Batmane, the dark steed

Chapters

Tragedy
Hearing
From prince to tramp
The path of shadows
League of Shadows
True justice
Back home
Preparations
First steps
The age of Batmane
The banquet is over
Latent madness
Fall into madness
Cornered
Joker
Let the show begin
Arkham Asylum
Dark Knight
Epilogue

Tragedy

Despite what it might appear from a distance, Canterlot was not exclusively situated on the gigantic platforms built to support the city. Much of this had its foundations on the Canterhorn Mountain itself, close to an immense forest on one of its slopes, a forest that was crossed by the Platinum River, and that also crossed the city before cascading down and following its course until the foot of the mountain and beyond.

On a large hill, secluded from the city and in the middle of a large clearing within the forest, was located Blood Manor, home to one of the many noble families of various pony races who helped found the capital of Equestria. This family consisted of the young heir, Blueblood, and his parents. His father was Health Blood, one of the best doctors in city, even though he technically owned Blood Enterprises, the largest tech company in all of Equestria, but the unicorn preferred to leave the enterprise to much more capable hooves than his own, like Clock Hooves, a good friend of him.

His wife, and mother of the young colt, was Loving Blood, a charity mare, responsible for countless charity parties and a believer that the nobles and the richest ponies should use their money to help the more poor. It was her kindness and compassionate demeanor, coupled with her contrast with the smug nobles, that earned her the greatest honor a pony could earn, being considered a close friend of Princess Celestia, further strengthening the bond the princess had with the Blood family for generations.

The Blood family was preparing to go to the cinema, where little Blueblood's favorite movie, "The Mask of the Zorro", would be screened again. Leaving the mansion, they met Service Pennywork by a carriage, drawn by two earth pony stallions. He was a unicorn with gray fur and a slicked-back black mane, and had served the Blood family for nearly 12 years now, having retired from the royal guard and returned to his family's traditional work.

"Good morning, Service" Health said with a smile, walking down the stairs with his wife and son.

"Likewise, Mr. Blood" answered Service with a small smile and a respectful bow.

"Hello Service!" Blueblood yelled as he approached with energy, extending his hoof towards the butler, who with a small laugh, smashed his own hoof against the little colt's.

"Good morning to you too, Mr. Blood, how are you?"

"Fantastic! Let's go see the zorro!"

"For the sixth time this week" Health whispered as he rolled his eyes, receiving an elbow bump from his wife.

"Do I remind you who it is that promised to take him to the cinema until they stop showing the film?" Loving asked with a mischievous smile, receiving another from her husband.

"How was I supposed to know he wanted to go each and every day?"

"Mom, dad, let's go now or we'll be late!" Blueblood yelled, already on the carriage and watching his parents from inside.

Amused by the energetic attitude of the little colt, both parents got into the carriage with their son, preparing for the trip. Service, after making sure they were settled, climbed into the driver's seat and nodded to the stallions pulling the cart, who began to move toward the dirt road that would lead into town, deeper into the forest trees. A few minutes later, the tall spiers of the buildings of majestic Canterlot could be seen. Even though its streets weren't as crowded or its buildings as tall as other cities, like Manehattan, it was still beautiful.

The medieval-style buildings gave it that style of elegance and high nobility that characterized the city so much. Although not all buildings had this aesthetic, a good number were in the Gothic style, a remnant of the Gothic architecture that dominated Equestria for several centuries, creating a curious and beautiful contrast in their own way. And crowning it all was Princess Celestia's immense castle, visible from almost anywhere in the city, towering over all buildings. The needles of its towers tore through the sky, and its architecture was a perfect blend of the two predominant styles in the city, the result of the work of the greatest architects in the country.

The cinema was located in one of the affluent neighborhoods of the city, with a predominantly medieval style, and was one of the most famous. That day, however, few ponies showed up, and it was not surprising, the Zorro movie had been in theaters for a few weeks now, and that night would be the last time it would be shown in the cinema. The carriage pulled up to the front of the building and parked in one of the private spaces meant for the richest, and as soon as the carriage came to a complete stop, Blueblood got out of the carriage and ran quickly towards the entrance, excited.

"Blueblood, stay right there!" his mother's voice yelled, causing the colt to stop dead and look at his mother with a nervous smile.

"I'm sorry, Mom!"

Loving, who was at the door, rolled her eyes as she went downstairs, helped by Service, though she couldn't keep a smile from creeping across her face.

"He's just like you" she said as she looked over her shoulder at her husband, who gave a laugh.

"Obviously" he said as he climbed down, and once on the ground, he turned to his butler and the two stallions. "Well, you know how it goes, you can come back in two hours, go eat something or whatever you want, and you know you can charge it to my account."

"You don't have to do that, sir, you know that."

"Service, and you know you won't change my mind, old friend" Health said with a smile, earning another from his butler.

"Dad, come on!" Blueblood yelled into the distance, eliciting a small chuckle from Health.

"I'm coming, Blue! I better get going before he explode with excitement."

"Have a good night, sir" Service said as he bowed respectfully.

With one last smile, Health approached his wife and son and they entered the theater, indulging the energetic colt. After buying tickets and a bowl of popcorn, they entered the room and began to watch the adventures of the masked hero. After almost two hours, the movie ended and the three of them left the room, and as usual, Blueblood was playing with a brochure that he had taken from the reception, using it as a sword.

His parents, on the other hand, were amused by their son, although Mr. Blood was thankful that film was never shown again. On the way out, the colt ran quickly to Service, who was waiting by the carriage and talking to the two stallions.

"Surrender, villain, I've come to stop you!"

Service looked at the little colt and, with a small laugh, got into a fighting stance.

"You will never defeat me, Zorro, I am much stronger than you!"

"We'll see about that!" Blueblood yelled as he advanced with his pamphlet in front of him.

After dodging a few blows, Service was hit by the little colt's 'weapon', falling to the ground in the most theatrical way possible.

"Nooo, you have defeated me! Please have mercy!"

Blueblood watched the unicorn for a second before standing as straight as possible and holding his 'sword' in front of him.

"I'm going to spare your life, but only because I feel sorry for you."

"That, and that's how a true hero acts" said his father as he approached, smiling when he saw that his son was watching him. "A true hero spares the lives of his enemies."

"That too" Blueblood said with a smile, turning away from his father and continuing with his games.

Health gave a small laugh, watching his son play quietly, and turned to Service, who had already gotten up and dusted hisself off.

"I hope he didn't bother you that much."

"Not at all, Mr. Blood, it's my job" said Service with a smile.

"Work or not, something tells me I'd be more comfortable if you didn't have to throw yourself on the ground in the middle of the street" Health said with a smile.

"Believe me, Mr. Blood, I've done worse things than play with a foal" Service said with a small laugh.

"Dear" Loving said as she approached, "are we going to go home or not? It's not for nothing, but Blueblood is past his bedtime."

Health looked at his son, who was still playing, although he had not strayed far from his parents.

"How about we go have some hay burgers first?"

"Really?" Loving said with a raised eyebrow. "That way you only spoil him."

"Well, tonight is the last night the Zorro will be shown, I think he deserves it, right?"

Loving watched her husband with a frown for a few moments before rolling her eyes.

"Okay, but you take care of putting him to bed later."

"Deal done" Health said with a smile, looking from his son to the alley next to the cinema, if memory served, on the street directly behind the cinema there was a restaurant they had been to several times before, but given the time, he didn't want to go by carriage and lose more time than necessary, so he turned to his butler. "Service, can you take the carriage to the usual restaurant? We'll cut through the alley."

"Are you sure sir?" Service said as he looked down the alley, not sure what Health was up to.

"Service, nothing will happen" said Health with a smile, but looking at his wife, he saw that she did not seem very happy with the plan.

"Dear, don't you think it's safer to go by carriage?"

"You yourself said that Blue is past his bedtime, besides, it will be quick" Health said as he kissed his wife on the cheek, who smiled and nodded, then looking at their son. "Come on champ, I'm in the mood for a hay burger, how about you?"

Blueblood stopped his game and turned to his father, smiling as he nodded. The colt waited for his parents and, together, they began to walk towards the alley.

"Goodbye Service!" Blueblood yelled, waving goodbye to the unicorn as he walked past his parents.

Soon the family was out on the dark street, dimly lit by a single streetlamp. The alley opened not only on the street from which they came and to which they were going, but it opened on a different alley, an alley from which a unicorn staggered. He was muttering to himself, he looked disheveled and his jacket was no better. Almost instinctively, the family drew closer together, with the little colt between his parents and watching the strange stallion approach.

The pony finished turning the corner and started toward them, still staring at the ground, but he stopped, ears pricked, when he heard the footsteps of the Blood family. He raised his head and stared at them, revealing puffy, bloodshot eyes. The stallion watched them for a few seconds and, after muttering a few words, shaking his head several times to himself, he looked up and, with his magic, grabbed the lapel of his jacket and pulled out something very rare to see in Equestria, a gun brought from the Griffin Empire.

"Money and jewelry, quickly" he said, nervousness and desperation in his voice.

"Calm down" Health answered, instinctively putting himself in front of his family.

The unicorn eyed the pony in front of him carefully, and his years as head doctor at Canterlot General Hospital told him that the pony was going through an extreme case of withdrawal. He could practically see his desperation to take some more of whatever drug he was hooked on, and he knew very well what could happen if he didn't obey him, especially if he had a gun. Using his magic, he pulled the wallet out of his jacket and held it out to the unicorn, who quickly snatched it up in his own magic and stowed it in his own jacket, though he kept pointing at the unicorn. family with his gun.

"Okay, that's it, calm down. You can go" Health said calmly.

The unicorn began to back away slowly, looking at the family without blinking. Blueblood watched from his place between his parents, nervous. Just when he was about to turn around, the pony looked at Loving's neck, and with a nervous gesture, he approached her while activating his magic and grabbing the pearl necklace that the mare had.

"I said give me the jewels too!"

Loving screamed and tried to move away as Health tried to push the unicorn away. In a state of panic, the pony fired, at the same time that his magic broke the pearl necklace. The mare was thrown backwards by the force of the shot to her chest, which was already bleeding.

"LOVING!" Health yelled as he glared at his wife, before turning angrily on the assailant.

Alarmed, and wanting to avoid a direct confrontation, the pony fired again, hitting him in the chest and also knocking him to the ground. Blueblood stepped back, his eyes filling with tears as he looked at the bodies of his parents, but unable to say anything due to fear. His eyes lifted. And they met those of the unicorn that had killed his parents, who watched him for a few moments, apparently trying to think what to do.

After a few minutes, the pony turned and ran as far as he could, but seeing the street the family had headed for first, he stopped. The figure of a few ponies could be seen in the distance, contrasting with the light of the street lamps that illuminated the street, so the thief, wanting to escape, returned through the same place from which he had come.

Blueblood stood still, crying quietly as he focused on his parents. He saw his mother's pearls scattered on the ground, several of them stained by her own blood, blood that mixed with Health's and created a puddle that reached the colt's hooves. With trembling paws, he dropped to a sitting position on the floor, unable to look away.

"He has escaped that way!" shouted a voice that was fast approaching, but Blueblood hardly paid it any attention. "You two go check on that colt, we'll go after that son of a bitch!"

The sound of hooves hitting the ground filled the alley, and soon, Blueblood felt somepony approaching.

"Are you okay, little colt?"

Blueblood barely paid attention to him, not even when somepony put a hoof on his shoulder. His gaze was still fixed on his parents, and in his mind, the image of the pearl necklace shattering in the air as the gun fired repeated itself over and over again.

Blueblood walked slowly next to Princess Celestia, who considered the little colt her nephew, and next to her, was Cadence, who not only saw him as his cousin, but had taken care of him as his nanny many times. Nearby was Service, attentive to anything the little colt might need. They were in his family's huge garden, walking slowly toward an area the colt had never been to, the small Blood family mausoleum. Joining them were several more ponies, belonging to his parents' closest friends and many of the nobles of the highest order who had come to pay their respects. Ahead of them, four royal guard unicorns carried their parents' coffins in their magic.

Blueblood stared at the coffins, still unable to believe that his parents had died. He had tried to get used to the idea that he would never see them again, that his mother would not tuck him in at bedtime, his father would no longer take him to the hospital with him, and he would never play with them in his garden again.

His eyes began to roam the ponies with his Aunt Celestia and his cousin, feeling the rage swirling inside him. Why were they there? He was not stupid, he could know that those nobles were only there because of their social status, they had not brought their own children for nothing. He had heard many times his parents criticize them and show their dislike for them when they believed that he was not listening.

Now, there they were, like vultures, waiting to get close to him without Princess Celestia being around so they could 'comfort' him and hopefully get his children to befriend the Blood heir. With her face full of tears, Blueblood, in an impulsive act, ran away from his aunt, in the direction of the forest that surrounded his family's mansion.

"Blueblood!" yelled his aunt, but the colt didn't want to listen.

Blueblood ran as fast as his little legs would allow him, wanting to run away from his Aunt Celestia, from his cousin Cadence, from Service, from those nobles with selfish intentions, but above all, he wanted to run away from the coffins of his parents, the proof that now he was an orphan. With great speed, he dove into the trees, dodging the trunks as best he could as he propelled himself forward, ignoring the fading screams of his aunt. As he moved forward, tears filled his eyes, and he didn't want to stop to wipe them away with his hoof, so he blinked them away furiously. That was enough for him to trip over some branches on the ground, and as he rolled, he fell into a narrow hole, falling into the void with a loud cry.

As the right side of him crashed to the hard stone floor, Blueblood cried out in pain, going still and crying silently. After a few moments, he tried to get up, but he collapsed when he tried to support himself on his right arm, discovering that he had dislocated it.

Taking a deep breath, he rolled onto his back to the left side of his body, being able to stand up and sit in a better position. With groans of pain, the colt tried to move his damaged arm, only to be stopped by the overwhelming pain he felt. He raised his head and looked at the hole he had fallen through, a faint ray of light was coming through it, and he could barely see the branches of the trees above.

"Au-aunt Celestia!" he yelled, in a vain attempt to get the princess's attention, but when there was no response, he yelled again, this time louder and more desperately. "AUNT CELESTIA!"

Blueblood was silent, trying to detect the voice of his aunt, his cousin or Service, at this point even any noble would do. Just as he was about to scream again, a screech to the left of him alerted him, sending a shiver down his young body. Swallowing hard, he turned his head to the source of the sound, seeing a hole he hadn't seen before, big enough for a full-grown pony to squeeze through, if he ducked first. He could only make out darkness, but the screeching was very present.

"H-hello?" Blueblood asked fearfully.

His voice seemed to increase the screeching, and soon, Blueblood saw something that terrified him even more...a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Terrified, the colt backed away as fast as possible, crashing into the wall, generating another whiplash of pain from his dislocated shoulder.

Several more pairs of eyes appeared out of the darkness, and in a few seconds, what seemed like a thousand bats swooped down on the colt, who screamed in terror as he tried to push the animals away, who tore at his skin with their claws as they clawed and engulfed him, blocking out what little light came in and leaving him in the deepest darkness.

Hearing

The curtains swung open, letting the sun's rays enter the dark room and strike directly into the face of a peacefully sleeping unicorn. Frowning and growling, the stallion pulled the blanket up over his head and turned away, trying to escape the light.

"Up, Mr. Blood" said a voice that the unicorn knew well.

"For Celestia…Service, please, close the curtains…" Blueblood growled, still hidden by the blankets.

"Sir, it's almost half past ten in the morning, I've already been too benevolent, please get out of bed."

Blueblood grunted before throwing back the bed covers and sitting up, looking sleepily at his butler, who despite appearing completely calm, the stallion knew him well enough to tell when he was having fun.

"Okay, I'm up now" Blueblood said as he got out of bed, stretching and yawning.

"You have your breakfast ready in the dining room, Mr. Blood."

"Aha, thanks, Service" the unicorn said as he walked away, stopping at the door and turning to see his butler. "Aren't you thinking about making my bed? I can do that, Service, you have enough work already."

"Sir, the last time you made your bed, you made it even messier" Service said with a hint of a smile on his face, making Blueblood roll his eyes.

"It only happened once, and that was when I was 13."

"Whatever you say, sir, now, please, can you go to breakfast now?"

Blueblood shook his head as he left his room, amused by Service's attitude. He walked slowly down the hall, towards the stairs and passing by the main room, the one that in theory, he should occupy, but the unicorn did not dare to sleep in the same bed where his parents once slept. He soon, he went down to the ground floor and arrived at the huge dining room, with a table just as big, and that was only occupied by a solitary tray to which the unicorn approached, sitting on the chair and watching his breakfast. It consisted of a glass of orange juice and a plate of fried eggs and hay.

As he lit up his horn and raised the glass at his magic, he remembered what happened the night before as he took a sip of juice. It had been the Grand Galloping Gala, and despite the fact that he had rarely been interested in them, since his aunt always insisted on how boring they were, he couldn't help but go when he found out that the elements of harmony, which saved his newly discovered Aunt Luna, they would go to the party. Just as he set the glass down on the table, he frowned, remembering that if he had met one of the elements, if he wasn't mistaken, it was the one named Rarity, although Blueblood was sure he had seen her a week before the party.

It had happened when they transferred Horn Chill, the murderer of his parents, from the maximum security prison, located on the outskirts of Canterlot, to the dungeons of his aunt's castle, since the princess did not trust the prison. Blueblood had seen the one called Rarity in the newspapers the next day, in the photos they took of her from afar, and although her face was not well distinguished, the unicorn did not need it, her white fur and the color of her mane, to despite being combed in a different style, they were very striking, confirming her as the murderer's current partner. That was something that disappointed him deeply, an Equestrian heroine, dating scum like Chill.

Seeing her, he had wanted to insult her in front of everypony at the gala, to let them know that that bitch was dating a cold-blooded killer, but he managed to calm down before making a show of it. She may have dated a murderer, but she had saved his aunt Luna after all, so he opted for another option. Seeing that the mare seemed interested in him, he began to treat her in the worst possible way, doing the opposite of what he had been taught since foalhood. It didn't take his long to realize that the shallow mare would hate to be treated the way he was.

"Sir, your highness, Princess Celestia, has sent you this letter" Service's voice said, interrupting Blueblood's thoughts, and when he turned to see him, he saw that the old unicorn had a letter in his magic. "I haven't read it, but I have a vague idea of its contents. His attitude last night must have disappointed her."

Blueblood shrugged as he took the letter in his magic, then tossed it onto the table before continuing with his breakfast.

"She's not the only one who's disappointed" Blueblood said as he focused on his food.

Service was silent for a while before speaking.

"Sir, regardless of whether he is angry with his aunt or not, his attitude towards Miss Belle is unacceptable and goes against his family's values."

"That Miss Belle is the fillyfriend of my parents' killer, Service" Blueblood said with a hint of hate in his voice, staring at his butler. "From my point of view, she doesn't deserve any kind of respect from me."

Service held Blueblood's gaze for a long moment before nodding.

"Okay, Mr. Blood" he said before starting to walk away, stopping at the door that led to the kitchens. "I take it you won't be home this afternoon, sir?"

"No, Service, I'm going out" Blueblood said, going back to his breakfast.

"Very good..."

Service left the room, leaving Blueblood alone with his breakfast and his thoughts.

Blueblood's carriage was making its way down one of the carriage streets at a good speed, pulled by two earth pony stallions. They were on their way to the Palace of Justice, on their way to a specific hearing that the unicorn had been waiting for two months, and they were already arriving.

The building was huge, at least three stories high, and in a style that seamlessly blended gothic architecture and the architecture of the Ancient Pegasus Empire to perfection, gargoyles on the corners of the roof and polished white columns supporting the roof, grand staircases leading to the immense wooden doors, and on top of it all, watching all the ponies enter, was the figure of a blindfolded alicorn, carrying scales and a sword in her hooves.

In front of the entrance, under the stairs, there was a crowd, made up of onlookers and, for the most part, journalists, apart from members of the royal guard who made sure to keep the crowd under control. The carriage parked and Blueblood stepped outside, dressed in a suit jacket and red tie, eyeing the doors before taking a deep breath and moving forward, immediately being assailed by thousands of photos and questions.

"Mr. Blood! What do you think about the release of Horn Chill?!"

"Do you agree with the statements of his aunt, Princess Celestia?!"

"Does his attitude of his towards the element of generosity, Rarity Belle, have anything to do with today's hearing?!"

Blueblood walked down the hall maked by the royal guards, ignoring the questions and moving decisively towards the doors, which were opened by two unicorn guards and closed as soon as he passed them. The unicorn advanced until it reached a large corridor, surrounded by columns, and a large door at the end, he knew that the hearing would be there.

The place was already packed with ponies due to attend the hearing, onlookers, a few journalists who got permission, witnesses, and jurors. Blueblood preferred to stay away from them, standing in a corner and watching everything from afar, lifting his right hoof and to feel the inside pocket of his jacket, making sure he still had what he had brought from home.

"Hello, Blue" said a voice next to him, prompting Blueblood to immediately lower his hoof and focus on who had spoken to him.

"Hello, Cadence," Blueblood snapped back, surveying the crowd again.

The pink alicorn raised an eyebrow, then looking at the two guards who accompany and nodding, indicating that they should move away. As soon as they were away, Cadence approached her cousin cautiously.

"Is this how you greet your cousin?"

"Don't try to play innocent with me" Blueblood said as he looked at his cousin. "You are just as guilty of this as Aunt Celestia."

Cadence looked at her cousin for a few seconds before sighing.

"Blue, I hate having to do this as much as you do, but…"

"I doubt it," Blueblood replied, "that pony didn't kill your parents."

Almost as soon as those words left his mouth, Blueblood regretted it, looking at his cousin, who had frowned and had her lips pursed.

"Cadence, I didn't mean..."

"You're right" Cadence interrupted, "Horn didn't kill my parents... but they were murdered... So I guess I have a right to say that I can get to know how you feel, don't you?"

Blueblood looked at his cousin for a while before looking away from her, nodding weakly.

"I'm sorry, Cadence, it's just…I'm furious that Celestia wants to let him go."

"You know her well enough to know that she has a good reason" Cadence said with a frown. "Horn Chill shared a cell with Falcone, and he has promised to testify in exchange for early parole."

"Cadence," Blueblood said with a sigh, "that pony killed my parents, you should know I can't pretend it doesn't affect me."

"I know..."

They both stood in silence, watching the crowd, waiting for Horn to arrive to start the hearing.

"I heard what you did last night" Cadence said after a while.

"News flies, huh?"

"Aunt Celestia was a bit disappointed in your attitude, and Aunt Luna… well, she wasn't any better."

"It's normal" Blueblood said with a shrug. "Those six saved her, I understand that she resents my attitude towards one of them."

"But I don't understand, why did you treat her like that?" Cadence said curiously. "She had never seen you treat anypony like that."

Blueblood turned to look at his cousin in surprise.

"Do I really have to explain it to you? She's the fillyfriend of my parents' murderer, I wasn't going to treat her exactly right for that."

Cadence's eyes widened, looking at Blueblood with her mouth open, while he just ignored her, looking again at the crowd.

"Blueblood... Can you tell me why you think Rarity is Horn Chill's special pony?" Cadence asked cautiously, causing Blueblood to roll his eyes.

"And you're supposed to be the princess of love? I saw it in the papers."

Cadence watched her cousin for a while before speaking.

"Are you absolutely sure it was her?"

"Yes."

Cadence was silent for a while, at least until a smile spread across her face.

"Blueblood, Horn's mate is called Cream Cloud, and she's a pegasus."

Blueblood refocused on his cousin, his eyes wide with surprise.

"What?"

"What you hear, you have the wrong mare" Cadence said, unable to contain her smile.

"Cadence, if this is a joke, it's not funny" Blueblood said, causing Cadence to frown and speak in a stern voice.

"Do you really think I would joke about something like that? You don't seem to know me."

Blueblood growled, looking down and bringing a hoof to his forehead.

"Great, now I'll have to apologize to Aunt Celestia, Miss Belle, and her friend."

"Wait, her friend?" Cadence asked doubtfully, causing Blueblood to growl even more as he massaged his forehead.

"If I remember correctly, she took me to a food stall that one of her friends had."

"Must have been Applejack" Cadence said with a nod. "Aunt Celestia told me she brought a booth to the Gala, why would you have to apologize to her?"

"I said her food was carnival food" Blueblood muttered.

"Oh."

"In my defense I will say that I thought she was a friend of that assassin" commented the unicorn with a sigh, lowering his helmet to the ground. "That's what I get for not asking him sooner."

"Don't worry" Cadence said with a small laugh as she rested her hoof on her cousin's withers. "I'm sure they forgive you, and if you explain it to Aunt Celestia, both she and I will help you talk to them."

"Thank you, Cadence" Blueblood said, watching the alicorn with a smile.

Cadence smiled back and was about to say something, but she was interrupted by the sound of the ponies starting to speak loudly. The reason was that, advancing towards the door, there was a group of four royal guards, two pegasi and two unicorns, together with a group of Canterlot police, escorting a single pony that Blueblood recognized. With a frown, the unicorn watched as the small group advanced, holding off the crowd that had approached, made up of the journalists who were there.

The prisoner being escorted by the guards was Horn Chill, an inhibitor ring on his horn and hoofcuffs on his four hooves, dressed in a simple suit. Near the group was the unicorn's true bride, further highlighting Blueblood's mistake, but at the moment, he was more busy observing the murderer of his parents. Two of the police officers approached the doors that led to the room where the hearing would take place and opened them for the group, who were the first to enter. Cadence observed everything about her with her cousin, at least until the two guards who had accompanied her approached.

"Your Highness, her presence is required among the jury."

"I'm coming" Cadence said, looking at Blueblood, who was still staring at the group. "I'll see you later, Blue."

"I thought Aunt Celestia was the one who should be on the jury" he said, not looking away.

"Originally yes" Cadence answered with a sigh, "but Aunt Luna is having a much harder time adjusting to this time than expected, and between that and her duties as ruler, she doesn't have time, so I'm here to represent her. "

"Of course."

Cadence bit her lip as she watched her cousin, but one of her guards approached her and remarked once more that they had to go. With a sigh, she began to walk.

"If you take my advice, you should learn to forgive him... or walk away, otherwise it will only hurt more."

"Would you forgive the murderer of your parents?" Blueblood asked with some disdain in his voice.

"I'm the princess of love," Cadence replied with a shrug, "forgiveness is part of love. See you later, Blue."

Blueblood nodded to her cousin, seeing how she advanced and entered the room, quickly followed by the rest of the jury and witnesses, and once they entered, the rest were allowed to pass. Lifting his hoof to feel the contents of his inner pocket, the stallion stepped forward and entered with the rest of the ponies, taking a seat on one of the rows of arranged benches.

Ahead, facing the podium where the judge would sit, he could see two tables, with only one of them occupied by two ponies, one of them being Horn Chill, and the other being an earth pony that Blueblood deduced was his lawyer. To the right, some bleachers were placed where the jury sat, but it was Cadence who stood out the most, her gaze fixed on the prisoner.

The two unicorns of the royal guard took up positions on either side of the table where Horn sat, and the other two pegasi took their places by the doors. The group of police positioned themselves around the room, one of them by the podium, waiting. At one point, a police officer emerged from a door on the far left of the room and approached the one in front of the podium, whispering something before leaving.

"All rise" the policepony said as soon as his partner walked away again, "the honorable Judge Hammer Law presides."

Everypony in the room stood up, watching as a unicorn clad in the classic black judges robes entered and took a seat behind the podium. Almost immediately, a pegasus came over and handed Judge Law a folder as everypony else sat down. Reviewing the papers, Hammer looked up and nodded.

"Okay, we can start" he said as he gestured to Horn's supposed lawyer, who stood up.

"Thank you, his honor" he said with a respectful nod. "Before we begin, I would like to remind you that although Mr. Chill's crime was heinous, he acted more out of desperation than greed. We must remember that Canterlot was going through a time of economic crisis, which at the time was much harder on lower and middle class ponies like Mr. Chill. Based on the 14 years already served, and his cooperation in the largest case the prosecution is handling right now, we strongly support giving him parole."

Blueblood felt his blood boil upon hearing those words, he had to use all his will power not to scream in rage. Was he trying to justify his acts of victimizing him? Judge Law nodded, glancing at his papers for a bit before focusing on Horn.

"Would the defendant like to say something?"

Horn seemed silent for a while before getting up, and Blueblood fixed his eyes on him.

"Your Honor... There hasn't been a single day that I haven't regretted what I did... I... I was desperate... like many others back then... but that will never justify my actions... .and I will live with it for the rest of my life."

Despite Horn's apologetic tone, Blueblood was unmoved. The murderer of his parents, why the hell should he forgive him? Even if he really regretted it, it was too late.

"I have been informed that a member of the Blood family is present" the judge said, scabdling Blueblood from his thoughts. "Do you have something to say?"

Blueblood stared at Horn, rising from his seat ignoring the murmurs around him. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Cadence, who seemed to be begging him not to do anything. After a long, tense minute, the unicorn turned away and left the room, unable to see any more of this charade.

Blueblood had been pacing back and forth for nearly half an hour, nervously glancing at the doors that led to the room where the hearing was taking place. He occasionally stopped and patted his pocket with his hoof, trying to steel himself for what he had been planning for weeks. Finally, the doors began to open and he could see the group of royal guards escorting Horn, the unicorns at their sides and the pegasi controlling the crowd, full of journalists trying to extract some statement from the accused.

Blueblood watched him carefully, seeing how they approached, the police helping the guards and creating an empty space in front. He took a deep breath and started walking towards Horn, psyching himself up to use his magic and grab the contents of his pocket as quickly as possible. When he was halfway there, he saw out of the corner of his eye a figure that sped forward, and with a jump, he took flight, revealing that he was a pegasus.

"Hey Horn!" she screamed, revealing that she was a mare. "Falcone salutes you!"

Right after she said it, she pulled out a gun, and before the guards could act, she fired. Blueblood stood motionless, watching as Horn fell to the ground, critically injured, as the two pegasus guards lunged at the mare she had shot, leaving her on the ground, while the unicorns positioned themselves around Chill, trying to save him in vain. The police made sure that the journalists did not get too close. Out of the corner of his eye, the stallion could see that Cadence was skirting the crowd and closing on him quickly.

"Come on, Blue, we don't have to watch this."

"I do" Blueblood replied, still watching as Horn seemed to be dying.

He felt a hoof on his shoulder, and turning, he saw that Cadence was pleading with her eyes. With a growl, Blueblood allowed his cousin to guide his away from Horn Chill, though he couldn't help but give him one last glance.

From prince to tramp

After a while, they left the Palace of Justice, seeing that there were still journalists outside who had not heard the shot, and seeing them, they first reaction was to go interview them, stopped by the two guards of the alicorn. The two cousins reached Blueblood's carriage, which he could see was one from the palace right behind it, pulled by two pegasus guards.

"You can go home gentlestallions, my cousin will come with me" Cadence said, speaking to the two ponies pulling Blueblood's cart.

They both looked at the stallion, who nodded, confirming what Cadence had said, leaving the parking lot and walking away. Blueblood followed his cousin to the car, who opened the door and motioned for his cousin to enter. Normally, he would let her go first, but given what had happened that day, he didn't feel like arguing and got into the car, followed quickly by the alicorn. They waited a few moments before the two guards took their seats on the outside of the carriage, one in the back and one in the front, moving out into the streets of Canterlot. The ride was silent for a few more minutes before Cadence got up the courage to speak.

"Now I understand why Judge Law insisted that the hearing be public" she said with a sigh. "He was bought by Falcone, so that he might have a chance to kill Horn."

"Maybe I should thank him" Blueblood commented as he stared out the window next to his seat, watching the streets go by and the ponies on them living their lives.

"You can't be serious" Cadence's voice replied, and when Blueblood looked at her, she saw that she was frowning.

"Cadence, that pony killed my parents" he said with a sigh, looking away from his cousin. "My parents deserved justice."

"That's not justice, it's revenge."

"They're often the same thing," Blueblood replied with a shrug.

"They are never the same" Cadence replied sternly. "Justice is harmony, revenge is just personal satisfaction. I thought Aunt Celestia taught you that."

"She just taught me how to make your city fall prey to corruption" Blueblood growled as he turned to look at his cousin. "Always telling me that we have a system to do justice, and that system is rotten, is it not going to do anything or what?"

Cadence watched her cousin for a few seconds before getting up and going to a small window in the front, and opening it, Blueblood saw the head of the guard sitting outside. After apparently discussing something with the unicorn, the princess of love returned to her seat.

"It's true that justice in this city is mostly corrupt" she said, watching Blueblood intently, "and I know you think Celestia isn't doing anything."

"It's just that she doesn't do anything" Blueblood replied with a growl, but Cadence kept calm.

"Celestia will be the Supreme Princess of Equestria, at least until Luna is ready to take her place at her side, but she's not omnipotent, she's still a mare, and Canterlot isn't the only city under her care, why do you think do we have a mayor? And unlike her, the ponies that help her if they can be corrupted."

"She's still Princess Celestia" Blueblood said, "if she wants, she could lock up all the crooks and gangsters in the city."

"No evidence?" Cadence replied with a slight smile. "You know what she says, locking up ponies without evidence makes you a..."

"A tyrant, I know" Blueblood sighed, looking at the streets through the window again. "Still, I'm still glad Horn Chill is dead."

Cadence didn't answer, following their journey in silence. Blueblood focused on the view he had from the window, seeing that the carriage was moving away from the wealthier areas of the city. After a while, they crossed over a bridge that spanned the Platinum River, then turned right and followed its course, though they soon entered its alleyways. Confused, the unicorn turned to his cousin, who was still silent and watching the streets through her window.

