The Last Bat

PONYVILLE GENERAL HOSPITAL.

It has been about four days since the Discord incident and things have slowly began to go back to normal. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sent emergency aid to Ponyville to help with the wounded and rebuild the town, but when they had gotten word of the strange new creature that had a hand in the defeat of Discord the two sisters sent a squad of four of their elite guards to "watch over" him while he recovers. The Red Hood was taken to a hospital due to his injuries he received from the battle. Twilight and her friends were all stunned to see an actual, living human being in their midst, all of them believing humans to be nothing more than a myth to scare fillies and colts. Yet here one is being treated by doctors and nurses to stabilize him. None of them were experts in human anatomy, but there is one pony who has that sort of knowledge. Lyra Heartstrings. A unicorn mare with a mint green coat, mint green and white mane, and a heartstring for a cutie mark. She is the number one expert in her field, which isn't saying much as many didn't believe in humans, but when she heard about a real human here she freaked out. In a good way. Even bragging about it in everyone's faces as she did a little victory dance.

She helped the doctors with the human's anatomy as they treated Red Hood, having two broken ribs, broken left arm, traumatic head injury, and internal bleeding. If this didn't kill him they were shocked when they had to remove his armor, seeing his body littered we with scars and wounds of all kinds, by all accounts he shouldn't even be alive. Yet he just refused to die. They were able to stabilize him but had to keep him under watch, Princess Luna even had two of her elite night guard members watch over him, and cuff his wrists to the bed for his "safety", but really if was for theirs.

"I still don't understand, Princess Luna, is this really necessary?" Twilight asked Princess Luna as she, both royal Sisters, her friends, and Lyra all stood around Red Hood's unconscious body.

"Tis is, young Twilight. If what the reports and what thou have told us this creature is not one to be unweary of. To not only defeat a hydra singlehandedly, but also go up against Discord is a true testament of his skill. And proves how dangerous he can be."

"But he saved my cousin and his home town, and saved Fluttershy, and help save all of Equestria. If that feller wakes up to us treating him like some monster he may not react so kindly." Applejack warned as she looked down at Red Hood, seeing a few tubes hooked up to him and covered in bandages.

"We understand that this may not be the best course of action, but please trust us. We will make sure he is given the best of care here and our guards will do nothing to provoke him in anyway." Celestia assured her subjects

"Then at least remove the cuffs." Fluttershy said before hiding behind her mane "I-I mean... I-If you don't mind, that is..." Still the same old Fluttershy.

"Miss Heartstring, you have the most knowledge on humans than any of us. What can you tell us about them?" Celestia asked, Lyra was currently drooling at the feeling of Red Hood's hand on her face as she squealed with joy. Quietly repeating"I knew it" to herself. Celestia cleared her throat as it pulled Lyra out from her trance as she blushed a little and gently put Red Hood's hand down

"R-Right. Uh, Humans were believed to be vastly intelligent, able to use tools, form language, and even structures." Lyra explained "But they were also known to be... Well... N-Not the friendliest bunch, sometimes..."

"Please elaborate." Celestia said

"Well... There are some evidence of... Weapons. And even scriptures detailing wars waged amongst humans."

"It is for this reason we are taking such precautions. We do not wish harm upon him, but we must be sure he isn't a danger to others." Celestia told them to try and get them to understand, the ponies all looked at each other and, hesitantly, all agreed with the Princesses

"We trust you, Princess." They all then left the hospital room but Celestia, Luna, and the guards stationed there stayed

"Can you see into his mind?" Celestia asked her sister

"Yes, I gotten a glimpse of his mind before once, but it happened too quickly that thy wasn't able to see much." Luna explained "I can try, but what I felt from it... It was...." Luna shivered as she could practically feel the darkness crawling all over her, the sounds of that maddening, deafening laughter. She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow, suddenly the room, the whole world became nothing but a black void until Luna appeared in a strange new realm of existence. There were multiple orbs floating around in some sort of stary void, inside the orbs were the dreams of ponies all across Equestria. This is the dream realm, Luna's world.

