Temple of Traps, ten minutes earlier.

A flash of white filled the air as a certain sorceresses teleportation spell finished. Trixie stepped forward with Morgaine right behind her. The two stood in front of the temple, prepared for what was to come. That was until Trixie saw that the door to the temple was already open.

"So, it seems that Batman is already here," Morgaine mused.

"Should we dispose of him, master?" Trixie asked her horn crackling with power.

"My dear student, why would we do that? Batman will be the first to test all the traps and show us the way around them. We'd be fools not to accept his generosity," she answered with a wicked smile.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why should we dispose of Batman and then have to go through all those traps ourselves? It is much more efficient for us to let him risk his life getting past the traps. Once he gets to the staff, then we can be rid of him and take the staff."

"I see. We let him handle the traps and then we swoop in and take the staff. I like it," Trixie smiled, rubbing her hooves together.

"Shall we?" Morgaine asked.

"Let's."

The two proceeded to enter the temple, Morgaine smiling at how the bat would react to seeing her. Trixie smiled at the thought of showing off her powers to her most hated enemy.

=======------========

"The Riddler? Who the heck is that?" Rainbow Dash asked Batman in confusion. Batman ignored her, keeping his eyes trained on one of the more dangerous foes in his rogue’s gallery.

"What are you doing here?" Batman asked, slowly reaching for his batarangs.

"I swear Dark Knight, if your feeble excuse of a brain moved any slower you'd be moving backwards," Riddler replied in a sarcastic voice, rolling his eyes. "I'm not really here. That stone up there read all of your tiny minds and pulled out a memory of whoever was best suited to give you the riddle. So naturally it chose me."

"So yer supposed to help us with this here riddle?" Applejack asked skeptically.

"Oh look at that, a hick that can actually think," Riddler mocked. "Hold on, I think I have some dog treats in one of my pockets."

"I don't think I like your attitude," Rainbow snarled.

"You should have stopped at "I don't think". It would have been a much more accurate description." Riddler taunted.

"Oh, that's it he's going down!" Rainbow yelled, charging straight at Riddler. He yawned as Rainbow Dash passed right through him and collided with the wall.

"You're even dumber than the hick," He scoffed. "Let me put this in words you can understand. Me no here. Me part of Batman's memories. Pony understand?"

Rainbow picked herself up off the floor and glared at Riddler, who turned his attention back to the others. In an instant, Batman had grabbed him by the throat and held him up.

"What does the ridddle say?" Batman asked in a menacing voice.

"Hold on, how come you can touch him?" Rainbow interupted.

"His...mind...his...rules," Riddler gasped out. Batman let go of him and he fell to the floor, clutching his neck. After a moment, he stood up and adjusted it.

"The riddle. Now."

"Very well, but I doubt any of you tiny-brained donkeys will be able to even understand what I'm telling you."

"I'm not a donkey!" Rainbow yelled, really wishing that she could pound him.

"Your right, donkeys are far more intelligent than you ponies and they serve a purpose." The mane six glared at him. "However, I have a riddle to tell you, so here we go. Riddle me this, what is with you when you are born, follows you throughout your entire life and knows where your final resting place will be? Honestly, this is a ridiculously easy riddle, even for you lower intellects."

The six ponies had gathered into a circle, trying to decipher the riddle.

"I say it's death," Twilight said. "Death follows everypony from birth and knows when our time will come."

"I think that it's yer shadow. It follows a pony since their birth and is with them when they kick the bucket," Applejack suggested.

"That won't work, remember, it KNOWS when we will die. A shadow can't tell us that," Twilight argued.

"What about friends?" Pinkie suggested. "I've had friends with me ever since I was born and they'll be with me when I gone to that giant party in the sky."

"Again, the part about knowing how you die doesn't fit," Twilight growled, frustration boiling up in her. "Batman, what do you think?"

"I'm starting to think the Riddler might be right about you," he sighed, turning to face the Riddler. "It's destiny," he answered.

"Very good, Dark Knight. You solved a riddle that a five year old child would have solved. Never-the-less, I have to open the door for you, so until we meet again." With that, Riddler walked up to the doors and tapped it with his cane. The door to the the innermost chamber swung open.

"I'd say good luck, but you tiny brained beasts of burden wouldn't know what to do with it," Riddler scoffed. He felt a tap on the shoulder and turned around, right into one of Batman's fist. Riddler fell back and vanished in a flash of light. Batman walked over to the ponies, who had started to head inside. Twilight gave him a look.