"Where are we going?"

"I just wanted to show you something" Cadence said, not even turning around, "so we took a little detour."

Blueblood continued to look at Cadence strangely before turning his eyes to the window. Soon the number of ponies he saw on the street, sleeping or begging for money, increased.

"Why are those ponies in the street?" Blueblood asked, looking at Cadence, who gave him a sidelong glance.

"Why you ask?"

"Cadence, I won't be as supportive as my parents or Aunt Celestia, but I know they built centers for homeless ponies" Blueblood replied with a frown, annoyed by his cousin's attitude. "Why aren't they there?"

"Falcone" Cadence replied forcefully, staring at Blueblood. "He may not have killed your parents, but he is destroying everything they and our aunt achieved. He imposes protection payments on those centers, reducing their funding."

"Why doesn't Celestia do anything?" Blueblood growled.

"Like I told you before, she's a mare in charge of an entire country, she can't keep up with everything, and Falcone knows it." Cadence sighed, looking away from Blueblood. "And anyway, there's not enough evidence to prove it and no one willing to testify. The only centers that have been saved are the ones our aunt personally supervises. The ones that haven't, Falcone takes money from them and uses them to traffic his drugs, creating more Horn Chill every day."

Blueblood fell silent, looking out the window again. Increasingly it was more common to see ponies in the streets and alleys, he could see some looking through the garbage. The carriage continued on its way until it stopped in a square, and the unicorn could see what looked like a restaurant right in front of it, guarded by two guards.

"If you want to thank him, go ahead," Cadence's voice said behind his, and when he turned around, the alicorn nodded her head towards the restaurant that Blueblood had noticed. "Everypony knows where to find him, but as long as he terrorizes the good and the mighty, as long as he keeps everypony bought, as long as only a few good ponies stand up to him, he's untouchable. What will become of Canterlot if the good ponies do nothing? "

Blueblood looked around the restaurant for a few seconds, thinking about Cadence's words.

"I'm not a good pony, Cadence" he finally said, looking away from the restaurant, but not daring to look at his cousin.

"What do you mean?"

"For all these years I've wanted to kill Horn…" Blueblood took a deep breath and used his magic to pull something out of his pocket, a gun he had managed to smuggle. "And today... I almost did..."

Blueblood was silent, waiting for Cadence to say something, anything, but receiving no answer, he got worried. Slowly, he raised his head and looked at the alicorn, only for the princess to hit him in the face with a hoof, causing the stallion to look down again.

"Your father... would be ashamed of you" Cadence said after a few seconds.

Blueblood simply watched his cousin out of the corner of his eye, pocketing the gun and exiting the carriage. As soon as he was out of it, Cadence approached the door, looking at her cousin, seeming to hesitate for a few moments before frowning again and slamming the door shut. A few seconds later, the unicorn in the lead turned towards the window that connected to the interior, then gestured to the stallions pulling the carriage. They both watched the prince before setting off, circling the square and retracing his steps.

Blueblood watched them go before focusing on the restaurant, and after a few seconds of deliberation, he began to walk away through the alleys. As labyrinthine as they could be, especially in that area of the city, he knew exactly where he was headed, to the river, since his special talent was orientation. Sometimes he wondered if he really was that good at orienting himself or, on the contrary, his cutie mark gave that ability a plus, since he almost seemed like he had a mental map in his head.

During his walk, he could see more and more ponies in the streets, lying on the sidewalks, rummaging through garbage, he even saw a few that were injecting syringes into their paws. Reluctantly, he admitted that Cadence was right, Falcone was tearing this town apart, he remembered how, as a colt, his parents had fought to prevent this sort of thing, and his aunt had tried to help as much as she could, but as his cousin had said in the carriage, she was a mare like everypony else, and she couldn't be everywhere at once. His parents were the ones who inspired the richest society to do something for the most needy, his death put an end to that stage.

Despite the fact that Fancy Pants, one of the most important nobles in the city, and also the prosecutor of Canterlot, tried to follow the example of the Bloods, nopony seemed to have much interest in doing anything. Just as Cadence said, Falcone had the other nobles so scared that few dared to act.

Blueblood stepped out onto a street that overlooked the river, heading there quickly. His gaze went to the right, being able to see several bridges that crossed the waters and, in the distance, his aunt's castle, illuminated by the last rays of the sun, which was already setting on the horizon. To the left, he could see airships coming and going from almost everywhere in Equestria in the distance, almost at the edge of one of the platforms that supported much of the city.

Following the river, and almost entering the forest that surrounded the city, was the immense Ace Wing Chemicals, a gigantic factory built almost a hundred years ago by a group of unicorns who wanted Canterlot to become independent from the Cloudsdale weather factory, although in the end it did not succeed, and ended up serving only as support. Beyond this was a large dam with various water plants to purify the river of various chemicals with powerful spells.

Blueblood looked away from all that and focused on the dark waters of the Platinum River, thinking about everything that had happened that day. Even though Horn was dead, the rage he'd felt since he was a foal hadn't gone away, and after his conversation with Cadence, it only intensified even more.

That rage, that insane hatred, had accompanied him throughout his foalhood, from the very day his parents died. It was because of that hatred that he isolated himself from everypony around him, and Service, in a last desperate attempt to get him to react, offered to teach him how to fight, to learn the techniques of the royal guard. It was thanks to that, that he learned karate and boxing, and although it served to appease some of his burning hatred, he didn't completely quench it. Almost two years after the tragedy that marked his life, his cousin Cadence taught him several simple basic deduction problems, trying to get the little prince to find a hobby.

It didn't take long for Blueblood to discover that he was pretty good at deducing, and when he saw a mystery story, it was quite easy for him to organize the clues in his head, making a mental map of them so he could catalog them and find an optimal result. Many times, he was able to solve the mystery before the big reveal. And when he discovered that this ability also served him to orient himself abroad, he obtained his cutie mark. But even so, his hatred stayed on, and he doubted it would ever turn off.

After turning 18, Celestia managed to convince him to go out more of his remote mansion, which he did, but not as his aunt expected. Although at first he was not very convinced, he found in parties, and above all, in alcohol and, very often, pleasant company, a method to escape from the hatred and sadness that accompanied him at every moment of his life. For a few hours, he could escape all of that, even if he earned the disappointment of his aunt, Cadence, or Service. Although the press did not focus much on his misadventures, more out of respect for the princess than for him, the rest of Canterlot did not share that respect, at least not in privacy.

Everypony knew of the Prince of Canterlot's reputation, and Celestia had warned him that if he continued like this, being his nephew wouldn't stop the press from spreading his misadventures to the rest of Equestria… but he didn't care. Blueblood was more interested in escaping the sad and hateful life he had led since the death of his parents than in maintaining his reputation. And so it had been until, months earlier, he had learned that Horn Chill was to be paroled. He still vividly remembered the day he confronted his aunt about it, a screaming fight that even Cadence was involved in, which resulted in the unicorn not speaking to them again for a long time, at least until he saw his cousin that day.

It was a few weeks before, that Blueblood, on one of his drunken nights, only this time all alone, hatched a plan to assassinate Horn Chill. Betraying everything his aunt, Service, and even his parents, taught him, he bought a smuggled griffon gun. The prince lit his horn and took said weapon out of his jacket and observed it carefully, seeing the resemblance to the one that ended the lives of the Bloods. When he bought it, he saw that resemblance, but he didn't give it importance, in his mind, the same type of weapon that took their lives, would now do them justice. But after his talk with Cadence, he wasn't so sure anymore.

All of his life, he had directed his hatred at only one pony... a pony who was the victim of a corrupt society... and the one responsible was an unscrupulous stallion who was doing much more harm to the parents of him destroying his legacy.

Horn Chill's death didn't end his hatred, much less did his conversation with Cadence, all it did was redirect him in the right direction...to criminals in general, those who preyed on the weak. With a cry of rage, Blueblood tossed the gun into the dark waters of the river before turning and retracing his steps.

When he returned to the plaza, the moon had long since lit up the night sky. Blueblood approached the doors of the restaurant, seeing the same two guards as before, a unicorn and a pegasus, who were talking to each other calmly. When they saw him approaching, they threatened to stop him, at least until they recognized him as the Prince of Canterlot, letting him pass. The stallion entered the building, looking at the different tables arranged around it, and in the background, along one of the walls, was a pony that he easily recognized as Falcone, since he was the only one with a bodyguard nearby.

He strode towards his position, and when he was only a few steps away, he was stopped by one of the bodyguards, a unicorn. Falcone lifted his eyes slightly from his newspaper, glancing at him sideways as the pony scanned him with his magic.

"You seem shorter in the papers, Mr. Blood," said Falcone.

Blueblood didn't reply, fixing his gaze on the pony in front of him. He was an earth pony, with brown fur and a slicked-back gray mane, dressed in a very expensive-looking white suit. The bodyguard who had stopped him stepped back and nodded at Falcone.

"Without weapons? I feel insulted."

Falcone nodded at the unicorn and went back to his paper as Blueblood was pushed into the seat. The prince grunted and kept his gaze on the mobster, who watched him out of the corner of his eye.

"You could have sent a thank you letter," he commented. "Although I admit that I am honored to be visited by you."

"I'm not here to thank you for anything" Blueblood spat angrily. "I've come to show you that not all Canterlot ponies fear you."

That caused Falcone to snicker, as did two of his bodyguards, setting the paper aside on the table.

"Only those who know me, kid" he said, calming his laughter and nodding his head to a table where there were two different ponies, an earth pony and a pegasus. "If you look over there, you'll see two cops out of order" with another gesture, he pointed to another table where there was a unicorn next to two pegasus mares, a unicorn that Blueblood was familiar with, "and a judge."

Blueblood focused more on the pony, and found that yes, it was the same judge he had seen that day. When he turned, Falcone had drawn a griffin gun modified for earth ponies and aimed it directly at his head.

"I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to blow your brains out right here in front of them. And do you know why? Because none of them would dare to do anything about it, and that power is not held by your precious aunt. That power is not bought or inherited... it is the power of fear."

"I'm not afraid of him."

"Because you think you have nothing to lose, but you haven't thought it through... What about your cousin?"

Blueblood tensed at that, but he tried not to show any signs that it affected him.

"She's a princess, and an alicorn, you can't..."

"She is a princess without many important positions in the city, a princess without the respect that Celestia has, and even if she is an alicorn... something tells me that she is not at the level of her aunt. Besides, she is not the only one, right? What about your butler? I'm sure you'd mourn his loss, right? Bang!"

Blueblood jumped a little in his seat, watching as Falcone laughed and leaned back in his chair, putting the gun away.

"Ponies like you... have a lot to lose. You think that because they killed your mom and dad, you know the bitter side of life, but it's not true. You don't know what despair is, you're the fucking Blueblood, the prince of Canterlot! Even if you were a thousand miles away, the ponies would know who you are" Falcone growled and crouched down a bit, regarding the stallion in front of him with a frown. "So don't come here in a rage trying to prove something to yourself. This is a world you will never understand, and what is not understood is always feared."

Falcone gestured to his two thugs, who forced Blueblood to his hooves. For a second, he thought about resisting, he could fight them, Service made sure of it, but since the mobster had a gun, and those two probably did too, he came to the conclusion that it wasn't a good idea. So he allowed himself to be dragged out of the restaurant, thrown down the stairs and back inside laughing, laughter shared by the two guards outside.

Blueblood stood up, glancing at the gates and the guards ahead, who smirked at him with amusement, before starting to walk away. As much as he hated to admit it, Falcone was right, he didn't understand the criminal world, much less utter despair. What the hell was he thinking? What was going to intimidate the biggest mobster in town all by himself? And even if he tried to finish him off, he didn't even know how to do it. He could try to do it the legal way, just like his aunt is doing, but seeing as he had bought most of the judges and lawyers, and that the others were too afraid of him or completely alone, the legal way was not an option.

He could try to do like his parents back in their day and throw charity parties, make big donations, well, anything to inspire the richest nobles and ponies in town. But he knew it would be useless, first of all, most nobles were, in his aunt's own words, a bunch of posh ponies who thought of nothing but his reputation and getting richer. Add that to the fact that most likely nopony would want to make a major change for fear of Falcone, and he would be even more useless than he already was.

The last option he thought of was trying to cut some of his drug supply by taking over the shelters he was using on his behalf. But he dismiss it immediately, remembering Falcone's threat to Cadence and Service. He was not willing to go through that tragedy again. Blueblood felt frustrated, the only options he could think of that could end Falcone's reign required risking the lives of his loved ones or knowledge of the criminal world that he did not have.

After walking for a while, he came out onto a wide street, with a road where several carriages circulated, and although he was not from the richest neighborhoods, he was not from the poorest either, he was in the middle class range. Blueblood walked slowly, trying to get his bearings, which didn't take long. Although that was still a long way off, he was making his way towards the blimp station. The prince stood still for a second, thinking, his gaze in the approximate direction of the station, and remembering Falcone's words.

If he wanted to do something against Falcone, he had to know the criminal world, but it wasn't enough to study it in a book, no, he had to understand it and live it. But he couldn't do it in Canterlot, or in Equestria, the mobster was very right about that, he was too well known. If he wanted to do something, he should leave the country. Determined, he began to advance towards the station, hoping to arrive before dawn, he had to catch a train to Trottingham, the farthest city in the country, and from there, go to the rest of the world.

The path of shadows

Blueblood woke up with a groan, remembering the last parts of his dream, full of bats surrounding him. He turned on the hard mattress and gazed thoughtfully at the stone ceiling.

"Did you have a dream?" said a voice next to him.

"A nightmare."

"Was it worse than this place?"

Blueblood let out a small laugh as he sat up, shaking his head.

"Not at all."

He was in a small cell, two beds facing each other with a hole in the middle to relieve himself. His cellmate was an ancient eastern pony, the same species as the mythical Mistmane, though now that he thought about it, he only knew of unicorns of that species. He had white fur and a bluish mane, though he was nearly bald in places, and had a long, curved horn. Blueblood was in a prison in the immense country that was Neippon, almost at the other end of the world. It had been a year since he left Equestria, and he had been in the country for eight months, and in all that time, he had lived as a homeless pony and a criminal.

Blueblood got out of his bed and stretched out as best he could in the small space, yawning as he glanced at the door to his cell, noticing the others behind the bars, with more ponies inside, mostly easterns. If he did his calculations right, soon they would come to open for them so they could go to breakfast, so he sat down and waited patiently.

"You must be careful" said his partner. "They will try to kill you."

"Again?"

"Until they manage to kill you. Nopony betrays them."

Blueblood shrugged at that. The reason he was there was because of his connection to a robbery that a gang had carried out on a major bank. However, the unicorn had secretly gone to the authorities to tell them everything, in return, he expected to be allowed to live a few months in one of their maximum security prisons. The only bad thing is that his fellow robbers also ended up in the same jail. During the month he'd been here, they hadn't stopped trying to end his life every few weeks.

The guards appeared and opened the cages, allowing him to leave and go to the patio that he also served as a dining room. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the weapons the guards were carrying, firearms, since Neippon didn't have such an anti-gun policy as Equestria. Blueblood stepped out into the sunlight, watching the food stalls in the distance, with ponies, easterns and equestrians, heading to eat, several tables already full. As he walked, the unicorn noticed that he was being watched by a group from a table, the same one he had worked with. Trying to ignore them, the unicorn grabbed one of the available bowls with his right hoof, since his horn had an inhibitor ring like the rest of the magically capable prisoners.

He walked down the row until he reached the cook, a rather overweight eastern pony, who dropped a metal spoon and a sticky mess that Blueblood wasn't sure what it was, into his bowl. At least he was sure that he would not have any meat, since it was an exclusive prison for herbivorous beings. He turned around and headed to one of the few available tables, waiting for his partner to follow him. As he sat down, grabbing the spoon and starting his meal, suppressing the disgusted scowl he wanted to show.

"Here they come" his partner whispered.

Blueblood averted his eyes from him and saw the same group as before approaching his table. A quick glance made him notice that the guards who were present were deliberately averting their eyes, so he deduced that they managed to bribe them to turn a blind eye that day. The largest of the group reached out, grabbing the bowl from the unicorn and knocking it to the ground.

"Hello, rat," he growled, amusement and hate in equal parts in his voice. "I hope you enjoyed that, because it will be your last meal."

He then punched Blueblood in the face, knocking him to the ground. The unicorn growled, noticing how his opponent was getting closer, and before he was hit again, he rolled onto his back and got to his hooves. He quickly studied his surroundings and his enemies, about twelve in total, if he managed to coordinate well and remember his training with Service, he could defeat them.

The largest one gave a war cry and lunged for him, but Blueblood nimbly dodged and slammed into his side, right above his lungs, knocking all the air out of him, knocking him off balance. Before he could take advantage of that opportunity, two different ponies lunged at his body, knocking him to the ground. Clenching his teeth to withstand the blows he received, he slammed his hind legs on the body of one of his attackers, right in his belly, knocking him off his back.

Once free of one of them, he managed to parry another's assault and strike back, barely getting to his hooves and facing the rest. Blueblood went into a cycle where he hit and was hit in turn, mud, bruises and various wounds beginning to cover his body. Little by little, fewer and fewer were fighting him, and when he found himself fighting an eastern pony on the ground, hit repeatedly, his ears twitched as he heard gunshots to the sky.

Blueblood stopped focusing on his current opponent and turned his gaze towards the source of the noise, five guards approaching, apparently going upstairs determined to act. The unicorn broke away, ready to sit up to raise his arms in surrender, but two of them ran at him and knocked him to the ground, beginning to drag him, magic wrapping around his front hooves.

"Isolate him!" yelled one of them.

"Why?" Blueblood asked.

"For protection!"

Blueblood frowned, during that month, they hadn't tried to protect him from the continuous attempts to kill him, and he didn't need it either.

"I don't need protection!"

"Protection for them!" the guard gestured back.

Blueblood looked in the direction he was pointing, seeing that the ones who attacked him were on the ground, writhing in pain. A small part of him, that part that always accompanied him wherever he went, was glad of that sight.

Blueblood was practically thrown inside a cell, in the deepest part of the jail, with an iron door that blocked any view of the outside. The unicorn stood up, looking around, it seemed more like a cave than a prison, drops falling from the ceiling and dimly lit with small windows on the walls, too high to try to see anything through them.

"Are you so desperate to fight criminals that you lock youself in with them to take them down one by one?" said a voice behind him.

Blueblood tensed and turned, looking at who he had spoken to. He was a green-furred pegasus, with a black mane and a pointed beard of the same color on his chin, although the tip of it had slight white touches, and dressed in a gray suit.

"It wasn't one by one…it was twelve" Blueblood answered as he walked away, starting to sit up and lean against one of the walls and starting to check his injuries.

"I counted eleven, Mr. Blood."

Blueblood stopped what he was doing and carefully observed the pegasus in front of him. Never, in all the time he had been out of Equestria, had he told anypony his real name.

"How the hell do you know my name?"

"The world is too small for Blueblood to disappear, even if he hides in the most…" the pony looked at the dank, dark cell they were in "…degrading cell on the planet."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Ra's al Ghul, and I am here to offer you a path."

"Yeah" Blueblood said as he refocused on his bruises. "What makes you think I need a path?"

"You are here of your own volition. You have ventured into the community of evil, but…whatever your intentions were in the first place…you are now completely lost."

Blueblood glanced at the pegasus for a few moments before speaking.

"And what path do you offer me?"

"The way of those who hate evil and wish to serve true justice. The way of the League of Shadows."

Blueblood let out a small laugh, watching Ra's with a crooked smile.

"Yeah, you are vigilantes."

"No, no, no" Ra's replied as he moved a little closer. "A vigilante is a pony lost in his desire for personal satisfaction, they can kill him or lock him up, but..." the pegasus came closer and sat down, looking into Blueblood's eyes "... If you manage to be something more than a pony... if you give yourself to an ideal... if nopony can stop you... you become something very different."

"In what...?"

"In a legend, Mr. Blood."

Blueblood looked into Ra's eyes, deep yellow eyes that revealed an advanced age, despite appearing otherwise. The pegasus got up quickly and walked away, approaching the door.

"I have spoken with the warden of this jail, and tomorrow you will be given a chance to leave. If you are tired of fighting petty criminals, follow the instructions of the pony that will take you and go to the mountains to the east. In the highest of all, on its top, there is a temple, a temple where, if you can get there, you will find what you have been looking for."

Ra's gave a single knock on the door and it swung open immediately.

"What is it?" Blueblood said before the pegasus left, and when he turned his attention back to him, he kept talking. "What have I been looking for?"

"Isn't your cutie mark a compass rose?" Ra's asked with a smile. "It's something only you can discover."

Ra's left the cell and closed the door, leaving Blueblood alone with his thoughts. He look at his cutie mark, thinking about the words of the pegasus. What was he looking for? He started out to understand the criminal world and come up with a way to bring down Falcone...but now...he wasn't even sure how to go about it. And if he defeated the mobster, then what? But for the first time in a long time, he now had a chance to find out, and he intended to take it.

The carriage stopped at a fork, ahead the road continued without an apparent end, and to the right you could see a mountain range, with a huge mountain standing out among the others, and at its base, there was what looked like a small town, surrounded by of crop fields.

"Over there" said the eastern pony who held the reins of the two oxen that pulled the cart, oxen that lacked the intelligence of other races.

Blueblood, sitting in the back of the carriage, looked out over the village, his eyes then turning to the mountain.

"If you tell them where you're going, they'll give you shelter and provisions for the journey."

"I don't have money for that" Blueblood commented as he got out.

"It will not be necessary, the locals know that they should not hinder the path of those who climb the mountain."

"Why?"

"No idea."

The pony shrugged and motioned for the animals to continue on their way, walking slowly toward the horizon. Blueblood watched him for a while before starting to walk towards the village, feeling the midday sun on his back.

After just a few hours, he reached crop fields filled with wheat, rice, potatoes, carrots, and many more. Nearby ponies paused their activities briefly to watch him, intrigued by his arrival. Finally, he entered the main street, full of houses and, in some buildings, various establishments, advertising themselves with hanging signs, mostly shops. At the back, there was a single inn, which also served as a bar, to which the unicorn went.

Upon entering, he saw a simple layout, several tables in the spacious room, and stairs leading to a second floor at the back, and near these stairs was a bar where an eastern pony was chatting animatedly with one of his clients. Behind him there were several shelves with various bottles of alcohol and, a little further away, keys ready for those who were going to stay, although judging by the number there were not many. Blueblood sat on one of the stools and waited for the waiter to attend to him, which didn't take long, as he approached with a cheerful smile.

"Hello traveler, can I help you?"

"Yes, you see, I am headed for the mountain, and they told me that you would offer me shelter and provisions."

As soon as he said those words, the lively atmosphere of the bar changed completely, falling silent.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" asked the waiter with doubt.

"Why?"

"The road to the mountain is dangerous" interjected the customer with whom the waiter had been talking earlier. "And if you're looking for the temple... that life is too... extreme..."

Blueblood glanced sideways at the pony, who focused on his drink.

"Are you sure you want to go?" the waiter asked again, drawing Blueblood's attention.

"I am."

"As you wish," the pony sighed as he turned to grab one of the keys. "When you leave tomorrow, follow the torches, they will show you the way."

Blueblood nodded, grabbing the key and heading up the stairs, feeling everypony's eyes on him.

The only sound Blueblood could hear was the wind. He was surrounded by snow, already near the top, and dressed in a fairly thick coat, goggles, a wool cap that protected his head and his horn, and a scarf around his muzzle. He had been climbing for nearly four days, following the path indicated by the locals, marked by gigantic wooden pillars with torches on top, protecting the fire with, most likely, insulating spells. Reaching the last hill, he saw in the distance a gigantic temple, built into the side of the mountain and on a precipice, lit by hundreds of torches.

He moved forward slowly, the snow making his path difficult, panting from the effort. His last rest had been this morning, and it was past noon, the sun shining overhead and reflecting off the white snow. Blueblood felt his legs trembling, trying to keep him upright despite the extremely low temperatures and the general weariness of his body. As he got closer to the temple, he saw that, just above the door, there was a balcony that served as a guard post and on which were two lookouts.

Seeing him, one of them went inside, and since they didn't do anything else, Blueblood continued on. With effort, he reached the doors, which opened before he could knock. Confused, he crossed the threshold, finding himself in a huge hall, torches on the columns and stairs at the back that led to a second floor, which also had scaffolding to the hall. By the door, Blueblood saw two eastern ponies, who used their magic to close the entrance, dressed in black robes that covered their faces.

"I was waiting for you, Mr. Blood" said a voice from the other end of the room, one that the unicorn recognized.

Turning, he saw that, coming down the stairs, was Ra's al Ghul, this time dressed in a simple green robe, walking slowly towards the newcomer.

"Have you discovered what you are looking for yet?"

Blueblood was silent for a moment, removing his glasses and scarf, letting them hang around his neck.

"I... look for a way to fight against my enemies... to make fear turn against those who take advantage of the weak..."

Ra's slowly approached, and Blueblood could see that there were more ponies dressed in the same black robes, watching him from the balconies.

"I take it you have accepted my proposal, then?" Ra's said, stopping in front of Blueblood, who, after looking at all the ponies watching him, nodded. "In that case, come with me, I'll tell you where you can stay and we'll start your training as soon as you's rested."

Nodding, Blueblood followed the pegasus, eager to get some rest. They both climbed the stairs and walked down one of the corridors, going deeper into the temple. As they moved forward, the unicorn looked around, noting that the wooden walls had hardly any decorations. After a few minutes, the sound of hundreds of voices became more and more present, arousing their curiosity, and turning a corner, the two found themselves in a corridor that had a balcony from which to observe the lower floor.

There were a great number of ponies there, easterners and equestrians, even some kirins and griffins, training in various forms of martial arts, fighting in pairs of two. Still others trained in an area designed to practice agility and balance, with various poles and bridges scattered around.

"Soon you will be with them" Ra's voice said.

Blueblood looked at him, seeing that he had stood still watching the students. The unicorn watched them too, trying to figure out what martial art they practiced.

"Do you know what style they are practicing?" asked Ra's.

"I can recognize karate" Blueblood answered, still watching. "But I don't know how to recognize the others."

"Here we teach a wide variety of martial arts. As you said, karate is one of them, but we also teach kung fu, taekwondo and, one of the most important, ninjutsu."

"Karate is something I already know" commented Blueblood. "I've practiced it since I was a colt."

"I know you are a good fighter, but you have no technique and are too impulsive. Here we will polish your art and make you into a true warrior, one capable of fighting 600 opponents."

Blueblood frowned and looked at Ra's, who was already walking away, starting to follow him.

"Is that even possible?"

"Yes there have been warriors capable of such feats. But knowing how to fight is not enough to fight crime, as I told you at the time, you need to be more than a pony to your enemy" Ra's turned his head and smiled at Blueblood. "I find the tactics the kirin ninjas used to be very useful."

Blueblood raised an eyebrow, a little unsure, the only ninjas he had seen were the ones from the foal movies and comics. Ra's seemed to notice his attitude, as he laughed lightly before turning his eyes to the front.

"I know what you're thinking, but don't base your knowledge of ninjas on those foalhood stories. They were extraordinary warriors who used the shadows to their advantage to strike terror into their enemies. I suspect that will serve you well."

The two ponies walked away from the courtyard, back into the dark corridors before they reached one full of doors. Ra's led Blueblood for a while before stopping in front of a particular door.

"This will be your room for now, until we assign you a mate" Ra's said as he opened the door.

Blueblood looked out and saw a small room, with a single bed and a window at the back. Nodding, he turned to the pegasus and nodded.

"Thank you for having me and... for giving me a chance."

Ra's nodded, waiting for his guest to enter before closing the door. Blueblood took off his saddlebags, coat, scarf and hat before laying down on the bed, relieved that he could rest, and he would need it, the next day would be quite hard.

Author's Note

Hey, here the author. I'm going to clarify a few things, which I should have done in the first chapter but I missed it.

This story is going to follow the canon of the series until season 8 (for me season 9 doesn't exist :pinkiehappy: ), but even so, there will be some things that will not follow the series, either because they did not convince me at the time or it does not fit with the story that I am telling you, you will find those differences with the series, I leave it as a challenge :rainbowdetermined2: .

Secondly, I want to thank Tonto the Trotter, who has helped me a lot with the Batman universe, in fact, he gave me the idea to name Ace Chemicals Ace Wing Chemicals, and some other things for this fic and possible sequels. Thanks from my heart.

Anyway, a hug and I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did writing it :scootangel: .

League of Shadows

The room was completely silent, illuminated by the light of the moon and by some candles arranged around Blueblood, who was sitting in the center, meditating. His right ear twitched as he detected the sound of the door opening, followed shortly by the sound of hoofbeats approaching.

"Hello, Karal" said the unicorn without opening his eyes.

His partner gave a small laugh as he approached his bed, on the right side of the room. He was a kirin with a red hue to his skin, a golden breastplate, and a large black mane. He was dressed in the black garb of League members, but lacking the metal bladed bracelets, just like Blueblood and the other trainees who were still in training.

"How come you always know what I am?"

"Because you're the only one who doesn't knock on the door before entering" replied Blueblood without opening his eyes.

"Well, it's my room too, you know?" Karal commented with a smile as he collapsed onto his bed, not bothering to remove his robes, and let out a tired sigh.

"Training late again?"

"Yes, although I'm surprised I didn't see you there, usually you're the one obsessed with training" he said as he turned to look at the ceiling.

"Tomorrow I have the Shadow Test, I have to go with a prepared mind."

"I don't think you need it, you are the master's best student in a long time."

Blueblood didn't answer, instead she continued with her eyes closed and focused on his meditation. Karal looked at him out of the corner of his eye, and seeing that he wouldn't get anything else out of him, he decided to let him meditate in peace and got ready to sleep a little. Blueblood spent a few more minutes meditating before going to bed.

At dawn, they both got up and, like every day, they picked up their beds and put on their uniform, with Karal changing clothes. The two passed through the corridors of the temple until they reached the huge dining room where they had a simple but healthy breakfast before going to train. The training room had several sections designed for different training, agility, combat practice, resistance... Throughout the four years that he had been there, Blueblood had mastered all the disciplines, perfected his karate, learned the other martial arts that were taught, even achieved something that few had achieved, including Ra's al Ghul himself and the feared Lady Shiva, being able to mix the styles in fluid combat.

Also, his high deductive level aided him in his tracking and hunting tactics for his targets. Stealth was another field in which he excelled, learning to turn invisible using shadows to his advantage and to be aware of the noise he made so he could move stealthily and undetected, impressed another of his masters besides Ra's, Sensei, who was in charge of teaching the arts of stealth and some fighting tactics. He learned to use tools such as shurikens and smoke bombs. The only thing he failed to master was the use of illusionary magic, he was never a very skilled user of magic, and he doubted he ever would be.

Still, his accomplishments were enough to earn him his place as the favored student of Ra's al Ghul, who personally trained him whenever he could. And now, thanks to all this, his master deemed him ready for the Test of Shadows, where all who aspired to join the ranks of the League would have to go through a mental test in which they would face their greatest fear and they would merge with it in order to instill terror in their enemies.

Both Karal and Blueblood approached the section enabled for the fights, consisting of a soft sand floor with several circles that served as the ring. Karal entered one of the circles and smiled at the unicorn.

"One more match before you become an honorary member of the league?"

"I still need to pass the test and initiation before that" Blueblood said as he entered the circle and got into position.

"Sure, sure... But we both know you'll have a good time, it's not for nothing that you're the best of all of us" commented Karal, also putting himself in an attack position.

"You're pretty good too, Karal, don't underestimate yourself."

"Oh trust me, I don't underestimate myself."

Karal advanced at high speed and tried to hit Blueblood, only to be blocked by his right paw, and before receiving the unicorn's counterattack, he moved away from him, starting to walk in circles next to his opponent.

"By the way... what do you think the initiation will be like?" Karal said as he studied Blueblood for a blind spot to attack.

"I'll find out when I do, and so will you. With your skill, I wouldn't be surprised if you were called up for the Test shortly after me."

"I guess you're right."

They both looked at each other before launching into the attack, each giving their best. Karal attacked harder and faster, while Blueblood focused on blocking and waiting for just the right moment. The kirin tried to deliver a powerful blow that the unicorn dodged by moving aside and attacking his opponent's side, right in his ribs and knocking all the air out of his lungs. He barely managed to move away before continuing to be attacked, carefully watching the pony, who did not take his eyes off him.

"Always attacking from the bottom" Karal muttered as he circled Blueblood, who shrugged.

"A warrior must use every opportunity that comes his way, no matter how low."

"It's still low" Karal replied with a smile before returning to the attack.

He applied several targeted blows to his face, which Blueblood blocked as fast as he could, patiently waiting for another window of opportunity. However, Karal, in one of his flurry of blows, moved quickly, ducking and twisting so he could strike with his hind legs and knock the pony off balance, which did not see it coming and fell on its side. He grunted slightly in pain, before turning on top of his body seconds before the kirin slammed into his chest, bringing him to his hooves again.

"You have to seize opportunities, right?" Karal said with a smile, get another smaller one from Blueblood.

The combat continued in the same way, without having a superior clearing, both being very even. Even though Karal wasn't as good at defending as Blueblood, he made up for it with great offense, while the unicorn was the opposite. Even so, both were very good warriors, and inspired admiration in the other students and initiates, even some members of the League expressed their respect for both.

Both continued fighting for almost twenty minutes, which was already diminishing in both of them, the sweat on their skin and fur respectively, their breaths altered. Taking advantage of this, Blueblood found a hole in his opponent's defense and slammed as hard as he could into his face, disorienting and throwing Karal off balance. With that, the unicorn launched a series of quick, strategic strikes, preventing him from counterattacking, and with a twist, hit his legs to knock him to the ground and subdue him, bringing his right hoof to his side.

