed in their conversation with their guards’ captain.

“Thankfully, there was only one fatality, the dead pony having been at the hospital for hours suffering from at least half a dozen gunshot wounds sustained during the robbery before he finally succumbed to his injuries.”

“For that small miracle, I am grateful, Captain Armor. I fear that when dealing with humans, especially ones willing to kill, nothing can be certain.”

“Indeed, sister, they are far too dangerous to be ignored. Security should certainly be increased in other Bureaus in the area, lest this success embolden them to attack again.”

“I agree. Perhaps we should ask the human authorities if they know anything else about those responsible for the robbery?”

“M’lady, asking the humans for anything is like asking a pauper for jewels, it simply will not yield results.”

“I agree with Captain Armor, sister, we will not receive any information out of the humans. I fear that the recent actions of our misguided kin have broken any bonds to humanity we had left.”

“Why must the PER continue this madness? Do they not see the damage they have done, remember the horrors that I pardoned in my blindness or even regret the war that I allowed them to start?”

“Tis not your fault, sister, you supported a cause you thought to be just, as would any of us. Do not linger upon what mistakes have been made in the past, rather look towards the future and what it holds in store.”

“What future, Luna? The humans have all but officially called for our heads and I fear that this will only get worse. They may even begin to murder Equestrian ponies in revenge as they did before. How can our future be anything worth striding for if this bitter hatred between our species is all that can be achieved?”

“Perhaps we should not try anything ourselves, but try to solve this indirectly? Perhaps if they do not think we are involved, they would be far more open to discussion, possibly with one we could trust to do the right things?”

“Of whom do you speak, Luna?”

“You student, Twilight Sparkle, of course. She has many qualities that would be helpful in regaining the trust of our bipedal neighbors.”

Shining Armor looked up at them with a growing sense of horror. “You can’t send Twilight to the humans, she wont be safe! They’ll tear her apart after what happened in Gotham!”

“And that is why you and your finest soldiers will go with her. To keep her safe and make sure she doesn’t do anything foolish.”

“But surely there is somepony else, somepony more qualified to go?”

“Don't worry, the Elements will surely be going with her, for there is no group better for what we have in mind.”

“And what, exactly, do you have in mind, Princess?”

“Fetch Twilight, for she and her friends shall be sent to help any victims of the PER with their newfound changes. She will support them as they learn to use their new bodies, their new abilities and be a friend to all those in need, such is what must be done to redeem ourselves for the crimes of our kin.”

“Yes Princess.” Shining left the throne room, trotting towards where his sister had been staying in the castle the past few days. Once he had left, Luna turned to her sister, a look of worry on her face.

“Celestia, do you truly believe it to be wise sending your student and her friends into lands and to help ponies that will surely be… less than welcoming?”

“As much as I would like to say yes, I realize they will likely be in their fair share of danger in the coming days. As long as they keep themselves safe and on task, we may yet have a chance at fixing what the PER has done.”

“Should they fail in their mission, what then?”

“We must be prepared. Send forth your night guards to all corners of Equestria and beyond, have them drag out every PER member they can find, kicking and screaming if necessary. We must show humanity that we will find those responsible for these attacks if we are to survive their wrath.”

“Have your own guards not found many already?”

“There are far too many of them that are themselves part of the PER for anypony of consequence to be found. That is why your own guards must be used, for you know how loyal they are to their goddess.”

Luna smiled, recalling how joyous her Thestrals had been to see her return, most of them having immediately returned to her side as her personal guards. They were loyal to a fault, and would rather die than disappoint Luna, such was their commitment to her, something Celestia was somewhat jealous of at times. Though, with Luna being the deity central to the Thestral’s religion, culture and history, who could blame them for never wanting to fall short of their goddess’ expectations?

“I suppose I could send some of them to find the PER’s leaders, to ‘cut the head off of the snake’ as it were.”

“Excellent.”

As they finished their discussion they heard the doors of their throne room creek back open, Shining Armor slipping between the two halves before they closed, closely followed through by his sister and the Element of Magic herself; Twilight Sparkle.

She, along with her brother, walked tentatively up to the twin thrones, bowing quickly before smiling brightly up at her mentor.

“Hello Princesses!”

“Hello, Twilight.”

“Greetings, young Twilight”

“So, what did you summon me for Princess, is there something I can help you with?”

Her teacher looked down at her, a reassuring smile gracing her muzzle before she spoke. “There is indeed something you can help us with, Twilight. I trust you have kept yourself up to date on what the PER has done recently?”

“I have, even if it is a bit depressing.”

“Have you heard word of the robbery that took place at the Gotham Conversion Bureau?”

“I haven’t heard all of the details yet, but I do know that a group of humans stole the bureau’s entire stock of potion and killed somepony in the process.”

“That is correct, though I am sure your brother will fill you in on the rest of the details once you reach your destination.”

“D-destination? Where are you sending me?”