"Who was that creep?" she asked.

"Edward E. Nigma, a.k.a. the Riddler. He has a compulsive disorder that forces him to match his intellect against other people. He usually invents some kind of challenge for his...opponents to overcome," he responded, bringing up Riddler's profile on his cowl.

"What happens to the people who fail his challenges?"

"He kills them," he said flatly.

Twilight stopped in her tracks, horrified by what Batman had said. He killed people for fun, to see if anyone could match his wits. What kind of sicko was the Riddler? She shook her head and ran back to Batman's side.

"So how do you know him? Trade ideas for silly outfits?"

"I am one of the few people that can out think him. He is one of the evils that I fight against."

"Wait, one of the evils? There's more than him?"

Memories flashed through Batman's mind of all the super-criminals he had to face, ranging from psychos like Zsasz to the big names like Joker. Batman shuddered at the thought of Joker in this land. The ponies wouldn't stand a chance.

"Yes, a lot more," Batman replied at last.

"Wow. And you fight them all by yourself?"

"No, there are just as many heroes as villains."

"So Spike and that book of his were right?"

"Correct."

"I'll have to apologize for ignoring him then," Twilight grumbled.

"Hey, I see light at the end of the tunnel!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Rainbow Dash, head towards the light."

"Ha-ha, very funny."

The group headed into the light, unsure of what was next.

======------========

"Wow," Rainbow mouthed, looking around the massive room.

"Ah'll be, this is one impressive room," Applejack said with a whistle.

The room the ponies and bat found themselves in was a massive circular room with light streaming in from above. The floor was stained glass with images of past battles crafted into it. At the other end of the room was another door, with the words "exit" written above it. Cute. However, everypony was looking at a massive statue of a unicorn with a beard standing in the center of the room, as if it were a silent watcher.

"Star-Swirl the Bearded," Twilight whispered, eyes glued to the statue. Batman, however, was focused on something else. In the center of the room, right under the statue, was the Staff of Destiny. It was solid gold with a beautiful orb in the center. The staff glowed with power, seeming to invite the group in closer. The group moved over to it, curiously staring at it. When they were within a few feet of it, a voice rang out through their minds.

'Congratulations on passing my tests. You are worth of the Staff of Destiny. But before you receive one of the more powerful artifacts, I must reward such cunning and bravery. I will show you your destinies.' A flash of light filled the seven's minds and each of them found themselves looking at a different image.

Twilight found herself looking at a much older version of herself, radiating power and authority. She was standing in a library that dwarfed any other that she had ever seen and she was the master of it. A huge smile broke out on her face, as she realized that this was her future.

Rainbow Dash had an equally huge grin on her face. Her vision was of her being not just a member of the wonderbolts, but she was their captain. She wore the traditionally wonderbolts outfit and everypony looked up to her and respected her. It was her dream come true.

Pinkie was a party god. She threw the greatest parties in all of Equestria, parties which ponies from all over the world came to attend. Pinkie would also craft the greatest party snacks know to any race. She squealed with delight at her destiny.

Applejack's was just as she liked it. Hers was simply she would one day help Sweet Apple Acres become one of the biggest apple sellers in all of Equestria.

Fluttershy's was also somewhat simple. Hers was she took care of even more animals and helped even more ponies. She smiled contently at her future.

Rarity's, oh god, Rarity had the biggest fashion line in the entire world. Thousands of ponies would line up in hopes of just seeing her majestic designs, to pray that see would cast her gaze upon her. She was considered to be the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria. Rarity had a dreamy look on her face, soaking in her future.

Then there was Batman's. His future was a world covered in fire. Ponies were chained together and forced to erect monuments to a certain sorceress. All around him was pain and suffering and above it all sat Morgaine on a throne made of stone. At her feet lay Batman, dead.

As quick as the images appeared, they were gone, leaving six awestruck ponies and one very concerned bat.

"I don't believe it! I become captain of the wonderbolts!" Rainbow shrieked, jumping ten feet in the air and flying around happily.

"I get to be the greatest dressmaker in all of Equestria," Rarity said, practically drooling over the thought of her future. Twilight smiled as the ponies continued to share what the future held for them. See looked over at Batman and saw he had a dark look on his face. Curious, she walked over.

"And what did the future hold for the great Batman?" she teased.

"I take it you found your futures to be what you wanted?" he replied.

"Yup, I'm super happy with mine. It's just what I always wanted," she smiled.

"And what if you weren't 'super happy' with your destiny?"