"You give up?" Blueblood asked with the hint of a slight smile, to which Karal rolled his eyes.

"Normally I wouldn't, but you have to take a test, so let's make it a draw."

Blueblood let out a small laugh before moving away and helping Karal to his hooves.

"Don't worry, you've also defeated me from time to time, it's not that important."

"Whatever you say, sir 'master's best student'" said Karal with a smug smile.

Both companions laughed lightly before saying their goodbyes and going their separate ways, Karal continuing with his training and Blueblood heading to the meditation room. He walked for a few minutes through the corridors of the temple before reaching his destination, guarded by two polished wooden doors where the symbol of the League of Shadows was, a snake biting its own tail, which in turn was the cutie mark of Ra's al Ghul. On either side were two elite League guards, a griffin and an eastern pony, dressed in their ninja garb, including the organization's steel bracelets, which had three blades on their sides.

They both greeted Blueblood before opening the doors to the meditation room, allowing him to pass. The room was quite spacious and lighted, both by balconies opening onto a view of the mountains, through which sunlight streamed, and several torches, which at that time of day, were unlit. The floor was made up of a tatami that covered the entire room, and with murals with artistic representations of members of the League. In the center was Ra's al Ghul, sitting with his eyes closed and meditating. Directly in front of the pegasus was a bowl of steaming black liquid that Blueblood suspected it was.

"Hello, Mr. Blood, have you been training before you came?" Ra's asked without opening his eyes.

"That's right, master, I had a practice match against Karal" Blueblood replied as he sat down in front of his master, who opened his eyes slightly and smiled at his student.

"Who of my best students has won this time?"

"I, master, although Karal has been a tough opponent as always."

"Ever so humble in victory" Ra's said with a smile, before looking at the bowl and taking on a slightly more serious look. "Do you know what is it?"

"I have a slight suspicion, master."

"Tell me."

Blueblood nodded, looking at the bowl and remembering his alchemy classes given at the temple.

"It is a potion made by the League's greatest alchemists, created to lull those who consume it into a sleep where they will face their greatest fears."

"As always, you don't disappoint me" Ra's said with a small smile, grabbing the bowl with his hooves. "You know what the Test is like. If you want to instill fear in your enemies, you must first learn to dominate your own and merge with them. Ready?"

"Ready."

Blueblood grabbed the bowl and brought it to his lips, closing his eyes and concentrating on the aroma. As he expected, he didn't smell good at all, and upon tasting the first few drops, he confirmed that the taste didn't improve either. Trying to ignore the taste, he drank the contents almost halfway down, setting it on the ground again. Little by little, his vision became more and more blurred, beginning to spin around him, having to close his eyes to not get so dizzy. His body began to spin in a seemingly endless tornado and he began to rise several meters into the air, he could no longer feel the ground under his hooves.

After climbing for a few meters, the tornado began to slow him down and Blueblood plunged into a long fall, slamming out onto a hard stone floor. Grunting slightly in pain, the pony sat up and looked around him, and instantly, his heart skipped a beat… he knew this place. He was in some kind of hole, with rock walls full of moss and roots, and just above him, he could see the tops of the trees and the silhouette of the full moon, lighting him with her light. The unicorn closed his eyes and took a deep breath, musing to himself and reminding himself that this was all a dream, one that couldn't hurt him, at least not physically.

Blueblood opened his eyes, calmer now, and studied himself better looking for wounds, noticing that he was no longer in his adult body, he was a colt again. Despite this, he managed to keep his cool, making sure he hadn't taken any damage from his fall. Nodding in satisfaction, he spun around, encountering something that had haunted his nightmares for years, the same hole those bats came out of. The unicorn kept his gaze fixed there, a part of him afraid that those critters would come out and torment him.

The darkness seemed even deeper than would be possible, and the sharp edges made it look like a hungry mouth ready to eat him. When it was clear that he wasn't going to get anything out of it, Blueblood took as deep a breath as he could before moving into the hole, ready to kill himself. He dragged his little body down a long, dark tunnel, and although he remembered perfectly well that it was big enough for a foal to pass through easily, the walls pressed against him and the sharp rocks made small cuts on his body. After what seemed like hours, the unicorn managed to get out, falling heavily to the ground, where he grunted at the sudden blow.

Blueblood got up slowly, looking around him, only to see the purest darkness he had ever seen, the only thing he could see was the ground closest to his body. With a frown, he spun around, noticing that the hole he had come through, either couldn't see it because of the darkness, or it didn't exist anymore. The sound of screeches around him froze him in place, his heart beating fast. The unicorn tried to stay calm, trying to notice something in the latent darkness. Gradually, blood-red eyes became visible on all sides, and the shrieks became deeper, crueler, and more monstrous.

Blueblood stood still, trying to breathe deeply, remembering his lessons with his teacher, staying calm. After a few minutes, something was present among the screeches of those beasts, a whisper, too low to hear. The pony tried to focus his ears in the direction of that sound, but every time he succeeded, he seemed to move to a different place.

Blue...

The unicorn froze, thinking he heard his name... with a voice he thought he recognized. Blueblood closed her eyes and concentrated on his breathing, reminding himself that it was all a dream, nothing could do any real harm to him.

Blue... Blue...

The whispers grew louder and swirled in one place, right in front of him, accompanied by the screeching and flapping sounds of those monsters. Steeling himself and remaining calm as his master taught him, Blueblood opened his eyes, seeing what was in front of him. All around him was a tornado of bats, and in the middle, standing out above all, were figures, much older than himself, that he vaguely recognized.

You didn't save us...

As they said this, both silhouettes advanced, rebelling at last... they were their parents. But unlike what he remembered, his tolls were more matted, dirty, and with various patches that showed the rotten flesh and bone underneath. Part of their mouth was exposed and their eyes were totally black, looking at their son like a demon would look at his prey.

You did nothing to save us...

You let us die...

We are dead because of you!

The cave around him shook, chunks of richness falling from the darkness and almost crushing Blueblood, who cringed, closing his eyes and feeling his heart pound… fear overwhelming every part of his being. His parents' screams grew louder and louder as he succumbed to terror, the sound of the gun that ended his parents' life being heard throughout the cave. He was a colt again, a frightened colt, alone and without his parents...

Blueblood concentrated on that memory, the memory of feeling helpless, the fear of being alone… the fear of losing more loved ones. As terrified as he was, something else arose in his mind from that memory, something that had never lost its strength in him...hatred. The hatred for criminals, the hatred he felt every time he thought of another foal suffering the same as him, filled him with enough determination to face his deepest terror.

"You're right…" he whispered, finding the strength to get up. "I couldn't save you... I was a coward..."

Blueblood opened his eyes and looked at his parents, and as he did, he could feel his body growing back into an adult.

"But I won't be again... I swear to you that I won't let any other colt go through the same as me... I won't rest until I accomplish that goal, even if I have to die for it."

The ghosts of his parents began to change as he spoke. Their flesh was healing and rejuvenating, and their eyes lost their demonic aura. Now, Blueblood wasn't looking at two demons come to torment him... he was looking at his parents, who were smiling warmly at him. The tornado of bats around him faded to nothing, and light flooded the entire place, revealing that he was standing on a beautiful hill, the sun shining in the distance.

Seeing his parents lovingly smile at him, Blueblood felt a lump in his heart. Hesitantly, he stepped forward, wanting to hug his parents, even if it was just a potion-induced dream. However, his vision began to blur once more and his eyelids began to grow heavier and heavier.

"Wait... No... A little more... please..." he said as he tried to move forward, only to find that he couldn't move.

Resigned, Blueblood settled for trying to keep his eyes on his parents for as long as possible.

We are proud of you...

Blueblood let out the tears he had been holding in at hearing his father's voice, just before everything went dark. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the meditation room, lying on the tatami. Blueblood sat up, still recovering from the experience, and surveyed the place. It was considerably darker than when he started the test, even the torches had been lit. In front of him, a tray with a bowl of rice, an apple, and a full glass of water had been placed.

"I trust you have passed the Test" said a voice to the right of him.

Turning, he saw Ra's on the balcony, watching the golden sunset landscape, though the sun could not be seen from that position.

"Yes, master" Blueblood said as he sat up straighter and nodded.

"Alright, alright... Please eat, I want to show you something before you go to bed."

Blueblood nodded before focusing on the tray, using his magic to grab the chopsticks and start eating, renewing his energy. Finishing, Ra's turned and gestured to the unicorn, who rose and followed his master out of the meditation room. They both walked through the corridors of the temple for a while, in the direction of an area that the pony had rarely visited, the dungeons, something that confused him a lot. They came to an archway, in whose jambs stood two torches, that opened onto stairs that spiraled down into the depths of the structure. As they descended, the wood was replaced by the stone of the mountain, and at the bottom of the steps, and down a long corridor, was a steel door guarded by two members of the League.

Both ponies approached, being greeted by the guards, who proceeded to open the heavy door. Inside, Blueblood saw an even longer corridor than he had come from, filled with various stone cells with metal bars, shackled with chains hanging from the walls. Ra's led his student between the cells to one at the back, stopping in front of it. The unicorn approached his master and looked inside, seeing a chained eastern pony, with his head down and somewhat rickety, you could almost see his bones. His fur was yellowish and he had a black mane that cascaded over his face and an inhibitor ring was visible on its curved horn. The prisoner raised his head and looked at the newcomers through the hair that covered his eyes.

"Who is he?" Blueblood asked curiously.

"A farmer who tried to steal food from a neighbor. When the neighbor caught him, they got into a fight that ended up killing him, now he's a murderer."

"What will you do with him?" Blueblood asked, a little confused as to why his master had brought him there.

"Tomorrow nightfall, you will mete out justice. You will execute him."

Blueblood opened his eyes and looked at his master with doubt.

"Do you want me to kill him?"

"That's right" Ra's said as he turned his head to stare at Blueblood. "We have trained you all these years for this. This is the path of true justice, a justice that will not tolerate crime."

"Master…I don't think I can…" Blueblood stared at the prisoner, doubt in his eyes. "I am not an executioner... He should be judged."

"By whom? Corrupt judges?" Ra's asked. "Criminals take advantage of a corrupt and permissive society, spitting on its laws. You should know better than anypony."

They were both silent for a while before the pegasus started to walk away, pausing for a moment to turn his head and look at Blueblood.

"I understand your hesitation, afterward, you were raised by Princess Celestia and with values that were too lenient with crime. But this is the best way to find true justice, isn't that what you came looking for?"

Blueblood glanced at Ra's, who gave him one last smile before continuing to the door.

"You have one day to think about it, I will wait for you tomorrow in the meditation room. Choose the correct option, Mr. Blood."

With those words, Ra's left Blueblood alone with the prisoner, thinking. Was this what he really wanted?

True justice

Blueblood stood his ground, even as the metal door closed, watching the prisoner. After a few minutes, he started to walk away, stopping at the sound of the stallion's voice.

"Please wait..."

Blueblood stopped and looked at the eastern pony, who had raised his head slightly.

"What do you want?"

"I... I didn't wa-want to sa-say it with hi-him in front of me... bu-but... be-before I am ex-executed... co-could I be allo-allowed to see my son one last time?"

Blueblood scowled at him and approached the stallion again, staring at him through the bars.

"Your son?"

"Yes... ple-please... I want to tell him that... that it was an accident..."

"You killed a pony, you don't do that by accident" Blueblood replied with a serious tone, although the seed of doubt was growing in him.

The pony before him did not look like a ruthless criminal who deserved death. The prisoner lowered his head, looking at the ground, defeated.

"I... my wife and son were starving... I had a very poor harvest... I just wanted enough to feed them while I recovered... but he found me sooner..."

Blueblood was silent, listening intently, and as he listened, he remembered another criminal who had the same tone of regret in his voice.

"We fought... and... I... pushed him too hard... I couldn't imagine that he would break his neck on his cart... I didn't want... I didn't want to kill anypony... "

The stallion sobbed into his bonds, weeping bitterly at the sight of Blueblood, who felt a pang in his heart.

"I'm sure your son knows" he said in an attempt to comfort the eastern pony, who kept crying.

"I just want to see him one last time..." The pony looked up pleadingly at Blueblood. "Please... let me see him... I beg you..."

Blueblood watched him for a few moments before turning and heading for the door, listening as the prisoner began to cry harder. He left the dungeons, being greeted by the two guards, and went up the stairs to return to the rest of the temple, and once there, he began a walk to his room in silence and deep in thought. A part of him didn't want to kill that pony, not after seeing that, at least on the surface, he was remorseful and had a family, but another part of him just as big told him that a criminal could say anything to save himself and that, in addition, he owed it to the League. Why did he care so much? Why should he try to save her life?

A true hero spares the lives of his enemies.

His father's voice, clear as the day he said those words to him, sounded in his head. Blueblood frowned as he walked forward, remembering that day. His father may have told him that, but what did that thought lead him to? He died for a criminal, a criminal his father would not have hesitated for a second to try to help, and he was repaid in death for that kindness. The League, on the other hand, promised him a method that all criminals would pay for, a method of dispensing justice. Why should it bother him that he went through the murders? Wasn't that what he was looking for, just like Ra's said?

Your father... would be ashamed of you.

Cadence's voice came out, reminding him of the main reason he was wary of crossing that line. She was right, his father, and quite possibly his mother too, would be ashamed of him if he agreed to mete out justice through murder. His family had an unbreakable legacy of solidarity, kindness and justice, did he really want to betray those principles? But he was a criminal who killed a pony...was he supposed to save it because maybe, and just maybe...it was an accident?

I swear to you that I won't let any other colt go through the same as me... I won't rest until I accomplish that goal, even if I have to die for it.

This time, he remembered the oath he had sworn to the ghosts of his parents earlier that day, and he remembered that the prisoner he was to kill…had a son. He may have had a deep hatred for criminals, but there was something that surpassed that hatred... the thought of a colt mourning the death of his parents. The criminals and the corrupt also had a family. Blueblood could ignore the guilt he would feel for betraying the legacy of his parents, but what he would never forgive himself for is being responsible for the same trauma he suffered in his foalhood... he couldn't bear to be the Horn Chill from another foal.

Blueblood made a decision, he would not be anypony's executioner, even if it meant being expelled from the League of Shadows. As he approached his room, he thought of the eastern pony's plea, and promised himself that he would fulfill that last wish. Given that during those 4 years he had been Ra's's best student, and had built a bond with him, he hoped to be able to convince him to let his prisoner see his son, and perhaps spare his life in exchange for a year or two in jail as payment for his crime. If he was truly sorry, it would be a just punishment.

When he arrived at his destination, he opened the door to find Karal in the center of the room meditating. The kirin widened his eyes as he heard somepony enter, smiling at his companion and friend, getting up from his spot and approaching Blueblood, who closed the door behind him.

"You're finally back" said Karal with a smile. "How did you do on the test?"

"I'm over it" Blueblood answered, walking past his friend and getting ready to sleep.

Karal looked at the pony in confusion, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"I know you well enough to know there's something else going on. Is something wrong?"

Blueblood stopped and thought to himself if he should tell the Kirin what was going on or not.

"Ra's al Ghul wants me to kill a criminal at my initiation."

"And the problem is...?"

Blueblood looked at Karal in confusion, causing the kirin to sigh.

"Look, I know this might be hard for you, but my family was killed by criminals, so I don't see the problem. Honestly, I thought you would think the same."

"For a moment, I did" Blueblood said after a few moments of silence, looking away from Karal. "I considered killing him."

"And why do you hesitate now?"

"He's sorry, and he confessed to me that it was an accident."

"He is a criminal, Blueblood" Karal replied as he rolled his eyes. "He Obviously he'll say anything to save himself."

"You didn't see him the way I did. He was genuinely sorry, besides, he told me he did it to feed his family… his son."

Karal watched Blueblood for a few moments in silence before narrowing his eyes.

"And how are you sure that he told you the truth?"

"I know when somepony is truly sorry."

"In the hypothetical case that he tells the truth, what do you expect to happen? Do you think Ra's is going to release that murderer just because you asked him to?" Karal said with a frown.

"A repentant murderer with a family. And I don't expect him to release him, I hope he spares his life."

Karal watched his mate for a while before grunting and walking over to his bed.

"Look, do whatever you want, just make sure you don't get me in trouble."

Blueblood watched as Karal blew out the candle beside his bed and lay down, leaving him alone. After a few moments, the unicorn sighed and blew out its own candle as well, preparing to sleep.

Blueblood walked quickly through the halls of the temple, heading to the meditation room. The discussion with Karal was still fresh in his mind, he hadn't expected him to react that way, but he tried not to let it bother him. His aunt Celestia had told him a long time ago, you can't force somepony to think the same as you. At the doors were the same guards, who greeted him before opening the doors. Inside, like the day before, Ra's waited in the center, meditating.

"Hello, Mr. Blood, have you made up your mind?" he said as he widened his eyes and smiled.

Blueblood nodded as he walked over, sitting down across from Ra's.

"That's right, master."

"Let's hear it, then."

"I'm not going to kill him."

Ra's smile faltered for a few seconds before recovering.

"I see that you still have doubts, but it's normal the first time you have to deliver justice."

"I have no doubts, Master, I will not kill him. This is not the justice I seek."

This time, Ra's smile disappeared almost completely and his forehead creased slightly.

"Mr. Blood, this is true justice. That's why you came in the first place."

"I came to learn the methods of dispensing justice, not to kill criminals" Blueblood replied confidently. "The pony you showed me yesterday is repentant and has a family he wants to see. I find the death penalty too radical. He deserves a second chance."

Ra's lost his smile completely and looked at his student with a frown.

"Such compassion is something your enemies will not share."

"That's why it's so important, it's what separates me from them."

Ra's was silent for a while before getting to his hooves and walking to the balcony, looking thoughtfully at the mountains.

"I see you're not ready yet. If you were anypony else, Mr. Blood, I'd have you executed right now."

Blueblood tensed and stood up, preparing for anything. That was something that was not expected.

"But I am old, very old, and you are the worthiest pony I have ever met. I had plans for you, Mr. Blood, and I still do, I am not going to let a stroke of conscience ruin all the work I have put into you. Arrest him."

The pony felt something behind him, and turning, he saw two ponies, a unicorn and a kirin, come out of an illusory spell that had previously made them invisible, a skill that Blueblood had not been able to perfect due to his lack of magical prowess. Though instinct told him to fight, reason told him he should wait. They were two fully trained League warriors, and not only did they have those bladed bracelets, they also had swords hanging from their belts. Trying to beat them was not a good idea.

"Take him to the dungeons, he will stay there until he realizes his mistake."

Blueblood glanced at his former master, allowing an inhibitor ring to be placed on his horn and dragged out of there.

Karal was beginning to suspect that something had gone wrong. It had been two days since he had seen Blueblood, and when he asked Ra's al Ghul about it, he told him that he was not ready for his initiation and was sent to another of the League's headquarters. That did not convince the kirin at all, that Ra's best student was not ready? Something didn't add up.

During that time, he had tried to convince himself that maybe he had been expelled, but a small part of him, the one that had been influenced by the deductive and suspicious nature of his friend, told him that why would they hide it from him then. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't heard of any other expelled either, he had never seen them after his expulsion, and although he didn't care before, now that his friend was missing, he couldn't help but see the connections.

Karal entered the great dining room of the temple, seeing the initiates having breakfast at the tables. If he wanted to find out what he had happened to his friend, he would have to start by finding out what happened to the expelled. He grabbed a tray and helped himself to an apple and a glass of orange juice, then sat down at a table with several other initiates, who smiled at him in greeting. The krin bit into his apple and thought for a few moments how he should bring it up, how would Blueblood do it? In the end, he shrugged and decided to do as he would.

"Hey" he said looking at the one next to him, a griffin who turned to look at him. "I've been thinking lately, and I've realized I haven't seen one kicked out of the League after they were, well, kicked out. Do you know anything?"

"No," said the griffon, shaking his head, before pointing to a kirin sitting in front of him. "But my partner knows that he does."

Karal watched the kirin, who swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking.

"Yes, before being his partner I had another one who was expelled."

"You know why?"

"I was told that he managed to sneak into the forbidden section of the library" he said as he took another piece of his breakfast to his mouth.

Karal frowned in confusion, was there a forbidden section? He had never been to the library, he was not very interested in books, he preferred to learn things in the classes given by the League than to investigate them on his own. But it seemed strange to him that they had a forbidden section, especially since the League prides itself on teaching all its secrets to its students.

"A forbidden section? Why?"

"The masters and members of the League say that what is there is too dangerous for an initiate" said the griffin next to him.

Karal nodded as he thought about it, taking another bite of his apple. While it might be true, after Blueblood disappeared, he had a feeling there was something the League of Shadows didn't want an initiate to know. Something of what the kirin said advanced in his mind, causing him to look at him curiously.

"You said you were told that your partner entered that forbidden section, couldn't he have told you in person?"

"No, I didn't see him again."

"Didn't he even go pick up his stuff?"

"A League guard came to collect them for him," the kirin replied with a shrug.

Karal frowned even more, this was suspicious, very suspicious. If he alone had been expelled, why wasn't he allowed to say goodbye and take his things? He remembered that the initiates who entered the league before him had the opportunity to say goodbye and collect their belongings before leaving for one of the League of Shadows headquarters in the country. Why weren't the expelled allowed to do that?

When he finished his breakfast, instead of going to the training room like other days, he went straight to the library, he had a hunch. It was quite large and multi-storied, bookshelves everywhere and little signs indicating the sections and genres of the books in them. After walking for a bit, he came across the so-called forbidden section, it was unmistakable, not only because of the griffin guard guarding the entrance, but because his entrance was a steel gate. Karal walked over, causing the griffin to stare at him and spread its wings.

"I can help?" he said seriously.

"Can't I come read a bit?" Karal said with the happiest and most innocent smile he could muster.

The griffin watched him for a few seconds before lowering his wings, relaxing his posture a bit and speaking less seriously than before.

"Ah, Karal, it's you. What are you doing here? You're usually in the training room and I've never seen you in the library."

"Well, since I'll probably have to take the test next month, I decided to stop by to get some information and better prepare myself."

"You do well" said the griffin with a nod and a small smile. "The librarian will be able to help you with..."

"Actually, I wanted to enter the forbidden section, I'm sure I'll find something that helps me more in there."

That made the griffin frown and shake his head.

"I'm sorry, but initiates are not allowed to enter."

"Not even Ra's al Ghul's second best student and just over a month after being part of the League?"

"Not allowed yet."

"Come on, I just want to prepare well, I want to pass the test successfully and serve the League."

The griffin watched him for a few seconds before sighing and pulling a key out of his robes.

"Okay, I don't think the master has any problem with you coming in here, but you can't take any book out of there, that's forbidden."

"Of course" Karal said with a smile.

The faucet turned and placed the key in the lock, turning it and opening the heavy door. He stepped aside and allowed Karal to enter, looking around him. It was a mostly dark space, he could barely see the silhouettes of the bookshelves. The door slammed shut behind him, and before he could say or do anything, hundreds of torches lit up with green fire, lighting the area with an almost evil aura. The kirin looked around him before starting to walk, noting the names of the sections as he wondered what he should be looking for.

There were several different sections there, and they all had something to do, to a greater or lesser extent, with dark arts, which made him wonder if maybe there wasn't anything weird there, after all, those things would be dangerous for an initiate, especially one with magical ability. Black magic, voodoo, history, necromancy, chaos magic… Karal suddenly stopped and took a few steps back, something had caught his attention, specifically, the history section. Why would that section be banned? And now that he thought about it, of all the classes the League taught their students, he didn't remember anything about his history.

Sensing that he was getting close to something, he wandered into that section and searched for a random book. He took out a dusty old book from the shelf, and dusting off the cover, he saw the name: History of the League of Shadows, 8th-9th centuries anm (after Nightmare Moon). Karal frowned reading the title, why the hell would they hide the history of the order from initiates? Sighing, he opened the book and settled down to read, hoping this would all lead to something.

Three days had passed since Blueblood was locked in the dungeons, in the cell in front of the prisoner, who revealed that his name was Golden Wheat, although unlike him, he was not chained to the shackles. Three times a day, at dawn, noon and dusk, Ra's al Ghul went to the cell to try to convince him that the methods of the League of Shadows were necessary to find true justice, but he always failed. Still, the pegasus did not give up, according to him, he had a lot of time to convince him.

It had already been dark for a while, or so he had deduced from Ra's's visit, since down there there were no windows or anything to be able to see the passage of time outside those walls. Blueblood was in the center of his cell, meditating in silence, shuffling various ideas to escape, but he didn't know many. The main problem was that the temple was full of warriors trained for many more years than him. He may have been Ra's al Ghul's best student, but he was still only 4 years in the making.

"Thanks..."

Blueblood opened his eyes and focused on the one who had said that, Golden Wheat, who was still staring at the ground.

"Why?"

"For believing me... even though that has led you to the same fate as me..."

Blueblood opened his mouth to answer but he barely had time, because there was the sound of an explosion right above his head, and for them to have heard it, it must have been very powerful. The two prisoners raised their heads in confusion, and in Golden's case, a little scared.

"What was that?"

Blueblood frowned, still staring at the ceiling.

"I'm not sure, maybe they're attacking the temple."

It was unlikely, he knew. Throughout those 4 years, they had not received a single attack, and those who came to the temple were either members of the League, or aspirants who either somehow found out about the existence of the League, or were contacted as happened with Blueblood in his day. The sound of screaming right at the entrance to the dungeons caught his attention, causing him to approach the bars curiously. After a few minutes, the large door opened, revealing Karal and two unicorns entering the room.

"Karal? What's going on? What are you doing here?" Blueblood asked confused.

The kirin approached the unicorn with a smile on his face.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to save you" he said as he grabbed the keys he had in magic from him and used them to open Blueblood's cell.

"Why? The last time we spoke you didn't seem very happy."

"Well, I don't know if it's something ponies have, but it didn't seem right to me to leave a friend alone, besides... I discovered that the League wasn't as good as it seemed at first" Karal said as he opened the cell and let Blueblood came out.

"What are you talking about?" asked the pony with a raised eyebrow.

Karal was silent for a second, removing the inhibitor ring from his friend before speaking.

"I found out that the League doesn't just kill criminals, like you told me...they are capable of razing entire towns just for being 'unworthy'."

Blueblood frowned at that, looking down at the ground as he thought about that revelation. Now he understood why Ra's had not told him or any other initiate about the League's methods when he first joined them. He waited until they had passed the initiation, the first filter, killed an intelligent being... and then he went on from there.

"We have to get out of here. Not all the warriors will have survived."

Blueblood blinked and stared at Karal in confusion, before realization hit him. Although he didn't approve of his methods, he didn't have time to disagree. As the kirin walked away, the pony watched Golden in the cell, watching them, and when he caught the look on his face, he smiled.

"Go away, I've already caused you enough trouble."

Blueblood stared at him for a few moments, ignoring Karal's call, walking to the door.

"Give me the keys, Karal, we're not going to leave him here."

Karal blinked at that, frowning.

"He's a criminal, no..."

"He's a creature with a life of his own and a family. I'm not going to leave him."

Both friends looked at each other for a few moments before Karal growled and threw the keys at him. Blueblood opened the cell and walked over to Golden to remove the shackles.

"Why? I...your friend is right...I'm a criminal..." Golden said as his shackles and inhibitor ring were removed.

"Because you have a son you have to see."

Golden watched Blueblood wide-eyed, and when he was free, he rubbed his hooves, still in disbelief.

"I... I don't deserve your kindness."

Blueblood nodded, before nodding at him and leaving the cell, following Karal and the two unicorns. Although the kirin did not seem very pleased, he remained silent. Behind the door were the dead bodies of the two guards guarding the entrance, causing the pony to look at his companion, who shrugged.

"They did not expect the betrayal."

Blueblood fell silent and continued on, up the stairs. At the top stood a griffin, a kirin, and two eastern ponies, who nodded at Karal and followed him through the corridors toward the exit.

Back home

The group ran through the halls of the temple towards the exit, with Blueblood at the same height as Karal.

"What was the explosion earlier?"

"After discovering the true face of the League, I gathered several initiates who would also disagree. I had some of them destroy the armory using the stored gunpowder. That should be enough to distract most of the League's warriors. "

"And it will also destroy most of the temple" Blueblood replied as he frowned at his friend, but Karal shrugged.

"Collateral damage, now run, I don't know how much time we have before the fire spreads further."

Blueblood grunted to himself but continued to run alongside Karal. After a few minutes, they reached the hall, stopping when they saw that Ra's al Ghul himself was waiting for them at the doors. Next to him were four of his warriors, and on the ground were the corpses of several initiates and other members of the League.

"I figured you'd come this way," Ra's said, his right wing fiddling with a sword. "Other initiates did, but as you can see, they were unable to escape."

"Get away from the door, Ra's" Blueblood said, taking a step forward.

Ra's watched Blueblood for a while before focusing on Karal, who was drawing the sword he had on his belt.

"I became so focused on Mr. Blood that I forgot that you are also a prodigious student. Therefore, if you both surrender, I promise to spare your lives for such treachery."

"No thanks" Karal growled as he moved into attack stance, the initiates doing the same and Golden Wheat looking on unsure of what to do.

"Is this how you repay me for everything I've taught you?" Ra's said as he scanned all the initiates in front of him and stopped at Blueblood. "Is this how you repay me for showing you a way?"

"You taught us a lot, yes" Blueblood said with a frown. "But you also lied to us, when were you going to tell us that the League of Shadows was dedicated to razing entire towns? Do you really expect me to believe that there was not a single innocent?"

"You were not ready for that revelation yet. Sentient creatures are corrupt by nature, and when a city falls into it, it is best to cleanse them. In time, you will understand, Mr. Blood."

"Never."

Blueblood and Ra's glanced at each other before the pegasus sighed in disappointment, gripping his sword more firmly and pointing it in the direction of the initiates.

"Then so be it."

The four warriors drew their swords and began to advance slowly, ready for combat.

"Fight together!" Karal shouted to the rest of the initiates, who had also drawn their weapons.

While the others engaged in a battle, master and student were face to face, studying each other. The first to attack was Ra's advancing with quick, concise and experienced slashes with his sword, embarrassing the unicorn. Blueblood dodged as best he could, trying to find a window to hit, but as always happened when fighting the pegasus, the leader of the League of Shadows knew how to combine attack and defense in such a way that it didn't leave any gaps in his stance while still delivering powerful attacks.

In one of the pegasus's downward slashes, Blueblood managed to find a small window, dodging to the side and slamming into the pegasus's snout. Ra's stepped back, more surprised than pained, watching the unicorn carefully.

"A good blow, Mr. Blood, you make me proud."

"You don't have to do this" said Blueblood, in an attempt to make his old master reflect.

"Such compassion will bring you down, Blueblood... You must learn that the League of Shadows is the only path to true justice."

"Killing all those who are against you or commit a crime in your eyes?"

"Always so critical and analytical, that's why you are so worthy..."

Ra's moved forward again and began a new wave of even faster attacks, forcing Blueblood to go on the defensive more than he already was. At one point, the unicorn stood on its hind legs to dodge one of the attacks, which the pegasus took advantage of. In one fluid, practiced motion, he shifted his sword, grasping the sharp blade with his wing feathers, not caring how much damage was dealt, and used the hilt to slam into his opponent's legs, causing him to lose his balance and fall sideways to the ground.

Before he could recover, Ra's punched him in the gut and forced him onto his back, causing Blueblood to growl. A hoof was placed on his chest and he felt the point of the sword press against his neck.

"Give up, Mr. Blood, I don't want to kill you."

Blueblood opened his eyes and looked at Ra's above him. His sword was slightly bloody from the wounds on his wing, but he showed little sign of bothering him. In his eyes, he could see a mixture of disappointment and pride in equal parts.

"You are the most worthy pony I have ever met in my long life. Your willpower, your intelligence, your skill, all of it, make you worthy to become the next Demon's Head. It's taken me a long time to find somepony who's up to the task... please... don't make me start looking again."

Blueblood was silent, his face frozen in a scowl of anger and defiance. Ra's held his gaze for a moment before sighing and shaking his head, turning the sword and bringing the hilt against his neck, squeezing and slicing through the unicorn's air.

"When you wake up and we have everything under control again, we will continue with your traini..."

Ra's couldn't finish, for with a thud, he was thrown out of Blueblood, landing on the ground a few meters away. The unicorn gasped for air as he coughed and rolled over to get up. Confused, he looked at his master, seeing that, from his side, a sword protruded, the blood sliding down the sides and falling to the ground. The leader of the League of Shadows looked at the weapon, more surprised than worried, and with only a few signs of pain, before focusing on the responsible, which Blueblood did as well. The attacker had been none other than Karal, that his right eye was closed and bloodied.

"Karal... could not be another... my... second... best... student..." Ra's said, trying harder and harder to speak.

Blueblood shifted his focus away from his friend and looked at his former master, who seemed to be having a hard time speaking and was even starting to spit up blood, no doubt from a punctured lung. Before he could get closer, Karal stopped him.

"We have to go, now."

"I can't leave him there" Blueblood said with a frown, only for Karal to gesture towards the stairs that led to the second floor, from which the orange glow of the fire could be seen.

"We're running out of time, besides, Ra's will be dead in a few minutes anyway."

Blueblood shifted his gaze from the stairs to Ra's, who was now completely still. With a sigh, he turned around, noticing the other initiates. Of the original six, there were about three left, but they had managed to kill the League members, and he could see Golden standing next to one of the initiates with a sword bloodied in his magic. With no time to mourn the fallen, they all rushed out of the great temple into the cold, snowy landscape outside, running as fast as they could. Blueblood turned one last time to look at the place where he had spent 4 years of his life, watching the smoke and fire advance in much of the structure, before turning and walking away.