"Where are thou?" Luna flew through the void searching for the creature's dream. Suddenly she felt the hair on her coat stand up, her blood ran cold, and she felt an intense feeling of darkness and... Fear. Luna turned around and saw that all the other orbs were gone. Except one. The orb was shrouded in darkness with a faint white hue around it.

"What evil is this?" Luna shuddered as he slowly walked towards the orb, she used her magic to enter the dream and used her magic to enter it. Luna now found herself standing in some fort of long corridor, the floors were cracked and the walls had seen better days. The lights above her flickered but were still functional, as she walked Luna began to notice something, every so often she would feel a presence behind her and each time she turned to face it it would narrowly escaped her line of sight. After a few more times of this Luna has had enough as her wings flared up and her eyes glowed

"REVEAL THY SELF!" She shouted in her Canterlot Voice, her horn emitting a blinding flash of light

"Get out."

"THOU DARE COMMAND ME! THY AM PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!" Luna fired a bolt of magic, but suddenly it just disappeared as the darkness took hold. There Luna could make out the figure of a dark shadowy being with glowing white eyes

"Get.... OOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTT!" The creature roared and tackled Luna, digging its claws into her as it roared at her, Luna then screamed as she was forced out of the dream realm and back into the real world

"Gah!" She fell to her knees and was covered in sweat, panting heavily

"Princess!" The guards rushed to her side and helped her up. Luna opened her eyes and stared at the Red Hood's body

"Never let your eyes leave his side." Luna ordered them

"Yes, Princess!" The guards saluted as Luna left the room

"How did they do it? No pony tis able to kick Ms out of thy dream like this." Luna made one last glance at the human before leaving.

JASON'S POV.

"Fucking bitch." I thought to myself as I heard them leave. If she really was able to dig into my mind I would've killed her

"Would you?" Oh great. I could practically feel Batman and the others staring at me with their judgmental gaze. If I could I'd flip them all off, but right now I needed to plan my escape. I was able to hear everything they said without giving off the fact that I was conscious the whole time.

"When is the next shipment of supplies coming?" I heard one of the guards ask

"Around 3 AM, so two more hours."

"Do you believe it?"

"Believe what?"

"That this... Human, I guess, really went hoof-to-hoof against Discord by himself?"

"No way, look at him. He probably just showed up at the end to fight."

"But did you hear the reports? The guy used magic and even killed a hydra!"

"Will you stop believing everything you hear!" I heard them bicker to one another as I opened my eyes just a bit to look at the clock that was across my bed. Waiting for my chance to strike. In the corner I saw my clothes and armor, but from what I heard they took my weapons somewhere else.

"Bide your time, Jason." I told myself as I waited.

Peeking my eyes open I saw that it was 2:47. I need to move fast. I quietly wrapped my hands around the frame my hands were cuffed to and then used my strength to rip it off.

"What the-" I wasted no time as I bashed one guard over the head and kicked the other guard back against the wall. The other two then lunged at me but I quickly jumped off the bed and used the bedframes as weapons. Using them to deflect their spears, they were fast and we're clearly skilled, but Damian was far stronger than them. I deflected one spear and dashed forward, bringing my knee up to his jaw and sending him flying back and crashing into the wall, knocked out. The last guard flew towards me and threw her spear at my head, I quickly ducked but raised my arms up, using the thrown spear to cut through my cuffs. I heard her hiss in anger before flapping her wings and flying at me with a sword in her mouth. I then kicked her in her jaw and broke a few of her fangs as the kick forced her to bite down he'd on the handle of her sword. She flew up and crashed in the ceiling before falling hard on the floor. I ripped off the now broken cuffs off my wrists and shook my head

"Elite guards my ass." I said as I grabbed my armor from the corner and put it on.

"You just made the situation far more worse. You could've used this opportunity to not only gain more information, but to also gain the possible trust of the rulers of this new world." Batman scolded me before I snapped at him

"Oh crap the bullshit. They would've locked me away and treated me like some damn experiment or some attraction in a museum." I put on my helmet and used it to locate my weapons. I found them down in some office along with a group of these ponies. Most of them appear to be scientist though. It'll be tricky, but maybe I could sneak in. I then remembered the Batmobile, using my helmet I tried to see if maybe Savage just teleported it away or something.