"Well, what can you do, it's your destiny," she shrugged as she walked back over to her friends. Batman wasn't too happy about that answer, but he walked over as well.

"Alright girls, let's grab the staff and get-" she stopped abruptly, looking over at the staff. Standing there were two figures. One was a human in a green robe with a gold mask, holding the staff in one hand. The other was a unicorn that the ponies knew all too well.

"Trixie?" Twilight asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here and why are you with...Morgaine?"

"What does it look like, Twilight? We are-" Three batarangs sliced through the air, aimed straight for Morgaine. She quickly threw up a barrier to protect herself, knocking the projectiles away. She smiled and looked at Batman.

"It's nice to see you as well, Batman, she coolly said.

"Hand over the staff Morgaine and I promise not to break all the bones in your body," Batman snarled, pulling out an anti-rang.

"Oh Batman, you're always so serious. You may have managed to get past the traps, but I got the prize in the end."

"Okay lady, you're going down," Rainbow snarled, about to attack.

"NO!" Batman roared, freezing Rainbow in her tracks. "How did you get in here?" he asked, turning back to Morgaine.

"Why, we simply followed you and waited for our chance to steal the staff," Morgaine smiled, while Batman kicked himself. The oldest trick in the book and he had let his guard down long enough for Morgaine to pull it off.

"But since you all came so far, I don't want you to leave without something for your effort," Morgaine taunted. "I know! You can have this."

She placed her hand on the statue behind her and channeled her energies through it. The statues eyes glowed green and with a roar that could wake the dead, it began to move.

"Twilight, stop her!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Twilight fired a massive energy blast at Morgaine, who was too busy concentrating on her spell to notice the incoming spell. Trixie, however, was fast enough to jump in-between Morgaine and the spell, erecting an incredibly powerful barrier that shattered Twilight's spell.

"How?" Twilight asked.

"That is the advantage of being on Master Morgaine's apprentice," Trixie replied with a dark smile. Morgaine finished her animation spell, allowing the giant statue to slowly move towards Batman and the ponies.

"I must go now Batman, but I'm sure we will meet again. If you survive that is." With a laugh, she placed a teleportation spell around her and her apprentice. Before they could leave, Twilight shouted one last question.

"Trixie, why are you helping Morgaine? This isn't you!"

"As if you would ever understand," Trixie said with venom, vanishing as the teleportation spell finished. Twilight stared at where the two had vanished until Batman's voice snapped her back into reality.

"TWILGHT, MOVE!" Batman yelled, tackling the purple unicorn out of the way as a giant hoof crashed onto the spot where she had just been standing, cracking the glass floor. Batman rolled and came to his feet, staring at the colossi which slowly began to walk towards him. AJ pulled out her rope from under her hat and lassoed it's legs, trying to trip it. The stone giant snapped the rope like string. Rainbow Dash flew straight into the creatures face, colliding with its head. The giant didn't even flinch, whereas Rainbow fell to the ground, unconscious. Batman used the grapple to pull the KO'd pony out of the way of another glass cracking hoof.

"Fluttershy, Rarity, take Rainbow and get out!" Batman yelled at the ponies, who quickly obeyed. They picked up Rainbow and ran for the exit. "Pinkie, Applejack, Twilight; go with them!"

"But what about you?" Twilight yelled back as the six ponies made it to the exit.

"The statues after me, I'll deal with it! NOW GO!" he roared as the giant charged at him. He grappled to the ceiling and descend onto the statues head. The giant shook it's head, trying to toss of the Dark Knight, who managed to hold on with his strength. He pulled out the explosive gel and applied it in three separate areas. Batman dove off the giant and spread his cape to slow his descent. The moment he landed, he turned and triggered the explosive gel. Three separate explosions rocked the giant, but barely even knocked a layer of dust off of it.

Batman looked around, hoping something would come to him. His eyes fixed on the cracked glass and a plan formed in his mind. Grappling out of the way of another charge, he made his way over to the cracked glass. He quickly placed three explosives on the glass and turned back to the statue. It roared and charged straight for him. He whipped out the grapple and grappled onto the giants face, attaching the cable to the back of the giants head. He set the grapple for maximum length and jumped. He hit the ground and rolled, just as the statue reared on its hind legs as it came to a stop just a few feet from the cracked glass.