Blueblood closed the saddlebags, filled with various provisions given by the locals in gratitude for eradicating the League of Shadows, as they had been threatened with extermination if they did not obey their demands. At the time, he was staying in one of the rooms of the inn, which he had been in for two days, preparing to leave. Putting on his saddlebags, he walked out the door and down the stairs, entering the bar that the inn held. At the bar was Karal, who now had a black patch over his missing eye, and was drinking from a pitcher.

"How's the beer?" Blueblood asked with a small smile.

"Not bad, not bad" the kirin said, smiling at Blueblood, then noticing the saddlebags. "I guess you're leaving now."

"Yes, Golden Wheat is already waiting for me with his family to leave."

"I hate when you're right, but when you are, you are" Karal commented with a shrug. "That pony did deserve a second chance, though I still think he should do some jail time."

"And I," Blueblood confirmed as he nodded. "But after what he's been through, I think he deserves this."

"Whatever you say" Karal said as he took a sip of his drink.

"What are you going to do now?" Blueblood asked curiously, receiving a shrug from the kirin.

"I'm not sure, but some of the fledglings who escaped hope that one of us will lead them now."

"Good thing you're a terrific leader."

Karal put his drink down and focused on Blueblood, who had a smile on his face, raising an eyebrow.

"Really? I think you would be more suitable, you were the better of the two."

"Don't belittle yourself, Karal, we were both the best. Besides, it wasn't me who led them against the League."

Karal thought for a moment before smiling slightly.

"You may be right, although I would prefer you stay here."

"I have something to do."

"Of course, of course, you have a pending account in Canterlot, I understand" Karal said as he shook his head, before smiling at Blueblood. "In that case, you can go quietly, the League of the Sun will do quite well without you."

"League of the Sun?" Blueblood asked with an amused smile, to which Karal shrugged.

"Hey, if we want the locals in this town to not be afraid of us, we'll have to distance ourselves as much as possible from the League of Shadows, don't you think?"

Blueblood laughed lightly before hugging his friend, who returned the hug.

"Take care, Karal."

"I tell you the same" when Karal separated from him, he grabbed the mug from him and extended it towards Blueblood. "To your health, and have a good trip."

Blueblood nodded, still smiling, and left the inn, stepping outside, illuminated by the rays of the morning sun. He walked down the main street, seeing some of the initiates talking to each other, to the villagers, and helping them with something, all of them waving at him as he passed.

At the end, on the outskirts, was Golden Wheat next to a small cart in which were the luggage of his family and his son, and to one side, a mare that smiled happily. The eastern pony noticed the proximity of the unicorn, and after speaking for a second with his son and his wife, he approached him.

"Hello, Blueblood, are you ready?"

"That's right, and your family?"

"It's still hard for them to get used to the idea of leaving this place, but we'll get over it" Golden said as he looked at his family, who were talking happily to each other.

"Have you apologized to...?"

"I tried," Golden interrupted with a sigh. "But his family won't even talk to me. Still, I went to his grave and apologized there, I don't know if it counts for anything, but at least my conscience is a little clearer."

Blueblood nodded and started walking, Golden at his side.

“Do you know where to go now?” He asked after a while, to which Blueblood nodded.

"I'll go to the nearest city and try to send a letter. How about you?"

"My wife thinks that her sister could host her, we are going to her town, to the East of here."

"I hope you do well."

"I tell you the same thing."

Both ponies stopped talking when they reached the wagon, and after Golden hitched onto it, they set off for the distant dirt road that connected to the village. After a long walk, they reached the same fork in the road that Blueblood reached so long ago, and after saying goodbye to the family for the last time, the unicorn headed west, his destiny clear in his mind.

Blueblood had been moving for several weeks through Neippon, reaching as far as the Griffonia, formerly known as the Griffin Empire. He managed to post the letter in the first city he arrived at and if his calculations were correct, he would arrive just in time to be picked up. After several days, he arrived at the train station that connected the griffin country with Equestria, located near Griffonstone, an ancient city that was no longer even a shadow of its former self, but was slowly recovering. In the huge station, there were several dozen trains, all heading to various parts of the country, since the one that was going to the pony country had long since left.

However, there was a train located on some rest tracks, placed there so as not to hinder any other and to be able to be put into circulation when necessary. Unlike the rest, this one only had two cars, three if you count the locomotive, and was quite luxurious in design, worthy of high nobility. Blueblood approached at a fast pace, aware of who he belonged to, which was confirmed when the door of the first car opened and a unicorn that he knew came out. The pony looked around the station before noticing the presence of the approaching stallion, showing a smile, gesturing to the two bodyguards guarding the door that they could relax.

"You look good, sir" Service said as Blueblood walked over, looking him up and down. "A bit dirty, mind you."

Blueblood laughed lightly as he walked over, hugging the old unicorn fondly. The two entered the car, with Service gesturing to the two bodyguards, who entered the second car. The interior was quite spacious and luxurious, a large sofa to one side, a mini bar in one corner, and two comfortable-looking seats with a small circular table in the middle.

"Would you like something to drink, sir?" Service asked as he made his way to the mini bar and Blueblood sat down on one of the seats, sighing with satisfaction.

"A glass of water would be nice, Service, thanks."

Service watched with a raised eyebrow at Blueblood, going to the mini bar and preparing the requested glass.

"If I had known that for him to give up alcohol I had to send him into exile, I would have done it a long time ago" joked Service as he approached with the glass of water, eliciting a small laugh from Blueblood.

Service sat on the seat in front of Blueblood and watched him closely, seeing how he drank the water almost in one gulp. It was at that moment that the train began to move, moving towards the rails that would take it to Equestria. The unicorn put down the glass and looked out the window, watching how little by little they moved away from the station.

"Do you intend to stay in Canterlot for a long time, sir?" Service asked, to which Blueblood nodded.

"Yes. Also, I want to show the citizens of Canterlot that their city belongs to them, not to the criminals or the corrupt, unless... my aunt has managed to stop them..."

Blueblood looked at Service for confirmation, but what he got was a defeated sigh.

"I'm afraid it's business as usual. Falcone still wields too much power in the city."

Blueblood nodded, refocusing on the window, taking in the mountainous landscape of the area.

"If you want to prove to the citizens that the city does not belong to Falcone, I must tell you that your father almost bankrupted the Blood Enterprises, and your mother almost did the same with the family fortune. They believed that this would motivate the rich and noble to do something"

"They made it?" Blueblood asked, looking at Service, who shrugged.

"Half-heartedly, few followed his example, Fancy Pants was one of them."

Blueblood nodded and stared at the table for a while, thinking.

"Ponies need a drastic example to break out of apathy, and I can't do that as Blueblood. As a pony, I'm flesh and blood, I can be ignored or killed...but as a symbol...I can be incorruptible...I can be eternal."

"What symbol?"

"Something primal...something terrifying..."

Service looked at Blueblood for a while, somewhat concerned, but decided to keep quiet about it. The unicorn took in the sights a little longer before focusing on his butler.

"Is there anypony else who knows of my return?"

"Your Aunt Celestia, I thought you should know, in fact, we'll go to the castle after you've tidied up a bit"

Blueblood sighed and nodded, knowing it was something he would have to deal with sooner or later. The train moved at high speed, getting closer and closer to Equestria, the Prince of Canterlot was returning home.

It had been a day since Blueblood had returned to Canterlot, and after resting and cleaning up, and catching up on what had happened in Equestria, he was heading to his aunts' castle, ready to see them again after all this time. The carriage he was riding in stopped in front of the entrance stairs, guarded by two royal guards, and after a deep breath, the unicorn got out of the carriage and headed for the gates. The guards looked at each other noticing him before opening the doors.

"Their highnesses await you in the throne room" one of them said, to which Blueblood nodded.

Although it had been a long time since he had put a hoof in those corridors, he still knew his way around, after all, that had been a second home for him in his foalhood. It wasn't many minutes before he reached the immense doors of the throne room, decorated with the cutie marks of the two supreme princesses of Equestria. After one last deep breath to calm himself, he knocked on the doors, and it didn't take long for them to open. Upon entering, Blueblood noted the two unicorn royal guards who had opened the entrance for him, and in the background, were the two thrones of the princesses, towering over the rest of the room.

Celestia stood erect on her golden throne and the sun above her head, watching Blueblood with a serene face that betrayed no emotion. To her right was Luna, on her bluish throne and the representation of the moon above, an expression similar to her sister's. The unicorn advanced to the bottom of the stairs, bowing respectfully.

"Princess Celestia...Princess Luna...I...I'm back..."

Blueblood could hear one of the princesses getting up and starting down the steps.

"I'm deeply sorry for the way I behaved... And I'm even more sorry for leaving without saying anything... I'll understand if you don't want to talk to me or..."

"Enough" Celestia's calm voice said, silencing the unicorn, who kept his eyes lowered. "Get up and look at me, Blueblood."

Blueblood took a deep breath and obeyed, getting up and looking up, seeing that Celestia was smiling, and it wasn't the smile she had seen her use with the nobles... it was the same one she gave her sister, her student Twilight, and her nephews, those for whom he had true affection and appreciation.

"I am, and always will be, your aunt, Blueblood…" she said, her smile widening and letting out a few tears.

Blueblood fell silent, a little surprised, letting Celestia walk over to him and hug him, both her paws and her wings wrapping around him. The unicorn took a while to return it, allowing himself to be hugged and resting his head on his aunt's shoulder. He had forgotten how much he had missed her.

Preparations

Blueblood was in a small break room in his mansion, adjoining a larger drawing room, sitting at a tea table with a drawing pad in front of him. After an emotionally draining day, he had returned to his home, promising Celestia that he would come to the castle at least once a week. Although his aunts wanted to know where he had been, the unicorn managed to dodge the questions by using a card that he knew would work with them, saying that it was a private matter and that he didn't want to talk about it.

Now he was trying to design a suit, one that would not only protect his identity, but strike terror into criminals, one of the most important lessons he had learned in the League. But so far, he hadn't made much headway, only adding a cape and hood to the suit, but he wasn't convinced it was a terrifying design. A small shriek made his ears twitch, but he ignored it, at least until those screeches got louder. Curious, Blueblood got up and followed the sound to its source.

The shrieks came from a corner of the room, where a bat was flying across the ceiling, apparently disoriented. The small animal perched on one of the shelves present, looking around and, focusing on him, screeched louder in a threatening tone. Blueblood watched, almost hypnotized, remembering the fear that those animals caused him, and although the training with the League of Shadows taught him to keep that fear under control, it was still there.

"Another bloody bat, sir" said Service's voice, and although he didn't catch Blueblood's attention, he did catch the animal's attention, which he looked in his direction and growled, he almost seemed offended. "There must be a nest in the garden, tomorrow I'll call somepony to get them out of there."

The screams increased in intensity and fury. Blueblood was not an expert in animals, but if there was something that he had managed to learn in his travels, it was that, although they were not as intelligent as ponies, kirins, griffins or other creatures, they could understand them and act accordingly. At least the ones that didn't live in the wild. And the animals of Equestria, almost the absolute majority could understand the ponies.

"It won't be necessary, Service" he said, drawing the bat's attention, which watched him with its small black eyes. "I'm going to take him to his house."

Although it had cost him a lot, after all, he did not have the same ability with animals as the well-known element of kindness, he managed to get the little bat to accompany him. Blueblood went out to the garden of his mansion, carrying some saddlebags and, on his back, the small animal, which was clinging to him so as not to fall. The unicorn walked quickly and safely towards the forest that surrounded his home, and remembering, he entered a specific place. He walked for quite some time, until at last, he came to a drop, a drop that he remembered falling down. Gliding carefully, he made his way down and, after a while of searching, found what he was looking for, a hole half hidden by brush.

Using his magic, he brushed away the brush and peered inside, nodding in satisfaction and opening his saddlebag, careful not to disturb his passenger. He produced a hook attached to a rope, then hooked it into one of the nearby trees, making sure he was secure. He tossed the rest of the rope through the hole and, making sure the little bat had a good grip, lowered himself slowly and carefully to the bottom, once again at the source of his fears. Blueblood looked around him, focusing on the small hole where once, a long time ago, dozens of bats came out to attack him.

Blueblood closed her eyes, calming down, before stepping into the narrow hole. It took him almost five minutes to make it through the small tunnel, coming out onto a steep section of rock, and carefully, he slid to the ground, then surveyed his surroundings. I was in what looked like a fairly large cave, and on the ceiling, in addition to several stalactites, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of bats.

"Well, we've found your family," he said, glancing back.

But his passenger hardly paid any attention to him, as he took off quickly towards his flock, and with his shrieks, he slowly woke them up. Some focused on Blueblood, and although they initially began to screech menacingly, the little bat caught his attention. The unicorn didn't know what he said, but all the animals seemed to stop screeching at him in threat and now they just watched him curiously. Deciding to leave it for now, he continued to look around the cave.

Running across the floor of the cave was a stream, and to his right, Blueblood could see, far in the distance, a source of light, distorted by what could be a waterfall, the sound of the water barely audible from there. To his left, however, the cave went on without apparent end. The unicorn began to walk in that direction, feeling that a few bats had been released and were following him, which allowed, after all, these were their domain.

The further he went, the darkness grew, forcing Blueblood to light his horn so he could see where he was going. After a while, he came to an even larger area of the cavern, and there were those animals on the ceilings as well. The light from his horn was enough to wake several of them up, beginning to shriek annoyed and threatening, but before they could do anything, those with him rushed in and spoke with those shrieks of theirs that the pony did not understand.

Leaving the bats alone, he focused on the place he had come to. The creek had a branch to the right, leading to a good-sized pond, and in front of him, there was a section of the higher cave, almost like a second story. On the ceiling, aside from the stalactites, he could see the foundations of his mansion, most likely the ones in the northwest section. Blueblood once again looked around the place, definitely, this would be a good base of operations.

"What is it you wanted to show me, Aunt Celestia?" Cadence asked curiously.

Both walked through the corridors of the royal castle, through the most private areas and closed to the general public. Princess Cadence had been called to Canterlot four days earlier, so she had to leave the Crystal Empire in the care of her husband Shining Armor and her daughter Flurry Heart with Sunburst. Princess Celestia smiled slightly, that same smile that the pink alicorn she had once seen, a smile that revealed nothing of the emotions that she was feeling.

"You'll see, Cadence, but I assure you that you will like it."

Cadence raised a curious eyebrow but remained silent. They walked for a long time until they reached the doors of Celestia's private tea room, who moved to the door and opened it, gesturing to her niece.

"Go ahead, Cadence."

The pink alicorn walked past her aunt, looking inside her. Sitting at the table were her Aunt Luna and a pony that caused her eye to go wide, freezing in her spot. The pony watched her closely, not moving or speaking for a few seconds before getting up.

"Hello Cadence" Blueblood said with a small smile. "I... I'm sorry I left like this and..."

Blueblood barely managed to finish, as Cadence almost ran to him and wrapped him in a tight hug, even tighter than the one Celestia gave him days ago. The unicorn took a while to return the gesture, feeling how his cousin cried uncontrollably on his shoulder.

"I'm so-sorry! I... I sho-shouldn't ha-have le-left you the-there...! Ple-please... for-forgive me...!" Cadence said between sobs.

Blueblood blinked a little in surprise, still stroking his cousin's back. He hadn't expected that reaction from her.

"Hey, you have nothing to apologize for" Blueblood said as he separated her cousin a little from her to look into her eyes, although Cadence didn't dare to do it. "It was me who decided to leave, you had nothing to do with it... If there is somepony who should apologize, it is me, not you."

Cadence sobbed some more before daring to look up, seeing Blueblood's calm smile. Letting a smile of her own appear on her face, she hugged her lost cousin once more, this time calmer.

"Welcome back, Blue."

"Glad to be back."

Both cousins remained embracing for a while, watched by their aunts, who looked at each other and smiled happily.

Blueblood rode his personal carriage through the woods that led to his mansion, exiting onto a free, green path, past the large metal gate that marked the property's boundaries. He had come from Blood Tower, headquarters of Blood Enterprises, where he had been trying to regain control of the company of his family for the past few days, and it had been exhausting, more because of the council members than anything else. It had been almost a month since he had returned to Canterlot, and the news of him spread through the city like wildfire, in the newspapers they did not speak of anything other than the return of the prodigal son.

The carriage stopped in front of the gates of his mansion, so Blueblood got out, indicating to the earth ponies that had pulled the carriage that they were free to enter and rest after putting it away. The unicorn entered and walked quickly, heading to the northwest section, specifically, to the large library that was there. He stopped in front of a painting depicting the famous Clover the Clever, next to a bookcase.

"Opens."

At that word, the stallion's eyes lit up and two beams of blue light shot out and engulfed Blueblood, a detection spell placed by Service, who had learned that spell from his days in the royal guard. After a while, they went out, with a click coming from the bookshelf, which swung inward. The unicorn pushed the bookcase and entered a space built with stone and wooden pillars, and in the background, a somewhat primitive elevator, more so than what is in the tallest buildings in Equestria, made of wood and using rope pulleys.

The unicorn approached and activated a lever, beginning to descend rapidly. Halfway up, another elevator passed him, only this one was going up. Soon he reached the base, made of stone worked by hoof ponies and not the natural one from the cave. Blueblood walked out of the elevator through the tunnel, which looked more like a warehouse, to the curve itself. All this he had discovered when he explored the cavern better, and according to Service, all this would be built by his great-grandfather as a refuge in case of a griffin attack, at the time of the First Griffin War.

In the cave, quite a few changes had been made, although most were only in the upper area. First, they added lights to the walls to illuminate everything, and steel plates and a railing were placed on the floor, all made by Service and Blueblood alone. There were several boxes on the floor, and in the center, there was a table full of various plans and files, with his butler there.

"Hey Service, how's it going?" Blueblood said as he approached.

"Fine, fine, though the bats still squawk at me from time to time," Service replied, glancing at the animals on the ceiling. "Anyway, the screens you ordered for his computer have arrived, sir, although I'm not sure how to mount them."

"Don't worry about it, Service" Blueblood said with a small smile. "Nopony is sure how to set them up, at the moment they are only for large companies. I'll take care of it, okay?"

"Agree."

Blueblood stood next to Service, looking at the plans for the computer they planned to build.

"Did you find what I asked for?"

"Yes, I found what you was looking for" Service said as he grabbed one of the files. "Here it is, I borrowed it from Blood Enterprises, I doubt they'll miss it."

Blueblood grabbed the file and opened it revealing the profile of an earth pony.

"It's called Time Hooves, or Dr. Hooves, as he sometimes prefers."

"Do him have a doctorate?" Blueblood asked as he read.

"In mechanical engineering, he was the first of his class. He is the one to develop your ideas, in fact I took the liberty of including two of his most outstanding inventions."

Blueblood nodded, turning Time's profile and looking at what Service had placed, two different shots. On one, what appeared to be battle armor was drawn, and the other was a model of a vehicle powered by a magic engine, similar to those used in some airships and various power plants. However, there was something that caught the attention of the unicorn.

"It says here it belongs to Blood Enterprises."

"That's right, legally at least. Mr. Hooves worked at Blood Enterprises even before you went into self-exile, following in his father's hoovessteps."

"Who is his father?" Blueblood asked curiously.

"Clock Hooves."

Blueblood frowned and looked at Service curiously.

"I know that name."

"Of course, he was best friends with his father."

Blueblood remembered that pony, he always brought her some gift when he was a foal. But after the death of his parents, he distanced himself from everypony, including Clock Hooves.

"Time still working at Blood Enterprises?"

"No, he was fired months before you left Canterlot. The company took possession of his creations, although at least he was able to publish the motor vehicle model in a scientific journal."

"Have they started any of this?" Blueblood asked, eliciting a small chuckle from Service.

"The council felt there was no point in investing in armor that no royal guard was going to wear or a sci-fi car. They didn't even produce a prototype, in fact I doubt they even remember these blueprints."

Blueblood nodded, looking again at Time Hooves's profile.

"Do you know where he lives?"

"He left Canterlot shortly after he was fired. If I remember correctly, he's been living in Ponyville ever since, but I don't know where his house is specifically."

Blueblood closed the file and walked away with it, heading for the elevator.

"Where are you going, sir?"

"I'm going to visit somepony" Blueblood replied over his shoulder.

The train was arriving in Ponyville, and Blueblood was able to observe the changes that the small town had undergone. One of the most obvious was the famous Castle of Friendship, which could be seen in the distance, glistening in the sunlight, and several meters away from it, the newly opened School of Friendship, which had only been open for a few weeks. The other more obvious was that the city was expanding more and more, in part due to the rise of Celestia's former student to the status of Princess of Friendship, its size was infinitely larger than it was in its day, with many buildings more under construction, which would house offices, some shopping centers, even a new school was beginning to be built capable of supplying the increasing number of students.

Despite everything, the downtown area of Ponyville remained exactly the same at the request of the citizens, as a tribute to its origins, which is why many were already calling it the 'old neighborhood'. Also, nearby, a section of cloud houses had been built in the heavens, fixed in place with powerful spells. The train arrived at the station, which was now much larger than before, accommodating several different trains, which not only went to other cities in Equestria, but also new lines were opened that would go to specific areas of the city. As the steam-powered vehicle came to a stop, Blueblood rose from his seat in the VIP car, securing the saddlebags containing the file, and climbed out, walking calmly outside.

Leaving the station, he looked around for a few moments, trying to get his bearings, and began to walk in the direction of the castle. After a few minutes, he reached the Ponyville market, where Blueblood stopped to look, seeing that it was full of ponies coming and going in all directions, the vendors in their stalls shouting their wares, trying to get the attention of would-be customers. This was another one of the areas of the city that, judging by what he could see, remained the same as always. The unicorn waded into the crowd, occasionally stopping somepony to ask about Time Hooves's place of residence, to no avail.

As he walked, he saw, in the distance, the figure of a mare that he knew, and that caused him to recall a certain event from five years ago. Blueblood stopped, frowning, thinking to himself. It was true that he had something to do, but… he had put off those apologies too long, and he doubted that he would ever see the mare again. With a resigned sigh, he walked in her direction, and as he got closer, he confirmed that she was the same mare. The well-known element of generosity stood in front of a flower stall, talking animatedly to the earth pony mare that ran the stall.

"The roses were a hit, dear" Rarity said with a happy tone. "My students really appreciated it, so if you don't mind, I'd like to buy you about twenty more."

"Of course, Rarity" said the mare with a smile as he began to place the flowers. "That would be sixteen bits."

"I'll pay."

Rarity blinked in confusion before turning around, and as she did, her brow furrowed and her smile disappeared completely.

"Prince Blueblood…" she muttered, still remembering that fateful Grand Galloping Gala.

"Miss Belle," Blueblood said as he bowed respectfully, earning a raised eyebrow from Rarity. "Take this as an apology for my behavior in the past, and if you're willing to listen, I'd like to discuss it with you."

Blueblood lit his horn and pulled his bag of bits out of his saddlebag, pulling out the amount of coins needed and setting them on the counter. The mare, who had already placed the flowers in a bouquet, shifted her gaze from the stallion to Rarity, who was silent for a while before speaking.

"Okay" she said, then focusing on the mare. "Thanks for the flowers, Rose."

The mare nodded a little relieved that there was no fight in front of her stand. Blueblood watched as Rarity grabbed the bouquet with her magic, starting to follow her behind the market.

"Well, you can talk, if you want" said the mare, with a slightly hostile tone.

"Look, Miss Belle, I wanted to apologize for my behavior so many years ago, I never would have done that if it weren't for certain... misunderstandings."

"What kind of misunderstandings?" Rarity asked curiously, although she was still frowning.

Blueblood was silent for a while, even though he had come to accept that Horn Chill had repented and it had been necessary to free him to face Falcone, he was still furious about it.

"I don't know if you found out what happened the next day..."

Rarity frowned a moment before her understanding came to her face, and when she spoke, she did so in a softer tone.

"Yes, I read it in the newspapers."

"Well, while it's still unjustified, my behavior towards you has something to do with it."

"What do you mean?"

"When I saw you at the Gala, I confused you with another mare, specifically, with the fillyfriend of my parents' murderer."

Rarity blinked and stopped in a bit of surprise, looking at Blueblood, who had looked away from her.

"So, I wanted to take a little revenge on my part and decided to treat you in the worst way I could think of. Now I regret it, even if I was really his fillyfriend, I didn't deserve to be treated like this. I hope that one day you can forgive me. "

With those words, Blueblood waved goodbye to Rarity and started to walk away from her, only for the mare to walk quickly and stop in front of him.

"Of course I can forgive you, dear" she said with a calm and, to the surprise of both Blueblood and Rarity, a friendly smile. "In your place, I might have done the same."

Blueblood smiled, feeling a weight lift from his heart. At least there was something in his past that he was able to make up for.

"I'm happy to hear that, Miss Belle."

"Please call me Rarity" said the mare with a smile. "Would you like to join me for a cup of tea at my house? So we can have a little chat, I'd be happy to call you my friend."

"I'm sorry to have to decline the offer, but I'm here for work. Maybe another day."

Rarity nodded, her cheerful and kind demeanor coming back to her.

"Of course, I'll be here if you need me."

Blueblood nodded, ready to leave, but before doing so, he turned to look at Rarity.

"Actually, maybe there's something you can help me with, don't you happen to know where an earth pony named Time Hooves lives?"

First steps

Time Hooves let out a weary sigh as he leaned back in his office chair, stretching out his muscles a bit, before looking back at his work. On the desk in front of him was a fully repaired antique alarm clock, which had taken him four hours to fix. The earth pony got up and looked around his workshop, his eye lingering on the large array of watches he still had to fix. Tearing himself away from his work he glanced at the blueprints he'd designed for various projects, ones that he couldn't get off the ground due to a lack of funding. Time sighed once more, grabbing the newly fixed clock and placing it in its proper section before going to get another one.

"Honey you there?" said a familiar voice from outside his workshop.

"Yes, I'm in the workshop." He replied, sitting back down on his seat again and grabbing his tools.

The door behind him opened, he turned to look at the cross-eyed mare who had stolen his heart.

"You have a visitor" She said with that kind and innocent smile that Time loved so much.

"A visitor?" He asked as he swung the chair around "It's not those cutie mark crusaders again, right? Having them over as 'trainees' once, was more than enough, no thankk you." He finished with a roll of his eyes, remembering the most chaotic day he'd had up to that point.

Derpy snickered as she shook her head.

"Don't worry, it's not them. It's another pony, over here, please" she said looking at the mysterious guest.

Time curiously observed the unicorn that entered his workshop, because of his appearance and his clothing, he seemed to be a typical Canterlot noblepony, but his way of walking and his eyes said something different.

"Hello Mr. Hooves, nice to meet you."

"It's Dr. Hooves, please" Time said as he approached to shake the mysterious pony's hoof, seeing out of the corner of his eye that Derpy would roll her eyes, which other times would seem funny to him, but this time, he felt a little offended.

"Of course, Dr. Hooves" said the pony with a smile.

"And you...?" Time asked as he stepped back a bit.

"Right, where are my manners, I'm Blueblood, current president of Blood Enterprises, or at least I will be in two more days."

Both Time and Derpy changed their attitude completely, widening their eyes.

"Honey, you can leave us alone" Time asked nervously, receiving a brisk nod from the pegasus.

"Sure...er...Would you like a coffee or something, Mr. Blood?" Derpy asked with a nervous smile.

"No need, thank you very much" Blueblood said with a smile.

Derpy returned the smile nervously as she walked away and closed the door, taking one last look at Time. Once alone, the earth pony looked around, noticing that the couch he had was covered in blueprints.

"Sorry… let me just clear this and you can sit down and…"

"No need, this willll be quick." Blueblood said as he lit up his horn and pulled a file out of his saddlebag, flipping through it before opening the file on Time's profile. "If you don't mind, I'll get right to the point. I came here because I recently found out you worked at Blood Enterprises, correct?"

"Yeah... I was with them for a while" Time admitted with a nervous smile.

"According to this profile, you were fired for misconduct and defying your bosses?"

"Of course they would say that…" Time whispered with a slight growl, Blueblood quirked his brow and looked back at him.

"What does you mean?" Blueblood asked curiously.

Time's eyes widened, noticing his slip and nervously watching the unicorn.

"Well... I... I didn't mean..."

"Please Dr. Hooves, I'm not here to judge you or anything, just tell me the truth" Blueblood said, trying to sound friendly.

Time relaxed at that, just a bit, taking several deep breaths before answering.

"I... I disagreed with the decisions of the council, I didn't like that they strayed so far from the philosophy of your... your parents, I couldn't keep quiet. And as for them, they didn't like me very much, and when my father died and his position was replaced, I was fired."

Blueblood carefully observed Time, who was not looking directly at him now, turning the page and looking at the plans given by Service.

"It's a shame, you had some very interesting ideas, how come you didn't get any of these projects off the ground?"

"According to the council, it was a waste of time and money," Time said, rolling his eyes at him. "I wonder what they think now when they see what's going on in Manehattan."

"What's going on in Manhattan?" Blueblood asked with a raised eyebrow, receiving an odd look from Time.

"You mean you haven't heard? Really?"

"I've been away from Equestria for a long time, I'm still catching up on all the changes around Equestria."

Time looked Blueblood up and down before speaking.

"LexCorp is going to release a working model of a magical motor vehicle next year. At least putting that project in a magazine has gotten somepony else to build it...although I would have preferred to be the one to do it" he whispered with a disappointed tone.

"Mmm…" Blueblood watched Time carefully before focusing on the plane in front of him, thinking carefully before speaking. "How about working on one of these blueprints for a personal project I have?" Blueblood asked, pointing to the blueprints. "If you do well, then after I'm back in charge of Blood Enterprises you'll be appointed head of the Applied Sciences Department."

Time turned his full attention on Blueblood his eyes widened in surprise.

"Are you serious?" Time asked incredulously

"Absolutely, if you can create this I garuntee you'll be back at the company. And this time you'll get the credit you deserve."

Time walked over and looked at the blueprint he was showing him, frowning in confusion.

"Do you want me to make the 'combat suit'?"

"Yes... I'm going caving."

"Caving…" Time repeated with a raised eyebrow, receiving a nod from Blueblood.

"I'm exploring some caves."

"Let's see if I understand, you want me to design you a fireproof suit, resistant against falls and blunt blows, armored in the chest and side areas against arrows, crossbow bolts and firearms, to do... caving?"

"Yeah, I know it's a bit weird, but it's the truth."

Time watched Blueblood for a while, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Mr. Blood, I may be somewhat passionate about science, but I'm not stupid, that was one of the reasons I didn't like the council… please don't make the same mistake."

"I'm not calling you stupid, Dr. Hooves."

"Look, if you expect me to believe this about caving, then you think I'm stupid. I'll be honest, Mr. Blood, as long as you not planning to commit crimes or attempt on somepony's life, I'll be happy to work on what you're planning, so I can run this brain on more than just old clocks." Time said as he looked around his workshop, before focusing back on Blueblood. "But if you want me to put all my passion into that suit and help you with things you couldn't even have thought of, then I need to know what I'm getting myself into."

"I don't think that's necessary" Blueblood replied, leaving his friendly tone behind, to which Time raised an eyebrow.

"Look, I can understand, you don't want to involve the wrong person in whatever it is you're planning. But you can trust me, and if you want to keep quiet, I can give you a pinkie promise that I won't say anything we do."

Blueblood raised an eyebrow at that.

"Pinkie Promise?" he ask doubtfully, to which Time nodded.

"It's something we have around here in Ponyville, more specifically, because of Pinkie Pie, do you know her?"

"The element of laughter? Yes, I know it."

"Well, when we make that promise, she always knows, she doesn't know what we promise, but we did make a promise, and she knows if we break it, ALWAYS."

Blueblood was curious about that, Time seemed much more serious than he was before when telling him about that pinkie promise.

"What happens if you break one?"

"Nopony knows, nopony has dared to break it. You can ask anypony if you don't trust my word."

Blueblood studied Time up and down, in his eyes, it seemed that he was telling the truth, and he had heard enough about Pinkie Pie from his Aunt Celestia to suspect that he was telling the truth. Sighing, Blueblood nodded.

"Okay, come to my mansion tomorrow, I'll send somepony to escort you."

"You won't regret it, I won't say anything at all to anypony who works with you, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye" he said as he made the gestures, causing Blueblood to give him a strange look, pulling out a laugh to Time. "Yeah, I know, it's a bit ridiculous when you do it, but it works."

Blueblood nodded, clasping Time's hoof, sealing the deal, and preparing to leave, he had a few things to do.

Blueblood was walking through the streets of Canterlot, shortly after sunset, so there were few ponies on the street, and those who had looked at him strangely. This was because he was wearing pants and a black hooded jacket, hiding his face. He was in one of the rich neighborhoods of the city, specifically, on the street that had the headquarters of the courts and the prosecutor's office, he had somepony to see.

He reached his destination in a short time, and after looking around, he went into one of the alleys, approaching the fire escape, and after making sure that no one was watching him, he put on a balaclava before starting to climb.

Fancy Pants, for his part, walked into his small office with a frustrated sigh, having been given a longer shift than he should have been, again. A few years ago, he was one of the most influential nobles in Canterlot, but his continued efforts to remain faithful to the two supreme princesses of Equestria and continue to refuse to accept bribes again and again had cost him dearly.