"Oh?" My helmet was still getting a connection to the Batmobile, it was up north. I reached into my jacket and pulled out the map I had gotten and looked at it, judging from the distance of the connection and the map it's in... Manehattan.

"Ah, shit. This isn't good." I groaned

"Hey, at least you still have the Batmobile." Batgirl tried to look at the brighter side of things.

"Still doesn't make this any less aggravating." I sighed heavily as I tried to think of a plan, I looked back up at the clock and saw that I didn't have a lot of time to waste. I used my helmet to look outside, many doctors and nurses were around but they were busy with patients, I searched around the room and saw an air vent. Stacking the bodies of the guards I used them to give me a boost as I ripped the vent open

"Gonna be snug, but hopefully I can do it." I took a deep breath and crawled inside, it was a little tight but manageable, looking down with my helmet I saw that the ponies didn't seem to notice anything as they were far more focused on the patients. Thank God.

After a bit I was able to reach another vent that was close to my destination, taking a quick peek inside I saw that it was one of the kids I saved a few nights ago, the kid with the orange mane. I opened the vent and jumped down, doing my best to keep quiet until I heard him shift in his bed

"Hm... M-Mommy?" I heard he say, taking another look I saw that the kid had some bandages wrapped around his head

"You okay, kid?" I asked him, seeing him jump as I raised my hands up "Easy, kid. Didn't mean to scare you."

"What are you doing? I thought the plan was to sneak out quietly?" Robin asked

"Y-you're the one. The one who saved me and Scootaloo!" The kid perked up with a bright smile

"Yeah, it's me. But what happened to you?" I asked, ignoring Robin's question as I walked over to kneel beside his bed

"O-Oh, um... When Discord attacked some of the changes he made... H-He destroyed my home and... I fell from the window, my mom was able to catch me, but I still hit my head real bad." The kid explained to me, I closed my eyes and exhaled as I cursed under my breath, blaming myself for this. Maybe if I had been here sooner I would've been able to prevent the kid from getting hurt. Damnit!

"B-But Scootaloo told me that you saved us! You were fighting Discord and bucking his ugly butt." The kid said with a glint in his eyes, throwing little punches to get his point across, I chuckled a little and raised my hands

"Whoa, take it easy, kiddo. You're gonna hurt somebody if you aren't careful with those things." I smiled softly as I heard the kid laugh at my little joke

"But A-Are you okay? I-I heard you were hurt... Really bad..."

"Meh, I'm okay. Look at me, I'm standing right in front of you, aren't I?" I chuckled "I'm okay, kid. You worry about getting better and rest up."

"Where are you going?"

"I... I got some stuff I need to do, I'm just here to gather up my things and head out." I told him, gently patting his arm- err, hoof? I guess, I don't know.

"Y-you're leaving Ponyville?" Oh great, now he's sad

"Aww, you have a fan?" Nightwing squealed with joy

"Yeah, but no being sad, okay? I just... Uh... Well... O-Other people may need help too, just like you and your friend did that night. And even here a few days ago. I gotta go and make sure that people- I mean ponies are safe." A lie. I didn't care about them... I just needed my ride back. But a comforting lie is better than the harsh truth. At least the kid seemed to brighten up a bit hearing this

"Well... Thank you, for saving all of us." The kid then hugged my arm, I froze at this as I didn't really know how to react so I just let him

"You always were nice with kids, Jason." Batgirl said as she touched my shoulder. I slowly pulled away from the kid as I stood up

"You be good, kid." I told him "Oh... And don't make too much noise." I said, seeing him zip his lips I nodded at him, taking a peek outside with My helmet I saw that my gear was just down the hall. Everyone else were in rooms with patients but I had to move fast. I ran out the door and down the hall, quickly opening the door and shutting it. I turned around and took a quick look at the office before seeing my gear on a table.

"They must've been trying to study them." Red Robin inquired as he looked down at my weapons.

"Surprised they didn't shoot themselves." I said as I started strapping my weapons back on. Once everything was in place I saw a window leading outside, opening it I could hear the horn of a train.

