A/N: Hello, fellow bronies. I have decided to do a little experiment. This is an idea that I've been kicking around for a while now. It's a Batman: Arkham City/MLP crossover. Now I know, that this may sound like an outlandish idea, but I have a track record for this sort of thing. I'm known for making crossovers like these work. I'm very interested in pursuing this idea, but being that this is my first published work on anything related to MLP, I need your help with this. After you are done reading, I highly urge that you leave a comment telling me what you like and don't like about this and what you would like to see from it. What villains would like to see? Which non-Mane 6 characters should I use? What perspective should I use? It's all up to you, bronies!

Enjoy the teaser!

Take care,
- Grave

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Fluttershy
Arkham City
Park Row

This city was huge.

Fluttershy had never seen a city this big before. It was bigger than Manehatten! There was no way this walled off prison camp was only a section of Gotham City. It felt like it was the city itself. She looked up. Beyond the walls of Arkham City was the Wayne Enterprises building, its neon green ‘W’ lighting up the night sky.

She shivered slightly. Not because she was cold, but because she was scared. She was honestly terrified. The overall look of Arkham City made her feel uneasy. The towering buildings and their gigantic statues gave her the illusion these life-like titans of stone and gravel supported the city’s most cherished monuments. The hazy and foreboding atmosphere put a dirty and grimy veil over her vision, making things seem uglier and colors more muted than she was used to. The streets looked as if they were ripped straight out of an old film noir detective movie, complete with old architecture of an age long forgotten. It all made her believe there was an air of mystery in Arkham City and despite her growing fear in her tummy, she was tempted to try and reveal its secrets.

Her mind turned back to Twilight and the rest of her friends. She still did not know where they were. She did not even know where to look. After that brief encounter with the short man with the monocle, she was afraid to ask for help. What did he call himself? The Penguin? Why did these people have such silly names?

She pushed that thought aside and decided to cut through an alley. Like the city streets, it was dark and depressing. Unlike them, it felt small and cramped, with its narrow walls and tipped over trash cans and various pieces of litter strewn about. There was only one light source, and it came from a flickering street light. Under the light were traced chalk lines of a man and woman. A bouquet of flowers lay next to the two. The scene made her want to cry because it was probably where the man and woman in question died. Whoever put the flowers there was probably a relative or friend of the couple, most likely paying their respects. She looked up and read a street sign that sent shivers down her spine. It read ‘Crime Alley.’ She gulped and shivered. Now she really did not want to go down there. Then she remembered what Rainbow Dash told her. She needed to be more assertive. She could not be a coward. She must be brave.

Summoning all the bravery she could muster, Fluttershy inhaled once and walked into the alley, keeping her sights straight ahead of her. She could feel the looks she was getting from the scary-looking people dressed in orange jumpsuits and clown makeup. They all brandished crowbars and heavy-looking chains. Fluttershy shuttered. She never liked clowns, though it was never a phobia. Pinkie would sometimes dress as one for Nightmare Night or at one of her parties, but she had a feeling these clowns were not the fun type.

She felt one of them approach her from behind. “You lost, little pony?” he said.

“Looks like it.” Another one said, chuckling. “This is Joker territory, you know.”

“P-please,” she pleaded. “I didn’t do anything. I was just…”

“We don’t take kindly to kids playin’ on our turf,” A third clown said.

“Not at all,” the second one said.

“N-no,” She squeaked. “Please…”

“Looks like we’re gonna have to teach you a lesson in directions, kid.” The first clown said, brandishing a knife. “No one comes in on Joker’s turf!”

The three men closed in on her. Fluttershy instinctively put her back against the wall and knelt down, hiding her face in her mane and putting her hooves over her head. She closed her eyes, feeling tears roll down her cheeks. She wanted to scream for help. From Rainbow Dash, from Twilight, from anypony, but she could not. She was too scared to do anything.