His public reputation might have been intact, but privately, things were different. He was demoted to a lower position and banished to a small, poorly lit office, the light barely covering the entire room. Also, they forced him to stay many nights, which left his wife Fleur alone, but thanks to Celestia, she knew it wasn't his fault and didn't hold it against him, sometimes the stud didn't know what he would do without her.

His head began to throb with pain, so with a groan, he sat down at his desk, took a small pill from his pocket, and swallowed it. Fancy waited silently with his eyes closed for the annoyance in his head to fade before he focused on his work. He grabbed several files and opened them, ready to start, but when he felt something sharp press against the back of his neck, he froze.

"Don't move" said a deep and sinister voice, which sent a shiver down his spine. "You are a good prosecutor, one of the few that remain."

"What do you want?" Fancy asked with a slight tremor in his voice.

"Falcone brings drug shipments every week, why doesn't anypony stop him?"

"Because...because bribing the right ponies..."

"What would it take to stop him?"

"Evidence against Judge Law, against corrupt police officers and prosecutors... and a prosecutor with the guts to prosecute him..."

"You" said the voice, and it wasn't a question.

"Who are you?" Fancy asked nervously and a little scared.

"Soon you will know... you... and the whole city..."

Fancy was silent, a little confused, at least until he felt whatever was on his neck disappear and a small thud sounded behind him. With some fear, he turned around, afraid of whoever it was that he had been there, but there was nopony. The window was open, and on the floor, there was a sharp pencil, the thing that had been used on him. Other than that, there was nothing else…almost as if that pony had been a ghost. The unicorn took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down, and when his headache started to return, he popped another pill into his mouth. He doubted that he would ever be calm in that office again.

Blueblood returned to his mansion after a visit to his Aunt Celestia. It had been a day since he'd visited Fancy Pants, and almost two weeks since he'd contacted Time Hooves. During those days, the earth pony had shown a great passion when it came to doing his work, and although at first it seemed strange to him what the unicorn planned to do, it didn't take him long to show his support. He worked on the suit tirelessly, with Service and his new boss providing him with the materials, he even offered to assemble the computer screens, which were placed together on one of the walls as a giant screen.

He entered the mansion and headed straight for the secret entrance to the cave he used as his base of operations. After exiting the elevator, he saw that Service and Time Hooves sat at the center table, and nearby, a ponnequin dressed in the suit the earth pony had been working on. As Blueblood approached, both ponies greeted him.

"Ah, Mr. Blood, you's back at last" Time said with a smile, walking over to shake the unicorn's hoof.

"That's right, although I must admit I didn't expect to see you here yet, it's already six o'clock. Isn't your wife waiting for you?"

"She's actually not my wife yet, and she already knows I'd be here. Besides, she's gone with Dinky to see her sister, so they'll be late too."

"Okay, so how's it going with the suit?"

"Completely finished" Time said proudly, approaching the suit.

Blueblood looked at his suit, impressed that Time had been able to adapt the poor drawing he had provided into something more understandable. It was dark gray, with the boots of its black hooves, the front ones also had three blades on the sides. He had a dark cape and helmet of the same color, with pointed ears that almost looked like horns, and pure white eyes. On the chest, the stylized symbol of a black bat was enlarged, standing out above everything else, being the most protected area of the armor.

“I added protective plates made of graphene on the chest, back and sides, although I recommend avoiding hits on the legs, especially the rear ones. Resistant and flexible at the same time. The helmet has a voice modulator that will make it more serious and unrecognizable. The cape is made with an intelligent fabric capable of memorizing patterns and acquiring them with a light touch of magic, I took the liberty of presenting the pattern myself, I already had an idea of what you would want" he said with a small laugh.

"Impressive, Dr. Hooves, you have met my expectations."

"Believe me, Mr. Blood, you have only seen the surface. I have added a few additions that will make your... missions a little easier" Time replied with a sly smile, then looking at the helmet. "By the way, haven't you noticed anything unusual about the helmet?"

Blueblood looked at the earth pony curiously before focusing on the helmet, trying to find the oddity. At first, he didn't see anything remarkable, until he looked at the forehead, where the hole for the horn should be, there was none to the naked eye. Curious, he removed the helmet from the ponnequin, and as he did so, the fake horn came out, causing the unicorn to look at Time for answers, who seemed quite excited.

"Your project was the perfect excuse to make something I've been wanting to make for a while, and with a little help from Service, I was able to find the materials."

"It was a pleasure to help you, doctor Hooves" the old unicorn intervened with a smile, one that Time returned before returning to focus on Blueblood.

"It's something I've been thinking about for a long time. You see, invisibility spells are very complicated and cost a lot of magic, and illusory spells with similar purposes only work if you don't move. So, with the help of Service, I managed to find a cloth capable of storing magic, to which the good Service applied an invisibility spell that can be recharged every 12 hours with a small touch of magic. Put that cloth in the hole intended for the horn and for its tail, so you will not have to worry about being associated with your mane"

Blueblood blinked a little in surprise and looked at Service, who was smiling slightly.

"Do you know how to cast invisibility spells?"

"As long as it's about small items, sir, it helped me a lot to keep you from eating more sweets than necessary."

Blueblood rolled his eyes at the butler's little teasing of him, laying the helmet in his place.

"That's impressive, Dr. Hooves, really. It was a good idea to include you in this project. Whenever you want, you can start working at Blood Enterprises."

"The pleasure is mine, I should be the one to thank" Time said with a huge smile. "It has given me the opportunity to do what I like best."

Blueblood moved away a little and watches at Time for a few seconds.

"Since we're done with the suit, what about the motor vehicle?"

Time blinked slightly confused before raising an eyebrow.

"Are you serious?"

"From the way you talked about the model that LexCorp is going to put out, something tells me you would have loved to do it yourself, right?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"Doctor Hooves, I need it. It would be something that would help me move around the city quickly when I need it."

Time thought about it for a few moments, before a smile appeared on his face and he nodded energetically.

"You counts on me."

"Great, how long do you think it will take?"

"If you bring me an engine from those magic-powered trains that are becoming so popular, and the necessary materials, a month or two."

The three of them stayed a while longer talking about what was needed to build the motor vehicle before Time had to leave, at which point Blueblood got to work on his own gadgets. He had already created a large number of smoke bombs and designed a retractable grappling hook that would be useful for quickly climbing buildings. But what he was making now was another batch of his own shuriken, which he called batarangs. Service came over, carrying a tray with his dinner on it, watching the unicorn carefully at work.

"Why a bat, sir? I thought you was afraid of them."

"That's why, because they scare me" Blueblood said as he looked at the newly created batarang. "And criminals will share my fear."

The age of Batmane

Night had fallen on Canterlot a while ago, and the full moon lit up the quiet streets. Near the airship station, there was a warehouse area where some companies kept merchandise brought in from various parts of Equestria. At one of these, a group of ponies were working to get boxes out of the containers and onto the arranged carriages. The place was a veritable labyrinth full of containers, and the lights that were there failed from time to time, creating a somewhat gloomy atmosphere.

After a while, a few stopped, tense as a group of four policepony approached the scene, and before long, everypony who worked there stopped. One of the agents, a unicorn, went over to one of the boxes and pulled out a small teddy bear.

"What do we have here?" he asked with a smile, before snapping the teddy's neck and revealing that inside was a plastic bag filled with white powder. "Oh, what is this?" he asked as he watched the ponies, who looked at each other.

"You shouldn't distract my workers, time is precious."

The policepony turned to look at the king of crime, Falcone, looking with a smile at the group, and next to him, one of his most faithful henchpony, Zuchetto, a large unicorn with a knack for throwing knives.

"I was just kidding them, Mr. Falcone" said the policepony with a small laugh and leaving the stuffed animal in its place. "As you requested, we have come to save you trouble."

The policepony approached the two, smiling, while Falcone nodded in satisfaction.

"Great, I'm already losing too much merchandise on the streets to lose it on delivery."

"Have you already found out who is hurting you these weeks?"

"No, and our vendors keep talking about a giant batpony," Zuchetto snorted, earning a glare from the cop.

"I've heard about it in the papers. Is it a thestral?"

"According to what they say, no, he's more diabolical," Falcone said, rolling his eyes. "And I'm inclined to think that it's nothing more than a myth, an excuse that those who work for me use to hide their flaws. I want the one who is really screwing me up, and I want him dead."

"That's right, boss" replied Zuchetto.

"I hope so... I'll be in my carriage, let me know if anything happens."

Falcone said a final goodbye to the two ponies and walked off to his carriage, parked outside the warehouse. It had been almost two weeks since somepony had been thwarting their dealers' sales on the streets, and many of them were turning up tied up and beaten, all the time saying the same thing, a monstrous bat-like pony had done that to them, and the newspapers soon spread the word through the city, baptizing him as Batmane. Although he was sure it was a lie, a rumour, a myth, he was beginning to wonder if there wasn't something to it.

Zuchetto watched the ponies work, watched over by a few guards and the policepony. Many of the lights in the place, hanging from the ceiling, were flickering continuously, something that was making him nervous. After a while, he pointed to one of the ponies keeping watch.

"You, go check on the generator! I want those lights to stop flashing."

"Yes sir..." said the pony, a unicorn, nervously.

Clutching his griffin submachine gun tightly in his magic, the pony plunged into the maze of containers, trying to find the generator. He didn't want to be there, he preferred a thousand times to be in one of the restaurants and places that the mafia had in his name, or settling accounts with someone who owed money, that would be more fun. But the pay was good, so here he was.

After a while, he finally reached his destination, at the other end of the warehouse, a metal box rumbling slightly with power, its wires connected to the wall. Leaving his weapon in a nearby box, the unicorn crouched down and tried to find a problem, which was difficult since he was no electrician. Before he even started to do anything, a hissing object sped past him and slammed into the generator, sending up a shower of sparks that forced him to step aside.

"Fuck!" he yelled as he covered his eyes.

When he managed to open them, he noticed that the place was now dark, dimly lit by what little moonlight came through the windows. Nervously he used his horn to illuminate his surroundings and grabbed his weapon, then looking at the impact site. Protruding from the machine, with various sparks around it, was what appeared to be a metal object, an object that he carefully removed with his magic. Bringing it closer, he saw that it was some kind of blade in the shape of a bat, which confused him. Where the hell had that come from?

He looked around him, trying to find the source, but it was too dark for that. He heard a noise above his head, and raising it, he saw nothing, the ceiling completely hidden by shadows. He kept his gaze up for almost a minute before giving up, and as he was about to lower his head, he saw something, something approaching him rapidly. Eyes wide as saucers, he saw some kind of bat pounce on him with its wings spread. The unicorn screamed loudly as he tried to ready his weapon, but he barely had time before the thing caught up with him and plunged everything into darkness.

Far away, two ponies, a unicorn and an earth pony, looking for the pony that went for the generator, following Zuchetto's orders. The unicorn led the way, using his magic to light the way. They both stopped dead when they heard a scream in the distance, so they looked at each other doubtfully before starting to run.

They passed dozens of containers and several corridors between them, in the general direction of the scream. Shortly after, just before their got there, something grabbed the unicorn and dragged him into one of the dark corridors, and the earth pony stopped short, hearing his mate's screams before the light went out completely, leaving him in darkness.

Swallowing hard, he grabbed his adapted submachine gun and slowly approached, trying to see in what little moonlight there was. He looked out into the hallway, which was totally shrouded in shadow, trying to make out something.

"He-hello?" he ask nervously. "A-are the-there an-anypony the-there?"

There was no response, which only made him more nervous, the hairs on his fur standing on end and fear beginning to overpower him. Some noises were heard behind him, making him jump and start shooting in that direction, only to find the same containers as always.

The earth pony tried to breathe easy, to calm down, but another noise to the right of him unnerved him and prompted another round of shots. He backed away, startled, his eyes trying to make out something in the shadows. From time to time, he would shoot at some strange shape, only to see that they were silhouettes formed from the shadows, almost as if they were mocking him.

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

"Here."

The earth pony felt his blood run cold at the sound of that deep, sinister voice, and turning, he saw the head of somepony... something... that it had white eyes that were not equine and seemed to be looking straight into his soul. All he could do was scream in terror before the thing lunged at him.

Zuchetto waited by the group of ponies, watching the darkness, listening to the cries of the ponies that had entered the maze of containers, which was making those present nervous, and some were getting scared. Both he and the other unicorns lit their horns to illuminate the space, giving a much larger viewing area.

"What the hell was that?" the cop said, his horn also on and watching the shadows carefully.

"No idea, but whoever he is, he's going to learn a lesson" Zuchetto growled.

"It's him…" one of the ponies whispered, drawing the attention of a few more. "It's Batmane..."

The ponies looked at each other nervously and scared, but Zuchetto growled and hit the ground hard, drawing everypony's attention.

"Listen to me, there is no Batmane, and if he did, he would be nothing more than a clown in disguise. You don't have to be afraid, he should be afraid of us."

The ponies looked at each other, those words were enough to cheer them up a bit. Zuchetto continued to stare into the darkness, alert for any change.

"Tell Mr. Falcone" he said to the cop next to him.

He watched him for a second before obeying and turning around, beginning to move forward at a fast pace. Shortly after he was gone, something flew out of the darkness and bounced off the ground before stopping. The ponies moved quickly away, looking at what it was, a small ball. Before their could get closer to study it better, it exploded and released a huge cloud of smoke that covered them all. Zuchetto coughed as he walked away, managing to get out of the smoke and look at it. Something caught his attention, and when he focused on that, he could see for a few seconds how a figure jumped from somewhere in the heights towards the great cloud of smoke.

In a few seconds, the sound of banging, screaming and ponies falling to the floor filled the room, Zuchetto could barely tell what was happening in there. The smoke began to thin out, revealing the unconscious bodies of the ponies and, in the center, the silhouette of what appeared to the naked eye to be an earth pony, dressed in a gray suit, half hidden by the black cloak, the bat symbol on his chest, those ears that looked like horns and his soulless white eyes. The great unicorn looked him up and down as he used his magic to pull a few knives out of his saddlebag.

"So you are that Batmane... Well, let me tell you that you don't scare me."

Zuchetto threw the knives, but the figure was quicker, nimbly dodging as he closed. When the unicorn ran out of daggers, he decided to charge into the fray with a battle cry, throwing his right hoof forward to strike, but the thing dodged and struck him in the neck. The pony backed away, clutching its throat, gasping for air in pain, but his opponent didn't stop, punching him across the face several times, then, with impressive speed and agility, spinning to use his legs and send him to the ground.

Zuchetto stared at the ceiling, gasping for air, but soon he felt a hoof being placed on his chest, and practically afterwards, the thing's head appeared in his vision. His hoof came up and, in a swift movement, it struck him with such force that he was knocked unconscious.

"Stay here!" said a voice behind him.

The figure slowly turned his head and saw that the cop had returned and was pointing his gun at him, levitating shakily in his magical aura. He was joined by Falcone, who stood next to him and watched the figure.

"I told you to go away, Mr. Falcone, I have this under control."

"Bullshit," growled Falcone, taking a good look at the pony in front of him. "This is my territory, and nopony meddles in my business." The earth pony looked at the figure, then passed the unconscious ponies. "I don't know how you knocked out my boys, but your luck ran out, kill him."

The cop didn't need to be told twice, firing his pistol directly at the figure's chest, just above the bat symbol. When they hit him, aside from stepping back slightly, and letting out a small gasp of pain, he did nothing else, untouched. The gun kept firing until it ran out of bullets, leaving the unicorn wide-eyed. The figure began to walk forward slowly but steadily.

"Do not move!" the cop yelled as he tried to reload his gun.

Falcone, on the other hand, started to back away and walked away, leaving only the unicorn. The figure continued to advance, making the cop more nervous, at last reloading his pistol and preparing to fire, but the thing stuffed one of his hoofs into his cloak and whipped it out, throwing a blade and hitting the weapon, knocking it to the ground.

The pony stared at the thing in terror for a few seconds before running off, but he didn't take four steps before something bit into one of his legs. With a cry of pain, he stumbled and fell to the ground, turning his head to see that, on his right hoof, was a bat-shaped blade, and further back, slowly approaching, was that monster.

"GET AWAY!" he scream, totally terrified as he tried to get away, crawling on the ground. "DON'T COME NEAR ME!"

Far away, Falcones was leaving the warehouse, pausing for a few moments as he heard the cop's screams, rather than fall silent. Nervously, he approached his carriage, pulled by two earth ponies who eyed him doubtfully.

"What's going on, Mr. Falcone?"

"Shut up, we're out of here!" yelled the mobster as he got into the carriage.

The drivers looked at each other before moving off, however, something sharp and fast flew out and bald deep into one of the ponies' legs, causing it to yelp in pain as it fell to the ground, preventing his partner from moving. Falcone, from inside, became more nervous upon hearing the scream, and when he looked out his right window, he saw that coming out of the darkness of the warehouse was that monster, slowly approaching.

"Fuck," he growled as he grabbed the sawed-off shotgun he had.

A bang was heard outside, and when Falcone raised his head, he heard that the unharmed pony had unrestrained the carriage and was running, hurrying away.

"DO NOT LEAVE ME HERE!" shouted the other, for seconds later to shout even louder. "NO, NO...! MERCY! MERCY!"

With one last cry, everything fell silent. Falcone didn't dare come out, instead making sure the shotgun was loaded and ready. The carriage moved slightly, making him even more nervous.

"What the hell are you?" he growled to himself.

The moonlight streaming through the small window in the roof of his carriage disappeared, and before he could look in that direction, the glass shattered, dropping the remains of him as the figure landed inside. Before Falcone could take aim, that monster snatched the shotgun from him and hit him in the chest with its right hoof, pinning him against the wall and staring at him with those white eyes.

"I'm Batmane."

Right after saying that, he used his head to hit him in the forehead and knock him unconscious in one blow, leaving everything in darkness.

Luna snapped out of her dream state, raising her head and looking around her dark room. Giving a small yawn, she got out of her bed and stretched a little, attentive to any movement. One of the advantages of being the princess of the night and dreams, is that apart from only needing two hours of sleep, she could wake up almost immediately if she required it. Her gaze focused on the door that led to her balcony, from which she took out the moon, walking towards it and stepping out into the cold night air, looking at the stars.

"I know you are there."

She turned her head to look at the far end of the balcony, engulfed in shadow, and from which emerged the figure of a pony wearing a costume that resembled a bat.

"So you're the one they call Batmane, huh?" Luna said as she looked at the pony in front of her. "I don't know how you dodged the guards, but your luck runs out here."

Before she could use her magic to arrest him, Batmane tucked his hoof inside his cloak and tossed a folder at Luna, who watched with a frown.

"What's this?" she asked her as she grabbed the folder with her magic.

"Evidence against corrupt judges and prosecutors, there is also evidence against Falcone, photos, letters... Everything necessary to lock him up."

"Even if it's true, without something more forceful it would be difficult to arrest him..."

"That's why he's waiting for you at the scene of a drug delivery at one of the airship station's warehouses. If you goes now, you'll be there before he wakes up."

Luna stopped looking at the folder full of files and looked at Batmane.

"Why?"

"Because this city belongs to the citizens, and I'm going to remind them."

Luna raised a curious eyebrow, focusing on the folder, seeing that Batmane was right, it was full of different files cataloged by judges and prosecutors, and an exclusive one for Falcone, with photos of him in drug deliveries, letters where murder crimes were evidenced, kidnapping or drug trafficking...

"You may have helped, but I still don't know if I can trust you..."

Luna stopped when she saw that Batmane was gone. Frowning, she lit her horn and scanned the place, finding a small trail that disappeared beyond the balcony. With a sigh, the princess of the night looked at the moon, meditating. She had a feeling that this would become a very common thing.

Blueblood walked wearily towards his dining room, where Service was already waiting with a tray with his breakfast and a newspaper.

"Eleven o'clock in the morning is a new record, sir" Service said with a small smile.

"I know, Service, a small price to pay."

Blueblood sat down at the table with a sigh, using his magic to grab the apple on the tray and bring it to his mouth.

"Your performance last night caused a furor."

Blueblood glanced at Service before focusing on the newspaper, grabbing it and looking at it. On the front page was an artistic rendering of Batmane.

Falcone victim of the bat.

Last night, Her Highness, Princess Luna, went to a warehouse with a squad of her own guard and apprehended the notorious, supposed crime kingpin Falcone along with a group of ponies and corrupt cops. Drug shipments were found at the scene that came from various parts of Equestria and were to be distributed in the city. But the important thing is that, although her highness has not said anything official, there are rumors that the cause of this arrest and that Princess Luna has been involved, is none other than Batmane, who until now had only been a rumor among criminals.

Is this vigilante real? If so, is he a pony or something else? We are not sure, and none of the princesses have wanted to make a statement about it. As for Falcone, he is to stand trial in two days, and in the meantime, he will be held in the dungeons of the royal castle. Real or not, Batmane has put organized crime in check, we just have to wait and see what happens next.

Blueblood nodded as he set the newspaper aside, looking at Service.

"Theatricality and deception, Service, are powerful allies."

"It seems so, sir. But…I keep wondering why you chose your Aunt Luna over Princess Celestia."

"I suspected Celestia wouldn't be very cooperative with me." Blueblood frowned as he focused on his food. "She prefers to make things as legal as possible, I doubt she will approve of my methods. Luna, on the other hand, has always been more permissive with the law."

Blueblood took another bite of his apple, grabbing his glass of orange juice to drink later.

"What are you going to do now with Falcone behind bars?"

"I'm not done yet," Blueblood said, swallowing his food and taking a sip of his drink. "There are still several more mob members and corrupt ponies left. Tonight, I'll pay them a visit."

The banquet is over

Two carriages stopped in front of a mansion, on the outskirts of Canterlot and protected by a small strip of forest. Coming out of the carriages were Commissioner Low Bow, a short, slightly stout, brown-haired earth pony with a graying mane, and Mayor Misleading Truth, a unicorn mare with bluish fur and a black mane combed into a bun over her head.

"Ah, mayor, nice to see you" said the commissioner as he approached, kissing her right hoof.

"Same here, commissioner, how is you doing at the police station?" the mayor said as they both approached the doors.

"Not bad, though, I must admit things have gotten a bit complicated with everything that happened yesterday."

"For you and everypony, Commissar" said a voice from the doors, taking over as Rough Thorn, Falcone's second in command. "Falcone's fall has been a blow to all of us."

"I agree" commented the mayor. "And since he's locked up in the castle, I'm not sure we can get him out, I hope you have a plan."

"We'll discuss that inside, please come in."

The three entered the mansion, oblivious to what was happening beyond. A unicorn pony was wandering around the property, but at one point, something dug hard into its neck. With a small groan, he magically pulled the thing out of him and looked at it, seeing something that looked like a syringe. Before long, he began to feel dizzy, his eyes closed on their own and his legs no longer supported him. As he fell, the last thing he saw before falling into unconsciousness was a dark figure with large horns on its head and white eyes.

Batmane walked over, making sure the guard was asleep, pulling out the little blowgun again with his magic, and watching the other guards and drivers. Accurately, he fired several more sedatives, putting all the ponies outside to sleep, and once done, he put the blowgun away and activated one of Time's additions. Everything around him became blacker, and the recently slept ponies were highlighted in blue, all with the same status along with their vital signs, 'unconscious'. The bat made sure nopony else was there, then began searching along the wall for the fuse box that controlled the entire mansion's electricity from the Canterlot power station.

He didn't take long to find it, standing out in an orange hue, so he deactivated 'predator mode' and walked over, pulling a small circular object from his belt, opening the fuse box and placing the device with the wires, holding on to these immediately. Batmane closed the box and walked away, searching for a route of entry as he made sure he had the small crystal he had bought days ago for situations like this.

Inside, the commissioner, the mayor and Rough Thorn entered the large dining room that the mobster had, but despite how enormous the table was, there was only one mare with white hair and a black mane, a mare that smiled at the newcomers.

"Wow, look who they are, if they are the commissioner and the mayor, how are they?"

"You didn't say she'd be here," Low said with a raised eyebrow, to which Rough shrugged.

"Full Moon is, like me, one of the high-ranking members of the mafia, and if something happens to Falcone, she must be here."

The commissioner doubtfully observed Full Moon, known for sending all her enemies and debtors to the river, which earned her the name of Fish Mooney, he had never fully trusted her. Still, he wasn't going to challenge her, or the owner of the house, so he sat at the table, the mayor sitting next to him, facing them the two mobsters. Several servants approached with the food, one of them setting up a small, simple silver bonfire and lighting a fire, lighting the room a little more with his glow.

"I still don't understand why you put a fire here" wondered Low.

"I like the atmosphere it gives to the dining room, don't you agree, Mrs. Truth?"

"Yes, my husband wanted one for our house, but he always puts off buying it" said the mare with a small laugh, being interrupted by a throat clearing from the commissioner.

"Well, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I think we should address the issue we're here for."

"The commissioner is right" Full Moon said. "Falcone's arrest will be a blow to business. Is there a way to get him released?"

"Conventional methods won't work," the mayor said with a sigh, cutting a piece of her food. "They've given too much evidence against our usual judges and prosecutors, and Princess Luna wants to make sure Falcone is tried by 'clean' ponies."

"That was to be expected," Rough commented. "Do we know who will be the judge?"

"No, but we do know who the prosecutor will be."

"Don't tell me, Low" interrupted Full with a smile. "It will be that Fancy Pants, right?"

"The same. And we won't be able to buy that one."

"There are other methods, Commissioner. Mayor Truth, do you think we could keep our beloved prosecutor alone in his office?" Rough asked as he popped a piece of the roasted eggplant into his mouth.

"Of course, I's been doing it for the last two years" said the mare with a small laugh.

"Well, I'll send one of my hit pony, although it's a shame that Zuchetto is behind bars, he was good at his job. Anyway, once Mr. Pants is eliminated, we'll buy the next prosecutor who will prosecute Falcone."

"If Fancy dies, I have a feeling the princesses will want to choose the prosecutor themselves, that is if they don't decide to do it themselves."

"Don't worry, Low, princesses don't usually get into that, much less Celestia" Full Moon replied with a small laugh.

"We'll see what we do if the princesses choose the prosecutor" Rough commented, then looking at the rest. "Since we have talked about this topic, let's go to another point, what do we do with Batmane?"

The room was silent for a few moments, neither of them daring to speak. Finally, the mayor cleared her throat.

"Do you really believe that urban legend?"

"Come on Mayor, we both know it's real, we can't deny it anymore, can we Commissioner?"

Low grunted, slicing his own eggplant with his knife.

"Princess Celestia has given an order to the royal guard and the police, she wants us to catch this Batmane and bring him to her. From her words, he is a pony that needs help."

"Always so kind" Full Moon commented as she rolled hef eyes. "Are you going to carry out that order?"

"Officially, yes, unofficially... I have instructed my most loyal agents not to bother incapacitating him, instead I want them to shoot to kill."

"If you need us to supply you with another class of weapons, the Penguin will be happy to have another client."

"No need, Mr. Thorn, we'll manage."

Rough nodded, going back to his food and leaving the room silent for a few moments. Full Moon swallowed the piece of food in her mouth and was about to say something, but was interrupted when the lights went out, leaving everything in darkness, except for a small strip of light given by the fire.

"What happened?" the mayor asked as she stood up, careful not to accidentally trip.

"There must be some power failure," Rough theorized, also getting up. "Stay here, I'll bring one of my ponies to..."

His words were interrupted when the doors leading to the dining room were flung open, and there, dimly illuminated by the fire, was the silhouette of a being with horns and white eyes, who began to slowly approach under the watchful gaze of the presents.

"Ladies, gentlestallions... You've eaten well... You've eaten Canterlot's wealth... its spirit... But your feast is nearly over... From this moment on..." The figure of Batmane raised the upper deck of fire in a magical aura, mistaking those present who saw him as an earth pony. "NONE of you are safe."

Batmane finished covering the fire and plunged everything into the deepest darkness. Shortly after, the lights came back on, but the bat was no longer among them.

Luna opened her eyes again and got up in her bed, the same feeling she had the night before. Getting up from the bed, she went out onto the balcony, but instead of looking out into the night, she focused her attention on the same corner as before, seeing Batmane waiting.

"Do you know that my sister has placed an arrest warrant on you?"

"Are you planning to arrest me?"

"I'm not sure, you've given us the opportunity to imprison Falcone, but I'm still not sure if I should trust you... Anyway, what did you come here for this time?"

Batmane pulled a crystal from within his cloak, enveloping it in a magical aura that made Luna arch an eyebrow.

"How come you do magic without a horn?" she asked as she grasped the item in her own magic, receiving no response. "Okay, don't tell me..."

Luna looked at the crystal with curiosity, a curiosity that she increased when noticing magical energy within it. Feeling a hunch, she imprinted a small amount of magic on the object, which vibrated a few seconds before it began to speak.

"I think we should address the issue we're here for."

"The commissioner is right. Falcone's arrest will be a blow to business. Is there a way to get him released?"

Luna stopped the playback and watched Batmane in shock.

"Echo Crystal... How did you get it?"

"I have my resources... In there you have, practically, a confession from Police Commissioner Low Bow, Mayor Misleading Truth, and two of Falcone's high-ranking mobsters."

Luna stared at Batmane for a while before focusing on the echo crystal.

"Okay, I admit it… you've earned my trust. But don't expect my sister to think the same."

Luna looked up from her again, only to see that she was alone again. This time, she didn't bother trying to locate him, instead she entered her room and left the echo crystal on her desk. She had to go back to protecting the dreams of her subjects, but when the sun came up, she was going to arrest a few ponies.

Princess Luna walked briskly through the halls of the castle toward the throne room, accompanied by two of her night guards, a unicorn and a thestral. Earlier she had gone to Commissioner Low Bow's house an hour earlier to arrest him and search his house with a group of her night watch, and she would have gone to the mayor's if she hadn't received a letter her sister's urgent. The night alicorn arrived at the doors, opening them with her magic and entering, seeing Celestia on her throne, her face calm for everypony, but for her, she knew very well her true feelings, and she was not very happy. .

"Where were you, Sister?" she said in a calm voice, but Luna could see through that mask Celestia wore.

Luna could recognize the look that she was giving her sister, a look that she, before her banishment, had seen a lot throughout the centuries. She always gave her that look when she did something that either disappointed her or angered her, if she ever disagreed with her, passing a law without consulting her first, among many other things. When she returned from the moon, Celestia avoided having to give her that look, perhaps because she still felt guilty about it, and partly it was also because the princess of the night had made sure to avoid that situation and get into conflict again. So it was until that little accident that Twilight's friendship map sent Starlight to fix things. Since then, she thought that it would never happen again, until now.

"Arresting Commissioner Low, I thought I told you at breakfast."

"I thought you would first wait until I finished my morning chores to discuss it" Celestia argued, Luna could already see that this time, the look was disappointed.

"I thought it wouldn't be necessary, as I showed you this morning, the Echo Crystal presented enough evidence against him, the mayor and…"

"I know, but you should have discussed it with me anyway, this is a diarchy, not a monarchy, Luna."

The princess of the night forced herself to bite her tongue, but she kept Celestia's gaze. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that both her and her sister's guards were getting nervous, not used to such a situation.

"Leave us alone," Celestia ordered, still watching her sister.

The guards looked at each other before obeying, and Luna nodded her own to do the same. When the last of them left, Celestia got up from her throne and started down the stairs towards her sister.

"Who's your contact, Luna? You're not going to tell me that all those evidences you've gotten these days were on your own, right?"

"I have my sources" Luna replied with a shrug.

"That source isn't by any chance Batmane, is it?" Celestia finished going down the stairs and stood right in front of Luna, staring at her.

"Maybe."

Celestia's forehead creased slightly, a small crack in her emotionless mask, before she returned to her unflappable face.

"Luna, you know what I think of that pony."

"I know, but that pony has turned Falcone over to us, revealed the identities of the corrupt judges and prosecutors, and given us a confession from the Commissioner, the mayor, and two of the mob bosses. I don't see a problem with him. "

"He got it illegally," Celestia said, her wings opening slightly, another display of her true emotions. "He has hurt other ponies, broken their bones, Luna."

"Criminals" replied the princess of the night with a frown. "Besides, I haven't done anything illegal, I've just used evidence given to me. And last time I checked, that wasn't illegal."

"That pony has to stop before he hurts himself, he may even need psychological help."

"First, you can't judge his mental sanity without meeting him first, and second, I don't see you telling Twilight and her friends not to save the day so they don't get hurt."

Celestia spread her wings fully, in an instinctive act of looking intimidating, which Luna was not impressed with.

"That is very, very different, and you know it. They were chosen by the Tree of Harmony, it was their destiny, besides, they are not just dedicated to saving the day, as you have said. This pony, however, has passed whole nights on the streets fighting criminals. He has to stop, now, and since he's your source, you'll let him know."

Luna growled and hit the ground with her hoof, creating a small crack in the marble.

"You said yourself that this is a diarchy, so you have no right to order me around. I will deal with Batmane as I see fit."

Luna held her sister's gaze for a while before turning and starting to leave the throne room.

"We're not done, Luna" her sister said behind her.

"I think so," Luna replied, stopping at the door and looking over her shoulder at her. "I'm going to go arrest the mayor and then I'm going to go after the mob bosses. Don't wait for me to eat."

With those words, Luna left the room, leaving Celestia alone, who watched the door for a long time before sighing. She glanced from it to the windows, taking in the rays of the sun streaming through the stained glass, her thoughts of Batmane and, more importantly, her sister. Why did it seem like they were always destined to fight from time to time?

A carriage, pulled by a unicorn and an earth pony, was headed to the outskirts of Canterlot, more specifically, to the Ace Wing Chemicals weather station. Inside the carriage were three other stallions, a pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony, the latter dressed in a full-body black tuxedo suit, hiding his hind legs, and, on his head, a red hood that hid his face completely, even his tail was hidden by a cape of the same color as his hood.