"Shit, gotta move!" I said to myself before jumping out of the window, rolling on the ground and making a mad dash towards the train station, remembering the location when I first came here. It was still nighttime but I saw multiple ponies at work still rebuilding so I had to cut through alleyways and over buildings. I heard the train horn blaring again and could see it beginning to drive off. Jumping down a building I ran towards the tracks. Watching the train gaining speed

"Come on, come on!" I pushed my body to keep running, aching all over but still able to run as the train kept getting faster. Just as the last car was about to slip away I jumped and grabbed onto the railing, pulling myself up and getting onboard. I panted slightly as I sighed, getting up to my feet I used my helmet to look at the train, the one I was on was mostly used for transporting supplies but there were also a few passengers onboard too. Most of the supplier were gone for Ponyville and right now it was just used for simple storage. I walked inside and sat down in the corner behind some crates. Cracking one of them open I saw some large jugs of Ciders.

"Come to papa." I said as I removed my helmet and started drinking. I wasn't sure what awaited me next, but I have to keep moving forward. Nothing much for me to do anyways.

ONE WEEK LATER. MANEHATTAN. NO POV.

It was late in the evening, the sun was just beginning to set as a earth pony stallion wearing a gray suit, yellow coat, broan mane and tail, accompanied by two more stallions, a unicorn and pegasus, in black suits and sunglasses were getting out of a wagon. They appeared to be at some sort of dock as they walked down the pier, many fisher-ponies and docker workers were hard at work as the stallions walked towards a warehouse at the far end.

"This the place?" The stallion in the gray suit asked

"Yes, sir. This is where they told us to meet." One of the stallions in black suit told him.

"Let's get this over with, time is money." They made their way towards the warehouse and walked inside. The warehouse was empty save for a few crates and the place was illuminated by just a few hanging lights on the ceiling. Inside there were about 20 other ponies inside. Ten were in suits similar to the stallions that walked in while the other half were wearing streets clothing of blue or black color.

"Bout time you show your face!" One unicorn stallion said, wearing a blue bandana on his face and a black unbuttoned shirt on.

"I'll show up when I want to. So, what the Tartarus did you call this meeting for?" The suited stallion asked

"I called? The buck you talking about, you called this shit!" The thug stallion shouted

"You didn't call this fucking bullshit?" One suited stallion asked

"You fuckers... Oh, hold up. Y'all fucking plan this shit!" The thugs began taking out knives and automated wooden handheld crossbows while the ponies in suits pulled out metallic automatic crossbows. All of them arguing back and forth as blood was about to spill

"You wanna bucking play with me, bitch!"

"HEY!" An unknown voice called out, everypony turned to see who it was that spoke as a large, mysterious figure stepped out from the shadows. It wore a red Helmet, body armor, a jacket, and a red bat on its chest

"I'll play with you." The unknown figure said with a hint of venom in its voice as it suddenly pulled out two weapons, it pulled the trigger and flash of lights rang out as the creature let out a horrifying roar.

A few hours later the entire warehouse was a crime scene as multiple law enforcement officers and guards were searching the area. Inside about twenty-three bodies were all found dead. Many were bundled up together while a few were scattered about. One of the detectives was searching for evidence, one of the things they found around was some sort of metal casing. Dozens of them, maybe even more all over.

"What do we got this time?" An officer asked, from his rank he was a Sergeant

"Multiple dead suspects, all of them armed. From the looks of their clothing they were both part of different gangs. The Street Kidz and the Triad." One of the forensics explained

"So, it was a gang war?" The officer asked

"It would've been if they shot each other, but that wasn't the case. We found crossbow bolts around the place but not a single one of them hit any of the gang members. But all of them were filled with holes from an unknown weapon. These are our only evidence." The forensic held up a bag filled with the metal casings. Just then news reporters came rushing to the scene as many officers and guards tried to hold them back, camera flashes going off as many reporters began trying to question the officers. The Sergeant groaned and went over to handle them

"Ponies, please! This is a crime scene!" The Sergeant tried to get them to leave

"What can you tell us about the crime?" One reporter asked

"Was it gang related?"

"We are looking into it now, but we need you all to leave immediately!"

"Was it the work of the creature stalking the night?"

"For the last time! There is no creature! There is no monster!" The Sergeant was growing furious as the reporters kept asking questions. Unaware that the creature was looking down at them frome above a rooftop before disappearing into the night.