“Not just you, but your friends as well. I fear that we may require all of the Elements together for you to succeed.”

“Okay, but where are we going, and what are we supposed to do, Princess?”

“Do not fret about that just yet, Twilight. Get your friends on the next train from Ponyville and all will be explained once they arrive. Until then, you may want to review what you know of humans and their social norms, as you will be spending a good deal of time with them in the near future.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up, no doubt wondering what her mentor could possibly want her to do with humans, a species she had little experience with outside of her books.

Luna saw this look of youthful curiosity and smirked. “I would not get too excited, Twilight, for you must remember that humans are not as easy to deal with as ponies. There is no certainty when dealing with even the most passive of them. I would recommend caution towards any of your scholarly endeavors pertaining to them, at least until you have some experience, or some human friends, first.”

Twilight blushed, her ears lying flat upon her head as she looked to the floor, embarrassed that she had let her excitement be so obvious. “I’ll be careful, Princess, I promise!”

“I should hope so. Now go, write to your friends and get them here as soon as they can be on the next train. We shall send for you when they arrive.”

“Yes Princess. Goodbye, your Majesties.”

“Goodbye Twilight”

“Farewell lady Twilight.”

Twilight bowed before making her way out of the throne room, returning to her room to send for her friends and read all that she could about the humans she and her friends were supposedly going to be around.

As soon as she had left, Luna turned to her sister.

“I must return to my bedchambers, sister. Being up this long after sunrise is beginning to tire me.”

“I understand, Luna, you need your rest just as everypony else does. It isn’t fair of me to keep you awake this far into the morning.”

“No apology is necessary. Twilight’s reaction was certainly interesting enough to make this daylight incursion more than worth it. I shall see you this evening, sister, goodnight.”

“Don’t you mean good morning?”

Luna stuck her tongue out at her sister as she descended her throne; her silver regalia tapping against the marble as she carefully trod down the somewhat narrow steps. Once she had made it to the bottom, she smiled back up at her sister one last time before she went through a side door and down the hallways that led to her personal rooms.

Celestia looked to the doorway Luna had slipped into, staring at it with a sense of longing as she prepared herself for the coming day of paperwork and governing, wishing for nothing more than the warm embrace of her bed during these early hours of the day.

Intro (Updated 6/26/17)

Intro

Gotham.

The city that all other cities had tried to be.

The shining star of what mankind could achieve, and now the fallen example of what could happen when 30 million people live together.

This city, one that had been crumbling at the seams since dozens of crime families, gangs and other criminal avenues had taken over, had one hope left before it fell into anarchy; The Batman.

No one knew who he was, where he came from or why he chose to risk his own life each night by apprehending the criminals that plagued the town, but all who were protected by his just guard could have cared less, for he was the one who made their city safer than it had been in decades.

Because of his actions, there were many criminal organizations and gangs that were either locked up in one of the cities prisons, or were run out of business by the Batman. This led to safer parts of Gotham where few criminals would roam, though had the unwanted side affect of making a small coalition of criminals rich due to their having no competition from those the Batman had caught.

Plans had been in the works for months using marked bills, political games and a myriad of other tactics on both sides as they prepared for the eventual endgame of both factions, with the Batman being the one seen as a wildcard; neither a villain, nor a pure hero. Everything had changed when they had arrived.

Ponies, of all shapes, sizes and indeed species had emerged from the relatively small island that had itself appeared out of nowhere in the Atlantic Ocean.

At first, they had wanted little to nothing to do with humans, so long as they stayed away from their island and out of the skies above. Soon, though, their leader, one who, even after presented with sound scientific proof, preached to her subjects that she and her sister held control over the Sun and Moon, made a public visit to various countries before attending meetings with the UN.

After much time had been spent by the delegates to convince her otherwise, the one and only Princess Celestia had deemed the way that humans ‘suffered’ in cities due to crime, were crippled by dangerous work, accidents or birth problems, or were outright rejected by society for their various beliefs to be too horrible to let continue.

After a massive amount of gold was transferred to cover the expenses, she had Conversion Bureaus opened all across the world, inviting those who wished for a new life to give up their humanity to become a pony, one who would live happily in Equestria.

After the initial rush of cripples, losers and social rejects, there were few humans who would willingly give up their bodies for another, besides from the furries, many of whom jumped at the chance to change themselves into a pony as soon as the Bureaus opened.

After perhaps a little over a million people worldwide, with many coming from either poor or dangerous countries as well as those from developed nations, had been converted, the flow of humans into Bureaus slowed to a trickle, then to a slow drip until the Bureaus sat empty, awaiting humans who would never arrive.

It was at this point that a small group came into existence, a terrorist organization that called themselves the Ponies for Earth’s Rebirth, or the PER. Their primary mandate was to convert all of humanity into their version of a perfect being: the pony, whether they wanted to or not.