"Well, the plan is simple, we go in, our dear guest takes us to the station manager's office, we steal the safe and we leave, understood?" the unicorn asked.

The pegasus nodded, but the one wearing the hood did not, so the unicorn raised his pistol to his head, knocking him back.

"Understood?" he asked again.

The earth pony did nod this time, leaving the unicorn satisfied.

"Boss, who is our guest?" asked the pegasus curiously. "You never told us."

"Because there's no need, now shut up, we're almost there."

About ten more minutes passed before the carriage stopped in front of the doors of the climatic power station. The stallions pulling the cart disengaged as the others got out. When they were ready, the unicorn passed them his weapons and they approached the doors, and after a few blows from the earth pony, they managed to open them, pushing the hooded pony forward. The five of them moved cautiously, keeping an eye out for any security guards in the building.

They entered the room where the different types of clouds were made, rainy, electric, snowy... But the red hooded pony took them further to a different room, with numerous tanks with different types of chemicals with which they experimented in the clouds, and, overhead, walkways made of enchanted clouds for earth ponies and unicorns to walk through, made of that material to prevent chemical corrosion of the metal. The group moved at a good pace, in the dark and in silence, stopping when a beam of light illuminated them.

"Stop!"

The group turned, alarmed, to see a unicorn who was pointing a flashlight at them and had a small earpiece in his ear.

"We have intruders in the chemical section!" he yelled as he pulled a small crossbow from his belt.

The head of the operation cursed as he drew his pistol and fired. The guard narrowly dodged and hid behind a tank as the group ran off. Ahead of them, emerging from behind another of the tanks, was another guard, an earth pony, crossbow at the ready, shooting several shavings. The thieves parted ways, three on one side and the chief with the hooded pony on another. They ran for a while until they reached some stairs that led up to the cloud walkways, and when the boss saw the beams of the flashlights approaching, he forced the earth pony to climb up, and in his alarmed state, he didn't notice the sign to one side.

To earth ponies and unicorns, beware, the solidity spells in the clouds are being strengthened. Walk carefully.

The two of them ran down the walkways, the hooded pony more nervous than usual due to the material on the floor, which trembled with every step, hearing several guards climbing the stairs. It wasn't long before the clouds collapsed under the weight of the unicorn, who fell towards one of the tanks, but managed to grab onto the edge.

"Fuck! Help me!"

The hooded pony turned, looking at the pony in distress... the pony that had dragged him into this situation. Slowly backing away, he turned and ran, ignoring the cries for help and fury from the unicorn, which slipped lower and lower until he fell. With a scream, he rushed into the tank full of chemicals, with the bad luck that his neck hit the edge, dying instantly and his body sinking. Two guards ran through the area, taking care to pass through the broken clouds, and without noticing the death that had just occurred.

The hooded pony came to a fork, and, nervous and scared, tried to remember the paths of those walkways, turning to the right. From time to time, he would turn his head to see if he was being followed, until he came to another fork, one he knew the exit was to the right of him. As he turned in that direction, something leaped from the darkness above, several meters from him... Batmane. Terrified, the pony gave up and started running as fast as he could, sensing that the bat was behind him

The pony spun around one last time, dropping his hoof onto an unstable section of cloud and falling into the void. With a cry of terror, he managed to cling to the railing, watching as Batmane quickened his pace, and in that moment, it was something that relieved him. But to his horror, the object he was clinging to began to give way, as it too was made of clouds. Desperate, he tried to push himself up, which only hastened his fate. With one last cry, he fell into the tank just below him, the last thing he saw before he sank into the chemicals was the figure of the bat.

Batmane growled and ran over, ready to save the pony, but when he looked out, he saw that the pony fell into the chemicals. As much as he wanted to save him, he knew well that falling here was an almost certain guarantee of death. A chip passed near him, and turning, he saw two guards aiming crossbows at it. Pulling the batclaw, he anchored it to one of the ceiling beams and climbed up. He had managed to catch the other three thieves, and despite this, the fourth died, so he took it as a failure.

Far away, in the river, and near the large pipes that took out the chemical waste that would later be cleaned in the dam, a figure crawled. He was dressed in a suit that was falling apart, revealing the pure white fur underneath, and the cutie mark, or what was left of it, as it was now nothing more than a black stain. The pony crawled into a pool of stagnant water, pulling off the red hood he was wearing and revealing his face, a face as white as the rest of his fur, a sickly green mane, and a grim smile created by two deep gashes, and that now, they were even more pronounced and reddish in color by the chemicals.

The earth pony stared into the puddle, the last of his mental barriers falling and crumbling, clutching his head with both hooves as he let out a small giggle, which then turned into a laugh, ending in a maniacal guffaw.

Latent madness

Service got out of the elevator and went into the so-called batcave, entering the main room, and at the moment, the only one. In one corner was the suit made by Time Hooves in its respective ponnequin, and Blueblood was sitting in front of the new computer, completely focused on it.

"How's the connection, sir?" he asked as he approached.

"Good, Service. The network may only work for private companies and government corporations like the police at the moment, but it's doing great. And Dr. Hooves has been a great help in getting me inside."

"It's lucky that we had a prodigy in engineering and computer science" Service stood next to Blueblood, looking at the screen, where you could see a picture of a unicorn and, on the other side, pictures of unicorns were scrolling at full speed. "May I know what you are doing, sir?"

"Last night I went to Ace Wing Chemicals, five ponies broke in to rob the plant manager. I caught three of them, one escaped and one died."

"He died?" Service asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He fell into a chemical tank, they found his body stuck in one of the dam's purifiers, his head was smashed, he couldn't be identified."

"What an unpleasant fate" Service commented with a smirk.

"The leader of the operation managed to escape, I'm trying to find a match between his mugshot and the airship and train station cameras."

"I didn't know they had cameras."

"Not until a few weeks ago. Blood Enterprises offered they an efficient and cheap security service. They get up-to-date security, the company makes a profit and I..."

"A surveillance network on the main exits of Canterlot, smart sir" Service stated with a smile, one that Blueblood returned.

"Don't give me so much credit, the one who managed to link the cameras with the batcomputer was Time."

"An important achievement. Have you managed to locate the fugitive, sir?"

"Unfortunately, no. He most likely escaped on the roads" Blueblood said, frowning. "That has escaped and is not still in the city."

"Well then you should leave it for later, sir, you have visitors."

Blueblood blinked before looking at Service with a raised eyebrow.

"Visitors?"

Applejack was frowning as she looked around the spacious room they were in, sitting in an oversized chair surrounded by paintings and statues too pretentious for her taste.

"Brighten up that face a bit, dear" Rarity said, sitting next to her, with a smile.

"I told you when you asked me to come, I don't like that pony. I'm not going to pretend otherwise," Applejack growled sullenly.

"My dear, I already explained to you why Blueblood behaved that way. I thought you understood."

"He I don't care because he did it, it was horrible how he treated you, and on top of that, he said my food, my family's traditional food, was worthy of a landfill."

"If I remember correctly, he said it was carnival food" Rarity commented with a small laugh, although she fell when she saw Applejack's face.

"It's still an insult."

"Applejack, I know it upset you, but try to understand, he mistook me for the fillyfriend of his parents' killer. How would you have reacted?"

Applejack didn't reply, instead she looked away, refusing to speak. Rarity looked at her friend for a while before sighing.

"Look, I know he was a bad pony, but I found out he wasn't what I imagined he would be. We've written a few letters to each other and he's quite nice."

Applejack glanced at Rarity, who had a smile.

"You...do you still like him?"

Rarity blinked in surprise and looked at Applejack curiously, before an embarrassed smile appeared on her face.

"In fact... I've realized that what I felt for him was a typical teenage crush, I'm still embarrassed to remember it. Please don't tell him."

Applejack looked at Rarity for a few seconds before letting out a small laugh, nodding.

"I promise you."

"Rarity! What a surprise" said a voice from the entrance.

Both mares turned to see Blueblood, dressed in a bathrobe and approaching with a smile. Rarity smiled happily, though she raised an eyebrow at the unicorn's clothing.

"Hello, Blueblood, it's nice to see you... though I didn't expect to see you like this."

"Yeah, I just woke up" commented the unicorn with a smile as he sat up.

"At this time?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow, judging the pony in front of her.

"What? What about the time?"

"It's almost 12 in the morning, sir" Service said as he walked in with a tray on his magic. "I gather that for Miss Apple, waking up at this hour must seem strange to her."

"Oh, that's right, farm life and all," Blueblood commented as he waved a hoof in the air, not even noticing Applejack's face, but before the mare could say anything, the stallion continued. "Hard work, I wish I could have that strength. Sometimes I envy that of earth ponies."

Applejack blinked in surprise as she watched Blueblood's smile, looking askance at Rarity, that if they were alone, she would say 'I told you so'.

"Well... You don't have to be an earth pony for that... We only have a small advantage, nothing more."

"Of course, of course" the unicorn commented as he waved a hoof, watching as his butler placed the tray on the table, where there was a teapot and three cups. "Do you fancy some tea? Service's teas are quite good, they always help me wake up."

"Of course dear, that would be divine" Rarity said with a smile, watching as Service poured a cup.

Applejack watched everything in silence, and when the butler handed her a cup, she took it between her hooves hesitantly. Blueblood took his own mug from him and took a sip, sighing with satisfaction.

"Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" I ask.

"Oh, I was passing through Canterlot for a visit to my Boutique here, and thought I'd drop by to see you with my friend Applejack. I hope I haven't interrupted anything."

"Nonsense, I didn't have anything important to do" Blueblood took another sip from his cup. "I don't have to go to Blood Enterprises today, so I'm free."

"How's the company going? Derpy told me that Time is much happier than usual" Rarity asked curiously, eliciting a laugh from Blueblood.

"I should be the happiest. Honestly, the counselor was stupid to fire Dr. Hooves. Just under a month and he already has a number of projects underway that will put Blood Enterprises on a par with other companies like Lexcorp. They took years to develop a motor vehicle based on the designs published by Hooves, he already has almost half of our first model ready. Next year you will begin to see cars circulating in Canterlot."

"I'm so happy for him, I always knew that pony was n't taking advantage of all his abilities from him" Rarity said with a smile and a sip from her cup of her.

Applejack preferred to remain silent, she had never been a fan of science, and she didn't think she could give any outstanding opinion. Instead, she watched Blueblood carefully, there was something about his way of being that seemed... dishonest. What he said was true, she could see that, and she could also see that
he got along with Rarity, but his carefree attitude… it was as if he was faking it. In the past, she would n't pay much attention to that, but ever since she and her friends de ella defeated Tirek, her element de ella was stronger inside her than ever, and right now, it was telling her that the pony in front of her was not being entirely honest.

"Would you like to stay for lunch? Since it's 12 o'clock, it would take you a while to get to canterlot on hoof. Believe me, I've done it" Blueblood commented with a smile.

"I'd love to, but I promised Applejack it'd be a quick visit, she's got stuff to do."

Applejack blinked and looked at her friend de ella, who gave her an amused smile, to which she just rolled her eyes at her. Blueblood, for his part, fainted.

"In that case, let me say something I should have said a while ago" his gaze went to Applejack, who raised a curious eyebrow. "I'm so sorry for what I said to him years ago. I know there's no way to justify it, but I hope you can forgive me."

Once again, Applejack felt honesty in her words, causing her image of Blueblood to change. Sighing, she forced herself to smile, even knowing that Rarity would tease her about this.

"You are forgiven."

Blueblood smiled, then offering to escort them out of it. Instead of simply saying good-bye, he had one of his carriages brought over and told them they could ride in it, refusing to take no for an answer. As they traveled inside, Applejack took in the scenery, thinking.

"Why wasn't it as bad as you imagined?" Rarity asked with a triumphant smile, causing Applejack to roll her eyes at her.

"Okay, I admit it, he's a good pony" Applejack frowned, remembering what she had felt.

But she preferred not to say anything. She already met a mare once who pretended to be somepony she wasn't, forced by her manager de ella, yes, but she did it. Blueblood would have to figure that out on his own or, if he continued like this, she might try to help, but she saw it as complicated, since she rarely went to Canterlot. Maybe she would tell Rarity in the future so she could talk to him about it. At the moment, it was none of her business.

It had been a few weeks since Batmane wiped out most of the mob's presence on the streets, but crime was still present and Blueblood wasn't planning on leaving any time soon. Service entered the Batcave, carrying an envelope in his magic, past the Batcomputer and down the stairs to the second level, where the Batmobile was already parked, covered with a sheet until Time came back to finish the job. At the other end, near the pond that housed the cave, the unicorn was training in a small makeshift entertainment area, doing barbell push-ups, going up and down at a good pace.

"Letter from your aunt, sir" he said as he held it up in the air.

Blueblood dropped back down on all fours and walked over, wiping his face with a towel before laying it on his neck.

"A letter?" he asked him puzzled. "What's so important that she can't wait until later?"

Blueblood grabbed the envelope and read the letter inside, frowning.

"Is something wrong, sir?"

"My aunt has canceled our meeting today, apparently something extremely urgent has demanded her attention."

"I trust it's nothing serious."

"On the contrary, Service" Blueblood said as he walked away. "This is a fire in one of the four mental hospitals in Canterlot, it has had a fire and the patients have escaped."

"You don't think it's something that requires your attention, do you?" following the unicorn up the stairs.

"That's what I want to think, but I have a feeling that I will have to intervene."

Night had fallen over Canterlot, illuminated by the silhouette of the moon overhead. Batmane leaned out from the ledge of a building towards the Sane Mind hospital, completely burned. The entrance was cordoned off by a police cordon and two cops keeping watch. The bat stopped watching them to focus on the roof of the hospital, a little lower than he was at that moment, specifically, on the service door there was. Backing up a bit, he began to run and jumped over the ledge, his hooves splayed to the sides, and a touch of magic to his cloak spread and allowed him to glide, without alerting the ponies below.

He landed softly on the roof, returning his cloak to its usual state, and walked to the door. With a mighty blow, he broke the lock and opened it, entering the mental hospital and going inside, following the signs. After a few minutes of walking, he arrived at the center director's office, and despite the fact that his plan was to continue to the cells, he stopped, something caught his attention. The office door was smashed, but it shattered inward, not outward, as if somepony had forced it from the outside. Curious, Batmane entered the room and studied it with his eyes.

Like the rest of the building, the trace of the fire was also present. In front of the door, there was a desk, and behind it, a large window gave a view of the street below. Batmane walked around the table, noticing a chair thrown on the floor, but what caught his attention was the window. In the glass, there were two small holes, which could very well belong to a gun. The bat focused on the chair, using his magic to put it in place and getting a better look at it. In the back, where the head would rest, was another bullet hole.

The bat quickly made a mental image, whoever did this, opened the door after forcing it open and shot the director of the hospital three times, one of his shots would hit him in the head and knock him to the ground, while the others two would hit the window. Batmane looked around him, searching for anything else that was relevant, finding it on the walls. As he got closer, he noticed that the pattern of the fire was strange, starting at the end closest to the window and moving in a straight line, the flames then moving sideways, as if the source had been the mouth of a dragon or a flamethrower.

The bat followed the trail until it reached the center of the room, where the impact mark of the fire cut off before continuing, much thicker and more powerful. Batmane moved away from the wall to the next one, noticing that the pattern there was the same as the last half as the previous one. Something had changed the power of the fire source, but what? He activated his 'predator mode' and studied the office, noticing a trace of magic that was lost under the desk. Returning to his normal vision, he walked over to the table and dragged the table aside, revealing a small red gem underneath. If his memory did not fail him, due to its magical capacity and its color, it was a ruby of fire, of different shapes and sizes, a delicacy for dragons and for the rest of the species a way to control fire.

It could be used in spells or, more recently, technology. Depending on the size and amount of magic, they served various purposes, increasing the power of fire or regulating it, and judging by the size of it, it was the latter. Since dragons didn't need a fire ruby to control their inner fire, and since a spell would leave even more residual magic, plus it would need the ruby at all times, Batmane deduced that what had been used was a flamethrower. Which brought up another question. Where did the pony responsible get a flamethrower of that caliber? They weren't sold in Equestria, like other weapons, and they were also hard to come by on the black market. Keeping the gem, the bat left the office, he had somepony to see.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to go?" Fleur Dis Lee asked as she walked down the stairs with her husband Fancy Pants.

The unicorn limped on his front left hoof as it was bandaged. Fancy smiled slightly as he shook his head.

"Honey, you've been waiting months for that play to come out, you deserve it."

"But I don't like leaving you here alone with your paw the way you have it," Fleur said with a frown, stopping by the door.

"Fleur, nothing's wrong, I can manage on my own, I'm a grown-up now."

Fleur frowned even more, not happy with her husband's decision. Fancy rolled his eyes at his before pulling a coin out of his suit and showing it to his wife.

"No coin again, please," Fleur said narrowing her eyes at him, but Fancy didn't hear her.

"This is what we'll do, heads you go out and have fun, tails you stay with me" he said with a smile before flipping the coin and catching it with his hoof, making his smile bigger. "Heads."

"What a surprise," Fleur murmured as she rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help a smile from creeping onto her face.

"The coin has chosen, come, go and enjoy the play."

"I doubt a coin with two equal sides would get to choose," argument while having a small laugh, eliciting an offended gasp from Fancy, who could barely contain his amusement.

"How dare you make such an accusation without proof?"

Fleur shook her head before kissing Fancy, turning to the door and opening it.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF A DAMN TIME...?!"

"Of course" Fancy said calmly, suppressing as best he could the grimace that he wanted to get out of him.

Fleur raised an eyebrow before her understanding hit her face.

"Before I go, I left some spare pills on my nightstand, I knew you'd end up spending them all on your own."

"What would I do without you?"

Both unicorns kissed each other lovingly before the mare closed the door and left, leaving Fancy Pants alone...at least physically.

"You won't be rid of me forever…you need me…" whispered a voice that was mostly quiet, but without the pills, it roamed freely through his mind.

"With Fleur in my life, I don't need you at all... Let's see when you get the message," Fancy growled as he walked up the stairs to his room.

Fancy got to his room and went to the nightstand of his wife, opening the drawers and looking for the pills. Finding them, he took one out of the box and took it, closing his eyes as he felt the presence in his head fade to silence. Breathing a sigh of relief, he left the room and went to his office, turning on the light and heading to a small glass cabinet where he kept a collection of his best wines and ciders.

Pulling out a bottle of cider, he poured himself a glass and took a sip, humming with satisfaction, turning to go to his desk and almost jumping with fright. There, behind the table and by the open window, was Batmane, watching him with those white eyes.

"Holy Celestia, how do you do that?" he said, still trying to catch his breath.

"Hello again, Mr. Pants. I've come to ask you a question."

Fancy watched the bat for a while before shrugging.

"Thanks to you, Falcone is behind bars, so you can ask me whatever you want."

Batmane removed the fire ruby from his cloak with his magic and placed it on the table. Fancy, deciding to ignore the fact that a supposed earth pony used magic, grabbed the gem and studied it, adjusting his eyeglass.

"That gem is a fire ruby, it was used in the flamethrower that set the building on fire."

Fancy widened his eyes, resisting the urge to stroke his bandages, and glared at Batmane.

"And what do you want from me?"

"I need to know who the dealer is who sold that flamethrower to the pony responsible."

Fancy blinked, looking at the gem and sighing, setting the gem back on the table.

"Maybe I knows who he is. For all I know, the street criminals say there is a dealer much richer and more powerful than any other on the black market, one that even Falcone respected in a way, they call him the Penguin."

"Penguin."

Do you know him?"

"I've heard his name" said Batmane. "Do you know who he is?"

"No, none of those who have questioned have ever said anything."

Seeing that Batmane didn't respond, Fancy sighed and turned around, going over to the bottle of cider and pulling out another glass.

"Look, I don't know what you're going to do, but anyway, let me thank you for what you did properly."

Fancy turned around with his goblet full, only to see that both Batmane and the fire ruby were no longer there. The unicorn was silent, looking at the place where the bat had been, sighing and shrugging, taking a sip from the newly filled cup.

Fall into madness

Fast Cloud entered his house with a growl, extending his wing to turn on the light, only to see that it was useless.

"One day I'll kill the landlady, I don't know how many times I've told her to change the fucking light bulb" he growled as he headed for the kitchen, trying to get his bearings in the dark.

He was a pegasus with yellowish fur and a red mane, carrying quite large saddlebags, which he threw on the table. He had had a horrible day, nopony had wanted to buy his merchandise, or drugs, or weapons, all because of that stupid Batmane. Fast still believed that the bat was an invention of the princesses to control criminals, he couldn't believe that there really was a pony that dressed as a bat and attacked criminals.

He reached his fridge and opened it, sighing with relief that it was still working and shining his light into the room, peering inside for something to drink. He settled on a can of beer, opening it with the tip of his wing and taking a sip. With satisfaction, he closed the fridge and started to try to find his room, but something grabbed him by the neck and threw him onto the table, knocking it to the floor in the process. Fast grunted in pain as he tried to compose himself, but the pony that threw him spun him around and forced him to face the ceiling, laying his hoof on his chest. Opening his eyes to glare at the pony in charge, his heart skipped a beat and his mouth opened slightly in surprise, there was what he considered a myth, Batmane.

"WHERE'S THE PENGUIN?!"

Fast felt fear begin to wash over him, but as intimidating as the bat was, there was somepony, rather, somebird, that scared him far more.

"I don't know anything! Okay?! Go ask at the zoo, maybe they'll give you answers!"

Batmane smashed his free hoof onto his right wing, causing him to yelp in pain.

"I can't feel pain... but I know what it is... and I love to share it with scum like you... And if you don't tell me what I want to know... I'll show you what real pain is..."

"Fuck you! What are you going to do to me, huh?! Guys like you are too nice, you can be all the fear in the world but I know you'll never...! ARGHHHHHHH!"

Fast was interrupted as a magical aura wrapped around the tip of his wing and he shot up, but since the hoof was still firmly in place, he only ended up breaking it. Batmane changed his hoof and prepared to do the same on the other wing.

"Wrong answer. You better think about it, I have all night, but... do you have that many bones?"

"I don't know who the penguin is! I swear! I'm an independent salespony!"

"I've seen your criminal file, the weapons you sell are hard to come by without contacts. Who's the Penguin?"

Fast fell silent, biting his tongue, earning Batmane to break his other wing.

"Talks!"

"Iceberg Lounge, he owns that place! Please, I don't know anything else!"

Batmane was silent for a while before loosening his grip on the pegasus's chest.

"If you lie to me, I'll go back to finish the job."

Batmane quickly walked away, leaving Fast alone. Before long, the lights came on, but the pegasus barely registered, he was too busy writhing in pain to do anything.

Oswald Cobblepot entered his club, the Iceberg Lounge, in a bit of a rage, followed by his two pony bodyguards, a unicorn and an earth pony. Unlike his workers or the majority of the population of Canterlot, he was a griffin, a rather short and obese one for his species, black except for the chest and belly area, and to top it off, he couldn't fly. All this, were the triggers so that from his childhood they called him Penguin. Although in his country of origin it had been an insult, and in his first years in Equestria as well, but when he began to make a name for himself, it became a title that inspired respect in others. Further highlighting, he always dressed in a black tuxedo suit, made by Canterlot's most famous designers, and carried an umbrella with him wherever he went.

Now, despite the fact that things were going relatively well for him, he was having a hard time in business, at least in the illegal ones. When Falcone and most of his mob ended up behind bars thanks to that Batmane, the Penguin knew it was his golden opportunity to go from being just the richest drug dealer in Canterlot to becoming the new king of crime, but he had to earn it. And while that was going on, he was having a hard time getting the drug shipments from him.

Although he bragged about being able to get just about anything, he had to admit that it was Falcone who controlled the drug business, so Oswald had to find a way to gain the trust of the dealers who used to sell to the former Mafia boss. Luckily, the arms sale was going on smoothly, but that bat was scaring his clientele away, so he would have to figure out what to do. But what pissed him off was the disappearance of one of his weapons and two of his goons that same day. If he didn't get answers by midnight, he would send somepony after them.

The Penguin entered the main room of his club, closed that day to the public and open to his most faithful and hardworking followers, who were entitled to a night in the Iceberg Lounge totally free and for themselves. There were plenty of tables where you could have a quiet lunch or dinner, where a few ponies were already sitting, placed in front of a stage where the most beautiful mares and griffin females sang and danced from time to time in exchange for a living wage and protection, and Given what Princess Twilight had accomplished with other races, Oswald was impatient to win contracts with females from other species.

To one side, there was a bar with the best drinks in the country, although it was a pity that he had not obtained that contract with the Apple family, and since an element of harmony belonged to that family, he decided not to use his most forceful methods. On the other side of the room, there were several pool tables and poker tables, where several of his henchpony were already.

The Penguin moved across the room, passing under a large circular window in the ceiling that afforded a view of the night sky, and sat down in his favorite chair, which almost resembled a throne, and was at a good distance and with a good view of the stage, where there was a unicorn mare singing and two pegasus mares dancing sensually behind. Oswald sat down, propped his umbrella against one of the armrests, and snapped his fingers. Instantly, his unicorn's bodyguard took a cigar from his jacket and placed it in his beak, lighting it with a match. The griffin took a long drag before expelling smoke, thinking of the customer who had stolen from it. Nopony stole from Penguin and got away with it.

Oswald tried to relax as he watched the three beautiful mares, but a noise behind him caught his attention, it sounded like breaking glass. He turned around just in time for the sound to grow even louder and a shower of glass from the remains of the window fell to the ground accompanied by what looked like a giant bat. When the figure landed, the Penguin found himself face to face with Batmane, who stared at him. The griffin looked at him confused, how had he passed his guards without them noticing? His gaze fixed on his two bodyguards, who were motionless and staring wide-eyed at the intruder.

"What the hell are you waiting for? An invitation? Get him out of here!"

That launched the two bodyguards, who advanced on Batmane, drawing his pistols to fire. But the bat stepped forward, throwing its batarangs with precision and tossing the weapons away, in the case of the earth pony, eliciting a whimper of pain from it. The hooded pony approached them, who, with a war cry, launched into combat, but were quickly reduced and with little effort. The Penguin watched the scene furiously as he walked away from his seat, grabbing his umbrella and pointing it in the direction of the masked pony, who was already approaching him.

"You'd better stay away and go back the way you came!" he yelled, but Batmane didn't stop his advance. "You wanted it!"

The Penguin pulled a trigger hidden in the umbrella and fired a bullet straight into Batmane's chest, which he dodged almost at the last moment. Oswald's eyes widened, normally having a concealed gun was a surprise factor that didn't allow his opponents to try to escape, how had he known? The bat threw another batarang and snatched his makeshift weapon from his claws before lunging at him, hitting him in the face and knocking him to the ground. Before he could recover, the griffin felt a hoof on his chest, near his neck, and focused on seeing Batmane right above him.

"Hello, Penguin."

"What the hell you want?!" the Penguin shouted angrily.

Batmane pulled a gem from inside his cloak with magic, to Oswald's surprise, and dropped it next to his head.

"Do you recognize that?"

The Penguin turned his head just enough to study the gem, a fire ruby.

"It belonged to a flamethrower that you sold, I want to know who his client is."

The Penguin focused on Batmane, frowning. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, at which he smirked.

"I do not know what you are talking about."

One of the thugs approached with a pool stick, about to hit the intruder, but Batmane stopped the object, snatched it from its owner, and used it against him, hitting with such force that it broke the stick and sent the ground to the pony. Right after, he focused on the Penguin, who had his eyes wide open.

"I know you're the one who sells weapons in Canterlor, especially weapons with destructive power like that flamethrower. Speak now or I'll break every bone in your body."

The Penguin was proud of himself, he didn't like to be in anypony's shadow, and if that happened, he always took revenge, but he knew how to recognize when he was at a disadvantage.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you what you want to know" he said with a weak smile and extending his claws in a sign of peace. "Look, I don't know who bought it, a representative of his came, said he worked for him. He told me that his boss wanted to rob a bank and that he would give me half of what he stole as payment. So I sent two of my guys to do the shopping, they haven't been back since and I was thinking of sending somepony tonight."

"Where was the delivery?"

"If I remember correctly, it was at 13 Gusty Street, ground floor b."

Batmane watched Penguin carefully for a while before walking away, drawing his batclaw from his belt.

"We'll meet again, Penguin."

Batmane spun around and threw his batclaw, hooking onto the ceiling and coming out the way he came. The Penguin got up, looking at the last place where the bat was, his blood flowing. Focusing on the ponies around him, he growled.

"I want you to spread the word, I'll give a million bits to whoever brings me Batmane's head! Nopony messes with me, NOPONY!"

The window of the small apartment opened, and Batmane's figure entered, looking around. Due to how dark everything was, he turned on his 'predator mode', and in doing so, he saw three bodies on the kitchen table. As he got closer, their status tab appeared above their head, 'deceased'. The bat approached, observing them well, they had the signs of the first stage of decomposition, they had been there for some time, but the most remarkable thing was the wounds on their snouts. The mouth had been cut in such a way that they created a macabre smile, using their own blood as makeup, like a kind of macabre clown.

Looking away from the corpses, Batmane saw in the center of the table a lone poker card, and as he picked it up in his magic and turned it, he saw the image of a clown, and on the sides, a simple word, Joker. The bat looked at it carefully before putting it in his belt, looking at the three dead ponies. As much as he wanted to, he had no means of contacting the police at the time, so despite himself, he walked away, hoping that one of the neighbors, possibly the landlord, would find them. He looked around the apartment and searched the other rooms, searching for any clues he might have missed, but finding nothing, he returned to the window and walked away into the night.

Blueblood was in his dining room, eating breakfast. It had been two days since he found the bodies and the strange card, but he hadn't managed to get anything out of it. He had no hoofprints or claw prints or any magical residue that he could trace back to his owner. It was as if it had appeared out of nowhere or whoever was leaving it didn't even exist. His thoughts were interrupted when Service entered the room with a newspaper on his magic, and from the look on his face, it was up to no good.

"You should see this, sir" he said as he held out the newspaper to him.

Blueblood raised a curious eyebrow as he picked up the newspaper and began to read.

Prosecutor Fancy Pants and his wife go missing.

Last night, well-known Canterlot noblepony and prosecutor Fancy Pants and his wife, model Fleur Dis Lee, mysteriously disappeared. The princesses have given a search warrant to try to find the...

Blueblood stopped reading, looking at Service in surprise.

"Perhaps Falcone or one of his allies have managed to order his kidnapping from Blackgate?"

"I doubt it, Service, they are very well guarded by order of the princesses, but I'm not going to dismiss the idea" Blueblood said as he left the newspaper on the table, thinking. "Tonight I will pay a visit to my Aunt Luna, perhaps she will be willing to give me some more information."

Service nodded, walking away to leave Blueblood alone with his breakfast and his thoughts.

Luna watched her night, waiting. She had been on her balcony ever since she raised the moon, and she hadn't gone to bed yet, she had a feeling that she would receive a visitor since she saw the news in the newspaper, and it was a visitor she was expecting. A few more minutes passed before she spoke to him, still gazing at the stars.

"I knew you would come here after reading today's newspaper."

"Any clues from Fancy?" Batmane said, stepping out of the shadows.

"None, my sister and I have sent for them throughout the city, and Rarity, along with her friends, have come to Canterlot to look for them too." Luna answered as she turned to see the bat. "We only have one witness, their personal chauffeur, the last pony to see them alive."

"Said something?"

"According to him, he took them to a play and never saw them again" Luna frowned, indignation in her eyes. "But something tells me he's lying. Fancy was in an accident with third degree burns to one of his legs and the doctor told his to stay home until he got better. And from what little I know of him, he was always a pony who followed the doctors' rules to the letter. Also, the driver now had a fair amount of bits, which, if you ask me, is pretty suspicious."

"Did you drop him?"

"Until we thoroughly investigate who entered the theater that day, we have no proof and we couldn't lock him up against his will. But something tells me that won't be a problem for you, am I right?"

Batmane didn't reply, so Luna took it as a no. She turned around and looked at her moon once more, feeling the presence of the bat disappear. She hoped that he would be able to find the married couple, and hopefully, safely.

Terra Road, an earth pony with brown fur and a chestnut mane, came out of a bar with a huge grin, a bag of steady, rattling bits in his saddlebags. He had been paid very well for doing a job, and his luck had increased to the point of beating his friends in a bet, it was definitely a good day. However, that luck seemed to wane as the clouds above his head began to drop it burden on the city. The stallion grunted as he ran, he had forgotten that the pegasi were expecting rain that day in the city, something about balancing the weather, he never understood why they couldn't have sunny days forever.

He ducked into an alley he knew well, he'd used it countless times in the past, running through the narrow spaces toward his house. When he was halfway there, he felt something grab one of his hind legs and he was thrown into the air, screaming the whole way. When at last he stopped, something spun him around and pulled him close to a face with long ears and white eyes devoid of any soul... Batmane.

"WHERE ARE FANCY AND HIS WIFE?!" he scream, like a raging demon searching for his soul.

"I... I don't know! Seriously, I... I just took them to the theater! I swear...! I swear to Celestia!"

"SWEAR TO ME!"

Batmane let go of the rope holding him and lunged downward in a nosedive. Terra screamed as loud as he could, nearly ripping out his throat. The rope stopped a few meters away and he lifted him up again, leaving him facing the bat again.

"Okay, okay! I was paid to take them to one of the abandoned Ace Wing Chemicals warehouses! I swear, I don't know anything else!"

Batmane didn't respond, instead letting Terra drop into free fall, and just before he crashed, he stopped him. The rope snapped free and the earth pony crashed to the ground, groaning in pain but crying with relief that their was still alive.