She expected a blow to come, a crowbar to the head, a chain whip to the back, but it didn’t come. She opened her eyes and peeked through her mane. She saw that the three men had stopped and turned to look up. She looked up as well and what she saw was the answer to her pleas…

“No,” One of the clowns said. “It can’t be! You’re not real! You’re not supposed to be here!”

… Sort of.

What she saw was not Rainbow or Twilight or any of her friends. It was a large bat-like figure. It stood on the roof of the building in front, its shadow cast against the large moon behind it. It stretched its large wings and descended to the streets below in front of her and the three clowns. The only thing she saw now was the outline of the figure.

The three clowns hesitated for a minute. They did not know what to do! He was not supposed to be here! One of them charged at the bat, but it tossed him over with ease into some trash cans behind it. It then jumped at the clown with the knife, grasping his wrist and chopping the blade from the hilt before giving him a vicious uppercut to the chin. The bat turned to look at the third clown, who immediately turned and ran. The bat then took out some kind of launcher gun. It had a three-pronged claw on the front. The bat fired the device and a cable extended to the fleeing clown, the claw on the front grabbing and tripping him. The bat gave the cable a big tug, and the clown flew straight towards its awaiting hand and slammed the clown into the ground. With all of the men knocked out, the figure moved towards Fluttershy.

Fluttershy closed her eyes again, expecting the monster to hurt her. Instead, it offered a black-gloved hand. She opened her eyes slowly to see before hesitantly accepting the gesture with her hoof. The figure pulled her up and now she could get a good look at her savior. The figure was a tall, muscular man in a long black cape and cowl with pointed ears that made him look like a bat. He wore what looked like a gray suit of armor with a big black bat insignia emblazoned on his chest. She looked into his eyes and saw that they were not mean and scary… they were kind and caring.

“Are you all right?” The man asked in a low, gravelly voice.
Fluttershy nodded slowly, trying to find the right words for her savior. Then she suddenly saw one of the clowns crawl up from the trash cans. He grabbed one and slowly crept up on him.

“Look out!” She squeaked.

Her savior moved on instinct, turning to grab the trash can. The bat grasped the large aluminum container, tugging it away from the attacker and shoving it in his face. The clown was stunned for a moment as the bat tossed the makeshift weapon aside. The clown quickly recovered and then tried to jab him as the can fell to the ground, but the bat moved quickly, grabbing the man’s arm and jerking it at a strange angle. A loud and hideous CRAAAAACK was heard as the attacker fell to the ground, screaming in pain. The clown’s arm was broken. Fluttershy winced at the sound. It almost sounded as painful as when Rainbow Dash sprained her wing that one time… only it was ten times worse. Her savior gave the clown a good swift punch to the head to silence him.

The bat turned to Fluttershy, making sure she was okay. After a wordless silence, he started to walk away.
It was then that Fluttershy had found her words. “W-wait!”

The man turned his head to Fluttershy, his white eye slits narrowing in his silhouette.

“What- I mean,” She paused, trying to find the words. “Who… are you?”

She waited for a reply. Her savior’s response would echo in her mind for as long as she lived.

"I'm Batman."

With those words, this man – this “Batman” – ascended from the dark alley right before her very eyes! Fluttershy gasped as he seemingly flew into the night! Like a guardian angel, he was gone.

Fluttershy rested her head against the wall behind her. The sudden shock of her rescue finally began to subside as her mind reeled back to the events she just witnessed. Did… all of that just happen?

She was right. This city was huge… bigger than she ever imagined.

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A/N: Well, I hope you have enjoyed this little experiment of mine. As stated above, in the end, it'll be up to you to determine what happens with this fic. Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think. What villains would you like to see? Who should fight who? Which non-Mane 6 characters should I use? Leave a comment with your feed back! I, personally, really enjoyed writing this and I have several different ideas that I want to pursue with this idea and not all of them involve grimdark-esque stories with ponies and Batman. If you don't like it, I hope you stay with me for any other fanfics that I share with you in the future. Remember, I'll do this only if you really want me to.

Take care,

- Grave

Next Chapter: Teaser 2: What Could Go Wrong? Estimated time remaining: 5 Minutes