They stayed relatively unknown until, after months of planning, several of their operatives walked into heavily populated or famous areas and set off gas bombs containing an airborne version of the ponification potion.

These populated areas included crowded areas of the cities of New York, London, Shanghai, Moscow, Berlin, Seoul, Paris, and Sydney. Though there were attacks in other cities as well, these potion bombings alone caused tens of thousands of forced conversions.

While most ended up having to go to their local Bureaus to learn how to use their new bodies and how they would resume their lives after they had adjusted to their forced changes, there were some who were so infuriated by the loss of their humanity that they formed a counter to the PER. They named their group the Human Liberation Front, on account of their desire for the Equestrians to reverse the effects of the potion that was forced onto the many thousands affected, which would ‘liberate’ them of their new equine bodies.

After the Equestrians had refused to revert the converted humans back to their ‘inferior forms’ they changed from wanting to give humanity back to the PER’s victims to wanting to avenge them by making the PER repay them in blood.

Along with a nearly unlimited supply of humans who were now just as hating of ponies as they, the HLF began attacks of their own, killing those they found responsible for the potion bombings along with any other ponies they could find, though only native equestrians if they could help it. In response to the violent reaction to the forced conversion of so many, Princess Celestia began to openly support the PER, supplying them with potion and funding them with equipment and personnel.

Not particularly liking the idea of a state-funded terrorist organization, many world governments chose to act rather that wait for the PER to claim more victims. In an unprecedented cooperated assault, over a dozen countries supplied troops and equipment for an invasion of Equestria, their far superior technology letting them steamroll over all resistance, at least until they reached Canterlot.

Once they reached the grand city, the Princess enacted her last-ditch plan to survive the onslaught: The Barrier. After activating the barrier around Canterlot, she began to slowly expand it, using it to force the humans off the island after the first few soldiers were vaporized by the glowing, pink dome.

After retreating to a safe distance, a standoff ensued. For many months, the ponies were kept quarantined inside of their shield, cut off from the rest of the world. For months, nothing changed, until at last a single Pegasus flew out of the barrier and sent a message to the humans surrounding them.

The message was simple; you leave us alone and we’ll leave you alone. And for almost a year this worked out fine, with ponies going to and from their island as they wished with human approval, and the humans stayed away from their island, leaving only a few dozen ships behind to guard the equines.

However, peace, as we all know, is a fickle thing. It is, in a sense, like gravity: all it takes is a little push for it to come crashing down. This was what happened as the PER, their numbers bolstered by the attacks on Equestrian land, once again resumed their regime of potion bombing populated areas, though most of their victims now chose to stay in their homeland rather than go to the place their converters had hailed from.

Nonetheless, one of the most devastating attacks on any city was the one that consumed Gotham city, with hundreds of potion bombs going off all around the city. In every district of Gotham, from the corporate headquarters of Wayne Enterprises to the slums, hundreds of thousands of people succumbed to the gas as it spread about the city.

It was one of the PER’s greatest victory and the HLF’s justification of the destruction of Equestrian facilities all around the world. Out of those unfortunate enough to be in an area that was affected in Gotham, the most well known and important to the city was Bruce Wayne, the billionaire son of those who had practically built the city, with his company having a part in nearly every residents life.

This, unknown to the public until it had been long enough to be accurately assumed, had the additional effect of turning Batman, the savior of Gotham City into a black and midnight blue Pegasus. As much as this saddened those who knew who the Pegasus really was and had been his friend or practically family for years, there was one other who was enraged by the conversion of Gotham’s Dark Knight: The Joker.

Being the crazed murdering lunatic that he was, he had, despite his claims to the contrary, put quite a lot of planning into what he was going to do in order to fight and torment the Batman while he turned Gotham city on itself. The ponification of Batman, however, had thrown a monkey wrench into the gears of his carefully planned plot, enraging him to the point where words could not accurately describe his fury.

Because of what a group of idiotic miniature horses had done, all his work, the fruits of preparation of his life’s goals were all wasted. There was no way that Batman could continue his fight of the criminals in Gotham as a pony, at least nowhere near the extent that he did before, as most of his equipment and tactics would not work for a quadruped.

There was also the issue of not being as easily disguised as before as unlike with humans, almost every single pony had different colors or patterns, which would make finding the Batman far easier, almost comically so after all of the masked fighting he had done.

It was then, after thinking long and hard about what had happened, that the Joker realized that all was not lost, as even if he could no longer in good conscience fight Batman and that the first stage of his plan (which he was currently enacting) would have to be modified, he could in fact take his rage out and use at least part of his meticulously crafted plan on the ones who had rendered his previous goals impossible: the PER and all those who helped to convert humans.

He smiled to himself, readjusting the duffle bag on his shoulder and clenching the clown mask in his hand tighter before walking up to his waiting car and his fellow criminals waiting within.

What luck that his target bank and the Gotham Conversion Bureau were right beside each other on the same street…