"Come on, prosecutor, is that all you can take?"

Fancy raised his head slightly, looking at his tormentor, a unicorn smiling sadly, behind him two other ponies, an earth pony and a pegasus. He had been chained to the ceiling, his legs on his head, and an inhibitor ring on his horn, how had they managed it? He wasn't sure, but it didn't matter either.

His wife was in a corner, along with two other ponies, unicorns, who had used and tortured her in front of him, much to his horror, and she hadn't moved in a long time. He had ripped out his throat begging them to leave Fleur alone, to focus only on him, but it hadn't helped. In his head, that presence was there, stronger and stronger, the situation of extreme stress he was experiencing and the lack of his pills making him stronger.

"I think we can finish him off now" the earth pony said to the unicorn in front of him, who nodded.

"Bring the alcohol."

One of the other unicorns got up from where he was and grabbed a small jug filled with medicinal alcohol, which, as was well known, was highly flammable. His initial tormentor took a good look at him, noticing the burns on his left leg, and with a smile, pointed to that area of the body.

"Let's put the left part on par, it will be fun to see how only half of him burns."

"But remember that we shouldn't kill him, the boss was very clear" said the pegasus as he looked at the prosecutor, to which the unicorn rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes, I know. And anyway, I don't know why you have so much respect for him, just because he gave us some of the money he stole from that asylum I'm not going to be loyal to him until death."

"You know, he's fucking crazy."

The unicorn ignored his partner and watched as they poured alcohol all over the left side of his body, covering him completely.

"Please…let us go…" Fancy begged, being completely ignored.

The unicorn that made him the alcohol dropped the carafe and pulled a match from his jacket, lighting it and throwing it at the pony, who burst into flames and cries of pain. Those present watched as half of his body caught fire, but they had to stop looking at him when they heard the warehouse doors open, somepony was there. Nervous, the ponies looked at each other before slipping away through another of the exits from the small room they were in.

A short time later, Batmane entered the room, seeing Fancy screaming in pain as he burned. Acting quickly, he unhooked the unicorn from the hook he was on and ripped off his cloak to cover the fire and put it out, which he managed after a few seconds. Little by little, the stallion stopped screaming and fell unconscious, covered by the bat's cape, who focused on the mare and approached, placing his hoof on her neck to look for her pulse... but he couldn't find it. Fleur was dead, and he didn't know how her husband would react.

Cornered

Fancy woke up slowly, seeing a white ceiling above him, but there was something... off about it. He felt that half of his face was bandaged, in fact, he did not feel his left eyelid.

"I'm glad you're awake, Fancy" said a voice to the right of him.

With some effort, he managed to turn around and see Princess Celestia smiling fondly at him.

"Wh-where am I? Wh-what ha-happened?" he managed to ask.

"No matter what happened, the important thing is that you are safe now" said the princess with her best motherly tone, but Fancy would not be happy with that answer.

"Fle-Fleur..."

The princess changed her face, her smile disappeared, and instead, she seemed to think well of her next words.

"I am deeply saddened to say that Fleur…did not survive."

Fancy watched the princess with his free eye as wide as he could, processing the news. It couldn't be... Fleur couldn't be dead...

"You lie…" he managed to say.

Celestia kept her gaze unblinking, centuries of experience manifesting in that moment.

"I wish it were like that, but it's the truth. I know it's hard, but you should know that you have friends who are here for you. Rarity is waiting for you outside, if you want I can tell her to come in so you can..."

"Replace Fleur?" Fancy growled hatefully, to which Celestia shook her head at him.

"You can cry on a friend's shoulder."

Fancy watched Celestia for a while before looking up at the ceiling again.

"I want to be alone... please..."

"Of course, take as long as you need."

Princess Celestia got up and left the room, leaving him alone as he wanted. He wept silently, sobbing and mourning for Fleur's death, but there was something strange… he couldn't feel the tears falling from his left eye.

"That's because it will never cry again."

Fancy opened his free eye in surprise and terror. That voice was now stronger than it had been in his entire life, which was proven because it didn't speak in his mind...it did so through his mouth.

"Our mouth, my friend, now this body belongs to both of us. I don't know whether to thank those who did this to us or look for them to kill them for daring to hurt us."

Fancy swallowed hard, sitting up with difficulty on his bed, terrified.

"Look, I know this hurts you, really, but you need to get over it now. Like you said, you didn't need me with Fleur… but now you do, right?"

"Leave me alone... please..."

"Oh, I'm not going to. Nopony but your wife and that dead mental hospital director knew about our problem, you won't have pills anymore. And besides, without Fleur, you only have me, do you really want to be alone?"

"This isn't happening. It's a nightmare, any minute I'll wake up or Princess Luna will show up or..."

"Or you'll realize this is real, you were meant for this."

"That's a lie..."

"Look at the nightstand next to you, there is our coin. Take it, you will see that I am right."

Fancy turned his head and looked at the table that said, sure enough, his modern souped-up, inherited from his grandfather, was there. Swallowing hard, he used his magic to grab it and bring it to him, seeing the shiny golden surface of it with Celestia's face stamped on it, but as he turned it... his world collapsed, because he was looking at a completely black and burned side. The coin quivered in his telekinetic grip, its pin fixed on the black side, until at last, he exploded. He screamed all his frustration, anger, pain and sadness, ripping his bandages off his face. The door to his room burst open and Rarity, closely followed by Applejack, her other friends were still outside.

"Fancy! Are you okay?!" she said with concern in her voice, but when the unicorn looked at her, she froze in shock.

The left half of Fancy's face was raw, bruises all over his skin, his fur would never grow there, the mane on that side of his head was gone, and almost all of his cheek was gone, leaving the bare teeth. But the most shocking thing was his eye, totally exposed, horribly standing out in his disfigured face, it was incredible that it was still in his place.

"GET OUT!! LEAVE US ALONE!!" he yelled, his voice a mix of his normal self and his inner voice.

Rarity felt tears come to her face as her former friend demanded that she leave. She felt Applejack placing her hoof on her shoulder, silently supporting her, and they both left the room, rejoining the rest of her friends.

Batmame watched from the roof of a building at the last three-story psychiatric hospital in the city. Two weeks had passed since Fancy Pants had his accident and his multiple personality disorder was discovered, and he was admitted to the newly reopened Arkham Asylum. For almost 30 years, it had been closed, but after the fires in three of the four metal hospitals, Princess Celestia found it necessary to put it back into operation, placing there patients who could not be admitted due to lack of space, and there was prosecutor has been sent.

Fancy had refused skin implants or any treatment for his condition, and given equestrian law, he had a right to refuse. The only thing he had allowed was a spell cast over his left eye to protect it from outside elements, dryness, and keep it in his place.

In the last few weeks, two other hospitals had been burned, the last one with explosives, and he didn't need to look into it to know that it was the Penguin who provided those explosives. Now, Batmane had dedicated himself to guarding the Good Mind Asylum, even installing security cameras courtesy of Blood Enterprises for free, keeping the place under surveillance day and night. At all the entrances, in addition, a pair of policepony had been placed who would register all the ponies that entered the building. Dawn was near, but the bat didn't want to leave yet, he wanted to keep an eye on the hospital for as long as possible.

A group of six ponies approached, led by an earth pony in a medical gown, carrying five different good-sized boxes on wheelbarrows. They approached the cops, who stopped them and talked to them for a few moments, letting them pass shortly after, something that alerted Batmane, so he prepared to jump into the building if necessary.

The doctor walked nervously through the halls of the psychiatric hospital, with the five ponies behind him, three unicorns, a pegasus and an earth pony. They walked for a while until they reached a warehouse where medicines were kept, going in and making sure nopony was there. Once so, one of the unicorns hit one of the boxes, and immediately, it opened and an earth pony came out from inside, he had pure white fur, a green mane, a macabre smile painted red and a purple suit jacket. The clown jumped from the box to the ground, stretching in place before looking at the doctor.

"I love express mail, don't you?" he said with a little giggle at the end.

"I've done what you told me... Where is my family?"

"Your family?" asked the clown in confusion, bringing a hoof to his chin. "Let's see, your family, your family... Oh yes, your family! They're dead."

The earth pony's eyes widened as he took a few steps back.

"What...? You said... you said that..."

"I said you'd see them again, didn't I?" the clown said with a smile as he pulled a gun from his suit, scaring the pony even more. "And I always keep my promises."

The clown fired, killing the pony immediately, then focusing on the others.

"Well, you know what to do, oh, and make sure they know, that makes it more fun."

The clown laughed out loud, being watched by the other ponies with discomfort. But soon they obeyed and walked away, pulling their guns out of the boxes and firing for attention.

Batmane watched the building carefully until the alarm began to sound, seeing the two cops look at each other before running away. The bat growled to himself before jumping up, gliding towards one of the windows and smashing the glass with its hind legs. He landed in an office, but soon got up and went out into the hallway, walking away and looking for those responsible. He reached the stairs, and before going down, he heard someone approaching, so he hid in the shadows to wait. Soon, four ponies arrived, pausing there as a clown-like one pointed at two of them.

"You guys go upstairs and get everything ready."

The bat watched from the shadows as the two ponies walked up the stairs and the clown and the other pony, a pegasus, entered that floor. Staying in the shadows, he grabbed the unsuspecting pony from behind, but he slammed into the box in his effort to escape, knocking it over and alerting his boss, who watched as Batmane knocked out the wretch.

"Wow, but look who it is, I won the lottery" the clown said with a laugh as he backed away, the bat getting closer with each step, and tucked a helmet into his suit. "I must say I love your suit, much better than mine."

"Who are you?" Batmane said as he approached, but the clown roared with laughter as he pulled out a small gadget.

"Oh, I can't tell you my name yet, it would break the surprise."

Acting fast, Batmane lunged at the clown, knocking him to the ground, placing his hoof on his chest and grabbing the device on his magic, ignoring the pony's laughter. The device had a small screen that showed a countdown, about seven minutes.

"What's this?!"

"The countdown to the fireworks" answered the clown with a raucous laugh, not at all intimidated by the bat. "Something told me I'd need a countdown, thank goodness huh?"

Batmane turned and opened the dropped box, seeing the explosives and the same screen with the same countdown. Acting fast, he reached down and pulled back the cover to examine the cables, turning on his 'predator mode' to do so.

"Goodbye, Batsy, nice to meet you" said the clown's voice, and when Batmane looked up, he saw that he was walking towards the stairs.

With no time for that, he watched the wires and, following the predator mode's instructions, managed to defuse the bomb after almost three minutes, but he wasn't done yet. Getting to his hooves, he ran for the stairs and quickly climbed to the third floor. Using his 'predator mode', he quickly found the two unicorns who had brought the explosives there, about to open the box. Batmane entered, breaking down the door, entering the room, which had a window overlooking the street, and drawing the attention of the two ponies, who pointed their guns at him.

"Don't move or...!"

"Unless you want to die, let me defuse that bomb, now."

The unicorns looked at each other, and without taking their eyes off Batmane, one of them opened the box, backing away instantly.

"Fuck, it's active!"

"Impossible, the boss said..."

The unicorn stopped when he saw that his companion was right, backing away in fear. Batmane walked over to the box, ignoring the ponies now fleeing the building, and eyed the timer. Unfortunately, he had very little time left, he had taken too long with the previous one. Trying to hurry, he set out to defuse the bomb, time against him, barely two minutes. But he knew he wouldn't make it, with less than a minute to spare, and still needing more time to deactivate it, he scrambled as far away as possible and jumped out the window, just in time for the bomb to go off, the shock wave almost trapping him

Batmane flipped over in the air and fell onto his back, grunting in pain but reminding himself that he had Time to thank once again for the suit. He got up slowly, watching as the first and third floors were on fire, and soon the second would be too. Even though the asylum was on fire, he might have time to catch the clown before he got away.

"Stop!"

Batmane turned his head to see the two cops from before along with a group of royal guards, five ponies in total, two unicorns and three pegasi, the latter in the air and with crossbows in their direction, dimly lit by the light of the rising sun. The bat turned to face them, staring at them, knowing that he would no longer be able to chase the clown.

"Get on the ground and surrender!" yelled one of the unicorns.

Batmane analyzed the situation, he had a group of royal guards there, it was broad daylight, and there was no apparent escape. Time had finished his motor vehicle a few days before, and had parked it in a nearby alley, but it was out of his reach. Besides, autopilot wasn't an option yet, so if he wanted to run away, he'd have to get there first. His gaze fixed on the crossbows, analyzing them, he knew well that the backs of his legs weren't as protected as the rest of his suit, but since they were shavings and not bullets, he believed he could bear the pain.

"I won't do it again!"

The bat made as if to obey, but with a swift movement, he turned and ran away, feeling the shavings fly to the sides of him. One of them hit his right hind leg, eliciting a grunt, but he kept going. He swerved into an alley and ran through it as fast as he could, seeing an abandoned building nearby, a building he recognized, his Batmobile behind it. Still being shot, Batmane threw himself against one of the wood-panelled windows, collapsing to the ground and hissing in pain. With effort, he managed to get up and go up to the first floor, he wanted to get to the roof to get to his vehicle. As he climbed the stairs, a voice he knew well stopped him, drawing his attention to one of the windows.

"Batmane, I know you're there!"

Batmame peeked out, seeing Princess Celestia outside, her horn lit up with a speaker spell. Several chariots were approaching and more royal guards were getting out of them.

"I'm so sorry you got shot!" she said, looking askance at one of the pegasus guards, who stepped back a bit. "If you give up now, I promise we won't hurt you!"

One of the carriages arrived, even larger than the others, and a group of ponies emerged, wearing much thicker armor and with a sun emblazoned on their chests. Batmane knew who they were, Supernovas, Celestia's elite royal guard, and that they were only used in extreme situations.

"These ponies are going in, please surrender peacefully!"

Batmane watched everything from the outside, studying the Supernovas, ten in all, all unicorns and with automatic crossbows. One of them looked up and pointed directly at him, so the bat backed away from the window, cursing to himself. In his state, he wasn't sure he'd be able to get up on the roof quickly. Looking around him, he noticed how dark everything was, so he decided to take advantage of that.

The Supernovas climbed the stairs to the second floor, finding an area that had once been offices, filled with cubicles that had once given the workers some privacy.

"Remember, the target is an expert in hiding in the shadows and eliminating his opponents from the darkness, be alert and alert at the slightest sign of him" said the leader, then sending his ponies to walk the room.

One of them advanced through the corridors of the cubicles, his horn lighting the way, a noise was heard behind him, so he turned quickly, only to find nothing. Calmly, he turned around again, meeting Batmane's face who lunged at him before he could react. The bat dragged the unconscious body into one of the stalls and moved forward, knocking out two more ponies. His fourth prey was advancing at one of the farthest ends, and when he lunged at his back, he soon realized that he would give more trouble.

The Supernova got on his hind legs and slammed Batmane against the wall several times, only managing to make him groan. Desperate, and feeling that his consciousness was leaving him, he illuminated his horn as much as possible, lighting up the room and drawing the attention of his companions. Leaving the body unconscious, the bat threw himself behind a table, placing it as a shield in time to avoid the rain of chips it received. Cornered, he decided to use his last resource, something he had taken weeks to accomplish... call in reinforcements. Using his magic, he flipped a small button on his left gauntlet and waited, praying they'd make it in time.

Princess Luna landed on the ground, two of her night guards nearby, though they had to stop to catch their breath. Furious, she walked over to her sister, who was still staring at the building.

"What are you doing?!"

"Arresting a criminal" Celestia said simply, not even looking at her sister, something that drove her crazy.

"A criminal who has helped us a lot and saved Fancy Pants!"

"And for that I will allow him to join your guard" replied the sun princess as she looked at her younger sister.

Both princesses looked at each other defiantly. Before Luna could say an answer, a noise alerted everypony. They were screams, coming closer and closer. The ponies turned in the direction of the noise, their eyes widening at what they saw, a cloud of bats approaching.

"What the hell is that pony?" a royal guard whispered as he backed away.

With a continuous screech, the bats pounced on the ponies, who barely managed to take cover in time, the unicorns and princesses with magic shields and the rest with their paws. Inside, the Supernovae inched closer to their target, but stopped when the windows shattered and a barrage of dark animals swooped down on them, forcing them to back up and take cover.

Batmane took advantage of this moment to come out of hiding from him, the bats surrounding him in a tornado, advancing slowly. He could see some of the Supernovas backing away with fear in their eyes. The bat reached the stairs and glanced at the ponies, holding out his hoof to point at them, and the animals quickly took his hint, lunging for them as he made his escape.

Batmane reached the roof and advanced as fast as he could, peering out the other side and seeing the silhouette of his batmobile there, dropping down and entering it. In the sky, two bats watched him put the car in gear and entered the building, shortly after emerging with the rest of their flock and walking away back to their cave with the masked pony.

Joker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Princess, why is this bat here?"

"Do you know who Batmane is?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The two mares fell silent before looking at each other.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Does your brother work there?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I suppose."

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

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

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

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

"I'm worried" Rainbow said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Thank you, Twi."

"You're welcome."

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

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

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

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

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

"Nothing you want to say?"

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

"What happened?"

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

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

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

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

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

"Nitrous oxide?"

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

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

"A party?" Blueblood asked curiously.

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

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

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

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

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

A while before.

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

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

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

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

"Spie!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"That relieves me quite a bit."

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

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

"Batpony?"

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

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

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

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

"Any way at all."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Who are you?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What do you want me to do?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let the show begin

"Sir, you don't know where the foals are" said Service as he followed Blueblood, who was already putting on his suit.

"He has attacked three warehouses of Ace Wing Chemicals, and has stolen chemicals from there. I don't know what he is creating, but surely he intends to use it tonight" Blueblood looked at Service, putting on his helmet, his horn disappearing and turning into Batmane . "It's the only lead I have, Service, and I intend to follow it."

Instead of going down the stairs, he jumped over the railing and glided over to the Batmobile, a beast of a car and completely finished. It had three huge fins on the back, similar in design to the wings of a bat, an engine on its rear, much larger and more powerful than those that mass-produced vehicles would use, protected by several layers of steel, making it a tank in its own right, gigantic spotlights on its front to light the way and a small cabin for a single pony, and with a view to having more additions. Batmane climbed in, started the engine and shot out through the cave, bats screeching and flying overhead, waving their way to him.

The Batmobile went up a natural ramp and through the waterfall that hid the cave, jumping to the ground and circling through the trees with precision, arriving in no time at one of the many dirt roads leading to the city. Batmane traversed its streets at breakneck speed, dodging what few carriages there were, ponies staring at the metal beast in awe, heading for one of the warehouses, at least until the Joker's voice, who hadn't stopped talking, caught his attention again.

"The rules are simple, and I'm going to be very generous, you have one hour to do it, and for every hour you don't do it, a foal dies, but don't abuse it, because if you don't 't your part in four hours, a good part of Canterlot is going to get a gigantic chemical explosion from my new laughing gas..."

"Chemical explosion?" Batmane muttered to himself.

There was only one place in the entire city that could cause something like this, Ace Wing Chemicals. The Batmobile roared with power as it headed toward the outskirts of Canterlot. The big weather plant might be far away, but if there were an explosion there, the chemical disaster would reach the population in no time, not to mention the clouds that would be impregnated with that 'laughing gas', and if not controlled in time, they could advance throughout the city, and not just through a single section. Soon, Batmane reached a slightly lonelier road, winding alongside the river, and in the distance, he could see the factory. As he get closer, he notice that the entrance gates were open, and that inside, there was a huge carriage, typical of schools, stopped by the doors.

The Batmobile skidded to its side, killing the engine. Batmane exited the vehicle and walked over to the doors, flinging them open with a boost of his magic and entering the building. Since he didn't have much time, he turned on his 'predator mode', which immediately highlighted the dozens of foal tracks and a few adults on the ground. Following them, the bat climbed some stairs, arriving at the office area of Ace Wing Chemicals, and after a few more minutes, came to a large closed door, that led to a meeting room, behind which it could see the foals and their mistress, tied with a chain. Besides them, there were three different ponies, all armed, highlighted by their orange color, one pointing at the foals, a unicorn, and two at the gates, an earth pony and a pegasus.

"How did the Joker get so many ponies to serve him?" the pegasus asked, being answered by the earth pony next to him.

"Why did you join?"

"Obviously, he promised me that the city would be our toy and I could do whatever I wanted."

"There you have your answer, many joined because of that. A few were patients of the psychiatric hospitals who managed to escape and join the Joker."

Batmane turned his focus away from them to search for another route of entry, as entering through that door was suicide. His gaze stopped at a vent, a vent that should be in every room of the building by municipal regulations. Pulling out his batclaw, he hooked it on the grate and yanked with all his might to get it out of its place, climbing up the duct after he did.

"Can somepony remind me why we're aiming for a door?" the pegasus asked again as Batmane slid down the chute.

"Because the boss says that Batmane survived, so it's likely that he'll show up here. And if he peeks through that door, bang" answered the earth pony at the same time that the bat removed the crack from that room.

"But... they say he appears from the shadows" replied the pegasus. "Some say he is a ghost out for revenge."

"Do not say stupid things."

"I heard that he is a demon from Tartarus in search of souls to feed on" said the unicorn.

"He's a fucking pony in a costume, he's not a demon."

Batmane landed on the ground, using his cloak as a parachute, hidden by the shadows. His gaze went to the two ponies in the doorway, walking towards them in silence. Once right behind them, he raised his hooves, grabbed their heads and slammed them together with such force that they fell unconscious.

"Time! A foal has earned a free trip to the afterlife!" the Joker's voice yelled in the distance.

Batmane turned, watching the unicorn growl before approaching the foals.

"Fuck, this is going to be hard" he said as he pulled some keys from a belt he had on.

"Stay away from them, please!" Cheerilee yelled desperately, trying to remove her bonds. "Do what you want with me but leave the foals alone!"

The unicorn ignored her as he unchained one of the fillies, a little unicorn that Batmane recognized, Rarity's little sister. The pony put the keys back in place and grabbed the little girl with his magic, placing the gun above her head, just below the horn, ignoring Cheerilee's screams, the cries of the other foals, especially the other two crusaders and especially the terrified and pleading look of Sweetie Belle. Swallowing hard, he closed his eyes and started to pull the trigger, but never succeeded. The bat grabbed him from behind, throwing his backwards and causing the filly to fall to the ground as she was not held by magic, closing in on her friends as she stared wide-eyed at the figure that had saved her life.

The unicorn grunted in pain, getting to his hooves and turning around, seeing Batmane approaching. Eyes wide with terror, he ran off, leaving the pistol behind, staring in horror at his fallen companions. He lunged at the door and tried to open it, only to find that it was locked, and before he even thought of trying to force it, the bat turned him around and, grabbing him by the neck and getting on his two legs, lifted him into the air, leaning against the wooden surface.

"WHERE'S THE BOMB?!" he yelled with all his might.

"I... I don't know! I swear, I...!"

Batmane interrupted him by grabbing his hoof and breaking it, causing him to cry out in pain.

"SPEAK, OR YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANY HEALTHY BONE LEFT!"

"T-the bo-boilers, i-it's in the bo-boilers!" cried the unicorn in pain.

Batmane nodded and hit him on the head, knocking him unconscious. He dropped him to the ground and grabbed the key from his belt, turning and approaching the foals and the mare, the latter trying to hug the foals around her.

"Don't hurt us…please…" she said, some fear in her eyes.

Batmane stared at her before using the keys to remove her chains, much to the mare's surprise, both at being freed from her and at seeing him use magic. As soon as she was free, he brought them up to her mouth level.

"Can you manage to untie them on your own?"

Cheerilee looked at Batmane and then at the keys, nodding as she took them with her teeth. The bat moved away from her and prepared to leave the meeting room, heading for the boilers. He went down to the ground floor and from there to the basement, where the boiler room was. After going down some metal stairs and going through some corridors, he came to a fairly large metal door, and when he opened it, he found a huge room, full of pipes and boilers everywhere, turning the room into a metal labyrinth. There were several support beams in the ceiling, and the corridors were dimly lit by lanterns that hung from metal poles fixed to the ground.

Batmane activated his 'predator mode', observing four different ponies, two earth ponies and a unicorn patrolling the halls and another earth pony in the center, by the largest boiler, and where he guessed the bomb would be. The bat deactivated his special vision and got ready, he had prey to hunt.

The unicorn that patrolled the halls walked bored. He would rather have been with the Joker in his triumphant assault on the castle, though he was glad he didn't have to deal with the foals. He walked his gaze between the various pipes and boilers, at one point, he could see more or less the silhouette of one of the earth ponies, Strong, quite stocky, a worthy specimen of his race. As he watched, he saw something pull him away into the darkness, eliciting a startled cry from the pony, which was soon followed by silence.

"What the hell was that?!" yelled another of his companions who were patrolling.

"Something has taken Strong!"

"Fuck...fuck...it's Batmane...we're dead" the same voice said again.

The unicorn ignored him and ran to where the bomb was, arriving just in time to see the pony guarding it being lifted into the darkness by a figure, another scream coming from him before it was silenced. Swallowing hard, he backed away and started running for the exit.

"I don't want to die!" shouted the same voice as before, followed by a few shots and then silence.

The unicorn finally reached the door, practically pounced on it, discovering that it was closed. Turning quickly, he scan the shadows, his submachine gun ready to fire at the slightest movement. Something surged to the right of him and slammed into his weapon, knocking it away from his magical aura and sending it into the darkness, rendering him helpless. Too terrified to go after it, he fell silent, his eyes darting around for any sign of the bat. Right in front of him, hoovesteps were heard, and as he focused, he saw Batmane's silhouette approaching, first appearing his ears, then those soulless eyes and then the rest of his body. With a quick movement, he lunged at his victim, who screamed as loud as he could before being silenced like the others.

Batmane knocked the pony unconscious and ran over to the bomb, activating 'predator mode' on him before removing the cover and seeing the connections. With great care, he began the deactivation process, knowing that, although technically there was a lot of time left, Rainbow Dash's life was in danger. After almost twenty minutes, the lights on the pump went out, they were out of danger. The bat let out a sigh that he didn't know he was holding, and walked away, he still had to save the element of loyalty, sometimes he envied Twilight Sparkle's dragon.

He exited the Ace Wing Chemicals building, noticing that the foals had already exited and were eyeing the Batmobile with interest, ignoring Cheerilee's pleas for them to stay away. A little apart, he could see what he assumed were the cutie mark crusaders that Rarity had told him about, and they quickly noticed him, watching him intently. Batmane approached the mare, who focused on him, and though she could still see the insecurity in her eyes, she was calmer.

"Everypony is fine?"

"Yes, thanks to you."

"Wait here, I'm going to the castle to stop that madpony and send somepony after you. When they arrive, tell them that there will be ponies that were working for the Joker inside, in the room where you were held and in the boilers."

Cheerilee nodded, before focusing back on the foals and making sure they moved away from the car. Batmane watched them for a few seconds before starting to walk, being stopped by a tug on his cloak. Turning around, he saw Sweetie Belle looking at him, fear, doubt, and most of all, admiration in her eyes.

"Th-thanks..."

Batmane watched the filly for a few seconds before taking a batarang from his belt and, after watching it for a few seconds, extended it to the little unicorn. Sweetie's eyes widened before she caught the item in her own magic, looking at it in admiration.

"Promise me you won't use it as a toy."

Sweetie blinked and stared at Batmane, before a small smile appeared on her face.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Batmane nodded before walking away and approaching the Batmobile, which made the more interested foals finally heed the teacher's demands. He got into the cab and started the engine, making it roar several times before barreling out of there, he had a clown to stop.

Everyone in the room was silent, threatened by the weapons of the ponies, the leaders of other races, and the princesses themselves, suppressing the urge to pounce on them, knowing full well that until the guard and the police found these foals, they couldn't do anything. The ones who were having the worst time were the Mane Six, especially Twilight and Rainbow. Pinkie Pie had lost her fluffy pink mane, Fluttershy could barely look at her friends, crying softly on Rarity's shoulder, and Applejack couldn't take her eyes off Joker, the fury in her eyes, but the reminder of her sister present. Spike, on the other hand, was being held back by Shining Armor, as he had tried multiple times to go after the clown, which would only further complicate the situation.

The announcement of the first dead colt made more than one cry, and both Luna and Celestia had to muster all their willpower not to act. As much as they wanted, the best plan of action was to play along with the clown until they found the whereabouts of the foals, it wouldn't take much longer.

"Second foal on the way to the grave! You're going to have to work a bit, Your Highness, I'm beginning to think you want to see foals die."

As Joker roared with laughter, Twilight tensed, tears running down her eyes, looking at Rainbow in front of her, who was also crying.

"Twilight... please do as he says."

"No…I can't…" she said as she hung her head.

"Twilight, look at me" the alicron obeyed, seeing the confident smile that so characterized her friend, although she was clouded with concern. "The foals are more important... I... I won't hold you in mind."

Twilight closed her eyes, crying even more as she lit up her horn, those present whispering to each other. The Joker just chuckled, pleased at what was about to happen.

"I will miss you..."

"And I you, egghead."

Flash Magnus, one of the Pillars of Equestria and now the captain of the royal guard was outside, commanding all the guards and waiting for any of them to give him news about the missing foals. A roar was present in the street, drawing everypony's attention, and looking for the source, they saw it in the distance. Spotlights were approaching at high speed, revealing themselves as a kind of automatic carriage. The vehicle skidded, and a figure flew out, spreading what looked like bat wings, and flew over the castle wall, heading for one of the windows of the hall where the gala was taking place.

Just before Twilight finished the spell she was casting, something caught the attention of the guests, a silhouette in one of the windows that looked too much like a bat. With a shower of glass, Batmane entered the room, his hind legs in front of him, before landing, raising his head and staring at a stunned Joker.

"Hey, it's not your turn to play, Batsy," he said with a small frown. "You don't want any more foals to die tonight, do you?"

"No foal has died, Joker" Batmane said as he stood up, staring at the clown. "And your bomb isn't going to go off today."

Joker blinked in surprise, ignoring the princesses' stares or that the speaker spell on him had been deactivated. Before any of his minions could react, all weapons were raised in Celestia's magical aura, which easily melted them, closing in on some terrified ponies. The doors opened soon after and the guard, led by Flash Magnus, appeared, watching what was going on.

"Guards, take Joker and his accomplices" Celestia said.

The guards, some with expressions of fury, rushed to comply, pulling out their hoofcuffs and inhibitor rings. As the Joker was seized and dragged away, his gaze tried to stay on Batmane for as long as possible, before a laugh erupted from his mouth.

"I was wrong to choose the contestant" he said with a macabre smile, being expelled from the room.

Batmane looked at the Joker before focusing on Celestia, who looked him up and down before speaking.

"I take it you were the one who freed the foals and defused that bomb, right?"

"Ace Wing Chemicals, there will be the kidnapped foals and more henchmen of the Joker."

Despite the fact that some began to murmur because of such a direct answer, Celestia remained calm.

"Did you hear that, captain?"

"I'm on it" said Flash Magnus as he walked away, ready to give the orders to go to Ace Wing Chemicals.

"I must thank you for this, you have saved many lives" Celestia continued. "But you must stop your activities, you will only harm yourself. Still, for your actions, I will allow you to join my sister's night guard. There you will be of much more help to..."

Batmane interrupted Celestia by throwing a spherical object at her, which the princess had no problem blocking with a small shield. Upon impact, a cloud of smoke completely enveloped the place, hiding the bat from her sight, and when the alircorn managed to remove all the smoke, the masked pony was already planning back to his Batmobile. A short time later, the sound of his engine was heard, getting further and further away.

"I must say I didn't expect that" Luna said as she approached, a small smile on her face. "Normally he waits until you're not looking before he leaves."

Celestia bit back the growl that wanted to come out of her, turning away from the window and her sister, focusing on the guests.

Arkham Asylum

Luna entered her room after an hour and a half talking to the guests and making sure that Joker and his minions were properly locked up. With a sigh, she stretched, feeling all the weariness, but she still had something to do. The princess suppressed the yawn that she wanted to get out of her and she approached the balcony, looking at the full moon overhead.

"You are the first in centuries, at least that I know of, to leave my sister speechless."

"Where is the Joker?" Batmane said stepping out of the shadows.

"Straight to the point, huh?" Luna said with a small smile, before she completely disappeared. "Joker is locked up in Arkham Asylum, it is more than obvious that he is, as my sister would say, in need of psychiatric help, his henchpony are awaiting a psychological test to see if they will be sent to Arkham or Blackgate."

"The only mental hospital in all of Canterlot now, I don't like it at all."

"Neither do I, but Celestia fully trusts the security of the asylum. Besides, she argues that all of his henchpony are under arrest, which I have to agree with" Luna looked at the stars for a few seconds before sighing. "With any luck, nothing will happen. And going back to other matters, many parents, and sisters, are in your debt tonight" the princess stared at Batmane. "But Rainbow Dash almost died."

"I went as fast as I could, I had no other way to contact."

"That's why I want to give you something, I've been thinking about it lately, and today was what made up my mind."

Luna entered her room again and approached the desk, opening a drawer to take out a small wooden chest, wrapping it in her magic. She brought it over to Batmane and opened it, revealing a small ring inside of it with a small midnight blue gem inside of it.

"This is the ring of the night" Luna said as she held it up for Batmane to see better. "Old times, in times of war, I gave this ring to a champion, a knight in my service, with whom he could send me key messages if necessary, to ask for support, medical help, or inform me of enemy advances. Today, I want to give it to you."

Batmane caught the ring in his magic, studying it.

"How does it work?"