With all his might, Batman began to pull, trying to get the statue to tip over onto the glass. Even with his great strength, the statue slowly began to lower to all fours. He pulled in vain, knowing that this plan wasn't going to work. That was until it did. Suddenly, his cable was covered in a purple light and he felt the statue began to tip back. Turning his head, he saw Twilight standing in the doorway, horn glowing and a look of determination on her face. The two of them pulled with all their might until at last, the statue fell on its back, nearly shattering the glass. It turned its head to look at Batman, who held the trigger in his hand.

"Go to hell," he muttered, pressing the switch. A massive explosion shattered the weakened glass, causing the statue to fall through into the darkness below. Unfortunately, the explosion was strong enough to cause the entire floor to start breaking. He turned and made a mad dash for the exit, as the floor shattered and caused a cascade of stained glass to fly everywhere. Glass bounced off his suit and cut his face, but Batman kept running towards the exit. He took a giant leap right as the floor finally gave way. He calculated his angle and realized that he would be just an inch short of the ledge. He just barely missed the edge of the exit and he began to fall, until a purple hoof grabbed his hand.

"Batman, hold on!" Twilight yelled, straining to hold up his weight. He quickly brought his other hand up to the ledge and pulled himself up. The two sat there panting for a minute, before Batman stood back up.

"Where are the others?"

"They managed to get out," Twilight said between breaths.

"Why did you come back? I told you to go."

"And let you have all the fun? I don't think so," Twilight responded with a smile, before collapsing to the floor. "I can't move. Pulling the Star-Swirl statue over drained my stamina."

Batman chuckled. "That I can fix." He picked up Twilight and began to walk to the temples exit.

"Hey, this is no way to treat a lady!"

"Then it's a good thing you’re a pony," he replied. Twilight's eyes went wide.

"What?" he asked.

"Did you just tell a joke?"

"I simply stated a fact."

"Yeah, sure."

"By the way, thanks," Batman muttered. Twilight lifted her head in surprise, before a huge smile started to spread across her face.

"What?"

"I don't believe it. You actually said thank you."

"It would've beeen much harder to defeat the statue wothout your help."

Twilight thought about what he had said and done. He had kept the statues attention on himself so the others could escape. He saved her life again as well as Rainbows. "Maybe you're not as bad as I thought," she muttered, beginning to believe what she said.

"You're right. I'm much worse," he said with a small smile.

Twilight let out a laugh as the two made it outside.

======--------=========
Batman and the ponies were heading back to Ponyville on their blimp. Twilight was too exhausted to fly, so Applejack took over. After Twilight explained how it worked, AJ was able to achieve liftoff and began heading home. Twilight and Fluttershy were sitting next to Batman on the deck. Rarity and Pinkie were watching over Rainbow, who was still out cold from the battle. The six ponies’ spirits were low.

"I don't believe it. Celestia entrusted us to get that staff and we failed," Twilight said in a small voice." What if she's so disappointed in me that she decides I'm not worthy of being her assistant? What if she determines that I'm not good enough with magic, so I get sent back to magic kindergarten? My life could be over!"

"Twilight, please calm down. I'm sure Celestia won't mind," Fluttershy said, trying to comfort her friend. "Even though we went through so much trouble to get there."

"What ah want t' know is why was that no good Trixie with Morgaine?" Applejack asked, walking up to the group. "Even if she is a braggart, ah don't know why she would go with some pony that’s evil."

"Applejack, why aren't you flying the ship?" Twilight asked in concern.

"There's a button called auto-pilot. It allows the ship to fly without me," she answered. "So, what are we gonna tell Celestia about the mission?"

"I don't know," Twilight said miserably. "How can we tell her we failed?"

"You ponies are looking at this the wrong way," Batman said, causing the ponies to look at him. "We went through a temple filled with traps, tricks and a giant statue bent on our destruction. And all of us made it out alive. I don't know about you, but that's a success in my book."

"He's right," Fluttershy said with a smile. "We all made it through this ordeal together and we're all mostly alright."

"We'll just have t' make sure t' get the next one," Applejack replied, smiling as well. Both ponies looked at Twilight, who was thinking about what they said.

"Yeah, you girls are right. We'll make sure we get the next one," she stood up with a smile. "And I believe that's Ponyville down there."

Ponyville had just come into view, as the sun began to descend. Rainbow Dash had finally woke up and the other three ponies joined AJ, Twilight, Fluttershy and Batman on the deck, each lost in their own thoughts. For Batman, his mind was on what his destiny had been. The entirety of Equestria slaves to Morgaine's will and he was lying dead at her feet. He knew that he would do everything in his power to prevent that from happening, but what he wasn't sure was if even he could fight against destiny.