"When you want to send me a message, think of me, the ring will create a mental connection between you and me" Luna didn't need to see his eyes to know that this had made Batmane suspicious, so she smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry, that connection is only for the message you want to give me. I won't be able to read your mind, and I won't be able to know your location, it's the maximum trust that somepony can receive."

Batmane nodded, tucking the ring inside his suit. Somepony knocked on the door of her room, causing Luna to stop focusing her attention on the bat, and when she turned back, he was already gone. The princess of the night sighed and walked over to the door, opening it to find Celestia, her face calm, but she could see through her mask her doubt.

"Good evening, Luna, am I interrupting something?"

"No, I was just going to sleep and protect the dream world, why?"

"I just wanted to apologize for my behavior with you. You're right, I can't force you to see Batmane the way I see him, but you can't expect me to see him the way you do, either."

"I don't want that, sister" Luna said with a sigh. "Look, I know we have our differences with Batmane, but I suggest we put those aside between us and deal with him our own way, deal?"

Luna could see that her sister wasn't really satisfied with that, but after giving a sigh, she smiled at her and they both merged into a hug.

Celestia walked through the corridors of Arkham, which more than an asylum, seemed like a gothic castle with all the rules, built 50 years ago by Sand Arkham, a Saddle Arabia who had come to the city for a convention on psychology and fell in love with Canterlot , becoming a citizen of Equestria and building the asylum soon after. The princess never thought that she would reopen the place after the accident with it owner.

She walked through the narrow corridors of the psychiatric hospital, stopping before a room filled with several doors, all leading to rooms where therapy or patient interviews could be held. At that moment, there were two guards from the asylum's security in front of one of the rooms, who bowed to Celestia before opening the door and letting her pass. The alicorn entered, seeing a white room without windows, a door on the other side that led to the patient sections, and sitting in front of the only table, was the Joker, dressed in a yellow jumpsuit with the Arkham logo and with their hooves hoofcuffed to the table.

"Your Highness, what a pleasant surprise. Had I known, I would have asked for something more appropriate" he said with a smile, accentuated by his scars.

Celestia sat on the pillow that had been placed for her as there was no suitable chair at her height, and left a folder on the table, Joker's recently created medical record.

"Hello Joker, I guess that's not your real name though."

"Why would you believe that?" answered the clown with a small laugh. "As far as I remember, I don't have another name."

Celestia kept her eyes on Joker before opening her file, currently almost empty, with only his aliases known and his possible disorders, among them, psychopath.

"I must say that your case is really mysterious, I haven't seen somepony with such an unknown past since King Sombra himself. No hoof prints, unrecognizable cutie mark magic signature, and whatever it is that left you like this" Celestia looked at the Joker's white fur and green mane, "managed to seep into your blood and contaminate it enough to make you unrecognizable, but without leaving you with any ill side effects. From what I see here, you didn't exist until recently."

"Technically correct" replied the Joker with a laugh.

"I guess you won't tell me anything about your past, right?"

"And what would be fun about that?"

Celestia held his gaze, even when Joker roared with laughter, closing the folder and setting it aside.

"Okay then let's put your past behind you, do you have the slightest idea what you've done?"

"Animate a party."

Celestia had to suppress the urge to frown, keeping her face calm.

"Why? Why did you do it?"

"I was just having fun, your highness, that's all" the Joker replied with a laugh. "Just a clown doing his job."

The princess carefully observed those green eyes, full of madness, a madness that she had seen before. With a sigh, she got up and walked to the door.

"Have you finished yet, your highness? A pity."

"I've already found out everything I wanted to know" Celestia said as she looked over her shoulder at him. "You are nothing but a madpony, I have seen many like you before. I sincerely hope that you can regain your sanity."

"Oh, your highness, I am not like others, I will do something that none of them achieved... I will go down in history."

Celestia watched the Joker a little longer before opening the cell and leaving him alone. The clown snickered as the door closed. Yes, he was going to go down in history, Canterlot would remember him for centuries.

It was close to nightfall, about two hours, but Ointment, an earth pony stallion was just beginning his routine. He was one of the few nurses who had a night shift, but he didn't complain, after his usual place of work was burned to the ground by that crazy clown, he wouldn't mind the new one, it was the only thing that ensured he paid the rent. Still, he did feel a bit oppressed in the new asylum, more than anything, because of his gloomy appearance. As he got out of the taxi he had taken to get there, he saw the immense gothic castle that was Arkham, and despite not being the height of the real Canterlot castle, it was impressive to look at.

There were gargoyles on almost every corner, tall towers that seemed to touch the sky, and huge stained glass windows. The interior was no better, despite attempts to modernize it. For example, the lobby, which despite the addition of a reception desk like any other psychiatric hospital would have, was bloody big, marble stairs leading up to the rest of the structure and various corridors branching off from there, and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling. He greet the receptionist, who was already collecting his things and would soon be replaced by Ointment, shortly after heading down one of the corridors to the locker room area.

There, in front of two lockers, he found two ponies that looked at him, almost seemed not expecting him. Ointment ignored them and headed to his assigned locker, unlocking it with the key he took from his saddlebags, which he slipped inside. He pulled out his uniform, a plain white hospital shirt with the Arkham Asylum logo, and closed the metal door. His gaze fell on the two ponies, a unicorn and a pegasus, who were totally still, nervous, as if they were waiting for something.

"Are you new? I've never seen you before" he said curiously.

They both looked at each other before nodding.

"In that case, don't worry, the good thing about the night shift is that you hardly have to do anything."

Ointment smiled and walked away, leaving the locker room and heading to a break room set up for employees, where Secure Padlock, a unicorn stallion who belonged to Arkham security and was already in his uniform, including a small earpiece in his ear, and was already making coffee. The unicorn saw him enter and smiled at him.

"Hey, how are you doing, Ointment?"

"Still getting used to the night shift, how about you?" he said as he approached the coffee machine.

"Fine, although a little worried about the new patient."

"The Joker?"

"The same" agreed Secure, a little more serious.

"Why? Why is he one of the first psychopaths to come this far? I don't see him as a threat locked up here, you know?"

"I don't know, I've been working in psychiatric hospitals for 14 years, I know how to recognize a psychopath, but he... has something that makes him different from the others."

"The fact that?"

"I don't know, and that's what scares me."

Ointment rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his coffee as he watched Secure.

"I'm sure it's just your imagination. The only thing special about him is that he managed to infiltrate the castle and kidnap a class of foals, nothing more."

Secure pondered the words before sighing and nodding, it wasn't worth worrying too much about. Time passed slowly and they both took their places, Ointment at the reception and the unicorn nearby, strolling through the corridors but coming over from time to time to keep the earth pony company. With less than an hour to go before the sun went down, the unicorn took a call on the earpiece, listening intently and frowning.

"What's happening?" Ointment asked.

"One of the guards has told me that they have seen somepony unauthorized in the patient cells, specifically, near the Joker's. Stay here, I'm going to go see."

"No way, maybe they need medical assistance" said the earth pony as he stood up.

"Do you have studies in medicine?" Secure asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I studied medicine before opting for psychology, I didn't finish my degree but I have my knowledge, and besides, at this time there aren't much more staff and the ones there have more important positions, don't you think?"

"Okay, but you will stay behind me and obey all my orders."

Ointment nodded and followed Secure through the pale corridors of Arkham until they reached the hallway section. A few minutes passed until they turned a corner and saw something that put them on alert, the guards who were watching the Joker's cell were dead, and the door was open. Pulling his crossbow, the unicorn slowly approached, ordering the earth pony to hide behind the corner of the hallway. He inched forward until he was a few meters away, but a pony leaned over the edge, a pegasus pointing a gun at him firmly gripped by one of his wings, and shot at his legs before he could do anything.

Secure cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, crossbow skidding away, and watched with a snarl as the pegasus and a unicorn left the cell. In the distance, Ointment recognized them, they were the same ones who had been in the locker room. Besides them, somepony else came out, the Joker, dressed in his purple suit again, and laughing darkly.

"Oh, what do we have here?" he said as he approached. "Tell me, friend, would you be willing to show me where the cell keys are? My dear assistants had to force the door of my cell, and we don't have time for that."

"Fuck you," Secure growled.

"Guess not" Joker shrugged, holding out a hoof, which made the unicorn give him his submachine gun, and aimed it at his head. "Well, what can I do... but at least I can console myself by popping the piñata, sorry for not doing it with a bat, I don't have one here right now."

As he laughed, Joker fired, blowing Secure's head off and scattering his brains on the ground. Ointment hid himself again, closing his eyes tightly, feeling the tears slide down his cheeks.

"Come out, come out, little pony…I still need to get to the keys…unless you want to be my new piñata."

Ointment's eyes widened, terror freezing him in place. Soon, the Joker poked his head around the corner, grinning widely.

"I found you."

Fancy Pants watches the ceiling of her cell, listening to the screams of the patients outside, free. Somepony opened the heavy metal door, drawing his attention, and there, he saw a clown grinning a scarred grin. Joker tucked his hoof into his jacket and tossed him a coin that rolled toward him, stopping just short of his bed.

"There you go, I had a hard time finding it in the lost toys section. I hope you have fun, my dear Fancy, I know you have a lot of potential."

The Joker laughed to himself as he walked away. Fancy stood up, staring at the coin and grasping it in his magic. After a few seconds, he threw it into the air, and when it fell, the subject with his hoof, seeing the burned and black face. Nodding, he headed for the exit, to freedom, to the streets of Canterlot.

Joker walked happily through the halls of Arkham, followed by his two assistants who had rescued him according to his plan. He went down the stairs to the basement, heading for the maximum security cells, specifically, the one at the end of a long corridor with the largest and most robust metal door in the entire asylum. Upon arrival, the clown banged hard on the metal three times.

"Knock, knock, room service."

It wasn't long before something banged on the door, driving the two ponies back, who looked at each other nervously.

"Who are you?" said a voice from within.

"Don't you remember me? I got you out of that crazy house, a shame they locked you up again, huh?"

The voice was silent for a while before speaking again.

"You're the clown... I remember you."

"So, my friend, are you willing to work with me?"

It took a few seconds for the voice to respond.

"Yes."

Joker smirked, gesturing for his henchpony to release whatever pony...or whatever...was inside.

Dark Knight

Celestia sipped her cup of tea, enjoying the taste, relaxing after she had hidden the sun and her sister had brought the night. Her gaze went to her balcony, looking out over the city, but something felt...off. With a frown, she got up and went outside, taking a good look at Canterlot, specifically, the area closest to the section of forest where Arkham was. There were a few plumes of smoke climbing into the night sky, and that always spelled trouble. The door to her room rang out with several loud knocks, and before she could say anything, a unicorn royal guard entered, casting his nervous gaze around her chambers before focusing on the princess and quickly approaching.

"Your Highness!...Joker!...Arkham!..." he gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"Calm down, take a deep breath" Celestia said calmly, looking at the guard, who was approached by two others, clearly confused. "Now tell me what's wrong."

"The Joker has escaped and started a riot in Arkham! All of it prisoners have escaped and are wreaking havoc in the city! The police have reported that ponies are taking advantage of this to cause more riots!"

Celestia frowned, turning to look at the city again, thinking.

"Wake up my sister, and have her and the captains of the royal and night guard meet me. Bring the new commissioner as well."

The three royal guards nodded before walking away, leaving Celestia alone. She passed through her mind the idea of calling Twilight and her friends, but she rejected it, this was not a threat that required the presence of the elements of harmony, she could take care of it without coming into direct conflict. Her gaze went to another section of the forest, where she knew her nephew's mansion was. He may have been far from that madpony, but she hadn't planned to risk it, she had learned the hard way that she should never trust herself too much, and although the circumstances were very different, she was still one of danger.

Blueblood was eating dinner, eating quietly before going on patrol, thinking about the Joker. There was something wrong, why did he burn down all the psychiatric hospitals and then raid the castle and Ace Wing Chemicals? But that's not what bothered him, what bothered him is that after talking to Luna and receiving that ring, he went back to the weather station, just in case. What he found, apart from the corpses of the security ponies, which were already being studied by forensics, he had to be very stealthy to avoid being discovered, was that some packages containing clouds had disappeared. Why? What did he have planned?

His thoughts were interrupted when Service entered the room, accompanied by a pegasus royal guard, which surprised Blueblood.

"Can I help you?" he said as he got up.

"I'm just here to let you know that I and a group of royal guards will be here to protect his home."

"Why?"

"Because Joker has escaped and released all of Arkham's patients and many of his ponies are out in the streets causing riots. Her highness wants to keep you protected in case any of them make it here."

Blueblood frowned, glancing at Service, both of them giving each other a silent message.

"Well, I doubt they'll make it this far, but thanks anyway."

The pegasus nodded, turning to leave, but pausing for a few seconds.

"We'll just patrol the surroundings, but do you want some guards here?"

"Needless."

The pegasus nodded again and headed for the exit, accompanied by Service and Blueblood. As soon as he was out, the unicorn frowned and walked away, heading for the entrance to the Batcave.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, sir? There are royal guards nearby."

"The Batcave exit is far enough from here that they won't notice the Batmobile. Besides, I can't stand by while that clown does whatever he has planned."

After being scanned and the secret door opened, he entered and headed for the elevator, Service nearby.

"And how do you plan to find the Joker, sir? You were lucky to find him yesterday."

"If what that guard said is true, there will be ponies working for Joker on the street, I just have to persuade one of them to find out his whereabouts."

Blueblood finally reached the Batcave and walked briskly over to his suit, ready to put it on.

A family, consisting of a father, a mother and a small filly, were running through an alley, fleeing from three ponies wearing clown masks. They had gone to the movies for a family night when all the chaos broke out in the city, and it didn't take long for them to start being chased. As they ran, another pony in a clown mask came out of one of the alleyways, carrying a gun in his left hoof, pointing it at the family and forcing them to stop.

"I told you it would be easy," he said, looking at the other three ponies. "Now, sir, if I were you, I would take out all the money you have on you and give it to me now, unless you want to leave your wife a widow and your daughter an orphan."

As the four raiders laughed, the pony, a unicorn, gulped and began pulling his bag of bits out of his saddlebags, praying that they would settle for what little money he had. But before he did, something swift came flying down from above and slammed into the hoof of the pony that was pointing the gun at them, knocking it to his hooves and causing him to scream in pain. The other three looked on in confusion, at least until something fell right on top of one of them, eliciting another cry of pain that was quickly silenced as he fell unconscious. The other two stared in terror at the fallen figure, Batmane.

Before they could attack, the bat pounced on them and knocked them out in no time, then focusing on the first one he attacked with his batarang, who had managed to get it out and was trying to flee, limping. Ignoring the family for the moment, who pressed themselves against the wall, Batmane closed in on the pony, knocking him to the ground and driving his hoof behind his head, pressing his face into the sidewalk.

"Speak up, don't make me crack your skull to find the answers!"

The pony didn't need him to specify what he wanted his to talk about.

"H-he's in th-that ma-mafia ho-hotel, the Gra-Grand Pa-Palace! For Ce-Celestia, do-don't do any-anything to me!"

"Thanks."

Batmane hit him hard on the head and knocked him unconscious, then turned to the family, who were looking at him warily.

"You live nearby?" Batmane asked as he approached.

"Yes..." answered the unicorn doubtfully.

"Then go home as quickly as possible, don't stop for anything and, above all, don't go into dark alleys."

Batmane pulled his batclaw and anchored it to one of the buildings, quickly climbing up and leaving behind a stunned family. When he reached the roof, he headed for the ledge, looking down the street. There were dozens of ponies, a few fleeing home, others breaking shop windows to steal what was inside, and some burning carriages that were on the road. He would have liked to go down and do something, but the Joker was more important, so he jumped off the building and spread his cloak so he could glide.

He took several minutes to arrive, stopping at a nearby building, looking at the hotel. It was gothic in style and four stories high, and for nearly 15 years it was a hit, at least until Batmane came along and ended Falcone's reign. The hotel was found to be a mafia cover, and with its top bosses and corrupt judges and prosecutors locked up in jail, it didn't take long for the site to be ordered dismantled. There were plans to reopen it in the future, but for now it had been left abandoned, for sale.

From his position, he asked to see that there were snipers in the windows of the third floor, so trying to get there by gliding was not an option, his back might be protected by his armor, but his cape was not. Batmane decided to go for a different tactic, dropping to ground level and approaching the hotel without the snipers noticing. Once at the gates, he gave a powerful magical boost and entered, only to be met by a crowd of eager ponies, about twenty of them.

"Good night, Batmane!" shouted the Joker's voice, which seemed to come from everywhere at once. "Welcome to the final number of my show, and you are the main character! A round of applause, please!"

All the ponies present clapped loudly, whistling and howling as if they were in a circus performance.

"The rules are very simple, Batsy, you see, on this very street, my genius assistants have stormed two buildings and planted two different bombs with my personal laughing gas. Those bombs also have cloud charges, and if they go off, they will spread all over Canterlot. Also, one of my assistants happened to have some magic skills, so he helped me synchronize my heartbeat with the explosives. If in two hours, you haven't killed me... Boom. Let the game begin!"

The Joker burst out laughing, apparently amused at the idea of Batmane murdering him. The ponies around him pounced on him, confident in his superior numbers. The bat dodged blow after blow, throwing off as many enemies as possible, occasionally taking a few hits that his armor could withstand. After an arduous battle, the last of them fell unconscious, leaving only the masked pony, who advanced slowly while he activated the ring that Luna had given him.

Celestia, her sister, the two captains of both guards and the new police commissioner were gathered in a private room of the princesses, a round table crowning the room, and on top of it, a map of all of Canterlot. Thanks to a spell from the white allocorn, the section that was being attacked glowed red.

"We already know why we're here, so I'm not going to bother explaining anything" Celestia said as she lit up her horn and several golden spheres appeared on the map. "Captain Magnus, I want the Royal Guard to position themselves at the entrances to the raided streets, I don't want the patients or the rioters to escape from there. The Supernovas will go in to arrest any ponies that are needed and to help the injured."

"Yes, your highness" Flash said with a nod.

"The police will be in charge of giving tactical support to the guard."

"I will mobilize my agents immediately" said the commissioner, an earth pony.

Celestia nodded satisfied and watched Luna, who stepped forward a bit, glancing sideways at the captain of her guard, a thestral mare.

"Captain Midnight, you will have a similar role. You will position yourself in..."

"Princess..." said a voice right in her head, causing Luna to fall silent, missing the others, she hadn't experienced that feeling in a long time. "I'm at the Grand Palace hotel, the Joker is here."

Luna frowned, looking at the map and, locating the hotel, she marked it in blue, ignoring her sister's questions.

"He has two bombs in two buildings on this street, and unless I kill him within two hours, they are going to explode and a cloud of his gas will spread throughout the city. I need you to defuse them, I trust you."

"Luna, what's wrong?" Celestia asked again.

Luna was silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"You're going to be mad... I gave the night ring to Batmane."

While the captains and the commissioner looked at each other strangely, Celestia frowned.

"You gave him what?" she asked, repressing her urge to scream, that was the last straw. "That ring is for somepony..."

"Somepony I trust, not yours" Luna interrupted, looking defiantly at her sister. "Now, are you going to let me finish and save the city or do you still want to scold me like I'm ten years old?"

Celestia watched Luna for a few moments before she closed her eyes, breathed to herself, and nodded.

"Okay... what's wrong?"

Despite the circumstances, Luna couldn't help but smile slightly when she saw that her sister was willing to listen to her.

"The Joker has planted two bombs on this street" she said as she pointed to the spot. "He has threatened Batmane that he will blow them up unless he kills him. We need to deactivate them, and I suspect there will be ponies guarding the hotel, so I suggest we avoid being seen from there."

Celestia looked around the hotel before she blew her horn. Part of the golden balls representing the guard moved to the designated street.

"Captain Magnus, change of plans, the Supernovas will accompany the night guard to that street. The two of us will go with them, and as soon as they find the bombs, I want them to let us know. Go give the orders."

Magnus nodded, turning away and leaving the room. As for Midnight, she stayed there until Luna gave her the confirmation. The commissioner followed shortly after to command the police, leaving the princesses alone. Celestia looked at her sister, who returned her gaze, studying her. After a while, the alicorn began to walk towards the exit, stopping at the door.

"Come on, sister, we have to save Canterlot."

Luna smiled, relieved that Celestia wasn't as angry as she thought she would be. With a quick step, both alicorns walked away, preparing for the mission that lay ahead.

Batmane reached the third floor after going through the second, full of ponies who tried to stop him. He had realized that the Joker had blocked the stairs on each floor, so that he had to go through the corridors of the hotel to get through. As in the previous ones, here he found signs that would lead him to his next challenge, as the clown had mentioned. It didn't take long to reach some elegant wooden doors, and opening them, he found a huge ballroom, a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, several columns, a large open door on the other side with more signs indicating that he should continue there and, more importantly, almost fifty ponies waiting for him, making a circle in the center of the room, where an earth pony waited, or so it seemed.

As Batmane got closer, he could see that this pony had some similarities to a cragadile. He was taller than any other pony, almost equal to Princess Luna, his skin, lacking fur, was a dark green tone, and upon closer inspection, it seemed to be covered with scales, on his head and tail there were what seemed to be pieces of black rock that served as thorns. The pupils of his eyes were vertical, and the rest of the eyeball was tinted yellow. His snout revealed a smile full of sharp teeth, which would fit a dragon better than a pony, and besides, he had no ears, at least to the naked eye.

"At last you have arrived" said the beast, licking his teeth. "I was starting to get hungry."

"Get out of my way, I don't have time for you" Batmane said as he walked away, showing no sign of fear, nervousness or even struggle.

"You have guts, bat, I respect that. But the clown set me free in exchange for my working for him and trying to stop you, and Killer Crag always keeps his promises."

Batmane stopped a few feet from Killer Crag, watching him intently.

"Last chance, leave, don't make me hurt you."

Killer Crag laughed heartily, as did most of the ponies in the room.

"Oh, you're so funny…" he said with amusement, still giggling slightly, but when he was done, his smile turned more evil, licking his teeth once more. "But enough of playing with food."

The beast lunged at Batmane with his mouth wide open, wider than any other pony could ever open. The bat moved away in time and slammed as hard as it could into his side, realizing that his skin not only resembled that of a cragadile, but was just as tough. As Killer Crag whipped around for another bite, he backed away from him again, deciding to go on the defensive until he had a better plan to take him down other than hitting him with his hooves. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that several ponies were joining the fight, making things a lot more difficult for him.

Batmane dodged Killer Crag's bites and blocked the ponie's blows and returned them. Unfortunately, taking advantage of the fact that one of the ponies distracted him, the beast managed to bite him on his left hind leg, managing to penetrate what little protection he had in that area. He got up on two legs and threw the bat hard at one of the columns, hitting it and falling to the ground. He managed to get up with a grunt, watching as that monstrous pony approached, followed by the other thugs. He had to find a way to defeat him, and fast. Remembering the column behind him, a plan, somewhat risky, formed in his mind.

"Is that all you can do? I barely even noticed" he said as he got into position.

Killer Crag growled and lunged at him with his jaw open, but before he reached him, Batmane jumped to the right, hitting the column with such force that it cracked. The beast grunted in pain, backing away from it as he massaged his head with one of his hoofs, trying to get his bearings again.

"You have failed."

The monstrous pony turned furiously, watching Batmane walk away. Angrily, he lunged at him to bite him, but the bat dodged as he backed away, trying to bear the pain in his leg. After a few minutes, he once again jumped to the side and Killer Crag's head hit the column again. This time, the pain was a little more severe and his disorientation lasted longer. Before he could back up very far, he felt somepony get on his back and a hoof on his neck, pushing him hard toward the marble column.

Disorientation made it impossible for his to resist much, and not even his skin could protect him against the hard marble. After a few more minutes, Killer Crag fell unconscious, and Batmane dropped to the ground, watching the other ponies. They stepped back a bit, their eyes wide as they saw what had happened.

"He has... defeated him..."

"That... that's impossible... Killer Crag is stronger than several earth ponies put together!"

"Well he has..."

Batmane inched, trying to hide his slight limp, toward the door across the room. The ponies around him no longer bothered to try to stop him, too shocked. Instead, they meekly stepped aside, letting him pass, some even fleeing the scene. The bat made his way through the exit and headed for the stairs at the end of the hall and up to the fourth and top floor, finding more signs. He could feel the blood running down his leg, the suit slightly open, but he didn't care. The signs took him to a room door, and upon opening it, he entered a fairly large suite, in fact, the room he was in was more of a living room than anything else. A huge window was in the background, showing views of the city, and in front of it, the Joker, who turned with a smile.

"You's finally here, Batsy! How did you like my challenges?"

"It's over Joker, you're going back to Arkham."

"No no no, Batmane, don't you remember the game? You must kill me if you want to save the city," Joker said as he pulled a gun from his jacket. "Here's a little help."

Joker tossed the gun at Batmane, falling onto his hooves. He slowed down a few seconds before kicking it and throwing it away from him, closing in on the clown.

"Give up, you have nowhere to run."

"Okay, you're going to fist me to death, creative, I like it."

The Joker laughed heartily as Batmane slammed into him, knocking him to the ground and planting his hoof on his neck.

"Where are the bombs?!" he yelled furiously.

"Oh, what fun would it be if I told you?" Joker said with another laugh. "Besides, it's not like you had time either."

Joker hardened his hoof into a corner, and as Batmane turned, he saw a clock on the wall, a clock that indicated that there was little more than a minute left of her time. The clown broke his left hoof and tapped the bat on the shoulder, creating an electric shock that caused him to scream, back up and fall to the ground.

"Let me guess, you've never come across somepony who had an electrical strap on their hoof, have you?" Joker said as he stood up, lifting his hoof and revealing a small ribbon on his hoof, a small red button in the center.

Batmane didn't answer, the pain in his leg and the shock left him speechless. Joker reached out, pulling an extendable baton out of his purple jacket, extending it and hitting the bat on his side hard.

"Come on, get up, Batsy! Don't let me down!"

The chimes of the clock interrupted him, making him laugh as he walked over to the window.

"Time! You lose, Batmane!"

Joker watches the night sky with a smile, expecting that at any moment it will fill with green gas, but it did not happen. The clown frowned and looked at the clock again, it was time, why hadn't the bombs exploded?

"Joker, come out peacefully!"

Joker focused on the window, looking down, near the entrance, seeing that it was full of royal and night guards, and in front of all of them, Celestia and Luna, being the first one who spoke to him.

"Did you really think I wouldn't have backup?" Batmane asked as he stood up. "I just told Princess Luna so she and her sister can look for the bombs. Like I said, it's over."

"That's... not funny" Joker said as his tone and face turned deadly serious, looking at Batmane.

"You're going back to Arkham."

Joker growled and ran at the bat, his staff out in front to hit him. But Batmane nimbly dodged, tossing the offending object away from him, shattering the window, striking back and knocking him to the ground. Before he could get up, he felt his hooves on his neck, squeezing. The clown stares at those white eyes, those ears... and a vague memory comes to mind... a familiar figure watching him as he falls to his baptism into madness. It was him, he was the one who created him… Joker let out a laugh as that knowledge dawned, a long, maniacal laugh, cut short as he fell into unconsciousness.

Batmane pulled away from him with a small groan, still feeling the pain in his leg, and looking down at Joker's unconscious body. Hoovessteps were heard approaching, and when he looked up, there were both princesses of Equestria. Celestia shifted her gaze from the clown to the bat, noticing that he was panting slightly and a small trail of blood dripped from one of his hind legs.

"Are you OK?" Luna asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Patients have been caught?"

Despite the fact that Celestia frowned at her at his sharp response, Luna didn't seem to care.

"Almost everypony, the royal guard and the police are doing a good job of containing the unrest."

"In that case, you should keep him under the watch of the guard."

Luna looked at the Joker and nodded, that was something that had been amply demonstrated.

"You should come with us," Celestia said with a frown. "You are wounded, and while your actions have been very honorable, your methods of finding justice are too violent. If you want to help, you had better do it on my sister's night..."

Before she could finish, Luna interrupted her sister, walking past her and standing right in front of Batmane.

"As my sister said, you has done an honorable thing, and during the time we have known each other, you has shown me that you are trustworthy, you are worthy of my blessing."

Luna spread her wings to their full extent, and Celestia's eyes widened, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"You have my permission to wander through my night, that my moon illuminates your path, that the shadows protect you. Make your figure a symbol of hope for the weak, and a symbol of terror for criminals. From today, I appoint you... my dark knight."

Batmane bowed his head in respect, which Luna imitated. Once her wings folded, Celestia screamed.

"What have you done?!"

"Name him my dark knight, you know, that means..."

"I know what it means!" Celestia closed her eyes, trying to calm herself, taking deep breaths. "Luna, you can't..."

"Of course I can, I've made sure this stays in effect."

Celestia looked at Luna's defiant face, sighing and looking at the place where Batmane had been, seeing that he was no longer there. With a growl, she lit up her horn and levitated Joker's unconscious body out of there. The princess of the night looked at her sister's mark before approaching the broken hole in the window. In the distance, on top of a building, was the silhouette of Batmane, rapidly disappearing from view.

Epilogue

Luna was on her balcony, sipping a cup of tea while looking at the stars, the moon, and a new addition to her night, a bat signal. Right next to her was a huge spotlight, powered by magic, with the bat in the center.

"I like it."

Luna groaned to look at the source of the voice, Batmane, who was stepping out of the shadows.

"I thought we would need it to call you, unlike you, I can't send messages to your mind, I always thought it was a design error" Luna said as she watched the signal in the sky. "Besides, I think other than a call, it can be a good deterrent to criminals, don't you think?"

"And the Joker?"

"Always so direct" Luna said with a small smile, which soon disappeared. "He is locked up in Arkham, and following your advice, both my sister and I have placed a post of our guards in the mental hospital."

"Is your sister still mad?"

Luna was silent for a while, taking a sip of her tea before speaking.

"She is... but she'll get over it, she can't be mad forever. We're both like night and day, very different from each other, with our frictions, but in the end, we need each other."

Batmane nodded, confirming that he had heard. Luna looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and a small mischievous smile formed on her face.

"You should go now to rest, if I'm not mistaken, you have a meeting with Blood Enterprises, you don't want to raise suspicions, do you?"

Luna enjoyed Batmane's silence, for once she would leave her dark knight speechless.

"Before you say anything, I've been suspecting it for a long time. And in case you've forgotten, I'm the princess of night... and dreams, did you really think I wouldn't keep an eye on my nephew's dreams and notice how late he went to sleep?" Luna had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing as she took another sip. "Don't worry, everything I told you is true, I trust you, and your secret will be safe with me."

When Luna turned around, Batmane had already left, leaving her alone. With a smile, she turned to see the bat-signal in the night sky, and with a flash of her horn, she set her spotlight to go out shortly before dawn. That night, she would leave the sign on for all to see.

There was nothing but white, a steppe of ice and snow, the only sound was that of the wind. But, something began to sound, loudly, the sound of ice breaking. A huge, gigantic object began to rise from the depths of the ice, a black object with blue lights illuminating its surface. As the object rose to the surface, it emitted a powerful pulse of energy that Equestria, and the entire planet, had never experienced before.

Celestia jerked awake, beads of sweat staining her fur. She barely remembered her dream, but she still felt the residual magic of that item… magic that she only experienced once in her entire life. Noticing that dawn was still a few hours away, she got up from her bed and walked out into the halls of her castle, walking at a brisk pace. It didn't take long for her to meet Luna, who was coming out of one of the corridors, and seeing her older sister, she looked at her with concern.

"Sister, what was that?"

Celestia rushed by, which made Luna frown before following her.

"I don't know what it was exactly... but I do have an idea of its origin."

Luna's concern increased, few things had made her sister so nervous before. Both of them advanced through the castle quickly, going up several floors, and stopping in front of a door, a room that only Celestia herself and her sister could enter, but the princess of the night did not go there very often, there were things inside that brought back bitter memories. The sun alicorn ignited her horn, illuminating the door and performing several very powerful unlocking spells, until at last, it clicked open.

Celestia entered the room followed by her sister, looking at what was inside it. Nearby was the book that drove Rarity crazy and that Spike had restored to its original appearance with one of his flares, since it was indestructible, on a padded pillow was the Alicorn Amulet, given to the princesses after Zecora recommended that it would be safer with them, in the distance, half hidden by other things, were two suits of armor made of divine steel that had not been used for many centuries. But what made Luna not want to be there, was a statue that was in the darkest corner, the princess could feel those stone eyes following her.

But what dominated the room was an object hidden by a large sheet, which floated a few centimeters from the ground. Luna approached curiously, observing the outline.

"What is this, sister?"

Celestia didn't answer right away, instead she lit her horn and grabbed one of the corners of the sheet.

"This, dear Luna, is proof that we are not alone in the universe."

With a quick jerk, she revealed what was hidden. Luna's eyes widened when she saw what was there, it was, literally, a spaceship taken from those comics that Spike had shown her a few times. It had a triangular shape, an engine at its rear, wings on both sides, a pointed nose and a cabin for a passenger, but it was too small, the princess of the night did not believe that anything larger than a foal of no more than three months could fit in there. But what stood out the most was the shield that was in front, of a golden color, and that contained a stylized 'S'.

Author's Note

Hello! Here the author. I hope you enjoyed reading my take on batman in the My Little Pony universe as much as I did writing it. Once again, I want to thank Tonto the Trotter for his help and advice on how to best approach Batmane, some of the names that have been used for the ponies in this story, and some of the character ideas that were suggested by he.

Second, if you have been curious about this ending, stay tuned to my profile, because in the next few days, maybe tomorrow, I will upload the first chapter of the next story in this universe, most likely I will put a link on the description of this story. See you soon.